Monday Night Raw 6-20-94 Review

Monday, June 20th, 1994
Westchester County Civic Center
White Plains, New York

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Apparently tonight marks the first time that Raw has a Spanish simulcast. Gorilla Monsoon and Randy Savage are the announce team here tonight. 

Diesel vs. Mark Thomas

Diesel is hot off not winning the WWF Championship due to the Jim Neidhart involvement. You would think that this would be a 60 second squash, but instead we are getting a plotting match. Thomas tries to mount some offense, but eats a boot to the face instead. Diesel signals for the Jackknife and that's the end. In a funny moment, Diesel looks for a high five, but then tries to no sell it when Michaels doesn't see it.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Todd Pettengill is here for a King Of The Ring Report. We get lots of still photos and Todd proclaiming that the tag match was one of the greatest of all time. 

1-2-3 Kid vs. Nikolai Volkoff

So apparently the winner of this match will face Bret Hart on Raw on 7/11. I'm not really sure what either guy did to deserve the opportunity, but I know I'm looking forward to what happens next. Savage hypes up how great the match between Owen Hart and Kid was. Meanwhile, Volkoff is mostly dominating Kid here. Volkoff hits a weird looking backbreaker twice and pulls him up during the pinfall attempt. Kid sells a knee injury, but then gets a roll up out of nowhere and steals the victory. Volkoff is shocked and attacks Kid from behind. Out comes Virgil (?) to make the save. He goes after DiBiase next and Volkoff attacks him too. Now Luger is out and that clears the ring. This was all just so random. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Next week we are getting Bam Bam Bigelow/Mabel. 

Yokozuna vs. Nick Barbarry

Hot off his loss last night in one of the greatest tag team matches ever according to the Toddster, here is Yokozuna, back to not being a tag team wrestler. Yoko hits the big leg drop, gets the big reaction from the crowd and calls it a night. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Typhoon vs. Black Phantom

Gorilla comments on how huge Typhoon is and calls him one half of the Natural Disasters. Typhoon and Yokozuna meet in the aisle and Typhoon gets a right hand in on him. Gorilla continues to sell that Typhoon is the biggest he has ever seen him. Ottman is pretty fresh off his failed run as the Shockmaster over in WCW, but this won't last long either. Typhoon hits a splash in the corner and then the big splash for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Jerry Lawler is out wearing shades for another King's Court. His guest is Duke Droese because 4 weeks ago he dumped garbage on him on Superstars. Lawler says that since he stinks so much, he left a microphone outside the ring for Duke. Lawler then references Ace Ventura to make fun of Duke. He then makes fun of Helen Hart for good measure. Duke walks out, so Lawler attacks him from behind and hits him in the head with the garbage can. 

Heavenly Bodies vs. Jim Powers & Russ Greenberg

Cornette joins the announce table to let everyone know that the Bodies are going to be the next WWF Tag Team Champions. Powers gets in some offense on Del Ray and then on Prichard. He seems like a pretty impressive young up and comer. Greenberg gets hit with a kick by Del Ray and then a belly-to-belly suplex. They hit their variation of a double DDT and a moonsault from Del Ray for the victory. ot quite as good as the usual Bodies squash, but they are always fun. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Gorilla Monsoon then apologizes for Lawler using the garbage can for something other than what it was intended for. He then says that it will never, ever happen again on Raw. This leads to a SummerSlam commercial coming up August 29th in Chicago. They go to an interview with DiBiase backstage and says that he has his eye on Lex Luger. 

Well, if you hate 1994 WWF wrestling, you probably won't like this episode much. However, in some weird way I didn't mind it. It wasn't very good in terms of matches, but the 45 minute episodes are just so easy to digest that it rarely feels like a chore. I'm not giving it any sort of recommendation, but I also have sat through much worse.

Overall Rating: 43%

Off The Grid, Volume 17: Starrcade 1992 Review

Monday, December 28, 1992
The Omni
Atlanta, Georgia

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Off The Grid, Volume 17:

Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura are here to hype up the show. We go to Eric Bischoff for a Special Report and he lets us know that Rick Rude is injured. Ron Simmons will instead wrestle Steve Williams. 

Tony Schiavone is now in the ring with Bill Watts and Hank Aaron. They bring out Sting and present him with the ring for Sting winning BattleBowl last year. 

We now go to Larry Zbysczko and Missy Hyatt to draw the Lethal Lottery again. 

Lethal Lottery Tag Team Match
Van Hammer & Dan Spivey vs. Cactus Jack & Johnny B. Badd

I'll give them credit on this one, this is about as random of a group of wrestlers here. Hammer starts off hot, taking care of both Jack and Badd. Badd comes back with some arm drags and a hurricanrana for a 2 count. He tags in Jack and he misses an elbow drop, so in comes Spivey. Spivey nails Jack with a clothesline. Spivey legit looks unhinged here. Spivey hits Badd with a knee to the back when he's running the ropes and Hammer doesn't like it. Badd and Spivey collide, but Badd is able to tag Jack. He comes in and hits a modified bulldog and an elbow drop for a 2 count. Spivey throws Jack out of the ring, but Jack is back in and hits a clothesline. Badd is knocked out, so Jack can't get a tag. Hammer hits a flying shoulder block and Badd accidentally hits Jack with an elbow drop. Badd and Jack aren't happy and Hammer is able to pick up the win. This one was a little disjointed and just felt like a bunch of moves. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Lethal Lottery Tag Team Match
Dustin Rhodes & Big Van Vader vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Barbarian

Vader and Barbarian give us some hard hitting big man stuff to start. Barbarian body slams Vader. Vader returns the favor after a couple of headbutts. Rhodes gets tagged in and hits a clothesline while Vader held Barbarian up. Barbarian comes right back with a back suplex and then Rhodes hits one of his own. Sasaki is tagged in and the pace picks up. Sasaki goes off the second rope and Rhodes counters with a dropkick. Vader is tagged in and he nails him off the second rope. Sasaki eats a big boot to the face, but he blocks Vader's suplex and hits one of his own. Both men make tags and Rhodes hits a knee lift and a dropkick. Barbarian accidentally runs into Sasaki, Rhodes rolls him up and gets the victory. After the match, Vader nails Rhodes with a clothesline. This was pretty similar to the first, where it felt like they were a little off overall. 

Match Rating: **

Lethal Lottery Tag Team Match
Barry Windham & Great Muta vs. 2 Cold Scorpio & Brian Pillman

All four men get a little bit to show off their skills. Windham and Pillman are tagging later tonight for the tag titles, but even they go at it for a little bit. Muta hits a big kick on Pillman, but Pillman is able to trip him up into the second turnbuckle. Scorpio is in there and hits a leaping clothesline. Scorpio goes for a splash, but Muta gets the knees up. In comes Windham and he nails Scorpio with a clothesline. Windham and Muta hit a double dropkick . Scorpio hits a nice leg drop for a 2 count. He then hits a slingshot somersault dive that looks like that ma have hurt Muta. Windham comes in and knocks out Scorpio. Muta hits a moonsault for the victory, even though it looked like maybe Pillman broke up the pin attempt. Watching these old WCW shows just makes you realize just how valuable Pat Patterson was. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Lethal Lottery Tag Team Match
Steve Williams & Sting vs. Erik Watts & Jushin Liger

One of these men is not like the others. Liger tries to hit one of his flashy moves, but Williams just nails him with a clothesline. In comes Sting and he throws him stomach first into the top turnbuckle. Liger hits a sunset flip for a 2 count. Sting and Williams dominate Liger until he's able to hit a tag to Watts, who the crowd seems to hate. Watts whiffs on a dropkick and then hits another. Watts goes for the STF, but Williams has the bottom rope. Williams dumps Watts through the ropes. When he's back in the ring, he hits a Stun Gun and gets the victory. This was the longest match of the four, but wasn't any more notable. 

Match Rating: **1/4

NWA World Championship Match
Great Muta vs. Masahiro Chono

We get some slowwwww wrestling to start things off. What a terrible start to a wrestling match. Chono eventually goes up to the top rope, but Muta grabs him and hits a superplex. The 15 people in the crowd who are into this cheered. Muta hits the handspring elbow in the corner. He goes up for a moonsault, but Chono moves and Muta lands on his feet, but sells the knee injury. Chono locks in the STF and after a good effort, Muta submits. This match was torture. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

JR and Ventura go over the Rick Rude situation and out comes Rude. He cuts a good promo about it being a conspiracy and that it isn't going to work. I liked the fire from Rude here.

WCW Championship Match
Steve Williams vs. Ron Simmons

We get lots of stalling to start, followed by some cheesy football stuff. Simmons goes up to the top and you'll never guess it, but he misses. Williams drags him by the leg and slams it on the apron. Apparently these two watched the last match and said "Hold my beer". After a seemingly endless heat sequence, Simmons makes his comeback with a spinebuster. He takes out the knees of Williams, but then they spill outside the ring and brawl. They keep brawling and the bell rings. They announce a double countout. The brawl continues and somehow they reverse the decision and say that Williams is disqualified. Are you kidding me? We get a garbage match and then an almost worse finish? Absolutely terrible. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

NWA & WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Shane Douglas & Ricky Steamboat vs. Brian Pillman & Barry Windham

Now we're talking. Douglas and Steamboat use some double teaming to gain an early advantage on Windham. The action spills outside and Windham gets body slammed on both the particle board on the floor and the elevated entrance ramp. Windham is finally able to make a tag to Pillman and he goes to work on Douglas. Douglas is able to hit a dropkick on Pillman and he goes flying into the guardrail on the outside. Windham stalls Douglas a little and Pillman dropkicks Douglas off the top rope and to the floor. I can't believe that in 1992, WCW thought it was a good idea to just have pieces of wood on the floor. The action again goes outside and Steamboat hits Windham in the back with a chair. Douglas is still unable to make a tag and continues to take a beating. Douglas hits a suplex on Windham and finally makes the hot tag to Steamboat. The action is picking up quite nicely now after a little bit of an uninspired first half. The match breaks down and all four men are in the ring. Steamboat clotheslines Windham over the top rope onto the ramp. Douglas hits a belly-to-belly suplex and Steamboat holds Windham back to pick up the victory. I remember loving this match, but I would say I merely liked it this time around. Good match though.

Match Rating: ***1/2

King Of Cable Tournament Final
Vader vs. Sting

The King Of Cable Tournament is the most WCW thing I can think of. Vader manhandles Sting early on. Sting battles back quickly though and clotheslines him out of the ring. These two have such great chemistry together. Back in the ring, Sting hits an arm drag, but Vader gives him a boot to the face. Sting comes back with a DDT and the crowd is loving it. Sting hits a superplex/DDT off the second rope. Sting puts Vader into the Scorpion Death Lock, but Vader grabs the bottom rope. Outside the ring, Sting goes for a splash, but Vader moves and Sting hits the rails. Vader dominates the next few minutes before missing a splash off of Sting's sunset flip attempt. Sting is able to hit a back suplex, but Vader is quick to recover. Vader may have my favorite punches in wrestling. Vader goes for a superplex, but Sting knocks him off, but is unable to follow up. Sting is now telling Vader to bring it and Vader continues to, throwing clubbing blow after clubbing blow. They are telling the story of Vader fatiguing, as Sting is able to withstand the beating. Sting fights back and knocks the big man down. Sting goes up top and hits a splash. Vader is able to come back and hit a splash off the second rope. He goes off the top rope, but Sting catches him and hits a powerslam to pick up the victory. This was an excellent match with a great pace for being a heavyweight match. It may have been for something stupid, but they made it seem important. 

Match Rating: ****1/4

After the match, Ventura presents the trophy to Sting. Speaking of pointless things, Schiavone and Zbyszko hype up the BattleBowl ring. They then go to a pre-taped interview with Paul Hornung and he tries to tell me that this stupid ring means something. 

BattleBowl

Vader attacks Sting on his way down to the ring before the match starts. With only 8 men in the match, we skip the chaotic beginning of a normal battle royal and skip right to the meaningless middle portion of the match. Van Hammer is the first one to be eliminated, which was the obvious choice here. Sting then hits a back body drop on Spivey over the ropes and he's gone. Vader charges at Sting and clotheslines both Sting and himself over the top rope to eliminate both men. We are down to Windham, Rhodes, Muta and Williams. Windham and Rhodes are battling by the ropes. Williams charges at them and Windham is able to dump both of them. The crowd is really into Muta. Windham throws Muta over, but he hangs on and skins the cat. Muta hits two dropkicks and sends Windham over the top for a big pop. That was an extremely uneventful match that just didn't feel like a big deal. WCW continues to try and search for their Royal Rumble, but they never found it. 

Match Rating: *3/4

There really isn't much to stay about this show. Sting/Vader is awesome, the tag match is good and the rest was pretty brutally bad. The back-to-back title matches in the middle was some of the worst stuff I have seen by talented wrestlers on any show. I would do anything to get that part of my life back. It's hard to give this any type of recommendation, but I think any 90s wrestling fan should see the Sting/Vader match.

Overall Rating: 41%

King Of The Ring 1994 Review

Sunday, June, 19th 1994
Baltimore Arena
Baltimore, Maryland

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Hey, Gorilla! How much does this blog weigh? 500 posts. That's right, what better way to hit the 500 mark than with King Of The Ring 1994. Meanwhile, the heels argue over who's going to win the tournament and Todd Pettengill runs down the card.

Ricky Medlocke is here to sing the National Anthem and it isn't very good. But man, it's so great to hear Gorilla Monsoon here. He's joined by Randy Savage and of course, Art Donovan. Art picks Razor Ramon to win the crown and Savage picks Diesel will be the new WWF Champion. 

King Of The Ring 1st Round Match
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Razor Ramon

Bam Bam starts off hot early on, but then misses a top rope headbutt. Razor slides under Bam Bam in the corner and trips him up and crotches him on the ring post. Razor hits a second rope bulldog, but doesn't get all of it. Bam Bam sidesteps a charging Razor and sends him over the top rope. Bam Bam gets Razor up in the Torture Rack, which is pretty impressive. They do the arm drop and naturally Razor keeps it up on the third attempt. Bam Bam lets him down and Razor is able to hit him with a back suplex and both men are down. Art wants to know what happens now? Razor is able to hit a body slam and tries to set up him up on the ropes, but Bam Bam nails him with an elbow to the face. Bam Bam goes up top, but Razor counters with a one-armed powerbomb and gets the victory. This was a pretty good match, but a little uneventful overall. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Todd Pettengill is with Mabel and IRS. IRS says he's going to take him out and he's hoping he gets to face IRS in the finals. Mabel says he better not be worried about Razor, he should be worried about him. 

King Of The Ring 1st Round Match
IRS vs. Mabel

This is a main event in any carnival across the country. Mabel attacks IRS from behind and hits him with a body slam. How much does that guy weigh? Art threatens to get out of here, but don't worry fans, he sticks around. IRS is able to knock Mabel out of the ring and then hits him with a clothesline once he comes back. IRS tries to body slam him, but Mabel counters with a small package for a 2 count. Mabel goes up to the second rope, but IRS shakes him off and gets the victory. It clearly looked like Mabel's shoulders were up there. That's two matches in a row with essentially the exact same finish. That's not something you usually saw in this era of WWF. The match stunk, as you would have expected. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get to see Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji getting their tag team of Yokozuna and Crush getting ready for their match tonight. 

King Of The Ring 1st Round Match
Tatanka vs. Owen Hart

Tatanka attacks Owen before the lights even turn on from Owen's entrance and hits a big backdrop. How much does he weigh? This is probably peak Mike Chioda mullet here. The action spills to the outside and Owen throws Tatanka into the ring post. Owen hits a nice suplex and then hits a missile dropkick. I love that move. Tatanka is able to kick out at 2. Tatanka starts his comeback and hits the chops. The crowd is very into this match. Owen eats a boot to the face and then a DDT for a 2 count. Tatanka goes to the top rope and hits a chop for another 2 count. Tatanka hits a running powerslam and is in shock that Owen kicked out again. Tatanka goes for a sunset flip, but Owen hooks the legs and steals the victory. That was actually a much better match than I remembered. Good stuff.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Todd is backstage with Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Diesel says that he has two words for Bret Hart, jackknife. Still waiting on the second word. 

King Of The Ring 1st Round Match
Jeff Jarrett vs. 1-2-3 Kid

We're at the point now where Savage and Gorilla are just ignoring Donovan. Jarrett throws Kid into the turnbuckles with authority to give him the early advantage. Kid sneaks in a few pin attempts, but Jarrett continues to dominate. Kid lands a roundhouse kick, but misses with the somersault dive off the top rope. Jarrett goes for a superplex, but Kid blocks it and hits him with a flying crossbody for a 2 count. Jarrett sidesteps him in the corner and it ends badly for Kid. Kid is able to roll him up and gets the surprising victory. Jarrett quickly gets up and hits him with a series of piledrivers until the officials come out. He then switches to second rope fists. The refs help carry Kid to the back. This was a good match, even if it was short. 

Match Rating: ***

It's time for them to push the New Generation. Bret Hart is with Todd and he said that he's not going to let Diesel Jackknife him again. 

WWF Championship Match
Diesel vs. Bret Hart

Jim Neidhart is out with Bret Hart as his surprise family member. We get a little bit of back-and-forth to start until Bret is able to get Diesel down on the mat and starts working on his leg. Bret locks in the Figure Four in the middle of the ring. Bret slides him out to the corner and slams his leg into the ring post. Shawn then blindsides Bret and it leads to Neidhart chasing after him. Diesel gets Bret into a bear hug. Bret bites him to get out of it and hits a dropkick to send Diesel out of the ring. Bret goes for the slingshot dive to the floor, but Diesel moves out of the way and Bret falls to the floor. Even with Diesel being nowhere near the performer he would go on to be, these two just had great chemistry. Back in the ring, Diesel goes to work on the back of Bret. We get a semi-ref bump, that allows Diesel to rip off one of the turnbuckles, but Bret starts fighting back. Bret hits three clotheslines and the last one is finally able to knock him down. Bret is able to knock Diesel out of the ring and Neidhart contemplates attacking him. The ref sees him inching closer and checks in on it. Shawn Michaels sneaks in from behind and hits Bret with the title belt. Bret's able to kick out and Diesel hits the Jackknife. Neidhart runs in the ring and attacks Diesel and the bell rings. Neidhart argues with the ref and storms to the back. After the match, Shawn and Diesel attacks Bret until the officials are finally able to break it up. Obviously we didn't get the finish we want to see on a pay per view, but we still got a good match. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Todd is with Jerry Lawler and he takes a shot at Art Donovan. 

King Of The Ring Semi-Final Match
Razor Ramon vs. IRS

Razor attacks IRS before he even gets into the ring, but once they get into the ring, he eats a knee to the gut. IRS hits a sloppy backbreaker and Gorilla calls him out on it. IRS goes for a crossbody, but Razor moves out of the way and IRS ends up out flying out of the ring. We get some IRS rest holds that lead to nothing. Razor makes his comeback, hits the Razor's Edge and that's all. That was about as uneventful as it gets here. Sort of like IRS's career. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We go to Bret backstage looking for Neidhart and he isn't happy. 

King Of The Ring Semi-Final Match
Owen Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid

I actually will say that the booking here wasn't bad. Owen was pretty obvious to make the finals, but you could see the possibility of them doing a Razor/Kid final due to their history. After a delay, Kid comes out limping from his attack earlier. Owen hits him with a baseball slide dropkick on his way in and then hits a dive over the top. Owen hits a splash off the top rope for a 2 count. Kid is able to throw Owen into the turnbuckle sternum-first. Kid hits a reverse crossbody off the top rope, but Owen kicks out. Kid hits a Northern Lights suplex with a bridge, but Owen barely gets his foot on the bottom rope in time. Kid hits a somersault dive over the top rope. They trade some pinfall attempts, but can't get the job done. Owen catches Kid in midair and hits a powerbomb. He locks in the Sharpshooter and that is all. 27 years later, this is still the gold standard for 4 minute matches in terms of just going pedal to the metal to make the most of your time. Excellent stuff. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

We go backstage to Roddy Piper and he cuts another promo that makes no sense. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Yokozuna & Crush vs. Headshrinkers

You better believe Art is dying to know how much Yokozuna weighs. The Headshrinkers are able to knock both opponents out of the ring to start off the match. Fatu gets hit with Mr. Fuji's flag while running the ropes and Crush takes advantage with a clothesline. A Yokozuna leg drop finds the mark, but Samu is able to break up the pin attempt. Yokozuna goes to squash Fatu in the corner, but Fatu is able to move out of the way and makes the hot tag to Samu. Crush hits a superplex on Samu and then Yokozuna hits a leg drop on him behind the referee's back. Out comes Lex Luger and distracts Crush. Samu rolls him up, but Crush is able to kick out. Fatu hits Crush with a superkick and gets the victory. That was a pretty weak finish to an otherwise decent big man tag match. Crush and Luger begin to go at it. The Headshrinkers help Luger out and and Yokozuna pulls Crush out of the ring. Luger's gear here is extremely dorky. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Todd is with Owen Hart and calls Bret a loser. Shoutout to the guy in the crowd wearing a Fred Flintstone t-shirt. 

King Of The Ring Finals
Razor Ramon vs. Owen Hart

This was the best possible match out of the brackets we were given and is a good example of sometimes the obvious choice is the right choice. Art tells us that he's changed his mind and Owen is now his pick to become King. Owen pulls out a move out of Razor's playbook with the abdominal stretch. Razor fights back with a fall away slam and a 2 count. Owen is able to hit the side Russian leg sweep and heads up top. Razor crotches him and hits the back suplex off the second rope. Razor goes for the Razor's Edge, but Owen hits the back body drop and it sends Razor to the floor. Out comes Jim Neidhart and he's pretending to check on Razor. He clotheslines Razor and throws him into the ring post. Owen hits a top rope elbow drop and becomes the King Of The Ring. That was too short to be anything great, but it was well executed and built on the story of Owen and Bret. After the match, Owen and Neidhart hit the Hart Attack on Razor. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Bret has no comment for Ray Rougeau backstage. 

We get the coronation ceremony and Owen says that he doesn't want Jack Tunney and has Neidhart do it. 

Jerry Lawler vs. Roddy Piper

I still can't believe that they let this main event the show. "The New Generation is alive and well here in the WWF" as Roddy Piper is about to come out. Piper is out with the impersonator from Raw, if this couldn't get any worse. Piper definitely is in good shape, possibly the best he ever looked. Roddy takes it to Lawler early on and sends Lawler to the floor with an atomic drop. Lawler naturally takes over and slows things down. He puts a sleeper hold on Piper in the middle of the ring for what feels like forever. Lawler hits the piledriver, but stalls for the pin and only gets a 2. Piper starts to fight back and hits a bulldog. Lawler throws Piper into the ref and then hits Piper with a foreign object. Lawler goes for the pin with his feet on the rope, but the impersonator shoves him off. Piper rolls Lawler up and we get a slow count for the victory. That was another weak finish here tonight. The match wasn't terrible, but the story was and this just didn't deserve to be a main event match. The involvement of the impersonator was also just a bad choice. 

Match Rating: *3/4

They show Shawn talking up a disappointed Diesel. 

I don't know what it is about this show, but overall I like it. There are some good matches, Owen getting his big moment, Gorilla on commentary and honestly the annoyance of Art Donovan. I have no nostalgic attachment to this show, as I didn't see it until at least 10 years after it happened. I just thought it had enough memorability (both good and bad) to make this a recommendation from me. 

Overall Rating: 75%

Superstars 6-18-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, June 18th, 1994
Erie Civic Center
Erie, Pennsylvania

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Vince runs down the King Of The Ring tournament bracket to kick off the show. 

Tatanka vs. Dave Cryner

Cryner has some epic jobber hair. Cryner hits Tatanka with a hard chop, so Tatanka starts chopping back. Out comes Owen Hart to scout Tatanka. Cryner gets in a little bit more offense until Tatanka is doing the war dance. Tatanka hits a top rope chop and gets the victory. This felt pretty uninspired. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show highlights of the Hall Of Fame inductions. Alundra Blayze, who apparently still wrestles here, was in attendance. They show clips of Gorilla and Regis. It doesn't get any better than that. 

Koko B. Ware vs. Owen Hart

High Energy explodes!!! My Superstars re-watch comes full circle. Koko is still rocking the taxi cab gear. Koko hits a clothesline and then out comes Tatanka. Koko hits a couple of body slams and arm drags. Owen misses an elbow drop and Koko goes back to work on the arm. Koko sells a knee injury after a leap frog and Owen slams his knee into the ring post. Owen locks in the Sharpshooter and gets the victory. I was hoping they were going to get a little bit more time, but it wasn't meant to be.

Match Rating: 3/4*

They show the highlights of the Quebecers/Headshrinkers match that isn't up on Peacock.

They show a recap of the Underfaker segment from last week.

Headshrinkers vs. Curtis Harrison & Larry Marconi

The jobbers don't get their names announced, I'm just going off of Vince. I still don't really understand why Captain Lou is with the Headshrinkers. Samu hits a gutwrench powerbomb and then they hit a double Skull Crushing Finale. Fatu hits the splash off the top and that is all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the Heartbreak Hotel and the guest today is Diesel. He talks about having Shawn in his corner and tells Bret to bring the whole Hart clan with him to witness his last title defense. He wants to look into Bret's fathers eyes on Father's Day and tell him that Bret didn't measure up. This was a good 60 second promo that went on for 5 minutes. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Emilio Ulcia

Bam Bam is easily dominating Emilio and out comes Razor Ramon. I'm sensing a theme here. Bam Bam wants to go right now. Bam Bam goes up top and hits his spinning semi-moonsault for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get our final King Of The Ring Report. Bret Hart says it's time to stop talking because it's time right now. Well, at least in like 32 hours or so. We then get a Roddy Piper in a bathing suit promo. Todd Pettengill gives us his predictions and he thinks Razor Ramon winning it all against Tatanka. 

Razor Ramon vs. Tracy Padell

You'll never guess what happens here? How did you know Bam Bam was going to come out? Razor hits the back suplex off the second rope and the Razor's Edge for the victory. Razor looked disinterested here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show highlights of the D-Day Challenge and the WWF Superstars defeating the servicemen. 

Mabel vs. Nikolai Volkoff

Mabel gets no entrance here. Volkoff attacks Mabel from behind and DiBiase likes it. Volkoff hits a kick to the chest and a knee drop for a 2 count. Mabel hits a drop toe hold and cranks back on the leg of Volkoff. Out comes IRS and he attacks Mabel to cause the DQ. Now Tatanka joins in and attacks IRS. Owen Hart, Razor Ramon and Bam Bam follow and we have a brawl. Volkoff walks on out with DiBiase. This wasn't really a match, just a reason to have a brawl. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

This was all about the King Of The Ring tournament and honestly the show suffered because of it. Nothing interesting happened and it didn't necessarily make me want to see the pay-per-view more. I know I'm in the minority, but I've been enjoying my rewind back in 1994 WWF, but this wasn't a highlight. 

Overall Rating: 34%

ECW One Night Stand 2006 Review

Sunday, June, 11th 2006
Hammerstein Ballroom
New York City, New York

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This one gets the TV-MA warning before the show. Paul Heyman is out to kick off the show. The crowd reaction really is something. He hypes up the new ECW and is greeted with lots of chants. 

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler

Lawler on his way to the ring confronts Joey Styles and slaps him. Styles jumps on his back in the ring. Lawler fights him off and goes for a piledriver. Tazz grabs him and puts him in the Tazzmission and that's all. This was obviously just fan service to kick off the show. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show clips of the WWE vs. ECW special and how Big Show joined ECW. There are no TV screens in the arena or I'm guessing this would have gotten booed. 

Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle

I'm not a huge Orton fan, but he is the perfect guy to throw in this environment. On the other hand, Angle was also probably the perfect guy to give to ECW because it's impossible not to appreciate his talent. We get a lot of mat wrestling to start with Orton escaping out of the ring and the crowd cursing at him. Angle hits his shoulder in the ring post to shift the momentum in Orton's favor. It's pretty hilarious when they start chanting "You can't wrestle" at Orton. Got it, guys. After a lot of rest holds, Angle comes back with the trio of German suplexes. Orton hits his inverted neckbreaker and gets a 2 count. Angle runs into a back elbow and Orton goes up to the top rope. Angle meets him up there, but gets knocked off. Orton hits a flying crossbody, but Angle rolls through for a 2 count. Orton gets up and nails him with a clothesline. Angle goes for an Ankle Lock out of Orton's RKO attempt, but Orton turns it into a pin for a 2 count. This time Angle gets the Ankle Lock on and Orton taps. Well, there was no way Orton was winning here, so it was hard to buy any of his attempts here. I thought they went too heavy on the mat wrestling and it hurt the match overall. Orton sells the ankle injury after the match and asks for help walking to the back. 

Match Rating: **

FBI vs. Super Crazy & Tajiri

Super Crazy and Tajiri will forever be two of the most underused WWE talents. They try their best to portray the FBI on the same level as Tajiri and Crazy, but it really just doesn't make much sense. Crazy drills Mamaluke with a dropkick and they have both of them in a tree of woe right now. They do a double dropkick and Tajiri gets a 2 count. Crazy goes for a moonsault, but Mamaluke pulls his partner out of the way, so Crazy hits one to the outside on both of them. Big Guido trips up Super Crazy behind the referee's back, as if that matters in ECW. Proof of that is just second later he attacks Crazy and the ref sees it. Mamaluke holds Crazy in a Camel Clutch and Little Guido hits him with a dropkick. Crazy makes a tag to Tajiri and he hits a spin kick on Little Guido. Tajiri hits the handspring elbow on both opponents and I am shocked this match is still going on. He and Crazy hit double Tarantulas and then in comes Big Guido. They hit him with a series of kicks and then a double dropkick knocks them down. The FBI knocks Crazy into the crowd and then hits a double fisherman buster on Tajiri for the victory. Yeah, it's safe to say the wrong team won here. As soon as the match is over, Big Show is on his way out. He kicks Big Guido in the crotch and then slowly attacks everyone in the ring. The crowd surprisingly cheers for this, which makes no sense. The match was pretty good, but I'm not sure why it got so much time, nor do I understand the FBI winning. 

Match Rating: **1/2

JBL comes out from the balcony and starts insulting ECW, with a good amount of truth involved here.

Extreme Rules Match For The World Heavyweight Championship
Sabu vs. Rey Mysterio

Both men have chairs to start things off, but set them down after the bell starts. After a little bit of wrestling, they start hitting chairs, which leads to Sabu hitting a leg lariat in the corner off the chair. Mysterio hits a drop toe hold on Sabu into the chair. Rey hits a hurricanrana off the chair to boos. Mysterio misses the 619 and Sabu chucks the chair at his head. Nothing better than having your champ having chairs thrown at their heads. Sabu sets up a table on the ring and guardrail. He sets Rey up on it. Rey is able to move out of the way and Sabu legit slips and sells it. Mysterio hits a moonsault for a 2 count. Sabu fights back and hits a guillotine leg drop for a 2 count. Sabu sets up another table, but gets hit with a dropkick on his way back in. Mysterio hits a Lou Thesz Press through the table on Sabu. Back in the ring, Rey hits a springboard leg drop and gets another 2 count. Sabu hits the triple jump moonsault and that gets a nearfall. He landed right on Rey's face there. Mysterio sets up Sabu on a chair, but Sabu moves and Mysterio lands on the chair. Sabu then throws another chair at Rey's head. Sabu sets up Rey on the table and hits a springboard into a DDT through the table. The crowd goes nuts, but this leads to a no contest, which never happens so it makes no sense. The crowd is all over it, as they show the replay and the table definitely didn't break the way they probably had hoped. I really enjoyed this match minus the chairs to the head and the finish though. Sabu hit most of his moves here, which is always a plus. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Mick Foley cuts another promo about how he used to respect ECW and brings up the invasion angle. Edge and Lita join in on the fun, but aren't as effective. Beulah comes out and challenges to make this a 3-on-3 match. 

Mixed Extreme Rules Tag Team Match
Mick Foley, Edge & Lita vs. Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk & Beulah McGillicutty

Unsurprisingly, this quickly turns into a brawl between the men. Dreamer kicks a trash can into the face of Foley and then Edge hits Dreamer with a cookie sheet outside the ring. Funk and Foley begin to brawl down the entrance ramp and Edge hits Dreamer in the face with a ladder. Edge goes for a Spear into the ladder, but Dreamer counters it into a hip toss. Funk grabs the ladder and does the airplane spin with it. Funk starts climbing the ladder, but Edge tips it over and Funk falls on his back. Keep in mind that the ladies are just standing on the apron here. As I say that, Lita runs in and kicks Dreamer in the crotch. Beulah just stands there. Edge and Foley go under the ring and pull out a piece of plywood with barbed wire and slam it on Dreamer. They then go to suplex it on him, but Foley grabs them by the ankles and it falls on them instead. Foley gets thrown into the board and we get the dreaded "This is awesome" chant. Funk gets his turn into the board and Foley takes some barbed wire from Lita and starts shredding Funk with it. The medical staff and Skinner come out to take Funk to the back while Foley and Edge attack Dreamer with a barbed wire baseball bat. Foley then puts the Socko variation of the Mandible Claw. Dreamer comes to her aid, but then he gets the Claw as well. Edge hits him with the Spear and then turns his attention to Beulah. Out comes Terry Funk with his head bandaged up and a 2x4 with barbed wire on it. The distraction allows Dreamer to hit a double low blow. Funk has some issues, but eventually gets the weapon on fire and starts hitting Foley with it. Foley ends up falling off the ring and into the barbed wire plywood. Dreamer hits Edge with a DDT and then chokes him with barbed wire. Lita kicks him off and then Beulah attacks Lita. Dreamer pulls Lita off of her and hits a Dreamer Driver on her. Edge attacks Dreamer with the barbed wire. He hits the Spear on Beulah and pins her for the victory. Man, 2006 me loved this match. 2021 me, not nearly as much. This was really disappointing. There was some fun, but it mostly came off as them trying way too hard. I like all of these guys, but this just felt a little too much like garbage wrestling. 

Match Rating: **1/2

They show Cena hanging out in the hallway and then RVD warming up. 

Balls Mahoney vs. Masato Tanaka

We get some pretty standard wrestling to start. Tanaka hits a running fist in the corner and Balls comes back with a powerslam. We then get the Balls punch chant thingy. Balls charges at Tanaka, but he ducks and Balls falls to the floor. Tanaka leaped over the top to try and hit a DDT on the way down, but Balls for whatever reason didn't go along with it. Balls hits Tanaka with cups of beer because that makes sense. Tanaka tries to hit him with a chair, but Balls avoids it and throws them in the ring. They both climb up top and Tanaka hits a superplex. They climb again and this time Balls hits the superplex. They both grab chairs and start dueling. Tanaka loses his and Balls drills him in the head for the victory. I like Tanaka, but Ball is not Mike Awesome and this match was pretty weak overall. Plus, I don't need to see a guy get hit that hard in the head with a chair. 

Match Rating: *1/2

After a lengthy hype video, the ring announcer is about to announce the competitors and out comes Eugene. I think we all know where this is going. He reads a poem to rile up the crowd and out comes Sandman. After a 20 minute entrance, he finally gets to the ring and hits him with the cane. This was flat. 

Extreme Rules Match For The WWE Championship
Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena

Cena keeps trying to throw his shirt into the crowd and they throw it back. They go for a slow start while the crowd shouts obscenities. Cena is able to clothesline RVD over the top rope and Cena hits a top rope ax handle to the floor. They start brawling into the crowd for a little until Cena throws RVD back over the guardrail. They get back into the ring and RVD is able to hit the guillotine leg drop. RVD uses a chair to hit the skateboard dropkick into the corner. RVD then hits a Rolling Thunder with a chair on the chest of Cena. RVD goes for the split legged moonsault, but Cena gets his knees and chair up to counter it. Cena catapults RVD into a chair in the corner. RVD did a nice job on that. Cena hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle and then goes for the FU. RVD counters and hits a kick to the face. RVD leaps up top, but Cena grabs him and hits a one armed powerbomb for a 2 count. RVD goes for some sort of suplex off the ropes, but they have a messed up spot. RVD ends up dropkicking Cena off the apron into the guardrail. RVD sets up a table in the corner, but Cena is able to put him in the STFU. RVD gets to the ropes and the ref forces him off, which makes no sense because there are no rules. Cena and the ref start getting into it and Cena levels him. RVD goes up top, but Cena crotches him and hits a superplex. Cena brings in the ring steps and smashes them into RVD. Nick Patrick comes in and counts to 2 before RVD gets his shoulder up. Cena hits a FU over the top rope and to the floor. In comes a guy dressed up in a motorcycle helmet and Spears Cena through the table. He takes off the helmet and it's Edge. RVD comes back into the ring and hits the Five Star Frog Splash. He tries to wake up Nick Patrick, but has no luck. Out comes Paul Heyman and he counts to 3. RVD gets announced as the new ECW Champion and that is all. RVD celebrates into the crowd, including up in the balconies. The ECW wrestlers then celebrate with him in the ring. The match was pretty good, but it was more about the moment. RVD was long overdue for this and it's kind of a shame that it took Edge and Paul Heyman for him to win it here. 

Match Rating: ***

If you would have asked me where this show ranked for me prior to re-watching it, I would have said it would easily be in my top 25 WWE shows. Here I am a couple of hours later and I'm not sure it would make my top 100. It wasn't bad, but it just doesn't hold up that well. I am probably the only person who liked the Mysterio/Sabu match the best, but to me it was the one match that hit the high notes more than anything else. Anyway, this wasn't a bad show at all, it just feels completely out of date. 

Overall Rating: 70%

NXT 6-5-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, June, 5th 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

After a recap of TakeOver, we are informed that the #1 contender, Tyler Breeze, has entered the building. 

Mojo Rawley vs. Aiden English

English hits an aggressive clothesline and a swinging neckbreaker to start things off. It doesn't last long and Mojo makes a quick comeback. He hits Hyperdrive and wins. Why? Seven years later and we're still waiting for the payoff on Mojo. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Tyson Kidd and Natalya having some issues leading into a backstage interview with Natalya. She says she will always have his back. 

Bayley vs. Charlotte

We have a seesaw match to start things off, with the women trying to one up another. Out comes Summer Rae for the first time in weeks. This distracts Bayley and Charlotte picks up the victory. After the match, they attack Bayley. Out comes Paige and Emma to make the save. This was all more for the angle rather than the match, but what we got was pretty good. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger are talking about their names. 

Tye Dillinger & Jason Jordan vs. Phillip Gooljar & Stewart Cumberland

Cumberland is Aaron Solo. Desperate for tag teams in NXT, so I guess we are getting Dillinger and Jordan as their next project. They dominate just about the entire match, but don't use much in the way of double teams. I have no idea why this match is as long as it is. This should have been two minutes top. Jordan hits a shoulder in the corner and then hits the Jordan Slam, which is the Angle Slam. They didn't show much chemistry as a tag team here. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

CJ Parker is out in the crowd with a sign that says "May the forest be with you". 

Charlotte, Sasha and Summer are backstage and there is tension. 

Tyler Breeze is here and he says that he gets to pick when he gets to use his opportunity, so he's going to keep Neville on his toes. He then introduces the premiere to his music video. It's dedicated to all of his fans, even the uggos. The crowd cheers for it, which probably isn't the reaction they were hoping for. 

We get some Bo Dallas video package for some reason. 

Justin Gabriel vs. Adrian Neville

Neville hits a headscissor, sending Gabriel out to the floor. Neville goes for a dive, but Gabriel is in and hits a clothesline. Gabriel then goes for a dive, but Neville moves and pulls down the rope. Neville then follows that with a somersault dive off the apron. Gabriel is in control when we come back from commercial and hits a kick to the back of Neville. It doesn't last long, as Neville makes a comeback full of kicks and a second rope missile dropkick. Neville goes for a springboard move, but Gabriel hits him with a dropkick. Gabriel goes for the 450 splash, Neville moves and Gabriel lands on his feet. Neville hits him with a dropkick in the corner and then finishes him with the Red Arrow. This was a good way to end the show that kept Neville hot coming off his big TakeOver main event. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Out comes Tyson Kidd. He apologizes for not shaking his hand after the match. Kidd says that he wants one more chance for the NXT Championship and then reaches out his hand. Neville accepts and shakes. Kidd heads to the back and we're all set here. 

This episode was a mixed bag. The main event was good and the crowd loved the Tyler Breeze music video. The tag team match was too long for a squash and Mojo continues to be a dud. I'm surprised we didn't get Sami Zayn here, as he always brings life to the show. The roster isn't very strong yet, but it's coming. 

Overall Rating: 53%

Superstars 6-11-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, June 11th, 1994
Erie Civic Center
Erie, Pennsylvania

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Vince and Lawler kick off the show and Vince is really creepy here. 

Yokozuna & Crush vs. Smoking Gunns

Well I guess if you're a team getting a title shot, you probably should at least have one match under your belt. The Gunns attack their large opponents as soon as they enter the ring and we're underway. They hit two double dropkicks to knock them both out of the ring and the crowd is loving it. Again, I am going to re-emphasize that the Gunns were super underused here in '94. Back in the ring after some counseling, Crush eats a boot to the face and a bulldog for a 2 count. Yokozuna grabs the top rope and Bart goes flying to the floor. Crush hits a backbreaker and in comes Yoko and they hit a double clothesline. We actually get a commercial break in a Superstars match, which is a rarity. Bart is finally able to hit a hot tag to Billy and he hits a bulldog on Yoko and an inverted atomic drop on Crush. The Gunns are hitting double fists in the corner, but Yoko dumps Bart to the floor. Billy sees it and jumps off and hits Yoko for a nearfall. Crush hits a press slam and Yoko follows up with a leg drop for the victory. That was a really good time for a Superstars match. More of this please. 

Match Rating: **3/4

We then go to Stan Lane bragging about winning some award for their "Unbelievable" ads. 

Doink vs. Derek Stone

Stone reminds me of a less toned William Regal. Doink hits a few Irish whips and a belly-to-belly suplex. We get the Whoopee Cushion and the fart sound for the victory. They then show the one guy in the crowd with the Doink shirt. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Raw to see the King's Court with the Roddy Piper impersonator. This leads to Roddy Piper with pre-recorded comments. Thankfully this feud is almost over. 

Kenny Hendrix vs. IRS

The guest ring announcer is wearing a tie dye Tatanka shirt. IRS interrupts on his way down and make fun of a guy in the crowd and says Mabel is going to pay at King Of The Ring. We get a pre-recorded interview from Oscar and Mabel. Hendrix gets a body press for a 1 count, but IRS slaps on the Penalty and that's it. That was about as quick as an IRS squash gets. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the King Of The Ring Report. Bret Hart talks about how disappointed he is in Diesel and that he's going to have some back up. Todd wonders if it's Stu, but then decides he doesn't think he'd be able to help physically. 

Duke Droese vs. Reno Riggins

"Better known as...THE DUMPSTERRRR!" declared Vince McMahon. Just in case you can't tell that he's a garbage man, he brings a trash can with him. It's good to see Reno again. We've got the fake crowd noise pumping for this one. There is no better way to impress in a squash match than to slap on a bear hug. Reno gets out with some fists, while Vince pleads for the ref to get him to open up his hands. Duke hits his variation of a powerslam for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the Heartbreak Hotel and Shawn is talking about the WWF ratings soaring. He brings out Ted DiBiase and he said everyone doubted him with getting the Undertaker. No one has the resources like DiBiase does and he introduces him. Out "he" comes. I really had no idea that he made his debut this early on in the summer. He then moves his mouth to a pre-recorded Undertaker interview. This was bad, but the crowd had no clue just how bad this would be. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Marty Garner

This was one of the famous Garner dives where he lands face-first after a dive over the top rope. This one is still getting shown on Twitter 27 years later. Jarrett slaps on the Figure Four and that's all. That's a rough way to make a few bucks. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

The WrestleMania Revenge Tour continued in Anaheim and so was Rhonda Sheer and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. They claim that it was the best attended tour in history. Yeah, sure. 

Next week, we get Razor Ramon, Owen Hart, Headshrinkers, Diesel at the Heartbreak Hotel and Mabel vs. Nikolai Volkoff. 

There's a little more to unpack here than normal on an episode of Superstars. We had a really fun opening match, which is an absolute rarity for anything involving Crush. We had the debut of the Underfaker, kicking off one of the worst angles in company history. Then we also had the crash landing of Marty Garner. Overall, this was not a bad way to spend 45 minutes if you like this era of wrestling. 

Overall Rating: 58%