Survivor Series: WarGames 2023 Review

Saturday, November 25th, 2023
Allstate Arena
Rosemont, Illinois

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Women's WarGames Match
Bianca Belair, Shotzi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch vs. Bayley, Iyo Sky, Asuka & Kairi Sane

Becky Lynch and Bayley start things off. This match is brought to you by Ruffles if you can't tell. Becky's team was voted by the fans to have the advantage. They battle between the two rings and Bayley is able to hit a suplex on the steel plate. Becky throws Bayley into the cage and then hits a few running low dropkicks into Bayley. She puts on the Disarm-her, which Bayley can't submit here. Dakota Kai comes out and pokes a kendo stick into Becky to break the hold. The kendo stick is in the ring and now Shotzi is running down to the ring. Bayley tries to block her from coming in, but she slams the door into Bayley. Shotzi grabs a trash can and some chairs to bring into the ring. The crowd boos because they want some tables. Bayley tries to climb to escape, but both opponents are right after her. You can't leave the cage or you lose the match. Out next is Iyo Sky, who apparently has now been in 5 WarGames matches. She brings in a chain to even the score. Bianca is out next and she helps save Shotzi from a double superplex. She hits a double suplex of here own. Kairi Sane is now on her way to the ring and grabs a..trash can lid? They then cover Shotzi in chairs and Iyo pushes Kairi up to let her hit a big elbow drop. I'm not really sure why that didn't at least kind of hurt her, but it didn't. Bianca then tosses Kairi from one ring to the next and onto Bayley and Iyo. It's Charlotte's turn now. She takes care of her opponents and then stares down Becky. Iyo climbs to the top of the cage and drops the chain down to Dakota. She attaches a trash can and pulls it up to the cage. She puts the can over her head and leaps off to take out everyone. I'm not really sure what everyone was doing at that point, but it did look pretty insane. It's now time for Asuka and WarGames will begin. Asuka gets a huge pop by pulling out a table. She also grabs a fire extinguisher. Damage CTRL grab the kendo sticks and get the advantage. They chain up Becky and Bianca and all hit them with the kendo sticks. Shotzi and Asuka both climb the top rope, but Asuka hits the mist in her face. They put a garbage can on Becky and she hits a missile dropkick. We then get a Charlotte moonsault and looks like she drilled Iyo in the head with her knee. Becky and Charlotte start working together and then give a big hug. That leads to a Figure Eight and an arm bar. Bayley comes in off the top to break up Becky's hold. Kairi tries to attack Becky, but she blocks it and again Bayley makes a save on a submission hold. Shotzi hits a Doomsday missile dropkick on Asuka and again is broken up by Bayley. Bianca sprays Asuka with the fire extinguisher but then is hit in the back with a chair. We're into the chaos segment of the match with people hitting big moves. Charlotte goes for a Spear on Kairi, but Bayley moves her out of the way and takes the hit. Bianca hits a KOD on her and puts Bayley onto the table. Becky hits the Manhandle Slam from the second rope and through the table for the victory. There were definitely some pretty crazy moments in this match, but these are always on the longer side and it often feels that way. There was a lot of good effort in there too.

Match Rating: ***3/4

We go back to Alpha Academy, Chelsea Green and Piper Niven are eating Ruffles together. Pretty Deadly come in and cause some disagreement until R-Truth shows up. 

We go back to Sami Zayn and Jey Uso. Sami is worried because Randy Orton isn't here yet. Jey says it's his fault since he took part in putting Orton on the shelf. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Miz vs. Gunther

Miz is able to take out Gunther's leg and slams it on the ring post. He pulls out the Bret Hart Figure Four on the ring post in the very arena he did it to Steve Austin on. Miz goes off the top rope and runs into a big boot. Gunther continues dominating Miz, hitting a German suplex and another big boot. Miz finds an opening and goes back to the leg. He hits a series of big kicks and a tornado DDT for a 2 count. Gunther comes back with a powerbomb, but Miz is able to kick out at 2. They do a turnbuckle spot and the distraction from the referee putting it back on, allows Miz to hit two low blows and a Skull Crushing Finale, but Gunther kicks out. We then get the Bret Hart/Roddy Piper pin, but again Gunther kicks out. Gunther hits a clothesline and then a top rope splash. He puts him in the Boston Crab. Miz almost grabs the bottom rope, but Gunther pulls him back, puts the knee in the back and Miz taps out. That was a heck of a fun match. Miz is just so entertaining and has really become a fine storyteller. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Judgment Day are backstage and Dirty Dom says that he's been told that Orton isn't going to show up. 

Santos Escobar vs. Dragon Lee

Apparently Escobar injured Carlito, so now we get Dragon Lee. I would say that's an upgrade. It's all Escobar at the beginning, but then Dragon hits a hurricanrana off the apron to the floor and then a dive over the top rope. Escobar comes back and hits a top rope hurricanrana adn then tries to rip off Lee's mask. Dragon Lee hits a stomp on the midsection off the top rope but then runs into a superkick shortly after. Lee hits a nice sitdown powerbomb and gets a 2 count. Escobar comes back with a Canadian Destroyer and then the Phantom Driver for the victory. This was solid and the crowd was more into it than I anticipated. That's a good sign for both men. 

Match Rating: ***

Women's World Championship Match
Zoey Stark Vs. Rhea Ripley

We're at the part of the night where I can barely keep my eyes open. Rhea shows off her strength early until Zoey hits a few high flying moves. I haven't seen much Zoey, so this may be old news, but she is pretty impressive. Rhea is able to drop her face first onto the mat. We get a lot of back and forth stuff here, with Rhea hitting Rip Tide for the victory. That was a pathetic recap, if I do say so myself. Like I said, I'm sleepy, so give me a break. They were losing the crowd a little bit just because of their spot on the card, because the match was entertaining. 

Match Rating: ***

Cody Rhodes tries to calm down his team about Randy Orton not being here yet. 

Men's WarGames Match
Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Finn Balor & JD McDonagh vs. Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins & Randy Orton

Randy Orton is still not out as we start the match with Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. Rollins leaps from one ring to the next before the match starts and now we are underway. Balor escapes a buckle bomb and hits a clothesline. Judgment Day has the advantage in this match. Rollins goes for a Pedigree between the two rings, but Balor counters into a back body drop. Rollins moves out of the way of the Coup de Grace and hits a Sling Blade. JD McDonagh is the next entrant and eats a boot on his way into the ring. He's able to crack a kendo stick on  Rollins on his second attempt in. Rollins gets hit with multiple shots and a moonsault from McDonagh. Rollins gets his backup and it's Jey. He brings in a chair and is able to shift the momentum. The clock counts down and McIntyre wants in, but Priest stops him and tells him to stick to the plan. Drew isn't happy about that. Priest gets double teamed as he enters, as I guess he didn't get the memo about grabbing a weapon before entering. Just as I type that, he pulls out a baton and starts nailing both Rollins and Jey. Priest hits a somersault dive onto both opponents. It's now time for Sami to enter. He steals JD's kendo stick and hits him with that and then slams Balor's head in the door. Sami gets to be the hero and grabs the table. Sami's all fired up and hits a Blue Thunder Bomb on Balor. Finn grabs a pipe out of the cage and starts using it on his opponents. It's now time for McIntyre and he uses an Alabama Slam on Rollins to dump him on Sami. He shifts his attention to an injured Jey. He throws Jey around in the cage for awhile and takes out some aggression. It's now time for Cody Rhodes, just shortly after a 1D was given. Cody pulls out a bull rope, but Seth grabs the other end. They use it together on their opponents and then argue about Orton coming. It's now time for Dom and he of course comes out to huge boos. Dom is surrounded and gets jumped and then they set up the table. Rollins goes for a buckle bomb through the table, but Judgment Day is there to make the save. Rollins ends up being the one to go through the table and the clock is counting down. Out comes Rhea Ripley and she has the Money In The Bank briefcase. We are going to have a match during the match...or not. It's Randy Orton and he gets a huge pop. What a great crowd tonight. Orton is in full ham mode here tonight. He looks to be in great shape, but also is showing his age a little bit. It may just be ring rust also. The Judgment Day is able to outnumber him and attack him in the corner. We get a big brawl. Randy's team hit 5 draping DDTs at the same time. Orton turns his attention to Jey, but then hits a RKO. We get all the finishers and then they chase JD up the cage. Zayn, Rollins and JD are at the top and Orton is waiting at the bottom. They throw JD off and Orton catches him for the RKO. We get a Cross Rhodes on Priest and that is all. I'm surprised the faces went over in both matches tonight. The heels dominated the others, so I guess it makes sense. Anyway, this was awesome and a great way to cap off a really good show. 

Match Rating: ****1/4

HOLY CRAP, IT'S CM PUNK! He gets a huge reaction as expected and celebrates with the crowd before we go to highlights. It was a little out of left field, as he didn't interact with anyone, but it was great. I know a lot of people will not be happy he's back, but I can't help myself. I am a fan. We'll see how the rest of the story goes.

This was a really entertaining show and I can't emphasize enough how great it is when the shows are kept to 3 hours. This one flew by and every match was good. The main event was just a crazy match that everyone was invested in. Plus, you have two big returns to make this a historic event. This may have been the best show of the year. 

Overall Rating: 90% 

Superstars 5-20-95 Review

Original Airdate: Saturday, May 20th, 1995
O'Neill Center
Danbury, Connecticut

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Smoking Gunns vs. Bob Cook & Mike Khoury

I guess I should mention that Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix tell us how great In Your House was and hype up the Jacob Blu vs. Razor Ramon King Of The Ring qualifying match today. The Gunns are coming off their loss at In Your House. I'm just impressed that we are actually in an arena and that they actually taped this after In Your House. It's the little things. They dominate the entire match and hit the Sidewinder for the victory. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We get some still photos of the Sid/Diesel main event at In Your House. They show Ted DiBiase's challenge of Sid and Tatanka against Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow. They show Bam Bam in his dorky new outfit and accepting the challenge. We then get highlights from the IRS/Bam Bam match on Raw, with Bam Bam winning. 

Jean Pierre Lafitte vs. John Crystal

Crystal looks to maybe go off script a little bit and hits a knee on a back body drop attempt by Lafitte. Lafitte does a spot where he ties up Crystal in the ropes and then hits a couple of crossbodies into him. Lafitte goes up top and hits a top rope leg drop, but decides that isn't enough. He then hits the Cannonball for the victory. This is the most impressive Lafitte has looked thus far.

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Stephanie Wiand and she talks about the Bret Hart matches at In Your House with some more still photos. 

We get another Body Donnas vignette. 

Man Mountain Rock vs. Bill Payne

Is the Bill Payne name a rib or is it Maxx's long lost brother? MMR has been absolutely terrible since joining the Federation here and I expect this to be no different. Yep, this was no different and not even worth me recapping. Sorry, that's just how I roll. If you want to know what happened, you sit through this. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show Bob Backlund announcing that he is running for president.

They show a Shawn Michaels music video to hype up his return. 

Mantaur vs. Gary Scott

Again with the Mantaur. After getting crushed in the early going, Scott actually knocks Mantaur down after a couple of dropkicks. He goes off the top rope, but Mantaur catches him and hits a powerslam for the victory. No one cares. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show still photos of the Jeff Jarrett and Roadie match with Razor Ramon and then the interview from Raw. 

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Jacob Blu vs. Razor Ramon

We join the match in progress for whatever reason. I'm sure we missed nothing, but it is presented that way. Jacob knocks Razor out of the ring and takes control into the commercial break. Razor finally makes his comeback and hits a bulldog. We get some shenanigans and so out comes Savio Vega to the rescue. He starts brawling with Eli and the distraction allows Razor to pick up the victory. This was pretty standard stuff here. 

Match Rating: *1/4

We go back to Stephanie Wiand. She shows the house giveaway and then talks about the King Of The Ring tournament. 

Next week, we have the debut of Tekno Team 2000! Plus, Duke Droese faces Kama in a King Of The Ring qualifier. Shawn Michaels will also take on Dr. Tom Prichard. 

This was a pretty non-eventful episode, even by Superstars standards. It looks like next week will have a little bit more meat on the bone as we continue the road to one of the worst shows in WWE history. 

Overall Rating: 41%

SmackDown 2-23-07 Review

Original Airdate: Friday, February 23rd, 2007
ipayOne Center
San Diego, California

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We get a recap of the No Way Out main event to start the show. Michael Cole is in the ring and brings out Batista. He brings up the streak and that he has nothing but respect for him, but he can't apologize for what he did to him at No Way Out. He says that the fans wouldn't respect him if he was intimidated by Undertaker. There wasn't much meat on the bone here other than it shows Batista slanting heel for this feud. 

They show a recap of the friendship of Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. 

Maryse welcomes us back to SmackDown.

Matt Hardy, Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. Joey Mercury, Deuce & Domino

Mercury and Matt start off and Matt is quickly in the wrong part of town. He fights them off and dumps Mercury on top of his partners. The champs continue the momentum until Domino pulls Kendrick off the top rope behind the referee's back. We get a commercial break in the middle of the heat segment on Kendrick. Hardy gets the hot tag when we come back and he hits the Side Effect for a 2 count on Mercury. He hits a bulldog/dropkick combo this time before hitting the second rope leg drop again for 2. The champs hit a stereo dive on the challengers and Matt hits a Twist Of Fate for the victory. This was a good enough opener for the show.

Match Rating: **1/4

Vickie Guerrero tells Kristal that the little thing she referred to at No Way Out has already been taken care of. 

They show a recap of Edge beating Rob Van Dam on Raw to qualify for Money In The Bank.

They show highlights of Rey Mysterio winning the Royal Rumble.

Chavo Guerrero vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

They show Gregory Helms watching in the back. After a little bit of offense from Scotty, Chavo is able to dump him over the top rope. Chavo goes to work on the back and slows the match down. Chavo goes for the Three Amigos, but the third one is blocked and it leads to Scotty hitting the Worm. Chavo rolls out after the move so Scotty hits him with a dive. Back in the ring, Scotty tries a sunset flip, but Chavo rolls through and puts his feet on the ropes to steal the victory. I get they are trying to push him as an old school heel, but should he really need to do that against Scotty? 

Match Rating: *

The Raw Recap shows Vince McMahon selecting Umaga and him winning the Intercontinental Championship. 

They show Rey Mysterio winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22. 

Falls Count Anywhere Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
King Booker vs. Kane

I guess they thought it was good for these two to fight again after their dumpster fire match at No Way Out. I don't think I could possibly care less about Kane, but here we are. We get mostly heatless brawling here at a sluggish pace. They move up to the entrance ramp and do the same thing. Kane battles back and moves towards the ring. This match reminds me of my matches in my backyard that never ended and had no point. King Booker uses the ring bell after Kane gets distracted by Sharmell and we have a commercial break. We come back and it's more of the same. Kane goes for a chokeslam on the outside and down comes Great Khali to make this turd even worse. He attacks Kane and no one cares. He throws him through the barricade and King Booker looks in shock. So they moved Khali to Raw and then he attacks someone on SmackDown. King Booker pins Kane and is now in the Money In The Bank. This match was awful and a complete waste of television time. At least the feud is over.

Match Rating: 1/4*

King Booker and Queen Sharmell are celebrating backstage and Khali walks in. He shakes his hand and they go back to celebrating. 

We get more of Ashley and Playboy.

They show Rey Mysterio forcing JBL to retire. 

Finlay & Hornswoggle vs. Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman

God, they are really making us re-watch this one also? Hornswoggle is shown hiding under the ring. Finlay slams the arm of Boogeyman into the ring post and goes to grab the bag of worms. Little Boogeyman tries to stop him, but he tosses him out of the ring and starts stomping on them. He throws the bag out of the ring and then gets hit with a low blow from Little Boogeyman. Boogeyman, who had never lost until No Way Out, is still selling the arm injury. Hornswoggle comes in and goes at it with Little Boogeyman. Finlay hits Little Boogeyman with a boot and then Boogeyman attacks him. Finlay hits him with the shillelagh and that allows Hornswoggle to hit a DDT on Boogeyman and pins Boogeyman. Did they finally realize that no one wanted to see this any more? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the Mr. Perfect Hall Of Fame video again. 

Maryse welcomes us back to SmackDown and find out that we will hear from Undertaker next week. 

It's time for Rey Mysterio and he comes out to a big pop. He gives the standard injury interview where he's going to be back and better than ever soon and then Mr. McMahon makes his way out with a lot of security to surround the ring. He insults Rey's height before just turning this into more hype for his match at WrestleMania. He gets down on one knee to ask who Rey thinks is going to win and he calls him a loser. Vince then brings out Umaga. Vince asks if he wants to change his opinion. He doesn't, so Vince hits him in the guy with Rey's cane. Umaga then tosses him up in the air and straight to the mat. He hits a top rope splash right onto Rey's injured leg and Vince gets up in his face to add insult to injury. Rey does a stretcher job as we go off the air. 

This episode was hot garbage. Sure, the Vince segment was decent, but it was also too long. The No Way Out re-matches were both terrible and nothing really progressed as we head towards WrestleMania. 

Overall Rating: 32%

ECW 2-20-07 Review

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
ipayOne Center
San Diego, California

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We get an "In Memory Of Mike Awesome" to start the show. I can't believe it's already been 16 years. They then show a recap of the Bobby Lashley/Mr. Kennedy match at No Way Out and tonight we have Hardcore Holly vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Bobby Lashley tonight.

The New Breed is out and they are getting some heat. They talk about their victory last week and Matt Striker says that any one of them can beat any one of the ECW Originals. Tonight they select Kevin Thorn. The Originals come out and select Rob Van Dam.

Kevin Thorn vs. Rob Van Dam

It's all RVD to start and he hits a big dive over the top rope after throwing him out of the ring. It puts him in enemy territories and Elijah Burke gets a cheap shot in before he gets in the ring. This brings over the Originals to start a brawl outside the ring. During the commercial break, Ariel shakes the top rope, which crotches RVD. Credit to RVD here, as he is giving a good effort and the crowd is behind him. He hits a spin kick to knock Thorn off his feet and follows it up with the 5 Star Frog Splash for the victory. This was good enough, but I have a feeling we are going to be seeing these 8 work with each other just about every week for the next two months. 

Match Rating: **

Snitsky is coming whether we like it or not.

40 days until WrestleMania 23.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
CM Punk vs. Johnny Nitro

It seems like both of these guys should have been a top priority to be in the Money In The Bank match. Punk hits the single leg dropkick and tries to get a quick victory. Nitro then comes back with an Irish whip and a single leg springboard kick. Punk gets a quick comeback and hits the knee/bulldog combo. Melina gets involved and it leads to Nitro hitting a cool corkscrew kick while he was draped on the second rope. Nitro misses the corkscrew moonsault off the top rope. Punk hits him with a knee to the head and that's all. This was a pretty good match, but was rushed.

Match Rating: **

Mr. Kennedy is backstage complaining about not getting a one on one match and Hardcore Holly says ECW is his world. Whatever.

La Resistance vs. Los Luchas

It's the comeback that I'm pretty sure no one asked for. Los Luchas look to weigh about 180 pounds combined. Dupree chucks one of the Luchas over the top and he makes a pretty loud splat sound. The squash the other one and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Snitsky comes running out and by La Resistance and hits Los Luchas with some big boots. 

It's time for Extreme Exposé. Kelly Kelly is to Extreme Exposé as Alex Van Halen is to Van Halen in the "Hot For Teacher" video. 

They show the same video for Mr. Perfect as was shown on Raw. 

Triple Threat Match For The ECW Championship
Hardcore Holly vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Bobby Lashley

They start off with a good pace and the hard hitting offense you would expect from this trio. This is one of those matches that it's just easier for me to observe it and not type about every move. These guys did keep up a nice pace and it all leads to Holly hitting the Alabama Slam. From there, Lashley makes his comeback and hits the running powerslam for the victory. Kennedy didn't really have much of  a purpose here, but the match was good action.

Match Rating: **1/2

This was another good episode for ECW and still kind of out of nowhere. I was glad to see CM Punk get his big moment and secure a WrestleMania spot and it was also nice to see the crowd reacting to the New Breed. 

Overall Rating: 64%

Monday Night Raw 2-19-07 Review

Monday, February 19th, 2007
Rabobank Arena
Bakersfield, California

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After once again forcing me to watch a recap of Donald Trump/Vince McMahon, we go to a shot of a mini barber shop set up in the ring and Vince on his way down to hype up this trash. He shows a picture of Britney Spears, who recently shaved her head here. We then get pictures of Trump with different haircuts. Vince then announces his representative as Umaga for the match at WrestleMania 23. Vince then says that Umaga is about to become a champion and that match is now. Jeff Hardy's music hits and he is out apparently to defend his Intercontinental Championship.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy

We join the match in progress and Hardy hits a couple of dropkicks through the ropes, but then Umaga catches him off a dive. Hardy is able to counter and push Umaga into the ring post. Hardy runs on the barricade, but is greeted with a thrust to the throat on the way down. Umaga slows down the pace until he misses with a top rope headbutt. He misses with a splash in the corner and Hardy hits him with Whisper In The Wind. Umaga comes right back with the pop up Samoan Drop to slow down Jeff's momentum. He drags Jeff into the corner and hits the butt bop in the corner. He hits the Samoan Spike and we have a new champion. Hardy was doing a nice job of building the title up, but now it will just become a backdrop for the Trump stuff. Vince stands confidently on the top of the entrance ramp. These two have good chemistry, but this was more of a traditional squash, with Hardy just getting a few moves in. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Ric Flair & Carlito vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

They show the handshake from last week after their match on Raw. So now they're a tag team. After a short heat segment with Carlito, Flair gets the hot tag. He hits a bunch of chops and a back body drop. Flair hits a low blow behind the referee's back and tags in Carlito. He hits the Backstabber and the new team picks up the win. This story just feels like filler.

Match Rating: 1/2*

We go to John Cena and Shawn Michaels backstage for an interview. Cena says that he and Michaels that they know exactly where they stand as far as their WrestleMania main event. Michaels then hypes up the new DX DVD. Cena then promotes The Marine DVD. They compare what their DVDs has and Shawn says that his has Big Dick Johnson, who comes out and dances until Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music.

We then go to Edge and Randy Orton watching backstage. Orton says that he got their rematch against Cena and Michaels for next week. Orton says that after he's done with Cena tonight, it will be real easy to get their titles back. 

They hype up the Money In The Bank match by showing highlights of the last two. 

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match
Edge vs. Rob Van Dam

This is definitely a pretty high profile match for a qualifying match. RVD hits his helicopter leg drop to the outside. Edge is able to hit a swinging neckbreaker on the way back into the ring and shifts the momentum. He hits a Rude Awakening and gets a 2 count. RVD is able to hit a spin kick in the corner and both men are down. RVD goes for Rolling Thunder, but Edge catches it and hits a powerslam. Edge goes for a top rope superplex, but RVD is able to crotch him on the top rope and then hits a single leg kick that knocks Edge to the floor. RVD follows up with a dive to the floor and then throws Edge back in the ring. He goes off the top rope, but Edge hits him with a dropkick in midair. RVD leapfrogs a Spear attempt and then RVD hits the split legged moonsault for a 2 count. RVD goes up top, but out comes Randy Orton. RVD hits him with a kick, but then Edge hits the Spear for the victory. This was a really solid match here, with both guys treating it like a big deal. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Women's Championship Match
Melina vs. Mickie James

Let's see if they get more than 2 minutes. Mickie hits the first high impact move with a seated dropkick. She then hits a sliding dropkick to knock her out of the ring. She goes for another one outside of the ring, but Melina sidesteps it and pulls her to the floor. Back in the ring, Melina throws her across the ring by the hair. We get into a brawl, with the trading blows on the mat. Mickie returns the favor and throws Melina across the ring by her hair. Melina counters a headscissors attempt by grabbing the ropes. Mickie sells that she fell on her head and Melina uses the ropes to steal the victory and win the title. Two new champions here tonight on what must have been some last minute adjustments for the WrestleMania card. The match wasn't bad, but it felt a little bit like a series of moves.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Todd Grisham tries to interview Mickie James, who then slaps him in his face. 

Highlanders vs. Great Khali

The Highlanders attack Khali as he walks in and as you'd expect, it doesn't really work. He hits the double hand chokeslam and then pins him by standing on him. I get why this existed, but that doesn't mean I wanted to watch it. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

If you didn't get enough earlier, they recap the Vince/Umaga segment.

We go to Coach talking to Kenny Dykstra and in walks Great Khali. He yells a noise and it means he wants more competition. In walks Ron Simmons to do his thing. 

They show Ashley's cover reveal from SmackDown. We go to Melina, who is upset that they had to wait for a video of Ashley before interviewing her. 

We find out that the next inductee to this year's Hall Of Fame class will be none other than Mr. Perfect.

They go back to the original WrestleMania for the WrestleMania Recall.

Next week, Trump is going to pick his opponent for Umaga. Oh boy. Plus, Rated RKO will take on Shawn Michaels and John Cena.

Randy Orton vs. John Cena

They have a pretty standard start to the match, with Cena besting Orton at every turn. Orton tries to grab a chair, but we go to commercial break. When we come back, Orton has taken control and slowed the match all the way down. Orton hits the draped DDT, but Cena kicks out at 2. Orton finally starts signaling for the RKO, but Cena takes him and throws him. Cena gets Orton up for the FU, but in runs Edge and he hits a Spear. He then grabs two chairs, but then out comes Shawn Michaels and he's making the save. The match was decent, but you knew it was going to be a disqualification.

Match Rating: *3/4

This was a one match show, but also featured a couple of title changes and a Money In The Bank qualifier. So in that sense, it was a decent enough episode. There were a lot of low, but there was enough on the show to entertain the crowd. 

Overall Rating: 52%

NXT 5-6-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, May 6th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

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Emma vs. Charlotte

Emma is in Bayley's shirt in heel mode. She starts off with some mat wrestling, looking pretty good overall. She goes to work on the left leg, slamming it into the mat multiple times. She puts on the half crab, bending it back close to Charlotte's head. Charlotte breaks the hold by grabbing the bottom rope. Emma goes to slam her knee into the mat, but this time Charlotte lands on her feet. She comes back and hits a Spear on her. She hits Natural Selection and that's it? Um, sure. After the match, Bayley is out and she gives Emma a hug, only this time she doesn't let go. She hits a Bayley-to-Belly on her and rips off her shirt. Charlotte pulls her off and she heads to the back. The match felt like it was being set up for a 10+ minute match and then Charlotte just won out of nowhere.

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get a Becky Lynch vignette talking about her journey to NXT. 

Next up, it's a previously recorded sit down interview with Michael Cole and Kevin Owens. Owens repeats over and over that it's about the money that comes with being NXT Champion. Owens reminds him that he never even congratulated him on winning the title. Cole agrees and does so, but in return wants him to tell him why he would do what he did to his best friend. Owens sticks with his story. 

Bull Dempsey vs. Rhyno

Rhyno hits a big belly to belly suplex and hits the Gore for the easy squash. I guess NXT thinks the same about Dempsey as I do. After the match, Rhyno challenges to a match at TakeOver. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Sasha says Fabulous Moolah was the greatest Diva until her. 

They show Apollo Crews signing his contract and a vignette.

Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were supposed to face Enzo and Big Cass, but the latter don't come out during their music. We then go to the back and we see Blake and Murphy attacking them.

We now go to a sit down interview with Michael Cole and Sami Zayn. He says the biggest difference between him and Owens is that Owens is a liar. Next week, he wants Owens to come out and tell him why he did what he did. They show Zayn fighting Cena on Raw, with Zayn getting hurt. 

We now have the contract signing between Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. Becky cuts a promo real quick on her journey and that she isn't here to take part, she's here to take over. She signs it and then Sasha pulls out a stamp and signs her name that way. We get an attack from Sasha and then Becky gets Sasha to tap out. The crowd reaction was kind of weird for this one.

They show Kevin Owens' attack on Alex Riley and Sami Zayn from last week. Riley then talks about how he's going to need surgery on his knee. He then heard the crowd thanking Kevin Owens for attacking him and that the last minute of the show was all about Sami, not him. He's realizing these risks aren't worth it. We won't be seeing him for awhile now. 

We get a Dana Brooke interview that is having some weird microphone issues, which seems to be a theme here tonight. She's a heel.

Finn Balor is at ringside to watch the main event.

Tyler Breeze vs. Hideo Itami

Things start off slowly and we get an early commercial break. Itami quickens the pace with his comeback and hits a top rope clothesline. He goes for a running kick into the corner, but Breeze rolls out of the way before he can get there. Itami goes for another kick and Breeze misses, kicking Finn Balor straight in the face. They go back into the ring and Breeze misses with the Beauty Shot. Itami hits the running kick and that's all. After the match, Itami and Balor kind of glare at each other, which allows Breeze to attack Itami. Breeze throws him off and goes to Itami. Breeze then hits a Supermodel Kick on Balor and a Beauty Shot on Itami. This was obviously mainly to add some drama to the triple threat match at TakeOver and in that regard, they were successful. The match itself was nothing memorable.

Match Rating: *1/4

NXT continues to be slumping on the weekly TV show. The build to the top matches have been good, but almost at the expense of the show. TakeOver should be a blast, but I'd like to see them focusing on some better TV matches here.

Overall Rating: 42%

Monday Night Raw 5-15-95 Review

Monday, May 15th, 1995
Broome County Arena
Binghamton, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get an intro of Bam Bam Bigelow and IRS cutting quick promos ahead of their match tonight. Bam Bam vows to run through the entire Corporation. We then go to Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler, with the latter gloating about defeating Bret Hart last night at In Your House.

Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. Nick Barberry & Bill Weaver

The champions are fresh off their win last night over the Smoking Gunns. Barberry and Weaver try to get some offense in on Owen and it works for a brief moment, but Yoko comes in and takes care of business. He hits a Rock Bottom and picks up the easy victory. Yoko just lays on his opponent for an extended amount of time since he didn't hit him with the Banzai. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We see some still photos of Bret Hart losing to Jerry Lawler. 

We see the "Saving The World" alien WWF commercial that is just super weird.

Oh boy, Man Mountain Rock is back and jamming in the middle of the ring. 

Man Mountain Rock vs. Iron Mike Sharpe

We have to be getting close to the end of Sharpe here. Rock's first mini run was absolutely uninspiring, so I doubt we'll see anything better here. This one is over quickly and not one person seemed to care. It's safe to say that it's time to move on.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They show the clip of the house giveaway from last night. We follow this with more still photos, this time of the Razor Ramon match with Jeff Jarrett and Roadie. They talk to Savio Vega backstage and he's all fired up, so Vince has to cut him off to go to commercial break. 

We have an exclusive one night only Sid/Diesel shirt and it's only $16. Don't forget about that totally rad Bret Hart shirt. 

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Mantaur vs. Bob Holly

Jim Cornette is still with this goof for some reason. I'm guessing this match set ratings records for the company. Mantaur manhandles Holly to start. Apparently it's a rule that if you have "Man" in your name, you suck. This one is just torture and testing my patience here. Mantaur completely telegraphs missing Holly in the corner and Holly rolls him up for a 2 count. Holly hits a dropkick to the back and a trio of clotheslines. He's still on his feet, so Holly hits a missile dropkick and gets another nearfall. Holly hits a top rope crossbody and pulls off the upset in a terrible match. That's two matches in a row with performers they need to give up on. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Shawn Michaels returns next week and he'll be facing King Kong Bundy. Remember him?

Vince is in the ring with Bob Backlund. It's finally time for Backlund to let us know what his big announcement. He rambles on for 5 minutes about whatever and Vince finally has him focus on the announcement. He announces that he is running for president and a marching band comes out to help celebrate it. 

Well you knew it was coming, yes, it's the still photos of Sid vs. Diesel. 

Earlier today, Jim Ross interviewed Ted DiBiase and IRS as they were walking into the building. Ted challenges Bam Bam Bigelow and Diesel to team up to take on Sid and Tatanka. I'm not really sure why, but between this and the Mantaur match, I have a feeling King Of The Ring may suck.

IRS vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Bam Bam has new ring entrance gear and it's pretty dorky. He also has pyro now and a new theme. Bam Bam brings out Diesel to be in his corner here tonight and he gets a good pop. DiBiase runs to the back just as the match is starting. Bam Bam hits an atomic drop that sends IRS up and over to the floor. After the commercial break, Bam Bam goes for the top rope headbutt, but IRS rolls out of the way. As with all IRS matches, as soon as he takes over, no one cares. IRS removes the top turnbuckle and is able to get Bam Bam to dive into it. He goes for the pin and puts his feet on the ropes. Diesel pushes them off and this distraction helps Bam Bam use the exposed turnbuckle and pick up the win. This wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't that good.

Match Rating: *

They show Sid and Tatanka in the aisle as we go to commercial. When we come back, everyone is gone. They then hype up the return of Shawn Michaels with a music video. King Kong Bundy then says that Michaels won't be back for long. 

This episode was really bad. After I just praised 1995 for being easy to watch, they torture you with an episode like this. Nothing happened and no one cared. That's pretty much what I would say about this.

Overall Rating: 24%