Monday Night Raw 11-14-94 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, November 14th, 1994
Fernwood Resort
Bushkill, Pennsylvania

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Apparently this episode is shown in the most complete form due to technical difficulties. The show here on Peacock starts with the bell ringing with Bob Backlund having the 1-2-3 Kid in the Cross-Face Chickenwing. So this is great and I'm not seeing this match on YouTube either. Bret Hart makes the save and puts Backlund in the Sharpshooter. He tells Backlund that he will never let him out of the Sharpshooter at the Survivor Series. Well, that sucks.

Mabel vs. Black Phantom

Black Phantom is able to knock Mabel into the corner, but Mabel hits a big Rock Bottom for the victory. Really the biggest victory was us having to listen to Oscar and Mabel rap. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the Survivor Series Report. Todd is back with the vest after sporting the Survivor Series shirt on Superstars. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Gary Sabough

Sabough gets a nearfall with a sunset flip, but then misses with a dropkick that would have hardly hit above the waist. Jarrett goes to work on the leg, but Sabough comes back with a small package for a 2 count. Back to the leg and he slaps on the Figure Four for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the King's Court and his guest is Owen Hart. He assures Bob Backlund that he will not throw in the towel. Out comes British Bulldog to a bunch of pyro. Bulldog must have had some hearing issues from it because I have never heard him yell so much. They just argue about throwing in the towel. 

Aldo Montoya vs. Brooklyn Brawler

This is the long awaited debut. You know, since the guy had no vignettes or hype. Montoya hits a dive to the outside, but Brawler hits a neckbreaker soon after. Brawler hits a backbreaker for a 2 count. Montoya hits a rough looking headscissors and then hits a reverse crossbody off the second rope for the victory. This was nothing too special, which of course means Ted DiBiase is impressed.

Match Rating: 1/2*

DiBiase goes in the ring to talk to Montoya. DiBiase offers him a spot on his team and Montoya responds in Portuguese. DiBiase offers him money instead and then Montoya answers in English and tells him to shove his money in his ear.

After commercial, we now have Alundra Blayze is here and she's dressed like Carmen Sandiego. She's fighting Bull Nakano in Japan since Vince forgot she existed. Next week it's Razor Ramon vs. Diesel.

This is a hard show to rate since I obviously missed the feature match. The rest of the show was pretty dull and for the first time in what feels like a long time, Superstars was better. I'll give my rating, but it's unofficial.

Overall Rating: 38%

Superstars 11-12-94 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, November 12th, 1994
Burlington Memorial Auditorium
Burlington, Vermont

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Lex Luger vs. Gary Scott

Lex hits a big powerslam and then flexes like a chicken after. He puts on the Torture Rack and then celebrates with the youngster who brought out the American flag for him earlier. Short and to the point, how it should be on Superstars. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's more charity softball with Charlie Minn. However, we need to stay tuned for footage of the actual game until later in the show. Don't go anywhere.

They promote the new WWF Magazine, that has Randy Savage on the cover. You know, the guy that doesn't work here any more. 

Owen Hart vs. Tony DeVito

Looks like a stacked show here today if you're into the classic mid-90s jobbers. The crowd looks like it's on hour 13 of 18 here at the taping. Owen hits a variation of the bulldog and then climbs up top to hit his beautiful missile dropkick. He locks in the Sharpshooter and that's all. It should be noted that Jim Neidhart wasn't ringside with him. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

This week IRS is standing with a casket leaning on a pile of dirt. I'm surprised they would put him with something more charismatic than him. 

Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette join Vince McMahon in the ring for an interview. Cornette talks about the blemish on Undertaker's record is his loss to Yokozuna. He warns Chuck Norris not to get in the way of Yokozuna. 

Next week, it's Jim Neidhart vs. Undertaker right here on Superstars. 

Bob Holly vs. Roy Raymond

Raymond misses with an elbow drop and Holly hits his signature standing dropkick. He hits a running clothesline that folds Raymond in half. He then hits the top rope crossbody for the victory. Holly couldn't be any cheesier here in his celebration.

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the official Survivor Series Report. Is there an unofficial one? I want that shirt Todd is sporting really badly. Bret Hart has a lot of confidence, but it's not overconfidence. Especially in the Survivor Series. For some reason they think we want Tatanka's opinion on Chuck Norris. Then we get to hear Paul Bearer talk about him. 

Bob Backlund vs. Bert Centeno

Owen is out with Backlund and lets us know that this is scientific wrestling at it's best. I love that they just keep reminding us of how old Backlund is. He quickly puts on the Cross-Face Chickenwing, kind of. That's it? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We're back to Live Event News in New Jersey. Some of the wrestlers don't even bother to have baseball gloves. They then show Doink chasing Ted DiBiase with a bucket of water and not being able to catch him, so he just throws it and hits no one. 

Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka vs. Smoking Gunns

The Gunns hit double missile dropkicks on their way into the ring. Things settle down and Bam Bam goes to work on Billy. Billy is able to tag Bart and he hits a dropkick and a series of left hands in the corner. Bam Bam counters with an inverted atomic drop and tags in Tatanka. The Gunns show off some more teamwork and lots of dropkicks. Out comes King Kong Bundy, Tom Prichard and Jim Cornette. Where's Jimmy Del Ray? Of course that means that Luger, Mabel, Oscar and Adam Bomb have to come out. I can't emphasize enough how dorky Luger's cutoff shirt is here. Bam Bam and Billy collide in the ring and both men are down. Both make tags, but Bart gets the better of Tatanka. They hit a variation of the Sidewinder, but then Bart ends up on the outside after missing a dive. Bundy is in the ring and they're ringing for the bell. Everyone is in the ring and we go off the air. Of course they would during the most exciting part on a taped show. This was about as good of a match that we have had on Superstars.

Match Rating: **1/2

They did things right on this episode. The squashes were short, the feature match was entertaining and watching wrestlers play softball always makes me laugh. 

Overall Rating: 58%

SmackDown 9-6-06 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, October 6th, 2006
Kansas Coliseum
Wichita, Kansas

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King Booker kicks off the show by picking Lashley's poison and it's none other than Batista. Lashley gets his turn and he chooses Finlay.

Rey Mysterio & Matt Hardy vs. Gregory Helms & Chavo Guerrero

The babyfaces get off to a quick start to get the crowd going and just as Chavo and Helms are gaining momentum, Mysterio hits a drop toe hold into the corner. He tags in Hardy and all four men end up in the ring. Chavo knocks Mysterio out of the ring and Hardy dumps out Chavo right after. This gives Helms the opening he needs to take control. They work on Hardy, but as you would expect, Rey gets the hot tag and takes both opponents out. He hits a kick to the head of Chavo, but Helms nails him with a clothesline. Things have broken down and both Chavo and Helms end up on the ropes and get hit with a double 619. Vickie pulls Chavo out of the ring and that leaves Helms to be pinned. This was a little shorter than I expected and I'm surprised Hardy and Mysterio won. Short, but sweet.

Match Rating: **1/2

Maryse welcomes us back to SmackDown.

Elijah Burke vs. Tatanka

This is a bizarre pairing, as Tatanka remains on the roster. Burke hits a big dropkick and Tatanka shows off his boxing skills. He hits his hangtime elbow drop in the corner, which was always an underrated move. Tatanka battles back and hits End Of Trail. He goes up to the top rope and hits the chop, but Burke kicks out. Tatanka gets distracted by Sylvester Terkay and gets hit with a right hand. Burke hits the Skull Crushing Finale and that's all. After the match, Terkay hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Tatanka. This was actually fairly entertaining. 

Match Rating: *

King Booker, Queen Sharmell, Finlay and William Regal are backstage. Booker asks Finlay to just lie down in their match tonight. Finlay asks Regal if he would lay down for the King. Regal gets squirmish and leaves the area. Finlay says that he didn't make this match, but he won't lay down and Booker is furious. 

King Booker vs. Finlay

They get outside the ring and Booker shows off some aggression on his sometime partner. Finlay fights back with a stiff clothesline and the crowd is liking it. Finlay throws Booker shoulder-first into the ring post and hits some kicks to the head. Booker battles back with a spinebuster for a 2 count. Out comes Hornswoggle to scare off Sharmell with a mouse. With the referee distracted, Finlay hits Booker with the shillelagh and that's enough for the pinfall. That seems like kind of a meaningless loss. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to do a double countout or DQ. 

Match Rating: **

Bobby Lashley vs. Batista

We get lots of lock up attempts to start. They do about as basic of a match as you can get, which is to be expected with 2 faces going at it for no reason. Out comes Finlay and he attacks them. Booker is behind and they all start brawling. Not so fast, as Teddy Long makes his appearance. He changes the main event for No Mercy and it's not a Fatal 4-Way for the World Heavyweight Championship. The match was was nothing other than to set that up.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Booker is furious at Teddy Long backstage and the other 3 competitors join in on the fun. Teddy says that we will have a tag team match between the 4 of them tonight. 

Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Sylvan

We have ourselves a rematch of their epic match last week. After I decide not to type about the majority of the first moments, Sylvan hits a nice spinning slam. Yang battles back after hitting a kick when Sylvan goes off the top rope. We get another screwjob finish with Sylvan seated on Yang and grabbing the second rope to steal the victory. This wasn't bad for what it was, even if I was too lazy to recap it. 

Match Rating: *

They show clips of the No Mercy press conference and actually feature the Matt Hardy/Gregory Helms feud. 

MVP is here and he cuts a promo on the little stage by the entrance ramp. He talks about how great he is and his match at No Mercy.

Mr. Kennedy is in all black and in front of a black backdrop. He mocks Undertaker and his hocus pocus stuff that he uses to intimidate his opponents. 

Ashley vs. Michelle McCool

I get that they are trying to incorporate these two into the feud, but I'm not sure they are really giving them an opportunity to be successful here. Plus, we're stuck listening to JBL trying to be Jerry Lawler here. Anyway, Ashley hits a crossbody and Michelle rolls through and picks up the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's the movie premiere of The Marine at a Marine base. In my intense research during my ad on Peacock, the original film is the lowest rated of the entire series over on Letterboxd.

Finlay & King Booker vs. Bobby Lashley & Batista

As you would expect, it doesn't take long for some cheating from the King and he throws Lashley into the steel steps. Lashley blocks a suplex attempt and hits one of his own. Booker is able to tag Finlay and he stops Lashley from making the tag to Batista. Lashley is able to drive Finlay back into his corner and make the tag, but the referee was distracted and he doesn't allow it. Lashley ducks a kick by Booker and hits the Spear. Both men make tags and Batista takes care of both opponents and then William Regal comes in and the ref calls for the bell. In comes Hornswoggle from behind and he gives him a low blow. It only slows him down momentarily and he gives Finlay a spinebuster before celebrating. This was more of a teaser than a match.

Match Rating: *3/4

They built the whole show around the main event of Sunday's pay-per-view, which makes sense. It wasn't necessarily gripping television, but it wasn't bad either. I wouldn't say this was a ho hum show, but it was a very forgettable episode. 

Overall Rating: 51%

ECW 10-3-06 Review

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006
Landon Arena
Topeka, Kansas

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Paul Heyman is with Hardcore Holly and tells him how tough he is for surviving a staph infection and the huge laceration in his back from last week. Holly doesn't care, he just wants RVD tonight. Heyman says he can't do that due to law suits. Holly grabs Heyman and says he'll give him a reason to sue him. Test comes from behind and hits him with a chair in the back. Heyman informs him that RVD will be facing Test tonight. 

Sandman & Sabu vs. Big Show & Matt Striker

Show bullies Sabu around a little bit before tagging in Striker. Sabu is able to hit a springboard leg lariat and we have a commercial break. When we come back, Show hits a big headbutt on Sabu. Show follows that up with a vertical suplex and then steps on him before tagging in Striker. Striker sets Sabu up in the ropes and hits a dropkick, sending him to the floor. Show throws him back in and they get a 2 count. Striker sets him up in the corner and hits the running boot to the face of a seated Sabu. Striker goes off the second rope, but Sabu hits him with a spin kick on the way down and is able to make the tag to Sandman. Sanaman is loving it and hits a series of left hands before hitting the hurricanrana from the top rope. Show comes in though and attacks both Sabu and Sandman. He hits a big splash on Sandman and Striker picks up the pin for the victory. That ending was pretty weak. I will say that Striker looked pretty good here though. 

Match Rating: **

Kelly Kelly and Trinity say that they've invited the Divas from Raw and SmackDown to play Extreme Strip Poker. Kelly Kelly then unbuttons her top to reveal a pair of aces. 

Kevin Thorn vs. Tommy Dreamer

Dreamer hits a running knee, but Thorn drops Dreamer on his back when he tries climbing up the ropes. Thorn is on the attack and hits a gutbuster. He misses in the corner though and Dreamer hits a neckbreaker. Dreamer fires back with a series of fists and a swinging neckbreaker. He goes for the DDT, but Thorn is able to grab the rope to block it. Dreamer gets another shot at it and nails it, but Thorn's arm is under the rope. Ariel hands him his cane and he nails Dreamer in the face with it behind the referee's back and picks up the win. Thorn was just a lost cause, as no one ever cared about him in this role. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Maria hypes up poker next week. 

CM Punk vs. Danny Doring

Doring tries for a vertical suplex, but instead gets hit with a double underhook backbreaker. Punk hits the running knee lift in the corner and follows it up with the bulldog. Punk hits the slaps and the kick to the head. Here comes the Anaconda Vice and that's all. After the match, Kelly Kelly calls out Punk and starts dancing for him. Mike Knox comes out and says that he's getting sick of this. Punk is sick of his girl not staying away from him. Knox heads to the ring, but decides not to. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Ashley and Kristal are coming for Extreme Strip Poker. 

Extreme Rules Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Test

Test isn't feeling RVD's taunting, so he kicks him the gut before the can finish. The action goes outside and RVD blocks a suplex and puts Test on the guardrail. Test moves out of the way on the helicopter leg drop and both men are already down. RVD ducks Test running with the steps and he rams into the ring post with them. RVD sets Test on the steps and he hits Rolling Thunder before going to set up a table. Back in the ring, Test is able to explode for a clothesline to shift the momentum back in his favor. Some chairs get into the ring and RVD is able to chuck one at the face of Test. Test is on the apron and RVD hits a sunset flip powerbomb over the top rope and through the table. That didn't look pleasant. After a commercial break, Heyman and his goons are out. Test hits a low blow on RVD and gets thrown to the outside. His goons throw RVD into the ring post and hit him with a nightstick. RVD gets thrown face-first into a chair propped in the turnbuckles, but is somehow able to kick out at 2. RVD comes back adn is able to hit a spin kick in the corner and grabs a chair. He hits the skateboard dropkick to the face of Test. He puts a chair on Test, but Test rolls away and leaves the chair for RVD to land on. Test goes up to the top rope and hits a dive with a chair onto Van Dam. RVD kicks out again, so now Test brings a table into the ring. Test goes to powerbomb RVD through the table, but he counters it and gets a 2 count. RVD hits the top rope kick to the face and then sets Test up on the table. He hits a dive onto the 2 enforcers and climbs the top rope. Big Show shoves him off and he goes through the table. Test hits his finisher and that is all. They gave these two a lot of time here. The storyline is very tired, but this match worked out well enough. This was a good main event.

Match Rating: ***1/4

About a half of the show was the main event and just about everything else wasn't worth anyone watching. However, it's ECW and we'll take that. 

Overall Rating: 50%

Monday Night Raw 10-2-06 Review

Monday, October 2nd, 2006
Kansas Expo Center
Topeka, Kansas

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DX is out to start the show and they do they spiel. Out comes Jonathan Coachman and he tells them they have to compete right now in a Texas Tornado Match. 

Texas Tornado Match
D-Generation X vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. Viscera & Charlie Haas vs. Highlanders

Cade and Murdoch go right after DX and we're underway. Triple H is able to move out of the way of a Viscera squash in the corner and then they hit a double clothesline to knock Vis down. Murdoch gets hit by a knee to the face and an inverted atomic drop before throwing him out of the ring. Haas eats a spinebuster and a Michaels top rope elbow drop. They hit the Sweet Chin Music/Pedigree combo on Haas and that's it. There is no better way to build your struggling tag division than to squash them like they're jobbers on Superstars. It was cute those 30 seconds they cared about Cade and Murdoch. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

After the match, Coach is unhappy and says that he still runs this show. DX threatens to throw him out of the building and that they'll run this show. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy

We get a little bit of action leading to Hardy leaping off the apron on Nitro right before the commercial break. During the break, Hardy got kicked in the face by Nitro when he went for the swinging mule kick in the corner. When we come back, Nitro has the camel clutch in. Hardy breaks free, but misses with Whisper In The Wind. Nitro hits a sliding dropkick, sending Hardy into the ring post. Sensing Hardy gaining momentum, Melina pulls Nitro out of the ring. It backfires and they both end up getting hit with the running dive off the guardrail. Back in the ring, Nitro climbs to the top rope, but Hardy meets him there. Hardy hits a back body drop off the top and he hits the Swanton to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Looking back 16 years, I wasn't expecting that to happen here. Both guys put in a good effort here. 

Match Rating: ***

DX is knocking on Coach's door. Hilarity ensues. 

Next week it's a 3 hour Raw Family Reunion. One of the many tune ups to get me ready for reviewing modern Raw episodes in like 15 years. 

Maria is backstage with Jeff Hardy and he says winning this title was the reason that he came back to Raw. Maria says that she's going to ECW to be involved in the Extreme Strip Poker. Melina interrupts and starts screaming. Hardy covers her mouth and then leaves. 

Coach is on the phone with Vince and he's telling him that he can't run Raw like he does. He tells Coach to go out to the ring and of course Coach listens. He reluctantly leaves his office and checks every way before heading out. If anything, we're getting a little bit more behind the scenes than we typically do. Eventually, Triple H is standing in the hallway and when Coach turns around, Michaels is at the end of the other hallway. It turns into a western and we have a tumbleweed on the ground. Coach runs into the closest room and it's the women's locker room. DX decides to walk in and Triple H flirts with the ladies before Michaels grabs him. Coach runs into another room and this time it's Big Dick Johnson and he shoves him to the ground. He then slips on a floor being mopped and DX is there to find him. He runs into a production truck and DX throws him in a rolling dumpster and tells one of the employees to dump the cart. 

I should note that earlier they showed highlights of Cena/Edge at New Year's Revolution and now they are showing highlights from their match at Royal Rumble. 

When we come back that DX is shown with the Spirit Squad and they let them know they are in charge. They tell them they have a new dress code and threaten him with the sledgehammer.

Next week it's going to be Umaga vs. Kane in a Loser Leaves Raw match. Too bad it wasn't a Loser Really Loses WWE Forever match with Kane losing.

Umaga vs. Snitsky

Hey, Snitsky is still alive. Snitsky sidesteps Umaga and gets in some of his trademark punches and kicks. He knocks Umaga down with a shoulder tackle, but Umaga hits him with the pop up Samoan drop. That was awesome. Umaga hits the running butt in the face and the Samoan Spike for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Randy Orton is backstage with Todd Grisham. He is sick and tired of Carlito running his mouth. He knows what cool is and that's RKO. 

Randy Orton vs. Carlito

Well, 2 weeks ago this was a featured match on a pay-per-view and tonight it's an unadvertised middle of the show match. Orton is aggressive to start and throws him into the ring post. He does it again, but this time it's not as convincing. Orton keeps grabbing Carlito's arm and twisting it as well. Carlito tries to fight back with some chops and then hits a springboard reverse elbow. He hits a springboard somersault and then a springboard moonsault for a 2 count. We get a back and forth segment that leads to Carlito hitting a springboard crossbody and Orton rolls through and steals the victory. All of this feels kind of odd. 

Match Rating: *3/4

They show the highlights of Edge interfering in the Rob Van Dam/John Cena match at One Night Stand.

DX is telling the Spirit Squad that they have to come out and they are refusing. They say that they will be stripped of their Tag Team Championships if they don't and then make an unfortunate "joke". 

Cryme Tyme knocks a coffee into the face of a police officer and show off their speed and agility by getting away. 

Nicky vs. Sgt. Slaughter

The Spirit Squad come out dressed as female cheerleaders. Slaughter slaps on the Cobra Clutch right away, but Nicky gets to the ropes. Sarge spanks him as punishment. Nicky's able to dump Slaughter out of the ring and the other Spirit Squad members attack him. Nicky puts on a submission hold and then DX shows up on the screen, holding up a thong and telling him he forgot something. Slaughter rolls him up and picks up the win. I'm sure Vince loved all of this.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We see highlights of Edge winning the WWE Championship from RVD in a triple threat. 

WWE Women's Championship Tournament First Round Match
Mickie James vs. Victoria

DX has ordered that both competitors have to wear lingerie, so that of course leads to some great jokes from Lawler. Unfortunately these two talented ladies are off to a little bit of a rough start. Nothing they are hitting really looks smooth. Mickie gets dumped out of the ring, but she jumps up to the top rope and then misses the sunset flip. They try to recover and it leads to Victoria try to cheat and then Mickie rolls her up from there. This was about as bad as this match could have been. After the match, Victoria snaps and throws a chair. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Eric Bischoff book promo. Chris Masters is talking to Eric Bischoff and then DX comes in. He tells them they were a blatant ripoff of the nWo. They ask Masters when he's going to write a book and he said that he wants to write one on nutrition. He asks him if it will be called How To Lose 50 Pounds In 4 Weeks? Classy.

They show Cena winning the title from Edge. They for some reason skipped over SummerSlam?

Steel Cage Match For The WWE Championship
Edge vs. John Cena

Cena starts off on a mission and hits a big vertical suplex. Cena has his left arm wrapped up from his attacks the last week. Edge gets an opening and goes right to work on it. Edge tries to escape through the door, but Cena grabs him by the trunks and hits a back suplex. Edge tries to escape the top of the cage, but Cena catches him and throws him off the top rope. After a failed pin attempt, Edge is able to throw Cena into the cage to slow him down. Edge hits Edgecution, but Cena is able to kick out. I would say that this crowd seems a little more pro-Cena than normal during this era. Cena tries to climb out the cage, but Edge grabs him by the arm and snaps it on the top rope. He follows that up with a Spear into the cage. They're both up on the top rope and Cena is able to drive Edge's face into the mat and we head into a commercial break. Edge is able to climb up to the very top of the cage, but Cena grabs his leg. Both men are fighting on the top in a seated position. Edge rakes Cena's eyes and he falls in towards the ring, but is standing on the ropes. He gets Edge down, but Edge hits a back suplex off the top rope and they both are down. Edge gets crotched on the top rope and then thrown into the cage. He hits his spinning powerbomb and it's Five Knuckle Shuffle time. He gets Edge up for the FU, but Edge grabs the cage and he slams him into the cage. Edge tries climbing again, but Cena gets him up on his shoulders. Edge slips out and he goes for an electric chair. Cena again gets him up for a FU, but Edge counters and starts crawling to the door. Cena leaps to grab his leg and then Lita hands Edge a chair. The referee kicks her out, but the chair is in the ring. Edge misses off the second rope and accidentally hits the referee. Edge grabs the chair, but misses wildly. Cena then nails Edge with the chair and slaps on the STFU. The referee is still down and the other ref is trying to get in, but then in comes Cade and Murdoch. They hit their finisher, kind of. They try to drag Edge out of the ring as the crowd chants for DX. Out comes DX to make the save and Cena hits the FU on Edge for the victory. This was a freaking great main event. It was all action and even though I could have done without the interference, it all just added to the chaos. Well done to both competitors here. 

Match Rating: ****

This was quite the surprise here. They let Edge and Cena have a pay-per-view type match and they more than delivered. We also got the somewhat surprising title change earlier in the show, making this one of the stronger Raw episodes of the year. I still could have done without just about all of the DX stuff, but you have to take the good with the bad.

Overall Rating: 70%

Off The Grid, Volume 27: Halloween Havoc 1991 Review

Sunday, October 27th, 1991
UTC Arena
Chattanooga, Tennessee

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Off The Grid, Volume 27:

Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross welcome us before sending us off to Eric Bischoff. We see some of the superstars arriving. Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes arrive and they are attacked, with Windham getting his arm slammed into the door by Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson. They drive off to the hospital.

Chamber Of Horrors Match
Abdullah The Butcher, Big Van Vader, Diamond Studd & Cactus Jack vs. El Gigante, Steiner Brothers & Sting

So this is basically a cage match except they have chainsaws and electric chairs, making this as cheesy as possible. There is just way too much star power in this match for what it is. Sting hits a dive over the top rope on Vader. Now the electric chair is coming down in a small cage. The amount of money that was wasted on this is just hysterical. Also hysterical is the "Refer-eye Camera". The referee is wearing a hockey helmet with a camera on it so we can see what he sees. Sting throws a coffin lid on the head of Cactus Jack. Now a bunch of dudes with white painted faces walk down with a stretcher. I'm pretty positive that if I saw this in 1991, I would have been able to figure out that wrestling wasn't 100% real a lot quicker. Cactus is busted open on his forehead. Sting then throws Jack over the top rope and into the cage. This match is one of those matches where there's just a bunch of chaos while still not really having anything much going on. After a bunch of nothing, Rick Steiner hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Abdullah into the chair and for some reason Cactus Jack thinks it is Rick in there and he pulls the lever. We get a bunch of pyro and parts of the ring catch on fire. I feel like this entire thing wasn't thought out. I would not expect that from WCW... This match was goofy enough fun, but it was hindered by the stipulation. 

Match Rating: **

 After the match, Cactus Jack checks on Abdullah and he pushes Jack down and attacks all the dudes with white face paint. The crowd is dead silent for this. He grabs Jack and they walk to the back a bloody mess. 

JR and Schiavone send us back with Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt, who are dressed in costumes. In come the Young Pistols and they make fun of the Patriots in one of the lamer promos you'll ever see. 

The Creatures vs. PN News & Big Josh

Who in the world approved this to be on a major card? You would think this would be 90 seconds long, but nope, it's WCW, so it will be treated like a match that is competitive. PN News is a gigantic man and his ring attire looks like it was designed by a 4 year old. It's interesting that Josh is only about 12 months away or so as debuting as Doink. I guess I'll talk about the match. Josh hits a powerbomb and some chops on one of the Creatures. Josh hits Northern Exposure and News hits the Rapmaster Splash for the victory. This was a Superstars match that they charged you to watch. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bobby Eaton vs. Terrence Taylor

This is during the era where they ranked everyone. Eaton is #7 and Taylor is #10 if you care. Taylor is with Taylor and he is the computerized man of the 90s. Wikipedia has it spelled as Terrance, but the entrance logo shows Terrence. I went with what was on the video. Eaton is a guy that I have talked about before, but he is someone that I have really come to enjoy as a result of the WWE Network. I don't dislike Taylor as much as a lot of folks do. I think he's a solid wrestler, just not one that should have been considered a future main eventer. He's a good middle of the card heel when in WCW. Nothing more, nothing less. They kind of feel each other out to begin until the action spills out to the elevated ramp. Eaton then hits a knee from the top rope on Taylor. Taylor is able to recover and knocks Eaton off the apron into the guardrail. Back to the ramp we go and Taylor hits a gutwrench powerbomb, as he continues to work on the back of Eaton. Taylor continues to work on the back, but Eaton gets a burst of offense with a sunset flip off the top rope for a nearfall. Taylor goes back to working on the back of Eaton. Taylor goes for a splash off the second rope, but Eaton gets his knees up. Eaton's able to hit a neckbreaker and heads up to the top, but Taylor knocks the ropes and crotches Eaton. Taylor tries for a superplex, but Eaton knocks him off. Eaton hits the Alabama Jam and that is all. That was a solid, competitive match with both guys looking pretty good here. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

JR and Schiavone inform us that Michael Hayes is injured, so Jimmy Garvin is wrestling for him instead. 

Jimmy Garvin vs. Johnny B. Badd

Garvin hits a hip toss on Badd over the top rope to a nice pop from the crowd. They're dressed in Braves gear and doing the tomahawk chop, which fits Michael Hayes. Badd comes back and hits a top rope sunset flip for a 2 count. Badd never really was able to nail that move for as often as he used it. Both men hit heads and now both are down. Garvin nails the DDT, but Teddy Long has the referee distracted. Garvin goes to check on him and Badd hits him with a sucker punch for the victory. Garvin had his leg on the bottom rope, but Long knocked it off. The match wasn't bad for what it was. Badd was still pretty inexperienced here. 

Match Rating: **

We go back to Missy Hyatt, who is as obnoxious as ever and is trying to find out who the WCW Phantom is. She asks Bobby Eaton, but he just won a match and he doesn't care. 

WCW TV Championship Match
Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes

Rhodes gets in some offense and tries for the bulldog pretty early, but Austin is able to counter it. Dustin goes for a crossbody, but Austin ducks and Dustin goes sliding under the bottom rope and to the floor. Austin gets caught using the ropes for leverage and Dustin makes his comeback. For some reason, Dustin is busted open and we are at 4 minutes remaining. This is usually about the time where they decide to start making the match entertaining. Dustin misses a dropkick and Austin gets a 2 count. Dustin is going hard for the last minute win and shoves the referee when he tries to stop him with his right hands. He hits an elbow and gets another 2 count. We're down to 1 minute. Dustin is hitting elbows in the corner and Austin falls on his face with 30 seconds left. Dustin goes up top and hits a clothesline and the bell rings before he counts 3. I watched it again and it looks like he could have counted 3, but WCW loved to do this finish and it was so easy to screw up. Why would the referee stand nowhere near the move before counting if he was going to win? The match was pretty good between 2 guys that were linked together for years in WCW and would go on to have much bigger success in WWF. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Oz vs. Bill Kazmaier

Kazmaier comes down to the ring carrying a giant Earth, since he's the strongest man on Earth. Oz has dropped the fake beard. This is what I imagine is like watching two guys work their first match looks like. Pretty much out of nowhere, Kazmaier puts Oz up in the Torture Rack and that's all. This was absolutely terrible. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

Van Hammer vs. Doug Somers

They actually have people out on the stage with jackhammers. Hammer comes down with a guitar, but doesn't play it. Hammer is probably one of my least favorite wrestlers of the era. We get a mess up in the first 15 seconds of the match if you're wondering why. Hammer hits a back body drop and an elbow drop. He hits a slingshot suplex for the victory. It sure looked like he almost was going to drop him on his head. In case the non-entrance for Somers wasn't enough of a giveaway, this was a squash. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We hear from Brian Pillman and Richard Morton ahead of their Light Heavyweight Championship match. 

WCW Light Heavyweight Championship Match
Brian Pillman vs. Richard Morton

Morton was not meant to be a heel. It was like having Joey and Rachel hook up on Friends. This is the tournament final to crown the first ever Light Heavyweight Championship. Luckily for us, we get the Refer-eye Camera for this one. After a little bit of offense from Morton, Pillman is able to hit a spin kick and knocks him out of the ring. Morton slows things down with a headscissor. Pillman comes back with a arm drag takedown and goes to a side headlock. As I listen to JR rundown Pillman's football achievements and what he overcame, it is really is easy to see what was so amazing about Pillman. His lifestyle got the best of him, but there was so much more left to give as a character. Considering these are two of the more exciting wrestlers of this era, it's really surprising that they aren't going pedal to the metal here. The action spills outside and Morton rams Pillman's shoulder into the ring post. Pillman bounces back though and hits a top rope crossbody for the victory. That was a pretty terrible finish. The match itself was a pretty big disappointment unfortunately. 

Match Rating: **

Tom Zenk vs. Halloween Phantom

It's pretty obvious who the Phantom is once the robe is off. He goes right after the Z man while JR and Schiavone still speculate. He hits the Rude Awakening and picks up the victory. They couldn't even get him a good mask. Detective Schiavone notices that it was the Rude Awakening, but JR no sells it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
The Patriots vs. The Enforcers

So the Patriots are the United States Tag Team Champions and the Enforcers are the World Tag Team Champions. So stupid. The Patriots are also stupid. Thankfully we at least have Arn Anderson in this match. If a guy as big and strong as Champion is nothing more than a footnote, it's probably because he wasn't very good. The dude is huge. Firebreaker Chip gets a hot tag and hits some body slams and dropkicks. Zbyszko breaks up the pin attempt and Champion knocks him down. We get a little bit of chaos, but Anderson hits the spinebuster and picks up the victory. Arn had enough of that crap and was ready to call it a night. The match wasn't terrible, but it's a waste of Anderson. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Paul E. Dangerously is out here to scream about the Halloween Phantom and unmasks him to be Rick Rude. I didn't see it coming! In all seriousness though, this was a huge get for the after losing Flair. The roster was garbage at this point and they needed someone who was a big name. You're welcome for this groundbreaking analysis.

They show a video of Ron Simmons going back to Florida State and we get an interview with Bobby Bowden. 

Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match For The WCW Championship
Ron Simmons vs. Lex Luger

Simmons is accompanied by Dusty Rhodes, while Luger is with Mr. Hughes and Harley Race. After a slow start, Simmons hits a big powerslam and follows it up for a spinebuster to get the first pin. That was quick. There is now a one minute rest period before the next fall starts. Simmons' momentum continues into the next fall until Luger hits him with a thumb to the eye. Even then, Simmons is able to get a 2 count out of an inside cradle. Simmons hits a sunset flip for another 2 and then goes flying over the top rope after missing Luger while charging off the ropes. Luger hits a powerslam and hits a clothesline after a boot to the face. I'm surprised at how much offense Simmons is getting here. Luger connects with a vertical suplex before slowing it down with a headlock. We now have a little bit of action going on the outside with Dusty and Harley. Luger hits a crossbody on Simmons, but Harley holds onto Simmons tights and Luger gets sent outside, causing a DQ. Luger is extremely aggressive to start off the third fall and is bleeding from his right eye. Simmons no sells it and fires back some right hands. He blocks an inverted atomic drop and hits a clothesline for a close call. Simmons props Luger up on the top rope and hits a superplex for yet another 2 count. I give them credit, both guys are putting in some good effort here. We go outside and Simmons charges towards Luger, but misses and hits his shoulder on the ring post. Luger hits the piledriver and picks up the final fall for the victory. I have to say, this was a lot better than I ever would have thought. The pace was quicker than I expected and the crowd was buying most of the nearfalls. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

This was a weird show. There was so much crap on it and the whole Phantom angle was poorly done as well. There was no standout, but it will forever be remembered as the show with the Chamber Of Horrors match. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to have Sting and the Steiners both in that match along with Vader, where there removal would have helped boost the rest of the card. There were a couple of pretty good matches, but the rest is skippable. 

Overall Rating: 42%

NXT 10-30-14 Review

Original Airdate: Thursday, October 30th, 2014
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We open with a backstage interview asking Sami Zayn about Adrian Neville's comment about not being able to win the big one. He says he has lost some big ones, but the road to redemption ends when he beats Neville. In walks Titus O'Neil and he challenges Zayn to a match. Zayn says that it's another roadblock on his road to redemption, but he's going to run right through it.

NXT Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Battle Royal

Only one team member has to be eliminated here to eliminate the team. This thing starts off with all of your normal battle royal spots, which is to say it's pretty boring. After a few minutes, we finally get a double elimination. The Ascension push out all four members of Blake & Murphy and Dillinger & Jordan. It's now the Ascension and Big Cass and Enzo going at it. The Ascension takes care of them and as soon as that happens, Hideo Itami's music hits and he's out. The Vaudevillains come from behind and knock them off to win the match. This felt like this was everyone's first battle royal, as there was no excitement throughout the entire match outside of Itami. After the match, Itami comes down and attacks, but of course the two-on-one leads to the inevitable Ascension beatdown. They grab the mic and tell Itami to go back home to Japan where he belongs. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Emma vs. Carmella

Carmella slaps on an unconvincing body scissor that Emma struggles in before hitting her with a right hand to break the hold. It's time for an Emma sandwich and that gets a 2 count. It's kind of crazy how little of a reaction that Emma is getting after being so over before. Carmella puts on the Code Of Silence for the victory. This one had no intensity to it at all. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

They show the Muscle & Fitness editor working out at the Performance Center. 

Justin Gabriel vs. Bull Dempsey

I kind of forgot Bull Dempsey existed. I'm kind of disappointed that there's no Halloween theming for this episode. Bull dominates the majority of the match until Gabriel is able to counter with an inverted DDT. He follows up with some kicks to the back. He goes off the second rope, but he gets caught and he dumps him over his back. Bull steamrolls him and then goes up to the top rope. Dempsey hits the headbutt off the top and picks up the victory. Gabriel tried.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Bayley talks about what happened with Becky Lynch last week. Bayley says that if they want to come next week, she'll bring her friend Charlotte.

Baron Corbin vs. Tony Briggs

The crowd counts as Corbin hits End Of Days to win the match. I like these Corbin matches better than modern Corbin. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sylvester Lefort vs. Marcus Louis

I'm not sure why we are supposed to care about this feud when it's pretty clear that they don't. Louis is enraged and is way over the top in an indie wrestler kind of way. He hits a standing Rock Bottom for the victory. Again, this was so short and meant nothing.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Hideo Itami says that if the Ascension wants a fight, then he'll bring a friend next week. 

Sami Zayn vs. Titus O'Neil

It's up to Sami to save this turd of an episode. It is too bad that they were never really able to get anything out of Titus because he is a huge human being. Zayn tries to bring some intensity, but O'Neil just body slams him instead. He mocks him and then dumps him out of the ring. Titus hits a nice backbreaker on his shoulder, but Zayn kicks out. Zayn slows down a charging Titus and hits the exploder suplex into the turnbuckle. I didn't see that coming. Zayn hits the Helluva Kick and that is all. The match itself was just decent, but it accomplished the goal they set out to achieve.

Match Rating: **

After the match, Tyler Breeze is out and says that if he wants to actually be the #1 contender, he has to beat him. He says that he talked to William Regal and that they will square off next week. 

This was the definition of a filler episode. It was nice to see Zayn get a victory over a bigger opponent, but the rest of the show was filled with mostly stuff that no one cared about. On the bright side, next week is looking like a stacked show. 

Overall Rating: 38%