Monday, January 25th, 1993
Manhattan Center
New York City, New York
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Sean Mooney is outside the building and a tow truck arrives. Repo Man comes out of it and tells the Macho Man that he's here to repossess his career.
Repo Man vs. Randy Savage
Savage runs out while Repo is in the ring and attacks him. Repo is able to throw Savage outside, but he comes right back in and knees Repo outside of the ring. Repo tries to retreat, but Savage catches up to him and brings him back to the ring. Repo counters Savage and slams him into the steel steps. They cut to commercial at a weird spot where Savage catches Repo's leg. I guess they were still getting used to live TV going into commercial. Repo continues the assult after the break and he gets a 2 count after a suplex. It really is hard to believe that this is the same guy who was so intimidating as Smash. Savage hits Repo with a clothesline and then heads up top and hits an elbow drop. Savage gets the victory in a pretty vanilla match.
Match Rating: *1/4 (out of 5)
Kamala vs. Brooklyn Brawler
This was the short-lived babyface run for Kamala with Slick. Brawler attacks him, but goes for a body slam and it doesn't end well for him. Kamala hits all of his typical squash match offense and the crowd is pretty surprisingly behind him. He hits the splash and of course still needs help rolling him over, but he eventually gets it for the win. He literally worked the exact same match despite no longer being a heel.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Vince McMahon goes out to interview Slick, who credits the fans for converting Kamala.
Mean Gene is here with a Royal Rumble Report. He goes over the main storylines out of the Rumble.
Loser Leaves WWF Match
Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect
Now that I think of it, it's kind of weird that Steamboat left WWF as Flair was coming in and now Flair is leaving as Luger is arriving. It would have been fun to at least get a quick feud out of each before they left. They take it slow to start things off here, mixing in some slaps to the face. Perfect starts chopping Flair in the corner and we get the signature Flair fall, to which Bartlett has no idea what Flair just did. Flair now backs Perfect in the corner, but Perfect counters and chops him again and mixes in some jabs. Flair gives Perfect a thumb to the eye and dumps Perfect outside. Flair grabs a chair, but Earl Hebner takes it away as they go to commercial break. Back in the ring, Flair is still dominating and sends Perfect to the outside on an Irish whip to the turnbuckle. Perfect is busted open. "It's like life. You can do anything until you get caught." Bobby Heenan was one of a kind. Both men battle for a backslide and Perfect finally gets him over for a 2 count. Perfect comes back with a back body drop and Flair is begging for mercy. Perfect has him in the corner and gives him multiple right hands until Flair hits an inverted atomic drop. Flair locks in the sleeper hold in the middle of the ring. Perfect is able to keep his arm up on the third drop and drags Flair to the turnbuckle. They have a miscommunication that turns into an awkward leap by Perfect and him grabbing Flair into a sleeper hold pin attempt. Flair gets out of it with a suplex and both men are down. Flair is up and locks in the Figure Four and uses the ropes for leverage. Hebner finally notices it and makes Flair release the hold. Flair continues to work on Perfect's knee. Flair heads up to the top rope, but Perfect slams him off as we go to the final commercial. Flair grabs some knucks from his knee pad and nails Perfect with them. Flair hits an elbow drop and goes for a pin, but Perfect has his leg on the rope. He hooks the leg and still only gets 2. Flair continues to hit the open wound on Perfect's forehead. Flair goes after Perfect, but Perfect is using his magical babyface powers and hits a big back body drop. He hits an awkward clothesline on the top of Flair's head. Flair goes up top and Perfect hits yet another awkward clothesline to counter it. Flair goes for a pin with his feet on the ropes and again this is kind of awkward looking. Perfect out of nowhere hits the Perfect Plex for the victory. The drama was great, but there were a lot of spots that were just off. That's not something you usually see when these two are in the ring. Still, this was a nice use of Flair leaving but it's kind of a shame that Perfect didn't ever get much of a chance at a main event spot after this.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Heenan joins Flair in walking to the back while Perfect celebrates in the ring. They then show a WWF Mania promo. They announce next week that we are getting Typhoon against Doink. Not quite on par with this week's matchup.
Overall, this was about as good of a show as you were going to get in this format. You had a memorable main event, a Macho Man match and a squash. The good thing is the show has yet to feel long and on this episode Bartlett hardly got a word in. That's a win in my book.
Overall Rating: 70%
Monday, March 2, 2020
Friday, February 28, 2020
SmackDown 7-14-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, July 14th, 2005
DCU Center
Worcester, Massachusetts
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Eddie Guerrero is out to kick off the show. He shows the clip from last week of Rey holding the ropes open for him. He says this week he will top that by telling his secret. He tells Dominik to listen closely. Vickie Guerrero comes out with his two daughters while he is telling his story. Eddie yells at her to go to the back. Vickie grabs the mic and begs him not to tell the secret because it could hurt a lot of people. She calls Rey a good man, causing Eddie to grab her and take her to the back. After the commercial break, they show them arguing in the back. Hardcore Holly comes out and tells Eddie to calm down. Eddie pushes him away, but Holly fires back and shoves Eddie into their car. Eddie yells at Vickie to drive away. They did the best they could with a storyline that is just a little too much for wrestling.
Mexicools vs. Paul London, Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty
Super Crazy and Funaki start it off. Funaki hits a headscissors and it's already pretty apparent this one is going to be a quick match. Scotty kicks Crazy off the apron, but then the Mexicools catch him from behind to regain control. Psicosis and Juvy hit a double sliding dropkick to the head of Scotty. London gets the hot tag and takes care of all three Mexicools with a variety of kicks. London hits a suplex and is heading up top, but Pisocisis stops him and Super Crazy pulls London off and hits a springboard moonsault. Juvy hits a 450 splash for the victory. London got absolutely destroyed by Juvy's knee right in the face there. Not a great way to win over the office there. The match got over that the Mexicools are a heel team that will go to any length for a victory. It's just too bad they are stuck with an awful gimmick.
Match Rating: *3/4 (out of 5)
Candice Michelle is backstage looking at herself in a mirror when Christian interrupts. Christian tells her that if she needs any help breaking out of her mediocrity, he can help because he is so respected. Booker overhears it and challenges him to a match tonight.
Batista is back with Josh Matthews and they show the clip of JBL losing last week. He said that he will punk JBL out.
MNM is in the back and Melina walks up to Torrie Wilson and confronts her. Melina tells Torrie that she can do anything Torrie can do better. Torrie challenges Melina to a match at Great American Bash. Torrie decides to make it a bra and panties match. What a set up.
Heidenreich is on his way to the ring, but he is attacked by MNM. Melina asks where all of Heidenreich's friends are now. MNM is about to go for the Snapshot, but out comes Road Warrior Animal and Michael Cole acts as if it's The Rock. He runs in and tosses both Mercury and Nitro out of the ring. He was 44 years old here. He grabs a mic and calls MNM a couple of little baby punks. Joey Mercury challenges the Road Warriors to a match at Great American Bash, but Nitro says they can't because his partner is dead. Yes, really. Heidenreich then offers to be his partner.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Hardcore Holly
Holly opens up with some stiff chops to Eddie's chest. Eddie regains control with a drop toe hold. Holly counters a headscissor into an electric chair. Holly follows up with a clothesline and a dropkick. After a 2 count on a roll up from Eddie, Holly hits a Full Nelson Driver. Holly hits a clothesline from the top rope for a 2 count. On the outside, Eddie is able to shove Holly's shoulder into the ring post. The ref gets hit in the eye and Eddie uses the table and apron on Holly's back. Eddie then grabs a pipe from under the ring and uses it on Holly. Eddie brings him back in the ring and slaps on the Texas Cloverleaf, causing Holly to tap out. The match was a little disappointing, as I typically enjoy Holly a little more than most.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and tells his family how much he loves them. He says that if Rey wins at Great American Bash, that Eddie will lock his secret away.
They announce that Muhammad Hassan will be taking on Undertaker at Great American Bash in a #1 contender match. Tommaso Ciampa is here playing Hassan's attorney under the name of Thomas Whitney. He announces that Hassan has taken a leave of absence from SmackDown. The crowd is pretty into this segment. He continues reading the statement until Undertaker interrupts. Ciampa is only 20 years old here. That's pretty crazy that they trusted him with this role at such a young age. Whitney pleads that he is not a wrestler, but Undertaker chokeslams him anyways. He then gives him a Tombstone for good measure.
Booker T vs. Christian
Christian attacks Booker as he's walking to the ring. He throws him into the ring post and into the steps. The ref rings the bell reluctantly and he hits the Unprettier and gets the easy win. Man, I am going to miss Christian coming up here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Orlando Jordan vs. Batista
JBL is out with Jordan and says that last week was the most embarrassing night of his life. He has a black eye and staples in his head, but that's not why he's embarrassed. It's because he lost to the Blue Meanie because of Batista. Batista takes it to Jordan quickly and stares down JBL as he does it. Jordan kicks Batista in the face and JBL grabs him by the leg and trips him up. Jordan distracts the ref as JBL continues the attack. Jordan goes to work on Batista's knee. Batista battles back with a back drop and then drives his shoulder into Jordan in the corner. Batista manages to hit a powerslam despite the bad knee. Jordan then collides into the referee and knocks him down. Batista hits the spinebuster and is going for the Batista Bomb, but JBL comes in and hits him in the head with a chair. JBL dumps a drink on the referee. The ref is up and Batista kicks out. JBL goes for a lariat, but Batista hits one of his own. Batista Bomb on Jordan and that is all. JBL attacks Batista's knee as he is celebrating. He comes back and hits him with a Clothesline From Hell and celebrates with the World Heavyweight Championship over Batista. The match was pretty paint by the numbers, but the crowd was definitely behind Batista big time.
Match Rating: *3/4
This one just didn't click for me. From a wrestling standpoint, it was disappointing. I also felt that most of the stories told tonight were forced. I've enjoyed just about everything with the Rey/Eddie feud, but the angle tonight just didn't do it for me. Raw continues to be the better show overall and I'm not sure it's really close right now.
Overall Rating: 46%
DCU Center
Worcester, Massachusetts
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Eddie Guerrero is out to kick off the show. He shows the clip from last week of Rey holding the ropes open for him. He says this week he will top that by telling his secret. He tells Dominik to listen closely. Vickie Guerrero comes out with his two daughters while he is telling his story. Eddie yells at her to go to the back. Vickie grabs the mic and begs him not to tell the secret because it could hurt a lot of people. She calls Rey a good man, causing Eddie to grab her and take her to the back. After the commercial break, they show them arguing in the back. Hardcore Holly comes out and tells Eddie to calm down. Eddie pushes him away, but Holly fires back and shoves Eddie into their car. Eddie yells at Vickie to drive away. They did the best they could with a storyline that is just a little too much for wrestling.
Mexicools vs. Paul London, Funaki & Scotty 2 Hotty
Super Crazy and Funaki start it off. Funaki hits a headscissors and it's already pretty apparent this one is going to be a quick match. Scotty kicks Crazy off the apron, but then the Mexicools catch him from behind to regain control. Psicosis and Juvy hit a double sliding dropkick to the head of Scotty. London gets the hot tag and takes care of all three Mexicools with a variety of kicks. London hits a suplex and is heading up top, but Pisocisis stops him and Super Crazy pulls London off and hits a springboard moonsault. Juvy hits a 450 splash for the victory. London got absolutely destroyed by Juvy's knee right in the face there. Not a great way to win over the office there. The match got over that the Mexicools are a heel team that will go to any length for a victory. It's just too bad they are stuck with an awful gimmick.
Match Rating: *3/4 (out of 5)
Candice Michelle is backstage looking at herself in a mirror when Christian interrupts. Christian tells her that if she needs any help breaking out of her mediocrity, he can help because he is so respected. Booker overhears it and challenges him to a match tonight.
Batista is back with Josh Matthews and they show the clip of JBL losing last week. He said that he will punk JBL out.
MNM is in the back and Melina walks up to Torrie Wilson and confronts her. Melina tells Torrie that she can do anything Torrie can do better. Torrie challenges Melina to a match at Great American Bash. Torrie decides to make it a bra and panties match. What a set up.
Heidenreich is on his way to the ring, but he is attacked by MNM. Melina asks where all of Heidenreich's friends are now. MNM is about to go for the Snapshot, but out comes Road Warrior Animal and Michael Cole acts as if it's The Rock. He runs in and tosses both Mercury and Nitro out of the ring. He was 44 years old here. He grabs a mic and calls MNM a couple of little baby punks. Joey Mercury challenges the Road Warriors to a match at Great American Bash, but Nitro says they can't because his partner is dead. Yes, really. Heidenreich then offers to be his partner.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Hardcore Holly
Holly opens up with some stiff chops to Eddie's chest. Eddie regains control with a drop toe hold. Holly counters a headscissor into an electric chair. Holly follows up with a clothesline and a dropkick. After a 2 count on a roll up from Eddie, Holly hits a Full Nelson Driver. Holly hits a clothesline from the top rope for a 2 count. On the outside, Eddie is able to shove Holly's shoulder into the ring post. The ref gets hit in the eye and Eddie uses the table and apron on Holly's back. Eddie then grabs a pipe from under the ring and uses it on Holly. Eddie brings him back in the ring and slaps on the Texas Cloverleaf, causing Holly to tap out. The match was a little disappointing, as I typically enjoy Holly a little more than most.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and tells his family how much he loves them. He says that if Rey wins at Great American Bash, that Eddie will lock his secret away.
They announce that Muhammad Hassan will be taking on Undertaker at Great American Bash in a #1 contender match. Tommaso Ciampa is here playing Hassan's attorney under the name of Thomas Whitney. He announces that Hassan has taken a leave of absence from SmackDown. The crowd is pretty into this segment. He continues reading the statement until Undertaker interrupts. Ciampa is only 20 years old here. That's pretty crazy that they trusted him with this role at such a young age. Whitney pleads that he is not a wrestler, but Undertaker chokeslams him anyways. He then gives him a Tombstone for good measure.
Booker T vs. Christian
Christian attacks Booker as he's walking to the ring. He throws him into the ring post and into the steps. The ref rings the bell reluctantly and he hits the Unprettier and gets the easy win. Man, I am going to miss Christian coming up here.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Orlando Jordan vs. Batista
JBL is out with Jordan and says that last week was the most embarrassing night of his life. He has a black eye and staples in his head, but that's not why he's embarrassed. It's because he lost to the Blue Meanie because of Batista. Batista takes it to Jordan quickly and stares down JBL as he does it. Jordan kicks Batista in the face and JBL grabs him by the leg and trips him up. Jordan distracts the ref as JBL continues the attack. Jordan goes to work on Batista's knee. Batista battles back with a back drop and then drives his shoulder into Jordan in the corner. Batista manages to hit a powerslam despite the bad knee. Jordan then collides into the referee and knocks him down. Batista hits the spinebuster and is going for the Batista Bomb, but JBL comes in and hits him in the head with a chair. JBL dumps a drink on the referee. The ref is up and Batista kicks out. JBL goes for a lariat, but Batista hits one of his own. Batista Bomb on Jordan and that is all. JBL attacks Batista's knee as he is celebrating. He comes back and hits him with a Clothesline From Hell and celebrates with the World Heavyweight Championship over Batista. The match was pretty paint by the numbers, but the crowd was definitely behind Batista big time.
Match Rating: *3/4
This one just didn't click for me. From a wrestling standpoint, it was disappointing. I also felt that most of the stories told tonight were forced. I've enjoyed just about everything with the Rey/Eddie feud, but the angle tonight just didn't do it for me. Raw continues to be the better show overall and I'm not sure it's really close right now.
Overall Rating: 46%
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Monday Night Raw 7-11-05 Review
Monday, July 11th, 2005
Continental Airlines Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey
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We are kicking off the show with Carlito's Cabana. Carlito introduces his guest as Shawn Michaels, but Jericho's music hits instead and he's out to Carlito's surprise. Jericho makes fun of Carlito's show and then Jericho tries to introduce his guest, Shawn Michaels. Carlito then rips on Jericho for his age and weight. Jericho fires back and then again tries to introduce Michaels, but this time out comes Roddy Piper. Does Piper always hang out backstage in his gear just in case a moment like this occurs? He says that we'll get Piper's Pit tonight with Shawn Michaels as his guest. All in all, that was an enjoyable opening segment.
Chris Masters vs. Tajiri
Masters attacks Tajiri as he's coming into the ring. This match was set up from a Master Lock Challenge. Tajiri starts attacking Masters' legs with some kicks and then hits a handstand kick to Masters, knocking him outside. He hits his signature elbow and continues to dish it out to Masters. It can't be said enough how underrated Tajiri was here. Tajiri goes for the Tarantula, but Masters picks him up and slams him face-first. He slaps on the Master Lock and that is all. Tajiri was firing on all cylinders in this one, so it would have been nice for them to get another 2 minutes or so.
Match Rating: 3/4* (out of 5)
They show Shawn Michaels in catering, hyping up his appearance again.
Edge and Lita are hanging out backstage and in walks Snitsky. They then show Snitsky that they are watching their wedding and the spot Snitsky picks to watch is at an almost impossible angle for him to see. Classic WWE. They then ask him for a favor in exchange for Lita's feet and he begins sniffing them. Wrestling makes me type some pretty weird things. Edge says that if he helps him tonight, her feet are all his.
They show footage of Triple H after the match with Batista at Vengeance.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton gets off to a fast start, getting a couple of 2 counts. Carlito ducks a clothesline and hits a dropkick. Shelton quickly gets up to the surprise of Carlito. He walks out of the ring and Shelton hits him with a baseball slide dropkick. When we get back from the commercial break, Carlito has Shelton in a sleeper hold. Benjamin gets out, but Carlito sidesteps him and Shelton tumbles out of the ring. I would say so far that Carlito has not aged that well on my re-watch of this era. After a lengthy heat segment, Shelton starts going for pinfalls and gets a couple of 2 counts. Carlito is able to counter with a DDT, but Shelton kicks out at 2. Carlito reverses a roll up, but still can't beat Shelton even with holding onto his tights. Carlito hits a superplex and they act surprised when he kicks out. Has anyone been pinned by a superplex in this century? Shelton hits a Samoan Drop on Carlito and Carlito tries to go outside again. Shelton grabs him by the hair and after battling over a suplex, Shelton hits a kick that knocks Carlito to the outside. Carlito picks up his championship belt and walks up the aisle, causing him to lose by countout. I'm not sure that they needed as long as they got if that was the ending they were going with. Not a bad match, but it felt pointless in the long run.
Match Rating: **1/4
They show Eric Bischoff and John Cena arguing backstage and Cena walks off.
The champ is here. He says Bischoff is treating him like his mom in junior high and that he and Jericho turned the Highlight Reel into Jerry Springer. Cena calls out Jericho, but Bischoff comes out instead. Bischoff says that Cena defends the title when he tells him to. Cena reminds Bischoff that they're in dirty Jersey and that he'll end up like Hoffa. Out comes Jericho, but Bischoff stops him. Bischoff announces that Cena will face Jericho at SummerSlam. Jericho applauds Bischoff and says that Cena is cheapening the WWE Championship by holding it. They go back and forth and Cena gets ready to fight. Jericho says that he knows that it's better to wait because he sees himself as the next WWE Champion. Jericho heads to the back, but Cena confronts Bischoff. He gives Bischoff a FU and welcomes him to the new Raw. Old Cena has not aged well at all. I actually prefer the PG version.
It's Diva Search time...Alexis is eliminated. Now the remaining Divas are here to show off their special talents. Leyla, in a somewhat amusing spot, does a dance for Earl Hebner and then gives him a low blow for disqualifying her last week. The rest are all pretty pathetic, with Simona's standing out as particularly pathetic.
Kurt Angle is here with security to hold his gold medal, so it must be an Angle Invitational. This week it's Matt Martel, but Angle says it's Matt Striker. He says he knows he is the teacher that called in to wrestle and that he's already wrestled him before.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Matt Striker
Angle goes right to work on his arm. Striker is able to get upright and Angle hits him with some forearms. Halfway through, Striker gets a few shots in, but Angle hits a belly-to-belly overhead suplex and now the straps are down. Angle goes for the Ankle Lock, but Striker kicks him and Angle falls out of the ring with a little over 40 seconds left. Striker attacks him as he comes in. Striker counters the Angle Slam and then hits a low blow with 10 seconds left. Angle somehow turns around and gets the Ankle Lock on and Striker taps right before the time runs out. That was pretty fun.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Todd Grisham stops Kane in the back for an interview. Kane just laughs maniacally and then walks away. Edge and Lita are then shown walking in the back and they are attacked by what looks to be Matt Hardy. Officials chase him away and Edge is livid.
We get a promo for the Boogeyman.
Edge vs. Kane
Edge is able to get Kane down and then hits a baseball slide dropkick. Edge goes up top but a right hand from Kane is there to greet him. Kane hits a sidewalk slam and now Kane heads up top. Kane hits a clothesline off the top rope and then goes after Lita. Snitsky comes down and attacks Kane and the ref rings the bell. Snitsky goes to attack Kane with a chair, but Kane gets his foot up to stop him. Kane and Snitsky begin brawling in the crowd and back in the ring Matt Hardy is in there and a huge brawl breaks loose. Somehow I do not remember the backstage segment occurring at all. I will say that when he came down here that it was the most I had marked out in a long time. He grabs the mic and gets a few words in before he is thrown to the ground and handcuffed. The match was obviously nothing, but the ending was fantastic.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Roddy Piper is back out for Piper's Pit and introduces Shawn Michaels. Michaels reminds us of all the moments and memories than he has and that he literally broke his back doing it. Michaels issues a challenge to Hulk Hogan to headline SummerSlam. Piper tells him that these fans made Michaels. He says that when Michaels was young he would often ask him what it takes to be in the main event and Piper said he would answer because he thought he was worth it. Now Piper doesn't understand why he would ruin his reputation and turn on Hogan like he did. Michaels says this is hard for him and that he has respect for Piper and tries to walk away. Piper goes nuts and calls Michaels a coward. Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down onto a motionless Piper and then walks away. Strong stuff here from Michaels and a good start on the build towards the big match at SummerSlam.
The first half of the show was pretty mediocre, but it sure finished strong with the Angle/Hardy/Michaels trifecta there in the last 45 minutes or so. It would have been nice to have a little bit more wrestling on the show, but they built nicely towards to hot feuds and continued to make Angle a top contender while he waits for his chance after Jericho. It will be fun to re-live the Hogan/Michaels build here 15 years later plus seeing the Edge/Hardy storyline unfold one more time. All in all, this was a very watchable and memorable episode of Raw, but you can probably just watch the second hour to save yourself some time.
Overall Rating: 60%
Continental Airlines Arena
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
We are kicking off the show with Carlito's Cabana. Carlito introduces his guest as Shawn Michaels, but Jericho's music hits instead and he's out to Carlito's surprise. Jericho makes fun of Carlito's show and then Jericho tries to introduce his guest, Shawn Michaels. Carlito then rips on Jericho for his age and weight. Jericho fires back and then again tries to introduce Michaels, but this time out comes Roddy Piper. Does Piper always hang out backstage in his gear just in case a moment like this occurs? He says that we'll get Piper's Pit tonight with Shawn Michaels as his guest. All in all, that was an enjoyable opening segment.
Chris Masters vs. Tajiri
Masters attacks Tajiri as he's coming into the ring. This match was set up from a Master Lock Challenge. Tajiri starts attacking Masters' legs with some kicks and then hits a handstand kick to Masters, knocking him outside. He hits his signature elbow and continues to dish it out to Masters. It can't be said enough how underrated Tajiri was here. Tajiri goes for the Tarantula, but Masters picks him up and slams him face-first. He slaps on the Master Lock and that is all. Tajiri was firing on all cylinders in this one, so it would have been nice for them to get another 2 minutes or so.
Match Rating: 3/4* (out of 5)
They show Shawn Michaels in catering, hyping up his appearance again.
Edge and Lita are hanging out backstage and in walks Snitsky. They then show Snitsky that they are watching their wedding and the spot Snitsky picks to watch is at an almost impossible angle for him to see. Classic WWE. They then ask him for a favor in exchange for Lita's feet and he begins sniffing them. Wrestling makes me type some pretty weird things. Edge says that if he helps him tonight, her feet are all his.
They show footage of Triple H after the match with Batista at Vengeance.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton gets off to a fast start, getting a couple of 2 counts. Carlito ducks a clothesline and hits a dropkick. Shelton quickly gets up to the surprise of Carlito. He walks out of the ring and Shelton hits him with a baseball slide dropkick. When we get back from the commercial break, Carlito has Shelton in a sleeper hold. Benjamin gets out, but Carlito sidesteps him and Shelton tumbles out of the ring. I would say so far that Carlito has not aged that well on my re-watch of this era. After a lengthy heat segment, Shelton starts going for pinfalls and gets a couple of 2 counts. Carlito is able to counter with a DDT, but Shelton kicks out at 2. Carlito reverses a roll up, but still can't beat Shelton even with holding onto his tights. Carlito hits a superplex and they act surprised when he kicks out. Has anyone been pinned by a superplex in this century? Shelton hits a Samoan Drop on Carlito and Carlito tries to go outside again. Shelton grabs him by the hair and after battling over a suplex, Shelton hits a kick that knocks Carlito to the outside. Carlito picks up his championship belt and walks up the aisle, causing him to lose by countout. I'm not sure that they needed as long as they got if that was the ending they were going with. Not a bad match, but it felt pointless in the long run.
Match Rating: **1/4
They show Eric Bischoff and John Cena arguing backstage and Cena walks off.
The champ is here. He says Bischoff is treating him like his mom in junior high and that he and Jericho turned the Highlight Reel into Jerry Springer. Cena calls out Jericho, but Bischoff comes out instead. Bischoff says that Cena defends the title when he tells him to. Cena reminds Bischoff that they're in dirty Jersey and that he'll end up like Hoffa. Out comes Jericho, but Bischoff stops him. Bischoff announces that Cena will face Jericho at SummerSlam. Jericho applauds Bischoff and says that Cena is cheapening the WWE Championship by holding it. They go back and forth and Cena gets ready to fight. Jericho says that he knows that it's better to wait because he sees himself as the next WWE Champion. Jericho heads to the back, but Cena confronts Bischoff. He gives Bischoff a FU and welcomes him to the new Raw. Old Cena has not aged well at all. I actually prefer the PG version.
It's Diva Search time...Alexis is eliminated. Now the remaining Divas are here to show off their special talents. Leyla, in a somewhat amusing spot, does a dance for Earl Hebner and then gives him a low blow for disqualifying her last week. The rest are all pretty pathetic, with Simona's standing out as particularly pathetic.
Kurt Angle is here with security to hold his gold medal, so it must be an Angle Invitational. This week it's Matt Martel, but Angle says it's Matt Striker. He says he knows he is the teacher that called in to wrestle and that he's already wrestled him before.
Kurt Angle Invitational
Kurt Angle vs. Matt Striker
Angle goes right to work on his arm. Striker is able to get upright and Angle hits him with some forearms. Halfway through, Striker gets a few shots in, but Angle hits a belly-to-belly overhead suplex and now the straps are down. Angle goes for the Ankle Lock, but Striker kicks him and Angle falls out of the ring with a little over 40 seconds left. Striker attacks him as he comes in. Striker counters the Angle Slam and then hits a low blow with 10 seconds left. Angle somehow turns around and gets the Ankle Lock on and Striker taps right before the time runs out. That was pretty fun.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Todd Grisham stops Kane in the back for an interview. Kane just laughs maniacally and then walks away. Edge and Lita are then shown walking in the back and they are attacked by what looks to be Matt Hardy. Officials chase him away and Edge is livid.
We get a promo for the Boogeyman.
Edge vs. Kane
Edge is able to get Kane down and then hits a baseball slide dropkick. Edge goes up top but a right hand from Kane is there to greet him. Kane hits a sidewalk slam and now Kane heads up top. Kane hits a clothesline off the top rope and then goes after Lita. Snitsky comes down and attacks Kane and the ref rings the bell. Snitsky goes to attack Kane with a chair, but Kane gets his foot up to stop him. Kane and Snitsky begin brawling in the crowd and back in the ring Matt Hardy is in there and a huge brawl breaks loose. Somehow I do not remember the backstage segment occurring at all. I will say that when he came down here that it was the most I had marked out in a long time. He grabs the mic and gets a few words in before he is thrown to the ground and handcuffed. The match was obviously nothing, but the ending was fantastic.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Roddy Piper is back out for Piper's Pit and introduces Shawn Michaels. Michaels reminds us of all the moments and memories than he has and that he literally broke his back doing it. Michaels issues a challenge to Hulk Hogan to headline SummerSlam. Piper tells him that these fans made Michaels. He says that when Michaels was young he would often ask him what it takes to be in the main event and Piper said he would answer because he thought he was worth it. Now Piper doesn't understand why he would ruin his reputation and turn on Hogan like he did. Michaels says this is hard for him and that he has respect for Piper and tries to walk away. Piper goes nuts and calls Michaels a coward. Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down onto a motionless Piper and then walks away. Strong stuff here from Michaels and a good start on the build towards the big match at SummerSlam.
The first half of the show was pretty mediocre, but it sure finished strong with the Angle/Hardy/Michaels trifecta there in the last 45 minutes or so. It would have been nice to have a little bit more wrestling on the show, but they built nicely towards to hot feuds and continued to make Angle a top contender while he waits for his chance after Jericho. It will be fun to re-live the Hogan/Michaels build here 15 years later plus seeing the Edge/Hardy storyline unfold one more time. All in all, this was a very watchable and memorable episode of Raw, but you can probably just watch the second hour to save yourself some time.
Overall Rating: 60%
Monday, February 24, 2020
NXT 3-20-13 Review
Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
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Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger
Gabriel shows off a little aggression here, throwing Kruger around by his hair. Kruger comes back and throws Gabriel down. He hits him with an elbow and follows it up with some stomps. Gabriel tries to fight back, but Kruger hits a pretty nice looking spinebuster on him for a 2 count. Gabriel hits a desperation suplex and then follows up with a dropkick to the legs, sending Kruger into the turnbuckle. Gabriel goes up top for the 450 splash after a series of kicks, but Kruger rolls away. This may be the most impressive match I have seen Kruger in. Kruger is able to put a submission hold on, but Gabriel is able to crawl to the ropes. Kruger hits a unique move on Gabriel's shoulder/elbow and then puts him back in the submission for the victory. That was Kruger's best NXT match that I can think of. Gabriel was always a good hand.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Renee Young is with Audrey Marie. She says that Sasha knows she is coming for her and there is nothing she can do about it.
William Regal is in the ring and apologizes for his unprofessional actions last week. He calls out Kassius Ohno to apologize to him. Regal offers his hand to him, but Ohno talks about his history with Regal. He starts to go off on him for not being a villain anymore and that he is now a joke. He keeps going off until Regal slaps him across the face. Ohno did a good job on the sell.
Bayley vs. Paige
This is Bayley's NXT debut. The announcers are selling how this is a dream come true for her and gets in some early offense. She puts Paige in an arm bar. Paige snaps and starts stomping Bayley in the corner. Paige quickly gets her in a Sharpshooter type submission and Bayley taps. Summer Rae is out, but Paige sees her and she backs off. Bayley showed some good technique, but this was just a quick squash for Paige.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper
Neville charges at Harper, but eats a big boot. Harper shows off his unique abilities for his size and I can't help but think being in the Wyatt Family may have been the worst thing for him. I have been reviewing all of the WWE in the year 2005 on here as well and it just blows my mind that they were giving guys like Heidenreich, Luther Reigns and Matt Morgan chances and yet they never found a true spot for Harper. After a long beatdown by Harper, Neville fires back with some forearms. Neville then hits a kick to the head and a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Neville hits a somersault over the top onto Erick Rowan. Harper charges after him and Neville ducks, sending Harper outside. Neville then hits a springboard moonsault. Neville goes up top, but Wyatt distracts the ref. He fights off Rowan, but the numbers game gets to him. Harper hits a lariat and gets the victory. These guys are capable of better, but this was still quite good for 2013 NXT. After the match, the Wyatts are looking to inflict more damage on Neville but out comes Oliver Grey. The Wyatts take care of him and out comes Bo Dallas. The faces come out on top and the Wyatts head to the back.
Match Rating: ***
Well, would you look at that? A good show top to bottom here for NXT. Finally. The two feature matches were both entertaining, the Paige showcase made sense and the Regal/Ohno segment was a breath of fresh air. Nice work here and it will be interesting to see if this was just a coincidence or if it's the beginning of a major improvement for the yellow brand.
Overall Rating: 66%
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida
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Justin Gabriel vs. Leo Kruger
Gabriel shows off a little aggression here, throwing Kruger around by his hair. Kruger comes back and throws Gabriel down. He hits him with an elbow and follows it up with some stomps. Gabriel tries to fight back, but Kruger hits a pretty nice looking spinebuster on him for a 2 count. Gabriel hits a desperation suplex and then follows up with a dropkick to the legs, sending Kruger into the turnbuckle. Gabriel goes up top for the 450 splash after a series of kicks, but Kruger rolls away. This may be the most impressive match I have seen Kruger in. Kruger is able to put a submission hold on, but Gabriel is able to crawl to the ropes. Kruger hits a unique move on Gabriel's shoulder/elbow and then puts him back in the submission for the victory. That was Kruger's best NXT match that I can think of. Gabriel was always a good hand.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Renee Young is with Audrey Marie. She says that Sasha knows she is coming for her and there is nothing she can do about it.
William Regal is in the ring and apologizes for his unprofessional actions last week. He calls out Kassius Ohno to apologize to him. Regal offers his hand to him, but Ohno talks about his history with Regal. He starts to go off on him for not being a villain anymore and that he is now a joke. He keeps going off until Regal slaps him across the face. Ohno did a good job on the sell.
Bayley vs. Paige
This is Bayley's NXT debut. The announcers are selling how this is a dream come true for her and gets in some early offense. She puts Paige in an arm bar. Paige snaps and starts stomping Bayley in the corner. Paige quickly gets her in a Sharpshooter type submission and Bayley taps. Summer Rae is out, but Paige sees her and she backs off. Bayley showed some good technique, but this was just a quick squash for Paige.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Adrian Neville vs. Luke Harper
Neville charges at Harper, but eats a big boot. Harper shows off his unique abilities for his size and I can't help but think being in the Wyatt Family may have been the worst thing for him. I have been reviewing all of the WWE in the year 2005 on here as well and it just blows my mind that they were giving guys like Heidenreich, Luther Reigns and Matt Morgan chances and yet they never found a true spot for Harper. After a long beatdown by Harper, Neville fires back with some forearms. Neville then hits a kick to the head and a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Neville hits a somersault over the top onto Erick Rowan. Harper charges after him and Neville ducks, sending Harper outside. Neville then hits a springboard moonsault. Neville goes up top, but Wyatt distracts the ref. He fights off Rowan, but the numbers game gets to him. Harper hits a lariat and gets the victory. These guys are capable of better, but this was still quite good for 2013 NXT. After the match, the Wyatts are looking to inflict more damage on Neville but out comes Oliver Grey. The Wyatts take care of him and out comes Bo Dallas. The faces come out on top and the Wyatts head to the back.
Match Rating: ***
Well, would you look at that? A good show top to bottom here for NXT. Finally. The two feature matches were both entertaining, the Paige showcase made sense and the Regal/Ohno segment was a breath of fresh air. Nice work here and it will be interesting to see if this was just a coincidence or if it's the beginning of a major improvement for the yellow brand.
Overall Rating: 66%
Friday, February 21, 2020
Royal Rumble 1993 Review
Sunday, January 24th, 1993
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
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Somehow this is the third show in a row that I have watched from ARCO Arena. Cutting straight to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan is such a relief.
The Beverly Brothers vs. The Steiner Brothers
I didn't rent this show until about 1995 and this was the first time I had ever watched a Steiner match. I did randomly get a Rick Steiner action figure as a gift, but never knew who he was. Scott starts the match off getting the best of Beau, with Beau complaining of Scotty cheating each time. Beau gets a little bit of offense in until Scott hits a suplex. After a huddle, Blake is in and in comes Rick. Blake gets a cheap shot in while the referee is trying to get out of the way. Rick then catches Blake in midair and slams him down. Scott gets a belly-to-belly suplex in, but then the Beverly Brothers get in an illegal double team to slow them down. Beau and Blake cut the ring in half and work on Scott's back. Scott hits a double underhook suplex and both men are down. Hot tag to Rick and he hits a huge back body drop. He then folds up Blake like an acordian with a German suplex. Scott is back in and ends up on Blake's shoulders. He ducks under the Doomsday Device attempt and rolls him up for a 2 count. Scott gets back up and hits a Frankensteiner for the win. This was the first time I had ever seen that move by anyone about 25 years ago. I remember rewinding that over and over, as it absolutely blew me away. Looking back all these years later, he certainly drilled him there. Good little match to open the show.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Intercontinental Championship Match
Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
Sensational Sherri comes out alone before both competitors. Marty's outfit here is something else. There's no way that looked cool even in 1993. Sherri shows no interest in Michaels as he looks down on her before the bell rings. We get a hot start with Marty getting the better of Michaels, including a knee lift to the outside. Marty brings him back in and then clotheslines him over the ropes. Marty keeps the attack coming until Michaels counters his leap from the top rope. Michaels then rams Marty's shoulder into the ring post. Probably 75% of the match has taken place outside of the ring. Michaels continues to work on the shoulder. Michaels goes up to the second rope, but Marty gets his leg up. Marty hits Michaels with an elbow and then Marty avoids a charge and Michaels' shoulder hits the ring post. Marty hits a series of right hands, but Michaels is able to dump him out of the ring to buy himself some time. Michaels foes for a suplex back in the ring, but Marty suplexes him to the floor. I can't remember that happening too many times prior to this. Sherri then smacks Michaels on the outside to the delight of the crowd. Marty gets a close call out of it. He throws him into the corner and Michaels goes up and over the top rope. Back in the ring, Marty goes up top, but Michaels avoids him. Marty lands on his feet though and is able to hit a DDT for a nearfall. Michaels misses the superkick and Marty hits him with one and gets another close call. Marty hits a slingshot and again only gets a 2 count. The ref accidentally gets hit with an elbow from Michaels. Marty calls in Sherri and she takes her shoe off. Michaels is able to duck it and she hits Marty. Michaels confronts her and Sherri is crying. Michaels hits the superkick and that's all. That was kind of a weird ending, but the last five minutes or so were really great. Mean Gene is trying to get a word with Sherri but she is hysterical. Michaels runs to the back while Gene tries to calm her down. Marty comes out of nowhere and he attacks Shawn.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man
Bam Bam attacks before the bell and goes to work on Boss Man's back. Boss Man makes his comeback and hits him with a lot of weak looking right hands. They do a long spot where Boss Man stays outside the ring for a long time. This match is like watching paint dry. After that boring spot, he goes for a modified bear hug. Boss Man is able to break it, but Bam Bam hangs him out to dry on the top rope. The bear hug continues seemingly forever. Boss Man kind of hits a suplex, but Bigelow immediately hits him with a headbutt. Boss Man hits a back body drop and takes control. Bam Bam gets his boot up and then hits Boss Man with a clothesline. Bam Bam goes up top and hits the headbutt for the victory. I have no idea what they were going for there, but man did it stink. That was just a really bad match.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WWF Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
We get a hot start with Bret Hart going right after Razor. Razor retaliates but misses with a knee into the corner and Bret starts working on his leg. It's really a shame that this was pretty much it from these two. I think this match was the beginning of something really great. In a 12 pay-per-view schedule, you'd have to think that they would have had an extended feud at some point. Razor throws Bret and he slides right under the turnbuckle and into the ring post in a cool spot. Razor goes to work on Bret's ribs. Razor gets a nearfall after throwing Bret into the turnbuckle chest first. Razor slaps on the abdominal stretch in the middle of the ring. I don't have the answer, but somehow wrestling organizations need to find a way to re-condition their fans to react to matches like they are this one. I say this as someone who just raved about TakeOver: Portland, but we as fans need to react to normal moves. Not every match needs 15 high spots all the time. There is room for that, but there is room for a match like this too. Bret legit looks to be taking the beating of his life and is fighting for everything here. Bret just does such a beautiful job of selling every single move here. Razor gets 2 and a half arm drops on a bear hug. Bret fights back and lifts Razor up and over the top rope. Bret then hits a dive to the floor and then slams Razor into the steps. Bret starts throwing a flurry of right hands, as Razor does his best to fight him off. Bret starts hitting some of his staples and gets a couple of 2 counts. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Razor is able to scramble for the ropes. Bret pulls him back in, but as he's trying to turn him over Earl Hebner gets tripped up by it. This allows Razor to go back to work on the ribs. Bret hits a back suplex and then goes off the second rope, but Razor gets his foot up. Bret is able to pull off a backslide and gets a 2 count. Razor gets right back up and goes back to the ribs. Bret pulls out a beautiful pin attempt out while Razor is holding his wrists. Hebner is out of position and Razor kicks out. Bret doesn't let go and is able to hook his legs and puts him in the Sharpshooter and turns him over. Razor gives up a little quicker than I would expect, but the crowd loves it. That was a beautifully put together match and one that is really underappreciated. I'm probably going overboard here, but I just got completely sucked in here.
Match Rating: ****
Bobby Heenan is then shown running down to the floor to introduce Narcissist. He is standing in front of a three mirrors while Bobby hypes him up. Heenan is trying, but this is just awkward. Luger then tells us that he will be the most dominant force in WWF history. He challenges Mr. Perfect.
As the curtains go down on Luger, they introduce Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. They introduce us to WrestleMania IX on Sunday, April 4th at Caesars Palace. The winner of the Royal Rumble tonight will challenge for the WWF Championship, which is the first time they used that as a stipulation.
Royal Rumble Match
#1 is none other than last year's winner, Ric Flair. #2 is Bob Backlund who comes out to no reaction. They continue to make a big deal out of Backlund's age, even though Flair is only 4 months younger. Up next is Papa Shango who has lost all steam at this point. He goes after Backlund but then Flair comes from behind and eliminates him. The fact that Backlund and Flair are both wearing red tights was an odd choice considering how long they would be in there together. Ted DiBiase is #4 and he teams with Flair on Backlund. That's about 120 years of age between these three men. #5 is Brian Knobbs and he hits a double clothesline on DiBiase and Flair. #6 brings out Virgil. Naturally he and DiBiase go after each other. DiBiase is able to pull Knobbs over the top rope and eliminate him. #7 is Jerry Lawler. He and Flair start going after each other, which seems kind of odd. Lawler then saves Virgil from Flair, which never makes sense. It should be noted that they are not playing the entrance music of the participants, which is always such a bad idea. Max Moon is up next at 8. He gets eliminated pretty quickly and then Tenryu comes in at 9. This match desperately needs a babyface that the crowd cares about to come in here. Virgil is on the apron and for some reason Flair pulls him in by the ropes back in. Here comes Mr. Perfect at 10 and the crowd finally is into it. He goes right after Flair. Flair gets a thumb to the eye and then goes up top. Perfect is there and hits a body press. At 11, it's Skinner, who is somehow still on the roster. Then out of nowhere, Perfect eliminates Flair and he is irate. Out comes Koko B. Ware at 12 and Bobby delivers a classic "Did someone call a cab?". Skinner is eliminated by a Perfect dropkick. Of the first 12 competitors, 9 of them do not end up having matches on the main WrestleMania card. Lucky 13 is Samu and the sit and stall period has begun. Berzerker comes in at 14 and tries to interject some life to this match, but it almost looks as if he is sleepwalking. Mr. Perfect eliminates Lawler and then DiBiase comes from behind and dumps over Perfect. Perfect lands on the apron, but then Lawler tries to pull him off along with DiBiase and Koko. After a long struggle, they finally get him. Undertaker is in at 15 to add some much needed star power. Berzerker hits Backlund with one of the weakest looking chair shots you will ever see. Undertaker dumps out Sabu. All of a sudden everyone is doing things at the same time. Taker dumps out Tenryu. Koko stops trying to eliminate Berzerker to pull up his pants and then goes back at it. Here comes the Red Rooster, I mean Terry Taylor, at 16. Koko goes to eliminate Taylor, but DiBiase comes in and eliminates both. DiBiase eats a chokeslam from Undertaker and then he eliminates him. Randomly out of nowhere comes Giant Gonzalez in his infamous outfit. Taker eliminates Berzerker and he is now in the ring with just Gonzalez. After a long stare down, Gonzalez eliminates Taker even though he isn't in the match. Damien Demento was 17 and he is just watching from the outside. Gonzalez throws him back in the ring and continues his attack. This is terrible. IRS is 18 and he too just stands back. Tatanka is number 19 and comes out to a decent pop. Paul Bearer uses the urn to get Undertaker up and he walks away in pain. We're back to guys just standing around pretending to try and eliminate people. Out comes Jerry Sags at 20. It should be noted that Bob Backlund is still in the match. Here comes another WrestleMania main eventer with Typhoon. Heenan accidentally calls him Tugboat and then purposely calls him Buffoon. Fatu is next and I can't help but wonder if anything is ever going to happen in this match. Out comes Earthquake at 23 and he and Typhoon start fighting. Typhoon charges at Quake, but he ducks and Typhoon is gone. Out comes Carlos Colon who Monsoon calls a youngster at the age of 44. Now we get Tito Santana at number 25. Backlund eliminates Fatu with a clothesline. Rick Martel is in and we finally get a Strike Force moment as Tito slams Martel's head into the turnbuckle. Earthquake eliminates IRS. Tito almost is able to get Backlund out, but he hangs on to the ropes. Finally Yokozuna is here to be a difference maker. He and Tatanka go at it, but Yoko easily tosses him out of the ring. Yoko goes to Colon next and he's gone too. Now we get the Earthquake moment. Owen Hart enters, but he gets no attention since Yoko and Quake are doing their thing. Yoko eliminates Earthquake. Repo Man is now in there. Of the 7 men in the ring, only Backlund and Yokozuna have televised matches at WrestleMania. The other 6 men all try to eliminate Yokozuna,. but he is able to fight them off. We are finally to #30 and it's Randy Savage. Yokozuna dumps out Tito. Owen sends out Saggs with a dropkick. Backlund sends out Martel to a decent reaction. Backlund starts throwing dropkicks at Yoko. He charges at him and Yoko tosses him over. We are down to the final two with Savage and Yokozuna. Savage makes a comeback and has Yoko reeling. Savage goes up top and hits a double ax handle. He hits another one and has Yokozuna down to one knee. Yokozuna retaliates with a superkick and follows it up with a belly-to-belly suplex. Savage avoids a splash in the corner and Yoko is down. Savage hits an elbow drop off the top rope and for some reason goes for a pin. Yoko pushes him up and over the top rope and that is all. To put it kindly, that was like watching paint dry for the most part. Not having guys like Michaels, Razor, Bam Bam and Boss Man in that match really hurt it. We were stuck with jobbers like Demento, Virgil, Repo Man and Skinner instead. Yokozuna was absolutely the right choice, but we all knew that and there was no reason this had to go as long as it did. Really disappointing match.
Match Rating: *
Well, the undercard is really solid, especially for the time. However, with the Rumble match taking up nearly half of the show, it's hard to really recommend the show. The roster was really becoming a problem here in 1993 and we were getting stuck with terrible ideas like Giant Gonzalez. Bret Hart put on an absolute clinic in his match with Razor and Shawn finally got to have his big pay-per-view match with Marty. This was not the strongest start to 1993 for the company.
Overall Rating: 58%
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Somehow this is the third show in a row that I have watched from ARCO Arena. Cutting straight to Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan is such a relief.
The Beverly Brothers vs. The Steiner Brothers
I didn't rent this show until about 1995 and this was the first time I had ever watched a Steiner match. I did randomly get a Rick Steiner action figure as a gift, but never knew who he was. Scott starts the match off getting the best of Beau, with Beau complaining of Scotty cheating each time. Beau gets a little bit of offense in until Scott hits a suplex. After a huddle, Blake is in and in comes Rick. Blake gets a cheap shot in while the referee is trying to get out of the way. Rick then catches Blake in midair and slams him down. Scott gets a belly-to-belly suplex in, but then the Beverly Brothers get in an illegal double team to slow them down. Beau and Blake cut the ring in half and work on Scott's back. Scott hits a double underhook suplex and both men are down. Hot tag to Rick and he hits a huge back body drop. He then folds up Blake like an acordian with a German suplex. Scott is back in and ends up on Blake's shoulders. He ducks under the Doomsday Device attempt and rolls him up for a 2 count. Scott gets back up and hits a Frankensteiner for the win. This was the first time I had ever seen that move by anyone about 25 years ago. I remember rewinding that over and over, as it absolutely blew me away. Looking back all these years later, he certainly drilled him there. Good little match to open the show.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
Intercontinental Championship Match
Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
Sensational Sherri comes out alone before both competitors. Marty's outfit here is something else. There's no way that looked cool even in 1993. Sherri shows no interest in Michaels as he looks down on her before the bell rings. We get a hot start with Marty getting the better of Michaels, including a knee lift to the outside. Marty brings him back in and then clotheslines him over the ropes. Marty keeps the attack coming until Michaels counters his leap from the top rope. Michaels then rams Marty's shoulder into the ring post. Probably 75% of the match has taken place outside of the ring. Michaels continues to work on the shoulder. Michaels goes up to the second rope, but Marty gets his leg up. Marty hits Michaels with an elbow and then Marty avoids a charge and Michaels' shoulder hits the ring post. Marty hits a series of right hands, but Michaels is able to dump him out of the ring to buy himself some time. Michaels foes for a suplex back in the ring, but Marty suplexes him to the floor. I can't remember that happening too many times prior to this. Sherri then smacks Michaels on the outside to the delight of the crowd. Marty gets a close call out of it. He throws him into the corner and Michaels goes up and over the top rope. Back in the ring, Marty goes up top, but Michaels avoids him. Marty lands on his feet though and is able to hit a DDT for a nearfall. Michaels misses the superkick and Marty hits him with one and gets another close call. Marty hits a slingshot and again only gets a 2 count. The ref accidentally gets hit with an elbow from Michaels. Marty calls in Sherri and she takes her shoe off. Michaels is able to duck it and she hits Marty. Michaels confronts her and Sherri is crying. Michaels hits the superkick and that's all. That was kind of a weird ending, but the last five minutes or so were really great. Mean Gene is trying to get a word with Sherri but she is hysterical. Michaels runs to the back while Gene tries to calm her down. Marty comes out of nowhere and he attacks Shawn.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man
Bam Bam attacks before the bell and goes to work on Boss Man's back. Boss Man makes his comeback and hits him with a lot of weak looking right hands. They do a long spot where Boss Man stays outside the ring for a long time. This match is like watching paint dry. After that boring spot, he goes for a modified bear hug. Boss Man is able to break it, but Bam Bam hangs him out to dry on the top rope. The bear hug continues seemingly forever. Boss Man kind of hits a suplex, but Bigelow immediately hits him with a headbutt. Boss Man hits a back body drop and takes control. Bam Bam gets his boot up and then hits Boss Man with a clothesline. Bam Bam goes up top and hits the headbutt for the victory. I have no idea what they were going for there, but man did it stink. That was just a really bad match.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WWF Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
We get a hot start with Bret Hart going right after Razor. Razor retaliates but misses with a knee into the corner and Bret starts working on his leg. It's really a shame that this was pretty much it from these two. I think this match was the beginning of something really great. In a 12 pay-per-view schedule, you'd have to think that they would have had an extended feud at some point. Razor throws Bret and he slides right under the turnbuckle and into the ring post in a cool spot. Razor goes to work on Bret's ribs. Razor gets a nearfall after throwing Bret into the turnbuckle chest first. Razor slaps on the abdominal stretch in the middle of the ring. I don't have the answer, but somehow wrestling organizations need to find a way to re-condition their fans to react to matches like they are this one. I say this as someone who just raved about TakeOver: Portland, but we as fans need to react to normal moves. Not every match needs 15 high spots all the time. There is room for that, but there is room for a match like this too. Bret legit looks to be taking the beating of his life and is fighting for everything here. Bret just does such a beautiful job of selling every single move here. Razor gets 2 and a half arm drops on a bear hug. Bret fights back and lifts Razor up and over the top rope. Bret then hits a dive to the floor and then slams Razor into the steps. Bret starts throwing a flurry of right hands, as Razor does his best to fight him off. Bret starts hitting some of his staples and gets a couple of 2 counts. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Razor is able to scramble for the ropes. Bret pulls him back in, but as he's trying to turn him over Earl Hebner gets tripped up by it. This allows Razor to go back to work on the ribs. Bret hits a back suplex and then goes off the second rope, but Razor gets his foot up. Bret is able to pull off a backslide and gets a 2 count. Razor gets right back up and goes back to the ribs. Bret pulls out a beautiful pin attempt out while Razor is holding his wrists. Hebner is out of position and Razor kicks out. Bret doesn't let go and is able to hook his legs and puts him in the Sharpshooter and turns him over. Razor gives up a little quicker than I would expect, but the crowd loves it. That was a beautifully put together match and one that is really underappreciated. I'm probably going overboard here, but I just got completely sucked in here.
Match Rating: ****
Bobby Heenan is then shown running down to the floor to introduce Narcissist. He is standing in front of a three mirrors while Bobby hypes him up. Heenan is trying, but this is just awkward. Luger then tells us that he will be the most dominant force in WWF history. He challenges Mr. Perfect.
As the curtains go down on Luger, they introduce Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. They introduce us to WrestleMania IX on Sunday, April 4th at Caesars Palace. The winner of the Royal Rumble tonight will challenge for the WWF Championship, which is the first time they used that as a stipulation.
Royal Rumble Match
#1 is none other than last year's winner, Ric Flair. #2 is Bob Backlund who comes out to no reaction. They continue to make a big deal out of Backlund's age, even though Flair is only 4 months younger. Up next is Papa Shango who has lost all steam at this point. He goes after Backlund but then Flair comes from behind and eliminates him. The fact that Backlund and Flair are both wearing red tights was an odd choice considering how long they would be in there together. Ted DiBiase is #4 and he teams with Flair on Backlund. That's about 120 years of age between these three men. #5 is Brian Knobbs and he hits a double clothesline on DiBiase and Flair. #6 brings out Virgil. Naturally he and DiBiase go after each other. DiBiase is able to pull Knobbs over the top rope and eliminate him. #7 is Jerry Lawler. He and Flair start going after each other, which seems kind of odd. Lawler then saves Virgil from Flair, which never makes sense. It should be noted that they are not playing the entrance music of the participants, which is always such a bad idea. Max Moon is up next at 8. He gets eliminated pretty quickly and then Tenryu comes in at 9. This match desperately needs a babyface that the crowd cares about to come in here. Virgil is on the apron and for some reason Flair pulls him in by the ropes back in. Here comes Mr. Perfect at 10 and the crowd finally is into it. He goes right after Flair. Flair gets a thumb to the eye and then goes up top. Perfect is there and hits a body press. At 11, it's Skinner, who is somehow still on the roster. Then out of nowhere, Perfect eliminates Flair and he is irate. Out comes Koko B. Ware at 12 and Bobby delivers a classic "Did someone call a cab?". Skinner is eliminated by a Perfect dropkick. Of the first 12 competitors, 9 of them do not end up having matches on the main WrestleMania card. Lucky 13 is Samu and the sit and stall period has begun. Berzerker comes in at 14 and tries to interject some life to this match, but it almost looks as if he is sleepwalking. Mr. Perfect eliminates Lawler and then DiBiase comes from behind and dumps over Perfect. Perfect lands on the apron, but then Lawler tries to pull him off along with DiBiase and Koko. After a long struggle, they finally get him. Undertaker is in at 15 to add some much needed star power. Berzerker hits Backlund with one of the weakest looking chair shots you will ever see. Undertaker dumps out Sabu. All of a sudden everyone is doing things at the same time. Taker dumps out Tenryu. Koko stops trying to eliminate Berzerker to pull up his pants and then goes back at it. Here comes the Red Rooster, I mean Terry Taylor, at 16. Koko goes to eliminate Taylor, but DiBiase comes in and eliminates both. DiBiase eats a chokeslam from Undertaker and then he eliminates him. Randomly out of nowhere comes Giant Gonzalez in his infamous outfit. Taker eliminates Berzerker and he is now in the ring with just Gonzalez. After a long stare down, Gonzalez eliminates Taker even though he isn't in the match. Damien Demento was 17 and he is just watching from the outside. Gonzalez throws him back in the ring and continues his attack. This is terrible. IRS is 18 and he too just stands back. Tatanka is number 19 and comes out to a decent pop. Paul Bearer uses the urn to get Undertaker up and he walks away in pain. We're back to guys just standing around pretending to try and eliminate people. Out comes Jerry Sags at 20. It should be noted that Bob Backlund is still in the match. Here comes another WrestleMania main eventer with Typhoon. Heenan accidentally calls him Tugboat and then purposely calls him Buffoon. Fatu is next and I can't help but wonder if anything is ever going to happen in this match. Out comes Earthquake at 23 and he and Typhoon start fighting. Typhoon charges at Quake, but he ducks and Typhoon is gone. Out comes Carlos Colon who Monsoon calls a youngster at the age of 44. Now we get Tito Santana at number 25. Backlund eliminates Fatu with a clothesline. Rick Martel is in and we finally get a Strike Force moment as Tito slams Martel's head into the turnbuckle. Earthquake eliminates IRS. Tito almost is able to get Backlund out, but he hangs on to the ropes. Finally Yokozuna is here to be a difference maker. He and Tatanka go at it, but Yoko easily tosses him out of the ring. Yoko goes to Colon next and he's gone too. Now we get the Earthquake moment. Owen Hart enters, but he gets no attention since Yoko and Quake are doing their thing. Yoko eliminates Earthquake. Repo Man is now in there. Of the 7 men in the ring, only Backlund and Yokozuna have televised matches at WrestleMania. The other 6 men all try to eliminate Yokozuna,. but he is able to fight them off. We are finally to #30 and it's Randy Savage. Yokozuna dumps out Tito. Owen sends out Saggs with a dropkick. Backlund sends out Martel to a decent reaction. Backlund starts throwing dropkicks at Yoko. He charges at him and Yoko tosses him over. We are down to the final two with Savage and Yokozuna. Savage makes a comeback and has Yoko reeling. Savage goes up top and hits a double ax handle. He hits another one and has Yokozuna down to one knee. Yokozuna retaliates with a superkick and follows it up with a belly-to-belly suplex. Savage avoids a splash in the corner and Yoko is down. Savage hits an elbow drop off the top rope and for some reason goes for a pin. Yoko pushes him up and over the top rope and that is all. To put it kindly, that was like watching paint dry for the most part. Not having guys like Michaels, Razor, Bam Bam and Boss Man in that match really hurt it. We were stuck with jobbers like Demento, Virgil, Repo Man and Skinner instead. Yokozuna was absolutely the right choice, but we all knew that and there was no reason this had to go as long as it did. Really disappointing match.
Match Rating: *
Well, the undercard is really solid, especially for the time. However, with the Rumble match taking up nearly half of the show, it's hard to really recommend the show. The roster was really becoming a problem here in 1993 and we were getting stuck with terrible ideas like Giant Gonzalez. Bret Hart put on an absolute clinic in his match with Razor and Shawn finally got to have his big pay-per-view match with Marty. This was not the strongest start to 1993 for the company.
Overall Rating: 58%
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
SmackDown 7-7-05 Review
Original Airdate: Thursday, July 7th, 2005
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a long recap of last week, JBL is in the ring to talk about it. He says what Teddy Long did to him, makes the Montreal screwjob look like a parking ticket. As he begins talking about his match at Great American Bash, his own music hits and the limo comes out. The bWo comes out of the limo in what has to be one of the more bizarre moments of this era. The Blue Meanie is introduced as John Blue Lamefield, Nova as Bash Me and Stevie is Bluewheat. They ramble on and the crowd is semi into it and it leads to Blue Meanie challenging JBL to a match. Meanie then spray paints bWo on his limo.
#1 Contender Match For The United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Booker T
Benoit backs Booker into the corner and starts chopping. Benoit hits a snap suplex and then goes for a Sharpshooter, but Booker kicks out. Booker hits a hot shot on Benoit and then goes with a heel kick to the chin. Booker hits a superkick for a 2 count. This is a match that we'll be seeing a lot of coming up in the fall and Michael Cole made mention of their best of 7 series in WCW. Benoit avoids a Scissors Kick, but Booker still hits him with some knees to the head. Benoit ducks a clothesline and hits three German suplexes. Benoit goes up top, but Booker runs over to stop him. Booker hits a superplex, but Benoit kicks out at 2. Benoit rolls under a kick and goes for the Crippler Crossface, but Booker counters it into a submission, but Benoit grabs the ropes. Benoit counters a suplex with the Crippler Crossface and Booker taps pretty quickly. These two typically did work well together and even though this one was short, it was pretty good. After the match they show Sharmell backstage watching and Orlando Jordan scares her away.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
They show a recap of the Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio segment from last week. Rey is then shown walking into Eddie's locker room. Rey asks Eddie to reconsider and to please stop with his family. Eddie says that Rey is going to be his partner to take on MNM tonight. Rey said he doesn't want to be his partner, so Eddie says that he'll go by himself and that he'll tell everyone their secret. Rey begs him not to do it. Eddie tells him that he'll see him out there.
Muhammad Hassan is complaining to Teddy Long. He says that he deserves to be the #1 contender since he was never pinned or eliminated. Long says that Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan will take place at the Great American Bash and the winner will be the #1 contender.
No Disqualification Match
JBL vs. Blue Meanie
JBL immediately hits Meanie with a big boot. JBL hits him with right hands and then dumps him to the outside. He slams him into the announcer table and steps. JBL mocks Meanie's dance, which begins a short-lived Meanie comeback. JBL turns his attention to Nova and Richards. He knocks both of them out and throws a chair and Richards in the ring. Meanie distracts JBL, which allows Richards to nail JBL with a sickening chair shot. Meanie goes up top and hits a moonsault, but JBL kicks out. JBL is busted open. JBL hits a Clothesline From Hell, but Batista is in the ring and hits a spinebuster. Meanie rolls onto JBL and gets the victory. I will chalk this up to probably the strangest moment of SmackDown in 2005. The match was pretty short, but it did it's job.
Match Rating: *1/2
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
MNM vs. Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
Rey gets the best of Joey Mercury and then forces Rey to tag in. Rey hits the low dropkick and then tags in Eddie. Eddie hits the Three Amigos on Mercury and then throws Nitro out of the ring. Eddie hits a Frog Splash on Mercury, but Eddie pulls himself off of him at 2. He tags in Rey and he goes for a pin, but only gets a 2 count. Rey hits a dropkick to the back and tries going for the 619, but Eddie grabs him and throws him down while he's running the ropes. Eddie walks to the outside and sits down by Tony Chimel. MNM takes advantage, but goes for the Snapshot and Rey counters it. He hits a tilt-a-whirl hurricanrana and then follows up with a 619. He hits the springboard leg drop, but Eddie breaks up the pin. He attacks Mysterio and then sits up in the ropes. Mercury hits a clothesline and then they hits the Snapshot for the victory. This was obviously much more of an angle than a match, but it was still well worked and the story was strong.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and after a long pause, asks Rey if he is hurt. Rey is holding himself back from hitting Eddie, but Eddie tells him that he'll tell the world their little secret. Rey starts to head back, but Eddie yells at him and tells him he didn't say he could go. He pushes Rey insultingly in the head and tells him to open the ropes for him. Rey reluctantly does it and Eddie heads to the back.
Christian is in back and says he was born a main eventer. He main evented Raw and SmackDown both in the same week. He takes on Batista tonight.
Matt Morgan vs. William Regal
They once again hype up the BLOCKBUSTER trade, which is classic WWE. As soon as Regal is introduced, the Mexicools music hits and they come out on their tractor and surround Morgan. They attack Morgan, as Regal watches from the outside. Charles Robinson even takes a bump. They then cut a terrible promo and insult Japanese people at the same time. This was absolutely embarrassing. This era was classic for having a good show and then throwing out a segment that is completely stupid with such ease.
Speaking of which, Muhammad Hassan tells Daivari backstage that he will be a sacrifice that helps the greater good tonight.
Daivari vs. Undertaker
Daivari gets thrown in the ring by Hassan. Taker grabs him by the throat and he hits a chokeslam. Taker hits the Tombstone all while looking at Hassan on the entrance ramp. Taker gets the easy victory. Hassan laughs and goes down on his knees. Men in masks come down and start attacking Taker. Yes, this is the infamous segment that aired right after the terrorist attacks in London. The attackers choke Taker and this is another instance of him having no friends in the back who will come out and help him. Hassan walks in the ring and puts Taker in the Camel Clutch. This was the beginning of the end for Hassan. The attackers carry Daivari to the back.
Match Rating: 1/4*
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Christian vs. Batista
Christian throws some right hands, but they have little effect and Batista clotheslines him. Batista throws Christian out of the ring as we go to commercial break. Back from the break, Batista is taking it to Christian. Back on the outside, Christian is able to hit a drop toe hold on Batista into the steps. Christian hits a DDT for a 2 count. Batista battles out of a headlock, but eats a missile dropkick from Christian. Christian goes for the Unprettier, but Batista hits an electric chair and both men are down. Batista drives Christian into the corner and catches Christian off the ropes and hits a front powerslam. Batista catches Christian again and hits a running powerslam. Batista hits a spinebuster and then a Batista Bomb for the victory. Well, it's easy to see why Christian wouldn't stick around much longer. If there was anyone who should have benefited from a move to SmackDown, it was him and it just didn't happen. The match was just okay. After the match JBL and Orlando Jordan come down and attack Batista. However, Batista hits a Batista Bomb on Orlando Jordan as JBL heads to the back.
Match Rating: **
Well, this show hasn't aged very well. Between the bWo, the Mexicools and the masked attackers this had a lot of negatives. The main event under-delivered in my opinion and the Eddie/Rey storyline seems to be going off the rails. Heading into the Great American Bash, SmackDown doesn't have a whole lot going for it.
Overall Rating: 39%
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
After a long recap of last week, JBL is in the ring to talk about it. He says what Teddy Long did to him, makes the Montreal screwjob look like a parking ticket. As he begins talking about his match at Great American Bash, his own music hits and the limo comes out. The bWo comes out of the limo in what has to be one of the more bizarre moments of this era. The Blue Meanie is introduced as John Blue Lamefield, Nova as Bash Me and Stevie is Bluewheat. They ramble on and the crowd is semi into it and it leads to Blue Meanie challenging JBL to a match. Meanie then spray paints bWo on his limo.
#1 Contender Match For The United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Booker T
Benoit backs Booker into the corner and starts chopping. Benoit hits a snap suplex and then goes for a Sharpshooter, but Booker kicks out. Booker hits a hot shot on Benoit and then goes with a heel kick to the chin. Booker hits a superkick for a 2 count. This is a match that we'll be seeing a lot of coming up in the fall and Michael Cole made mention of their best of 7 series in WCW. Benoit avoids a Scissors Kick, but Booker still hits him with some knees to the head. Benoit ducks a clothesline and hits three German suplexes. Benoit goes up top, but Booker runs over to stop him. Booker hits a superplex, but Benoit kicks out at 2. Benoit rolls under a kick and goes for the Crippler Crossface, but Booker counters it into a submission, but Benoit grabs the ropes. Benoit counters a suplex with the Crippler Crossface and Booker taps pretty quickly. These two typically did work well together and even though this one was short, it was pretty good. After the match they show Sharmell backstage watching and Orlando Jordan scares her away.
Match Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
They show a recap of the Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio segment from last week. Rey is then shown walking into Eddie's locker room. Rey asks Eddie to reconsider and to please stop with his family. Eddie says that Rey is going to be his partner to take on MNM tonight. Rey said he doesn't want to be his partner, so Eddie says that he'll go by himself and that he'll tell everyone their secret. Rey begs him not to do it. Eddie tells him that he'll see him out there.
Muhammad Hassan is complaining to Teddy Long. He says that he deserves to be the #1 contender since he was never pinned or eliminated. Long says that Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan will take place at the Great American Bash and the winner will be the #1 contender.
No Disqualification Match
JBL vs. Blue Meanie
JBL immediately hits Meanie with a big boot. JBL hits him with right hands and then dumps him to the outside. He slams him into the announcer table and steps. JBL mocks Meanie's dance, which begins a short-lived Meanie comeback. JBL turns his attention to Nova and Richards. He knocks both of them out and throws a chair and Richards in the ring. Meanie distracts JBL, which allows Richards to nail JBL with a sickening chair shot. Meanie goes up top and hits a moonsault, but JBL kicks out. JBL is busted open. JBL hits a Clothesline From Hell, but Batista is in the ring and hits a spinebuster. Meanie rolls onto JBL and gets the victory. I will chalk this up to probably the strangest moment of SmackDown in 2005. The match was pretty short, but it did it's job.
Match Rating: *1/2
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
MNM vs. Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
Rey gets the best of Joey Mercury and then forces Rey to tag in. Rey hits the low dropkick and then tags in Eddie. Eddie hits the Three Amigos on Mercury and then throws Nitro out of the ring. Eddie hits a Frog Splash on Mercury, but Eddie pulls himself off of him at 2. He tags in Rey and he goes for a pin, but only gets a 2 count. Rey hits a dropkick to the back and tries going for the 619, but Eddie grabs him and throws him down while he's running the ropes. Eddie walks to the outside and sits down by Tony Chimel. MNM takes advantage, but goes for the Snapshot and Rey counters it. He hits a tilt-a-whirl hurricanrana and then follows up with a 619. He hits the springboard leg drop, but Eddie breaks up the pin. He attacks Mysterio and then sits up in the ropes. Mercury hits a clothesline and then they hits the Snapshot for the victory. This was obviously much more of an angle than a match, but it was still well worked and the story was strong.
Match Rating: **
Eddie grabs the mic and after a long pause, asks Rey if he is hurt. Rey is holding himself back from hitting Eddie, but Eddie tells him that he'll tell the world their little secret. Rey starts to head back, but Eddie yells at him and tells him he didn't say he could go. He pushes Rey insultingly in the head and tells him to open the ropes for him. Rey reluctantly does it and Eddie heads to the back.
Christian is in back and says he was born a main eventer. He main evented Raw and SmackDown both in the same week. He takes on Batista tonight.
They once again hype up the BLOCKBUSTER trade, which is classic WWE. As soon as Regal is introduced, the Mexicools music hits and they come out on their tractor and surround Morgan. They attack Morgan, as Regal watches from the outside. Charles Robinson even takes a bump. They then cut a terrible promo and insult Japanese people at the same time. This was absolutely embarrassing. This era was classic for having a good show and then throwing out a segment that is completely stupid with such ease.
Speaking of which, Muhammad Hassan tells Daivari backstage that he will be a sacrifice that helps the greater good tonight.
Daivari vs. Undertaker
Daivari gets thrown in the ring by Hassan. Taker grabs him by the throat and he hits a chokeslam. Taker hits the Tombstone all while looking at Hassan on the entrance ramp. Taker gets the easy victory. Hassan laughs and goes down on his knees. Men in masks come down and start attacking Taker. Yes, this is the infamous segment that aired right after the terrorist attacks in London. The attackers choke Taker and this is another instance of him having no friends in the back who will come out and help him. Hassan walks in the ring and puts Taker in the Camel Clutch. This was the beginning of the end for Hassan. The attackers carry Daivari to the back.
Match Rating: 1/4*
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Christian vs. Batista
Christian throws some right hands, but they have little effect and Batista clotheslines him. Batista throws Christian out of the ring as we go to commercial break. Back from the break, Batista is taking it to Christian. Back on the outside, Christian is able to hit a drop toe hold on Batista into the steps. Christian hits a DDT for a 2 count. Batista battles out of a headlock, but eats a missile dropkick from Christian. Christian goes for the Unprettier, but Batista hits an electric chair and both men are down. Batista drives Christian into the corner and catches Christian off the ropes and hits a front powerslam. Batista catches Christian again and hits a running powerslam. Batista hits a spinebuster and then a Batista Bomb for the victory. Well, it's easy to see why Christian wouldn't stick around much longer. If there was anyone who should have benefited from a move to SmackDown, it was him and it just didn't happen. The match was just okay. After the match JBL and Orlando Jordan come down and attack Batista. However, Batista hits a Batista Bomb on Orlando Jordan as JBL heads to the back.
Match Rating: **
Well, this show hasn't aged very well. Between the bWo, the Mexicools and the masked attackers this had a lot of negatives. The main event under-delivered in my opinion and the Eddie/Rey storyline seems to be going off the rails. Heading into the Great American Bash, SmackDown doesn't have a whole lot going for it.
Overall Rating: 39%
Monday, February 17, 2020
Monday Night Raw 7-4-05 Review
Monday, July 4th, 2005
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Carlito is out for Carlito's Cabana, where he claims there are fireworks every night. His guest tonight is Hulk Hogan, who comes out to a big pop. Carlito says that Hogan being on Carlito's Cabana is the biggest moment of Hogan's career. Carlito asks why he didn't bring Brooke because she is hot, which leads to Hogan attacking Carlito. Kurt Angle is out now and asks who cares about Hogan's daughter when he's making Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair tap out. Angle reminds Hogan that last time they faced off, he made him tap out as well. He says the person he wants to make tap out more than anyone though is Brooke. Hogan attacks Angle, but then Carlito gets him from behind and they start double teaming Hogan until Michaels makes the save. Teddy Long somewhere is screaming at his television to make tonight's main event. This was pretty rushed and kind of awkward. Keep in mind that grown men are talking about his 17 year old daughter. Nope, not creepy at all.
Edge & Snitsky vs. Kane & The Big Show
Edge quickly tags in Snitsky to get away from Kane. JR reminds us of the irony that is Snitsky and Lita partnering together. Big Show is in and nails Snitsky with some clotheslines. Kane starts chasing Lita to the back as we head to commercial break. Back from the break, and Snitsky is working on Big Show's leg after Edge took out his leg on an illegal double team. Edge and Snitsky hit a double shoulder block from the second rope, but Big Show easily kicks out. He hits a double suplex and he and Snitsky are both down. Hot tag to Kane and he hits a big boot on Snitsky. He hits a sidewalk slam and then goes up top and hits the top rope clothesline. He throws Edge into the ring, who then immediately eats a headbutt from Big Show. Edge is clotheslined out of the ring and Kane hits a chokeslam on Snitsky for the victory. This was a pretty standard TV tag team match, but the crowd was pretty into it.
Match Rating: *1/2 (out of 5)
Todd Grisham was outside Eric Bischoff's office when Shawn Michaels walks out and informs us that he and Hulk Hogan will take on Carlito and Kurt Angle tonight.
The Heart Throbs vs. Viscera
The Heart Throbs remind Lilian of what happened at Vengeance and try to impress her. Lilian can't even announce Viscera. 2005 was a weird time. Viscera immediately slams both men. He charges at both, but they get their feet up. A double shoulder block takes Viscera down and they continue the attack. The Heart Throbs crotch Viscera on the ring post and the ref calls for the bell. The Heart Throbs after the match put their boas around Lilian and kiss her on the cheek. Somehow this just keeps continuing. You can probably guess how good this was.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show the Divas and then Jericho getting ready.
Maria announces that there was a trade and that the newest member of Raw is Chavo Guerrero, who now has bleach blonde hair and wearing yacht club clothes. Chavo says that he has underachieved and it's because of his Hispanic heritage holding him back. He said that he has decided to join middle class America and now has legally changed his name to Kerwin White. He then calls Maria stupid. This was a thing that happened.
Hurricane, Rosey and Stacy are here with sparklers. He talks about safety and how they use a Hurrabucket to properly put out their sparklers. Meanwhile, Rosey's hand catches on fire.
Maria is still upset and in comes John Cena. He tells her to show her strengths and hide her weaknesses. Not a moment Cena would probably be proud of.
It's Highlight Reel time with Chris Jericho. He insults Carlito's Cabana and introduces John Cena. Jericho talks about Cena's success, but then lists his own personal successes including playing the Download Fest in front of 50,000 fans. He shows a clip of it on the insanely expensive Jeritron 5000. Cena says this is a one sided interview and starts to leave. Jericho grabs him back in and continues rambling on about how great he is. Jericho tells him that he can take that WWE Championship away from him any time he wants to. Cena says that he remembers when Raw really was Raw is Jericho, but now he's a cheap version of himself. Jericho slaps him and Cena takes him down and they start brawling. The refs pull Jericho away and Cena grabs an inflatable hand from the crowd and uses it to flip Jericho off.
It's Diva Search time...Coach and Christy introduce Sgt. Slaughter for the Bikini Boot Camp. One of the girls slips on her way out. Whoever gets the fastest time this week, gains immunity for next week's vote. Just in case you weren't sure this would take forever as it is, they have Coach run the obstacle course. Layla has a wardrobe malfunction and is disqualified. God, I can't believe this was on television. Simona, Alexis and Cameron do absolutely terrible. Elisabeth is the winner with 35 seconds and is safe for a week.
Val Venis vs. Rene Dupree
How do you follow up a thrilling Diva Search segment? With a jobber match of course. Rene Dupree is announced as being part of the huge blockbuster trade that also brought over Kerwin White. So apparently Raw got Dupree, Chavo, Mark Jindrak, Kenzo Suzuki, Hiroko and Danny Basham. Suzuki and Hiroko are about to get released and Jindrak will make all of one Raw appearance according to trusty Wikipedia. Meanwhile, SmackDown got William Regal, Candice Michelle, Sylvain Grenier, Simon Dean and Stevie Richards. So it basically ended up being Chavo for Regal in the end. Dupree says that he is simply phenomenal and that Val is simply pathetic. Venis goes after him and hits a side Russian leg sweep. Dupree however hangs him on the second rope and starts throwing fists. Val makes a comeback and gets a 2 count. Dupree then out of nowhere pins Venis by putting his feet on the rope. What an impact win there.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kurt Angle and Carlito are with Todd Grisham. Carlito says that no one disrespects them and gets away with it. Angle says that he is going to snap someones ankle tonight, he doesn't care who.
Carlito & Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan
Hogan and Carlito lock up and Hogan of course throws him across the ring. In comes Angle and Hogan tosses him as well. Hogan and Michaels toss both men out of the ring and are celebrating as we go into the commercial break. Back from the break and Angle is working on Michaels. Michaels fights him off and hits an elbow from the top rope. Michaels starts tuning up the band, but Carlito distracts him and then heats a right hand. Hogan has the ref distracted and Carlito hits Michaels with a knee to the back, allowing Angle to take control. Carlito and Angle cut the ring in half by making multiple tags. Michaels counters an Angle Slam with a DDT and both men are down. Hogan gets the hot tag and hits the standard Hogan comeback on Carlito. He tosses Angle over the top rope. He hits the boot and leg drop and that's all for Carlito. This was pretty much exactly what you would expect it would be, which you can almost say about every Hogan match ever. Hogan and Michaels celebrate until Michaels nails him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down on Hogan for a long time and then walks to the back as the show goes off the air. Good ending to a fun match.
Match Rating: **1/2
If you prefer the entertainment aspect of sports entertainment, perhaps this one was better for you than it was for me. It's hard for me to get behind a show that has so much time devoted to talking and obstacle courses. Not to mention how awful the Viscera stuff was and the Diva Search is already a pure embarrassment. On the bright side, the Hogan/Michaels and Jericho/Cena feuds are off to good starts as the build to SummerSlam begins.
Overall Rating: 49%
ARCO Arena
Sacramento, California
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Carlito is out for Carlito's Cabana, where he claims there are fireworks every night. His guest tonight is Hulk Hogan, who comes out to a big pop. Carlito says that Hogan being on Carlito's Cabana is the biggest moment of Hogan's career. Carlito asks why he didn't bring Brooke because she is hot, which leads to Hogan attacking Carlito. Kurt Angle is out now and asks who cares about Hogan's daughter when he's making Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair tap out. Angle reminds Hogan that last time they faced off, he made him tap out as well. He says the person he wants to make tap out more than anyone though is Brooke. Hogan attacks Angle, but then Carlito gets him from behind and they start double teaming Hogan until Michaels makes the save. Teddy Long somewhere is screaming at his television to make tonight's main event. This was pretty rushed and kind of awkward. Keep in mind that grown men are talking about his 17 year old daughter. Nope, not creepy at all.
Edge & Snitsky vs. Kane & The Big Show
Edge quickly tags in Snitsky to get away from Kane. JR reminds us of the irony that is Snitsky and Lita partnering together. Big Show is in and nails Snitsky with some clotheslines. Kane starts chasing Lita to the back as we head to commercial break. Back from the break, and Snitsky is working on Big Show's leg after Edge took out his leg on an illegal double team. Edge and Snitsky hit a double shoulder block from the second rope, but Big Show easily kicks out. He hits a double suplex and he and Snitsky are both down. Hot tag to Kane and he hits a big boot on Snitsky. He hits a sidewalk slam and then goes up top and hits the top rope clothesline. He throws Edge into the ring, who then immediately eats a headbutt from Big Show. Edge is clotheslined out of the ring and Kane hits a chokeslam on Snitsky for the victory. This was a pretty standard TV tag team match, but the crowd was pretty into it.
Match Rating: *1/2 (out of 5)
Todd Grisham was outside Eric Bischoff's office when Shawn Michaels walks out and informs us that he and Hulk Hogan will take on Carlito and Kurt Angle tonight.
The Heart Throbs vs. Viscera
The Heart Throbs remind Lilian of what happened at Vengeance and try to impress her. Lilian can't even announce Viscera. 2005 was a weird time. Viscera immediately slams both men. He charges at both, but they get their feet up. A double shoulder block takes Viscera down and they continue the attack. The Heart Throbs crotch Viscera on the ring post and the ref calls for the bell. The Heart Throbs after the match put their boas around Lilian and kiss her on the cheek. Somehow this just keeps continuing. You can probably guess how good this was.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They show the Divas and then Jericho getting ready.
Maria announces that there was a trade and that the newest member of Raw is Chavo Guerrero, who now has bleach blonde hair and wearing yacht club clothes. Chavo says that he has underachieved and it's because of his Hispanic heritage holding him back. He said that he has decided to join middle class America and now has legally changed his name to Kerwin White. He then calls Maria stupid. This was a thing that happened.
Hurricane, Rosey and Stacy are here with sparklers. He talks about safety and how they use a Hurrabucket to properly put out their sparklers. Meanwhile, Rosey's hand catches on fire.
Maria is still upset and in comes John Cena. He tells her to show her strengths and hide her weaknesses. Not a moment Cena would probably be proud of.
It's Highlight Reel time with Chris Jericho. He insults Carlito's Cabana and introduces John Cena. Jericho talks about Cena's success, but then lists his own personal successes including playing the Download Fest in front of 50,000 fans. He shows a clip of it on the insanely expensive Jeritron 5000. Cena says this is a one sided interview and starts to leave. Jericho grabs him back in and continues rambling on about how great he is. Jericho tells him that he can take that WWE Championship away from him any time he wants to. Cena says that he remembers when Raw really was Raw is Jericho, but now he's a cheap version of himself. Jericho slaps him and Cena takes him down and they start brawling. The refs pull Jericho away and Cena grabs an inflatable hand from the crowd and uses it to flip Jericho off.
It's Diva Search time...Coach and Christy introduce Sgt. Slaughter for the Bikini Boot Camp. One of the girls slips on her way out. Whoever gets the fastest time this week, gains immunity for next week's vote. Just in case you weren't sure this would take forever as it is, they have Coach run the obstacle course. Layla has a wardrobe malfunction and is disqualified. God, I can't believe this was on television. Simona, Alexis and Cameron do absolutely terrible. Elisabeth is the winner with 35 seconds and is safe for a week.
Val Venis vs. Rene Dupree
How do you follow up a thrilling Diva Search segment? With a jobber match of course. Rene Dupree is announced as being part of the huge blockbuster trade that also brought over Kerwin White. So apparently Raw got Dupree, Chavo, Mark Jindrak, Kenzo Suzuki, Hiroko and Danny Basham. Suzuki and Hiroko are about to get released and Jindrak will make all of one Raw appearance according to trusty Wikipedia. Meanwhile, SmackDown got William Regal, Candice Michelle, Sylvain Grenier, Simon Dean and Stevie Richards. So it basically ended up being Chavo for Regal in the end. Dupree says that he is simply phenomenal and that Val is simply pathetic. Venis goes after him and hits a side Russian leg sweep. Dupree however hangs him on the second rope and starts throwing fists. Val makes a comeback and gets a 2 count. Dupree then out of nowhere pins Venis by putting his feet on the rope. What an impact win there.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Kurt Angle and Carlito are with Todd Grisham. Carlito says that no one disrespects them and gets away with it. Angle says that he is going to snap someones ankle tonight, he doesn't care who.
Carlito & Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels & Hulk Hogan
Hogan and Carlito lock up and Hogan of course throws him across the ring. In comes Angle and Hogan tosses him as well. Hogan and Michaels toss both men out of the ring and are celebrating as we go into the commercial break. Back from the break and Angle is working on Michaels. Michaels fights him off and hits an elbow from the top rope. Michaels starts tuning up the band, but Carlito distracts him and then heats a right hand. Hogan has the ref distracted and Carlito hits Michaels with a knee to the back, allowing Angle to take control. Carlito and Angle cut the ring in half by making multiple tags. Michaels counters an Angle Slam with a DDT and both men are down. Hogan gets the hot tag and hits the standard Hogan comeback on Carlito. He tosses Angle over the top rope. He hits the boot and leg drop and that's all for Carlito. This was pretty much exactly what you would expect it would be, which you can almost say about every Hogan match ever. Hogan and Michaels celebrate until Michaels nails him with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels looks down on Hogan for a long time and then walks to the back as the show goes off the air. Good ending to a fun match.
Match Rating: **1/2
If you prefer the entertainment aspect of sports entertainment, perhaps this one was better for you than it was for me. It's hard for me to get behind a show that has so much time devoted to talking and obstacle courses. Not to mention how awful the Viscera stuff was and the Diva Search is already a pure embarrassment. On the bright side, the Hogan/Michaels and Jericho/Cena feuds are off to good starts as the build to SummerSlam begins.
Overall Rating: 49%
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