NXT 6-17-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, June 17th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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This one is in honor of Dusty Rhodes and we get a music video of him. I feel like everyone loved Dusty and that usually speaks volumes. I would have loved to have met him, as I'm sure he's one of those guys that anyone could have a conversation with. 

Enzo, Big Cass & Carmella vs. Blake, Murphy & Alexa Bliss

I usually am into a mixed tag match, but I'm not really feeling this one so far. The action is mostly just the usual from Enzo and Cass. The women only get a short amount of time. Cass hits a splash in the corner, a big boot and a side suplex. He then launches Enzo off the top rope and that's enough for the win. They just really don't seem to trust Enzo and Cass to work a match longer than a few minutes. 

Match Rating: *1/4

We get a backstage interview with Samoa Joe. He doesn't like Kevin Owens because he uses intimidation tactics and that makes him weak. 

We get a Finn Balor behind the scenes vignette talking about his upbringing. Becky Lynch also talks about how important he was in her career. This was a cool look back and much longer than I was anticipating. 

Cassie vs. Charlotte

Cassie does get in a few moments to show off her skill. This is actually a pretty solid squash, with it mostly going back and forth. Charlotte hits a Spear and then locks in the Figure Eight for the victory. Kudos to them allowing Cassie to look legit. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go back to my favorite, Dana Brooke. For some reason she's looking in a different direction than the camera for the entire interview, as if she is reading off a card. She tells Charlotte that she'll shove her out a door or something. She does the lame pat on the head after. Next.

We then get a Finn Balor demon commercial for The Beast In The East show. 

Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe

Well, this is a pretty big one for NXT TV. After some fury at the beginning from Joe, Owens slows things down. This of course leads to Joe fighting back and hitting Owens with a running kick to the head. This all leads into them brawling outside the ring and a double countout. I mean, did you really think we were going to get a finish here? That's not me criticizing the finish either, it's what had to be done when booking a match like this. It leads to the classic pull apart brawl, with both guys being pushed in the corner with them both getting chances to charge at the other. Owens eventually rolls out of the ring and then elbows the security. The match was very basic, as they were only teasing what it to come. 

Match Rating: *3/4

This was a much better effort from NXT than the more recent episodes, but I always tend to enjoy the show more when Bayley and Sami Zayn are on it. Regardless, there was a nice spunk to the episode and maybe this is what gets it back on track. 

Overall Rating: 59%

Monday Night Raw 6-26-95 Review

Monday, June 26th, 1995
Danville High School
Danville, Pennsylvania

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After the terrible show last night, what better way to celebrate it than by having a show in a high school gym? They recap the Kiss My Foot match and then bring out Shawn Michaels as the guest commentator since Jerry Lawler is still gagging. 

Smoking Gunns vs. Phantom & Jason Arndt

They had people like Smoking Gunns and Allied Powers not on the card last night, but Roadie needed to be on? Not to mention Owen Hart and Yokozuna. Anyway, they hit the Sidewinder and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Ah yes, it's Isaac Yankem time. He's a better dentist than he is a mayor. I mean, what did Bret Hart do to deserve the trio of Bob Backlund, Jerry Lawler and Isaac Yankem at three of the five big shows in 1995? This is so bad. Even 1995 me knew this. 

They show "highlights" from King Of The Ring to get you to order the encore. 

They're giving us one more chance to buy the King Of The Ring hat and shirt. Get your Bret Hart sunglasses and hat now!

Skip vs. Scott Taylor

This one probably could have been a good match on the indies. Taylor is able to hit a dropkick on Skip when he's gloating. He then hits a baseball dropkick through the ropes, sending Skip into the guardrail. Skip is quick to recover and then hits a sort of awkward looking dive from the top rope to the floor. Then you have Shawn Michaels drooling over Sunny. Skip then hits the top rope hurricanrana for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show highlights of a celebrity charity softball game for the Oklahoma City bombings featuring Herschel Walker and Tony Danza. Oh and Diesel. 

We go to Todd Pettengill to talk about how great King Of The Ring was. They're certainly trying to beat us into submission. He does announce that Diesel will face Sid in a Lumberjack Match at the next In Your House on July 23rd in Nashville. 

Savio Vega says he is going to bring the Intercontintal title home tonight. 

Next week on Raw, it's Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Sid. 

This show just keeps coming at us, as now it's time for Man Mountain Rock to jam. 

Man Mountain Rock vs. Phil Apollo

I will say that if this is actually a high school gym, it's a fairly big one. You can call the hotline to find out about Razor Ramon's status. Or you could just wait to hear about it on TV. MMR puts on the Whammy Bar and that's all. The shorter, the better.

Match Rating: 1/4*

King Mabel vs. Kenny Kendall

Mabel is carried out on a wooden throne, which is no easy task. I mean, does anyone care what happened in this match? Mabel won. Next.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Waylon Mercy sitting in a lifeguard chair. Ya know what I mean? 

We then get clips of the WWF Hall Of Fame ceremony. 

The greatest moment of 1995 is finally coming, it's the debut of "Alone With My Baby Tonight" on Superstars next weekend.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Jeff Jarrett vs. Savio Vega

No night off for Savio after having four matches last night. Roadie distracts him and Jarrett is able to attack him from behind. Savio does get in a second rope double ax handle, but Jarrett kicks out at 2. We get more Roadie shenanigans and it leads to Jarrett bumping Roadie off the apron. When we come back from commercial, Jarrett hits a swinging neckbreaker. Roadie grabs Savio's ankle when he's running the ropes and it leads to Shawn Michaels getting involved. Jarrett tries to attack Michaels, but Michaels catches him and starts unloading. Somehow that's not a disqualification. Roadie then runs in and clotheslines Savio while he has Jarrett rolled up and that is a disqualification. Shawn comes in and evens the score and gets a huge pop. The match was going along pretty well until the abrupt ending. When we come back from commercial, we get the clip of Michaels dancing shirtless on the table that they showed a lot over the years. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Jarrett comes back out to the ring and grabs a mic and we go off the air before he says anything. 

There was a lot of bad 1995 stuff here. The main event was pretty good, but not like a show saver or anything. 

Overall Rating: 42%

King Of The Ring 1995 Review

Sunday, June 25th, 1995
CoreStates Spectrum
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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We get an overhead shot of Philadelphia and then go to Stephanie Wiand. She lets us know that we are getting the bonus match of IRS vs. Savio Vega, which means that we are getting the Coliseum Video version of the show.

Bonus Match
King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
IRS vs. Savio Vega

For the 0 of you that care, this will not factor into the final grade. Even with this bonus match, the show is only 2 hours and 36 minutes. I will say that they do a nice job of presenting that if either of these two want to win it all, they will have to win 4 matches tonight. Savio then wisely is going for a quick victory. We get some decent action and then all of a sudden it kind of just ends with a kick. This was decent for what it was. 

Match Rating: *3/4

King Of The Ring Quarterfinal Match
Yokozuna vs. Savio Vega

Savio gets to do the 10 slams into the turnbuckle spot, which I didn't expect to see. This just feels very much like 1995. What kind of president makes a guy wrestle two matches in a row rather than have the other matches go first? I didn't mention it in the previous match, but Razor Ramon is in Savio's corner. This match is already longer than I anticipated. The crowd starts chanting "USA" for the guy who isn't born in the USA. Savio tries to give everything he can to knock Yoko down. He hits the spin kick and that does the trick. Out comes Owen Hart in a suit and he attacks Razor from behind. Razor goes after him and Yoko gets involved. It all leads to Savio winning by countout in a weak finish. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get a live interview with Jerry Lawler and more feet jokes. 

King Of The Ring Quarterfinal Match
Roadie vs. Bob Holly

It really is amazing that they had almost 17,000 people in attendance for this show. No wonder Philadelphia folks are so salty. They show Bob Holly beating Mantaur and that was 6 weeks ago. Can you imagine them doing a qualifying match 6 weeks before anything these days? Holly goes for a series of quick pin attempts right off the bat and the crowd already doesn't care. To their credit, it's not because the action isn't good. They battle up on the ropes and Holly is able to knock Roadie off. He leaps off the top rope and Roadie is able to get his foot up. That surprisingly is enough for the victory. I assumed that they'd at least have Jeff Jarrett hold a leg or something. This was a good enough TV style match with minimal heat. 

Match Rating: **

Todd Pettengill is with Shawn Michaels and they show highlights from him beating King Kong Bundy. Michaels is acting a little heelish, but also talks about some "chin music". I doubt this is the first time him saying it, but it's the first time I can remember it. 

King Of The Ring Quarterfinal Match
Kama vs. Shawn Michaels

This was really a transformational time for Michaels here. He lost significant weight since 1993, hardly wrestled in 1994 and is now a babyface learning his character. Kama on the other hand has shown nothing to make anyone interested in his character. It's mostly Michaels in the beginning and then Kama hits a kick to the ribs and clotheslines Michaels to the floor. Kama sets Shawn on the top rope and kicks him, with Shawn bouncing around for him. Shawn is on the floor again and this time Ted DiBiase takes a few cheap shots at him. They show a countdown timer and we are close to 2 minutes left. Michaels fires back with a clothesline and then hammers away with some right hands. Michaels hits the double ax handle off the top rope, but Kama kicks out at 2. Michaels hits a reverse crossbody off the second rope, but Kama rolls through and gets a nice nearfall. Michaels rolls Kama up in a small package and he kicks out at 2. Their timing is a little off on a sunset flip, but the ref recovers decently and the count stopped at 2 before time expires. This was another decent enough match, but again more of a TV match. I'm more surprised that Shawn agreed to this. Undertaker must have sat him down backstage. Kama tries to attack him, but then Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music and for some reason Dok Hendrix is upset he didn't win. 

Match Rating: **1/4

After hyping up the Mabel/Undertaker match, we go to Bob Backlund in Philadelphia. Vince likes this more than anyone.

King Of The Ring Quarterfinal Match
Mabel vs. Undertaker

They try to tell us that Mabel is going to win this thing, as he gets an interview down to the ring. Taker quickly takes Mabel down with a clothesline and hits Old School. Mabel gets his chance and hits a belly to belly suplex before putting on a chin lock. The action spills outside and Mabel throws Undertaker face first into the steps. Mo gets in a cheap shot, but is almost caught. Undertaker is able to get his boots up in the corner, but Mabel comes back with a piledriver. Mabel looks gassed already. They then collide in the middle of the ring. We get a referee bump spot and then Taker hits a leaping clothesline. Taker then hits a chokeslam and then knocks Mo off the apron. The ref is still down, but Taker covers him anyways. Out comes Kama and attacks Kama from behind. Mabel hits a leg drop and Mabel wins. I mean, how did they think this would get over? Mabel, Roadie and Savio Vega are your final 3. Undertaker then follows Kama down the aisle and to the back. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show a recap of the WWF Hall Of Fame ceremony. 

King Of The Ring Semifinal Match
Savio Vega vs. Roadie

They are obviously hyping up the fact that this is Savio's third match tonight. Todd Pettengill is with Roadie and Jeff Jarrett as Savio is entering and they cut a generic promo. The crowd is sitting on their hands for this one, as you would expect. Roadie and Savio Vega have had about a combined 10 matches in the WWF before this show, so why would anyone care? Plus, they already know Mabel is winning and not a single person wanted that to happen. Roadie misses with a second rope splash. Savio comes back with a big boot for a 2 count. Jarrett grabs the leg of Savio while he is running the ropes. Jarrett gets up on the apron and Roadie stops short of running into him. Savio pushes Roadie into him and rolls him up for the victory. Savio celebrates with Razor after the match. This was pretty meh. Savio cuts a promo in Spanish and Dok "translates" it. 

Match Rating: *

We get a Bret Hart backstage promo and this really is the worst version of Bret unfortunately. I am just a few days/weeks away from becoming a fan of wrestling and Bret was my favorite. This was easily his biggest down period as a character that I can recall. 

Lawler gets a quick interview on the way to the ring. 

Kiss My Foot Match
Jerry Lawler vs. Bret Hart

Bret goes right after Lawler with some right hands. Lawler is able to throw Bret into the steps and Dok reminds us that Bret hurt his shoulder "earlier today" on the Action Zone against Henry Godwin. Back in the ring, Lawler hits the piledriver in the middle of the ring. He doesn't cover him and instead plays to the crowd. He hits a second piledriver and gloats some more. He hits yet another piledriver and nonchalantly covers him, but Bret kicks out. Bret tries to battle back, but Lawler rakes his eyes and throws him out of the ring. The referee hits Bret with his boot, which I'm not sure why that would hurt any more than a kick. Bret kicks out of that too. Lawler takes off his boot again and tries to shove it in Bret's face. He blocks it and trips him up so that he can hit a headbutt to the midsection. Lawler once again jabs the boot into Bret's face. He hits the dreaded fist off the second rope and Bret again kicks out at 2. Bret battles back and out comes Hakushi and Shinja. Shinja distracts the referee and Lawler hold Bret. Bret ducks and Hakushi hits Lawler. He throws Lawler back in the ring and hits the side Russian leg sweep. Bret slaps on the Sharpshooter and gets the victory. He holds on after the bell and breaks the hold just in time to beat the referee's count. Between this and his match with Backlund, I would say they are probably the two weakest matches in his pay-per-view career for WWF. After the match, Bret gets up on the turnbuckle and takes off his boot. Lawler tries to crawl away, so Bret attacks him. Out come Hakushi and Shinja again and it once again leads to Hakushi hitting Lawler. Bret throws him out of the ring. Lawler then gets Bret's foot right in his face, with a little bit of toe getting into his mouth. Bret then takes Lawler's boot off and makes him kiss his own stinky foot. What a time to be alive. 

Match Rating: *1/2

King Of The Ring Finals
Mabel vs. Savio Vega

Well, if you didn't think Savio got a great reaction the other 3 matches, let me tell you, this time was no better. They show the Rocky statue outside the arena and compare Savio to Rocky. This is the type of role that maybe a guy like Tito Santana or a guy like that where the crowd was always invested in but never won the big one could pull off. Savio is just some guy that came out of nowhere a few weeks ago. Savio gets off to the hot start and clotheslines Mabel over the top rope. He's then able to slam Mabel into the steps. Mabel is able to just toss Savio into the steps. Lots of steps today. Mabel slows it down to a crawl and it's time for this one to just end. Vince hears the crowd chanting and says "Listen to this" and it's an "E-C-W" chant. Not only is Vince a horrible human, he's also a moron. Savio rolls up Mabel, but only gets a 2. He hits the spin kick, which is very similar to the one that Kwang would hit. Once again, Mabel kicks out. Mabel catches Savio and hits a slam, but Savio gets his shoulder up. Mabel hits a splash and this time that's it. All hail, King Mabel. Mo gets in Razor's face after the match, so Razor hits him with a right hand. The numbers game catches up and they go after Razor's injured ribs. Mabel hits him with a second rope elbow drop. Out comes 1-2-3 Kid and he attacks them both. Again, the two on one catches up. They try for the same thing, but this time a group of referees stop him. This was all awful.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get the coronation ceremony and I'm sure this will go over well with the live crowd. There is some trash thrown at the stage, with a cup hitting Mabel in the head. Mo takes forever to read the scroll, as the trash continues to be thrown. As Mabel is finally crowned, they show Savio Vega being restrained by referees. Then they show 1-2-3 Kid and Razor Ramon as well. Apparently the referees in 1995 were pretty tough. 

We then go back to Jerry Lawler in the back using mouth wash, gagging on toothpaste and barfing. 

We go to Stephanie Wiand with Sid, Tatanka and Ted DiBiase. They tell us tonight that they're actually going to tell us their plan and it's to attack Diesel's injured elbow. 

Todd Pettengill is with Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow, who are still in street clothes while Sid and Tatanka are on their way to the ring. So obviously live.

Sid & Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Diesel

They quickly go after Diesel's elbow with Sid slamming it into the ring post. Diesel does tag in Bam Bam and he hits a second rope splash. DiBiase had the referee distracted as if the match was going to end 2 minutes into it. Tatanka and Sid are able to slow down Bam Bam's momentum and I still can't believe that they thought this was a main event of a pay-per-view. Diesel is in for a little bit and hurts his elbow again on an elbow drop and tags Bam Bam back in. Diesel does get another crack at it and hits Tatanka with a big boot. I will give the Philly crowd some credit here, even after this dumpster fire of a show, they are still very much into Diesel. Diesel hits the Jackknife on Tatanka, but then pulls him up in the middle of the pin. He says that he wants Sid. Sid then heads to the back and he too is pelted with some garbage. Diesel hits an elbow on Tatanka and pins him for the victory. What a terrible ending to a show. The match wasn't good, but it certainly wasn't terrible or anything. There just wasn't much interesting about it and it certainly was not something that should have been the main event of a big show. Diesel and Bam Bam celebrate to some fireworks and we're all done.

Match Rating: *1/2

There's no way that you can tell me that when they were putting this show together that they didn't realize it was going to suck. I mean Roadie, Savio Vega and Mabel? Come on. The only thing nice I can say about this show is that it moved along at a decent pace compared to like a December To Dismember, which felt like it dragged. Other than that, this is an absolute turd of a show. 

Overall Rating: 16%

Superstars 6-24-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, June 24th, 1995
Wheeling Civic Center
Wheeling, West Virginia

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Shawn Michaels vs. Brooklyn Brawler

Shawn's in his usual joking 1995 mode here. He hits Brawler with a slap to the face when he stops before a leapfrog. He ends up getting Brawler outside the ring. He does a baseball slide and lands on his feet. He hits Brawler with Sweet Chin Music and counts along with the ref before rolling in to beat the count. There's nothing like a countout victory for the heck of it. 

Match Rating 1/4*

We get a Waylon Mercy vignette about potato salad or something. He debuts on Superstars next week. But today we're all winners because we are getting Mantaur vs. Bam Bam Bigelow.

Men On A Mission vs. Jerry Flynn & Mike McReynolds

We join this match in progress for whatever reason and it's even as if Dok Hendrix is in mid-sentence. Flynn gets in a couple of moves until Mabel squashes him with a big leg drop. Mo comes in and makes the pin. It sure doesn't feel like they are grooming him to win tomorrow.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a King Of The Ring Report with Todd Pettengill. He makes the announcement that Razor Ramon will not be able to wrestle in the tournament. Jack Tunney has announced that IRS will face Savio Vega on Sunday to determine his replacement. Todd says that we'll kick ourselves all year if we make the mistake of not ordering this show. Less true words have never been spoken. 

Undertaker vs. Barry Horowitz

We are inching closer to Barry's run, but he has no chance here. They interview Mabel during the match and he says that he'll do whatever it takes to beat Undertaker tomorrow. Horowitz tries to attack Taker, but just gets squashed instead. He hits the Tombstone and that's all. After the match, we see the Creatures of the Night and then out comes Mabel. Mabel says he's going down. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get Bob Backlund ranting on Man Mountain Rock. Did they really think this feud was going to work? I mean, in theory, it makes sense. It's just that not a single person cared about Man Mountain Rock, so that's a problem. 

Skip vs. John Crystal

Sunny talks over the guest ring announcer in a good heat spot. They then insult the disgusting people in the audience. Skip hits the second rope leg drop and a gut wrench suplex. Skip hits the top rope superplex and pins him while doing push ups on Crystal's chest. The gimmick is lame, but I actually think they did a pretty good job with it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get a beautiful recap of the friendship between Bam Bam and Diesel. I just don't know how they expected anyone to be excited about this tag team match. 

Mantaur vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

I can't believe that Jim Cornette is still stuck working with Mantaur. Mantaur attacks Bam Bam as he's taking off his super cool jacket. This match is as dull as you would expect it to be. Bam Bam battles back with some headbutts, but fails on the body slam attempt. Mantaur hits a suplex, which is pretty impressive. Bam Bam counters an Irish whip in a weird way and then hits a top rope headbutt for the win. The ending was a little oddly executed, as Mantaur kind of grazed his head because of the timing. This was whatever.

Match Rating: 1/2*

It's time to go back to the Toddster for more King Of The Ring talk. We get lots of feet talk and go to Bret Hart, who is doing some of his weakest stuff of his career on the mic here. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mike Khoury

They show the cover of the WWF Magazine issue that got me back into wrestling. Yep, that's wright. This is the time period that I got back into WWF. Anyway, Hunter hits the Pedigree and wins. Whatever.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Jerry Lawler and see the same video we've already seen. They then show the Aldo Montoya footage again. They weren't even trying on this one. 

This wasn't a good episode and it's no surprise that King Of The Ring ends up being terrible. 

Overall Rating: 28%

SmackDown 3-30-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, March 30th, 2007
Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Edge is out to talk about how he's going to win the Money In The Bank because he's won more ladder matches than his other 7 opponents combined. Out comes Matt Hardy for the match that 100% is not going to get changed. Edge then announced that instead of him, it's going to be Great Khali.

Matt Hardy vs. Great Khali

Hardy wisely attacks Khali on his way into the ring, but it does nothing. Khali is choking Hardy in the corner and then Kane's music hits. No one comes out, so Khali leaves the ring and tries to find him. He's on the screen and he holds his hook and laughs like the moron that he is. We just leave with that. What a terrible start to the show. 

Match Rating: 1/4* (I guess?)

Teddy Long is on the phone ordering champagne and in walks Kristal. No one cared about this. Sorry, Teddy.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Finlay

At this point, I've become a little distracted and am reading more about some of the past WWF scandals. Sorry. A ladder gets involved, then Hornswoggle. He jumps off his stepstool and hits a swanton from it in a fun spot. Finlay then hits Celtic Cross and gets the last minute win to try to make you think he has a shot Sunday (he doesn't). It also welcomed the possible interference from Hornswoggle and I'm more than fine with that. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We get a hype video for Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga. Don't care.

Maryse welcomes us back to SmackDown.

MVP vs. Viko Batomango

They really have not had MVP and Chris Benoit interact almost at all during this feud. There's nothing that will allow me to take my mind off the Vince accusations than a racist stereotype here. Not to mention that MVP is about to wrestle a murderer. MVP wins. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

We have a future main event here. The first big moment here is when Hardy hits a face first sit down suplex and Orton takes an awkward landing. Orton is able to bounce back and hits a big clothesline and we get a commercial break. Orton hits his variation of a backbreaker and gets a 2 count. Jeff makes his comeback and hits Whisper In The Wind. Orton rolls out of the way before Jeff can even go for the Swanton. He leaps down and Orton dumps him through the ropes. Out comes Edge and he kicks Jeff in the ribs. Orton gets in Edge's face, but then gets back in the ring. He gets distracted by Edge and that allows Randy to get rolled up and pinned. I honestly forgot about all of this between Edge and Orton. The match was pretty standard, but it did give us one more layer for WrestleMania.

Match Rating: **1/2

We get a recap of the Batista and Undertaker match with King Booker and Finlay last week. 

Jillian, Kristal, Melina, Michelle McCool & Victoria vs. Ashley, Candice Michelle, Mickie James, Maria & Torrie Wilson

With all of the disgusting info on Vince, it seems like a good time to remember Ashley here, who was a victim of Vince's stupidity. Just absolutely awful to think about. The Melina/Ashley match is a Lumberjill match, so this is our last minute promotion for that. Jillian goes for a powerbomb and Ashley reverses it into a pin and gets the victory. They did the usual everybody gets 30 seconds to do something before that.

Match Rating: 1/4*

King Booker vs. CM Punk

Most of the match here consists of JBL being disgusted that Punk doesn't drink. CM Punk makes his comeback with a reverse neckbreaker. He starts hitting his kicks until Booker is able to hit back with a kick of his own. All of this leads to Booker going for a suplex, Punk countering it and rolling Booker up for the victory. It took them a long time to get over the fluke victories for Punk. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We get a recap video of the press conference for the two scumbag billionaires and it's not worth recapping.

It's time for the biggest interview in sports entertainment history according to JBL. JBL is bragging and then is about to bring out Batista and Undertaker until Steve Austin's music hits. He comes down and hits the Stunner on JBL and does the usual beer bath celebration. Teddy Long is out and tells us that the interview will go on as scheduled. They have security to divide them. It all leads to a big brawl between the two with security failing to hold them back. Batista then keeps yelling 48 hours and we go off the air. 

This was your usual useless go home show that doesn't really do much other than fill up time. The Hardy/Orton match was decent, but the rest I have pretty much already forgotten about. 

Overall Rating: 41%

Off The Grid, Volume 43: The Main Event II Review

Friday, February 3rd, 1989
Bradley Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Off The Grid, Volume 43:

We get the usual introduction to the show, with all of the focus on the Mega Powers vs. Twin Towers. We eventually go to Mean Gene Okerlund and he's with Akeem, Big Boss Man and Slick. I'll still never really understand why Boss Man thought he was a police officer when he was actually a prison guard. We now get an extremely cheesy music video of the Mega Powers' friendship and they sprinkle in a little bit of the attack by the Twin Towers. Mean Gene is now with the Mega Powers. Hulk compares the love between he and Elizabeth as loving her like a sister. He keeps talking about love. Vince and Hogan both suck. 

Twin Towers vs. Mega Powers

Hogan wants Boss Man and surprisingly we get that to start off. Hogan of course cleans house and the crowd loves it. Savage joins in on the fun and it's all Mega Powers to start. The Towers get their opportunity and Boss Man hits a piledriver on Hogan. It doesn't last too long and in comes Savage again. He snaps Akeem's neck on the top rope and then hits the double ax handle from the top rope. Slick gets involved and it once again shifts the momentum in the favor of the Towers. We then get the most notable spot of the match where Savage gets thrown into Elizabeth. Big brother Hogan is there to check in on Elizabeth and Savage is a little upset about it. Hogan then takes her to the back to get medical attention. They show her on the stretcher with Hogan freaking out rather than the actual match. I know this storyline is considered one of the greatest of all time, but I just never have gotten into it. Hogan's acting is so terrible and he's in the wrong as a character. The Warrior/Savage storyline to me was 100 times better and so well executed. After a commercial, we go back to the match where Savage is getting worn down as a result of the 2 on 1 advantage. We go back to Hogan and Elizabeth and some more horrible acting. Hogan finally leaves her side and is on his way back to the ring. Savage is able to make a comeback and dumps both opponents over the top. Hogan is begging for the tag, but instead Savage slaps him in the face. Hogan's in the ring now and piece of garbage Vince can't understand why Savage would be upset. Savage now leaves the match and Hogan is getting double teamed. Savage comes back down and they have some words. Savage grabs his title belt and this time leaves. Hogan is Superman, so of course he just wins the match any way with his boot and leg drop. As soon as the match is done though, Boss Man attacks Hogan from behind and tries to handcuff him to the top rope. Hogan instead handcuffs Boss Man to Slick and makes them look like a bunch of goofs. We then go to the back and Hogan confronts Savage backstage, who is with Elizabeth. We get lots of yelling at each other and Savage says that the reason Hogan has never asked him for a title shot is because he knows he can't beat him. Savage then attacks Hogan with the belt and Elizabeth checks on him. Savage then pulls Elizabeth off of her and throws her out of the way. Brutus Beefcake tries to stop Savage and he throws him out of the way. This just shows you that his reaction to Hogan weren't wrong because they had to have him go way over the top to make him the heel in this scenario. The match itself was nothing and no one seemed to think the Twin Towers had a chance. Like I said, I know this all went on to do a ton of big business, but I just don't care for it. 

Match Rating: **

Hercules vs. Ted DiBiase

Hercules attacks DiBiase as he's walking into the ring and before he even takes off his jacket. He throws him out of the ring and then goes after Virgil. The story here is that DiBiase bought the contract for Hercules from Bobby Heenan and Herc didn't like that. Herc then hits a press slam and hits an atomic drop that sends DiBiase out of the ring. DiBiase takes control and slows the match down. Herc comes back with a big powerslam, but misses with a charge and hits his head on the turnbuckle. Virgil gets up on the ring apron and ties Hercules's chain into the turnubuckle. Hercules blocks it and hits DiBiase's head into the chain. DiBiase kicks out of the pin attempt, so Herc goes and does it again. Virgil gets the attention of the referee while Hercules has him up in the Torture Rack. The referee goes to check on the chain and this allows DiBiase to get out of the hold and roll up Hercules for the victory. Hercules attacks DiBiase after the match and then grabs the chain. DiBiase and Virgil head to the back as Hercules swings his chain over his head. The match was actually a little bit better than I expected here. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We go back to Mean Gene and he wants a word with Hogan, but he's in so much pain that we instead just watch Hogan moan and groan in frustration. 

We go back to Jesse Ventura and the human garbage. Jesse stands up for Savage, as you would expect. We then go back to Hogan looking all over the place for Savage, grabbing wrestlers such as Bret Hart and throwing them to the side when they say they don't know where he's at. 

I'm a little conflicted on this one. On one hand, the show was mostly entertaining. On the other hand, Hulk Hogan gives one of the worst performances in a major role that I can think of. Hogan was obviously the favorite of the generation and one of the most popular wrestlers in history, but Savage is just better in every way you can break it down. The DiBiase match was better than I expected, but of course it was just secondary to what was going on. 

Overall Rating: 66%

ECW 3-27-07 Review

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007
Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, Michigan

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This is the first show that I am watching after the Vince McMahon news and I'm still disgusted. Knowing that I'm right in the middle of a storyline featuring two of the biggest pieces of garbage in America today, it was already a hard watch. This is only making it harder. However, I am also almost to WrestleMania 23 and it was the first one I ever attended live. Maybe I'll take a break from this timeline after that, I guess that's to be determined. 

Rob Van Dam vs. Elijah Burke

This feels like this will be Burke's first real test on WWE TV if they give him time. Both men are out alone surprisingly. RVD hits the first big move of the match with a leaping single leg kick to Burke, who was crotched on the top rope. Burke falls to the floor and RVD hits a somersault dive into the commercial break. RVD goes for Rolling Thunder but Burke is able to get his knees up. Elijah hits his signature corner elbow and goes to work on the back of RVD. He misses with the Elijah Express and RVD hits the 5 Star Frog Splash for the victory. Burke definitely still needed some seasoning here, but he was able to keep up for the most part here. As soon as the match is over, the New Breed comes out and attack RVD. Out come the ECW Originals to make the save. I think we all knew that was coming. 

Match Rating: **

It's time for Extreme Exposé. They dance.

The Hardys are with CM Punk and in walks Edge. Edge says he doesn't want to tag with them any more than they want to tag with him, but he thinks they need to work together tonight and take a couple of their opponents out, their chances on Sunday will look a lot better. 

Balls Mahoney vs. Snitsky

What a time to be alive. Snitsky comes charging in and knocks Mahoney to the floor. Snitsky then drives him into the ring post. He hits a big boot and that's all. The shorter, the better. Maybe next time they'll just forget to put him on the card. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Finlay lies to Booker and says that Mr. Kennedy and Randy Orton were saying some bad things about him. Booker says that they should watch each others back, but Finlay says that you can't trust him either. 

We go live to Bobby Lashley and Vince McMahon in different locations. This is useless and Vince is trash.

Mr. Kennedy, Randy Orton, King Booker & Finlay vs. Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk & Edge

We join the match in progress, but there is plenty of time left in the episode here. This is exactly what you would expect of this match and that's exactly what it should be. Each of the eight stars here will get their spots and chances to show off a little bit before the ladder match. We finally get to the drama when Edge is about to give a Spear to Booker, but instead decides to leave. We then get a brawl. During the chaos, Finlay hits CM Punk in the back while he's running the ropes with a shillelagh. Booker covers Punk and picks up the victory for his team. I remember thinking this might mean that Punk was going to win at WrestleMania, even though Kennedy was the favorite. All of a sudden, the heels turn on each other and we're back to a brawl. The ladders are out and Finlay is bleeding from the eye. The Hardys both climb the ladder and go for the briefcase and they share some words. The main event was good enough for what it was meant to be.

Match Rating: **1/4

This was a decent enough episode of ECW. It usually flies by and they kept Snitsky and Vince quick. Peace out, Vince. 

Overall Rating: 50%