SmackDown 3-31-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, March 31st, 2006
Kemper Arena
Kansas City, Missouri

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Rey Mysterio is out to kick off the show and he calls out Randy Orton. Out comes Kurt Angle instead. Angle emphasizes that it's every man for himself and that he's going to walk away World Heavyweight Champion. Now Orton comes out to join the party. Orton then proposes Mysterio and Angle against himself in a handicap match tonight. He then backs out of it saying that he won't jeopardize his health ahead of WrestleMania. Teddy Long is out and he thinks the handicap match sounds like a pretty good idea. This turns into Angle and Mysterio getting into it. This leads to a match between Mysterio and Angle being made for tonight, which Orton loves. Long then calls out security and has him escorted out of the arena so that he doesn't interfere later on. 

They show Orton leaving the arena during the commercial break. 

Chris Benoit vs. Animal 

Animal comes down and isn't happy that he doesn't have a match at WrestleMania. He says he is going to beat Benoit and show that he's Big Time all while wearing the WrestleMania 22 t-shirt. Benoit pretty much dominates from the get go and then hits three German suplexes. Animal hits a boot to the face of Benoit and then pulls out his brass knuckles. Benoit gets on the Crippler Crossface instead and Animal taps. This was just a tune up for Benoit. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

It's a good thing they knew to show Benoit walking backstage because JBL and Jillian Hall are there to applaud him. JBL now brings up when he beat Eddie Guerrero because of course he does. Benoit tells him that he's glad his hand is heeled because he will need it when he taps out. 

JBL vs. Daniel Cross

JBL clubs away on Cross and then hits two Clotheslines From Hell for the victory. Sure.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They hype up the Hall of Fame again and follow it up with a Miz Reality Check. 

Booker T vs. Paul Burchill

Burchill is able to hit a standing moonsault, but Booker recovers quickly. Burchill fights back with a reverse crossbody off the second rope. Boogeyman's music hits and Booker goes out of the ring to protect Sharmell. Booker looks under the ring, but Boogeyman comes out from under the ring on the other side where Sharmell is. Boogey carries off Sharmell and Booker is counted out. Booker hesitantly chases after him and Burchill is declared the winner. What a match. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show clips of Booker looking for her during the commercial break. 

Bobby Lashley, Matt Hardy & Tatanka vs. MNM & Finlay

Lashley dumps out both of MNM and he wants Finlay. This distraction allows MNM to attack him from behind, but Lashley hits a double suplex on them. Tatanka comes in and continues the momentum until Mercury distracts the ref and Finlay kicks Tatanka when he's running the ropes. Hardy finally gets a hot tag and hits the clothesline/bulldog combo and a Side Effect. Lashley saves Hardy from the Snapshot and Hardy hits a Twist Of Fate for the victory. That was exactly what it needed to be and it was full of overachievers, so it was better than it needed to be as well. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Mark Henry comes out to the ring in a suit and talks at a podium in front of a black wreath like it's a eulogy. He gives a list of wrestlers that Undertaker has defeated at WrestleMania. That was weird that there was no Daivari here and extremely short. 

Mexicools vs. Kid Kash & Jamie Noble

Noble distracts the Mexicools by messing with their tractors and Kash attacks from behind to start things off. Noble's vertical suplex is really nice. Noble goes off the top rope, but Psicosis catches him with a dropkick and makes the tag to Super Crazy. Crazy hits a series of dropkicks, but Noble comes in illegally and hits a reverse neckbreaker. Psicosis comes in to make the save and hits a corkscrew dive to the floor. Super Crazy hits a top rope Spanish Fly and that is all. Super Crazy continues to be used in the Tajiri spot as an underused talent. 

Match Rating: **

Booker T is still looking for Sharmell and sees a bunch of worms outside a door backstage. He gets to a stairwell and he can hear her screaming. Booker walks over the worms and opens the door. He finds Sharmell standing on a crate with hundreds of worms around her. The cameraman seems to have no problem with the worms as he walks over the worms and finds him lurking in the background. 

Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle

I love watching these two wrestle. Rey almost gets in an early 619, but Angle sees it coming and gets out of the way. Mysterio goes for a baseball slide, but Angle sidesteps it and shoves Mysterio into the barricade with authority into the commercial break. Mysterio starts to fight back and hits a seated dropkick after a roll through on a sunset flip. Springboard seated senton by Mysterio and he gets a 2.99999 count. Angle hits a German suplex with a release and the straps are down. Mysterio counters the Ankle Lock and goes for another 619. Angle catches it and puts him into the Ankle Lock and Mysterio taps. I'm not sure I love the idea of these two fighting two nights before WrestleMania, but A) I'm never going to complain about these two wrestling and B) this was the correct way to book it with Angle winning. After Angle is headed down the ramp, Orton comes in and hits a RKO on Mysterio. Orton tells Angle that he's going to give him one at WrestleMania, so Angle comes in and destroys Orton and puts him in the Ankle Lock and Orton taps. This was all well done. 

Match Rating: ***

This was a good way to lead us to WrestleMania, especially once we got past the United States Championship stuff. That and the Raw tag match are the only two weak links in terms of build. Even the Playboy Pillow Fight was built up to better than those two. Thumbs up here. 

Overall Rating: 61%

Monday Night Raw 3-27-06 Review

Monday, March 27th, 2006
Qwest Center
Omaha, Nebraska

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Mick Foley is here to kick off the show. He has roses for Lita and calls her and Edge out. Foley has a gift on the ramp for Edge. Edge rips on Foley for coming back just for the money and that it's ruining his legacy. Foley follows up with an intense few moments of him coming back for his WrestleMania moment and Edge bleeding. Edge finally opens up the box and it's a baseball bat. Edge says he isn't waiting for WrestleMania to use it and walks to the ring. Foley then takes a barbed wire baseball bat out of the box that had Lita's flowers. They swing at each other and Edge rolls out of the ring and Foley chases him. We then get an awkward cut that leads to the promo video for their match. When we come back, Foley is in the ring rocking back and forth with the bat. 

Carlito vs. Kane

Carlito attacks Kane while he's about to do his pyro. Kane goes back to destroying Carlito pretty quickly and hits a series of right fists and a sidewalk slam. Kane his the top rope clothesline, but then Carlito hits a low dropkick and a DDT. Carlito goes for a springboard move, but Kane catches him by the throat. Carlito grabs the referee and throws him into Kane and loses by disqualification. Kane chases him to the back, but he's attacked by Chris Masters, Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade. They lock him in a closet and block it with a fork truck. Big Show comes to the rescue and tries to push it away. This was all really stupid. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Chris Masters and Carlito come out to the ring and then they cut to Big Show still trying to push the fork truck. Out walks Kane and he lets Big Show know there's another door. After a commercial, we get a Chris Masters promo. Kane and Big Show come out for Big Show to be in the Master Lock Challenge. Kane immediately chases Carlito out of there and Show sits in the chair. I can't believe they are devoting this much time to this feud. Masters can't get the hold on, so Big Show attacks him and ends him with a chokeslam. 

We get a John Cena hype video, showing his history and interviews with his dad and others. I always love when they do these type of video packages.

Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

This is match #3,439 in their series. Michaels comes out on fire, throwing fists and clotheslining Triple H over the top rope. They've already done more than I expected considering they are in two of the top three matches at WrestleMania in 6 days. They go into the crowd and then Michaels hits a back body drop right back over the barricade. Triple H goes for a Pedigree, but Michaels counters and sends him out of the ring. Out comes Mr. McMahon as we go into a commercial break. When we come back, Triple H hits a huge spinebuster. Back out of the ring they go and Michaels is able to throw Triple H into the steps. After duking it out back in the ring, Michaels is the first man up and hits an inverted atomic drop. McMahon grabs his leg and Triple H goes for the Pedigree. Michaels counters into a catapult and Triple H hits McMahon. Michaels hits the top rope elbow. Michaels is tuning up the band, but McMahon grabs his leg again. He knocks him off the apron, but eats a Pedigree. Instead of going for a pin, Triple H calls McMahon back in and he goes and grabs the sledgehammer. Out comes John Cena to make the save and he and Triple H face off. Cena knocks him out of the ring and is all fired up as McMahon and Triple H walk slowly to the back. So I guess this is a no contest? The match, while pretty standard, was still solid and more intense than I had anticipated. 

Match Rating: **1/2

They show the WrestleMania Big Time Moment and it's Edge winning the first Money In The Bank from last year. 

Ric Flair is on his way to the ring with the Money In The Bank briefcase hanging above the ring. He cuts a promo about being the greatest, which means it's time for Mama-less Shelton Benjamin bragging about he's the most athletic wrestler. Flair's reaction is great and they start brawling. Shelton hits a Samoan drop. Shelton starts climbing the ladder, but out comes Rob Van Dam and he throws him off the ladder. RVD slams Shelton on the ladder and hits Rolling Thunder. He grabs the mic and says that Sunday is every man for himself and that Money In The Bank belongs to him. Flair gives him a thumb to the eye and hits him in the face with the ladder. This was just your typical last minute hype up on the go home. 

Kenny, Johnny & Mikey vs. Val Venis, Viscera & Eugene

Why wouldn't they save this for WrestleMania? This is all shenanigans, with Viscera gyrating and Eugene riding Mikey like a horse. They eventually get to a hot tag with Venis, which I still think is weird is in 2006. Venis goes for the Money Shot, but Mikey jumps off the trampoline and pushes Venis off. Johnny covers him and that is all. This was silly and short, but they all worked hard. 

Match Rating: *

After the match, the Spirit Squad attacks their three opponents and Kenny hits the top rope leg drop on Venis. We conclude the segment with a cheer on the top of the stage. 

We now get a Triple H video package. 

William Perry of Chicago Bears fame is going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

They go to Mickie backstage and she is sitting with candles and a shrine to her hatred towards Trish. They pan to Trish watching it and she is creeped out. 

Trish Stratus & Torrie Wilson vs. Victoria & Candice Michelle

Candice is taking it to Torrie ahead of their huge Playboy Pillow Fight on Sunday. Victoria accidentally splashes into Candice below the belt and Torrie hits the hot tag to Trish. Trish hits the Chick Kick on Victoria, but Candice makes the save. Torrie and Candice start brawling on the outside. Victoria goes for the Widow's Peak, but Trish gets out and hits Stratusfaction for the victory. This was what it was.

Match Rating: 3/4*

This leads into a video package on the Trish/Mickie story. 

Mr. McMahon vs. John Cena

McMahon gets on the mic before the match and says that he is ordering both Shawn Michaels and Triple H to be handcuffed to the ring. We get a classic test of strength that leads to McMahon kicking Cena below the belt. He brings the handcuff keys out and unlocks Triple H. Triple H hits Cena in the face with the sledgehammer and Cena is busted open. Triple H turns his attention to Michaels and dangles the key in his face. McMahon now approaches with a chair, allowing Triple H to hit him in the gut with the sledgehammer and then McMahon hits Michaels in the head with the chair. This was all angle, no match.

Match Rating: 1/4*

This was a pretty strong go home show for WrestleMania, where all of the main matches got some sort of hype. The only one that feels really flat is the tag team match and it seemingly got more time than it really deserved. Everything else has me excited to re-watch at WrestleMania 22.

Overall Rating: 60%

NXT 2-5-14 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, February 5th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Sin Cara vs. Alexander Rusev

Sin Cara still gets the special lighting here in NXT. Cara kind of hits a moonsault which gets called out by the announcers. He goes for a springboard move, but Rusev hits him with a dropkick on the way down. Sin Cara makes a comeback and this time hits the springboard crossbody. Rusev has Sin Cara up in an electric chair position, but throws him down face-first instead. He puts on the Accolade and that is all. Sin Cara looked pretty flat here. 

Match Rating: *

Seeing advertisements for the "new" WWE Network on here is sad going into the change to Peacock. 

Alicia Fox vs. Emma

Fox hits a big dropkick, but misses her in the corner and Emma puts on the Dil-Emma. Fox gets out pretty quickly and hits a northern lights suplex. Emma hits an Emma sandwich and the Emma Lock for the shorter than expected victory. After the match, she gets on the mic to send her best wishes to Paige for a speedy recovery. When Paige comes back, she wants her rematch. Emma starts dancing and in comes Sasha Banks, who she throws out of the ring. Then in comes Summer Rae and Charlotte. Alicia Fox joins in too. Natalya and Bayley come out and make the save. This was a little too short to be much of anything. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Sylvester Lefort vs. Mason Ryan

*Dream match alert* Ryan drops Lefort on the top rope and hits a big boot. Ryan hits whatever his finisher is and that's all. I'm not really sure what the point of this was. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Aiden English is backstage and cuts a promo for his match against Tyson Kidd next. 

Lefort says he will get revenge on Mason Ryan. 

Aiden English vs. Tyson Kidd

English hits a back suplex early, but Kidd hits some kicks to slow him down. English hits a knee and then a vertical suplex for a 2 count. Out comes Big Cass and he puts on English's hat and scarf. Kidd hits a top rope reverse neckbreaker for the victory. This was all storyline.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Adrian Neville vs. Corey Graves

Things start off a little slowly until Neville hits a dive to the outside. Graves is now working on the knee and then he works on the knee even more. Graves hits a cool backbreaker for a 2 count. Graves goes for a piledriver on the outside, but Neville counters with a back body drop. Neville hits a missile dropkick, but moments later gets hit by a clothesline. Neville barely climbs up to the top rope and hits the Red Arrow for the victory. This match made sense, but it wasn't really anything more than that. After the match, Bo Dallas is out, but before he does anything to an injured Neville, now Triple H comes out. He announces that their match at Arrival will be a ladder match.

Match Rating: **

This was a thumbs in the middle type of show. Nothing really bad, nothing really good. That happens a lot on here and that's okay. Not every show needs to be a home run, but I'd like to see them aim for it more often. 

Overall Rating: 51%

Monday Night Raw 12-6-93 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, December 6th, 1993
Westchester County Center
White Plains, New York

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We get a recap of the Razor Ramon/Diesel match from last week and the interference from both Shawn Michaels and 1-2-3 Kid. Shawn cuts a promo on his match with the Kid tonight. 

Shawn Michaels vs. 1-2-3 Kid

I'm just glad that I got to this one before I only have the Peacock version of the WWE Network. We get a nice Rocker-esque beginning to the match and then Kid hits a springboard crossbody to Michaels on the floor. Kid hits a German suplex into a bridge for a 2 count and then puts him into a headlock. The pace quickens again and Michaels hits a headscissor that sends Kid to the floor. On the outside, Kid throws Michaels into the ring post. Kid goes for a leap off the apron, but Michaels catches him and hits a powerslam into the commercial break. Kid is able to battle Michaels off the top rope, but Michaels dropkicks Kid on his leap down. Kid ducks a clothesline and hits a spin kick and both men are down. Kid hits a top rope reverse crossbody, but then misses a top rope 360 dive into the commercial break. Michaels hits the Razor's Edge, but lifts Kid up before Danny Davis can count to 3. Michaels hits another one and out comes Razor Ramon. He puts him out for a third one, but Razor grabs Kid's legs and pulls him out of the ring. Shawn slaps Razor in the face and Razor chases Michaels down the aisle. Diesel attacks Razor and it allows Shawn to give Razor a Razor's Edge to the arena floor. They zoom into Razor's toothpick on the floor as if this is some art house film. Shawn then hits a second one and we head into the commercial again. This was a very entertaining match, especially for 1993. They did have a few minor timing issues, but this was good stuff. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

The Quebecers vs. Mike Walsh & Bert Centeno

Jacques mocks Centeno's height and gets on his knees. Walsh hits a monkey flip on Pierre, but Pierre comes back with a clothesline. We get an awkward spot where Centeno looks like he wasn't able to turn around when he was sent to the ropes and he falls down. Jacques hits a fairly tame looking piledriver on Centeno and then they hit Flip, Flop and Fly for the victory. That was a pretty weak squash, but it's still the Quebecers on my television.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They now do an interview with Owen Hart, who says that he has a big surprise that's going to make everyone talk about him. 

Doink vs. Tony DeVito

Welcome to the Dink era. This all just feels so much like a house show attraction rather than something that should be on TV. I really don't know why this match is still going on. Doink just does a bunch of mat wrestling while Dink goofs around on the apron. He finally hits the Whoopee Cushion and that is all. What's with the squashes here tonight? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Ugh, more Jeff Jarrett vignettes. 

Next week it's Macho Man vs. Fatu. Sounds good to me. 

Crush vs. Tony Roy

Call it a hunch, but I don't think this match won't break the streak of bad squashes tonight. They have Randy Savage on the phone here while Crush does his usual junk. Crush puts Roy up in a military press and then drops him on the top rope, which puts us out of our misery. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week we get an Undertaker interview, Adam Bomb, Smoking Gunns and the aforementioned Savage vs. Fatu. Out comes Gorilla Monsoon, who Heenan has been ripping on all night again. He grabs Heenan by the collar forces him to the backstage area. Heenan stumbles around on his clothes and then says goodbye. With this, we have sadly reached the end of the Bobby Heenan era. 

Well, the first third of the show was fantastic, but the squashes here were terrible. It also ended with the memorable, but depressing moment that Heenan leaves the WWF. All in all, this was a good episode, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. 

Overall Rating: 59%

SmackDown 3-24-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, March 24th, 2006
FedEx Forum
Memphis, Tennessee

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Randy Orton comes out and does a variation of Rey Mysterio's entrance. He talks about Saturday Night's Main Event and how Kurt Angle and Mysterio turned their back on SmackDown. He then says that WrestleMania will be the greatest day of his career. This was one of those promos that really didn't do anything other than fill up time. 

Money In The Bank Qualifying Battle Royal

There is not what I would call a lot of star power in here. Animal actually gets a promo on the way to the ring and says he shouldn't have to be in this match. He's put more money in the bank than anyone and so everyone attacks him and he's the first eliminated. Kid Kash goes up to the top rope, which is always a great idea where there are like 20 people in the ring. He gets pushed off by Tatanka and is eliminated. Both members of Gymini are eliminated by Lashley and then he tosses Simon Dean on top of them. Funaki is tossed out right at the commercial break. The eliminations are picking up and it quickly is down to the final four of Lashley, Tatanka and MNM. Lashley goes for the dominator on Nitro, but Mercury makes the save and they hit the Snapshot on him. They really are going out of their way to make Tatanka look strong here. He charges at Nitro and he is eliminated when Nitro pulls down the top rope. MNM puts Lashley in a double Boston crab. Lashley powers his way out, but again the numbers game is too much. Lashley hits a double suplex and then hits a belly-to-belly and a back body drop. Lashley misses into the corner and hits the ring post. Nitro accidentally superkicks Mercury and Lashley hits a Spear. Lashley throws Mercury onto Nitro and it eliminates both men. There was never a lot of doubt of who would win this one. 

Match Rating: *3/4

JBL is backstage and honestly I don't even know what he says, but it leads to him saying that he's having William Regal fight Chris Benoit.

Mark Henry says that he's going to take Undertaker's precious streak away and Kurt Angle is going to feel pain tonight. 

Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay

They start things off slowly, with Finlay using mat wrestling to slow down Rey. Mysterio finally gets in some offense and hits a split-legged moonsault for a 2 count. He then hits a baseball slide, but then gets caught in the ring apron. Finlay continues to dominate and hits a shoulderbreaker. Man, I'm not really sure what they are going for here with this match. Mysterio hits a kick to the head of Finlay and then a springboard crossbody. Mysterio hits the seated senton and a low dropkick to the face. Finlay distracts the ref and out runs Randy Orton, who catches Mysterio for a RKO out of nowhere and Finlay steals the victory. I do not remember that finish at all, but I'm not sure why they didn't use it in more highlight packages. The first 75% was really vanilla. The ending made up for it a little bit, but I know both of these guys are capable of much better. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Teddy Long is out here for a contract signing and it's for Booker T/Boogeyman? Booker says he isn't signing it. Booker finally signs it and Teddy announces that Booker's partner for the match will be none other than Sharmell and they are livid. 

Chris Benoit vs. William Regal

Regal comes out with JBL and Jillian Hall. We get some nice wrestling to start and then Benoit misses with a baseball slide on the outside. Regal hits an exploder suplex and then kicks Benoit's head into the ring post. Benoit tries to fight back with chops, but Regal slows him down. Benoit counters a crossface chicken wing into a full nelson suplex. Benoit rolls to the mat and puts in the Crippler Crossface for the victory. I am surprised that this was that short. 

Match Rating: **

Mark Henry vs. Kurt Angle

Angle goes after the knee of Henry at the start. It doesn't last long, as Henry overpowers Angle. He dumps him outside and throws him into the barricade. Henry slaps on the dreaded bear hug. Angle gets out and hits a German suplex. Angle gets upset with Jimmy Korderas in the corner and Mark Henry squashes them both. Angle get the Ankle Lock in and out comes Randy Orton again. Mysterio is out this time and accidentally hits Angle. Henry gets rid of Mysterio and Korderas is up to make the pin. After the match, Rey checks on Angle and they begin to argue. Angle pushes Mysterio down and turns his attention to Orton. Mysterio hits him with a dropkick from behind and then hits the 619. There really wasn't much to this one, as it was only designed to get Mark Henry a win and to further the story of the triple threat. 

Match Rating: *

On paper, this show looked like a really good one. Instead it was sort of meh. Raw definitely has the better card for WrestleMania, as it feels like the blue brand is just sort of treading water.

Overall Rating: 57%

Monday Night Raw 3-20-06 Review

Monday, March 20th, 2006
FedEx Forum
Memphis, Tennessee

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The Spirit Squad is here and in a festive mood tonight. They have a jazz band playing "The Saints Go Marchin' In" for Vince and Shane McMahon. I would argue that this is also the most confetti every on a WWE event, so history is being made here. They of course are celebrating Shane's "victory" over Shawn Michaels at Saturday Night's Main Event two nights ago. This all of course leads to Vince saying "Shawn Michaels screwed Shawn Michaels". Vince then announces that their match at WrestleMania is No Holds Barred. He also announces that Shawn is going to face Triple H here tonight on Raw. Out comes John Cena and he wants a piece of Triple H. So Vince announces that it will be John Cena and Shawn Michaels against Triple H and Shane McMahon. I have to say, the live band was a fantastic touch here. 

Shane, Vince and Triple H are backstage. Triple H isn't too happy that he's in a match tonight against John Cena. Vince says that he'll be out there with them, so need to worry.

Carlito vs. Kane

Just a reminder that Kane's music with vocals is among the worst in WWE history. Carlito hits a DDT, but Kane is pretty much right back up and on offense. Carlito hits a Backstabber and that slows Kane down. Kane starts slugging Carlito and hits a clothesline in the corner. Kane hits a sidewalk slam and then goes up top. Carlito hits him with a dropkick on his way down and gets a 2 count out of it. Carlito misses a moonsault, but kind of sort of lands it and eats a big boot. Carlito hits a thumb to the eye and chops Kane's knee. He snaps Kane's throat over the top rope. Carlito goes for a springboard move, but Kane catches him and hits the chokeslam for the victory. If you didn't think Chris Masters and Carlito had a chance against Kane and Big Show, well, you still don't.

Match Rating: 3/4*

After the commercial break, Carlito and Chris Masters are arguing backstage. Carlito orders that Masters makes an impact against Big Show tonight. 

The next inductees into the Hall of Fame are The Blackjacks.

Triple Threat Match For The Intercontinental Championship

Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin

RVD and Flair team up on Shelton to start. RVD clotheslines Shelton over the top rope and then Flair congratulates him with a chop. Who would have thought that 15 years later in 2021, RVD would be the NC-17 version of Flair? RVD hits Rolling Thunder, but Shelton breaks up the pin attempt. Shelton and Flair are brawling on the outside and RVD hits a somersault dive over the top. Flair and RVD are both busted open. They show on the replay that RVD and Flair's heads collided on RVD's way down. Shelton hits a Samoan drop on Flair, but he doesn't go for the pin right away and Flair kicks out. Shelton then hits a big vertical suplex, but RVD dropkicks Shelton during the pin. RVD hits a monkey flip, but Shelton lands on his feet so RVD kicks him in the face. RVD hits Flair with a spinning heel kick and Rolling Thunder again. He hits a spinning heel kick on Shelton and he rolls out of the ring. RVD hits the split-legged moonsault on Flair for a 2 count. Shelton comes with the championship belt, but RVD kicks it in his face. Flair rolls up RVD and gets a nearfall. RVD hits the kick off the top rope on Flair and goes up top for the frog splash, but Flair moves out of the way. Flair goes for the Figure Four and gets it on. In comes Shelton and he lays on Flair and steals the victory. That really got going after the commercial break and ended up being a really nice TV match. To me, this was a good way to build up the Money In The Bank match. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Mick Foley is here and is all bandaged up on his face. He cuts a passionate promo about tasting his own blood on Saturday Night's Main Event and now he's thirsty for some more, but this time he wants Edge's. Out comes Lita to the ring. She says that Edge is still in Detroit and injured. She then says that they should call off the Hardcore Match and make it just a normal wrestling match. Foley says he isn't falling for this and asks Lita to slap him because that's what she's supposed to do. Edge comes out and Foley blocks Lita's low blow. 

Torrie Wilson vs. Victoria

Candice Michelle is carried out on a bed with her Playboy cover behind her. She starts throwing pillows at Torrie, which distracts Torrie. Victoria hits the Widow's Peak and that's it. Yep. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Chris Masters vs. Big Show

Big Show starts off chopping the chest of Masters. Show runs through Masters and they head outside. Show goes charging at Masters, but he ducks the attempted kick and he crotches himself on the barricade. Show goes to pull Masters in the ring, but Masters has a chair and he clocks Show in the head with an unprotected shot. Why? Obviously that's a disqualification, so he hits him again, but at least this time it's in the back. He puts on the Master Lock for a second and uses it to drive him into the ring post. This was obviously just to build their tag match. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

There's a large present in the ring and out comes Mickie James. Mickie opens up the box and it's a person underneath a sheet. Out comes Trish and Mickie reveals that it's Ashley. Mickie turns on the intensity and Trish tries to come to the aid, but she hits a DDT. Mickie is bleeding from the nose and approaches a knocked out Trish. She asks her if she loves her now and kisses her. The blood really added to the vicious twist that Mickie's character took here. 

Triple H & Shane McMahon vs. John Cena & Shawn Michaels

Michaels goes right after Shane and he goes into the crowd. Security takes Michaels down and in the ring, Cena wants a piece of Triple H. Shane tries to attack Cena from behind, but Cena hits him with a right hand when he leaps off the top rope. Vince gets on the microphone and disqualifies Cena for using a closed fist. Vince orders security to escort Cena out of the ring. Vince then announces this match.

Triple H & Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels

Triple H nails Michaels with a closed fist while security holds him. The bell rings and Shane is taking it to Michaels. Triple H hits a huge spinebuster and Vince is loving it. Shane hits a leaping reverse elbow for a 2 count. Michaels makes his comeback and he hits both with inverted atomic drops. Michaels clotheslines Triple H out of the ring and hits a top rope elbow on Shane. Michaels starts tuning up the band, but Triple H trips him up and crotches him on the ring post. Triple H has him ready to Pedigree him and Shane is up top to follow it up, but out comes Cena to save the day. We get a really fun brawl with security guards coming in and Michaels and Cena clean house. Vince gets on the microphone and says that next week he has to face him. The match itself was pretty standard, but the ending was a blast. 

Match Rating: **1/4

This was a really entertaining episode as we approach WrestleMania. I loved the atmosphere created in the opening segment with the live band. We didn't get a whole lot of good wrestling tonight, but the one match that was given time was a good TV match. Mickie James and Mick Foley both played their roles well and furthered their respective feuds in the right direction. To top it off, we got a hot ending featuring the top two feuds on Raw. I am looking forward to getting to WrestleMania 22 again for the first time in a long time. 

Overall Rating: 70%

NXT 1-29-14 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, January 29th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

The Ascension vs. John Icarino & Mike Cuellari

John Icarino is a real 1990 Superstars jobber name. They keep hyping up the Ascension as being champions for 119 days. Considering there are basically no tag teams in NXT, it probably isn't as impressive. Icarino gets tagged in and he runs right into a clothesline. They hit the Fall of Man and that's it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sylvester Lefort is interviewing wrestlers. Cal Bishop introduces himself and Lefort says that he can't put those cauliflower ears on TV. 

Corey Graves vs. Camacho

Graves grabs a mic and says that he will never forgive Neville for trying to end his career. He says he has a message for everyone and it's to stay tuned. They keep hyping up Camacho, as I guess he is no longer a tag team with Hunico. Graves goes after the knee and puts on Lucky 13 and he taps. So much for the Camacho hype, as this match was less than 90 seconds long. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Antonio Cesaro is backstage for an interview. He doesn't understand why Sami Zayn can't take no for an answer and just accept that he couldn't beat him. 

Back to Sylvester Lefort and this time it's Sawyer Fulton. Nothing happens.

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Bayley gets distracted by Charlotte and Summer, allowing Sasha to start off dominating. Bayley fights through it and hits a clothesline in the corner and a jumping reverse elbow. Summer Rae and Natalya get into it on the outside and Bayley hits the Bayley-to-Belly to pick up the win. That was way too short. 

Match Rating: *

Colin Cassady vs. Tyler Breeze

We get a whole lot of stalling before the bell rings, leading to Big Cass taking a selfie. Cass takes it to Breeze and hits a huge boot to the head for a 2 count. Aiden English then shows up on the big screen singing his name. English then walks into the room where an injured Enzo is sitting and he's looking to attack him. Breeze hits a Beauty Shot and picks up the victory. Cass rolls out and quickly heads to the back to check on Enzo. Another short match on a night full of them. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show Cass checking on Enzo, who is fine. 

CJ Parker vs. Miz

This is such a random match. I guess this is Miz's babyface run? Miz hits a nice standing dropkick and then a dropkick through the ropes to the floor. Miz hits a crossbody from the top rope, but Miz rolls through and locks in the Figure Four. After a struggle, Parker taps and that is all. That was the longest match of the night at a little under 5 minutes. I'm not really sure what the point of this was and I say that as a big fan of Miz's. 

Match Rating: *

Sami Zayn tells Cesaro to come to the ring next week and say no to him in his face. 

Sylvester Lefort is back and this time it's Mason Ryan. Ryan says that if Lefort can beat him in a match next week, he'll work for him. 

Renee Young is in the ring and brings in Adrian Neville. He signs the contract for his match with Bo Dallas. Out comes Bo Dallas, who is upset and then brings out his opponent tonight.

Bo Dallas vs. Danny Burch

Burch gets a second of offense, but this match is the Bo show. There isn't much to this one and he hits a double underhook DDT and that is all. I guess this was just to show off a more serious Bo. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bo then calls out the contract and wants to sign it. Bo tells Neville that he'll see him the 27th and then lays him out. Neville leaps to the outside and they brawl until the show goes off the air. 

This episode was okay, but they tried to cram way too much into one episode. It would have been nice to add a few minutes to some of the matches here, but this episode was one of those that bounced all over the place. Not bad, but not exactly great either. 

Overall Rating: 50%