ECW 11-28-06 Review

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006
HSBC Arena
Buffalo, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Paul Heyman is in the ring to hype up the Extreme Elimination Chamber. He talks about the weapons that will be in the match and has his goons demonstrate what you can do with it. The highlighted weapon is a barbed wire baseball bat. 

Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu

I wonder how many times these guys have wrestled each other? RVD dominates the opening part. Sabu goes for a top rope hurricanrana, but RVD is able to hold on and Sabu spills to the mat. Sabu quickly recovers and goes for a springboard move, but RVD jumps and clotheslines him midair. When we come back from commercial, they tease a suplex to the mat, but Sabu is able to hang on. Sabu then goes for a sunset flip bomb, but RVD holds on and then RVD hits a moonsault. RVD hits a German suplex into a bridge for a 2 count. RVD hits a Rolling Thunder and again Sabu kicks out. RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash and that's all. I'm surprised they didn't just go for the double countout, but I guess it doesn't really matter. The match had some good action, but the psychology wasn't the best here. Sabu's magical recovery speed was a little out of control. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Hardys vs. Elijah Burke & Sylvester Terkay

This one doesn't make much sense to me, but I guess we'll see how it goes. After a hot Hardy start, Terkay kicks Jeff in the back as he's running the ropes and it allows for them to shift the momentum. Terkay hits a powerslam, but then Terkay runs into the ring post. In comes Matt and he hits a Side Effect on Elijah. Matt hits some clotheslines in the corner on Terkay and they dump Elijah out of the ring. The Hardys hit Poetry In Motion, Matt hits a Twist Of Fate and Jeff hits the Sawnton on Terkay for the victory. I'm surprised they pinned Terkay. Out comes MNM and they attack the Hardys. This match was actually a very spirited little tag match. I continue to like Terkay more than I ever remember. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We get highlights of the December To Dismember press conference. 

CM Punk vs. Test

Test levels Punk with a clothesline before dumping him out of the ring. Punk's able to send Test into the ring post and hits a springboard clothesline back in the ring. Punk  dive to the outside and then sends Test into the steel steps. Punk then jumps Test and starts brawling in the crowd, causing a double countout. If they were going to give us that finish, they should have had Test cheat in the match to give us the logic as to why Punk wouldn't care about winning. 

Match Rating: *

They show MNM gloating backstage after their attack of the Hardys. December To Dismember is just a few days away and we have two matches announced. 

Big Show vs. Bobby Lashley

If they couldn't come up with a finish for CM Punk and Test, you better believe we aren't getting anything here. Lashley tries to get off to a quick start, but he's greeted with a clothesline. Test comes in and helps Big Show to cause the DQ finish. There was no way they wouldn't have advertised it more if this was a legit main event. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

The attack continues and Big Show hits him with a running shot to the head. Big Show covers him and Heyman counts to 3. 

This episode ended up being fairly good. The Hardy match was spirited and the RVD/Sabu was a solid match. It just makes no sense how they couldn't even come up with a card for December To Dismember less than a week ago. I guess if I created a card that bad, I might hide it also. 

Overall Rating: 58%

Monday Night Raw 11-27-06 Review

Monday, November 27th, 2006
Mellon Arena
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We start off with Ric Flair in the ring and he talks about being beat down by the Spirit Squad after his victory last night. He wants all of them to come out here because he has partners to take them on tonight. They come out and do a terrible cheer before heading down to the ring. They surround the ring and then DX's music hits. 

Handicap Match
Spirit Squad vs. Ric Flair, Triple H & Shawn Michaels

Triple H tells us that this will be the last time we see the Spirit Squad. We get a lot of brawling and head into a commercial break after a Michaels dive. When we come back, the Spirit Squad have Michaels on the wrong side of town. Mikey gets up on Kenny's back, who is standing on the second rope, and they go for a flapjack that misses. Triple H gets the hot tag and he cleans house. He tags in Flair and then hits a Pedigree and Michaels hits a Sweet Chin Music. They slap on a triple Figure Four and they all tap for the easy victory. This was a little longer than my description, but it was exactly what you would think it was. 

Match Rating: *3/4

They show some Hardy footage from when they would backyard wrestling ahead of their match with Rated RKO tonight. 

We go backstage and they show DX shoving one of the Spirit Squad members in a crate and locking it. They put a sticker on it that says OVW Louisville, KY. The guy has a OPS shirt on, which Shawn Michaels says was a lot cheaper than the other guys. Michaels signs it as Mr. McMahon. 

JR and Lawler remind us that this weekend is December To Dismember. Ugh. The Hardys have issued an open challenge to Johnny Nitro and we go backstage to them and they show that Joey Mercury is back for a MNM reunion. They accept the challenge for one night only. 

#1 Contender For The WWE Women's Championship Battle Royal

Mickie James joins the announce team before the match. The competitors are Melina, Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, Victoria and Maria. Victoria and Maria work together for a second until Victoria clotheslines her and then dumps her over the top. Torrie is dumped next with Maria knocked out shortly after. We have Victoria and Candice left. Candice dumps her on the apron, but Victoria is able to battle her way back in. Victoria throws her through the ropes and that's all. At least it was short. Victoria throws Candice back in the ring and hits the Widow's Peak for emphasis. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show the Hardy's debut as a team against Kaentai on Sunday Night Heat.

Eugene vs. Jim Duggan

I can't believe they are blowing off the hottest feud of 2006 on Raw. Duggan goes right after Eugene and hits a big slap to the face. Duggan goes for the finisher, but Eugene rolls out of the ring. Eugene is able to snap Duggan's neck on the top rope and then rams Duggan into the ring post. Eugene hits a swinging neckbreaker and that's all she wrote. Eugene grabs the mic and asks us to not make fun of him. He tells us that he is special and yeah, there's a reason this never went anywhere. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

DX runs into Dusty Rhodes and Arn Anderson. DX tells them about the party they are throwing tonight that includes chips, dip and possibly a karaoke machine. Triple H comes back and says he's got two words for them: booze and broads. That leads to Ron Simmons doing what he does.

On This Week In Wrestling History for Stephanie McMahon and Test's wedding. 

Edge is here for the Cutting Edge and makes fun of DX for beating up the Spirit Squad. He says it's almost as bad as how much he's beat up the Hardy's over the years. Randy Orton then comes out and says he has his guest here, but he wants Edge to come over and confirm it. Edge says that it's it and they drag out a bloodied Ric Flair. Edge says that this is the part where DX is supposed to come out and make the save, but they won't because they only care about themselves. Edge starts begging DX to come out and then hits him with a one man con-chair-to. Orton then takes his turn and there's still no DX save. 

Jerry Lawler vs. Chris Masters

Now the second hottest feud is being blown off on Raw? I know that I kid, but it is nice to see that there has been a storyline to everything tonight. Masters throws Lawler from corner to corner, but Lawler avoids a charge. Masters puts Lawler up in the greatest move of all time, the bear hug. Lawler bites his way out and hits a dropkick. Lawler hits a trio of second rope fists. Masters fights back and hits a snap suplex. Masters tries the second rope fist, but Lawler rolls out of the way and hits some right hands to knock Masters down. Masters rakes the eyes and slaps on the Master Lock. Carlito's music hits and he's on his way down to the ring. Masters then breaks the hold to turn his attention to Carlito. Carlito spits the apple in his face, Lawler rolls him up and picks up the victory. I'm not sure why they felt they needed to put Carlito with Masters again. The crowd wasn't into it until the finish.

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show the Hardy's match with Edge and Christian that put all four of them on the map from No Mercy 1999. 

Umaga is on his way down to the ring. Armando Alejandro Estrada says that Umaga was the only man at Survivor Series who was unstoppable. They show Umaga attacking his opponents with a TV monitor. Estrada says that no one has been able to present a challenge and now it's time for him to become WWE Champion. Out comes John Cena and we have a staredown. He grabs a mic and says he accepts Umaga's challenge. Estrada says not now and that's all. The crowd was into it, probably because it's not the usual suspects. 

We now get a spoof of the racist rant that Michael Richards did around this time with Cryme Tyme attacking him and taking his wallet. I'm not really sure why they felt the need to do this. Keep in mind, it was just a year before this that Vince said what he said at Survivor Series 2005. 

They show Edge talking to Jeff Hardy backstage. Jeff fires back and now their partners are here. 

World Tag Team Championship Match
Rated RKO vs. Hardys

So they were announced as Team Extreme last night at Survivor Series, but the Hardys tonight. This is a very worthy main event, even if this should have been something that there was more hype for. Edge and Orton dominate Jeff the opening minutes of the match until he's able to hit a double DDT and tag in Matt. He hits the bulldog/clothesline combo, which Lawler says he has never seen before. If you needed proof that Lawler didn't watch SmackDown for some reason, there's that. They both go up top, but Jeff is shoved to the floor and Orton goes up to meet Matt. Matt shoves him down, but then misses the moonsault. Edge is setting up for the Spear and then we get a weird commercial break. When we come back, Orton has Matt in a rest hold. Matt finally is able to battle back and hits a moonsault on Edge for a 2 count. Jeff gets the hot tag and hits a Whisper In The Wind on Orton for a nearfall. We get some double teams and some close calls that the crowd is fully invested in. Jeff misses with the leap off the back of Matt's back, but he can't hit the RKO. Jeff hits the Swanton but before the referee's hand hits the mat for 3, Edge comes in and hits Jeff in the back with the belt. The ref calls for the bell and the Hardys win by disqualification. Orton hits a RKO on Matt onto a title belt before posing for the crowd. The match itself was pretty good, although most of that was because of the hot finish. 

Match Rating: **1/2

This wasn't an all timer or anything, but this was definitely better than the typical Raw at this time. Just about everything meant something and a lot of stories were furthered. Sadly, it was a lot more entertaining than the show they made you drop 30 bucks on the night before. 

Overall Rating: 66%

NXT 1-8-15 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, January 8th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

NXT Champion Sami Zayn is here to kick off the show and gets a standing ovation from the NXT crowd. He goes out by the crowd to soak it all in. He tells the crowd that this title is not his, it's ours. He has the crowd in the palm of his hand, 100% just like he does in 2023. He says that he is ready to defend this title anytime, anywhere. Out comes Adrian Neville. He congratulates Zayn on being the better man in the ring that night. Sami says that he may not know all the rules, but he knows that he's entitled to a rematch. Out comes GM William Regal and he says that we'll get that rematch next week. 

The Vaudevillains say they will be NXT Tag Team Champions.

Hideo Itami vs. Curtis Axel

Itami gets some kicks to the head in the corner, but Axel shifts the momentum and hits a dropkick. A knee to the jaw from Axel gets him a 2 count and Axel then continues to slow the match down as if it was going to be a 20 minute epic. Itami battles back with a clothesline and a tornado neck snap on the ropes. He hits a top rope clothesline and that's good for a nearfall. Itami reverses out of the Perfect Plex and hits a spinning Shining Wizard and that's all. Axel just never really had enough in the ring to keep up with guys like Itami. 

Match Rating: *

They interview Natalya and Tyson Kidd. Kidd tells us that he feeds his cats like birds feed their young. Kidd sends her off to feed his cats and says that he will eventually be the face of NXT. 

We get a highlight package of Bull Dempsey and Baron Corbin that ends in the reminder that we'll be forced to watch them wrestle each other next week. 

Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks

Bliss goes right after Sasha as the underdog here. Sasha is able to counter a headscissors into a backbreaker. Bliss goes for a couple of sneaky pin attempt, but ends up with knees to the midsection. She hits the backstabber into the Bank Statement for the victory. Sasha keeps the hold on for a few extra seconds for dramatic effect. Both ladies looked good here in their limited time. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Tyler Breeze vs. Chad Gable

Gable gets a good reaction from the crowd and we even get a dual chant here. Pretty impressive for his TV debut. Gable puts on an arm bar while draping over the top rope. As he gets back in the ring, Breeze hits the Beauty Shot and that's all. They were trying to put Breeze over here, but the Gable love threw it off a little bit. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Finn Balor talks about how much he's looked up to Tyson Kidd over the years, but Kidd will need more than nine lives to survive against him next week. 

They show a mysterious person in the background of Tyler Breeze during his celebration. 

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Vaudevillains vs. Lucha Dragons

After falling through the ropes, Sin Cara is able to pull English out of the ring and it leads to a double dive by the champs. During the break they show that Daniel Bryan is returning after his injury and that was probably the highlight of the show so far. When we come back, the Vaudevillains are in control. These matches have been pretty standard stuff and this one isn't any different. Sin Cara gets the hot tag and he hits some of his vanilla aerial offense. As I say that, he hits a cool variation of the top rope sunset bomb with the pin attempt being broken up by Gotch. They hit a nice corkscrew combo finisher and that's all. The last minute was good, the rest was your typical tag team match. I'm not really sure where either team goes from here. 

Match Rating: **

This was a decent show, but didn't have anything that you really needed to watch. Next week seems to be the stacked episode, so I expect that to be a TakeOver Light.

Overall Rating: 48%

Monday Night Raw 1-16-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, January 16th, 1995
The Summit
Houston, Texas

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a William Shatner themed intro to hype up Bret Hart vs. Jeff Jarrett.

Heavenly Bodies vs. 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly

Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels are in front of the greenest of screens here tonight. I get to watch a rematch of the match I just finished watching. The Bodies attack Kid and Holly as they enter the ring. They hit a double elbow before Del Ray starts choking Kid. Del Ray follows up with "a little chin music" according to Shawn. The Bodies hit their suplex/leg drop on Holly. Del Ray hits a nice snap suplex. He goes for a crossbody off the second rope, but Holly rolls over and gets a 2 count. Out come Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka to take a look. Prichard hits a second rope knee drop and Holly kicks out. Holly ducks a double clothesline and leaps into their arms, causing them to collide. In comes 1-2-3 Kid with lots of kicks on both Bodies, but Prichard slows him down. They go for a double clothesline, but Holly runs in and spears Prichard, Kid hits a Perfect Plex and gets the victory. I liked this one better than Superstars and it was about half as long. Tatanka and Bam Bam aren't impressed. 

Match Rating: **3/4

We go back to Bret Hart and William Shatner. Bret says that there is no rust in his blood. I'd sure hope not. Shatner says that he doesn't need anyone to watch his back and then calls Roadie, Road Kill. 

Mantaur vs. Jason Arndt

Mantaur has no helmet this time and has instead traded it for Jim Cornette. Vince does reference the helmet for what it's worth. I know they were getting desperate here in 1995, but I'm not really sure what they saw in Mantaur. He hits a belly bop for the finish. Just terrible stuff.

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the Royal Rumble Report and it's this Sunday. We get an interview from Undertaker and Paul Bearer and they say the same thing they always say. We also get a "live" Jeff Jarrett interview as he's headed to the ring and Todd predicts Bret Hart to win. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Bret Hart

This is actually a pretty big match by 1995 standards. Bret has Jarrett reeling early on, hitting a lot of his set up offense and then working on his arm. Jarrett ducks a clothesline, but Bret puts on the sleeper hold. Jarrett is able to counter out with a back suplex and follows it up with a dropkick into a commercial break. It doesn't take long for Bret to regain control and before you know it, he's hitting the second rope elbow drop. Bret ties Jarrett in the ropes, but Roadie helps him out before Bret can get there and misses with a leap. Jarrett goes for the Figure Four and locks it in. Bret is able to get to the bottom rope and then we get a roll up by Jarrett. Bret counters it and pulls off the victory. That match felt like it was going to have an extra 5 minutes or so. After the match, Shatner attacks Roadie and then throws him out of the ring. The match was solid, but I was expecting a little bit more. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Ted DiBiase is with his group of bums for the King's Court. He runs down what's going to happen for each member of his group. That was a lot of nothing. 

Mabel vs. Lee Toblin

Toblin decides that it would be a good idea to just run right at Mabel and it backfires. This all leads to Vince wondering how in the world is anyone going to get Mabel over the top rope? Shawn wisely says that he doesn't have to, even if his math is off on saying the other 29 guys will do it for him. Mabel hits his enzuigiri, but then Tobin hits Mabel with some left hands. Mabel doesn't like that and hits a clothesline. The leg drop finishes it. Whoomp there it is, indeed. We're only 5 short months away from King Mabel. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Mabel interviews with Shawn and Vince. He says he's the biggest and the baddest, so he will win the Rumble. Out comes King Kong Bundy to dispute that claim and Mabel challenges him to go right now. Mabel goes into the ring as we go to commercial break. When we come back, nothing happens and Vince just tells us that the Smoking Gunns will get a shot at whomever wins the Tag Team Championship match at Royal Rumble. That leads us to a Diesel highlight video to close out the show. 

Like most of this era, there were some highs and some extreme lows. Mantaur should have never been on TV again after these tapings and the Million Dollar Corporation continues to be absolutely pointless. The two feature matches were both solid here though, so it's hard not to say this was at least pretty good TV. 

Overall Rating: 50%

Superstars 1-14-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, January 14th, 1995
Bob Carpenter Center
Newark, Delaware

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament Semifinal Match
Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka vs. Headshrinkers

We get a brawl to start, but Bam Bam and Tatanka make the mistake of slamming them into the mat face-first and it backfires. Sionne hits the big clothesline on Bam Bam, but misses with the second rope headbutt. He catches Bam Bam and hits a powerslam for a 2 count. Vince talks to Jim Cornette and the Heavenly Bodies during the match. A distraction from Tatanka leads to Bam Bam hitting a clothesline on Fatu. After the commercial break, Tatanka is able to hit a top rope clothesline on Fatu for a 2 count. They now interview 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly and something about one lap at a time. When Sionne sends Bam Bam off the ropes, it knocked Fatu off the apron. Sionne hits a powerslam on Bam Bam and then Tatanka comes in to interfere and he disposes of him. Sionne goes up to the top rope and hits a headbutt. Outside, Tatanka attacks Afa while Bam Bam kicked out. Sionne checks in on the action out of the ring and Bam Bam is able to roll him up for the victory. Sionne attacks Bam Bam after the match and then goes after Tatanka. Afa hits him with some left hands and then a Samoan drop. Fatu and Sionne go up to the top rope, but Bam Bam is able to roll Tatanka out of the ring. This was a pretty standard big man Saturday morning match.

Match Rating: *3/4

We go to Stephanie Wiand for Live Event News. We get a recap of the IRS/Undertaker feud and I determine that it's time for a nap. 

We now get a WWF Week In Music segment. It's Man Mountain Rock and he's coming soon. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mike Moraldo

Vince and King are shocked that the guest ring announcer is actually pretty good. Jarrett dominates as one would expect. He hits a superplex and then slaps on the Figure Four for the easy victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Diesel is out with McMahon for an interview. Vince asks if Diesel has changed since beating Bob Backlund in 8 seconds. Diesel says he smiles more because he has a lot to smile about. He says that he also talks more since he got rid of the motor mouth Shawn Michaels. Then he goes back and says that he hasn't changed because he's the same intense individual that he was before. Diesel then says that Bret wrote the book on breaking rules. He says that 1995 will be the year of the Diesel. It sure will be. 

Duke Droese vs. Chris Kanyon

Droese actually gets an interview talking about slinging trash all over the ring at the Royal Rumble. Kanyon gets in some right hands, but then runs into the turnbuckle and Droese hits a back suplex. Droese hits the Trash Compactor and that's all. No one cares. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a Hakushi video showing some of the impressive moves we have seen so far. Vince had already given up on him. 

It's time for the Royal Rumble Report. We get an interview with Bob Backlund and it's his moral duty to destroy all the wrestlers in the Rumble. Owen Hart then tells Jim Neidhart and Backlund that there are no friends in the Rumble, so sorry. We get some new names in Well Dunn and Jacob and Eli Blue, the latter haven't even debuted and Todd doesn't know who they are. Order the show now!

WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament Semifinal Match
Heavenly Bodies vs. 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly

This is the most excited that I have been for a Superstars match in a long time. Jerry Lawler says that the Kid and Holly have as good of a chance as Dick Murdoch has in winning the Rumble. Vince says his chances are the same as anyone. Sure. It sounds like the Smoking Gunns are back, but they just weren't back in time for the tournament. We finally get to Kid and Del Ray, which is a '95 dream match. Kid knocks him out of the ring and then brings him back in the hard way before hitting him with a superkick. He hits a nice spin kick and Del Ray falls out of the ring again. Del Ray hits a superkick to the back of the head right into a DDT from Prichard as we go into the commercial break. When we come back, Kid is able to get a hot tag to Holly and he hits a powerslam on Prichard for a 2 count. Holly hits a big dropkick and Del Ray breaks up the pin again. All four men are in there now, which allows Cornette to roll Prichard over on the Holly pin attempt. Kid then pushes Holly over again and the ref sees it this time and they get the victory. The finish was fun, but for being "underdogs", they sure dominated a lot of the match. It definitely didn't live up to my excitement, but was still better than most TV matches during this time. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Back to Stephanie Wiand to talk about the WWF Championship match. They continue to focus on the Owen Hart relationship and telegraph what's coming. 

Back to the ring and Vince and Lawler are with Kid and Holly. Kid can't believe it. They did it! 

Just having two feature matches automatically makes this better than most Superstars episodes. Both were solid and helped get us to where we need to be for the Royal Rumble. The Diesel interview was a little on the cringe side and the squashes were uninspired, but it's 1995, what did you expect?

Overall Rating: 52%

Survivor Series 2006 Review

Sunday, November 26th, 2006
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes & Ron Simmons vs. Spirit Squad

Arn Anderson and Mitch are ringside for their respective teams here. Simmons and Mikey start things off, with Simmons getting the better of the exchange until he's tripped up from the outside. He slowly walks around the ring to go after them and is counted out. We're already off to a classic start here. It's Sgt. Slaughter's turn now and he hits a couple of body slams on Nicky. I've never booked a show and probably never will, but I think I would have had this match be winding down already. Sarge puts him in the Cobra Clutch until he gets hit in the head with a kick behind the referee's back to be eliminated. Dusty hits an elbow and takes out Nicky. This is really bad. Dusty gets rolled up, so it's now Ric against 3. Flair hits an inverted atomic drop and kind of uses the ropes to take out Mikey. Flair gets an inside cradle on Kenny and he's gone. Flair slaps on the Figure Four on Johnny and this thing is thankfully over. The Spirit Squad then attacks Flair after the match, with Kenny hitting a top rope leg drop. This was anything but good.

Match Rating: 1/4*

United States Championship Match
Chavo Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit

It is extremely difficult for me to care about this feud 16 years later. They are moving at a pretty good pace here, so the action has been good. We get a lot of back and forth, until Chavo slows things down and tells Benoit to stay out of his business. Benoit battles back with the three German suplexes and signals for headbutt. Vickie distracts him on the way and the delay allows Chavo to roll out of the way. Chavo hits a suplex and then he heads up top and hits the Frog Splash. Benoit is able to kick out at 2 and Chavo is beside himself. Benoit goes for the Sharpshooter, but Chavo fights his way out. Chavo pushes him into the ropes and knocks Vickie to the floor. Benoit locks in the Crossface and Chavo taps. That was a weird ending. The action was good here, but it felt like just chapter 1 of the story. JBL calling Benoit a terrible human being after the match just is rough.

Match Rating: **3/4

Lita and Edge get in a quick backstage interview making fun of Philadelphia. Lita goes to the ring and Edge talks about how Lita cares about respect. Meanwhile, in the background, Cryme Tyme sneaks into their locker room. 

Women's Championship Match
Mickie James vs. Lita

This is Lita's retirement match. It's kind of crazy because she was only 31 years old here. For WWE to lose both Trish and Lita within a matter of months really forced them to try to make more stars, but it really didn't end up making a whole lot of them. Thankfully NXT came along and showed them that they could have a division full of women who are there to wrestle, not strip each other. The Philly crowd is of course relentless on Lita as she has a slow, plotting start to the match. After a sleeper hold, Lita goes up top and misses with a top rope crossbody. Mickie starts climbing, but Lita is able to hit a back suplex. Lita is able to hit her trademark suplex, but Mickie kicks out. Mickie is able to hit the DDT and we have a new Women's Champion. This was a little disjointed. After the match, Lita has Lilian Garcia announce her as the greatest Women's Champion. The crowd boos and Lita throws a fit. Cryme Tyme comes out with her box of stuff and she continues to complain about them taking her time. They start selling the stuff they stole including JBL buying her underwear. So, obviously this is all terrible and just such a stupid way to send Lita off. Yes, I understand she's a heel, but she could have just thrown a fit and been done with it.

Match Rating: *1/4

We get a previously recorded sit down interview with Batista and Michael Cole. Cole brings up that this is the arena where he relinquished his title. Batista just sits in silence and that continues with every question that Cole asks. They show what happened on SmackDown Friday, with Batista signing the last chance contract and then getting attacked. Batista finally speaks and says that he's leaving tonight as the World Heavyweight Champion.

Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Johnny Nitro, Gregory Helms, Mike Knox, Edge & Randy Orton

Before the match, DX has CM Punk ask the crowd if they are ready, which is the infamous DX getting mad that Punk got a bigger pop. Whether it's true or not, it's the story that's told. DX gets Kelly Kelly up on the apron, which angers Knox and that allows Michaels to hit Sweet Chin Music and eliminate him in seconds. This one is just all shenanigans so far. The heels are able to single out Matt, with Matt bleeding from the lip. Punk gets tagged in and gets to go after future rival Nitro. Matt snaps Nitro's neck off the top rope and that allows Punk to put on the Anaconda Vice to eliminate him. Orton is able to hit the RKO on Punk, but Michaels is able to break up the pin. Edge comes in and goes for the Spear, but Punk moves out of the way and Edge hits the turnbuckle. Triple H makes his way in and hits the running knee on Helms and Orton. Edge breaks up the Pedigree attempt and that leads to chaos including a double dive by Jeff and Michaels. Triple H ducks a Shining Wizard and hits the spinebuster. He tags in Matt and he hits the Twist Of Fate and Jeff follows up with the Swanton Bomb to eliminate Helms. They hit Sweet Chin Music shortly after on Edge and he's gone. Orton tries to run out through the crowd, but CM Punk catches up to him and he gets the DX combo for the final elimination. That was a landslide in terms of how the talent have been booked and they did nothing to change that here tonight. This was entertaining enough, but not really much of a match.

Match Rating: **1/4

After a video package, Mr. Kennedy is getting interviewed before getting interrupted by MVP. MVP says they have a clean slate and that he's got him.

First Blood Match
Mr. Kennedy vs. Undertaker

Kennedy immediately rips a turnbuckle off upon entering the ring. Taker takes it to Kennedy early on outside the ring. Taker drives Kennedy's back into the ring post and we go back into the ring. Taker hits a big superplex and then goes after his ribs. Kennedy is able to hit a low blow, which of course is legal here. Taker battles back and Kennedy has a little blood from his mouth. He's out of the ring and MVP comes out to wipe him up. The referee has to play dumb here. Kennedy and MVP start walking back until MVP throws him back in the ring. Kennedy is able to hit Taker's head on the exposed turnbuckle, but he's still not bleeding. MVP then runs in with a chair and the ref tries to take it away. He pulls it away and the ref falls out and MVP accidentally hits Taker. He is busted open and going after MVP. Kennedy comes in and the referee sees it and that's all. What a terribly booked match. I know there is more to come with these two, but there was hardly any action and not a very well booked cheap finish. You either want to push him or you don't. Kennedy announces himself the winner, but Taker grabs him by the throat before he can finish and then unleashes on him. Taker then hits him with a sickening shot to the head. Why? Taker then hits a wobbly Tombstone and then takes off his gloves to punch him in the forehead. This was a lot worse than I remembered.

Match Rating: *1/2

King Booker says that this will be the bitter end for Batista tonight. 

MVP, Test, Umaga, Finlay & Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Bobby Lashley, Kane & John Cena

Cena clothesline Umaga out of the ring and then throws Finlay into the ring. Umaga goes and grabs a television monitor and attacks Cena's team with it, causing his DQ. From there we get some standard action, with the heel team working on RVD for a little bit. Test tries to drive RVD into the ring post, but RVD slips off and pushes him into it. Kane hits a chokeslam on MVP and then RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash to eliminate him. Test runs in and hits a big boot right after and he's gone. Lashley hits a Spear on Test outside the ring and tosses him back in the ring. Sabu follows it up with a slingshot leg drop and a springboard DDT to eliminate Test. Kane and Big Show are battling and out comes Hornswoggle. That leads to Finlay getting the shillelagh and hitting Kane with it and he's gone. This match just feels so rushed. We get the super team of Lashley and Cena and they hit a clothesline at the same time Big Show does. Lashley Spears Finlay and Hornswoggle goes flying into Cena's arms. Cena hits the FU on him and Lashley eliminates Finlay. Cena and Lashley hit a double suplex on Show, which leads to the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena hits the FU and that's all. This was entertaining, but there wasn't much time to even tell a story. I guess the story is that Cena and Lashley are our guys. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Teddy Long comes out to reiterate that if Batista loses, this is his last chance at the title. He then adds that if King Booker is counted out or disqualified, then we will have a new champion. 

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Batista vs. King Booker

Batista goes after Booker during his entrance. They eventually get to the ring and the bell rings. Booker walks out and Sharmell reminds him that he can't get counted out. This match just has no juice to it right now. Booker catapults Batista's throat into the bottom rope to slow him down. There was a lot of drama backstage between these two and as a result this just feels like a bunch of moves strung together. Booker hits a leg lariat and gets a 2 count. Batista hits a boot to the face to knock Booker out of the ring and throws him into the steps. Batista throws him back in and hits a top rope shoulder tackle for a 2 count. Batista hits an awkward spinebuster and gets another nearfall. Booker ducks a clothesline, sort of, and hits the Book End, but Batista kicks out. Batista catches Booker with a kick and hits the Batista Bomb. Booker rolls towards the ropes and Booker is able to grab the bottom rope before the 3 count. Sharmell handed the title belt to Booker and gets in the ring. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb on Sharmell, but decides not to. Batista ducks a belt shot, Batista grabs it and hits Booker with it and we have a new champion. This was a very mediocre match that felt like they were going through the motions. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Well, this show was as poor as I remembered. Outside of the title change, nothing important happened and there were no classic moments or matches. It was just a show. They are in pay-per-view overkill and it's really hurting the product. 

Overall Rating: 37%

Monday Night Raw 1-9-95 Review

Monday, January 9th, 1995
The Summit
Houston, Texas

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Not only are we live, we are in an actual legitimate venue. No ceiling shots tonight. They talk about William Shatner being Jerry Lawler's guest tonight and we get a pre-taped interview of Shatner backstage. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Owen Hart

Owen rips the title belt out of the hands of the referee, so Razor nails him before clotheslining him out of the ring. Razor gets in all the early offense here, including catching Owen and hitting the fall away slam. He signals for the Razor's Edge, but Owen is able to dump Razor to the floor before hitting a dive through the ropes. Back in the ring, Owen hits a top rope crossbody, but Razor rolls through and gets a 2 count. Owen hits a dropkick as we are going to a commercial break. When we come back, Owen hits an enzuigiri for a nearfall. Owen hits a nice spin kick on Razor as he's running the ropes faster than I have ever seen him run them. Owen leaps up on the back of Razor to slap on the sleeper hold in the center of the ring. It's nice to hear an actual crowd reaction for these matches and it's clear that Razor is over. He's able to power out of it with a back suplex and both men are down. Owen crotches Razor on the top rope and he accidentally falls to the outside. Razor climbs in and gets hit with a missile dropkick. Owen slaps on the Sharpshooter and out comes Bret to attack Owen. I'm surprised they booked Razor like this ahead of his match at Royal Rumble. Out comes Jeff Jarrett and Roadie. Razor and Bret dominate and the crowd loves it. This is Bret's first televised appearance since Survivor Series. This was a good match despite the surprise that they made Razor look weak with the finish. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

It's time for the Royal Rumble Report. Diesel wonders how rusty Bret is after sitting up in Calgary. 

Hakushi vs. Matt Hardy

I would have loved to have seen this match in about 4 years from this date. The presentation of Hakushi was really well done, especially in this era of so much crap. Hakushi hits a nice superkick after a backflip before hitting a top rope shoulder block. He hits a a slingshot elbow drop for the quick victory. This felt a little rushed. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're back in the ring with Jerry Lawler for the King's Court. He brings out William Shatner, who is here to hype up TekWar on USA Network. Lawler is actually complimentary, but Shatner is firing shots right away. They get into an altercation and it leads to Shatner giving Lawler a variation of a monkey flip. Out comes Bret Hart to raise his hand in celebration. Jeff Jarrett and Roadie come down to try and calm Lawler down. Even though this was clearly just corporate synergy, this was still a good get for Raw at the time. 

We get the Pamela Anderson Royal Rumble commercial.

King Kong Bundy vs. Gary Sabaugh

King Kong Bundy is one of the favorites in the Royal Rumble is everything you need to know about the roster in 1995. Bundy hits a splash in the corner and that's all. Thankfully he doesn't get paid by the hour. After the match, Bundy goes over to Shawn and Vince, where Shawn says he'll be the one to win the Rumble. 

Match Rating: 1/4* 

We get a recap of what went down for the tag team tournament on Superstars. 

The Bushwhackers are backstage getting Howard Finkel psyched up and Well Dunn is doing the same with Harvey Wippleman.

We get another Kama video. 

Tuxedo Match
Harvey Wippleman vs. Howard Finkel

The fact that there are still 8 minutes left in the show has me worried here. Finkel is immediately able to rip off Harvey's jacket in a match that resembles mud wrestling. It looks like Harvey and Michael Cole have the same tattoo guy. We're down to both guys wearing Raw underwear for some reason. Harvey thinks he won, but the small piece of the cummerbund still on. Fink gets him on his shoulder and rips off the rest of his outfit for the victory. I assure you you won't see anything much worse than this. If anything, I learned how to spell cummerbund. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

Next week, we're getting Jeff Jarrett vs. Bret Hart, which is another big main event by 1995 standards. Vince and Shawn recap the King's Court and Jeff Jarrett is out for the third time tonight. 

You know the drill here. When the feature match is good and at least one other positive thing happens, it's a thumbs up in this era. The Shatner interaction was entertaining, as he actually looked like he wanted to be part of the show. The Intercontinental Championship match was an entertaining match that featured two of the best things going during this time period and was given a proper amount of time. The squashes were squashes and the main event was terrible, but not enough to sour the show. 

Overall Rating: 60%