TNA One Night Only – World Cup Of Wrestling II: Wake Up People!
World Cup of Wrestling II Date: September 5, 2014
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 1,400
Commentators: Taz, Mike Tenay
Of all the One Night Only shows, the first World Cup was probably the most entertaining. They actually did something different instead of just going with the same bracketed tournament that they almost always do. Last time they had a group of wrestlers from various countries (and Aces and 8’s) and used a point system. This time it’s four captains with teams and no real affiliation but the same points idea. Let’s get to it.
The opening video shows us the captains: Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode, Eric Young (World Champion when this was taped) and Ethan Carter III. Each guy gets a quick soundbyte saying they’ll win.
The structure is really simple: each team will have two singles wrestlers, a tag team and a Knockout. The teams with the most points (assuming a point per win) advance to a tag team elimination match for the World Cup.
JB brings out the captains for the draft. Carter says his aunt made sure he was a captain and he’s appointed Rockstar Spud as his co-GM. Spud comes out in a suit that looks like the UK flag was struck by lightning. Rather than just saying “this captain picks this wrestler” over and over again, I’ll just list them all in the order they were picked.
Team Angle
Kurt Angle
Mr. Anderson
Davey Richards
Madison Rayne
Sanada
Team Roode
Bobby Roode
James Storm
Samuel Shaw
Kenny King
Beautiful People
Team Young
Eric Young
Bully Ray
Gunner
Eddie Edwards
ODB
Team Carter
Ethan Carter III
Magnus
Jesse Godderz
Gail Kim
Robbie E
There was almost nothing interesting said during the picks. Young did his “comedy” and Angle made some implied gay jokes about Carter and Spud. Why Roode is allowed to pick two Knockouts isn’t clear. Also you would think Angle would have taken the chance to get the Wolves together. The draft was a cool idea but it took almost twenty five minutes.
James Storm (Roode) vs. Eddie Edwards (Young)
The fans are entirely behind Edwards to start and Storm nails a quick shoulder to start. A hurricanrana sends Storm to the floor for a baseball slide with Eddie in full control. Back in and Storm sends him face first into the corner before driving some elbows into the chest. Storm catapults him throat first into the bottom rope but Eddie sends him back to the floor for a suicide dive.
Back in again with Eddie still in control but James grabs a quick Eye of the Storm for two. Edwards gets draped over the top rope for a reverse Stunner and two before Storm goes after his hand of all things. Storm takes too much time though and gets caught by a jumping enziguri to put him into the corner. Eddie breaks up a superplex attempt but dives into Closing Time. The Last Call is loaded up but Eddie ducks underneath it and grabs a rollup for the pin.
Rating: C. I liked this more than I thought I would and Edwards continues to look like a better prospect than Richards. The downside to this match is it shows the issues with the show as a whole: the wrestling isn’t bad but without any reason for these guys to be fighting other than points, it’s kind of hard to get into things. It can be done but it’s not easy.
Team Young – 1 (3 matches remaining)
Team Carter – 0 (4 matches remaining)
Team Angle – 0 (4 matches remaining)
Team Roode – 0 (3 matches remaining)
Team Carter sends Gail out for the team’s first match. You can hear Edwards vs. Storm as this is going on. Carter talks about how his team is like a car working on all cylinders. He dubs Robbie as Wheels and we get DJZ’s sound effects (Carter: “Can you feel that in your loins?”). Godderz is called the Butcher and Magnus is a real life captain. This came off like filler. Ethan calls the team the Handsome Man Band.
Gail Kim (Carter) vs. Madison Rayne (Angle)
The fans are totally split as the girls take each other into the corner. Naturally the announcers ignore this to talk about some match from 1962. Madison takes her down to the mat and puts on a headscissors but Gail gets up and bails to the ropes. A headlock has Gail in trouble and she gets caught in a sunset flip for two. The mat humper sends Gail out to the floor before they shove each other a lot.
Madison wins a slugout but Gail clotheslines her down to take over. Taz sounds bored out of his mind on commentary. Gail puts her on the top rope, only to get sunset flipped for another near fall. Madison gets nailed again and Gail puts on a Brock Lock while wrapping her leg around Rayne’s head. It doesn’t last long though so Kim hits the running cross body to the ribs in the corner. They head outside and Madison scores with a spear before throwing Gail back inside. Madison misses a pair of charges and walks into Eat Defeat to give Gail the pin.
Rating: C-. Same match we’ve seen between these two a million times but at least Madison looked good. Gail is about as polished as you’re going to get but she just doesn’t have the charisma to back it up. The Knockouts continue to be miles ahead of the Divas and this was a good example of why.
Team Young – 1 (3 matches remaining)
Team Carter – 1 (3 matches remaining)
Team Angle – 0 (3 matches remaining)
Team Roode – 0 (3 matches remaining)
Bobby Roode brags about his team but isn’t sure why he picked Storm. He promises to lead his team to a win here tonight.
BroMans (Team Carter) vs. Mr. Anderson/Sanada (Angle)
Sanada actually cuts off Anderson’s mic drop and says the last name a few times. Robbie and Anderson get things going with Robbie doing some weird dance. Anderson sends him into the corner for some buckle rams before the good guys start working on the arm. Both of them take turns with top rope ax handles but Robbie rolls over to the corner for the tag off to Jesse.
Sanada slams him down and it’s quickly off to Anderson for a slam of his own. They alternate slams again before Robbie comes in and both BroMans get slammed. DJZ comes in but gets pulled out to safety. The regular team tries to to walk out but Anderson threatens the laptop to make them come back. Anderson puts the laptop down but realizes he doesn’t know how to work it. He does manage to play some music and Sanada busts some moves.
After the fans aren’t all that thrilled, Sanada fixes it up a bit with a slingshot plancha onto the BroMans. Robbie finally takes him down and puts on a chinlock. That goes nowhere as Sanada gets up and brings in Anderson for some elbows to the jaw. The rolling fireman’s carry drops both BroMans and DJZ takes one on top of both of them. Sanada hurricanrans Jesse to the floor but DJZ comes in with the laptop to Anderson’s back, giving Jesse the pin.
Rating: D+. This was your standard comedy match with a surprise ending. The BroMans winning makes the most sense but it would have been nice to see them get in a little bit more offense. I’ll give them this though: they’re at least mixing the matches up tonight so we don’t have to sit through the same stuff over and over again.
Team Carter – 2 (2 matches remaining)
Team Young – 1 (3 matches remaining)
Team Roode – 0 (3 matches remaining)
Team Angle – 0 (2 matches remaining)
Eric Young coins the term Dream Team and says he’s ready.
Eric Young (Young) vs. Bobby Roode (Roode)
Feeling out process to start with Eric taking him down to the mat before a shoulder knocks Roode out to the floor. Back in and Eric cranks on the arm as the announcers make fun of Mike Adamle. A right hand drops Roode in the corner but he sends Young out to the floor and into the barricade. Roode drops an elbow back inside before a neckbreaker gets two.
We hit the chinlock for a bit before the Blockbuster gets two on Eric. The fans get Young back into it to escape a sleeper but he gets sent to the apron for the strut. A belly to belly plants Roode and a missile dropkick gets two. Roode escapes the piledriver and gets two of his own off the spinebuster.
The Roode Bomb is countered into the wheelbarrow suplex into a neckbreaker for two. Eric goes up and blocks a superplex attempt before dropping the top rope elbow for a VERY near fall. Roode gets an elbow up in the corner but dives at Young and right into the piledriver for the pin.
Rating: B-. This was by far the best match of the night but the fans were almost silent. There’s something to be said for this theory that Impact Zone crowds bring the show down and this is a good example. I mean they just did not care about two World Champions going back and forth for thirteen minutes. That’s the kind of thing you can’t blame on the wrestlers but it really needs to be fixed, assuming it’s financially possible.
Team Carter – 2 (2 matches remaining)
Team Young – 2 (2 matches remaining)
Team Roode – 0 (2 matches remaining)
Team Angle – 0 (2 matches remaining)
Angle promises to show Carter why he’s a TNA Hall of Famer.
Video on Kurt Angle’s career in the Olympics and time in TNA.
Kurt Angle (Angle) vs. Ethan Carter III (Carter)
Ethan says he’s concerned for Angle’s well being because Kurt might try to maim him (Carter: “WHAT?”), hurt him (“WHAT?”) or injure him (“WHAT?”), so there’s going to be a change.
Kurt Angle (Angle) vs. Magnus (Carter)
They circle each other for a good while before Angle grabs a hammerlock, sending Magnus running into the ropes. The Brit puts on a headlock and even a suplex can’t break it up. Angle escapes and hammers away in the corner, only to take a knee to the ribs. We hit the sleeper on Angle but Kurt escapes with some rolling Germans.
The Angle Slam is countered into a kind of Rock Bottom around the ribs. He loads up the top rope elbow but Angle runs the corner for the belly to belly superplex and two. The ankle lock goes on until Magnus quickly kicks away and nails a running clothesline. Now the top rope elbow connects for two but Magnus charges into the corner for some reason, allowing Angle to step to the side and nail the Slam for the pin.
Rating: C. This picked up a bit at the end but there was barely anything in the first five minutes. Again the fans were dead and that’s very annoying but it’s a fact of life in TNA. Angle just didn’t have much in the tank at this point and the injuries were really mounting up. I’m almost hoping he doesn’t come back because he could hurt himself very, very badly if he keeps going.
Team Carter – 2 (1 match remaining)
Team Young – 2 (2 matches remaining)
Team Angle – 1 (1 match remaining)
Team Roode – 0 (2 matches remaining)
The Beautiful People say Roode picked them because they’re hot. Everyone needs a paper bag with their face on it and they start beautifying TNA tonight.
Angelina Love (Roode) vs. ODB (Young)
Velvet immediately trips up ODB and Angelina stomps away. They stop for a chest bump though and ODB comes back with running shoulders to send Angeling running to the floor. We get a slow chase scene and Earl Hebner gets caught as we’re in comedy territory. Back in and Earl yells at ODB, earning him a chest shake. Hebner falls to the mat and holds his chest as the Beautiful People come in to jump ODB.
Angelina puts on a chinlock and even jumps on ODB’s back, only to be rammed into the buckle. There’s the fall away slam and a Bronco Buster to Love but the Bam is countered with a rake of the eyes. Sky throws in hairspray but gets her face shoved into ODB’s chest (with the camera cutting away). Love comes back with the Botox Injection for the pin.
Rating: D-. ODB is not funny. I don’t know any other way to put it. She’s done the same “I’M NOT A LADY” stuff for years now and it was old years ago. The same can be said of the Beautiful People. They’ve done the same schtick for a very long time and I just do not care anymore. The comedy didn’t help things either and the whole match was a mess.
Team Carter – 2 (1 match remaining)
Team Young – 2 (1 match remaining)
Team Angle – 1 (1 match remaining)
Team Roode – 1 (1 match remaining)
ODB escapes the makeover post match and shoves Angelina’s face into her chest. Earl wants some but gets kissed and passed out.
Ethan Carter III (Carter) vs. Davey Richards (Angle)
Ethan quickly shoulders him out to the floor before knocking him into the ropes back inside. Back up and a flying tackle drops Carter to the floor where Davey can fire off kicks. Carter takes him down back inside and stomps away before driving in some shoulders in the corner. Davey gets taken down into a gutwrench before a knee to his ribs gets two.
Off to an abdominal stretch and the fans are actually into this one for a change. Spud offers some assistance until Richards flips Carter over to escape. Carter gets taken down by a sunset flip but Richards pops up for a double stomp and two. Ethan bails to the floor and gets caught by a suicide dive. Back in and a missile dropkick gets two for Richards and it’s time for the chest kicks. The big one misses though and Ethan nails a Batista Bomb for two.
Davey blocks the 1%er and nails the kick to the head. He puts on an ankle lock instead of covering but lets it go to try a top rope double stomp. Carter rolls away and nails a running clothesline for two. They head to the corner for a superplex but Davey headbutts Ethan down and gets two off a sunset bomb. The big kick to the head gets two more but Spud trips Davey, allowing the 1%er to send Team Carter to the finals.
Rating: C+. Another nice match here which probably has something to do with the extra time it was given. Spud and Carter work so well together and Carter is actually nailing the serious part of his character. Richards didn’t do much here and all the kicks were getting on my nerves.
Team Carter – 3 (0 matches remaining)
Team Young – 2 (1 match remaining)
Team Angle – 1 (0 matches remaining)
Team Roode – 1 (1 match remaining)
Gunner and Bully Ray are ready for their match. Ray brags about their legs and calves respectfully and Gunner says it’s all about making the finals. Tonight, Kenny King and Samuel Shaw will experience war. Ray: “OH WHAT A RUSH!” Gunner: “That’ll never get over.”
Bully Ray/Gunner (Young) vs. Kenny King/Samuel Shaw (Roode)
Shaw stares at Ray to start so Bully shoves him into the corner for the tag to King. Ray easily shoves him down too so it’s back to Shaw. Samuel gets taken into the corner and has his shirt raised for some skin breaking chops. The shirt stays over Shaw’s head and Ray starts a Gunner chant before bringing him in for a running clothesline. The Al Snow trapping headbutts rock Shaw and a falling headbutt gets two.
It’s off to King who scores with some kicks to Gunner’s face but it’s quickly back to Ray. Bully calls his spots as loudly as possible in a kind of funny bit until Shaw trips him down and crotches him against the post. Shaw comes in and screams a lot while choking. Back to King for more choking in the corner but Ray rolls underneath a double clothesline and tags in Gunner.
House is cleaned and Gunner rams his own head into the buckle before getting two off the top rope headbutt. Everything breaks down and Gunner plays D-Von in What’s Up. They do GET THE TABLES and even Taz mocks the crowd for not caring. Instead Shaw is whipped into Bully’s boot and Gunner nails an F5 for the pin.
Rating: D+. This was a glorified squash and I don’t think it was ever really in doubt. At the end of the day, Samuel Shaw and Kenny King aren’t much of a match for a Hall of Famer and a guy in the upper midcard at this point. Nothing to see here but it was as easy of a way as they had of getting Team Young into the finals.
Team Young vs. Team Carter in the finals.
Ethan sends Spud off to get some coffee and then takes credit for the team doing so well. He talks about fans caring about individuals and star power instead of the team but cuts himself off when Spud comes back with the coffee. This guy continues to be gold.
Bound For Glory is coming to Tokyo. I’m surprised it’s not a One Night Only show given how little TNA seems to care about it.
World Cup of Wrestling: Team Young vs. Team Carter
Eric Young, Bully Ray, Gunner, Eddie Edwards, ODB
Ethan Carter III, Magnus, BroMans, Gail Kim
Elimination rules. DJZ’s description of the team: the Handsome Man Band and one hot Asian chick. Jesse and Edwards get things going with Eddie speeding things up and hiptossing both BroMans. Off to Young for two off a double back elbow before he cranks on Robbie’s arm. Bully comes in for the loud chop and DJZ comes in for some embarrassment of his own.
Gail gets the tag and shoves Ray before hurting her hand trying chops. She sticks out her chest to let Ray chop her but Ray reaches out both hands in a funny bit. Ray goes racial with the Karate Kid crane pose before picking Gail up. He tags in ODB to spank Gail a few times before running her over with a chest bump. A front facelock allows ODB to spank a few more times but Gail comes right back with some of her own.
Jesse gets in one as well so ODB offers the rest of the team a free shot. She counters Eat Defeat into the Bam to take out Gail and it’s 5-4. Jesse comes in and gets his face sent into ODB’s chest but Robbie makes a blind tag and grabs a rollup for the pin. Gunner is in next for some headbutts before it’s back to Edwards for rapid fire chops in the corner. Some kicks set up a Shining Wizard for two but Jesse makes the save.
Off to Magnus for a stomping as Spud coaches from the floor. Jesse gorilla presses Edwards and DJZ is back on the sound effects. Eddie clotheslines both BroMans and hurricanranas both of them at the same time but doesn’t tag. A trip from Magnus lets the BroMans hit a clothesline into a cradle for the elimination.
It’s 4-3 now and Bully is taken into the Carter corner. Jesse actually slams Bully for two but walks into a Rock Bottom for the fast pin. Robbie tries to come in but gets launched into the air. The Flip Flop and Fly drops Robbie again but Magnus nails Bully in the face, giving Robbie the upset pin. It’s down to Gunner/Young vs. Magnus/Carter/Robbie.
Gunner charges in but gets caught in the heel corner again to give Carter’s team the advantage. Off to the chinlock by Carter but he makes the mistake of ramming Gunner face first into the buckle. Robbie takes the punishment in the form of an Irish Curse before the Gun Rack makes him submit. 2-2 now and we have a pretty decent looking tag match. The Brit comes in and takes a slingshot suplex but knocks Gunner out of the air with a European uppercut. A Michinoku Driver eliminates Gunner and we’re down to a handicap match.
Young charges in and the heels continue their idea of catching their opponent in the corner. Carter slams him down and gets two off a splash before putting on a chinlock. A belly to back suplex breaks it up but it’s back to Magnus to stop Eric’s comeback. We get the standard heel miscommunication and they argue, allowing Young to hit the wheelbarrow into the neckbreaker for two. Carter makes the save but hits Young low for a DQ. It’s one on one now and a hard clothesline puts Eric down. Magnus tries a piledriver but Young reverses into one of his own for the pin and the cup. Tenay of course acts like it’s no big deal.
Rating: C. You could pretty much pencil this in almost down to the exact eliminations but that’s fine. Young pinning Magnus was still a big deal at the time as he has just done it to win the World Title that week so the win meant more back then. It’s a nice way to cap things off and they even managed to protect Carter. That guy is going to be a big deal in the near future.
A VERY quick presentation ends the show.
Overall Rating: C-. It’s nothing great but this is my favorite of all the One Night Only series concepts. They keep things moving and offer you enough of a variety that there’s enough reason to care. If you like competitions and keeping track of scores you’ll like this fine and it’s a perfectly acceptable use of three hours. Again, the HD version is $15 so how much complaining can you do if things are at least decent?
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
According to WWE.com, Reigns will be out four to six weeks, likely closer to six. The hernia has been fixed and it should be just recovery now.
Night of Champions 2014 Preview
I have a feeling this is going to be a shorter one as most of the matches are fairly obvious, meaning there isn’t much to say about them. That’s a bad sign too as most of the matches haven’t had a ton of effort put into them and it really isn’t all that hard to guess most of them. WWE has done a very bad job of setting up this show other than the main event and it’s going to catch up to them. Let’s get to it.
There hasn’t been a pre-show match but the rumor is the Bunny/Rose vs. Slater/O’Neil. I can live with this, but they better nail the unmasking. The rumor of Darren Young would be about as big of a letdown as you could ask for.
The main event is the only match that matters here and WWE has done a good job of making me believe Cena could pull it off. At the end of the day though, I’m hoping Lesnar holds onto the title. If not, it’s a pretty big waste of Brock’s huge push, especially when Cena doesn’t really have anyone other than Rusev to fight with. I’ll go with a double DQ though to set up the showdown in the Cell.
Since Reigns is out with the surgery, I’m hoping they go with the obvious idea of Rollins giving an open challenge and Ambrose returning for the big showdown. I’m not sure if Reigns’ condition is legit or not, but man alive it’s convenient that they did Rollins vs. Reigns on Monday, right before Ambrose is due back.
Cesaro takes the US Title, though I have no idea what he does with it.
I’d like to see Miz take the title as he’s doing very well with the character. That being said, he isn’t going any higher with it. I wouldn’t mind seeing Breeze debuting with the entourage soon though.
Unfortunately, odds are Nikki walks out with the title because for some reason the Bellas are the second biggest act on the card right now, despite the interest just not being there. Oh wait it’s to get 14 people to watch Total Divas or vice versa. I’m so glad we get to deal with this stuff. Did I mention I REALLY hate this story?
Rusev beats Henry. Duh.
I’ll take the brothers to walk out with the Tag Team Titles. I mean the brothers who paint their faces. Gah this is annoying. The Dusts win the titles and maybe we finally find out what the Cosmic Key is.
Orton beats Jericho. Does ANYONE care about this match?
Night of Champions is one of the least interesting cards I’ve seen in a very long time. This company just has no energy anymore and hasn’t since Summerslam was over. WWE has put in almost no effort to the show and it’s clear that they’re not interested in trying hard for this one. This is the really bad fall lull and we’ve got a few more months of it to go before things start getting better. Maybe some of the NXT guys can breathe life into the company but I wouldn’t bet on it right now. Lesnar vs. Cena should be good though.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Roman Reigns Undergoes Surgery, Likely Out Of Night of Champions
According to WWE.com. It’s due to something called an incarcerated hernia. No word on how long he’ll be out.
Wrestler of the Day – September 18: Jamie Noble
Today we’re looking at another small guy: Jamie Noble.
Noble started in late 1999 so we’ll pick things up at the 3rd Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show in 2000.
HWA Cruiserweight Title: Shark Boy vs. Jamie-San
HWA is the Heartland Wrestling Association out of Cincinnati, which served as a developmental territory for both WCW and the WWF over the years. Shark Boy is defending and Jamie-San is Jamie Noble. The footage is pretty low quality and there’s no commentary here at all. ECW/WCW goon Tony Marinara is with Jamie here for some reason. They trade wristlocks to start and Shark Boy gets two off an O’Connor Roll, giving us a stalemate. Time for some technical stuff with a nice little chain wrestling sequence leading to stalemate the sequel.
Back up and Sharky armdrags him down and Jamie bails to the floor. Jamie gets back in, only to be bitten on the trousers. Marinara gets the same and it’s back to the floor for healing. Shark Boy breaks up their meeting with a nice dive but Jamie pulls him off the apron and sends him into the barricade. Jamie is supposed to be Japanese but he sounds like a hayseed whenever he talks trash, killing the idea dead. Sharky takes a running clothesline in the corner but comes out with a spinning sunset flip for two.
Jamie kind of misses a middle rope dropkick for two and we hit the chinlock. Really basic stuff so far but it’s not bad. It’s strange to see Shark Boy as just a guy (who happens to think he’s a shark) instead of a cult favorite. The hold stays on for a good while, which is a pretty big waste of Jamie’s talents in the time they have. The fans are WAY into Shark Boy here so maybe the cult favorite aspect is still around.
The champion finally comes back by sending Jamie into the corner and puts him down with a facebuster. There are ten punches in the corner and a middle rope hurricanrana gets two for the champion. The Dead Sea Drop (more commonly called Diamond Dust, flipping Stunner off the middle rope) is countered into a reverse layout DDT (Christian uses it a lot) for two. Jamie misses a top rope headbutt so Sharky grabs a sleeper, only to be rammed into the corner, putting him in perfect position for the Dead Sea Drop and the pin to retain.
Rating: C. This was fine. The matches tonight are going to depend on who is in the ring as I’ll be harsher on indy guys than I will be on big time talent. It’s nice to see indy guys who have talent out there like Shark Boy as some matches from this level can be DREADFUL, which I’m sure we’ll hit at some point tonight. This was a nice little match though and both guys looked solid in the ring.
We’ll hit some WCW now, starting at New Blood Rising with Jamie as Jamie-San of the Jung Dragons.
3 Count vs. Jung Dragons
This would open about 19 Thunders in a row. Tank Abbott is their Rikishi and dances with them. Ok to be fair, this was freaking hilarious. The only Dragon that is known is the masked one who would become Jamie Knoble. Three Count has one guy that meant nothing, Shannon Moore and Shane (Gregory) Helms. This is a double ladder match where the Dragons are trying to get a recording contract so 3 Count can’t record again and 3 Count is trying to get their gold record back.
You have to tag here and it’s a ladder match. They stack up a ladder in the corner and do a ton of stuff with that. Both teams hit a springboard Doomsday Device as this is a fun match but you can tell nothing is ever going to go anywhere. Noble does a HUGE dive off the ladder to the floor. Oh and Yang cut his hair and became the resident redneck on Smackdown. This isn’t bad but it’s certainly is entertaining.
And then 3 Count stops to dance. Jamie hits a nice rana and the other two hit a double splash off the ladders. Jamie gets the record but it’s not over yet. Abbott gets the record and we keep going a bit more. I’d love to hear the explanation to a record company that they lost their contract in a professional wrestling ladder match. Kaz and Helms sprint up the ladders but Abbott shoves both guys over. Karagis climbs up and gets the contract. Soon after Jamie would be unmasked and Karagis would team up to become a third team. Abbott leaves with the contract and record.
Rating: B. Solid stuff here although it made limited sense with the whole double prize thing but that’s WCW for you. These six guys would open just about every show there was without ever getting anywhere at all for it and while the matches were solid, people just got sick of seeing them. I know I did.
And another ladder match at Starrcade 2000.
3 Count vs. Jung Dragons vs. Knoble and Karagias
There’s a lot to get through here. This is a three team ladder match but the winner is gets a Cruiserweight Title shot against champion Chavo Guerrero, who will be on commentary. I’m very surprised that we haven’t seen Chavo before this as he’s been around since the mid-90s and is a pretty talented guy. He’s also Eddie’s nephew if the name sounds familiar. I’m not sure how the title shot (which is for a later date rather than tonight) is going to work given that a team wins here rather than an individual. It might be a three way dance, it might be a handicap match or it might be whichever team member pulls the contract down.
As for who is who in this match, these six guys used to be on two three man teams who fought each other for the better part of six months without ever advancing up the card at all (nice job WCW). 3 Count is Shane Helms and Shannon Moore and they’re a boy band ala the Backstreet Boys. The Jung Dragons are Kaz Hayashi and Yang and they’re just Japanese guys. Jamie Knoble and Evan Karagias used to team with the Dragons and 3 Count respectively before splitting off and forming their own team.
You have to tag in this match for no apparent reason other than WCW doesn’t get the concept of a match like this. Shannon and Kaz get things going and head to the mat very quickly before slamming into each other and seemingly knocking themselves out for a second. The ever so caring fans think it’s boring because the guys might have concussions and therefore aren’t doing anything for ten seconds.
Back up and Shannon heads for the ladder but Karagias breaks it up before Moore can get there. Off to Yang vs. Helms but everyone says screw the tagging stuff and heads out into the aisle for the ladder. 3 Count pulls a fast one though and pulls out their own ladder with everyone else in the aisle. The Dragons make the save though, only for Knoble and Karagias to take them down and go up, but the Dragons slam the ladder down onto him. Yang adds a moonsault onto the ladder and the Dragons for good measure to get the crowd into the match.
Jamie and Evan set up a ladder on the middle rope before sending Shane face first into the steel. Kaz is dropped head first onto the ladder as well before Noble brings in another ladder. Knoble and Karagias get in an argument over who gets the contract, allowing Yang to take both guys down. Yang puts Shannon on the ladder and catches him diving into a gutbuster. Shane throws Yang to the floor and hits a BIG spinning dive to take both guys down. Kaz dives on Shane and Evan dives on everyone, followed by Shannon diving on everyone plus Evan.
Jamie goes up the ladder but Yang gets back in and shoves the ladder over, sending Jamie down onto the pile of guys at ringside. Yang puts another ladder in the rungs of the standing ladder, making a platform between the ropes and the standing ladder. Evan walks on said platform and catches a springboarding Kaz in a powerslam to the mat. Shannon dives off the platform to take Evan out before Helms hits a neckbreaker to take Knoble off the ladder. Shannon breaks up the platform and puts up another ladder so four people can climb at once.
Knoble powerbombs Shane off one ladder, leaving Shannon and Yang fighting on the top, until Moore hits a neckbreaker to bring Yang down. Jamie goes up but Leia Meow, the Dragons’ mistress, pulls him down. Even brings in a third ladder but Yang shoves him down to the floor. The Dragons load up a big scaffold using four ladders but get knocked down as another brawl breaks out. Kaz kicks Knoble off the scaffold but gets knocked down by Karagias. It’s Helms and Yang on the scaffold now but here come their partners as well. Shannon headscissors Yang down and 3 Count pulls down the contract at the same time.
Rating: B. There’s your match of the night right there. I don’t have to watch the rest of the show and it’s very clear that this isn’t going to be topped. That’s WCW’s problem at the end of the day: these six guys fought FOREVER and never got to move up the card at all. They never fought for the tag titles or a single title other than the Cruiserweight Title or anything like that at all. Instead they were tasked with going out there and tearing the house down while breaking their backs so that the “stars” could get the glory. That’s WCW in a nutshell and it’s a big part of why they went out of business.
Noble would head to WWE and have a Cruiserweight Title shot at King of the Ring 2002.
Cruiserweight Title: Jamie Noble vs. Hurricane
This was either Noble’s first match or at least his first feud. Oh ok this is his second. Seriously, the recap is still going. It’s getting more time than the opening video. Oh and the heels unmasked him which Burchill is still trying to do. IT’S STILL GOING! I have absolutely no interest in this match at all. Hurricane was running around chokeslamming people. Nidia thinks she means something. That’s just amusing.
There’s a “she’s a crack w****” chant going as we flash back to ECW. She tries to trip Hurricane and misses. You grab the big white thing. It’s how you got a job more than likely as it certainly isn’t for your looks and talent. Oh Tuesday is the Divas Undressed thing. It was a lingire thing that went nowhere. There were some ok looks but that’s about it. As you can tell, I’m not talking much about the match.
This division and title were just jokes and it’s good that the title isn’t coming back. Let it go people. Oh dear we begin the sex jokes about Hurricane and why Nidia dumped him. I hate those. Oh dang it they’re using sleepers. I can barely stand the thought of this match already and they’re just boring me to death. This division was just a freaking waste. Wait a minute. This is a Smackdown match. WHY ARE LAWLER AND ROSS CALLING IT???
We have acknowledged that Tazz and Cole, the SMACKDOWN ANNOUNCERS are in the building, but instead we get Ross and Lawler who have nothing to do with these guys or their show talking about the match. What in the heck is wrong with this? Hurricane and Nidia fight over his cape. Hurricane suplexes Noble over the ropes and he lands on his leg. Dang it he’s getting up so we have to keep going. The main problem here is Nidia.
She won’t freaking shut up and she’s just annoying. Hurricane hits a swinging neckbreaker from the top rope. This match just needs to end. It’s all highspots and Nidia and only one of those things are interesting. Noble kicks out of the chokeslam which stuns the crowd. For some reason they’re into this. Hurricane crotches himself on the top and Noble powerbombs him for the title while Nidia shoves his foot off the ropes. They make out way too much after the match.
Rating: D-. And it passes for the highspots. This was just freaking pointless and of course they gave it 10 minutes. See, in WCW, this was successful because there WERE NO STORIES. It was all highspots and no stupid ugly women screaming all the time. Learn from that Vince.
Title defense from Vengeance 2002.
Cruiserweight Title: Jamie Noble vs. Billy Kidman
At this point, the belt means jack. It’s the guy wins title after being on “an impressive roll as of late”, holds it for like three months while never defending it, another guy goes “on an impressive roll as of late” and normally he wins the title. This would be the first major, and I use that term more loosely than Lita after a bottle of Jack, title defense for Noble though, so there’s more or less no way he loses here.
That and I reviewed the match where he did lose it already so yeah this isn’t in any doubt at all. Wow absolutely no one cares here. We get the line about Noble not being your traditional cruiserweight as he uses a ground based attack and isn’t a high flier. Well duh, he’s a heel champion. Has there ever been a high flier that’s a heel? Only an idiot would book that? Kidman goes up top. I wonder if he’s about to GET READY TO FLY.
I really could not be less interested in this. Yet I’m writing a review of it. There’s something extremely wrong with me I think. How in the world did Noble win the ROH Title for a month? Was that like a massive rib or something? Noble messes up Kidman’s shoulder to try to make people care. To be fair, Kidman gets some pops in there.
Oh some guy named Rey Mysterio debuts Thursday. So four months you got Ortn, Cena, Batista and Mysterio. Not bad. Kidman doesn’t tap to an armbar. Kidman goes for an enziguri. It lands on Noble’s back. Wow this is making my head hurt. Shooting Star misses and Noble rolls him up for two. Noble hits a Tiger Bomb to end this.
Rating: D+. Not bad, but seriously, no one really cared. This just filled in about 8 minutes and wasn’t that good at all. More or less a nothing match that went nowhere at all. Not that it was terrible or anything, but no point at all. That’s the case with way too many cruiserweight matches, but at least they’re not using all of the stories to bog things down.
Jamie would hook up with rival Tajiri for a tag match on Smackdown, September 26, 2002.
Jamie Noble/Tajiai vs. Billy/Chuck
Billy and Chuck are in street clothes. What street that is I’m not sure. Adrian maybe? Billy and Tajiri get started. I don’t remember Tajiri being a heel but he and his partner go after Billy’s knee. Handspring elbow puts Billy down and a big kick gets two. Noble tries to cannonball down onto the leg but Billy kicks him to the floor. Billy still can’t tag as Tajiri knocks Palumbo to the floor. Noble hooks a unique leg lock on Billy’s bad knee.
Can we just watch Torrie slap the mat in that bikini again? Tajiri gets in some shots as we hear about the exclusive contracts between the brands, including Orton being signed to Raw. He was a young cocky heel at this point. I wonder what ever happened to him. Billy manages to get in a kick to Noble and a flapjack allows for the hot tag. Chuck cleans house and tries a powerbomb but Tajiri counters into a victory roll attempt. Chuck holds him in place though and Code Red (Doomsday Device) ends this.
Rating: C. Fine match here and when you throw something together inside of 30 seconds that’s as good as you can ask for. Billy and Chuck had some good chemistry and it worked here. I miss random showdowns like these or the first match and they work pretty well most pf the time, especially when you have talented people in there.
Off to Velocity for the required opponent on January 12, 2003.
Bryan Danielson vs. Jamie Noble
Noble takes him to the mat into a headscissors but Bryan counters into a double arm crank to put Jamie down for two. They trade wristlocks until Danielson takes him down with a headlock. Off to a test of strength with Jamie getting two off a northern lights suplex. A drop toehold puts Danielson throat first into the ropes and a Saito Suplex gets two.
Off to a cross arm choke on Danielson but he slides through Jamie’s legs into a sunset flip for two. We hit the chinlock on Bryan for a bit before he comes back with a running clothesline for two of his own. There’s the backflip out of the corner and Danielson hits a discus forearm to the back of the head. A German suplex gets two on Jamie but he comes back with a quick swinging neckbreaker for the pin.
Rating: C+. This was way better than I was expecting with both guys looking solid out there. Danielson was clearly going to be something special in the future as he was a natural in the ring and moved from one spot to another with ease. It was a surprisingly good match with both guys nailing it.
Jamie decided he wanted Torrie and had a chance to sleep with her if he could beat Billy Gunn at Vengeance 2003.
Billy Gunn vs. Jamie Noble
Jamie brings a briefcase with his “stuff” in it. They actually open it which is creepy. Jamie’s girlfriend Nidia comes out and is mad at him over this clearly. See the criticisms of soap opera stuff that WWE gets? Noble works on his knee so his regular stuff can’t work. Gunn busts out a random Diamond Cutter for two. Didn’t see that one coming. Noble hooks a DDT from the second rope. I liked that.
Nidia puts his foot on the ropes though since she doesn’t want Torrie sleeping with Noble. That makes sense at least. Both girls beat him up. Billy gets rammed into Torrie and gets rolled up for the pin. Torrie says Holy censored and it’s rather amusing. Cole shouting NOBLE GETS TO SLEEP WITH TORRIE cracked me up. He wants to watch. Oh dear.
Rating: D. Bad match on top of a bad angle doesn’t help. Naturally it didn’t happen and Noble and Gunn started teaming together because it’s professional wrestling and of course it doesn’t make sense. Torrie looked hot though so I can’t complain much there. Still though, stupid angle and a stupid match.
Noble got a Cruiserweight Title shot at Royal Rumble 2004.
Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Jamie Noble
Rey is defending. This is during the Nidia is Blind phase which didn’t do anything for anyone. They speed things WAY up to start with Jamie avoiding the 619 and launching Rey into the air to take over. The champ gets draped over the top rope for two and a hard kick to the back gets the same.
Jamie hooks a chinlock which shifts into a seated abdominal stretch. Rey fights up and hits a dropkick and a springboard rana followed by the sitout bulldog for two. He springboards into a gutbuster from Noble for two though and momentum shifts again. Nidia accidentally grabs Noble’s foot, allowing Rey to hit the 619 and springboard legdrop…..for the pin? Huh?
Rating: D+. This was fast paced while it lasted, but those three words are the key: while it lasted. This barely broke three minutes which simply isn’t enough for a PPV title match. Unless I was missing it there was no sign of an injury or anything like that, but the match ends that fast. I have no idea what they were going for here but it didn’t work in any way at all. That’s a shame too because they were going well while it lasted.
Jamie would head to Japan and then ROH for awhile, even beating CM Punk for the ROH World Title in 2005. It wouldn’t last long though and it was back to WWE, including this match at Royal Rumble 2006.
Cruiserweight Title: Gregory Helms vs. Kid Kash vs. Funaki vs. Jamie Noble vs. Nunzio vs. Paul London
Kid Kash is champion coming in and this is Texas Tornado rules and one fall to a finish. Helms is from Raw but is here because it’s an open invitational. It’s a big brawl to start and everyone gangs up on Helms. I don’t know if there was a delay of some sort or just a really bad sign, but there are dozens if not hundreds of empty seats visible in the lower arena, most of them opposite the hard camera.
Helms gets beaten into the corner but Kash pulls some other people off for no apparent reason. Nunzio slams Kash onto the mat for one Noble gets two on Nunzio off a powerslam as London hits a dropsalt for two on Noble and Nunzio. Wait apparently those red seats are stairs. Those are rather distracting and the seating structure is odd as there’s a group of about eight seats per row then another set of stairs as opposed to most arenas where there are about twice that many in a row. At least the place isn’t as empty as it seemed.
Nunzio hits a slingshot to send Noble into the corner and Funaki adds a bulldog for two. We finally get to the dives with Nunzio diving on a pair of guys, allowing Noble to get two on Kash via a leg lariat. Noble dives on Helms and Nunzio on the floor and Funaki is knocked off the top onto Nunzio and Noble. London kicks Kash to the floor as well and dives on everyone not named Helms with a shooting star off the top.
Back in and London loads up a shooting star press onto Kash but Helms goes up top at the same time and hooks a swinging neckbreaker to bring London down for two. A brainbuster from Kash kills London again but two guys come in for the save. All six guys are back in the ring now and Kash gets two off a Backstabber on Nunzio. Funaki can’t hit a tornado DDT on Noble and gets caught in a gutbuster for trying. Noble gets sent to the floor by Helms and Gregory hits a Shining Wizard out of nowhere for the pin on Funaki and the title.
Rating: C+. What are you expecting to find here? It’s six guys in the ring all at once and going nuts on each other with spots. There isn’t supposed to be any sort of story or flow to it and there certainly wasn’t here. It was the right choice for an opener and the match worked well enough for its purpose. Fine but nothing memorable at all. Helms would hold the title for over a year.
Back to Velocity on March 11, 2006.
Pitbulls vs. Scotty 2 Hotty/Funaki
Kash and Funaki get things going with Kash running him over, only to get caught with a hiptoss. Scotty comes in to work on the arm but it’s quickly off to Noble for a stomping in the corner. A neckbreaker gets two on Hotty and everything starts to break down before it’s back to Jamie for a legdrop.
Kash comes in again but his moonsault hits Scotty’s knees. Scotty dives for the tag and loses his shoe but gets over to Funaki to clean house. A high cross body gets two on Noble but the one shoed Scotty takes Kash down for the Worm. Funaki dropkicks him to the floor but gets caught in a gorilla press gutbuster from Noble for the pin.
Rating: C. Another nice match here with both teams getting to show off a little bit. There’s only so much you can get out of a match between the Pitbulls and Hotty/Funaki but it was a very pleasant surprise. The Pitbulls weren’t a bad team but they were around in a boring stretch for the tag team division.
Speaking of the tag team division, here’s a Tag Team Title shot at Great American Bash 2006.
Smackdown Tag Titles: Paul London/Brian Kendrick vs. Pit Bulls
The Bulls are Jamie Noble and Kid Kash. They were a team that was around when I really wasn’t watching Smackdown so this is a new thing for me. London and Kash start us off with Kash taking it to the mat. For some reason we’re talking about the Rock N Roll Express now. Kash keeps running him over so London speeds things up to take over. Off to Kendrick and they use a modified rocket launcher for two.
Kendrick works on the arm and we hear about the Crockett family starting up the Bash in the 80s. Off to Noble who apparently likes having men on the ground. I love wrestling but the gay jokes are really hard to avoid at times. Back to London who keeps Noble’s arm in trouble. This has been one sided so far and Londrick sends them to the floor. You know that means stereo dives.
FINALLY Noble gets in a shot to take over and gets a pair of two counts. Back to Kash who slams Kendrick into the mat by his hair. Kendrick dodges a charge and brings in London. Things speed way up and we talk about Ivan Putski. They go to the apron and London tries to skin the cat, but Noble gets in a shot to the back. I guess this is the official face in peril part.
London may have hurt his back on the way down onto the apron. Noble hooks on a chinlock for a few seconds and there’s a leg lariat for two. The Pit Bulls do some good old fashioned heel tag team work to keep Kendrick out. More double teaming follows but London fights out of the corner. He kicks Noble into Kash but Kash makes the save to break up the tag. Cole says London was minutes away from making the tag. Well at least he was close.
London backflips out of a suplex and falls into Kendrick for the tag. Springboard missile dropkick takes out Kash and things speed WAY up. He hits leg lariats to everyone but Noble makes the save on the cover. Noble tries something like a double underhook piledriver on Kendrick but London saves again. There’s a huge dive to the floor by Kendrick to take out Noble. Kash can’t get the brainbuster to London so Kendrick dives off the top with a sunset flip for the pin.
Rating: B-. This match right here has already had more energy in it than the entirety of the previous two shows in this series. Londrick would spend the next 9 months or so as champions which is still the longest tag title reign in the WWE/F in about fifteen years. Very fun tag match with all kinds of old school heel tag work to make things very fun and get the crowd into it.
We’ll jump ahead to Great American Bash 2007.
Cruiserweight Title: Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore vs. Jamie Noble vs. Funaki
It’s a five man match but remember that this is a Cruiserweight Open, as in anyone can get in on this. Chavo is champion coming in. This is the dying days of the title as this was thrown on the card yesterday with no story. They did these kind of matches for probably a year. Hornswoggle is on the floor and hides under the ring. Chavo tries to run but gets thrown outside instead. This is one fall to a finish.
This is one of those matches where you can’t really keep up with anything so the whole thing is pretty all over the place. Chavo comes back in and Cole talks about his Latina wife. Shannon gets two on Chavo but Funaki hits a cross body onto both of them for a combined two. Powerslam gets two for Noble but Chavo breaks it up again. Chavo hooks some freaky rollup on Yang and transitions into a half crab but it gets broken up by Funaki.
Moore slams Funaki into the buckle HARD. Noble vs. Moore now. Make that Noble vs. Funaki. See what I mean about how there’s no point in trying to call this? Funaki gets an enziguri for two on Moore. Gory Bomb to Funaki gets two for the champ. Almost everyone goes to the floor so Yang sets for a dive. Chavo stops it and it’s Tower of Doom time. Noble is down and here’s Horny to come off the top with a Tadpole Splash to win the title.
Rating: C-. Like I said there’s only so much you can do in these. The ending is totally legal when you think about it: he’s certainly small enough and it was an Open so anyone can enter at any time right? This wasn’t anything great but it was very clear that the title was done. And no it wasn’t Horny that killed it. The belt was long since dead.
Off to Smackdown on October 19, 2007.
Jamie Noble vs. Undertaker
Undertaker actually comes out first. Jamie dodges in the corner and hammers away with about as much luck as you would imagine. There’s the chokeslam and the Tombstone is good for the pin.
We’ll jump ahead nearly a year to one of Noble’s last wins, on Raw from September 1, 2008.
Jamie Noble vs. William Regal
Noble wants to date Layla so she’s here too. I don’t remember that pairing very well at all but this brings it back a bit. Granted it’s not exactly the biggest angle of all time. Regal annoyed Layla when she was dancing and Noble saved her so there’s your background. Regal is in his one piece swimsuit attire and he pounds Noble down with ease. A full nelson is easily countered and they trade some rollups for two. Regal punches him in the face to put him down as the beating continues. Out of nowhere, Noble grabs a small package for the quick pin. This was like a minute long.
We’ll wrap it up on ECW on Sci-Fi on February 3, 2009.
Jamie Noble vs. Boogeyman
Noble runs from the bag of worms to start. Boogeyman throws him into the corner but Jamie hammers away with some right hands. A beal sends Jamie out to the floor and a gorilla press sends him back into the ring. Jamie stomps away back inside and a top rope forearm gets two. We hit the chinlock on Boogey but he throws Jamie into the corner to escape. Back up and the pumphandle slam is enough to pin Noble.
Rating: D+. This was a bit better than I was expecting as Boogeyman was getting better around this time. Noble was at his best when he was making someone look better and that’s exactly what he did here. He could bounce around well enough and Boogeyman was strong enough to do all the throws and slams. Not terrible.
Jamie Noble is a guy that was very efficient with what he did and it’s easy to see why he’s an agent today. His stuff in late WCW was really solid stuff with everyone flying around the ring and going insane. Noble wasn’t as good in WWE but he was able to do enough to make the people around him look good.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Thunder – April 29, 1999: I’ll See Your Smackdown And Raise You…..Whatever This Was
Thunder Date: April 29, 1999
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko
The question coming out of Monday is will anything that happens tonight actually mean anything. Nitro saw two World Title changes resulting in Diamond Dallas Page winning and losing the title on the same show. We’re still on the way to Slamboree with Nash vs. Page for the title and Flair vs. Piper (both of whom may be fired) for control of the company. Let’s get to it.
After the opening sequence, we get some clips of Flair in the hospital on Monday. Thankfully Scott Hall’s bizarre cameo is omitted.
TV Title: Booker T. vs. Curt Hennig
Curt is challenging. Booker shoves him into the corner to start as the announcers talk about the second World Title change on Monday. A hiptoss sends Curt out to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Hennig hammering Booker down and kicking him in the ribs. They switch to boxing for a bit until Booker nails him with a forearm to the head for two.
Some right hands in the corner have Booker in trouble but Curt steps forward for a hot shot into the buckle. A low blow has Booker in even more trouble and Curt chops away in the corner. Curt puts on a sleeper for a good while before hitting a piledriver for two. Booker pops back up and hits the super, ax and side kicks. He goes up for the missile dropkick but Stevie Ray comes in with the slapjack to Hennig for the DQ.
Rating: D+. That sleeper just crippled anything the match had going for it. This Booker vs. Stevie stuff isn’t the most interesting story in the world but maybe they’ll actually have a match as a result unlike Rick and Scott. Hennig was coming back from an injury here and he didn’t look like his usual self.
Hotline plug
The Nitro Girls are getting their own site.
Video on Nash.
Here are Hak and Chastity with something to say. Hak talks about how awesome his hardcore matches have been and calls the three way with Bigelow and Raven the most extreme match ever. Chastity gets to pick his opponent for tonight and the schoolgirl chick selects Kevin Nash. Great. The hardcore mess is invading the main event.
Booker and Rick Steiner are fighting backstage. Why WCW thinks anyone cares about Rick Steiner in 1999 is beyond me.
WCW will be on QVC soon.
Video on Goldberg.
Here’s Buff…..dressed like Scott Steiner. Oh this could be good. Tenay: “I would say that’s a Buff Bagwell imitation of Big Papa Pump.” You can’t buy analysis like this people! Buff talks about partying at Penn State and how much it made him realize Michigan really sucks. He’s nailing the screech in Steiner’s voice. Buff tells us to close our eyes and picture the Big Bad Doodoo Daddy.
He was at Motel 6 watching BET last night to find more lines to steal and came up with this one: “I’m not a player. I’m just on parole a lot.” If Bagwell wants a US Title shot at Slamboree, that’s what Buff is going to get. He’ll show Bagwell that there’s no bigger liar than Scott Steiner. Flush him if you hear him. This really wasn’t as funny as it could have been but the voice was awesome.
Jerry Flynn vs. Stevie Ray
Ray hammers on him in the corner to start but gets caught by some kicks. Jerry catches one of Stevie’s kicks and turns it into an ankle lock. That goes nowhere so Jerry tries an armdrag into a cross armbreaker. Vincent offers a distraction and Horace comes in to break it up because the Black and White are a bunch of inept morons. After a beatdown on the floor, Stevie slams him down and drops a leg for two. Jerry pops up and nails a spinkick, only to get distracted by Horace so Ray can hit a bad looking Slapjack for the pin.
Rating: D-. Does anyone else find it sad that the Wolfpac is basically done but we have the Black and White stooges around, taking the whole group to beat up Jerry Flynn? Stevie just isn’t any good in the ring and it’s showing here. He’s one of those wrestlers whose offense consists of forearms to the back and a lot of shouting. Granted that’s better than Flynn who can’t even talk.
Hardcore Hak vs. Kevin Nash
Hak loads up a ladder and table before Nash’s music hits. He charges at Nash to start but Big Kev grabs a kendo stick to send Hak into the corner. Nash picks him up for a suplex onto the ladder before driving it into Hak’s ribs over and over. The table is set up in the corner but Hak reverses a whip to send Kev through it.
Some kendo stick shots put Nash down and puts the ladder on top of him for the slingshot legdrop. Nash is sent hands first into the ladder but he grabs the stick to blast Hak in the ribs. He can’t follow up though and Hak nails him a few more times to put Nash back down. A top rope swanton onto the ladder onto Nash gets two. Chastity comes in with a fire extinguisher but Nash takes it away and blasts Hak. The Jackknife through the table is enough for the pin.
Rating: D. This was a few steps ahead of the usual hardcore stuff and it’s mainly due to having less weapons than the other matches. There were only a few in this one as opposed to the dozen or so that we usually get. It also helped that there was some actual wrestling in between the spots instead of weapon shot after weapon shot. It’s still bad but it at least resembled a match.
Bam Bam Bigelow comes out and wants to keep Hardcore Night going by getting a shot at the World Title. He issues the challenge to Page “from one homey to another.” Sure why not.
This Week In WCW Motorsports.
Goldberg vs. Meng
We get a very loud Goldberg chant out of nowhere. That’s as obvious of a piped in chant as I’ve ever heard. They trade slams to start and Meng bails to the outside. Back in and Meng rakes the eyes to take over before planting Goldberg with a backbreaker for two. Goldberg pops up with a kick to the face and a powerslam of his own, only to get his eyes raked again. Meng hammers away with various chops, kicks and punches before superkicking Goldberg down for two. More punches have very little effect and Goldberg pops up with a superkick, setting up the spear and Jackhammer for the pin.
Rating: D+. Basically a longer version of the standarg Goldberg match. He had to try a bit here but Meng has gone from unstoppable killing machine to standard power heel. They did such a great job of setting him up as a one off challenger last year but now this is the best we can get. It’s a sign of the times for WCW.
Page comes out to talk about what happened on Monday and thanks people like the Masked Assassin, Jake Roberts and Dusty Rhodes for helping him out. He doesn’t think much of the fans though and tells those who got on the bandwagon to “no not suck it. Jump off!” We get some good old fashioned cheap heat when Page asks what town we’re in. He’ll give Bigelow the shot tonight, even though the fans don’t deserve it.
QVC promo.
Slamboree ad.
Randy Savage vs. Disciple
Savage has Miss Madness, Madusa and Gorgeous George with him here. Why he’s playing a face here after helping the heel Page out on Monday isn’t clear. Randy grabs an armbar to start before they shove each other around a lot. Disciple gets taken down and chinlocked before it’s back to the armbar, followed by another chinlock for a change of pace. Choking ensues and Savage drills him with an elbow to the jaw for two.
Disciple fights back with his wide range of punches, kicks and choking before dropping an elbow for two. We hit a chinlock on Savage as this isn’t quite the same level I’m used two with Macho. More punching and choking from Disciple before Savage throws him to the floor out of boredom. Savage is sent into the barricade and Disciple puts on the sleeper on the floor. Madusa makes a save and sends Disciple into the post before Savage sends him back in for the big elbow and the pin.
Rating: D-. Of all the people on WCW’s roster for Savage’s first real match back, they pick Disciple? The match was horrible and most of it was due to Savage having nothing to work with. Disciple’s entire offense was built around punching and choking which really doesn’t make for a well done match. Also, Savage needed help from the girls to beat the Disciple? Really?
WCW World Title: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Diamond Dallas Page
Hardcore and Page is defending of course. Page slugs away to start but gets knocked out to the floor with a big right hand. Back in and Bigelow drops him throat first across the top rope, sending Page back outside for another breather. It’s time to bring in some weapons but Page dives over the top to take Bigelow back.
We take a break and come back with Bigelow knocking him down the aisle before taking Page over to the announcers’ table. He loads up a regular table but Page rolls away, sending Bigelow crashing down onto the concrete. Page sends him into the barricade a few times and they come back towards the ring with the champion in control. More weapons are brought in though and a trashcan to Page’s back gets two on the floor.
They head back inside for the top rope headbutt from Bam Bam but Page is up at two. A side slam gets the same but Page comes back with a discus lariat for a near fall of his own. The floatover DDT drops Bigelow but the referee gets bumped. Bigelow gets two off a suplex but Page low blows him for the same. Greetings From Asbury Park is countered into the Diamond Cutter….and Savage comes out to drop a big elbow on Bigelow for good measure. Page gets the easy pin.
Rating: D. I really don’t see the need for this to be a hardcore match. The Savage thing didn’t need to be there as Bigelow was out cold before Macho came out. I like Page winning matches on TV, but he needs to do something different in the ring as he’s basically having the same matches he was before save for the occasional low blow.
Overall Rating: D+. This show tried for a change and I’m sure it has nothing to do with WWF having a pilot for some show called Smackdown at the same time. It was another show that didn’t need to exist, but I definitely prefer a show with a bunch of people I kind of care about over a show with a bunch of people I barely recognize. The hardcore matches for the guys in the main event were annoying but bareable, which is more than I can usually say for this show.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Smackdown – September 19, 2014: Wake Me Up When September Ends
Smackdown Date: September 19, 2014
Location: Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s the go home show for Night of Champions and since this is Friday, we’re not likely to see Cena or Lesnar, meaning nothing important is going to happen tonight. WWE has done a very bad job building up everything other than the main event for Sunday and it really shows when Cena and Lesnar aren’t on the show. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Reigns vs. Rusev. Just get to the DQ now.
Jimmy Uso vs. Stardust
The brothers that look different say they’re coming for the titles. Jimmy and Stardust fight up against the ropes to start until a neckbreaker puts Jimmy down. Uso tries three superkicks and connects with the final one for the pin at 2:00.
Goldust gets kicked as well.
Sheamus/Dolph Ziggler vs. Miz/Cesaro
Haven’t we seen this one a few times now? Cesaro tries to ride Ziggler on the mat but the champion gets away. A slam takes Ziggler down again and Cesaro cranks on a headlock. Back up and Cesaro counters a sunset flip and lifts Dolph all the way into a gorilla press. It’s an awesome power display but Ziggler slips down the back and nails a dropkick. Off to Miz for a kick to the face for two and some posing. He avoids the Fameasser and hooks the Reality Check for two.
We come back from a break with Miz getting two off a top rope ax handle and putting on a chinlock. Dolph counters with a jawbreaker but Cesaro blocks a tag attempt. That earns him the swinging DDT and the hot tag brings in Sheamus. Miz gets caught in the fifteen forearms to the chest and the rolling fireman’s carry gets two. The Irish Curse gets the same and Ziggler backdrops Cesaro to the floor, possibly injuring the big man’s knee. The stunt doubles get into it and Ziggler superkicks Miz into the Brogue Kick for the pin at 11:43.
Rating: C. This wasn’t bad but did anyone buy Miz having a chance to pin Sheamus? He has the character down but he needs something different in the ring. I still think a switch to tights would help him a lot, though that doesn’t seem to be a possibility. Also let him get some wins with the Finale to build the move back up a bit.
Adam Rose vs. Heath Slater
Slater decks him with a right hand and Rose is in early trouble. He gets a boot up to stop a charging Heath in the corner and a high cross body gets two. Slater stomps him down in the corner again but misses a knee drop. Rose comes back with some forearms and a spinebuster but Titus trips him up. This brings in the Bunny who dives on Titus, setting up the Party Foul for the pin at 2:55.
We recap Henry and Rusev from Raw. This eats up over a minute.
Lana and Rusev are in the back and Lana speaks Russian about Henry and Reigns. Rusev does the same and that’s about it.
Los Matadores/Big Show vs. Wyatt Family
I could have sworn this was originally going to be the Usos. Big Show does Torito’s entrance in a funny bit. This is joined in progress with Fernando doing OLE to Rowan. Thankfully Erick picks him up for a fall away slam into the Wyatt corner. Off to Bray for the backsplash before Harper comes in and gets caught in a sunset flip. His response is to hit Fernando really hard in the face, though Fernando is able to get over to the corner for a tag to Big Show.
Rowan comes in as well and takes out Show’s leg, allowing Wyatt to hammer on a downed giant. Harper Gator Rolls Big Show and drops him with a dropkick. The Family starts some fast tagging but Show rolls to the floor and headbutts Wyatt. Bray stops a tag attempt though and Harper hooks a chinlock. That’s fine with Big Show who lifts Luke up and slams him down for a break.
Show misses a Vader Bomb elbow and it’s back to Bray for a chinlock of his own. Wyatt is slammed down just like Luke was and the hot tag finally brings in Diego. Everything breaks down and the Wyatts destroy Los Matadores with ease. Diego dives out to nail Harper but Sister Abigail takes him out for the pin at 8:10 shown.
Rating: D+. The stuff with Big Show in there was good enough, but at some point you have to get the tag off to a Matadore and there’s no way around that. I’m glad to see Bray get a win again but he needs to get back to his over the top stuff and a big win over a top guy. He can go in the ring but that Cena feud ripped his legs off.
We look at Reigns vs. Rollins from Monday.
Reigns is ready for tonight and Sunday because the Punch is ready.
Paige vs. Nikki Bella
Non-title and AJ comes out to do commentary. Nikki shoves her down to start and nails a middle rope spinning kick to the head for two. Paige gets knocked to the floor but she knocks Nikki off the apron just as quickly. Back in and Paige kicks her in the ribs but gets caught with some dropkicks. Not that they matter as the Paige Turner is enough to pin Bella at 2:57.
Post match Paige and AJ do their usual with AJ holding the title. Nikki lays them both out and holds up the belt, despite getting pinned about a minute earlier.
Bo Dallas vs. Jack Swagger
Rematch from Raw where Jack made Dallas tap. Jack takes him into the corner to start but Bo slaps him in the face. A chase goes badly for Bo with Swagger clotheslining him hard. Dallas is sent hard into the table but grabs a neckbreaker to take over back inside. Swagger comes right back with a suplex and Vader Bomb but Bo runs to the floor again. Another chase results in Swagger’s throat being snapped across the top rope, setting up the Bodog for the pin at 2:48. Another short match in a series of them tonight.
Bo says the usual post match and says Jack will wind up being like Zeb Colter if he keeps up. Colter stole three packs of sugar and is a TERRIBLE TIPPER! Jack wouldn’t want to be someone like that would he? Swagger chases him off.
Long package on Cena vs. Lesnar with clips from the brawl on Monday spliced together with the sitdown interviews from Lesnar and Heyman.
This week’s sitdown interview was with Lesnar, who called himself a prize fighter. In this fight, John Cena is going to get another beating.
Henry feels good about his rally on Monday but admits he lots to a Russian in 1992. Another Russian defeated him in 1996 even though he was injured. This Sunday, he will crush Rusev.
Roman Reigns vs. Rusev
They lock up to start and fall out to the floor before heading right back inside. Reigns nails a big running elbow to the face but gets caught with a kick to his own face. Rusev puts on a quickly broken bearhug before dropping Roman with a spinwheel kick. We take a break and come back with Reigns caught in a reverse bearhug. Reigns fights up and hits a running clothesline to put both guys down.
Rusev charges into a Samoan drop and Reigns hammers away. The Apron Kick looks to set up the spear but Rollins comes out for a distraction. Rusev kicks Roman in the jaw and starts working on the back. The Accolade is countered with something like Cena’s ProtoBomb but with Reigns driving Rusev down (he basically throws him into the air and clotheslines Rusev’s stomach) but Rollins comes in off the top with the briefcase, accidentally hitting Rusev for the DQ at 9:27.
Rating: C-. The problem here was the same one that so many of these matches have: we were just waiting on the run-in for the DQ because neither of these guys were going to lose this match clean. Rusev getting the win is an interesting choice but it’s not like it really matters one way or another.
Reigns and Rollins brawl into the crowd and here’s Henry for the brawl. The American flag comes down and Henry slams Rusev to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Another week, another basic Smackdown. The wrestling was fine but most of it was too short to rate. It really didn’t do much as far as making me want to see Night of Champions, but the show has pretty much been dead in the water for the last two weeks. This show just came and went without anything to see, which makes for an uninteresting show to sit through. It did go by really fast though which always helps.
Results
Jimmy Uso b. Stardust – Superkick
Sheamus/Dolph Ziggler b. Miz/Cesaro – Brogue Kick to Miz
Adam Rose b. Heath Slater – Party Foul
Wyatt Family b. Los Matadores/Big Show – Sister Abigail to Diego
Paige b. Nikki Bella – Paige Turner
Bo Dallas b. Jack Swagger – Bodog
Rusev b. Roman Reigna via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Spike got his start in 1993 and made it to ECW in late 1996. We’ll pick things up at Cyberslam 1997.
Axl Rotten vs. Spike Dudley
Spike takes some laps around the ring so Rotten sneaks to the floor and drills him to start. Basically Spike’s gimmick was that he was a stoner that would get beaten up for about 99% of the match and occasionally hit an Acid Drop (running Diamond Cutter up the corner) for the shocking pin, usually against a giant. Into the ring for more beatings until Spike hits a few basic moves to get some offense in along with some dives. He blocks a bulldog and gets one of his own as Bubba and D-Von come out. Their distraction lets Axl hit a Dominator to end it. Hey look: it’s another boring match.
Rating: F+. Dude, give me SOMETHING of note. The opener was decent at best and since then it’s been pointless singles matches that aren’t any good. Spike was pretty worthless until he got a cult following (as in a portion of the cult following ECW had) who made him as famous as he got. This wasn’t interesting at all as Spike more or less got squashed here but by a guy I have zero interest in watching.
Off to Born to Be Wired for a match that made Spike’s career.
Spike Dudley vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
This is before the Giant Killer phase for Spike. Spike beats up a chair before the match due to reasons of drugs. We’re eight days from Hardcore Heaven and we’re told that we’ll learn Bigelow’s opponent later in the hour. Bigelow asks the fans what section he should throw Spike into. Spike grabs a leg which gets him nowhere at all. Well scratch that as it gets him launched halfway across the ring and through the air.
Bigelow picks Spike up again and teases the fans about throwing him into the crowd but just drops him down instead. A BIG suplex puts Spike down and Dudley sells like only he can. The guy can’t do much because of his size but he’s great at looking like a rag doll. Spike gets posted and he’s busted open. Bigelow splashes him in the corner but the moonsault misses. Spike fires away with a bunch of forearms which finally drop Bigelow for two. The Acid Drop is blocked as Bigelow launches Spike to the mat. Spike hits Bigelow low and hooks a victory roll for the shocking upset.
Rating: D+. This is Heyman 101: when a guy is a huge underdog, he’ll get slaughtered for almost all of the match and then hit one move out of nowhere for the pin. Watch ECW and see how many times you get that exact ending. Spike would wind up as a kind of a cult favorite (inside the cult that was ECW) and he would be the opponent at Hardcore Heaven, where Bigelow MASSACRED him.
To Hardcore Heaven 1997 for said massacre.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Spike Dudley
Spike is 5’7 and 155lbs but recently defeated the 6’3, 360lb Bigelow, setting up this showdown. Dudley’s full name is Little Spike Dudley and he wears tye dye and talks about seeing colors. His finishing move is called the Acid Drop if the idea isn’t clear enough. Bigelow is a huge bald man who has been a monster for over ten years now. He’s also Brian Lee’s replacement in the Triple Threat, joining Candido and Douglas.
Spike hammers away to start but is LAUNCHED across the ring with ease. A running splash crushes Spike and Bigelow does a little dance. Dudley comes back with a bulldog out of the corner but his hurricanrana is countered into the biggest powerbomb I’ve seen in years. Bigelow picks him up and slams Spike onto the turnbuckle, busting him open badly. Back in, Bigelow gorilla presses him up and throwing him from the ring into about the third row. He would do that again in the ECW Arena in a clip that was on ECW highlight reels for years. Back in and Bigelow hits an over the shoulder piledriver followed by the moonsault for the pin.
Rating: D. This was literally a squash but entertaining despite its low quality. Spike would regularly beat giants in ECW, only to get crushed like this later on. Bigelow was capable of looking great while destroying people and making the fans hate him, giving us a very good pairing between these two. Nothing match but the bumps looked awesome.
Spike would spend a lot of time fighting his brothers, such as here at Heat Wave 1998.
Dudley Boys vs. Spike Dudley/Tommy Dreamer/Sandman
The match is billed as a street fight, which usually applies to most ECW matches. The Dudleys take their sweet time getting to the ring. They now have Jeff Jones in their camp as well. This is Bubba Ray/D-Von/Big Dick if that wasn’t clear. Bubba challenges anyone in the WWF or WCW to a fight before moving on to challenge fans. Joel gets the mic and describes himself as hotter than a heat wave and harder than Chinese algebra.
Jones is announced as a referee with hair and is carrying a doll made to look up like Beaulah. Sign Guy has a knee injury but is introduced as the Innovator of Silence (as opposed to Dreamer being the Innovator of Violence). The Dudleys are the Intergalactic Six Man Champions. The entrances are funny but take nearly fifteen minutes. Their opponents all come out carrying ladders which are set up on the ramp. Sandman’s entrance is shorter at only about four minutes.
There will be tags, at least to start, with D-Von trading slaps with Dreamer. A few pinfalls attempts get two each but the fans get distracted by something in the crowd. Bubba comes in and the fans want Spike, who gets the tag and is promptly thrown all over the place. He’s able to get out of a gorilla press and nails Bubba with some forearms followed by right hands in the corner. Bubba responds with a running layout powerbomb to crush Spike.
A hard lariat drops Spike so Dreamer tries to start a Spike chant. Bubba misses a splash and Spike counters a powerbomb with a hurricanrana. The tag brings in Big Dick and he gets to face Sandman so the brawl can get started. They quickly get to the floor and everything breaks down. All six pair off and they fight into the crowd with Spike hammering away on D-Von and Dreamer sending Big Dick into the barricade.
Bubba crotches Dreamer on the barricade as Sandman brings a ladder into the ring. A bloody Spike climbs the ladder and dives on all three Dudleys. D-Von is thrown back inside and crushed under a swanton from Sandman. Bubba’s middle rope backsplash onto the ladder onto Dreamer has Tommy rolling around in agony. Spike comes back with an Acid Drop for two as the fans don’t seem to care all that much. Everyone but Dreamer is bleeding now.
The Dudleys all get tied into Trees of Woe and Dreamer puts Sign Guy’s bad leg in a Figure Four. Jeff Jones makes the save and piledrives the doll, earning him a piledriver from Dreamer. Gertner gets tied in a Tree of Woe as well and all four get chairs put in front of the face. Referee John Finnegan helps the good guys as they all hit dropkicks to drive the chairs into a Dudley’s face. Big Dick is up and chokebombs Dreamer before throwing Spike over the top and through a table. Sandman takes Big Dick down but Bubba lays him out. Bubba misses a splash to Dreamer and gets DDTed on the ladder for the pin.
Rating: D. This was the usual ECW brawl but the wrestling at the beginning brought it down. The problem with guys like Sandman and Big Dick is that they’re only good at brawling, making it almost painful to watch them try to do a technical sequence. The other issue is no one believes this isn’t going to break down into a brawl, so why waste time on the wrestling stuff, especially when it’s supposed to be a street fight?
And again at Guilty As Charged 1999.
Dudley Boys vs. New Jack/Spike Dudley
Spike is dressed like a gangsta to match New Jack. The weapons are brought in and the fight is quickly on with the Boys in early trouble. Jack bites D-Von and Spike hits Bubba low a few times. D-Von and New Jack head to the floor as Spike hurricanranas Bubba out of the corner for two. Bubba comes back with a LOUD cookie sheet shot to Spike’s face. D-Von unloads on New Jack with right hands as Bubba channels Bam Bam Bigelow by throwing Spike over the top and into the crowd.
Bubba goes back to pick Spike up and throws him over the barricade for another big crash. Jack sends D-Von into the barricade before hitting him in the head with the ring bell. Spike is somehow still alive and ripping at Bubba’s eyes. Jack and Spike get in the ring and both guys get guitars. The Dudleys have chairs but quickly bail. Big Dick goes down after two guitar shots but the Dudleys come back with the chairs to take over. Jack is thrown to the apron and Bubba hits a middle rope sitout powerbomb to break Spike in half.
Instead of covering, Bubba goes after Jack on the ramp and gets hit in the face with a cookie sheet. D-Von takes it away and nails Bubba by mistake, but is still able to hit a mostly botched 3D (Bubba’s arms were around Jack’s chest instead of his head). Back in the ring Spike hits an Acid Drop on Big Dick and one on both Dudleys. He tries a second on Big Dick but gets thrown off, setting up a much better 3D for the pin.
Rating: C-. Again, they kept this short and the match worked far better as a result. It also didn’t turn into the brawl around the arena which really takes away from what they’re doing most of the time. It’s still not good, but keeping these things somewhat under control helps them out a lot.
For the Tag Team Titles at Hardcore Heaven 1999.
Tag Team Titles: Dudley Boys vs. Balls Mahoney/???
Mahoney fights them off on his own to start and actually takes Bubba down, only to slip on a top rope elbow attempt and hit Bubba’s leg instead of his chest. D-Von is back in now but walks into a belly to belly suplex. Mahoney gets slammed off the top as Spike Dudley’s music starts, bringing the match to a standstill. They’re waiting at the ramp but Spike comes through the crowd with a double low blow (which clearly didn’t make contact with D-Von).
Balls throws Spike onto Gertner and Sign Guy but the Dudleys jump Mahoney from behind. Balls then throws Spike at the Dudleys but they catch him in mid air and throw him out to the floor. D-Von hits a flying headbutt to Balls’ head and they fall outside. Spike limps back into the ring but walks into a big Samoan drop from Bubba. A table is set up and Spike gets kicked in the face. He comes back with a low blow but Bubba counters his hurricanrana with a huge sitout powerbomb through the table.
Balls breaks up the cover but gets caught by a reverse DDT from D-Von. 3D looks to finish Spike but Balls cleans house with the chair. Gertner nails Balls with a chair to no effect. He tries to light a fireball but winds up just throwing the matches in a funny bit. Joel dances in the corner as Balls pulls out a bottle of lighter fluid and sprays it with his mouth. He picks up a match and blows fire at Gertner, only to walk into 3D for the pin.
Rating: D. Where do I even start? First of all, this is the third straight pay per view where the Dudleys have issued an open challenge and Spike has answered with a different partner. Second, we’re twenty minutes into this show and two title matches are already done. This is what I was getting at when I said ECW could go nuts at any given moment. Third, the match wasn’t even any good as it was basically Bubba vs. Spike with D-Von and Balls running interference.
Then again, with Balls Mahoney against the Dudleys for the Tag Team Titles. Some of you may be noticing a pattern emerging here. From Heat Wave 1999.
Tag Team Titles: Dudley Boys vs. Spike Dudley/Balls Mahoney
Balls and Spike are challenging and Mahoney makes this a street fight where falls count anywhere in the building. Spike is quickly thrown onto the ramp and D-Von goes after him, leaving Balls to hammer on Bubba in the ring. A HARD chair shots drops Mahoney but Spike avoids a similar shot. Spike grabs a bulldog to send Bubba onto the ramp as D-Von sends Mahoney into the barricade. Spike runs down the ramp but gets backdropped into the ring.
The partners switch off again and D-Von hits Spike in the head with the bell. Mahoney hits Bubba in the head with a beer as a bloody Spike hurricanranas D-Von out to the floor. Bubba nails Spike in the head with a sign that says Dudley Street before carving up Mahoney’s head with a cheese grater. Now Balls is bleeding and Joey sounds like he’s going to be sick. Mahoney comes back with a superkick and nails Bubba in the head with the cheese grater.
Spike and D-Von are brawling in the crowd with both guys now bleeding. The cameras can’t keep up with them but they do see Bubba and Mahoney fighting in the crowd. They head up to a tunnel that leads to the concourse but Spike dives off a balcony to take them both down. Balls pulls D-Von back towards the ring and hits him in the head with a soda.
D-Von stomps away back inside but gets superkicked in the face. Bubba and Spike are back in as well with Bubba going up, only to get hit low. The challengers hammer away in opposite corners until the Dudleys take them down with stereo sitout powerbombs. Bubba and D-Von hammer away while ripping at the cuts on their opponents’ heads.
Balls and Spike duck right hands and nail neckbreakers at the same time for two each. An Acid Drop gets two on D-Von before a low blow and another Acid Drop gets two on Bubba. Sign Guy has to make the save so Balls rips Gertner’s mask off (revealing that he looks fine). The Dudleys hammer away, but a double rollup is good for the pin to give us new champion.
Rating: D-. This stuff is getting old in a hurry. As mentioned, this is the fourth show in a row where Spike has fought the Dudley Boys and the second in a row where he was teaming with Balls Mahoney. As for the match itself, you could barely follow anything because it was another wild brawl with everyone bleeding and a bunch of weapons. The teams doing the same moves at the same time makes the match look really scripted and hurts whatever good they have going on. Horrible match here which again wouldn’t mean anything as the teams would trade the titles twice more each, with no reign lasting over a month.
Somehow this got Spike a World Title program with Mike Awesome, starting at Guilty As Charged 2000.
ECW World Title: Spike Dudley vs. Mike Awesome
Awesome is defending. Spike puts out tables before Mike comes to the ring, including two in a stack. He jumps Awesome as the champion gets into the ring but Awesome throws him through a table less than twenty seconds in. Back in and Awesome throws Spike through the stack of two tables and Dudley is barely moving. Awesome gets two off a slingshot splash back inside and the champion isn’t happy.
Spike fights out of an Awesome Bomb and sends Mike to the floor, followed by a running shoulder off the apron. An Acid Drop over the barricade has Mike in trouble and Spike nails him with a few chair shots. Back in and Spike catches his foot on a suicide dive attempt, so the fans are of course merciless. Spike still counters an Awesome Splash with a top rope hurricanrana and hits a quick double stomp out of the corner. A spear puts both guys through the ropes but Mike kicks a chair into Spike’s face.
Awesome moves the barricade forward and throws Dudley into the crowd. He nails Spike with a not great looking chair shot but makes up with it off a huge springboard dive into the crowd. Awesome slips on the landing though and is holding his elbow. It doesn’t seem to be bad though as he and Jones set up another table, only to have Spike nail an Acid Drop through the table on the floor.
Spike is busted open but nails Awesome with a top rope chair shot. Back in and Awesome counters another Acid Drop by tossing Spike over the top and through a table. Mike brings in another table, blocks another Acid Drop and hits the same clothesline he used on Spike’s girlfriend. A super Awesome Bomb through the table retains the title.
Rating: D. Stick this about four slots earlier on the card and cut off about ten minutes from the match and it’s way better. There’s no real reason to have this as the main event, especially with some of the other stuff they had on this card. Awesome got to dominate, but there was never any doubt as to who was going to win here.
And a rematch from ECW on TNN on January 28, 2000.
ECW World Title: Mike Awesome vs. Little Spike Dudley
Spike jumps Awesome to start and is immediately slammed down to the floor. Spike fires back but gets whipped into the barricade to keep the champion in control. After a quick brawl in the crowd we head back inside for Awesome to charge into a boot to the face. The champion hits a release German suplex for two and a lifting powerbomb for the same. A table is set up on the floor but Spike manages to bulldog Awesome through it instead.
Spike hits a top rope chair shot to Awesome but the champion is down on the floor. The Acid Drop is countered so Spike hits Awesome in the head with a chair instead. The fourth chair shot to the head in a row gets two but Awesome gets his foot up in the corner to block a charge. A BIG Awesome Bomb puts Spike down but the Awesome Splash gets two. Another table is set up in the corner and a running Awesome Bomb through said table retains the title.
Rating: D+. There was some drama here with the near falls but man alive could you have Spike do ONE SINGLE WRESTLING MOVE? I know he can do them because I’ve seen them use them before, but instead it was nothing but chair shots here. That’s a major reason I don’t like ECW: they thought swinging a chair in a wrestling ring meant wrestling.
Spike would miss most of 2000 with a bad leg but would come back for a TV Title shot at Massacre on 34th Street.
TV Title: Rhino vs. Spike Dudley
Rhino is defending and Spike is out for revenge for Rhino breaking Spike’s leg. The fight is on fast but Rhino breaks up an Acid Drop thirty seconds in. Spike Gores Rhino and goes after the big man’s leg but they quickly head to the floor. Rhino sends him into the barricade a few times but Spike gets a boot up to stop a charge. The challenger throws a chair in but Rhino pulls him off the apron to send him face first into a table. A chair to the head busts Spike open and they head back inside where the beating continues.
Rhino sends him face first into an open chair but stops to jaw with the fans, allowing Spike to throw a chair at the champion’s face. Another chair shot to Rhino’s head puts both guys on the floor and they head into the crowd. Spike quickly climbs a balcony and hits a dive to take Rhino down. A chair to the back of Rhino’s head has him in big trouble and they head back inside.
Rhino avoids a charge to send Spike face first into a buckle before countering the Acid Drop by sending Spike over the top and out through a table. Back in and Rhino nails the Gore but Spike bails to the floor. He’s quickly up though and nails Rhino in the knee with a chair. Spike tapes the leg to the ropes but Rhino breaks free and chokes Spike out for the win.
Rating: C-. They did what they could here but Spike’s quests for revenge rarely go very well. The size difference is too much to overcome and it would be too much to have Spike actually beat Rhino. He was able to do damage though and that’s about as far as they could go. Not a great match or anything but it could only be so good.
Off to the WWF now, starting on Raw, April 9, 2001.
Dudley Boys vs. X-Factor
Six man tag here. They start brawling in the aisle until we start with Justin vs. Bubba in the ring. Off to Spike as the Dudleys control early. Heel miscommunication puts Albert down but Spike dives on him which of course fails. Paul: “Not over here! We’re not Spanish!” Pac vs. Spike now. Spike gets beaten down a bit more until it’s hot tag to D-Von. This doesn’t last long as the bigger Dudleys put Albert on the floor and a 3D ends Credible. More or less a nothing match.
Spike would get a Tag Team Title shot at King of the Ring 2001.
Tag Titles: Dudley Boys vs. Spike and ???
So we needed the interview to bridge the gap of 45 seconds? Well alright then. The Dudleys just won the titles three days before this by beating Benoit and Jericho thanks to Austin hitting Benoit with the title belt. And the mystery partner is Kane of all people. He’s IC Champion here and the pop is great. I’m loving this crowd. No Molly though which is a shame as she was freaking beautiful around this time.
In a cool spot, Kane and Bubba throw Spike back and forth like a ball until Bubba finally goes to the ground. This was one of the few periods when Spike was bearable. He’s still annoying, but not as much as. He’s like X-Pac. When he was against guys that were average size like D-Von he could put on a passable match, but with guys like Bubba who are bigger, there’s just no validating him having a chance at all.
The fans, to the shock of no one, want tables. That’s something that’s simply never going to die. Heyman goes into one of his legendary anti-women rants that never get old. He’ll never top the Medusa one though. Spike is of course getting the tar beaten out of him. At least some things never change. He goes for a rana and gets the living tar powerbombed out of him. He takes that move better than anyone I can ever remember.
D-Von is so far ahead of Bubba that it’s scary. He’s actually a decent worker and has had better characters over the years. He got rid of all the stupid Dudleys in ECW if nothing else. Kane comes in and hits a sweet sounding punch to D-Von. Bubba actually jumps into a sidewalk slam which looks really bad as Kane can’t get him all the way up.
He makes it up with a nice powerslam but they botch the living tar out of it as D-Von misses his cue to make the save so Long has to just stop his count at a long two while Bubba isn’t moving at all. The fans boo the heck out of it as no one is fooled at all. Spike gets thrown over the ropes in a reenactment of the Bigelow throw. With both Dudleys on the floor, Kane gets on the top on the opposite side of the ring.
He’s never been that smart. Acid Drop hits Bubba but this time D-Von gets the timing right. I types this time D-Von at the exact same time that Ross said it. Kane takes What’s Up, which according to past storylines meant nothing. Spike takes a 3D (for no apparent reason called a DDT by Ross. Heyman corrects him and Ross wakes up) for the pin. They set up a table but Kane stops them, hitting a diving powerbomb of all things on D-Von and Bubba goes through it. Well that was kind of pointless.
Rating: D+. Eh this was about as safe of a match as you could have asked for. That botch on the count was the worst I’ve ever seen though and it’s why this isn’t a C or so. I mean it completely made things look fake. No one expected new champions here and that’s fine and I’m glad they didn’t make the stupid switch. The match was ok at best but it filled in ten minutes, so that’s all well and good I suppose.
Spike got a Hardcore Title shot on Raw, December 10, 2001.
Hardcore Title: Spike Dudley vs. Undertaker
Taker won the title last night and Spike sits on his bike on the way to the ring. Pain ensues. Taker puts him in the Tree of Woe but Spike gets in a low blow and some weapon shots but they get shrugged off. A HUGE Last Ride onto a trashcan ends this quick. Taker is still insanely over because he’s still the same character he was before his heel turn.
And another Tag Title shot on Raw, January 7, 2002.
Tag Titles: Dudley Boys vs. Spike Dudley/Tazz
This is hardcore for no apparent reason and Stacy is with the Dudleys. It’s a brawl to start with Spike being sent into the steps. Bubba sprays him with a fire extinguisher as the fans want tables. Spike tries a sunset flip on Bubba, only to get blasted with the extinguisher again. A HARD trashcan lid to the face puts Tazz down and What’s Up Tazz? Bubba wants tables but whispers it because he’s evil right now.
Tazz is almost put through but Spike makes the save with a stop sign. There’s a Tazmission to D-Von but Tazz has to let it go to move a table. Stacy flashes Tazz to distract him but Bubba gets the view instead, allowing for a suplex onto a table. Spike puts him through the table with a Dudley Dog for the upset and the titles.
Rating: D+. The match was fast paced but not all that great. The problem here was that at the end of the day, does anyone buy Spike and Tazz as a long term championship team? It was clear that they were transitional champions, which is ok, but it doesn’t do much overall. The live crowd loved this though and there was a match before this to set it up, so it was far better than some other angles I’ve seen that tried to do the same thing.
Here’s a defense at No Way Out 2002.
Tag Titles: Booker T/Test vs. Spike Dudley/Tazz
The big guys are the challengers here. There are only one set of belts at this point so for some reason they decided that these two are the best choice for the titles. That’s just bizarre but whatever. Their combined weight is 398lbs. That’s just amusing. Test and Tazz fight as do the others. Test and Booker were champions back in the Alliance days I believe. Spike comes in with a missile dropkick off the top to take care of Test.
We get kind of a Hart Attack from the challengers but with a side kick instead. Tazz of course stands there and watches it happen instead of making a save or even attempting a save. Why save your tiny partner I guess? Spike as usual takes a beating which is what he is made for it seems. Axe Kick kills him pretty much and we get a spinarooni.
VERY weak hot tag to Taz who puts Booker on the floor. Test goes for a cover but yells at the referee when it’s two and walks into the Tazmission for the tap out. For the life of me I don’t get the point in putting the titles on these guys and then keeping them with these two for so long. A more traditional team would win them soon afterwards with Billy and Chuck.
Rating: D+. Pretty weak Raw level match here that didn’t have much at all going for it. Again Taz and Spike were nice for awhile but in matches like this it was just stupid. I mean really, beating Booker and Test clean? Would anyone buy that at all? I certainly didn’t and thankfully they would lose the belts soon after this.
Spike and Taz would lose the titles a few days later so we’ll jump ahead to Raw on April 8, 2002.
European Title: Spike Dudley vs. William Regal
Regal is defending, Spike steals the brass knuckles and knocks him out and we have a new champion in 5 seconds.
Time to reform the Dudleys! At Survivor Series 2002.
Dudley Boys/Jeff Hardy vs. 3 Minute Warning/Rico
This is an elimination tables match. Oh and that’s Bubba and Spike, not D-Von. Spike and Bubba got put through the same table on Raw Monday to set this up. The Dudleys and Jeff clear the ring to start and Spike is thrown into the arms of the Samoans. It’s Bubba vs. Rico in the ring at the moment, because putting Spike and Jeff against Umaga and Rosey is a great idea right? Bubba chops Rico HARD in the corner before things settle down.
What’s Up hits Jamal and we get to the tagging section of the match before everything breaks down again. Bubba tells Jeff to get the tables but Rosey runs over Bubba after Bubba sets up a table in the corner. A BIG backdrop puts Jeff on the floor and Rosey rams Spike’s head into a table. Rosey misses a charge and drives himself through a table in the corner but that doesn’t count because it wasn’t someone else putting him through.
Jeff tries a top rope dive at Rosey but literally bounces off. Rico brings in another table and gets caught in a Dudley Dog, but 3 Minute Warning catches him in a double powerbomb to put Spike through the table instead. Jeff and Bubba get slammed down but Bubba knocks Rosey off the top and Jeff sends Rico flying into a cameraman. Bubba pounds away but Rico hits a spinwheel kick to take his head off. Rico could go in the ring make no mistake.
Rosey and Jeff go out into the crowd and there’s a table out there with them. Jeff is put on said table as Bubba gets kicked in the face by Rico. Jamal misses a splash and crushes Rico, allowing Bubba to Bubba Bomb Jamal and go to save Jeff. With Bubba’s help, Jeff goes up to the top of an entrance and hits a BIG Swanton through Rosey through the table to make it 2-2.
Back in the ring Jamal has Bubba on a table ready for a Rico moonsault, but he looks hesitant to launch. He looks over his shoulder, shouts “C’MON JEFF!” before staggering. THEN Jeff shakes the ropes and Rico crotches himself. Not the best response but that’s on Jeff more than Rico. Bubba tries a belly to back superplex through the table but Jamal moves it away. Jeff hits Whisper in the Wind to Jamal and follows it with a dropkick.
Hardy goes to the floor to get another table which he throws at Jamal. Jeff tries to run the railing but Jamal throws the table at Jeff, who goes flying through it. That doesn’t count which I can kind of agree with. Jamal puts Jeff on another table and hits a HUGE splash off the top to eliminate Jeff. That looks awesome. Bubba beats on Rico in the ring but Jamal saves his sideburned buddy. Jamal goes up to try a top rope rana (I guess) on Bubba, only to get caught in a HUGE powerbomb through the table to get us down to one on one.
It’s Rico vs. Bubba with the former pounding away and pulling in another table. Rosey comes back in but Bubba pounds away on him too. Now Jamal is in there too and it’s D-VON to the rescue! He’s on Smackdown at this point so this is a big deal. 3D puts Rico through the table to end this.
Rating: B-. That’s likely high but this was what you want to open a show. It helps a lot that this was a fifteen minute match instead of like six minutes like they are on Raw. This was fun and the pop for the reunion of the Dudleys (which would be permanent) was a feel good moment. Good stuff here and a good choice to open things up, especially in New York City.
Spike would get the European Title back and defend it at Insurrextion 2003.
Rodney Mack/Christopher Nowitski/Teddy Long vs. Dudley Boyz
Nowitski has a mask on because of a face injury. He was an imbecile in WWE but given the work he’s doing today you can overlook that I think. D-Von and Mack start us off and nothing of note is going on here. You really can tell here how little thought has been put into this. Why are these teams feuding again? Well of course we’re not going to be told.
Spike gets thrown over the top onto the heels as we’re just waiting on the Teddy beatdown. Bubba and Chris do the test of strength dancing spot which makes me shake my head violently. Spike comes in to waste a bit of our time. Nowitski is in the minority team because a Harvard education makes him a minority. Well that’s better than nothing I guess.
Mack was a pretty decent tough guy but nothing ever came of him. Teddy does the Bobby Heenan thing, beating on Spike and then running at the first sign of trouble. Five minutes have passed and not a thing of note has happened. Mack accidently clotheslines Teddy, D-Von takes down Mack, Spike pins Long. There you go and we’re done.
Rating: D-. This was on PPV in the third spot on a card. But hey, Vince says these individual brand shows are a good idea so they must be right? There’s no need to have Benoit or Angle or Lesnar on the card when we can have these matches right? Just get on to the next match on this tour of fun please.
Spike won a triple threat match to earn a Cruiserweight Title shot on Smackdown, July 29, 2004.
Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Spike Dudley
They shake hands to start in a little sportsmanship. Feeling out process to start with both guys running the ropes and diving into a standoff. Rey grabs a hammerlock and Spike fires off some hard elbows to escape, much to Rey’s annoyance. They head outside with Spike choking away. Back in and Rey gets two off a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before cranking on both of Spike’s arms.
Spike fights back with a headbutt to the ribs and a hard clothesline for two. A headscissors sends Rey face first into the buckle but he’s able to crotch Spike to prevent what looked to be a double stomp. Dudley’s sunset bomb is countered and Rey nails a low dropkick to the face. Mysterio misses a Lionsault press and gets bulldogged for a very close two. Cue D-Von for a distraction, allowing Bubba to nail Rey from behind. A Dudley Dog off the ropes gives Spike the title.
Rating: C. This wasn’t bad but it led to Spike turning heel and bossing the Dudleys around in one of the most bizarre booking decisions that I can ever remember. Spike was fine as a Crusierweight Champion even though he never did much as champion. The match was fine with Spike getting more and more violent before finally using the Dudleys to help when his own efforts didn’t work.
Spike would defend at Survivor Series 2004.
Cruiserweight Title: Spike Dudley vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Billy Kidman
Spike is defending and is a heel here. This is one fall to a finish. Kidman hurt Chavo on a Shooting Star Press and seemed to be proud of it, which resulted in a heel turn for him. The other good thing here is that they don’t have to tag. That’s always a waste of time in these things as you just wait for things to break down. Kidman and Spike form a quick alliance, only to have Kidman dropkick the champ out to the floor.
Rey sends Kidman to the floor and it’s off to Rey vs. Chavo who are apparently friends at this point. Oh please, like these two could EVER get along. Rey spins Chavo around with a headscissors before Spike sends Rey into the corner and stomps away while screaming. Chavo comes back in and a double clothesline puts himself and Spike down. With Kidman on the apron, Rey hits a rana to send him out to the floor in a cool looking spot.
Back in and Rey tries the sitout bulldog on Chavo but Guerrero throws him onto Kidman in a seated senton. Chavo dives on both of them, leaving Spike standing ta….short actually. Anyway the champ dives on all of them but they step aside to let him crash. Chavo finally gets his hands on Billy back in the ring but Spike comes back in to break up a pinfall attempt.
Rey misses a moonsault over Spike’s head and gets thrown to the floor as a result. We get a Tower of Doom with everyone minus Rey involved, so Rey comes in and tries to steal a pin. Rey charges at Kidman but gets caught in a BK Bomb (Sky High) for two but Chavo breaks up the Shooting Star. Spike hits a running headbutt to Rey’s ribs but the Dudley Dog is broken up. 619 hits Spike but Billy breaks up the West Coast Pop. Chavo hits the Gory Bomb on Spike but Kidman hits a slingshot legdrop on Chavo. Rey takes out Kidman and Spike steals the pin on Chavo to retain.
Rating: B-. Not a great match or anything here but it was fine for an opener. Rey was insanely popular still but Spike keeping the title was a great way to tick off the fans. There’s nothing wrong with a heel winning, as long as the opener fires up the crowd, which this did. Good choice.
After losing the title, Spike would drop through the floor in WWE before leaving in 2005. He would show up in TNA for a brief run as Brother Runt, including this match at Bound For Glory 2006.
Samoa Joe vs. Brother Runt vs. Raven vs. Abyss
This is Monster’s Ball which basically means hardcore. Jake Roberts is guest referee. This is also the third match in a row that isn’t a simple one on one or tag match. Everyone jumps Joe to start and knock him to the floor. Raven and Runt team up on Abyss with Runt being knocked to the outside. Runt brings in a chair and Raven hits his drop toehold on Abyss into the chair but Joe comes back in to make people care. Joe hits the Facewash on Raven but walks into a chokeslam.
Abyss runs over the ECW guys and throws Runt into the crowd from the ring to emulate Bigelow’s famous spot. Raven clotheslines Abyss to the floor and dives on him, which Abyss shrugs off without even leaving his feet. Joe hits a BIG corkscrew dive onto all three to put them all down while landing on his feet. Raven pops up and hits Joe with a Silence of the Lambs style mask of his.
They go up the ramp and Joe is knocked through a table off the ramp. Runt and Abyss climb up part of the set and Runt is chokeslammed onto a platform which doesn’t have much give at all. Something happens which results in Abyss landing on Runt but the camera is zoomed in on Roberts. The replay shows that it was kind of an elbow drop. Nice production work there guys.
Raven throws Joe through another table in a vain attempt to make us believe he won’t win. Is there a point to Roberts being referee at all here? He hasn’t done anything. Abyss gets two on Runt but Raven saves. Abyss drops an Earthquake splash down for two on Raven. Joe comes in to break up Shock Treatment by pounding on Abyss. He misses the backsplash but kicks Abyss low instead.
Powerslam onto a chair gets two. Raven drop toeholds Joe to the floor but Abyss knocks him down and loads up the tacks. Jake pulls out his bag but Raven jumps him and loads up a DDT on Jake. Abyss pours out the tacks but Joe pulls down the ropes to prevent Raven from going into the tacks via the Black Hole Slam. Joe knocks Abyss to his knees and hits the senton backsplash to put Abyss’ face into the tacks. Raven breaks up the choke but Jake DDTs him so that the MuscleBuster can give Joe the pin.
Rating: D. I know this is a sweeping statement, but this might be the most questionable choice in TNA history. Why in the world was Joe in this match? Jake added NOTHING here. He counted slow and I guess he didn’t hurt anything, but what difference did it make to have a guest referee? The match was your usual garbage but no one bought anyone but Joe having a chance here. Also did Runt fall into the same hole the James Gang and AMW fell into in the previous match?
Spike would head back to the indies and into retirement before returning for One Night Only: Hardcore Justice II.
Team 3D vs. Brother Runt/???
Tables match of course. It’s surprising to see Bully as an Ace when that turn wasn’t until months after this was taped. D-Von corners So Cal Val in the corner but doesn’t shove his crotch in her face at least. Bully Ray cuts a long and dull promo before the match about the awesomeness of Tea 3D while insulting a bunch of fans. Ray takes some jabs at Holly for no apparent reason before talking about using Runt as a pawn during the wedding to Brooke. He makes the same jokes about Dreamer and Sandman while saying Runt has no partner. Runt comes out and has a partner: Jeff Hardy.
The Dudleys send Jeff to the floor before Bubba drives Runt’s glasses into his forehead. D-Von beats on Runt with basic power stuff but Runt blocks a suplex, only to be taken down by a clothesline. Off to Ray for a wishbone split before yelling at Earl Hebner in the corner. Ray blocks the Dudley Dog and breaks up a sunset flip attempt but D-Von misses a middle rope headbutt, allowing Runt to make the hot tag.
Jeff cleans house with a low dropkick on D-Von as things break down. Bully kicks Jeff down but the Dudleys can’t hit What’s Up. Instead it’s Runt hitting one on D-Von before calling for the tables. Jeff brings in a table but Team 3D takes over again. A double suplex to Runt misses the table and Jeff hits a Twisting Stunner on D-Von. Runt adds the Dog to put D-Von on the table but Ray makes the save. Jeff and Runt take over again and Hardy splashes D-Von through a table (barely) for the win. It’s as lame of a build as it sounds.
Rating: D. This was nothing to see again with and felt like a bad house show main event. I get the idea of Brother Runt having history with the Dudleys, but we’ve seen this match so many times that it’s almost impossible to care about anymore. Jeff getting the win to end the show is the right idea to send the fans home happy but man it was dull getting there.
Spike is a guy that had some severe physical limitations but managed to turn it into a very nice little career. The giant killer stuff was the logical character for him but he was only able to do so much. The stuff when he stopped being all insane was the best time of his career and he and Molly were about as cute of a couple as there has ever been. The guy wasn’t great but given his size he was pretty solid.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of ECW Pay Per Views at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
New E-Book: KB’s History of Monday Nitro Volume II
We’re going back to the 90s again for a look at the second full year of Monday Nitro. The previous year closed out with WCW on a hot streak but things would pick up even more in the coming year. WCW would go on a run that had the WWF and Monday Night Raw not only on the ropes but on the brink of death.
Over the course of the year, Nitro was must see TV with action, drama, violence and the NWO running roughshod all over WCW. The stories were as compelling as ever and made you want to come back the next week to see what was going to happen. In addition to the top story, 1997 also saw the rise of the future with stars such as Rey Mysterio Jr., Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Goldberg becoming some of the most interesting parts of the show.
In this book, we’ll look at every episode of Monday Nitro from 1997 and see why they were so unstoppable all year. Each show is broken down segment by segment and match by match with historical context, ratings and analysis of what worked or didn’t work about each segment and how the shows added up to being so successful for WCW.
The books runs over 400 pages on a Kindle and only costs $3.99, or the equivalent in other currencies. If you don’t have a Kindle or e-book reader, there are several FREE apps you can use to read it on pretty much any electronic device. You can find those from Amazon here.
Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search KB History of Monday Nitro and my books will be the first things that pop up.
Also you can still get any of my previous books on the WWE Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1998 and 2001, Monday Nitro from 1995-96, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views and Clash of the Champions at my author’s page here.
I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.
KB
ECW on TNN – April 28, 2000: The Titles They Are A Changing
ECW on TNN Date: April 28, 2000
Location: ECW Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,600
Commentators: Joey Styles, Joel Gertner
Good night I have to stop taking so much time off between these shows. When we last left these guys a ridiculous nine months ago, the Network is starting to take over the world but Tajiri has won the TV Title and been ordered to hand over the title tonight. We’ll also get the fallout from the World Title situation. Let’s get to it.
As you may remember, Taz has returned and won the World Title when Mike Awesome bailed on the company. Taz would defend the title at Cyberslam 1999 against Tommy Dreamer which will be shown later tonight.
Joel and Joey welcome us to the show and rip on TNN a bit because they haven’t been treating ECW all that well lately. Since this is Cyberslam, Joel’s limerick is full of computer sex puns.
Opening sequence.
Here’s the Network to make Tajiri hand the title over to Rhino. Cyrus tells Tajiri that the time has come for him to hold up his end of the deal and give the title to his rightful owner. Tajiri doesn’t want to do it so Cyrus gets racial on him before implying that he gave Tajiri some, shall we say, sexual favors after winning the title. Tajiri says screw you and we’ve got a title match.
TV Title: Rhino vs. Tajiri
The champ kicks away to start and ties Rhino in the Tree of Woe before standing on his crotch. A baseball slide kick to the face stuns Rhino but he grabs a spinebuster. Tajiri backdrops him out to the floor and uses the handspring to kick a chain into Rhino’s face. We take a break and come back with the handspring elbow dropping Rhino again. Tajiri throws in a table but has to escape a powerbomb. There’s the Octopus Hold but Tajiri has to Mist Corino. The Gore and a piledriver get two on Tajiri but a second piledriver gives Rhino the title.
Rating: C-. Well so much for Tajiri turning face because we need to give Rhino the super push. This was another nothing match because it didn’t have the time to get anywhere, but at least we can have a two minute opening video and a long limerick from Gertner. To be fair though it’s not like it matters for ECW at this point.
Cyrus calls out anyone that wants to face Rhino right now so here’s Van Dam for the showdown. Scotty Anton comes out with him to help fight the minions and Rob kicks Rhino down to the floor. Rob dives onto the Network after they stand there for ten seconds waiting on him. Cyrus offers Rhino a spot on the team and makes Rhino vs. Sandman for the TV Title at Hardcore Heaven. Rob won’t be left out though as he gets another match with Jerry Lynn, because we haven’t seen that enough.
Jerry comes out for a showdown of his own but says he isn’t Network. He talks about his ankle injury and wants to know why all the talk has been about Rob. Could it be because Jerry didn’t win any of the matches? Rob offers a handshake but gets flipped off. Anton gets forearmed in the face because no one cares about him.
Sinister Minister talks about WCW calling him and Whipwreck, but even his soul wouldn’t sink that low. He gets in a casket because he wouldn’t be caught dead in that promotion.
During the break, Rhino Gored Sandman’s wife through a table.
Sinister Minister is using an Ouija Board and says ECW is hot. The table lights on fire and Whipwreck dives through it. Maniacal laughter ensues.
We get a recap of Cyberslam, including Corino busting Dusty Rhodes open and dropping a Bionic Elbow wrapped in a bullrope for the pin.
We also see a longer version of Sandman’s wife going through the table.
Next up is Nova falling on Lance Storm and injuring the Canadian in the process. Partner Justin Credible, who kicked Nova and caused him to fall on Storm, doesn’t seem to care.
House show ads.
Hardcore Heaven ad.
Call the hotline!
Joel and Joey tell us about Dreamer beating Taz for the title and we see the post match segment with Taz making his final exit from ECW and Dreamer getting to make a very emotional speech about how all the effort and work over the years was worth it. Even Raven comes out to shake Dreamer’s hand to officially end the feud. Justin Credible runs in and attacks both guys before demanding a title shot RIGHT NOW. He even throws down the Tag Team Titles to get the shot. Dreamer says ring the bell.
ECW World Title: Justin Credible vs. Tommy Dreamer
Tommy starts fast with a Cactus Clothesline to put both guys down on the floor. They quickly head into the crowd for more brawling (meaning walking around) before coming back to ringside for a bell to Justin’s crotch. Back in and Dreamer gets reversed DDTed onto a chair, allowing Justin to stomp away in the corner. Dreamer’s bloody eye goes into the chair for two and the running not-DDT gets the same. The champion comes back with a Tommyhawk (reverse Razor’s Edge into a cutter, though it was a Stunner here because Credible is horrible) but heads outside to set up a table.
What was supposed to be a Death Valley Driver through the table winds up being more of a TKO. Back in and a Jason distraction lets Justin hit That’s Incredible for two. Jason shouts PLAN B so Justin goes after Francine but Tommy breaks it up with a DDT for two. He loads up another Death Valley Driver but Francine turns on Dreamer (for the second time this year I believe), setting up another That’s Incredible to give Justin the belt.
Rating: D. The fact that Justin screwed up the two big moves he was supposed to take during this match should tell you everything you need to know about him. I really don’t see the appeal in the guy as his entire style comes down to flipping off the audience, kicks and a tombstone. Dreamer could have been a long term champion but this is ECW where it’s all about shock instead of substance.
Overall Rating: D. I was actually shocked that we didn’t see the Dreamer vs. Taz match. As in the five and a half minute Dreamer vs. Taz match. Yeah we didn’t have time for that, but we could fit in two Sinister Minister videos, recaps of stuff that doesn’t matter, and a long intro that was basically there for the live audience. This show and promotion seems to have given up, though I can’t say I blame them. At least we actually got some stuff set up for the PPV though.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of ECW Pay Per Views at Amazon for just $3.99 at: