First of all, I hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. If you don’t celebrate it, take a few minutes and think about the people or things that you’re lucky enough to have. It’s a nice thing to do every now and then.
Second, thank you all so much for being around so much this week. It’s been by far and away my best week ever for the ad revenue with a new record yesterday in a huge surprise. That and the book sales going way up are making things a lot easier on me and meaning I can switch around and do some more fun shows instead of the stuff I have to do to draw the biggest audiences. It’s a very nice break and makes this a lot more fun than it already is.
Thank you all so much and I’m very grateful to everyone who sticks with me for reasons that I’ll never fully comprehend. When I see the amount of people that show up as soon as Raw or a pay per view is over, it often makes me shake my head at the thought that so many people want to see what I have to say about it. Thank you for checking out what I have to say every day because it actually has changed my life for the much better.
Impact Wrestling – November 25, 2015: Thank Goodness
Impact Wrestling Date: November 25, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero
It’s the final night of group play as we’re finally going to know the final sixteen people who could become the new World Champion. That means the matches almost all have meaning for a change, which should mix things up a good bit. There’s no word on what happens after this but the finals should be coming soon. Let’s get to it.
We open with the standard recap and preview.
Group X-Division: DJZ vs. Manik vs. Tigre Uno
This is a playoff after these three tied in points. It’s a two fall match with the winner of the first fall getting to leave and then the second winner advancing as well. They all go after each other to start with Tigre sending both guys to the floor and hitting a huge moonsault off the top to take them both out. Back in and Manik and Uno trade arm holds until DJZ comes back in to break it up, only to be sent to the floor. Manik puts Tigre in a Gory Special and adds a reverse Boston crab to DJZ at the same time. Back up and DJZ grabs a quick double DDT to advance to the round of sixteen.
Tigre starts fast with a reverse suplex into a Stunner for two (cool move) but gets caught in a cross armbreaker. That sends Tigre to the ropes so Manik tries a belly to back superplex, only to get elbowed down. A split legged corkscrew moonsault sends Tigre to the next round at 7:57.
Rating: C. This is becoming my standard rating for an X-Division match. It didn’t have much time to go anywhere, the high spots were fun and the title meant nothing. I’m really not sure what they see in DJZ going forward after the changes to Manik but why bother with potential when you can go with comedy?
Drew Galloway was in Glasgow and talks about being married to this business because it’s all you have time for as a wrestler. This is the longest time he’s been home in ten years and he can’t wait to come back here with his perfect partner: the World Heavyweight Championship.
Group UK: Rockstar Spud vs. Drew Galloway
Feeling out process to start until Drew unleashes the power with a gorilla press. They head outside with Drew sending him back first into the apron, only to miss a charge and go head first into the steps. Drew barely beats the count back in and misses a charge into the post to make things even worse. Some running dropkicks and an enziguri mean it’s time for Spud to take off the bowtie. The Underdog is broken up but Drew can’t bring himself to take a cheap shot, allowing Spud to grab a jumping DDT for two. Not that it matters as the Claymore (running boot, to the chest in this case) puts Spud away at 7:17.
Rating: B-. Better than I was expecting here as Spud has found that perfect formula to make you believe that he could pull off a huge upset like this without it being ridiculous. Galloway is going to make a deep run in this thing and it’s cool to see him have to sweat a bit against someone who is fun to watch in Spud. Good match here and better than I was hoping for.
Group UK
Drew Galloway – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Bram – 3 points (1 match remaining)
Rockstar Spud – 3 points (0 matches remaining)
Grado – 0 points (1 match remaining)
Group UK: Grado vs. Bram
If Bram wins, he advances to the round of sixteen. If Grado wins, there’s a three way playoff with Spud, Bram and Grado later tonight. Grado dances a lot and gets rolled up in four seconds. They had to get seven matches in tonight so this almost had to happen at some point.
Group UK
Drew Galloway – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Bram – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Rockstar Spud – 3 points (0 matches remaining)
Grado – 0 points (0 matches remaining)
Group Future Four: Micah vs. Jesse Godderz
Winner advances. Micah gets sent to the floor to start as Pope talks about getting the job done no matter what he was doing. Well he certainly did a lot of jobs so he’s got something there. Back in and Jesse slowly pounds away until Micah makes his comeback to indifference. A Samoan drop puts Jesse down but he avoids a top rope headbutt, setting up the Adonis Crab to advance Jesse at 4:29.
Rating: D. Is there a reason Micah has a job? He’s generic in the ring, no one cares about him, and I don’t remember a single thing about him. Jesse is starting to turn a very weak corner and it’s always good to have a heel that you want to see get punched in the face. At least they kept this quick as this group has been death since it started.
Group Future Four
Eli Drake – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Jesse Godderz – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Micah – 4 points (0 matches remaining)
Crimson – 0 points (0 matches remaining)
Recap of Group Tag Team.
Kurt Angle has been in the UK to hype up the Maximum Impact tour. He officially announced his retirement tour and says his run is over, possibly after this tour.
Group Tag Team Specialists: Robbie E. vs. Davey Richards
Winner advances. They trade armdrags to start and it’s an early standoff. Robbie’s armbar doesn’t work and Davey sends him to the floor, only to have Robbie switch places for a flip dives off the apron. Back in and Davey takes over with a clothesline and inverted Indian deathlock. Robbie fights up with some clotheslines to set up the Boom Drop for a close two, more or less sealing his fate. They trade rollups until Davey stomps onto Robbie’s chest for two more. Creeping Death advances Davey at 7:15.
Rating: C+. Gah I can’t stand Davey Richards. He’s fun when he’s out there with Edwards but when he gets into that martial arts and LET ME SHOW YOU NINTEEN DIFFERENT WAYS I CAN KICK YOU stuff, he’s one of the most annoying guys I’ve ever seen. Robbie would have been a fun story but we’ll go with dull and overrated instead.
Group Tag Team Specialists
Matt Hardy – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Davey Richards – 4 point (0 matches remaining)
Robbie E. – 3 points (0 matches remaining)
Eddie Edwards – 1 point (0 matches remaining)
Group Wild Card: Crazzy Steve vs. Kenny King
If Steve wins we have another playoff but if King wins, he advances. They start fast and trade armdrags to continue a popular trend tonight. Josh recaps the Menagerie until King elbows Steve in the face to take over. Steve goes up top and honks his horn before a springboard hurricanrana gets two. What appeared to be a Codebreaker is countered into the Royal Flush to advance King, who I don’t think is with the promotion anymore, at 4:29.
Rating: F. This is your weekly WHY AM I WATCHING THIS match as Steve is an unfunny comedy guy who is still around for reasons I’ll never understand. The only good thing here is the lack of having to watch Aiden O’Shea and Steve again in a playoff. This was the worst division by about a mile and one of the few I actually dreaded.
Group Wild Card
Mahabali Shera – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Kenny King – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Aiden O’Shea – 3 points (0 matches remaining)
Crazzy Steve – 0 points (0 matches remaining)
Aries says Lashley will have to be at his best to win.
Pope gives out more awards:
Move of the Tournament – Sky High to Kenny King
Upset of the Tournament – Brooke b. Gail Kim
Turkey of the Tournament – Grado vs. Rockstar Spud
Group Champions: Lashley vs. Austin Aries
Winner advances. Aries bounces off Lashley to start until a missile dropkick staggers Lashley a bit. That’s fine with Lashley as he throws Aries away and starts driving shoulders in the corner. Aries knees his way out of a delayed vertical suplex by knocking Lashley down to a knee but Lashley stands back up and suplexes him anyway. That is SCARY power.
Back from a break with Aries elbowing out of Lashley’s grip but getting caught in a belly to belly. The spear hits the post though and Aries follows up with a missile dropkick. Lashley slaps him out of the corner though and dead lifts him into a powerslam. I repeat my scary power line. The Last Chancery doesn’t get Aries anywhere so he goes with discus forearms. Lashley again powers out of the brainbuster and throws Aries over his head with a release German.
Aries avoids the spear but Lashley sidesteps the suicide dive. The match comes to a screeching halt as Aries is holding his arm with ninety seconds to go. Lashley finally clotheslines him down again as this thing JUST WON’T END. Aries grabs the Lash Chancery but Lashley makes the rope. Instead of standing around for the last thirty seconds, Aries tries a 450 but eats a spear to send Lashley on at 15:05.
Rating: B. At least it went out on a good match, even though Aries got stupid at the end after being smart most of the time. Lashley is the smart choice here since he actually works for TNA, but Aries was a nice surprise. I mean, I’m stupid for realizing he’s a surprise according to Josh but he’s a lot smarter than me after all.
Group Champions
Ethan Carter III – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Lashley – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Austin Aries – 4 points (0 matches remaining)
Mr. Anderson – 0 points (0 matches remaining)
We recap the night because just announcing the brackets isn’t interesting enough.
Here are the official round of sixteen brackets:
Ethan Carter III
DJZ
Bram
Davey Richards
Lashley
Drew Galloway
Mahabali Shera
Eli Drake
Tigre Uno
Gail Kim
Eric Young
Kenny King
Jesse Godderz
Awesome Kong
Bobby Roode
Matt Hardy
That could be worse, but they’ve handed Carter a spot in the semifinals.
Ethan Carter III is thrilled with his draw.
DJZ is ready…..for the three women he’s brought home.
Davey Richards is of course respectful about Bram.
Eli Drake is a smarmy jerk and says he won’t be dancing with Shera. I like him more and more every time I hear him talk.
Eric Young IS GOD.
Jesse Godderz isn’t worried about any man, woman or Kong.
Bobby Roode says his toughest test is coming.
Matt Hardy thinks no one is stopping him.
Overall Rating: C-. THANK GOODNESS! I am so incredibly sick of this tournament and listening to Josh talk about how IT’S SUDDEN DEATH IN THIS GROUP and having Pope call everyone daddy every ten seconds. I understand that there has been a lot of action in this and some of it has been really good. However, so much of it has been stuff like Jesse vs. Micah or King vs. Steve.
The good is indeed good but this concept going on for two straight months with NOTHING else would drive anyone crazy. If you want to have a tournament then fine, but don’t drag it out this long. The good is completely overshadowed by the bad and uninteresting, leaving you with two months of watchable wrestling that is completely wasted because it’s the same idea over and over and over. At least it’s over now and we can get on to……the actual tournament.
Results
Tigre Uno and DJZ b. Manik – Split legged corkscrew moonsault
Drew Galloway b. Rockstar Spud – Claymore
Bram b. Grado – Rollup
Jesse Godderz b. Micah – Adonis crab
Davey Richards b. Robbie E. – Creeping Death
Kenny King b. Crazzy Steve – Royal Flush
Lashley b. Austin Aries – Spear
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
NXT Date: November 25, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan, Corey Graves
It’s another title match week with Bayley defending against Eva Marie in a match that has the potential to burn the place to the ground. The Full Sail fans just do not like Eva no matter what she does and it’s going to be quite the moment if she takes the title from the most popular act in NXT. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Michael Cole of all people is in the ring to open the show, though unfortunately we don’t get his sweet theme song about how awesome his life is. Cole says he’s in charge while Regal is out recovering from neck surgery. First up tonight: a contract signing for Takeover: London (finally not the week before the match) between Finn Balor and Samoa Joe. Cole goes to introduce Joe but Balor comes out first and promises to take Joe out in London. This brings out Joe who walks into the ring, signs the contract and walks out without saying a word or even looking at Finn. The champ goes to leave but Joe attacks and chokes Finn out.
Tag Team Titles: Vaudevillains vs. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder
Dawson and Wilder are defending and this is the Vaudevillains’ rematch. Dawson starts on Gotch’s leg to start but can’t get very far, meaning it’s off to English vs. Wilder. Aiden takes over for all of fifteen seconds before the champs go after his arm and take us to an early break. Back with Aiden in an armbar but he easily fights up and makes the hot tag to Gotch. Now it’s the Vaudevillains taking over but Dawson trips up Gotch to stop the Whirling Dervish. Everything breaks down and the Shatter Machine to English retains the titles at 8:05.
Rating: C. These teams really don’t have great chemistry together and a lot of that is due to the champs being the kind of guys that like to slow a match down. The Vaudevillains are a unique team as they don’t have a particular style and that makes it hard to find interesting matchups for them. It’s not bad, but these are really forgettable matches so it’s probably best that they’re done here.
Post match Enzo and Big Cass come out to beat up the champs for hurting Cass’ leg a few weeks back.
Eva has taken over Regal’s office because she needed a bigger place to get ready. Bayley is a swell girl but it’s time for a woman to become champion. She knows the fans have her back too and there are a bunch of gifts waiting for the celebration. Nia Jax comes in with a present of her own.
We recap Asuka dismantling Dana Brooke at Takeover.
Someone whose face we can’t see sings a song about needing liberators. Elias Sampson had a guitar a few months back so maybe it was him.
Dana Brooke vs. Asuka
Maybe not as Dana talks from the stage and Emma jumps Asuka from behind and puts her in the Emma Lock. No match.
Bayley understands why WWE wants Eva Marie to be the Women’s Champion but there’s one difference between them: Bayley is a wrestler. I know it wasn’t meant to be one, but that was one of the best insults I’ve heard in a long time.
Sami Zayn is coming back.
Apollo Crews vs. Jesse Sorensen
This would be the former TNA guy Jesse Sorensen, who left because they didn’t want him to wrestle any more after breaking his neck and decided to release him instead. Crews starts fast with a delayed vertical as the fans count the “time”. Just to show off, Crews waves them on and holds Jesse up even longer. A big running clothesline sets up a throw into a powerbomb (called an Alley Oop into a powerbomb) to end Jesse at 2:06. Total squash.
Crews accepts Baron Corbin’s challenge for London.
Corbin says Crews is going to be the answer to a trivia question for doing one thing once. He’s going down in London.
Charles Robinson has been sent to referee the main event.
Women’s Title: Eva Marie vs. Bayley
Eva is challenging so let the nuclear heat (and wolf whistles) begin. Nia Jax is here with Eva to make sure things aren’t fair. Robinson is the outside referee here so something might be afoot. They trade headlocks to start and a suplex gets two on Bayley, who comes right back with the Bayley to Belly for two as Jax pulls the referee out. Robinson comes in to count two on Bayley off a rollup and Jax adds a headbutt to keep Bayley in trouble.
Eva covers several times for two but Bayley takes her down with a running clothesline. Robinson breaks up the running elbow in the corner and Sliced Red gets a very close two. Another try at Sliced Red results in a ref bump and Eva goes up. Bayley stops her again though and, after dealing with Nia, grabs a super Bayley to Belly with another referee coming in for the count at 6:38.
Rating: B. This was one of the best done segments that NXT has done in a long time. It’s just a six minute match and nothing great in terms of wrestling, but sweet goodness they nailed the story here. The idea of the fix being in had the fans freaking out on every near fall and going nuts when Bayley survived. Bayley is the most over thing in NXT since Sami Zayn and it’s awesome to watch her mature into this hero instead of just being an underdog.
Nia Jax lays out Bayley post match and holds up the belt to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. This was a show that did a lot of good to set up the London show in three weeks while also throwing in two title matches with a really well done moment in the main event. Thankfully Cole wasn’t the star of the show and felt like a regular NXT commissioner. That’s the key to this whole promotion: find the formula that works and keep plugging people in and out when necessary. It’s worked for years and it’s working here, which makes this the most consistent show around.
Results
Scott Dawson’/Dash Wilder b. Vaudevillains – Shatter Machine to English
Apollo Crews b. Jesse Sorensen – Throw into a powerbomb
Bayley b. Eva Marie – Super Bayley to Belly
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
I know they have TV again and all that good stuff, but these are the kinds of things that make TNA look lame. I get that the tour is probably coming very soon, but there’s always something screwing them up and it makes TNA look like they have no idea what they’re doing from day to day. That got old a long time ago.
NWA World Championship Wrestling Being Added To The Network
I’m talking the TBS show from 1986-1988. This is the treat that a lot of old school fans have been waiting on as it’s the opposite of what you see today. These shows were almost entirely built around the promos to make you pay for the house shows later. The idea of seeing big names fight each other on this show was almost unheard of and it made for some much more entertaining TV. It’s not for everyone and you might get bored at times, but Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes one upping each other every week is some of the best you’ll ever see. Check this out if you want to see what made WCW work in the old days.
They could really use some spring cleaning so maybe this is the start. It would be nice considering how many people they have on the payroll who never do anything. Maddox tried but there’s only so much you can do with his size and look.
Monday Nitro – July 3, 2000: It’s Coming And We Can’t Stop It
Monday Nitro #247 Date: July 3, 2000
Location: Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson
It’s the go home show for Bash at the Beach and I can’t imagine we’ll be seeing Hulk Hogan here tonight to set up the title match because that’s probably not in his contract. Other than that we might get Goldberg eating another contract and then finding a way to make it reappear. He’s like a magician you see. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week’s shows with almost every show getting a quick feature. Unfortunately this includes Vampiro but it also includes the Cat being all over the show.
Cat is on the phone and says he’s suspended Scott Steiner for a week. I believe this was the suspension over Scott not wanting to do a job on Thunder and being punished by being suspended with pay over the Fourth of July weekend. Mike Awesome comes in and isn’t happy about something.
Four ambulances are waiting outside.
Opening sequence.
Tank Abbott takes over DJ Ran’s booth (I love you Tank Abbott) and plays some 3 Count.
3 Count vs. Jung Dragons
Shane tries to cut a promo but Tank tells them to shut up and sing. Six man tag here and the Dragons start fast upon hitting the ring. Jamie accidentally splashes Kaz as Shane has hurt his arm and has to be looked at by a trainer. As he leaves, Tank comes down to take his place, making sure to stand next to Shannon on the apron. Evan punches Yang down so it’s off to Shannon, because why tag in the killer? It’s quickly back to Evan, who sends Yang into the post. Everyone tries dives but Yang gets left in the ring with Tank. Madden: “DO THE CRANE DANNY!” Tank knocks Yang out and Shannon gets the easy pin.
Rating: C. The match was barely a thing as it was almost all about establishing Tank as the semi-official fourth member of the team. Like I’ve said though, the Dragons and 3 Count would have a lot of good matches but they would never climb up the card or do anything significant against anyone else. That’s a major area where WCW failed and it was rarely more true than here.
Tank makes them dance, including the returning Helms.
Kevin Nash arrives. I have no idea why his clothes are already in his dressing room.
Cat has a proposition for the Dragons.
Goldberg arrives.
Mike Awesome powerbombs a backstage worker through a table.
Video on the Outsiders. Screw you WCW for hinting that Hall might be coming back when you knew he wasn’t. Goldberg finally comes into the truck and demands that the video gets pulled. Nash isn’t pleased.
Here’s Goldberg to a big pop with something to say. He’s sick and tired of hearing about the Outsiders because they’re some of the biggest pieces of garbage in wrestling. Goldberg has carried this company for the past two years and he’s sick of having to do it. This brings out Nash to say he doesn’t want to wait but security holds him back. Cat comes out and says go to a commercial. Madden: “WHAT DOES HE MEAN BY COMMERCIAL???”
During the break, the locker room had to hold Nash back and Awesome powerbombed a security guard. That would be the second man sent to the hospital tonight.
Cat calls Eric and says he’s going to keep them apart for the rest of the night.
Terry Funk tells Johnny the Bull that he has a real tough opponent tonight before hitting Johnny with a chair.
Terry Funk vs. Johnny the Bull
Madden: “Could the opponent be Terry Funk?” Funk knocks Bull into the arena with a chair and does the same thing in the ring. Johnny gets rammed into the announcers’ table but comes back with a chair shot of his own. They head into the crowd with Johnny piledriving Funk onto a chair.
Back to ringside with Funk bleeding a bit from the eye, only to have Bull springboard from the top to the floor into a legdrop onto the chair onto Funk’s face. Yeah believe it or not, that’s REALLY STUPID TO DO and Johnny would be out for two months with a broken tailbone. Back in and Bull small packages him for two (Madden: “The heck with that! Kill each other!”) and DDT on a chair is enough to pin Funk.
Rating: D. I’ll give the points for having Funk put over some young guys, but at the same time it seems that the young guy is stupid enough to try a springboard legdrop to the floor. This is going to derail the hardcore division but it’s not like it’s hard to set up something new for this waste of time. Bad match, but at least Funk put someone else over.
We see Dale Torborg and Asya rehearsing earlier today when an explosion went off and knocked Asya off the stage.
Torborg is going back to the hospital when a man in a robe gives him the Demon attire. It’s Vampiro of course but there’s another man behind him in a robe of his own.
Goldberg yells at Cat.
General Rection/Corporal Cajun vs. Mark Jindrak/Sean O’Haire
The winners get a title shot next Monday. Jindrak, in pants instead of his trunks, gets punched down by Cajun to start before it’s off to Rection vs. O’Haire (also in pants for some reason). Rection slams him off the top and brings the Corporal back in, only to have him take a double suplex.
Cajun grabs a quick small package for no count as the General has the referee for no apparent reason. Sounds like a plot point. It’s off to Rection for a bunch of clotheslines as everything breaks down. An electric chair on the General sets up a top rope splash from Sean for two. Not that it matters as Rection slams Jindrak down and nails the No Laughing Matter for the pin.
Rating: D+. Build a team up one week, have a nothing team beat them the next week. Such is life in WCW because they have to go against what could work best for them for the sake of pushing people like Lash Leroux and Hugh Morrus. The match was good enough but that’s the stupid booking that has WCW in the shape it’s in.
Post match the Perfect Event comes in for the big beatdown with the exercise bars. The rest of the Misfits run in for the save and everyone lays down for CPR from Gunns.
Nash tells Cat to make the match.
Awesome powerbombs another backstage guy. Is there a point to this anytime soon?
Cat is on the phone with Eric again and says he has an idea.
Here’s Jeff Jarrett with something to say. After declaring himself amazing, Jeff talks about how great Hogan is. He talks about his granddaddy paying a nickel to watch Hogan back in the day and wanting to be like Hulk growing up. Now it’s 2000 and Jarrett is going to be the one to put him out this Sunday at Bash at the Beach.
Jarrett brings out fat ladies dressed as vikings to Flight of the Valkyries (Hudson: “Or Kill the Wabbit to some of you out there.”). They praise Jarrett a bit and then sing some of the Goodbye song to keep this going. A guy from standards and practices comes out, only to eat a guitar shot. WAY too long for the point here, aside from it not being funny.
Cat comes out to announce a battle royal with Goldberg and Nash included. If they can survive, they can fight each other. “Or make whoopee, I don’t care.”
The third ambulance leaves.
Jarrett and Cat yell at each other a lot.
Shane Douglas vs. Booker T.
Kanyon jumps Booker in the aisle and now we’re ready to go. Shane starts fast with some quick neck snaps and they head outside where Kanyon does the Diamond Cutter sign. Back in and Booker gets in a running forearm for his first offense. A Kanyon distraction fails and gives Booker a rollup for two, followed by the Book End (not yet named) for the pin.
Rating: D. Short and not good enough to go anywhere but at least Booker is on a winning streak. Shane is fine in this role and Kanyon continues to be funny, but they need more than three minutes to actually make this work. Booker vs. Kanyon should be fun on Sunday, though does anyone remember why they’re fighting in the first place?
Kanyon lays out Booker post match until Page’s music plays. Tony freaks out and then realizes Kanyon has just stolen the song.
The Demon is back.
Cat puts a bunch of people in the battle royal and says their jobs are to hold Goldberg and Nash apart. Bonuses are promised.
We recap Vampiro vs. Torborg/Demon.
The Demon vs. Vampiro
Vampiro’s entrance is interrupted by the Road Report. These editing errors wouldn’t pass on a low level indy company. Vampiro kicks him down to start as the fans want Sting. In a stupid moment, Vampiro sends him into the ropes and ducks, looking at Demon the entire time as Demon kicks him in the face. Demon fights back and we’ve got an army of guys in hoods and Sting masks. They all point bats at Vampiro and the distraction lets Demon grab the Love Gun (cobra clutch slam) for the pin.
Post match the hooded guys surround Vampiro but the lights go out and Vampiro is gone. Did you expect anything less?
Smooth talks to the Filthy Animals.
Cat gives the same speech to the Misfits and some other guys. Johnny the Bull is here despite being sent to the hospital earlier. God bless pre tapes.
David tries to talk Daffney, who now has short, blue hair, out of fighting Hancock. Over his shoulder, Hancock is shown going to the ring in a wedding gown (which stops about a foot above her knees) and David can’t help but look. David opts to sing to Daffney instead.
In the ring, Hancock says she can’t decide what to wear under the wedding gown on Sunday. Maybe she’ll just wear nothing. Since she’ll be winning Sunday, she’ll just give us what we want now. Crowbar comes in to stop the dancing and we cut to David in the back. He claims a stomach ache and runs to the ring as Crowbar has Hancock in a chair. Crowbar pulls out clippers to take Hancock’s hair off. Madden: “SHAVE HER! SHAVE HER!”
David comes out for the save but Daffney catches him and hits David low. Of course she has a bottle of Pepto-Bismol too. A lame catfight starts and Hancock distracts Crowbar until David hits him with a chair. Daffney gets her cut off and David puts the clippers in Crowbar’s hands for Daffney to find. As usual, video doesn’t exist in the wrestling world.
During the break, Crowbar chased after Daffney but got laid out by Awesome and thrown in an ambulance.
Smooth brings Tygress in to see Cat. A proposition is made but Cat wants to keep his shoes on.
Rey Mysterio/Juventud Guerrera vs. Lance Storm/Kidman
Before the match, Disco brings out Juvy and Rey dressed as Storm and Kidman for a special interview. They make the expected jokes until the real Storm and Kidman come out for the brawl to start the match. Kidman powerbombs Juvy to start and it’s off to Storm for a gorilla press. Rey makes the save with a dropkick and kicks Storm low. Lance comes right back with a suplex and makes the tag off to Kidman for some house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Storm powerbombs Rey, only to have Juvy faceplant Kidman on a chair for the pin.
Rating: C-. I’d love to see these guys get a regular tag match instead of having to fly through everything in four minutes because we need to see Mike Awesome powerbomb someone else or whatever STUPID Vampiro and Demon stuff is going on. As usual, WCW has too much going on to keep track of the entertaining stuff.
Cat is getting his clothes back on and missed what just happened.
Vampiro is all annoyed and wants Demon in a Graveyard Match, whatever that is.
Nash says Sunday is about Scott Hall but tonight is about Kevin. He’s ready for Goldberg.
We recap Awesome’s rampage.
Awesome comes to the ring and yells about not being a mullet in the same tone that Owen would say he wasn’t a nugget. Fans: “MULLET!” He wants Scott Steiner right now and demands a bell ring. A referee comes out to count to ten but Rick Steiner runs in and takes Mike out, promising that Scott will do the same on Sunday.
Cat gives the people in the battle royal a pep talk.
Battle Royal
Nash comes out and we cut to the back again where Cat tells the Misfits and Booker to stay out of this. Juvy and Rey come out first and this is looking like a gauntlet match. Nash eliminates both of them with ease and Konnan gets the same. Disco’s sleeper doesn’t work so here comes the Perfect Event to finally slow Nash down a bit.
Nash fights them off but doesn’t throw them out as Big Vito comes in with the stick. Now it’s Kanyon to make it 5-1 as the Misfits are still being held back. Booker shoves him away and the good guys come out, followed by Goldberg. House is cleaned in a hurry and Goldberg superkicks Nash. The Misfits grab Goldberg’s boot though, allowing Nash to kick him in the face for the elimination and the win.
Rating: F. It’s another segment called a match where Nash AGAIN gets to run roughshod over half the roster because why else would you bring him out there? They’ve done a good job of building up Nash vs. Goldberg, but this has to lead to them having a match and that’s where the whole thing is going to fall apart.
Security holds them back to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Again one of the best shows in a long time, fat viking women aside. There are coherent stories here and that means more for WCW than anything else. Their key at the moment is attracting new viewers and the Russo shows weren’t doing it. You should be able to tell what’s going on within thirty seconds of turning on the show. The Russo shows needed about a month to make sense (assuming he hadn’t changed the story a dozen times in the first hour) whereas these are simple stories that you can figure out quick. Unfortunately that doesn’t make the stories good, but it’s a step up.
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Middle Kingdom Wrestling – October 12, 2015: American Know-How
Middle Kingdom Wrestling Episode 4 Date: October 12, 2015
Location: CWE Gym, Dongguan, China Commentator: Eddie Strong, Cam Ferguson
Back to the east again with the latest offering from a company that I like for reasons I can’t put my finger on. We’re moving forward in the tournament but it’s been a long time and I might not remember everyone involved. Hopefully they have a decent recap, along with a better announcer. Let’s get to it.
The opening sequence has changed a bit but the recap is still the same. They still need to get a better graphic though.
We open with a recap of Black Mamba being ejected from the tournament for cheating and getting to face the Slam as a result. That right there is all I needed for a recap so far as it took less than a minute and summed up the big story. Well done.
Ash isn’t pleased with being cheated out of the tournament by Black Mamba and Da Li Sam. After implying that Sam is a prostitute for fat women, he talks about ripping the stitches out of his head with chopsticks. I think that deserves a HE’S HARDCORE chant. He’s back earlier than the doctors recommended and he wants the Slam’s top student Jason. Therefore, Jason needs to go tell Slam that he’s tired of taking out the trash and buying toilet paper and wants to face Ash instead. The delivery wasn’t the best but he definitely had some charisma to him and was comfortable in front of a camera.
Ash vs. Jason
This is billed as a special challenge match. Ash has an American flag on his jacket so I’m guessing he’s the heel here. He comes out with a good looking woman so he can’t be all bad. We have a new commentator named Cam Ferguson who apparently has a Masters in Confucianism and is clearly a heel.
Jason hides in the corner to start as Eddie recaps the story so far in that annoying voice of his. A dropkick gets two on Jason and Ash messes with the hair. Ferguson says that’s typical American bullying but Eddie says he’s supposed to be hitting him in a wrestling match. Ferguson: “So it’s ok to kick him in the stomach?” A quick belly to belly puts Ash down and Ferguson accuses Ash of hitting low.
We hit a chinlock from Jason (Or a rear naked chin hold according to Eddie. That sounds like the Matt Striker school of “here’s a WAY more complicated name than you need.”) as Ferguson accuses the referee of being a traitor to the Communist Party. Ash comes back with some forearms and a middle rope kick to the chest (think RVD) for two, followed by a Boston crab for the win.
Rating: C. You can really tell which people in this promotion have the ring experience. Ash isn’t great but he clearly has a much better idea of what he’s doing. There was even a little story here and it helped the match move on a lot. Also they’re starting to go longer and I’m not bored so things are definitely improving.
MKW Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Dalton Bragg vs. Len Bai
Bragg has comically skinny arms. Bai doesn’t like Dalton taking his time on the floor and dives over the top, only to crash down in front of him. It doesn’t really matter as the ring is only about three feet above the ground but it was still quite the crash. Bragg gets in a cheap shot form behind to take over and we get a ridiculously slow motion Irish whip into a monkey flip to Bai.
Back up and they trade chops (with Bai’s lacking any follow through) until Bragg asks a little girl to rub his hand to make his stronger. Bragg’s cross body is countered into a backbreaker for two and Strong is somehow still on my nerves. After Bai hasn’t done anything flashy all match, he slaps on Cattle Mutilation of all things. Where did he learn that? A fisherman’s buster gets two on Bragg but he pops up and hits a nice middle rope Codebreaker to advance to the finals.
Rating: C-. Not the best match here but you can see that Bai is still new out there. Bragg isn’t anything worth watching either though he definitely has more experience and looked more comfortable. The Cattle Mutilation and Codebreaker looked good and the right guy won though so it’s not the worst in the world.
Post match Bai breaks Bragg’s arm in a surprisingly big heel move.
After the credits, Black Mamba and Da Lip Sam say they’re not worried about the Slam. Bai promises to take care of the tournament final too.
Overall Rating: C-. The tournament is coming to a close as we’re wrapping up the first season but this wasn’t their strongest show. You can clearly see the difference between the talent levels and it can be a bit tiring watching the people with next to no experience. The show is still watchable at less than half an hour but I’m hoping it picks up a bit in the final.
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This is a combination of more than one thing.First and foremost, the NFL is killing WWE. I don’t think that’s a bit secret at this point.
Second, the fans seem tired of the same matches over and over. Last night’s main event was Rusev vs. Reigns. That was a cool showdown in the battle royal last year but now, who in the world thinks Rusev is going to beat him? It’s a boring match that is just set up as part of a much longer story. In other words, don’t bother watching now because it’s going to be at least January before something interesting happens.
Third, the fans have gotten so used to having no one to cheer for that seeing ANOTHER heel champion is burning them out. Reigns held the title for five minutes. Unless you count Brock, who was still officially a heel, we haven’t had a face champion since Summerslam 2014. That’s getting into TNA territory. At some point, you have to give the people something to celebrate or they’re going to give up.
Fourth, the injuries are taking a big toll. All those people being gone leaves a BIG chunk of the show needing to be filled in and it’s really hurting things. Without Cena, Orton and Rollins (not to mention the part timers), there’s a lot of time to be filled. Last night we had the New Day doing a (funny) segment that went nowhere and Ryback beating up Heath Slater in another “country music is stupid” segment. Couple that with a nothing Mark Henry vs. Neville match and some midcard tag matches and there was nothing interesting to watch.
Finally, Sheamus is the World Champion. Now Sheamus is a cool guy and capable of doing some good stuff in the ring (see the Big Show matches which gave Big Show his best performances in years), but coming into the title win, he had won one singles match since September. I know WWE disagrees, but fans remember that. They see a guy who stole the title and is likely holding it for a long time. So we have a loser fighting a choker for the title while the Authority sits back and laughs. How is that supposed to be entertaining?
At the end of the day, WWE needs to freshen things up a bit. Aside from major changes like the show running long etc., they need something fresh. I don’t mean giving the Authority new toys to play with. I mean a new idea. The Divas closing the show last week drew the best ratings in weeks. Now the show shouldn’t be about the Divas, but the key thing as that felt fresh. It wasn’t another tag match or another two upper midcard guys fighting on Monday night Maggle.
Freshen things up, get rid of Sheamus, stop having champions lose and BUILD UP SOMETHING FOR NEXT WEEK! That still drives me nuts. Why in the world can they never have a match built up for the following week unless it’s a tournament? “Next week, Dean Ambrose gets his shot at the Intercontinental Title! Ambrose beat Owens at Survivor Series and now he wants the gold! Tune in next Monday!” Maybe that can open the show instead of Stephanie strutting down to the ring and then yelling at someone for fifteen minutes. I don’t know about you, but nothing gets me fired up more than TALKING!
But yeah, these numbers aren’t surprising given how little effort they’re putting in right now.