IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 2, 2004
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

We’re pretty firmly in Wrestlemania season now with about a month and a half to go before the big show. Things started to pick up last week when Chris Benoit moved over to Raw and went straight after HHH and the World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels is still lurking around though and you know he doesn’t want anyone to go after his wrestling life partner like that. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Benoit debuting last week and throwing his hat in the World Heavyweight Title picture.

Opening sequence.

It’s already time for the Highlight Reel and Chris Jericho promises to give someone more exposure than Janet Jackson’s nipple. That would be his guest, Chris Benoit. Jericho congratulates him on winning the Rumble (Jericho: “Oh yeah. HE WON THE ROYAL RUMBLE!”) and praises Benoit’s brilliance for finding the loophole to get to Raw. He does however give Benoit a warning: Benoit isn’t just dealing with HHH, because now it’s Evolution and worst of all, Eric Bischoff.

Benoit appreciates it but no one is going to stop him from getting his World Title. Jericho thinks it might be Benoit that stops Benoit from winning the big one, which is something Jericho can relate to. We see a clip of Ric Flair telling Benoit that he always lets the brass ring slip from his fingers.

Cue Flair to say Benoit is a great physical specimen and one of the best technical wrestlers in the world but he’s a runner up. The man around here is HHH and Benoit is never going to be the man because he can’t beat the man. Benoit agrees with half of that, but at Wrestlemania he’s going to become the man. For now though, how about he fights Flair himself? This brings out Bischoff (Coach gives him a standing ovation) to make Flair/Batista vs. Jericho/Christian for the titles (rather than their scheduled #1 contenders match) instead. Benoit can have a match too, and that’s next.

Chris Benoit vs. Mark Henry

Benoit chops away and the sweat is flying off of Henry’s chest. Henry knocks him down with one shot but Benoit is right back with the kicks and chops. One heck of a clothesline puts Benoit down with Henry declaring this his world. That just means more chops until Benoit can get up top for a flying headbutt to a standing Henry. Cue HHH to watch as Henry blocks a German suplex but gets Crossfaced for the tap. Not exactly thrilling but Benoit won in a hurry.

Escape the Rules ad. Since when is this a heel promotion?

Steve Austin runs into Michaels in the back and tells him that if he wants another shot at HHH, go do something.

Video on last week’s Mick Foley/Randy Orton showdown. It was a very interesting start, but I’m not sure how strong the followup is going to/can be.

Foley is in the back when Test comes up to yell at him for costing him his spot in the Rumble. The distraction lets Orton jump Foley from behind with a belt shot. Orton declares Foley his b****.

Rene Dupree vs. Rico

The announcers start talking about the Janet Jackson incident, which sends us into a Playboy/Jackie Gayda flashing Conway last week discussion. Rico rides Dupree around to start and the USA chants begin. A snapmare sets up a neck crank on Rico but Dupree switches it to a chinlock to keep Rico on his toes. Well on the mat but close enough. Now it’s a chinlock on the mat as Lawler talks about Jackie taking her top off yet again.

Rico fights up so Dupree takes him back down for another neck crank. Yet AGAIN it’s switched to a chinlock and yet AGAIN Lawler oogles Jackie. Good grief yeah she looks great but shut up already. Rico finally fights up for good and kicks Dupree in the head for two. They fight in the corner but here’s Stacy Keibler at ringside as Conway breaks up a monkey flip. Stacy gets on the apron to distract Dupree, allowing Rico to roll him up for the pin.

Rating: D-. Was there anything worthwhile in this match? The one with back to back nerve holds into chinlocks because that’s the best this show can do anymore? Throw in the fact that it’s Rene Dupree and Rico and I have no idea what is supposed to interest me here. Oh yeah the Playboy thing. How thrilling.

Post match Stacy and Jackie dance together.

Trish Stratus is getting ready but runs into Christian, holding a Rolling Stone Magazine about the Beatles. Christian talks about Yoko Ono breaking the band up, which wouldn’t have happened with him around. Instead he would have given Yoko a one man Conchairto before she could split the band up. Anyway, good luck Trish.

Linda McMahon spoke to college voters.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly

Molly is defending….or at least will at one point, as Bischoff comes out to say this isn’t happening because Trish isn’t #1 contender. Here’s what we get instead.

Trish Stratus vs. Kane

Staring, fear, Jericho running in for the save.

Trish gets away but Kane takes out Jericho’s knee with a chair and a posting.

Post break Trish checks on Jericho, who rants about Bischoff.

Kane is still in the ring so let’s do this instead.

Goldberg vs. Kane

Goldberg hugs a special needs kid on the way in. You hear about his work with kids a lot and that’s just cool. Goldberg shoulders him down but gets booted in the face. A choke doesn’t work and Kane hits a side slam for two. That means a chinlock (Kane must be a Dupree fan) but Kane lets him up pretty quickly, switching to a choke in the corner instead. The chokeslam cuts off Goldberg’s comeback….and a bolt of lightning hits the ring. The blue lights come on and the Undertaker video plays as Kane freaks out. Goldberg hits a spear as the gong strikes and the ring fills with smoke. We’ll call it a no contest.

Rating: D+. Not a bad power match here which Kane can do well enough under the right circumstances. I’m surprised Goldberg got beaten up this badly but at least it seems to be heading to a pair of matches at Wrestlemania. Now whether or not you want to watch them may be up for debate, but at least they have a plan.

Booker T. vs. Matt Hardy

Matt, who has never run out of gas while driving and his chest hair grows swiftly, has a perfectly healthy neck here, unlike Booker, whose neck was injured on Heat. Matt hits a clothesline and a hot shot to play up the neck issues. We hit a sleeper (better than another chinlock) as the announcers talk about Mark Henry’s shoulder being popped out of socket by the Crossface. That’s the kind of thing you can say that makes the hold look that much better.

Matt’s elbow to the back of the neck gets two and it’s off to a full nelson. A legdrop gets two as you can’t accuse Matt of sticking with the same moves over and over. The Side Effect gets two more and frustration is setting in. So it back pain in the form of a spinebuster from Booker. The side kick gets two on Matt and Booker kicks him in the face. Booker blocks the Twist and it’s an ax kick so we can hear Booker’s bad hip hop song again.

Rating: D+. Matt loses again but you can’t fault his psychology. You can see the difference between the Rico vs. Dupree match with one chinlock after another and this one, with Matt running through a variety of stuff to work on the bad neck. It didn’t go anywhere, but at least he was trying and that’s better than a lot of the matches you see.

Shawn is wiping HHH’s blood off his boot when Orton comes up. Trash is talked but Shawn isn’t having any of this and scares Orton off.

Here’s HHH, in ring gear, for a chat. He talks about next week’s contract signing with Benoit and after that, Benoit has no way out. They’ll be locked in to a match at Wrestlemania and when they get into the ring together, HHH will turn Benoit’s dreams into nightmares. Oh and also next week, Benoit gets Flair. For now though, here’s a demonstration.

HHH vs. Spike Dudley

Non-title. HHH turns his back so Spike hits a forearm, only to be kneed in the face for his efforts. Another knee to the face has Spike in trouble so he grabs HHH’s leg. The Pedigree ends Spike in a hurry. It’s better than HHH talking.

Austin comes to see Goldberg, who isn’t happy with Brock Lesnar. However, Austin just happens to have a front row ticket to next week’s No Way Out. Don’t do anything that Austin wouldn’t do.

Tag Team Titles: Christian/Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair/Batista

Flair and Batista are defending and Jericho is limping badly from Kane’s attack earlier in the night. Christian and Flair start things off and they hit the mat in a hurry. An abdominal stretch goes nowhere so Christian suplexes him instead. Batista comes in off the blind tag though and there’s a slam to take Christian down. One heck of a backbreaker keeps Christian in trouble and that’s it for Batista, which might be the best idea given his rather limited offense.

Back up and Christian rams heads with Flair for a double knockdown. Jericho comes in to start chopping away (gimmick infringer) as everything breaks down. Batista gets sent to the floor and a dive takes him out, leaving Jericho to bang up his knee on a missed Lionsault. He’s fine enough to get the Walls on for the tap but Batista sneaks back in to hit the knee. The Figure Four retains the titles.

Rating: D. Not enough time to go anywhere, which is a shame given what these teams could put together. Jericho tapping is fine enough given his injury and Christian can yell at him for giving up their chance at the titles. Flair and Batista aren’t great champions but it makes for a good visual with Evolution and that’s about as good as it could get at the moment. Still though, bad match, mainly due to the lack of time.

Wrestlemania Recall: Shawn’s entrance at Wrestlemania XII. Fair enough as that was a heck of a visual.

Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton

Non-title. The referee has to separate them in the corner to start so Shawn tries a headlock takeover instead. The announcers are thrilled as they get a chance to talk about everything other than the match, including every dumb thing that has happened tonight. Back up and Orton kicks away in the corner, followed by some uppercuts for good measure. The referee gets dropkicked pretty early on so Orton grabs the belt.

That goes nowhere though as here’s Austin, on the ATV, with another referee. Now that’s how you make a delivery. Austin takes the original referee, and the title, with him and leaves. Michaels is back up and throws some right hands but they fall to the floor with Shawn holding his knee. Back from a break with Shawn fighting out of a chinlock but Orton knees him back down. That means another chinlock with a knee in the back as the knee injury seems to have vanished.

Shawn fights up, gets taken down, and we hit the third chinlock in a row. Shawn’s comeback sleeper is countered with a belly to back suplex and Orton goes up. The high crossbody misses, but I’m more interested in JR saying Coach looks like he’s wearing a condom on his head. Shawn hits the forearm and nips up, followed by the top rope elbow. Both finishers are countered so Orton gets in a DDT. Cue Foley for a distraction though and Shawn grabs a rollup for the fast pin.

Rating: C. At least it wasn’t a clean loss for the champ, but I’m really not liking the idea of Orton getting pinned by anyone at the moment. He’s in a big story so just have Foley come in and deck him for earlier or chase him off for a countout or something. Also, what was up with the Austin deal? What a random cameo that added nothing to the match.

Post match Foley comes in and beats on Orton, including a clothesline to the floor. Foley knocks Orton into the crowd so here’s HHH to send Evolution after them. HHH goes after Shawn but here’s Benoit before it can get physical. The champ leaves and Benoit shakes Shawn’s hand to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The show itself was pretty terrible but you can see where a lot of things are going, which always a positive sign. You know Wrestlemania XX is going to get a big build and they’re giving it as much time as they can, at least on Raw. Things can get better with the drama being built up, but there was too much filler/focusing on the weaker stories here to really make this week work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: July 4, 2018
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

We’re past Best in the World and there was a major moment at the TV tapings the next night, but no one has time for that because we have some one off shows to do first. For the life of me I don’t get why this is the best they can do, but hopefully they can keep it down to just a week or two this time. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Jonathan Gresham vs. Kenny King

Gresham goes for the arm to start but King actually takes over with an armbar of his own. You wouldn’t expect him to actually win a technical display but he even one ups that by winning on the mat. Back up and Gresham’s top wristlock works a bit better and he flips over into a crucifix for two. King goes back to what works for him with a double shoulder but some headlock takeovers annoy him all over.

We take a break and come back with King flipping Gresham off his back for a big thud. Gresham gets whipped hard into the corner and we hit an arm trap chinlock. King plants him but takes way too long trash talking before missing a springboard legdrop. Back up and Gresham scores with a running kick in the corner, followed by a running delayed dropkick.

A hard spinebuster gives King two but the Royal Flush is countered into a small package. They roll around exchanging small packages for a few near falls each and the fans are way into that, which I think I can get. A standing Lionsault drops King for no cover and they’re both down. King drops him on the back of his head though and the Royal Flush is good for the pin at 11:47.

Rating: C+. King played a good heel here and Gresham is someone who can wrestle against anyone so this was a rather nice TV match. They’re playing up the idea that Gresham can’t win the big match (if you consider King the big match) and that means he’s either turning heel soon (not a terrible idea but not needed) or he’s going to keep getting closer until he finally pulls it off. Either way, I’m more interested in Gresham than I was before.

In two weeks, there’s a six man tag team gauntlet for a shot at the Six Man Tag Team Titles. Oh sweet goodness how bad could the lineup be for that?

Josh Woods vs. Facade

Shane Taylor is on commentary. Woods wastes no time in rolling some gutwrench suplexes but the last one is countered with a hurricanrana. Facade kicks him in the face and hits a standing Lionsault (just like in the first match) to send Woods outside. Back in and Woods misses a running knee in the corner and gets kicked in the head again as Facade is moving around fast enough to mess with Woods’ timing.

A rope walk dropkick puts Woods on the floor again and a double springboard flip dive (with Woods waiting in one place way too long) drops him again. There’s a springboard bulldog for two and that’s enough for Woods, who comes back with Rolling Chaos Theory. A reverse AA is enough for the pin on Facade at 4:11.

Rating: C. Facade looked good for a high flier and his springboards were solid enough. He was a bit sloppy though and that’s not the best thing in the world. I do however like the way Ring of Honor gives people a shot like this and Facade made something of it. Woods is still trying to figure things out and get back on track after the Top Prospect Tournament but this wasn’t the best way in the world.

Post match Woods calls out Taylor and Shane agrees to fight here in New York. Actually hang on because Taylor isn’t fighting in front of these people for free. Wait Taylor is a heel? That seems to change far too often.

Earlier today, the Dawgs tried to get Taylor on their team for the gauntlet. They don’t knock though and offer an IOU, which doesn’t work for Taylor.

Cheeseburger is ready for a No DQ/No Countout match against Ray next week.

Matt Taven vs. Ultimo Guerrero

Oh it’s a post pay per view TV show for sure. No Vinny Marseglia with Taven and TK O’Ryan here and I don’t find that to be a bad thing. This is an old rivalry and Guerrero works a top wristlock to start. The fans give that a LUCHA LIBRE chant and it’s time for a standoff, complete with a lack of commentary for some reason. After chasing O’Ryan away, Guerrero sends Taven to the apron and baseball slides him out to the floor.

Taven gets thrown into the crowd and O’Ryan goes into the barricade to keep things even. Another whip sends Guerrero into the barricade as well and we take a break. Back with Guerrero fighting out of a chinlock but gets enziguried out to the floor. That sets up Taven’s great looking no hands dive but Guerrero steps to the side. Taven and O’Ryan are set on a chair for a big wipeout, followed by some rapid(ish) fire chops in the corner.

A super gordbuster gets two but Taven is right back with a knee to the face. Back again with Taven getting two off a Lionsault but having a super hurricanrana countered into a superbomb. A springboard enziguri drops Guerrero again but he’s right back up to catch Taven on top. Cue the red balloons and Marseglia from underneath the ring for a distraction though, allowing Taven to hit the Climax for the pin at 14:17.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure what to say about this. It wasn’t boring and the work was fine but Guerrero is more a treat for the live crowd and he’s not exactly the biggest name in the world. This really felt like a main event on a show you didn’t need to see and while it was fine, it’s really not a match that I need to see or really care about. Taven has gotten a lot better though.

Post match the Kingdom celebrates for a long time before Taven says he respects Guerrero. Just realize that you’re not as good as Taven of course.

Overall Rating: C. Oh yeah this was a post pay per view show. No major stars (Taven is close but I’m not seeing him as a top guy), no major stories, and a “big” main event that will mean nothing in about a week and isn’t likely to be referenced again. The worst part is we’ll do this again next week because we might be looking at the second half of the month before we FINALLY get something storyline driven. You get used to it, but that doesn’t make it any better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: July 4, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’re well on the way to Takeover: Brooklyn with the NXT Title match pretty clearly set and that’s going to make for some interesting weeks ahead. NXT knows how to build up a card in a hurry and I’m looking forward to see what else we get on the upcoming show. Things are good around here and they could get even better so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Dakota Kai vs. Santana Garrett

They shake hands to start and the bigger Garrett runs her over without much effort. Garrett grabs something close to a Black Widow and then switches to a Muta Lock. Since that can’t last long, Kai pops up with an enziguri. Some facewashes rock Garrett and the running sunset flip Backstabber gives Kai the win at 3:37.

Rating: C-. I could have gone for a bit more of this but Kai has a cool finisher and is adorable enough to hang around for a long time. You know, say to eventually take out Shayna Baszler for example. Garrett is someone who you would expect to be a bigger deal than she is as she has the skill, the size and the look.

Otis Dozovic was at the Performance Center earlier today, talking about wanting a juicy steak. He finds Tucker Knight down and holding his knee, which is a way to write Knight out for their match later. Knight had to miss the show due to his wife having a baby, but NXT is smart enough to come up with a quick story to cover that. Perhaps blaming it on their opponents tonight? As in unlike this week on Raw where WWE made sure to NOT blame the B Team for Bray Wyatt being gone.

Here’s Shayna Baszler for a chat. She talked about going rabid at Takeover to defeat Nikki Cross. Baszler wants more competition and isn’t scared of anyone like Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane or Candice LeRae. It’s so bad that they have to have another Mae Young Classic because she’s out of people to beat up. Not that it matters because the answer will always be the same. They’ll go to sleep and you’ll hear “AND STILL your NXT Women’s Champion!” Baszler is nailing the character as well as anyone I’ve seen in a long time and this was good, cocky arrogance.

Danny Burch gives an update on Oney Lorcan: he has a broken orbital bone but has already undergone surgery. They’re looking at about three months on the shelf but then it’s time for a run at the Tag Team Titles. The Undisputed Era comes in to say they’re coming for the Titles next week because they’re invoking their rematch clause. Oh and Burch is kind of a loser. Burch brings up their success against the Era and challenges Adam Cole to a match next week. Cole laughs and accepts.

Video on War Raiders.

We look back at Tommaso Ciampa challenging Aleister Black for the NXT Title. The match is in three weeks on TV. I’m hoping they don’t change the title and then rush a third Ciampa vs. Gargano match for Brooklyn.

The Mighty vs. Otis Dozovic

Otis wastes no time in running them both over and BLASTS Thorn with a right hand to the side of the head. Miller is sent face first into the buckle but Thorn gets in a cheap shot from behind to knock him to the floor. Some double teaming has Dozovic in trouble and we hit the neck crank. That’s fine with Dozovic, who suplexes both of them at the same time for a breather. Running splashes in the corner keep the Mighty in trouble but Dozovic misses a Vader Bomb. Miller shoves him into a clothesline to the back of the head for the pin at 5:52.

Rating: C-. That was as nice of a surprise as you were going to get with Dozovic working hard to survive on his own. What impresses me more though is how they came up with the short story about Knight being gone. They have their bases covered and spent what, maybe five minutes to film something that takes care of a problem? It really does show how organized this place is and how unorganized the main roster can be at times.

Bianca Belair is on her honeymoon and laughs off the idea of all these women trying to say they deserve to be #1 contender. I mean, are they Bianca Belair? Then they don’t belong at the front of the line.

Kairi Sane wants to face Vanessa Borne next week.

Velveteen Dream vs. Chris Dijak

Dream doesn’t seem impressed, not even looking at Dijak as he comes to the ring. Dijak doesn’t seem impressed when Dream strikes his pose and suplex throws him down with ease. A superkick makes things worse and Dream gets tossed away again in a great power display. Dream finally gets in a few shots and turns up the aggression, including a hip swivel neckbreaker. A chinlock doesn’t work as Dijak fights up with some hard rights and a discus big boot for two. Dream gets sent to the floor so Dijak heads up but gets pulled down, sending him face first into the steps. Back in and the twisting DDT ends Dijak at 5:02.

Rating: C+. Dijak continues to impress as an athletic freak and you can tell that they’ve got something planned for him. You don’t give him that much offense in his first two matches and not have something planned for him down the line. He has the look, the power and the work to go a long way, which makes the roster around here all the more impressive. It took him that long to get onto TV, just because there’s so much other good stuff around him.

Dream poses post match but EC3’s entrance for the main event cuts him off. Dream isn’t pleased.

Moustache Mountain is ready to defend the belts next week.

EC3 vs. Johnny Gargano

Gargano is all fired up and punches EC3 out to the floor so it’s a headlock to calm things a bit (EC3: “SETTLE DOWN!”) back inside. That just earns him a Thesz press and some forearms but EC3 chops his way to freedom. A running flip neckbreaker gets two and it’s off to a nerve hold on Gargano. EC3 sends him hard into the corner to bang up the neck again and it’s back to the nerve hold.

Back up and Gargano hits some shots to the head, followed by the slingshot spear. EC3 is rocked and a suicide dive makes things even worse. They get back inside and a hard clothesline drops Gargano again but he spins away and takes EC3 down. The Gargano Escape is broken up so Gargano tries a triangle choke. That’s reversed into a big sitout powerbomb for two but Gargano goes mega angry and kicks EC3’s head off.

The knee is exposed ala Ciampa but EC3 cuts him off. That’s fine with Gargano, who takes him down into the Gargano Escape. A rope grab breaks that up as well so Gargano puts it on again, still next to the rope (on purpose as he just wants to be violent). With EC3 basically done, a hanging DDT is good for the pin at 10:04.

Rating: B-. Gargano’s saga continues and I’m still hoping that we don’t get the match rushed straight to Brooklyn. Let it build up a bit and then let Gargano finally win the NXT Title to send Ciampa off to the main roster, where he hopefully isn’t sent to 205 Live to rot. EC3 loses his first singles match but there’s nothing wrong with being beaten by a whirlwind like Gargano, who is the top face in the promotion and can do no wrong at the moment.

Overall Rating: C+. Despite it being a holiday show, there was nothing that felt out of place here. Some stories were advanced and more stuff was set up for next week as we roll on towards Takeover, which could be a heck of a card if the lower stuff is built up well. It’s still not clear where some of the matches are going but there’s a lot of time to set those up. Another good show here, as NXT knows exactly how to time everything they need to cover.

Results

Dakota Kai b. Santana Garrett – Sunset flip Backstabber

The Mighty b. Otis Dozovic – Clothesline to the back of the head

Velveteen Dream b. Chris Dijak – Wind up DDT

Johnny Gargano b. EC3 – Hanging DDT

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #11
Date: June 29, 2018
Location: Gilt Nightclub, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Rich Bocchini, Tony Schiavone

Things are starting to take shape around here but at the same time, there is still new stuff being addle every week which makes the show that much more fun to watch. We’re also getting closer to Battle Riot later this month, which should be a lot of fun if they do it right. I’m not sure what to expect tonight so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s show with Barrington Hughes fighting Sami Callihan’s goons.

Hughes, with a bandage around his head, says he was jumped from behind by something made of metal. They’re not done quarreling or rumbling.

Opening sequence.

We look back at Kotto Brazil beating Vandal Ortagun last week.

Kotto is proud of his win but here are Callihan’s goons and Callihan himself to jump Brazil from behind. Callihan says that’s a message for MVP, as that feud is still going. They take Kotto away.

Ariel Dominguez vs. Jaye Skye

This is a Prospect match and Dominguez weighs 140lbs. They lock up in the corner but here are Su Yung and Zeda Zhang (from the Mae Young Classic) to beat them both down for a no contest after about a minute.

Video on Low Ki wanting to claim the bounty on Shane Strickland. He wants to burn the house of Swerve to the ground. The bounty is now up to $60,000. I don’t like Low Ki but the low voiceover is a very nice touch and rather creepy.

Newly announced for Battle Riot: Tom Lawlor, Brody King, Low Ki, Jimmy Havoc, Samu, Leon Scott. Yes that’s Headshrinker Samu. I’m not sure I get it either.

Also announced for the show: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Joey Ryan for the inaugural Middleweight Championship. That’s rather abrupt.

MVP finds Kotto (no idea how) along with a phone featuring a message from Callihan, who wants to meet him in the boiler room.

Fred Yehi vs. Sammy Guevara

Sammy has Salina de la Renta with him along with a big bodyguard. In the back, Team Filthy offers Fred what sounds to be a rather insincere good luck. A trip to the mat goes nowhere and Yehi runs him over with a shoulder. Back up and Guevara does a standing backflip instead of a leapfrog, which is rather impressive looking. Unfortunately it doesn’t do much good as Yehi grabs the arm to take over. A release German suplex drops Guevara for two but he belly to belly suplexes Yehi into the corner to cut him off.

Guevara puts him in a fireman’s carry to do some squats but Yehi slips out and forearms him in the face. There’s a powerbomb for two on Guevara and it’s time for a sloppy looking sequence where they seem to mistime multiple spots, including Guevara slipping out of a full nelson and getting covered for two. Yehi is tired of the missed spots and grabs a Koji Clutch for the tap at 6:31.

Rating: C. Yehi is getting more and more fun to watch every time he’s out there and Guevara is fine for a cocky heel who can get what’s coming to him. This worked fine and gave Yehi a win that he needed. You can go a few places with someone like him but it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t win at least a few times.

Post match de la Renta ignores Guevara’s excuses.

We look back at Yung and Zhang’s attack earlier.

Team Filthy runs into Low Ki and thank him for building up the bounty money. Low Ki brings up Lawlor being #1 contender and points out all the #1 contenders who have lost their shot. Oh and Low Ki is getting the next title shot anyway. Ki’s voice really is great for things like this.

We look back at Callihan attacking MVP until Brazil made the save, only to have Callihan and company beat them both down with the baseball bat.

Callihan says what happened to Brazil was just a warning to MVP. The boiler room challenge is thrown out again.

We look back at Team Filthy beating Jimmy Havoc down about a month ago.

Havoc is sitting by Team Filthy’s hot tub and says he’s watching them.

Clip of Fenix and Pentagon becoming Tag Team Champions.

Team TBD is arguing and can’t be interviewed right now.

Rich Swann vs. ACH

Tom Lawlor is on commentary and isn’t pleased with both guys dancing before the bell. Lawlor: “I want to beat somebody up.” Swann rolls away from an early chop in the corner as Bocchini asks why the prize in Team Filthy Open Challenges is so low. ACH gets in a roll of his own and backflips into a standoff. There’s a dropkick to put ACH down but Swann doesn’t seem interested in being very aggressive.

An attempt at a handspring bulldog is pretty easily countered as ACH pulls him out of the air and it’s off to a chinlock. A backbreaker into a snap German suplex gives ACH two and we’re right back to the chinlock. Rich: “How do you counter that suplex?” Lawler: “Don’t get caught in it in the first place.” ACH hits him in the back and we hit the third chinlock in about six minutes. I mean….do an armbar or something. Swann fights up and grabs a headscissors for two and a jumping hurricanrana brings ACH off the ropes.

ACH gets in a double stomp to the back and kicks him in the head but comes up holding his shoulder. It’s fine enough for a middle rope frog splash and a one armed deadlift German suplex gets two. Lawlor: “But what if he had two???” Swann is right back up with a Lethal Injection and they’re both banged up. A slow slugout goes to Swann off a kick to the face for two but the standing 450 hits boots. Swann tries la majistral but ACH lays down on it for the surprise pin at 12:37.

Rating: B-. This was a different kind of match as neither was wanting to go that high as neither was willing to find out if the other was that much better. ACH needed the win a lot more than Swann, but it’s kind of surprising to see someone with Swann’s WWE status and being so new take a loss. Still though, not too bad.

Overall Rating: C+. This show isn’t great but I’ve yet to see a bad episode from these guys. They put on good shows with stories that have been put together logically and you can start to see where things are supposed to go. I like what I’ve been seeing and that’s not something I can say happens with a lot of promotions with more time than this one.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: July 3, 2018
Location: Century Link Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

Things are starting to look up around here as the characters and stories are getting better. Tonight we have what should be the big ending to a pretty solid rivalry as Mustafa Ali faces Buddy Murphy in a No DQ match. Ali is one of the best things about this show and Murphy looks better every week so this should be good. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Drake Maverick’s opening recap looks back at Cedric Alexander challenging Hideo Itami and a fight nearly breaking out as a result. The match is on for next week. TJP’s recent issues with Maverick get a look as well.

Here’s TJP for a match against an opponent of Maverick’s choosing. As TJP puts it, hasn’t that been the case for every one of TJP’s recent opponents? He’s not happy to not be in the main event in this dump of a town because fun and excitement come to Nebraska to die. So get the opponent out here.

TJP vs. Noam Dar

This is Dar’s first match on 205 Live in several months after a bad knee injury. TJP’s look of “well dang it” when Dar comes out is great. Dar explodes with some strikes, kicks him in the leg and hits the running kick to the head to pin TJP in 29 seconds. Well that certainly worked.

We look back at Ali beating Murphy four months ago in the Cruiserweight Title tournament by taking out Murphy’s arm. Ali tried to do the same thing two months later but Murphy got more aggressive and won the rematch.

Murphy is ready to send Ali to the hospital before getting his title shot.

TJP leaves without talking about what just happened.

Akira Tozawa vs. Jaysin Strife

Hang on though as Lio Rush comes out to watch. Tozawa chops away to start and decks Strike in the jaw with a right hand. There’s a backsplash but Strife does manage a jumping knee to the face. Tozawa has had it with him though and his a Shining Wizard, followed by the top rope backsplash for the pin on Strife at 2:07.

Rush seems impressed and gets on the announcers’ table to praise Tozawa. He should be ashamed though because there’s a difference between Tozawa and Rush. See, Rush doesn’t wait for anything because he’s just too good to wait.

Ali is ready to run straight at danger tonight.

Alexander is ready to take out the next challenge to his legacy.

Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy

No DQ and Ali punches him off the apron before the bell, setting up a big dive to the floor. They get inside for the bell and Murphy kicks him in the head before taking it right back outside. Ali punches his way out of the announcers’ area and sends Murphy face first into the steps. A crossbody off the barricade takes Murphy down in the crowd as they’re going very hard in the opening minutes.

Back to ringside with Ali trying to walk the barricade but getting pulled down by the hair for a crash onto the ramp. A suplex onto the ramp has Ali’s back in even more trouble and it’s off to a chinlock with a knee in the back. Thankfully a rope grab means nothing here so Murphy goes with a hard kick to the back to keep Ali in trouble again. Murphy: “I could do this all day.” Or all night, as the show doesn’t take place during the day. A rather nice back body drop and a forearm to the spine continue the targeting with a good variety.

Murphy ducks his head though and gets kicked in the face to finally give Ali a breather. There’s a dropkick to put Murphy in the corner and the rolling X Factor gets two. They head outside again with Ali eating some announcers’ table so Murphy sends the steps inside with the edge on the apron. As Ali gets up, Murphy baseball slides them into his face and follows with a big springboard flip dive, which actually impresses the crowd.

Back in and the steps are set up in the corner with Ali being tossed into them for a nasty looking crash, back first of course. Since Ali won’t give up, he sends Murphy into the steps with a hurricanrana. Murphy isn’t done though and snaps off a powerbomb into a sitout powerbomb for a heck of a near fall. They’re beating the heck out of each other here and it’s awesome. Murphy, rather frustrated now, goes up but gets crotched, leaving Ali to ram the steps into his head. Fans: “NO MORE STAIRS!” Oh good grief. Let me guess: they would prefer tables.

With Murphy still on the top, Ali stands the steps up and stands on top of them for an extra high superplex and a BIG crash. Ali knocks him outside but gets flapjacked onto the announcers’ table, drawing another meek WE WANT TABLES chant. Murphy climbs onto the barricade but Ali gets up, jumps onto the table and then onto the barricade for a C4 onto the announcers’ table, which doesn’t break. Freaking OW MAN!

Back in and Ali gets his arms tied in the ropes, leaving Murphy to hit three straight running knees to the head. Somehow Ali isn’t dead and looks up at Murphy with a shake of his head. Another knee to the head gets two, leaving Murphy completely flabbergasted. Murphy grabs the steps again but charges into a boot, allowing Ali to run up the steps and hit his pop up tornado DDT for the pin and the title at 22:47.

Rating: A. That’s pretty easily the best 205 Live match ever as they absolutely did not stop the entire time with Ali fighting through the back injury with the pure heart that defines him like no one else. Ali surviving the biggest, hardest hitting guy on the roster for over twenty minutes and even managing to beat him was incredible stuff and one of the best matches I’ve ever seen this show have. One day Ali is going to (or at least certainly should) win the Cruiserweight Title and it’s going to be one of the biggest reactions this show has ever seen. Make time to see this match as it’s absolutely amazing.

A lot of replays take us out.

Overall Rating: A+. I’m not sure what else you could ask for on a fifty minute show. You had a hot angle at the beginning, a squash to start a new feud and an instant classic for the main event. I loved this show and couldn’t stop watching the main event. 205 Live has rapidly become a treat to watch and this was the best episode they’ve ever done. Check this show out and keep watching it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: July 3, 2018
Location: Century Link Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re less than two weeks away from Extreme Rules and the top story around here is the reunion of Daniel Bryan and Kane, who got back together last week and are already receiving Tag Team Title shot at the pay per view. Other than that we’re getting closer to Rusev Day where Rusev might win the WWE Championship. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Kane returning to help Bryan last week. You know what we haven’t opened with either tonight or last night? An In Memory Of Matt Cappotelli graphic. Couple that with the lack of a Vader tribute video (on TV at least, as they did have one on YouTube) and WWE is really slacking in this area as of late.

Jey goes over some more of the team’s history but doesn’t think they should be getting a title shot. They get a title shot because they’re out here HUGGING? The Usos hug four times so they should get four title matches. The challenge is thrown out but Kane says they need to consider this as a team. Bryan doesn’t think much of this because Kane still thinks he’s the weak link. Cue Paige to confirm the Bryan and Kane will get the shot at the “Smackd” (yes Smack D, minus the own at the end) titles. Tonight though they’re facing the Usos, who will be added to the title match if they win.

Jeff Hardy explains why bald eagles are cool and has a US Open Challenge tonight.

Asuka is ready to beat up James Ellsworth tonight.

US Title: Jeff Hardy vs. ???

Hardy is defending against….The Miz, and thankfully they actually mention Miz beating Hardy in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. I’m rather surprised and pleased. A sitout jawbreaker has Miz in early trouble but it’s too early for the Twist of Fate. Miz bails from the threat of a Swanton and we take a break.

Back with Jeff fighting out of a chinlock but getting kicked down for two. That gets several replays before Jeff fights back with some of his usual, including a forearm and the legdrop between the legs. Some right hands send Miz outside but a missed charge into the barricade takes us to a second break after only being back for a few minutes.

Back again with Jeff hitting a spinning kick to the chest but favoring his leg, which Miz worked on during the break. Miz hits the running corner clothesline but misses a top rope ax handle, allowing Jeff to score with the Whisper in the Wind for two. A rollup with feet on the ropes gives Miz the same so he gets in an argument with the referee, allowing Jeff to hit the Twisting Stunner and a Swanton to retain at 16:25.

Rating: B-. The rapid fire commercials didn’t do this many favors but the match worked well enough, especially when Miz didn’t have much of a chance to win the title. It’s pretty clear that Shinsuke Nakamura is getting the title as soon as his leg heals up, which very well may be at Extreme Rules. That being said, I do like the idea of the title being defended more regularly.

Extreme Rules rundown. Two gimmick matches (an Iron Man match and an Extreme Rules match) aren’t exactly enough to live up to the show’s name.

James Ellsworth is posting in front of a mirror and promises to show that men are the superior gender.

Byron Saxton is in the ring, wearing a straw hat for….oh holy sweet goodness….the Third of July Pancake Eating Contest. The participants (of course New Day) all get introductions, including a few biographical details (Woods was born in a barrel of butcher knives and raised in a forest fire) but Big E.’s is so long that Byron just skips it. There’s a five minute clock and the pancakes are red, white and blue. The lights go out a few seconds in and here’s Sanity from behind to beat New Day down. I’ve never been so glad to see Eric Young. Big E. is thrown over the announcers’ table and Woods is elbow dropped through the table.

We look at the famous Battle of the Sexes tennis match to set up Ellsworth vs. Asuka.

Asuka vs. James Ellsworth

Carmella comes out for commentary but hang on a second as Ellsworth needs to do some pushups. A single push puts Ellsworth on the floor and Asuka unloads on him with right hands into the airplane spin. Ellsworth needs to stop for a breath so Asuka slaps the heck out of him. That’s enough for Ellsworth who runs into the crowd and it’s a double countout at 1:53.

Asuka chases Ellsworth back to ringside and gets hit with the belt.

Bryan has a list of things Kane has done to him over the years and wants an apology for all of them. Kane apologizes for everything and says Bryan is like a brother to him. Bryan: “You set your brother on fire!” Kane: “That’s…..never mind!” Kane talks about how important this is and asks if Bryan is ready. I’ll let you fill in the details.

Hardy vs. Nakamura is confirmed for Extreme Rules. Again, no gimmick attached.

Here’s AJ Styles for a match but first he talks about facing someone bigger and stronger than he is at Extreme Rules. That’s what he loves to do though because it’s another challenge. Rusev has been saying that he’s coming to take the title and throw him out. AJ: “Does he think this is rental property?” Cue Rusev to say he’s going to throw AJ out of the house that he built and move in on RUSEV DAY.

AJ Styles vs. Aiden English

Non-title. Rusev says he forgot to tell AJ something so English jumps him from behind. Rusev: “Never mind!” We take an early break and come back with English grabbing a neckbreaker for two. Not that it matters as the Calf Crusher makes English tap at 4:30.

Post match Rusev beats Styles down.

The Iconics are ready for Becky Lynch tonight.

Carmella yells at Ellsworth when Paige comes up. Next week it’s Asuka vs. Ellsworth in a lumberjack match.

Becky Lynch vs. Peyton Royce

Neither gets an entrance, but we got to see more from Ellsworth so it’s all fine. Peyton wastes no time in dropping Becky with a Samoan drop for two and it’s off to an abdominal stretch. That’s switched into a seated abdominal stretch but Becky is back up with the Bexploder. Becky slips out of a fireman’s carry and the Disarm-Her makes Royce tap at 3:32.

Rating: D+. In theory this is building towards Becky vs. Carmella, and while it makes me cringe to think that Carmella is going to go over Asuka again, I can appreciate the idea of Lynch getting another run with the title. She’s one of the best all around performers on the roster and I’m not sure why she hasn’t gotten another chance already.

Nakamura promises to strip away Jeff’s pride, honor and title.

Usos vs. HELL NO

If the Usos win, they’re added to the Tag Team Title match at Extreme Rules. Bryan drop toeholds Jimmy down to start and puts on the surfboard. A corner dropkick seems to wake Jimmy up for some reason so it’s off to Jey, who gets dropkicked as well. Kane comes in and misses an elbow but shoves both twins over the top at once. They pull Kane out with them though and it’s back to back dives to drop Bryan and Kane as we take a break.

Back with Bryan speeding up things up and hitting another running dropkick on Jey in the corner. There’s a super hurricanrana and the YES Kicks have Jey in even more trouble. The Usos finally get their stuff together and take Bryan down with Jimmy stomping away in the corner. A backbreaker/middle rope chop combination gets two and the Usos make a wish on Bryan’s legs.

Back up and a double clothesline allows the hot tag to Kane but he’s kicked to the floor without much effort. Jey charges into an uppercut but it’s time for the superkicks. Back to back double superkicks put Bryan down and get two on Kane and it’s time to go up. The Double Us is caught by the throat, allowing Bryan to knee Jey down and Kane to chokeslam Jimmy for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: C. Kane looked REALLY bad here, barely able to move and not doing much of anything other than being knocked back a few steps and signature stuff. The guy is 50 years old and barely even wrestles part time anymore, but his talking and character stuff is still more than enough reason to have him around. Bryan worked most of the match and was his usual self, but the important thing was they got the finish right.

Bryan and Kane do the YES pose and hug, only to be cut off by the Bludgeon Brothers. A big staredown ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I don’t know if this show is that much better (and it’s pretty good) or if it’s just so much better than Raw but this was so much more pleasant to watch than what we saw last night. This is a show with logical angles and you can see where they’re going, but more importantly the people aren’t doing horrible things to each other and expecting us to cheer as a result. That makes for such an easier night to watch and is why Smackdown continues to stay miles ahead of Raw.

Results

Jeff Hardy b. The Miz – Swanton Bomb

Asuka vs. James Ellsworth went to a double countout

AJ Styles b. Aiden English – Calf Crusher

Becky Lynch b. Peyton Royce – Disarm-Her

HELL NO b. Usos – Chokeslam to Jimmy

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Lucha Underground

Lucha Underground
Date: June 27, 2018
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening video recaps the opening of the season and last week’s show, which set up tonight’s casket match.

Ricky Mundo is with the rest of Lucha Underground and playing with his creepy, dirty baby doll. Johnny Mundo and Taya come in and say it’s time for war with the Reptile Tribe. Well save for Jack Evans, who is scared of snakes. Johnny asks where Angelico is and everyone leaves. The baby gives an evil laugh and says Ricky’s secret is safe with her because dolls are creepy.

Jack Evans vs. XO Lishus

Lishus is an exotico (man in drag) and rather flamboyant. Evans handles his old entrance because he’s kind of a jerk at times but it works for him. An armdrag into a split has Evans in trouble and Lishus, ahem, thrusts out his hips as he stands up. A Matrix lets Lishus avoid a clothesline so Evans hits a moonsault onto him instead. Evans gets sent to the floor though for a big dive as the fans seem to like Lishus.

Back in and Evans cranks on the arm, followed by a front flip into an eye poke in the corner. It’s off to a freaky arm hold with Evans pushing on Lishus’ face with a boot, causing him to lose an eyelash. Lishus fights up so Evans kicks him in the face but gets sent into the corner. Christy Hemme’s old Flying Firecrotch Guillotine (just go with it) gets two on Evans but a super X Factor is enough to put Evans away at 5:55.

Rating: D+. Not terrible here but I’ve never been a fan of the exotico gimmicks. This guy at least can have the matches to back it up though, putting him at least a few steps ahead of some of the others I’ve seen over the years. They need some new characters though and this is at least something fresh, which is as good as they can do right now.

Pentagon Dark talks about all the people he’s defeated to hang onto the title. No one is taking it from him, because he’s Pentagon. Cage ran in and hit him with the Lucha Underground Title, followed by a powerbomb off the apron through a table. See, Pentagon can’t break him because he’s a machine.

Melissa Santos is worried about losing Fenix. He’s all “I got this” before getting a kiss.

Mil Muertes vs. Fenix vs. Jeremiah Crane

Three way casket match with elimination rules. They go at it to start with Crane being sent to the floor and Fenix doing all his flips to drop Muertes. Now it’s Crane back in to send Fenix outside for a suicide elbow, only to have Fenix pop back up top for a moonsault to the floor. Fenix wraps a wreath around Crane’s head and rams him face first into the casket but Muertes is right back up.

Crane runs around the ring for some reason, only to get cut off by a hard shoulder. Muertes throws Crane onto the casket but a double superkick cuts him off. A powerbomb puts Muertes through a table and Crane takes Fenix up the steps and piledrives him on a balcony. Muertes is up there with them though, only to have Fenix dive off a higher balcony to take them both down. You know, as Fenix is known to do. Crane falls down the steps and it’s time for a table inside. Just in case we didn’t have enough violence yet.

Fenix loads up something off the top to put Crane through a table but gets thrown over the post, landing on Muertes on another table on the floor. Back in and Crane piledrives Fenix through the other table (egads) but here’s Ivelisse with a HAMMER to Crane’s knee and hand for a save. She knocks Crane into the casket and shuts the lid to get us down to two. Guys in skeleton masks come out to, I guess the word is collect, Crane as we take a break. Back with Muertes running Fenix down and going after his mask.

A turnbuckle pad is pulled off so Muertes catapults Fenix face first into the buckle. That’s not enough so he unhooks the buckle to disable the bottom rope. The empty casket is brought in and a dropkick puts Muertes in, only to have Muertes block the door. Muertes knocks him out of the air and drops Fenix onto the casket to dent the door. Fenix is dead so Muertes throws him in the other casket to win at 24:38 as Striker quotes the Bible because he’s never one to let a chance to sound melodramatic pass by.

Rating: B+. These matches never disappoint as they don’t try for anything more than violence for the sake of violence. Muertes needed to win something like this as it’s a monster doing monster things. You can only beat him so many times before it stops mattering and that’s the path they were heading down. He’s a great character who is basically this company’s version of Undertaker/Kane so he needs something like this every now and then.

Matanza is in chains and Antonio says this was his fault. Dario Cueto wasted Matanza’s powers and it’s time for Matanza to become a god. Antonio throws him the key, allowing Matanza to free himself, before walking away. Matanza roars a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I wasn’t feeling the first match but the main event was a lot of fun and showed you why Lucha Underground became such an underground sensation. The characters are starting to grow again and when you have a cool match to help pay it off, things get that much better. Good show here, as things are hopefully getting back into the groove that has worked for them so well over the first three seasons.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 2, 2018
Location: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Commentators: Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman, Michael Cole

We’re getting closer to Extreme Rules but we’re missing a lot of the extreme. At the moment we have one match with any kind of a gimmick announced with Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler in an Iron Man match. Other than that we might get to find out what Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley are fighting for since Brock Lesnar might not be working Summerslam. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Lashley and Reigns’ issues, including losing a match to the Revival to even their series. The third match is tonight. We also look at the Intercontinental Title match with Drew McIntyre costing Seth Rollins his rematch.

Here’s Reigns for a chat. He knows Lashley is a tough guy and that means he wants a fight right here right now. Lashley is an egomaniac so let’s do this. Instead here are Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, to say Reigns couldn’t mind his own business last week. The fight is on in a hurry with the numbers taking Reigns down until Rollins runs in for the save.

Back from a break with Rollins and Reigns running into Kurt Angle in the back. The tag match is made for next week. Reigns wants it tonight but Reigns and Lashley are teaming up against the Revival. AGAIN. Actually hang on though as Angle makes Rollins/Reigns vs. McIntyre/Ziggler tonight. No word on if the Revival match is still on or not.

Matt Hardy vs. Curtis Axel

Bray Wyatt isn’t here tonight because of a car wreck on Friday, but of course WWE can’t possibly blame his absence on the B Team. That might make too much sense and they might have to write something original so it’s not in the cards. Nah instead here’s the B Team parodying Wyatt and Hardy again because it’s funny (pal). Matt shoves him down and Bo Dallas offers Curtis some advice.

A neckbreaker gives Matt two but it’s too early for the Twist of Fate. Back from a break with Axel hitting a bad looking dropkick and a backbreaker gets two. Hardy sends him into the buckle and grabs the Side Effect for two. The Twist of Fate is loaded up but Dallas offers a distraction, allowing Axel to post Hardy. The Axhole ends Hardy at 9:30.

Rating: D. This feud started off with some potential and has gotten old very fast because it’s a two note story: the B Team are a couple of schmucks and they parody Hardy and Wyatt. That’s the entirety of the story and there’s no hint that they’re going anywhere else. It comes off as more lazy writing and another case of coming up with the lone idea then putting up your feet and saying “back in a month”. This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem on Raw and this feud does it almost as badly as anything else.

Reigns and Rollins are talking about Seth’s Iron Man match when Lashley comes in. He wants to fight Reigns too but they’ll get it together tonight. Reigns says all Lashley has to do is stand on the apron and smile while collecting the win. Lashley is ready to fight now but they’ll work together tonight.

We recap Sasha Banks and Bayley exploding (again) last week.

Earlier today, Bayley went to counseling and Sasha was there too. Dr. Shelby (of Team HELL NO anger management fame) is their therapist and is ready to take them into the friend zone. Inside his office, Shelby goes over the seven tenants of friendship. More on this later because we have a running joke.

Titus Worldwide vs. Authors of Pain

Titus actually powers Rezar into the corner to start and brings Apollo in with Akum following him. A Dominator plants Crews as Cole spits out adjectives to describe the Authors. You know, because a team of powerful monsters need descriptions. There’s a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Crews and Titus is sent shoulder first into the post. The Last Chapter ends Crews at 2:56.

Kevin Owens is just arriving and looks very nervous about leaving his car. A valet comes up and asks for his keys but Owens says no chance.

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

Ziggler and Rollins start with an early cradle getting two on Seth. Another rollup gets the same so Seth dropkicks him into the corner. Drew comes in to run Rollins over and a shove by the throat puts him down again. It’s off to Reigns who is powered into the corner so Drew can punch him in the head.

The Samoan drop is broken up and McIntyre runs Reigns over again. A superkick gives Ziggler two but one heck of a right hand knocks him out of the air. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Rollins as the pace picks up. A suicide dive hits McIntyre and an apron kick into the frog splash gets two with McIntyre diving in for the save. Rollins and Ziggler exchange rollups until Dolph is sent to the floor.

That means a dive off the post to both villains and we take a break because the match needs to keep going instead of going home after a hot ten minutes. Back with Rollins fighting out of Ziggler’s sleeper and sending him into the corner. McIntyre is right around the other side to pull Reigns off and break up the hot tag, so Rollins kicks him in the face. Now it’s time for the hot tag but the Revival pulls Reigns off the apron for the DQ at 15:49.

Rating: C+. Good match here and they got the ending right. You don’t want the champ, McIntyre or Rollins taking a fall here and Reigns isn’t going to lose so the DQ is as good of an idea as you can get. This was starting to rock before the break and would have been great if they just wrapped it up there but I’ll take what I can get.

Post match the Revival beats Reigns down as Rollins takes the Claymore/Zig Zag combo. Reigns takes a Shatter Machine for a bonus.

We look back at Strowman flipping Owens’ car last week.

Owens complains to Angle about Strowman so Angle makes a match between them for tonight.

Bayley and Sasha are still at therapy with Bayley ranting about something we can’t hear.

Here’s Constable Baron Corbin to talk about how his job is to make everyone better. Last week he pulled Finn Balor from the ring because Balor was clearly tired. When he tried to talk strategy with Balor, he was attacked so the fight was on. Corbin wants Balor to come out here and apologize so here’s Balor, who doesn’t seem interested in apologizing.

Instead Corbin goes first and gives him some backhanded compliments, with Balor insulting Corbin’s clothes and haircut. That sends Corbin over the edge so Balor accuses him of being Stephanie’s stooge. Corbin punches him in the face but gets knocked to the floor, only to leave before Balor can dive. This is all fine as long as it doesn’t lead to Stephanie showing up to collect Finn’s balls.

Elias is playing in the background when the Riott Squad comes up. He plays a bit more as they wreck stuff.

Ember Moon vs. Liv Morgan

Liv slaps her hard to start so Ember tosses her to the floor for a very early break. Back with Ember going for an ankle lock but getting enziguried for her efforts. Liv actually wins a slugout and shouts that Moon is nothing, earning her a toss into the corner. A double stomp brings her out of said corner and the Eclipse gives Moon the pin at 7:26.

Rating: D+. Morgan got in a lot of offense here and that’s a positive sign for her going forward. She wasn’t a great worker when she started and while she’s still a work in progress, it seems that they have some confidence in her. Moon is still fine with the Eclipse, but that’s only going to carry her for so long.

Back in the office, Dr. Shelby is at his breaking point but he has the two of them talk as each other. This of course required them to imitate each other because that’s funny see. They argue again and Shelby screams a lot.

Revival vs. Bobby Lashley/Roman Reigns

Reigns and Dawson start things off with Roman powering him into the corner. Dawson takes a breather on the floor and Reigns refuses to tag Lashley in. Back in and Dawson punches away at Reigns’ ribs, which were banged up earlier tonight. Some stomps set up a bodyscissors to keep Reigns in trouble as he can’t get anything going.

A gutbuster gives Wilder two and another shot to the ribs cuts off Reigns’ comeback. There’s a hard whip into the corner to cut Dawson off but Reigns still won’t tag. Instead it’s Lashley coming in without a tag for a pair of spinebusters but Reigns shakes off the offer of a tag. Revival unloads on him in the corner and that’s a DQ at 7:11.

Rating: C. It was much more about the angle than the match but I’ll take the Revival not looking like a pair of losers for a change. I could go for a lot more of the Revival, but that just doesn’t seem to be in the cards around here. Reigns vs. Lashley should be fine and if they make Revival look a little more valuable in the process, so be it.

Post match Lashley walks away while Reigns takes another Shatter Machine and a top rope splash. Fans: “ONE MORE TIME!”

Owens begs Angle to cancel the match tonight, offering to organize his office or give him some Shania Twain tickets while Owens babysits his kids. Angle says no, so Owens says Angle doesn’t deserve Shania Twain tickets.

Back from a break and we look at Reigns getting beaten down again.

Reigns comes in to see Lashley and the match is on for Extreme Rules.

No Way Jose is in the ring for a match with Mojo Rawley but Rawley says he’s paid too many dues to let something like this happen. He’s sacrificed everything for this opportunity and all Jose can do is dance. Mojo decks him from behind and beats up a member of Jose’s conga line. They brawl some more and Mojo gets the better of it. I find myself more and more interested in this story every week.

We recap Ronda Rousey snapping into a suspension.

Earlier today, Rousey said she’ll be in the front row at Extreme Rules.

Mickie James vs. Nia Jax

Alexa Bliss is with Mickie. Before the match, Nia talks about thinking she was done with Bliss for ever but we’re right back where we started. This needs to end so let’s make it an Extreme Rules match. Reality seems to set in for Bliss but it gets worse as Nia brings out Natalya to be in her corner. Mickie can’t do anything with Nia to start and gets thrown down in a heap. A trip tot he floor doesn’t go well for Mickie either and it’s a big staredown as we take a break.

Back with Mickie baseball sliding her off the apron and kicking away at the leg. A kick to the head keeps Nia in trouble and a running dropkick takes the knee out again. With Nia down, Mickie goes with just punching the knee but Nia grabs a bodyscissors for an escape. Mickie’s kick to the head is blocked so she slaps Nia in the face. A sitout powerbomb crushes Mickie and Natalya intercepts Bliss. The Samoan drop is good for the pin on James at 9:51.

Rating: C. The knee work was better than usual as Mickie mixed things up a bit but Nia winning was the right call. You have buddies like Mickie for reasons just like this and it’s a good enough way to advance the feud. Since we can’t use jobbers for the most part, this is about as good as it’s going to get.

Owens is trying to learn breathing techniques from Jinder Mahal but gets interrupted by an interviewer. Tonight, Owens is going to show the world how to destroy a monster.

We take another look at Reigns getting beaten down.

Lashley says Reigns got what he asked for. Reigns never would have been the guy if Lashley had been here.

Pay per view rundown.

Remember earlier tonight when we looked back at Owens’ car being destroyed? Well here it is again.

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Owens gets shoved down, rolls outside and runs away for the countout at 51 seconds.

Strowman gives chase so Owens runs into his car, only to not have his keys. Instead, he hides in a well placed portable toilet as Strowman arrives. The fans try to tell Strowman where Owens is as Strowman looks into the car window. He teases going back inside but puts the pieces together. Using a falsetto voice, Strowman asks if anyone is in there and Owens gives himself away.

Strowman wraps duct tape around the thing to seal Owens inside before dragging the toilet and Owens back into the building. We watch as Strowman drags him all the way back into the arena (which takes a good few minutes) and up onto the stage. Of course it’s knocked off the stage and Owens emerges covered in blue liquid. If you listen carefully, you can hear Vince dying with laughter about Owens being “COVERED IN BLUE STUFF” for the next five hours to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. Oh dear this was a rough one and a lot of that comes back to the lack of Brock Lesnar. Right now you have Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley fighting to be the top star on the roster but with no title to go after, which for some reason requires two Reigns matches. Finn Balor couldn’t have teamed with Rollins instead? Oh no because we need Corbin to have witty exchanges with Balor instead, making them both look and sound like idiots.

Then there’s Strowman, who is picking on Owens because there’s nothing better for him to do and no World Champion to stalk with the briefcase. At the moment this is at least going to be the case until after Extreme Rules and hopefully the rumors about Lesnar not working Summerslam are untrue. Other than that we had Nia being a jerk to Alexa because Bliss used the briefcase as it was intended to be used, the B Team parodying Hardy and Wyatt again, and Ziggler being pushed as the bigger deal over McIntyre.

It feels like some combination of bad writing and just not caring and that makes for a long sit. Smackdown is better, mainly because they don’t seem to put in as much effort into making us sit through this horrible writing. The show felt like they were just throwing stuff out there that made them laugh and put in as little effort as possible, which continues the trend of this being a very rocky few months. It wasn’t so much bad as much as it was lazy and uninspired, which is often a lot worse.

Results

Curtis Axel b. Matt Hardy – Axhole

Authors of Pain b. Titus Worldwide – Last Chapter to Crews

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins b. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler via DQ when the Revival interfered

Ember Moon b. Liv Morgan – Eclipse

Roman Reigns/Bobby Lashley b. Revival via DQ when Revival double teamed Reigns

Nia Jax b. Mickie James – Samoan drop

Braun Strowman b. Kevin Owens via countout

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 28, 1999
Location: Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Attendance: 19,533
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the night after King of the Ring and, believe it or not, a lot of things have changed. Last night saw Billy Gunn beat X-Pac to win the tournament (because having Road Dogg move on to the finals to face Gunn was too basic and logical for Russo) and the McMahons regained power from Steve Austin due to some shenanigans. Now why do I have a feeling that more shenanigans are afoot? Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a stills package from last night’s main event with Austin getting screwed out of his powers as CEO. Was anyone really expecting anything else? Your trivia: that was the last time Vince and Austin faced each other in a match.

Opening sequence.

Here’s the Corporate Ministry and balloons fall as Vince starts to celebrate. Vince and Shane are downright giddy and Shane gets to fire Austin as CEO. With Paul Bearer and Mideon dancing together in the background, Vince promises that Austin is going back down to the bottom of the ladder. As for tonight, Austin will be in a preliminary match and then get to take the ring apart to end the show.

This brings Vince to the rest of last night, including Undertaker making Rock’s upper lip curl and the general success of the Corporate Ministry. In honor of everything going well, Vince is willing to offer Undertaker the opportunity to defend the WWF Title against HHH at Fully Loaded. Cue the Big Boss Man to his old music (freaking sweet) to stare Vince and Shane down….and then and rejoin the team.

That’s finally enough and it’s time for Austin to blow the roof off the place. Austin gets straight to the briefcase being raised up, and really he’s not surprised. He’s so not surprised that he did something when he was still CEO. In addition to giving himself a new contract for more money and the ability to attack Vince whenever he wants to, he’s facing the Undertaker for the title TONIGHT and if anyone interferes, Austin wins the title.

Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman

Weapons match and Shamrock is in street clothes. Before the match, Shamrock yells about Vince sending Blackman to take him out, because he’s never going to stop. They start fighting on the floor but Shamrock’s bad ribs flare up. Some weapons shots to the ribs make Shamrock bleed from the mouth and he can barely move. That’s enough for Blackman, who hits Shamrock in the head with a kendo stick, puts his weapons back in the bag, and leaves. As is so often the case, this was more of a segment than a match.

Shamrock refuses medical attention and Blackman leaves.

Here’s King Billy Gunn for a chat. He brags about “winning” the Tag Team Titles last week but quickly shifts over to winning three matches in a row last week over people “at the top of their game”. Gunn is tired of carrying people everywhere because now it’s all about him. Cue Chyna and HHH with the latter holding a shirt. He’s out here on business and asks if Billy has gotten his royalty check lately.

They’re a little lower than they should be because X-Pac and Road Dogg are claiming the rights to the DX name. Therefore, all the shirts like the DX shirts he’s holding are putting money in X-Pac and Road Dogg’s pockets. The three of them were DX so it’s time to go get the rights back where they belong. HHH is busy so Chyna can help Billy instead. They have a deal but here’s Rock to go after HHH for costing him the title last night.

Chaz (formerly Beaver Cleavage) and his girlfriend Marianna is asked about “breaking character” last week (you know Russo wrote this because no one else would be stupid enough to put something like this on TV). He’s been down “gimmick alley” before and says he doesn’t want to be anything but himself. Egads this stuff is hard to watch.

GTV shows us Test and Stephanie McMahon leaving a Marriott together.

Meat vs. Chaz

It’s the battle of the underwear with Meat, with PMS, in pink briefs and Chaz in smiley face boxers. Chaz stars with a powerslam as we hear about Rock vs. HHH being made for tonight. Lawler of course can’t shut up about Stephanie and Test at the hotel, even as Meat gets two off a layout F5. Terri offers a quick distraction so Jacqueline can punch Chaz, leaving Marianna shoves Terri down. The bigger distraction lets Chaz hit a reverse Death Valley Driver for a fast pin.

Test is in the back for an interview but Shane McMahon and the Mean Street Posse run in and beat him down.

Here’s Hardcore Holly, who isn’t impressed by Big Show throwing a car on him. Holly: “Well guess what. YOU MISSED!” As for tonight, he wants Kane due to a fight last night at King of the Ring.

Hardcore Holly vs. Kane

Kane elbows him in the face to start but gets crotched on top. The referee gets distracted for the sake of convenience, allowing Big Show to sneak (because giants can do that) in for a chokeslam on Kane to give Holly the pin.

Post match Kane pops up and chokeslams Holly four times.

The Rock vs. HHH

Before the match, Rock talks about leaving a tattoo on the back of Undertaker’s 33lb head saying how badly he beat Undertaker up. The slugout it on in a hurry with Rock getting the better of it off a running clothesline. HHH is right back up with some right hands in the corner as we’re waiting on whatever run-in they have for this match. Rock’s DDT gets two and it’s Billy Gunn coming in with a club to knock Rock cold less than two minutes in.

Prince Albert and Droz are beating up Val Venis.

Godfather vs. Edge

Godfather is in the Hall of Fame before either Rock or HHH. There’s something very wrong with that reality. Unfortunately Lawler has seen Austin Powers recently and is now full of jokes from the movie. As Edge is coming to the ring, we see a clip of Edge coming off the middle rope to spear Jeff Hardy out of the air, which JR thinks is amazing. Time continues to not be kind to this show. They punch each other a bit and here are Droz and Albert for no logical reason. Edge falls down before a clothesline touches him and there’s the Ho Train. Droz, distraction, sitout gorilla press, spear gives Edge the pin.

Post match Godfather gets beaten down again. His arms get tied into the ropes and Albert goes to pierce one of the Ho’s tongue with Edge making a save. The ladies seem very happy and are all over Edge, who can go with this. A displeased Gangrel is watching from the crowd.

Gunn tells someone to come out if he’s needed.

Billy Gunn vs. Bradshaw

This is taking place because Gunn took a title belt with him after winning a six man tag where he was partners with the Acolytes, who are the actual champions. Bradshaw clotheslines him to the floor and Faarooq gets in a belt shot to no reaction. Back in and Gunn punches him down because Faarooq hitting you in the head with a title belt is just an inconvenience.

Gunn’s Stinger Splash is countered into a fall away slam but a tornado DDT plants Bradshaw. With Bradshaw down, Gunn pulls the trunks down at Faarooq, who hits Bradshaw with a belt by mistake. The Fameasser is broken up by an interfering X-Pac and the Clothesline gives Bradshaw the pin and the title back, even though it’s a Tag Team Title being won in a singles match and Bradshaw never lost the thing.

Rating: F. Ok I know I harp on this stuff a lot but we just had a three minute match with multiple belt shots, two people interfering and a singles match for a Tag Team Title that was stolen when a partner won a six man tag to wrap up a two week story. Are we really going to have people changing the channel to Nitro (featuring the Cat vs. David Flair and Sid Vicious vs. Scott Putski before a main event of David Flair challenging for the World Title) if things weren’t moving this fast?

Post match Chyna throws X-Pac inside but Road Dogg comes in for the save. Was it really necessary to have Chyna, who was shown with Gunn earlier, as a mystery?

Here are new Women’s Champion Ivory and Nicole Bass for a chat. Ivory talks about how real she is and how she wants some competition. Therefore, let’s have an open challenge to any fan in the crowd. A woman gets in the ring but starts to back off. Ivory slaps her and the catfight is on, only to have Bass powerbomb the fan. More beating ensues and Ivory drags her around by the hair as security makes the save.

Vince isn’t worried about Austin.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. X-Pac

Jarrett is defending and has Debra with him, who gives Lawler a SHOW ME THE PUPPIES shirt. Oddly enough, that’s worthy of a small grin. They run the ropes to start and it’s X-Pac missing a charge in the corner. Jeff tosses him to the floor as Lawler says the briefcase being raised up last night was a trick of the eyes. Back in and Jeff whips him hard into the corner, followed by the sleeper.

As is always the case, it’s reversed into a sleeper on Jarrett but this time he reverses into a third. That’s broken up with a low blow as the fans chant for Mongo (Debra’s ex-husband) and X-Pac grabs a sitout powerbomb. The Bronco Buster connects but here’s Gunn with a guitar. That’s taken away and Jeff gets clocked but there’s no referee as Debra has her jacket opened. The distraction lets Gunn hit the Fameasser so Jarrett can retain the title.

Rating: D. You know, because these two, as in two of the best hands of the generation, can’t get five minutes on a show packed with this much stuff. Oh but at least we got another segment in the DX fallout after all those other segments in the DX fallout, including in the previous match. As usual, too much packed into too short of a time and it doesn’t have time to connect.

Post match Dogg comes in, quickly followed by Chyna until referees break up the brawl.

WWF World Title: Undertaker vs. Steve Austin

Undertaker is defending and gets flipped off before the bell, meaning the slugout is on in a hurry. They slug it out in the corner with Undertaker actually getting the better of it until a Thesz press gets Austin out of trouble. They’re already out on the floor with Undertaker going face first into the steps but he kicks Austin in the face back inside (thankfully without the knockout ala Summerslam 1998). Paul Bearer gets in a shoe shot and there’s a clothesline to the floor. Lawler: “Austin is like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz! He’s got no heart!” Maybe Lawler should focus on his film/literature studies more than the puppies.

Austin fights back and drops Bearer with a right hand but walks into a clothesline. Back in and we hit the choke before Undertaker falls on top of a slam attempt. You know, because Austin is known for his slams. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Old School gets two. Austin pulls him face first into the corner though but his crotching against the post is pretty easily kicked away.

That means a third chinlock but Austin is up much faster this time, only to have a double clothesline put them both back down. Back up and the Tombstone is countered into a Stunner for….two with Bearer pulling the referee out. Austin is right back in with another Stunner to get the title back.

Rating: D+. And that’s the highest rated match in the history of cable, drawing over 10 million viewers for a record that is never going to be broken. These two never do have a strong chemistry together and this wasn’t their best effort either. They had a little extra time but it was still just about ten minutes long, which isn’t exactly what you want for a match this big.

Post match Undertaker hits him with the belt to draw some blood and beats Austin down to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The main event was huge but the rest of the show was the usual flying through a dozen stories at once, often with stories that didn’t need to exist (the Tag Team Title belt for instance) or were done far too many times in one show (the DX stuff). It wasn’t as bad as some of these shows have been, but I’ve only been done watching the show for a short while and I’m trying to remember what I watched. That’s the case way too often around here and is more exhausting than anything else.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: June 28, 2018
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

This show has started turning into a nice little way of reminding me of what happened earlier in the week as most of it tends to go sailing out of my head a day or two after the show is over. It’s quick, it’s to the point, and while the original wresting isn’t great, it does things as well as can be expected. In other words, this is what the show was designed to do. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Chad Gable vs. Mike Kanellis

Gable wastes no time in reversing headlock takeovers and gets two off a rollup. A very fast takedown sets up an armbar on Kanellis and a running armdrag makes it even worse. Kanellis finally sends him throat first into the middle rope for a breather and some running clotheslines in the corner (with blown kisses) get two. The chinlock is broken up in all of three seconds and Gable knocks him to the floor for a running apron cannonball. The fans are behind Gable here, even as he gets taken down with a sitout Rock Bottom. A superkick knocks Gable into the corner but Rolling Chaos Theory gives Gable the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here at all as Gable got to show off and Kanellis gets to eat this week. Kanellis could go somewhere if he had a gimmick other than being Maria’s husband, especially when Maria isn’t around. Gable still has all the potential in the world but here he is on Main Event while Jason Jordan got the big push but now is sitting on the injured list because Heaven forbid the awesome American Alpha team got to continue.

We look back at Alexa Bliss winning Money in the Bank and cashing in, earning her complete destruction at the hands of Ronda Rousey, causing Rousey to be suspended.

From Raw.

Here are Alexa and Mickie James to brag about Bliss getting the title back and laugh off the idea of Rousey being a threat. Now Bliss gets to face the big bully in Nia Jax, assuming Nia’s arm is healthy by then. Bliss talks about how the mean girl overcame the pretty and popular one because it works in Hollywood. This is the real world though and Bliss knows how to overcome obstacles. She’s overcome Jax and Rousey and is still champion so boo her all you want.

Cue Natalya to say the countdown is on because we’re 23 days away from Rousey returning to deal with Bliss. That earns Natalya a lecture about posting her whole life on social media, because that’s the appropriate response here. Natalya isn’t done though, because she gets to face Bliss right now.

Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya

Non-title and Natalya has Nia Jax in her corner. Joined in progress with Bliss holding her in a bodyscissors before the moonsault knees to the ribs get two. Some stomps to the back give Bliss two but both seconds offer failed interference. Natalya uses the distraction to hit a discus lariat, followed by the Sharpshooter for the tap at 4:07.

Rating: D. In theory this should go somewhere for Natalya, who is still sniffing around the Rousey story, which could be a good idea for Rousey down the line. I’m never a fan of the champing tapping clean like this but it’s such a common practice to have a champion lose these days that it’s not even worth getting upset about anymore.

From Raw again.

Sasha Banks/Bayley/Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad

Banks starts fast with the Meteora to Logan so it’s off to Liv vs. Moon. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Squad bails to the floor, leaving Moon to dive onto Riott and Morgan. Back form a break with Banks coming back in to clean house with clotheslines but Riott cuts her off with a kick to the face. Bayley makes a save and everything breaks down with Moon elbowing Logan in the face. Banks rolls Riott up for two but has to knock Morgan off the apron, allowing Riott to small package Sasha for the pin at 7:02.

Rating: D+. So you remember all those time where Bayley and Sasha can’t get along and it’s been going on for about four months now? This is the latest version. They really, really need to go somewhere with this already because it’s gone on for so long already and the energy from the whole thing is gone.

Post match Bayley snaps and beats the heck out of Sasha as the fans want tables. Banks gets tossed into the steps twice and the fans cheer for Bayley. The announcers treat this like a heel turn but Bayley is loudly cheered and it’s the result of Banks stabbing her in the back over and over. That doesn’t sound heel turnish to me.

From Smackdown.

Harper vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan goes with the kicks in the corner to start but gets punched in the face. They head outside with Harper getting the better of it, setting up a neck crank back inside. A missed charge sends Harper outside again and there’s the suicide dive, which is caught without much effort. Harper drops him face first onto the announcers’ table and a big boot puts Bryan over the barricade.

Back from a break with the swinging Boss Man Slam getting two on Bryan. We hit the chinlock but Bryan jawbreaks his way to freedom, setting up the corner dropkick. Bryan charges right into a Michinoku Driver for two more though and Harper takes over one more time. Harper hits a dropkick and takes Bryan up top but gets punched down. That means a tornado DDT and the YES Kicks as Harper is in trouble. The YES Lock goes on but Rowan comes in for the DQ at 13:07.

Rating: C. Bryan was fine here and that’s all this match needed to be. You can find someone to team with him later on and Bryan vs. Miz can be a big time match at Summerslam. If nothing else Bryan vs. either Brother again is fine for a TV match and you can do the same thing with whoever his partner is. The match was fine.

Post match the beatdown is on until Kane of all people comes out for the save. Kane and Bryan clean house and the fans are very pleased. The TEAM HELL NO chants start up and cue Paige to say that at Extreme Rules, HELL NO is getting the Tag Team Title shot at the Bludgeon Brothers.

Breezango/Bobby Roode vs. Ascension/Curt Hawkins

What a random tag match. Viktor and Breezango start things off with a surprising mention of the teams’ former friendship. We get a pose off for a BOO/YAY off and now it’s off to Hawkins and Fandango for a dance off. Hawkins wants Roode instead though and Roode throws him citations before an atomic drop gives us the first major offense nearly two minutes in.

It’s back to Fandango for some right hands but Konnor comes in off a blind tag as we take a break. Back with Konnor missing a charge in the corner and the hot tag bringing in Roode to clean house on Hawkins. Fandango hands Roode the cop hat so the Glorious DDT can finish Hawkins at 7:55.

Rating: D. There’s not much you can do in an eight minute match when two minutes are spent on posing/dancing and three and a half are in a commercial. Hawkins’ losing streak is still amusing enough but I’m not sure how long it’s going to last on the big shows. Roode continues to be dying for a heel turn but that GLORIOUS is so over that I get why they’re hesitant to pull the trigger. Ascension and Breezango….I’m sorry guys.

And from Raw to wrap it up.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is challenging and, after Big Match Intros, wastes no time in dropkicking Ziggler out to the floor. Some chops rock Ziggler and it’s off to an early armbar as they have about half an hour if not more. That’s broken up in a hurry and Ziggler hits his big jumping elbow for an early two. A headlock keeps Rollins in trouble and the pace slows a good bit. Rollins finally fights up and Ziggler bails to the floor, only to have McIntyre fail as a shield.

A staredown with McIntyre takes us to a break. Back with Rollins holding his knee and another chinlock keeping things slow. Rollins fights up and sends him into the corner for a breather and both guys are down. Ziggler backdrops him over the top to further the knee injury but Seth is back up for stereo crossbodies. Rollins’ knee is fine enough for a Sling Blade but McIntyre offers a distraction. That’s enough for an ejection, allowing Rollins to suicide dive onto both of them.

Back in and Ziggler crotches him on top for two and we take another break. We come back again with Rollins hitting the Ripcord Knee but Ziggler gets his foot on the rope. They fight to the apron where a DDT knocks Rollins senseless with the announcers declaring it over. Do they really think we buy lines like that anymore? Rollins knees him down again for a close two but gets caught on top.

Ziggler gets shoved down and the frog splash gets another close two and the fans are losing their minds. The Stomp and the Zig Zag both miss and Ziggler’s rollup with tights gets two. Now the Zig Zag connects for two and Ziggler is stunned. They head up top again and Rollins tries a superplex to the floor but has to settle for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for an even closer two instead with McIntyre pulling the referee out for the DQ at 27:38.

Rating: B. And so, it’s going to continue, likely in some form of gimmick match at Extreme Rules. As usual, I would rather be seeing McIntyre in Ziggler’s spot but for some reason he’s just there as muscle and not even bothering to put him in the ring more often than not. As long as this leads to McIntyre dropping Ziggler and either winning the title or moving on to bigger and better things, everything will be fine. Just get Ziggler away from the spotlight already.

As for the match, it was much better after the second break but that first half was just filling time that the match really didn’t need to have. I would always prefer a hot seventeen minute match over a twenty seven minute match where about half of it feels like a waste of time. The ending didn’t help things either, but some of those near falls were great.

Post match the beatdown is on until Roman Reigns makes the save. A Superman Punch puts McIntyre back on the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The Intercontinental Title match helped, even though they only showed about five minutes and the post match stuff. I liked that Kanellis vs. Gable match far more than I expected to and it’s always nice to have a surprise. Raw wasn’t great this week but they did a good job of cutting away the bad stuff to give us a nice show, which is where this show can be rather successful.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6