Original Airdate: Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Richie Steamboat is in the back and gives a pretty robotic interview before Jinder Mahal interrupts saying he will be the first champion.
Gold Rush Tournament Match
Jinder Mahal vs. Richie Steamboat
We get a little of Steamboat's Ricky-lite offense until Mahal hits him with a hangman. And just like that Mahal already goes to a rest hold. It was clear that the agents in this era of NXT to slow down, but Mahal takes it to a new level. Steamboat goes up top and Mahal gets out of the way. Mahal goes right into the Camel Clutch and that's all. That was much shorter than I thought it would be.
Match Rating: 1/2* (out of 5)
Leo Kruger is in the back and he is acting as if he is under the influence. Weird segment.
Heath comes out on the mic and tells everyone to take a minute and look at him. He then makes an open challenge to anyone in the back. He's waiting even after the commercial break. Finally out comes Scotty 2 Hotty.
Heath Slater vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
Scotty still looks to be in good shape here. Scotty's character never evolved and as a result, it feels stuck in the wrong era. They go back and forth a little, with Scotty showing he still can go. Of course, Taylor can't have a match without doing the worm, which somehow gets the pin even in 2012. Slater didn't look particularly motivated here.
Match Rating: 3/4*
They show an interview with Bo Dallas after his loss last week. Bo says he was so close to winning the championship, despite not being close. Derrick Bateman comes and says that Bo has nothing to be ashamed of, since he left everything in the ring but it wasn't good enough. He says if he was champion he'd give his first title shot to Bo and then calls him a good protege.
The Ascension vs. The Usos
The Ascension do the quick tag bit where they continue to stomp on one of the Usos. Ascension hit a combo of a jawbreaker and then a flapjack for a 2 count. I know this isn't the current version of the team, but I really am surprised the Ascension are still under contract. Jey Uso comes in for the hot tag and takes over the match. Jey Uso goes off the top, but gets pushed off by Konnor and they call for the bell? Lame. I've never seen a match end like that. After the match The Ascension destroys the Usos.
Match Rating: *
Hunico and Camacho are back with Matt Striker. They make excuses for their loss in a poorly written promo.
Raquel Diaz says that some of the Divas have their granny panties in a wad over her wanting to makeover the competition.
Gold Rush Tournament Match
Michael McGillicutty vs. Seth Rollins
Rollins gets McGillicutty out of the ring and hits a suicide dive. On their way back into the ring, McGillicutty slugs him and gets a 2 count. McGillicutty continues to club him and then puts him in a headlock. Rollins finally starts to fight back and starts punching away. Rollins goes for the splash in the corner, but misses. McGillicutty hits a nice suplex for a 2 count. Rollins tries to get a bridge, but McGillicutty reverses and hits Rollins with a clubbing blow. They are up top and McGillicutty goes for a superplex, but Rollins delivers a bunch of headbutts. Sunset flip by Rollins, but McGillicutty holds on and then knocks down Rollins. Rollins recovers and hits the the buckle bomb followed by the stomp for the victory. McGillicutty looked a little better than normal, but this still was pretty mediocre.
Match Rating: **
Mahal's music plays and out he comes. Dusty Rhodes is now out on the stage. He basically says, may the best man win and then Mahal takes out Rollins. Rollins recovers and then Mahal retreats.
Well, that wasn't the best show this week. It's just not really an interesting group during this era and it showed in this episode. This show has been pretty up and down, so hopefully it will recover next episode.
Overall Rating: 30%
Friday, March 8, 2019
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Cruiserweight Classic Episode 9 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, September 7th, 2016
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Noam Dar
Not surprisingly, we get some mat based wrestling to start. Dar taunts Sabre Jr. and hits a nice dropkick to the legs to finally get some offense in which Sabre Jr. reverses. Dar goes back to the leg and yet again Sabre Jr. is able to bounce back. This match is nearly impossible to recap as they continue to back and forth. ZSJ hits the penalty kick, but his one leg doesn't hold up as a result of Dar's offense, which is nicely pointed out by Bryan. Dar continues to work on the knee and then follows up with a...you guessed it, a suicide dive. Nice dropkick to the back by Dar. Dar gets ZSJ into a knee bar, followed by multiple reversals. ZSJ gets the arm bar and after some reversals Dar is able to get to the ropes. If I were to nitpick on Zack, I would say he needs to work on his facial expressions. It never really changes. They are not battling on the outside and almost both get counted out. ZSJ now has a bad leg and bad arm. They both hit some big boots and then ZSJ gets into the double arm bar for the victory.
Match Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)
Rich Swann vs. T.J. Perkins
Swann has definitely the strongest following in the tournament in terms of the live crowd. Both of these guys are pretty incredible athletes. They do a really nice rope run sequence followed by some arm drags by Swann. Swann's knee is hurt and Perkins is taking advantage. Both men are upstairs and Swann is able to push Perkins off the the post to the outside. Perkins hits a jumping hurricanrana. Swann is back in control and he shows off what he can do. Swann is trying to get feeling in his leg again and Perkins gets him in the knee bar, but Swann is able to get to the ropes. Swann hits a powerbomb with a bridge, but that only gets a 2 count. Two big kicks by Perkins, but then Swann nails him but loses his balance. Perkins hits a modified Pele kick and then into the knee bar and gets the victory. Perkins immediately embraces Swann after the match. There were some bummed out fans after that finish. I can't emphasize how smooth Perkins is. Everything he does, he makes it look so easy.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Both matches were very good, but neither hit greatness. Let's see if they can find greatness again in the final four on the finale episode, as we get Kota vs. T.J. and Gran Metalik vs. ZSJ. I'm really looking forward to re-visiting that.
Overall Rating: 70%
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Noam Dar
Not surprisingly, we get some mat based wrestling to start. Dar taunts Sabre Jr. and hits a nice dropkick to the legs to finally get some offense in which Sabre Jr. reverses. Dar goes back to the leg and yet again Sabre Jr. is able to bounce back. This match is nearly impossible to recap as they continue to back and forth. ZSJ hits the penalty kick, but his one leg doesn't hold up as a result of Dar's offense, which is nicely pointed out by Bryan. Dar continues to work on the knee and then follows up with a...you guessed it, a suicide dive. Nice dropkick to the back by Dar. Dar gets ZSJ into a knee bar, followed by multiple reversals. ZSJ gets the arm bar and after some reversals Dar is able to get to the ropes. If I were to nitpick on Zack, I would say he needs to work on his facial expressions. It never really changes. They are not battling on the outside and almost both get counted out. ZSJ now has a bad leg and bad arm. They both hit some big boots and then ZSJ gets into the double arm bar for the victory.
Match Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)
Rich Swann vs. T.J. Perkins
Swann has definitely the strongest following in the tournament in terms of the live crowd. Both of these guys are pretty incredible athletes. They do a really nice rope run sequence followed by some arm drags by Swann. Swann's knee is hurt and Perkins is taking advantage. Both men are upstairs and Swann is able to push Perkins off the the post to the outside. Perkins hits a jumping hurricanrana. Swann is back in control and he shows off what he can do. Swann is trying to get feeling in his leg again and Perkins gets him in the knee bar, but Swann is able to get to the ropes. Swann hits a powerbomb with a bridge, but that only gets a 2 count. Two big kicks by Perkins, but then Swann nails him but loses his balance. Perkins hits a modified Pele kick and then into the knee bar and gets the victory. Perkins immediately embraces Swann after the match. There were some bummed out fans after that finish. I can't emphasize how smooth Perkins is. Everything he does, he makes it look so easy.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Both matches were very good, but neither hit greatness. Let's see if they can find greatness again in the final four on the finale episode, as we get Kota vs. T.J. and Gran Metalik vs. ZSJ. I'm really looking forward to re-visiting that.
Overall Rating: 70%
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Superstars 6-20-92
Original Airdate: Saturday, June 20th, 1992
Rupp Arena
Lexington, Kentucky
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Perfect and Vince make some lame joke about bugs. It can only get better from here, right?
Legion Of Doom vs. Barry Hardy & Tom Bennett
Hawk is in there throwing Bennett around like it's nothing. They keep referring them to Legion Of Sissies. The Beverly Brothers say that the LOD are mama's boys. Barry Hardy gets the honor of getting destroyed by the Doomsday Device.
Match Rating: 1/4* (out of 5)
Update time here with Mean Gene. He hypes up the ice cream bars. We get a clip of the interview of he and Savage that was aired in it' entirety. Then we get Flair and Perfect. Flair says he will be the champ again.
Papa Shango vs. Chris Hahn
Hahn for whatever reason is not in the ring and they show him hesitating to get in the ring. All of a sudden his hand is on fire and he runs to the back. Why wouldn't Papa Shango just do that to everyone?
Event Center time with Sean Mooney. Crush reminds us that his name is Crush and that he loves to crush things. It's amazing that he made it as far as he did in this business. The Nasty Boys show no mercy or something.
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Red Tyler
Perfect actually compliments Slaughter, which is kind of weird. Tyler is decked out in red, white and blue, which makes no sense since his facing Slaughter. Sarge gets him in the Cobra Clutch and wins.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They then hype some article about the use of anabolic steroids. I bet all the 6 year olds were dying to read that.
Repo Man vs. Brian Costello
This roster was so full of jobbers, couldn't they have more featured matches on this show? These one minute matches are wearing on me. Repo naturally destroys Costello and then puts him into a half crab for the victory. The world needs more half crab finishes. After the match, Repo ties the rope around Costello's legs.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center and we get a Bret Hart promo and he says he'll take on anyone anywhere. Rick Martel brags some more about his feathers for like the 15th episode in a row.
Crush vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Crush's neon spandex really is something else. Crush actually goes up top and hits a fist. We then get our dumbest finisher since the half crab with the head crusher. Next.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Mean Gene is here with Shawn Michaels and Sherri. Sherri has the mirror with her. Not only does Michaels see the sexiest man in the mirror, but he also sees the next Intercontinental Champion.
Razor Ramon is riding a decked out Cadillac. He is really playing up the accent here.
Dwayne Gill vs. Undertaker
Vince transitions by saying, "speaking of cool dudes" when referring to Taker. Taker is, like most matches during this era, just going through the motions. Gill does a poor job on the jumping on the clothseline spot. Tombstone and it's over. After the match they put Gill in a body bag.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Fink announces that Shawn Michaels left the building.
Rock Werner & Butler Stevens vs. Money Inc.
This one was so exciting that I fell asleep. So now I have to go and re-watch it. Money Inc. makes quick work of the jobber.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Owen Hart calls the Nasty Boys the Fat Boys. Tatanka talks about his heritage. No wonder none of these guys were getting over.
Another terrible episode here. It's not really a wonder that I lost interest back in the day and it's easy to see why they felt the pressure to create something new with Monday Night Raw. It will be interesting to see how they shift gears towards Macho Man/Ultimate Warrior and Bret Hart/British Bulldog here in the next few weeks.
Overall Rating: 19%
Rupp Arena
Lexington, Kentucky
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Perfect and Vince make some lame joke about bugs. It can only get better from here, right?
Legion Of Doom vs. Barry Hardy & Tom Bennett
Hawk is in there throwing Bennett around like it's nothing. They keep referring them to Legion Of Sissies. The Beverly Brothers say that the LOD are mama's boys. Barry Hardy gets the honor of getting destroyed by the Doomsday Device.
Match Rating: 1/4* (out of 5)
Update time here with Mean Gene. He hypes up the ice cream bars. We get a clip of the interview of he and Savage that was aired in it' entirety. Then we get Flair and Perfect. Flair says he will be the champ again.
Papa Shango vs. Chris Hahn
Hahn for whatever reason is not in the ring and they show him hesitating to get in the ring. All of a sudden his hand is on fire and he runs to the back. Why wouldn't Papa Shango just do that to everyone?
Event Center time with Sean Mooney. Crush reminds us that his name is Crush and that he loves to crush things. It's amazing that he made it as far as he did in this business. The Nasty Boys show no mercy or something.
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Red Tyler
Perfect actually compliments Slaughter, which is kind of weird. Tyler is decked out in red, white and blue, which makes no sense since his facing Slaughter. Sarge gets him in the Cobra Clutch and wins.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They then hype some article about the use of anabolic steroids. I bet all the 6 year olds were dying to read that.
Repo Man vs. Brian Costello
This roster was so full of jobbers, couldn't they have more featured matches on this show? These one minute matches are wearing on me. Repo naturally destroys Costello and then puts him into a half crab for the victory. The world needs more half crab finishes. After the match, Repo ties the rope around Costello's legs.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center and we get a Bret Hart promo and he says he'll take on anyone anywhere. Rick Martel brags some more about his feathers for like the 15th episode in a row.
Crush vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Crush's neon spandex really is something else. Crush actually goes up top and hits a fist. We then get our dumbest finisher since the half crab with the head crusher. Next.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Mean Gene is here with Shawn Michaels and Sherri. Sherri has the mirror with her. Not only does Michaels see the sexiest man in the mirror, but he also sees the next Intercontinental Champion.
Razor Ramon is riding a decked out Cadillac. He is really playing up the accent here.
Dwayne Gill vs. Undertaker
Vince transitions by saying, "speaking of cool dudes" when referring to Taker. Taker is, like most matches during this era, just going through the motions. Gill does a poor job on the jumping on the clothseline spot. Tombstone and it's over. After the match they put Gill in a body bag.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Fink announces that Shawn Michaels left the building.
Rock Werner & Butler Stevens vs. Money Inc.
This one was so exciting that I fell asleep. So now I have to go and re-watch it. Money Inc. makes quick work of the jobber.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Owen Hart calls the Nasty Boys the Fat Boys. Tatanka talks about his heritage. No wonder none of these guys were getting over.
Another terrible episode here. It's not really a wonder that I lost interest back in the day and it's easy to see why they felt the pressure to create something new with Monday Night Raw. It will be interesting to see how they shift gears towards Macho Man/Ultimate Warrior and Bret Hart/British Bulldog here in the next few weeks.
Overall Rating: 19%
Monday, March 4, 2019
Monday Night Raw 1-24-05 Review
Monday, January 24th, 2005
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Tonight we are getting Randy Orton vs. Ric Flair and we are also getting an update from Steve Austin.
Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit vs. Edge, Christian & Tyson Tomko
Somehow Tomko lucked his way into this one. Edge was still finding his way as a heel here in 2005. Christian was always awesome and it still is a shame that they never did more with him. Christian and Michaels start things off. Lots of quick tags to start off. In terms of hairstyle, this was not peak Jericho here. They are wrestling like this is going to be a 3 minute match, but that will not be the case. Back from the commercial break and the heels are working on Benoit. Christian throws Michaels over the ropes to the outside and tags in Edge. Will there ever be a better wrestler at taking a beating and getting sympathy than Shawn Michaels? The only current wrestler that I can think of that comes close in WWE is Johnny Gargano. Michaels fights back, but Christian holds onto his leg to prevent him from making the tag. I completely forgot that Tomko actually had a pretty solid career after this run was over. Double clothesline spot allows Michaels to get the hot tag to Benoit and he takes care of all 3 of the heels. Jericho hits his springboard dropkick on Tomko while Benoit hits 3 German Suplexes on Christian. He hits the diving headbutt, but Edge breaks up his attempt to put on the Sharpshooter. Benoit ducks a big boot from Tomko and Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music for the 1-2-3. You will never hear me complaining about Raw starting off with a match, especially one of this quality. This was a very good TV match.
Match Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)
Stacy Keibler is on her way down to the ring. She announces that the Governor of Oklahoma announced that today is Jim Ross Day. She introduces Danny Hodge to the ring as a special guest and then of course Jim Ross. They show a highlight of him giving his speech. JR starts tanking everyone and then Triple H's music hits and he is accompanied by Ric Flair. They remind the crowd that the Sooners were destroyed by USC in their last game. Triple H tells "Father Time" to leave. Triple H grabs Stacy by the wrist and tells her to stay, but JR stands up to him. Flair comes up behind JR and gives him a low blow. Danny Hodge comes in and clubs Triple H, but Flair attacks him from behind. Hodge was over 70 here. Triple H then is going to force Stacy to kiss him, but then decides to try and give her the Pedigree. Randy Orton comes down and makes the save. So he was good with everything up to then, but drew the line at the Pedigree apparently.
Triple H and Flair are walking in the back and Triple H lifts up Candice Michelle's skirt, which causes her to run. God, this is terrible. He then walks into the locker room to tell Batista what just happened. Batista isn't impressed. 2005 me thought this was stupid. 2019 me is even more insulted than this. Batista then tells them that he will be taking a qualifying match for the Royal Rumble. Batista says that way just in case Orton beats Triple H, he can beat Orton and keep the title in Evolution.
Eric Bischoff, Coach and William Regal are in the back. Regal wants a spot in the Rumble. Bischoff says he is giving that spot to Coach. La Resistance is now asking for their spot in the Rumble. Batista steps ahead of them. La Resistance challenges Batista for a spot in the Rumble. Batista says he'll beat them both.
Royal Rumble Over The Top Rope Challenge Qualifying Match
Tajiri vs. Viscera
Coach announces the match and Viscera gets zero reaction from the audience. Tajiri blows the green mist in the face of Vis, but it essentially does nothing. After like three moves, Vis throws out Tajiri for the win. Cool.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Just in case you haven't gotten your fill over the last month, we get a highlight package of the Trish/Lita/Kane/Snitsky saga.
Maria attempts to interview Tajiri until William Regal comes up to Tajiri and tells him that he has a way to get back at Bischoff.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Batista vs. La Resistance
It's still weird to see Batista do the machine guy entrance without the pyro. Batista is 36 years old here. La Resistance attempts to sing "O, Canada", but Batista attacks him. Batista makes the Tag Team Champions look like a bunch of jobbers and pins both of them after just about a minute. After the match he grabs their flag and sticks it by Conway's butt. 2005 ladies and gentlemen.
Match Rating: 1/4*
After the match they show Ric Flair and Triple H backstage. Flair is impressed, but Triple H says he has to go do something impressive of his own.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Muhammad Hassan vs. Val Venis
The suspense is killing me on who is going to win this match. Daivari begins yelling at Lillian Garcia and then distracts Venis, which allows Hassan to attack him. Daivari continues to yell on the mic during the match. Venis is selling every move as if it was coming from Brock Lesnar. After a hot start to the show, they have absolutely killed the crowd. With Hassan's in ring skills, they might as well have called him Tiger Ali Singh 2.0. Venis finally fights back and even gets a sit down powerbomb in for a 2 1/2. Venis goes up for the Money Shot, but Hassan moves. Hassan then hits his finisher for the pinfall. After the math he puts Venis in the Camel Clutch.
Match Rating: *
Flair is backstage pumping up Batista. Triple H then tells Batista that he was right about Evolution covering all of it's bases. That's why the last spot in the Rumble is going to Ric Flair. Just in case for some reason Batista gets eliminated, Flair will win it.
Maven tells everyone that Bischoff was nice enough to get a second chance of being in the Rumble. He calls out anyone who has already qualified for the match so that he can take their spot. Out comes Kane, who is limping and has his left arm wrapped up. Maven says that he meant anyone but Kane. Snitsky is now coming down with a bruised face and his right arm and ribs wrapped up. Kane is in disbelief. Garcia announces that this is now a triple threat match.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Maven vs. Kane vs. Snitsky
Kane and Snitsky start slugging away at each other and then do a double boot spot. Kane hits a chokeslam on Maven and gets the victory. Man, these qualifying matches sure are good.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They show a clip of a press conference where Steve Austin was recently at. Their big announcement is that he has signed a 3 movie contract with WWE Studios. That's one that didn't work out so well.
Todd Grisham is with Edge. He says that he has sat back and watched the last two WrestleManias with a broken neck. He says he is going to win the Royal Rumble the same night that he beats Shawn Michaels.
We get a Chris Masters vignette.
Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton
After about a minute, Orton is already bleeding. Orton fights back with some fists and we get the famous face first fall from Flair. Orton knocks Flair into the laps of some front row audience members. Orton gets his leg grabbed by Triple H, which then allows Flair to throw Orton over the ropes. The ref then sends Batista to the back. Batista is disappointed that Triple H isn't owning up to it. Back from commercial and Flair is chopping away at Orton. Orton fights back and hits a big suplex for a 2 count. Orton misses a dropkick and Triple H gets up on the apron, which allows Flair to kick Orton south of the border. Triple H then gets a couple shots as Flair distracts the ref. Flair is hitting Orton with more chops, but this time they aren't phasing Orton. We get a ref bump and Triple H nails Orton's knee with the belt. Flair immediately puts on the Figure Four. A new ref comes in and gets a 2 count on Orton. Orton then reverses the move and Triple H grabs the referee and throws him to the outside and starts attacking Orton's right leg more. Orton fights back and then hits a RKO out of nowhere and the ref slowly makes the 3 count. Orton then grabs the belt and tells Triple H to come and get it. Triple H thinks about it, but decides not to as Orton holds it over his head. Pretty solid TV main event match.
Match Rating: ***
Well the beginning and the end were entertaining, but everything in between was absolute garbage. Raw really seems to have no direction outside of Triple H/Batista and it's hurting the show. It's easy to see why the Money In The Bank match was created, because they had nothing for so many guys to do.
Overall Rating: 56%
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Tonight we are getting Randy Orton vs. Ric Flair and we are also getting an update from Steve Austin.
Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit vs. Edge, Christian & Tyson Tomko
Somehow Tomko lucked his way into this one. Edge was still finding his way as a heel here in 2005. Christian was always awesome and it still is a shame that they never did more with him. Christian and Michaels start things off. Lots of quick tags to start off. In terms of hairstyle, this was not peak Jericho here. They are wrestling like this is going to be a 3 minute match, but that will not be the case. Back from the commercial break and the heels are working on Benoit. Christian throws Michaels over the ropes to the outside and tags in Edge. Will there ever be a better wrestler at taking a beating and getting sympathy than Shawn Michaels? The only current wrestler that I can think of that comes close in WWE is Johnny Gargano. Michaels fights back, but Christian holds onto his leg to prevent him from making the tag. I completely forgot that Tomko actually had a pretty solid career after this run was over. Double clothesline spot allows Michaels to get the hot tag to Benoit and he takes care of all 3 of the heels. Jericho hits his springboard dropkick on Tomko while Benoit hits 3 German Suplexes on Christian. He hits the diving headbutt, but Edge breaks up his attempt to put on the Sharpshooter. Benoit ducks a big boot from Tomko and Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music for the 1-2-3. You will never hear me complaining about Raw starting off with a match, especially one of this quality. This was a very good TV match.
Match Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)
Stacy Keibler is on her way down to the ring. She announces that the Governor of Oklahoma announced that today is Jim Ross Day. She introduces Danny Hodge to the ring as a special guest and then of course Jim Ross. They show a highlight of him giving his speech. JR starts tanking everyone and then Triple H's music hits and he is accompanied by Ric Flair. They remind the crowd that the Sooners were destroyed by USC in their last game. Triple H tells "Father Time" to leave. Triple H grabs Stacy by the wrist and tells her to stay, but JR stands up to him. Flair comes up behind JR and gives him a low blow. Danny Hodge comes in and clubs Triple H, but Flair attacks him from behind. Hodge was over 70 here. Triple H then is going to force Stacy to kiss him, but then decides to try and give her the Pedigree. Randy Orton comes down and makes the save. So he was good with everything up to then, but drew the line at the Pedigree apparently.
Triple H and Flair are walking in the back and Triple H lifts up Candice Michelle's skirt, which causes her to run. God, this is terrible. He then walks into the locker room to tell Batista what just happened. Batista isn't impressed. 2005 me thought this was stupid. 2019 me is even more insulted than this. Batista then tells them that he will be taking a qualifying match for the Royal Rumble. Batista says that way just in case Orton beats Triple H, he can beat Orton and keep the title in Evolution.
Eric Bischoff, Coach and William Regal are in the back. Regal wants a spot in the Rumble. Bischoff says he is giving that spot to Coach. La Resistance is now asking for their spot in the Rumble. Batista steps ahead of them. La Resistance challenges Batista for a spot in the Rumble. Batista says he'll beat them both.
Royal Rumble Over The Top Rope Challenge Qualifying Match
Tajiri vs. Viscera
Coach announces the match and Viscera gets zero reaction from the audience. Tajiri blows the green mist in the face of Vis, but it essentially does nothing. After like three moves, Vis throws out Tajiri for the win. Cool.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Just in case you haven't gotten your fill over the last month, we get a highlight package of the Trish/Lita/Kane/Snitsky saga.
Maria attempts to interview Tajiri until William Regal comes up to Tajiri and tells him that he has a way to get back at Bischoff.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Batista vs. La Resistance
It's still weird to see Batista do the machine guy entrance without the pyro. Batista is 36 years old here. La Resistance attempts to sing "O, Canada", but Batista attacks him. Batista makes the Tag Team Champions look like a bunch of jobbers and pins both of them after just about a minute. After the match he grabs their flag and sticks it by Conway's butt. 2005 ladies and gentlemen.
Match Rating: 1/4*
After the match they show Ric Flair and Triple H backstage. Flair is impressed, but Triple H says he has to go do something impressive of his own.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Muhammad Hassan vs. Val Venis
The suspense is killing me on who is going to win this match. Daivari begins yelling at Lillian Garcia and then distracts Venis, which allows Hassan to attack him. Daivari continues to yell on the mic during the match. Venis is selling every move as if it was coming from Brock Lesnar. After a hot start to the show, they have absolutely killed the crowd. With Hassan's in ring skills, they might as well have called him Tiger Ali Singh 2.0. Venis finally fights back and even gets a sit down powerbomb in for a 2 1/2. Venis goes up for the Money Shot, but Hassan moves. Hassan then hits his finisher for the pinfall. After the math he puts Venis in the Camel Clutch.
Match Rating: *
Flair is backstage pumping up Batista. Triple H then tells Batista that he was right about Evolution covering all of it's bases. That's why the last spot in the Rumble is going to Ric Flair. Just in case for some reason Batista gets eliminated, Flair will win it.
Maven tells everyone that Bischoff was nice enough to get a second chance of being in the Rumble. He calls out anyone who has already qualified for the match so that he can take their spot. Out comes Kane, who is limping and has his left arm wrapped up. Maven says that he meant anyone but Kane. Snitsky is now coming down with a bruised face and his right arm and ribs wrapped up. Kane is in disbelief. Garcia announces that this is now a triple threat match.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Maven vs. Kane vs. Snitsky
Kane and Snitsky start slugging away at each other and then do a double boot spot. Kane hits a chokeslam on Maven and gets the victory. Man, these qualifying matches sure are good.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They show a clip of a press conference where Steve Austin was recently at. Their big announcement is that he has signed a 3 movie contract with WWE Studios. That's one that didn't work out so well.
Todd Grisham is with Edge. He says that he has sat back and watched the last two WrestleManias with a broken neck. He says he is going to win the Royal Rumble the same night that he beats Shawn Michaels.
We get a Chris Masters vignette.
Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton
After about a minute, Orton is already bleeding. Orton fights back with some fists and we get the famous face first fall from Flair. Orton knocks Flair into the laps of some front row audience members. Orton gets his leg grabbed by Triple H, which then allows Flair to throw Orton over the ropes. The ref then sends Batista to the back. Batista is disappointed that Triple H isn't owning up to it. Back from commercial and Flair is chopping away at Orton. Orton fights back and hits a big suplex for a 2 count. Orton misses a dropkick and Triple H gets up on the apron, which allows Flair to kick Orton south of the border. Triple H then gets a couple shots as Flair distracts the ref. Flair is hitting Orton with more chops, but this time they aren't phasing Orton. We get a ref bump and Triple H nails Orton's knee with the belt. Flair immediately puts on the Figure Four. A new ref comes in and gets a 2 count on Orton. Orton then reverses the move and Triple H grabs the referee and throws him to the outside and starts attacking Orton's right leg more. Orton fights back and then hits a RKO out of nowhere and the ref slowly makes the 3 count. Orton then grabs the belt and tells Triple H to come and get it. Triple H thinks about it, but decides not to as Orton holds it over his head. Pretty solid TV main event match.
Match Rating: ***
Well the beginning and the end were entertaining, but everything in between was absolute garbage. Raw really seems to have no direction outside of Triple H/Batista and it's hurting the show. It's easy to see why the Money In The Bank match was created, because they had nothing for so many guys to do.
Overall Rating: 56%
Saturday, March 2, 2019
NXT 8-8-12 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
We get a solid promo about the Gold Rush Tournament to start the show.
Gold Rush Tournament Match
Michael McGillicutty vs. Justin Gabriel
We get a nice little bit of mat wrestling from Gabriel to start the match. Gabriel dominated the first few minutes. As soon as we come back from commercial, McGillicutty is now in control. I feel like there is no excuse for that on a taped show. Bring us back to where the change in momentum happens. Gabriel goes off the second rope but McGillicutty hits a dropkick for a nearfall. Both men go for the cross body and they are both down. Gabriel gets in some kicks and eventually a sit down powerbomb. I'm still shocked they didn't get more out of Gabriel. McGillicutty does a roll through into a Perfect Plex for a 2 count. Springboard moonsault by Gabriel misses and McGillicutty hits the running neckbreaker for the victory. Everything they did was well executed, but the match itself was pretty blah.
Match Rating: ** (out of 5)
CJ Parker vs. Kassius Ohno
Parker is already getting in more offense than I thought he would. After his opening burst, it is all Ohno as it should be here. After a missed boot and clothesline, Parker is now on fire. The crowd is not into Parker at all. Parker gets a running start right into a big boot by Ohno. Ohno then hits him with a clubbing elbow to the back of the head for a victory. I enjoy squash matches like that.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show an interview from last week from Jason Jordan and Mike Dalton. They cut a pretty cheesy promo about how they beat Smackdown Superstars.
We get a vignette for The Ascension. I still don't get why they changed them to whatever they are now.
Paige & Tamina Snuka vs. Caylee Turner & Kaitlyn
Tamina, Paige and Kaitlyn would all fall under my least favorite female superstars. So obviously I have high hopes here. This has the feeling of what I would imagine a training session at the Performance Center would be like. Just a bunch of moves, tag, bunch of moves, tag. No real story until they finally have Tamina worn down. Tamina finally makes the hot tag to Paige, who hits some shoulder tackles. Paige then gets a small package to get the win. This was really bad.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Bateman walks up to Bo Dallas and isn't happy about not being in the tournament even though Bo cost them the tag team match. But they're cool. Awesome.
Gold Rush Tournament Match
Bo Dallas vs. Jinder Mahal
This is a match I was hoping I would never see and I'm going to guess that this won't help me from dozing off on the couch. After a whole bunch of nothing, Bo goes for a couple of quick pins, but only gets 2. After the commercial, Mahal is now in control. Man, Mahal really needed some better offense. How in the world was this the main event? After what seems like an eternity, Bo is in contol. This match is harder to recap than the Superstars squashes that I have been doing. Jinder finally gets him in the Camel Clutch and after a little bit, Dallas submits. That was not a good match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
I like the focus, but this crop of talent is just very lackluster. It truly is amazing how different this show became about 2 years later. I just can't wait until they move on from guys like Bo Dallas and Jinder Mahal.
Overall Rating: 26%
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
We get a solid promo about the Gold Rush Tournament to start the show.
Gold Rush Tournament Match
Michael McGillicutty vs. Justin Gabriel
We get a nice little bit of mat wrestling from Gabriel to start the match. Gabriel dominated the first few minutes. As soon as we come back from commercial, McGillicutty is now in control. I feel like there is no excuse for that on a taped show. Bring us back to where the change in momentum happens. Gabriel goes off the second rope but McGillicutty hits a dropkick for a nearfall. Both men go for the cross body and they are both down. Gabriel gets in some kicks and eventually a sit down powerbomb. I'm still shocked they didn't get more out of Gabriel. McGillicutty does a roll through into a Perfect Plex for a 2 count. Springboard moonsault by Gabriel misses and McGillicutty hits the running neckbreaker for the victory. Everything they did was well executed, but the match itself was pretty blah.
Match Rating: ** (out of 5)
CJ Parker vs. Kassius Ohno
Parker is already getting in more offense than I thought he would. After his opening burst, it is all Ohno as it should be here. After a missed boot and clothesline, Parker is now on fire. The crowd is not into Parker at all. Parker gets a running start right into a big boot by Ohno. Ohno then hits him with a clubbing elbow to the back of the head for a victory. I enjoy squash matches like that.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show an interview from last week from Jason Jordan and Mike Dalton. They cut a pretty cheesy promo about how they beat Smackdown Superstars.
We get a vignette for The Ascension. I still don't get why they changed them to whatever they are now.
Paige & Tamina Snuka vs. Caylee Turner & Kaitlyn
Tamina, Paige and Kaitlyn would all fall under my least favorite female superstars. So obviously I have high hopes here. This has the feeling of what I would imagine a training session at the Performance Center would be like. Just a bunch of moves, tag, bunch of moves, tag. No real story until they finally have Tamina worn down. Tamina finally makes the hot tag to Paige, who hits some shoulder tackles. Paige then gets a small package to get the win. This was really bad.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Bateman walks up to Bo Dallas and isn't happy about not being in the tournament even though Bo cost them the tag team match. But they're cool. Awesome.
Gold Rush Tournament Match
Bo Dallas vs. Jinder Mahal
This is a match I was hoping I would never see and I'm going to guess that this won't help me from dozing off on the couch. After a whole bunch of nothing, Bo goes for a couple of quick pins, but only gets 2. After the commercial, Mahal is now in control. Man, Mahal really needed some better offense. How in the world was this the main event? After what seems like an eternity, Bo is in contol. This match is harder to recap than the Superstars squashes that I have been doing. Jinder finally gets him in the Camel Clutch and after a little bit, Dallas submits. That was not a good match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
I like the focus, but this crop of talent is just very lackluster. It truly is amazing how different this show became about 2 years later. I just can't wait until they move on from guys like Bo Dallas and Jinder Mahal.
Overall Rating: 26%
Friday, March 1, 2019
Cruiserweight Classic Episode 8 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, August 31st, 2016
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Gran Metalik vs. Akira Tozawa
These two get started on the mat going back and forth with submission moves. Metalik hits a stiff dropkick on Tozawa as he chased him to the ropes. Metalik then hits a suicide dive, which if I have a complaint with not only this tournament but also just wrestling in general, it's that there are way too many suicide dives. Metalik gets Tozawa in the figure four, but Tozawa gets to the ropes. Metalik goes for the handspring elbow, but Tozawa hits him in the back with a dropkick. Then Tozawa hits a suicide dive (see what I mean?). Tozawa hits another suicide dive, no joke. They are going back and forth with slaps to the chest and Tozawa gets the best of it. Metalik then hits a nice flurry of moves that ends with a standing shooting star press. He then hits a springboard elbow for a 2 count. Tozawa then nearly kicks Metalik's head off for a 2 count. Metalik regains control and hits an awesome springboard flip to the outside of the ring. Tozawa blocks the moonsault and almost gets the victory. Hurricanrana from the ropes gets about as close of a 3 count as you will ever see for Metalik. Metalik flips out of the German Suplex, but then Tozawa hits two after it and somehow Metalik gets out of it. Tozawa goes for another German, but Metalik hits his Metalik Driver for the victory. I didn't like that one quite as much as the crowd and announcers did, but it was still a good match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Brian Kendrick vs. Kota Ibushi
Kendrick rolls out of the ring and tries to get Ibushi to follow. Ibushi hits a beautiful moonsault to the outside. I really need to see more Ibushi matches. Kendrick ties up Ibushi's foot in a guardrail to try and get a countout. Ibushi hits a springboard dropkick. Kendrick then gets to feel the big kicks by Ibushi. Kendrick then does a neckbreaker over the turnbuckle and is now in control. Ibushi fights back and hits a moonsault inside the ring this time. Sliced Bread #2 gets a close call. Ibushi then hits a Pele kick. Holy cow! Ibushi hits a German Suplex off the ropes. Crazy. Kendrick is able to get Ibushi into the Bully Choke, which honestly is a pretty lame submission move. Kendrick hits a Burning Hammer for a 2 count. Phoenix Splash by Ibushi, but Kendrick moves and gets him in the Bully Choke again. Ibushi hits Kendrick in the head with a kick and then hits the sitdown powerbomb for the victory. Kota is the man. Kendrick gets a standing ovation and embraces with Ibushi.
Match Rating: ***3/4
After the preview for next week, they go back to Kendrick in the ring and he is in tears. Daniel Bryan comes down and gives him a hug and raises his arm as the show goes off the air.
While this wasn't up to the quality of last week, but we did get two entertaining matches. Watching Kota Ibushi is truly a treat and I think the right two guys won on this episode. I'm really looking forward to these last two episodes, as for some reason I don't recall them as much as some of these others that I have reviewed.
Overall Rating: 71%
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Gran Metalik vs. Akira Tozawa
These two get started on the mat going back and forth with submission moves. Metalik hits a stiff dropkick on Tozawa as he chased him to the ropes. Metalik then hits a suicide dive, which if I have a complaint with not only this tournament but also just wrestling in general, it's that there are way too many suicide dives. Metalik gets Tozawa in the figure four, but Tozawa gets to the ropes. Metalik goes for the handspring elbow, but Tozawa hits him in the back with a dropkick. Then Tozawa hits a suicide dive (see what I mean?). Tozawa hits another suicide dive, no joke. They are going back and forth with slaps to the chest and Tozawa gets the best of it. Metalik then hits a nice flurry of moves that ends with a standing shooting star press. He then hits a springboard elbow for a 2 count. Tozawa then nearly kicks Metalik's head off for a 2 count. Metalik regains control and hits an awesome springboard flip to the outside of the ring. Tozawa blocks the moonsault and almost gets the victory. Hurricanrana from the ropes gets about as close of a 3 count as you will ever see for Metalik. Metalik flips out of the German Suplex, but then Tozawa hits two after it and somehow Metalik gets out of it. Tozawa goes for another German, but Metalik hits his Metalik Driver for the victory. I didn't like that one quite as much as the crowd and announcers did, but it was still a good match.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Brian Kendrick vs. Kota Ibushi
Kendrick rolls out of the ring and tries to get Ibushi to follow. Ibushi hits a beautiful moonsault to the outside. I really need to see more Ibushi matches. Kendrick ties up Ibushi's foot in a guardrail to try and get a countout. Ibushi hits a springboard dropkick. Kendrick then gets to feel the big kicks by Ibushi. Kendrick then does a neckbreaker over the turnbuckle and is now in control. Ibushi fights back and hits a moonsault inside the ring this time. Sliced Bread #2 gets a close call. Ibushi then hits a Pele kick. Holy cow! Ibushi hits a German Suplex off the ropes. Crazy. Kendrick is able to get Ibushi into the Bully Choke, which honestly is a pretty lame submission move. Kendrick hits a Burning Hammer for a 2 count. Phoenix Splash by Ibushi, but Kendrick moves and gets him in the Bully Choke again. Ibushi hits Kendrick in the head with a kick and then hits the sitdown powerbomb for the victory. Kota is the man. Kendrick gets a standing ovation and embraces with Ibushi.
Match Rating: ***3/4
After the preview for next week, they go back to Kendrick in the ring and he is in tears. Daniel Bryan comes down and gives him a hug and raises his arm as the show goes off the air.
While this wasn't up to the quality of last week, but we did get two entertaining matches. Watching Kota Ibushi is truly a treat and I think the right two guys won on this episode. I'm really looking forward to these last two episodes, as for some reason I don't recall them as much as some of these others that I have reviewed.
Overall Rating: 71%
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Superstars 6-13-92
Original Airdate: Saturday, June 13th, 1992
Rupp Arena
Lexington, Kentucky
Mr. Perfect and Vince start out the show again and make a couple racehorse jokes. I really miss Bobby Heenan during this era.
Tatanka vs. Barry Horowitz
With it being Horowitz, he gets a little more offense than the typical jobber. Tatanka hits the chop off the second rope and then the Samoan drop for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/2*
It's Update time again by with Mean Gene. We get more clips of the Papa Shango/Ultimate Warrior feud. We get an Ultimate Warrior interview and he cuts a signature nonsense interview.
Graig Brown vs. Shawn Michaels
Vince really said that the WBF Championship would be one of the best pay-per-views in history. This jobber also really spells his name "Graig". It's nice to see this one go a little bit longer than your standard Superstars match. Shawn hits his suplex for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Event Center now wit Sean Mooney. We get another Repo Man interview that is so similar to any of the other ones we have seen the last few weeks. Texas Tornado is now a religious uplifting talent. I'm not sure that he even wrestled much after this TV taping.
We get our first Razor Ramon vignette. Hall didn't quite have all the signature Ramon traits down here.
Natural Disasters vs. The Executioners
They sneak attack the Natural Disasters, but of course it doesn't work. The Disasters are just here to destroy the Executioners. They do some power moves and then hit a big splash. One of the Executioners tries to attack them again, but ends up getting shoulder tackled. Big splash for the win here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to Sean Mooney in the Event Center and we get a Skinner promo. He refers to Crush as "Crunch or Crush". Undertaker and Paul Bearer still have their focus on Berzerker and Mr. Fuji.
The Mountie vs. Bill Koby
Mountie gets him in a tree of woe early and stomps away. He then hits a dropkick and pins him as he stands on his face. It took the Mountie longer to get his jacket off than it did to win the match. He then gets out his new shock stick and makes Koby tell him that he's the man. Koby then escapes. I have to say I am loving the Mountie character 27 years later.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Mean Gene is in the empty arena with Randy Savage. Not one of Savage's more interesting promos here. He says he will do whatever it takes to keep the title.
Kamala vs. Dale Wolfe
Vince says that he doesn't think Kamala knows what "lock up" means. I bet he does. Him and Perfect argue over whether or not everyone from Uganda is a savage or not. Imagine that conversation taking place on TV in 2019. They continue to do the schtick where Kamala doesn't know how to cover his opponent.
Match Rating: 1/4*
El Matador vs. Mike Samples
Samples throws some pretty awful punches, which Tito blocks. Samples gets up too early and totally telegraphs the finish, but who cares? It's a Saturday morning squash. Please give me more matches like High Energy last week
Match Rating: 1/4*
They have Big Boss Man on the phone and are showing photos of how beat up he is. Boss Man says he will be back and Perfect says he is stupid and hangs up on him.
Ron Cumberledge vs. Nailz
Vince says there's a hush over the crowd. There's not even the fake booing they usually pipe in. Nailz has to be in the top 10 worst workers to ever have a prominent role in WWE. He chokes him out for his finisher. Shouldn't that be a DQ? I can't even explain how terrible this is. Vince saying this guy doesn't belong in a ring is the understatement of a lifetime.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Sean Mooney says that Nailz was the toughest guy in his cell block. Papa Shango is back and talks some voodoo smack. Legion of Doom are back with a promo we have already seen on Superstars. Gotta love it.
Next week we get Crush, Undertaker, Money Inc., Legion of Doom and Papa Shango.
That was definitely not a great showing. While I wish there weren't monthly pay per views now, I do see why they added more as everything just feels like it is going nowhere. Oh, and Nailz is awful.
Overall Rating: 23%
Rupp Arena
Lexington, Kentucky
Mr. Perfect and Vince start out the show again and make a couple racehorse jokes. I really miss Bobby Heenan during this era.
Tatanka vs. Barry Horowitz
With it being Horowitz, he gets a little more offense than the typical jobber. Tatanka hits the chop off the second rope and then the Samoan drop for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/2*
It's Update time again by with Mean Gene. We get more clips of the Papa Shango/Ultimate Warrior feud. We get an Ultimate Warrior interview and he cuts a signature nonsense interview.
Graig Brown vs. Shawn Michaels
Vince really said that the WBF Championship would be one of the best pay-per-views in history. This jobber also really spells his name "Graig". It's nice to see this one go a little bit longer than your standard Superstars match. Shawn hits his suplex for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Event Center now wit Sean Mooney. We get another Repo Man interview that is so similar to any of the other ones we have seen the last few weeks. Texas Tornado is now a religious uplifting talent. I'm not sure that he even wrestled much after this TV taping.
We get our first Razor Ramon vignette. Hall didn't quite have all the signature Ramon traits down here.
Natural Disasters vs. The Executioners
They sneak attack the Natural Disasters, but of course it doesn't work. The Disasters are just here to destroy the Executioners. They do some power moves and then hit a big splash. One of the Executioners tries to attack them again, but ends up getting shoulder tackled. Big splash for the win here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to Sean Mooney in the Event Center and we get a Skinner promo. He refers to Crush as "Crunch or Crush". Undertaker and Paul Bearer still have their focus on Berzerker and Mr. Fuji.
The Mountie vs. Bill Koby
Mountie gets him in a tree of woe early and stomps away. He then hits a dropkick and pins him as he stands on his face. It took the Mountie longer to get his jacket off than it did to win the match. He then gets out his new shock stick and makes Koby tell him that he's the man. Koby then escapes. I have to say I am loving the Mountie character 27 years later.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Mean Gene is in the empty arena with Randy Savage. Not one of Savage's more interesting promos here. He says he will do whatever it takes to keep the title.
Kamala vs. Dale Wolfe
Vince says that he doesn't think Kamala knows what "lock up" means. I bet he does. Him and Perfect argue over whether or not everyone from Uganda is a savage or not. Imagine that conversation taking place on TV in 2019. They continue to do the schtick where Kamala doesn't know how to cover his opponent.
Match Rating: 1/4*
El Matador vs. Mike Samples
Samples throws some pretty awful punches, which Tito blocks. Samples gets up too early and totally telegraphs the finish, but who cares? It's a Saturday morning squash. Please give me more matches like High Energy last week
Match Rating: 1/4*
They have Big Boss Man on the phone and are showing photos of how beat up he is. Boss Man says he will be back and Perfect says he is stupid and hangs up on him.
Ron Cumberledge vs. Nailz
Vince says there's a hush over the crowd. There's not even the fake booing they usually pipe in. Nailz has to be in the top 10 worst workers to ever have a prominent role in WWE. He chokes him out for his finisher. Shouldn't that be a DQ? I can't even explain how terrible this is. Vince saying this guy doesn't belong in a ring is the understatement of a lifetime.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Sean Mooney says that Nailz was the toughest guy in his cell block. Papa Shango is back and talks some voodoo smack. Legion of Doom are back with a promo we have already seen on Superstars. Gotta love it.
Next week we get Crush, Undertaker, Money Inc., Legion of Doom and Papa Shango.
That was definitely not a great showing. While I wish there weren't monthly pay per views now, I do see why they added more as everything just feels like it is going nowhere. Oh, and Nailz is awful.
Overall Rating: 23%
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