NXT 5-13-15 Review

Original Airdate: Wednesday, May 13th, 2015
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

They show a recap of Sami Zayn vs. John Cena on Raw and the injury that occurred during the match.

Solomon Crowe vs. Baron Corbin

Oh boy, my two favorites. Crowe is able to get in a few moves, including a kick to the side of the head. However, he tries to leap at Corbin, he catches him and hits End Of Days. At least it was quick. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Rhyno is out and wants to know if they're going to go. They start brawling and a bunch of officials are out and Rhyno hits a few with the Gore.

They ask Finn Balor who he wants to face if he wins. He of course takes exception to "if". He then doesn't think it will matter whom he faces once he wins.

They then ask Tyler Breeze and he essentially says the exact same thing Balor said. 

Sasha Banks grabs the mic and says that she made Becky Lynch and at TakeOver, she is going to show why she is the boss of NXT. 

Sasha Banks vs. KC Cassidy

KC Cassidy is Peyton Royce. This is obviously a tune up for next week's big match. Sasha hits the double knees to the midsection of Cassidy. She locks in the Bank Statement and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Charlotte and Bayley are backstage for an interview. They talk about Dana Brooke and Emma. They say that they both will be at TakeOver and they hope that they show up too.

They show Apollo Crews arriving at NXT and that he's coming soon. 

Carmella vs. Alexa Bliss

Carmella is out on her own. Carmella has control of the match and out come Blake and Murphy to observe. Bliss is able to make a comeback and hits a moonsault with double knees for 2. Alexa goes up top and hits the Sparkle Splash and that's enough for the finish. After the match, Blake and Murphy enter the ring as the crowd chants "No means no". Blake gets on the mic and says that if you are hanging out with trash, you're going to smell like garbage. Carmella then says that Enzo and Cass are going to walk out of TakeOver as NXT Tag Team Champions. The match wasn't very good, but it was all a backdrop for TakeOver.

Match Rating: 1/2*

Hideo Itami says that he wants to fight Kevin Owens because he doesn't have respect for him since he has no respect for anyone.

We go to Emma and Dana Brooke backstage. Emma says that if Bayley wants her to slap more sense into her, then she'll do it. Dana says that she's doing Charlotte a favor by letting her know that she's going to be passed by. They accept the challenge at TakeOver.

Adam Rose & Tyler Breeze vs. Hideo Itami & Finn Balor

Adam Rose is without his Rose Buds and not having as much fun. We get an early commercial break when Balor knocks Rose out of the ring. When we come back, Balor hits a roll through dropkick on Rose. Rose is able to catch Balor with a forearm as he was leaping into the ring and tags in Breeze. They cut the ring in half and Rose hits a big spinebuster. He slaps on a Boston crab, but Balor grabs the bottom rope. Balor is able to hit the Pele kick and tag in Itami. Itami hits a top rope clothesline on Rose and a series of kicks to Breeze. Balor tags himself in and hits Sling Blade. He hits Breeze with the running dropkick. He climbs up top and now Itami tags himself in. Breeze rolls up Itami and runs away with the victory. This was obviously only designed to continue the building tension between Balor and Itami. Breeze attacks them from behind and again stands tall. Adding Adam Rose in there as the obvious guy to take the fall at least made it less predictable. Rose celebrates with Breeze and then Breeze hits him with the Supermodel Kick. The match was pretty standard.

Match Rating: **

They show Sami Zayn vs. John Cena again and then we get a post match interview. He talks about his injury and how awesome it was to wrestle Cena in his hometown. 

It's time for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to meet face to face here. Sami wants to know what it's about. Is Owens jealous that he got to NXT first? He then wonders if it's maybe that Owens' son wears a Sami shirt instead of his. Owens doesn't answer and walks to the back. Sami wants to know why he has nothing to say. Owens says that everything Sami said is irrelevant. Owens says that he knows the truth about Sami going home. It wasn't to clear his head, it was because he was hurt. He knows he is still hurt, he knows what the injury is and he says that he's going to hurt him again so that he never comes back. That was a strong final segment there.

This was mostly just a buildup before TakeOver, which is to be expected. They did do a nice job in that department and the Owens/Zayn segment was the highlight.

Overall Rating: 49%

Monday Night Raw 5-22-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, May 22nd, 1995
Broome County Arena
Binghamton, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

We get a recap of Sid turning on Shawn Michaels and hyping up his return tonight, as he takes on King Kong Bundy. 

Razor Ramon vs. Mike Bell

Razor is out with "Caribbean legend" Savio Vega. I love that we are just to accept that some guy we have never heard of is a legend. Vince talks about how badly Razor needs this victory. He does his usual squash match here until the end. Instead of giving him the Razor's Edge, he shoves him to the ground and stands on his chest for the pin. Quite the babyface move there.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Bret Hart comes out and confronts Lawler. Bret wants to know how he lost to Lawler and calls him worthless scum. He also refers to him as a parasite maggot. Bret then says that he wants one more match at any cost. Bret is very attitude era here, getting bleeped out a couple of times. He then grabs Lawler and has to be pulled apart by referees and officials. That was a well done segment and completely out of nowhere. 

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. John Chrystal

This is Hunter's Raw debut. He hits the spin kick again that I don't ever remember being in his repertoire. He hits a version of the RKO/Diamond Cutter and that's all for Chrystal. He looked solid here. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

We go to Mr. Backlund, who is considering running for President. He goes over his demands, which includes reading an American novel every week and getting rid of calculators. 

We get a video of Stephanie giving the house to the winner. They open the closet and the Bushwhackers are in there. 

Allied Powers vs. Tony DeVito & Bill Payne

They show a clip of British Bulldog getting Mabel on his shoulders for an electric chair on the Action Zone. This is exactly what you would think it would be. They hit the big spots and put the ham and eggers away.

Match Rating: 1/4*

They re-show the challenge from Ted DiBiase for Sid and Tatanka against Bam Bam Bigelow and Diesel. 

Next week on Raw, Jeff Jarrett will take on Undertaker in a King Of The Ring qualifying match. 

Kama vs. Barry Horowitz

The first three squashes were all a little bit better than this, but who could have expected that? He puts on a half crab and that is enough? 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Todd Pettengill tells us how we can get tickets for the Hall Of Fame ceremony, which will take place the night before King Of The Ring. Antonina Rocca is going to be one of the inductees.

We go to Barry Didinski to show us the brand new $20 Shawn Michaels shirt. Don't forget about the $16 Raw shirt.

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
King Kong Bundy vs. Shawn Michaels

Michaels knocks Bundy out of the ring before the match starts and continues with his dance into the commercial break. We have Michaels with his mullet/beard combo here. He hits a dive to the floor on Bundy before Bundy ever got back in the ring again. We get Michaels outsmarting Bundy at every turn until Bundy sends him on an Irish whip and Michaels ends up on the floor. Bundy then slams him to the floor before throwing him back in the ring. I'm not really sure why this is even for the King Of The Ring since it has a storyline attached to it and the tournament feels unimportant. This all leads to a bear hug spot, my favorite. They show Bam Bam and Diesel watching the match backstage before we go to another commercial break. When we come back, Michaels hits a top rope reverse crossbody and then hits Sweet Chin Music to pick up the victory. That was a quick post-commercial break finish there. They show Diesel and Bam Bam heading to the ring. Bam Bam plays middle man and Diesel extends his hand out for a handshake. It's wrestling, so Michaels has to look at the crowd for answers. He backs away and then tells Diesel to lift his arm up for a high five and they then hug. As far as Bundy matches go, this is about as good as it's going to get in 1995.

Match Rating: *1/2

Next week, we'll see both Sid and Hakushi in action. Jerry Lawler then tries to address Bret, but he can't talk due to a throat injury. We get an Undertaker and Paul Bearer promo for his match with Jeff Jarrett next week.

The Bret Hart moment was the highlight here and Michaels also looked really sharp in his return. The rest of the show was just fluff, but nothing offensive. 

Overall Rating: 39%

Off The Grid, Volume 40: Survivor Series 1987 Review

Thursday, November 26th, 1987
Richfield Coliseum
Richfield, Ohio

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Off The Grid, Volume 40:

Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura are introduced and welcome us to the show. It's crazy how much difference a year or so makes in this era, because this show still looks and feels very old fashioned even compared to 1988-89. With this being the first ever Survivor Series, they go over the rules of the matches.

Craig DeGeorge is with Honky Tonk Man's team and it's lots of chatter while Honky hyping up the team. This is the type of fun that's missing from the current era of wrestling. We go to Mean Gene with Randy Savage's team and we get some more fun nonsense. 

Honky Tonk Man, Harley Race, Hercules, Ron Bass & Danny Davis vs. Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Brutus Beefcake, Jake Roberts & Jim Duggan

As is the case with most major matches during this era, the crowd is outstanding to start here. Beefcake and Hercules start if you are wondering for trivia purposes. Beefcake slaps on the sleeper quickly, but he's able to get out of it. Davis is able to hit a knee to the face of Steamboat to slow down Savage's teams momentum. Race tries throwing Steamboat out of the ring twice, but both times he skins the cat. Steamboat throws Race out, but he races quickly in and hits a suplex. In comes Duggan and he clotheslines Race over the top rope and they start brawling on the floor, leading to a double countout. So your first ever eliminations are Duggan and Race. Savage is able to make a blind tag to Beefcake and that leads to him hitting a high knee on Bass to eliminate him. We get some classic Honky Tonk Man selling from Beefcake until Beefcake runs the ropes and into Davis's knee. Honky hits the Shake Rattle 'N' Roll Neckbreaker and Brutus is gone. Jesse basically buries Honky by saying "What he lacks in ability, he makes up with sheer luck", which is kind of an odd comment for a heel commentator to make about a heel wrestler. Roberts hits the short arm clothesline on Davis and into the DDT to eliminate Davis. Hercules comes in and clocks Roberts. After working on Roberts, he's able to get a hot tag to Steamboat and the crowd is loving it. It leads to Savage hitting the top rope elbow and we now have a 3 on 1 situation for Honky Tonk Man. He gets absolutely dominated, so Honky decides to head to the back for the anticlimatic victory for Savage, Roberts and Steamboat. This was good fun though overall with a hot crowd. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

We go to Bobby Heenan, Andre The Giant, Butch Reed, Rick Rude, King Kong Bundy, Slick and One Man Gang to hype up their main event match tonight. 

We get a weird cut with the women already in the ring. I wonder what was there originally?

Dawn Marie, Donna Christianello, Sensational Sherri & Glamour Girls vs. Velvet McIntyre, Rockin' Robin, Fabulous Moolah & Jumping Bomb Angels

Moolah being a face seems kind of weird to me and she doesn't get much of a positive reaction. Christianello is 45 here and looks 65. She gets eliminated quickly by McIntyre with a victory roll. They know they aren't as over since they are never on television, but they are definitely trying to make the most of the opportunity here with the effort. I should note that Jimmy Hart is managing the Glamour Girls. Rockin' Robin hits a crossbody on Dawn Marie and she's gone. We get a taste of the awesome Jumping Bomb Angels and they show off some innovative offense. Sherri is able to eliminate Robin with a suplex. We kind of hit a lull in the match where the match just isn't as sharp. Ironically, it's when the old veteran Moolah is in. No coincidence there. She stinks. She telegraphs getting hit by a clothesline and thankfully is out of this match. Sherri hits an awkward looking suplex on Velvet. Leilani hits a nice double underhook suplex, but the Jumping Bomb Angel bridges out of that. The bell rings because apparently they don't know the difference between 2 and 3. Velvet hits an airplane spin on Sherri and then hits a victory roll to pin the champion. Leilani is able to eliminate Velvet and we now have a true tag team match. That probably would have just been the better choice here. Kai misses a top rope splash and gets hit by a crossbody to eliminate Kai. The Angels knock Jimmy Hart off the apron and then pick up the victory on Martin. This was just way too long and really lacked in storytelling. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

It's time to go to the heel team for the tag team match. Bobby Heenan once again leads the way on teh interview. Jimmy Hart comes in and he's on edge, but changes his jacket. More fun chaos. We then go to the ring with Slick introducing the Bolsheviks to sing the Russian national anthem. No one interferes. 

Mean Gene is with the face team. It's good to see best buddies Jacques Rougeau and Dynamite Kid get to team together. 

Bolsheviks, Demolition, Dream Team, Islanders & Hart Foundation vs. British Bulldogs, Young Stallions, Rougeau Brothers, Killer Bees & Strike Force

As it has been said many times over the years, there are just too many wrestlers on the ring apron for this one. It's an absolute nightmare for the camera crew. Santana is able to catch Zhukov with the flying forearm and the Bolsheviks are gone. The Rougeaus are eliminated after a missed crossbody by Jacques. This is probably the hardest I have ever seen Dino Bravo work before. Smash runs into the turnbuckle and gets hit by a Dynamite Kid clothesline. Smash and Ax start double teaming Dynamite and the ref tries to stop them, so they shove him out of the way, causing the disqualification. Bret Hart comes in and hits a piledriver for a 2. The pace quickens and Tito is able to hit a flying forearm on Neidhart, but Bret makes the save and apparently the elbow to the back of the head was enough for Neidhart to pin Tito. That was weak. Ventura is impressed by the Young Stallions being able to kick out of pins. I'm sure they will have a great career. So far all of these matches have hit a wall at some point where the inexperience of this type of match is shown. They just start doing whatever and lose the momentum from the early part of the match. Davey Boy hits a running powerslam on Haku, but he's able to kick out. The Bulldogs hit a suplex/second rope headbutt combo. Dynamite sells the hard head of Haku and gets hit with a superkick to be eliminated. Dino hits that deadly side suplex and instead of pinning him, he tags in Valentine for the Figure Four. He kicks out of it and it leads to Roma hitting a sunset flip to eliminate the Dream Team. This thing has just gone on way too long here. Tama dropkicks Bret while Brunzell has him up, but it backfires and Brunzell rolls through and pins Bret. We get some pretty standard stuff until the Killer Bees use a mask to confuse the referees and illegally pin the Islanders. Um, sure? So the Stallions and Bees are your survivors, which given hindsight seems like a pretty poor decision. This was good, but it was so long that you just started to not care about it. 

Match Rating: ***

We go to Ted DiBiase in a limo counting money and talking about how much better he is than us. They then show him insulting children and adults from TV. Early DiBiase was classic. Much like the tag team match, this was also very long. 

We get a long recap of the show so far with Gorilla and Jesse. They are just killing time and it's making this show feel like it's 5 hours long.

Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Hart come out to the arena for a live interview. This show just continues to drag, as he basically says nothing here. 

We go to Mean Gene with Hulk Hogan's random team. Seriously, they couldn't have spared him someone a little better than Ken Patera? 

King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, Butch Reed, One Man Gang & Andre The Giant vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, Ken Patera, Don Muraco, Paul Orndorff & Hulk Hogan

Rude and Muraco start things off. Rude's tights...yikes. I'm not even sure what he was going for with street sign tights. The face team just destroys Rude to start, but he's able to get to Butch Reed for the tag. Hogan and Orndorff double clothesline Reed and then Hogan hits the leg drop to eliminate him. Hogan is celebrating with his team and when he turns around, Andre is there. For some reason Hogan tags Patera. The match comes to a crawl with Patera and Gang in there. They both go for a clothesline, but Gang's is the one that wins and he falls on top of Patera to eliminate him. Bam Bam and Hogan hit a double boot on Gang to shift the momentum, however Bam Bam and Gang collide and both are down. Rude is back in, but so is Orndorff. Orndorff is a house of fire and signals for the piledriver. Bundy comes in from behind and nails him, allowing Rude to roll him up and eliminate him. Muraco hits a powerslam on Rude and that's enough to eliminate him, making it 3 on 3. Muraco tries to slam Gang, but he falls on top and almost gets eliminated. Muraco is thrown into Andre's corner and he takes a shot allowing Gang to hit a splash to eliminate him. Bundy hits a big clothesline on Bam Bam, but Hogan breaks up the count. We finally get back to Hogan and Andre. It all just leads to some distractions on the outside from Gang and Bundy, which just means Hogan is getting counted out. The crowd is not happy with this, as this was an absolute rarity during the Hogan era. They announce that if Hogan doesn't go to the back, Andre's team wins. That leaves Bam Bam to take on 1,500 pounds of Andre, Gang and Bundy. Bam Bam hits a dropkick on Bundy. He hits a slingshot splash on Bundy and he's gone. One Man Gang goes up to the top, but Bam Bam moves out of the way and we are down to just Bam Bam and Andre. Bam Bam tries to use his speed to avoid Andre, but he eventually gets him and hits a suplex for the victory. Not to be outdone, Hulk runs down right away and nails him with the WWF Championship. This is the match that gave us the "Hogan must pose" quote. I mean Andre didn't even get a second to acknowledge the victory. This match was a little bit more well constructed than the others and has the rare Hogan loss to boost it a little bit. 

Match Rating: ***

As Hogan is still posing, we go back to Mean Gene with Andre and Heenan. They naturally want a title shot. Jess and Gorilla wrap it up before we get some still photos of the show to close it out.

The matches were mostly decent here, but the show felt like 6 hours instead of 3. They were still figuring out things as far as how the Survivor Series matches flowed and the production wasn't what it would be in a year or so. I'm sure some people love this one, but it's not one I watch often for a reason.

Overall Rating: 46%

Survivor Series: WarGames 2023 Review

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

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%