Monday Night Raw 3-5-07 Review

Monday, March 5th, 2007 
US Airways Center
Phoenix, Arizona

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Shawn Michaels is shown getting ready and in walks John Cena. Cena wishes him some luck tonight and Shawn agrees to say the same to John tonight. They start semi-arguing and Cena says that he will have Michaels' back during his match with Randy Orton. Michaels doesn't want it and heads out to the ring.

Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton

The first high spot here is Michaels getting dumped over the top and to the floor. That seems like a pretty dangerous spot for him just weeks before a WrestleMania main event. I know you can get hurt doing anything, but this one seemed unnecessary. After a commercial break, Orton puts Michaels into a Boston crab in the middle of the ring. Michaels is able to slowly crawl to the bottom rope to break the hold, but then Orton hits a draped DDT. Michaels is able to sneak in a back suplex and both men are down. Michaels hits the running forearm and does the delayed kip up. Michaels hits the top rope elbow drop and he starts tuning up the band. Orton blocks the attempt and goes for the RKO. Michaels shoves Orton and he goes into the referee and Orton levels him with a clothesline. Edge goes and grabs a title belt to give to Orton. A second referee was sent out and he sees it, which causes a distraction for Michaels to roll him up and squeak out the win. After the match, Edge and Orton try to attack him with the chair, but out comes Cena to make the save for him. Overall, I am just so grateful that we didn't have to start with Vince or Trump. 

Match Rating: **1/2

We get a rare ECW highlight, but this one was more than worthy to be shown multiple times. They show Lashley jumping through the cage and onto Umaga. We go to Vince talking to Armando Alejandro Estrada. Vince wants to see what Umaga is made of during his match with Jeff Hardy tonight. Jonathan Coachman starts talking to Vince and he lets him know that he has recommended that Shane McMahon be the special guest referee for Umaga/Lashley.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga

On his way into the ring, Umaga pulls up the pads just outside the ring. We get some cat and mouse that leads to Hardy dropkicking Umaga to the floor and then hits a somersault dive over the top rope. Hardy then hits a leaping clothesline off the steps. Umaga levels him with a clothesline and a splash. He puts Hardy in the tree of woe and hits a running headbutt. Umaga hits the butt in the face and hits the Samoan Spike to put Hardy out of his misery. These two continue to show great chemistry in these matches. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We get a hype video for Umaga and Lashley. Then after the commercial we hear from Mark Cuban, Howie Mandel and John Travolta about Vince or Trump shaving their head.

We go to Todd Grisham and he is with Carlito and Ric Flair. They are battling tonight for a spot in Money In The Bank and start arguing about who is going to win. 

We get a Masterlock Challenge and tonight it's Hacksaw Jim Duggan. He puts it on and Duggan submits. That's it? Why was this on the show? 

Vince is walking towards the ring and feeling confident.

We get more Cena/Michaels drama backstage. It's like they're going to be wrestling soon or something.

Vince is out and takes a quick stop at the barber shop before heading to the ring. Next week is the contract signing. Great. Then all of a sudden, Eric Bischoff is out to Vince's surprise. I'm not really sure what the point of him being here was. Vince then says we're going to find out the guest referee and now Mick Foley is out in his homemade referee shirt. They kind of suck up to each other, but when Vince tries to announce Mick as the special guest referee, Mick says he isn't. He's actually refereeing a rib eating contest with the Phoenix Suns gorilla, who then comes out to the ring. Now out comes Shane to the relief of his father. Shane tells him that the board made their vote and they lost 5 to 4. Well if Shane isn't the referee, then who is? Shane whispers it in his ear and then the glass breaks and out comes Steve Austin. It sure took us a long time to get to this point. This just leads to Austin soaking Vince in beer. This was a terrible segment that felt like it went on for an hour. 

We get a recap as if it didn't just take all night for that thing to end. Then Mick is showing the gorilla his new book and that leads Ron Simmons to do his thing.

Lillian Garcia brings out Ashley as the guest ring announcer for the next match.

Falls Count Anywhere Match For The WWE Women's Championship
Mickie James vs. Melina

Mickie knocks Melina off the ring and they head to the back. They battle in the locker room where Torrie Wilson and Maria are hanging out. Victoria then comes in and holds Mickie to allow Melina to slap her. Torrie then sprays her with hairspray in the face. Out comes Candice Michelle in a towel. Melina rips it off and we have it blurred out and the camera man falls on his back to boos. When we come back from commercial, they are battling towards the ring and start rolling all the way down the ramp. They eventually make their way back to the ring and are climbing the turnbuckles. Mickie goes for a hurricanrana, but Melina shoves her off and she takes a nasty looking spill. Melina rolls her up and pins her. Melina celebrates with her fake eyelash falling off and then heads to Ashley to rip her title away. Ashley shoves her on her back and goes to check on Mickie. Melina storms to the back and Mickie seems to be okay. This wasn't very hard hitting, but it was chaotic and kind of lighthearted fun.

Match Rating: *1/2

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Ric Flair vs. Carlito

This one just doesn't get off to a good start. Flair puts on a really unconvincing headlock and then Carlito hits a springboard reverse elbow that Flair telegraphs and falls too early. I guess I get why because Great Khali is on his way to the ring to disrupt things. He takes out both guys and we have a no contest I suppose. Khali gets on the mic and I think he says that he wants Kane. This was just all around terrible.

Match Rating: No Rating

Steve Austin returns home to ECW tomorrow night.

Nick Bockwinkle is announced as the next inductee into the Hall Of Fame.

We go to Edge and Randy Orton talking about what happened last week. Orton tells Edge that he doesn't have his back. 

Cena is on his way to the ring. 

John Cena vs. Edge

All 3 members of MNM come out before Edge is introduced. So I guess that's Edge's new backup for tonight. Edge then says that he can't perform in front of these bigots because they were one of the last states to acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. Edge then says that Johnny Nitro's great great grandmother is black and he wants to take it out on Cena tonight.

John Cena vs. Johnny Nitro

Umm...sure? I believe Edge was injured and there was some fear that he would miss WrestleMania. Nitro throws Cena into the ring post and Cena is out. Back in the ring, Cena battles out of a rest hold and hits him with a big clothesline. It's 5 Knuckle Shuffle Time and then Joey Mercury and Edge start with distractions. It doesn't work and Cena gets Nitro up for the FU. Mercury comes in and hits a chop block and they attack Cena. They hit the Snapshot with Edge directing. Out comes Michaels and he runs down to make the save, but then stops short of the ring. Edge runs into the crowd, but MNM are still in the ring. Michaels and his hideous brown shirt leaves for the back and MNM start attacking again. Michaels thinks again and runs back into the ring to take out MNM. This wasn't much of a match and the setup was questionable at best.

Match Rating: 1/2*

This show started off really great and then Vince had to go and ruin it as usual. The women's match was just about the only fun segment outside of the first half hour. 

Overall Rating: 39%

NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable Review

Wednesday, May 20th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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NXT Championship #1 Contender Match
Tyler Breeze vs. Finn Balor

Tyler Breeze gets an entrance with a bunch of female models. This was supposed to be a triple threat match with Hideo Itami, but they show him being attacked in the parking lot and he has a torn rotator cuff and is out of the match. Back in the arena, we get the Demon version of Finn Balor, complete with wing and spike cape. It's too bad about Itami because they had built up the Balor/Itami dynamic nicely. Breeze is able to withstand an early onslaught from Balor and hits a reverse neckbreaker. His offense doesn't last long and before you know it, Balor is stomping on the back of Breeze from the apron. Balor goes for Coup de Grace, but Breeze wisely rolls across the ring. Balor runs into a Supermodel Kick, but kicks out at 2. Breeze takes off the turnbuckle pad and then stomps away at Balor in the corner. Breeze misses with the Beauty Shot. After a counter, he ends up hitting it and Balor runs into the exposed turnbuckle. He goes for the pin, but Balor is able to somehow kick out and Breeze is throwing a fit. Meanwhile, Balor sneak attacks Breeze in the entrance way. Balor climbs up the stage and hits Breeze with a dive. Balor throws Breeze back in the ring and hits the running dropkick. He climbs up top and hits the Coup de Grace to become the #1 contender. This was a solid opening match that kicked into second gear nicely. It was pretty clear that Balor was going to win, but they did give Breeze the one real nice close call to make you believe otherwise. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

They show Kevin Owens watching backstage and shaking his head. 

They show some guy from Game Of Thrones (sorry, never watched it) sitting next to Stephanie McMahon in the crowd. 

They show a hype video about how great NXT is live. 

Dana Brooke & Emma vs. Charlotte & Bayley

It really is a testament to Bayley's greatness of how over she was able to get with a 100% true babyface act in this era. Her and Dana start things off and Dana shoves her to the mat out of the lock up. Bayley comes back with a catapult into Charlotte, who clotheslines her. We get to Bayley and Emma and Bayley shoves her to the mat. Emma goes out of the ring and Bayley hits the sliding dropkick through the bottom rope on both opponents. A Dana distraction allows for Bayley to get pulled off the second turnbuckle and she hits her head on the way down. I'm surprised you don't see that more often, as it's just effective as being crotched. Bayley gets the heat segment here and we get frequent tags from the heels. Emma hits the Emma Sandwich and gets a 2 count. Bayley is able to hit a suplex and makes the tag to Charlotte. She hits a double DDT but Emma is able to kick out of the pin attempt. Emma hits a crossbody off the top rope, but Charlotte rolls through. She puts her in the Figure Eight and Dana tries to break it up. Bayley slides underneath Charlotte and Dana to hit her with the Bayley To Belly. Charlotte then hits Natural Selection and picks up the victory for her team. I think it's pretty clear it was time to move Charlotte up to the main roster here. This was better than I had remembered as the fun tag match on the show.

Match Rating: **1/2

They show the Sami Zayn injury on Raw against John Cena 3 weeks ago. They then show him backstage starting at himself in the mirror.

They show off some of the new signees for NXT, which includes some familiar faces like Apollo Crews.

Rhyno vs. Baron Corbin

We get a Corbin mistake early on where he was supposed to fall out of the ring and awkwardly recovers. I'm not being critical, just noting something that happened. The crowd has completely turned on Corbin. They were really into the squash gimmick, but now not so much. Corbin stomps away on Rhyno in the corner and risks a DQ, as he is not listening to the referee. After Corbin gets the better of Rhyno in the early going, they collide in the middle of the ring and both are down. This probably already has gone on longer than it should have. They should have booked this like a Goldberg match. Rhyno comes back with punches and a clothesline. Rhyno hits a spinebuster, but only gets a 2 count. He sets up for the Gore but Corbing hits a clothesline. Corbin hits End Of Days and that's all. I don't think anyone thought Rhyno had a chance here. This was about as good as you would expect it to be.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Kevin Owens talks about his good week and how he showed John Cena that the US Title is nothing compared to the NXT Championship. He says that if Sami Zayn shows up tonight, it will be the last time we ever see him.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Blake & Murphy

It's nice that they've given this one a story, as Blake and Murphy still feel very random. Murphy tries a tornado DDT and Cass counters by just chucking him across the ring. Enzo comes back in and as per usual, that is when the opponents take control of the match. The champs hit a Codebreaker/powerbomb combo, but Enzo kicks out. Enzo comes back and hits a leaping DDT off the second rope. He makes the hot tag to Cass and he hits his usual combo of splashes and big boots. He hits the Empire Elbow, but Murphy breaks up the pin attempt. Cass hits a side suplex and then drags Enzo to the corner and pulls him up the turnbuckle. Out comes Alexa Bliss and she attacks Carmella. Cass goes to check on her and gets hit with a superkick from Murphy. Alexa shoves Enzo off the top rope and Blake pins him to retain their titles. This was very much a TV match that worked well enough because of how over Enzo and Cass are. They celebrate with Alexa after the match.

Match Rating: **

Eva Marie is here. She sure worked out well. 

We get a lengthy video package for the Women's Championship match.

NXT Women's Championship Match
Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

They go the wrestling route to begin and we get a series of quick pin attempts. That ends abruptly when Sasha is able to pull Becky on the apron with Becky falling face-first into the ring. Sasha turns to submission wrestling, twisting Becky in numerous holds. Becky is able to power out of an arm submission and drops Sasha on her back to start her comeback. Becky hits a missile dropkick, but then Sasha returns with running double knees in the corner. They continue to battle and Becky is able to slap on the Disarm-Her, but Sasha gets to the bottom rope. Sasha hits a dive to the outside, but Becky catches her...kind of. She drives her into the ring and throws her back in to break the count. Becky climbs up top, but Sasha runs up and brings her down to the mat. She puts on the Bank Statement and Becky has to tap. The crowd loved this one very much and the announcers did a nice job of putting it over. It was a very worthy title match. Becky gets a standing ovation out of respect before heading to the back. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

NXT Championship Match
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

As soon as the bell rings, Owens rolls out of the ring to stall. Sami eventually goes out and runs after him to attack. They go in the ring, but not for long as Zayn clotheslines Owens out of the ring. Owens goes for a powerbomb. Zayn counters that and hits a back body drop. Zayn sends Owens over the guardraill and they start fighting in the crowd. Owens goes for a powerbomb, but Zayn is able to grab a railing on the bleachers to block it. He then hits a back body drop on Owens that sends him back to just outside the ring. Back in the ring we go and Zayn hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. Zayn goes up the ropes to go for hits tornado DDT and Owens counters it into a backbreaker. Owens goes for a cannon ball and Zayn moves. He hits an exploder in the corner, but Owens rolls out of the ring before the Helluva Kick. Zayn charges at Owens, but he gets caught and Owens finally hits the powerbomb into the ring apron. The officials are out to check on Zayn, which just gives Owens the green light to attack him some more. Owens continuously does so and now William Regal is out. He pulls Owens off by his nose, so Owens headbutts him. He goes out and grabs a chair and starts to hit him until Samoa Joe is out and makes his NXT debut. He gets up in Owens face and Owens begins to back away. Joe follows him and gets in his face again, so Owens walks out of the ring. Owens comes back out and then says not tonight and we go off the air. They were obviously limited with what they could do here as a result of Sami's injury. The brawling that we did get was good, the debut was great and the ending left a lot to be desired. It's definitely a bit of an unsatisfying finish given how much build up they have had leading into the match.

Match Rating: ***

This was another good TakeOver event from NXT, but probably not as strong as the last 3. The women got their time to shine and delivered here tonight and I thought the opener was also an entertaining match despite the injury to Itami. Everything was right around where you expected it to be, making this a thumbs up.

Overall Rating: 77%

Monday Night Raw 5-29-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, May 29th, 1995
Broome County Arena
Binghamton, New York

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Jeff Jarrett is in the ring talking about how he will be the King Of The Ring and then the lights go off and Undertaker's bell tolls. We go to the intro and when we come back, Jarrett is gone just in case you weren't sure this wasn't live.

Sid vs. Mike Khoury

Sid looks to be a little bit more intense here than some of his other squashes. This one of course does not last very long and he hits the powerbomb and gets the win. After the match, he lifts Khoury up and yells at him to tell Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow how bad it hurts. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Diesel and Dr. James Andrews talking about the elbow injury Diesel suffered on the powerbomb from Sid. 

Adam Bomb vs. Bob Cook

Vince brings up the 1 hour broadcast version of WrestleMania. Cook has some pretty pathetic looking offense while Jerry Lawler struggles to read an ad. Bomb hits a top rope clothesline and puts Cook out of his misery. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to go to Todd Pettengill for the King Of The Ring Report. Nothing gets announced here.

Hakushi vs. John Snakowski

Before the match, Shinja brings out a burlap bag and they slowly pull out a head that looks like Bret Hart. Just a bizarre moment. This one is a bit methodical. He hits a somersault splash to pick up the easy victory.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Todd again and he's talking Hall Of Fame. Nothing to see here. 

Vince is in the ring and brings out Alundra Blayze. Remember her? She says that she didn't even know who Bertha Faye was, but now she's ready for her. Great.

Men On A Mission vs. Gary Scott & Aaron Ferguson

Breaking: Mo is actually in the ring. It doesn't last long and he tags in Mabel for a big back body drop. Mo is back in and he gets hit with an arm drag. He comes back with a kick to the jaw. Why is this match still going on? Mabel hits a splash in the corner and a belly-to-belly suplex and that's all thankfully. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Todd Pettengill...again? He goes over the tournament brackets and announces British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart. Why wouldn't you put that on the pay per view?

Take a look at the new glowing Undertaker shirt and it's only $16! Check out the new Monday Night Raw hat. One size fits all!

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Jeff Jarrett vs. Undertaker

We get some cat and mouse to start things off. Taker hits Old School early on but a Roadie distraction leads to Jarrett gaining control. Being the intelligent wrestler that he is, Jarrett stands in the ring while Taker recovers instead of attacking him. Jarrett knocks him down with a dropkick and gets a 2 count. Jarrett hits a top rope clothesline. We get some more Roadie and Paul Bearer is so upset that he rips off his jacket and chases after the referee. Taker makes his comeback and hits a chokeslam. He hits the Tombstone and that's all. Taker did give him some good offense for most of the match, but it was a foregone conclusion that Taker was going to win here minus a Kama interference. The match wasn't bad.

Match Rating: **

Savio Vega will make his Raw debut and we'll get Man Mountain Rock. Plus, the aforementioned Bulldog/Owen match. I should note that the video transfer on this episode was pretty weak. I'm not sure what the issue was, since I believe the rest of the taping was fine.

We go to Bob Backlund and he says he is going to require people listen to classical music. Rock should be abolished immediately. Just look at the crime rate!

This was a very Superstars style episode of Raw, but at least it did have the decent main event that actually meant something. It wasn't terrible, but this one can be skipped.

Overall Rating: 42%

Superstars 5-27-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, May 27th, 1995
O'Neill Center
Danbury, Connecticut

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We get a recap of Bret Hart challenging Jerry Lawler on Raw and the brawl that ensued. 

Men On A Mission vs. Ross Greenberg & Tim McNeany

Mabel starts this off and this thing is over very quickly. He hits a belly to belly suplex and picks up the win without even tagging in Mo. I was just thinking to myself that I had assumed they had stopped tagging ahead of King Of The Ring and I guess I wasn't wrong, as Mo was just a technicality here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a recap of Shawn Michaels beating King Kong Bundy and then reconciling with Diesel with Bam Bam Bigelow facilitating. 

Now we get to watch the kid seeing the house he won again. Sometimes this show just feels like an infomercial. 

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Kama vs. Duke Droese

Here are two guys that already feel like afterthoughts. Droese hits a clothesline and Vince doesn't care who you are, when Duke hits that, you're going down. Droese hits a big powerslam, but Kama easily kicks out at 2. He comes back with a back body drop, but misses with the elbow drop. Kama comes back with a spinebuster and that's it? Wow, they really had no faith in these guys having a good match. They announce that Kama will take on Shawn Michaels at King Of The Ring. I mean the match was fine for the minute they got.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go to Todd Pettengill for the King Of The Ring Report. Next week on Superstars, it's Roadie vs. Doink for the next qualifying spot. If that doesn't tell you what you need to know about the upcoming pay per view, I don't know what will.

Tom Prichard vs. Shawn Michaels

We are in total cheeseball Michaels mode with this return and he definitely does seem to be rejuvenated. After a hot start, we get a Jim Cornette distraction and it allows Jimmy Del Ray to pull down the top rope and Michaels falls to the floor. Del Ray then hits a somersault dive off the apron. Back in the ring Prichard hits a body slam and then slaps on the Boston Crab. Prichard has to have top 5 worst hair of the era. Prichard then slaps on a sleeper hold and the crowd is about as excited as you ever see on Superstars. Michaels miraculously gets out of the hold, but Prichard is able to hit a suplex. We actually get a commercial break for this one right after Michaels kicks out at 2. When we come back, Michaels is making his comeback and hits a top rope elbow drop. Del Ray tries to interfere, but Michaels crotches him on the top rope. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music and that's all for Prichard. Prichard is one of the better workers on the card in this era and Michaels was 100% motivated here, so we got a much better match than you would have expected. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Vince now talks about the Hall Of Fame and talks about Ernie Ladd being inducted. 

We go to the ring with Dok Hendrix and he brings out Bam Bam Bigelow and Diesel for an interview. Dok is way over the top her. Even Diesel makes fun of him for it. Bam Bam says that having Diesel as his friend is better than being the champion. I bet it isn't. Diesel loves having a friend too. What a sweet interview. If you were someone trying to prove why the New Generation failed, this is probably a good example to use for your argument. We'll see if the build gets any better, but my instincts tell me no.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Brian Wash

We join this match in progress for whatever reason. I'm pretty sure that if you combined Hunter's legs here, they are the approximate circumference of one leg in his prime. Vince hypes up the WrestleMania 1 hour version on broadcast TV. Hunter hits the Pedigree for the first time and that's all. He continues to look good, but they aren't ready to do anything with him just yet.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They hype up Doink vs. Roadie some more and then out comes the Bushwhackers for whatever reason. They say that they need to see a doctor and Dok claims to be. They say that they need to see a doctor because they have been told they have bad breath and yell it in his face. Oh boy.

We get another Body Donna vignette talking about how much better they are than us.

Tekno Team 2000 vs. Barry Horowitz & Brooklyn Brawler

Troy and Brawler start things off. Troy has his way with both opponents before tagging in Travis. They hit some generic high flying stuff before hitting some Rockers style moves for the easy victory. I bet they have a bright future here in 1995.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Todd again and he talks about the Hall Of Fame ceremony before King Of The Ring. We then get a promo from Sid, Tatanka and Ted DiBiase. They also say that Jeff Jarrett will face Undertaker in a King Of The Ring qualifying match.

If you take away the lame Diesel and Bam Bam interview, this was another pretty typical Superstars episode that featured a much better than expected Michaels/Prichard match. The pace continues to be good on this show and doesn't wear you out too much with how cheesy the product is overall.

Overall Rating: 43%

SmackDown 3-2-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, March 2nd, 2007
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California

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Batista is here to kick off the show. He says that he was honored that Undertaker chose him and it will be the match of his career. He says that he will not be intimidated and is interrupted by the bell. We get a video of Taker at a cemetery. He's shown shoveling dirt into a grave and he tells Batista that his reign as champion will rest in peace. We go back to Batista, who takes off his shades and shakes his head. We go to commercial break with no rebuttal.

King Booker and Queen Sharmell are out to join the announce team.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Matt Hardy vs. Joey Mercury

Hardy hits a gutbuster, as the announcer build up how important this match is for both men. The momentum shifts when Hardy runs into the ring post and we go to a commercial break. Mercury is starting to get frustrated, as he's not able to put Hardy away. Hardy fights back and the referee gets some boos when he hits the Side Effect and Mercury kicks out. Hardy rips the mask off of Mercury. Mercury is up top and he hits a RKO from the top rope and that's enough for the victory. There was no other choice here, as Hardy has had a nice year and they have done nothing with him outside of the Hardy reunion. This was the usual solid match from these two.

Match Rating: **1/4

We have 6 of the 8 slots filled for Money In The Bank now. The 7th will be either Chris Benoit, Finlay or the man with Kristal right now, MVP. He says when they signed MVP, they signed money in the bank. I guess the burns have healed now. 

The WrestleMania Recall is Butterbean knocking out Bart Gunn. One of the truly bizarre moments in WrestleMania history. 

Maryse welcomes us back to SmackDown. 

Scotty 2 Hotty, Shannon Moore & Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Gregory Helms, Daivari & Chavo Guerrero

Moore hits an inverted atomic drop on Helms and follows it up with a second rope flying headscissors. Helms tags in Chavo and he's able to get in some offense on Scotty. I'm really not sure why the WWE didn't put any emphasis on actually hiring cruiserweight wrestlers during this time, but no one really cares about any of these guys. Obvious statement, I know. The heels cut the ring in half with Scotty. Yang gets a tag and picks up the pace. He hits a kick to the back of the head and a nice backflip kick in the corner. Helms comes in and attacks him from behind and Scotty comes in and wants to do the worm, but is escorted out. We get some shenanigans and now everyone is involved. Moore hits a somersault dive over the top and appears to hit Chavo in the head. Yang hits a moonsault on Daivari and picks up the win for his team. This was a fun match and they got the crowd invested by the end, which is a minor miracle.

Match Rating: **1/2

We get a recap of Rey Mysterio's nightmare of a homecoming last week on SmackDown. 

Vince McMahon is out now and gloats about what Umaga did to Mysterio last week. He calls this match the biggest match of his career. Sure. We then get a bunch of recap videos of Raw and ECW. He's then interrupted by Bobby Lashley. Vince offers Lashley twice as much as whatever Trump is paying him. Lashley declines, so Vinces slaps him. Lashley doesn't like that, so Vince bails and we head to commercial. 

Mr. Kennedy is shown backstage with Vince and he says he wants Lashley tonight. Vince makes it No Holds Barred for Mr. Kennedy only and it's for the ECW Championship.

Ashley vs. Jillian

Jillian tries to sing before the match, but Ashley attacks her instead. She tries for a crucifix, but Jillian drops her on her back. To their credit, they are trying to cram in a lot of moves in a short amount of time. Ashley hits an inverted DDT and a second rope elbow drop to earn the victory. Like I said, this was short, but at least they packed a lot in here.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Triple Threat Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Finlay vs. MVP vs. Chris Benoit

Before the match, Hornswoggle jumps up on the announce table and it leads to Finlay officially declaring that his name is actually Hornswoggle. The first notable spot is when MVP dumps Finlay out of the ring. MVP goes after Finlay and it leaves an opening for Benoit. He hits a dive on MVP, but Finlay wisely moves out of the way and we have a commercial break. When we come back, we get some teamwork from MVP and Finlay to take out Benoit. It's Finlay, so you know that doesn't last long and he clocks MVP with a clothesline. Benoit goes for the German suplexes, but Finlay does make the save. Benoit then dumps Finlay with a German. Benoit slaps on the Sharpshooter on MVP. Finlay breaks it up, but Benoit slaps on the Crossface. MVP runs in and hits a dropkick to the face of Benoit to break the hold. Benoit hits Finlay with a German suplex outside the ring. Back in the ring, Benoit hits a trio of German suplexes on MVP. Benoit signals for the headbutt, but MVP Is able to move out of the way. Out comes Hornswoggle and he distracts the referee. Finlay sneaks in and takes out both men with the shillelagh and picks up the win. With it being a triple threat, did he even need the distraction? THis was another good match here tonight. The last slot for Money In The Bank will be determined on Raw. 

Match Rating: ***

We see the Jerry Lawler Hall Of Fame package from Raw. 

Next week it will be Finlay vs. Undertaker and Batista will take on Kane.

No Holds Barred Match (For Mr. Kennedy) For The ECW Championship Match
Mr. Kennedy vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley interrupts Kennedy's intro after Kennedy removes some of the turnbuckles. Let's see if they can top their awful match at No Way Out here tonight. They really have lost their way with the booking of Kennedy ahead of WrestleMania. It's standard stuff until Kennedy hits a low blow and then shoves Lashley's head into the exposed turnbuckle. Lashley kicks out at 2 and we get a commercial break. Kennedy throws Lashley into the steps and for some reason asks the referee for a countout. You have no DQs, why would you not just hit him with a chair? Lashley gets in the ring and takes the tape off his wrist to choke out Lashley. Kennedy then nails Lashley with a chair to the head. Lashley blocks one of the chair shots and has it in his hands, but he can't use it. Kennedy tries to take out Lashley's leg, but he jumps over it. He gets him up for the running powerslam and picks up the victory. They are obviously trying to build Lashley as unstoppable and it has mostly worked. This was better than No Way Out, but these two just don't have good chemistry for whatever reason. 

Match Rating: *1/2

This was a good episode of SmackDown and built towards WrestleMania nicely. SmackDown just for whatever reason has a better knack for filling 2 hours without it dragging right now and they are sticking to what works. Next week should kick the Batista/Undertaker feud into the next gear and we should see the start of Benoit/MVP as well. 

Overall Rating: 64%

ECW 2-27-07 Review

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a recap of the Lashley and Umaga selections.

Extreme Rules Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Mr. Kennedy vs. Sabu

We quickly get a table out because it's a Sabu match of course. He has Kennedy on the table, but me moves off and Sabu adjusts by jumping over the table. Kennedy turns thing around by hitting a drop toe hold into a chair. Kennedy takes the table and puts it in the ring. This allows Sabu to hit a leg drop as Kennedy is getting in the ring. This table looks like it's 45 years old. Sabu sets up Kennedy on the slanted table, but Kennedy moves again and this time Sabu goes through it. Kennedy hits a DDT on the table and picks up the victory to head to WrestleMania. This was too quick to be much.

Match Rating: *

A limo is shown pulling up and it's Vince. 

Balls Mahoney vs. Matt Striker

Striker goes right to work on Balls, but it doesn't get him very far and he eats a clothesline. Balls goes up to the top rope and hits a leg drop. Out comes Snitsky and he attacks Balls for the DQ. I'm not sure this one even hit 60 seconds. I'm not sure why they didn't at least get a little bit more time to make it more impactful. Snitsky then hits a big boot on Striker.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Vince welcomes us to a night of ECW action. He says that tonight Lashley will be taking on Hardcore Holly in a cage match tonight. Vince then says that if Lashley doesn't beat Holly in 5 minutes, Holly is the new ECW Champion. 

Kevin Thorn & Marcus Cor Von vs. Rob Van Dam & Tommy Dreamer

You can tell pretty quickly that this one's not going to last long. We get a double tag early on with RVD hitting a superkick on Thorn. He hits the split legged moonsault, but only gets a 2 count. He goes onto hit Rolling Thunder and we end up with 4 people in the ring. Dreamer hits a running leap off the apron on Cor Von. Ariel tries to give Thorn the cane, but RVD sees it and Sandman hits her with the kendo stick. The distraction still works and Thorn picks up a victory. I'm sorry, but Thorn being in this group just makes no sense. I get that they need to be built up, but no one is buying him. The match was fine for a rushed tag match in the middle of a weekly television show.

Match Rating: *

Rebecca is with Hardcore Holly and he says that tonight's his night because no one can beat him in 5 minutes. 

CM Punk vs. Stevie Richards

This must be a best of 21 match series between these two. As usual, Stevie gets in some offense and then Punk comes back and hits his stuff. He hits the Go To Sleep to pick up the victory. We're moving quickly here tonight. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get a recap of Trump's pick of Lashley and the ensuing brawl between he and Umaga.

Don't worry, New Breed, we've still got plenty of time for Extreme Exposé. 

Steel Cage ECW Championship Match
Hardcore Holly vs. Bobby Lashley

As stated earlier, if Lashley doesn't beat Holly in 5 minutes, Holly is the new ECW Champion. Lashley gets right to it, tossing him face first into the cage. They both climb up to the top turnbuckle when Umaga's music hits. Vince brings him out as they continue to battle. Holly hits a superplex at the 2:45 mark. Umaga starts tossing chairs around and eventually in the ring. Holly grabs it and nails him in the head. WHY? Lashley battles back and hits Holly in the head. He starts hitting him all over and Umaga starts yelling at him. He hits him back in the head with less than a minute to go. He puts him up for the running powerslam and hits it for the victory with 35 seconds remaining. After the match, he turns his focus to Umaga. Lashley's had enough of him being there, so he runs the ropes, jumps into the cage and it breaks onto Umaga. Absolutely one of the greatest moments in the infamous WWE ECW run. Despite the stupidity that is Trump and Vince, the Umaga and Lashley portion is off to a red hot start. The match was okay, but was a backdrop for the feud.

Match Rating: *

This was one of those shows where it peaked at the end and was quickly paced to where nothing wore out it's welcome. Like I said, the ending is one of my absolute favorite moments of this era and really ended the show on a hot note. I'm not sure that's enough to make this some classic episode, but at least it was memorable.

Overall Rating: 58%

Monday Night Raw 2-26-07 Review

Monday, February 26th, 2007 
Save Mart Center
Fresno, California

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We are going to find out Donald Trump's representative for WrestleMania 23 tonight.

John Cena and Shawn Michaels are introduced as being ready to have their match, but then Randy Orton and Edge are on the Titan Tron to tell them that's not going to happen yet. Orton tells Michaels that he deserves an award for his acting job about lying to Cena about having his back. They then show a highlight package of Michaels turning on his partners over the years. Cena has some thinking to do. 

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin

These two play some of their greatest hits as if this is only going to be a 2 minute match. We get the always awesome leaping Shelton suplex spot and we go to commercial break. These two are having a nice little match here. Shelton goes for a springboard move, but accidentally slips and thankfully was able to not get hurt. Hardy wisely goes for a pin, but Shelton barely kicks out. Hardy avoids a splash, hits Twist Of Fate and the Swanton. There's no kicking out this time and Hardy is going to WrestleMania. They were having a solid TV match. 

Match Rating: **

Vince then gets on the Titan Tron and shows the same photos of Trump as last week. 

We see the Ashley behind the scenes video. 

We go to Melina and Johnny Nitro. Melina is upset about all of the attention Ashley is getting and not her. She's also distraught that Mickie James gets a rematch and it's going to be a Falls Count Anywhere match next week. Nitro tells her to shut up and then says that he lost his Money In The Bank qualifier and that was huge for him. His music hits and he heads to the ring.

Johnny Nitro vs. Super Crazy

Nitro hits Crazy with a dropkick through the ropes to the floor. He continues the attack and shows off an aggressive side. He throws Crazy into the steps and then slams him face first into the floor. The match hasn't started and won't, as Nitro heads to the back. 

Melina vs. Maria

Melina grounds Maria pretty quickly and kicks her in the face. Maria tries to fight back, but misses with a dropkick. I would put Maria in the not quite ready for primetime category to put it nicely. The crowd does react to her and I suppose that was all that matters in this era. She goes for a Bronco Buster, but Melina gets her boot up and then rolls her up for the victory. This was definitely disjointed, but it was nice to see the crowd at least into it.

Match Rating: 1/4*

34 days until WrestleMania.

It's time to torture myself some more because out comes Mr. McMahon. The barber chair is out on the stage. He says he knows who Donald Trump won't be picking and they show Umaga attacking Rey Mysterio on SmackDown. Vince rambles on for what feels like forever and then Trump shows up on the Titan Tron. He calls Umaga an animal and says that he needs to be tamed. Trump then announces that it will be Bobby Lashley who represents him and he comes to a modest reaction. Vince calls out for security and that leads to a brawl. They spill to the outside and they do a nice job here with the intensity. As a result, the crowd starts chanting "Bobby", which is a good sign. 

We have a Master Lock challenge and Great Khali is brought out. Before anything gets started, out comes Kane to try and get revenge. I'd like to get some revenge on having watched so much Kane in my lifetime. 

Vince is on the phone with someone on the board of directors and they are telling him that his match needs a guest referee. Vince doesn't like it but he won't have his head shaved.

Lilian Garcia announces the next inductee in the Hall Of Fame and it's none other than Jerry Lawler. 

Carlito vs. Kenny Dykstra

The match is in progress and we see that during the commercial, Carlito spit his apple in Kenny's face. Carlito hits a flapjack and gets a 2 count. He goes for a springboard crossbody and misses. Kenny then drives Carlito's midsection into the outside of the ring. The match gets slowed down to a crawl with Kenny until Carlito's comeback. He hits a Backcracker and picks up the win. There was more to this, but I just don't care enough to type about it. The match wasn't actively bad, but it was dull.

Match Rating: *

After the match, Flair comes out and applauds. 

World Tag Team Championship Match
Edge & Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels & John Cena

Kudos to the crowd tonight, as they have been very lively throughout the show. We get the standard stuff here, with the heels beating down Cena. Michaels gets tagged in and we get a moment where Michaels goes for Sweet Chin Music and Orton moves out of the way and Cena has to catch his leg to stop it from hitting him. This leads to an awkward moment for the partners as we head into the commercial break. Now it's Shawn's turn to take the beatdown. Michaels is eventually able to crotch Edge on the top rope and makes the hot tag. This is one of the more pro-Cena crowds I can think of in awhile and it seems like he's loving it. It leads to a ref bump when Cena is trying to do the FU. Cena and Orton are thrown into each other and Edge goes for the Spear. Cena gets him in the FU position. Edge is saved and we have a belt spot. Michaels tricks Edge into thinking Orton hit him with the belt. Edge walks out and the champs pick up the victory. We get a little bit of a moment between Cena and Michaels, but nothing ends up happening. This was your basic tag team main event with the nice little twist at the end. 

Match Rating: **1/4

This was an enjoyable Raw episode that had a nice pace and a lively crowd. Nothing major happened on it and there were no classic matches, but it just flowed nicely. I could always do without the Vince/Trump garbage, but the brawl between Lashley and Umaga was very well done.

Overall Rating: 63%