NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn Review

Saturday, August 22nd, 2015
Barclays Center
Brooklyn, New York

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Triple H is in the ring and without a mic, talking only to the camera. He says that they told us that NXT was the future until the fans told him that the future is now. As he says that, he brings on the house lights to show the sold out crowd for the biggest TakeOver ever. 

Tyler Breeze vs. Jushin Liger

Breeze gets a big entrance with a bunch of models dressed up in New York themed outfits including the Statue of Liberty. It's kind of random that the last two shows I have watched (Nitro and this), both have Liger in them. Liger is 50 years old here and Breeze is 26. Liger puts Breeze in the surfboard and then mocks Breeze with his selfie stick. Breeze hits the Supermodel Kick for a 2 count. Breeze also hits a variation of the Back Cracker for another 2 count. Liger makes a comeback with a rolling kick, but then Breeze gets his knees up on the top rope splash attempt. Liger comes back with a somersault dive off the apron to the floor. Back in the ring, Liger hits the Liger Bomb and picks up the victory. These matches are always tough to book. I'm sure Breeze was all about putting him over, but he really could have used the win in kayfabe. The match was solid enough for what it was. 

Match Rating: **3/4

They show Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac in the crowd. 

Bayley is getting ready in her Dusty Rhodes themed gear. Charlotte comes in and gives her a hug and Becky Lynch shakes her hand. 

We get a Nia Jax promo. Great. 

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Vaudevillains vs. Blake & Murphy

Alexa Bliss gets on the mic before the match and makes fun of the Vaudevillains for not being anybody being able to help them. The crowd wants Blue Pants and considering that they are wearing blue gear, I think it's pretty apparent what we're getting here. I have no recollection of this at all. Although I watched this live, I never watched the weekly program, so this meant nothing to me. I will also say as I have watched all of the weekly programming now, I still don't really get it. I guess you had to be there. We get pretty standard tag action here. We get an almost tower of doom spot with Blake and Murphy getting slammed down and then Aidan English hitting the senton for a 2 count. Bliss gets on the apron, but Blue Pants is there to pull her off. She chases her and hits her with a slap in the ring. They start brawling and that distraction allows for a roll up, but Simon Gotch kicks out. The Vaudevillains hit the Whirling Dervish and pick up the win and get a really big pop for the win. The tag division is really weak right now, so I'm not surprised they did something just to shake it up. The match was solid and nothing more. 

Match Rating: ***

They show Adrian Neville and Cesaro saying hello to Finn Balor earlier tonight. 

Rick Ruvin is in attendance tonight. 

Tye Dillinger vs. Apollo Crews

This is Crews' debut match after some vignettes and he is over with the live crowd. It is kind of crazy that he never really made it to where we thought he would. I actually liked his heel character and thought that was his best run. I probably like Dillinger better than most. In the couple of months I watched AEW, he was one of my favorite characters and I have to think I was in the minority. This is exactly what you would expect. Apollo gets the flashy start, Dillinger slows it down and then Crews gets the big finish. He hits a press slam and then a standing moonsault for the quick victory. 

Match Rating: *1/2

William Regal is backstage thanking us for watching TakeOver tonight. He is announcing a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and will start in 2 weeks. The final is going to be on the next TakeOver in November. 

They show the finalists from Tough Enough in the crowd and they get booed. 

Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe

We get a hype video for this one. Corbin hits the first big move when Joe tries to hit a dive to the outside, but Corbin hits him with a forearm first. Joe is able to trip Corbin on the apron and throws him into the barricade. Back in the ring, Corbin is able to put on a heel hook to some boos. They start trading heavy blows and ending with Corbin hitting a boot. Corbin hits a suplex for a 2 count. Corbin hits a double chokeslam for another 2 count and then Joe turns that into a Coquina Clutch. Corbin tries to fight out of it, but eventually it's too much and Joe picks up the win. This was about as good of a match as you're going to get out of Baron Corbin.

Match Rating: **

They show Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, "Kanna", Tamina and Naomi in the crowd. Kanna is Asuka for the record. 

Out comes Stephanie McMahon to the ring. She tells us that the Divas revolution started right here in NXT and that the women are the main event. This leads to a good video package that honestly makes the build feel a lot better than it was. 

NXT Women's Championship
Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

This is the match that sold me on NXT and probably the match after 2009 that I have watched the most. Bayley puts Sasha in the tree of woe and hits a running springboard elbow, which is a nice move that is actually believable as a kickout at 2. Bayley hits a running dropkick under the bottom rope and through to the other side before throwing Sasha back in the ring. Sasha regains control for a moment, but misses with the double knees. They battle on the ropes and Bayley blocks the superplex. Sasha kicks out the knees of Bayley and she falls to the ground. Sasha works to the corner again and this time sets Bayley up on the top and hits her with the double knees. Sasha starts taunting Bayley and she sparks a mini comeback by Bayley. Sasha slows her down and starts ripping off Bayley's hand brace. She stomps on the injured hand and then smashes it between the ring and steps. While the referee is checking on Bayley, Sasha does a somersault dive over the referee and the top rope to the floor. Back in the ring, they trade blows until Bayley hits a trio of double ax handles. The pace quickens and it leads to a Bank Statement in the middle of the ring. She almost gets to the ropes, but then Sasha kicks off to the ropes into the middle of the ring. Bayley is able to counter and put it on, but Sasha gets to the ropes. Bayley hits the Bayley To Belly, but Sasha kicks out at 2. Bayley goes for a hurricanrana off the top rope, but Sasha shoves her in midair and Bayley lands awkwardly. Sasha hits a double knees off the second rope, but Bayley kicks out. Sasha puts Bayley back on the top rope. Bayley fights Sasha off and then hits a reverse hurricanrana. She hits the Bayley To Belly and we get a total goosebump moment as Bayley captures the NXT Women's Championship in a tremendous match. This one is worthy of all the praise it got and still holds up. Fantastic, fantastic match. 

Match Rating: ****3/4

After the match, Charlotte and Becky Lynch are in the ring to celebrate with Bayley. Sasha then comes in an ends up giving her a hug. They all hug as the crowd chants "Bayley". They are the four women that changed the WWE forever. 

Seth Rollins is in attendance as well. 

The announcers talk about Triple H's announcement that will take NXT to London in December. 

Ladder Match For The NXT Championship
Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor

Naturally, Balor is in the demon paint tonight. We get a little bit of a slower start than I expected with this being a big feud. They fight on the outside over the ladder, with Owens able to drive Balor into the ring. Owens goes for a powerbomb outside the ring, but Balor is able to counter into a back body drop. Owens comes back and throws Balor into the barricade and then hits him with the top piece of the announce table. Balor leaps off the table and hits Owens with a dropkick into the ladder he was holding. Balor then hits a dive over the top rope to the floor. We get our first climb of the night, but Owens gets there and throws Balor into the ladder. Owens lays out Balor on top of the ladder and follows that up with a senton. Balor is able to avoid a cannonball into a ladder and hits Owens with the running dropkick. Balor goes up top and hits a Coup de Grace. Balor gets close to the title belt until Owens pulls him off and right into a powerbomb. They battle outside the ring again and do a back and forth sequence that ends with Owens hitting a powerbomb into the ring apron. Owens goes for the big move from on top of the ladder into the ladder propped in the corner, but Balor knocks him down onto the horizontal ladder. Balor tries to reach the belt, but the ladder is a little off center. Owens starts to climb, but Balor kicks him off and decides to hit a Coup de Grace from the top of the ladder instead. Balor climbs the ladder and grabs the title for the victory. A very physical match that lacked a little bit of drama to put it over the top. This was a good main event, but the ladies deserved to be in that spot tonight. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

The overall card was a little up and down, but it featured the best NXT match to date and probably the best moment to go along with that match. The crowd was into just about everything they had to offer, which always is a bonus as well. This is a most definite thumbs up. 

Overall Rating: 83%

Off The Grid, Volume 49: The Big Event Review

Thursday, August 28th, 1986
Exhibition Stadium
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Off The Grid, Volume 49:

Like a lot of the shows I cover for Off The Grid, I have never seen this one before. Gene Okerlund does a lengthy pre-show hype video that uses footage filmed via helicopter from the show. We then go right to the ring for introductions.

Killer Bees vs. Jimmy Jack Funk & Hoss Funk

No Terry here is a shame. It may be just 1986 technology working against them, but it certainly doesn't sound like a big crowd is there. It also may just be the match. The Bees dominate early, showcasing their teamwork. They seemingly cut the match and it goes to the Bees putting their masks on, which is one of the dumbest things of the era. It of course pays off and a switch allows for a small package victory. It's stupid on two levels. One, it is a heel move and they aren't criticized for that. Two, Brian Blair's hair sticks out of the mask and Jim Brunzell's doesn't. I know these are obvious points to those who watched during the era, but I had to say it. The match stunk.

Match Rating: 1/2*

King Tonga vs. Magnificent Muraco

It's weird to see Haku as a face in the WWF. They are working at a snail's pace, so I cheated and this one ends in a time limit draw as I was guessing. I think the biggest misconception of old wrestling is that you hear all of these stories of matches going so long and time limit draws and all that jazz. I guarantee you those matches were so slow and boring. Obviously this era was probably the worst for that, as no one cared about cardio and just wanted to be jacked up, so that doesn't help the cause either. After tons of rest holds, Muraco goes up top and takes forever, so of course Tonga throws him off the top. They keep referring to him as Haku instead of Tonga. Haku does a cross body, but it's not enough before the time limit runs out. This show is off to a great start. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Ted Arcidi vs. Tony Garea

Are they just trying to torture us? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who is going to this one. Garea hits a dropkick to knock Arcidi down. Arcidi then catches him and puts him in a bear hug for the win. After the bell, he doesn't release the hold until forced to. Awful. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Okerlund interviews Jimmy Hart ahead of Adrian Adonis's match with Junkyard Dog. Adonis pulls him away as he starts getting hot and onto the ring. 

Adrian Adonis vs. Junkyard Dog

There are lots of edits in this show. Anything to make this shorter is fine with me. We get some shenanigans early on where JYD shoves away the referee and Jimmy Hart sprays the perfume in his eyes. They are brawling outside the ring and I will say the crowd does like JYD, but this match is also pretty bad. Adonis ends up going over the top rope onto Hart and they call it a countout? Dude, this era sucked so bad if people could remove their rose colored glasses.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Dick Slater vs. Iron Mike Sharpe

I can't imagine why a guy wearing a confederate flag in a New York based promotion didn't get over as a babyface. Proof that Vince was always a moron. More proof was this match existing. We get Sharpe's trademark in match yelling at least here. Ernie Ladd and Gorilla Monsoon are gushing about Sharpe's conditioning, proving my other point of how cardio sucked during this era. We get an edit again and we have Gorilla just calling moves any move he wants. Slater hits a double ax handle off the top rope and that's all. Shockingly, this also sucked.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bobby Heenan is with Mean Gene and he talks about how he is going to unmask the Machines and Paul Orndorff is going to become the new WWF Champion tonight. 

King Kong Bundy, Big John Studd & Bobby Heenan vs. Super Machine, Big Machine & Captain Lou Albano

We get a lot of stalling before the bell, which is kind of odd for a show that has been so heavily edited. It's kind of amazing to me that I'm the same age as Bobby Heenan is here. It doesn't take long for Giant Machine to get involved on the outside. I am really trying to care about this show, I swear. The match eventually breaks down and the crowd is into this. It just leads to Giant Machine getting in the ring and causing the disqualification. This match was another terrible match on a card full of them so far. Surely this next one has to change that.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Snakepit Match
Jake Roberts vs. Ricky Steamboat

A Snakepit Match is just simply a No DQ match for those curious. These two go right at it until Jake is able to roll out of the ring. Jake is able to take control of the match once it spills outside. Jake tries to use a chair, but Steamboat battles back and uses it himself. Back in the ring, Steamboat hits a top rope chop for a 2 count. The action spills outside again and once again Jake regains control. Jake gets too cocky and this allows a bloodied Steamboat to get the surprise victory. This was hardly a very good match, but it was so much better than everything else so far tonight.

Match Rating: **1/4

Hercules Hernandez vs. Billy Jack Haynes

Now for some reason Ernie Ladd and Johnny V left Gorilla to announce by himself. Just to confirm that this match will be terrible, Hercules puts on a bear hug about 45 seconds in. Did you know Haynes is from Portland? Did you also know that he is likely a murderer? Haynes rolls up Hercules with a backslide and gets the win. No one cares. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Rougeau Brothers vs. Dream Team

This one at least has some potential. Johnny V is really upset that he's not managing his team and is stuck at the top of the stadium announcing. I don't think anyone would be upset if he were to leave the booth. For some odd reason, Greg Valentine has the same color tights and boots as the Rougeaus. How did they not notice that? This referee is also the slowest counter that I think I have seen in a WWF ring. We get a pretty standard match here that gets lots of time, which on this show means it's a masterpiece. Jacques gets a hot tag but is slowed down when he misses with a knee off the second rope. Valentine slaps on the Figure Four and withstands the pain until Raymond illegally breaks it up. Raymond does a sunset flip behind the referee's back and for some reason it is allowed with him not being the legal man. I hate stupid booking like that. This was fine. 

Match Rating: **

Harley Race vs. Pedro Morales

I assure you, no one wanted to see Morales wrestling in 1986. How are there still 20+ minutes left on this show? This is one of the slowest moving matches you'll see. We get some stupid finish where Race trips up Morales and he uses the ropes for leverage. This was terrible.

Match Rating: 1/4*

WWF Championship Match
Paul Orndorff vs. Hulk Hogan

Orndorff attacks Hogan as the referee is checking on him and we get a brawl to start. The referee pulls Hogan's hair to get him off Orndorff in a strange move. Heenan gets in a cheap shot and Orndorff takes advantage of Hogan chasing Heenan. Orndorff hits a suplex on the outside and for some reason, Orndorff thinks it's a good idea to let Hogan recover on the outside. Orndorff argues with the referee, so Hogan hits him with a knee right into the ref. What a role model Hogan is. Hogan goes for a piledriver, but Heenan hits him from behind with a stool. The referee finally crawls over and slaps three times on Orndorff's shoulder. Orndorff celebrates, but Gorilla isn't buying it. Fink announces that Hogan wins by disqualification. Just an absolutely trash way to book your main event. Orndorff attacks Hogan while wearing the belt. He then goes to hit Hogan with the belt, but it's blocked and Hogan buries him. He hits the boot and Orndorff rolls out of the ring. This was a pretty decent enough main event until the ending. 

Match Rating: **3/4

This was one of the worst major wrestling shows that I have ever watched. There were no redeeming qualities, the presentation was terrible, the announcing was bad and the wrestling was atrocious. Just a complete thumbs down.

Overall Rating: 15%

Monday Nitro 9-4-95 Review

Monday, September 4th, 1995 
Mall Of America
Minneapolis, Minnesota

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I finally made it here. It's taken me a few years, but I am finally here for the Monday Night Wars. Eric Bischoff and Steve McMichael are in the only building big enough to hold the debut of Nitro, the Mall Of America. In walks Bobby Heenan and of course McMichael has a buzzer on his hand for when he shakes Heenan's hand. 

Jushin Liger vs. Flyin' Brian

As far as first matches ever on a TV program go, this was a pretty cool choice. We get a little bit of a mess up with Liger taking a little too long climbing up the turnbuckles and Pillman stuck standing there having to wait. It's kind of funny that Nitro followed Raw's formula of having the third "celebrity" announcer in McMichael. Now, obviously he was training for more, but it's just kind of a funny coincidence. Kudos to the crowd for popping for Liger's surfboard. Pillman dumps Liger out to the floor and then hits a splash off the top. Back in the ring, Pillman tries to climb the ropes and Liger slaps the top rope to crotch him. Liger hits a superplex and gets a 2 count. Liger goes off the top, but Pillman catches him with a dropkick and we get another nearfall. Liger hits him with a powerbomb and we get another 2 count. We get a roll through finish with Pillman picking up the victory. This was very lively, but also sloppier than you would expect from these two. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Bischoff interviews Hulk Hogan in front of Pastamania and he says that about 75 times in the matter of 90 seconds. 

Ric Flair vs. Sting

We get our first almost WWF reference from McMichael when he says that if you don't like watching these two wrestle, you might as well watch...and Bischoff told him not to say it. Just as the bell is ringing, Lex Luger walks down the aisle. Still one of the all time mess ups in WWF history is letting him appear on WCW television while he's in the middle of an angle. I mean that is just absolute stupidity. We get our usual Sting/Flair stuff here and the crowd is eating it up. As cheesy of a choice as Mall Of America seems to me, it honestly worked out about as well as it could have. We come back from commercial break and now Arn Anderson is out. Flair is able to shove Sting off the second turnbuckle, but he isn't able to do anything with it. Sting hits the top rope superplex, but it's not enough. Sting gets distracted by Arn and Flair hits him with the chop block. Flair slaps on the Figure Four. Sting tries to reverse it, so Flair grabs the ropes. As the ref is trying to make Flair release, Arn comes in and we have a DQ. Arn goes after Flair. It then leads to Scott Norton coming out and confronting McMichael. Out comes Randy Savage and says that he'll take him on right now. Bischoff isn't having it. I have absolutely no recollection of this. It was kind of cheesy, but in a fun way. I guess we'll call this a no contest. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We get a vignette for Sabu. I think he'll fit in great in WCW. 

Mean Gene is in the ring and announces the winner of the Harley Davidson contest winner. Bischoff then hypes up WCW Saturday Night. 

We then hear from Michael Wall Street and he tries to make fun of the New Generation. He also says that the IRS will be watching him closely. 

WCW Championship Match
Big Bubba Rogers vs. Hulk Hogan

If you didn't expect this one to follow the Hogan formula, then I don't know what to tell you. Hogan's mullet is really long here. So long that the referee pulls him off of Rogers by it in a weird move. This allows Rogers to make his comeback. He then goes after Jimmy Hart and that ends the comeback. Hogan hits a body slam and a series of elbow drops before stepping on his face. Rogers comes back again and hits his finisher, but Hogan of course kicks out. He hits the big boot and leg drop for the win. If you've seen Hulk wrestle, then you've seen this match 100 times. 

Match Rating: *

After the match, Kevin Sullivan and his dopey gang come out to attack Hogan. Luger comes out too and helps Hogan. They clear the ring and then they go face to face. Savage and Sting come out to break it up. 

When we come back from commercial, Luger tells us that he is here to take his title and he's sick of hanging out with kids. Hogan says that Luger doesn't have to prove anything to him. He just needs to stick his "stinky palm" out and he'll get a title shot next week. I feel like we don't talk enough about the stinky palm comment. They then try to do the boxing pull apart. 

The announcers hype up next week's show, which has a strong card and we're off. 

There isn't much to be said here that hasn't already been said. Nitro made history and debuted much stronger than Raw did 2 years earlier. In order to make a mark, they kind of had to, but they did it in about the biggest way possible when Vince McMahon was stupid enough to not realize that Lex Luger could show up on their show. This show was still very 90s, but it had a very lively vibe to it and it worked. 

Overall Rating: 72%

Superstars 9-2-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, September 2nd, 1995
Portland Civic Center
Portland, Maine

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So there is no Raw this week and we get a Superstars episode that was taped before SummerSlam. Can you imagine that happening in 2024? We get some talk about the Bret Hart/Isaac Yankem match because Bret is facing Waylon Mercy today on Superstars. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. John Faulkner

They turned a heel into a face and now they have nothing for him to do. They probably should have booked him like they eventually did with Vader in 1996 since Bam Bam was still young in 1993 and could have handled it physically. Faulkner gets his 30 seconds of offense until Bam Bam hits him with a clothesline. It is worth noting that this particular crowd is into Bam Bam here. Bam Bam goes up top and hits the reverse splash for the victory. This probably should have been a tad shorter, but fine enough for what it was. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Todd Pettengill for the SummerSlam Insider. Todd talks about how great SummerSlam was and how they broke the attendance record at the Igloo. Todd announces the big news about the next In Your House. They show Gorilla Monsoon with Yokozuna, Owen Hart, Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji. He announces that all 3 titles will be on the line in one match when Owen and Yokozuna take on Diesel and Shawn Michaels. We get a promo with Camp Cornette and he says there's a lot more to being a great team than Diesel and Shawn think. I know they kind of botched it in the end, but as a kid I thought this was the coolest idea. 

Jean Pierre Lafitte vs. Rodney Anoui 

We get a Bret Hart promo during the match where he runs down all 15 of his feuds. Anoui shows off some athleticism for a man his size until he gets hit with a shoulder tackle from Lafitte. Lafitte ties up Anoui in the ropes and hits two running splashes. He hits the Cannonball and picks up the win. After the match, he steals a kids Bret Hart glasses and out comes Bret. Bret attacks him from behind and they start brawling. That was well done.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Well, we go from that to Dean Douglas. He talks about the word "abrogate" and shows Shawn Michaels grabbing the Intercontinental Championship in the ladder match and shows Razor Ramon as a loser. He gives him a grade of a MF. Yes, really. He means as a miserable failure. Next week he's going to show 1-2-3 Kid what it's like to learn a lesson. 

Henry Godwinn vs. AC Conner

Ted DiBiase makes his way to ringside as Godwinn is easily taking care of Conner. Conner is D'Lo Brown. The distraction allows Conner to get in a few moves before getting hit with the Slop Drop. DiBiase grabs Godwinn's bucket and that allows King Kong Bundy to attack him from behind. Of course Godwinn ducks and Bundy gets slopped instead. I didn't even know Bundy still worked here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Vince McTrash is in the ring with Jim Cornette and British Bulldog to talk about Bulldog attacking Diesel. Cornette does a good job telling the story of Davey Boy getting passed over and now Davey Boy is dead. He is just the British Bulldog. People have asked him if he's sorry for what he did and he says that he's sorry for not doing it sooner. This was a really effective promo because the story made sense and they were straight to the point. 

Bret Hart vs. Waylon Mercy

There is a lot of time left in the show here, but I can't see them giving Waylon Mercy 15 minutes. Bret works on the left arm of Mercy for a little bit before getting caught with a slam and gets dumped out of the ring. When we come back from commercial break, Bret is able to counter a piledriver into a back body drop. Bret starts hitting the signature moves and then out comes Lafitte wearing Bret's jacket. He attacks Bret and that's enough for the DQ. Man, I really wish Mercy had more left in the tank than I had thought. Mercy joins in on the attack until Bret starts fighting back. Mercy tries to surprise him from the top rope, but Bret knocks him off first. Bret and Lafitte start brawling outside again and it's too bad that this feud didn't turn into much more than a one off. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We go back to Todd for the final SummerSlam Insider. He announces that Bam Bam Bigelow will take on British Bulldog at In Your House. Gorilla is here to announce that Jean Pierre Lafitte and Bret Hart are also going to lock up at In Your House. Todd goes over the main event again and honestly the card for this show is pretty solid. We hear from Diesel and Shawn, with Diesel wearing a headband. Two dudes with attitudes. 

Vince and Dok go over 1-2-3 Kid against Dean Douglas and we'll hear from Lex Luger next week. Will we? Shawn Michaels will also take on Tatanka next week. 

The Bret match was disappointing mostly because Mercy just couldn't go, but the stuff with Bret and Lafitte was really good and I thought the Bulldog promo was really well done. The other squash matches were fine for what they were as well. 

Overall Rating: 46%

SmackDown 5-18-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, May 18th, 2007
1st Mariner Arena
Baltimore, Maryland

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We get a lengthy recap of the Batista/Undertaker/Edge situation before being forced to listen to the awful SmackDown intro music. Edge's inaugural address is tonight. Why not?

Matt Hardy vs. MVP

I have a feeling we'll see more of this down the road. MVP dominates the early going and hits the first big move of the match with a kick to the head that knocks Hardy out to the floor and into the commercial break. MVP continues to work on Hardy after the break with the announcers selling Hardy's toughness. Hardy tries to climb the ropes, but slips to sell his injuries. He is able to fight off MVP and hits a second rope elbow drop for a 2 count. Hardy goes for a Twist Of Fate, but MVP lifts him up and drops him face first into the top turnbuckle. He hits the Playmaker and that's all for MVP. MVP needed the momentum heading into his third attempt to win the United States Championship, so no surprise on the booking here. The match was fine. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Michael Cole interviews MVP in the ring after the match and he talks about beating Benoit twice in one night to solidify him as the US Champion.

We get an Edge vignette hyping up his career and Rated R Superstar moniker. 

Now we get an Undertaker video package featuring the attack by Mark Henry and Taker being carried away. This era (not just WWE, but TV in general) had such an ugly look to it. 

Chavo Guerrero, Deuce & Domino vs. Jimmy Wang Yang, Paul London & Brian Kendrick

Just like every Cruiserweight Champion before him, Chavo has done nothing with the belt after the initial shock of him winning it. I'm really just surprised they kept around as long as they did. Most of the match consists of JBL and Cole talking about London and Kendrick's masks. The faces are on offense most of the match. Yang starts climbing the ropes and London runs to keep the other opponents out of the way. This allows for Yang to hit the moonsault on Chavo and pick up the victory. That was short and not quite as energetic as you would expect.

Match Rating: *1/2

We get a vignette of Mark Henry saying that this isn't a graveyard, it's a jungle and he's a silverback. 

Mark Henry vs. Funaki

Funaki apparently is still on the active roster. Funaki builds up some momentum off the ropes and tries leaping at him, but gets the brick wall treatment. Funaki goes off the top rope, but Henry catches him an hits the World's Strongest Slam for the easy win. This is what it was supposed to be. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get the same Lashley/McMahon video from ECW and then see Chris Benoit heading to the ring. 

Chris Benoit vs. Finlay

Getting closer and closer to the tragedy makes it harder for me to watch these Benoit matches. What feels like absolutely nothing happens for about 5 minutes and then we get a commercial break. More of nothing happens until Hornswoggle enters the ring. Benoit attacks him and Finlay tries to attack him with the shillelagh. Benoit sees it coming and slaps on the Crossface. Out comes MVP and we have a DQ finish. Finlay then hits Benoit with the shillelagh, taking him out. MVP hits Benoit with a boot to the face and continues taking it to him. This match was as dull as they come.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Backstage they show Jillian Hall trying to walk out with Ozzy Osbourne and being held back. 

Ashley is brought out to introduce Ozzy. Ozzy performs "I Don't Wanna Stop". 

We get another Edge hype video of him being the most watched champion of the last 5 years. What a strange thing to brag about. 

Miz vs. Christian York

Miz dominates and hits the swinging neckbreaker for the easy win. Great commentary by me on this episode. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Kristal thanks Teddy Long for giving her best friend Vickie Guerrero an interview. In comes Vickie and she's very cordial and appreciative. Teddy is skeptical because she's a Guerrero, so she changes the subject to how much Kristal talks about him. 

Kane vs. William Regal

Why do they enjoy torturing me? To make things even worse, Boogeyman and his smaller friend are out to watch. Regal actually gets in a little bit of offense today, hitting a suplex and a knee to the throat. God forbid that last, so Kane hits one of the worst looking top rope clotheslines you will ever see. Dave Taylor throws Little Boogeyman into the ring. Regal tries to throw him around, but Kane hits a chokeslam and wins. Boogeyman then crawls in the ring and pulls out he worms. Regal rolls out and heads to the back. I'm sorry, but how did anyone who came up with this idea think that this was good? 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

Teddy Long is out to introduce the World Heavyweight Champion, Edge. He does the whole "I beat everyone on Raw" stuff, which no one cares about because it's all the same. Teddy reminds him of his match with Batista on Sunday. He brags about being the only one to win his championships from John Cena and Undertaker. Out comes Batista and he says that title belongs to him. He grabs his hand and won't let go as we go off the air.

2007 me was very much into the product, but even I was looking forward to Judgment Day when it happened. I am looking forward to it even less this time around and it's because the build has either been poor or just features things I don't care about. This episode started off promising and just got worse and worse, culminating with Kane continuing to just be one of the worst characters in WWE history. He's also a terrible mayor. 

Overall Rating: 35%

ECW 5-15-07 Review

Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
1st Mariner Arena
Baltimore, Maryland

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We get a recap of the Bobby Lashley/Jonathan Coachman match from Raw. We then are forced to watch Vince live from the WWE Studios. He's still mad about having to wear something on his head because of what Lashley did to him at WrestleMania. He tells him that he will face the 3 members of the New Breed tonight before his 3 on 1 at Judgment Day. 

Rob Van Dam vs. Snitsky

What did RVD do to deserve this? It's funny that if this match happened during Snitsky's last run, it would have been a 2 minute RVD squash. It's pretty much all Snitsky here and about 90 seconds in, he's already repeating moves. RVD finally makes a comeback and hits a springboard reverse kick. He hits the spinning heel kick, but misses with the single leg kick from the top rope. That almost looked like it may have been a mistake by Snitsky. RVD misses with Rolling Thunder, but then Snitsky misses with a boot. RVD knocks him to the floor with a spin kick. Snitsky greets him with a clothesline when he gets outside and then nails him with a chair for the disqualification. This was whatever.

Match Rating: 3/4*

CM Punk vs. Stevie Richards

Did Richards have a contract that only allowed him to wrestle CM Punk? Punk has his ribs wrapped up and Richards goes right after them. Now speaking in kayfabe, but Richards always gets a fair amount of offense on Punk. Shouldn't that mean he should get some more opportunities to face some other wrestlers on the roster for him to work his way up? Richards hits a double stomp on Punk before going to the abdominal stretch. Richards goes for a tornado DDT, but Punk counters and hits the Go To Sleep for the victory. This was all storyline for Punk's injury before his match with Elijah Burke at Judgment Day. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

They show the New Breed backstage and they say some stuff. My analysis is elite. 

Kevin Thorn vs. Nunzio

Thorn never really fit in with the New Breed, so it makes sense that he has moved on. Unfortunately, he isn't very good either so I don't think that he was going to succeed with however he was booked. Nunzio on the other hand continues to be one of the best squash wrestlers of the era. Thorn obviously dominates here, with Nunzio throwing in some unexpected offense. He hits a missile dropkick and gets a 2 count. Thorn comes right back and hits the Dark Kiss for the win. He gets absolutely no reaction for the win there. Nunzio put in a great performance though. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Extreme Exposé are here if you care. 

We get the Lashley recap again for some reason. We then get an interview with Lashley and he says tonight he doesn't see the New Breed across the ring from him. He sees Vince, Shane and Umaga. 

Handicap Match
New Breed vs. Bobby Lashley

Cor Von deserves better than the way he has been booked so far. He and Lashley get a moment together and of course Lashley gets the better of it. Striker then tags himself in and gets knocked off the apron. A Burke distraction leads to Cor Von hitting the Pounce and knocking Lashley out of the ring. Cor Von hits a back suplex and gets a 2 count. Lashley hits an overhead German suplex with a release on Burke and then throws Striker into the ring. Lashley hits him with a Spear and picks up the victory while Burke and Cor Von watch from outside the ring. This was fine for what it was, but knowing that Lashley is going to be leaving soon just makes this all seem so poorly thought out. 

Match Rating: *1/2

This is about what you can expect from ECW. A few squash matches and a decent main event. That's usually if we are lucky. There just isn't a strong case for anyone to watch it. 

Overall Rating: 48%

Monday Night Raw 5-14-07

Monday, May 14th, 2007 
Hampton Coliseum
Hampton, Virginia

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John Cena is out to kick off the show. He's missing the WWE Championship belt and he was embarrassed because he cares about what that title means. Khali has never been pinned or submitted and Cena says that apparently he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Cena says that people have told him that Judgment Day is a bad idea, but he wants his title back. Khali is on the Titan Tron with Ranjin Singh, his translator. This leads to a highlight package of Khali's destruction. Khali then yells some things and Ranjin translates it to "If you want some, come get some". Cena heads to the back and then gets destroyed by Khali as we go to commercial. 

Jeff Hardy vs. Trevor Murdoch

Their frantic pace to start suggests that this won't last very long. Hardy dominates the majority of the early portion of the match. They battle up on the second rope, with Hardy shoving Murdoch off. He goes for the Swanton, but Murdoch gets his knees up, but only a 2 count. Jeff gets him on an inside cradle and that's enough. After the match, Murdoch is upset, but then helps Jeff up and shakes his hand before heading to the back. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

More Snitsky vignettes. Still no one cares. 

The McMahons, Jonathan Coachman and Umaga are backstage. Shane tells Coach that they have his back today against Lashley. More terrible Vince "jokes".

Intercontinental Championship Match
Santino Marella vs. Chris Masters

We're about 30 seconds in and JR and Lawler are both telling us Santino's reign is over. This match is very much just a bunch of moves with little psychology. We all know where it's going too. Santino gets a fluke pinfall and that's all. After the match, Masters attacks him and puts on the Master Lock. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Victoria vs. Candice Michelle

Melina is out to be the guest commentator. The "Candice Michelle is good, we promise" era is a rough one. Poor Victoria is stuck selling these weak looking moves and losing in 90 seconds. After she signals for the belt and Melina calls her fat. I am so glad that we have moved on to a much better time in women's wrestling. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Your new World Heavyweight Champion, Edge, is here. He brags about cashing in on Undertaker and this just feels like it's dragging. He talks about how he has to face Batista in 6 days at Judgment Day. He's about to head back, but then out comes Shawn Michaels. He says he'll give Edge a farewell tonight. So I guess they're wrestling tonight. 

Lashley is interviewed backstage, but quickly interrupted by Shane. Shane does the "I'm not touching you" thing and then wishes him a good night. 

Jonathan Coachman vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley destroys Coach and hits him with the Spear for the victory. After the match, Shane and Umaga attack Lashley. Lashley is able to overcome it and then chases after Vince. Shane sneak attacks him and allows Vince to run to the back. They show Lashley chasing Shane to the back and he escapes in a limo and then Vince sneak attacks Lashley, laying him out. Make this feud end. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Carlito vs. Val Venis

Val Venis is a garbage human being. On the other end, I saw Carlito at the airport the other day. I didn't bother him, although I'm sure he saw me looking at him. He dumps the sewer scum out of the ring and then drives him into the apron. Venis slaps his knee really hard, but his kick is so bad because he is severely out of shape. Why is Carlito having to sell any offense to a guy who is on TV like twice a year and no one cares about? Carlito hits the Back Stabber for the victory. Out comes Ric Flair and Carlito escapes through the crowd. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Shawn Michaels is getting ready backstage and in walks Randy Orton to wish him good luck. Orton then tells Michaels that he thinks he can beat him. Michaels challenges him to a match at Judgment Day. 

They run down the Judgment Day card and it feels so thrown together. 

Edge vs. Shawn Michaels

This would have to be an absolute classic to save this absolute dumpster fire of an episode. Michaels hits a Thesz press off the apron to Edge on the floor into the commercial break. When we come back, Michaels is knocked out with the referee trying to hold Edge back. They are selling it like a head injury for Michaels and the referee checking in on him. Edge levels him with a boot to teh face, but Michaels kicks out at 2. Edge slows it down and dominates the majority of the match. Edge misses off the ropes to give Michaels a possible opening. He hits the flying forearm and kips up. He hits the inverted atomic drop and a scoop slam. Michaels climbs up top and hits the elbow drop. He tunes up the band and hits Sweet Chin Music for the victory. Um...sure? What a great reminder that Raw is better than SmackDown. I would have accepted it more if it was a barnburner, but this was just standard stuff. After the match, Orton comes out and attacks Michaels. They brawl until Orton kicks Michaels in the crotch. We then get what is maybe the first Orton punt? Don't quote me. He stands over Michaels as we go off the air. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Man, 2007 continues to just suck and not even in a fun way. Val Venis? Snitsky? Great Khali? Candice Michelle? No thanks.

Overall Rating: 34%