Wow that’s……pretty much the least surprising thing I’ve heard in a long time. I’d have loved to see Rousey in a WWE ring (or anywhere for that matter), but this was a long shot at best so I’m not at all surprised.
Really you should. I’ve been told they’re quite good. Granted I was talking to myself but it was in fact said. I have quite the selection to pick from and all are available on Amazon Prime:
1. History of ECW Pay Per Views
3. History of the WWE Championship
4. History of the Royal Rumble
5. Only On Pay Per View 1998 (Every pay per view from WWF and WCW in 1998)
6. History of Saturday Night’s Main Event
8. Complete Monday Nitro Volume I – 1995/1996
9. History of Clash of the Champions
11. Complete Monday Nitro Volume II – 1997
12. History of Survivor Series
13. Complete 1998 Monday Night Raw
14. Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw
All of them run over 200 pages and many break 400. That’s not bad for under $4 each. Check them out as I’ve yet to hear someone who doesn’t at least like them a little bit. They’re all e-books and can be read on pretty much any device and you can find free apps to read them on for almost any device here.
KB
With just six days to go until Extreme Rules, WWE has a long way to go to get me interested in the show. It isn’t likely helping that they’re just back from the big European tour and are likely to be jetlagged half to death. The big story is likely to be more build between Rollins and Orton, who are loading up for a pretty lackluster title match. Oh and Kane because of reasons I don’t understand.
Orton opened the show in a cage, promising to hurt Seth this Sunday and take the title. Rollins and the Stooges came out and told him to get this out of his system now because it won’t work on Sunday. This sounds appealing to Randy, who promises RKO’s all night.
I really, really didn’t care for this segment as it’s more of the old standard walking you through everything they’re doing that night instead of doing anything that feels organic or natural. Why do they have to tell us everything they’re going to do instead of SHOWING US everything they want to do? Just have Orton start RKOing everyone backstage and let the fans go “oh that was cool” instead of sitting around waiting for it. Not a fan here but this story isn’t exactly one that inspires intellectual stimulation.
Ambrose and Harper had a quick non-match to set up their street fight on Sunday. These two could have an entertaining brawl if they’re allowed to just go nuts.
The Prime Time Players continued their recent awesome run by scaring the daylights out of Rollins and the Stooges, who are terrified of Orton attacking them. HHH popped up and laughed off their worries, as well as mentioned Kane because that’s the big story around here.
New Day, now fully heel, cheated to earn a title shot on Sunday over the Lucha Dragons via countout. Notice that they didn’t just have the Dragons get pinned here to kill their momentum. Instead, the faces (or faceless ones actually) lose because the heels cheated, keeping them strong and making the heels look like cheaters. That’s common sense booking and hopefully something that we see more often.
Orton came out and RKO’ed Kingston (with a botch as Kofi wasn’t ready to be thrown into the air, which looked really bad. He’s done) and Woods. This would be more of the theme that they made VERY CLEAR earlier in the night in case you were too stupid to figure out that Orton is RKOing everyone he can on a path to Rollins. That’s a bit too complicated for wrestling fans I suppose.
Fandango beat Curtis Axel in the weekly filler.
HHH announced the return of Tough Enough and most people didn’t seem to care. Could it be because outside of John Morrison, the most successful winner had a career highlight of eliminating Undertaker from the Royal Rumble and having the most amazing eyebrows in the history of wrestling?
Anyway the REAL story here was Kane coming out and tried to quit his job as Director of Operations because he’s tired of Rollins disrespecting him. Rollins came out and argued a lot as this story just won’t die already. HHH made them shake hands after Kane said the Rollins was just in the right place at the right time and anyone could have been made champion in his place. They kept arguing after a break and Rollins vs. Ziggler was made for later tonight.
Then the Bellas decided they were good now and Nikki shouted COME ON BRIE about 100 times to show off her new found goodness as Brie lost to Naomi. This would be the polar opposite of the “here’s what we’re going to do” booking as instead of showing you every step, they’re just at the end already without any real reason.
Think about it. The Bellas went from being full on villains to halfway down the spectrum in a week and for what? Mainly because WWE screwed up and turned almost the entire Divas division heel. I know I get on the Bellas quite a bit (which I still say they deserve a huge amount of) but the direction of their characters and sudden drastic changes to their characters have been some of the most jarring and worst ideas I have ever seen in wrestling. That being said, they don’t do themselves any favors with their average at best matches and BRIE MODE/COME ON BRIE!
Randy Orton RKOed Heath Slater into his salad. See, THIS is the kind of surprise moment they should have been going with all night instead of telling us the idea.
Roman Reigns wanted Big Show but got Bo Dallas. Superman Punches, spears and Reigns saying Bo-lieve that abounded in a fun little segment.
Sheamus massacred Zack Ryder until Dolph Ziggler came in for the save. This was fine to get the point across.
Cena issued the open challenge and had a horrible match with Kane to retain the title. Here’s a sign of Cena’s greatness: he has bad matches with Kane and Big Show, but name someone else he doesn’t bring up to a higher level. If there are only two people in his career where it doesn’t work, he’s roughly 100 steps above most other talent. Rusev would attack Cena later in the night to set up the title match Sunday.
Bray Wyatt talked about how his new target can’t lift his way out of this one. That makes me think Ryback, which could be a nice surprise or a disaster, though they’ve been treating Ryback like a monster again, which is certainly a good thing.
Miz beat Mizdow in less than three minutes when Summer Rae turned on Mizdow in one of the most obvious heel turns this side of Big Show turn #1894. So to recap, Mizdow takes forever to turn on Miz, loses the battle royal to Big Show after getting really close, then loses two out of the three matches to Miz. Why do I even bother getting behind someone when their big goal is to build someone up to sacrifice them on the altar of WWE Studios? Miz got an RKO to emphasize that the entire Miz vs. Mizdow story meant nothing.
Ryback mauled Adam Rose and then beat up a hot dog and banana.
Kane and Rollins bickered some more with Rollins offering an apology.
Rollins vs. Ziggler was every Rollins vs. Ziggler match you’ve ever seen. The cage lowered post match so Rollins could hide from Kane. If you don’t know what was waiting for him when he turned around to end the show, you haven’t been paying close enough attention.
Raw really wasn’t very good this week and so much of it revolves around how lame the main stories have been. Kane was the focal point of the show this week with this never ending argument with Rollins, which seems destined to result in Kane screwing Orton over on Sunday and the Authority revealing it was all a huge swerve that we never saw coming. The wrestling was nothing to see this week either and it made for a really weak three hours. Extreme Rules and these rematches need to be gone soon, as does Kane’s never ending main event run. He just isn’t interesting and it’s killing the rest of the card.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U
And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
Smackdown
Date: April 23, 2015
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton
It’s the final show before Extreme Rules and for some reason in 2015, one of the major stories is Kane seemingly about to turn on the Authority and becoming a bigger deal than he is now. Of course it’s possible that it’s all a swerve and Kane will cost Orton the title match on Sunday, making the last few weeks a big waste of time, much like Kane in general. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence opens, as is its custom.
Here are Rollins and the Stooges to open things up. After a recap of everything that happened on Monday with the RKO’s all around, Rollins mocks the RKO OUTTA NOWHERE concept. It’s a good thing Orton got all those out of his system because the RKO is banned on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, Rollins doesn’t need anyone’s help, including an aging former monster’ like Kane.
Strike up the organ of course so Kane can come out and threaten to chokeslam Rollins right now. He can either keep the title on Rollins this Sunday or destroy him right now. Seth laughs it off and says Kane will be fired for crossing the Authority. HHH only gave Kane that job to make him feel better because Kane is just a suit these days. Kane obeying the Authority is what’s best for business.
Seth brings up Kane laying down and says that’s what he should be doing, but Kane thinks Seth should lay down for him right now. He’ll even make it non-title. A referee comes down and we get a bell. Rollins says this isn’t right but Kane says he’s the Authority tonight. The threat of disembowelment convinces Seth to lay down but as Kane goes to cover him, he says he’s just kidding and helps Seth up.
However, Kane isn’t done yet as he makes Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose RIGHT NOW. Ambrose comes running out but Luke Harper follows, setting up a big beatdown on Dean. With things going bad, Roman Reigns comes out for the save, chasing off Rollins and Harper with Superman Punches.
Dolph Ziggler/Neville vs. Bad News Barrett/Sheamus
On the way to the ring, Sheamus says it’s an insult to have underdogs like the men in the ring compared to real men like them. He even offers to bring Ziggler a stepladder to help Ziggler kiss up to him on Sunday. Neville starts with Sheamus and starts kicking away at the leg, followed by a running hurricanrana to send Sheamus outside. Barrett gets sent out as well and Neville hits a big running flip to take them both down.
Back from a break with Barrett holding Neville in a chinlock before Sheamus drops him with a release suplex. Neville finally fights up and kicks Sheamus in the head, allowing the hot tag to Ziggler. The jumping elbow and running DDT get two each on Barrett but a Sheamus distraction lets Barrett hit a quick Wasteland for two more. Ziggler spins around the shoulders though, setting up a Zig Zag into the Red Arrow for the pin on Barrett at 8:39.
Rating: C. This was a nice way to set things up, but again, well done on having a guy who might be winning the Intercontinental Title in three days look bad. That being said, it’s really nice to see Neville get yet another pin over a big name. Even though everyone pins Barrett, it’s still the biggest fall of Neville’s career.
We get the Tough Enough announcement and see some of the best/worst video submissions so far. Yeah fine. Just let me know when the winner (other than John Morrison) means anything.
Bray Wyatt says someone’s strength is an illusion, just like anyone else. He sees right through this person because fear is the same for every man. Bray will expose him as a weakling very soon. How does life work for a butterfly with no wings?
Naomi vs. Natalya
I guess Natalya is a face again. Naomi slugs her down to start and catapults Natayla throat first into the bottom rope for two. A chinlock doesn’t last long so Naomi drops an elbow, only to miss a legdrop. Natalya does the stepover into the dropkick, only to walk into the Rear View for the pin at 2:28. As usual, the week to week continuity dominates the Divas.
The next target for the Prime Time Players is the Tag Team Champions. Kidd is whipped and Cesaro is interesting. Why is he interesting? Well…..uh…..you see……he’s German! Uh I mean Swiss, but it’s the same thing.
Ryback vs. Rusev
Jobber entrance for Rusev but Lana gives a speech about the strength of the Russian chain, which has protected the greatest of Russia for years. Rusev says the chain is his weapon and a burden to Cena, to whom no mercy will be shown. They stare each other down to start before locking up with Rusev shoving him into the corner. Ryback nails a running clothesline for two and the Russian is stunned. A delayed suplex puts Rusev down again but he rolls to the floor before Ryback can stay on him.
Back in and Ryback misses a charge into the post, sending us to a break. We come back with Rusev putting on a quickly broken bearhug. Ryback fires off some right hands and gets two off a belly to belly, only to splash legs. The Meat Hook and jumping superkick are countered but the second Meat Hook connects. Rusev slips out of a Shell Shock though and heads outside, where he hits Ryback in the ribs with the chain for the DQ at 9:57.
Rating: C-. Take two guys and let them beat on each other for a few minutes. It’s a strategy that has worked for years and it worked well enough here. This was a pretty good way to make Rusev look like a killer again, even if it’s just a way to set him up again to be destroyed by Cena.
Ryback gets the Accolade with the chain around the face.
Jamie Noble isn’t worried about Harper because it turns out they’re cousins. Harper comes up in his usual trance and Noble tries to get his attention, but Harper is annoyed that they broke his concentration. He was thinking of all the ways he can hurt people you see.
Kofi Kingston vs. Cesaro
Before the match, the New Day blames the lack of positivity in WWE on the lack of clapping. Have no fear because New Day is here! Woods says they’re like medicine: they may not taste good going down, but they’re the right thing for you. Kofi goes on a rant about how the WWE isn’t listening to them but soon enough they will embrace the New Day. They’re kind of awesome at this.
The fans aren’t pleased and chant their version of the catchphrase. A dropkick puts Cesaro down to start but he uppercuts Kofi into the Swing, only to have everyone else brawl on the floor. Trouble in Paradise hits out of nowhere for the pin at 1:30. That’s not as bad as it’s not a tag match loss.
Big Show has had enough of Roman Reigns and is ready to expose him for what he is.
Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins/Luke Harper
Kane is at ringside. Ambrose and Harper get things going with Dean taking him down to the mat and ripping at Harper’s face. Off to Reigns for a stomping in the corner before Dean gets another tag and hits a basement clothesline. Harper finally gets Ambrose into the corner for a tag to the champ to take over. A headlock into a front facelock keep Dean in trouble before Rollins throws him to the floor for a big boot from Harper.
We take a break and come back with Dean fighting out of a chinlock but having to DDT Harper instead of tagging. Seth comes back in to break up the hot tag attempt with a clothesline before both guys try cross bodies. The double tag brings in the power guys with Roman cleaning house but having to Superman Punch the Stooges off the apron. Harper takes one as well before Dean nails Rollins with the top rope standing elbow.
Luke partially blocks Dean’s suicide dive and sends him over the timekeeper’s area, only to eat a clothesline from Reigns. Rollins comes back in with the springboard knee for two and it’s the discus lariat for two. Dean comes in off the hot tag to clean house. The rebound clothesline puts Rollins down and Dean low bridges Harper to the floor. Dean dives on the pile at ringside, only to have Kane throw Rollins back inside, allowing Reigns to hit the spear on Rollins for the pin at 16:44.
Rating: B. This was a much better main event tag than I was expecting. I’m not wild on the champion getting pinned but that’s one of those things you learn to live with in WWE. It’s also par for the course for this title reign but that’s another story for another time. Anyway, good, long tag match here which was better than I was expecting.
Overall Rating: C+. Pretty fun show tonight with a good main event to carry things. Extreme Rules isn’t the most interesting card in the world but a lot of that is due to the show just being a bunch of Wrestlemania rematches. The direction of a lot of things is still questionable but at least we had a fun two hour show to get us to the pay per view.
Results
Dolph Ziggler/Neville b. Bad News Barrett/Sheamus – Red Arrow to Barrett
Naomi b. Natalya – Rear View
Ryback b. Rusev via DQ when Rusev hit him with a chain
Kofi Kingston b. Cesaro – Trouble in Paradise
Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose b. Seth Rollins/Luke Harper – Spear to Rollins
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U
And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
Coming this weekend! NorCal and I will be doing an Extreme Rules preview tomorrow night to go up on Saturday and an Extreme Rules recap show immediately after the show goes off the air to be up that night.
NorCal and I are blown away by how well the show has been received and the amount of times people have been listening to it so we’re going to keep going and see where this takes us. I’ll let you know when both of them are up and I’ve already got my match/show picked out.
Keep checking here to see when the next show goes up.
Lucha Underground
Date: April 22, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
We’re coming up on the season finale of this series, which is scheduled to end with a big PPV style show that hasn’t been announced on TV as of yet. The big story tonight is the finals of the Trios Titles tournament with the three way final for the inaugural titles. We also have Sexy Star vs. Pentagon with Star finally standing up to his evil. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap sets up the tournament final and a bit about Pentagon vs. Star.
Black Lotus says she isn’t sure when she gets to fight but she knows she’s ready. Now she’s just waiting on her master. We see a montage of her beating people up in shadow. The master shows up and easily puts her down, saying Lotus isn’t ready.
The house band plays us in. They could easily drop this in season 2.
The Trios Titles are at the commentary desk.
Sexy Star vs. Pentagon Jr.
Ring announcer Melissa Santos limps away after seeing Pentagon coming in due to him injuring her last week. Star takes over to start and the camera makes sure to keep showing Santos at ringside with the tape around her ankle. Pentagon comes back with a hard chop as the fans are split on who to cheer for, which Striker says represents the evil spreading throughout the temple.
Star sends him face first into the middle buckle and chokes in the corner, followed by something like a slingshot bronco buster for two. A HARD kick to the ribs puts Star back down so Striker calls him a no limit soldier. Please, ANYTHING but that horrible stable again. Bring back the Beverly Brothers before you make me sit through that one more time. Star rolls away from the armbar attempt and gets to the floor, only to start a chase scene capped off by a tornado DDT for two on Pentagon.
A dropkick puts him on the floor, setting up a big dive from Star to put both of them down again. Back up and Pentagon gets two off something like Project Ciampa (powerbomb into a Backstabber) for two. The armbar is escaped again and Star spins around his shoulders into a Backstabber of her own for the pin (with the referee ignoring the arms flailing everywhere, including off the mat).
Rating: C+. Good enough match here that likely sets up Pentagon’s master going after him for punishment. Pentagon should have been a bit more dominant and, perhaps, GONE AFTER THE ARM, but the action was good enough and you get a quick feel good moment with Santos some revenge.
Johnny Mundo is working out when Alberto El Patron comes in to remind Johnny that he lost last week. Alberto came here because of Johnny’s match with Prince Puma, which made it an even bigger surprise when Puma beat him in Aztec Warfare. Mundo isn’t cool with this line of speaking and says he isn’t just some guy that Alberto can slap around. Alberto tells him to chill and leaves.
The announcers talk about Drago’s huge night next week: either win the title or leave forever.
Trios Titles: Texano/Cage/King Cuerno vs. Mack/Big Ryck/Killshot vs. Ivelisse/Angelico/Son of Havok
Elimination rules with three in the ring at once (old school WCW triple threat tag rules for a BIG plus). I don’t know if it was mentioned earlier but Ryck and Mack are cousins. Angelico and Killshot double team Cage to start but he clotheslines both of them down with ease. A double suplex doesn’t go over with as much ease but it looks more impressive. Off to Cuerno, Angelico and Texano with Angelico getting double teamed, including Texano lifting him into the air for a knee to the face.
Killshot, who I believe is still legal, gets back in to give Angelico a breather so Cuerno kicks him in the ribs. Angelico gets stomped as well as Cuerno and company are dominating so far. A kick to the head staggers Cuerno and Killshot hits a double running knee to Texano’s chest. The referee is fine with four people being in the ring at once. Well five if you count the referee but who does that.
Mack comes in for a swinging slam on Texano, leaving us with a showdown of Mack vs. Havok. That’s fine with Mack who quickly dives over the top to take out Texano all over again. Havok teases a dive of his own but has to bail out, allowing Cage to take him down with a big clothesline. We get the big showdown between Ryck and Cage with Cage easily slamming the eyepatched one down.
Cage isn’t done though as he moonsaults down onto a big group of people, only to have Ryck take his head off with a clothesline back inside. Angelico hits a running knee off the apron to drive Texano into the front row, only to draw a “fan” (Daivari I believe) out to beat him up. Killshot hits a top rope double stomp to Texano and we have our first elimination as we go to a break, I believe for only the second time ever in this company. Oh that’s a nice thing to be able to say.
We come back after missing nothing (again, that’s REALLY nice to say) and Ryck splashing Angelico in the corner. Ivelisse seems to be holding her leg on the apron and Havok is nowhere to be seen. Mack chops Angelico down and Killshot hits a sick looking jumping kick to the back of the head for two. Ivelisse and Havok are back in the corner (adjacent to their opponents’ corner for some reason) but Angelico is still being destroyed.
Mack drops a top rope elbow to the back but Angelico is able to dump everyone not named Killshot and make the tag to Havok. Killshot is waiting for him with what looked like a running C4 for two but Havok blocks the top rope reverse hurricanrana. The injured Ivelisse goes up top but dives into the arms of Mack and Ryck. Havok dives onto all of them, leaving Angelico to hit the Fall of the Angels on Killshot for the pin and the titles in a nice surprise.
Rating: B. Fun match here and the ending wasn’t quite what I saw coming at first. It was a bit more obvious once Cuerno’s team was eliminated, but they gave it some good drama to get there. Also, I liked Angelico getting the pin instead of going with the more conventional idea of giving Ivelisse the big feel good win. Angelico has earned the right to get the pin in a big match.
We’re not done though as Cueto says there’s one more team and for fun, let’s make it a No DQ match. I don’t remember anyone not named Vince being this evil as the boss and I LOVE it.
Trios Titles: Angelico/Son of Havok/Ivelisse vs. The Crew
Anything goes. The Crew goes right after the winners on the floor and my fun is instantly marred as I can’t remember which Crew member is which. Bael stays on Ivelisse and the bad leg as we’re still waiting on anyone to get inside. Cisco beats up a mostly defenseless Angelico as Bael throws Ivelisse inside. Castro holds her for a cane shot but Havok remembers that he’s in this match and comes in for a save. Bael and Angelico go up the stairs with Angelico getting backdropped onto a platform above the ring.
Castro chokes Ivelisse with the stick as Havok gets suplexed off the barricade. That’s fine with him as he pops back up for a moonsault off the same barricade……AND ANGELICO DIVES OFF THE PLATFORM TO TAKE OUT CASTRO AND BAEL!!! Good night that was awesome and thankfully they let the match stop for a second to breathe. Ivelisse gets the stick and hammers on both downed guys before ordering her partners to the top. A stereo shooting star from Havok and double stomp from Angelico are enough to finally give us new champions.
Rating: B. The match wasn’t great but that dive was something else. I really liked the ending too as it felt like something special instead of just another title change. I don’t see them holding the belts for long but that’s a great way to give us the first set of champions. Angelico is on a roll right now and I actually want to see more of him, which isn’t something I say often.
Overall Rating: B+. This was WAY better than I was expecting and it got me into things in just forty five minutes. Outside of NXT, almost nothing is capable of doing that and it was a really nice surprise. This show has hit a huge groove and knows exactly what it wants to do every week, which is one of the most important things a wrestling company can do. The fact that Lucha Underground has done it in about six months is all the more impressive. Check this show out if you want a fun hour of wrestling that flies by.
NXT
Date: April 22, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Rich Brennan
We haven’t heard from NXT Champion Kevin Owens in a good while so it’s probably time to get him out here for more greatness. Alex Riley has called Owens out to meet him in the ring tonight because, due to quitting his commentary job, Riley has nowhere else to go but the ring. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Finn Balor vs. Tye Dillinger
Balor starts with some dropkicks as the fans want him to KILL THE JOBBER. The Pele sets up the Sling Blade and the Coup de Grace ends Dillinger at 2:28. This was an old school squashing and Balor looked great.
Tyler Breeze pops up on screen to call Finn Balor the flavor of the month. See you around Finn.
Dana Brooke says last week was the rebirth of the women’s division in NXT because it was the debut of the strongest Diva ever. It’s play time.
Kevin Owens is asked his thoughts on the match with Riley tonight but first, he thinks it’s cold. Riley gave him a good fight a few weeks back but he’s never going to be NXT Champion. After the loss tonight, he can go find a chair, table and headset to use because his future isn’t in the ring. If you’ll excuse him, he’d like to go find a coat.
Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Becky Lynch
#1 contenders match. Becky gets double teamed to start and Bayley throws her to the floor, setting up another showdown between herself and Charlotte. A chop out goes to Charlotte (of course) and we hit the figure four headlock with the flips to knock Bayley senseless. Becky sneaks back in with a nice German suplex to take Charlotte down and we take a break. Back with Becky dropping some running legs on Bayley for two.
Off to a knee hold as we get what might be the first ever crawler advertising NXT live shows. A limping Bayley fights out of the corner but charges into a knee. Becky outs on a complicated leg lock but Charlotte breaks it up with Natural Selection and no cover. The fans think that this is wrestling and better than the Divas.
Becky pulls Charlotte off the middle rope to break up a superplex attempt but Charlotte pulls her away from the corner into a powerbomb with Bayley adding a middle rope elbow to the jaw to drive Lynch down. Charlotte pulls Becky off the cover and puts her bad leg in the Figure Eight (the official name for the bridging version). Charlotte can’t see though and Becky drapes her arm over Bayley for the pin at 11:32 with the hold still on.
Rating: B. The girls continue to steal the show and Becky is getting better every week. Lynch vs. Banks could be something interesting given their history and now I have a reason to believe it could be a good match. Charlotte has nothing left to do in NXT and is ready for the main roster and the destruction of her career as a result. Bayley needs to find something to do as she’s been running in still adorable circles for a while now.
CJ Parker vs. Hideo Itami
Dang Parker just won’t leave. Parker stalls to start as the fans want Hideo to kick his head off. A headlock slows Itami down but he drives a knee into Parker’s ribs to set up some kicks for two. CJ punches him in the corner and gets two off a suplex. Another attempt doesn’t work though and it’s time for the strike off. A running delayed corner dropkick sets up the Shotgun Kick to give Hideo the pin at 4:06.
Rating: D+. This has to be Parker’s last match as I can’t find anything else taped for him. Hideo looked better here and it seems that the GTS is going to be his super finisher when he isn’t using the Shotgun Kick. This did its job of getting Hideo back on track after his big moment was treated like nothing special by Big Show at Wrestlemania.
Becky Lynch doesn’t like Sasha Banks taking credit for her career.
Rhyno vs. ???
No name for the jobber. Gore ends this in 27 seconds.
Blake and Murphy sing to Carmella when Enzo and Cass come up to accuse the two Sinatras of having Halitosis. Carmella is wearing the jewelry they gave her and that’s not cool either. Cass brings up getting Carmella a job.
Alex Riley vs. Kevin Owens
Non-title and no sign of the coat. Owens gets in his face in the corner but Riley shoves him into the same corner. A nice dropkick sends Owens outside and the champ needs a breather. The mind games begin as Owens won’t get back inside, which eventually draws Alex outside for a whip into the barricade.
We come back from a break with Owens choking on the middle rope and not seeing Riley as much of a threat. The backsplash gets two and we hit the chinlock. Riley fights up and hits a running elbow in the corner, followed by a flipping neckbreaker. He gets crotched on top though, setting up the Cannonball and Pop Up Powerbomb for the pin at 8:44.
Rating: C-. I wasn’t wild on this one as it was basically a less energized version of their first match. Owens is a killer and looked fine while Alex looked like he could still go in the ring, but we knew those things after their match in Columbus. Not much to see here but Owens is always entertaining with his explosiveness.
Post match Owens loads up the apron powerbomb but Sami Zayn comes out for the big brawl. Security comes out but Sami dives on the pile to send Owens running away to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t the best show but it seems that this was a show taped out of order which took away a lot of the chemistry. Sami coming out to go after Owens was a great sign though as it’s time to pick things up all over again, likely for the next upcoming Takeover. Not a great show but it set up the future and gave us a good triple threat.
Results
Finn Balor b. Tye Dillinger – Coup de Grace
Becky Lynch b. Charlotte and Bayley – Lynch pinned Bayley while Bayley was in the Figure Eight
Hideo Itami b. CJ Parker – Shotgun Kick
Rhyno b. ??? – Gore
Kevin Steen b. Alex Riley – Pop Up Powerbomb
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U
And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
Looking at the importance of titles in wrestling and how to make them the most important thing on the show again.
http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-gold-makes-rules/35174/
Monday Nitro #216
Date: November 29, 1999
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 12,881
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan
We’re less than three weeks away from Starrcade and usually that would mean some of the matches should be clear. At the moment though, the field is almost wide open and given who is in charge, I’m not sure if we should expect to get any development this week either. Last week’s main event was at least a calm match for a change. Let’s get to it.
This episode is dedicated to Hiro Matsuda, who trained Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, Scott Hall and Ron Simmons among others.
We open with Goldberg making his full entrance and taking his sweet time in doing so. Goldberg gets right to the point: he’s not cool with the Outsiders playing comedy games most of the time and then hitting him with a chair last week. Goldberg liked the chair though and he’s ready for some payback. He has Nash tonight and Hall better stay away from the ring. Cue the Outsiders to say they have five words for Goldberg: don’t sing it, bring it. They make it to the middle of the aisle, but Sid comes out and says he’s the new babyface in town. The brawl is quickly broken up by security, which is more than I was expecting.
Tony and Heenan run down the card. Hang on for this one.
Nash vs. Goldberg – No DQ, no countout
Hall vs. Sid for the US/TV Titles – No DQ, no countout
Hart vs. Meng for the World Title – No DQ, no countout
Sting vs. Jarrett vs. Benoit – #1 contenders match for a title shot after Starrcade
Jerry Only vs. Steve Williams – Cage
Mud wrestling with wrestlers to be announced
THIS IS ON ONE TV SHOW WITH NO BUILDUP. Three street fights, a cage match, a triple threat and mud wrestling.
Roddy Piper arrives with some fairly big (for wrestling that is) women. One of them appears to be Rhonda Singh, who you might remember as Bertha Faye from 1995 WWF.
Luger is here in a new suit and carrying papers.
The Mamalukes are on the phone with Tony Marinara, who tells them to deal with Disco Inferno and Lash Leroux.
Tag Team Titles: Creative Control vs. Buff Bagwell/Booker T.
The twins are defending of course and have Hennig with them. Buff starts with we’ll say Patrick and the twin gets cross bodied and dropkicked into the corner. Off to Gerald and Booker as Tony says Bagwell has won over five Tag Team Titles of his own, which is of course inaccurate (five reigns).
Back to Patrick for a gutwrench suplex on Booker but Mr. T. nails an ax kick, allowing for the hot tag to Bagwell, despite the match not even being three minutes old yet. Bagwell cleans house and everything breaks down. Buff mostly misses the Blockbuster but the other twin offers a distraction, allowing Hennig to hit Bagwell with a chair to retain.
Midnight comes out for the post match save.
Russo is livid that he has to book some Japanese guy named Jushin Thunder Liger. That’s not me being sarcastic. Russo actually referred to him as “some Japanese guy.” If Guerrera can beat him tonight for the IWGP Light Heavyweight Title (again his words), he’ll take care of Juvy’s visa issues. Russo has a plan to make sure this happens. If he wants Juvy to win and take care of his visa issues, why not just take care of them?
Luger threatens to sue Liz over breach of contract, hence the papers earlier. She offers to do anything to make him drop the suit, which intrigues Luger.
Piper can’t get in to see Russo but is fine with waiting if he gets the $3 million a year. Our hero everyone.
Singh and the other girl wonder what they should wear for their match tonight.
Symphony (Ryan Shamrock) receives flowers and a love letter from Maestro.
Jeff Jarrett doesn’t care about angering Dustin Rhodes and blasts Tenay with a guitar. Where was he during those One Night Only shows?
Here’s Brian Knobbs with something to say. That might be better than having him wrestle. He wants Norman Smiley (who he calls a woman) out here right now for a fight over the Hardcore Title. We cut to the back to see Norman cowering because he doesn’t have his protective gear.
Finlay walks by to send Norman diving under a table as he goes to the ring to fight Knobbs in Smiley’s place. Finlay comes out to the ring and throws Knobbs a kendo stick for a duel. This goes about as you would expect for a fight to go against Finlay, as he beats Knobbs down and cuts his hair. Finlay says if Knobbs wants to be a soldier, he can look like one.
The Mamalukes take Okerlund to a strip club. Ok then.
Russo yells at Hennig and the twins for getting beaten up by Midnight and makes Hennig vs. Midnight later tonight.
Piper is ready for the mud wrestling and cracks some bad jokes.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Juventud Guerrera
Guerrera is challenging/trying to get a work visa and neither guy gets an entrance. Ten seconds in, Buzzkill comes out carrying a Down With Big Brother sign. They run the ropes to start until Juvy hits a sitout bulldog ala Rey Mysterio. Liger is sent to the floor for a springboard dive but comes back in with a frog splash for two. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sets up the surfboard as the fans finally wake up a bit.
Liger gets two more off a belly to belly and Juvy taps, which means nothing in this case for reasons not explained. They fight over a backslide as Buzzkill wants them to give peace a chance. Tony actually brings up Buzzkill’s matches against Liger back in the early 90s but Buzzkill doesn’t acknowledge him. Eh points for trying I guess. Juvy hits a Stunner over the top rope but Liger escapes the Juvy Driver and grabs a German suplex. Buzzkill offers a distraction though, allowing Juvy to hit Liger in the head with a bottle of tequila for the pin and the title.
Rating: D+. I wasn’t shocked to find out that New Japan didn’t acknowledge this title change for years. Russo has deemed a worthless hippie character (the character, not the wrestler) more important than one of the best cruiserweight wrestlers of all time. This shouldn’t surprise you, as Russo clearly has no respect for wrestling whatsoever. The match was nothing to see as it barely broke five minutes and the guys were just doing moves until we got to the stupid ending.
Chavo Guerrero has taken over the interviews for the night and offers to sell us some fine china for $39.99. Oh and Dr. Death and Oklahoma (his official name now) are going to destroy Jerry Only.
Symphony gets another gift from Maestro.
Gene is getting drunk at the club. Because GENE OKERLUND needs a story.
Chavo tries to sell the Outsiders a home security system before asking when he’s going to start defending the TV Title. Well that would be tonight if you listened to Tony earlier. Hall is annoyed that he hasn’t gotten to meet any TV stars or received any free TV dinners so he throws the title belt to Nash, who throws it in a trash. That makes two titles trashed either literally or figuratively in less than an hour. To be fair though, that thing died during Steiner’s first reign.
Here’s the Revolution with an American flag, which they immediately throw down and step on. Douglas brags about taking out the Filthy Animals from the inside and now the Animals are gone. The Revolution isn’t cool with a Canadian like Hart holding the World Title and doesn’t like the fans cheering him. Malenko was booed when he eat a Canadian last week so he’s fed up with America.
The Revolution is declaring themselves a sovereign nation and they all have snake names. Malenko will be the Python, Shane will be the Rattler, Asya will be the Boa and Saturn will be……the Trouser? This of course brings out Jim Duggan to talk about America and swing the 2×4, which clearly twists around in his hands because it’s made of foam. I had one of those when I was a kid. The Revolution beats him down and does the Iwo Jima pose over him with the American flag. Benoit finally makes the save like a good Canadian. You can add the Revolution to the list of things Russo didn’t understand. Oh and put WOOD on there too.
Speaking of Russo, he wants Piper in his office.
The Wall issues an open challenge for the Block, which is a SHOOT in a boiler room.
Piper can’t come in to see the boss because he has to go to the bathroom to take a Vince Russo. So if he can say Russo’s name, why can’t anyone else?
US Title: Sid Vicious vs. Scott Hall
Street fight. This would be a bait and switch on the TV Title no? Heenan rips on Sid’s talking abilities on the way to the ring. Nash sits in on commentary and his first line is to call the TV Title a piece of garbage. Sid hammers on the champ but gets distracted by the shine on Nash’s hair, allowing Hall to rake the eyes to take over.
The Outsider’s Edge doesn’t work so Sid grabs a chokeslam, only to bump the referee. There’s the powerbomb but Nash comes in, only to get kicked in the face. Jarrett runs out with a guitar to break up the powerbomb on Nash before putting Hall on top to retain. That would be worthless street fight #1 of the evening.
Goldberg comes out (in a t-shirt for some reason) and hits Jarrett with the worst spear I’ve ever seen from him.
Gene is still at the club and dancing with what appear to be strippers. Is there a point to this anytime soon?
As expected, the women will be in the mud later.
The Nitro Girls get in a food fight and the mud wrestler starts choking. Juvy runs in with the Heimlich for the save. It’s as random as it sounds.
Jerry Only vs. Steve Williams
Escape only. Williams pounds on the singer to start and scores with a powerslam as Oklahoma is in on commentary. Heenan: “Why do you say everything three times?” Oklahoma: “It’s my gimmick son.” Williams stays on Only but Vampiro and the Misfits jump the barricade and cover Oklahoma in barbecue sauce. The Oklahoma Stampede (running powerslam) plants Only but Williams throws him through the door to give Jerry the win. The announcers treat this as nothing of interest.
Quick sidebar on Oklahoma: why is this supposed to be funny? He doesn’t say anything outlandish other than talk about barbecue sauce, which is hardly wild stuff. The football obsession is nothing new. What is the joke here supposed to be? What good is it to mock a guy by calling moves? Isn’t that what he’s supposed to be doing? Ross is known for being over the top, so the parody is acting a lot like him but as a comedic guy? It’s more like a caricature than a parody, which again isn’t funny.
Guerrera says he saved the choking girl with mouth to mouth. Russo calls her a wildebeest. Here’s the thing: yeah she’s bigger than say Lita or Stacy Keibler, but the commentators are basically calling a fat cow. She has a fairly pretty face and is far from fat, but since this is a Russo company, all women have to range from evil to fat to stupid to property of some man to just a sex character.
Luger has an idea.
Bret Hart knows he has a tough fight in Meng but he’s ready to fight. Chavo says the shine in Bret’s hair is due to the hair care product Chavo sold him. Wait. You have HAIR product and you pitched a security system to KEVIN NASH??? No wonder you bombed as a salesman. Know your customers!
WCW World Title: Bret Hart vs. Meng
No DQ, no countout, which isn’t mentioned during the introductions. Bret hammers away to start and gets clubbered down for his efforts. More right hands from the champ are countered by a backhand punch to the face. A running boot to the face gets two and Meng plants Hart with a shoulder breaker. Bret comes back with the Five Moves but Hall comes in and the referee goes down. Meng puts Hall in the Tongan Death Grip but Nash slides in and goes off on Meng with a kendo stick. They go after Hart but Benoit comes out with a stick of his own to beat up the Outsiders. Bret goes back in and puts on the Sharpshooter for the TKO.
Rating: D. The match was nothing, but I liked Bret’s promo (minus Chavo) before. It was old school Bret where he praised his opponent but said he was just that much better. That’s Bret’s bread and butter and it still worked here. I’ll even give them points to building Meng over the last few weeks and then giving him a match like this. The booking of the match went down hill, but this was a logically built match with a decent pre-match promo.
However, at the same time, the curse of Russo strikes again. The problem with Russo is simple: if you’ve seen one of his grand conspiracy storylines, you’ve seen them all. There are little signs here and there and once you know what to look for, it becomes really obvious. Now that being said, it had only been seen once in 1999 so it wasn’t such a problem. What it means though is the story worked back then and doesn’t hold up as well now.
Now Symphony gets a bear.
Luger has an idea to pop the ratings. Would that involve Luger taking a long vacation?
Tygress and Spice fight again with Tygress being thrown into a shower.
Madusa is in Evan’s locker room and talks him into a Cruiserweight Title shot at Starrcade with the power of the lips and silicone.
As expected, Luger tells Russo that Liz will be in the mud.
Chavo is interviewing Sting when Liz comes up to beg him for help. Just like last week, Sting doesn’t care.
Chris Benoit vs. Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
One fall to a finish and the winner gets a World Title shot at some point after Starrcade. Jeff wins a slugout with Sting to start but Benoit suplexes Jarrett down for two. All three beat on each other for near falls until Jarrett comes out on top of it and punches Sting up against the ropes.
Benoit flips out of a belly to back suplex but Sting splashes him by mistake. Well in theory as you can’t tell anyone’s motivation these days. The Stroke is countered into a Crossface but Sting breaks it up. Cue Liz for a distraction so Luger can hit Sting with a chair, but Jarrett hits Benoit with the guitar. This brings Dustin Rhodes through the crowd with I think the bell to knock Jarrett out, giving Benoit the pin.
Rating: C-. Oh yeah Benoit won but it only took three people running in, a chair, a guitar and the ring bell with Benoit getting the pin while being unconscious for a title shot somewhere down the line. Thank goodness on that one as they were getting close to making someone look strong.
The Mamalukes leave the club with some girls, meaning Gene is on his own.
Symphony goes up to see Maestro but it’s David Flair in a wig. Oh good grief. He makes her go over to the piano and opens it up to find Maestro inside. So now David Flair some kind of criminal mastermind stalker. Of course he is.
Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash
No DQ, no countout again. Goldberg does his entrance but stops to beat up Hall. Your US Champion ladies and gentlemen. Nash comes out and goes after Goldberg as Sid is locked in a room. That lasts all of ten seconds and it’s a four way brawl as the music keeps playing. They fight out into the arena and into the ring for the opening bell. Goldberg cleans house until Hall chairs the referee and Goldberg down. Sid comes back in but Hart sneaks in and steals the chair away to blast Nash. Goldberg gets back up and spears Nash, setting up the Jackhammer for the pin in 100 seconds.
Three street fights, three ref bumps, one broke three minutes. That’s the triple main event.
Roddy Piper keeps ranting about mud.
The Outsiders want Sid and Goldberg in a cage tonight.
Rhonda Singh vs. Elizabeth
Piper is refereeing. Singh comes out to stripper music but there’s no Liz. We go to the back where Liz says she doesn’t care about the lawsuits and walks away. Singh slaps Piper and pulls him into the mud, where he rides her like a horse and spanks her a bit. No Russo doesn’t have issues with women. Why do you ask? Creative Control gets muddy as well and Piper covers one of them for a pin.
The Mamalukes are cooking dinner in the girls’ apartment. This is what, the fifth time we’ve seen these guys tonight?
Arn Anderson is upset about being fired so here’s Hennig to offer him a spot on the team. Anderson just walks away.
Chae gets in a fight with Skye.
The Wall vs. Jerry Flynn
Boiler room brawl, called the Block and billed as a shoot. They fight, they kick, they punch, they choke, they ignore the fans booing, they can barely breathe, Berlyn comes in and hits Flynn with a pipe, Wall chases Berlyn off with the pipe and it’s another no contest. Heenan: “I don’t get it.” END THIS SHOW ALREADY.
Chavo is in the back when Piper comes up. Roddy talks about the wars he had with Chavo Sr. and tells Chavo to stand up for himself. The Outsiders come in and get in a fight with Piper.
Curly Bill asks Hennig for a job.
Russo yells at Luger, who promises to get Liz muddy before the end of the night. Creative Control is already cleaned up and wearing new suits.
Midnight vs. Curt Hennig
Hennig headlocks her down to start but Midnight nips up. A shoulder drops Hennig and stuns him at the same time. Hennig chops away in the corner and puts on an abdominal stretch, where he continuously slaps Midnight’s chest. So we can add sexual harassment to Russo’s time in charge. The lights go out and Stevie Ray returns to beat up Curt for the DQ.
The lights go out again and Curly Bill appears to beat on Stevie, but then the lights go out again so Arn Anderson can beat up Hennig. Even the Horsemen music can’t save this mess.
The girls tie the Mamalukes to the bed, allowing Disco Inferno and Lash Leroux to come in and pour spaghetti sauce on them. And that’s the big payoff for the night.
Luger brings Liz out and throws her in the mud, followed by pouring a bucket of mud over her. He takes off the jacket but Sting comes out and shoves him into the mud, ruining most of the suit. Liz appears to slip badly getting out of the pit.
The Mamalukes are still in bed. Thanks for coming back to that.
Goldberg/Sid Vicious vs. Outsiders vs. Chris Benoit/Bret Hart
In a cage with one fall to a finish and muddy Piper refereeing. It’s a brawl to start as you would expect with a lot of punching all over the ring. Both Outsiders get double teamed in the corner and the fans chant for Goldberg. Nash gets fired up again and punches Sid down in the corner but Tony talks about sauce (both kinds, because Russo felt the need to have three people covered in two types of sauce in one night).
Things slow down as the match is already three minutes old as even more punching abounds. Since a triple threat cage match with the Swamp Thing as referee isn’t enough, cue Jeff Jarrett with a cart full of weapons. Guitar shots all around of course and it’s time for the handcuffs with Hart being chained to the cage. Hall gets knocked out so Benoit, I’m guessing out of boredom, goes up and hits the Swan Dive on Hall for the pin.
Rating: D. I can’t say it fails after that dive but my goodness this was dull. It was a bunch of standing around and punching with Piper offering nothing interesting or important to the match. I’m really not even sure why these people are fighting, but it’s probably better to be confused than to ask.
Jarrett and the Outsiders beat up Benoit, Goldberg and Sid, seemingly not bothered by the loss.
Overall Rating: F. This is the stuff people talk about when Russo is discussed. We have gimmick matches, unfunny jokes, women being treated a hundred times worse than the Divas of today are treated, matches being made on the fly and stories that make no sense. Oh and a bunch of mud for some reason and titles being destroyed because there’s no point to having them around.
I lost count of how many gimmicks we had all night as well as the ref bumps, the guitar shots and the women being treated as either stupid or sex objects. That’s a good way to sum up Russo: there’s so much of the same kind of stuff going on that you can’t tell where anything is going. It’s definitely easier to sit through than one of the boring shows, but my goodness the quality goes through the floor. Horrible show here as Russo just burns through everything he has in record time.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U
And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
This time the focus is on NFL football with wrestling taking a bit of a backseat. This is a bit of a bonus episode and an introduction to my fellow featured guest Ty Burna (who has helped me keep this site operational in the past). Also in case you weren’t wild on them, this show cut down on the F Bombs, but they’re still there because that’s just how NorCal talks. Assuming there’s no complications on my end, I should be back on this weekend for an Extreme Rules preview show so keep an eye out for that.