ECW 10-31-06 Review

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
Bradley Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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They show a recap of Rob Van Dam beating Big Show in a ladder match last week. Paul Heyman then announces that RVD has selected December To Dismember to be the night that he challenges Big Show for the ECW Championship. However, Heyman announces that it will be with four other competitors in the first ever Extreme Elimination Chamber. 

Extreme Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Kevin Thorn vs. Sabu

It can't even be overstated how terrible of an idea it is to have a main event containing six wrestlers when your roster doesn't even have six people that anyone cares about. Sabu hits a somersault dive to the floor early on and then a slingshot splash on the way back in. Thorn catches Sabu and hits a variation of a sit down powerbomb. After Thorn works on Sabu's arm, Sabu bounces back with some springboard moves and gets a 2 count. If you didn't know it was Halloween, you will definitively know after Styles and Tazz mention it 20 times during this match. Sabu hits a springboard DDT just moments after Thorn caught Sabu with a clothesline. Sabu puts on the Camel Clutch and picks up the victory. I will have forgotten that I watched this match when I wake up tomorrow.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Sandman is being interviewed again about possibly wrestling Umaga at Cyber Sunday. A clown comes wandering through, so he hits him with a kendo stick. Fantastic television.

Tazz gives Joey Styles a noose for a Christmas gift.

Daivari vs. Shannon Moore

Well, Daivari and Great Khali are now part of ECW. Daivari sucker punches Moore and then throws him through the ropes and into the ring post. Daivari snaps the arm of Moore on his shoulder before hitting a variation of a DDT for the victory. After the match, Khali destroys Moore some more. The diehard ECW fans were probably pumped about this. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Rebecca is with RVD now to talk about Heyman's decision. RVD cuts a pretty uninspired promo on the Extreme Elimination Chamber and then Hardcore Holly comes in to say that he has his back. 

It's time for the first ever Extreme Divas Costume Contest. Trinity is wearing caution tape, Ariel is her usual self and Kelly Kelly is CM Punk. Trinity wins the contest and out comes Mike Knox. Out comes CM Punk and he eventually hits a springboard clothesline. He knocks him out of the ring and Kelly smiles. 

After the commercial, Mike Knox challenges Punk to a match next week. 

Rob Van Dam & Hardcore Holly vs. Test & Big Show

RVD and Holly go to work on Test in the early going while Styles and Tazz continue to talk about the Extreme Elimination Chamber. So to put this in perspective, Cyber Sunday is in 5 days, Survivor Series is in 27 days, December To Dismember is in 34 days and Armageddon is in 48 days. So they are already talking about a show before they have even mentioned Survivor Series. RVD hits a crossbody over the top rope into Test on the apron and they both go to the floor and into the commercial break. During the break, Test hit a clothesline to regain control. You can tell this match is getting time tonight because Test is working at a snail's pace. Both Test and Big Show get tagged in and all I can think about is Holly trying to hunt him down during the Attitude Era. Holly's career is one of the stranger ones in WWE since he lasted forever and never really amounted to a whole lot, but had these brief pockets where he was highlighted. I think Big Show has been in this match for about 30 seconds so far. Big Show tags back in and misses with the Vader Bomb. Holly makes the hot tag to RVD and he takes out his legs. He knocks Test off the apron and hits a somersault dive on Show. Next comes Rolling Thunder, but Test breaks up the pin. All four men are in the ring and Test accidentally knocks out the referee. Holly hits the Alabama Slam on Test, but is immediately greeted by a Big Show boot. RVD hits the leaping kick and knocks Show out of the ring. Show drags RVD out of the ring, but RVD is able to shove him into the ring post. Out of nowhere, a guy in the gorilla suit comes from behind and hits RVD with a lead pipe to the back of the head. Show hits the Chokeslam in the ring and picks up the victory. The gorilla comes in the ring and takes off the mask to expose that it's Paul Heyman. The match itself was decent enough, but didn't have a ton of action despite RVD's best efforts. 

Match Rating: **1/4

This was a one match show and the match was fine, but nothing really memorable. The Daivari/Khali stuff feels out of nowhere and while the Extreme Elimination Chamber sounds like a fun idea, we all know how that one is going to work out. 

Overall Rating: 43%

Monday Night Raw 10-30-06

Monday, October 30th, 2006
The MARK Of The Quad Cities
Moline, Illinois

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Edge and Randy Orton are in the ring to kick off the show. Edge is disgusted that he has to spend his birthday with these people. Orton says that his victory over Triple H last week should make him happy and we get highlights. They bring out Eric Bischoff, Jonathan Coachman and Vince McMahon to the ring. They all plead their case as to why they should be the referee at Cyber Sunday. It feels kind of beneath Mr. McMahon. Vince announces that Randy Orton will face Triple H for the third week in a row, this time with Edge as referee. Oh, and Shawn Michaels is not here due to a personal reason. Vince then asks everyone to leave except Coach. He's worried that Raw may no longer have a champion on their show. Coach suggests that Cena maybe have the night off, but Vince disagrees. He then offers Cena to face King Booker and Big Show in a handicap match, but that idea is also shot down. Coach then asks Vince what he would do. Vince says that he wants everyone watching the show to decide who he will wrestle tonight. He calls Booker the WCW Champion. Can you imagine if someone else said that? He offers King Booker, Big Show and Coach as the options. You just need to go to WWE.com or you can text on your phones. Vince is completely failing at this, by the way. The voting begins now. 

Triple Threat Match
Johnny Nitro vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito

Jeff Hardy comes out after to scout the three possible opponents for him on Sunday. We get the three opponents trading moves, with the highlight being Shelton hitting a leaping bulldog on Carlito out of nowhere. Shelton goes up top, but Carlito slows him down. That allows Nitro to hit a dropkick on Shelton in midair. Carlito hits a Backstabber and that's all. Talk about making that match seem important. 

Match Rating: *1/2

John Cena is backstage for an interview and he makes a dumb joke about Kevin Federline's album. He's not worried about tonight because it's up to the crowd. He then bugs Todd Grisham about who he voted for. He then says that Grisham likes dudes and it makes him so mad he confesses that he voted for King Booker and he hopes that he beats him tonight. Cena's interviews during this era are some of his worst stuff.

Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle are laughing about voting for Coach tonight. Torrie goes over to Carlito to see how he's doing after Trish. They make plans to meet up after the show. You can give Carlito all the women you want, but no one cares.

Mickie James is out and they announce that you can vote on the type of match for the Women's Championship Tournament Finals. 

WWE Women's Championship Tournament Semifinal Match
Lita vs. Maria

Lita talks trash to Mickie and that gives Maria the opportunity for a couple of quick pin attempts, neither of which are successful. Mickie tells us that she'd like a chance at a submission match to show the fans the holds she knows. Meanwhile, Maria hits a bulldog and then a bronco buster. Lita counters out of it and tries to win with her feet on the ropes, but the ref catches it. Lita hits a DDT and that's it. I'm not sure what the point of this was. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Lita and Mickie get in each other's faces. 

Triple H vs. Randy Orton

Triple H is out first and he does the "Are you ready?" schtick. During the chant, he takes the microphone and blindsides him with it, knocking him out. When we come back from commercial, we have a regular referee and Orton makes his way out. Triple H being Triple H, he dominates Orton in the early going. I wonder how many times these two ended up wrestling each other? Triple H gets pushed into the ring post and Orton hits his variation of the neckbreaker. He follows that up with a DDT and a 2 count. Orton telegraphs the back body drop and gets hit with a knee. Out comes Edge and he attacks Triple H, causing the DQ finish. They get out a chair and Orton goes for a RKO. Triple H pushes him onto the chair, but gets hit with a Spear from Edge. Triple H grabs a sledgehammer from under the ring and he and Edge swing their weapons, but the sledgehammer wins. Triple H hits him in the midsection and Rated RKO retreats. This was just standard fare with Triple H always looking like the smarter wrestler.

Match Rating: *3/4

Handicap Match
Eugene & Jim Duggan vs. Umaga

Eugene is scared of Umaga. Meanwhile, his partner gets hit with a headbutt off the second rope. Umaga hits the Samoan Spike and that's all. Eugene is still over by the timekeeper area and shaking. I guess they had a couple of minutes to fill here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Coach is getting ready backstage and is approached by Bischoff. Coach tells him he's going to show him the new Coach to the next person who walks through the door. Out walks Faarooq and you know what happens next. 

Ric Flair is out to talk about his title match at Cyber Sunday and that the fans will determine who his partner is going to be. He brings out Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes. They are 58, 52 and 61 respectively. They all cut a promo to kill some more time tonight.

Cryme Tyme is back with Todd Grisham and steel a flat screen TV. 

Cryme Tyme vs. Charlie Haas & Viscera

They brought the TV down to ringside and hook it up to JR and Lawler's announce table. I'd call the action, but I'm sure no one looking at this would actually bother to read this. Viscera puts JTG in a bear hug and is just daring me to turn this off. Viscera misses with a splash in the corner and tags in Haas. JTG counters out of a possible atomic drop attempt and tags in Shad. Things break down and JTG is able to snap Haas on the top rope behind the referee's back. They hit G9 for the victory. This was pretty dull. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Triple H is backstage with Grisham to talk about how he doesn't care which referee gets voted in on Sunday. 

Coach is trying to vote backstage and in walks King Booker and Sharmell. Big Show joins the party as well. They argue a little bit before agreeing that Coach should be the one to fight Cena tonight.

King Booker and Queen Sharmell are on their way to the ring. Big Show and Coach then make their way as well. They announce that Coach wins with 74% of the votes. 

Jonathan Coachman vs. John Cena

I feel like we get a main event like this every 6-8 weeks on Raw. Cena chases Coach up the ramp and grabs him by the ear. He throws him back in the ring, but is then hit with a Spear from Big Show. He and Booker attack him and throw him into the steps. They throw him in the ring and Coach immediately tries a pin, getting a 2 count. While Booker and Big Show make loud noises as guest announcers, Cena dominates Coach. He hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the FU. He slaps on the STFU for the easy victory. What a fantastic main event. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Well, this episode existed. That's about as far as I can go with giving it any sort of praise. There was nothing on this one that was even slightly memorable and while they attempted to build to Cyber Sunday, there just isn't much interesting going on right now on Raw. 

Overall Rating: 31%

NXT 11-27-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, November 27th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Tyler Breeze vs. Marcus Louis

This is a weird pairing. Louis is still wearing a towel over his head and is embarrassed of his bald look. This leads to lots of stalling to start the match. Breeze gets on the mic and asks if he's actually expected to take on this uggo. He says he's not doing some Lord Of The Rings cosplay and then takes off the towel. Breeze then calls him a freak and that no one will ever love him. Breeze hits the Beauty Shot and that's all. This was storyline only. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Louis walking out of the arena in a trance. 

Carmella vs. Blue Pants

Carmella gets the Enzo and Big Cass intro. They then say that they have a surprise for Carmella and the crowd chants "Blue pants". I feel like this is just one of those things where you had to be there. I just remember being at Monday Night Raw and some guys behind me talking about Blue Pants non-stop throughout the night that it made me actually look it up. Carmella hits a couple of dropkicks and then locks in Code Of Silence for the victory. They did give Blue Pants a few extra seconds to tap this time. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

WWE.com talks to Finn Balor about his singles debut against Tyson Kidd. 

Lucha Dragons vs. Jason Jordan & Tye Dillinger

This is a non-title match. The Lucha Dragons will defend their titles at R Evolution against the Vaudevillains. Dillinger and Jordan actually get in some offense here. It's probably a wise decision to actually have some good tag teams. Sin Cara reverses an Irish Whip and he runs into Jordan's boot. In comes Kalisto and he hits a springboard corkscrew. Cara hits a dive to the outside and Kalisto hits the SDS for the pinfall victory. This episode of Superstars continues. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show highlights of the Charlotte/Bayley/Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch story from last week. 

We get another Kevin Owens vignette. 

Bayley lets us know that Charlotte told her to stay away from Sasha and Becky this week with her not here. She calls them bullies and says that a bully is just a coward. Out come Sasha and Bekcy and Bayley tries to attack, but she isn't able to withstand the two-on-one advantage. Some referees come out to break it up. 

WWE.com talks with Tyson Kidd and Natalya. Nattie tries to put Tyson over, but Tyson wants to talk about himself since he's right here. Tyson then says that he needs to Facetime with the cats. 

We get a old timey Vaudevillains vignette, which is fun. It ends with the mini Lucha Dragons blowing themselves up. They run down the card for R Evolution. 

Tyson Kidd vs. Finn Balor

We get some good mat wrestling to start. Balor hits a dropkick and Kidd rolls out of the ring. Balor goes for a dive, but he hides behind Nattie and Balor puts on the brakes. We come back from commercial break and Kidd hits a neckbreaker outside the ring. Kidd gets Balor in the tree of woe and hits a running dropkick. Balor fires back with some chops and then hits a Pele kick. He hits a suplex, but only gets 2. Balor climbs to the top, but Kidd rolls out of the way of Coup de Grace. Kidd hits a drop toe hold into the bottom turnbuckle. Balor gets his knees up on a springboard elbow and then he hits a running kick. The Ascension run out and attack Balor to cause the disqualification. Out comes Hideo Itami to even the score. The referees try to break them apart and then some NXT wrestlers try to break it up as we go off the air. The match was pretty good overall, but was designed to mostly introduce Balor and continue the feud.

Match Rating: **1/2

This was very much a 1990s era episode of Superstars. One feature match and the rest were all squashes. We got the bonus interview with Bayley, but other than that it was mostly a forgettable episode. Balor did look good in his main event opportunity and I have a hunch he'll make an impact. 

Overall Rating: 47%

Monday Night Raw 12-5-94 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, December 5th, 1994
Mid-Hudson Civic Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

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Shawn Michaels is out to be the guest commentator tonight on Raw. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. British Bulldog

Jarrett's ring attire is something here. The Roadie is out for the first time here tonight. Jarrett plays the typical cowardly heel to begin and Bulldog is all over it. Bulldog hits the delayed vertical suplex and Jarrett rolls out and Roadie blocks the crowd from going near him. Vince and Shawn aren't aware of who he is just yet. Bulldog goes up top, but Jarrett hits a right hand and crotches him. He surprisingly hits a superplex, which was a pretty protected move at this point. Jarrett hits a top rope clothesline and gets a 2 count right before the commercial break. When we come back, Jarrett misses of the second rope and then they collide off the ropes. Jarrett is able to slap on the sleeper hold in the middle of the ring. He gets out and Jarrett hits a bulldog for another nearfall. Bulldog comes back and uses a Perfect Plex, but Jarrett kicks out. Michaels claims that move doesn't beat anybody. Bulldog comes back with an inverted atomic drop and a back body drop. He hits some running clotheslines and Jarrett rolls out of the ring. He starts to head to the back, but Bulldog lifts him over his head and throws him back into the ring. Bulldog tries to get back in, but Roadie is under the ring grabbing his leg. The referee counts to 10 and Jarrett is your winner. It was a little questionable to debut Roadie with no one knowing who he was, but this was an effective way to get him over. They got a lot of time and I enjoyed what they gave us.

Match Rating: ***

Desperate to make WWF look relevant, they show clips of Superstars at the American Broadcasters dinner.

1-2-3 Kid vs. Barry Horowitz

We're getting closer and closer to this no longer being a squash match. After some Horowitz offense, Kid hits a couple of spin kicks. He rolls him up and that's all. I kind of thought that one would go on for another minute or so. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week, it will be Bob Backlund vs. Doink. Oh boy. 

Kwang vs. Scott Taylor

Harvey Wippleman is making fun of Howard Finkel at ringside. Kwang hits a kick to the jaw and sprays some red mist. Kwang hits a running spin kick on Taylor in the corner and a thrust to the throat. Taylor slides under the legs of Kwang, but misses with a crossbody. He hits another spin kick and that's all. The Royal Rumble is coming up, so this seems like a good time for them to remember that Kwang exists. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the King's Court and Lawler makes fun of how ugly the crowd is. He brings out his mystery guest and it's Shawn Michaels. He just hammers home the fact that he made Diesel with a lot of 1994 Shawn Michaels catchphrases.

They show Bob Holly at the Snowball Derby, which looks like a backyard racing league. He lost, but he'll be back. 

It's the 100th episode of Mania coming up. Get ready for that. 

They show the Hakushi "vignette" again. 

Well Dunn vs. Bushwhackers

Harvey makes fun of Fink again before the match. Well Dunn does lots of illegal double teaming behind the referee's back. They hits a drop toe hold/leg drop combo and honestly that was the best I've ever seen them look. Butch breaks up a pin attempt, but Luke gets hit with some more leg drops. Luke is able to hit a clothesline and make the hot tag to Butch. We get some more hongi talk, but really they look so old here. We get a double noggin knocker and then the Battering Ram to send Well out of the ring. Wippleman trips up Butch from behind. He gets hit with a knee in the back and he rolls him up for the victory. After the match, Fink tells the referee what happened and they get in each others faces into the final commercial.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Vince and Shawn are with Backlund. Backlund goes on a rant of how he doesn't like clowns and he's going to exterminate him. 

This one started off well, but by the end, I couldn't wait for it to be dunn. Sorry, guys. The opener was good though for Raw in 1994 and everything was tolerable up to the main event. 

Overall Rating: 50%

Superstars 12-3-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 3rd, 1994
Fernwood Resort
Bushkill, Pennsylvania

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1-2-3 Kid vs. Brooklyn Brawler

I guess this means Abe Schwartz is officially a dead gimmick? It had so much potential. Kid is wearing some ugly gear here and his hair is a sight to behold. He hits his signature leg drop, but ducks down too early and Brawler makes him pay with a neckbreaker. He drops his throat down on the top rope and dumps him out of the ring. Brawler hits a baseball slide kick and then throws him into the ring post. He goes for another baseball slide, but Kid avoids it and slams his head into the side of the ring. Back in the ring he hits a series of kicks, including a spin kick. He goes for the ten punches in the corner, but Brawler hits an inverted atomic drop. Brawler goes up top, but Kid is there to press slam him off and then rolls him up for the victory. That was a pretty good little match to maybe help cover up that there is no feature match on this episode. 

Match Rating: *

Todd Pettengill is here for the (final?) Survivor Series Report. They show a still photo recap of the Bret Hart/Bob Backlund match. He then moves onto the Diesel/Shawn Michaels saga. They then show the entire Diesel/Bob Backlund match from Madison Square Garden with Diesel winning the WWF Championship. Backlund cuts a promo sitting in a chair talking about feeling the decay around us. They are continuing to do the gimmick where they do cuts of his promo. Backlund is also not looking into the camera. He claims that he will put morality back into our lives. We now go to Diesel, who has a black background and he's trying to be a cool guy. He honestly reminds me a little bit of Razor Ramon with what he's going for. Nash was just never super comfortable as a face. We're almost halfway into the show after this. 

King Kong Bundy vs. Jason Ahrndt

Bundy catches Ahrndt and hits a power slam. Vince thinks that Bundy will be one of the favorites in the Royal Rumble match, tickets on sale this weekend. Meanwhile Bundy hits a splash in the corner and counts to 5 for the victory. Bundy is just currently existing here in 1994.

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for Live Event News with Charlie Minn. He talks about Bret Hart winning the WWF Championship from Yokozuna and some of the matches during his reign. They show Diesel's rise to WWF Champion. 

We get a mysterious Hakushi vignette that doesn't show him. 

Bushwhackers vs. JR Storm & ???

The kid ring announcer wasn't easy to understand on the poor jobbers name announcement. They keep talking about "hongi", which apparently is a New Zealand tradition where you rub noses. They even have hats now. It must be that time where WWF is desperate to have enough tag teams to fill a tournament, so the Bushwhackers are back. Well apparently one of the jobbers is JR Storm. The Bushwhackers hit the Battering Ram on him and his "tag team partner" didn't even get in the match. With the Bushwhackers, the shorter, the better. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Jim Neidhart vs. Jeff Hardy

No Owen Hart here today to accompany Jim. Neidhart catches Hardy and then tosses him right over the ropes to the floor. Hardy is flipping and flopping here for Neidhart. He slaps on the Camel Clutch and that's all. They keep calling him Harvey for whatever reason. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a new Henry Godwinn vignette making fun of for being lazy for watching him on TV. 

They show us footage of the WWF Superstars in the Macy's Day Parade. 

Duke Droese vs. Black Phantom

Droese hits a big back body drop and a vertical suplex. Droese hits a corkscrew elbow drop and slaps on the bear hug. Droese hits a spinebuster and finishes the Phantom with the Trash Compactor. It really is baffling how small the roster is and yet hardly anyone has a purpose.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're back for more Live Event News. We see clips of the Razor Ramon/Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania X. We then see clips of Diesel beating Razor on Superstars and then Razor winning the title back at SummerSlam. Now, Razor is moving onto Jeff Jarrett. 

It's time for a terrible Italian WWF vignette about watching Raw. 

Next week, it's the Smoking Gunns, Tatanka, Doink, Owen Hart and Razor Ramon. Plus, Bob Backlund will be on The Heartbreak Hotel. 

This was another filler episode that basically just recapped Survivor Series. The Kid match was fun for what it was and the Backlund promo was entertaining. 

Overall Rating: 38%

SmackDown 10-27-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, October 27th, 2006
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, Missouri

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Batista is here to kick off the show. He talks about how he never lost the World Heavyweight Championship and his mission has been to regain that title. There's been one Irish thorn in his side and that's Finlay. He calls out Finlay, but instead it's Paul Heyman and his henchmen. He comes out and mentions that Batista is the only one in the main event tonight that isn't a champion. He blames it on Teddy Long holding him back and that the SmackDown fans don't care about him, but he does. He offers for Batista to come over to ECW. He asks for some time to think about it, but then instantly says that he thought about it. He shakes Heyman's hand and then gives him the thumbs down. He attacks the henchmen and then down come Big Show and King Booker. They go at it and John Cena is out as well. This was just an excuse for a hot brawl at the start at the show. 

Bobby Lashley & Tatanka vs. William Regal & Dave Taylor

Ummm...okay? Tatanka gets the best of Regal to start and throws in Taylor to hit a flapjack on him. In comes Lashley, but he runs into a knee by Regal. He throws him out of the ring and Taylor hits him with a clothesline. Lashley is able to get a boot up in the corner and tag in Tatanka. He hits some back body drops and now all four men are in the ring. Lashley misses Taylor in the corner and hits his shoulder on the ring post. Tatanka has Regal in the corner, but Regal shoves him down and tries to put his feet on the ropes, but he isn't able to. Either way, the referee counts to 3 and that's all. Tatanka starts yelling at the referee, which would have worked better if he actually got his feet on the rope. Taylor did try to grab Regal as a last second attempt to cheat, but it did nothing. Tatanka attacks the referee and then attacks Lashley. He starts slamming Lashley's head on the floor and then kicks him below the belt. I liked that they were trying to attempt to give Tatanka something to do, but who in the world thinks he would ever stand a chance with Lashley? The match was too short to really be much of anything.

Match Rating: *

Kristal is with Chris Benoit to talk about his potential match with Umaga. Before he can get talking, he sees Vickie Guerrero. He asks her what is going on and Vickie tells him that he wasn't as close to Eddie as he thought he was. 

MVP is with Teddy Long and he's telling him that he's sick. He leaves to talk to his agent and in walks Mr. Kennedy. He wants a match with Undertaker tonight because the fans deserve it. Teddy says that he knows Undertaker isn't here tonight, so he says instead he'll be facing Kane in a no disqualification match.

They show highlights from Raw of the Booker/Big Show/Cena saga. 

Chavo is with Vickie and tells her to be careful about what she says to Benoit. He then tells her to keep her friends close, but keep her enemies closer.

Matt Hardy vs. Gregory Helms

Hardy is able to sneak in a bulldog early on and gets a 2 count. Helms dumps him out of the ring and then tries to suplex him into the ring. Hardy blocks it and Helms slides under and drops Hardy so that he can clothesline him. He throws him back into the ring and hits a top rope crossbody for a 2 count. Hardy battles back, but he misses with the leg drop off the second rope. Helms hits him with an inverted atomic drop, but misses with the Shining Wizard. Hardy hits the Side Effect and we get another nearfall. Hardy signals for a Twist Of Fate, but Helms blocks it. Hardy counters the counter into a Samoan drop. Helms counters the pinfall attempt, grabs the bottom rope and gains the victory. It's starting to feel like there is no end game here.

Match Rating: **

Ashley is asking Paul London and Brian Kendrick what they think of her fairy costume. London jokes that she stole it from him. Kendrick no sells it until she leaves and then drools over it once she leaves. This is one way to get your champions on the show.

No Disqualification Match
Kane vs. Mr. Kennedy

Kane destroys Kennedy in the early going and as soon as Kennedy tries to get some offense in, he is leveled with a clothesline. Kennedy avoids a boot in the corner and since Kane is so unathletic, he gets it stuck on top and it gives Kennedy an opening. Kennedy throws his knees into the steps and then slams it into the ring post. Kennedy picks up a chair and again goes after the knee. Kennedy goes off the top rope, but Kane catches him with a right hand. Kane hits a back body drop and a side suplex before heading to the top rope. MVP comes from behind and shoves him off into the ring. Kennedy goes after the knee again, but then misses the Kenton Bomb. Kane tries to fight off both men. He throws MVP out of the ring and hits a boot on Kennedy. He signals for the chokeslam, but MVP hits him in the knee with a chair. Kennedy falls on top and MVP pushes down on Kennedy to make sure Kennedy gets the victory. This was pretty typical stuff here. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Cena tells Batista that he's got his back and goes to shake his hand. Batista makes fun of him for being sappy. Cena gets in his face and says that they're saying Batista lost his fire. Cena says that he refuses to be stopped and all he asks is that Batista is fired up like he is right now. They start slapping each other and high five. 

Chavo and Vickie are out to say that they finally have peace in their life because Rey Mysterio is no longer around. They show the clip of Mysterio quitting last week on SmackDown. He keeps showing the clip of Rey quitting until Benoit comes out. As soon as he gets to the ring, they walk out and ignore him. 

They show SmackDown in the Philippines. 

Teddy Long comes out to announce that next week it will be MVP and Mr. Kennedy vs. Kane and Undertaker

Trick Or Treat Battle Royal

Jillian is Elvis, Michelle McCool is a nurse, Kristal is a gold digger, Ashley is a fairy and Layla is bunny. Miz comes out and they announce him as the guest referee. As you would expect, this is great action. Ashley and Jillian are quickly eliminated. Michelle is next and it leaves Kristal and Layla. Layla hits a couple of clotheslines. She tries to suplex Kristal to the floor, but Miz grabs Layla and pushes her to the ground. Kristal is declared the winner and Miz celebrates with her in the ring. This was as awful as you would expect. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

After the commercial, Miz says that he had to give Layla payback for what she did with him. Out comes the Boogeyman, making his return. Miz pushes Kristal to him and heads to the back. He grabs some worms out of his pockets, puts them in his mouth and then spits them onto Kristal. This is what WWE was lacking.

Big Show and Booker argue backstage ahead of their tag match. 

King Booker & Big Show vs. John Cena & Batista

It's kind of crazy that they would headline a pay-per-view 2 months from now with a similar, but lesser match than this one. Batista and Cena use quick tags to dominate Booker to start off. They hit a double clothesline sending him out of the ring and into the commercial. Booker hits a charging Cena with an elbow and tags in Big Show. Booker gets in a cheap shot and Show clotheslines Cena. Show hits a big suplex and they continue to isolate Cena. Cena battles out of a sleeper hold and hits a suplex. Booker starts to crawl to Show, but he walks away from the tag. Cena makes the tag to Batista and he hits some clotheslines on Booker. He hits a powerslam and hits the spinebuster. Cena hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle and Batista hits the Batista Bomb. They pick up the victory as Big Show looks on in the aisle. This was a pretty good main event that told the story they needed to tell. 

Match Rating: **1/4

This was one of those shows that wasn't particularly memorable, but it also wasn't a bad way to spend your time. They did continue some storylines and are trying to make Cyber Sunday seem like it matters. 

Overall Rating: 56%

ECW 10-24-06 Review

Tuesday, October 24th, 2006
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, Missouri

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We get a recap of the Rob Van Dam/Big Show saga. RVD is now out to the ring for an interview. He talk about how the impossible happened when everyone's favorite wrestler beat the unstoppable Big Show. Paul Heyman is out and says that if RVD can retrieve the contract in a ladder match against Big Show, he can get his title match. RVD then gets attacked by Heyman's henchmen. He fights them off and stands tall.

CM Punk vs. Matt Striker

We actually get some solid technical wrestling to start off, with both men getting in some offense. Striker throws Punk and he slides under the bottom rope and into the ring post. Punk fires back with some forearms and then the high knee/bulldog combo. Punk hits the top rope clothesline and a round kick. In comes Mike Knox and he attacks Punk and Striker bails. Punk ducks a bicycle kick and Punk fires back with a kick to the head. Knox retreats to the back. The problem is that no one really cares about any of this. The match itself was pretty good for what it was.

Match Rating: *1/2

Test vs. Hardcore Holly

It's the battle of two mid-card wrestlers who haven't mattered in over 5 years squaring off. I have no problem with these guys being on ECW, but the sheer lack of stars that WWE put any effort into is what killed ECW. That and calling it ECW. Holly ties Test up in the ropes and gets in a few shots, but really that was kind of pointless. Test gets helped out by the ref and goes outside. Holly is able to slam Test into the steps, but on the way back in, Test hits a leg drop on Holly. Holly is able to hit a suplex on Test from the apron to outside the ring. Test seemed to fall a little awkward. During the commercial break, Test was able to drive Holly's back into the ring post. Test now goes to work on the injured back of Holly. Holly fires back with a clothesline to shift the momentum. Test tries to go up top, but Holly crotches him. Test goes for the Pump Handle Slam, but Holly counters and goes for the Alabama Slam. Test holds onto the top rope, so Holly turns around and kicks him with the close low blow. Test hits a thumb to the eyes and throws Holly into the ring post. Test rolls him up and holds the tights for the victory. I don't know what happened there, but it was sloppy and a poor finish. Why give these guys that much time for that finish that we see all the time in 2 minute matches on Raw? This wasn't terrible or anything, but it certainly wasn't exciting. Test grabs a chair and hits Holly in the back with it. Test holds up the bent chair on his way out. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Sandman is interviewed about possibly being Umaga's opponent. He does nothing to make me ever want to see him wrestle Umaga. 

Ladder Match For An Opportunity For An ECW Championship Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Big Show

RVD starts things off with some quick fire offense to get Show off his feet. Show comes back with a headbutt and some chops to the chest. RVD spears Show in the head with a ladder and then kicks one at him. Show is busted open and RVD continues the assault with a Rolling Thunder on the ladder. RVD tries to climb up the ladder, but Show tips it over and his neck snaps on the top rope. Show throws RVD into a ladder set up in the corner and then he steps on a ladder on top of him. Show sets him up on top of a ladder, but RVD escapes the Vader Bomb. Show hits a chokeslam and sets up the ladder. RVD leaps off the ladder, but Show catches him. He hooks Show with his legs and they go over the top rope. The only problem is Show dropped RVD and he went splat. He has to no sell it and goes in the ring and climbs the ladder to pick up the contract and the victory. This was a fine TV main event, but they have been overdoing ladder matches lately and was a punishing match for minor circumstances.

Match Rating: ***

This was a good enough episode overall and where the hour long runtime really comes into their favor. The main event delivered and the other matches were passable, even if the Holly/Test match ran too long. 

Overall Rating: 55%

Monday Night Raw 10-23-06 Review

Monday, October 23rd, 2006
Allstate Arena
Rosemont, Illinois

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Kevin Federline will be in Johnny Nitro's corner when he takes on John Cena and Randy Orton is going to take on Triple H in a rematch from last week. 

Out comes Federline and he's back for payback. He takes a shot at the Cubs and then brings out King Booker. Booker praises him for his new CD and calls him a trendsetter. He says that the fans will decide that the WWE Championship will be on the line and then he will be both WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion. Out comes Big Show and he agrees it will be the WWE Championship that will be on the line, but it will be him that will win. They argue about it until John Cena is on his way out. He's all in a joking mood tonight and makes some mostly disappointing quips. Out comes Ron Simmons to do his schtick and that's all. This was pretty weak. 

WWE Women's Championship Tournament Semifinal Match
Melina vs. Mickie James

This one starts off quickly with Mickie tossing Melina around. Mickie's ring attire looks like something she'd wear to the bar. Melina is a good heel, but she was pretty inexperienced here. Melina gets in a little bit of offense before Mickie makes a comeback with a lot of fists and then a flapjack. She eventually hits the DDT and that's all. These women's matches are always so rushed and it never gives the crowd any opportunity to care about any of them. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Shelton Benjamin & Chris Masters vs. Carlito & Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy will have to face one of these three men at Cyber Sunday. Hardy gets dumped to the outside and a referee distraction allows Masters to body slam him on the outside. Shelton and Masters work on Hardy before a hot tag to Carlito. He hits a springboard reverse elbow and then a couple more springboard moves on both opponents. Hardy gets shoved from behind into Carlito and that allows Shelton to roll him up and steal the victory even though his feet were hitting the ropes. After the match all four men start to argue and a mini brawl ensues. They care about the Intercontinental Championship about 10% more than the Women's Championship. 

Match Rating: *1/4

Todd Grisham is with Edge and Randy Orton. Orton claims that they are the two biggest stars ever. They let us know they are bringing out some of the referee options to ringside tonight.

Johnny Nitro and Federline are backstage talking about when his album drops like most people do. 

Johnny Nitro vs. John Cena

Nitro has booked like such a goof since moving to Raw and honestly even MNM was at times too. Federline distracts Cena and Nitro is able to attack him from behind. Nitro is able to duck a crossbody and Nitro then dumps him out of the ring. He distracts the referee and Federline slaps him in the face. Cena is furious, but before he can go after him, Nitro hits him with a dive. Back in the ring, Nitro slaps on the sleeper hold and brings him down to the mat. Cena powers himself back up and is able to drop Nitro on his back. Cena fires back with some shoulder tackles and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena hits the FU and that's all. They gave Nitro a good amount of offense, but he was then easy for Cena to put away. The Federline interaction was the only reason this existed. After the match Cena goes after Federline. Federline trips on the ramp, but then out comes Big Show and King Booker to attack him. Booker hits the Book End on Big Show and then hits the Scissor Kick on Cena. 

Match Rating: **

Spirit Squad vs. Cryme Tyme

Speaking of not caring, let's talk about the tag team division. They sure are treating the Chicago crowd tonight. Shad catches Johnny off the top rope and throws him onto the other Squad members outside of the ring. They hit the G9 and pick up the victory. After the match, Kenny is frustrated and hits a top rope leg drop to Mikey. He's sick of losing including people like Ric Flair, who doesn't know when to hang it up and call it quits. He says that tonight he'll get the job done and take on Flair by himself tonight. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show highlights of the Chamber Of Horrors match, mostly making fun of it. I reviewed that one back in the archives here: https://workingthenetwork.blogspot.com/2022/10/off-grid-volume-27-halloween-havoc-1991.html

Eugene is out in a Bears jersey and a t-shirt gun. Umaga's music hits before you can even process that. Armando Alejandro Estrada announces that the three choices for Umaga's opponent at Cyber Sunday are Chris Benoit, Sandman and Kane. That's a trio of just really great human beings. He announces he chooses Eugene as his opponent for tonight, but before he finishes his thought, Eugene actually shoots a shirt in the crotch of Estrada. Umaga hits a Samoan drop on Eugene and follows it up with the butt to the face. 

They show WWE stars over in Japan.

After the match, Jim Duggan is telling Eugene that he's too nice out there. So Eugene attacks him. 

Kenny vs. Ric Flair

Kenny is already in the ring and has the Spirit Squad minus Mikey out there. Ric Flair comes out and says he didn't believe him and he's got his back covered. He brings out Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes. I'll never quite understand why they liked Kenny so much more than the other members of the Spirit Squad. He tries to put on the Figure Four, but Flair kicks him to the second turnbuckle. Flair hits a bunch of chops before Kenny rolls up Flair and holds the tights to win the match. After the match, they attack Flair until his pals come in and make the save.

Match Rating: 1/4*

DX is back with Todd now. They make jokes.

Jerry Lawler is going to WWE.com to make his votes for Cyber Sunday. Big blockbuster announcement here, Ric Flair and one of his buddies will take on the Spirit Squad. 

Vince sends Jonathan Coachman off so that he and Eric Bischoff can have a little chat. Vince wants Bischoff to help him with DX and in return Vince will help him promote his book. Vince gets a call from his broker and says he can't make it out to the ring. 

Triple H vs. Randy Orton

Triple H hits a suplex and a knee drop and has Orton trying to crawl out of the ring. Triple H hits him with a spinebuster and this time Orton is able to get out of the ring. Orton comes back with a dropkick and a 2 count. Orton hits him with a DDT and then it's rest hold city. Triple H battles his way out of the hold and hits a high knee. He hits a facebuster, but then is tripped up by Lita. This allows Orton to hit the inverted backbreaker. We get shenanigans that leads to Edge coming in and hitting a Spear on Triple H. Michaels tosses Edge over the announce table. Coach tries to come in and make the count, but Michaels pulls him out and hits Sweet Chin Music. Edge throws Michaels into the ring post and he's back in the ring. He goes for the Spear, but Triple H sidesteps it. Bischoff hands Orton a steel chair and he hits Triple H in the head with it. The referee is back in the ring and makes the count. This was an okayish main event that at least helped build on the storyline. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Even though the main event told a pretty good story, the rest of the show just really lacked direction. Instead we were given a bunch of things the common fan didn't care about and tried to cram it into small segments, which makes you care even less.

Overall Rating: 41%

NXT 11-20-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, November 20th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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We get a recap of the Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville match from last week. 

Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

Becky hits a suplex and hits a leg drop. Bayley fires back until she gets distracted by Sasha. Becky is able to snap her neck on the top rope and that's all? I mean there was a little more than what I typed, but not by much. They get in her face until Charlotte's music hits. Even this leads to nothing, as Becky and Sasha just head to the back. If this was all the time this was going to get, why even put it on this week? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bayley thanks Charlotte backstage. Charlotte says she won't be here next week and she knows what Sasha is capable of. She tells Bayley to stay away and not to ask her for a match. Bayley agrees and gives her a hug.

The Vaudevillains come out and say that they are the #1 contenders and that they deserve their match now. The Lucha Dragons music hits and two little people dressed as Sin Cara and Kalisto come out. Aiden English calls out a referee and we have a match.

Vaudevillains vs. Mini Lucha Dragons

Simon hits an airplane spin and hands him off to English for one from him. He passes him back to Gotch for another one. He hits a body slam and bring in their partner. English hits a swinging neckbreaker for the victory. This seemed a little out of character for them. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get our first Kevin Owens vignette. 12/11/14 is flashed at the end of it. 

Baron Corbin vs. Elias Sampson

The crowd is already counting along and it takes about 17 seconds for Corbin to hit End Of Days for the victory. This has turned into an episode of Superstars tonight.

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Bull Dempsey's music hits and he just passes Baron, so no story really given here?

Bull Dempsey vs. Steve Cutler

They play it up as he is trying to one up Corbin. The crowd counts along, but he starts hitting elbow drops and the crowd boos it. They start chanting "Baron's better", which is like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Dempsey hits a top rope headbutt and that's all. Yep.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Tyson Kidd vs. CJ Parker

Kidd avoids Parker in the corner and then hits a kick to the face. He hits a dragon screw into the ropes. He hits a fisherman hook neckbreaker and puts him in the Sharpshooter. Parker comes close to the ropes, but Kidd brings him back and that's all. Parker continues to get buried for whatever reason. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Tyson gets on the mic and says that his Uncle Bret taught him to make his own opportunities and challenges Finn Balor to a match next week. 

Enzo and Cass are with Carmella getting ready for their match.

Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder

Dawson gets things started off right for his team and hits a leg drop. They hit a double team by slamming Enzo into the mat. Enzo is able to hit a knee lift and tag in Cass. Cass sends Wilder out of the ring and a knee to the gut of Dawson. Enzo hits an inverted atomic drop and Cass hits a boot for the quick victory. What is going on tonight?

Match Rating: 1/2*

The Ascension come out after the match and attack all 4 men. Wilder is the one they hit Fall Of Man on. They want Finn Balor and Hideo Itami.

Sami Zayn is out to speak his mind. They show the video package of his road to redemption. He calls out Adrian Neville and asks him for one more chance at the NXT Championship. Neville respects Zayn and says he would give him a rematch any time. William Regal comes out and says that the rematch will happen at NXT TakeOver. Neville refuses to have Zayn put up his career because he doesn't want to end his career. Zayn says that if he can't beat him, he is done. 

This was one of the weaker episodes of 2014. Featuring all squash matches and an interview main event, it just didn't really do much for me. 

Overall Rating: 38%

Monday Night Raw 11-28-94 Review

Monday, November 28th, 1994
Mid-Hudson Civic Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

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This is a live episode of Raw for those of you keeping score at home. They show a recap of the Survivor Series, which leads to them showing Diesel beating Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. 

Owen Hart vs. John Paul

We are quickly joined by Bret Hart on the phone. Bret informs us that he has stretched tendons, but no tears and predicts he'll be back around the New Year. He's going to watch the match back on the Survivor Series encore tomorrow night. Paul comes back with a nice dropkick, but Owen hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Owen locks in the Sharpshooter and that is all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Adam Bomb vs. IRS

Before the match, IRS talks some tax trash about Undertaker. IRS is having problems with Bomb to start and Bomb hits a slingshot clothesline before a big Irish whip. I guess that I should note that there is a druid out with IRS and DiBiase. A DiBiase distraction allows IRS to hit a knee from behind and then sends him to the floor. Bomb comes back with a crossbody and gets a 2 count just as we go to commercial break. When we come back, IRS has Bomb in an abdominal stretch. IRS gets caught using the top rope for leverage and Adam Bomb gets an inside cradle for a 2 count. Bomb hits a couple of clotheslines to the delight of the dozens in attendance. He goes up top and the druid pushes Bomb off the top rope behind the referee's back. That allows IRS to pick up the victory and then he and the druid attack Bomb after the match. Lex Luger comes out to help make the save. This was fine for a time killer.

Match Rating: *

Bob Holly vs. Tony DeVito

Holly hits a dropkick and then Vince and Lawler talk about the exact same race that they talked about on Superstars. Was DeVito the bass player for the Goo Goo Dolls? DeVito gets in a good amount of offense on Holly and even garners some cheers from the crowd. I can't believe that a bunch of wrestling fans in New York wouldn't cheer for a race car driver who goes by "Sparkplug". Holly goes up top and hits a clothesline for the victory. I like that his finisher is just now hit something off the top rope. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show the same Henry Godwinn vignette from Superstars.

Lex Luger vs. Bert Centeno

Luger dominates Centeno with a series of slams. He quickly puts him up for the Rebel Rack and that's all. He gets a firework celebration and although he's still probably feuding with Tatanka, he's just treading water like much of the roster at this time. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Vince McMahon is in the ring to bring out the new WWF Champion, Diesel. From there, Diesel takes us down a minute by minute history of his entire day before his match with Backlund at MSG. He then references Jackie Gleason. The New Generation, ladies and gentlemen. Being the big babyface he is now, Diesel says that he will be a fighting champion, just like Bret. He tells him to enjoy his family and tells him any time he wants a shot at his belt, he's got it. That's a promise from Big D. And that is officially the beginning of the doomed title reign for Diesel. 

Next week, it's Jeff Jarrett vs. British Bulldog here on Raw. 

Heavenly Bodies vs. Gary Scott & Buck Quartermaine

Bob Backlund is out at ringside as the match starts. Meanwhile, the Bodies hit a springboard double suplex. Backlund is completely distracting Vince from the match, but Prichard hits a gut wrench sit down powerbomb. In comes Delray and he hits a top rope splash while Prichard is holding his opponent up. That's enough for the victory and Backlund is still rambling. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get more Backlund for a few moments and then another commercial break. They remind us of Jarrett/Bulldog and the Survivor Series encore presentation. 

This was a pretty standard '94 Raw that didn't really take advantage of it being live. The feature match was fine and the squashes were better than Superstars this week. The Diesel interview was the beginning of the end for the New Generation and he had only been champ for 2 days. 

Overall Rating: 41%

Superstars 11-26-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, November 26th, 1994
Fernwood Resort
Bushkill, Pennsylvania

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We get a Bob Backlund hype video telling his comeback story to regain the WWF Championship. 

Men On A Mission vs. Barry Hardy & Duane Gill

Hey, it's Mo. This was recorded weeks before the Survivor Series because of course it was. He looks a little rusty, to be honest. He hits a spinebuster, but then gets distracted by Gill and Hardy attacks him. Gill gets in some cheap shots behind the ref's back and they single him out in their corner. They use some quick tags to get a lot more offense than I was expecting here. Mo rolls under a clothesline and tags in Mabel. They try to double team him, but he hits them with a double clothesline. They announce that Diesel is the #1 contender for Backlund's title. Mabel hits a splash in the corner and then Mo hits the bulldog off the top rope on Mabel to finish off the deadly duo of Hardy and Gill. This was way longer than you would have ever guessed. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

It's now time for the Survivor Series Report. He recaps the show without showing one still photo. They let us know that Diesel is going to cover all of the Bret Hart's wrestling commitments and is the #1 contender. This is due to the injuries suffered during the I Quit match. Backlund gets his one promo as the championship. They do a lot of cuts during the promo to make him look crazier. Diesel makes fun of Backlund for being old and stands up for America because why not?

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. British Bulldog

This is a bigger than normal feature match for 1994 Superstars. After some back and forth action, Bulldog tries to hit a clothesline, but Bam Bam no sells it and tosses him over the top rope. After DiBiase brushes some money in Bulldog's face, Bam Bam suplexes him back into the ring. Bulldog counters out of a suplex attempt, but Bam Bam holds onto the ropes during his roll up. Bulldog goes for a body slam, but DiBiase trips up his leg and Bam Bam falls on top of him. The referee saw it, so he calls for the bell and that's all. DiBiase pleads with the referee that he didn't do anything. Bam Bam sees the replay and isn't happy about it. He grabs DiBiase until he shows him the money and Bam Bam takes it and heads out. I can't imagine why no one took the Million Dollar Corporation as a serious threat. The match wasn't long enough to make an impact.

Match Rating: 3/4*

It's time for Live Event News with Charlie Minn. He highlights some of the fans that were chosen to be part of the house shows. 

Ben Jordan vs. Kwang

Lawler makes fun of the guest ring announcer calling Harvey Wippleman, "Harry". I guess Kwang is still a thing. Lawler has already lost interest in this match, as he's talking about the Harts and then Vince brings up Diesel. After a roll up for 2 by Jordan, Kwang hits him with a spin kick and that's all. I'm not sure if that was even a minute.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bob Holly vs. Dave D'Amaglio

Holly hits a scoop slam and a dropkick and Vince loves it. Jordan mocks Holly calling him "Sparky Plugg". Doesn't he keep up with the ongoing saga of Holly's name? Holly hits an elbow drop from the top rope for the meaningless victory.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We head to the farm to meet Henry Godwinn. When he gets to the WWF, he's going to be in hog heaven. Get it?

Heavenly Bodies vs. Tyrone Knox & Marty Garner

You know you are living your best life when you get to watch Marty Garner in 2006 and 1994 within weeks of each other. Bodies continue to be one of the best things of 1994 and of course they hardly do anything of note in terms of being featured. Meanwhile, Vince just keeps calling Del Ray fat. They hit the atomic drop leg drop on Marty. He crawls under Prichards legs and tags in Knox. They hit a double flatliner and that's all. They didn't get enough time to really show off much here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Aldo Montoya vs. Reno Riggins

Riggins hits a northern lights suplex and gets a 2 count. Montoya hits a headscissors and then hits a reverse bulldog from the second rope to pick up the victory. Another blink and you'll miss it match that no one cares about.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Charlie Minn talks about Alundra Blayze defending her title "again and again". Sure. He talks about her feud with Bull Nakano and her winning the WWF Women's Championship at the Egg Dome. Luna then yells and calls Bull the greatest champion of all time. 

Next week, we get 1-2-3 Kid, Duke Droese, King Kong Bundy and the Bushwhackers in action. We go back to IRS at the cemetery. He declares that Undertaker is under investigation. In all honesty, who in their right mind was wanting this feud?

This was your typical late 1994 useless episode of Superstars. If you missed it, you were probably better off. 

Overall Rating: 37%

SmackDown 10-20-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, October 20th, 2006
Staples Center
Los Angeles, California

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MVP vs. Kane

Before Kane's entrance, MVP says he's not scared of him and dares the freak to come out. MVP tries to go at Kane right away, but Kane hits him with a right uppercut. MVP gets in about 30 seconds of offense before running into a big boot and a side suplex. Kane goes up to the top rope and hits the flying clothesline. He goes for the chokeslam, but MVP does what we all would love to do and kicks Kane in the nuts to cause the disqualification ending. This was nothing.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show King Booker and Batista getting ready for their big match tonight. 

Elijah Burke vs. Vito

Burke gets on the mic bragging about his 100 boxing victories. Vito quickly goes up to the top, but misses with the elbow drop. Burke quickly hits him with a boot to the head and some big knees to the midsection. They remind us of both Vito and Miz being undefeated. I have a feeling Vito's is coming to an end here. Vito makes a comeback and hits a flatliner and clothesline before dancing some more. He hits a leg drop for a 2 count. Elijah hits him in the midsection before hitting some blows to the head while he's on the rope. The referee pulls Burke off and that allows Sylvester Terkay to hit a boot to the head. That's enough for the victory and Vito is undefeated no more. I like Burke, but this was just filler. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Gregory Helms confronts Matt Hardy backstage at the coffee table. Helms tells Hardy that his win at No Mercy was a fluke and that he's the longest reigning champion on the roster. In comes Teddy Long and he tells Helms that he can go ONE ON ONE WITH THE UNDERTAKER. 

William Regal cuts a promo backstage saying that he used to be a top star, but now he's been busy lately being in silly situations. He's no longer going to be a servant or the butt of jokes and he brought his great friend Dave Taylor to make sure that happens. 

They show King Booker watching tape before his match. 

William Regal & Dave Taylor vs. Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty

Taylor looks to be just shy of 80 years old here. The brilliance in this move here is that Regal only has to beat about one team to become instant #1 contenders in this division. Jokes aside, I do agree that there was more than enough left in the tank for Regal to be taken more seriously. The rosters are so thin in 2006, why not have him be a more serious midcard star? Funaki gets beat up for the entire match before tagging in Scotty. Regal immediately hits him with a knee. Taylor hits a double underhook suplex and falls on top of him for a pin. I'm not sure they did much in the way of impressing the LA crowd, but they did dominate this match.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get highlights of the Rey Mysterio/Chavo Guerrero feud. 

I Quit Match
Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

We're about halfway into this show and we finally are getting something of substance here. The action quickly spills outside and Rey repeatedly slams Chavo's head into the steps. We get our first microphone moment before Mysterio throws Chavo into the ring post. Rey hits Chavo with a chair and hits the 619. He goes up top, but Vickie grabs the leg of Rey and Chavo throws the chair at his head. Chavo attacks the knee of Mysterio with the chair and then hits a Frog Splash with the chair on Rey's leg. Rey hits a suplex on the ramp and then hits a diving senton off the stage. Chavo still won't get up. They are now battling the the side of the stage and Chavo attempts to roll a crate at Rey's knee. Rey moves and then climbs the lighting rig. He gets his leg trapped in it and is draped upside down. Chavo grabs a chair and starts attacking the injured knee. Rey finally gives in and says "I quit". Rey is screaming in pain as Chavo and Vickie head to the ring to celebrate their victory. If they were serious about this duo, he had to win here. The match itself was entertaining enough, but pretty standard stuff by 2006. They bring out a stretcher for Rey. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Gregory Helms vs. Undertaker

Taker just destroys Helms right off the bat. He hits Snake Eyes and then gets him ready for the chokeslam. Mr. Kennedy's music hits and he's out. Helms is able to knock Taker out of the ring, but he attacks Kennedy before he has the chance to. Helms tries to leap off the apron, but Taker catches him and rams him into the ring post. He hits the chokeslam and the Tombstone for the squash finish. Kennedy comes in right after the bell rings to attack Taker. He ends up eating a chokeslam of his own. Undertaker is unstoppable just in case you forgot.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Miz is out to be his obnoxious self in front of the celebrities of LA. He's out for a Diva Dance-Off. He brings out Kristal, Jillian, Michelle McCool, Layla and Ashley. He then brings out the guest judges, Nick and Aaron Carter. They make fun of Miz for what happened at No Mercy and Miz hugs it out with Layla. If you love the Diva Search, then this is for you. After this embarrassment of a competition, they announce Kristal as the winner. Then the Carters say it's Layla. Layla and Kristal start fighting and then all the ladies get involved and Miz walks away laughing. Aaron runs away with Layla. Can you imagine someone actually approving that this get 10 minutes of TV time?

Big Show and John Cena both come out to be spectators for the main event.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Batista vs. King Booker

They've been trying to hype this match as a big deal, but there's no way they won't deliver, right? Right? JBL tells us that Batista is not a great wrestler, just great at the power game. Meanwhile, Batista clothesline Booker out of the ring and when he throws him in, Sharmell distracts the referee and Finlay comes out and clotheslines Batista. Booker hits the Book End, but Batista kicks out and not one person in the building bought the false finish. Booker hits a Scissor Kick with Batista draped over the apron. Batista makes a comeback and hits a powerslam. He follows that up with a spinebuster and gets a 2 count. Booker rolls out of the ring and is able to ram Batista into the ring post. Batista fires back with a Spear that sends Booker right into a seated Big Show. Back in the ring, Batista hits another Spear. He goes for a vertical suplex, but in comes Big Show and headbutts Batista causing the DQ. Man, I didn't see that coming. In comes Cena and he goes after Big Show and Booker. Batista and Cena team up to take out Big Show and Booker. Out comes Teddy Long and you guessed it, he makes a tag team match for next week. The match was nothing despite their attempts to make it feel important prior to it starting. 

Match Rating: *

This was a truly bad episode of SmackDown. Outside of the Rey/Chavo match, nothing mattered and nothing delivered. That's not a good combination. 

Overall Rating: 32%

Off The Grid, Volume 29: This Tuesday In Texas Review

Tuesday, December 3rd, 1991
Freeman Coliseum
San Antonio, Texas

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Off The Grid, Volume 29:

They kick off the show with the interview from after Survivor Series with Undertaker and Paul Bearer. We then go to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan live in the arena. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Skinner vs. Bret Hart

Skinner doesn't even get a televised entrance. I didn't realize that he was already 40 years old here. After a leapfrog, Skinner gets hit with an atomic drop and then one of the inverted variety. After quite a bit of stalling, Skinner is able to throw Bret's shoulder into the ring post and dumps him to the floor. Skinner slaps on the abdominal stretch and of course Gorilla is all over him for not applying it properly. Skinner grabs his tobacco spit can, but the referee grabs it from him. He uses that distraction to grab his alligator claw and hit Bret with it behind his back. Skinner hits the neckbreaker, but Bret is able to kick out. Bret makes a comeback and hits a vertical suplex for a 2 count. Bret argues with the ref after another 2 count and Skinner rolls him up for a near victory. Bret kicks out and Skinner goes flying through the ropes. Skinner is able to attack Bret on the outside and goes for a suplex back into the ring. Bret avoids it, but gets hit with an elbow and then heads up to the ropes. Bret slams him from the top rope and locks in the Sharpshooter for the victory. This is one of the weaker Bret Hart pay-per-view matches, but overall still pretty good.

Match Rating: **1/2

We get Jake Roberts with Sean Mooney and Randy Savage with Mean Gene. They cut pretty standard interviews. Savage hears Jake's music and heads out.

Jake Roberts vs. Randy Savage

Savage attacks Roberts from behind as he is heading to the ring. No one does the quick psychotic start quite like Savage. Jake shifts the momentum in his favor and hits an inverted atomic drop. Savage ducks a short arm clothesline and then hits Jake with an elbow. Jake goes for another short arm clothesline and this time hits it. Jake goes for a DDT, but Savage rams him into the corner and then climbs up top. Savage hits the elbow drop off the top rope and that's all? This was the hottest feud going on at this time and they gave them 6 minutes to resolve it. After the match, Savage grabs a chair, but is stopped by an official. He kicks him to the floor and then grabs a ring bell. The referee grabs it away and it allows Jake to hit him with a DDT. Jake hits him with a second DDT and shows a little more fire than his character typically does. Jake goes under the ring and grabs the snake that was barred from ringside. Out comes Elizabeth and she is begging Jake to stop. Jake decides to hit him with a third DDT and then grabs the snake bag again. He opens up the bag and puts on the glove. Elizabeth continues to plead for him to stop. He decides to take off the glove and grabs Elizabeth and then hits her with a right handed slap. Jack Tunney decides that now seems like an appropriate time to come out and Jake heads to the back. Savage finally gets helped to the back. This was all pretty wild, but the match was too short.

Match Rating: **

Jake is back for an interview and he talks about how good it felt to slap Miss Elizabeth. Gene is disgusted. 

Warlord vs. British Bulldog

These two had an underrated battle at WrestleMania VII, but this time Warlord is managed by Harvey Wippleman. That pretty much already knocks him down the card. I'm not really sure why they thought this was a worthy pay-per-view match again. Bulldog is able to clothesline over the top rope. He attempts a dive over the top, but Warlord kind of catches him and rams his back into the ring post. Warlord has to be one of the stiffest athletes to every be in WWF/E. He's essentially about as flexible as an action figure. Warlord gets tied up in the ropes, but when Bulldog goes on the attack, Wippleman releases him and Bulldog bounces off the ropes to the mat. In a way, Warlord kind of reminds me of a less athletic Braun Strowman. He hits a back drop and slaps on my favorite hold, the bear hug. Gorilla thinks he has it on low, so it won't do any serious damage. Bulldog gets out, but gets hit with a belly-to-belly suplex. Bulldog goes for a piledriver, but it turns into a Warlord pin into a Bulldog counter pin. I think they did that spot at WrestleMania. Warlord puts on the full nelson, but Gorilla quickly points out that he doesn't have the fingers locked and is grabbing the hair. Bulldog is down to one knee and referee checks the arm. Not to sound like Gorilla, but this is really unconvincing by Warlord. Warlord eventually just throws Bulldog down, but gets hit by a boot to the face. Bulldog hits a clothesline off the second rope and then hits a delayed vertical suplex. Bulldog goes for a crucifix and picks up the victory, just like at WrestleMania. This match wasn't bad outside of the full nelson spot, which just looked bad and took up too much time. They could have come up with a better finish. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Sean Mooney is now with a fuming Randy Savage. He blames himself for what happened and ends up on the ground and is dripping blood and pulling hair out. Mooney looks legitimately scared for his life. 

Ted DiBiase & Repo Man vs. Virgil & El Matador

Was Repo Man not at Survivor Series just so he didn't get jobbed out by Sgt. Slaughter's team? Santana was still really sharp in 1991. He and Repo do a spot where they keep blocking hip tosses until Tito finally gets one and hip tosses him over the top rope. Repo tries to sneak behind while he's talking to the referee, but it doesn't work and now DiBiase is in. He wants Virgil and he gets his wish. This is pretty much the culmination of the year long feud here. DiBiase shows off some aggression on Virgil, but almost loses to a sunset flip. Virgil then hits an atomic drop that sends DiBiase over the top. He gets back in just to get clotheslined over the top. DiBiase gets Virgil to the mat and tags in Repo. That leads to Gorilla questioning why Repo is sneaking around when Virgil ion the mat. For reference here, Tito is 38, Virgil is 40 (!), DiBiase is 37 and Repo is 32 (!!). Tito gets a hot tag and the crowd is loving it. The heels quickly turn the tide again, but Tito and Repo hit a double clothesline. All four men end up in the ring and Sherri tries to hit Virgil with a shoe, but he ducks and she hits DiBiase. Repo comes from behind and hits a knee to the back of Virgil and that's enough for the victory. The crowd was into this one and it probably was the best match of the night.

Match Rating: ***

Mean Gene confirms with us that they are in Texas and it is this Tuesday. Thank you for that. Now it's time for Hulk Hogan to speak. He just keeps talking about the teeny Hulkamaniacs, who is about all he has left at this point for a fanbase. 

WWF Championship Match
Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan

Undertaker attacks Hogan as he gets in the ring and Paul Bearer tries to help. Hogan fights them off and hits a clothesline in the corner. Gorilla is furious that Jack Tunney isn't down there when the bell rings. I mean honestly, Tunney has proven to be unfit for the position here based on his actions tonight. Hogan tries to hit him with the best that he's got, but Taker just keeps coming back. Hogan clotheslines him over the top, but he lands on his feet. They've already crammed more action into these first few moments than they did in the entire match at Survivor Series. They battle on the outside and Taker chokes him illegally right in front of the president. Hulk attempts a comeback, but runs into a knee to the face. Undertaker walks the rope and hits Old School. Back on the outside, Hogan is thrown into the ring post. We finally get to the rest hold portion of the match. Hogan finally breaks out and then Taker accidentally falls when running the ropes. Taker comes back and hits the leaping clothesline, as I'm assuming he was supposed to when he fell. Taker goes for Old School again, but this time Hogan throws him off. The crowd is going pretty nuts here. Out comes Ric Flair and Tunney immediately goes after him. Hogan gives Taker another love tap of a clothesline over the top rope. Hogan goes outside and grabs a chair to hit Flair in the back with. Flair also knocks Tunney down. Flair is back up, but Tunney is still down. Hogan and Taker seem to have a miscommunication. Flair eventually goes up on the apron with a chair. Hogan throws Taker into it, but Taker is back up. Paul Bearer tries to hit Hogan with the urn, but he hits Taker instead. Hogan dumps out the urn and throws the ashes in the face. Hogan rolls him up and we have a new champion. Minus the couple of botched spots, this match was significantly better than the Survivor Series bout. They packed a lot more action, but the finish was weak. The pay-per-view overall was a failed experiment, but I'll give these two credit for stepping up their game here. 

Match Rating: **

This show was about as unnecessary as any show up to this point and was basically the first In Your House without knowing it. However, I will give credit where credit is due. Hogan and Taker, two of my least favorite big names, stepped it up and delivered a better than expected main event. The tag team match was solid for what it was as well. The Jake/Savage aftermath was crazy, but the match left a lot to be desired. This is hard one to rate, since it probably should have never existed, but it's hard to recommend as show.

Overall Rating: 44%

ECW 10-17-22

Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
Veterans Memorial Arena
Jacksonville, Florida

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Singapore Cane On A Pole Match
Sandman vs. Matt Striker

Striker works on the leg to start, but then misses off the second rope with an ax handle. Sandman tries to climb, but Striker is able to dump him up. He grabs the cane and starts whacking Sandman over the head. Sandman fires up and steals the cane and starts to return the favor. Striker is bleeding, but he then rolls out of the ring in disgust. Striker is counted out in a match that that most people probably didn't think it was possible to happen. This was typical 2006 ECW stupidity.

Match Rating: 1/4*

CM Punk vs. Rene Dupree

Dupree is able to snap the neck of Punk on the top rope in this rematch. He hits a nice leaping reverse elbow and follows it up with some right hands. Punk comes back with a leg lariat and a kick to the head. The Anaconda Vice is locked in and Dupree taps. Dupree continues to look pretty good whenever getting the chance, even in squash matches. Mike Knox tries to attack Punk after the match, but Punk is ready for it. Knox backs to the entrance as Punk continues to yell at him. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Rob Van Dam is back to talk about his match with Big Show tonight. This is the debut of Rebecca DiPietro as the backstage announcer. 

Test is out to gloat and then talks about what happened to Hardcore Holly in his match with RVD. He then shows how he hit Holly with a chair to the back after Holly put his hands on Paul Heyman. He says when Holly returns, he will make an example of him. Now Balls Mahoney's music hits. He says that Holly can't wrestle, but he can right now. Test says he'd love to fight him, just not tonight. Balls just attacks him instead and we have a referee for a match.

Test vs. Balls Mahoney

Balls misses with a splash in the corner and Test stomps away. He throws Balls' shoulder into the ring post twice and then slams his arm on the apron. Balls makes a comeback and hits a sit down spinebuster. Test catches him with a boot to the face and hits the TKO for the victory. This was a match.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Shannon Moore vs. Sabu

Joey Styles announces that tickets for December To Dismember are going for sale. Can't wait, Joey! It's a good thing they told us Shannon Moore was coming to ECW for like 3 months. How else would we know who's jobbing every week? Sabu hits a somersault over the top rope onto Moore. Moore ducks a right hand and hits a springboard moonsault. Moore hits an elbow and then misses with a corkscrew moonsault and Sabu hits a leg drop to pick up the victory. It feels like this is a re-introduction episode or something. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We're now back to Big Show and he says that if RVD beats him in the non-title match tonight, he'll give him a title shot. But if not, he's cut off. 

Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam

RVD tries to chop Show down, but he gets hit with a boot to the face. RVD gets back up and runs up to the top to hit a somersault dive, but Show kicks out with authority. Show dominates while RVD plays the plucky underdog. RVD comes back with a leaping spin kick to the jaw of Show. Show grabs him by the throat, but RVD counters with right hands. He hits a spinning one legged mule kick and then hits the big kick from the top rope. He hits Rolling Thunder and gets a 2 count, but Show is still able to throw him off in the kick out. Big Show hits RVD with a spear as RVD was running the ropes. That looked like it knocked the wind out of RVD. Show misses with the Vader Bomb and RVD goes for a spin kick in the corner. Show catches him and then hits him with a clothesline in the corner. RVD almost runs into the ref, but then Show ends up running into him. Show goes for the chokeslam, but RVD hits a DDT. He goes up top, but Test shoves him off and hits a clothesline before attacking him some more. He goes outside to grab a chair and hits RVD in the gut. Hardcore Holly comes from behind and grabs the chair and hits Test in the back with it. Show grabs Holly from the head, but Holly hits him with the chair twice. RVD goes up top and hits the 5 Star Frog Splash. The referee is up and RVD picks up the victory. This was a pretty standard match that had a somewhat interesting ending, but I just don't know if anyone cares enough about Holly or Test at this point in their careers. 

Match Rating: **1/4

This was one of those episodes where they just try to re-establish things and showcase a few performers. They continued a few storylines, even there weren't really any interesting developments. This type of episode does work with the 1 hour format though and while it didn't necessarily leave me craving more, it definitely wasn't a turn off like some of their episodes have been.

Overall Rating: 48%