Off The Grid, Volume 37: SummerSlam 1988 Review

Saturday, July 29th, 1988
Madison Square Garden
New York City, New York

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Off The Grid, Volume 37:

We start off with the music that ends up being the music for the Royal Rumble and then we go to Gorilla Monsoon and Superstar Billy Graham (ugh). 

Fabulous Rougeaus vs. British Bulldogs

The crowd is hot and Davey Boy Smith uses the turnbuckle to bully Jacques. He throws him in his own corner and allows him to tag in Raymond. The Bulldogs limit the Rougeaus to no offense whatsoever in the first few minutes of the match. Jacques trips up Davey Boy running the ropes and the Rougeaus finally get their opening. They go to work on the leg of Davey Boy and slow things down. Davey Boy comes back and hits a running powerslam, but Jacques breaks up the pin. Jacques slaps on the abdominal stretch, with both Graham and Gorilla talking about him not putting it on properly. Davey Boy runs in and breaks it up, but now Raymond comes in and puts it on. Davey is able to break out of it. The Rougeaus hit an inverted atomic drop/splash combo for a 2 count. Dynamite gets a small package, but the referee was distracted and he only gets a 2 count out of it. The Bulldogs make the tag, but the referee didn't see it and doesn't allow it. Davey Boy gets Jacques up for the gorilla press and drops him on the top rope, crotching Jacques to a huge pop. Davey Boy press slams Davey Boy on top of Jacques and then the bell rings for the time limit expiring. There's no better way to start a pay-per-view than with a time limit draw. The match was a good one though and the crowd was into it from bell to bell. Both teams start going at it after and the Bulldogs end up chasing them into the locker room. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Gorilla announces that Brutus Beefcake is unable to wrestle tonight. I'm sure that won't have any impact on the show. They show the clips of Ron Bass attacking him. Interestingly, they have the "Of Wrestling" blurred out on Superstars Of Wrestling. We also get the big X with "censored" written on it. Even though you can still kind of see it. 

Bad News Brown vs. Ken Patera

Oh boy, babyface Ken Patera. Even elementary school me who rented this years after it happened thought this guy was a dork. Brown attacks him right away and hits a body slam. Ken makes a quick comeback and has a worse haircut than most grandmothers during this era. This match already has worn out its welcome. They have sucked the life out of the building already. What better way to get them back than by putting on a bear hug? Are you kidding me? They have a miscommunication on the Irish whip that makes this even worse. On the second one, Bad News sidesteps him and he hits his shoulder. Bad News hits the Ghetto Blaster and that's all. To say this was terrible would be an understatement.

Match Rating: 0 Stars

We go to Mean Gene and he's with the Mega Powers. They hype up the secret weapon, who is Miss Elizabeth and she looks as uncomfortable as ever.

Rick Rude vs. Junkyard Dog

This just feels like such a bizarre pairing. Rude tries to attack JYD, but Rude gets hit with a huge back body drop and some headbutts. Rude regroups and hits a clothesline and a double ax handle from the top rope. Let me tell you, two back to back 6 minute matches that have rest holds is quite the choice. JYD gets in an Irish whip, but runs into a big boot in the corner. JYD gets in a headbutt but then immediately gets distracted by Heenan and Rude attacks from behind. Rude hits a fist from the top rope after rolling down his pants to expose Cheryl Roberts on his trunks. Jake Roberts runs in and attacks him to cause the DQ. Maybe they should have just wrestled each other? This stunk.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Mean Gene who is now with Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart about the news of Brutus Beefcake. Gene hypes up the mystery man, but Honky doesn't care.

Bolsheviks vs. Powers Of Pain

Speaking of bizarre pairings, this is easily one of the weirdest booked matches in WWE pay-per-view history. Like every other match tonight, they are brawling right away. Nikolai Volkoff trips up the Barbarian, but Zhukov still gets hit with a double clothesline right after. We get one of the most telegraphed back body drop attempts I have ever seen and a total miscommunication after that. This is as bad as I was expecting. Barbarian gets a nice little sequence to help save this match from being complete garbage. They hit a double leaping shoulder tackle. Warlord then hits a powerslam and a diving headbutt by the Barbarian for the victory. The last 45 seconds really saved this one.

Match Rating: 3/4*

It's now time for The Brother Love Show. His special mystery guest is Hacksaw Jim Duggan. If I remember right, there were a lot of rumors of big names that were supposed to be the guest here and instead got Duggan. Things escalate quickly, as they often do here. Duggan threatens to hit him with the 2x4 and swings at him, but Brother Love escapes. This was stupid. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Honky Tonk Man vs. Ultimate Warrior

I have a feeling the show will pick up here. The Ultimate Warrior comes out and blows the roof off the building. Warrior hits all 4 moves that he has and we have a new champion. As a kid, this was about as good of a moment that I had ever seen. I probably rewatched this 10 times the first time I rented it. Despite knowing the Warrior was not the person you wanted him to be, the moment is still priceless. A lot of credit goes to Honky for this too, being the great heel for a long time and putting over the hot new babyface in convincing fashion. It's a squash, so I can't rate it much higher, but the moment is a 5 star moment.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Don Muraco vs. Dino Bravo

As you'd expect from these two, it's mostly power stuff to start. Dino gets in about 45 seconds of offense and then Muraco hits a neckbreaker. Bobby Heenan joins the announce team while Muraco starts hitting right hands. Muraco goes for a body slam, but Bravo blocks it after they possibly accidentally hit the referee. Dino hits the dreaded side suplex and picks up the victory. Whatever.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Sean Mooney is with Jesse Ventura and questions the decision Jack Tunney has made to handpick Ventura to be the referee tonight. It doesn't really make sense. Mooney then brings up how Ventura accepted money from Ted DiBiase and he plays it off that if someone's willing to give him money, he's going to take it. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Hart Foundation vs. Demolition

The 1990 sequel is the more talked about match and to be honest, I don't really remember this one. I've really grown to like Demolition though and the Hart Foundation has always been a favorite. They start the match off with a really nicely paced seesaw opening. Bret gets thrown into the ring post and Demolition goes to work on his shoulder. I should note that Jimmy Hart is joining Mr. Fuji in the corner of Demolition here. It's interesting because the crowd isn't into this match as much as you would expect. That's not to say they aren't, but just not as much as I would have expected. Bret gets his leg up on a charging Smash and finally gets the tag to Anvil. He clears the ring and now the crowd is to their feet. I spoke too soon. Bret slingshots Anvil over the top and onto Demolition. Neidhart hits a powerslam, but Smash is able to get the shoulder up during the pin attempt. Bret throws Neidhart into Smash in the corner, but it's still not enough. Bret tries to hit a piledriver, but Ax gets Jimmy Hart's megaphone and hits Bret in the back with it behind the referee's back and that's all for the champs to retain. This was a good match from these two with the expected interference finish. 

Match Rating: ***

We go backstage to an irate Honky Tonk Man with Jimmy Hart and crew. He says that he'll always be the greatest of all time and that he will get his belt back if it's the last thing he does.

Big Boss Man vs. Koko B. Ware

Boss Man was pretty much brand new here. Koko hits a dropkick and it ties up Boss Man in the ropes. Andre couldn't have liked that. Boss Man is able to hit a splash in the corner and then the splash with Koko draped on the second rope. Boss Man goes up to the top rope, but Koko barely rolls out of the way. Boss Man then misses in the corner and crotches himself. Koko starts hitting some right hands and hits an effortless missile dropkick. He goes for the cover, but as Gorilla says, he pushed him off of there like yesterdays garbage. He hits the Boss Man Slam and that's all. This was essentially a squash, as Koko seemed to always have that spot on the card during this era. After the match, he drills Koko with the nightstick in the ribs.

Match Rating: *

Sean Mooney is with Ultimate Warrior and he cuts his usual gonzo promo about spaceships or something. 

Hercules vs. Jake Roberts

This is our final weird pairing of the night. They decide to work a snail's pace to start things off. THey have already completely lost me here. I'm not really sure why they decided to put this on right before the main event, as it seems like the Boss Man squash would have probably worked better. Jake is able to dump Herc over the top rope, but then Herc snaps Jake's neck on the top rope. Jake goes for a DDT, but Herc dumps him on his back. Jake misses with a knee lift and falls hard. Herc gets in a little offense, but Jake hits a DDT out of nowhere to pick up the victory. That was a 10 minute match that felt 10 minutes. Damien comes out and is dumped on Hercules. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get a video package about the main event feud.

Mega Bucks vs. Mega Powers

I hate that DiBiase didn't have his entrance music here yet. The Mega Powers come out to Savage's music, as they should. We get a ton of stalling prior to the match with Jesse Ventura getting ready for the match. Hogan and Savage dominate the early part of the match and there continues to be a lot of confusion created by Elizabeth, Virgil and Bobby Heenan outside the ring. The Mega Bucks get their opening and Andre starts to work on Hogan. Andre seems to be in a good mood tonight. After a lengthy rest hold from DiBiase on Hogan, Hogan gets up and they hit a double clothesline. Savage gets a hot tag and is a house of fire. It doesn't last overly long and before you know it, Andre is shoving his butt into Savage's face. Now Hogan gets the hot tag and he has both opponents down. Savage goes up to the top rope, but runs into the boot of Andre. Hogan has a sleeper hold on DiBiase until Andre grabs him from behind and throws him out of the ring. Elizabeth gets up on the apron and rips off the bottom of her dress, which exposes her bikini bottom essentially. They try to make a huge deal of this, but it is very much just cheesy 1980s WWF. Hogan and Savage hit their finishers and Savage has to help push Ventura's arm down to count 3. The crowd was crazy hot for this one and they mostly delivered here. It was a good storyline that leads to another good one. As they celebrate, this is where the jealousy will begin with Savage accusing of Hogan lusting over Elizabeth. 

Match Rating: ***

This wasn't a complete dud or anything, but it is nowhere near as good as the following year's event would be. There is just a lot of pointless stuff here including the turkey of Bad News/Patera, JYD/Rude and Bolsheviks/Powers Of Pain. The Ultimate Warrior title change is far and away the moment that most people associate with this event and we also got three good tag team matches.

Overall Rating: 51%

Monday Night Raw 1-22-07 Review

Monday, January 22nd, 2007
Cajundome
Lafayette, Louisiana

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They show a graphic that they are dedicating the show to Bam Bam Bigelow. I can't believe he died so long ago. Very sad. 

We then get a lengthy recap of last week's angle with Rated RKO and Shawn Michaels. Shawn is now out and talks about how last week made him realize that he can take on any bully that wants to stand in his way. He's going to win the Royal Rumble and go to WrestleMania to win the WWE Championship. Out comes Edge to interrupt. He obviously doesn't agree, so they start brawling. They do a good convincing brawl, spilling over the barricade and into the crowd. Skinner does his best to try and break it up and we go to commercial break. That was a passionate promo by Michaels and a good brawl to kick off the show this week. 

When we come back, they are still brawling backstage. Michaels is a total maniac compared to what we are used to from him. Almost a Randy Savage-esque performance here. 

Raw vs. SmackDown Challenge Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Joey Mercury

Jeff dives over the top on both Mercury and Johnny Nitro as they are walking to the ring. Nitro rips up the mat outside the ring and it causes the referee to eject both Melina and Nitro. Jeff is able to hit Whisper In The Wind and Twist Of Fate and that's all. Mercury is selling injuries to his face, but that was way too quick that I'm not even sure why they booked it. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Ah yes, here's Vince McMahon to ruin the show. Coach runs in and says he wants to throw Edge and Michaels out of the arena. Coach asks Vince what he would do and he says Michaels vs. Edge in a Street Fight tonight. He then announces that he's making his way to the ring. 

Vince and Coach are out to the ring. Last week, Vince tortured us by reading a letter supposedly written by Donald Trump and this week he's returning the favor by making us sit through a letter that he supposedly wrote. He suggests to make the ratings for The Apprentice better, they should have him on the show. Out comes John Cena to call him out for acting like Brother Love and saying he loves everyone. Honestly, I zoned out and didn't even realize Vince was doing that. This is the Cena that tries a little too hard to be funny. This segment couldn't interest me any less than it already is. This finally ends with Vince saying that Cena will fight Coach tonight. 

Chris Masters vs. Super Crazy

We get a pre-taped interview old school style from Super Crazy telling us that he's super and crazy. These two seem a little off, including an awkward spot where they kind of just run into each other. Crazy hits a couple of running dropkicks and then a missile dropkick. He hits a standing moonsault and gets a 2 count. Masters slaps on the Master Lock, but Crazy uses the ropes to push him on his back and pick up the victory. Masters is unable to grasp the concept. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We get more Vince and Coach because no one asked for it. Vince says the match is still on. 

Shawn Michaels is backstage taping his wrists. 

Maria is here to interview Kenny Dykstra. Yep, still using that stupid name. Kenny says he'll be the youngest person to ever win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania. Maria doesn't believe him. 

Edge has his ribs taped up and is getting ready. In walks Randy Orton with makeup, I mean bruises and marks all over his face. He's yelling at Edge for not helping him out last week. Edge asks him if he'll have his back tonight and Orton says we'll just have to see what happens. 

John Cena vs. Jonathan Coachman

Coach comes out and says that he can't change the match that he made, but he can add a match before their match. He says random Superstars will come down in an over the rope challenge.

Over The Top Rope Challenge

Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade are out first to no one's delight. They double team Cena and Coach signals for someone else to come out. Cena turns into Super Cena and dumps Murdoch over the top with a FU. He hits a 5 Knuckle Shuffle on Cade and out comes The World's Greatest Tag Team, followed by Viscera. They all attack Cena and then out comes Great Khali. Shelton tries to tell him what to do and Khali attacks him and anyone in his way. He throws Shelton over the top, followed by Haas. He clotheslines Cade over the top rope and then dumps Viscera. Cena comes off the top rope and hits a shoulder tackle, but Khali no sells it and clotheslines Cena. Khali then throws Cena over the top and wins the match. This wasn't entertaining television. After the match, Khali throws Cena into the steps. Khali hits the chop and runs in the ring.

Match Rating: 1/2*

John Cena vs. Jonathan Coachman

Cena kicks out of the chop and then in runs Umaga to attack Cena. The ref rings for the bell, but Umaga keeps attacking. The bring in a table and Coach and Armando Estrada hold onto Cena on the table. Umaga goes off the top and hits a splash through the table just 6 days before their rematch at Royal Rumble. 

Match Rating: No Rating

When we come back from commercial, Cena is still selling the injuries suffered and is being helped to the back by officials and the medical staff. 

Candice Michelle & Mickie James vs. Melina & Victoria

They show highlights of Candice getting hurt nose broken 2 months ago by Victoria. Candice eventually gets tagged in and gets about 15 seconds of offense before being put up for the Widow's Peak. Mickie comes in and saves her and she hits a Lou Thesz Press from the apron. Candice hits a reverse elbow from the second rope to pick up the victory on Victoria. Sure. This was your usual women's match that they presented during this era. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

At this point, I feel like I have to give the Street Fight 1/2* just to stick with the gimmick. It looks like I forgot about Carlito and Kenny.

Carlito vs. Kenny Dykstra

Carlito tries to go off the second rope, but Kenny grabs his hair and throws him down. Carlito makes a comeback, showing a little more fire than usual. He hits a hurricanrana and a springboard reverse elbow. We get a quick spot of them reversing pin attempts and Kenny grabs the tights to pick up the victory. Not a single person cares. 

Match Rating: 1/2* (Why not?)

We get a mostly mean spirited interaction between Cryme Tyme, Super Crazy and Eugene. I will say that I laughed when Eugene pulled the money out of his trunks. Then there's Faarooq to close it out. 

Street Fight
Edge vs. Shawn Michaels

They come dressed in their jeans and shirts, old school style. Michaels uses the trash can early and clotheslines Edge over the top rope. He leaps over the top, but Edge hits him with the trash can lid. I have a feeling I will have to break the 1/2* streak here. Michaels is busted open when we come back from the commercial break. Edge uses the ladder off the second rope, dropping it on Michaels. Michaels comes back, using a chain to slow down Edge. Michaels hits a body slam on top of a ladder propped up on 2 sets of ring steps. Michaels slowly tires to climb to the top rope, but Edge greets him with some right hands. He tries for a superplex, but Michaels blocks it and drops Edge on top of the ladder. Michaels hits a top rope elbow drop and the crowd is going legit crazy. Edge ducks Sweet Chin Music and goes for an electric chair, but they tip over and Michaels takes an ugly looking bump. Edge sets him up for the Spear, but Michaels hits a Lou Thesz press before hitting him in the head with a chair. Ugh, it's 2007 and we're STILL hitting each other in the head. Michaels lays Edge's head on a chair and grabs another. Out comes Randy Orton and hits a RKO. Edge rolls over and picks up the victory after an entertaining main event. Obviously Orton was going to interfere in some fashion. After the match, Orton throws Edge over the top rope and then grabs a chair. Out comes Ric Flair and he hits a low blow on Orton. Kenny Dykstra is now out and dumps Flair over the top. Carlito attacks Kenny and now Michaels is back up and hits Sweet Chin Music on all of them. I'll never complain about an ending like this, especially when the crowd is this hot. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

The beginning and end of this show were tremendous. It's just a shame the other 60 minutes or so had to exist. Having to watch this Vince/Trump stuff for the next two months is going to be absolutely horrible. 

Overall Rating: 48%

NXT 3-25-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 25th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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We get a very lengthy recap of NXT in Columbus last week. 

NXT Women's Championship Match
Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks

It's nice to see them push Bliss a little bit here, as they need to add some more names to the division. Sasha quickly shows why the put the belt on her, as she as really has improved her character work. She hits the double knees to the abs of Bliss. Bliss is able to throw Sasha through the ropes and to the floor. Bliss shows some fire with a few right hands and a sweep kick. She almost picks up the victory with a sunset flip powerbomb. She climbs the top rope, but Sasha throws her to the mat and puts on the Bank Statement for the victory. She keeps the hold on for a few extra seconds for good measure. This was pretty brief for a title match, but Bliss was still lacking experience at this time. Sasha was as good as expected.

Match Rating: **

Kevin Owens says that he and Finn Balor have a lot in common. He says they both came in around the same time, but while he came in and destroyed Sami Zayn to win the NXT Championship, Finn decided to paint himself up. He says to bring the Demon because it wont' matter. 

Emma tells Bayley that I told you so. She says that she needs to be more aggressive. Bayley disagrees and says that the NXT Universe helped her out. Emma slaps her for disagreeing. 

Tyler Breeze calls the interviewer Barbara Walters in a funny moment. Hideo Itami walks in and challengs him to a 2-out-of-3 falls match next week. 

They run down the WrestleMania card before going to Finn Balor. He says he does his talking in the ring and he doesn't need the Demon to beat Owens. 

Blake and Murphy apologize to Carmella for last week and give her a bracelet as a gift. Enzo and Cass aren't impressed.

NXT Championship Match
Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens

There's a lot of time left in this episode, so we're getting a lengthy match here. Balor hits a dropkick and Owens rolls out of the ring as we go into an early commercial break. Owens goes for the rear chin lock as his rest hold of choice today and we get our second commercial break. Owens goes for a powerbomb outside the ring, but Balor hits a back body drop instead. Balor goes for a crucifix, but Owens falls on his back and gets a 2 count. Owens throws Balor into the corner with a hard Irish whip. Owens is starting to show frustration that he's not able to put Finn away. Owens puts on another rear chin lock and we get a third commercial break. Balor is able to hit a back body drop over the top rope and follows it up with a senton over the top rope to the floor. Balor gets Owens back in and hits a Coup de Grace to the back of the head. Balor hits a Sling Blade and then a big clothesline, but it's not enough to put Owens away. Balor misses with a running dropkick in the corner and hurts his knee. Owens is aware and goes after it right away. Owens goes for a powerbomb, but Balor gets out of it and hits a double stomp. Balor goes for a superplex, but Owens hits a package suplex instead. Owens hits a cannon ball and Owens hits another one to the knee. He misses a third one, but Balor is still in pain. Balor hits the running dropkick and then the Coup de Grace. He sells his knee after hitting it and can't make the cover. Owens hits the Pop Up Powerbomb and that's all. The commercial breaks hurt the flow here, but the last segment was good as you would expect from these two. They gave them plenty of time and they told the story of Balor's knee effectively.

Match Rating: ***1/2

This was obviously just a two match show, but they delivered a memorable main event and the women's match solidified Sasha as the Boss. Weekly shows are always at their best when they are focused and this was no different.

Overall Rating: 70%

Monday Night Raw 4-3-95 Review

Monday, April 3rd
Mid-Hudson Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

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Vince McMahon gives us a quick recap of WrestleMania XI before bringing us to the live crowd. 

Bob Holly vs. Hakushi

Holly gets in a couple of early dropkicks to frustrate Hakushi and the 1-2-3 Kid is now on the outside to help keep an eye on Shinja. Holly misses with a crossbody off the top rope and out comes Owen Hart and Yokozuna as we go to a commercial break. Hakushi is working a rest hold on Holly in the ring and outside the ring Kid hits Owen with a kick. Yokozuna comes up very slowly and nails Kid from behind. Holly knocks Hakushi from the top and this time hits the top rope crossbody. Holly really wasn't much of a babyface outside of being an underdog. He hits a dropkick and a clothesline. Holly gets tripped up while running the ropes and Hakushi gets a disappointing victory here. I was expecting a lot better here.

Match Rating: 3/4*

We go to Todd...no...it's Jim Ross for your WrestleMania Report. We get lots of still photos of the Lawrence Taylor/Bam Bam Bigelow match. They show Bam Bam in a post-match interview where he is disappointed, but the world goes on for Bam Bam. They then show photos of Bret Hart/Bob Backlund and Undertaker/King Kong Bundy. 

Vince is now in the ring to introduce Diesel. Diesel basically blames Sid for Shawn Michaels not winning and says that Shawn deserves a rematch. He basically ignores the feud he has had with Shawn the last months and talks about their friendship. This is a bizarre interview. Obviously it is setting up a Sid feud, which is fine, but it makes no sense. 

Well Dunn vs. Allied Powers

I still don't understand the point of having Harvey Wippleman managing Well Dunn. Luger and Bulldog dominate early until a distraction allows an elbow to the back of Luger's head. Luger tags in Bulldog and he throws Dunn around. Or is it Well? I just don't care. They hit a Hart Attack for the victory. This was a squash, as it should have been.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jenny McCarthy, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Pamela Anderson and Nicholas Turturro talk about how much fun they had at WrestleMania. 

WWF Women's Championship Match
Bull Nakano vs. Alundra Blayze

Here's a reminder that the women's division still exists despite it not being brought up in weeks (months?). I honestly forgot that Alundra wasn't even the champion any more. Jim Cornette announces that Bret Hart, 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly will face Owen Hart, Yokozuna and Hakushi next week on Raw. Meanwhile, Nakano attacks Blayze and throws her across the ring by her hair. Alundra makes her comeback and hits a spin kick. She hits a dropkick off the second rope twice, but Nakano kicks out at 2. Alundra tries for a sunset flip, but Nakano squashes her for a 2 count. Nakano goes up top, but Alundra kicks her off and to the floor. She then hits a high flying move to get the crowd into it. Nakano hits a powerbomb back in the ring, but Alundra kicks out. Nakano hits a top rope leg drop, but Alundra somehow kicks out. Alundra hits a couple of German suplexes into a bridge, but Nakano keeps kicking out. This time Nakano kicks Alundra to the floor, but misses with a dive through the ropes. Alundra hits a German suplex on the outside, but Nakano is right back up and throws her into the steps. Nakano misses a top rope moonsault and this time Alundra picks up the victory with the German suplex into a bridge after a really entertaining match. The psychology wasn't the strongest, but this was a very good battle otherwise.

Match Rating: ***1/4

After the match, Alundra is attacked by a mystery woman. She annihilates Alundra until referees pull her off. 

Don't forget to order the WrestleMania XI Encore.

Men On A Mission vs. Ben Jordan & Tony Roy

Men On A Mission attack Jordan and Roy, as the full heel turn is in effect. Oscar is gone now and yet they are still wearing purple and gold. Get your paper and pencil ready because WWF is giving away a house. Mabel hits a belly to belly suplex and picks up the quick victory here. A lot of focus on the tag team division tonight. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time to see the house they are going to give away and the address to send your entries into. The first In Your House at the first event.

Vince brings out Shawn Michaels and Sid. He puts over the beating he took at WrestleMania and accepts the challenge. He then says that he can live without a bodyguard and then blames the loss on Sid. Shawn says that he's going to give him the night off when he has his rematch. Sid doesn't like what Shawn is saying and Vince tries to end the segment so they can cool off. We actually go to a commercial break in the middle of it. Are you kidding me? When we come back, Michaels is laid out and Diesel is out to his rescue. I guess they are going for a cliffhanger ending here, which you never see any more. 

This is still a ways off from what we think of as the Raw after WrestleMania, but it still was a pretty good show. They are starting to have more feature matches and the pacing is much better as a result. 

Overall Rating: 58%

WrestleMania XI Review

Sunday, April 2nd, 1995
Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, Connecticut

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Just in case you weren't sure from the months of build up, this year's WrestleMania is 100% all about the celebrities and they are proud of it. We get a botched introduction for "America The Beautiful". Special Olympian Kathy Huey is your vocalist instead of the at one time advertised Fishbone.

Allied Powers vs. Jacob & Eli Blu

This is one of the more random WrestleMania matches of the more modern era where there weren't 15 matches on a card. Both teams start brawling and the Blu's are thrown into each other before a double powerslam. Bulldog hits a double clothesline, but then runs into an illegal knee while running the ropes. Jacob and Eli hit a double boot on Bulldog to some boos. One of the twins misses with a second rope elbow drop and in comes Lex Luger. Things quickly break down with Zebekiah distracting Luger and Bulldog distracting the referee. The twins switch up and that allows him to kick out of the previous forearm. We then get a random top rope sunset flip that picks up the victory in a really strange finish. The action was actually pretty good here, but the ending made no sense to me. 

Match Rating: **

Uncle Zebekiah is interviewed after the match and he says he knew he would be hornswoggled once he got to the big city. 

We try to go back to Nicholas Turturro and Jenny McCarthy but the audio isn't working. Off to a great start here. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon

While Jarrett is entering the ring, 1-2-3 Kid tells us that Razor is ready tonight. Razor comes down to the ring and clears the ring of Jarrett before getting his pyro. We get some good action to start the match, with Razor outsmarting Jarrett at every turn. Razor goes for the Razor's Edge, but Roadie grabs Jarrett's leg and pulls him out of the ring. Jarrett tries to head for the back, but 1-2-3 Kid and his dorky outfit prevent him from doing so. Jarrett finally gets his chance with a neckbreaker and a couple of dropkicks. Razor battles out of a headlock and hits a back suplex. Kid tries to interfere by crotching Jarrett on the post, but Jarrett kicks out of it. Razor goes to the second rope, but misses with a second rope bulldog. Jarrett goes after the injured knee and puts on the Figure Four. After a lengthy battle, Razor is able to roll over and counter the hold. Razor gets Jarrett up for the Razor's Edge, but in comes the Roadie and he takes out Razor's knee. Great, a disqualification at WrestleMania. 1-2-3 Kid comes in and evens the score until Jarrett drops him to the amt. He slaps on the Figure Four and Roadie attacks him while in the hold. Razor is back up and starts throwing haymakers at Jarrett. They have a nice brawl sequence that keeps the crowd happy, but the finish is not ideal for a big show. The match itself was entertaining as I continue to become a bigger and bigger Scott Hall fan.

Match Rating: ***1/4

Jim Ross interviews Jarrett on his way back to the locker room and he is bleeding from the nose. 

Nicholas Turturro is with Jenny McCarthy and the Million Dollar Team. In walks Shawn Michaels and he asks him where Pamela Anderson is. Sid then starts making loud noises. 

King Kong Bundy vs. Undertaker

Todd Pettengill and his headphones are in the crowd with Neal Anderson of the Bears. He thinks LT is going to pull it off tonight. This is the match that Larry Young, an umpire that no one knows, is the referee. Undertaker dominates and goes for not quite Old School very early on. He gets Bundy off his feet with a clothesline, so there goes that part of the story. Bundy is up and clotheslines Taker over the top rope, but he lands on his feet. Taker grabs the urn and gives it to Paul Bearer. DiBiase then brings out Kama and he kicks Paul Bearer and takes away the urn. Taker grabs him by his nose and that allows Bundy to attack from behind. JR interviews Kama in the aisle and he says that he's going to melt the urn down into a chain. Meanwhile, Bundy hits another clothesline. Bundy hits a scoop slam and a knee drop, but it's not enough. There is just no power behind anything Bundy does any more. After a lengthy rest hold, Bundy hits an avalanche. Undertaker no sells it and hits a slam. He hits a leaping clothesline and that's all. This felt like a Superstars match at best. That may be too kind.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Nicholas Turturro is trying to find Pamela Anderson. He finds Steve McMichael and he wants Kama. Reggie White is looking for King Kong Bundy. Carl Banks calls out Nikolai Volkoff and Chris Spielman wants Tatanka. Turturro finds Bob Backlund and Jonathan Taylor Thomas playing chess. JTT wins and then answers all of Backlund's trivia and Backlund storms off in a rage. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. Smoking Gunns

I feel like they didn't hype up the mystery partner angle enough on TV. Yokozuna was a pretty good choice though. Dorky gimmick aside, the Gunns remain a very solid option in the tag division and I'm glad they finally got their WrestleMania match here. They actually dominate most of the early portions of the match. Yoko tags in here and there, but isn't in for long. Owen takes the sternum first turnbuckle spot and Bart gets a 2 count. Owen is able to get a drop toe hold in on Billy and Yoko squashes him with a leg drop. Owen then drives him into the ring post and drops him to the floor before throwing him back in the ring. Owen goes up for a missile dropkick, but Billy moves out of the way and he hits Yokozuna. Bart gets the hot tag and is able to pull Yoko's hair and slam him to the mat. Owen pulls down the top rope and Bart falls to the floor. Yoko hits the Banzai Drop on Billy, but Bart comes in before he can pin him. Yoko disposes of him and tags in Owen. He gets the pin and gets the east coast heel pop before he starts jumping for joy. Good for Owen. The match was pretty good, but you're obviously a little bit limited with Yoko in there. 

Match Rating: **

Vince and Lawler figure out what a blimp is and then we go to Todd with Bam Bam Bigelow. 

I Quit Match
Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart

Roddy Piper is the special guest referee, making this quite a trio of personalities. Bret's not messing around here and thankfully they're not giving us another 30 minute match like we got at Survivor Series. This is the infamous "Whattaya say?" match and if you like grunting Backlund, this one is for you. Bret runs shoulder first into the ring post and this allows Backlund to put on the Cross-Face Chickenwing. Bret is able to reverse it and put Backlund's hold on him and Backlund eventually quits. This wasn't as bad as I remember, but it certainly wasn't near the level of match we had come to expect from Bret at this time. There's a reason it's one of his personal least favorite matches.

Match Rating: **

JR attempts to interview Backlund after the match, but gets mixed results.

Nicholas Turturro says that Pamela Anderson is gone. 

Todd is now with Diesel and he says he's going to show everyone why he's the WWF Champion. 

WWF Championship Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel

Shawn enters with Jenny McCarthy and Diesel has the "missing" Pamela Anderson. Jenny looked to be having a lot more fun. After all of the celebrity shenanigans, we finally have ourselves a match and Shawn goes a million miles an hour to start. Shawn makes Diesel look like a million bucks, bouncing around like a pinball. Sid really was perfect for the bodyguard role, it's just too bad that it was not the best run for him. Shawn is able to duck a big boot, leaving Diesel's leg on the top rope. He hits him with a clothesline over the top and then a top rope crossbody. He comes back with a baseball slide dropkick and Diesel is in trouble for the first time in the match. Michaels slaps on the sleeper hold after a long heat segment. Diesel's arm drops twice, but he's back before the third and now is back in control. Michaels rolls out of the ring after a series of forearms. The referee jumps out of the ring to prevent Sid from coming and he hurts his knee. Back in the ring, Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music, but the referee is hurt. Sid throws him in the ring and he finally counts, but Diesel kicks out at 2. That was kind of a weak kickout for Diesel in terms of timing. Sid rips off the top turnbuckle, but Diesel hits a back suplex. Diesel catches Michaels off the second rope and hits a side suplex. Diesel hits a catapult, but Shawn isn't able to reach the exposed top rope and has to hit the second turnbuckle instead. Diesel hits a big boot and then the Jackknife to pick up the victory here. This is a very underrated match and one that would have been very worthy of going on last here. After the match, Sid says that Shawn isn't finished with Diesel. Sid really didn't do anything in this match, which didn't make much sense. Other than that, I thought it was extremely entertaining. After the match, both ladies, Nicholas and JTT join Diesel in the ring for some pyro. 

Match Rating: ****

Shawn and Sid aren't happy in the locker room with Todd. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor

All of the individual Million Dollar Team and NFL All Pro Team get an introduction before getting into a little bit of pre-match shenanigans. I should add again that the WWF actually did a really good job of getting big name NFL players here. Pat Patterson is the referee, as he is basically the most trusted man in WWF history. LT gets in a huge slap and we are underway. LT clotheslines Bam Bam over the top rope and the crowd is very much into this. Bam Bam comes in and LT hits him with a bulldog for a 2 count. We almost get a big brawl on the outside and when they get back in, Bam Bam gains control. Bam Bam hits a body slam, but misses with the headbutt. After some back and forth, Bam Bam is able to put on the Boston Crab. LT is able to crawl to the bottom rope, but is selling the back. Bam Bam pulls him back into the middle of the ring and works on the legs. LT once again gets to the ropes and then fires with a right forearm. Bam Bam basically no sells it and then gets hit with a back suplex. Bam Bam is able to go on the offensive again and hits a spinning splash off the top rope. He tries to pin him, but his knee is hurting him. He sells it for a few moments and then tries to pin again, but LT gets up at it. That was a flat false finish for some reason. LT hits a variation of a Jackknife, but Bam Bam is able to kick out. For some reason the crowd is a little out of it now. Bam Bam comes with a spin kick and wants to go up top, but LT's crew slow him down a little. It doesn't matter, as he still hits a top rope headbutt for a 2 count. LT fires back with a second wind and hits a huge forearm. He follows up with another one and then goes up to the second rope to hit another forearm. That's enough for the victory and gets a good reaction. His All Pro Team raises him up on his shoulder and then they go to Ted DiBiase yelling at Bam Bam on the way to the back. There was a little bit of a lack of psychology, but the action was good enough and LT brought it. 

Match Rating: ***

WrestleMania XI is considered to be one of, if not, the worst WrestleMania's of all time. It certainly is one of the worst locations and just lacks that special WrestleMania feel. Even WrestleMania IX is helped out by the odd venue, but I kid you not, I'd rather watch this than WrestleMania V. You may laugh or even just think I'm an idiot, but that show is so long and so full of meaningless matches, that by the time I get to the giant main event, I've lost interest. This one is quickly paced and compact. The bad matches are over fairly quickly and there are a few underrated matches and moments. I'm not saying this isn't a bottom tier show, I'm just saying it's not nearly as bad as its reputation. Diesel/Shawn Michaels is very underrated for the era and is at the very least worth a watch if you haven't seen it. 

Overall Rating: 52%

SmackDown 1-19-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, January 19th, 2007
Alltel Arena
Little Rock, Arkansas

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After a recap of Undertaker losing his chance at a Royal Rumble title shot thanks to Mr. Kennedy, the latter is out to boast about it. He goes on and on until Teddy Long is out. He lets him know that he's going one on one with the Undertaker tonight. If he loses, his match at Royal Rumble will be a Triple Threat Match.

Matt Hardy vs. Joey Mercury

You would think this would be a flat out brawl, but they never really get there. Matt gets in a shot in on the broken nose, with JBL complaining about it. Mercury is able to dump Hardy from the floor and out of the ring. Mercury gets in a little bit of offense before Hardy gets the quick pinfall victory. This was all just a setup for what was next. Johnny Nitro is out immediately to attack Matt. They go out of the ring and pull up the mat from around the ring. They hit the Snapshot on the concrete floor and celebrate to the back. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Miz is bragging to Layla and Ashley about his match with Undertaker last week, but they aren't buying it. In walks Kane and they all walk away.

Vickie Guerrero is with Kristal backstage. Kristal asks her about the Chavo Guerrero/Chris Benoit match tonight, but Vickie says that she has to talk to something private instead. 

William Regal, Dave Taylor & MVP vs. Brian Kendrick, Paul London & Vito

They all start brawling, with the champions coming out on top. That quickly changes though and you can already tell that this one won't last too long. They single out Vito in their corner and I guess I'm wrong because this heat segment is about three times longer than I expected. I really didn't think Vito even lasted this long as a character. Vito goes to the corner and somehow doesn't make a tag. That was pretty bad. He eventually gets a tag into Kendrick and he's a house of fire. Kendrick goes for Sliced Bread #2, but MVP catches him and hits a powerslam for the victory. This was not bad, but way too much Vito.

Match Rating: **

No Disqualification Match For The United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero

Chavo hits a low blow right off the bat and we have to listen to Michael Cole and JBL tell us how legal it is about 15 times. Chavo tries for a chair shot, but Benoit ducks and Chavo hits the ring post. Chavo tries again to hit him with it, this time in the ring. Benoit counters it into a Crossface in the center of the ring. Chavo is able to roll over and punch his way out of it. Chavo is finally able to hit Benoit with the chair and then uses it to drop Benoit's arm on it. Benoit is able to dump Chavo out of the ring and hits him with a baseball kick. Chavo uses the United States title to regain control. Chavo hits the Three Amigos landing on both the title and the chair. Chavo goes for the Frog Splash, but Benoit moves out of the way and he lands on the chair. Benoit tries to come back, but misses with the top rope headbutt and is screaming in pain. He comes back with the Sharpshooter though, but Chavo grabs a chair. He's not able to use it and instead taps out to give Benoit the victory. This was by far their best match of the series. 

Match Rating: ***

Batista is interviewed backstage and he doesn't know if he's facing one or two men at Royal Rumble. He does know that he'll be ringside to watch the match though.

Mr. Kennedy is talking to Jillian Hall and she gets him all worked up about Teddy Long screwing him over all the time.

Deuce 'N Domino vs. Adam Roberts & Patrick Bentley

These two got absolutely no hype for their debut, but I do remember a little bit of buzz on the internet prior to it. This was a fun gimmick for what it was. They ham it up big time here. Deuce hits a big boot to a seated Bentley and that's enough for the finish. This was all it needed to be for an introduction to the team.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Teddy Long doesn't like Kennedy's disrespectful attitude towards him. He says his match with Undertaker is still going to happen tonight. Kennedy isn't happy.

Kane vs. Miz

The beginning of this one is the beginning to every Kane match ever. The rest of the match is every Kane squash match ever too. So they were starting to build up Miz as the crafty heel and like usual just have him get squashed by Kane or Undertaker. He probably wasn't quite ready for a huge role just yet, but Kane is so stale and had been for about 7 years at this point. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

King Booker tells Teddy that he never received his rematch against Batista. He says that he will reclaim his title by winning the Royal Rumble. Teddy says he'll help him get ready by having a 6 man over the top rope challenge next week. This leads to JBL and Cole running down the Royal Rumble card. 

Batista is now out to check out the main event. 

Mr. Kennedy vs. Undertaker

After just finishing Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 the other day, it is crazy to see the difference in confidence between Batista here and in that film. I think we can put this feud to rest after this match. It always feels like all of Undertaker's feuds are always at least a month too long. Undertaker dominates the entire opening of the match until Kennedy hits a dropkick to the knee. Kennedy goes after the knees and throws Taker into the steel steps. Taker comes back right away because of course he does. He hits a leg drop with Kennedy draped over the ring. We get into a back and forth segment that leads to Taker hitting Snake Eyes. Taker throws Kennedy over the top and Kennedy takes a cheap shot on Batista before rolling into the ring. Taker has Kennedy ready for the chokeslam, but Batista comes in and Spears Kennedy. That causes a disqualification and keeps his title match a one on one affair. Knowing what's going to happen, this was a nice bit of storytelling to set up the next few months. This was a pretty good match because it was kept shorter and they never really slowed it down to a crawl. 

Match Rating: **1/2

This was a good episode for the blue brand. We got a debut of a desperately needed new tag team, two good feature matches and some solid action from the secondary matches. Thumbs up here.

Overall Rating: 70%

ECW 1-16-07 Review

Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
Alltel Arena
Little Rock, Arkansas

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Kelly Kelly is introduced and she says that Kelly will not be dancing alone starting next week. She gives a sneak peak, but is interrupted by Matt Striker. He makes a bunch of sexist comments and then calls out CM Punk and we have a match.

Matt Striker vs. CM Punk

It's been fun to watch CM Punk get over organically despite being on the afterthought brand. Striker is getting a little too much offense for my liking here. I mean, I know they are also trying to build him up, but he had no main event potential with this gimmick. He hits a running kick to the head in the corner, but the crowd is absolutely silent for this. I didn't type much, but Striker has been dominating for at least 5 minutes of this match. Kelly Kelly gets up on the apron and flashes Striker. Punk uses a backslide and picks up the victory. Who in the world thinks that Punk needed to win this match like that? This is just bad booking. Striker's offense was methodical and dull for most of the match.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Marcus Cor Von vs. Cassidy Riley

Tazz says that he's heard a lot about this guy and then says his name wrong. He's announced as being from the Animal Kingdom. I love that a guy like Rene Dupree got weeks of vignettes, but not a word was even mentioned about Cor Von. I'm not quite sure why Tazz thinks it is Van and not Von. Cor Von looks pretty sharp here and nails him with the Pounce. He puts on a Fujiwara Arm Bar for the submission victory. Pretty impressive debut despite no hype. After the match, he grabs a mic and says that he is here to destroy and dismantle anything that's put in his path. He's getting the "What?" treatment, which is annoying. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go back to Bobby Lashley and he has no respect for Test, saying he has no business being in the match tonight. He says that he's walking in and walking out tonight as the ECW Champion.

We get a WrestleMania Recall with Roddy Piper and Morton Downey at WrestleMania V.

Elijah Burke talks about the Elijah Experience as Sandman heads to the ring.

Sandman vs. Elijah Burke

Sandman hits Sylvester Terkay before the bell rings and then Burke attacks Sandman. Sandman comes back with a bulldog but is still in pain. Burke tries to go up top, but gets crotched. Sandman goes for a back suplex, but Burke shoves him off. Burke goes down and pins him, but struggles to grab the jeans on the pin attempt. Either way, they count to 3 and that's all. That was an ugly finish. Why wouldn't you just have a cheap shot from Terkay be the finish here?

Match Rating: 1/4*

Kevin Thorn and Ariel pretend like they have a chance at winning the Royal Rumble.

Triple Threat Match For The ECW Championship
Rob Van Dam vs. Test vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley goes right to Test and starts brawling while RVD is in the ring alone. Van Dam then drops Test on the barricade and hits the helicopter leg drop. This leaves Lashley and RVD to go at it for the third week in a row. After the commercial, Test is back in the ring and attacking both opponents. Test is able to throw RVD out of the ring and to the floor. He then throws Lashley into the ring post. RVD is back in and hits a couple of kicks. Lashley and Test battle up on the top rope and Test shoves Lashley to the mat. Test hits an elbow drop, but Lashley kicks out at 2. RVD then surprises Test with a single legged kick. RVD hits Rolling Thunder on both guys and then hits a 5 Star Frog Splash over Lashley and onto Test. Test rolls out of the ring and Lashley hits a Spear on RVD. Lashley hits a running powerslam on RVD and picks up the victory. What was Test doing while he pinned him? After the match, they show Test holding the ECW title, but bending over as if he was hurt. Lashley goes to get it, but he nails him in the face with it. We go off the air with him standing over Lashley. The match was decent, but nothing special. 

Match Rating: **

This was a pretty dull episode despite them continuing to try to put over new talent. Cor Von looked really solid in his debut, but Punk was booked poorly and Burke had a sloppy and meaningless victory. The main event was good enough, but nothing you had to see.

Overall Rating: 45%