Monday Night Raw 10-23-06 Review

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

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: 3/4*

Shelton Benjamin & Chris Masters vs. Carlito & Jeff Hardy

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

Match Rating: *1/4

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

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

Johnny Nitro vs. John Cena

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

Match Rating: **

Spirit Squad vs. Cryme Tyme

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

They show WWE stars over in Japan.

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

Kenny vs. Ric Flair

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

DX is back with Todd now. They make jokes.

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

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

Triple H vs. Randy Orton

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

Match Rating: **1/4

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

Overall Rating: 41%

NXT 11-20-14 Review

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

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

Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

Vaudevillains vs. Mini Lucha Dragons

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Baron Corbin vs. Elias Sampson

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Bull Dempsey vs. Steve Cutler

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

Tyson Kidd vs. CJ Parker

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

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

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 38%

Monday Night Raw 11-28-94 Review

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

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

Owen Hart vs. John Paul

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

Adam Bomb vs. IRS

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

Match Rating: *

Bob Holly vs. Tony DeVito

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show the same Henry Godwinn vignette from Superstars.

Lex Luger vs. Bert Centeno

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

Heavenly Bodies vs. Gary Scott & Buck Quartermaine

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

Overall Rating: 41%

Superstars 11-26-94 Review

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

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

Men On A Mission vs. Barry Hardy & Duane Gill

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. British Bulldog

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

Match Rating: 3/4*

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

Ben Jordan vs. Kwang

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bob Holly vs. Dave D'Amaglio

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Heavenly Bodies vs. Tyrone Knox & Marty Garner

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

Aldo Montoya vs. Reno Riggins

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

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

Overall Rating: 37%

SmackDown 10-20-06 Review

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

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MVP vs. Kane

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

Elijah Burke vs. Vito

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

They show King Booker watching tape before his match. 

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

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

I Quit Match
Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

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

Match Rating: **3/4

Gregory Helms vs. Undertaker

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

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

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

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Batista vs. King Booker

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

Match Rating: *

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

Overall Rating: 32%

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

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

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Off The Grid, Volume 29:

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

Intercontinental Championship Match
Skinner vs. Bret Hart

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

Match Rating: **1/2

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

Jake Roberts vs. Randy Savage

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

Match Rating: **

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

Warlord vs. British Bulldog

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

Match Rating: *3/4

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

Ted DiBiase & Repo Man vs. Virgil & El Matador

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

Match Rating: ***

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

WWF Championship Match
Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan

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

Match Rating: **

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

Overall Rating: 44%

ECW 10-17-22

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

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Singapore Cane On A Pole Match
Sandman vs. Matt Striker

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

Match Rating: 1/4*

CM Punk vs. Rene Dupree

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

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

Test vs. Balls Mahoney

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

Shannon Moore vs. Sabu

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

Match Rating: 1/2*

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

Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam

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

Match Rating: **1/4

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

Overall Rating: 48%