Off The Grid, Volume 45: Saturday Night's Main Event XXVI Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, April 28th, 1990
Frank Erwin Center
Austin, Texas

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Off The Grid, Volume 45:

Ultimate Warrior says that Haku and Bobby Heenan won't prevent him from walking the outer limits. Heenan says Haku will become the WWF Champion. Mr. Perfect said that we all learned that Hulk Hogan wasn't perfect at WrestleMania VI, but he is. Which is ironic since he also lost. Hulk Hogan is going to do a lot of teaching, dude. 

We see Vince and Jesse riding horses. Yes, really. They do their intro on horses in the aisle. 

Mr. Perfect and Genius are with Sean Mooney. Perfect runs down all the sports he plays and calls Hogan a perfect loser. 

Hulk Hogan is with Mean Gene and he calls Mr. Perfect and Genius perfect fools. If you took a shot every time the word "perfect" has been said during the first 7 minutes, you'd be dead. 

Mr. Perfect vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan tosses Perfect around the ring and Perfect rolls out to re-group. It works momentarily, but Perfect is able to move out of the way of a boot to the face. Hogan follows him outside and tosses him into the ring post. Hogan dominates some more until Genius distracts the referee and Perfect hits him with the scroll. Perfect tries to jump off the top rope, but the referee pulls him off and we go to commercial break. Perfect now gets his moment, but we all know how this is going to end. Perfect hits the Perfect Plex, but HOgan kicks out at 2. Hogan makes his comeback and that's all. That was quick. Hogan beats up Genius after the match and throws him to the floor. This was pretty vanilla Hogan. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Rick Martel advertises Arrogance while sitting on a horse. 

Jesse Ventura and Jimmy Hart are with Earthquake. Hart says Earthquake will make Hillbilly Jim squeal like a pig. 

Hillbilly Jim is with Mean Gene. I honestly had no clue that Hillbilly was still working here in 1990. 

Earthquake vs. Hillbilly Jim

Quake tries to attack him, but Hillbilly avoids it and takes it to the big man. I definitely prefer the custom gear Earthquake would later wear over the single color gear he is wearing here. Jimmy Hart goes after the lucky horseshoe and that distracts Jim. Quake then attacks him and hits the splash for the finish. He hits a second one for good measure. Earthquake then decides that the third time is a charm and hits another one. This was also what you would expect here. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Hillbilly Jim does a stretcher job. 

We get more Rick Martel promoting Arrogance with two ladies in his locker room. 

Jesse Ventura is with the Hart Foundation. Jesse is pretty cheesy here. He calls the Rockers "somersault sissies" and then Bret refers to them as teeny boppers. 

The Rockers are with Mean Gene and they tell the Hart Foundation to be ready for a broken heart. 

Hart Foundation vs. Rockers

We get a great opening sequence between Marty Jannetty and Bret Hart. The Rockers hit some double teaming, so Jim Neidhart comes in and hits a double clothesline on them. Shawn Michaels is able to hit a dropkick on Neidhart, but he gets caught after for a body slam. Bret then catches Shawn for an inverted atomic drop. Demolition make their way down the aisle to get a closer look. Bret has now turned his attention to them and this allows Michaels to dropkick him to the floor. Shawn is able to finally hit a hot tag to Marty and the crowd is loving it. Marty hits a superkick and gets a 2 count. Bret is able to hit a neckbreaker to slow down Marty's momentum and tags in Neidhart. He launches Neidhart in, but he misses. Shawn is tagged in, but he gets leveled by a shoulder tackle for a 2 count. Michaels comes back with a reverse elbow. Neidhart catches Michaels off the second rope, but Michaels is able to force him down for a 2 count. Neidhart throws him through the ropes and to the floor in front of Demolition. Demolition looks to be throwing him back in the ring to keep the match going, but Marty takes it as them attacking him. They start brawling and that turns into a 6 man brawl and a double disqualification. That's too bad because these two teams were just tearing it up. Non-stop action from bell to bell. 

Match Rating: ****

We go immediately to Earthquake and Jimmy Hart. He talks about destroying Hulk Hogan. 

Hulk is with Mean Gene and he says that he is like a Texas tornado and that he's a survivor. I still remain baffled as to how people loved Hogan as much as they did. 

They show the post-match of the Ultimate Warrior/Hulk Hogan match at WrestleMania VI. They play the amazing WrestleMania music. Inject that into my veins. That leads us to Jesse Ventura who is with Bobby Heenan and Haku. Heenan rips on Texas and says that it will now be known as where Haku won the WWF Championship. 

Mean Gene has the honor of being with Ultimate Warrior. He gives his usual insane promo. 

WWF Championship Match
Haku vs. Ultimate Warrior

Did Haku ever win a singles match that wasn't against a jobber? Haku attacks Warrior as he gets in the ring and Warrior is able to hit a back body drop while wearing the WWF Championship. He hits a clothesline that is supposed to send him over, but they have a glitch. Warrior tosses the belt over the top and hits some chops on Haku. He works on the arm and spins him around by the arm. He then throws Haku over the top rope. Back in the ring, Warrior runs into a knee and then Haku hits a trio of clotheslines and a dropkick. Haku hits a backbreaker and gets a 2 count. Warrior make his comeback and we get more clotheslines. He hits a shoulder tackle and a splash for the finish. I don't think anyone thought for a second Haku was going to win, which is why it was buried on this card. However, they would have never done that with Hogan. 

Match Rating: *

Rick Martel is now at the tennis court and says that Arrogance will make you the #1 seed. 

They show highlights of Ted DiBiase attacking Big Boss Man before his WrestleMania match. It ended up not mattering for those who don't remember. We go to Akeem and Slick. I could listen to Slick all day. So good. 

Big Boss Man is with Mean Gene and says that justice is blind. He says that everything is bigger in Texas, including the beating he's going to give Akeem. 

Akeem vs. Big Boss Man

I'm not really sure that this rematch even makes sense since Boss Man was attacked prior to his match and still beat Akeem in a couple of minutes. They have a real quick match here with nothing really happening. Then out come Virgil and Ted DiBiase and attack Boss Man. It all leads to Boss Man chasing DiBiase away with his nightstick. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Rick Martel is getting into a convertible in front of the WWF production truck talking about Arrogance. 

Bobby Heenan tells us that Rick Rude is going through the most extensive training ever to get ready to win the WWF Championship from Ultimate Warrior.

Ultimate Warrior tells Rick Rude that the power of the Warrior is completely out of control. 

Jesse hypes up the fact that Rick Rude has beaten Warrior before and he will again. He then warns Hogan of a natural disaster. The ending of SNME's were always weak. 2 commercials in like 45 seconds. Vince and Jesse then ride off on their horses. We then get a wanted sign with their faces on it, which honestly isn't far from the truth. 

The tag team match was fantastic stuff and the rest was decent enough to make this a good show. However, you can already feel the Warrior era becoming a failure. I didn't quite understand that as a kid because I got into wrestling at SummerSlam, but it's pretty obvious when looking back on it. 

Overall Rating: 78%

ECW 4-24-07 Review

Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Earl's Court
London, England

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Punk is shown getting ready and they reveal it's in the New Breed locker room. He apologizes for last week, but not for the advice that he was giving. He says that tonight is the night that everyone will remember them for if they stick together. Elijah Burke is skeptical. 

Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley

We are obviously getting some sort of DQ finish here, but it seems a little odd that they didn't hype this up at the beginning of the show. Armando Estrada gets involved quickly by grabbing the leg and that allows Umaga to knock Lashley out of the ring. He tosses Lashley into the steps and starts to clear the announce table. Lashley fights his way out of that, but gets hit with a Samoan drop in the ring. Umaga misses off the second rope and both men are down. They battle when they get up and Lashley clotheslines him over the top rope. In comes Estrada to attack Lashley from behind and we have our DQ ending. Lashley tosses him around the ring as Vince McMahon comes down. Lashley continues to destroy Estrada while Vince holds Umaga back to save him for Backlash. Lashley just throws Estrada from the ring to the floor in front of Vince and Umaga. This was just filler before the pay per view. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Elijah Burke is talking with the New Breed and thinks that they may have made a mistake by bringing Punk in. Marcus Cor Von says that he wanted to bring him in, not we. Burke thinks he threw that chair in a little too hard and they point out that he asked for the chair. Punk eventually finds himself back in the room for the awkward moment. 

Snitsky vs. Balls Mahoney

Why? He hits a big boot and a clothesline and I just bored myself writing that. Snitsky wins. Next. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

CM Punk is proud to be here and is happy he joined the New Breed. Burke walks in and asks what Punk is doing. He says he's getting them fired up. 

8 Man Elimination Match
ECW Originals vs. New Breed

Before the match, Burke tells Punk that he's going to wrestle this match and that Punk will be on the outside. We get an early elimination with a banana peel type finish when Burke rolls up Sandman and grabs the tights to send him back to the locker room. RVD battles out of a superplex attempt and hits a sunset flip, but Striker kicks out at 2. He hits a split legged moonsault and eliminates Striker. Cor Von and Sabu battle for awhile until Cor Von hits the Pounce to eliminate him. That was a good one. After a commercial break, Cor Von drops Dreamer crotch first on the barricade and the referee decides that today would be a good day for that to be a disqualification for the first time in history. I absolutely hate when they do stuff like that. Dreamer is able to hit a DDT on Thorn and that is enough to eliminate him. That leaves Burke against RVD and Dreamer, but not for long. Elijah hits the Elijah Express on Dreamer and he's gone. Elijah is able to throw RVD into the ring post twice and rolls him up for 2. Burke tries to launch himself back into the ring and RVD hits him with a spin kick. RVD tries to do a dive, but the referee again decides it's a good day to not allow that in ECW of all places. CM Punk kicks Burke to the back of the head behind the referee's back. RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash and that does it for the victory. This got a lot of time, but the finishes all kind of felt rushed. This was pretty basic stuff and the story was just way too obvious with Punk.

Match Rating: **1/4

After the match Punk hits the GTS on Burke and tells him that he's sorry. 

This kind of felt like an ECW for dummies. This could have been your first time watching wrestling and I'm pretty sure you could see what was coming with the New Breed storyline. Snitsky still stinks and the Lashley/Umaga stuff was just one last segment to get us to Backlash. There have been many worse episodes than this one, but this was just mediocre.

Overall Rating: 44%

Monday Night Raw 4-23-07 Review

Monday, April 23rd, 2007 
Earls Court
London, England

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

Shane McMahon is out to kick off the show. They show the highlights of Santino Marella winning the Intercontinental Championship. That leads to Shane issuing a challenge to someone in the crowd for a no DQ match. He makes fun of the Chelsea coach and then says that he can't find anyone, but he found someone at a pub named Robbie Brookside. They bring him out and we have a match. 

No Disqualification Match
Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside

They have a very regular wrestling match until Shane grabs a trash can and sets in front of a seated Brookside. He hits the coast to coast and then grabs a mic to announce that this is a 2 on 1 handicap match. He brings out Umaga as his partner. 

Umaga & Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside

Umaga comes in and hits the butt to the face. He hits a big splash and then Shane announces that it's actually a 3 on 1 handicap match. Their partner is obviously Vince McMahon.

Vince McMahon, Umaga & Shane McMahon vs. Robbie Brookside

Vince comes out in a suit and a derby. He covers Brookside and that's all. This was terrible and the crowd was dead for almost all of it.  

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a WrestleMania 23 music video of highlights from the Shawn Michaels/John Cena match. The music is kind of weird here, but I'm not sure if it's the actual music used or not. 

Matt Hardy vs. Trevor Murdoch

Matt gets his solo music here. I'm already looking forward to not having to watch Cade and Murdoch, but that's a long ways away. Matt gets the majority of the offense early on. He hits a Side Effect for a 2 count and then hits a leg drop off the second rope. Cade provides a distraction and it allows Murdoch to throw Matt's shoulder into the ring post. Murdoch hits a Canadian Destroyer and that's all. He should probably not do that move. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Maria is on her way to the ring. 

Melina vs. Maria

Maria hits a couple of moves, but then Melina slams her face-first and that's all? That wasn't that impressive of a win for Melina. Why not just have her squash her here? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Ric Flair tells Carlito to get going, but Carlito says he's doing it alone. 

Great Khali vs. Carlito

Carlito tries a missile dropkick and Khali kind of swats him away. Khali hits the double hand chokeslam and that's all. What a crappy first hour despite it being all in ring action outside of a few minutes of Shane on the mic. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Flair comes out to check on Carlito and he gets an earful from Carlito. 

Mick Foley is here and talks about the main event at Backlash. Edge walks in and says he's going to be watching. 

On a side note here, Todd Grisham is the ring announcer tonight and he is absolutely terrible at it. 

Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena

I haven't watched this one since it aired and have been looking forward to re-visiting it. I watched this in a hotel room during a work trip where I worked a long day, so I didn't have my full attention on the match. We get a slow build, as one would expect in a lengthy match. The little bursts of energy are picking up as the match continues and the they have the crowd for it. Michaels hits a top rope elbow drop for his biggest move up to the moment. He goes for a dive over the top rope, but Cena catches him for a slam. Back in the ring, Michaels throws Cena's shoulder into the ring post. Cena makes his comeback and hits the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. He hits a FU, but Michaels kicks out of the pin attempt to a big pop from the crowd. Cena sends Michaels into the corner with the Irish whip and it sends him up and over the top. Cena hits the top rope leg drop and that's another 2 count. Michaels is able to hit a powerbomb on Cena and both men are down. Michaels then knocks Cena from the apron and he flies into the announcer table. Cena starts to brawl with Michaels on the table. He gets him back into the ring and slaps on the STFU. After a lengthy battle, Michaels gets to the bottom rope. This leads to a brief segment with counters and Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music to a big pop.Michaels counters out of a second FU and hits a second Sweet Chin Music and that's all. The crowd loves it and both guys are selling their injuries. I know a lot of people like this one better than WrestleMania 23, but I just can't agree with that. This was very good, but not quite to the level they got at Mania. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

The first hour of this show was absolutely horrible, but then they got wise and just dedicated an entire hour to a great match. I would have to believe that most people probably have that match in their top 5-10 Raw matches of all time. In that case, the show is good because of one match, but nothing else is even worth your time. 

Overall Rating: 58%

NXT 7-22-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Finn Balor is here to kick off the show. This promo is about as straight forward as it gets. He's the champion, the fans chant his name and he's going to walk out of TakeOver the champ. They'll have the contract signing later tonight. 

Eva Marie thanks William Regal for the opportunity and she is taking it, like, so seriously. If this was the best take they got, then yeesh. 

Eva Marie vs. Cassie

I once saw Eva Marie at the airport. That's about all I can say about her. Cassie hits her with a couple of kicks, but Eva hits a snap suplex. Eva is a perfect example of someone can execute moves, but has no reason why she is doing them or how to make them make an impact. Her submission hold that she puts on here, looks anything but painful. Cassie comes back with some more kicks and gets a nearfall. She hits a variation Sliced Bread #2 and gets the win. This was horrible. I'm truly surprised they let her get on the air. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

William Regal is on the phone and walks into his office, where Tyler Breeze is hanging out there. He wants to know what Regal has in mind for him at TakeOver. Regal says that he is working on it. 

Baron Corbin vs. Jesus de Leon

Corbin hits End Of Days in like 5 seconds and it's over. Yep.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Samoa Joe vs. Mike Rallis

I think we know where this one is headed. They let us know that Samoa Joe will face Rhyno in two weeks. They're planning that far ahead for us, huh? Joe hits the Muscle Buster for the easy win. Next. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're with Emma and Dana Brooke, with Emma saying that she's going to break Bayley's childish spirit. They hug and this was lame. 

Emma vs. Bayley 

Surprisingly, there are some "Let's go Emma" chants. The match has some spunk to start, but slows down when Emma starts working on Bayley's injured hand. Bayley makes her comeback and hits a flying elbow drop for 2. They hit a double clothesline and both ladies are down. Dana grabs Bayley by the hands and the referee sends her packing for the back. Bayley hits the Bayley To Belly and picks up the victory. The crowd was very much into this and it definitely helped. This was one of the better wins Bayley has been given on NXT TV and it was mostly pretty good.

Match Rating: **1/4

After the match, Bayley grabs the mic and says that it felt amazing. She wants the title and in order to do that, she has to be the best. So she says that she wants a match with Charlotte. 

They interview Charlotte and she talks about the women's revolution. She wants to bring the NXT Women's Championship to Raw. Dana Brooke interferes and is sick of the chances that Charlotte always gets. She wants to prove to the world who she is and wants to beat Charlotte. Charlotte says Bayley can wait another week and she'll make a statement she'll never forget. 

Vaudevillains vs. Angelo Dawkins & Sawyer Fulton

Vaudevillains will get their title shot next week. Dawkins and Fulton get a decent amount of offense to start. Englsih gets a hot tag and takes out both opponents. They hit the Whirling Dervish and that's all. These squash episodes of NXT are just usually a drag. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Blake, Murphy and Alexa Bliss are mockingly clapping backstage. Bliss says she'll make sure that her boys will still be the champs. 

Regal is in the ring and he's here to bring out Finn Balor and Kevin Owens for the contract signing. Owens brags about his accomplishments in his first 6 months and he's going to show all of us idiots that Japan was a fluke. Finn says he's going to take KO's words and shove them down his throat. They both sign the contract and Regal announces that it's official. Owens throws it at him and tips over the table into Finn. Regal tries to stop him, so Owens takes him out. Balor battles back and knocks Owens out of the ring. 

Well, this show was a stinker. The Bayley match was pretty good and that was all. It was all filler and when that filler is Baron Corbin and Eva Marie, that's not great. 

Overall Rating: 34%

Monday Night Raw 7-31-95 Review

Monday, July 31st, 1995
Louisville Gardens
Louisville, Kentucky

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We get a quick hype video for the Owen Hart and Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon and Savio Vega match tonight. 

King Mabel vs. Nick Barberry

Mabel tosses poor Barberry around the ring and hits him in the back of the head with his kick. He tosses him out of the ring and then into the steps. He squashes him in the corner and hits the belly to belly suplex for the easy win. After the match, he grabs a mic and tells everyone to respect him. He says at SummerSlam he will not only be our king, but also the champion. Yeah, you said that last time. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get another Fatu vignette even though he has already debuted. He'll be in action on Raw next week. 

They show Shawn Michael's cheesy interview from last week on Raw. We then go to tonight and Shawn teases fighting Lawler between now and SummerSlam. Lawler keeps going back and forth on it and Michaels keeps pushing him into it. Lawler blames it on the oath he took to be a journalist when he's on Raw. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bob Cook

Cook rakes the eyes and gets in a few kicks and punches. Bam Bam tosses him around the ring a couple of times. WWF is going to be on America Online soon and you can get 10 free hours. Call now! Bam Bam hits the body slam and hits the top rope headbutt for the victory. The fans don't really seem to be connecting with the face turn. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for another Report Card. He talks about Bam Bam Bigelow and the word "beast". He gives him a F based on his looks alone. 

Vince and Lawler interview the tag champs, so naturally Jim Cornette does all the talking. 

Skip vs. Major Yates

More Major Yates, huh? He gets a roll up to tease another Skip upset. Yates hits a monkey flip, but Skip is back with a semi-dangerous looking German suplex. Skip hits a superplex and picks up the victory. On the way back to the locker room, Skip says that Horowitz made the biggest mistake of his life. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to go to Todd Pettengill for the SummerSlam Insider. Diesel says a crown doesn't mean much compared to his WWF Championship. We then get a new video of Isaac Yankem and Jerry Lawler. They talk about the Shawn Michaels/Sid match that will 100% definitely happen. 

Next week, Mabel will face Sir Mo on Raw next week. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon & Savio Vega

This one should get a good amount of time. Razor hits Owen with a right hand and knocks him silly. Owen rolls out of the ring into the commercial break. When we come back, Razor catches Owen and hits him with a fall away slam. Owen rolls over and tags in Yoko. Savio actually gets the better of him and Owen tags back in after some stalling. I love the way that Owen runs the ropes. Owen hits a drop toe hold and Yoko hits the leg drop. Yoko is at the point where he is just too big and can't even stay in the ring for too long, which is sad. Razor sets up Owen and hits the Razor's Edge and they pick up the victory. This of course is the old switcheroo because the referee realizes that Owen wasn't the legal man. Jim Cornette is in and is livid. The referee goes and talks to the ring announcer to make the announcement. They announce the match must continue and that Cornette has to go backstage. Razor throws Owen into Yoko and double team him. Cornette is trying to fight the decision, but eventually gets backstage. We have had like 25 commercial breaks in this match. Things start to get chaotic and then we are out of time? I know this is an old territory bit, but I like a conclusion of some sort. The match was pretty good, but Yoko is so limited. 

Match Rating: **1/2

This was a decent show, with the feature match taking up a lot of the episode. There was nothing super important, but it was entertaining enough overall. 

Overall Rating: 49%

Superstars 7-29-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, July 29th, 1995
Roberts Stadium
Evansville, Indiana

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We get a recap of the Savio Vega/1-2-3 Kid vs. Jacob and Eli Blu match from last week, leading us to our feature match today.

Fatu vs. Rad Radford

It's time for Fatu to make a difference. Fatu quickly clotheslines Radford over the top rope and actually gets a pretty good reaction from the crowd. On the outside, he throws Radford into the post and back into the ring. Fatu misses in the corner and Radford hits a neckbreaker. He then turns him inside out with a clothesline. Credit to Fatu for selling for Radford, who basically just exists on the roster. Radford slaps on a sleeper hold, which I didn't expect in this match. Fatu gets out and hits a big powerslam. Radford comes back with a DDT, but you can't do that to Fatu. Radford ducks a superkick, but Fatu is able to use a small package to pick up the victory. I was expecting this to be a squash and instead we got a pretty decent match here. After the match, Radford attacks Fatu. He hits a clothesline, but Fatu no sells it this time. Radford retreats and Fatu goes after him. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We go to the SummerSlam Insider with Todd Pettengill and over 12,000 tickets have been sold. He then breaks that Diesel will face King Mabel in the main event. We get a Diesel promo where he just keeps calling Mabel fat.

King Mabel vs. Gary Scott

Mabel is quickly on the offensive and Mabel hits a big clothesline. He hits his spin kick and then tosses him over the top rope. Mabel throws him into the steps and then hits a belly to belly suplex for the victory. Mabel did show off a little bit of edge here, but it also was short and sweet. Mabel cuts a promo saying at SummerSlam that he'll be both our king and our champion.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Goldust vignette again. 

Bob Backlund is shown in the crowd. We then see clips of Jeff Jarrett singing and then his match with Shawn Michaels. 

Uncle Zebekiah, Jacob & Eli Blu vs. Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid & Savio Vega

I guess this is a very early preview of the DOA vs. Los Boricuas feud that won over millions. We get some good action into the commercial break, which comes pretty abruptly for a taped show. Razor comes in and cleans house, but then runs into a knee when running the ropes. They are once again hyping up this supposed feud between the Blus and Smoking Gunns. Naturally, we get some shenanigans from the heels to keep the momentum in their favor. Razor makes the tag to Kid and he hits a spin kick for a 2 count. He leaps over a charging Zebekiah and hits a kick to pick up the victory. This was a fun enough match with some good energy. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a Dean Douglas vignette talking about knowledge. This one feels like it goes on forever. 

Waylon Mercy vs. Major Yates

We join the match in progress and Yates is hesitant to be wrestling this guy. Mercy hits him with a clothesline and dumps him out of the ring. He lifts up the bottom rope to let him in and then kicks him as he is climbing in. He slaps on the sleeper hold and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to the Toddster for the SummerSlam Insider. They show highlights of Bret Hart taking out Shinja on Raw. Todd then announces that Bret Hart will take Isaac Yankem at SummerSlam. Bret calls Yankem a demented tooth fairy. We then go back to Yankem's office with Lawler. 

Dok Hendrix is in the ring with Skip and Sunny. They don't want to talk about Barry Horowitz, but rather Skip's match with Shawn Michaels next week. That's probably the first Superstars match that I've watched so far that I remember watching. 

I know I am in such a minority, but Superstars has been entertaining lately. Obviously, it's not like life changing or anything, but it's a lot better than it has any right to be given the era. 

Overall Rating: 56%

SmackDown 4-20-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, April 20th, 2007
DatchForum
Milan, Italy

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We are here for the third show this week in Milan, Italy and it happens to be the 400th episode of SmackDown. Batista is out to kick off the show. 

Batista vs. Finlay

JBL hypes up the evolution of Batista because he's working on a body part. Finlay tries to use the old "there's something in my eye" trick and it works for a second, but he quickly eats a boot to the face. We come back from a commercial break and they are battling outside the ring. Out of nowhere, Mr. Kennedy is out and attacks Batista for the DQ. That was about as quick of a finish that you will ever see after a commercial break. They both attack Batista in the ring, with Kennedy hitting a big DDT and Finlay hitting a Celtic Cross. This was pretty blah and then you throw in the pointless finish for good measure.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jillian Hall is out and they show the attack from last week on Ashley. I did such a good job of forgetting this and they had to go and remind me again. She sings a song mocking Italians until she is finally interrupted by Michelle McCool. McCool is so unlikable as a face. Anyway, she slaps Jillian and takes her down. Is there something about going to Europe where it's harder to fill TV time or something? There is just always so much stuff that doesn't matter on these European shows.

The Hardys & Chris Benoit vs. MVP, Chavo Guerrero & Gregory Helms

You know, looking back at it. They sure used Jeff a lot for someone who has had issues in the past. I'm not sure how making him take more bumps than seemingly 95% of the roster is smart. I also don't get the point of Chavo Guerrero teaming with Gregory Helms. Naturally, Jeff is the one who gets the heat segment. It all leads to the predictable all the faces get their offense in. Benoit puts on the Sharpshooter on Helms. MVP tries to interrupt it, but Benoit hits a back body drop and keeps the hold on. Helms taps. Sorry, don't care about Benoit.

Match Rating: *3/4

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
London & Kendrick vs. Deuce 'n Domino

The champions have the early advantage until London misses with a moonsault off the apron and to the floor. The medical staff is down to check on London and that leaves Kendrick by himself. The challengers just dominate Kendrick and London is not coming back to help. They hit the kick to the head and we have new champions. I have no clue why they had them win it in Milan and I legitimately can't remember who even takes the straps off of them. This is all just a blur. 

Match Rating: *1/2

They show the recap of Santino Marella winning the Intercontinental Championship before running down the card for Backlash. 

Oh great, Kane is next. 

We get a Mark Henry vignette about him naming people he hurt.

William Regal & Dave Taylor vs. Kane

Sometimes I just don't like wrestling. Regal trips up Kane as he is walking back up the steps and the ref counts up to 9 before Kane enters the ring. Well, I was expecting this to be about 60 seconds and it's actually a match. They go through the motions for what feels like eternity and then Regal and Taylor just decide to head to the back, making you feel as if you wasted your time even more than you probably did.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Regal and Taylor are asking Teddy Long to keep Kane away from them. Teddy tells them next week they'll face Kane again, but this time Boogeyman will be his partner. Why? They leave and Kristal comes in with a bunch of shopping bags. They then have the least convincing kiss in wrestling history. 

Mr. Kennedy vs. Undertaker

Taker hits an early big boot, but Kennedy comes back with a superplex. I guess we're just no selling here, as Taker hits Old School and then knocks him over the top rope. After the commercial break, Taker misses with a running boot in the corner and that gives Kennedy his opening. Kennedy hits a running boot to the face to a seated Taker. God forbid Taker be injured for more than a minute, so he hits a leg drop to Kennedy draped over the apron. Taker hits Snake Eyes and a chokeslam. He signals for the Tombstone, but in comes Finlay. Taker of course sees him and attacks him. He's about to give him the chokeslam, but Mr. Kennedy hits Taker with the briefcase. They attack Taker, as they did Batista earlier. Another boring finish to an otherwise decent match.

Match Rating: **

The wrestling was better than Raw and ECW for the most part, but there is just not much clicking on the weekly TV shows right now. I think that might change in the very near future. At least for one night. 

Overall Rating: 41%

ECW 4-17-07 Review

Tuesday, April 17th, 2007
DatchForum
Milan, Italy

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Elijah Burke introduces the newest member of the New Breed, CM Punk. I'm not sure that Milan, Italy is the best place to do this angle. They ramble until Rob Van Dam interrupts. He isn't happy with Punk joining, but he has an idea to let out some of his anger in a match with Elijah tonight. Punk says that if he wants to challenge a leader, then he should be challenging him. RVD is fine with that too. Elijah takes the mic back and says that he accepts the challenge. 

Nunzio vs. Snitsky

Poor Nunzio. They do at least let him get a small moment of glory, but Snitsky easily kicks out. Snitsky then tosses Nunzio around. He hits a clothesline and the crowd is chanting for Nunzio. He hits a big boot and gets the win. Snitsky gets no reaction. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Elijah Burke asks CM Punk if he thought he was afraid of RVD. Punk tells him that he does think so. Burke tells him that if he wants to be in the New Breed, he needs to fall in line. 

Kevin Thorn & Marcus Cor Von vs. Sandman & Tommy Dreamer

Sandman and Dreamer get off to the hot start, hitting a double elbow. Sandman goes for a top rope hurricanrana, but Cor Von pushes him off before he can attempt it. The New Breed takes over, so the crowd starts singing. Dreamer makes a comeback for his team and hits a bulldog on Thorn. To his credit, he's getting a bigger reaction than most of the stars on Raw. We then get a botched finish where Dreamer going for a pinfall and he barely can hold onto the bottom rope for the victory. They show it again and he had to reach way too far and as a result, Thorn's shoulder was up right in the referee's face. I mean, does any of this really matter anyway?

Match Rating: 1/2*

CM Punk says that the New Breed needs free thinkers to Matt Striker.

Bobby Lashley it out to the ring and shows us a recap from Raw. He then brings out Santino Marella. Now it comes out that he was born in Italy and has been training to be a wrestler in Canada. This was 100% a time killer.

Punk is giving a pep talk to Thorn and Cor Von. Burke is watching and talks to him about falling into line. 

They rundown the card of Backlash, which is pretty much complete I believe.

Rob Van Dam vs. Elijah Burke

So far, through a Raw and ECW in Milan, it sure seems like RVD is the most over wrestler there. We get a staple of WWE wrestling early on with RVD missing with a charge and hitting his shoulder on the ring post. Burke works on his shoulder and then throws him into the post again. After what feels like twice as long as it probably was, RVD hits a monkey flip and then accidentally throws Burke into the ref and then hits the ref with a kick after Burke ducks it. RVD goes for Rolling Thunder, but Burke gets his knees up. Out comes CM Punk. He grabs a chair and throws it in the ring and RVD gets it. He chucks it at Burke's unexposed head and hits the 5 Star Frog Splash for the win. After the match, Punk checks on Burke and the crowd chants for him. This was pretty vanilla.

Match Rating: *1/4

This show just continues to be mostly pointless. That's no surprise, as it's one of the least beloved things WWE ever did. There was nothing of note to see here this week.

Overall Rating: 35%

Monday Night Raw 4-16-07 Review

Monday, April 16th, 2007 
DatchForum
Milan, Italy

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22

Raw is in Italy for the first time ever, which is pretty cool. Jonathan Coachman is out to start the show. He announces that John Cena will face Rated RKO in a handicap match tonight. He then introduces Vince McMahon. He introduces Umaga and then we get a hightlight package of Shane McMahon destroying Bobby Lashley's brain. They issue an open challenge to face Umaga for the Intercontinental Championship and no one comes out. Vince says he doesn't want to face Umaga, so instead they are going to go to the crowd. They find someone, who definitely is not a plant. The crowd is going along with it and start doing the "Seven Nation Army" chant, which Vince has no clue what that is. He says his name is Santino Marella and Vince makes fun of him a little bit. Vince calls for a ref and down he comes. 

No Disqualification Intercontinental Championship Match
Umaga vs. Santino Marella

It's very clear right away that Santino is an actual wrestler. He gets a nearfall and then Vince gets in the ring. He announces that this match is a No DQ match. Umaga gets a cheap shot in on Santino and follows up with a leg drop. Umaga goes up top and down comes Bobby Lashley. He slams Umaga off the top rope and then hits a big clothesline. Lashley then hits Umaga in the exposed head three times with a chair before hitting a Spear. He throws Santino on top and we have a new Intercontinental Champion to a nice pop. I think I'll coin this the Milan Miracle. The match itself was nothing special, but the moment was fun.

Match Rating: *

Jerry Lawler goes into the ring to interview Lashley and Santino. 

Carlito and Ric Flair are in the locker room and Carlito doesn't think it's a good idea for them to team up again. Flair says last week is over and this week if they win, they get back in contention.

Next Monday, Shawn Michaels and John Cena will square off in England. 

Ric Flair & Carlito vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team

Carlito takes care of both opponents on his own to start. He tags in Flair and he goes for a Figure Four, but Shelton Benjamin runs in and clotheslines him before that can happen. Jim Ross and Lawler continue to hype up the intensity that Carlito is showing now with Flair. He gets a hot tag and has things under control until the referee is distracted by Flair and it allows Charlie Haas tripping up Carlito. Benjamin hits the T-Bone suplex and they pick up the win. The crowd was not into this at all. After the match, Carlito isn't happy and doesn't walk back with Flair or Torrie. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

John Cena is being interviewed by Maria and in walks Shawn Michaels. He says that before WrestleMania, he made sure he was protected in situations like tonight. But now, he's going to leave Cena on his back. 

Melina is getting ready for the fashion show and Johnny Nitro is admiring her. Eugene comes in and wishes Nitro good luck in their match tonight. 

Johnny Nitro vs. Eugene

Nitro basically destroys him here and hits a reverse neckbreaker for the quick victory. I guess this is a way to re-establish Nitro here, but it seems like the wrong show and wrong opponent for them to do it at. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Todd Grisham introduces a guest Italian host of the fashion show. He's speaking Italian, so I'm not sure if he clarifies who he is or not. He didn't get much of a reaction though. He introduces Candice Michelle, Victoria, Mickie James, Maria, Torrie Wilson and Melina. In a somewhat surprise, they are dressed very PG here. He polls the crowd for their favorites and they declare Torrie the winner. After the match, a mini brawl breaks out and could this have been any bigger of a waste of time? This show has just taken the steepest dive off a cliff after the strong opening. 

Jeff Hardy vs. Lance Cade

Jeff hits a Whisper In The Wind early on and gets a 2 count. He goes up top again and Cade rolls out of the ring. I've already lost interest in this one. Jeff makes a comeback after a short heat segment. Murdoch goes up on the apron and Matt comes to clothesline him. That slight distraction allows time for Cade to get his knees up on Hardy's Swanton. Cade hits a clothesline and picks up the win to absolutely no reaction again. The crowd hasn't been good, but they haven't been given much to cheer about. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Oh yeah, Chris Masters will save this show. 

Chris Masters vs. Super Crazy

Seriously? This feud was dead in the water weeks ago. Crazy hits a nice plancha over the top rope to the floor. They do a bunch of moves and have a match. Masters hits a wheelbarrow slam and picks up the win. I honestly didn't even think he worked here anymore. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Edge and Randy Orton try to talk things through so that they can work together tonight. They tell each other that they are the best partners they've ever had and shake hands. How sweet. 

Randy Orton & Edge vs. John Cena

Well, at least this should be entertaining and there is some time left for them to have a good match. As you would expect, Orton and Edge dominate the majority of the match here. The numbers game continues to get the best of Cena and out comes Shawn Michaels. Cena makes a comeback and gets Edge up for the FU. Orton hits a dropkick and knocks Cena and Edge into the referee. Edge tries to Spear Cena, but he moves and he hits Orton. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music on Edge and Cena hits the FU. The referee miraculously gets up just in time and counts to 3. This was your typical house show type of match. 

Match Rating: *3/4

This show featured some uninteresting matches and an absolute dead crowd. The first quarter of the show was filled with the Santino stuff, which was memorable and then they just fed us a bunch of stuff that no one asked for. Thumbs down here.

Overall Rating: 32%

NXT 7-15-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, July 15th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Jason Jordan & Chad Gable vs. Elias Samson & Steve Cutler

We finally get the debut of Jordan and Gable here. They dominate the match, with the crowd already liking Gable. We get a cool finisher where Jordan put up Cutler for a back suplex and released so that Gable could catch him and finish the move and pick up the easy win. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show clips of Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch on Raw. Remember, this was 100% all because of Stephanie McMahon. She invented women's wrestling. 

Samoa Joe vs. Axel Tischer

Tischer is Alexander Wolfe. Joe dominates, as you would expect. He hits the Muscle Buster and then finishes him with the rear naked choke. Two matches, two squashes. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get a Baron Corbin vignette talking about his past achievements. 

Eva Marie comes out to boos and lets us know that she will be making her NXT in ring debut next week.

Blake & Murphy vs. Sawyer Fulton & Angelo Dawkins

Well, I guess when you have as big of a main event as we do here this week, you just put squash matches up for the rest of the show. Blake trips up Dawkins before he can make the tag in. Murphy hits a running suplex and Blake hits a frog splash for the easy victory. After the post-match celebration, Alexa tells them to get them. They attack Fulton to tease that Bliss is pulling the strings. They then launch Bliss from their hands and she hits the spinning splash. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Sami Zayn is out to the ring to give us a medical update. He says that 2014 was the best year of his career, but 2015 has been his worst. He expects to be out the rest of his year and then talks about his goals. He says that he is coming for Kevin Owens when he comes back. 

They show us highlights of last week and how we got our main event for tonight.

We see the finish of Finn Balor winning the NXT Championship from Kevin Owens. We then go to a press conference with William Regal announcing Kevin Owens will get a rematch against Finn Balor at the next TakeOver in Brooklyn. This was announced at Comic Con. 

NXT Women's Championship Match
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

Well, it looks like we may actually get a women's match that gets more than just a few minutes here. Both ladies get in some offense to start and most notably, Sasha hits the double knees to the midsection into the commercial break. We get more of a mat based match here and the crowd is enjoying it. Charlotte hits a powerbomb even after Sasha tries to get out of it and both ladies are down. Charlotte hits a Spear, but Sasha kicks out at 2. Sasha gets in her face about being better than her and Charlotte snaps. She goes for a Figure Four, but Sasha rolls her up for a 2. Charlotte gets the Figure FOur slapped on, but Sasha reaches the bottom rope. Charlotte rolls under the bottom rope and Sasha's throat hits the bottom rope. Back in the ring, we get a couple of quick pin attempts and then Sasha hits the Backstabber and slaps on the Bank Statement. Charlotte eventually taps out and I have to say I'm a little surprised there. I just assumed we were going to get a countout or something here. The match was solid, but I didn't like it as much as the crowd seemed to. 

Match Rating: **3/4

This was all about the main event and it was an entertaining match. It was nice that they actually got some time to tell a story. The talent seems to save their best stuff for TakeOver and even in a match like this one, where the talent is all in, they are booked to have more of a TV match. The rest of the show is basically 1990s Superstars and there isn't much to see there.

Overall Rating: 50%