SmackDown 2-2-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, February 2nd, 2007
Toyota Center
Houston, Texas

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We get a Royal Rumble recap to start the show before announcing that we will have a United States Championship match to kick off the show. 

United States Championship Match
Chris Benoit vs. Finlay

As these two roll around on the ground, it seems like a decent time to note that both Chuck Palumbo and Boris Alexiev (Santino Marella) both had dark matches before this show. Benoit misses with a sliding dropkick under the ropes and Finlay is able to throw him into the steel steps. Finlay goes to work on the injured knee and slaps on a half crab. Benoit gets a rush of offense, but misses with the top rope diving headbutt. Finlay then goes and rips off the top turnbuckle pad while the ref is checking on Benoit. Out comes Hornswoggle, but someone is pulling him back under the ring. Finlay loses the tug of war and has to roll back into the ring. The Boogeyman's music hits and it's shown that he's the one pulling Hornswoggle. He picks him up over his shoulder and the distraction allows for Benoit to get the roll up and the victory. I mean, I guess I wasn't expecting that to happen here tonight. Boogeyman lets him go and Finlay tries to put him back under the ring, but Hornswoggle doesn't want it. Finlay eventually throws him back under the ring. The match was decent, but obviously was more of a set up for an epic feud. 

Match Rating: **1/4

We get a rare "Earlier today" backstage interview with Kristal and Vickie Guerrero. Vickie says that the working conditions on SmackDown are bad because of Teddy Long. She plans on returning to SmackDown very soon and that there is an opportunity that she has her eye on. She thanks Kristal for her support. 

Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. Deuce 'N Domino

We get a look at the crew getting into the car before heading out to the ring and us to a commercial break. I'm sorry, but I am loving this gimmick. Half of the match is JBL and Michael Cole arguing over what a veteran in WWE is. London takes the beatdown after a distraction. Deuce and Domino show off their mostly punch and kick offense until Kendrick gets the hot tag. He hits multiple flying fists until Domino escapes Sliced Bread #2. They had knocked London out of the rng and they hit their running boot finisher for the victory. This was obviously a non-title match, which WWE loves to do with these new teams that come in. This was a solid match, mostly because the challengers offense doesn't rely on rest holds. 

Match Rating: **1/4

Teddy Long is on the phone until Batista walks in and tells him that Undertaker needs to make a decision.

King Booker is out to be given the key to the city of Houston. There's no beating around the bush, they give him the key quickly and he and Sharmell act the most king/queen-like that they have since the peak of the gimmick. Booker then gives a speech accepting the award. He then gets serious and says that it's about time. He asks if Walter Cronkite ever beat Big Show and John Cena in one night. Roger Clemens never won the King Of The Ring. He then asks the people that presented the award to bow down and kiss his ring. He forces the one guy and the other guy gives in and cowardly kisses it. He then talks about Billy Gibbons being there and then wants him to kiss his feet. Out comes Kane\ and he chokeslams the one guy from Houston and then hits a boot to Booker to send him to the floor. Booker and Sharmell escape out of the arena through the crowd. 

Mr. Kennedy vs. Vito

Kennedy doesn't do his intro here and is in a bad mood after Royal Rumble. Vito hits a scoop slam before mocking Kennedy's microphone. It backfires and Kennedy is quickly on the attack. Kennedy rips off Vito's dress and continues to take out his aggression on Vito. He hits the always impressive rolling slam off the second rope for the quick victory. After the match, he grabs the dress and chokes Vito with it. He then grabs his microphone and announces his name in Vito's face. He gets in a few more cheap shots. This was a good way to keep Kennedy strong after his loss at Royal Rumble. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jillian, Kristal and Ashley are out for a Diva bikini contest, with JBL as the host. Kristal and Ashley awkwardly dance around as per usual. When it's Jillian's turn, she reveals a cutoff t-shirt and shorts. She says she's too talented to be dancing around like this. JBL then takes a poll and Ashley is the overwhelming favorite. Jillian says that the crowd has no clue what talent is and Ashley attacks her. Ashley then rips off her clothes and Jillian runs to the back. 

Maryse welcomes us back after the commercial break. 

We get a Royal Rumble recap and then go to Mr. Kennedy yelling at Teddy Long about getting screwed at Royal Rumble. He wants a rematch and says that he'll go above Teddy's head if he can't get it. Teddy says that next week he'll get his shot on SmackDown. 

Matt Hardy vs. Miz

Hardy hits a few elbows and a back body drop for a 2 count. Miz hits a drop toe hold to avoid a charging Hardy and he goes to the floor through the ropes. Hardy comes back and hits the clothesline/bulldog combo. He jumps up to the second rope and hits an elbow drop. Hardy hits the Side Effect, but Miz kicks out. Miz has the referee distracted and out comes Joey Mercury to hit Hardy with his mask. Miz hits the Mizard Of Oz and picks up the upset victory. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Batista is shown walking to the ring backstage. 

Batista is out to talk about how badly he wants Undertaker at WrestleMania, but he wants his answer tonight. Out comes John Cena talking about the week he has had and that Undertaker could choose him. He says that he would like to know as well because he would like time to prepare for the biggest match of his life. You would think Bobby Lashley would be coming out too, but nope it's time for Undertaker to come out. Taker takes a look at both men and then out comes Shawn Michaels. Shawn says that he's not the only one who wants an answer from Undertaker. He wants Undertaker to put his title match on the line right now so they can prove who the better man is. Out comes Mr. McMahon and he tells Undertaker that he has a decision to make. Vince also shoots down the match that Shawn wants and then insults the fans. Vince says he'll give us a match that has never taken place before and probably not again. He says that at No Way Out it will be John Cena and Shawn Michaels against Undertaker and Batista. We still have no decision from Undertaker and we go off the air.

This was actually a pretty good show from top to bottom. Everything had a purpose, even if we didn't get much in the way of No Way Out hype, which is in 16 days. It was a pleasant surprise to see Shawn and Cena in the final segment and I like the way they are teasing the Undertaker decision, even if it is obvious.

Overall Rating: 60%

ECW 1-30-07 Review

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
Toyota Center
Houston, Texas

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Vince McMahon is shown walking around and he shakes Marcus Cor Von's hand and says that he is a breath of fresh air around here. He then goes to Sandman and yells at him for drinking on the job. He mocks his name and then says that he thinks he'll find his comments tonight very interesting. 

CM Punk vs. Matt Striker

Well Punk is quite the hot topic here in 2023, but for now I'll enjoy him in a time where he was just a young up and comer. Punk quickly clotheslines Striker over the top and tries for a suplex to the floor, but Striker snaps his neck on the top rope. Striker hits a draping neckbreaker that gets a reaction from the crowd. Punk battles back and hits the knee in the corner into the bulldog. Punk hits a butterfly backbreaker for a 2 count. Punk tries a sunset flip, but Striker grabs his legs and the second rope to steal the victory. I get that they are trying to build Striker, but there's no way they could think that he had anywhere the amount of potential that Punk had. 

Match Rating: *1/2

They show highlights of Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble and being on Raw. 

We go back to Vince and now he's making fun of Tommy Dreamer's name and tells him he doesn't deal with dreams.

Rob Van Dam vs. Hardcore Holly

If you ever wanted to hear Tazz impersonate Larry The Cable Guy, here's your chance. RVD hits a dive to the outside just before they go to commercial. When we come back, RVD is still in control and hits a leaping leg drop. Holly is able to shove RVD off the top rope and to the barricade. That has become a staple of RVD matches lately. Holly gets a short heat segment before he gets hit with a spin kick by RVD. The comeback doesn't last long, as Holly comes back with a dropkick. RVD hits a monkey flip and a spin kick in the corner. He climbs up top and hits the single legged kick to the jaw. He hits Rolling Thunder and gets a 2 count. He goes for another monkey flip, but this time Holly catches him and hits a powerbomb. Holly climbs up top, but RVD crotches him. He goes for a superplex, but is shoved off. Holly goes off the top and gets hit by a spin kick. RVD misses with the 5 Star Frog Splash. Holly goes for the Alabama Slam, but he's not able to lift him up, selling his back. He throws him into the ring post and then hits the Alabama Slam for the victory. Holly was one of those guys who we all knew was decent, but never in a million years was anyone going to buy him as a serious threat to anything in 2007. The match was the usual solid one from these two.

Match Rating: **3/4

Vince runs into Sabu and makes a Taliban joke. Yes, really. He then says that he knows who he is and for him to stay away.

61 days until WrestleMania.

Vince runs into Balls Mahoney listening to his headphones and jamming. They talk about their Irish ancestry. He then questions if he'll be able to live up to his first name today. 

It's time for Extreme Exposé. Vince comes down and takes over the ring and talks about how the original ECW sucks. He then announces that Elijah Burke is the epitome of the new ECW. I was very into Burke at this time, but even 16 years later, this seems way too early to be doing this. He rips on the ECW originals and then out comes Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Balls Mahoney and Sabu to attack him. He ends up being put through a table and Vince is upset. I mean, what did he think was going to happen? This was a stupid segment.

ECW Championship Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Test

Getting this match 3 times in 1 week is the definition of #BLESSED. They quickly go outside and Test struggles to roll up the mat. He goes for a piledriver, but Lashley counters with a back body drop into the commercial break. During the break, Lashley missed with a Spear and hit the ring post. They seem to be in a bit of a rush, so I'm guessing something ran long since there are less than 4 minutes left. Lashley makes a comeback after ducking a big boot and hitting an exploder suplex. He hits the running powerslam and that's the end of Test as we know it. After the match, Lashley kicks him out of the ring before celebrating. The lights go out and we hear the Undertaker's bell. When the lights come back on, Taker is in the ring. Test grabs a chair, but Taker grabs him by the throat and hits a chokeslam. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

This was a solid episode of the show that featured just about every noteworthy star on their very thin roster. The Elijah segment didn't seem to do anything for him, but we'll see where they go from here. Plus, I think we are finally done with Test as a "top guy", so that's a win. 

Overall Rating: 53%

Monday Night Raw 1-29-07 Review

Monday, January 29th, 2007
American Airlines Arena
Dallas, Texas

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Shawn Michaels is out to talk about the Royal Rumble. He says that he will somehow still face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania. When he mentions the chance of Undertaker selecting to face Bobby Lashley for the ECW Champion, the crowd boos. Out comes John Cena, who is kind of selling his injuries from his match with Umaga. Cena agrees that the sound of him him and the Showstopper at WrestleMania, but it is up to Undertaker. Now it's time for Edge to interrupt and talk about how he has Cena's number. That of course leads to Randy Orton interrupting him. They argue which leads to Cena saying instead of bickering, why not come down there and fight. Vince McMahon gets on the Titan Tron and tells them to stop and that he tells the fans what they want. He says that tonight is fan appreciation night and that Rated RKO will defend their titles against John Cena and Shawn Michaels. 

Cryme Tyme is backstage and giving shoutouts on the way to the ring.

Cryme Tyme vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team

Jim Ross hypes up Cryme Tyme as undefeated. Charlie Haas has dreadlocks now and Cryme Tyme isn't digging it. Shelton gets a cheap shot in on Shad's leg to give them control. They work on the leg until he gets the tag to JTG. He hits a series of dropkicks and a reverse elbow. Shad throws Shelton over the top, but Shelton skins the cat and uses a headscissors to take Shad out to the floor. JTG then rolls up Shelton, but Haas comes out behind the referee's back and gives JTG a DDT and Shelton gets the pin for Cryme Tyme's first loss. This was short and the crowd doesn't truly care.

Match Rating: *

Melina is talking with Vince and it ends with her hugging him. In walks Jonathan Coachman and Vince talks about Mr. McMahon Fan Appreciation Night and how he will be thought of a humanitarian after tonight. 

On This Week In Wrestling History, they show highlights of the first ever Royal Rumble. One Man Gang eliminated a quarter of the entrants until Jim Duggan won the match. 

WWE Women's Championship #1 Contender Match
Melina vs. Maria

Melina announces that this will be a "First contenders match". Maria runs in and gives Melina a wedgie and then a Bronco Buster. We get some very sloppy offense after that with no flow to it at all. Melina hits a flapjack and then a unique submission that she calls the California Dream. That was the only part of the match that worked. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Todd Grisham interviews Shawn Michaels backstage and he says that he's walking out a champion. He then says that John Cena is no Triple H and walks away. 

Super Crazy approaches Mickie James and asks if she remembers when everyone called her crazy. He then does the "I am super, I am crazy, I am Super Crazy". Then Melina tells Mickie that the title is hers. Super Crazy grabs Mickie's hand and uses it to slap Melina and then they start brawling. This was very random. 

Edge is with Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade. They call Orton overrated, but Edge stops them there. He says there is no better partner than Orton.

Val Venis vs. Umaga

If you would have given me 100 guesses for a match on this episode of Raw, this wouldn't have been one of them. Venis tries to charge and Umaga, but gets knocked down. Umaga hits the Samoan drop and then puts him in the tree of woe. He hits the diving headbutt in that position and then hits the butt to the face. The Samoan Spike puts Val down for the count. This was all about rebuilding him after losing the feud to Cena.

Match Rating: 1/2*

As Umaga is heading to the back, Vince's music hits and he's out wearing a cowboy hat. He and Umaga make eye contact and then he starts strutting to the ring as we go to commercial break. When we come back, Vince mocks some cowboy talk and then says how ridiculous it is to wear a cowboy hat. He then throws it on the ground and starts stomping on it. He then moves onto fan appreciation and how he wants to give back to all the little people, which is all of us. He says that he can't give back to everyone, but one lucky person tonight will be rewarded and brings in a 20 something female from the crowd. He then gives her a giant blow up photo of him on Muscle & Fitness magazine. He has her leave and then he talks about giving and starts rambling until an even bigger moron shows up on the Titan Tron, Donald Trump. He says that no one would ever want that cheesy photo and the fans want value for the tickets they bought. He then says he will give everyone what they really want, money. He starts dropping money from the ceiling and Vince claims it is Monopoly money. They show fans with it and it's real money. Vince is irrate and to be honest, I'm shocked there weren't any fights in the crowd. Vince throws a fit and then storms out to the back. 

62 days until WrestleMania 23. 

Coach apologizes to Vince and gives him some money he gathered and gives him $10 of his own and Vince grabs it from him and drives off in his limo. 

Carlito & Super Crazy vs. Chris Masters & Kenny Dykstra

Talk about a heel team that no one cares about. It's all Crazy and Carlito to start and they hit double dives to the outside. Masters is able to trip up Crazy as he's running the ropes behind the referee's back and shifts the momentum in their favor. We get a boring heat segment until Carlito gets the hot tag and hits the springboard reverse elbow. Masters avoids a moonsault, but Carlito lands on his feet and hits him with a dropkick. Crazy takes Kenny out of the ring and then Carlito hits a Back Cracker for the victory. The two minutes or so with Carlito and Crazy in control were good. The rest, not so much.

Match Rating: *1/4

Todd Grisham is now with Randy Orton and he says that they will retain their titles tonight. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Great Khali

Khali grabs the title out of the hands of the referee, so Hardy attacks him. Khali throws him right out of the ring and then pulls him back up to hit some clubbing blows to the chest. Khali beats down Hardy with some more boring offense until Hardy is able to hit a Whisper In The Wind. Khali props Hardy on the top rope and hits a chop to the head. Hardy falls to the floor and is counted out. I can't believe they kept going with this push. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

For the WrestleMania Recall, they show the Money In The Bank match from WrestleMania 21. 

They show Vladimir Kozlov in the crowd again. He says that he wasn't impressed by the Royal Rumble. 

They show highlights of the John Cena/Umaga match at Royal Rumble. It's a match that any wrestling fan should see. 

They show Cena talking with Ric Flair about possibly being a tag team champion. Flair puts the idea in Cena's head that Michaels may want to make an impact and hit him with a superkick.

World Tag Team Championship Match
Rated RKO vs. Shawn Michaels & John Cena

One thing that injuries forces you to do is to create some fresh matchups and even though 3/4ths of this match is the same, it feels different with Cena in here. After some pretty standard action, Cena pushes Orton into Edge and he falls to the ground. Orton gets revenge, but Edge starts heading to the back as we go into a commercial break. When we come back, Edge is getting hit with a shoulder tackle from Cena. Obviously he didn't leave. They flip the momentum and have Cena reeling. Cena is able to power his way out of a rest hold, but is bleeding and both men are down. He makes the hot tag to Michaels, but when he's tuning up the band, Orton illegally hits a dropkick. Orton goes for the RKO, but Michaels kind of blocks it. He tags in Cena and he hits the FU on Orton and we have new champions. The celebration is short, as Michaels teases Sweet Chin Music on Cena. Before their argument can really get started, Undertaker's music hits and he rises up on the stage with flames. As good as Michaels/Cena and Batista/Undertaker would go on to be, they really probably should have gone with Cena/Undertaker in retrospect. Either that or they should have found a way to have it happen shortly after this. The match was solid and a little surprising in that they won the titles. 

Match Rating: ***

There wasn't a lot to love on this show, but it was fairly entertaining overall. This wasn't one of those episodes that dragged, it just would have been nice to have a few more memorable moments other than the ones that involved Cena and Michaels.

Overall Rating: 51%

NXT 4-8-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, April 8th, 2015
McEnery Convention Center
San Jose, California

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After only exclusively filming at Full Sail University, we have our second out of town episode in the last four week. This one is coming from WrestleMania Axxess. They are going to show the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal tournament. They show highlights of Finn Balor defeating Baron Corbin, Tyler Breeze defeating Bull Dempsey, Hideo Itami victorious over Jason Jordan and Adrian Neville over Kalisto.

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Qualifying Tournament Semifinals
Hideo Itami vs. Adrian Neville

We don't see entrances or anything here, which seems odd since the show only has 3 matches. The look of the show definitely reminds me of going to Ring Of Honor back in the day. Hideo gets the best of Neville early on in the match, knocking him over the top rope. It's kind of interesting that they had a "Previously Recorded" up in the corner of the screen. After a fairly short slowdown by Neville, Itami is back with some kicks and a top rope clothesline for a 2 count. Itami hits a fisherman suplex, but Neville is able to avoid the GTS. Itami runs into a superkick, but kicks out at 2. Itami is able to move out of the way of the Red Arrow and hits the running dropkick in the corner. He hits a running kick and that is all. It started off a little slow, but the ending was enjoyable.

Match Rating: ***

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Qualifying Tournament Semifinals
Tyler Breeze vs. Finn Balor

Neither competitor really gets a good string of momentum in the early going. Finn is able to hit a Sling Blade and a running dropkick. He hits the Coup de Grace and that's all? I know my review doesn't reflect a 5 minute match, but it was extremely quick. The action was good, but I was expecting a lengthier match with there only being 3 matches on the card. 

Match Rating: **1/4

They show highlights of the big arena show that NXT ran during the WrestleMania weekend that proved that this was a little bit more than something small. Scott Hall even hypes it up. 

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Qualifying Tournament Finals
Hideo Itami vs. Finn Balor

They trade sequences and then Itami slows it down with a chinlock. Itami tries to capitalize, but Balor hits him with a kick to the head in the corner. Itami hits a kick as well and follows it up with a top rope clothesline. He goes for the GTS, but Balor comes out of it. Itami hits a kick and then Balor hits one as well. They trade forearms, with Balor getting the best of it. Itami hulks up and hits a running dropkick. Balor comes back with the Sling Blade and goes up top for the Coup de Grace. Itami crotches him and gets him up for the GTS. He escapes again and Balor gets a nearfall out of it. Itami hits him with the Shotgun Kick and that's all. All three matches were good here, even if two of them were short. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

There is still 15 minutes left in the show, so let's see what they fill the air with here. 

We get a look at a day in the life of Hideo Itami at WrestleMania. First, they go back to when KENTA signed with WWE and Hulk Hogan announcing it to the Japanese fans. We then see him letting NXT fans know that he is now known as Hideo Itami. They show him with his family and then defeating Tyler Breeze at the WrestleMania NXT event with the GTS for the first time. Itami is very likeable and it really is one of the big disappointments that he didn't become a thing in WWE. Itami eliminates Bo Dallas, but then gets knocked out by Big Show. "Welcome to the big leagues" says Michael Cole and it's easy to see why he didn't make it. They try to hype it up like it was some grand thing, which is so WWE and that's all for this week.

This was a good show with all three matches delivering on some level and then a nice video package of Hideo at WrestleMania, even if it was the typical crap of having him eliminated extremely quickly to remind him that his stardom in Japan means nothing to Vince McMahon.

Overall Rating: 70%

Off The Grid, Volume 38: Fall Brawl 1993: War Games Review

Sunday, September 19th, 1993
Astro Arena
Houston, Texas

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Off The Grid, Volume 38:

WCW Television Championship Match
Lord Steven Regal vs. Ricky Steamboat

Tony Schiavone is claiming that they are going to turn away about 2,000 fans tonight. Yeah, I don't think so. Steamboat attacks Regal after the announcements and we're underway. Steamboat has a rib injury and it selling it early on. Schiavone and Jesse Ventura are arguing about this being a brawl rather than the scientific match they were expecting. There's been some good action here so far, even during the slowdowns. Steamboat hits a crossbody and gets a 2 count. Regal naturally continues to target the ribs when needed and then puts on a variation of the surfboard. Steamboat is able to hit catapult into the corner, but he's not able to muster up enough strength to do much more. Regal goes for a piledriver, but Steamboat climbs his way up and reverses it into a Tombstone. Steamboat goes for some pin attempts, but Regal continues to kick out. Steamboat hits a snap suplex and is getting fired up. He hits a top rope crossbody, but it's still not enough. Regal tries to throw Steamboat over the top, but Steamboat skins the cat. Sir William hits him in the head with his cane on the way up behind the referee's back. Regal hits a German suplex into a bridge and we have a new champion. This was a solid match and a good way to open the show. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Eric Bischoff is with the Nasty Boys. They say that they have a big surprise tonight and then claim that they are going to win with a bulldog off the top. 

Big Sky vs. Charlie Norris

Whoever thought that this was worthy of being on a pay-per-view should be re-fired. After some boring offense, Norris runs into a boot in the corner. Sky hits a chokeslam and a scoop slam. Sky goes up to the second rope and misses with a knee drop. Norris hits some chops and a big boot to the face for the victory. What a stupid match. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get an interview with British Bulldog to talk about War Games. 

Paul Orndorff & Equalizer vs. 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell 

Equalizer has to be one of the worst wrestlers to get a semi-push that I can think of during this era. Orndorff looks unhappy to be stuck in this match and is taking it out on Scorpio. Like most of the crowd in the arena, I've already lost interest in this one. All of the pointless offense in this match leads to Orndorff accidentally hitting a knee on Equalizer and Scropio this a 450 splash for the victory. Equalizer attacks Scorpio immediately after the match. Orndorff joins him and then they head to the back. Whatever. 

Match Rating: *1/2

We go to Eric Bischoff and Steven Regal. He says he will defend his titles against the peasants.

Shanghai Pierce vs. Ice Train

I do not get the mask that goes with Shanghai Pierce. I'm starting to question my decision making skills as to why I picked to watch this show. Pierce tries a double clothesline with his buddy, Tex Schlazenger. Ice Train runs right through it and hits a body slam and wins. God, this show is horrendous. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Nasty Boys vs. Arn Anderson & Paul Roma

Missy Hyatt is the Nasty Boys surprise. How did they not block off sections better for this event? The empty red seats are so easily pto spot with the bright lights in the arena. We get lots of stalling to start things off. I like the Nasty Boys, but I'm not sure even their biggest fan would say that no one wants to see them in a 20+ minute match. Arn goes to work on the leg of Sags after hitting it on the ring post. The crowd on the floor is chanting things that would become popular amongst ECW fans and most degenerates. It's all Horsemen for quite a bit of time until Sags distracts Roma and Knobs capitalizes on it. After a distraction created by Missy, the Nasty Boys are up to no good and use a chair to their advantage. This match has just come to an absolute halt. After seemingly forever, Arn finally makes the tag to Roma. Roma hits a nice missile dropkick, but Sags lethargically breaks up the pin attempt. Knobbs puts Roma up on his shoulders so that they can win by the bulldog that they called earlier. Arn shoves Sags off the top and it knocks Roma down and into a sloppy pin. Arn hits a spinebuster, but then we get shenanigans that lead to the Nasty Boys cheating and winning the Tag Team Championships. That sucked. There were some spurts of a good match in there, but the heat segment was just awful.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Jesse Ventura interviews the winners and this isn't anywhere near as fun as when they won at WrestleMania VII.

We get the story with Cactus Jack and Vader. This was not Foley at his best and this video goes on forever.

Yoshi Kwan vs. Cactus Jack

Cactus goes after Harley Race and then knocks Kwan over. Let's not breeze over the embarrassing gimmick for Kwan. I just want this show to be over with. Cactus gets tripped up by Race, but then the Race distraction backfires and Jack hits the double arm DDT for the win. He challenges Vader after the match. I don't know, this was just all so stupid.

Match Rating: 1/2*

WCW International World Heavyweight Championship Match
Rick Rude vs. Ric Flair

They are aware that this championship is just stupid, right? This is the Fifi era of Flair, which is 100% one of the worst parts of his career. Rude has Fifi on his tights, as expected. We get lots of rest holds to start since god forbid they have a match under a half hour. The pace picks up a little bit with Flair hitting a backslide and getting a 2 count. Flair then hits a crossbody that takes both men over the top rope. Rude puts on a camel clutch and gives me some time to look up a few things I forgot to look up earlier during the Nasty Boys match. Flair attempts a comeback, but Rude hits a press slam onto the top rope. It feels like they lost the crowd already, which doesn't happen too often to Flair during this era. Flair finally makes a comeback and chooses to hit a Rude Awakening, but Rude gets his foot on the rope to save the match. Flair goes to work on the knee, but isn't able to get the Figure Four on. Flair hits a chop from the top rope to the floor on Rude. Rude comes back and then pulls Fifi into the ring. Flair defends her and hits a back body drop. Flair locks in the Figure Four. The referee is talking to Fifi and it allows Rude to pull something out from his trunks and hit Flair in the face with it. He covers Flair and we have a new champion. Finally. This was about 20 minutes too long.

Match Rating: *

WarGames Match
Vader, Sid Vicious & Harlem Heat vs. Sting, Shockmaster, Dustin Rhodes & Davey Boy Smith

Ah yes, the Shockmaster. For some reason Road Warrior Animal is out with the faces. He tries to stop Dustin Rhodes from competing first, but he runs in there anyway and goes after Vader. He is selling some rib injury and Vader is all over him. He's able to fight back and hits a DDT. They do the coin toss and wouldn't you know it, the heels win. Dustin catches Vader off the second rope to hit a powerslam. In comes Kane to help Vader. They continue the beatdown until Sting comes in to clean house. Sid is next and he hits a chokeslam on Sting. Now Davey Boy is in and evens the score. Kole is in now and it just kind of feels like nothing noteworthy has happened in this one. Shockmaster is in last and now the match beyond begins. I always thought that was kind of dumb. Shockmaster comes in and they try to convince us that he's actually good. We get the usual chaotic finish where everyone is just brawling and the match ends with Shockmaster putting on a bear hug. Are you serious? Kole claims that he didn't give up. What a fitting end to a stupid show. This was entertaining, but I already forgot it happened.

Match Rating: **1/2

This was one of the harder shows for me to get through. It wasn't as bad as the Slamboree that I watched recently, but it wasn't far off. There is nothing you need to see here. This is a complete dud.

Overall Rating: 27%

Monday Night Raw 4-17-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, April 17th
Mid-Hudson Center
Poughkeepsie, New York

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We get a quick clip from Action Zone, where Ted DiBiase announced that Sycho Sid was the new crown jewel of the Million Dollar Corporation.

Duke Droese vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte

Here's your reminder that Droese still exists. For some reason he decides to offer a handshake to Lafitte, so Lafitte attacks him. Vince just wants to know why he wears an eye patch. Meanwhile, Droese clotheslines Lafitte over the top rope. Lafitte comes back with the reverse neckbreaker and a second rope leg drop for a 2 count. We get a commercial break after a failed sunset flip attempt from Droese. We get a double clothesline and both men are down. Lafitte goes off the second rope again, but Droese gets his boot up. Droese hits a big power slam and climbs to the top rope. Lafitte rolls out of the way of a weird looking splash. Lafitte climbs up top and hits a senton for the victory. I just realized that Lafitte was basically the Kevin Owens of his era. This was a decent match, with Lafitte looking like someone worth pushing.

Match Rating: **1/4

We see the same Bob Backlund spring break skit from Superstars. 

Doink vs. Raymond Roy

I guess this is also our reminder that Doink exists. We get more Duckman talk, for those who are into that. Doink seems to have a little less pep in his step here today. He hits the Whoopee Cushion and we get the fart sound. Dink then hits one and we get another fart sound. Doink picks up the victory. This just needs to end.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Todd Pettengill for the In Your House Report. I guess Stephanie gets the weekend gig. Don't forget to try and win that house in that exclusive neighborhood in Orlando. 

WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Bob Holly & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Owen Hart & Yokozuna

I could watch Owen and Kid wrestle any day of the week. Kid gets the best of Owen early on and tags in Holly. They hit a double back body drop and then Holly hits some arm drag takedowns. Owen is able to get a tag to Yoko and they have done a nice job of making Yoko look like the difference maker when he's in there. Holly actually is able to yank Yokozuna down by his hair, which doesn't make sense to me. However, when Holly is running the ropes, Owen pulls down the top rope and Holly goes crashing down. Owen then drives Holly's back into the ring post. Back in the ring, Owen hits a snap suplex for a 2 count. Holly is able to sneak in a backslide for a 2 count right before the commercial break. Holly once again goes crashing down to the floor, as his beatdown segment continues. Owen and Holly collide and both men are down. Both men make the tag and Kid hits a series of kicks. After about 10 kicks, he gets Yoko down and then goes flying over the top to take out Owen. He goes up top, but Yoko catches him and hits a slam for the victory. That last burst from the Kid was great and again they made Yoko look like a guy who is always just one move away from winning any match. This wasn't as good as I was hoping for, but it was still a good match.

Match Rating: **3/4

Undertaker does a don't drink and drive ad. 

Henry Godwinn vs. Rich Myers

We have Cornfed from Duckman, who is the pig in the show. Get it, he's a pig and Godwinn is a pig framer. Godwin hits a press slam and an elbow drop while they 100% ignore the match to interview a cartoon character. Vince loves it though and that's all that matters in Vince's mind. Godwinn  hits a headbutt to the gut and finishes him with the Slop Drop. This was a USA commercial.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week, it will be Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Diesel here on Raw. They show how Bam Bam has been kind of kicked to the curb by Ted DiBiase. 

This was a good episode of Raw for the era. Lafitte looked like a character that could have a future (even though he doesn't) and the Owen and Yoko team was built nicely here. I'm curious to see what other build we are going to get going into In Your House as well. 

Overall Rating: 67%

Superstars 4-15-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, April 15th, 1995
Glens Falls Civic Center
Glens Falls, New York

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Allied Powers vs. Bert Centeno & Tony DeVito

No Jerry Lawler here today and instead we have the Superstars debut of Dok Hendrix. You know you are right in the heart of the New Generation with Dok. The crazy thing to me is that Hendrix is only 36 years old here. He seems like he's from a completely different generation. This is your typical tag team squash here, with Bulldog hitting the running powerslam for the victory. Vince hypes up the tag division after and Hendrix refers to 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly as Beavis and Butthead.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We have Stephanie Wiand now to talk about In Your House and how it's only $14.95. It's kind of crazy that 25 years later I can watch WrestleMania plus every other WWE show for $5.99 a month. She announces that the main event will be Diesel vs. Sid. 

Dok Hendrix shows us photos of Alundra Blayze's broken nose.

Bob Holly vs. Black Phantom

Dok then says that he did some digging and found out that Bertha Faye and Harvey Wippleman live in the same trailer park. Dok criticizes Phantom's choice of moves and then Holly hits a dropkick. He follows that up with a body slam and a top rope elbow for the victory. He is much better as a tag team wrestler in this era. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the clip of Diesel saying he might have lost the title at WrestleMania if it weren't for Sid. I still don't get this part of the story. They show Shawn's response and what it leads to. 

Smoking Gunns know all about Hakushi and Kwang's martial arts experience and seem pretty happy overall despite losing their championships. 

Hakushi & Kwang vs. Smoking Gunns

This has to be one of the last Kwang appearances considering Savio Vega should be debuting soon. We get going before the Gunns can even take off their dorky shirts. After some good tag action, the Gunns work on the left arm of Kwang. They hit a Hart Attack, but a distraction from Shinja prevents a pin attempt. Kwang is able to get a kick in and sprays the red mist into the air. Hakushi gets tagged in and hits a headbutt. Hakushi hits his variation of the Vader Bomb and we go to commercial. We get a double crossbody with Hakushi and Bart, knocking both men down. They both make tags and Billy is a house of fire. He ducks a kick and hits a crossbody for a 2 count. Kwang accidentally hits Hakushi with a spin kick and then Billy rolls up Kwang for the victory. This was a pretty good offering for a Superstars match. I'm not sure I would have had Hakushi take a loss so soon, even though he didn't take the pin. 

Match Rating: **1/4

After the match, Hakushi and Kwang are ready to brawl, but are broken apart before anything happens.

After an In Your House commercial, Hakushi and Kwang begin brawling near the entrance and have to be broken up by officials. 

We see the clip of Aldo Montoya beating Jeff Jarrett last week. Next week they'll face each other with the Intercontinental Championship on the line. 

We get our first Hunter Hearst Helmsley vignette. He talks about the Bushwhackers, Headshrinkers and Smoking Gunns and how he's better than them. He actually does a pretty good snob once you get over how he's talking compared to what we are used to. 

Adam Bomb vs. Mike Bell

Bomb dominates and hits a disappointing dropkick and Bell disappointingly falls over the top rope. Bomb is fired up after a couple of offensive moves from Bell. He hits a hip toss and two clotheslines. He hits a back suplex before going up top to hit a clothesline for the victory. Bomb has lost all of his momentum.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go back to Stephanie Wiand to talk about the house they are giving away. I can't wait to see this for another 8 episodes. 

Henry Godwinn vs. Nick Barberri

This one is pretty quick with Godwinn hitting his usual offense here. He hits a Slop Drop and rolls him over with his head for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Bob Backlund on the beach for spring break. He has sunscreen on his nose in his dorky suit and bowtie. The camera man keeps trying to show girls in bikinis, but Backlund keeps nudging the camera back to him and his rant.

Next week outside of the Intercontinental match, we'll also see Razor Ramon in action. 

There's pretty much a standard for 1995 Superstars and the overall quality doesn't really deviate too much from that spot very often. This was a very typical episode that had a decent enough feature match. The rest was the usual take it or leave it type of stuff.

Overall Rating: 44%