Superstars 2-4-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, February 4th, 1995
Memorial Coliseum
Corpus Christi, Texas

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Henry Godwinn vs. Undertaker

We have a rare Taker feature match here on Superstars. After a long for Superstars entrance by Undertaker, Vince says Paul Bearer has gained weight and makes fun of his chin. It's kind of surprising that they're putting Godwinn in this match already. After reversing an Irish whip, Godwinn hits an aggressive elbow in the corner, but Taker no sells it and hits the leaping clothesline. That was probably a run-on sentence. Taker hits Old School, but then misses with an elbow drop. Godwinn clotheslines him to the floor and then rams Undertaker's head into the top turnbuckle. Honestly, Godwinn looks pretty good here and I'm surprised they didn't do a lot more with him earlier in his run. Taker claps his way out of a bear hug, but Godwinn comes back with a body slam. Godwinn hits a couple of elbow drops for a 2 count. Taker makes a comeback and goes for the Tombstone, but Godwinn escapes and hits a clothesline. Godwinn misses with a clothesline and eats a chokeslam, which is enough to pick up the victory. Godwinn looked really good here even if the finish was lame. This was about the best Undertaker match I can remember in some time. 

Match Rating: **3/4

We go to Stephanie Wiand, who is talking about Bob Backlund. Backlund cuts a promo with his usual nonsense. 

Mantaur vs. Gary Scott

So we're still doing this. He hits a bunch of unimpressive moves and picks up the victory. That's all I've got.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a Bam Bam Bigelow/Lawrence Taylor recap. We will get a response from LT on Raw. 

Bushwhackers vs. Adam Croom & Reno Riggins

Rest in peace, cousin Butch. This is exactly what you would expect in 1995, but instead of the Battering Ram, they hit a double gutbuster for the victory. Vince talks about Hongi. Just another day in paradise.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Man Mountain Rock will make his debut next week. 

King Kong Bundy vs. Bill Weaver

Well Bundy squashes Mr. Weaver here very quickly. He looks like he was getting heckled by some kids. That's about all I can say here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Shawn Michaels in the Heartbreak Hotel. He talks about his search for a bodyguard before introducing his guest, Diesel. It's a cardboard cutout. He naturally insults him, before saying that he'll walk out of WrestleMania with Pamela Anderson as the WWF Champion. 

Duke Droese vs. Brooklyn Brawler

Two guys that don't mind getting their hands dirty. Meanwhile, Lawler makes some Asian stereotype jokes regarding Bret Hart and Hakushi. Droese hits the Trash Compactor for the victory. Thrilling.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're getting Adam Bomb vs. Shawn Michaels next week on Superstars.

Jacob & Eli Blu vs. Butch Long & Jason Ahrndt

The Blus show a little frustration early on and Uncle Zebekiah puts them in their place. They hit a few big man double teams and that's enough for the victory. Has anyone had a more successful unimportant lengthy run in WWF than the Harris twins?

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Stephanie Wiand so that we can hear from both Michaels and Adam Bomb. 

We then get some video footage from Wrestling Challenge of Bomb and Michaels arguing in the hallway. 

Well, the opener was way better than I had expected. The rest is exactly what I expected. This one is better than most Superstars, but not by some wide margin.

Overall Rating: 45%

SmackDown 12-8-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, December 8th, 2006
Florence Civic Center
Florence, South Carolina

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Mr. Kennedy is out to kick off the show and there is a hearse that Kennedy is checking out on his way to the ring. He talks about Armageddon and then Undertaker's music hits and the hearse is moving with no driver. The trunk opens and out walks Undertaker. Kennedy escapes through the crowd before he can get to him. This was all pretty predictable Undertaker schtick.

Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. William Regal & Dave Taylor

London and Kendrick dive at their opponents on their way to the ring. We are stuck listening to Michael Cole and mostly JBL talk about Ashley. From there Regal and Taylor slow things down and dominate the match. Kendrick makes a hot tag and he hits Sliced Bread #2 on Taylor, but Regal makes the save. Regal starts going after Ashley and London and Kendrick make the save. London kind of takes over taking care of her and this distracts Kendrick. Taylor takes advantage and Kendrick eats the pin for the loss. This was a pretty good match, but they continue to focus on teasing dissention.

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a pre-taped interview of John Cena talking about Armageddon. He hasn't forgotten kissing King Booker's feet.

We get a backstage promo from Batista and he tells Finlay to be careful what he wishes for tonight.

We now get King Booker, Finlay and Queen Sharmell talking in the locker room. 

Batista vs. Finlay

Things get off to a slow start, as this one is going to get some time. They go outside the ring and we get a weird commercial break as they are about to head to the crowd. When we come back, they are in the ring and Batista hits Finlay with an elbow. Finlay is able to grab Batista's arm and turn it into some offense. Batista makes a comeback, but not a particularly great one. Batista catches Finlay off the second rope and hits him with a boot. Finlay is able to throw Batista off the apron and into the ring post. Finlay now goes to work on the arm and it just seems like they are working a little too slow here tonight. Batista hits a Samoan drop and a big clothesline. Batista hits a powerslam and a spinebuster before Hornswoggle comes out. He leaps off the top rope, but Batista catches him and throws him at Finlay. Out comes Booker and they use a strange camera angle for that. Batista gets rid of him and goes out of the ring. Finlay hits him with the shillelagh and there's our disqualification. They team up and throw Batista into the steel post and hit him with a steel chair. Lots of steel. 

Match Rating: *3/4

WWE Cruiserweight Championship #1 Contender Match
Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Jamie Noble

Gregory Helms is out as guest commentator. It's obviously time for a SmackDown only pay per view, aka the only time they pretend to care about the Cruiserweight Championship. Yang hits a back elbow and a nice second rope kick, but the Noble catches him for a powerslam for a 2 count. Yang catches Noble with a boot in the corner, hits the moonsault and gets the victory. They only got a couple of minutes, which I'm sure is shocking to everyone. This was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *

MVP is complaining about the inferno match at Armageddon to Teddy Long. Teddy says that if he doesn't get in the ring with Kane, he's fired. Next week, Kane and Undertaker will take on MVP and Mr. Kennedy.

Sylvan vs. Chris Benoit

Sylvan is talking in French and is interrupted by Benoit's music. Benoit attacks Sylvan right away and we get a rehash of the Orlando Jordan matches. He puts on the Crossface and that's it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Miz vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Scotty catches himself between the top two ropes and baits Miz into charging at him. He misses and falls to the floor, but Miz hits a thumb to the eye and a slingshot shoulder tackle. We've got JBL rooting for Scotty here, which makes no sense. Scotty comes back with a modified bulldog. He goes for the Worm, but Miz blocks it and rolls him up for the victory. Miz attacks Scotty after the match and then goes for the Worm. Boogeyman's music hits and Miz slides out of the ring. Boogeyman is right behind him and hits Miz with a clothesline. He throws Miz back and forth between the barricade and ring apron before throwing him into the steps. Out come the worms and Boogey eats some, which gives Miz some time to escape. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We have Kane singing "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" with some of the worst acting you'll ever see. He's almost as bad as that as he is at being a mayor. Almost.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Kane

Kane hits an elbow that looks like he had no intention of actually trying to make it look real. Kennedy is able to dropkick Kane off the apron, which leads to Kane doing a fake looking leap off the apron into the barricade. Kennedy hits a side Russian leg sweep for a 2 count. Kennedy goes for a boot in the corner, but Kane catches him by the throat. Kennedy escapes but gets thrown across the ring instead. Kane hits a side suplex and then hits Kennedy with a right hand when Kennedy goes off the top rope. Kane is up top now and hits the clothesline. Out comes MVP, but Kennedy grabs him by the throat. Kennedy attacks him and we have a disqualification. They're really doing this finish for the second time tonight? The lights go out and Undertaker's music hits. When the lights are back on, Kane is gone and there's no Undertaker. Kennedy goes up the steps in the arena and then Kane's flames go off. Whatever.

Match Rating: 1/2*

This was a disappointing show. The main event was not good at all and the Finlay/Batista match was very disappointing. The opening tag match was pretty good, but that's about all there was to see here.

Overall Rating: 39%

ECW 12-5-06 Review

Original Airdate: Tuesday, December 5th, 2006
North Charleston Coliseum
North Charleston, South Carolina

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After showing Bobby Lashley winning the ECW Championship, we get an ECW.com exclusive interview with a sad Paul Heyman. He is invoking Big Show's rematch clause and this time there will be no weapons or Elimination Chamber. 

Rob Van Dam & CM Punk vs. Test & Hardcore Holly

So we get a tag team match between the other four competitors from the Extreme Elimination Chamber. RVD dedicates the match to Sabu. RVD hits an early split-legged moonsault on Holly. Test clubs him while he is running the ropes and then attacks him outside the ring. RVD hits a hot tag to his partner and he unloads on Holly. Punk hits the high nee into the corner and bulldog combo. Punk gets the Anaconda Vice on and out comes Heyman's goons to attack Punk for the disqualification. Sabu is out with one arm and makes the save with a chair. Punk puts on the Anaconda Vice on one of them followed by a 5 Star Frog Splash and an Arabian Facebuster. The match was too short to mean much and the finish was pretty lame.

Match Rating: *1/4

Daivari vs. Tommy Dreamer

Man, I can't believe they'd give this pay-per-view rematch away on free TV. Daivari attacks the injured Dreamer right away. Dreamer fights back and hits the DDT for the victory. Out comes Great Khali and he attacks him. Yawn.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Big Show cuts a promo and I mostly don't listen.

Kelly Kelly vs. Ariel

Kevin Thorn is thrown out before the match and then Ariel attacks Kelly. Ariel argues with the referee and Kelly rolls her up for the victory. Fantastic.

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Mike Knox comes out in a suit and flowers. Knox instantly makes a mistake by saying "Last night" when this is supposed to be Tuesday. He gets down on one knee and starts to apologize and Kelly seems willing to take him back. He then turns on her and throws the flowers in her face before hitting his finisher on her. Tazz comes into the ring to check on her and scold Knox. 

ECW Championship Match
Big Show vs. Bobby Lashley

Big Show dominates right off the bat and we get a bearhug. My favorite move. During the break, Big Show threw Lashley into the ring post. I am doing everything I can to not fall asleep during this one. Lashley goes for a vertical suplex, but Big Show reverses and it goes off. They battle up in the corner on the ropes and Lashley is able to knock Show off. He follows up with a clothesline. Lashley goes for the Spear, but Show sets him up for a chokeslam and a 2 count. Lashley is able to hit a body slam on Big Show and gets a 2 count. Lashley picks him up again and I think he was going for the powerslam, but changes it to a body slam and picks up the victory This was really boring.

Match Rating: 1/2*

This episode stunk big time, which is always a good sign after your pay-per-view. The main event felt like it went on forever and the rest was very vanilla. 

Overall Rating: 29%

Monday Night Raw 12-4-06 Review

Monday, December 4th, 2006
North Charleston Coliseum
North Charleston, South Carolina

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

After a Rated RKO/DX recap video, John Cena is out here to kick off the show. He discusses the Umaga situation with his in between rapper and PG star attitude. Out comes Melina and she says he has bigger things to worry about and that's Kevin Federline. Cena takes a pretty low blow at Britney Spears, which seems a little unnecessary. Cena picks up Melina for the FU, but out comes Chris Masters to try and make the save. He quickly disposes of him and out comes Jonathan Coachman. Coach says that he's going to have to take the Master Lock Challenge and Cena says that's boring TV. He rips on him and said at least Eric Bischoff was controversial. Coach then says that the Master Lock Challenge is still happening, but this time it's for the WWE Championship. 

Kenny approaches Rated RKO backstage and wants to join them. Edge tells him that he's not in their league. 

Lilian Garcia talks about Roddy Piper has undergone surgery for cancer and dedicate the upcoming match to his recovery.

Highlanders vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

The Highlanders are wearing Hot Rod shirts tonight. One of them hits a missile dropkick, but then the other one gets hit with a running boot to the face. I don't care enough to figure out which one is which right now, even though JR just said it. I guess it's Rory in there and he gets a boot up when Murdoch comes off the second rope. In comes Robbie and he's able to escape Cade and Murdoch's finisher and rolls up Cade for the victory. This was pointless.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Maria vs. Victoria

Man, this show is already firing on zero cylinders. Before I even thought to type that, Victoria already has won the match. She then goes to the announce table and checks off Maria's name on the list. Meanwhile, Mickie James comes down to check on Maria and Victoria attacks her. Victoria hits the Widow's Peak on her. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to a nursing home with Cryme Tyme. They sing a Rudolph spoof about a crackhead. This is real. I guess the best part of it is that some of the people there don't even feel like actors. 

We go to Super Crazy, Jim Duggan and Todd Grisham laughing at the TV. Shelton Benjamin isn't laughing though because Cryme Tyme is reinforcing negative stereotypes. Shelton then challenges Super Crazy to a match. 

Shelton Benjamin vs. Super Crazy

Crazy hits a crossbody and gets a 2 count. He follows it up with a headscissor, but then Shelton hits a kick and a boot to the face. Shelton hits a deadlift back body drop. Shelton misses the splash in the corner, but then Crazy misses the moonsault. Shelton hits a T-Bone suplex and picks up the quick victory. It felt like it was going to go the other way. Out comes Charlie Haas and he tries to celebrate with Shelton. Shelton doesn't know how to react. This was very short. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Master Lock Challenge For The WWE Championship
Chris Masters vs. John Cena

You know the drill here. Cena eventually is able to push Masters back into the turnbuckle. Masters then squashes the referee with Cena in the corner. Masters releases the hold and starts kicking him in the back. Cena then counters Masters attempt and puts on the Master Lock of his own for the victory. Immediately after, Umaga and Armando Alejandro Estrada are out. They start brawling with Umaga getting the better of Cena. They get broken apart for a moment, but then Umaga is right back at it. They brawl out on the announcer table and it sounds like you possibly get to hear a backstage comment asking if someone is okay. One of the security guards is Jack Swagger. I haven't been able to get a good enough look at the other ones. They finally are able to get pulled apart after a pretty wild brawl. This was pretty good overall. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Viscera asks Torrie Wilson if the rumors about her and Carlito are true. He tells her to dump him and come with him instead. It leads to Carlito spitting an apple and a Ron Simmons sighting. Carlito has really been one of the most boring characters on the show. 

DX is with Todd Grisham with Shawn Michaels dressed like Jay from the Kevin Smith movies. They're all serious here though and talking about the attack on Ric Flair last week. They let Rated RKO know that this is now personal. 

Carlito vs. Viscera

They are really scraping the bottom of the barrel tonight. Vis dominates until he misses with an elbow drop. Viscera catches Carlito and hits a side slam. Torrie grabs his ankle and Viscera drags her in. Torrie appears to have a wardrobe malfunction and the distraction allows Carlito to hit a missile dropkick. He then hits some sloppy springboard moves for the victory. Carlito looked to be really unmotivated here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Estrada goes up to Cena and says that he and Umaga can't touch for the rest of the year. Cena grabs him by the shirt and Coach is watching. He's tired of people disrespected him. He says that stipulation stands, but next year it will be Estrada vs. Cena. 

Just when you think we hit rock bottom, we come back with Val Venis doing the Kiss Cam. He drags two women into the ring to kiss. At first they do a subtle kiss, but then they start rolling around on the mat. Yes, this is real. Then Eugene comes out and wants a kiss. Eugene wants a kiss, but he's turned down. He tries to force himself, but then attacks Val. 

MNM & Rated RKO vs. Hardys & DX

After getting the usual early match beatdown by the faces, the heels go to work on Jeff Hardy and isolate him. It feels like a really long heat segment until Jeff hits a Whisper In The Wind. He came dangerously close to slipping there. We end up with all 8 men back in the ring and the faces standing tall before hitting dives outside. Meanwhile, Triple H hits a spinebuster on Orton. Kenny comes in through the crowd and hits Michaels with a chair. Triple H comes out to make the save and goes after Kenny through the crowd. Edge hits a Spear on Matt Hardy and that's all. This was disappointing overall and only designed to give Rated RKO a victory. 

Match Rating: **

After the match, Triple H drags Kenny into the ring and he gets hit with Sweet Chin Music and a Pedigree. 

Outside of the Umaga/Cena segment in the middle of the show, this was really bad. I don't know what it was, but they were on a mission to fit every superstar on this show. I mean Val Venis? WWE really seems to be on a mission to end this year poorly.

Overall Rating: 39%

NXT 1-21-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, January 21st, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

After a Sami Zayn/Adrian Neville highlight package, William Regal announces that the next NXT TakeOver will be February 11th. There will also be a tournament for the NXT Champion #1 contender. 

Sami Zayn's music hits and he runs in the ring and attacks Tye Dillinger, who is supposed to be his opponent. This is as aggressive as he's ever been. He throws him out of the ring and grabs a mic to let us know he wants Kevin Owens. Out comes Regal and he tells Zayn to stop acting this way. Regal says that he hasn't earned the title shot yet. Zayn says to make it non-title, he just wants Owens. Regal announces that Zayn will face Owens at TakeOver.

We get an interview with Regal from during the break. Regal says that next week there will be a contract signing for the Zayn/Owens match. 

NXT Championship #1 Contender Tournament First Round Match
Curtis Axel vs. Finn Balor

I think we know who is going to win this one. Graves hits a dropkick that sends Axel to the outside and nails him with a senton over the top rope. Axel does come back with a clothesline to the back of the head. After a short heat segment, Axel misses an elbow drop and Balor hits a Pele Kick. He hits the Slingblade before hitting the running dropkick in the corner. He heads up to the top rope and hits the Coup de Grace for the easy victory. This was the dominant match it should have been.

Match Rating: *1/4

We get a Sasha Banks promo with her claiming that Charlotte will have absolutely no one to help her tonight. 

Bull Dempsey says that he let his opportunity against Corbin slip through his hands, but next week he will hear people chanting "Bull" after he beats Corbin.

NXT Women's Championship Match
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

These two go at it right away and they quickly are outside the ring. Becky tries to get involved, but Charlotte hits her with a clothesline. Charlotte goes back in the ring and continues working on Sasha. She hits her with a Lou Thesz press until Becky Lynch comes in and attacks Charlotte. The ref rings the bell and out comes Bayley to make the save. Bayley grabs the NXT Women's Championship belt and looks at it until Charlotte has to yank it from her. Bayley grabs her and gives her the Bayley To Belly suplex. Out comes William Regal and he announces that Charlotte will defend her title at TakeOver against Bayley, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. Sounds good to me. This was jsut an angle.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Kevin Owens is interviewed backstage, but says that if he has something to say to Sami Zayn that he'll say it to Sami next week at the contract signing.

Vaudevillains vs. Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy

Murphy hits a nice leg lariat, but after that the Vaudevillains take command of the match. The announcers are playing up the Vaudevillains frustration and that there are no issues between the two. Blake gets a hot tag and it leads to a little bit of an awkward finish where Blake ducks through the ropes and Murphy hits him with a kick to the head for the victory. This was a little too short to be much, but they had to do something in the tag division. 

Match Rating: *

Tyler Breeze says that it's only a matter of time before he wins the NXT Championship.

Blake and Murphy cut a promo of how they won that match fair and square. They want to challenge the Lucha Dragons next week. 

NXT Championship #1 Contender Tournament First Round Match
Tyler Breeze vs. Hideo Itami

Breeze is impressive early on hitting Itami with a kick to the ribs outside the ring. He hits a neckbreaker for a 2 count and we head into a commercial break. Itami tries to make a comeback when we come back and hits Breeze with some clotheslines. He hits a top rope clothesline, but Breeze is able to kick out of the pin attempt. Itami runs into a boot by Breeze, but Itami fights hit way out of a piledriver attempt. Itami hits a snap suplex for another 2 count. Breeze is able to catch Itami with a Supermodel Kick, but this time Itami kicks out. Breeze hits a crucifix slam and gets a 2 count. Itami hulks up and hits a series of kicks. He hits the running dropkick in the corner and then a standing dropkick for the victory. This was a hard fought match between two good competitors. 

Match Rating: ***

This was a good overall episode, as everything meant something. NXT always is at its strongest when they have a TakeOver to build to and this show was a good example. The Sami/Owens stuff continues to be good and considering they headlined WrestleMania 8 years after this, it's clear they were onto something. 

Overall Rating: 68%

Monday Night Raw 1-30-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, January 30th, 1995
Manatee Civic Center
Palmetto, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Hey, it's Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels in front of a green screen. 

Over The Top Rope Match
Mabel vs. King Kong Bundy

This is a result of Mabel eliminating King Kong Bundy in the Royal Rumble. After just watching Bundy in his WrestleMania main event match, it is a completely different guy in the ring. Not that it's surprising that 9 years wouldn't slow down a man as large as Bundy, but it's night and day. Mabel hits a step up enzuigiri, but misses with an elbow drop. Unfortunately, most of this match is just them trying to eliminate each other on the ropes. Out comes IRS and Tatanka to help out Bundy. After a struggle, Mabel is down to the floor with Mo and Lex Luger coming too late. I mean they Oscar and Mo had about a minute to get down there, but I guess they weren't paying that much attention. This was as boring as you would expect. 

Match Rating: 1/4

We now get serious Vince and his apology to Lawrence Taylor. We go to Bam Bam in a suit. Vince rubs it in of how he lost to 1-2-3 Kid. Vince says that the fans were having fun and they're allowed to do anything they want. Unless they bring a sign that makes fun of one of Vince's pet projects, of course. Bam Bam said he was going to make an apology, but it doesn't feel right. He wishes he would have shoved him harder. Bam Bam challenges LT any time, any place. This was pretty fun even with Vince just being almost a heel with how obnoxious he was.

Hakushi vs. Ricky Santana

Santana is able to hit a crossbody for a 1 count, before Hakushi hits him with an enzuigiri. Santana whips Hakushi in the corner, but misses with the follow up splash. Hakushi hits a drop kick and a German suplex. He heads up top and hits a shoulder tackle. He hits the cartwheel moonsault and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Don't forget to order the Royal Rumble encore tomorrow night.

Aldo Montoya vs. David Sierra

Michaels makes fun of the athletic supporter on Montoya's head. Sierra goes up to the top rope, but Montoya slams him to the mat. Montoya hits a clothesline and hits the reverse second rope bulldog for the win. This was probably his worst squash match to date. 

Match Rating: 1/4

They show Ken Norton Jr. after winning the Super Bowl saying that he's going to WrestleMania. That was actually a pretty big get in the football world in 1995. 

It's time for the King's Court with Bob Backlund. They literally only talk about how he can slap on the Cross-face Chickenwing on anyone and make them say "I quit". He then puts it on Lawler, who quits immediately. This was pointless. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly vs. Smoking Gunns

I'm sure the crowd was thrilled to see two matches between these teams and that's not a knock on them. Kid starts off with some quick offense and finishes it up with a spin kick that forces Billy to retreat in his corner. Bart comes in and gets hit with a double dropkick. The Gunns are able to come back and hit a double side Russian leg sweep into the commercial break. Michaels lets us know that he's the Deion Sanders of the WWF. Holly and Bart hit each other with a double cross body and Holly is able to make the tag. Kid comes in with a series of kicks. Kid goes for the somersault dive off the top rope, but Bart moves out of the way. Billy is tagged in, but Kid is down and injured. The match is stopped and officials come in to check on Kid. The crowd is definitely buying that he is hurt. When we come back from break, they are still checking on him. We get another commercial break and then when we come back, Vince, Shawn and green screen are all happy to let us know that he walked off under his own power.

Match Rating: ***

Kama vs. Jumbo Berretta

Berretta is a large man. Let's see if Kama is able to look a little better here. Vince announces that Tatanka, IRS and King Kong Bundy will take on Lex Luger and Men On A Mission. Kama is just as dull here as he was on Superstars and wins again with the STF. It goes off the air as Vince is still talking...on a taped TV show. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Once again, the tag team match delivered some solid action here, but it felt like the crowd was already out of it. The Bam Bam/LT stuff was pretty entertaining, but not so much the Bob Backlund segment. This one is right in the middle.

Match Rating: 50%

Superstars 1-28-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, January 28th, 1995
Memorial Coliseum
Corpus Christi, Texas

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a recap of the Tag Team Championship situation even though this show was taped before all of it. 

Men On A Mission vs. Sonny Pruitt & Lee Tobin

Vince talks about how King Kong Bundy was embarrassed by being eliminated by Mabel in the Royal Rumble and they will have a match on Raw. Vince again apologizes to Lawrence Taylor. Meanwhile, Mo hits a spinebuster and Mabel hits the leg drop for the victory. They used to be a more fun team, but their matches have gotten kind of lifeless. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to go to Todd Pettengill for the Post Royal Rumble Report. 

Hakushi vs. Ben Jordan

Hakushi is awesome, but not awesome enough to be in the Royal Rumble or at WrestleMania. He hits a cartwheel moonsault for the victory, which is something that no one does and yet it's almost like no big deal for some reason. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for Stephanie Wiand with Live Event News. They just continue to hype up the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly and they seriously do next to nothing for months after this. She then talks about Jacob and Eli Blu leading us to a promo with Uncle Zebekiah. 

Kwang vs. Doink

Dink provides an early distraction and then it leads to a drop toe hold and Dink for some reason is allowed to run on Kwang. Doink gets a bunch of pinfall attempts before catching Kwang and hitting a powerslam for the victory. We are getting close to Savio Vega because Kwang got nearly no offense. After the match, Dink bites Harvey Wippleman in the butt. We are also nearing the end of Doink. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Bam Bam Bigelow did a Slim Jim commercial? 

Don't forget to order the Royal Rumble encore this Tuesday. Even though Todd basically is telling us everything that happened. I don't remember them ever doing such a thorough recap.

Owen Hart vs. Shawn Dakota

Owen really hits the nicest missile dropkicks. This one is over quickly, as Owen slaps on the Sharpshooter right after for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Man Mountain Rock says that wrestling is like playing the guitar. 

Matt Hardy vs. Kama

What a debut here for Kama. Nothing says a supreme fighting machine like a white shirt. Jerry Lawler compares Kama to public speaking. Kama hits a belly to belly suplex and then a variation of the STF for the victory. This wasn't very impressive. After the match, he grabs the mic and says that he's heard the toughest guys are in the WWF, so bring it on.

Match Rating: 1/4*

In case you were dying to know, here's a recap of the classic IRS/Undertaker match. 

Next week it's Undertaker vs. Henry Godwinn.

Lex Luger vs. Ray Hudson

Hudson has quite the mullet here. Hudson sends Luger to the corner, but Luger hits a clothesline. Luger hits a powerslam and then lifts him up for the Rebel Rack. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Stephanie Wiand talks even more about the Undertaker/IRS match. We're so close to IRS being gone. Henry Godwinn cuts a promo and he was Kenny Powers before Kenny Powers. Undertaker cuts one too and I just ignored it.

We hear from Shawn Michaels says that Diesel will be his guest on Heartbreak Hotel. 

I would say that this was disappointing for the first show after Royal Rumble heading into WrestleMania, but it was taped before Royal Rumble because of course it was. Nothing really happened here other than the Kama debut, which was poor. 

Overall Rating: 29%

December To Dismember 2006 Review

Sunday, December 3rd, 2006
James Brown Arena
Augusta, Georgia

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Ah yes, why am I watching this for the third time again? 

MNM vs. The Hardys

They still continue to getting introduced as Team Extreme in ECW, which is just weird to me. The graphic right after the announcement shows The Hardys. This is no doubt a worthy pay-per-view match, but it came out of nowhere and with little to no build for their reunion. That and they already wrestled on Raw. Matt and Mercury start off with Matt for some reason deciding to start this match off with a headlock. I would have liked to have seen an old school fast paced opening before the heat segment. Jeff tags in and goes to work on the arm of Mercury. Things pick up a little bit, with Matt hitting a Razor's Edge into a sit down powerbomb. Melina grabs the ankle of Matt while he's running the ropes and he ends up eating a clothesline after the distraction. For some reason this match just isn't clicking like it should be yet. Jeff gets a hot tag in and hits a nice face first sit down suplex. Matt knocks Mercury out of the ring and then hits a dive. Nitro follows with a leap over the top rope, which naturally leads to Jeff leaping off the top rope. The Hardys hit Poetry In Motion followed by a Twist Of Fate. Mercury is able to pull Nitro out of the way for the Swanton and then hits a springboard missile dropkick. Tazz channels his inner Gorilla Monsoon and gets on Mercury for not hooking the leg on his pin attempt. Jeff is finally able to hit a Whisper In The Wind and knocks both opponents down and tags in Matt. Matt hits the bulldog/clothesline combo and two Side Effects for a 2 count. Nitro hits an interesting hurricanrana on Jeff off the top rope. Nitro heads up top again, but Jeff gets there and then Matt props Mercury on the opposite corner. They hit double superplexes, but Melina gets on the apron to distract the referee. She tries to slap Jeff, but he blocks it and she accidentally gets dropkicked off the apron by Nitro. Jeff rolls him up, but he kicks out at 2. Mercury is in and they hit the Snapshot, but Matt breaks up the pin attempt. MNM props Jeff up on the top rope and they are attempting a super Snapshot. Matt makes the save and hits a double Diamond Cutter. Jeff hits a Swanton on both men and that's enough for the victory. This was a pretty good match, but a little below of what both teams are capable of. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Rob Van Dam gets his chance to talk about the Extreme Elimination Chamber, who says the risks are worth the reward tonight. 

Striker's Rules Match
Matt Striker vs. Balls Mahoney

Striker lists a few rules, but I don't feel like listing them out. I mean, WWE didn't even feel like announcing any matches for this piece of trash undercard. Balls is barely able to leapfrog Striker and almost looks like he pulls his groin doing so. Striker avoids a charging Mahoney and his shoulder hits the ring post. This is already the longest 7 minutes of my life. Well except this is like the third time I am watching this horrendous show. Balls hits a side suplex and then goes up top, which is against Striker's rules. Striker shakes the ropes and crotches Balls. I'm sorry, I just couldn't care any less about this one. Balls hits a variation of a spinebuster to put us all out of our misery. You would have never known that these two were wrestling for a pay-per-view payday.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show CM Punk getting ready for the main event and then cut to Sabu getting medical treatment after an apparent attack.

Sylvester Terkay & Elijah Burke vs. FBI

It's becoming more and more apparent as to why they didn't actually announce the matches for this show. I do truly like Elijah Burke. Guido putting on Elijah's hat is likely the highlight of the match. Terkay tags in and dominates. He takes Guido and tosses him over the top rope onto Tony Mamaluke. Elijah hits a clothesline with a leg sweep, but Mamaluke breaks up the pin. Mamaluke gets in some offense on Elijah and he hits some double dropkicks with Guido to knock Terkay down. They hit a double flapjack on Burke for a 2 count. Burke hits the Elijah Experience after a forearm to the face by Terkay and that's all. After the match, Terkay hits a package suplex on Guido as some guy in the crowd chants "T-N-A". Dude has some awful taste. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They show Sabu getting put into an ambulance with RVD and CM Punk watching. If there's one rule to putting on a pay-per-view with a terrible roster, it's definitely don't have one of the biggest stars be taken off the card due to a fake injury.

Daivari vs. Tommy Dreamer

This match wouldn't main event a bingo hall, which is usually a good sign. On the plus side, we are getting close to the halfway point. Khali gets involved early by pulling down the rope as Dreamer is running, sending him to the floor. The referee ejects Khali from the match, but Daivari is able to continue to go to work on Dreamer. He slaps on a sleeper, not only to Dreamer, but to all of us watching. Dreamer is able to counter out of it and it leads to Daivari missing a crossbody off the top rope. Dreamer puts him in the tree of woe and then hits him with a dropkick to the face. Dreamer goes for the DDT, but Daivari is able to roll him up and grab the tights to end the match that was the quality of a dark match. After the match, Khali comes out and slams him on the steel stage. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Paul Heyman talks to Hardcore Holly and lets him know that he will be replacing Sabu tonight. No one says main event like 2006 Hardcore Holly. 

Mike Knox & Kelly Kelly vs. Kevin Thorn & Ariel

Kelly Kelly wishes CM Punk luck tonight. Why in the world would you have two heel acts that not a single person cares about square off on a pay-per-view with no story to speak of? The only over person here is a 19 year old who shouldn't be thrown into a match. If not for Ariel screaming, you could hear a pin drop. The women finally get in and Ariel quickly knocks Kelly down. Kelly is able to crawl to her corner, but Knox walks to the back. Ariel picks up the victory and this was just so terrible. After the match, Ariel attacks Kelly and then Sandman's music hits. You know what, maybe he should have had a match tonight. Just spitballing. He attacks Thorn with the Singapore Cane until Thorn rolls out of the ring. He chases after him and attacks some more. What a stupid show. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They go to a backstage interview with Bobby Lashley and show highlights of his short time in ECW. He cuts a generic promo and it's just really obvious that he's winning tonight. 

Paul Heyman is out to stall since we are only 90 minutes into a pay-per-view that cost as much as every other show. 

Extreme Elimination Chamber For The ECW Championship
Big Show vs. CM Punk vs. Test vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Rob Van Dam

RVD and Holly start things off. Each pod has a weapon in it, making this "extreme". Holly goes off the top rope onto the steel portion and RVD gets a boot up. That allows RVD to hit Rolling Thunder over the top rope onto Holly on the steel. Holly suplexes RVD back into the ring and on his tailbone. Our next competitor is CM Punk, who was getting his name chanted just a few seconds earlier. He tosses the chair into Holly's face, but then eats it from RVD. RVD hits a monkey flip onto the steel chair, but then Punk hits a cool leg drop onto RVD onto the chair. RVD is busted open around his eye. Punk then throws him head first into a chair propped between the top two ropes. Punk leaps off the top for a hurricanrana on Holly, but he's caught and swung into the chains. Test is in next and has a crowbar. He hits Punk with it and then uses it on RVD's bloodied face. RVD hits Test in the hands with a chair and then Holly next. He then skateboards Punk with the chair in the corner. RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash on Punk and he's gone. Fantastic booking there. Test is up and hits Holly with a big boot and I guess he's eliminated? No one seems to know, but Holly is out. RVD hits a top rope kick on Test and then climbs on top of Big Show's pod. Big Show grabs his foot and that allows Test to hit him with a chair and then throw him off the top. Test then climbs up top and hits an elbow onto a chair onto RVD's face to eliminate RVD. Bobby Lashley is next, but Heyman's goons take out the ref and make sure that Lashley can't enter. Test taunts him as he tries to figure a way out. He uses the table in the pod to smash the chains on top and climbs his way out. Lashley kicks Test off the turnbuckle and hits a top rope clothesline. Lashley throws Test into the pods. Test gets in a little bit of offense, but then Lashley hits a Spear to eliminate him. We still have 68 seconds until Big Show enters. He comes in and has a barbed wire baseball bat. He swings and misses, getting caught in the chains. Lashley capitalizes and no one seems to care. A bloodied Big Show catches, Lashley, but Lashley escapes, hits the Spear and we have a new champion. What a poorly booked match and unfortunately didn't live up to any of the other Elimination Chamber matches prior to this. 

Match Rating: **

This is absolutely one of the worst shows that WWE has ever put on and I am hoping that this is the last time I ever force myself to watch it again. This failed miserably and deservingly so. Flat out terrible.

Overall Rating: 14%

Off The Grid, Volume 33: WrestleMania 2 Review

Monday, April 7th, 1986
Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, New York

Rosemont Horizon
Rosemont, Illinois

Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Los Angeles, California

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Off The Grid, Volume 33:

Vince McMahon is here to kick things off and introduces Susan St. James before bringing out Ray Charles to sing "America the Beautiful". Why was this show on a Monday? I guess that question is just as valid as why was this show at three arenas? 

We go to Mean Gene, who is in Chicago where they are waiting for their portion of the show to start. He sends it back to Roddy Piper in New York. Piper cuts kind of a weird promo and says he would quit everything if Mr. T can knock him out. Not his best work. 

Don Muraco vs. Paul Orndorff

This feels like it should be a bigger deal. Orndorff does get a nice ovation for his intro. We get a weird camera angle to start off while we listen to both guys talk over with pre-recorded comments. Orndorff gets off to the hot start with a body slam and a back body drop. We have Vince McMahon and Susan St. James as the announcers for the New York portion. Orndorff goes to work on the left arm of Muraco. Muraco tries to slow down the momentum and grabs Orndorff and they tumble to the outside. They are quickly counted out in what would be about a 3 count in modern wrestling. What a stupid way to open a show and the crowd agrees. I mean this didn't even get the opportunity to be a good match. If you're going to do that finish, why wouldn't you give them a few minutes to build to it? 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Mr. T says that his fists are going to do the talking tonight. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
George Steele vs. Randy Savage

It's weird how briskly Elizabeth is kind of forced to walk to the ring. We get a lot of stalling to start until Steele takes a bite out of Savage's leg. Steele gets distracted by Elizabeth and ends up being tied up in the ropes. Savage hits a sloppy top rope dive, but Steele kicks out and sends Savage flying. Steele is almost 49 years old here. I have to say, I didn't realize Savage was already in his mid-30s here. Savage uses some flowers to smack Steele in the face with. They obviously have no effect and Steele quickly fights back. Steele bites open a turnbuckle and shoves the foam in Savage's face. Steele is again is distracted by his love for Elizabeth and Savage hits a top rope ax handle to the floor. Back in the ring, Savage hits the elbow drop, but Steele kicks out. Steele gets in control of the match, but loses control of his actions and the ref steps in. Savage trips him up and puts his feet on the ropes for the cheap victory. This was a little bit better than I remembered it being, but nowhere near anything good. 

Match Rating: *

We go back to Gene in Chicago and he's with Big John Studd and Bill Fralic. They almost get into before we go back to New York.

George Wells vs. Jake Roberts

You can tell this won't be very long, as you can tell they are trying to cram in a lot here. Wells gets the better of Jake and hits a headscissors. Wells hits a powerslam and gets a 2 count. We get kind of a weird dead spot and then Jake hits a DDT out of nowhere. They were actually having a decent little match and then it just sort of died. Jake opens up the bag and brings out the python. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

After some highlights of T/Piper, Vince kicks it out to Jesse Ventura in Los Angeles with Hulk Hogan. Nothing special here. 

Howard Finkel brings out Joan Rivers as our guest ring announcer. She introduces the judges for the match and they are Darryl Dawkins, Cab Calloway and G. Gordon Levy. She then brings out the guest timekeeper...Herb.

Boxing Match
Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T

There's a reason that no one talks about this match and it's for the better. I really don't know how to recap a fake boxing match that has minimal action. Not one interesting thing happened in round 1 and the crowd is mostly silent for it. After the bell rings, they have to be broken up. In round 2, Piper is able to unload and knocks Mr. T off his feet. Mr. T once again falls to his knees just as the bell rings to end the round. In between, Bob Orton throws water on Mr. T. Mr. T comes back and dominates round 3, with Piper falling to the floor. Round 4 starts with both men trading blows. T has Piper on spaghetti legs, so Piper shoves the referee down and body slams T. They of course ring the bell and we now have just about everybody who was at ringside in there. Mr. T is your victor as a result of a disqualification. This wasn't quite as bad as I had remembered, but it's certainly nothing you ever crave having to watch again. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We now go to the Rosemont Horizon with Gorilla Monsoon and Mean Gene Okerlund. Cathy Lee Crosby is your special announcer with Gorilla. Chet Coppock is the ring announcer.

WWF Women's Championship Match
Velvet McIntyre vs. Fabulous Moolah

Moolah goes right to work throwing McIntyre around by her hair. Moolah looks like she should be sitting a hot tub in a retirement community. McIntyre fights back and hits a body slam. She misses with a second rope splash, Moolah jumps on her and gets one of the worst looking pinfall victories you will ever see. What a joke of a match. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Flag Match
Nikolai Volkoff vs. Corporal Kirchner

It doesn't get any bigger than this. Volkoff is vicious to start off and slams Kirchner into the ring post. Kirchner fights back with some right hands and he already looks gassed. The referee gets knocked down, so Blassie tries to throw his cane into Volkoff. Kirchner intercepts it and he knocks out Volkoff for the victory. What a classic. The rules of the flag match were that you get to waive your flag if you win. This was so stupid.

Match Rating: 1/4*

WWF vs. NFL Battle Royal

Your competitors are Jimbo Covert, Pedro Morales, Tony Atlas, Ted Arcidi, Harvey Martin, Danny Spivey, Hillbilly Jim, King Tonga, Iron Sheik, Ernie Holmes, B. Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, Big John Studd, Bill Fralic, Jim Neidhart, Bret Hart, Russ Francis, Bruno Sammartino, William Perry and Andre The Giant. It's obviously a big brawl to start and a lot of guys just doing nothing. Getting Perry was a pretty big deal at the time and Bruno being in there was a pretty big deal in the wrestling world as well. The Hart Foundation wearing blue will never be correct. The camerawork here is just absolutely awful, with them missing eliminations left and right. Bruno gets eliminated a little earlier than expected. Perry charges at both Hart Foundation members and the crowd goes nuts. He goes after Studd, but he hits him with an elbow and he's gone. Perry wants to give him a handshake and then he pulls Studd over the top to the floor. I should have mentioned also that NFL legends Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Dick Butkus were outside referees, which is also pretty cool. The Harts hit a double dropkick and Andre is tied up in the ropes. They then eliminate Russ Francis and we're down to the final three. They try to double team Andre, but Andre predictably fights it off and picks up the victory, last eliminating Bret. This was a little bit better than I remembered it being and the hot crowd helped. 

Match Rating: *

We go back to New York for an interview with Roddy Piper. He claims Mr. T cheated and that when he dropped him on his head, it didn't do too much damage. We then go back to Chicago with Jimbo Covert who is furious about being cheated. Mean Gene then goes to Iron Sheik to talk about wrestlers being better than football players. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Dream Team vs. British Bulldogs

Ozzy Osbourne joins Captain Lou Albano in the Bulldogs corner. Davey Boy gets the better of Greg Valentine in the early going. Beefcake gets tagged in, but the results are the same with the Bulldogs showing off their superior teamwork. Valentine gets tagged in and shifts the momentum with a vertical suplex. There's a lot of bounce in this Chicago ring. I'm a little surprised at how one sided this match has been so far. The difference between Gorilla at the first WrestleMania compared to this one is a very positive change. He sounds a lot more like the Gorilla we all love. All four men eventually are in the ring and it leads to Valentine getting a cheap shot in on Dynamite as he's getting back in the ring. Davey Boy gets tagged in and hits a running powerslam, but Valentine kicks out at 2. Valentine is able to throw Davey Boy shoulder first into the ring post. The champions finally get in some offense and work on the left arm of Davey Boy. Valentine hits a shoulder breaker and arrogantly lifts up his shoulder at the count of 2. Davey Boy shoves Valentine into Dynamite and pins him to crown new champions. The crowd loves it, but this one wasn't not as well-worked as I had recalled. It wasn't bad, but it didn't really feel like they were on the same page. 

Match Rating: ***

"The British Bulldogs foreverrrrr!" says Ozzy. Davey says that the Bulldogs are staying in the USA now. They really didn't know what they were doing at this point as far as presentation. 

Vince and Susan talk about Hogan's match later on tonight. We then go to Los Angeles with Jesse Ventura, Lord Alfred Hayes and Elvira. What a crew. 

Hercules Hernandez vs. Ricky Steamboat

Herc attacks as soon as the bell rings. Steamboat slides underneath Herc twice and hits a chop before working on the arm. Meanwhile, Elvira and Ventura make fun of the scarf on Steamboat's knee. Steamboat is just on another level than just about everyone on the roster at this time. Herc regains control after a clothesline and he definitely looks a lot more aggressive than he does in other matches I've seen of his. Hercules hits a couple of powerslams and is starting to stall. He climbs to the top rope, but Steamboat gets the knees up for the splash. Steamboat goes up top, hits the crossbody and picks up the victory. This wasn't a bad match by 1986 standards. Herc looked about as good as I can recall. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Adrian Adonis vs. Uncle Elmer

Elmer mocks Adonis and then attacks him as he's going into the ring. Adonis takes some fantastic bumps to make the untalented Elmer look good. Adonis falls to the floor and Jimmy Hart is not happy. Elmer brings Adonis into the ring the hard way and then pushes him over the ropes. Adonis gets tangled up until Hart is able to assist. Elmer hits a splash in the corner, but misses with the leg drop. Adonis goes up to the top rope and hits a splash and gets the victory. Adonis was a really good wrestler and performer. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Lord Alfred is with Hulk Hogan to talk about his injuries that everyone is talking about. He says that he'd crawl to the ring if he had to. 

Terry & Hoss Funk vs. Tito Santana & Junkyard Dog

The Funk brothers start off the match in trouble after some nice offense from Tito. It takes a cheap move by Terry to slow down Tito and then he tosses him outside. Jimmy gets in a couple of cheap shots behind the ref's back before Terry hits a vertical suplex. He goes for another one, but Tito counters it with one of his own. Both men collide, but Terry is able to tag in Hoss. JYD finally gets the hot tag and hits the old double noggin knocker. The match starts to break down a little bit and JYD is able to get a shot in on Jimmy. Tito puts the Figure Four on Dory, but they aren't the legal men. The referee forces Tito to his corner, Jimmy tosses in the megaphone and they hit it with him for the victory. With that, the Tito WrestleMania losing streak begins. This was a fun tag match that probably could have gone another 5-10 minutes. 

Match Rating: ***

They show the crew carrying in the big blue steel cage. It looks like they recruited the staff from the local library. They then show Hogan training in his private gym and Hillbilly Jim is there. They show clips of King Kong Bundy attacking Hogan on Saturday Night's Main Event. This looks so tame. Hogan talks about the injury and his commitment to all of the Hulkamaniacs. I never bought what Hogan was selling. He then does pull ups with a weight around his neck. We then go live to Jesse Ventura with Bobby Heenan and King Kong Bundy. I'll never understand the no eyebrows for Bundy. 

We then go back to New York with Susan saying their is a 0% chance of Bundy winning. They then bring out Tommy Lasorda as the guest ring announcer. He announces Ricky Schroeder and Robert Conrad. 

Steel Cage Match For The WWF Championship
King Kong Bundy vs. Hulk Hogan

They start the match off exchanging blows with Hogan getting the best of Bundy. Hogan hits a big boot right off the bat. Bundy eventually is able to go after the injured ribs of Hogan. Bundy starts choking Hogan with the tape from around Hogan's ribs. Hogan comes back and throws Bundy into the cage. Bundy is now bleeding from the forehead and Hogan goes right after it. I will say that they are trying their best to make this match entertaining. Hogan keeps throwing him into the cage and Elvira thinks it should be stopped. Hogan goes for the body slam, but it backfires and he falls on his back. Bundy hits the avalanche in the corner and follows it up with the splash. Bundy tries to get out the door, but Hogan is able to grab his foot. Hogan "miraculously" battles back and hits a body slam this time. He hits the leg drop and starts to climb the cage. Bundy is able to grab him with Heenan standing right there. Hogan kicks Bundy to the mat and makes it over to the top and to the floor before Bundy can get to the door. That was a weak finish to an otherwise fine match by Hogan standards. Hogan gets Heenan in the ring and throws him into the cage. He hits an atomic drop and it sends Heenan out the door and to the floor. 

Match Rating: **1/4

There is a lot not to like about this show, but I have to say it was a lot easier to digest than I expected. I will get crucified for this (well, assuming anyone were actually reading this), but I liked this better than WrestleMania V. They still didn't know what they had with pay-per-view and they had a long way to go with production values, but there was some charm to this show and it didn't overstay it's welcome like WrestleMania IV and V. 

Overall Rating: 41%

NXT 1-14-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, January 14th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Tyson Kidd vs. Finn Balor

NXT is on Wednesday nights now. Big running dropkick right away from Balor to start. Kidd baits Balor outside the ring and then drives him into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Kidd hits a neckbreaker into the commercial break. When we come back, Kidd puts Balor in the tree of woe and gets some shots to the midsection before knocking him off. Balor is able to sneak in a Pele kick and follows it up with a boot to the face. He hits a Slingblade and then an enzuigiri. Balor hits a senton dive to the floor, but gets hit with a kick from a desperate Kidd. Kidd hits a springboard elbow drop, but Balor kicks out at 2. Kidd slaps on the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring, but Balor is able to drag himself to the bottom rope. Balor now battles back and hits the Coup de Grace for the victory. That finish was a little out of nowhere, as it felt like they had to cut out the final minute of the match. The rest of match was well wrestled. 

Match Rating: ***

They show a highlight package of Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville ahead of the rematch tonight. 

Bull Dempsey says that we should expect to see Baron Corbin lying on his back tonight. 

Baron Corbin vs. Bull Dempsey

This is a brawl, as you would expect. Just because it's a brawl, doesn't mean it's intriguing though. Bull flattens Baron, but then misses with the top rope headbutt. Baron hits End Of Days and that's all. Well, I have to say that I didn't expect that. I mean obviously Baron was higher on their list of guys, but I figured we'd just get the generic double countout or DQ here. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Natalya & Charlotte

Natalya unleashes some forearms on Becky before hitting stereo baseball slides to the outside with Charlotte. They then hit a dual delayed vertical suplex for a 2 count. Natalya seems excited to be wrestling here tonight. Sasha fights back and hits double knees on a horizontal Natalya in the corner. Charlotte gets an early hot tag and hits a neckbreaker. Sasha comes back with one of her own after a double team with Becky and that's enough for the victory? It seems like they could have done a better quick victory than a neckbreaker. She did hold the tights, but it still felt a little out of left field. The action was good for the short match we got.

Match Rating: **1/4

NXT Championship Match
Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn

They shake before the match and it looks like they are going to get some time tonight. We get a pretty even start to the match, with each guys trading some quick sets of moves. Sami says he's sorry and hits Neville with a forearm to the head. Neville fights back now too and it leads to a dive to the outside into the commercial break. When we come back, Zayn hits a top rope crossbody for a 2 count. Neville comes back with a fantastic hurricanrana. Sami comes right back and hits the best move that never wins a match, the Blue Thunder Bomb. Sami hits two German suplexes and on the third attempt, Neville lands on his feet, goes for a cartwheel and gets caught on Zayn's shoulders. He counters that with another hurricanrana and now Zayn is continuing his injury angle. The action spills outside and Zayn goes for the dive through the ropes into the DDT, but Neville greets him with a kick to the head. Zayn moves out of the way for the Red Arrow and we get a lot of quick action leading to the Helluva Kick and the victory for Zayn. The whole injury portion kind of felt out of place since it didn't really factor into anything else. This was another very good match from these two, not that you would expect anything less. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

After the match and recap, Kevin Owens is out and he hits the pop up powerbomb on Zayn before stepping on his face. He kicks the belt at Zayn and heads to the back as we go off the air. 

This was a really strong episode of NXT and one of the better ones that I can remember. The action was all very good and it helped move along some of the main storylines. Thumbs up here. 

Overall Rating: 80%

WrestleMania 39: WrestleMania Sunday Review

Sunday, April 2nd, 2022
SoFi Stadium
Inglewood, California

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Jimmie Allen (? Part 2) is here to sing "America The Beautiful". We then go back to another Kevin Hart opener. They don't change much up here tonight because we are now bringing it back to Miz and Snoop Dogg. This was much quicker than last night and less fun.

Omos vs. Brock Lesnar

The staredown at the beginning reminds me of Undertaker/Giant Gonzalez. Omos tosses Brock early and hits him with a headbutt. I know others have said it, but it should truly be noted that Brock is very good at selling and he's doing a good job making Omos look good here. Omos slaps on my favorite move, the bear hug. Brock breaks out of it, but Omos hits him with a chokeslam for a 2 count. Unfortunately for Omos, he still has that big guy lack of speed and it hurts him worse now than it would have in the Hogan era. Lesnar hits a couple of suplexes, but the back is bothering him. He puts him up for the F5, but his back gives out and Omos goes for a double chokeslam. Lesnar gets him up for a F5 and that's all. Lesnar looks like maybe he legitimately injured himself, as he looks a little disappointed. I'm not really sure what this did for either guy. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Women's WrestleMania Showcase Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Match
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Shotzi & Natalya vs. Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler

It is completely bizarre to me that Ronda Rousey is in this throwaway match. From the little I've seen, Chelsea has been killing it as a character so far in her return. The crowd is dead silent for this so far. Natalya, Raquel and Liv hit a triple powerbomb onto Baszler. Chelsea and Sonya clear the ring and Shotzi hits a top rope crossbody. She then hits a dive through Natalya's legs to the outside. Chelsea knocks Natalya out and tells the crowd to get her cameras out. She hits a dive to the outside to get away from Raquel. Raquel then powerbombs Liv onto the whole crowd. Raquel still telegraphs her moves too much to really be a top star. Chelsea and Sonya team up to take out Raquel. Natalya and Shotzi come from behind and hit the Hart Attack on Sonya. Natalya stacks them up and goes for the double Sharpshooter and then Liv Morgan comes in to hit a Codebreaker off the top rope. Baszler and Ronda finally come out of nowhere and tag themselves in. Ronda slaps on the Arm Bar and picks up the victory. This was...not as good as the showcase match yesterday. This was just to get you to hate Ronda more, which she definitely was booed. This was on the sloppy side and they just never won the crowd over.

Match Rating: *1/2

To get things off to an even less important start, they have Bobby Lashley out to get his Andre The Giant Battle Royal trophy. 

Triple Threat Match For The Intercontinental Championship
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Gunther

Everything from here on out has the opportunity to be great. Titus O'Neil is back out as guest commentator after earning rave reviews last night. As you would expect, these three are just destroying each other. I'm just going to watch and be thankful I'm not in the ring with them. After an entire first segment of clubbing blows and chops, Gunther levels Sheamus with a clothesline. He goes for one on Drew, but he ducks and hits a neckbreaker. Drew hits a suplex on Sheamus onto Gunther and then the Future Shock on Gunther. He goes for the Claymore Kick, but Gunther ducks and he hits a powerbomb on Drew for 2. Sheamus battles with Gunther on the second rope and hits White Noise. He has him up for the Celtic Cross and he hits it, but Gunther kicks out. Sheamus hits a Brogue Kick on Gunther, but McIntyre pulls him off. Drew then hits a somersault dive over the top rope to the floor on Sheamus. Sheamus comes in and hits the Brogue Kick, but McIntyre kicks out. They battle some more and this time McIntyre hits the Claymore Kick and Sheamus kicks out. Gunther is back in and we get a frantic segment that leads to Gunther hitting a powerbomb on Sheamus on top of McIntyre and then another one on McIntyre to retain his title. That was quite the intense match and they resisted the urge to have Gunther lose the title and not take the pinfall. 

Match Rating: ****

Raw Women's Championship Match
Asuka vs. Bianca Belair

Bianca has a fun entrance with a group of young girls dancing. Bianca hits a couple of dropkicks as soon as the match starts and takes it to Asuka in the corner. Bianca hits a suplex and rolls over, but Asuka gets out of the second one and hits her with a kick. Asuka counters a handspring moonsault into a submission, but Bianca battles through it into a pinfall attempt. Asuka puts on the Asuka Lock, but Bianca is by the ropes. They battle outside the ring and Bianca hits a sit down powerbomb. She throws her back in the ring, but Asuka kicks out. Bianca misses in the corner and hits her shoulder on the ring post. They do a weird zoom out in the middle of Bianca doing a handspring, so I'm thinking she maybe messed up. When they zoom back in, Asuka is trying to put her in an ankle lock. Bianca has been able to escape quickly out of the submission holds so far. Bianca hits a superplex and Asuka kicks out. Bianca hits a blockbuster and then a moonsault, but Asuka kicks out. Bianca goes up top, but Asuka hits her with a right hand. Bianca gets her up on her shoulders, but Asuka fights out of it. They start battling over her braid and Asuka hits a Codebreaker. Bianca slams Asuka face first into the top turnbuckle and gets her up for the KOD. Asuka hangs onto the ropes to get out. Asuka sprays the mist, but Bianca ducks it and has her up for the KOD again. Asuka counters it and gets her into the Arm Bar. That was awesome. Bianca rolls out of it and dead lifts her back up again. She hits the KOD and retains her title. That was a fantastic finish. The match didn't quite live up to my high expectations, but Asuka did everything in her power to make Bianca look like a star. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Miz and Snoop are back out to announce the attendance again. Miz confronts Snoop about putting him in an impromptu match in an expensive suit. He then brings out Shane McMahon to a bigger pop than I would expect after his last run. It should be said that Shane and Miz had an underrated WrestleMania match a few years back. 

Miz vs. Shane McMahon Snoop Dogg

Shane does a leapfrog and legitimately hurts his knee. It's Royal Rumble 2005 part 2. Snoop calls an audible and hits Miz with a right hand. He gets on the mic and then hits him with another one. Snoop hits an elbow drop and that's enough. You can't make this stuff up. After the match, they're basically pretending as if Shane was never even there. 

Match Rating: 1/4* (I guess?)

We get a movie tie in with The Pope's Exorcist as the cell is being lowered.

Hell In A Cell Match
Edge vs. Finn Balor

I hope they realize that this match does not need to be 30 minutes long. Edge rises up with a mask that would make Triple H jealous. He takes off the mask and we get the classic Edge music. We get a red steel cage and a purple kendo stick being used early in the match here. So the red cell is gone, but we have multi-color weapons in its place. Edge "traps" Balor in the corner with some purple and red kendo sticks and hits him with a missile dropkick. Edge then goes after the crowds hearts and pulls out a table. He leans it in the opposite corner, but then Balor throws him into the steps. Edge ends up going through the table, but I can guarantee there will be something bigger than that. Edge eventually brings in a ladder, so that may be it. Edge chucks the ladder at Finn and the referee calls for the medical staff. Edge looks for more weapons and sets up the ladder. Finn eventually is back up and he comes back and hits a stomp on Edge. Balor leaps over a Spear attempt and Edge runs into the ladder. We get a zoom out and an ad for the movie again. So we've had Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Mike's Hard Lemonade and The Pope's Exorcist. Finn climbs up top and hits the Coup de Grace, but Edge kicks out. It's WrestleMania, so of course he can. Finn is climbing the ladder, but Edge hits him with a kendo stick. Edge climbs up and hits Edgecution from the ladder/top rope and now Finn gets the shoulder up. Edge grabs another table and throws it into the ring. Balor climbed up the cell and went for Coup de Grace and missing through the table. Edge hits a Spear and Finn kicks out. Edge hits a one man con-chair-to and that's enough to end it. That was kind of anti-climatic and I felt like Finn should have gone over here. This had some good moments, but I didn't like it as much as some of the other matches this weekend. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

We get a quick backstage interview with Bianca and then her dancers come out to chant "E-S-T". 

They bring out the Hall Of Fame class and then we get our WrestleMania 40 commercial. 

So...many...commercials...

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match
Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns

Cody gets the ultimate babyface entrance, as he goes up to his family and holds his son. He then presents his weight belt to Brodie Lee's son. Cody and Roman's stories are two of the more interesting ones and not just for second generation talents. Roman gets 6 piano players on the stage for his entrance. Both men get huge reactions for their ring introductions and this feels like a WrestleMania main event. The bell rings and what feels like 45 minutes since the Edge match ended, we finally have a match. It seriously may have been 45 minutes. Cody gets in some offense early on, but after Roman catches him and hits a powerbomb, he begins to toy with him. Cody tries to gain some momentum, but he ends up eating the ring apron. Roman throws him up on the entrance ramp and then hits a body slam. Solo gets a cheap shot in on Cody and then gets hit by a Drive By. They battle up on the announce table and Roman goes for a powerbomb. Cody counters and hits a back body drop through the table. Cody gets a burst and hits the Cody Cutter for a 2 count. Solo hits Cody with the weight belt, but the ref heard it and throws him out. Roman now has it and the ref tries to take it away. The distraction allows Cody to hit a superkick and a Cross Rhodes, but Roman kicks out. Roman catches Cody as he tries to skin the cat and hits a Rock Bottom. Roman goes for the Superman punch, but Cody avoids it and hits a Pedigree for another 2 count. Roman hits a Superman punch and kicks out despite being knocked "out cold". The timing on that move was very well done though. Cody now has Roman in the Figure Four in the middle of the ring. Roman is able to reverse it, but Cody gets to the ropes. We go back and forth and it leads to Cody leaping over Roman and Roman hitting him with a Spear, but it's not enough. I would just once love to see when someone kicks out of a big move for the wrestler to not be surprised and just go back to work. Roman puts on the Guillotine and Cody is fading. He gets a second wind and possibly is the first person to break the hold? We get a ref bump and then a double clothesline. Cody is to his feet first and he looks up. He goes for the Cross Rhodes, but in come the Usos and hit him with a double superkick and a 1D. They drag Roman on top, but out comes Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Owens hits a Stunner on Roman and Zayn hits the Helluva Kick. The Usos come back and they start brawling into the crowd. The referee is miraculously back and Cody rolls on top, but Roman gets the shoulder up. The two competitors battle and we get a Dusty Rhodes tribute from Cody. He sets him up for Cross Rhodes. He holds on and brings him back up for a second one. He pulls him up for a third, but Heyman is on the apron. Solo is back out and hits a Samoan Spike. Roman hits a Spear and gets the victory. Holy crap. I had a feeling they would go this route, but I definitely got lost in the story of the match and was convinced Cody would do it. I think I would have preferred a finish where Roman cheats his way out rather than have Solo do it, but that was a very good main event for the second night in a row. 

Match Rating: ****

Last night was probably the better show top to bottom, but not by much. This one just had the two weakest matches on it, but they were over quickly and then we got the good stuff. The two night decision continues to be a great move, even if the shows should still be closer to 3 hours both nights.

Overall Rating: 81%

WrestleMania 39: WrestleMania Saturday Review

Saturday, April 1st, 2022
SoFi Stadium
Inglewood, California

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Becky G (?) is here to sing "America The Beautiful". She's no Willie Nelson. We then get a cold open with Kevin Hart and clips from some of the Hollywood spoofs. Not their best work there. The stage setup is pretty cool this year overall. They typically knock that out of the park.

Miz and Snoop Dogg are in the ring to officially kick things off. I still don't get the whole host thing. They do a decent little kickoff and lead us off to our opening contest.

After Theory's entrance, they show a Make-A-Wish promo with WWE Superstars. They then introduce a group of Make-A-Wish kids on the stage for Cena's entrance.

United States Championship Match
Austin Theory vs. John Cena

Cena and this hair...I just can't get used to it. We get the usual slow start until Theory bites the ear of Cena. That gets Cena going to the ref and Theory uses the distraction to his advantage. Theory hits his somersault clothesline and then goes for a somersault dropkick, but Cena moves out of the way. Cena goes for the STF, but Theory bites his way out of it. Theory clobbers him with a clothesline. This is all just kind of weird because so many former stars have come back at older than what Cena is and dominate bigger stars than what Theory is. Cena blocks a kick and gets him up for the Attitude Adjustment. Theory weasels his way out and hits a DDT for a 2 count. After trading right hands, Theory slaps on a sleeper hold in the center of the ring. Cena battles out and hits some shoulder tackles before hitting the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He gets him up for the Attitude Adjustment, but Theory grabs the top rope. The struggle leads to Theory accidentally hitting the referee and knocking him out. Cena puts him in the STF and Theory taps, but the ref doesn't see it. Theory hits a low blow and then hits the A Town Down for the victory. I don't know how else to classify that other than a really big disappointment. 

Match Rating: **

Men's WrestleMania Showcase Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Match
Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. Viking Raiders vs. Alpha Academy vs. Street Profits

These matches are never fun to recap. I honestly forget that Strowman ever came back. After a little bit of wrestling, all eight men are in the ring brawling. The Viking Raiders hit an awesome double team springboard clothesline. The Raiders have always been good. Braun sneaks up behind them and knocks them both down with a shoulder tackle. Gable then sneaks up and hits an awesome German suplex after a roll through into a bridge for a two count. WWE has wasted his career like none other. Dawkins knocks Gable off the top rope, but then misses with a leg drop off the top rope. Ivar then goes up top and misses with a moonsault. Braun now goes up top and hits a splash, but the pin attempt gets broken up by just about everyone. Otis comes in and tries to go upstairs, but Montez hits him with a kick. Now it's chaos again and we get the obligatory tower of doom spot. It's a delayed vertical suplex that ends with Ricochet hitting a crossbody on Ford on the way down. I wish they wouldn't do it so much, but that was a cool one. We now get the Braun running around the ring spot, but ends with Dawkins knocking him down with a surprise shoulder tackle. Ricochet hits a shooting star press from the top, but then goes for one in the ring and Dawkins gets his knees up. Montez comes in and hits a splash and the Profits pick up the win in a total sprint of a match. I'm sure a lot of people will go lower than me on this, but this was fun wrestling even if it relied a little too much on the usual. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins

Paul makes his way out on a zipline and Rollins gets a conductor to lead the crowd in singing Rollins' entrance music. Paul leapfrogs Rollins a few times and tosses him over the top rope. Paul hits a somersault clothesline on the way back into the ring. He then hits a bunch of fists to the ribs of Rollins. Paul then hits a crossbody and a standing moonsault for an early 2 count. Paul leaps up to the top rope, but misses with the moonsault. Rollins comes back and brawls before throwing him out of the ring. Rollins hits him with a trio of dives to the outsdide and then stomps on the right hand of Paul. It should be noted that Paul has a mascot for his energy drink at ringside. Rollins goes for a Pedigree, Paul powers out, but he turns it into a sunset flip for 2. We then get a series of pin attempts that leads to Paul hitting a huge right hand and knocking Rollins out. Paul covers, but Rollins kicks out. There was a delay from Paul covering with him selling the hand injury from getting stomped a few moments earlier. Paul catches Paul and he hits a sit down powerbomb for a nearfall. The mascot pulls Paul out of the way from Rollins and it's revealed that it's KSI. I'll again show my age by never hearing of this guy. The distraction allows Paul to throw Rollins into the ring post. Rollins is on the announce table with KSI videoing. Rollins grabs KSI while Logan leaps from the top rope and he lands on KSI. Rollins hits the Pedigree, but Paul kicks out at 2. Paul hits the Go To Sleep and follows it up with a Frog Splash, but again Rollins kicks out. Paul is going for the coast to coast, but Rollins hits him with a super kick. Rollins follows it up with the Stomp and that's all to the crowd's delight. This was the type of good match that you would expect out of Rollins. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Damage Control vs. Trish Stratus, Lita & Becky Lynch

This is one of those matches that almost is better for a different card just because it undeservingly gets overlooked with so many big matches on the card. All six women start brawling before the match officially starts and Lynch hits a baseball slide. We are underway and Dakota Kai hits a scorpion kick. Sky hits a springboard missile dropkick and gets a 2 count. Becky is finally able to make a tag and Lita comes in and hits a headscissors on Sky. Lita hits Vertigo, but Sky kicks out. A distraction from Sky allows Kai to hit a kick to the back of Lita's head. Damage Control cuts the ring in half for the second time until Trish finally gets tagged in. Trish is 2 years older than Cena and you would never know it. They do a cool spot where Lita and Becky hold Trish upside down to get Kai from the top rope and hurricanrana her onto her partners on the outside. Lita hits Poetry In Motion and Becky hits a top rope leg drop, but Kai kicks out. Becky puts on Dis-Arm-Her, but it gets disrupted. Bayley hits a clubbing clothesline to the back of Lynch's head. Lynch hits a suplex, but Bayley hits a Rose Plant only to get broken up by Lita. Trish hits Stratusfaction and then Bayley hits Bayley To Belly. We have chaos again and Sky hits a moonsault to the floor. We get some more chaos and it leads to Lita hitting a moonsault. Bayley goes for a Bayley To Belly on the second rope, but Becky counters it for a Manhandle Slam and the victory. That wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it. Trish is still pretty darn good. 

Match Rating: ***

Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio

Dominik comes out in a cop car, handcuffed and walked to the ring by a police escort. Rey gets to come out in a low rider with Snoop Dogg to Eddie's music. It's interesting how over Dominik has been able to get over as a heel. The stars seemed to just have really aligned for him with this storyline. For some reason this match is sponsored by Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We get some fun action to start. Dominik taunts his mom and sister and then throws his sister's drink in her face. Rey comes out and Dominik attacks him. Dominik continues to work on Rey and pulls out a Michinoku Driver. He goes back to his mom and she slaps him. Rey pushes Dom into the ring post and gives his wife a kiss. Rey hits a variation of the sunset flip powerbomb and goes for the Three Amigos. Dom pushes Rey into the corner and out comes Finn Balor and Damian Priest. Dominik then drops Rey face-first into the top turnbuckle. Now Dominik goes for Three Amigos and only gets in one. Rey is able to hit the 619, but Priest and Balor interfere allowing Dominik to get in a cheap shot. Out comes Legado del Fantasmo and they go after Judgment Day. Back in the ring, Dominik nails Rey with a clothesline and then hits him with a 619. Dominik goes up top and hits a Frog Splash, but Rey kicks out. Dominik starts untying the top turnbuckle, which distracts the ref. He grabs Damian's jacket and pulls out a chain. Bad Bunny, who was doing guest commentator work, comes out and grabs it away from him. Rey hits the 619 and the splash for the victory. This was a lot of fun with an easy to follow storyline and an all time great pulling off yet another very good match in his legendary career. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair

These two had a very good WrestleMania match back in the audience-free Mania. We get a back and forth match for quite awhile. Rhea goes for Rip Tide, but Charlotte counters it into a wicked DDT that clearly is not the end of the match. Both women are knocked down after a double boot. They start battling on their way back up and Rhea gets the better of it. Charlotte is able to come back with an exploder suplex and kips up. Charlotte goes up top, but Rhea meets her up there. She gets knocked off, but climbs back up and hits a German suplex that flips her face first onto the mat. Charlotte somehow hits Natural Selection. These big matches need to stop having so many quick recoveries. We get some German suplexes and Rhea hits one where Charlotte almost gets Brock Lesnar'd in a scary moment. She seems to be fine, as she hits a big boot for a 2 count. She has a rug burn on the bridge of her nose. Man, she really was very lucky if that's all that she got out of that. Charlotte hits a moonsault from the top to the floor and quickly throws Rhea back in the ring. She goes for the Figure Four, but Rhea doesn't allow it. Rhea hits Rip Tide, but Charlotte kicks out. We also need to stop it with the looks of disbelief after every kick out. I mean, I guess this one makes sense with it being her finisher, but it's every pin attempt. Charlotte sneaks in an inside cradle and Rhea barely escapes in time. Charlotte hits a Spear after escaping a submission move and again Rhea kicks out. Charlotte is frustrated and they start trading blows. Charlotte hits a boot and puts on the Figure Four. Rhea is in the corner and grabs the ropes to break the hold before it was really ever on. They battle up on the second rope and Rhea is able to hit Rip Tide to become the new champion. I liked this quite a bit, but probably not as much as most will.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Snoop Dogg and Miz are out again and Snoop talks about Miz not having a match. Out comes Pat McAfee. This is a Michael Cole dream come true. McAfee says he'll take Miz up on his open challenge, but Miz says that he can't make matches official. Snoop says he can make it happen and here we go. 

Miz vs. Pat McAfee

McAfee attacks Miz right away and hits him with a spinebuster. McAfee goes for a superplex, but Miz is able to get out of it. McAfee flips off the top and lands on his feet and hits a kick on Miz. The booking of Miz in the post-McMahon era has sucked. Miz wants to leave and is taunted by George Kittle. He gives him a shove and Kittle hits him with a clothesline. McAfee then hits a somersault dive from the top rope and Corey Graves hopes the 49ers never win another game. McAfee hits a big punt to the face and that's all. This is kind of hard to rate since it was meant to feel impromptu and really only just for the surprise factor. 

Match Rating: *

Someone named Lil Uzi Vert comes out to perform some song. Whyyyyyy? I just want to go to bed. 

Undisputed Tag Team Championship Match
Usos vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

It's kind of crazy that Kevin Owens has main evented WrestleMania two years in a row and now the guy who I have been typing on here forever saying he was the best performer in the company is joining him this year. The Usos isolate Sami early on and it's starting to feel like the crowd is a little tired here. I really don't get why they aren't just doing three hours with it being two nights. Owens finally gets tagged in and hits two Frog Splashes for a 2. KO goes for the swanton, but the knees are up and then gets hit with an Uso Splash. Owens avoids the butt bop and then hits a cannon ball. Owens goes up top again, but Jey grabs his leg. Sami hits a brainbuster on the apron and KO hits the Swanton, but Jimmy kicks out. Sami is up top this time and hits an Uso Splash, but we have another kickout. The Usos take control back and hit a double superkick on Sami. They hit a second double superkick and Sami kicks out again. They go for the 1D, but Owens trips them up and Sami almost steals the victory. The Usos are battling with Owens on the announce table and throw him through. The Usos hit the 1D on Zayn and apparently becomes the first to ever kick out of that. Sami is able to hit an exploder into the corner and KO climbs up to the corner. Sami makes the tag and he hits the pop up powerbomb on both Usos. Sami hits a Helluva Kick and Owens hits a Stunner, but that's not enough. All four men are standing in the center of the ring and start going after it. Owens hits some superkicks before getting hit by a few. The Usos go up top and hit the double Uso Splash, but Owens kicks out. There sure have been a lot of kick outs tonight. Sami is able to help make a save and Owens hits a brainbuster off the top rope. Sami is tagged in and hits the Helluva Kick. He sets him up and hits another one. Owens hits the Stunner on Jimmy and Zayn hits a third one on Jey. Sami and Owens end the streak and get a huge reaction to go with it. I know a lot of people won't agree, but this was my favorite match of the night. There's still a lot left to unpack for tomorrow night too. 

Match Rating: ****

This was a very good start to WrestleMania weekend. Just about everything on the show was good with my only real issue being the pacing. I don't know why this needed to be 4 hours especially since a lot of it was just due to video packages being long. Thumbs up for WrestleMania Saturday.

Overall Rating: 83%