NXT 12-18-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, December 18th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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After a R Evolution recap video, Adrian Neville is out to address the NXT crowd. He said that he is proud of his performance against Sami Zayn, but Zayn should be the one out here. However, thanks to Kevin Owens, Zayn is unable to be here, which brings out Owens. Owens says if Neville wants a fight, he knows where to find him. 

They show Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks giving Bayley some problems at R Evolution. We go to a Becky interview talking about her recent attitude change.

Tyler Breeze says he's going to be in Europe doing some modeling, so he won't be around for a little bit. 

Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

Bayley hits an elbow to the back of a seated Bayley and follows it up with a seated clothesline. Becky tries to go after Bayley's knee, but Bayley fights it off pretty quickly. Bayley is doing everything she can to keep Becky off the injured knee, but it eventually gets to Becky slapping on the Four Leg Clover for the submission victory. This was too quick, but played up Bayley's hurt knee. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Charlotte says that she once again proved she was the superior athlete at TakeOver.

The Vaudevillains approach William Regal in black and white, of course. They argue that the legal man wasn't pinned in their match and Regal agrees. They will get a rematch as a result of the mistake. 

Bull Dempsey vs. Jesus de Leon

Here we go again. I feel like Lloyd Christmas when he's talking to the undercover agent at the bar. "No and I don't care!". This is a squash and out comes Baron Corbin. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Baron Corbin vs. Rob Ryzin

Corbin hits End Of Days and wins in 14 seconds. Great. After the match, Dempsey shoves Corbin. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show clips of R Evolution main event and the aftermath with Kevin Owens.

Enzo & Big Cass vs. The Ascension

Cass hits some knees to the midsection of Viktor and follows it up with a splash in the corner. In comes Enzo and he gets distracted by Carmella not paying attention. Viktor hits a clothesline and that's all. The booking of Enzo and Cass has been so strange to me. After the match, Viktor says that their loss to Hideo Itami and Finn Balor was dumb luck. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Adrian Neville vs. Kevin Owens

I'd say this is a pretty worthy main event here. Owens has his nose taped from his TakeOver match. I really can't say enough how impressive it is that Corey Graves is as good as he is at announcing this early on in his career. Owens dominates the middle portion of the match and talks a lot of trash. Neville catches him with a kick to the head and then starts his flurry of kicks, ending it with a dropkick to the head. He hits a springboard dropkick for a 2 count. Owens catches Neville off the top rope and he hits a gutbuster and a senton, but Neville is able to kick out. Neville gets knocked off the top rope and then Owens hits a draping DDT, but again it's only a 2 count. Both guys are being booked strong here. Neville catches a running Owens and hits him with a German suplex before following it up with a dive to the outside. Owens is able to drive Neville into the ring post and that's going to end up getting both guys counted out, which the crowd doesn't love. There was no way they were going to have Neville take two losses in a row and no way that Owens was losing, so not sure what anyone expected. After the match, Owens powerbombs Neville on the ring apron. The match was pretty good, but not a TakeOver quality match.

Match Rating: **3/4

Most of this episode felt like they were going just trying to re-establish a few stars, but nothing was particularly exciting. The main event was good and was given a fair amount of time. This wasn't a classic episode, but it was decent enough.

Overall Rating: 58%

Monday Night Raw 12-26-94 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, December 26th, 1994
Liberty Central
Liberty, New York

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After a three month absence, Undertaker makes his Raw return and Diesel will be Jerry Lawler's guest on King's' Court. Plus, Tatanka will face British Bulldog in our feature match.

Tatanka vs. British Bulldog

Shawn Michaels says that Tatanka looks a little lethargic tonight, like Barry Sanders did last night. I don't care what kind of heel you are, but don't you ever compare Tatanka to Barry. Vince simply just talks too much during this era. He's afraid that any dead air will make you realize how poor the product is. Anyway, Bulldog hits a vertical suplex and Tatanka rolls out to regroup with Ted DiBiase. Bulldog goes for the running powerslam, but Tatanka grabs the ropes and falls on him for a 2 count. They go to a commercial break during the pin attempt because that always makes sense on a taped show. Tatanka goes for a chop off the top rope, but Bulldog is ready for it and hits a suplex. He follows it up with some clotheslines, but then DiBiase pulls down the top rope and Bulldog spills to the floor. Out comes Lex Luger to help even the odds. Tatanka goes after Luger, but Luger gets the best of him and they start brawling. Out comes Bam Bam Bigelow and we have a melee. The referee obviously calls for the bell, although they don't say the result. I'm guessing it would be for a DQ, but online is saying double countout. I guess it really doesn't matter.

Match Rating: *3/4

It's time for a Royal Rumble Report and Todd makes some dorky joke about getting an electric screwdriver and now he's hanging pictures he doesn't even like. They announce the same entrants as Royal Rumble except they cut to Shawn Michaels in the high school gym, I mean arena, for him to make some comments. We get Bret Hart sitting in front of a fireplace talking about how he got to be home with his family for the first time in years on Christmas. He's rested and 100% and now he got what he wanted, a title shot. 

Henry Godwinn vs. Mike Khoury

They talk about Godwinn being a favorite in the Royal Rumble. Apparently all you have to do is win 2 matches against jobbers to be a favorite in 1995. Godwinn hits a headbutt to the midsection and then the Slop Drop for the victory. This was a squash.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show highlights of Hakushi's victory on Superstars. 

It's time for the King's Court and he insults some women in the crowd. His guest today is WWF Champion Diesel. Lawler offers him a handshake, so Diesel squeezes it until Lawler is on his knees. Lawler goes on a rant, so Diesel takes his crown off and tosses him out of the ring. 

Kwang vs. Rich Myers

Howard Finkel has an interview spot during the match where he apologizes for pulling Harvey Wippleman's pants down last week. Literally no one cares about this match. Kwang hits a spin kick and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Vinny Pazienza working out to talk about some match he has coming up in Atlantic City. He says he wants to get some of Shawn Michaels and his dangly earrings. I have never heard of this goof.

Kama is coming to the WWF.

Stephanie Wiand interviews DiBiase and he accepts Bulldog and Luger's challenge for a tag team match with Bam Bam and Tatanka.

Undertaker vs. Brooklyn Brawler

Brawler charges and eats a boot to the face. Taker hits Old School and the crowd is absolutely dead for this. Taker hits the Tombstone and puts us out of our misery here. This was bad Undertaker. The druids are out with IRS as the show ends.

Match Rating: 1/4*

This was your typical Raw during this era. The feature match wasn't good enough to make the episode good and for whatever reason, Undertaker was particularly bad here. I guess it's that high school gym energy. 

Overall Rating: 40%

Royal Rumble 2023 Review

Saturday, January 28th, 2023
Alamodome
San Antonio, Texas

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Pat McAfee is here and Corey Graves is irate. Maybe McAfee can complain about Dan Campbell not being on his show some more. I lean more on the side of Corey rather than Michael Cole's genuine joy. 

Men's Royal Rumble

Do you have to speak a certain way to be a ring announcer now? We're going to kick things off with #1 Gunther and #2 Sheamus. This one seems a little obvious, but I'm not complaining. Today is Sheamus's 45th birthday, which is kind of crazy. They brawl for a little bit, but we've got 90 second intervals, so this will go quickly. #3 is Miz for his 14th Royal Rumble. Miz distracts Sheamus before coming into the ring and almost eliminates him off the apron. This kind of feels like the Daniel Puder spot in the Rumble here for Miz. Out at #4, it's a New Day with Kofi Kingston. He goes up top and hits a crossbody off the top rope and a bunch of offense to knock everyone down. At #5 it's Johnny Gargano and I haven't seen him since he's been back. His reaction from the crowd was a little underwhelming, which is disappointing. Gargano holds him up on the apron for Sheamus's 10 Beats Of The Bodhran and Miz is now gone. At #6, it's Xavier Woods to get both New Day members in here. At #7, it's one of my favorites in Karrion Kross. No, I'm not serious. He gets his moment to take everyone out before a battle with Gunther. He gets him down and now Sheamus wants a turn. Chad Gable is out at #8. I still can't believe he's not higher up on the card, but it's WWE, so I guess I'm not surprised. Well, we're finishing off the UK trio with Drew McIntyre in at #9. He does us all a favor and eliminates Kross quickly. In 10th, it's Santos Escobar and he has kind of a weird start with Chad Gable. He hits a Michinoku Driver from the top rope on Gargano and it's treated like no big deal. Angelo Dawkins is in at #11 and the crowd seems to be dying out a little bit on the entrances. There really has been nothing of note in the match so far. Gunther is able to knock Woods off the apron to eliminate him. Kofi tries to push Gunther off, but he is unsuccessful. Gunther is able to knock Kofi out and he maybe was supposed to land on a chair, but it falls over. They are trying to claim his one leg is on the chair, but then Brock Lesnar is out at #12 and everyone is focused on that. We get Suplex City, but at least it works for this situation. He tosses out Escobar and then Dawkins. Gable is out next and then we get suplexes to Drew and Sheamus. Now we get a faceoff between Brock and Gunther as Bobby Lashley is out next. That kind of ruined the buzz of the Gunther/Brock moment. Lashley is in and he Spears Lesnar upon entering. Brock gets him up for the F5, but Lashley escapes and clotheslines him out of the match for the first surprise moment. Out at #14, it's Baron Corbin. Perfect timing for a guy that no one cares about. Meanwhile, Lesnar is throwing a temper tantrum. He attacks Corbin and hits a F5 before he enters the ring. At #15, it's one of the favorites in Seth Freakin Rollins. He tosses Corbin in the ring and hits a superkick before clotheslining him out of the ring. Otis is out at #16, who I kind of forget is still on the roster. #17 is 2006 Royal Rumble winner Rey Mysterio, but is not out. Seth Rollins gets a surprise elimination by randomly getting Lashley out. That felt oddly timed. We miss Pat Patterson. Still no Mysterio, but Dominik is out at #18. Sheamus and Drew are able to eliminate Otis when no one is paying attention. Dominik is still on the outside of the ring, before trying to pick his spot and it backfiring. #19 is Elias and it seems like a long time since he was really over. He smashes his guitar over the back of Gunther before getting hit with a Claymore Kick and Brogue Kick at the same time. He is eliminated right after and Cole informs us it was 39 seconds. Finn Balor is #20 to provide Dominik some help. Gargano is eliminated and then out comes our first surprise with Booker T at 21. He hits a Book End before doing the spinaroonie before getting eliminated by Gunther. Damian Priest is #22 and we have all three members of Judgment Day in the ring. They dominate and now it's Montez Ford at 23 and he's eliminated quickly by Judgment Day. Now at #24, it's Edge and hits a Spear on Balor and Priest. Dominik dropkicks him, but then eats a Spear as well. Edge eliminates both Balor and Priest before squaring off with Rollins. Dominik ruins it and attacks Edge. He tries to eliminate him, but Priest and Balor come in and pull Edge out. We have just Rollins, Dominik, Gunther, Sheamus and McIntyre before Austin Theory enters at 25. Meanwhie, Edge chases Judgment Day down the apron to keep the brawl going. Out comes Rhea Ripley and she attacks Edge. Beth Phoenix is now out to make the save and hits her with a Spear. Omos is #26 and he double clotheslines Sheamus and McIntyre. Omos then hits a chokeslam on Gunther as we countdown to Braun Strowman at 27. This feels a little late for these two big man. They immediately square off in the center of the ring and it leads to Braun clotheslining Omos over the top. Ricochet is our 28th competitor and he doesn't even really get a spotlight moment. Gunther is able to eliminate both McIntyre and Sheamus, using their friendship against each other. #29 is Logan Paul, so I guess he's back. Everyone surrounds him and attacks Paul. Paul hits a real nice somersault over the top rope into a clothesline. Strowman hits a big running powerslam on Paul and Ricochet hits him with a shooting star. #30 is of course Cody Rhodes, which feels like the wrong spot for him unless he isn't going to win. Cody is in and hits the Cody Cutter until Dominik comes in and hits two of the Three Amigos before Cody eliminates him. Ricochet and Paul have a huge collision off dueling springboards and that was the highlight of the match so far. Cody is able to eliminate Strowman, with Ricochet looking to kind of helping out. Theory gets rid of Ricochet and we are down to our final four. Seth hits a Stomp on Theory and Cody clotheslines him out. So we are down to Cody, Gunther and Seth. Cody and Seth both hit Pedigrees on Gunther as Gunther is now the "traditional" Royal Rumble survivor. Meanwhile, Cody and Seth continue their feud until Logan Paul reminds me that he's still in the match and throws Rollins out. That's on brand for him. So take back all of my final four and three comments. I definitely didn't type that. Cody hits a Crossrhodes on him and eliminates him. We're down to Cody and Gunther. For real this time. We get a lengthy battle before Cody hits the Cody Cutter. He goes to knock Gunther over, but he lands on the apron. He hits a Shattered Dreams on Gunther, but Gunther hits a big dropkick. We get another battle on the ropes, but again we have no elimination. Cody goes off the top rope, but he gets greeted with a chop on the way down. Cody hits Crossrhodes and then a clothesline over the top to win the Royal Rumble. I thought we would maybe get a feud starter for Cody here and let someone else win, but they went with the obvious #30 wins. The match itself was just pretty good for the most part. The first half was pretty ho hum and didn't really pick up until about the time Logan Paul got in there. 

Match Rating: ***

Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match
LA Knight vs. Bray Wyatt

This really is something, whatever it's going to be. I don't think I could possibly care any less about this match as I do. I actually don't mind Knight, but I haven't seen enough to have an investment in him. This is just a match under black light and Bray has some paint on. Visually it looks cool, but it's just a match. And Bray Wyatt is in it. We get kind of a weird setup that leads to LA Knight hitting a running clothesline off the barricade and through the table. LA Knight gets in a couple shots with a kendo stick, but Bray hits Sister Abigail and that's it. Let's just pretend they never re-signed Bray, okay?

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Bray puts on a mask or something and goes after Knight again. They end up on towards the backstage and Bray puts on the Mandible Claw. Out comes Uncle Howdy and he dives off some platform and when he lands there is a big explosion with fire. This continues to be one of the worst things in company history. 

SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Alexa Bliss vs. Bianca Belair

The problem with having two Royal Rumble matches is that it just is a lot to take in for the live audience. There is no buzz in this match at all and while I don't know how good the build has been, I have to imagine it would be a lot more interesting had they not already sat through a 71 minute Royal Rumble match. They really have had no clue of what to do with Bliss since involving her in the Wyatt garbage. They are trying to highlight her aggression here, but Bianca shows off her power into a suplex. I'm too busy trying to forget the last match and figure out how I am going to stay up for another Royal Rumble plus a main event match. Bianca hits the KOD and that's all. That was treated with less care than a main event on SmackDown. They try to sell this as some big showing for Bliss, but it just wasn't because of the circumstances.

Match Rating: *1/2

Now we get more of the Wyatt crap with a video showing clips of all of it and asking if she feels in charge. 

Women's Royal Rumble

Rhea Ripley is #1 here and she is selling the Spear from Beth Phoenix on her way down to the ring. Liv Morgan is #2, so we have two of the favorites to start off. Ripley enjoys looking at the WrestleMania sign, so she has that going for her. #3 is Dana Brooke, who apparently has been in every women's Royal Rumble. No one remembers any of it. She comes in with a double missile dropkick to get into the ring. If this were 1990, kids at the lunch table would be speculating if there was a new Dana Brooke. #4 is Emma, who unfortunately doesn't do the Emma dance. Cole brings up how she was released from WWE right before the first Royal Rumble. #5 is Shayna Baszler and followed by Bayley at #6. Liv hits Bayley with Oblivion as soon as she hits the ring and almost eliminates her. #7 is B-Fab, whom I have never seen wrestle before. I'm not sure I can really count this either because Ripley tosses her out in 36 seconds. #8 is NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez. I have only heard good things. I look forward to watching her in my chronological NXT watch in about 10 years. Dakota Kai is in at #9 to help out her teammate, Bayley. It's 10:30 pm EST and we're on #10 with Iyo Sky. Dana Brooke is finally eliminated by Damage CTRL. They then go onto eliminate Perez as well just before Natalya comes out at 11. One of the most underrated female performers, Candice LeRae, is #12 here. Natalya tries to get revenge on Baszler, but she is able to keep her feet up. Damage CTRL comes and eliminates both of them. #13 is Zoey Stark from NXT. I am 100% impressed instantly here. Xia Li is out at #14 and she has a look that is new to me here. LeRae is the next to fall victim to Damage CTRL and now Becky Lynch is out at the halfway point. Damage CTRL greets her outside the ring and she makes quick work of them to get to Bayley in the ring. The action spills outside and they throw Becky over the announce table. #16 is Working The Network favorite, Tegan Nox. Her and Liv work together and Cole reminds us that they were at one time a "makeshift" tag team. Asuka is out at #17 and should add some credibility to the match now. Tegan gets eliminated by Asuka pretty quickly in a pretty uneventful elimination that tells me they don't think too much of her right now, which is a shame. Piper Niven is #18. I'm not a huge fan of McAfee as an announcer, but he deserves credit for putting over the talent tonight, particularly in this match. #19 is Tamina. How does she still work here? Her and Niven go after one another, but then Damage CTRL goes after Tamina. Becky is back in the ring now and hits a double DDT on Dakota and Sky. Our 20th entrant here is Chelsea Green. Let's see if this stint is the one that sticks for her. Well, she comes in and gets the Bushwhacker Luke treatment, eliminated by Rhea in women's record time. Dakota and Sky are both eliminated by Becky, but then Bayley eliminates her to big boos. Liv comes over and then eliminates Bayley and we have a brawl outside the ring. That's a bit of a surprise for them to go 2 for 1 on Becky and Bayley this early. #21 is Zelina Vega and is dressed as someone from Street Fighter 6, as WWE shows that they will literally do anything their sponsors want. Vega and Li have a battle out on apron and Vega is able to eliminate Li. #22 is Raquel Rodriguez and she gets the powerhouse entry. Michin is #23 and the announcers basically say she hasn't done anything since she came back. Oh boy, it's Lacey Evans at #24. Oh boy, it's Michelle McCool at #25. She's in the front row with her kids, which at least makes it a little bit better. She hits a Styles Clash and does the most babyface thing she can do, which is eliminate Tamina. Indi Hartwell is our 26th competitor and the announcers act as if she hasn't been around for years and they have never seen her. Sonya Deville is in at #27. Lacey puts Camel Clutch up on the second rope and then just dumps Zelina to the floor. Shotzi is #28 and out riding the tank. Nikki Cross is in at 29 and we still have a ring full of women ahead of our final competitor. Nia Jax's music hits before the countdown and it's a surprise that no one wanted. No thank you. Ripley hits a Rip Tide on her that looked like it had some authority on it. The entire ring comes and eliminates her. We have 11 people left in the ring, which is just way too excessive. Again, we miss Pat Patterson. Raquel is able to get rid of Lacey and then battles Asuka. She gets her on the apron along with Sonya. The fight it out and it leads to Sonya getting kicked to the head and eliminated. Raquel and Piper get their moments, with Piper being eliminated by Raquel and then Rea gets rid of Raquel. Nikki Cross is gone and we are down to Liv Morgan, Asuka and Rhea Ripley. I figured they would have snuck in Becky or Bayley in here too, but other than that, no surprises here. All three women end up on the apron and blue mist gets sprayed in Morgan's face and then Asuka is eliminated by Rhea. Morgan was able to hold on and she hits a Codebreaker. Rhea does a fantastic job of holding on and making it as close as possible and she dumps the blinded Morgan to the floor to win. So they went with the two popular picks here tonight. I think I liked this Rumble a little better with it flowing a little bit faster and smoother. What I don't like is that they went with the obvious 1 and 30 for the two winners. Couldn't Rhea have been 4 and Cody 26? 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Some guy named Hardy is here to perform and this is an all time dud of a song. Brutal.

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match
Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns

I am so glad that somehow Sami Zayn has gone from being this offbeat midcard heel to the best storyline since Daniel Bryan. My appreciation for him has been growing watching his NXT stuff and now watching the complete 180 of what we got there has really moved him into the upper echelon of my all time WWE list. It's kind of interesting to me that Roman still does the locked and loaded before hitting the Superman punch. That seems like something his character wouldn't do now. Owens is able to sidestep a Spear attempt and Reigns hits the ring post. Owens hits a superkick and follows it up with a Swanton, but Reigns kicks out at 2. Owens starts climbing again, but Reigns this time greets him with a right hand. Owens goes for a spinning springboard move, but slips and falls on top of Reigns. That's a bummer. Reigns recovers and hits a Spear for a 2 count. Owens stops the Spear attempt this time and goes for the Stunner. Reigns pushes Owens into the referee and then Owens hits the pop up powerbomb, but there is no referee to count. Reigns yells at Zayn to get a chair. Zayn argues is a little bit because he had told him he didn't want him doing anything. This little delay allows Owens hit the Stunner for a very close call. Reigns hits a Spear and Owens is able to kick out at the last second, giving the crowd a reason for applause. Give everyone involved in this thing credit because we're at the 4 hour mark of the show and the crowd is into this because the writing and performing has been excellent. Reigns does WWE's favorite spot with the Spear through the barricade. He then slams the back of Owens' head on the steel steps twice. Reigns hits the Spear and that is all and Zayn is relieved. Owens put up a good fight, but this was all about the drama. Those step shots looked brutal. The Bloodline is down after the match Roman doesn't allow for Sami to get his lei. The Usos then attack Owens as Reigns puts his arm around Zayn. Solo Sikoa then does the butt in the face with a chair over Owens' face. Owens is now handcuffed to the ropes as the attack continues. Zayn stops Roman from hitting with the chair, saying Owens is done. Roman then forces Zayn to grab the chair. Zayn teases hitting Reigns with the chair and Reigns accuses Zayn of crying. Reigns starts shoving him in the face and Zayn finally does it and hits Reigns in the back. The reaction for that was awesome. He apologizes to the Usos and they take him out. Sikoa hits the Samoan Spike on him and then the beatdown continues. Jey is standing back in the corner as the crowd chants his name. He rolls out of the ring and heads to the back. Roman takes out his anger on Zayn and starts beating him with the chair. This is getting some nuclear heat for Roman and he start tossing the flowers on Zayn one by one. WOW. That was fantastic. I don't even remember the match at this point, but it was pretty good. Everything after was just stellar though.

Match Rating: ***1/2

This is a hard show to rate. The two Rumble era is starting to run it's course for me. It's just too much. They just need to rotate or something. The two undercard matches were about as pointless as they could have possibly been. Then came the main event. The storytelling was just off the charts. We're talking Randy Savage/Elizabeth/Sheri at WrestleMania VII in terms of where we're at. The best part was that the crowd reacted to it better than you could have ever imagined. Just off the charts. With that being said, I would just watch that again and probably never really go back to re-watch anything else. 

Overall Rating: 70%

Superstars 12-24-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 24th, 1994
Mid-Hudson Civic Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

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Lex Luger vs. Chris Avery

They show highlights of the Lex Luger/IRS match on Raw as he makes his way down to the ring. Luger hits a vertical suplex and a slightly off balance powerslam. He puts him up for the Rebel Rack and that is all. A quick and decisive squash this week for Luger as they build him up as a top contender in the Royal Rumble. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to go to Stephanie Wiand and they show Ted DiBiase at a charity auction. Looking back on this, I'm not really sure why they thought kids would care about any of this. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match
Heavenly Bodies vs. Bushwhackers

I'm not really sure why the Bodies drew the Bushwhackers in this tournament. I guess someone had to. The Bodies attack them on their way into the ring and it's Luke and Tom Prichard to start. Luke makes a tag to Butch but the referee doesn't see it and it works to the Bodies advantage. Butch gets the hot tag and cleans house. He picks up Prichard from the apron, but Del Ray trips up Butch, Prichard falls on him and the Bodies pick up the quick victory. At least they did the right thing here. The match was too quick to be offensive. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Next week it will be Jim Neidhart and Owen Hart against the Headshrinkers.

King Kong Bundy vs. Gary Scott

Vince and Lawler talk about how impossible it will be to get Bundy out of the Royal Rumble. I never really thought about it too hard, but the Rumble really was hurt by not having Yokozuna in it. Anyway, Bundy wins by pinfall. You didn't miss anything.

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the Royal Rumble Report with Todd Pettengill. Razor Ramon is going to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Jeff Jarrett and Razor cuts a pretty pointless promo. Undertaker is also going to take on IRS and Taker cuts a super robotic promo about him being IRS's worst nightmare. Todd goes over the 10 announced competitors and then announces a few more in Mo, Mabel, British Bulldog, 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly and Shawn Michaels. Bret Hart and his beard talk about his match against Diesel and respects that Diesel wants to know as badly as he does who's the better man. He wishes everyone a Merry Christmas except Owen Hart. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Scott Taylor

Roadie does a mic check and then gives it to Jarrett so he can spell his name. Vince mocks Jarrett's laugh just to 100% confirm that he's the one who makes Jarrett do that stupid laugh. Jarrett hits a big back body drop and a vertical suplex. He hits an atomic drop into a clothesline on Taylor, but then ducks too early after sending him off the ropes. Taylor then avoids a splash in the corner, but gets crotched on the top rope. Jarrett hits a superplex and slaps on the Figure Four for the victory. Jarrett continues to look good in the ring, even in this rushed squash. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a sit down interview with Diesel conducted by Vince. Before Diesel answers the question, he wants to wish us a Merry Christmas because he's such a good guy now. They talk about his match with Bret at King Of The Ring earlier in the year and how there are a lot of unanswered questions from that match. This interview just felt so damaging to the mystique they had built up with this character. 

Hakushi vs. Reno Riggins

This is Hakushi's TV debut which I don't quite understand since he didn't end up on the WrestleMania card. Between the tattoos and the entrance music, he was a unique character for this time. He hits a body slam and the second rope splash for a 2 count. Hakushi avoids Riggins in the corner, does a backflip and then a superkick which draws a couple of claps from the crowd. Hakushi dropkicks him out of the ring and then hits a delayed splash on the outside. Hakushi goes up top and hits a shoulder tackle. He goes up to the top again and hits a headbutt for the victory. Hakushi looked really good here. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get a Kama vignette. 

Doink vs. Sonny Pruitt

We don't even get an entrance for Doink this week. Pruitt is a hairy individual. Doink hits a scoop slam and a sunset flip off the top rope for the victory. This was a blink and you'll miss it type of match, which is fine. Doink and Dink go and grab a box of presents and hands them out to the live crowd. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Stephanie Wiand, who shows us a Jim Neidhart and Owen Hart interview talking about how the Headshrinkers aren't smart enough to beat them. Captain Lou Albano then talks over the Headshrinkers.

Shawn Michaels joins Vince and Lawler. Shawn is upset that the Heartbreak Hotel was preempted today thanks to Diesel. Bah humbug. Vince then gives Lawler a gift while wearing a Santa hat. He opens it up and it's a Burger King hat. I never saw that coming. We then show Diesel leading the WWF office staff in singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". Yes, really. 

I am thankful that they kept the Bushwhacker match short here and the Hakushi debut match was impressive, even if it felt like a little bit of an afterthought. However, the main takeaway here was the Diesel interview and how they are so quickly damaging the character that people came to love. There's a reason this time period is infamous and I'm watching it spiral quickly out of control as they kill their new champion.

Overall Rating: 37%

SmackDown 11-10-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, November 10th, 2006
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio

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King Booker and Queen Sharmell are out to kick off the show. They ramble on before Teddy Long is out to congratulate him on being the Champion Of Champions. He has some photographers take some pictures of him, but wants to talk about something else. He announces that Batista is going to get a title shot at Survivor Series. Booker is upset, but Teddy said he never mentioned that it would be against him, since he may no longer be the champion because right now he has to put the title on the line against Bobby Lashley. 

World Heavyweight Championship
King Booker vs. Bobby Lashley

I'd say this is a bigger way to start the show than normal. They both get a little bit of offense in before Lashley clotheslines Booker over the top rope into the commercial break. Lashley goes for a Spear, but Booker avoids it and Lashley hits the post. Booker then crotches Lashley on the post behind the referee's back. Booker hits a superkick and gets a 2 count. Lashley makes a comeback and is able to catch Booker for a powerslam. This all leads to Sharmell making a distraction and Booker rolling him up for the victory. This match was much longer than my review, but nothing really noteworthy happened. It wasn't bad, but it was just middle of the road stuff. 

Match Rating: **1/4

MVP approaches Teddy Long, but Teddy said he's about to watch See No Evil on DVD with bonus scenes. Seems like a good idea for the guy running the show to watch a movie during the only 2 hours his show actually needs him. Teddy says that next week, MVP will take on Kane in a street fight. 

Chavo Guerrero is with Vickie and Chris Benoit comes in and asks what happened to them. Vickie tells him that all he needs to worry about is losing his title. He's facing Chavo at Survivor Series.

Matt Hardy & Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Gregory Helms & Sylvan

Yang gets in some fast paced offense to start, but Helms grabs his leg while running the ropes and Sylvan hits a big clothesline. Helms is in and hits a vertical suplex. They continue to isolate Yang with multiple tags. Sylvan gets some nice hangtime on a dropkick. Both he and Rene Dupree honestly aren't as bad as I remembered. Yang finally tags in Hardy and hits the Side Effect on Helms. Sylvan runs in he hits a bulldog/clothesline combo. Hardy props Helms on the top rope and goes for a superplex. Sylvan grabs him from behind, but Hardy tosses him over the top. Yang hits a dive to the floor and Hardy hits a Twist Of Fate from the top rope for the victory. That was a fun ending to a solid match.

Match Rating: **3/4

After some highlights of Batista/Finlay, Mr. Kennedy is down to the ring. Michael Cole and JBL reference that he has challenged Undertaker to a match at Survivor Series. He talks about why he wanted to leave SmackDown to expand his horizons and that Undertaker got in his way. He wants Undertaker to come out right now and accept his challenge. It takes a minute, but Undertaker's music finally hits. Kennedy tries to attack him but Taker grabs him by the throat. Kennedy eventually gets the better of him, using the microphone to bust Taker open. Kennedy talks some trash, but on his way to the back, Taker sits up and crawls to the ropes. This was pretty bloody for SmackDown. 

Chris Benoit vs. KC James

I guess this is a measuring stick type of match here for James. James just looks like he was born about 20 years too late with his look and style. Benoit hits a lot of his signature moves, including the top rope headbutt before slapping on the Crippler Crossface for the victory. James did get to struggle a little bit with the application of the hold if that counts for anything.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Boogeyman vs. TJ Dalton

Dalton tries to escape, but Boogeyman is there to throw him back in the ring. This is every Boogeyman squash you've ever seen. Worms included.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Kristal confronts Miz about not getting rid of Boogeyman. Miz says that he has it covered because he's challenging him to a match next week. 

Finlay vs. Batista

Unlike a lot of hyped up TV matches, this one looks like it will actually get some time. We get an early commercial break, as per usual and when we come back Batista is working on Finlay. He hits a catapult to the ropes and Finlay bounces back on Batista's knees. When Batista is getting back into the ring, out comes Hornswoggle and he hits Batista with the shillelagh in the knee. He comes out again and rakes the eyes of Batista this time. Finlay attacks the knee of Batista, despite Batista trying his best to battle out of it. Batista starts to mount a comeback and hits a running powerslam. For the time given, this has actually gone by quickly. Batista hits a spinning side slam and out comes King Booker. Batista throws Finlay into him and hits a spinebuster for the victory. This was pretty good for what it was, but I really don't think anyone was buying Finlay really being on Batista's level. He had been treated as superhuman for pretty much the last year or two. 

Match Rating: **1/2

This was a good episode of SmackDown, which hasn't had a good episode in quite a few weeks. They did a good job of bookending the show with matches that mattered and the tag team match was the in ring highlight. They allowed Kennedy to get the best of Undertaker, setting up their feud for the next couple of months.

Overall Rating: 63%

ECW 11-7-06 Review

Tuesday, November 7th, 2006
iWireless Center
Moline, Illinois

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Extreme Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
CM Punk vs. Mike Knox

This is probably Punk's most established opponent to date. Punk immediately looks impressive and then hits an awesome Tarantula type move and hits some right hands while he's doing it. He hits the springboard clothesline and Knox is out of the ring. Punk chases Knox and it ends up with Knox taking control. He locks in a sleeper and then a powerbomb. Punk avoids a charging Knox and fires back with some kicks. Punk hits the running knee, but Knox hits a backbreaker. I feel like Punk is getting more offense in this match than he did in a lot of his early squashes. Knox goes for a superplex, but Punk shoves him off and hits a crossbody for a 2 count. Punk hits a roundhouse kick and puts on the Anaconda Vice for the victory. That was actually a good match, with Punk looking really sharp here. I'm not sure why they jobbed out Knox after doing a halfway decent job of building him up, but at least it was to someone who needed the rub. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Elijah Burke and Sylvester Terkay are announced as new ECW Superstars. Burke gets to show off a little bit of his charisma with a quick interview. 

Paul Heyman is out to the ring accompanied by his goons. They show clips of last week when he attacked Rob Van Dam in a gorilla suit. He then announces that he will team up with Big Show tonight to take on RVD and Hardcore Holly. He also announces that anyone on the WWE roster can sign the contract for the 6th spot in the Extreme Elimination Chamber. 

Little Guido vs. Daivari

Daivari is of course accompanied by Great Khali. Guido is one of the elite sellers of this time period, so this was a good choice for Daivari. This match is everything you would expect it to be. Daivari dominates, Guido squeezes in a little bit of offense and then Daivari hits the DDT for the victory. Khali comes in and destroys Guido for good measure.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Extreme Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Test vs. Tommy Dreamer

They have a back and forth match to start off. Dreamer goes for a DDT, but Test grabs the ropes and hits a low blow while the referee is trying to break it up. Test hits his finisher and that's all. This felt rushed and the finish was pretty obvious considering all of the challengers up to this point were faces. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Rob Van Dam & Hardcore Holly vs. Big Show & Paul Heyman

RVD starts chopping down Big Show, but makes the mistake of going after Paul and Show hits him from behind. We get lots of slow offense and Paul Heyman yelling after this. Heyman gets in a few slaps in while Show holds him in the corner. After nothing happens forever, RVD finally makes the tag to Holly and he immediately starts attacking his partner. He hits an Alabama Slam on a chair. Big Show hits a splash and then high fives Holly. This was a terrible match that was all just an angle. I'm not sure people care enough about Holly to really make this impactful. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

This show started off with a nice opener and it was all downhill from there. The Test/Dreamer match should have probably gotten more time and the big turn at the end really doesn't matter. Typical 2006 ECW.

Overall Rating: 42%

Off The Grid, Volume 30: Royal Rumble 1990 Review

Sunday, January 21st, 1990
Orlando Arena
Orlando, Florida

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Off The Grid, Volume 30:

Jesse Ventura and Tony Schiavone are your announcers here today. Jesse of course is in Disney gear. 

Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Bushwhackers

This is basically the last major appearance for the Rougeaus here. Jacques with a beard is always strange to me. Raymond is able to get a sleeper hold on, but it ends with Butch biting his butt and then the referee's but. The Bushwhackers hit a double clothesline and then go for the Battering Ram, but the Rougeaus escape out of the ring. The re-group does them no good and now Luke is biting Jacques's nose. Jacques ducks a clothesline, but he ends up hitting Raymond instead. The Rougeaus finally get their footing and take control. The Rougeaus drop Luke on his throat on the top rope and the crowd is still very much into this. Luke gets his knees up on a splash attempt and makes the tag to Butch. They go for the Battering Ram again, but Jimmy Hart holds Luke's leg. They get their hands on him, but before they can do anything, the Rougeaus hit a double dropkick. Raymond puts on the Boston Crab, but Jacques gets tripped up by Luke. They hit a Battering Ram to the back of Jacques and that's enough for the victory. This was actually a little bit better than I remember. I don't always love the flows of the Bushwhacker matches, as they outsmart their opponents a little too often. The crowd was into it and they all put in a pretty good effort. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Mean Gene is with Ted DiBiase and Virgil to talk about drawing his number. DiBiase denies any wrongdoing last year with his number, but is all fired up because it is revealed that he drew number 1 this year. 

The Genius vs. Brutus Beefcake

This one seems like a little bit of a stretch for a pay-per-view match, but it's the Royal Rumble, so I guess it's acceptable. Poffo has kept himself in good shape despite being relegated to a manager who sometimes wrestles. They finally lock up and Genius uses the eyes to gain an advantage. Beefcake is able to get in an inverted atomic drop and we get some more stalling. Genius misses a dropkick in the corner and if you like matches with stalling, this is the one for you. The crowd then starts chanting demeaning slurs at Genius. It's funny that they have to keep convincing us that Genius is an acceptable wrestler while we have to pretend that Beefcake is actually good. I guess that's the art of professional wrestling. This thing is already way longer than it needed to be. Beefcake Barber goes for the sleeper hold, but Genius is able to slip out of it and then Beefcake accidentally pushes him into the referee. The referee is down and out on the floor. Beefcake gets the sleeper locked in and Genius is out. Beefcake does his dorky dancing and then grabs his scissors. He starts cutting the top of his head and then Mr. Perfect finally comes out to attack Beefcake. He hits the Perfect Plex and they start ringing the bell. Perfect grabs a chair and nails him in the midsection. Officials come in to try and stop him and they head to the back. This was something that could have been on Superstars and not something you paid for. They call it a double disqualification. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Sean Mooney is with Bobby Heenan, Rick Rude, Andre The Giant and Haku. Heenan says that everything is planned out and everything is going to go fine. They then start arguing about what will happen if it's down to two of them. 

Submission Match
Greg Valentine vs. Ronnie Garvin

Ventura is making a big deal out of Garvin wearing a shin guard on his leg. Garvin has to go after Valentine to get him in the ring and then almost immediately goes for a pin attempt in a submission match. We get a lot of punches and headbutts in a somewhat awkward exchange between the two. Garvin goes for a piledriver but it ends up with a sunset flip attempt and Valentine chopping Garvin in the head. They collide in the middle of the ring and both men are down. Garvin goes for another pin attempt and Valentine is able to knock him out as a result of his mistake. Valentine puts on the Figure Four, but since Garvin has the guard on his leg, it doesn't do any damage. Garvin makes some stupid faces at Valentine and then when he gets out goes for another pin attempt. It's getting to the point where I'm finding it hard to believe that his pin attempts are storyline. We get a chop fest on the outside and then Garvin goes for another piledriver. Valentine counters with a back body drop and we go back in the ring. Garvin misses a dropkick in the corner and ends up in the tree of woe. Valentine gets some stomps in before Garvin gets out of the predicament. This match is really lacking a flow here. They run into each other again and this time Jimmy Hart takes off the guard of Garvin's leg. Valentine hits a backbreaker and slaps on the Figure Four. I apologize to everyone, the guard is called the "Hammer Jammer". Garvin is just such a dorky babyface. Garvin is trying his best to reverse the hold and eventually does. Valentine grabs the ropes and reverses it back and uses it for leverage. The referee breaks the hold and Valentine goes to work on the leg. Valentine goes up top, but Garvin hops over there and press slams him. Garvin then takes off Valentine's guard. Valentine rolls him up, but again, it's a submission match. Valentine gets tied up in the ropes and grabs Valentine's "Heartbreaker". He throws Hart in the ring and then hits Valentine with the guard and puts on the Sharpshooter. Valentine submits and the crowd wakes up for that. I'm not really sure who should have won this one since neither went on to do anything of note after this. The match wasn't bad, but they were kind of just out there hitting moves. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Mean Gene is with Mr. Perfect to talk about what happened earlier with Brutus Beefcake. He then also informs us that he pulled the perfect number in the Royal Rumble. 

It's now time for Brother Love. They got that set up pretty quickly. Schiavone decides to talk over him and make fat jokes. His guest is Sister Sherri. It still blows my mind that Bruce is only 26 years old here. They exchange compliments before bringing out Sapphire, which now makes way for Ventura to make fat jokes. Sherri and Love team up to make fun of Sapphire and it leads to her slapping Sherri. Out comes Randy Savage and Dusty Rhodes. The men start going at it and Sapphire jumps on the back of Savage. Love is able to pull her off and then goes to the ring to gloat while officials keep Rhodes and Savage apart. Rhodes goes into the ring and Love fails to escape. He hits a body slam and then Sapphire gets a slap in before celebrating. I wouldn't say this was great, but it was entertaining enough thanks to the talent involved. Dusty and Sapphire was such a strange moment in time. 

We go to Sean Mooney who is with Jim Duggan. He's coming after Boss Man, tough guy. 

Big Boss Man vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

It was always strange to me that Duggan was one of the last people to get entrance music. We get a slugfest to start and Duggan is able to knock Boss Man out of the ring. Duggan baits Boss Man into charging at him and he ducks, causing Boss Man to run into the ring post. Boss Man was starting to lose weight that would lead him to the peak of his career in late 1990, early 1991. Duggan on the other hand looks about as heavy as he ever was here. Boss Man hits an enzuigiri and follows it up with his splash onto the second rope. Slick gets in on the action to get in a choke behind the referee's back. Duggan's comeback attempt is cut short with a knee to the midsection. After a Boss Man bear hug, Duggan is finally able to get some offense in and clotheslines him out of the ring. Duggan hits a shoulder tackle, but both men are down. Slick hands the nightstick to Boss Man and he gets caught using it for the disqualification. Duggan grabs his 2 x 4 and hits Boss Man in the back. Did any Duggan match ever have a clean finish? He knocks Slick out of the ring as well. This was a disappointing match, as both guys were always entertaining during this time. 

Match Rating: **

It's time for the quick hit promos. First up it's Earthquake and Dino Bravo, this is the most I remember hearing Bravo talk. Bonus points for the bouncing Quake promo. Demolition talk about being numbers 1 and 2 before. Bad News Brown calls his competitors spineless cockroaches. Dusty Rhodes is more focused on Randy Savage. The Rockers say they won't be fighting against each other. Hercules says his destiny will be fulfilled (it won't). Rick Martel wants us to take a look at his profile. Tito Santana says once he hits the ring, friendships are over. Jimmy Snuka makes loud noises. Akeem mostly dances while Slick preaches. Ultimate Warrior makes louder noises. Randy Savage focuses on Dusty Rhodes even though he says he isn't. Powers of Pain are devious. Jake Roberts waxes philosophical. Bret Hart tells Jim Neidhart to mellow out. Honky Tonk Man says he's going to play all 29 of his hits. Hulk Hogan says you can't compensate for the power of the pythons with the Hulkamaniacs behind him. 

Royal Rumble

Ted DiBiase is #1. Oh, the irony. #2 is Koko B. Ware who wasn't important enough to get a promo. I really don't quite understand why he never got higher on the card. Koko gets in a little bit of offense and before you know it, DiBiase dumps him out of the ring. Out comes Marty Jannetty at #3. They follow the exact same formula where Marty gets in some offense and then is eliminated before the next competitor is in. This time it's Jake Roberts at #4. They go at it and out comes Randy Savage at #5. For the first time in the match, we have 3 people in the ring. He comes in and chokes out Roberts. Savage's gear has to be his most unique that I can think of. Out at #6 is Roddy Piper and he gets a huge pop. Talk about 4 huge names in there now. Piper hits a double clothesline on the heels and place is going nuts for it. Out at #7, it's the Warlord. He's just here to fill up the ring. Now at #8, it's Bret Hart. The ring is getting crowded now and Ventura is amazed that DiBiase is still in there. It's barely been 10 minutes. Out at #9 is Bad News Brown. DiBiase has Roberts held and Savage clotheslines him out of the match. #10 is Dusty Rhodes and he goes right after Savage. Savage charges at him and he back body drops him right out of the ring. Savage is irate, but forced to leave. Andre the Giant is out at #11 and Warlord goes after him, but quickly gets tossed out. Bobby Heenan and Mr. Fuji get into an altercation over it. Red Rooster is still here and he's #12. Piper tosses Brown out of the ring and then Brown pulls Piper out. They start brawling outside the ring to set up their WrestleMania match. Out at #13, it's Ax. Dusty and Ax get Andre tied up in the ropes and stomp away. #14 is Haku and he's able to help out his partner. Out at #15, it's Smash to no one's surprise. It's Akeem at #16 and we have 8 men in the ring. Demolition are able to team up and eliminate Andre to the delight of the Orlando crowd and while no one was watching, Bret was also eliminated. #17 is Jimmy Snuka and he immediately looks like a jobber. He's able to get a running start and knocks out Akeem. It's time for Dino Bravo at 18 and he adds nothing to the match. #19 is Earthquake and he tosses Dusty out of the match and then eliminates Ax. Jim Neidhart is #20 and goes after Earthquake. Five men team up and they are able to get Earthquake out of there. #21 is Ultimate Warrior and now it's chaos. He goes right after Dino and quickly eliminates him. Rick Martel is #22 and it's Tito Santana at #23. They go at it for a little bit, but mostly nothing is happening now. #24 is Honky Tonk Man. Ultimate Warrior finally is able to eliminate Ted DiBiase with a clothesline. #25 is Hulk Hogan and he immediately eliminates Snuka. Haku is out next after a weak looking boot. Santana goes for a body slam on Martel and Warrior flips them over. Santana falls to the floor and Martel is able to hang on the apron. It's time for Shawn Michaels at 26. Meanwhile, Hogan dumps out Honky. Warrior dumps out both Michaels and Martel and it's down to just Warrior and Hogan. The crowd is going nuts for it. Even Bobby Heenan is watching. They hit a double clothesline and they are both down. Barbarian gets the honor of entering the ring at 27 and getting to work on a wounded Hogan and Warrior. Rick Rude enters at #28, possibly prematurely. He and Barbarian team up to try and get rid of both superstars. Rude and Barbarian team up on Warrior and Hogan clotheslines him from behind. They're able to hang on, but Warrior is eliminated. He comes back in the ring and attacks Rude and Barbarian before running to the back. Hercules is #29 and is here to fulfill his destiny of losing. He throws both Rude and Barbarian into Hogan's boots. It's finally time for Mr. Perfect to enter at 30. He goes after Hogan while the other two work on Hercules. Barbarian accidentally hits Rude with a boot and then Herc eliminates him. Hercules doesn't last much longer and we have the combo of Rude and Perfect working on Hogan. Rude accidentally hits Perfect and he falls through the ropes. Perfect accidentally assists in eliminating Rude when he grabs the rope to help himself back in and Rude goes over the top. Rude's tights were pretty cool tonight, for what it's worth. So we're here for Perfect's big moment and he hits the Perfect Plex. Hogan hulks up and hits a catapult into the post. Hogan sends him over the top and that's all. This was an entertaining match, but also the booking of Hogan winning just doesn't make sense to me. He's already the champion, why does he need to win? The first portion of the match was probably the highlight from a match quality standpoint and the Warrior/Hogan standoff is probably the moment that everyone remembers. Perfect got the final spot, but wasn't treated as a threat, so it meant nothing. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

I would say that this is one of those shows that you would like better if you were watching it live and were looking back on it. I wasn't a fan just yet, but rented this one quite a bit. The crowd was hot for just about everything (even Red Rooster), but overall, WrestleMania VI is a much better show than this one. 

Overall Rating: 61%

Monday Night Raw 11-6-06 Review

Monday, November 6th, 2006
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio

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After JR and Jerry Lawler hype up the success of Cyber Sunday, it's time for Rated RKO and Lita to head towards the ring. They brag about their victories last night and then bring out Eric Bischoff. He announces that John Cena has been given the night off and DX has been banned from the building. He announces that Johnny Nitro against Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship. He tries to announce another match, but he's interrupted by Ric Flair and Roddy Piper. This segment just has no juice to it. They ramble on and it leads to Bischoff having them take on Rated RKO tonight.

(No Disqualification) Intercontinental Championship Match
Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy

They wrestle for about a minute and Melina trips up Hardy, causing the referee to ring for the bell. Out comes Bischoff and he declares that this is now a No Disqualification match. This brings us to a commercial break as Nitro applauds his decision. Nitro hits a nice springboard kick on Hardy and follows up with some clubbing blows. They run the ropes and hit a double crossbody and they are both down. Hardy goes for the Twist Of Fate, but Nitro pushes him away and he hits Whisper In The Wind in stead. Melina jumps on Hardy's back, but he pushes her off and goes up top. Nitro comes from behind and knocks him off the top and then hits him with the Intercontinental Championship belt to become the new champion. This wasn't really much of a match, which is kind of disappointing. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We get more Eric Bischoff and she makes Maria take on Umaga tonight. 

Kevin Federline cuts a studio promo challenging John Cena to a match on New Year's Day on Raw. 

Losers Must Split Up Match
Spirit Squad vs. Jim Duggan & Eugene

The role of the Spirit Squad will be played by Kenny and Jonny tonight. Kenny blind tags himself in and this makes poor Jonny upset. Eugene pulls out a Rock Bottom after about a 45 second beatdown from his opponents. He hits the lukewarm tag to Duggan and he quickly goes for the shoulder tackle. Nicky distracts him and Duggan gets rolled up and the Squad pulls off the victory. After the match, Eugene and Duggan are upset. They hug, but then Eugene attacks Duggan from behind. He then uses the 2 x 4 to choke Duggan. No one wanted this. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Maria vs. Umaga

Maria is brought out by Jonathan Coachman. Umaga picks her up and hits a Samoan drop. He then props her up in the corner and hits the butt bop. Armando Alejandro Estrada is up on the apron and breaks the cigar until John Cena's music hits. Out comes Cena to make the save. Umaga is enraged on the outside. I guess this is how the feud starts. Todd Grisham asks Cena why he's here since he has the night off tonight. Cena says nothing around here makes sense right now. Cena then gives Grisham a FU for some reason. Cena then accepts Federline's challenge. How are there still 40 minutes left on this show?

Match Rating: N/R

Bischoff is with Lita bragging about his successes so far tonight. Bischoff asks why Lita wants to wrestle Mickie James and then whispers something in his ear. Bischoff then says that he'll be the referee of the main event tonight.

Carlito is flirting with Torrie Wilson and in comes Shelton Benjamin clapping. Shelton says that the WWE Universe wasted their vote last night on Carlito. Shelton will prove that tonight in the ring. He then says that he didn't win the vote last night was because he was because he's a minority. Carlito laughs and says that he is too. This was a total desperation angle for Shelton and Ron Simmons was there to concur. 

On This Week In Wrestling History, it's The Wrestling Classic. I assure you, it was not classic.

Cindy Margolis is shown in the crowd.

Chris Masters vs. Jerry Lawler

Eric Bischoff gets on the Titan Tron and tells Jim Ross that he needs to get in the ring. Jerry Lawler stands up to him and challenges him to a match. Bischoff says that he can get in the ring with Masters instead. Bischoff tells him that if he wants his job still, he has to wrestle the match with one arm handcuffed to the top rope. This Bischoff thing is really making for some great TV tonight. Masters basically attacks him, has the referee take the handcuff on and puts on the Master Lock. That will get him over.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Cryme Tyme are here to take Lawler's spot.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito

Shelton attacks Carlito before he gets to the ring. Carlito hits some of his left handed offense and a variation of the flapjack for a 2 count. Shelton rolls out of the way for a springboard move and then hits a big boot. Cryme Tyme then starts going through Shelton's stuff and the distraction allows for Carlito to hit the Backstabber for the victory. This episode has been terrible. Cryme Tyme walks off with his stuff.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Women's Championship Match
Mickie James vs. Lita

Coach is now out in Lawler's spot. Lita grabs a mic to inform us that Mickie will have her hand tied behind her back. This is just absolutely thrilling TV. Lita misses with a moonsault and Mickie gets in some one armed offense. It doesn't last long and Lita hits a DDT for the victory. Ugh.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Lita introduces Eric Bischoff out and he's in his referee gear.

No Disqualification World Tag Team Championship Match
Rated RKO vs. Ric Flair & Roddy Piper

Piper decides to leave the shirt on in a wise move. Edge quickly hits a missile dropkick on Flair for a 2 count. Edge goes up top again and this time misses with the crossbody. Piper is tagged in and uses some right hands to knock Edge down. Orton comes from behind and hits Piper with a chair. Edge misses with a chair shot on Piper and hits the ring post instead. Piper is able to get the tag and he hits Orton with some chops. Flair then hits a double low blow. He goes for a Figure Four, but Orton kicks him and he hits Bischoff. Edge hits a Spear and another referee comes out to count, but Flair kicks out. Edge gets crotched on the ring post and Orton wants the RKO. Out comes DX and Shawn Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on Orton. Flair gets the cover and picks up the victory. I would have never guessed that the people banned from the arena would interfere.

Match Rating: *3/4

After the match, Triple H hits a Pedigree on Bischoff. They then bring out Big Dick Johnson in DX gear and Bischoff gets his face shoved in his g string. They toss Bischoff out of the ring and celebrate as we go off the air. 

This was absolutely horrible television. Not one thing that happened tonight was worth anyone's time and that's not great coming off such a poor pay-per-view. They are in a total slump right now and we still haven't even gotten to December To Dismember.

Overall Rating: 26%

NXT TakeOver: R Evolution Review

Thursday, December 11th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Kevin Owens vs. CJ Parker

KO kicks off the show and gets a nice reaction once they know the unfamiliar music is for him. Corey Graves is here making his announcing debut here. Not that there is any doubt about Owens going over here, but Parker has been treated as such a jobber, that it makes it even more obvious. Owens attacks him immediately and then hits the cannonball. He then destroys Parker's sign before hitting the somersault dive over the top rope. Parker is able to hit a palm strike and gets a 2 count. Owens is busted open because of it. Owens fight back with a clothesline and hits a package neckbreaker. He hits the pop up powerbomb and that is all. This probably should have been a little quicker, but Owens was impressive nonetheless. 

Match Rating: *

Corey Graves announces that he is announcing due to concussion issues. They then show Adrian Neville getting ready for his match tonight. They show a clip of his WWE.com interview and does some pull ups.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Lucha Dragons vs. Vaudevillains

This is probably the best built tag team match in NXT's short history. They just have never put much effort into the division until recently. The challengers single out Sin Cara, with Aiden English showing off some nice heel work. Gotch is able to hold off Cara from getting a tag in and hits a back suplex. Cara is finally able to make a tag and Kalisto hits a springboard corkscrew. He hits a nice kick to the head and Cara hits a dive off the top rope. Kalisto hits a roll through kick and then they both send English to the outside. The Dragons then go for a double dive, but English pushes Gotch out of the way and he takes the double dive alone. Gotch does nothing with it and is back in the ring just to get hit with Salida del Sol for the victory. That finish makes no sense to me. The match was fine, but would have been just fine on TV rather than TakeOver.

Match Rating: **1/2

Tye Dillinger vs. Baron Corbin

The bell rings and the crowd begins the fast count. Corbin hits Snake Eyes and the boot and then Bull Dempsey is shown. He hits End Of Days and that's all. Dempsey does the slow clap and Corbin stares him down before walking away. This was what it was supposed to be. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Zayn is shown in the locker room sitting on a bench. He is wished good luck by Enzo and Cass and then Owens is shown in the background. They show a clip of his WWE.com interview. 

The Ascension vs. Hideo Itami & Finn Balor

This is the debut of the Demon character for Balor. All four men start off brawling and they hit the double dropkicks in the corner. The bell finally rings and Itami hits a big dropkick. Konnor is able to hit a flapjack on Itami and slow him down. The Ascension double team Itami and isolate him from Balor. Itami is able to fight them both off and crawl to tag in Balor. He knocks down Viktor and leaps off his back to attack Konnor. He runs into a reverse elbow but hits an enzuigiri up the second turnbuckle. He hits a dive on both opponents outside and stands tall. Balor throws Viktor back in the ring and misses with the Coup de Grace. He's able to hit a variation of a brainbuster, but the pin attempt is broken up. Balor misses with a kick and gets hit with a clothesline. Itami is in and goes for the GTS, but Konnor makes the save. They set up for Fall Of Man, but Itami pulls Konnor out of the ring. Balor hits a Pele kick and both men go to the top rope and hit the double Coup de Grace for the victory. This was a lot of fun and the best the Ascension have ever looked. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Renee Young is with Roman Reigns to congratulate him on being Superstar Of The Year. He cuts a pretty robotic promo here about trying to be the first NXT star to win the World Heavyweight Championship. 

NXT Women's Championship Match
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Things get off to a heated start with Charlotte being more aggressive than normal. After some action on the outside, Sasha kicks Charlotte on her way back into the ring. Sasha then throws Charlotte into the steps and it looked to be a pretty stiff bump for Charlotte there. After a lengthy heat segment from Sasha, Charlotte is able to hit a neckbreaker and shift the momentum. Sasha comes back and hits a dive through the ropes on Charlotte. These two are putting on a real solid match here so far. Back in the ring, Charlotte hits a Spear and that has the crowd going. Sasha is able to trip up Charlotte into the turnbuckle. Sasha rolls her up and gets a 2 count. Charlotte goes up top and goes for a moonsault. Sasha moves and Charlotte lands on her feet and then does a somersault onto Sasha for a nearfall. Sasha goes for a superplex, but Charlotte blocks her and hits a face-first suplex from the top. She grabs Sasha and hits Natural Selection from the top rope and picks up the victory. That was a very good match and they had the crowd with them the whole way. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

NXT Championship Match
Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville

The crowd is 100% behind Sami to start. We get a feeling out period to start with Neville keeping things slow. Zayn is able to hit a backbreaker and then a seated springboard moonsault to the outside. Neville slows things down again and then hits a second rope dropkick. Zayn hits a nice lariat and a pop up dropkick. Zayn tries to go for a dive, but Neville runs in and hits a flying headscissors on him. Zayn is able to back body drop Neville out of the ring and hits a senton dive over the top rope. Back in the ring, Zayn hits a top rope crossbody and gets his closest pin attempt thus far. Zayn hits a Blue Thunder Bomb and naturally Neville kicks out of the pin attempt. Just once, he needs to win with that move. I guess I don't actually know if he hasn't won with it, but none to my knowledge. Neville hits a German suplex with a bridge and Sami kicks out. Neville hits a sit down powerbomb and that looked like Zayn hit more on his neck than he maybe wanted to. Zayn goes for the Helluva Kick, but Neville gets out of the way. Neville goes up top and goes for the Red Arrow, but Zayn gets the knees up. Zayn slaps on the Koji Clutch, but Neville makes it to the ropes. The referee gets a minor bump and Zayn goes to check on him. Neville takes advantage and hits a reverse hurricanrana, but Zayn kicks out. Zayn is able to hit his dive through the corner tornado DDT that will never not impress. Zayn hits a Helluva Kick, but the referee also takes some of the strike. Neville grabbed the referee and got him hurt. Neville grabs his title belt and tries to use it for a weapon. Zayn knocks Neville out and then looks at the belt. Zayn goes back and forth about using it, but decides against it. Neville rolls him up and Zayn barely kicks out. Zayn is up and hits an exploder suplex in the corner. The Helluva Kick is next and he gets the pinfall to become the NXT Champion in a really good match. The crowd is ecstatic here and by far the biggest reaction anything has gotten in NXT up to this point. Zayn had been the best performer on the roster since the day he started here and it's nice to see him get this recognition.

Match Rating: ****

Sami gets the Bret Hart at WrestleMania X celebration. The music stops when Neville gets back in the ring and we get the delayed hug. Kevin Owens hugs Zayn on the apron as the closing logo pops up on the screen. He hold his hand up and they walk up the ramp. Owens attacks Zayn and then hits a powerbomb onto the HARDEST PART OF THE RING. William Regal comes out to check on him and this time we go off the air. 

This was a slight improvement over the previous TakeOver and the last three matches all really delivered. The crowd was very invested in the action and that's a great sign that they are doing their job. This one also had the added drama of the attack by Owens. 

Overall Rating: 87%

Monday Night Raw 12-19-94 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, December 19th, 1994
Liberty Central
Liberty, New York

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Lex Luger vs. IRS

We kick the show off right away with Luger on his way to the ring. We have the holiday WWF logo in the corner, which has me feeling a little nostalgic. I do have to say that I completely expected Luger to be a lot less inspired than he has been during this run, but he usually brings a pretty good level of intensity to his matches. I think he's just a better wrestler than I always thought he was. IRS gets in a little bit of offense before they zoom in on a ring worn by one of the druids before going to commercial break. It's an IRS match, so you know I don't typically don't recap his offense. Luger makes a comeback and then the druid hits him with a cheap shot. Luger goes after the druid and it ends up being Tatanka. Luger somehow gets counted out rather than winning by disqualification. Whatever. The match wasn't terrible, but the finish was lame. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We get a recap of the first match of the WWF Tag Team Championship and then they show Howard Finkel with the Bushwhackers.

Jeff Jarrett is shown at Bally's and is approached by Rip Taylor. 

Smoking Gunns vs. Chris Avery & Roy Raymond

Vince hypes up the Gunns bull riding careers. The Gunns drag this one out longer than I would expect here. They hit a double side Russian leg sweep. Billy hits a suplex and tags in Bart and they hit the Sidewinder. Bart sets up Avery on his shoulder and Billy hits the splash for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week it's Tatanka vs. British Bulldog on Raw. Plus, the Raw debut of Henry Godwinn. 

It's time for King's Court and Jerry Lawler's guest is Bob Backlund. Lawler doesn't even talk, it's just Backlund cutting his usual insane promo with nonstop yelling. He calls Diesel a tyrannosaurus rex. 

Bob Holly vs. Chris Kanyon

Kanyon looks like he's trying out to be the fake Razor Ramon here tonight. Holly ducks too soon and Kanyon snaps him back to the mat before hitting a body slam. He taunts Holly and that backfires. Holly hits a big boot to the face and a vertical suplex. Holly hits a top rope elbow drop and picks up the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the Royal Rumble Report. This is basically the same one from Superstars. I love how Dick Murdoch is just treated as someone we're supposed to know. 

Well Dunn vs. Bushwhackers

Howard Finkel is out with the Bushwhackers and somehow does the arm thing wrong. They storm right in and double team Well Dunn with a lot of clotheslines. This is your typical Bushwhacker match where the heel team looks like idiots. Well Dunn get in a DDT and then a reverse elbow off the top rope for a 2 count. Luke gets a boot up when one of them goes off the second rope and tags in Butch. If you're new around here, I refuse to learn which Well Dunn member is which. Harvey Wippleman tries to cheat, but Fink pulls his pants down and Butch gets the victory. I don't even know what I just watched here.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go to Mabel sitting on Santa's lap and not being able to talk. They then switch to Santa sitting on Mabel's lap. I could barely type because I was laughing so hard. 

Jim Neidhart vs. Nick Barbarry

We come back from commercial with the match already started. Neidhart hits a back body drop over the top rope and to the floor. Meanwhile, Scrooged is going to be on USA Network. I can't remember the last movie that I watched on TV even before streaming. Neidhart puts on the Camel Clutch and picks up the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a Pamela Anderson Royal Rumble commercial. Next week it's Tatanka vs. British Bulldog and Undertaker will be in action. We'll get the Raw debut of Henry Godwinn and Diesel on the King's Court. 

This was a halfway decent episode, but they are still treading water a little bit as we close out the year. December is not typically noted as being a great month for them, but with Royal Rumble right around the corner, it seems like a good time to start turning it up a notch.

Overall Rating: 40%

Superstars 12-17-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, December 17th, 1994
Mid-Hudson Civic Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

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They show the recap of why we're having a Tag Team Championship Tournament and it's exclusively happen on Superstars until the finals at the Royal Rumble. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match
Men On A Mission vs. Tatanka & Bam Bam Bigelow

They start brawling to kick it off and Ted DiBiase's team is stuck dealing with Mabel to start. He works on the arm of Bam Bam and tags in Mo, who comes off the top rope to hit a double ax handle on it. Mo hits a powerslam on Tatanka and barely gets a 2 count. Mabel hits a leg drop on the arm of Tatanka and we get a commercial break. If anything, this tournament is giving them an excuse to give us matches that mean something that actually may get some time. We come back and Vince thinks that Mo has increased in girth. Men On A Mission have seemed to have lost all of their momentum as an actual team during the Mabel singles run. I actually thought they were pretty solid earlier in the year. Tatanka is finally able to get away from the arm work and tags in Bam Bam. He hits a kick on Mabel and goes for a suplex. Mabel blocks it and hits one of his own. Bam Bam is just too determined, so he kicks him again and hits the suplex this time. They both collide in the ring and tag in their partners. Mo hits a clothesline on Tatanka and follows it up with a hip toss. Tatanka hits a chop and sets up Mo for the End Of The Trail. He puts one finger on Mo and picks up the victory. That was anything but an impressive victory for those two, as they hardly got in any offense. Overall, it wasn't really a very good match either. They will face the winners of the Headshrinkers and Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart. 

Match Rating: *

Next week it will be Bushwhackers vs. Heavenly Bodies.

We now go to Stephanie Wiand for Live Event News. No more Charlie Minn. She shows us the story of Doink and Dink and then Doink attending a Toys For Tots event. 

IRS vs. Phil Apollo

The druid storyline continues. I assure you, no one cares about this storyline. IRS hits a running clothesline and that's all. Sorry, that's all I cared to type about. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for our first Royal Rumble Report. Todd Pettengill tells us that Pamela Anderson will be there, but also announces that Bret Hart will be facing Diesel for the WWF Championship. They're coming out swinging pretty early here with the announcements. Diesel tries to give a cool interview and then insults him for wearing pink. This is terrible. Todd then announces that it will be every 60 seconds at this year's Royal Rumble. He shows a highlight of the finish of the 1994 Royal Rumble. He announces the first 10 Superstars: Bob Backlund, King Kong Bundy, Dick Murdoch, Kwang, Henry Godwinn, Lex Luger, Adam Bomb, Duke Droese, Doink and Aldo Montoya. That is quite the diverse list of characters. 

Adam Bomb vs. Tony DeVito

DeVito is fired up here today, but it's not working out well for him. Vince can't stop talking about Pamela Anderson and Adam Bomb hits a back suplex that looked like it didn't feel great. Bomb hits a top rope clothesline and the pump handle slam for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Henry Godwinn vs. Nick Barberri

This is Godwinn's debut and he levels Barberri with a clothesline. I always was a fan of Godwinn the performer. He hits a headbutt to the midsection and hits the Slop Drop for the victory. His entrance music is something else. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show pictures of Lou Albano getting the Headshrinkers haircuts. They had to tie up Fatu in order to get it done. 

It's time for the Heartbreak Hotel. His guest today is Jeff Jarrett, who is accompanied by Roadie. They talk about Roadie's role before shifting to the Intercontinental Championship. We get lots of "ha, ha, ha, ha" from Jarrett. This was pointless. 

British Bulldog vs. Charlie Hunter

Hunter is a large jobber. Bulldog hits the delayed vertical suplex. Apparently Hunter became Dudley Dudley before becoming a jobber again. Bulldog hits the running powerslam and that is all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Stephanie Wiand is back to talk about Bob Holly. He's so good that he'll still be around in 12 years getting his back sliced up in meaningless matches. 

Next week, we will get the aforementioned tournament match plus Hakushi, Lex Luger, King Kong Bundy, Doink and Jeff Jarrett. There will also be an interview with Diesel. 

This was a disappointing show just because I thought the tag team match had potential to be more than what it was. Considering the story they are going to tell at Royal Rumble, the way they put that match together made no sense. The squash matches were what they always were. 

Overall Rating: 35%

Cyber Sunday 2006 Review

Sunday, November 5th, 2006
US Bank Arena
Cincinnati, Ohio

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Umaga vs. Kane

Kane beat out Chris Benoit and Sandman for this prestigious honor. Todd Grisham and Maria are the hosts for the polls. Kane had 49% of the votes. You get what you deserve, people. Kane gets the early offense until Umaga is able to hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Kane sits up, so Umaga kicks him and then hits a headbutt. He eventually hits a second rope headbutt halfway across the ring. The running butt to the face is next and Kane rolls out of the ring after. Umaga goes for the spike, but Kane ducks and he hits the ring post. Kane follows it up with a series of punches and clotheslines, but Umaga then catches him with a Samoan drop. Estrada calls for the Samoan Spike, but Kane sits up and goes for a chokeslam. Umaga rakes the eyes, but misses a splash in the corner. Kane hits a back suplex. Kane goes up to the top rope and Estrada grabs his leg. He kicks him away, but gets hit with a thumb to the throat on the way down. Umaga hits the Samoan Spike and that is all. This was about what you would expect from these two and hopefully Umaga is finally completely done with Kane since he is on SmackDown. 

Match Rating: **

Sharmell approaches Big Show and she tries to convince him that if the ECW title is on the line, Booker will help him retain. If it's Booker's title on the line, he should help him. Big Show doesn't agree and insults her and Sharmell isn't happy.

Texas Tornado Tag Team Match
Cryme Tyme vs. Viscera & Charlie Haas vs. Highlanders vs. Cade & Murdoch

Texas Tornado wins with 50% of the votes and we are instantly underway. This is a match that's nearly impossible to call until we get it where it's just a bunch of random spots that then leads into magically there only being two people standing. Haas gets in some offense on JTG and then Shad sneaks in and hits a big boot. Viscera comes in to to help his partner. The Highlanders hits Vis with a double dropkick and knock him out of the ring. Cade and Murdoch are in and hit their inverted atomic drop/boot combo. Cryme Tyme knock them out of the ring and steal the victory. This was a TV match that hardly got any time. After the match, Cryme Tyme steals Jerry Lawler's computer.

Match Rating: *3/4

Shawn Michaels is hunting and pecking on a computer backstage. He and Triple H decide Eric Bischoff is the best choice and since he insulted them by saying they don't know what controversial means. This infuriates Michaels, so he just starts hitting Sweet Chin Music on random people in the hall. This is honestly one of the few moments of the DX revival that was fun.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Carlito

Carlito ends up with 62%. What a shock. He would have been my last choice for what it's worth. We get a botched spot that doesn't look like it would have been good for Carlito's chance at having children, but he seems to be okay. Carlito is able to hit a dropkick after Hardy leaps off the barricade. He moves it back into the ring and now we get some rest holds. It's going to take a strong finish to save this match. Hardy starts to make his comeback, but it seems like they definitely seems like they lost the crowd. Hardy goes for the Swanton Bomb, but Carlito gets his knees up. Carlito hits a springboard moonsault and now it's a 2 count. He misses a crossbody and Hardy hits a Whisper In The Wind, but Carlito kicks out. Hardy goes up top, but Carlito meets him there. Carlito goes for a hurricanrana, but Hardy pushes him off. He hits the Swanton Bomb and that is all. These two just didn't click. 

Match Rating: **

D-Generation X vs. Rated-RKO

Your special guest referee here is Eric Bischoff, who earned 60% of the vote. They did a lengthy promo video for this match and DX played to the crowd for even longer than their usual here. If you wanted a lengthy shot of Edge's butt, then this match is for you. Michaels pulls his pants down on a pin attempt and gets a 2. On a complete side note, I love the stage for this show. Even though the computer is outdated now, I still love the uniqueness of it. DX now isolates Orton until a blind tag is made to Edge and it allows Orton to hit a dropkick. Edge goes off the second rope, but gets hit with a boot to the gut. Triple H follows it up with a DDT and tags in Michaels. He hits a forearm and inverted atomic drop on both opponents. There really has been no fire in this match so far. I know this is just the beginning of the feud, but it's not off to a great start. Michaels hits a top rope elbow drop and starts tuning up the band. Orton grabs his leg and trips him up before giving him a low blow courtesy of the ring post. Bischoff's count as a ref is subpar. Edge hits a nice standing dropkick and gets another 2 count. Michaels teases a tag, but Edge hits him with a nice boot to the face. Orton hits his modified backbreaker before tagging in Edge again. Edge goes for the Spear, but Michaels sidesteps it and he accidentally hits Bischoff. Michaels hits an enzuigiri and both men are down. Triple H gets the tag and hits a high knee on Orton. He hits a facebuster on Edge and follows it up with a clothesline. He hits the spinebuster on Orton and goes for the Pedigree, but is Speared by Edge. Michaels dumps Edge out of the ring and hits a dive to the floor. Orton hits the RKO on Triple H and a second referee runs in for the count, but Triple H kicks out. Orton goes for another one, but Triple H pushes his way out of it and right into a Sweet Chin Music. Bischoff then pulls the referee out of the ring during the count and hits him with a right hand. Michaels goes after Bischoff and he gets blindsided with a chair to the head by Edge. Triple H knocks the chair out of Edge's hand and goes for a Pedigree. Orton hits him in the back with the chair and hits the RKO for the victory. This was largely disappointing. The ending was fine for what they were going for, but it lacked intensity. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Lita congratulates Edge backstage before getting interviewed by Todd Grisham. He calls the victory tainted, but Edge said this is the beginning of the Rated RKO era on Raw. 

Divas Lumberjack Match For The WWE Women's Championship
Mickie James vs. Lita

The Lumberjack match barely sneaks out the victory with 46%. Lita just wasn't herself at this point in her career. Lita dominates the early going and slaps on a sleeper hold in the middle of the ring. Mickie counters out to an arm bar, but Lita gets to the rope. Mickie catches a kick and trips up Lita. Even Lita running the ropes here, it's just not what it should be. Mickie kind of hits a hurricanrana that sends Lita over the top. The other Divas all join in and attack before throwing both women back in the ring. We get a really awkward spot where Mickie goes for a DDT, but Lita I guess countered it. Lita went for a pin and put her feet on the ropes, but they are pushed off by Candice Michelle. We get a little bit of chaos and it leads to Lita hitting a DDT and winning the championship. This was unfortunately not very good despite Mickie's best efforts. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go to the Spirit Squad and we get more of Kenny insulting his teammates. Johnny challenges him and they start shoving. He tells Mikey he had to rough him up to make him mad because it's the two of them tonight. They put their hands in, but Johnny reluctantly does. Guess what? No one cares. 

World Tag Team Championship Match
Ric Flair & Roddy Piper vs. Spirit Squad

They tried to portray Dusty Rhodes as the top guy, but Piper was always going to win this. Piper decides to go shirtless and I have to say, I'm not sure why someone didn't talk him out of it. Flair brings out Dusty and Sgt. Slaughter for backup. I mean, let's be honest, this won't be good. Piper gets tagged in and gets in a few shots before they go to work on him. Kenny puts on a sleeper and then they drag him to their corner with frequent tags. Kenny puts Mikey on his shoulders on the second rope and they miss with a drop on Piper. He tags in Flair and they double clothesline Kenny out of the ring. They hit a double elbow on Mikey and follow it up with a double suplex. Flair slaps on the Figure Four, but Kenny breaks it up with his top rope leg drop. Flair is able to get it back on and this time Piper fights off Kenny and Mikey taps. We get a brawl and the legends stand tall. This was what you would have expected.

Match Rating: *

King Booker tells John Cena they need to talk about their giant problem. He offers a royal pact to team up against Big Show. Cena agrees that it's a good strategy, but says he needs one thing in return. He wants one night with the queen, which Sharmell flips out about. She leaves the room and Booker agrees to it. Cena tells him he is sick and that he's not going to take his wife, but he'll have no problem taking his title if the World Heavyweight Championship. He then jokes about what he wants for his night with Sharmell, which leads to Ron Simmons. 

Triple Threat Champion Of Champions Match For The World Heavyweight Championship
King Booker vs. Big Show vs. John Cena

The World Heavyweight Championship wins the vote with 67% of the vote. Booker tries again to convince Cena to help him, but he just knocks him out of the ring. Big Show then dominates Cena and Booker stays out of the way. Booker picks his spot and comes in and chops down Show. Show fires back with a right hand and some chops to the chest. Show tries to fight off both men, but it catches up to him and they clothesline him out of the ring. Cena then hits a fisherman suplex on Booker, but Show pulls him out of the ring during the pin attempt. Show grabs the ring steps, but Cena hits a drop toe hold and he falls face first into the steps. That leaves us with Booker and Cena now to battle it out in the ring. Booker hits a hot shot and a kick for a 2 count. Cena hits a top rope splash, but Booker rolls out of his way. Booker goes for the Scissor Kick, but Cena counters into the FU. Booker counters out and gets a 2 count. Big Show is still on the outside. Cena puts on the STFU, but Booker grabs the bottom rope. Cena goes for a superplex, but Big Show finally comes in. He puts Cena on his shoulder and then Booker hits a missile dropkick to knock everyone down. Show hits a double suplex and then hits a double butt bop into the corner. Show hits a big Spear on Cena and knocks him out of the ring. Show and Cena start battling out front of the announce table, much to the dismay of JR. Show gets shoved into the ring post and he refocuses his energy on Booker in the ring. Cena kicks a chair into Show's face. Sharmell tries to use the title belt on Cena, but he picks her up and hits the FU. He slaps the STFU on Booker as the referee checks on Sharmell. In comes Kevin Federline and he hits Cena with the title belt. Cena tries to go after him and the distraction allows Booker to hit Cena in the face with the belt. That's enough for the victory for Booker in a terrible finish. This was such a WCW finish where you promote your TV show more than the thing you made people pay money for. The action wasn't bad, but it was longer than it needed to be and as a result, slower as well. 

Match Rating: **1/2

I didn't care for this show back in 2006 and I liked it even less this time around. There was nothing worthwhile here and nothing withstands the test of time. This is just an absolute bummer of a pay-per-view event.

Overall Rating: 30%

NXT 12-4-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, December 4th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Charlotte vs. Mia Yim

This is the first appearance for Yim. Charlotte catches her with a knee to the midsection. She hits a neckbreaker and then Natural Selection for the extremely quick victory here tonight. This was obviously just a quick squash to get ready for her defense next week against Sasha.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Out comes Sasha Banks and she asks Charlotte to hand her over her title. Sasha says she has more Flair in her one finger than her or daddy have in their entire body. Out comes Bayley and she insults her by calling her ratchet, which I guess I am too old to know what that means. She attacks Bayley and then attacks Charlotte. She gets to hold the title over Charlotte 

It's time for another Vaudevillains old timey short. 

Buddy Murphy & Wesley Blake vs. Vaudevillains

The Vaudevillains isolate Blake in their corner and work on the knee with frequent tags. Murphy is able to get a tag and hits a dropkick and some double knees on English. Gotch makes a blind tag and they hit a swinging neckbreaker for the victory. This really didn't do a great job featuring the challengers.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Sampson

Dempsey pancakes Elias and then hits the top rope headbutt for the victory. I am all in on Bull having quick matches if they are going to make me sit through them. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Baron Corbin vs. Steve Cutler

Corbin hits End Of Days and that's all. Great, thank you.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a final Kevin Owens vignette telling us some of the wrestlers that they picked over him. 

Tyler Breeze & Tyson Kidd vs. Hideo Itami & Finn Balor

We get a short segment before the commercial where not a whole lot happens. After the break, Kidd goes to work on Balor. Kidd hits a nice guillotine leg drop with Balor draped on the bottom rope. Balor is able to hit the Pele kick and makes the tag to Itami. He hits a big dropkick and then a boot to the face of Breeze. He then hits a running dropkick to a seated Breeze. Balor hits a double stomp off the top rope on the back of Breeze. I hated the set up to that, but the move itself looked brutal. That's enough for Itami to pick up the victory. Balor grabs the mic and says he's bringing something that the Ascension have never seen before. 

Match Rating: **

Adrian Neville is out to talk about his victory over Sami Zayn and that it wasn't how he wanted to win. He says that Zayn is too nice and that it's cost him. Out comes Zayn and he's a little fired up. Neville says that he respects him more than anyone on the planet, but Zayn says that it's not about respect and he slaps him. Zayn kind of reminds me of Jason Segel here (random, I know). He slaps him in the face and says he's taking his title. 

This episode was kind of what I expected, which was a lot of nothing. The big show is next week and they have done a pretty good job of building the feature matches and tonight was just showing the talent off. It wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't anything I'll ever remember watching.

Overall Rating: 39%

Monday Night Raw 12-12-94 Review

Monday, December 12th, 1994
Liberty Central
Liberty, New York

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Is this Raw actually from a school? Yikes. We get an opening promo intro from Backlund and Doink. 

Bob Backlund vs. Doink

I mean I guess if this is the main event then a school is a pretty good place for this episode. Only Dink comes out and acts as if he'll be wrestling. Doink comes from behind and attacks him and Vince is okay with that. This match would be more interesting if it were evil Doink and heel Backlund. We get lots of "scientific" wrestling as McMahon likes to always discuss. Honestly, the highlight so far has been all of the clown makeup that has gotten all over the body of Backlund. We get lots of arm work from Backlund, which means lots of laying around. Why in the world are they giving this match so much time? Backlund was just WWF Champion and Doink just jobbed at Survivor Series with no future. We get our first burst of energy in forever with Doink hitting a sloppy reverse crossbody and then multiple pin attempts. It ends with him missing with an elbow drop and now Backlund wants the Crossface Chickenwing. He locks it in and that's finally it. He won't release the hold after the match and officials come out and are able to break it up. Dink is very upset. I'm not because this trainwreck is finally over with. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get a hype package for the WWF Tag Team Tournament on Superstars. 

Razor Ramon vs. Mark Starr

Razor hits Starr with some pretty hard chops, but then falls when he catches Starr in the air. He lets Starr work on the knee to sell the mishap. Starr looks for a hip toss, but Razor hits a hard hitting clothesline. Razor hits the super back suplex and continues to sell the knee. He hits the Razor's Edge and that's all. Razor showed a little bit of a mean streak here, probably because he was performing in a high school gym. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the King's Court and IRS is his guest today. He's out with the druids and Lawler goes on a rant about professional athletes charging for autographs and not paying their taxes. He shifts over to Undertaker and then to talking about taking on Lex Luger next week. This was pointless and no one cares.

We get the same Hakushi vignette from Superstars.

Aldo Montoya vs. Nick Barbarri

After dropping Barbarri on the second rope, he hits a dive to the outside. Out comes Harvey Wippleman to check things out. Aldo hits a reverse elbow and then the leaping bulldog for the victory. This was spirited for what it was.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Harvey gets in Howard Finkel's face about being in the corner of the Bushwhackers. 

They show Todd Pettengill getting a new co-host for Christmas on the 100th episode of Mania. This of course is none other than Stephanie Wiand.

King Kong Bundy vs. Bobby Knight

Unfortunately, this is not THE Bob Knight. I really thought it would be. Bundy throws him through the ropes into the turnbuckle. I still can't believe they thought Bundy was the right guy to face Undertaker at WrestleMania. He hits the splash in the corner and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Santa Claus comes out and gives Shawn Michaels the Women's Championship belt. 

This was not a good episode this week. The Backlund match was terrible and the IRS interview was pointless. December isn't historically a great month for the company and this one would be a good example of that.

Overall Rating: 31%