Original Airdate: Saturday, August 1st, 1992
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
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The Nasty Boys vs. Kerry Davis & Ross Greenberg
Greenberg gets a pit stop early on and for some reason they didn't add in any fake boos to this match Davis's mullet is in a league of its own. Although, I guess Knobbs and Saggs' aren't too far behind. Big splash by Knobbs into the corner. The crowd could not care less about this match. Powerslam by Knobbs and then Saggs finishes him with an elbow drop from the top rope. The tag division was well on its way to being dead in the WWF again after a really good run.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WWF Update with Mean Gene brought to you by WWF Superstars ice cream bars. There was one ice cream shop that carried those and of course it was like 5 miles further than probably 5 other ice cream places, but we would always beg to go to that one. We get clips of last week of the interview with Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior.
Iron Mike Sharpe vs. Bret Hart
Finally a Mike Sharpe appearance. Bret lets Sharpe get a little bit of offense in. They show a clip of Helen Hart being so upset that Bret and Bulldog are fighting. It was a nice layer to add to the story since face vs. face matches always have a hard time succeeding. Bret gets the Sharpshooter and the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
To the Event Center we go. I am always curious about the dates of pay-per-views. Why was SummerSlam on a Monday night? British Bulldog is ready to win the Intercontinental Championship. Shawn Michaels is ready for Rick Martel, in a match that I still don't understand.
Rick Martel vs. Bill Pierce
Martel is putting on a nice little clinic on the art of a squash match here. They show a promo of Martel still talking about Tatanka. This is all mind boggling to me. SummerSlam is in 4 weeks and he's still hyping a feud that won't have a payoff on the show. Pierce goes for a monkey flip, but Martel reverses it with an inverted atomic drop. Boston Crab finishes it off. Martel looked good here.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Mean Gene introduces Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Undertaker gives a paint by number interview. Nothing to see here.
Tony Roy vs. Papa Shango
No voodoo to start the match. How does he decide when to make people vomit and when not to? Vince tells us that Shango won't ever be on WBF. Papa Shango hits his finisher and gets the victory. After the match he holds the skull over Roy and then sparks comes out of the skulls head.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to Sean Mooney. Kamala is here and Harvey says SummerSlam is the end of Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Bret Hart says that every dog has its day, but SummerSlam won't be Bulldog's day.
It's now time for the highlight of the show, SummerSlam Report. He runs over the 4 matches announced last week and then we get an interview from HBK and Sherri. They also announce that Natural Disasters will take on the Beverly Brothers for the Tag Team Championships. Natural Disasters give a promo and talk about two guys who are in different leagues. They also announce a HUGE matchup of Nailz vs. Virgil. Nailz gives a terrible promo and Virgil gives a generic face promo. They also announce Legion of Doom against Money, Inc.
Flex Armstrong & Richie Rich vs. Legion of Doom
It's time for more Rocco! Paul Ellering takes him around to the kids at ringside. I still don't understand how this even happened. Vince just loves it. Standard fare here by LOD, as it's pretty obvious that they aren't happy with where they are. Doomsday Device finishes it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon is hanging out with a group of senior citizens and talking about how they are wasting their time. He calls out Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man.
Sean Mooney reminds us again that SummerSlam is August 31st. The Beverly Brothers say they are walking out of SummerSlam as the champions. Money, Inc. say that they were robbed of the titles and that they will become the #1 contenders.
Next week we get Kamala, British Bulldog, Natural Disasters and the debut of Razor Ramon. Ultimate Warrior will be back with an interview.
Well, not much happened on this episode after last weeks big angle with Savage, Warrior and Flair. We did get the Helen Hart clip to help sell the story of the Intercontinental title match and they added a few random matches to SummerSlam. I guess that's something, right?
Overall Rating: 28%
Monday, April 29, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
No Way Out 2005 Review
Sunday, February 20th, 2005
Mellon Arena
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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We get a very brief video hyping up the barbed wire steel cage match, which is fitting since they hardly built it on SmackDown the past few weeks. The announcers emphasize that Batista will be in attendance tonight.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Rey Mysterio & Eddie Guerrero vs. The Basham Brothers
After a nice pop for Eddie and Rey, the crowd goes dead for the Bashams entrance. If you can't get a reaction in the opening match of a pay-per-view, you're doing something wrong. Eddie and Rey get in a short flurry of offense before the Bashams start their heat segment. Eddie rolls out of the way of a top rope elbow and tags in Mysterio. Springboard crossbody gets a 2 count. The Bashams regain control after Danny Basham cheats by switching with his brother. Doug goes for a superplex, but Rey blocks it and hits a moonsault that almost gets the victory. Eddie get in trouble for tying two tag ropes together, which is classic Eddie. Rey leaps and rolls all over the ring and is able to get the tag to Eddie who hits a headscissor/arm drag combo. The Bashams hit one of the sloppier double chokeslams you will see. They go for a double suplex, but Rey clips one of their legs and Eddie rolls into a small package for a 2 count. Eddie grabs one of the tag belts, but Rey tells him not to. Eddie goes up top and rolls through as he saw Basham was moving. Eddie then pretends to lay there as if he was hurt and rolls him into a 2 count. Danny tosses the belt to Edddie who tosses it to Doug, which causes the ref to get rid of it. Eddie gets the other belt and nails him with it and gets the victory to a good pop. The first few minutes were pretty paint by the numbers, but the last 5 minutes were golden.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Teddy Long shows off his horrible acting ability backstage. He tells someone to get Batista whatever he wants. Carlito then introduces him to one of the members of the board of directors. Not sure where they got this lady, but she is awful. Carlito says the board of directors is waiting to see what happens with Batista before making their decision.
It is now time for the first round of the rookie diva contest. Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson are on their way to the ring. Out first is Joy Giovanni and I guess this is the evening gown part of the contest. Rochelle Loewen is next. I have 0 recollection of her. Lauren Jones is up next. I vaguely remember her. Michelle McCool is the last contestant. This is thrilling TV.
Heidenreich vs. Booker T
Before the match, Heidenreich reads us a poem. Someone in 2005 thought this was a match people would actually feel good about paying to watch. Heidenreich looks really stiff here. Booker ducks a clothesline and hits a kick to the jaw. Heidenreich somehow bounces back and hits a powerslam and a running clothesline. Booker then gets his shoulder rammed into the ring post. Spinebuster by Booker and both men are slow to get up. Booker sort of hits a kick and now it's Spinaroonie time. Booker sidesteps Heidenreich and he is over the top rope to the floor. Heidenreich grabs a chair and slams it into Booker's throat and that's all for that one. Heidenreich rolls Booker in and is trying to pin him. Get it? Because he's crazy. That was such a useless match that did nothing for either guy. There's no way they couldn't have saved that for TV.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Rey and Eddie are in the back celebrating and here comes John Cena. Eddie asks for a moment alone with John.. Eddie then gives a speech about how big the opportunity to main event WrestleMania is. Eddie tells him to make sure to not tap.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Cruiserweight Open
Paul London vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore vs. Spike Dudley vs. Akio vs. Funaki
This is basically a gauntlet match where the other competitors are at ringside rather than in the back. London and Funaki are the first two. You can already tell how short this match is going to be. Funaki was in control, but Spike hit Funaki with a knee in the back, causing him to get rolled up and eliminated. Spike is next and Funaki interferes and London gets the victory. Moore is next and he goes for some quick pins, but no dice. Moore throws London into the turnbuckle face first a couple times, but then misses a corkscrew off the top. 450 splash by London and Moore is gone. Here comes Akio. Swinging neckbreaker off the top rope in a nice spot and both men are down. Akio is not able to get to his feet and is counted out, which leaves Chavo and London. Chavo goes immediately for a pin, but London kicks out. Post-Los Guerreros Chavo always seemed pretty lost in the shuffle. He had an ok run as ECW Champion, but the rest of the time it was mostly stuff like this. Full Nelson suplex into a bridge almost gets London the victory. London rolls up Chavo, but it gets reversed and Chavo grabs the ropes and steals the victory. That was just a match that wasn't able to really showcase anyone due to the structure of the match. I guess if anything it showed that they somewhat care about Paul London.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show Big Show in the back just thinking, as they try to hype the barbed wire cage match There are 3 ways to win the match; pinfall, submission, escaping the cage.
The second round of the rookie diva contest is starting. This is the talent portion of the contest. Dawn Marie is so bad. Joy's talent is giving massages and offers one up to Torrie. She gives a pretty horrible excuse for a massage full of innuendo. Rochelle's up with "jokes" and asks a lame joke and then is told to stop. Lauren does a dance, which looks like a lame jazzercise routine. Michelle body slams Dawn for her talent. Can you imagine something like this now?
JBL is back with Josh Matthews. He rambles on about nothing and basically reassures that he is a wrestling god.
Luther Reigns vs. Undertaker
Reigns couldn't have come out to less of a reaction if the arena was empty. Mark Jindrak wants to be part of this match, which leads to Brian Hebner ejecting him. Undertaker comes out striking right away. Taker ducks for a back body drop, but Reigns sees it coming. Big boot by Taker gets him a 2 count. Reigns exposes the turnbuckle. Reigns goes to hit Taker's head into the corner, but the attempt is blocked. This match was not a good choice to watch when you are dead tired. Taker hits a nice legdrop to Reigns who was dragged over the apron. Reigns hits Taker with a low blow behind the refs back. This match, no joke has put me to sleep 3 times already. Taker hits the Tombstone and of course Taker wins this pointless match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
This is the final round of the rookie diva contest, which of course is the bathing suit round. They go to a weird close up of Joy when Rochelle was out there. Not sure what went on there. Joy wins the voting with a whopping 65%. What an honor.
#1 Contender Tournament Finals
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Although he's had a few big matches to date, this was definitely his most important to date. Michael Cole keeps saying pound and ground instead of ground and pound. It's driving me nuts. Cena shows some fire early on, but Angle eventually took back control and hit a German suplex into the turnbuckle. Cena tries to fight back, but Angle counters and hits the 3 Germans. Cena hits a shoulder tackle and a spinebuster, but can only get a 2 count. The crowd seems a little hesitant with it being in Angle's hometown. Later in the year, the booing would begin. Angle rolls through and gets Cena into the Ankle Lock, but Cena throws Angle through the ropes. Cena goes up top and hits a leg drop onto Angle as he is walking into the ring. Cena hits the FU, but Angle kicks out. I don't think many people had kicked out of that move prior to this one. Angle then takes out Cena by the leg and is now focusing all of his attention on that. I'm not sure any wrestler that I can remember is better than Angle than focusing on a body part. Angle puts Cena in the Ankle Lock again and gets the rope, but Angle pulls him off and back into the center of the ring. Cena fights back and gets the rope with two hands this time and Angle has to break the hold. Angle puts him back in it again, even though Cena has the ropes still. The ref tries to get Angle off of him and then Charles Robinson gets knocked out. The crowd starts chanting "HBK", but thankfully they did not have him come down. Cena hits the FU and gets the victory. There wasn't much doubt regarding the outcome, but both guys did a good job of making it feel like it could go either way. Cena looked really good here and it was obvious he was ready to get the opportunity. Good match.
Match Rating: ***3/4
They show backstage and Batista is still not there.
WWE Championship Match
Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match
JBL vs. Big Show
JBL has the early advantage and he keeps trying to climb and see if there is an opening somewhere, which seems pretty stupid. JBL throws Big Show's head off the beam and Show has been busted open. JBL removes one of the turnbuckles and then chokes Big Show with one of the tag ropes. Show is able to turn the tide after a kick and is now trying to bust JBL open. Orlando Jordan is now climbing the cage while the Bashams are trying to cut open the cage. Out comes Teddy Long and he tells them to head to the back. However, OJ left the bolt cutters in the ring and JBL uses them and only gets a 2 count. Both men are bleeding badly, but it still doesn't feel like that physical of a match with all things considered. Throw in the fact that there isn't one person in the arena who actually thinks Big Show will win this match. JBL hits Show with a low blow and a boot to the face, but that only gets 2 as well. Both men are on the top rope and Show is bashing JBL into the top beam. Big Show then hits JBL with a chokeslam from the top rope and JBL goes through the ring. Big Show is kind of left with only one option to win and that is to leave the ring. Big Show decides to try and bust out of the locked door. He breaks the chain and is on his way out and begins celebrating before he steps foot on the floor. The bell rings and they announce JBL as the winner. They then cut to JBL on the floor. Clever finish, but just an meh match. They tried to make it feel like a classic old school brawl, but it was just too slow and didn't have the heat. They show the replay of JBL crawling out of the ring. The Bashams and OJ are taking out Big Show and out comes Batista. He takes care of the Cabinet and out comes Cena to take care of JBL.
Match Rating: **
Well, at least it had a hot ending because otherwise this was definitely not a good show. There was way too much filler and unfortunately Angle and Cena's really good match was not enough to save it. The diva stuff was insulting to everyone's intelligence and too many of the matches felt like filler. Not every pay-per-view is going to be a classic, and that's fine. But if you are going to run this many shows, you have to be able to produce a better product than what we got here. Thankfully, the majority of 2005 was pretty solid.
Overall Rating: 39%
Mellon Arena
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Follow me on Twitter:@WorkTheNetwork2
We get a very brief video hyping up the barbed wire steel cage match, which is fitting since they hardly built it on SmackDown the past few weeks. The announcers emphasize that Batista will be in attendance tonight.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Rey Mysterio & Eddie Guerrero vs. The Basham Brothers
After a nice pop for Eddie and Rey, the crowd goes dead for the Bashams entrance. If you can't get a reaction in the opening match of a pay-per-view, you're doing something wrong. Eddie and Rey get in a short flurry of offense before the Bashams start their heat segment. Eddie rolls out of the way of a top rope elbow and tags in Mysterio. Springboard crossbody gets a 2 count. The Bashams regain control after Danny Basham cheats by switching with his brother. Doug goes for a superplex, but Rey blocks it and hits a moonsault that almost gets the victory. Eddie get in trouble for tying two tag ropes together, which is classic Eddie. Rey leaps and rolls all over the ring and is able to get the tag to Eddie who hits a headscissor/arm drag combo. The Bashams hit one of the sloppier double chokeslams you will see. They go for a double suplex, but Rey clips one of their legs and Eddie rolls into a small package for a 2 count. Eddie grabs one of the tag belts, but Rey tells him not to. Eddie goes up top and rolls through as he saw Basham was moving. Eddie then pretends to lay there as if he was hurt and rolls him into a 2 count. Danny tosses the belt to Edddie who tosses it to Doug, which causes the ref to get rid of it. Eddie gets the other belt and nails him with it and gets the victory to a good pop. The first few minutes were pretty paint by the numbers, but the last 5 minutes were golden.
Match Rating: *** (out of 5)
Teddy Long shows off his horrible acting ability backstage. He tells someone to get Batista whatever he wants. Carlito then introduces him to one of the members of the board of directors. Not sure where they got this lady, but she is awful. Carlito says the board of directors is waiting to see what happens with Batista before making their decision.
It is now time for the first round of the rookie diva contest. Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson are on their way to the ring. Out first is Joy Giovanni and I guess this is the evening gown part of the contest. Rochelle Loewen is next. I have 0 recollection of her. Lauren Jones is up next. I vaguely remember her. Michelle McCool is the last contestant. This is thrilling TV.
Heidenreich vs. Booker T
Before the match, Heidenreich reads us a poem. Someone in 2005 thought this was a match people would actually feel good about paying to watch. Heidenreich looks really stiff here. Booker ducks a clothesline and hits a kick to the jaw. Heidenreich somehow bounces back and hits a powerslam and a running clothesline. Booker then gets his shoulder rammed into the ring post. Spinebuster by Booker and both men are slow to get up. Booker sort of hits a kick and now it's Spinaroonie time. Booker sidesteps Heidenreich and he is over the top rope to the floor. Heidenreich grabs a chair and slams it into Booker's throat and that's all for that one. Heidenreich rolls Booker in and is trying to pin him. Get it? Because he's crazy. That was such a useless match that did nothing for either guy. There's no way they couldn't have saved that for TV.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Rey and Eddie are in the back celebrating and here comes John Cena. Eddie asks for a moment alone with John.. Eddie then gives a speech about how big the opportunity to main event WrestleMania is. Eddie tells him to make sure to not tap.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Cruiserweight Open
Paul London vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore vs. Spike Dudley vs. Akio vs. Funaki
This is basically a gauntlet match where the other competitors are at ringside rather than in the back. London and Funaki are the first two. You can already tell how short this match is going to be. Funaki was in control, but Spike hit Funaki with a knee in the back, causing him to get rolled up and eliminated. Spike is next and Funaki interferes and London gets the victory. Moore is next and he goes for some quick pins, but no dice. Moore throws London into the turnbuckle face first a couple times, but then misses a corkscrew off the top. 450 splash by London and Moore is gone. Here comes Akio. Swinging neckbreaker off the top rope in a nice spot and both men are down. Akio is not able to get to his feet and is counted out, which leaves Chavo and London. Chavo goes immediately for a pin, but London kicks out. Post-Los Guerreros Chavo always seemed pretty lost in the shuffle. He had an ok run as ECW Champion, but the rest of the time it was mostly stuff like this. Full Nelson suplex into a bridge almost gets London the victory. London rolls up Chavo, but it gets reversed and Chavo grabs the ropes and steals the victory. That was just a match that wasn't able to really showcase anyone due to the structure of the match. I guess if anything it showed that they somewhat care about Paul London.
Match Rating: *1/2
They show Big Show in the back just thinking, as they try to hype the barbed wire cage match There are 3 ways to win the match; pinfall, submission, escaping the cage.
The second round of the rookie diva contest is starting. This is the talent portion of the contest. Dawn Marie is so bad. Joy's talent is giving massages and offers one up to Torrie. She gives a pretty horrible excuse for a massage full of innuendo. Rochelle's up with "jokes" and asks a lame joke and then is told to stop. Lauren does a dance, which looks like a lame jazzercise routine. Michelle body slams Dawn for her talent. Can you imagine something like this now?
JBL is back with Josh Matthews. He rambles on about nothing and basically reassures that he is a wrestling god.
Luther Reigns vs. Undertaker
Reigns couldn't have come out to less of a reaction if the arena was empty. Mark Jindrak wants to be part of this match, which leads to Brian Hebner ejecting him. Undertaker comes out striking right away. Taker ducks for a back body drop, but Reigns sees it coming. Big boot by Taker gets him a 2 count. Reigns exposes the turnbuckle. Reigns goes to hit Taker's head into the corner, but the attempt is blocked. This match was not a good choice to watch when you are dead tired. Taker hits a nice legdrop to Reigns who was dragged over the apron. Reigns hits Taker with a low blow behind the refs back. This match, no joke has put me to sleep 3 times already. Taker hits the Tombstone and of course Taker wins this pointless match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
This is the final round of the rookie diva contest, which of course is the bathing suit round. They go to a weird close up of Joy when Rochelle was out there. Not sure what went on there. Joy wins the voting with a whopping 65%. What an honor.
#1 Contender Tournament Finals
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle
Although he's had a few big matches to date, this was definitely his most important to date. Michael Cole keeps saying pound and ground instead of ground and pound. It's driving me nuts. Cena shows some fire early on, but Angle eventually took back control and hit a German suplex into the turnbuckle. Cena tries to fight back, but Angle counters and hits the 3 Germans. Cena hits a shoulder tackle and a spinebuster, but can only get a 2 count. The crowd seems a little hesitant with it being in Angle's hometown. Later in the year, the booing would begin. Angle rolls through and gets Cena into the Ankle Lock, but Cena throws Angle through the ropes. Cena goes up top and hits a leg drop onto Angle as he is walking into the ring. Cena hits the FU, but Angle kicks out. I don't think many people had kicked out of that move prior to this one. Angle then takes out Cena by the leg and is now focusing all of his attention on that. I'm not sure any wrestler that I can remember is better than Angle than focusing on a body part. Angle puts Cena in the Ankle Lock again and gets the rope, but Angle pulls him off and back into the center of the ring. Cena fights back and gets the rope with two hands this time and Angle has to break the hold. Angle puts him back in it again, even though Cena has the ropes still. The ref tries to get Angle off of him and then Charles Robinson gets knocked out. The crowd starts chanting "HBK", but thankfully they did not have him come down. Cena hits the FU and gets the victory. There wasn't much doubt regarding the outcome, but both guys did a good job of making it feel like it could go either way. Cena looked really good here and it was obvious he was ready to get the opportunity. Good match.
Match Rating: ***3/4
They show backstage and Batista is still not there.
WWE Championship Match
Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match
JBL vs. Big Show
JBL has the early advantage and he keeps trying to climb and see if there is an opening somewhere, which seems pretty stupid. JBL throws Big Show's head off the beam and Show has been busted open. JBL removes one of the turnbuckles and then chokes Big Show with one of the tag ropes. Show is able to turn the tide after a kick and is now trying to bust JBL open. Orlando Jordan is now climbing the cage while the Bashams are trying to cut open the cage. Out comes Teddy Long and he tells them to head to the back. However, OJ left the bolt cutters in the ring and JBL uses them and only gets a 2 count. Both men are bleeding badly, but it still doesn't feel like that physical of a match with all things considered. Throw in the fact that there isn't one person in the arena who actually thinks Big Show will win this match. JBL hits Show with a low blow and a boot to the face, but that only gets 2 as well. Both men are on the top rope and Show is bashing JBL into the top beam. Big Show then hits JBL with a chokeslam from the top rope and JBL goes through the ring. Big Show is kind of left with only one option to win and that is to leave the ring. Big Show decides to try and bust out of the locked door. He breaks the chain and is on his way out and begins celebrating before he steps foot on the floor. The bell rings and they announce JBL as the winner. They then cut to JBL on the floor. Clever finish, but just an meh match. They tried to make it feel like a classic old school brawl, but it was just too slow and didn't have the heat. They show the replay of JBL crawling out of the ring. The Bashams and OJ are taking out Big Show and out comes Batista. He takes care of the Cabinet and out comes Cena to take care of JBL.
Match Rating: **
Well, at least it had a hot ending because otherwise this was definitely not a good show. There was way too much filler and unfortunately Angle and Cena's really good match was not enough to save it. The diva stuff was insulting to everyone's intelligence and too many of the matches felt like filler. Not every pay-per-view is going to be a classic, and that's fine. But if you are going to run this many shows, you have to be able to produce a better product than what we got here. Thankfully, the majority of 2005 was pretty solid.
Overall Rating: 39%
Monday, April 22, 2019
NXT 9-19-12 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, September 19th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
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Trent Barreta vs. Johnny Curtis
All right, I always liked both of these guys, especially Trent. We get a solid little back and forth sequence to start it off, until Curtis starts working on the recovered tricep of Barreta. Barreta was out for 6 months with the injury. Curtis sets up Trent for the superplex, but Trent covers and hits a sunset flip powerbomb and gets a 2 count. He didn't hit that quite as crisply as he probably hoped for. Step up enzuigiri by Barreta and then a leaping elbow into the corner. Barreta climbs to the top rope and hits Curtis with a moonsault. Barreta's tricep is hurting and his hesitation allows Curtis to his a suplex into the turnbuckles. Curtis is now up top, but misses with the leg drop. Running knee by Barreta and he gets the victory. Barreta looked a little off, but this was still a decent little match.
Match Rating: **1/4 (Out of 5)
Alicia Fox vs. Paige
Paige goes for a bunch of pinfalls at the beginning, but none of them score the victory. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Fox, which may be the best move I have seen her pull off. Northern Lights suplex by Fox into a bridge for a 2 count. Fox is looking as crisp as I can remember. Paige fights back and hits the RamPaige for the victory.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Jimmy Uso vs. Conor O'Brian
Lots of headlocks by O'Brian. Uso gets up top, but Kenneth Cameron pulls him down. Conor hits a dropkick and gets the victory. This feud seems to be going nowhere. After the match The Ascension attack Jey Uso.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Bo Dallas is backstage about to do an interview, but Michael McGillicutty interrupts. Dallas attacks him and they have to be pulled apart.
NXT Sparring Session
Kassius Ohno vs. Oliver Grey
This was so quick, that I didn't even get much of a chance to gather enough words to form a sentence. Ohno wins by submission. Ohno says that it was easier than expected, so he is giving him another chance. He hits the spinning elbow and then gets him to submit a second time. This causes Richie Steamboat to come out and Ohno heads to the back. This was just an angle.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get a Leo Kruger vignette of him trying to be creepy.
Rick Viktor vs. Seth Rollins
This is a non-title match. I actually did not know that Victor trained with the Harts. Rollins goes for a suicide dive, but Victor hits a forearm before he can leap. Suplex by Victor and a 2 count. Victor is biting himself and the commentary team just can't get enough of it. Rollins fights out of chinlock, but eventually gets knocked out by a knee to the face. Victor goes for an elbow to the corner, but Rollins gets his knees up. After a slap, Rollins just destroys Victor. Rollins is now setting up an elbow and then a dropkick. Blackout and that's all for Victor. Victor got some moves in, but that was just a short showcase for Rollins.
Match Rating: *
Well, they continue to be in kind of a rut still. I liked the opener enough and the main event did an okay job of making Rollins look good. However, there just wasn't enough to this episode to make me really want to like it.
Overall Rating: 31%
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Trent Barreta vs. Johnny Curtis
All right, I always liked both of these guys, especially Trent. We get a solid little back and forth sequence to start it off, until Curtis starts working on the recovered tricep of Barreta. Barreta was out for 6 months with the injury. Curtis sets up Trent for the superplex, but Trent covers and hits a sunset flip powerbomb and gets a 2 count. He didn't hit that quite as crisply as he probably hoped for. Step up enzuigiri by Barreta and then a leaping elbow into the corner. Barreta climbs to the top rope and hits Curtis with a moonsault. Barreta's tricep is hurting and his hesitation allows Curtis to his a suplex into the turnbuckles. Curtis is now up top, but misses with the leg drop. Running knee by Barreta and he gets the victory. Barreta looked a little off, but this was still a decent little match.
Match Rating: **1/4 (Out of 5)
Alicia Fox vs. Paige
Paige goes for a bunch of pinfalls at the beginning, but none of them score the victory. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Fox, which may be the best move I have seen her pull off. Northern Lights suplex by Fox into a bridge for a 2 count. Fox is looking as crisp as I can remember. Paige fights back and hits the RamPaige for the victory.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Jimmy Uso vs. Conor O'Brian
Lots of headlocks by O'Brian. Uso gets up top, but Kenneth Cameron pulls him down. Conor hits a dropkick and gets the victory. This feud seems to be going nowhere. After the match The Ascension attack Jey Uso.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Bo Dallas is backstage about to do an interview, but Michael McGillicutty interrupts. Dallas attacks him and they have to be pulled apart.
NXT Sparring Session
Kassius Ohno vs. Oliver Grey
This was so quick, that I didn't even get much of a chance to gather enough words to form a sentence. Ohno wins by submission. Ohno says that it was easier than expected, so he is giving him another chance. He hits the spinning elbow and then gets him to submit a second time. This causes Richie Steamboat to come out and Ohno heads to the back. This was just an angle.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get a Leo Kruger vignette of him trying to be creepy.
Rick Viktor vs. Seth Rollins
This is a non-title match. I actually did not know that Victor trained with the Harts. Rollins goes for a suicide dive, but Victor hits a forearm before he can leap. Suplex by Victor and a 2 count. Victor is biting himself and the commentary team just can't get enough of it. Rollins fights out of chinlock, but eventually gets knocked out by a knee to the face. Victor goes for an elbow to the corner, but Rollins gets his knees up. After a slap, Rollins just destroys Victor. Rollins is now setting up an elbow and then a dropkick. Blackout and that's all for Victor. Victor got some moves in, but that was just a short showcase for Rollins.
Match Rating: *
Well, they continue to be in kind of a rut still. I liked the opener enough and the main event did an okay job of making Rollins look good. However, there just wasn't enough to this episode to make me really want to like it.
Overall Rating: 31%
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Superstars 7-25-92 Review
Original Airdate: Saturday, July 25th, 1992
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
How is it that Vince McMahon looked older in 1992 than he did in the Austin era? Oh god, another Nailz match today.
Tatanka vs. Peter Motts
Tatanka brings Motts in the hard way and hits an atomic drop. Tatanka at times seems to have to really think about what move he is going to do next. He starts doing a war dance and hits Motts with some chops. He hits the Samoan Drop and gets the pinfall victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Body Star Wars as his WBF stars take on Mr. Perfects WWF stars in tug of war. Nothing reels in viewers quite like tug of war.
Mean Gene is here with Update. Big news this week as the Natural Disasters are the new WWF Tag Team Champions. They flashback to the night that it happened and Gene is trying to get a word with Money, Inc. but they are too upset. The Disasters say they will defend their titles anytime.
Phil Apollo vs. Shawn Michaels
Future Doink the Clown here gets to take on the GOAT. Swinging neckbreaker and a dropkick by Michaels. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music and then his suplex finisher for the victory. Apollo about 20 months later would be fighting Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon at WrestleMania.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon throws a guy in a water fountain and talks really slow.
Sean Mooney in the Event Center. HIGH ENERGY! Owen sticks to calling the Nasty Boys fat boys. They show the same "I hate summer" promo for Repo Man. It was that good that they had to show it again.
SummerSlam Report with Mean Gene. These were always the #1 reason that I watched Superstars. We have some new matches announced. British Bulldog will be challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. Bret spills the beans and lets us know that Bulldog is married to his sister. Kamala is also going to take on Undertaker. It's so weird how these matches seemingly had no backstory whatsoever. Rick Martel is going to take on Shawn Michaels. Martel calls Sherri a truck stop beauty queen.
Jason Speed vs. Nailz
Let's get this one over with. Nailz pretends to put his hands up on the wall and lets the ref check for weapons. Nailz chokes Speed and slams him on the back of his head. Speed gets thrown off the ropes and he doesn't seem like he's very good at that, as he barely turns around as he hits the rope. Nailz then chokes him out for the win. McMahon thinks Nailz looks like a giant orangutan. All righty then. After the match Nailz chokes Speed with the nightstick. They bring out a stretcher for Speed.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center. Berzerker says that he is the toughest wrestler in the WWF and still is cutting promos on the Undertaker. The Mountie gives his Great American Scream Machine promo again. So of the Event Center promos that we got (High Energy, Repo Man, Mountie and Berzerker), only Repo got a SummerSlam match.
Mean Gene now introduces Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man down for the face to face interview. Warrior rambles on as only he can and is really hamming it up with his voice. Savage is just so much better than Warrior on the mic here, but the dynamic works well enough. Flair and Perfect make their way to the ring. Flair says he's the best in the WWF and that he's beaten up guys with face paint up his entire career. Perfect does a mediocre Macho impression and calls him the Macho chicken. Savage charges the ring and attacks Flair. However, Flair and Perfect gain control and then Warrior comes down to make the save. Warrior then picks up the belt and then Savage takes it away. They begin to start pushing each other, but WWF officials are trying to pull them apart.
Red Tyler & Chris Duffy vs. The Beverly Brothers
I always liked Blake Beverly. Double hip toss on Duffy and he tags in Tyler. Beau hits some suplexes and then they hit their scary finisher and get the victory quickly. Everything about the Beverly's is bad except their in ring work. After the match, Tyler gets his face painted and chest painted with "LOS" on it. They are still trying to make that a thing.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more time in the Event Center with Mooney. Papa Shango cuts a promo on Ultimate Warrior. How did this make any sense to me as a kid? Big Boss Man is wearing a sharp new hat and says that he stands for justice and that Nailz will serve hard time.
Next week we get Bret Hart, Nasty Boys, an interview with Undertaker, Papa Shango and Legion of Doom.
Well at least that show had something important on it with the Warrior/Savage/Flair segment. The rest was the typical, but they did also have the announcement of three more matches at SummerSlam. I'll take it.
Overall Rating: 37%
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York
How is it that Vince McMahon looked older in 1992 than he did in the Austin era? Oh god, another Nailz match today.
Tatanka vs. Peter Motts
Tatanka brings Motts in the hard way and hits an atomic drop. Tatanka at times seems to have to really think about what move he is going to do next. He starts doing a war dance and hits Motts with some chops. He hits the Samoan Drop and gets the pinfall victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Body Star Wars as his WBF stars take on Mr. Perfects WWF stars in tug of war. Nothing reels in viewers quite like tug of war.
Mean Gene is here with Update. Big news this week as the Natural Disasters are the new WWF Tag Team Champions. They flashback to the night that it happened and Gene is trying to get a word with Money, Inc. but they are too upset. The Disasters say they will defend their titles anytime.
Phil Apollo vs. Shawn Michaels
Future Doink the Clown here gets to take on the GOAT. Swinging neckbreaker and a dropkick by Michaels. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music and then his suplex finisher for the victory. Apollo about 20 months later would be fighting Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon at WrestleMania.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Razor Ramon throws a guy in a water fountain and talks really slow.
Sean Mooney in the Event Center. HIGH ENERGY! Owen sticks to calling the Nasty Boys fat boys. They show the same "I hate summer" promo for Repo Man. It was that good that they had to show it again.
SummerSlam Report with Mean Gene. These were always the #1 reason that I watched Superstars. We have some new matches announced. British Bulldog will be challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. Bret spills the beans and lets us know that Bulldog is married to his sister. Kamala is also going to take on Undertaker. It's so weird how these matches seemingly had no backstory whatsoever. Rick Martel is going to take on Shawn Michaels. Martel calls Sherri a truck stop beauty queen.
Jason Speed vs. Nailz
Let's get this one over with. Nailz pretends to put his hands up on the wall and lets the ref check for weapons. Nailz chokes Speed and slams him on the back of his head. Speed gets thrown off the ropes and he doesn't seem like he's very good at that, as he barely turns around as he hits the rope. Nailz then chokes him out for the win. McMahon thinks Nailz looks like a giant orangutan. All righty then. After the match Nailz chokes Speed with the nightstick. They bring out a stretcher for Speed.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Back to the Event Center. Berzerker says that he is the toughest wrestler in the WWF and still is cutting promos on the Undertaker. The Mountie gives his Great American Scream Machine promo again. So of the Event Center promos that we got (High Energy, Repo Man, Mountie and Berzerker), only Repo got a SummerSlam match.
Mean Gene now introduces Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man down for the face to face interview. Warrior rambles on as only he can and is really hamming it up with his voice. Savage is just so much better than Warrior on the mic here, but the dynamic works well enough. Flair and Perfect make their way to the ring. Flair says he's the best in the WWF and that he's beaten up guys with face paint up his entire career. Perfect does a mediocre Macho impression and calls him the Macho chicken. Savage charges the ring and attacks Flair. However, Flair and Perfect gain control and then Warrior comes down to make the save. Warrior then picks up the belt and then Savage takes it away. They begin to start pushing each other, but WWF officials are trying to pull them apart.
Red Tyler & Chris Duffy vs. The Beverly Brothers
I always liked Blake Beverly. Double hip toss on Duffy and he tags in Tyler. Beau hits some suplexes and then they hit their scary finisher and get the victory quickly. Everything about the Beverly's is bad except their in ring work. After the match, Tyler gets his face painted and chest painted with "LOS" on it. They are still trying to make that a thing.
Match Rating: 1/4*
One more time in the Event Center with Mooney. Papa Shango cuts a promo on Ultimate Warrior. How did this make any sense to me as a kid? Big Boss Man is wearing a sharp new hat and says that he stands for justice and that Nailz will serve hard time.
Next week we get Bret Hart, Nasty Boys, an interview with Undertaker, Papa Shango and Legion of Doom.
Well at least that show had something important on it with the Warrior/Savage/Flair segment. The rest was the typical, but they did also have the announcement of three more matches at SummerSlam. I'll take it.
Overall Rating: 37%
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
SmackDown 2-17-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, February 17th, 2005
Gund Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Rey Mysterio vs. Doug Basham
Before the match, Mysterio grabs the mic and sounds more confident than normal. Rey blames the Bashams for taking out his partner, Rob Van Dam. He says he has found a new partner and at No Way Out they will take their championships away. He announces Eddie Guerrero as his new partner to a good pop. After interference from his brother, Doug takes it to Mysterio, hitting a nice suplex along the way. Mysterio gets some offense in and hits a 619 while Doug was tripped by Eddie and picks up the victory. That was a pretty unimportant match
Match Rating: *1/2
JBL and Orlando Jordan walk into Teddy Long's office. JBL is mad that Long isn't doing anything to stop Batista from coming to SmackDown. JBL denies that he tried to hit Batista with his limo and then blames Long. Long announces that Batista will be at No Way Out and that he hopes to sign Batista to SmackDown.
We get a highlight package of the No Way Out press conference.
Torrie Wilson is here to announce for the Cruiserweight match here.
Chavo Guerrero, Spike Dudley & Akio vs. Funaki, Paul London & Shannon Moore
Let's see if this one gets past the 5 minute mark. Moore gets a little bit of offense in, before Chavo tags in. Chavo works his way into the match and takes control back. All of a sudden the Diva music hits and they are holding signs with their names on it. The wrestler just kind of stand there and watch. Spike gets tagged in and hits the double stomp from the top rope. Funaki gets the hot tag and does a double tag team match with some sort of rules. London hits a dropsault, which has been one of my favorite moves for awhile. Moore and London do flips over the top rope in a well timed spot. Funaki gets the pin on Spike. Decent little match.
Match Rating: **
Booker T and Eddie Guerrero do a Pulp Fiction spoof.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Danny Gimondo
Before the match, Angle cuts a promo saying that he's going to his third straight WrestleMania main event. Dolph Ziggler and Kenny Dykstra are the police that accompanied Angle to the ring. Gimondo is a pretty good sized guy, who appears to have been a lifetime indy wrestler. In about the time it took me to write that last sentence, Angle hits the Angle Slam and Ankle Lock for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
John Cena comes out and he and Angle have a moment together.
WWE Championship Semifinal Match
John Cena vs. Booker T
These two never clicked for me, let's see if this match will change my mind. We already have a rest hold like two minutes into the match. Cena goes to a FU, but Booker is able to escape as we go to commercial break. Back from the break and Cena is back to a rest hold. Booker T then nails him with a kick to the jaw. Cena makes a comeback, but it's stalled when Booker throws him through the ropes. Booker hits Cena with a weak looking axe handle of the apron. Was there anyone who actually thought Cena wasn't winning this match? Irish whip and then a big scoop slam by Booker, as he moves into a headlock. Cena is able to hit a jumping shoulder tackle and then blocks Booker's punches and dishing out some of his own. Cena's little burst is cut short by a spinebuster from Booker. Booker goes for the scissors kick, but Cena moves and goes for the FU. Booker semi-blocks it and then hits him with a kick and gets a 2 count. Cena hits a FU out of nowhere and gets the victory. That match did not change my mind about their chemistry. Something about them just doesn't mesh.
Match Rating: **
JBL tells his cabinet that he has a plan. They then cut over to Big Show and says he has no thoughts about Batista coming to SmackDown.
Booker T is in the back and walks by Heidenreich sitting on the floor writing in his notebook and begins laughing at Booker. Booker makes fun of him and then they kind of just cut out of it.
Luther Reigns vs. Nunzio
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the ratings for this segment were not the highest of the night. Reigns is all over Nunzio. Reigns dumps him over the top rope to the apron and Nunzio looked as if he hit his face there on the way down. Reigns hits his spinning neckbreaker here. Reigns got all of the offense here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Luther then cuts a promo saying that the Undertaker intimidates everyone, but not him. It's nice that although Luther failed, his brother Roman picked up his slack years later at WrestleMania. The Undertakers music hits and out he comes.
Undertaker vs. Mark Jindrak
I can't believe they're giving this match away for free on TV. A main event in any city. Taker gives Reigns a big boot out to the apron. Taker then begins throwing fists on Jindrak. Taker flips over to Reigns and hits him with a clothesline. Jindrak gets in a minute or so of his offense, but then we get all of the "Vintage Undertaker". Reigns takes away a camera and climbs into the ring. Taker pins Jindrak and instead of breaking up the count, Reigns lets Taker win the match and then decides to hit him with the camera. Um, ok. After about 10 seconds, if that, Taker sits up. Yeah, no one cares about this.
Match Rating: *
Carlito walks into Teddy Long's office. They begin to argue and Long says that his main focus is to sign Batista and kicks him out of his office.
Cena is backstage with Josh Matthews and Kurt Angle interrupts. Angle brings up Cena's first match against Angle. Cena then says he is going to WrestleMania. Pretty basic stuff here.
JBL and his jobber stable are heading to the ring because Batista is here.
JBL denies that it was him trying to take down Batista on Raw. JBL calls out Batista and they show Batista pulling in to the back. Batista walks by JBL's limo and goes back to his car to grab a baseball bat. Batista is now destroying JBL's limo. For some reason this goes on for a really, really long time. The Cabinet goes to the back and Batista is gone. Big Show's music hits and he goes to fight the solo JBL. The Cabinet makes it back and helps JBL out, but then out comes Batista. Batista destroys the Cabinet. JBL retreats to the back and that's all she wrote.
That was a really bad episode. Nothing memorable happened and all of the matches weren't very good. I'd say that's a bad recipe for a sports entertainment show. That's also never really a great thing going into a pay per view, especially one that is as lukewarm as this one is. We'll see if that show is better than I remember.
Overall Rating: 36%
Gund Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Rey Mysterio vs. Doug Basham
Before the match, Mysterio grabs the mic and sounds more confident than normal. Rey blames the Bashams for taking out his partner, Rob Van Dam. He says he has found a new partner and at No Way Out they will take their championships away. He announces Eddie Guerrero as his new partner to a good pop. After interference from his brother, Doug takes it to Mysterio, hitting a nice suplex along the way. Mysterio gets some offense in and hits a 619 while Doug was tripped by Eddie and picks up the victory. That was a pretty unimportant match
Match Rating: *1/2
JBL and Orlando Jordan walk into Teddy Long's office. JBL is mad that Long isn't doing anything to stop Batista from coming to SmackDown. JBL denies that he tried to hit Batista with his limo and then blames Long. Long announces that Batista will be at No Way Out and that he hopes to sign Batista to SmackDown.
We get a highlight package of the No Way Out press conference.
Torrie Wilson is here to announce for the Cruiserweight match here.
Chavo Guerrero, Spike Dudley & Akio vs. Funaki, Paul London & Shannon Moore
Let's see if this one gets past the 5 minute mark. Moore gets a little bit of offense in, before Chavo tags in. Chavo works his way into the match and takes control back. All of a sudden the Diva music hits and they are holding signs with their names on it. The wrestler just kind of stand there and watch. Spike gets tagged in and hits the double stomp from the top rope. Funaki gets the hot tag and does a double tag team match with some sort of rules. London hits a dropsault, which has been one of my favorite moves for awhile. Moore and London do flips over the top rope in a well timed spot. Funaki gets the pin on Spike. Decent little match.
Match Rating: **
Booker T and Eddie Guerrero do a Pulp Fiction spoof.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Danny Gimondo
Before the match, Angle cuts a promo saying that he's going to his third straight WrestleMania main event. Dolph Ziggler and Kenny Dykstra are the police that accompanied Angle to the ring. Gimondo is a pretty good sized guy, who appears to have been a lifetime indy wrestler. In about the time it took me to write that last sentence, Angle hits the Angle Slam and Ankle Lock for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
John Cena comes out and he and Angle have a moment together.
WWE Championship Semifinal Match
John Cena vs. Booker T
These two never clicked for me, let's see if this match will change my mind. We already have a rest hold like two minutes into the match. Cena goes to a FU, but Booker is able to escape as we go to commercial break. Back from the break and Cena is back to a rest hold. Booker T then nails him with a kick to the jaw. Cena makes a comeback, but it's stalled when Booker throws him through the ropes. Booker hits Cena with a weak looking axe handle of the apron. Was there anyone who actually thought Cena wasn't winning this match? Irish whip and then a big scoop slam by Booker, as he moves into a headlock. Cena is able to hit a jumping shoulder tackle and then blocks Booker's punches and dishing out some of his own. Cena's little burst is cut short by a spinebuster from Booker. Booker goes for the scissors kick, but Cena moves and goes for the FU. Booker semi-blocks it and then hits him with a kick and gets a 2 count. Cena hits a FU out of nowhere and gets the victory. That match did not change my mind about their chemistry. Something about them just doesn't mesh.
Match Rating: **
JBL tells his cabinet that he has a plan. They then cut over to Big Show and says he has no thoughts about Batista coming to SmackDown.
Booker T is in the back and walks by Heidenreich sitting on the floor writing in his notebook and begins laughing at Booker. Booker makes fun of him and then they kind of just cut out of it.
Luther Reigns vs. Nunzio
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the ratings for this segment were not the highest of the night. Reigns is all over Nunzio. Reigns dumps him over the top rope to the apron and Nunzio looked as if he hit his face there on the way down. Reigns hits his spinning neckbreaker here. Reigns got all of the offense here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Luther then cuts a promo saying that the Undertaker intimidates everyone, but not him. It's nice that although Luther failed, his brother Roman picked up his slack years later at WrestleMania. The Undertakers music hits and out he comes.
Undertaker vs. Mark Jindrak
I can't believe they're giving this match away for free on TV. A main event in any city. Taker gives Reigns a big boot out to the apron. Taker then begins throwing fists on Jindrak. Taker flips over to Reigns and hits him with a clothesline. Jindrak gets in a minute or so of his offense, but then we get all of the "Vintage Undertaker". Reigns takes away a camera and climbs into the ring. Taker pins Jindrak and instead of breaking up the count, Reigns lets Taker win the match and then decides to hit him with the camera. Um, ok. After about 10 seconds, if that, Taker sits up. Yeah, no one cares about this.
Match Rating: *
Carlito walks into Teddy Long's office. They begin to argue and Long says that his main focus is to sign Batista and kicks him out of his office.
Cena is backstage with Josh Matthews and Kurt Angle interrupts. Angle brings up Cena's first match against Angle. Cena then says he is going to WrestleMania. Pretty basic stuff here.
JBL and his jobber stable are heading to the ring because Batista is here.
JBL denies that it was him trying to take down Batista on Raw. JBL calls out Batista and they show Batista pulling in to the back. Batista walks by JBL's limo and goes back to his car to grab a baseball bat. Batista is now destroying JBL's limo. For some reason this goes on for a really, really long time. The Cabinet goes to the back and Batista is gone. Big Show's music hits and he goes to fight the solo JBL. The Cabinet makes it back and helps JBL out, but then out comes Batista. Batista destroys the Cabinet. JBL retreats to the back and that's all she wrote.
That was a really bad episode. Nothing memorable happened and all of the matches weren't very good. I'd say that's a bad recipe for a sports entertainment show. That's also never really a great thing going into a pay per view, especially one that is as lukewarm as this one is. We'll see if that show is better than I remember.
Overall Rating: 36%
Monday, April 15, 2019
Monday Night Raw 2-14-05
Monday, February 14th, 2005
US Bank Arena
Cincinnati, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Chris Jericho is on his way to the ring for The Highlight Reel with his guest Candice Michelle, who was recently in the Go Daddy commercial. Remember when those were a thing? Candice is really not very good here. She teases a wardrobe malfunction and out comes Muhammad Hassan. And right on cue, the crowd starts chanting U-S-A. Hassan seems a little bit more comfortable here. This goes off the rails into offensively stupid territory pretty quickly here. Jericho calls Daivari Hassan's special little Valentine. Hassan then challenges Jericho as we go to commercial.
Chris Jericho vs. Muhammad Hassan
We are joined with the match in progress and Jericho is in control. A couple of big suplexes by Jericho, who then does the standing flex pin for a 1 count. Jericho rolls through to an attempt at the Walls of Jericho, but Hassan gets to the ropes. Springboard shoulder block by Jericho and a top rope cross body gets a 2 count. Daivari tries to lower the ropes, but Jericho catches himself and stomps on Daivari's hand. That distraction gives Hassan the opening and throws Jericho into the turnbuckle. Jericho fights out of a chinlock and hits Hassan with a jumping spin kick to the face. Hassan gets out of another Walls of Jericho attempt, but hits his version of the bulldog. Daivari distracts the ref, but Jericho hits him with a springboard dropkick. Hassan hits Jericho from behind with his reverse STO and gets the victory.
Match Rating: **1/4
Ric Flair and Triple H are backstage and Triple H is ready to fight JBL, who is supposedly on his way to the arena to go after Batista. Triple H asks Flair to tell Batista to focus on his match with Edge tonight and that he will take care of JBL.
They announce the next Hall of Fame inductee, Roddy Piper. As far as mid-80s WWF wrestling goes, that's a pretty stacked class.
Randy Orton is backstage with Stacy Kiebler and he's telling her about his dad. Stacy then asks Randy out on a date. Now Batista is backstage talking with Maria until Flair interrupts. Batista announces that he is going to make his decision after No Way Out as to who he will face at WrestleMania. Thrilling television right there.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Shelton Benjamin vs. Gene Snitsky
This is an odd pairing, but I suppose it is just a throwaway TV match. Stinger Splash by Shelton, but then goes for another, but Snitsky takes him down. Snitsky then hits his own splash to the corner and gets a 2 count. Snitsky up on the second rope, but misses with an elbow drop. Shelton hits a elbow drop off the top rope and almost gets a 3 count. Shelton then gets decapitated by a big boot from Snitsky. Shelton looks really good here, taking some nice bumps and hitting all of his offense with some crispness. Snitsky and Earl Hebner argue over the count seemingly forever until he charges Shelton, who flips him over the top rope. Snitsky grabs a chair and hits Shelton with a sickening and 100% unnecessary blow. I know I can only look at this through 2019 eyes, but I don't think 2005 me would have thought that was a good idea.
Match Rating: *1/4
World Tag Team Championship Match
La Resistance vs. William Regal & Tajiri
Tajiri goes to work on Grenier with some kicks and a few open hand slaps to the chest. Tajiri went for the Tarantula, but Grenier reverses it, but Tajiri turns that into a bulldog. La Resistance then hits him with a sloppy double team and have 0 heat here. It's safe to say their gimmick had run its course here. La Resistance controls the next minute or so until Tajiri hits his springboard elbow and gets the hot tag to Regal. Regal hits a running knee and they get the victory in an abrupt ending. The tag team division was running on empty in 2005.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Randy Orton vs. Christian
Christian would get my vote for Orton's best opponent. Christian gets in Orton's face and Orton goes after him. Orton is getting a lot female reactions from the crowd tonight. Orton is getting in just about all the offense here until Christian is able to flip over the top rope and then Tomko throws him into the steps. So the ref obviously had to hear that and then he also saw him laying next to the steps that were knocked over, but I guess that's not enough for him to call for a disqualification. After a close call, Orton fights back and throw's Christian face first into the turnbuckle, Bret Hart style. Orton then hits a really nice dropkick, clothesline and back body drop. Orton then destroys Christian's chest with some fists. Christian tries to get the turnbuckle cover off, which distracts the ref and Tomko levels Orton with a big boot, but Orton kicks out. Thumb to the eye by Christian, but Orton reverses the Unprettier with his reverse backbreaker. Orton signals for the RKO, but Christian reverses for an Unprettier who Orton turns into the RKO and a victory. Good match and the crowd was there for it from start to finish. Can't ask for much more than that on a Raw.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bischoff is on the phone talking to Teddy Long about JBL coming to Raw. Edge then walks in and is sick of everyone talking about Batista. Edge says that if Batista chooses to face JBL at WrestleMania, that he wants to be Triple H's opponent.
Trish Status is out to let us know that the Divas on Raw are trying to steal Trish's spotlight. Trish then calls out Christy Hemme. Christy finally comes out to mild applause. Trish mocks Christy's walk down to the ring. Trish announces that Christy is going to be posing in Playboy. They get into some embarrassingly bad 2005 era stuff, which causes Trish to slap Christy and head to the back. Christy had no business in this spot.
Simon Dean vs. Kane
Simon Dean talks about being worried about this match, but then insult the crowd by calling them Cinci-fatty. Kane then attacks him with a chokeslam. Dean tries to throw his protein power at Kane, but Kane knocks it out. Kane mocks Dean by doing push ups and then pulls Dean by his throat and gives him a chokeslam and gets the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Earlier tonight Shawn Michaels (dressed in a suit?) is met by Jonathan Coachman. He asks him about Kurt Angle and Shawn says that he should stay focused on his match at No Way Out.
Batista lets Triple H know that he will handle JBL by himself. Triple H tries to talk him out of it, but Batista is having none of that.
Chris Masters is finally making his debut next week. He would have been a 1992 Superstars favorite if he were born 15 years earlier.
Batista vs. Edge
Batista's entrance certainly doesn't have the same effect without the pyro. Triple H walks out about 30 seconds after Batista does. Edge gets in a little more offense than I was expecting here and then Batista swats him away. The crowd is still hesitant on Batista here. Edge truly wasn't 100% over as a heel at this time either, so that probably isn't helping. Edge reverses a spinebuster and turns it into a DDT. Edge goes for a spear, but Batista hits the spinebuster this time. Batista Bomb, but then Triple H comes in and pushes the ref down and shows Batista the Titan Tron that's showing JBL's limo. The ref calls for the bell and DQs Batista, as Evolution heads for the back.
Match Rating: *3/4
Triple H is in full cheese mode here as they show them walking back to find JBL. Batista then yells at Triple H and says he will be the one to take care of it. He's out there yelling for JBL and JBL's limo attempts to run over Batista, but Triple H is there to push him into a conveniently placed pile of garbage. Batista is fuming and declares that he will be going to SmackDown Thursday on his own.
There wasn't a whole lot of substance to this show, as pretty much everything on here was throwaway. However, we did get a really solid match between Christian and Orton and a fun opener with Jericho and Hassan. Batista and Edge was just filler to continue the Triple H/Batista story for WrestleMania. The rest was completely forgettable.
Overall Rating: 49%
US Bank Arena
Cincinnati, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Chris Jericho is on his way to the ring for The Highlight Reel with his guest Candice Michelle, who was recently in the Go Daddy commercial. Remember when those were a thing? Candice is really not very good here. She teases a wardrobe malfunction and out comes Muhammad Hassan. And right on cue, the crowd starts chanting U-S-A. Hassan seems a little bit more comfortable here. This goes off the rails into offensively stupid territory pretty quickly here. Jericho calls Daivari Hassan's special little Valentine. Hassan then challenges Jericho as we go to commercial.
Chris Jericho vs. Muhammad Hassan
We are joined with the match in progress and Jericho is in control. A couple of big suplexes by Jericho, who then does the standing flex pin for a 1 count. Jericho rolls through to an attempt at the Walls of Jericho, but Hassan gets to the ropes. Springboard shoulder block by Jericho and a top rope cross body gets a 2 count. Daivari tries to lower the ropes, but Jericho catches himself and stomps on Daivari's hand. That distraction gives Hassan the opening and throws Jericho into the turnbuckle. Jericho fights out of a chinlock and hits Hassan with a jumping spin kick to the face. Hassan gets out of another Walls of Jericho attempt, but hits his version of the bulldog. Daivari distracts the ref, but Jericho hits him with a springboard dropkick. Hassan hits Jericho from behind with his reverse STO and gets the victory.
Match Rating: **1/4
Ric Flair and Triple H are backstage and Triple H is ready to fight JBL, who is supposedly on his way to the arena to go after Batista. Triple H asks Flair to tell Batista to focus on his match with Edge tonight and that he will take care of JBL.
They announce the next Hall of Fame inductee, Roddy Piper. As far as mid-80s WWF wrestling goes, that's a pretty stacked class.
Randy Orton is backstage with Stacy Kiebler and he's telling her about his dad. Stacy then asks Randy out on a date. Now Batista is backstage talking with Maria until Flair interrupts. Batista announces that he is going to make his decision after No Way Out as to who he will face at WrestleMania. Thrilling television right there.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Shelton Benjamin vs. Gene Snitsky
This is an odd pairing, but I suppose it is just a throwaway TV match. Stinger Splash by Shelton, but then goes for another, but Snitsky takes him down. Snitsky then hits his own splash to the corner and gets a 2 count. Snitsky up on the second rope, but misses with an elbow drop. Shelton hits a elbow drop off the top rope and almost gets a 3 count. Shelton then gets decapitated by a big boot from Snitsky. Shelton looks really good here, taking some nice bumps and hitting all of his offense with some crispness. Snitsky and Earl Hebner argue over the count seemingly forever until he charges Shelton, who flips him over the top rope. Snitsky grabs a chair and hits Shelton with a sickening and 100% unnecessary blow. I know I can only look at this through 2019 eyes, but I don't think 2005 me would have thought that was a good idea.
Match Rating: *1/4
World Tag Team Championship Match
La Resistance vs. William Regal & Tajiri
Tajiri goes to work on Grenier with some kicks and a few open hand slaps to the chest. Tajiri went for the Tarantula, but Grenier reverses it, but Tajiri turns that into a bulldog. La Resistance then hits him with a sloppy double team and have 0 heat here. It's safe to say their gimmick had run its course here. La Resistance controls the next minute or so until Tajiri hits his springboard elbow and gets the hot tag to Regal. Regal hits a running knee and they get the victory in an abrupt ending. The tag team division was running on empty in 2005.
Match Rating: 1/2*
Randy Orton vs. Christian
Christian would get my vote for Orton's best opponent. Christian gets in Orton's face and Orton goes after him. Orton is getting a lot female reactions from the crowd tonight. Orton is getting in just about all the offense here until Christian is able to flip over the top rope and then Tomko throws him into the steps. So the ref obviously had to hear that and then he also saw him laying next to the steps that were knocked over, but I guess that's not enough for him to call for a disqualification. After a close call, Orton fights back and throw's Christian face first into the turnbuckle, Bret Hart style. Orton then hits a really nice dropkick, clothesline and back body drop. Orton then destroys Christian's chest with some fists. Christian tries to get the turnbuckle cover off, which distracts the ref and Tomko levels Orton with a big boot, but Orton kicks out. Thumb to the eye by Christian, but Orton reverses the Unprettier with his reverse backbreaker. Orton signals for the RKO, but Christian reverses for an Unprettier who Orton turns into the RKO and a victory. Good match and the crowd was there for it from start to finish. Can't ask for much more than that on a Raw.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bischoff is on the phone talking to Teddy Long about JBL coming to Raw. Edge then walks in and is sick of everyone talking about Batista. Edge says that if Batista chooses to face JBL at WrestleMania, that he wants to be Triple H's opponent.
Trish Status is out to let us know that the Divas on Raw are trying to steal Trish's spotlight. Trish then calls out Christy Hemme. Christy finally comes out to mild applause. Trish mocks Christy's walk down to the ring. Trish announces that Christy is going to be posing in Playboy. They get into some embarrassingly bad 2005 era stuff, which causes Trish to slap Christy and head to the back. Christy had no business in this spot.
Simon Dean vs. Kane
Simon Dean talks about being worried about this match, but then insult the crowd by calling them Cinci-fatty. Kane then attacks him with a chokeslam. Dean tries to throw his protein power at Kane, but Kane knocks it out. Kane mocks Dean by doing push ups and then pulls Dean by his throat and gives him a chokeslam and gets the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Earlier tonight Shawn Michaels (dressed in a suit?) is met by Jonathan Coachman. He asks him about Kurt Angle and Shawn says that he should stay focused on his match at No Way Out.
Batista lets Triple H know that he will handle JBL by himself. Triple H tries to talk him out of it, but Batista is having none of that.
Chris Masters is finally making his debut next week. He would have been a 1992 Superstars favorite if he were born 15 years earlier.
Batista vs. Edge
Batista's entrance certainly doesn't have the same effect without the pyro. Triple H walks out about 30 seconds after Batista does. Edge gets in a little more offense than I was expecting here and then Batista swats him away. The crowd is still hesitant on Batista here. Edge truly wasn't 100% over as a heel at this time either, so that probably isn't helping. Edge reverses a spinebuster and turns it into a DDT. Edge goes for a spear, but Batista hits the spinebuster this time. Batista Bomb, but then Triple H comes in and pushes the ref down and shows Batista the Titan Tron that's showing JBL's limo. The ref calls for the bell and DQs Batista, as Evolution heads for the back.
Match Rating: *3/4
Triple H is in full cheese mode here as they show them walking back to find JBL. Batista then yells at Triple H and says he will be the one to take care of it. He's out there yelling for JBL and JBL's limo attempts to run over Batista, but Triple H is there to push him into a conveniently placed pile of garbage. Batista is fuming and declares that he will be going to SmackDown Thursday on his own.
There wasn't a whole lot of substance to this show, as pretty much everything on here was throwaway. However, we did get a really solid match between Christian and Orton and a fun opener with Jericho and Hassan. Batista and Edge was just filler to continue the Triple H/Batista story for WrestleMania. The rest was completely forgettable.
Overall Rating: 49%
Friday, April 12, 2019
NXT 9-12-12 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, September 12th, 2012
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kenneth Cameron vs. Jey Uso
No intro this week, we go right into the Ascension entrance. Jey Uso gets the early advantage, but Cameron then grounds him with a headlock/body scissor combination. Cameron tosses Jey upside down into the turnbuckles. Konnor gets involved, which causes him and Jimmy to get into it. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Jey pushes Cameron off the ropes and hits a superkick for the victory. It was going along pretty decently and just sort of ended. After the match the Usos celebrate in the crowd and some of the people just sort of sit there.
Match Rating: *3/4
Big E. Langston vs. Chad Baxter
Big E. right off the bat just starts firing away on poor Baxter. Baxter tries a sunset flip, but Langston pulls him up and throws him in the turnbuckles. Straps are down and Langston hits the Big Finish for the victory. Langston continues to look solid here on NXT.
Match Rating: 1/2*
After the match he pins him for 5 seconds. He says that 3 counts are normal, but he is not normal. From now on, he will use 5 counts. The crowd chants "One more time" so he gives him a third Big Finish for another 5 count.
Kassius Ohno says that next week he is going to have the first sparring session and we will find out just how dangerous he is.
They do a cool video package for Trent Barretta.
Garrett Dylan vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow was always such a perfect WWE talent and I'm not sure why Vince was so against letting him succeed. He got over everything he did. Sandow is handling Dylan with ease until Dylan gets a lariat. But just like that, Sandow is back in control and hits his signature elbow drop. Sandow with a reverse neckbreaker and the victory. I have missed watching Sandow. After the match, he gives us a cartwheel.
Match Rating: 3/4*
They are backstage with NXT Champion Seth Rollins. Rollins says he will fight anybody and in comes Rick Victor and he slaps Rollins.
Seth Rollins goes to Dusty Rhodes and tells him he wants a match with Victor next week. Dusty grants him his match.
Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty
Let's see if McGillicutty can keep up here with someone like Kidd. McGillicutty hits a big neckbreaker from the ropes to go into the commercial break. I'm still not 100% sure what they saw in McGillicutty to put him with Heyman and attempt to give him a huge push. I'm also not sure how they can sit here and tell me that he's Curt Hennig's son, but his name is Michael McGillicutty. Kidd gains some momentum after a long heat segment and McGillicutty is outside and gets greeted with a kick to the sternum by Kidd. McGillicutty goes up top, but Kidd crotches him on the top rope. Kidd then hits the top rope hurricanrana. McGillicutty is able to get the rolling neckbreaker and the victory. This match was decent enough.
Match Rating: **
This was certainly not the best of episode of NXT yet, but it was definitely not the worst either. There was some movement in a couple of feuds and both squash matches were good for what they were. I'm still waiting for at least one episode to "wow" me and it just hasn't happened.
Overall Rating: 39%
Full Sail University
Winter Garden, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Kenneth Cameron vs. Jey Uso
No intro this week, we go right into the Ascension entrance. Jey Uso gets the early advantage, but Cameron then grounds him with a headlock/body scissor combination. Cameron tosses Jey upside down into the turnbuckles. Konnor gets involved, which causes him and Jimmy to get into it. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Jey pushes Cameron off the ropes and hits a superkick for the victory. It was going along pretty decently and just sort of ended. After the match the Usos celebrate in the crowd and some of the people just sort of sit there.
Match Rating: *3/4
Big E. Langston vs. Chad Baxter
Big E. right off the bat just starts firing away on poor Baxter. Baxter tries a sunset flip, but Langston pulls him up and throws him in the turnbuckles. Straps are down and Langston hits the Big Finish for the victory. Langston continues to look solid here on NXT.
Match Rating: 1/2*
After the match he pins him for 5 seconds. He says that 3 counts are normal, but he is not normal. From now on, he will use 5 counts. The crowd chants "One more time" so he gives him a third Big Finish for another 5 count.
Kassius Ohno says that next week he is going to have the first sparring session and we will find out just how dangerous he is.
They do a cool video package for Trent Barretta.
Garrett Dylan vs. Damien Sandow
Sandow was always such a perfect WWE talent and I'm not sure why Vince was so against letting him succeed. He got over everything he did. Sandow is handling Dylan with ease until Dylan gets a lariat. But just like that, Sandow is back in control and hits his signature elbow drop. Sandow with a reverse neckbreaker and the victory. I have missed watching Sandow. After the match, he gives us a cartwheel.
Match Rating: 3/4*
They are backstage with NXT Champion Seth Rollins. Rollins says he will fight anybody and in comes Rick Victor and he slaps Rollins.
Seth Rollins goes to Dusty Rhodes and tells him he wants a match with Victor next week. Dusty grants him his match.
Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty
Let's see if McGillicutty can keep up here with someone like Kidd. McGillicutty hits a big neckbreaker from the ropes to go into the commercial break. I'm still not 100% sure what they saw in McGillicutty to put him with Heyman and attempt to give him a huge push. I'm also not sure how they can sit here and tell me that he's Curt Hennig's son, but his name is Michael McGillicutty. Kidd gains some momentum after a long heat segment and McGillicutty is outside and gets greeted with a kick to the sternum by Kidd. McGillicutty goes up top, but Kidd crotches him on the top rope. Kidd then hits the top rope hurricanrana. McGillicutty is able to get the rolling neckbreaker and the victory. This match was decent enough.
Match Rating: **
This was certainly not the best of episode of NXT yet, but it was definitely not the worst either. There was some movement in a couple of feuds and both squash matches were good for what they were. I'm still waiting for at least one episode to "wow" me and it just hasn't happened.
Overall Rating: 39%
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