Despite the fact that so many wrestlers who would be a big guest star here are already signed to AEW/ROH, we’re getting another one of these shows. There are some stars here from New Japan, Stardom and CMLL, which doesn’t exactly make for a unique experience. In addition we do have some title (shots) on the line and that’s other big focal point, which is only so thrilling. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Megan Bayne/Lena Kross(c) vs. Olympia/Thunder Rosa

This is Rosa and Olympia being thrown together for a random title shot because that’s what the titles have already reached. Rather than building up a team to be regular challengers, we’re getting a makeshift, thrown together team instead. At least this is just on the pre-show and not the main card so maybe this won’t get as much time otherwise. It’s another title match that feels tacked on for the sake of playing to the show’s theme and that’s hardly a great way to go.

Naturally I’ll take the champions to retain here, as they’re being treated as the monsters who shouldn’t be losing their titles anytime soon. That’s especially true with a team comprised of Rosa, who hasn’t won anything important in a good while, and Olympia, who tapped out clean in her match this week on ROH to really make her feel important. It should be fine as a warmup but that’s about all.

Zero Hour: Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Skye Blue vs. Maika

Here we have another guest star getting a random spot on the card for the sake of filling out the card. At least in this case it’s just for a spot in a six way match for the TBS Title rather than filling out a bracket, but it still only means so much. Maika hasn’t actually wrestled in AEW before but at least that means she hasn’t lost over and over again, which puts her ahead of some wrestlers.

I’ll take Maika to win here, as it allows one of the outsiders to get a victory that only means so much. Blue is hardly a big name but she has been around long enough that beating her might have a bit of an impact for Maika. It’s not like Maika is going to win the title in the end so let her get some kind of a victory and build her up a bit, as it’s not like anyone would buy Blue as a threat to win the whole thing anyway. Maika wins here.

Continental Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Bandido

Let’s get this one out of the way early, as there is a grand total of no reason to think that Bandido has even the first chance to win the title. This is just what Bandido does, as he is put in matches against big AEW stars, none of whom give any indication that they care about the Ring Of Honor World Title, and then Bandido loses. That’s what we’ll be seeing here again, of course.

I’m not even bothering to suggest that this is up in the air whatsoever as there is just no point. Moxley is the most successful star AEW has ever had and he isn’t about to lose to Bandido, who might be talented but doesn’t win big matches. I’m sure the match will be good, but if Bandido is going to keep doing this kind of stuff, can he lose the title already to keep whatever value it might still cling to?

Women’s Title: Thekla(c) vs. Starlight Kid

I’m going to make this clear rather quickly: I do not care about Thekla’s issues with Stardom. I do not care about Stardom. I do not care about Kid’s quest to defend Stardom from Thekla. She’s already the AEW Women’s Champion and that title reign has basically been put on ice for the last month while we deal with whatever issue she has coming out of a promotion she doesn’t work for anymore. It feels like a Stardom story which is coming over here instead and that’s not exactly must see material.

Naturally I’ll take Thekla to retain so we can move back to the women of AEW getting their chance at the title. The problem here isn’t Kid, who is a rather talented star. The problem is that the whole thing has been about Stardom and Thekla’s issues with its owner. That’s not what I watch AEW to see and it’s basically seen a title locked down for weeks while we wait on this show to be over. Stop doing that.

Tag Team Titles: Adam Copeland/Christian Cage(c) vs. The Dogs

So Copeland and Cage won the titles for their big moment and now they need someone to come after those titles. This is as good as anyone else for a first major title defense, as the Dogs have come after them more than once to set up the match. It’s a fine enough idea and that’s all it needs to be. This is little more than a pit stop before the champions are likely going to be climbing a ladder against the Young Bucks and FTR in Wembley.

Of course the champs retain here, as the Dogs are hardly a big enough team to get the titles off of them at this point. It’s not a bad thing to go with a title defense that will make the champions sweat for a bit and that’s what we’ll get here. This should work out well enough, as the Canadians are more than talented enough to get something out of the Dogs, especially if this doesn’t go on too long.

Young Bucks vs. Sky Team vs. Unbound Co.

This is the AEW vs. CMLL vs. New Japan match and that’s not a bad idea. It’s one of the few matches here that feel like it should be on a Forbidden Door card and that’s nice to see after everything else. If nothing else, it should be nice to see the Bucks and Sky Team fly around and do all of their stuff. It’s worked before on their own and it should work out rather well here.

I’ll take Sky Team to win, as Mistico is a big enough star that you do not want him losing in a match like this. The whole point of this match is to do a bunch of high flying and big spots and that’s going to work out rather well. Sky Team going over is the right call and they might even beat the Bucks to do it. If nothing else, at least we’ve seen the Sky Team a few times so they won’t be out of nowhere, which is a good attribute to have here.

IWGP Global Title: Shota Umino(c) vs. Pac

This is a match that could wind up being a potential show stealer, with Pac being able to work well with anyone and Umino being good enough most of the time. Pac has become someone you can depend on to have a heck of a match most of the time and while I’m not sure on him winning the title, at least it should come with one of the better matches on the show.

While I think Pac at least has a chance to win the title, I’ll take Umino to retain here. The good thing is they should beat the living daylights out of each other on the way there, as tends to be the case in Pac’s matches. I’ve only seen a bit of Umino but his time with Moxley was good enough and it might even tie into the match here. Hopefully this one does as well as it could, as the show could use the boost.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kenny Omega

Here’s your dream match of the show and this should work out rather well. Sabre is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world today and Omega is AEW’s living legend. It’s not a match that needs much of a story and they haven’t given it one, which is how this should go. This is one of the matches where you just put the names up there and the match sells itself, which is how Forbidden Door worked back in its early days.

For this one, I’ll go with Omega as again, it makes sense for the star who is sticking around to get the big win. Sabre is an established name and beating him should get Omega ready for whatever his big deal is going to be this summer. Omega can put in the work to make this a success and Sabre can do various horrible things to Omega’s limbs in the process. At the end of the day though, Omega wins after a rather hard fought battle.

Team MJF vs. Team Briscoe

Here we have a twelve man tag inside a cage, because that’s an idea that is going to work. I’m assuming the idea here is that MJF’s knee is a bit too banged up and he can’t wrestle a singles match at the moment. That’s perfectly fine and understandable, though I’m not sure how that means we need to have twelve people in the same match. Then again if it wasn’t be stuffed to the gills, it wouldn’t belong in AEW.

There is no reason to think that Team MJF has much of a chance here so we’ll go with Briscoe and company winning. The win will give Briscoe the World Title shot at whatever the next pay per view (or maybe Beach Break) and that has to be set up somehow. The match is likely to be a big mess but at least it sets something up and can have other consequences in the Don Callis Family. Hopefully some of the people fight off here though, as the ring is going to need the extra space.

Women’s Owen Hart Cup Finals: Mercedes Mone vs. Maya World

I’m not sure what to think about this one. In theory, Mone wins the tournament again because she’s Mone and has to win everything because she’s the biggest star in the history of ever. On the other hand though, I’m not sure I get why World would be put into this spot if she was just going to lose in the end. It’s not like Mone gets much out of beating World, who is playing with the house’s money, but I also can’t picture World going on to All In.

Therefore, I’ll take Mone winning in an underwhelming result. Mone has been here before and I don’t quite get the appeal of seeing her in this spot again, but I guess she hasn’t won a title recently enough so it’s time to set her up to do it again. World winning would be an absolute shock and I’d prefer to see it happen, but I just can’t picture that being the case here.

Men’s Owen Hart Cup Finals: Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland

Finally we have the next step of one of the odder stories in a long time, as the Death Riders broke Ospreay’s neck but are now training him to get better from his neck injury. Therefore, he can have a rather physical match against Strickland with the winner moving on to the likely main event of the biggest AEW show of the year. That’s quite a way to go, but we have a few months between now and then to make it even stranger.

There is a grand total of no reason to believe that Strickland has a chance here and that has been obvious from the second Ospreay was announced for the field. This isn’t a subtle story and while that makes sense in theory, it could make for quite the lengthy wait before we finally get to the result. Ospreay wins here and while it should be a heck of a match, it really shouldn’t be in doubt.

Overall Thoughts

The biggest issue here is how little most of this show seems to matter. The three most important matches on the show are all about title shots which are going to happen later on, leaving this with a bunch of midcard titles matches and guest stars. It should be a good show as most AEW pay per views tend to be, but my goodness it does not feel overly important and that’s becoming a bigger issue with Forbidden Door year after year.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AAA On FOX
Date: June 27, 2026
Location: Foro GNP Seguro, Merida, Mexico
Commentators: Rey Mysterio, John Bradshaw Layfield, Corey Graves

The big story coming out of last week was the return of Los Perros del Mal, who reformed with a new lineup to attack El Grande Americano. That’s not going to go well for Americano, who is probably going to need some help. Either way, it feels almost impossible that he isn’t going after the Mega Title at TripleMania so he has some work to do. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the return of Los Perros del Mal, who are here and don’t follow rules.

Opening sequence.

Here is Psycho Clown, so we recap the Psycho Circus being attacked by someone, who Clown thinks has been Pagano. Back in the arena, Psycho talks about how he is tired of all this and wants to know what is going on. He calls out the rest of the Psycho Circus but none of them know what happened.

Psycho calls out Pagano, who doesn’t show up. The Circus goes to find him…and find a bloody Pagano unconscious in his dressing room. Psycho, who had been swearing revenge during the search, immediately apologizes and begs forgiveness. Pagano wakes up to forgive him, but there is a message on the mirror saying Psycho is next. Interesting indeed.

The Copa Bardahl, a gauntlet elimination match, is returning at TripleMania. We look at Omos winning the most recent edition of the match in dominant fashion.

Galeno vs. Mecha Wolf

How nice of them to have a match almost halfway through the show! Wolf slugs away but gets sent into the corner for some fast clotheslines. Galeno misses a charge to send him outside, where he cuts off Wolf’s dive. Cue Dorian Roldan and Omos to watch as Wolf gets in a cheap shot on the distracted Galeno.

Wolf dropkicks him into the ropes for some running knees to the back but Galeno strikes away. A backsplash and powerbomb get two on Wolf as Galeno’s arm is banged up. Wolf grabs a springboard DDT to limited avail as Galeno blasts him with a clothesline. The cannonball hits Wolf but Galeno stops to glare at Omos. The Galeno Special finishes Wolf at 5:50.

Rating: C+. It’s almost weird to see Galeno treated as a giant but he’s doing a nice enough job of wrestling like one. That should set up a good match between Galeno and Omos, likely with the latter smashing through him. Wolf was little more than cannon fodder here but he did well in that spot.

We look back at a tag match at last year’s Verano de Escandalo with Los Garza winning the Tag Team Titles.

Rey Mysterio was surprised by Los Perros del Mal returning last week but now they have AAA’s attention. In addition, the former WWE World Champion will be here next week and Vikingo will be defending the Latin American Title in NXT. We also get a quick preview of next week’s show.

NXT Women’s Title: Lola Vice vs. La Hiedra

Vice is defending. Hiedra jumps her from behind to start fast and gets an early two off a Michinoku Driver. It’s quickly broken down into a brawl and they crash out to the floor with Hiedra possibly hurting her hip. Back in and Vice kicks away but walks into a spinebuster for two. Hiedra gets her in the corner for some running boots to the spread out thighs and we hit the seated abdominal stretch.

Vice fights up and they grab stereo running faceplants for a double down. Hiedra is knocked outside for a running seated senton, allowing Vice to get in some dancing. Back in and Hiedra hits a quick Stunner, setting up a wheelbarrow faceplant for two. The spinning backfist connects for Vice but here are Las Toxicas for the cheap shot. La Catalina runs in to even things up a bit and another spinning backfist retains the title at 7:42.

Rating: C+. This was a way to have an outside title on the line and that is a good way to spice the show up a bit. La Hiedra was never going to feel like a threat to win the title but Vice is an established name on this show and it was nice to see her getting in a title defense. It might not be the most important thing here but it was a nice treat for the live fans.

Post match Vice dances with La Catalina but Las Toxicas come in to jump them. Lady Shani runs in for a big return and the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I like the Psycho Circus/Pagano mystery and Galeno vs. Omos should work when it happens. At the same time though, this was another show where it felt like not much was really happening and that’s becoming a bit annoying. The good thing though is the show only runs about forty five minutes so one good segment getting about ten minutes is a big chunk of the show. It’s definitely a different style around here, but hopefully they start giving us a bit more on the weekly shows.

Results
Galeno b. Mecha Wolf – Galeno Special
Lola Vice b. La Hiedra – Spinning backfist

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Well we’re back with the Great American Bash, thankfully without the country music concerts that Dusty Rhodes would throw in back in the 80s. These NXT events are now following the same format as the main roster pay per views so we only have five matches this time. As usual, we have mostly title matches with a fifth match being about a grudge, though it’s only so interesting in the first place. Let’s get to it.

Saquon Shuggars vs. Dion Lennox

Darkstate explodes in the only non-title match on the show and I’m not sure how interesting that really is. The problem is that Darkstate felt like second cousin twice removed of the Shield, Retribution and the Nexus, which isn’t much of a compliment. Lennox is pretty much the de facto leader so Shuggars taking out the other two in order to get to him is as good as it’s going to get.

While Lennox needs the win more, I’ll go with Shuggars winning here, hopefully to kill off Darkstate for good. The team hasn’t been interesting in a long time now and there is pretty much no reason for them to continue. Lennox isn’t great either but he’s at least treated like something important so he should have something after this match. I’m really not sure I see it with Shuggars either, but he’s the better pick here.

Women’s Speed Title: Wren Sinclair(c) vs. Arianna Grace

So yeah this title is still a thing and I really could go for it not being such a thing. There is no need for the women’s division to have three titles, especially one like the Speed Title which still feels like a weird novelty. Sinclair is injured coming in but even a less than great Sinclair is still incredibly entertaining. The other two are a bit less thrilling, though they could both leave as champion.

I’ll take…actually I’ll take Grace to win here, as Sinclair could do a few different things without it while Grace is someone who could get a long way while being the undeserving champion. Hopefully Sinclair gets the chance to do something better when she’s healthy, but the Speed Title isn’t doing much for her anyway. Grace is almost a Honky Tonk Man style champion and that could work well for something like the Speed Title. Grace wins here and hopefully lives down to expectations as a result.

Women’s Title: Lola Vice(c) vs. Kendal Grey

Now this is more interesting as we have the established champion in Vice and the up and coming star in Grey. It is pretty clear that Grey is going to be a big deal in NXT and likely win the title at least once during her time in NXT. The question is does that happen here, because Vice is someone who has been a big star for a long time now and it might be a surprise to see her drop the title here.

As much as I want to say Grey wins the title, I don’t think it happens here as Vice retains the title. This is the title match that I could see going either way and it would not surprise me whatsoever to see Grey become champion. Vice feels like a big star though and there are a variety of women waiting to come after the title. The match should be good as Grey knows how to play the underdog, but ultimately she comes up short. I think. Maybe.

North American Title: Myles Borne(c) vs. Tavion Heights

So here we have something of a personal grudge match, as they were teammates in the No Quarter Catch Crew but both have gone their own way. Borne has done a good bit better than Heights thus far though and that is not ok with Heights, who wants a win of his own. That is how title matches can go a lot of the time and hopefully it winds up working out here, as this could be a good match.

While I could see Heights winning (and I would approve of it as I’ve been a fan for a bit now), Borne winning can leave him to go after some other, bigger named challengers. The match itself should be good as you have an Olympic wrestler in Heights and someone who knows how to wrestle an exciting match in Borne. Throw in the personal issue and it should work, even with Borne retaining.

NXT Title: Tony D’Angelo(c) vs. Naraku

I’ve been trying to get into D’Angelo as champion and it’s just not quite working. D’Angelo has come a long way since his ridiculously goofy days as a mob don. He’s a star in NXT and has the lineage, but that doesn’t mean he’s the right choice to be the top star. On the other hand you have Naraku, who certainly has his own legacy, even if it isn’t in NXT thus far. It’s kind of a weird pairing for a title match but it might be what needs to happen.

I’ll go with Naraku winning here, as he’s a bigger star and someone who should be able to get put into the title picture rather quickly. Go with Naraku winning here, though I’m not sure where that leaves D’Angelo. I can’t picture him going to the main roster but what in the world does he have left in NXT? Either way, Naraku needs to win so the experiment can end, as it doesn’t seem to be working here.

Overall Thoughts

As has been the case with a lot of these bigger NXT events in recent months, nothing really feels like a big match. On the other hand though, nothing feels unimportant and that’s a great thing to see. The show should be fine and NXT has done a good job of making me want to see a lot of mostly new names fight, which isn’t the easiest trick to pull off. Some of these matches should be rather entertaining and if they throw in a twist or two, it rather well could be a nice night.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: June 27, 2026
Location: Rio Rancho Events Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Excalibur

It’s the night before Forbidden Door and we have another two hours to go before we get to the pay per view. In this case that means the Trios Titles are on the line and I’m sure we’ll get some more previews for tomorrow night. That’s about all you can do here, as in theory the card is all set. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Trios Titles: Conglomeration vs. The Opps

The Opps are challenging. Shibata backs Strong into the corner without much trouble and it’s already off to Hook to headlock O’Reilly. That earns Hook a backbreaker from Strong and a rather lazy elbow from Cassidy for some delayed ones. Bowens comes in and gets a hands in the pockets dropkick and it’s already off to Shibata. A cheap shot from the apron cuts Cassidy off and a pair of suplexes (apron and floor variety) have him in trouble as we take a break.

We come back with Cassidy getting sleepered down but Shibata jumps Strong rather than hitting the PK. Cassidy is able to get in a shot of his own and O’Reilly comes back in for the ankle lock on Bowens. A double clothesline drops the Opps and Strong comes back in and it’s time for a chop off with Shibata.

With Shibata in trouble Strong starts throwing Cassidy around like a weapon, which works oddly well. Shibata and O’Reilly forearm it out with the latter getting the better of things. Bowens is back in to take over with a string of strikes and a DDT out of the corner gets two on Cassidy. Back up and Bowens accidentally superkicks Shibata and the Orange Punch into the Angle Slam retains the titles at 14:00.

Rating: B-. This was a perfectly acceptable way to open the show as the fans are always going to be into the wacky hijinks of the Conglomeration. They’re a fine choice for the Trios Titles and a good way to open the show. On the other hand you have the Opps, who feel like they deserve a charity telethon. If this is the best they can do, just disband the thing already.

The Demand is ready to get back into the title hunt but the Lethal Twists come in. They think they should talk, with Ricochet and Jay Lethal admiring the other’s haircuts.

The Death Riders are ready to send Will Ospreay to get revenge on Swerve Strickland. Works for Ospreay, who says his friendship with Swerve is over and it’s time to go to Wembley.

TNT Title: Dezmond Xavier vs. Kevin Knight

Knight is defending and grabs a headlock takeover to start fast. Xavier goes after the arm and grabs la majistral for two, leaving Knight a bit shaken. Knight gets caught holding the rope so Xavier gives him a slingshot hurricanrana to send Knight underneath those ropes. Xavier follows him but gets caught with a clothesline off the steps and we take a break.

We come back with Xavier winning a slugout to put them both down but Knight is up first. A middle rope DDT gives Xavier two but Knight snaps off a sweet hurricanrana. Knight goes up so Xavier gets smart by rolling to the corner. Another rollup gives Xavier two but Knight hits a heck of a dropkick. Xavier’s hurricanrana spikes Knight and they slug it out from their knees. A spinning faceplant drops Knight and a Meteora gives Xavier two, with Knight rolling outside. The big dive takes him out but Knight gets the knees up to block a sky twister press. The Crash Landing retains the title at 12:56.

Rating: B. This was the hard hitting, athletic style match that you would have expected these two to have. It’s the kind of match you often see on Collision, as there was absolutely no reason to believe that the title was going to change hands but it was fun while it lasted. Xavier is a blast to watch and Knight is getting better every single week. Rather good stuff here.

Video on the twelve man cage match at Forbidden Door. That’s a lot of people in any cage, even if there is no way they all stay inside.

Here is the Triangle Of Madness for a chat. Thekla has been told that she is the only one who is making Forbidden Door feel like Forbidden Door. If she wants to destroy the forbidden door, she’s burning it down. Sky Blue is ready to show you how violent she can be on the Kickoff Show. To the point here, and thankfully it seems like the Thekla vs. Stardom stuff should be done soon.

Chris Jericho vs. JD Drake

Drake talks trash to start and gets chopped for his efforts before missing a charge. A super hurricanrana and enziguri send Drake outside so Jericho gives him a big dive. Back in and Drake hits a swinging Boss Man Slam for two, setting up the cannonball. Drake’s moonsault misses and Jericho grabs the Codebreaker. The Tommaso Ciampa style running knee sets up the Walls to make Drake tap at 5:18.

Rating: C+. Now this was refreshing, as there is no reason for Drake to have a long match against Jericho. Even an older Jericho should not be having any real trouble with Drake and they did it as they should have. I’ll take that as a nice change of pace and hopefully these shorter matches are included more often, as they can be rather effective.

Post match Jericho puts the hold on again until Tony Schiavone insists that Jericho is better than Tommaso Ciampa. Jericho says he’s been looking for Ciampa but knows he isn’t here tonight. He wants to thank Ciampa for leaving him beaten and bloody but Ciampa won’t be thankful for what Jericho is going to do to him next.

Thunder Rosa isn’t scared of Lena Kross/Megan Bayne, who don’t care about her. She insults their hats and takes her shirt off for some violence but nothing happens. The fact that Rosa’s partner, Olympia, isn’t here tonight makes it even sadder.

CMLL Women’s Title: Persephone vs. Billie Starkz

Persephone is defending and gets taken down early so Starkz can do some jumping jacks. That earns her a running hurricanrana but Starkz is back with a DDT onto the apron. It’s already time to load up the announcers’ table and Starkz adds a flip dive off of the table as we take a break.

We come back with Starkz cranking on both arms but making the mistake of throwing in a slap. Persephone knocks her down for two, followed by a superplex. Starkz blocks another suplex though and grabs the Last Shot to leave them both down. Persephone cuts off a running knee and gets two off a bridging northern lights suplex. A spear and Razor’s Edge retain the title at 9:20.

Rating: B-. If you ignore that the was no reason to believe that Starkz was going to win the title, this was a perfectly fine match. Persephone has been presented as a big deal in her limited appearances around here and it’s nice to have her thrown into the title match next week. Hopefully we have moved on from the idea of Starkz being the one to dethrone Athena, as I really do not see the point.

Post match Hikaru Shida runs in to go after Persephone but a bunch of the other women in the TBS Title match chase her off.

Premiere Athletes vs. Mike Bailey/Mistico

Bailey kicks Nese down to start but gets double teamed into the corner. The villains are quickly sent outside but cut off the dives to send Mistico and Bailey into the steps. Back in and Daivari takes over on Bailey but Mistico is up with a double springboard elbow. Stereo superkicks put the Athletes on the floor and now the dives connect. Back in and Bailey gets caught with a hammerlock lariat but moonsaults outside onto Daivari. That leaves Mistico to grab La Mistica to make Nese tap at 4:07.

Rating: C+. See what I mean about the shorter matches being nice? This was the regular “hey, Mistico is on this card” match and he did a few signature moves to get out of there. The Athletes are nothing more than low level villains and that’s all they needed to be here, as Mistico was the big focal point here.

Gabe Kidd is coming back and believe it or not, he’s angry. We’re just that lucky.

Jake Doyle vs. Adam Priest

Don Callis is here with Doyle (after not being here with Kevin Knight). Priest gets powered around and hit in the back to start. Doyle runs him over without much trouble and we take an early break. We come back with Priest grabbing a flying DDT and working on the arm. Doyle’s backdrop is countered into a cross armbreaker but he muscles Priest up into a powerbomb. A missed charge in the corner has Doyle in more trouble and Priest gets two off a DDT. Priest goes up and gets forearmed out of the air, setting up Into The Void to give Doyle the pin at 9:10.

Rating: C. This was another fine match with Doyle having to sweat a bit before picking up the win. Priest is turning into a rather useful jobber to the stars as he isn’t the biggest guy but can make his offense look good enough out there. Put him in a tag team and it could work out fine, if he’s actually given a chance.

Video on Maya World vs. Mercedes Mone in the finals of the Women’s Owen Hart Cup. Mone gets in a good line with “dreams don’t win championships, I do”.

Willow Nightingale is training to return to the ring and knows she made some mistakes before.

Maya World/Hyan vs. Athena/Mercedes Mone

It’s a brawl to start fast and Athena is dropped onto World’s raised knees. Hyan hits a double dive to the floor and World 619s Athena back inside. Mone fights back though and commentary responds by running down the Forbidden Door card. Athena hammers on World on the apron and gives her a hard knee before handing it back to Mone. World slips out of a double suplex though and rolls over for the tag off to Hyan. House is cleaned for a bit until Athena gets in a powerbomb onto the apron.

We take a break and come back with Mone’s backstabber dropping Hyan for two and Athena’s backsplash gets the same. The Third Amigo is blocked though and Mone misses a running knee in the corner. It’s back to World to pick up the pace, with a rollup and double stomp getting two on Athena.

That earns World a Codebreaker into a Backstabber with Hyan having to shove Athena into the cover for the save. Everything breaks down and Athena suplexes World but gets kneed down by Hyan to leave all four on the mat. Mone pulls World to the floor for the Statement Maker (for a tap), leaving Athena to middle rope O Face Hyan for the pin at 16:53.

Rating: B-. They are trying to make us believe that World has a chance tomorrow right? I’m not sure I’m seeing that happening here, as this story has been about as one sided as you can get. World is already a major underdog so unless the upset of all time in AEW is coming, I really don’t see this one going well for World, who has looked like a loser who got lucky to be here.

Post match Athena and Mone beat up Hyan until World comes in for the save. World moonsaults onto both of them on the floor to avoid looking like a total loser to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Most of the time, the main thing to remember about Collision is that it means almost nothing in the big picture of AEW. Everything that matters happens on Dynamite or the pay per views with only the occasional bone being thrown to Saturday night. If you can keep that in mind, Collision can be a rather enjoyable show as it feels like AEW but with no stakes. That’s a perfectly nice way to go, as there is no pressure and it doesn’t feel like everything is going a thousand miles per hour. I had a nice time with this, mainly because it didn’t feel like I was being bombarded with details and changes every two seconds.

Results
Conglomeration b. The Opps – Angle Slam to Bowens
Kevin Knight b. Dezmond Xavier – Crash Landing
Chris Jericho b. JD Drake – Walls Of Jericho
Persephone b. Billie Starkz – Razor’s Edge
Mistico/Mike Bailey b. Premiere Athletes – La Mistica to Nese
Jake Doyle b. Adam Priest – Into The Void
Athena/Mercedes Mone b. Maya World/Hyan – O Face to Hyan

AEW, 2026, Collision, Conglomeration, The Opps, Lethal Twists, The Demand, Death Riders, Dezmond Xavier, Kevin Knight, Chris Jericho, JD Drake, Thunder Rosa, Persephone, Billie Starkz, Lena Kross, Megan Bayne, Hikaru Shida, Jake Doyle, Adam Priest, Don Callis, Mercedes Mone, Maya World, Willow Nightingale, Athena, Hyan

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

After a pretty lengthy time away, we’re back to the pay per view days for TNA and that might not be a bad thing. The build for this show has gotten more a lot more interested than I expected to be and now I want to see if they can pay that build up off. That’s the tricky part though as you never know how the whole thing is going to work. The main event is Nic Nemeth challenging Mike Santana for the World Title so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Mara Sade vs. Indi Hartwell vs. Elayna Black

I’m still trying to figure out why Black is treated as such a big deal, as I really do not see the success there to warrant it. She’s far from bad, but she has made no impact since her arrival in TNA and I often forget that she’s part of the roster. Maybe that changes here, but I really can’t imagine that being the case after such a long time of pretty much nothing from her thus far.

That leaves Sade and Hartwell as your realistic options here and I’ll take the former for the win. Sade has gotten somewhere with her charisma and general appeal and it’s working well for her. Given that she was little more than Lash Legend’s lackey in NXT, this is quite the step up for her and I’m curious to see what she can do on her own. Give her a win here and see what’s next around here.

Ricky Sosa vs. Eric Young

Oh dear it’s this match. For the life of me I do not get Eric Young and I haven’t for a long time. He’ll pop up, pick a new target, say the same things, lose, and then move on like nothing has changed. Sosa is his latest target and it’s hard to fathom that he’s going to be any different for Young. The whole idea of Young as this evil force is quite the miscast and I do not get the appeal but we’re here anyway.

I’ll go with Sosa to win here, as there is no point in having him lose to someone like Young, who loses all of the time. I’m not sure what Sosa is going to be but TNA is really in need of some new stars, so put him out there and see what he can do. It’s worth a shot and beating a former multiple time World Champion is a good start, especially if it gets Young off the show for a few weeks.

AJ Francis vs. Elijah

This is a battle for Elijah’s name, likeness and music catalog, because that’s a thing we’re doing in wrestling. As ridiculous as it might sound, I do appreciate the idea of having a less than normal reason for a feud in wrestling. This is Francis taking away the thing that defines Elijah the most and that is going to make Elijah mad as a result. Francis has been doing well as a big man too so it’s certainly worth a try.

As much as I would like to see Francis win here and see where he can go with things, it doesn’t make sense for Elijah to lose. I’ll take Elijah to win, as what in the world is he without his music deal? We tried that with the whole Ezekiel thing in WWE and we’ve seen how that worked out, so I’ll go with Elijah here, if nothing else for the sake of keeping his career going.

Knockouts Title: Lei Ying Lee(c) vs. Xia Brookside

Every so often you get a pretty much perfect setup for a big moment and that’s what we have here. Brookside turned on her friend out of jealousy over not being able to win the title and now gets a title shot. It helps that Brookside has turned into quite a nice heel in the process, which is impressive for someone who is fairly small in stature and easy to cheer in the first place.

There is a grand total of zero reason for Brookside to lose here so I’ll go with the logical result and say she wins the title. Lee is already a two time champion and hardly the biggest star in the world, so go with Brookside getting her big moment and see what she can do as champion. It’s kind of overdue at this point and if she loses, she’s basically dead in the water anyway. So yeah, new champion here.

X-Division Title: Ultimate X

Here we have the signature match of TNA and it makes sense to bring it out of mothballs for the anniversary show. They’re also bringing Amazing Red back, which should quite the nice thing to see. Red had a heck of a match with Bandido over Wrestlemania Weekend and he can still more than go. Seeing him back in the ring is an interesting idea, even if he has pretty much no chance of winning.

Red is one of a few wrestlers you can probably write off, along with Mr. Elegance. That leaves a host of people to win and I’m going to go with an underdog in KC Navarro. He’s come a long way lately and this is the kind of match where they can make him into something without having him get a big pin. I’m not saying it’ll work, but I think they could do it here. Granted this kind of thing is a total shot in the dark but why not have some fun?

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: The Elegance Brand(c) vs. Rosemary/Allie

Just name Rosemary and Allie the Undead Realm already. Anyway, this is an interesting one as normally I would say that there is no reason to leave the titles on the Brand but they’re kind of great with having the titles as accessories. It makes them even more annoying and that’s a perfect thing for a stable built around the idea of getting on the fans’ nerves. I’m just not sure they’ll keep the belts.

Yeah I think I’ll go with the title change here, as Rosemary and Allie are popular enough at the moment to warrant getting the gold. If nothing else, the Brand is going to be able to drive everyone crazy with or without the titles so let them drop the belts for now. They can easily win them back later if necessary, but for now, Allie and Rosemary are a better option for the win here.

International Title: Mustafa Ali(c) vs. ???

This is one that’s hard to predict, as there is only so much you can do without knowing who is getting the title shot. There have been some rumored names, including at least one who used to be in WWE, but no one really stands out all that well. If nothing else, Ali deserves to hold onto the title longer as he’s getting somewhere with his stuff (as he tends to do when he’s given the chance).

I’ll take Ali to retain over whomever he is facing, even if I want to see him get into the World Title picture sooner rather than later. Ali is someone with the talent to make this work and you can almost guarantee that he’ll be doing something special around election season. For now though, he retains, likely with the help of his goons, though I’m almost worried to see who he’s going to be facing here.

Eddie Edwards vs. Moose

This is, at least in theory, the final blowoff to Moose vs. The System, though it feels like we should have been at that point months ago. The idea here is that you can only lose if your corner person (Alisha Edwards and JDC) throw in the towel to end the match. That opens the door for some shenanigans and it comes down to whom is going to screw the other one over.

I’ll go with Edwards winning here, as it feels like they have set up JDC to mess with Moose again because that’s the kind of thing TNA would do. I’m not sure how you pay that off down the line if JDC is retired, but for now at least, Moose loses again. This feud has gone on far too long already and at this point, I’ll take it ending in whatever way they can figure out.

Tag Team Titles: The System(c) vs. Hardys vs. The Righteous vs. Great Hands

Say it with me: it’s a ladder match! The level of eye rolling I did when that was announced should come with a doctor’s warning but here we are again. The Hardys almost have to be in a ladder match every so often because the law of diminishing returns means nothing in wrestling. It also doesn’t help that the non-Righteous teams are just kind of there, which should tell you where this is going.

The Righteous should take the titles here, as they should have done six months ago. I get that the Hardys are big stars but how many title reigns does one team need? On the other hand you have the Great Hands, who were randomly thrown into this match for reasons I don’t quite get. That leave the champions and, well, does anyone believe they’re the top team in the company right now?

TNA World Title: Mike Santana(c) vs. Nic Nemeth

This is one of the more impressive showings that TNA has had in a minute, as they have taken a pretty nothing story and turned it into one of the hotter feuds going into the pay per view. Nemeth is cashing in his Call Your Shot win and just got a title shot. The catch though, as usual with Santana, is bringing up his daughter, who is his one weak spot. Nic and Ryan Nemeth have gone after Santana over and over but they might have just ticked him off beyond belief. I’m just not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

At the end of the day, it seems all but guaranteed that Santana is going to WWE sooner rather than later. The question is whether he drops the title here or later and I think he’ll hang onto it for now. TNA and WWE have a working relationship so Santana doesn’t have to cut all of his ties to go over. It should be interesting to see how it goes, but if they have a big fight with Santana winning, he can move on to whomever is going to take the title as he leaves. For now though, he retains.

Overall Thoughts

For the first time in WAY too long, I’m actually excited about this. The problem is that at the end of the day, this is still TNA and that means there is a real chance of letdown. I’m almost scared to get my hopes up that far as they have been dashed far too many times over the years. The potential is there though and if everything works out, we could be in for a heck of a Sunday afternoon.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 1991
Date: August 26, 1991
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Roddy Piper, Gorilla Monsoon

It’s a double main event, but in this case only one of those is a match. We have a handicap tag match between Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior and the Iraqi sympathizers (ignore that the war had been over for months by this point) and a wedding between Randy Savage and Elizabeth. That’s quite the contrast, which is the selling point of the show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the Match Made In Heaven (the wedding) and the Match Made In Hell (Hogan/Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter/General Adnan/Colonel Mustafa).

Commentary welcomes us to the show.

The Dragon/Texas Tornado/British Bulldog vs. Power & Glory/Warlord

Dragon works on Roma’s arm to start and lifts him into the air to keep up the cranking. Tornado comes in to send Hercules into the corner over and over but a rake to the eyes cuts that off. It’s off to Bulldog vs. Warlord, with Bulldog grabbing a quick suplex. Dragon comes back in with a chop to Warlord’s head but a monkey flip is blocked (with Warlord not doing much, leaving Steamboat to just jump backwards).

The villains take over, with Roma getting two off a snap suplex. Some backbreakers from Roma set up Hercules’ delayed gorilla press as the beating continues. A clothesline cuts off the comeback attempt but Warlord, who is known for going up top, dives into raised boots, allowing the tag off to Tornado. Everything breaks down and Bulldog powerslams Roma for two (what a surprising kickout), followed by Dragon’s high crossbody for the win at 10:46.

Rating: C. This was a perfectly fine way to start the show, even with Roma’s kind of weird kickout at the end. Dragon was his usual good self, Bulldog was fine as a power guy and Tornado managed to not get lost coming to the ring so we’ll call it a success. Nice way to start the show, as a six man often is.

Mr. Perfect, with the Coach, says Bret Hart isn’t perfect enough to take the Intercontinental Title.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart

Hart is challenging and Coach is here with Perfect. Hart’s parents are here in the crowd, just in case you didn’t realize this was a big moment. They take their time to start until Hart shoulders him down and sends Perfect crashing out to the floor. Back in and Hart grabs a headlock takeover to grind away for a pretty good while until Perfect gets up. That means a clothesline out to the floor, with Coach needing to do…well some coaching actually.

Perfect teases walking out but Hart sends him back inside, tearing Perfect’s singlet in the process. Back in and Perfect actually bothers to fight, knocking Hart outside and chopping him down. Hart is right back in to hammer away and a rollup gets two. Perfect cuts that off in a hurry and sends Hart back outside as Perfect is starting to overwhelm him. Hart gets inside again and is promptly caught in a sleeper.

A Samoan drop of all things gives Perfect two and he sends Hart hard into the corner for the same. The PerfectPlex gets two and the kickout has the fans right back into this. Hart hits some atomic drops to put Perfect in trouble for a change and the hair toss into the corner kind of crotches Perfect on the post. The Russian legsweep gives Hart two and the backbreaker into the middle rope elbow gets the same.

Hart sends him outside again for a posting (and of course Perfect’s bumping is great) before it’s time to kick at the leg back inside. Coach has to get on the apron to block a Sharpshooter (and remind us that he’s a thing), with the distraction allowing Perfect to kick the rope for a low blow. Perfect drops a leg between the legs but Hart blocks a second and reverses it into the Sharpshooter for the (very fast) submission and the title at 18:05 and kickstart his singles run.

Rating: A. Oh what else were you expecting? This match has been revered for decades now and that will be the case for a long time to come. It’s a great back and forth match with Hart getting his first major singles win and proving he can hang with the best of them. When the only flaw is “Perfect gave up really fast”, you’re doing something right. Awesome match, mainly due to how well both of them were able to do just about everything. You could see both of them doing their parts to almost perfection and it made for an all time classic.

Post match Hart rips the rest of the singlet off of Perfect and poses with the title, even going to celebrate with his parents.

Buy this Hulk Hogan pay per view!

Andre The Giant, looking terrible, is with the Bushwhackers and we see a clip of Earthquake attacking Andre and injuring his knee. Now Andre is backing the Bushwhackers to get revenge. Just because he’s big doesn’t mean he’s smart.

Natural Disasters vs. Bushwhackers

Jimmy Hart is here with the Disasters and Andre is with the Bushwhackers. They walk around to start until the Disasters go after Andre, earning themselves a double poke to the eyes from the Bushwhackers. Heenan: “If I was managing the Bushwhackers, I’d commit suicide.” We settle down to Butch vs. Typhoon with Butch getting backed into the corner but biting his way to freedom.

Earthquake makes the save (if you need to be saved from the Bushwhackers, perhaps it’s time to search for alternate employment) but the Bushwhackers clear the ring in short order. We settle back down to Earthquake hammering away on Butch as Heenan wonders which one is Larry, Darryl and Darryl. Butch gets crushed in the corner and has to fight out of a bearhug.

Typhoon elbows him in the face for two as Heenan leaves commentary to go talk to Hulk Hogan. That’s an odd change but Monsoon and Piper are happy. Butch gets away and brings in Luke to actually clean house. The Battering Rams send Earthquake to the floor, where he gives Butch a backbreaker. Luke steps on Typhoon’s toes but Typhoon can’t even sell that, allowing Earthquake to jump Luke from behind. The Earthquake is good for the pin at 6:27.

Rating: D. Well there was no way they were following the previous match, but what were they expecting out of this one? The match was never going to be much more than a squash and there was no reason to think otherwise. On top of that, Andre looked absolutely terrible and it was sad to see him out there barely able to move as such a shell of his former self.

Post match the Disasters go after Andre but the Legion Of Doom come out to cut that off in a hurry. There’s your next big tag feud.

Heenan, with the Big Gold Belt, goes to Hulk Hogan’s dressing room to issue a challenge on behalf of Ric Flair. Hogan knocks the belt out of his hands and slams the door. Well in theory at least, as we never actually hear Hogan or see his face.

Randy Savage is talking to fans on a phone line.

Ted DiBiase laughs at some of the things he has made Virgil do for him over the years. Tonight, DiBiase is ready to take Virgil out again for daring to challenge for the Million Dollar Title. This is a city full of gutters so Virgil can pick where he wants to go. And he’ll throw in a crying towel!

Million Dollar Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil

DiBiase, with Sherri, is defending. Virgil hammers away to start fast and DiBiase is knocked to the floor early on. Back in and an atomic drop sends DiBiase crashing out to the floor again but this time DiBiase gets in a knockdown of his own. Heenan is back on commentary, with Piper saying that’s it for the fun.

DiBiase sends Virgil knees first into the steps and it’s time for the falling fists back inside. The beating continues as Heenan thinks Virgil is dumb enough to have the gold title bronzed. Back up and Virgil ducks a right hand and grabs the Million Dollar Dream. DiBiase is in trouble and Sherri brings in the loaded purse for the DQ at 6:27.

Actually hang on a second as the referee isn’t ending the match, but rather ejecting Sherri and continuing the match. Piper, Virgil’s friend and trainer, is THRILLED as Virgil hammers away in the corner but the referee gets bumped. DiBiase stops to taunt Piper and then drops Virgil with some suplexes. The piledriver plants Virgil but there is no referee, even as Piper is LOSING HIS MIND screaming for Virgil. The turnbuckle pad is removed but DiBiase takes too much time and gets sent into the exposed buckle. Virgil slowly crawls over and gets the pin and the title at 13:12, sending Piper through the roof.

Rating: C+. This was the pinnacle of everything with Virgil as he wins the title, but much more importantly he beats his former boss, who was a huge star in his own right. Piper deserves some credit here too, as he was pushing Virgil as hard as he could. It made you want to see Virgil win and that’s a great addition to the whole thing. Not an all time classic, but an emotional match that paid off a story years in the making.

Virgil gets the big celebration in a nice moment.

The Mountie is ready to beat Big Boss Man and then see him locked up in jail. He wants these New York police guards to brutalize Boss Man for a bonus. We also see some clips of Mountie using his shock stick on Boss Man, which is a rather violent way to set up a feud. It should be shocking that Boss Man is mad.

Boss Man is ready to send Mountie to jail.

Big Boss Man vs. The Mountie

The loser spends the night in jail and Jimmy Hart is here with the Mountie. Boss Man punches him in the face to start fast and cuts off a comeback with a hard spinebuster. The neck crank has Mountie in trouble so Hart offers a distraction. The chase is on and Boss Man is sent into the steps, with Heenan being rather pleased. Back in and Mountie’s slam gets two, followed by an elbow for the same as things slow WAY down.

A kickout sends Mountie flying out to the floor, with Monsoon calling Hart a walking advertisement for birth control. Geez that’s harsh even for Monsoon. Back in and Mountie bites Boss Man’s face before getting him up for a piledriver. With nothing else working, Hart gets on the apron but Mountie misses the shock stick shot. The Boss Man Slam….only gets two (that’s not something you see very often) so it’s a rather nasty Alabama Slam to finish Mountie off at 9:33.

Rating: C. The match was slow, but this was all about the ending and the post match shenanigans. As weird as it was to have the Boss Man Slam only get two, it was a good false finish before the pretty great looking Alabama Slam. Mountie’s time on offense was so slow though and it brought down the rest of the match.

Post match Boss Man has Mountie cuffed immediately and he’s dragged out back to the police van.

Ted DiBiase thinks he was robbed.

Bret Hart says Mr. Perfect just wasn’t perfect enough.

Jimmy Hart wants his lawyers to deal with the Mountie while the Natural Disasters threaten the Legion Of Doom.

Big Boss Man says a jailbird can’t fly and promises more torment for the Mountie tonight.

Randy Savage is still busy talking to fans and Gene Okerlund can only get some quick comments about him being ready for the wedding.

Five minute intermission, thankfully omitted.

Commentary does their preview/recap to fill in time.

The Mountie is taken to jail, where he screams his catchphrase as he’s put in the cell.

Jimmy Hart, now with the Nasty Boys, says his lawyer is on his way to the jail. The Nasty Boys accuse the Legion Of Doom and Jack Tunney of “coagulating” together against them.

Mountie gets his picture taken, despite being upset, sending Hart into a crazed rant about how that’s an invasion of privacy. Hart is hilarious in these over the top segments.

The Legion Of Doom is ready to win the Tag Team Titles. Then they’re ready for the Natural Disasters.

Mountie gets fingerprinted, again against his will.

The Triangle Of Terror (looking ancient, because they mostly were) say the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan are the ones who are outnumbered. Sgt. Slaughter teases having a surprise for the match.

Sid Justice (guest referee in the main event) promises to call the main event down the line. We see a clip of the Triangle Of Terror talking to Justice earlier and offering him a spot on the team. Back live, Sid says he didn’t promise them a thing (and we never heard him give an answer) but tonight, justice will be served. Is he going to dinner or something?

Tag Team Titles: Legion Of Doom vs. Nasty Boys

The Nasty Boys, with Jimmy Hart, are defending and this is No DQ/No Countout. The Legion cleans house to start, with Hawk even hitting an enziguri for two on Sags. Animal and Knobbs brawl to distract the referee and Sags sprays Hawk with something, which commentary ignores. A tray of drinks to the back has Hawk in more trouble and Sags ax handles him in the back to keep him down.

Knobbs comes in to clothesline Hawk, even as the camera shot is from the corner for some reason. A running splash hits in the corner but a middle rope version hits a raised boot. Animal comes in to clean house, including the powerslam for two on Knobbs. Hawk gets sent to the floor and Hart sends in his helmet, with a shot to the back rocking Animal. The delayed cover gets two but Hawk takes away the helmet and clocks Sags. The Doomsday Device gives us new champions at 7:45.

Rating: C+. Pretty quick and to the point here, though it wasn’t total destruction. What matters the most here is that the Legion Of Doom get up to the top, as they had felt like the most dominant team for a good while. It helps that they kept this as more of a brawl than a match, which suited both of them better. The other thing that stood out here: Hawk and Animal looked happy to win. They were raising their hands and hugging each other, which is how you should celebrate a huge moment. Do that kind of thing more often.

Mountie is put in a cell. One very cool detail here: on the Superstars leading into this show, Mountie had promised that Boss Man would do each of these things in order but then had to do it himself. That’s a nice bit of continuity that you don’t often see around here and it made things a little better if you were paying attention.

IRS vs. Greg Valentine

Heenan: “This will be a good match.” Might want to try again there Brain. Feeling out process to start with Valentine knocking IRS outside. As we slow things down a bit (yes, in this match), Monsoon passes on a rumor that Jake Roberts and Undertaker (a freshly evil pairing) have been seen around here. Back in and Valentine slams him for another trip to the floor, this time following him to hammer away.

IRS gets in a cheap shot and the abdominal stretch goes on, followed by a big clothesline for two. The chinlock goes on as Heenan asks if Monsoon and Piper’s parents wore suspenders (like IRS). Heenan realizes there’s no point in asking Piper as his parents were never home, which seems to touch a nerve. Anyway Valentine cuts him off the top and starts in on the leg, with the Figure Four sending IRS over to the ropes. Valentine stays on the leg but gets small packaged to give IRS the pin at 7:10.

Rating: C-. As usual, I have no idea what the point was in Valentine’s face turn, as the matches might have been technically fine but it’s not like there was anything interesting about him. IRS wasn’t much better and that didn’t make for much of a match. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but what was anyone expecting out of this one?

Buy the Hulk Hogan pay per view!

Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior are ready for the Triangle Of Terror. Hogan says this is the perfect battleground while Warrior says they’ll walk instead of coming by boat or air. They’ll walk out the same too. We get a double Hogan catchphrase and Warrior gives him a rather odd looking….we’ll call it a hug.

Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior vs. Triangle Of Terror

Sid Justice is guest referee. Slaughter and Hogan start things off, with Sid taking away a foreign object and yelling at Slaughter to quite the reaction. Hogan actually doesn’t capitalize and gets pummeled in the corner, only to come back with a hard whip into another corner. Slaughter gets caught between Hogan and Warrior (much like his title reign), with Warrior coming in for an atomic drop.

Hogan comes back in to send him into the corner and adds a middle rope ax handle for two, with Mustafa kind of touching Hogan’s shoulder for the….I guess you could call it a save. Hogan chokes away in the corner but Sid actually breaks it up to keep things even. Slaughter gets in a cheap shot so Adnan can come in and slowly chop away. Mustafa’s gutwrench suplex (that always looked good) sets up the camel clutch, with Piper making a rare reference to Mustafa being the Iron Sheik.

That’s broken up even faster than it was in 1983 and it’s back to Slaughter, who goes up. Warrior shoves him off the top, with Slaughter DIVING across the ring for a crazy visual. It’s back to Warrior to clean house but Mustafa cheats to cut him off. A suplex gets Warrior out of trouble but Slaughter gets back in to break up the tag.

The big flying clothesline gets Warrior out of trouble and there’s the big tag to Hogan. Everything breaks down and Warrior gets a chair to chase Mustafa and Adnan to the back (where he was promptly fired by Vince McMahon). Hogan uses the distraction to throw powder into Slaughter’s eyes and drops the leg for the pin (with a FAST count) at 12:41.

Rating: C-. What were you expecting here? Hogan had already beaten Slaughter on his own at Wrestlemania and adding in two old guys wasn’t going to be enough to overcome the addition of the Warrior. Normally this wouldn’t feel like the main event of Summerslam, but keep in mind that this is the fourth Summerslam and the third to have a tag match main event. That’s kind of what Summerslam did, though this never had the slightest bit of drama, with Sid mostly being a non-factor.

Post match Hogan makes funny faces and then calls Sid back to pose with him. Because they’re best friends and would never split up of course.

Mountie meets a man in leather in his cell. Make your own jokes. Or don’t.

We recap Randy Savage proposing to Elizabeth (Piper: “GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES!”), who of course responded with an awesome OH YEAH.

We get a music video of Savage and Elizabeth, which really is one of the best long term stories the company has ever done. Savage grew and changed over the course of the whole thing and that’s why it worked: it was a story with people involved and you could see how we got here over the years.

With the video done (and the ring ready for the wedding), Savage comes out in his white tuxedo and feathered hat (of course) and we get the ring bearer/flower girl. Elizabeth comes out, everyone swoons, the minister does his thing, Savage takes the sunglasses off to say OH YEAH, Elizabeth says yes, they get married, they leave, the show ends. This was the better part of fifteen minutes and…well it certainly happened. This would later be followed by the reception, which was crashed by Undertaker and Jake Roberts, setting off Roberts’ feud with Savage and eventually Undertaker’s face turn. For now though, just a wedding.

Overall Rating: C+. This isn’t a show you watch for the wrestling (save for that whole all time classic thing near the beginning), but it’s the definition of an easy to watch, fun show. That was kind of the theme of Summerslam back in the day, as there would be one or two things in the middle, but it wasn’t the kind of show where something major was going down. It was about the good guys getting a win to set up something for later and that’s what we got here. This might not be a classic, but there is enough fun stuff to keep you entertained for a few hours.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

Night Of Champions 2026
Date: June 27, 2026
Location: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the tournament show with the King and Queen Of The Ring both being crowned. In addition though we have the Smackdown World Title on the line with Cody Rhodes defending against Gunther and Sami Zayn. There’s a cage match as well to make this even bigger so let’s get to it.

King Of The Ring: Jey Uso vs. Oba Femi

The fans certainly seem to like the Uso entrance and it does look awesome in this venue. Uso hits him in the face to start and it doesn’t exactly work, as Femi just gets mad. Femi knocks him outside but Uso is back up for a dive to send Femi into the barricade. Another dive is blocked though and Femi takes him inside for some whips into the corner.

The Fall From Grace is escaped though and Uso hits some basement superkicks. The Superfly Splash only gets one (uh oh) and Femi chokeslams him for two more. Uso comes back with a spear and hits another Superfly Splash but his own ribs are banged up. Another Superfly Splash gets two but Femi is right back up with a running uppercut. Uso gets thrown down again and the Fall From Grace gives Femi the clean win at 7:55.

Rating: B-. This was a weird one as I was expecting a bunch of people to get involved but instead Femi just absorbed everything Uso threw at him and then won in the middle of the ring. It was a question of whether the Bloodline would get the big spot or if WWE was pulling the trigger on Femi and he is at least going to get the chance. That’s an interesting way to go and I want to see how it plays out so we’ll call that a success.

Post match Femi said Uso might have been able to beat one man but he couldn’t beat fate and destiny. Uso couldn’t beat Femi either because he is the Ruler and the Destroyer. Now he’s the King.

Here is Danhausen for a chat. He is happy because he has come into a lot of human monies but here is Liv Morgan to interrupt. The Judgment Day is not happy with how much money Danhausen has taken from them and they want it back. Instead Danhausen curses her and gets slapped, which doesn’t seem to bother him that much.

Queen Of The Ring: Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky

Non-title. Sky starts fast and takes her into the corner, followed by a basement dropkick. They head outside where Sky blocks a ram into the barricade but takes too long climbing onto said barricade. Morgan gets in a shot to take over and they go back inside, where a top rope facebuster gives Morgan two. Sky fights out of the corner but dives into a quickly broke Boston crab, allowing Sky to stomp on her ribs.

Another shot to the face lets Sky connect with the missile dropkick, followed by the running knees in the corner for two. Sky knocks her outside for the big moonsault before going up top again, only to be shoved onto the steps. That leaves Sky with a banged up knee so of course Morgan ties it up with a half crab.

Sky escapes again and hits her in the face but the knee gives out, allowing Morgan to hit a springboard Codebreaker for two more. Another comeback results in Sky banging up the knee again and Morgan knocks her into the corner. Morgan goes up, only to get taken down with a super Spanish Fly. Over The Moonsault gives Sky the win at 14:58.

Rating: C. I wasn’t exactly feeling this one and the ending didn’t do it any favors. The big deal was that Sky injured her knee but she’s then able to hit a pair of big moves off the top? At the same time, I’m not wild on having a champion lose clean to set up a title shot, even if Sky chooses to go after the other champion. Not their greatest stuff here.

Post match Sky picks Morgan for the Summerslam title match. It’s in five weeks but dang that’s a stretch to make me want to watch these two fight again.

We recap the Smackdown World Title match. Cody Rhodes beat Gunther at Clash In Italy but Gunther’s foot was underneath the rope. They had a rematch with Sami Zayn as guest referee but Zayn got a bit too involved. They did it again and Zayn caused a DQ so it’s time for a triple threat. Well later on that is.

Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker

In a cage. They both throw in a bunch of weapons and sit in chairs to yell at each other before they actually start fighting. Rollins hammers away but Breakker snaps off some German suplexes and sends him into the cage. Breakker gorilla presses him into the cage and grabs a trashcan but bangs up his knee. Rollins gets to slug away, followed by the kendo stick shots to the back.

A ram into the cage has Breakker in trouble and Rollins sends him in a few more times. Rollins sets up a table in the corner and has to cut off a spear attempt before throwing a chair at Breakker. A bunch of chairs are piled up but that takes too long, allowing Breakker to snap off a super Frankensteiner for two. Breakker puts him in a chair and knocks him back out before promising that Rollins is going to die.

Rollins’ head is put inside a chair but Breakker’s golf club style chair swing misses. Some superkicks have Breakker in trouble but he knocks Rollins right back onto a table. That’s not enough for Breakker though as he goes up, with Rollins catching him for a superplex through the table in the big crash.

Breakker (whose eye is gushing blood) gets back up with a suplex into the Super Spear for two. That’s enough for Breakker to go for the door but Rollins cuts him off. Back in and the spear only hits the table in the corner, allowing Rollins to hit a Pedigree and Stomp for the very near fall. Breakker begs off from another Stomp so Rollins hits a top rope Stomp for the pin at 19:02.

Rating: C+. The blood on the eye, which I’m assuming was unintentional, was a boost but my goodness I am sick of these weapons cage matches. You’re in a big steel box with someone you hate. Why do you need all of the extra stuff? Anyway, this was a dead feud a long time ago as the Bloodline has lapped the Vision and Rollins’ real feud is with Paul Heyman, who isn’t even here at the moment. I’m not sure I get Breakker losing, but it’s not a great step for him in the slightest. Meanwhile Rollins is likely going to be the same person he was before so….what was the point here?

US Title: Trick Williams vs. Ricky Saints

Williams, with Lil Yachty, is defending. Saints jumps him from behind to start fast but Williams is right back with the chops in the corner. The threat of a Trick Shot puts Saints on the floor, where he steals Yachty’s kendo stick. Saints feigns Yachty hitting him with the stick and that’s enough for an ejection. Back in and Saints takes over on Williams, including some knees to the back and head.

Some shots to the back have Williams in more trouble but he manages a suplex for a breather. Williams grabs Saints’ hand and jumps over him, setting up a release Rock Bottom for two. Saints avoids a boot in the corner though and a swinging neckbreaker gets two more. Roshambo is countered into a backdrop but Saints avoids the running knee in the corner. A tornado DDT sets up a weird top rope elbow to give Saints two but another tornado DDT is blocked. The Trick Shot retains at 10:43.

Rating: C+. This was your basic Smackdown match and that’s not a bad way to go. Saints never once felt like a real threat to win the title and they were doing all they could to set him up with the Yachty ejection. Williams is on fire right now and it would have been insane to take the title off of him so thankfully they went in the right direction.

Post match Saints goes after Williams again but Yachty is back with the kendo stick. Yachty hits a People’s Elbow (Graves: “The People’s El-Boat!”) for the revenge.

Women’s US Title: Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton

Stratton is defending and slugs away to start but has to flip out of an early torture rack. Stratton’s running hip attack connects in the ropes but her suicide dive is cut off. Back in and Cargill starts to go with the power, including knocking Stratton into the corner. Stratton can’t fight back yet but she can escape Jaded and hurricanrana Cargill into the corner. A Regal Roll but the Prettiest Moonsault Ever hits raised knees.

Cargill’s Sandstorm gets two and another Jaded is countered into a jawbreaker. Cue the minions for a distraction, allowing Cargill to hit a chokeslam for two. Chelsea Green pops out from underneath the ring to take them out, with B-Fab being thrown into the title podium. Green grabs the title so Cargill pulls her inside and goes after the title as well. Cue Charlotte to belt Cargill in the face though, allowing the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to retain at 7:41.

Rating: C+. This was another perfectly fine but mostly unremarkable match as the two of them did their thing until Cargill’s cheating went too far. Cargill vs. Charlotte feels like the big showdown, though Rhea Ripley’s involvement is still to be determined. Stratton is going to need a new challenger though and I’m really not sure whom that is going to be.

Smackdown World Title: Gunther vs. Sami Zayn vs. Cody Rhodes

Rhodes is defending. Zayn is knocked outside to start but comes back in to cut Gunther off. Back up and Rhodes hits a running shoulder for two and we settle down a bit. Gunther pulls Zayn outside and goes back in to hammer on Rhodes. Zayn is knocked down again and Rhodes gets two off a sunset flip to Gunther. The powerbomb and Cross Rhodes are both countered but a second powerbomb gets two, with Zayn having to make a save.

Gunther is sent outside and Rhodes gets caught in a Blue Thunder Bomb for two more. The Helluva Kick is blocked though and Gunther sends Zayn outside, leaving him to uppercut Rhodes in the corner. Rhodes fights back and hits Cross Rhodes, with Zayn pulling the referee out. Gunther comes back in to powerbomb both of them but Zayn counters another into a Code Red for two.

The Helluva Kick hits Gunther but this time Rhodes pulls the referee out. It’s time to load up the announcers’ table, where Rhodes reverses a package piledriver and backdrops Zayn through the other table for the big crash. Gunther is back up for another powerbomb through the other table and the sleeper has Rhodes in trouble back inside. The arm is raised up but Zayn dives in to keep it from falling, earning the wrath of Gunther.

An exploder sends Gunther into the corner and the Helluva Kick gives Zayn two. Rhodes is back up with the Cody Cutter to Gunther but Zayn gives Rhodes Cross Rhodes of his own. Zayn grabs a sleeper on Gunther but Rhodes is back up for a double Cross Rhodes. He tries another on Zayn, who reverses into a cradle to pin Rhodes for the title at 18:39.

Rating: B. He actually got it. I’m kind of stunned as the idea of Zayn winning the title is something that is hard to actually believe but I’ll take what I can get. This is the big moment that the show was dying for and all that matters is Zayn finally won the title. Odds are it doesn’t last long, but dang that’s a heck of a moment and long overdue. The match was the best on the show as well, which granted isn’t a surprise given the people involved. I’m not sure he’s going to hold it long (he probably won’t) but Zayn is champion and that’s a great thing to see.

Zayn gets the big and well deserved celebration to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The ending pulled this one back from the brink as this just was not a very interesting show. I was rather bored multiple times as the matches might have been fine but they were absolutely lacking any kind of fire. Maybe it was the extra travel or something but this was not one of their better efforts. Zayn finally getting his moment is the important thing though and that boosted this one up a long way.

Results
Oba Femi b. Jey Uso – Fall From Grace
Iyo Sky b. Liv Morgan – Over The Moonsault
Seth Rollins b. Bron Breakker – Middle rope Stomp
Trick Williams b. Ricky Saints – Trick Shot
Tiffany Stratton b. Jade Cargill – Prettiest Moonsault Ever
Sami Zayn b. Gunther and Cody Rhodes – Rollup to Rhodes

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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We’re back overseas and as has become the norm of the summer, we have the finals of the Of The Ring tournaments. The good thing is WWE has set up the men’s final as something that could lead us in a multitude of ways and that is a nice situation to have. Other than that we have the usual shenanigans around here and hopefully the card isn’t as spaced out as others. Let’s get to it.

Women’s US Title: Tiffany Stratton(c) vs. Jade Cargill

We’ll start off with a match that might be the least important on the card but also might be the most difficult to guess. Stratton and Cargill are being built up into two of the biggest stars of the current/next generation and it makes sense to see the two of them having this kind of a match. At the same time, their previous efforts against each other have been less than stellar so it should be interesting to see how well it works out.

As for a winner, I think I’ll take Stratton winning here. While Cargill making the win makes the most sense, I’m not sure what she has to do if she wins. Stratton already has issues with Charlotte and Alexa Bliss and the latter could be a good opponent for her. I’m curious about how this goes and it’s been built up better than some of their recent matches, though they don’t have a huge bar to clear.

US Title: Trick Williams(c) vs. Ricky Saints

Now here we have something that is a bit more important, but also a bit easier to guess. At the end of the day, Williams has hit the ground running like few you’ve seen in a long time. He and Lil Yachty are a great team together and I’m hoping they’re together in this way for a good while to come. I’m thinking you get where this is going and that’s not a bad thing here.

Of course I’m taking Williams to retain the title, as there is pretty much no reason to think that Saints is going to win the title here. If nothing else, Saints is going to be a nice victory for Williams and I could go for seeing them have a good match on the way to Williams retaining. Williams is likely to be a big deal sooner or later and a win over Saints is a good step forward.

Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins

It says a lot when a cage match feels kind of unimportant but I can barely remember anything about this match coming in. It feels like this feud should have wrapped up months ago and they’re just doing this match to give both of them something to do. If nothing else, Rollins’ quest to take out the Vision has been replaced by a bunch of people trying to take out the Bloodline. That doesn’t leave much here and I’m not exactly interested in seeing the match.

I’ll take Rollins to win here, even though Breakker needs the win more. Rollins can win and in theory get rid out of this WAY too long feud with the Vision. Odds are there will be a good deal of interference but I’m not sure how much it’s going to help. This is a really lacking feud and I don’t really see this match, with Rollins winning, making it that much better.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Gunther

Now this has my attention as I have gone from “it’s another Rhodes title defense” to having no idea who is leaving with the title. Rhodes felt like the undisputed obvious winner here but for once, adding a third star makes it a lot better. Zayn is someone who feels like he absolutely has to win the title at some point and it would be great to see it happen here. Or anywhere as I really want to see it happen one way or another.

That being said, I’ll play it safe and go with Rhodes retaining. Rhodes already has a bunch of options available for Summerslam, with Jey Uso, Oba Femi and potentially Gunther or Zayn waiting on him. That’s more than enough to see him leaving with the title, even if Zayn winning would be a feel good moment in Saudi Arabia. That also leaves Gunther as a legitimate threat to steal the title and I could see it happening as well. I’ll take Rhodes though, as WWE likes him on top at the biggest shows, such as Summerslam.

Queen Of The Ring Finals: Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky

I have lost any and all concept of how this tournament is supposed to go, as it’s two Raw stars fighting for a shot at, I’m assuming, the Smackdown Women’s Title. That is of course assuming the Smackdown Women’s Champion is healthy enough to wrestle at Summerslam. Or does Morgan get to take Summerslam off if she wins the whole thing here? Maybe clarify this stuff a bit better?

All that being said, I’m thinking that they clear out a lot of the issues by having Sky win. This means she can either have another chance against Morgan at Summerslam (I hope not) or face her former partner/friend/longtime rival Rhea Ripley for the title instead. That match has felt like the big endgame for everything since Ripley won the title, even if she has done absolutely nothing with it since. Sky wins here, if nothing else for the sake of clearing up the confusion.

King Of The Ring Finals: Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso

We’ll wrap it up with a match that really could go either way. There are multiple options here, with Femi smashing through Uso, Uso escaping with a win, or Roman Reigns getting involved to help his cousin win and avoid facing Femi in the process. The impressive thing is any of them feel like a legitimate option and I’m probably forgetting a few others. You don’t get that very often and this could be rather good.

The question here is basically does WWE go with the Bloodline or pull the trigger on Femi and put him in the big spot. I’m thinking they’ll go with the former, possibly thanks to a certain Brock Lesnar shaped roadblock. I wouldn’t go in that direction, but I think WWE is going to go that way, with the Bloodline getting even more of the focus on the shows, even if it stopped being that interesting a good while ago. Uso wins here, even if Femi feels like the better choice.

Overall Thoughts

This is the first of four shows on a Wrestlemania size weekend and as is usual with the Saudi shows, it’s taking place in the early afternoon on the east coast. Yes it’s kind of annoying, but it’s also getting the biggest show of the weekend out of the way first. That could set the bar either high or low and we get to see where things go from there. This show has some potential though, especially if it winds up mainly being a wrestling based show, which tends to be where WWE does its best work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Smackdown
Date: June 26, 2026
Location: O2 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re taped from London and it’s the night before Night Of Champions. In this case that means the big final push towards to the pay per view and the previews for the finals of the two Of The Ring tournaments. Things have been looking up a bit around here as of late and it would be great to have that continue. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s World Title situation, resulting in Cody Rhodes defending against Sami Zayn and Gunther at Night Of Champions.

Here are Trick Williams and Lil Yachty for a chat. Williams was missing last week because he was in Jamaica…where he and Lash Legend got married. After stories about the celebration and what happened all night long, Williams declares it the greatest night of his life. He’s ready to go into Night Of Champions and retain the title and move on to Summerslam.

This brings out a ticked off Ricky Saints to interrupt, with Williams threatening him with his back hand. Saints isn’t impressed and says Williams is overlooking him. Tomorrow, you’re going to be looking at the new US Champion. Williams says the only person Saints needs to be focusing on is his dentist after Williams kicks Saints’ teeth down his throat. Saints gets annoyed at Yachty and gets in a cheap shot, with another dropping a distracted Williams.

Alexa Bliss wants to get revenge for Charlotte, even if it means teaming with Tiffany Stratton. Cue Stratton, who says this is a one night only thing and she wants to be left alone after. That’s a rather specific request.

Tiffany Stratton/Alexa Bliss vs. Michin/B-Fab

Stratton and Michin start things off with Stratton grabbing an early headlock takeover. A running basement dropkick gives Stratton an early two and it’s off to Bliss, who is apparently rather popular. The running Blockbuster puts Michin down but it’s way too early for Sister Abigail.

A not so great tornado DDT puts Michin down on the floor but B-Fab gets in a big boot to Bliss as we take a break. We come back with Michin missing an elbow, allowing Stratton to come back in and clean house. The Alabama Slam gets two on B-Fab and there’s a Regal Roll but cue Jade Cargill to break up the moonsault. A spinning X Factor gives B-Fab the pin at 7:41.

Rating: C+. This was a fine illustration of following the basic playbook to build towards Saturday’s title match. Stratton has a reason to be mad now and we might be seeing her more focused on revenge than retaining her title. It should make for an interesting match and this was a good way to set it up, as well as a good use of the minions.

Post match the villains surround Stratton so here is Chelsea Green…who drops her kendo stick. Green is able to send Cargill outside anyway though and Cargill leaves with her goons.

We look at Solo Sikoa costing Jimmy Uso on Raw.

Sikoa brags about taking Uso out but the MFT’s say he’s obsessed with Roman Reigns. They’re out, which leaves Sikoa ranting about how no one leaves him.

Jade Cargill demands a match with Chelsea Green for tonight and Nick Aldis obliges.

AAA Cruiserweight Title: Nathan Frazer vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix is defending. They run the ropes to start fast and trade the flips and dives into an early standoff. Frazer flips away from him out of the corner so Fenix is up with a springboard crossbody to put Frazer down. Fenix sends him outside for the big dive but Frazer catches him with a kick of his own. The big running flip dive hits Fenix and we take a break.

We come back with Fenix fighting out of a chinlock and firing off the fast chops. A Roode Bomb gives Fenix two but Frazer catches him up top. The superplex connects but Fenix pops up for a double kick to the head and they’re both down. Back up and Frazer’s middle rope reverse Spanish Fly gets two and he kicks Fenix out to the floor for a big crash. Frazer’s big dive is cut off though and the Mexican MuscleBuster retains the title at 10:48.

Rating: B. This is another one of those matches where you knew it was going to be entertaining based on whom was involved. That was the case again here, with Fenix getting to showcase himself and Frazer being a perfect choice to hang in there with him. I still don’t want to see the AAA title involved around here, but this was good while it lasted.

Post match respect is shown.

Damian Priest and R-Truth don’t see things the same way on rebuilding the Judgment Day clubhouse but the War Raiders come in to say they want a winner take all title match. R-Truth gets confused and Priest has to take him away.

LA Knight arrives and is on his way to the ring. He also asks why Cathy Kelley, who is supposed to be on Raw, was waiting on him. Fair question.

We recap the King Of The Ring semifinals.

Here is Knight for a chat. Knight talks about how he laid Jimmy Uso out on Raw but he had an unexpected assist. He’d like an explanation on that so Solo Sikoa needs to get out here right now. Cue Sikoa, with the fans chanting for him and Knight finding it a bit catchy. Sikoa says his entire family has left him but Knight isn’t impressed as the MFT’s were useless. Knight doesn’t know what happened on Monday but maybe it was a Roman Reigns initiation.

Sikoa snaps, ranting about how much he hates the Bloodline and he knows he and Knight have that in common. Knight says they should both hate Roman Reigns, just like everyone else in the Bloodline. They’ve all gone back into the Bloodline though so why should Knight trust Sikoa? What’s different here?

The difference is that Sikoa has nothing to lose and they could watch each other’s back and take out the Bloodline. Knight has heard “it’s just me uce” before and he probably needs help, but he’s going to live and die doing things his own way. Thanks but no thanks. That’s an interesting twist, though I liked it better when Montez Ford turned down Seth Rollins to go after the Bloodline about a month ago.

Sami Zayn talks about how no one listens to him, save for Johnny Gargano, but now he can redeem himself by winning the WWE Title.

Paige vs. Jacy Jayne

Brie Bella and the rest of Fatal Influence is here too. Jayne starts fast with the boot choke in the corner so Paige sends her throat first into the top rope. The fans declare this to be Paige’s house as she sends Jayne face first into the buckle over and over. An STF sends Jayne over to the ropes and Paige has to flip dive onto the rest of the team. Jayne uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot though and we take a break.

We come back with Paige fighting up and hitting a clothesline, meaning it’s time to slug it out. Paige snaps off a suplex and the Paige Turner gets two. Rampaige is broken up though and Jayne kicks her down for two of her own. The Rolling Encore is broken up so Jayne grabs a rollup, with Bella cutting off the cheating. Paige takes out an interfering Reid and rolls Jayne up for the pin at 8:34.

Rating: C. It’s nice to see Paige getting a win in her home country, though I could have gone with not seeing Jayne take another pin. She was off to such a hot start when she debuted and has come crashing back down to earth rather quickly. At least Paige and Bella are getting a chance though, as they certainly never have before.

Danhausen continues his experiments on Miz and Kit Wilson when Matt Cardona comes in. Cardona is happy with the New York winning but Danhausen steps away. Los Garza come in to ask where Danhausen is but Cardona tells them to get lost. Danhausen is back to Cardona not to touch whatever is under the sheet.

Finn Balor runs into the Tongas, with Tama saying they do have a past. He has one with Shinsuke Nakamura too and look how that went. The Tongas leave together.

Here are Danhausen and Miz and Kit Wilson (still mostly catatonic) for a chat. Danhausen greets the fans and calls the two of them the Legion Of Danhausen, meaning we get the zombified catchphrases. Los Garza interrupts and jumps Miz and Wilson but Matt Cardona makes the save. Nick Aldis comes in to make the tag match.

Matt Cardona/Danhausen vs. Los Garza

We’re joined in progress with Cardona beating up Berto but getting sent out to the apron. Angel gets in a cheap shot to take over and the alternating beating begins. With that not working, Los Garza beat up Wilson on the floor but the distraction lets Cardona get in a flapjack. Danhausen gets to come in and clean house as everything breaks down. Miz won’t let Angel get a chair so Danhausen grabs a rollup for two on Berto. A kick to the head puts Danhausen down but he curses Berto on top, causing pyro to go off. That and a reverse DDT give Danhausen the pin at 4:32.

Rating: C. This is a completely acceptable way of putting one of the hotter stars on the show as the fans get to see Danhausen live. It’s not like there was anything serious to the whole thing as you had curses, zombies and…whatever Danhausen is this week. Either way, it’s more fun stuff as they’re keeping Danhausen low on the card where he belongs.

Gunther isn’t pleased with Sami Zayn saying their Night Of Champions match is about Zayn’s redemption. A question about his less than great win/loss record against Cody Rhodes makes it worse and he’s off to deal with Zayn.

Video on Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky in the Queen Of The Ring finals.

Chelsea Green vs. Jade Cargill

Green strikes away to start and gets in the salute. James sends her outside and grabs a fall away slam as we take a break. We come back with Green striking away again and hitting a missile dropkick for two. Cargill isn’t having any of this and hits her in the face, setting up Jaded for the pin at 6:12 (Cargill looking bored after such an easy win is exactly on point for her).

Rating: C. Yeah this was about all it needed to be, as Cargill smashes through Green on the way to her title match against Green’s one sided friend. It’s a perfectly logical way to go, as is Green not being able to do much with Cargill. I’m sure Green having Tiffany Stratton fully on her side will do the trick though and that seems to be the coming up pretty soon. Just like Cargill’s title shot.

Post match B-Fab and Michin run in but Tiffany Stratton and Alexa Bliss run in for the save. That earns Stratton a Jadeding.

Solo Sikoa is asked about being alone but Royce Keys interrupts. Keys tells him good luck and walks off.

Video on Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins.

Night Of Champions rundown.

Lil Yachty and Trick Williams are ticked off at Ricky Saints and ready for revenge. Williams is prettier than Saints too.

Giulia vs. Kiana James

They were friends, they got into a fight and now they’re not. James kicks her in the face at the bell and they’re on the floor in a hurry. Giulia takes over on the outside and they go back inside where Giulia connects with some hard kicks. A headbutt sends James outside again, where she gets in a slam onto the steps as we take a break.

We come back with Giulia hitting a missile dropkick to leave both of them down. They slug it out with Giulia getting the better of things and snapping off a headscissors. A belly to back suplex gives Giulia two but James slams her off the top for a big crash. Giulia pulls her down by the hair but the big knee is countered into a powerbomb for two more. James gets her in a fireman’s carry but gets sunset bombed out of the corner. The northern lights bomb finishes for Giulia at 9:43.

Rating: B-. This was a case where Giulia needed the win a lot more than James, who can be fine as a lackey or assistant etc. On the other hand, Giulia has felt like she has been floating all over the place and looking for something to stick. Maybe this is a step forward for her, as she certainly needs something to work.

Post match Giulia celebrates but Blake Monroe runs in to lay her out.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat but before he can get anywhere, Sami Zayn cuts him off. Zayn thanks his fans for being with him no matter what and he’s sorry for interrupting but he’s the last good guy around here. He apologizes for what happened last week, including hitting Rhodes with the title by mistake. Rhodes: “Was it a mistake?”

Zayn goes on about how this isn’t about how he wanted things to go and Rhodes doesn’t buy that at all. Look at what is going on. Zayn is getting a title shot in a country where he is beloved. The reality is that Zayn is exhausting as he keeps trying to take things. Rhodes wishes Kevin Owens was here because Owens would at least stab him in the front. And at least Owens has been WWE Champion (not quite).

Zayn gets in his face and yells about how Rhodes needs to keep Owens out of his mouth but here is Gunther to say that he doesn’t care about all of the drama around here. If not for Zayn, Gunther would be the WWE Champion but Zayn isn’t a threat to him as a wrestler. Rhodes needs to enjoy his last night as champion because Gunther is taking the title. This brings out Jey Uso to interrupt but Gunther won’t let him run it back.

Uso brings up making Gunther tap out at Wrestlemania and the brawl is on. Gunther and Zayn are cleared out and Rhodes squares off with Uso…and here is Oba Femi. Gunther Zayn get back in and are taken right back out, leaving Rhodes and Femi to stare it down to end the show. They’re doing something interesting here as you could have a few combinations here and they’re all good enough. Nice job here and I’ll take that over having the obvious result that takes forever to come together.

Overall Rating: B-. This did a good enough job of giving a final push towards the pay per view and that’s all it needed to do. They didn’t really add much of anything but the tease at the end did make me more interested. The best thing out of all of this though is we’re back to two hours next week, which is LONG overdue. That should do wonders for Smackdown and I want to see just how well things go when we’re on the road to Summerslam with one less hour to deal with a week. Not a great show here, but it did what it needed to do.

Results
Michin/B-Fab b. Alexa Bliss/Tiffany Stratton – Spinning X Factor to Stratton
Rey Fenix b. Nathan Frazer – Mexican MuscleBuster
Paige b. Jacy Jayne – Rollup
Danhausen/Matt Cardona b. Los Garza – Reverse DDT to Berto
Jade Cargill b. Chelsea Green – Jaded
Giulia b. Kiana James – Northern lights bomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 1990
Date: August 27, 1990
Location: Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 19,304
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper

This is the requested redo for the year and I’m rather happy about that. I watched this show more times than I can count as a kid as it was the first wrestling show I had on video. I’ve seen it so many times that I can probably quote at least a bit of the commentary from every match and know most of the matches by heart so looking back at it should be fun. It’s a double main event as Hulk Hogan returns to face Earthquake and Ultimate Warrior defends the WWF Title against Rick Rude in a cage. Let’s get to it.

The opening video hypes up the show, including the main events. This gives us the classic 80s Vince McMahon hype voice and that is always going to work. At the end of the day, the guy is a promoter and a really good one.

Rockers vs. Power And Glory

Vince promises this this is going to be a HUMDINGER so you know he’s serious. Shawn comes to the ring so gingerly that you would think he had a bad knee and wasn’t ready to go here or something. Power And Glory, already in the ring, (it was a different time) jump Michaels before the bell and hit him in the knee with the chain to give him a reason to be down. Why is that so much to ask?

Roma hammers on Jannetty to start but Marty fights back with armdrags and dropkick (why yes, he is a face in a tag team). Slick (the evil, yet stylish) manager offers a distraction as Piper wants to know which one is the power and which is the glory. You mean him being named HERCULES isn’t a hint? Jannetty gets beaten down as Piper talks about Mick Jagger and David Bowie, perhaps missing the idea of the Rockers.

We pause to take out Michaels again as this continues to be a handicap, including a gorilla press to Jannetty. A small package doesn’t get Jannetty out of trouble as Roma comes back in and hits some backbreakers. Jannetty powerslams his way to freedom and hits the top rope fist drop (such a simple yet good looking finisher) with Hercules having to make a save. That’s finally enough as the PowerPlex puts Jannetty away at 5:59.

Rating: C. Kind of a weird way to start the show here but I do like the idea of just getting in and out without trying to do anything nuts. Power And Glory weren’t some great team but they could beat Marty in a handicap match. That’s all you had here and it went well enough, even if it was pretty clear that Shawn shouldn’t have been out there in the first place.

Post match Shawn gets in the ring and the big beatdown is on, with Marty trying to cover Shawn’s knee (another Jagger/Bowie reference from Piper). Of note: the VHS that I remember glitched at this point so I didn’t remember seeing the last minute and a half of the match until I was almost twenty years old. Shawn does a stretcher job and would be out of action for about a month and a half.

Mr. Perfect isn’t worried about facing the Texas Tornado on less than ten days’ notice, even if he knows almost nothing about Tornado. Bobby Heenan talks about how worthless Texas tornadoes are because you can see them coming a mile away. Then Perfect gets REALLY serious and says no one beats him.

The Texas Tornado promises to come out of the clouds and be powerful, unpredictable and devastating. Then he’ll go back into the clouds with the Intercontinental Title. For some reason, that one has always stuck with me, even if it isn’t very good.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Texas Tornado

Perfect, with Bobby Heenan, is defending. Of note: Tornado was in yellow trunks for the interview and is in white here so he doesn’t match Perfect’s yellow and blue singlet. The lockup goes to Tornado, who shoves him into the corner without much trouble. That’s enough to send Perfect outside, as commentary thinks they might be surprised by the strength. So they haven’t even looked at Tornado?

Back in and they circle each other a bit as Piper wants to know what Heenan knows about wrestling. A hard whip into the corner sets up a slam on Perfect and a clothesline puts him on the floor, with the required big bump from Perfect. Back in again and Perfect slugs his way out of a wristlock, setting up a sleeper. Some shots to the face in the corner don’t do much to Tornado, who catapults Perfect into the post and grabs the Claw. The Tornado Punch (HUGE bump from Perfect) connects for the pin and the title at 5:15.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t much of a match as Tornado was a bit all over the place (shocking) and a lot of the stuff was rather basic. That being said, this was all about the surprise factor as Tornado gets the title almost immediately after debuting. Of note: for someone perfect, Perfect lost every pay per view match he had in 1990, though finishing as runner up in the Royal Rumble could have been worse.

Perfect staggers out of the arena in even more great selling.

In the back, Gene Okerlund can’t find Sweet Sapphire (uh oh) but Heenan and Perfect come in to rant about the bad refereeing. Tornado CHEATED by sending him into the post and now it’s time to pay. Well not now but in the near future, though that might qualify as semantics.

Sweet Sapphire vs. Sensational Queen Sherri

Sherri has a huge mask on which absolutely TERRIFIED me as a kid. And there’s no Sapphire, despite the music playing multiple times. That’s going to be a thirty second countdown forfeit and no match. Granted the fact that Sherri was in a full length dress makes me wonder what she was exactly planning for this one anyway. Commentary is very confused by Sapphire’s whereabouts.

Dusty Rhodes is in the back and says he doesn’t know where Sapphire is either as she disappeared ten minutes after they arrived. No one has seen her and he is rather worried. Cue Jim Duggan for a rather random cameo, saying everyone is still looking for Sapphire. With Duggan gone, Dusty says that Sapphire is getting a lot of really expensive gifts but that isn’t his business. GEE, I WONDER WHO IN THE WWF IS RICH ENOUGH TO SEND HER THOSE PRESENTS!

Tito Santana vs. Warlord

Slick is here with Warlord and Piper promises to not make a bunch of taco jokes about Santana. A headlock doesn’t work for Santana to start but a dropkick manages to put Warlord down. Back up and Santana looks to load up a hurricanrana (not quite in 1990) so he can hammer away to knock Warlord outside.

That’s fine with Warlord, who drives him back first into the post, allowing Slick to stalk him with a shoe (yes a shoe). The slow forearms keep Santana down until he gets a boot up in the corner to slow Warlord down. The flying forearm rocks Warlord but he gets the foot on the rope at the last minute. Warlord blocks a monkey flip out of the corner though and a running powerslam finishes at 5:28.

Rating: C. This is a fine example of a power vs. speed match and Santana knows how to do that as well as anyone else from this era. Let Santana go out there and run around while Warlord uses his power game in short spurts. It is a formula that has worked forever and it worked well enough here, even in a short form match.

Survivor Series is coming. That’s the Undertaker debut show, which always blows my mind. Look at this card and consider that three months later, you would have someone who has faced Rusev and AJ Styles.

Demolition, all three of them, won’t say which two of them will be facing the Hart Foundation. Hint: it’s probably the two holding the belts here. Either way, they aren’t worried about facing the Legion of Doom after this, because they’re just a bunch of impostors. This was just after Crush was added to the team so Ax could be written out due to what was thought to be a heart problem. In reality it was a bad allergic reaction to some kind of shellfish (not a joke) and he was fine soon enough.

Tag Team Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Demolition

Demolition (Crush/Smash) are defending in a 2/3 falls match and we cut to the back where the Harts say they’re a bit surprised. They promise to win the titles because they are two Harts beating as one (always loved that line). Bret and Smash start but Neidhart comes in to knock an interfering Crush outside. Smash gets taken down into an armbar but knocks him away without much trouble, allowing Crush to come in instead.

Crush pulls a crossbody out of the air and slams Bret down but charges into a boot in the corner. It’s off to Neidhart vs. Smash, with the former getting kicked in the back by Crush (that cheater). A clothesline out of the corner gives Neidhart a breather and he hands it back to Bret, which seems rather quick after Bret took a good bit longer beating.

Everything breaks down and Demolition is sent into each other so Crush falls outside. The backbreaker and middle rope elbow get two on Smash, with Crush dropping a leg for the save. With Neidhart down on the floor, the Demolition Decapitator finishes Bret for the first fall at 6:19.

Bret and Crush start the second fall and a choke shove drops Bret fast. The neck crank goes on for a bit but Bret is back up with the Hart Attack clothesline (minus the whole Hart Attack thing). The hot tag bring in Neidhart (despite Crush holding Bret’s leg) for the house cleaning on Smash. There’s the powerslam for two and everything breaks down with the Hart Attack hitting Smash.

Crush DIVES over and grabs the referee, who he carries around the ring. Believe it or not, yes that is a DQ and we’re died up at 10:40 (total). Why in the world wouldn’t you just break up the cover there? That doesn’t exactly make Crush look smart but Demolition was never the brightest team.

The third fall begins so here is Ax to hide underneath the ring like a villain should. Bret comes back with a sunset flip on Smash, followed by Neidhart powerslamming Bret onto him (that was awesome) for two. Then we get to the “REALLY?” part of the match as Ax switches with Smash (ignore the referee WATCHING HIM COME OUT FROM UNDER THE RING) and starts hammering away. Even when I was three years old, I never got how this was supposed to make sense (Smash’s face paint was even wiped off and Ax’s was fresh).

Smash comes back out to double team Bret but cue the Legion of Doom to pull Ax from under the ring and break up another Demolition Decapitator. Neidhart slingshot shoulder blocks Crush into a cradle from Bret for the pin and the titles at 15:50 in one of the all time great feel good moments.

Rating: B+. A lot of this is nostalgia but I LOVE this match and always have. What I didn’t get when I was a kid was that this was the culmination of a years long quest for the Harts to get the titles back and prove that they could do it without Jimmy Hart. The win felt like it meant something (Vince’s call is perfect as you can feel him get happy on saying THREE) and it still holds up to this day. Heck of a match, but this was more about the emotion and it worked great.

Wrestlemania VII ad. I can still remember the phone number.

The Legion of Doom is happy because they have been waiting on Demolition. What a rush….for them. The Harts come in and say they’ll fight anyone anytime anywhere no matter the odds. Quite the emotional burst there.

Sean Mooney is outside of Demolition’s locker room where you can hear them ranting and raving about the Legion of Doom.

Queen Sherri brags about her win over Sapphire and laughs off the idea that there were “early sightings” of her earlier today. Sherri: “WHAT IS SHE: A UFO???” On top of that, Sherri has heard rumors about Sapphire that makes her think Sapphire might be the smartest person around here. Sherri: “THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!!”

Five minute intermission, thankfully without the countdown graphic included.

Gene Okerlund runs down the rest of the card and we see one of Bad News Browns’ Harlem sewer rats.

Damien, Jake Roberts’ snake, is in the shower.

Big Boss Man, who is guest referee for Brown vs. Roberts for no explained reason, doesn’t mind snakes or rats.

Nikolai Volkoff, now very pro-America, is glad to be in a tag team with Jim Duggan. Volkoff describes Duggan as his idol and calls the team the American Express (as opposed to the Orient Express you see).

Earthquake, with Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart, is ready to crush Hulk Hogan for good, just like he did to Tugboat. He might as well crush Big Boss Man as well! Bravo promises to take care of the Boss Man while Hart promises a double stretcher job. Earthquake also brings up Tugboat asking fans to send Hogan cards and letters to make him feel better.

1. That was designed to replenish the WWF’s mailing list.

2. Each fan reportedly got a note signed (well, “signed” but close enough) by Hogan thanking them for their prayers.

3. That’s brilliant, and it’s the same thing the WWF did when the Islanders dognapped Matilda a few years earlier.

Jake Roberts is ready to turn Bad News Brown into a mouse.

A good chunk of these promos were not on the home video, likely for time.

Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown

Big Boss Man is guest referee and the fight starts before he gets to the ring. Jake tries a very early DDT but Brown slips out and kicks Jake down. Another DDT attempt doesn’t work and they head outside, where Brown hits him in the ribs with a chair. That’s good for a warning from Boss Man and Brown stomps away back inside. Roberts fights back with the snap jabs and the fans are already wanting the DDT. Brown counters it a third time, which Piper attributed to an oily head. More pounding on the floor ensues and that’s enough to get Brown disqualified at 4:48.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here as it felt like a match they advertised and then forgot to do anything which, which didn’t make it much better. Throw in the Boss Man as the tacked on referee and there was only so much to get out of something like this. It just wasn’t very good and I’m not sure what they thought they had here.

Post match Brown goes to drop a leg on Damien but Boss Man makes the save. Brown beats on Boss Man but Jake grabs Damien and clears the ring, sending Brown out of the WWF for good. The rats were never seen, save for a closed crate at ringside.

Demolition rants about the numbers game in their match and swears vengeance, first on the Legion of Doom and then on the Harts.

It’s time for Brother Love, who scared the heck out of me when I was a kid (and in modern times, scares me for entirely different reasons). Love asks if kids remember being told what to do when they were younger. Now they still need someone to do that because they are soft and weak. His guest is the man who can tell you what to do so here is Sgt. Slaughter. Er, make that DRILL Sgt. Slaughter this time.

Slaughter has been looking around and wants to find a great American. That’s what he has found here, which is why he has The Great American Award for Brother Love. That makes him think of Nikolai Volkoff, who suddenly loves America. Slaughter isn’t happy with that and declares war on Volkoff, because America has gone soft. If Saddam Hussein (or “who’s on” as Slaughter pronounces it) declared war on us tomorrow our boys would be destroyed. Saluting ensues, as we have a new top heel.

Mr. Fuji and the Orient Express are ready for their match but we cut to Gene Okerlund, who has found Sapphire….who goes into a room and locks the door behind her. Nice one Gene.

Orient Express vs. Jim Duggan/Nikolai Volkoff

Piper doesn’t quite buy the idea of Duggan and Volkoff being that bright. Before the match, Duggan and Volkoff belt out God Bless America, because of course they do. Duggan says God bless the troops and the Express attacks, only to be knocked outside without much trouble. The villains come back in with Tanaka bouncing off of Volkoff (Piper: “Yep, real dumb.”). The US chants are on as Volkoff shrugs off a shot to the throat and brings Duggan in to clean house. Everything breaks down and the Express is sent into each other, setting up the three point clothesline to finish Tanaka at 3:22.

Rating: D+. This was little more than a debut squash for Duggan and Volkoff and that is fine, though seeing the Express lose so quickly despite having some awesome matches with the Rockers was a little weird. It wasn’t bad for a match there to play off of current events but it was fine for a quick one. As long as the WWF doesn’t think Duggan and Volkoff are a big deal, it doesn’t mean much.

Dusty Rhodes can’t get into Sapphire’s dressing room and has to go to the ring for his match. He’ll be back.

Sean Mooney, standing on a ladder, talks to Randy Savage, who thinks the rumors about Sapphire are true. Savage talks about how the Founding Fathers weren’t thinking about people like Dusty when they talked about the American Dream and this is a grave situation. Speaking of graves, the ring is where Macho is going to bury Dusty so DOWN THAT AISLE! Savage was kind of feeling it here.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Randy Savage

This is Macho King (with Queen Sherri) and Dusty is as serious as he has been in his WWF run. Hold on though as here is Ted DiBiase (with Virgil) on the platform to say his money can buy anyone or anything. He brings out Sapphire with a bag full of money (the trip around the world and the Cadillac seem more valuable, though I’d love one of those WWF gym bags) and talks about how money will get you whatever you want.

Dusty goes after them but Savage jumps him from behind. They head inside and the fight is on, with Dusty getting in some shots of his own. Savage is knocked outside and hides behind Sherri, who sneaks him the loaded purse. One shot is enough to knock Dusty cold for the pin at 2:14.

In the back, Ted DiBiase, Virgil and Sapphire leave in the limousine, with Dusty Rhodes giving chase to no avail. That always made me sad as it was a rare instance of evil flat out winning and Dusty not being able to do anything about it.

Hulk Hogan and the Big Boss Man are ready for revenge on Earthquake. They dedicate the match to Tugboat and quite the beating that goes with the match.

Earthquake vs. Hulk Hogan

Jimmy Hart, Dino Bravo and Big Boss Man are here too and make no mistake about it: this is the show’s real main event. Feeling out process to start and we get the big shove off out of the lockup. That does not great for Hogan and far better for Earthquake, with Hogan dropping backwards. After a quick chat with Boss Man on the floor, Hogan slugs away and tries a slam, only to hurt his back (it worked in the Andre match).

Some right hands and chops stagger Earthquake (and drop Bravo/Hart) until a big right hand puts Earthquake down. Everyone heads outside where the seconds get involved, including going inside. A double big boot drops Bravo and another one knocks Earthquake into the ropes as Piper wonders what the referee is thinking. The referee gets Boss Man out so Bravo and Earthquake can hit a double slam on Hogan.

The big elbow gives Earthquake two and we hit a Boston crab, which is quite the visual. Hogan tries to power out but for once gets smart and grabs the rope right next to him (you could tell things were different in 1990, as Hogan using a ROPE to escape is just hard to fathom). Bravo gets in a slam on the floor but Earthquake misses another big elbow. The slam still doesn’t work for Hogan as Earthquake crashes onto him for two more to bang up the ribs even more.

We hit the bearhug (required) but Hogan fights out and tries…..a crossbody???? What the heck man? Either way, Earthquake powerslams him down and hits the Earthquake. Then he does it again and I think you know what that means. The comeback is on, complete with the slam working this time. There’s the legdrop but Bravo offers a distraction and Hart comes in to jump Hogan. Everything breaks down and it heads to the floor, where Hogan slams Earthquake onto (not through) a table and that’s enough for the count at 13:12. Hogan jumping up and down in celebration always looked weird.

Rating: C+. I love Hogan but the magic was starting to fade. You can tell that there is a lot going on here to try to keep the energy up, but Hogan just isn’t as special as he once was. At the same time, the countout was lame and while Hogan slammed him, it was hardly some big win. They build Earthquake up very well, but there is only so much that can be done when he’s Hogan’s rebound feud.

Post match the beatdown is on with Earthquake choking Hogan. Boss Man hits Earthquake in the back with a metal stool and just annoys him, allowing Bravo to come in as well. In a great visual, Boss Man whips out the nightstick and is ready to go, which is enough for Earthquake and Bravo to bail. Hogan poses (after suggesting that Earthquake is a chicken) but Piper doesn’t think Hogan won anything with the countout. Two things.

1. Piper getting on Hogan just feels right.

2. I know it’s for the house show rematches, but dang that countout always felt kind of lame.

Rick Rude, now short haired and serious, promise to win the WWF Title in the cage tonight and get his statue outside of the Spectrum next to Rocky Balboa. Bobby Heenan explains the idea of a cage match and promises no sequels. Rude: “And there ain’t gonna be no rematch!” I didn’t know that was a Rocky reference until YEARS later. Of note: Heenan started this promo by saying “he’s going to get that Intercontinental Title back”, which is the kind of thing that he would be saying because he could do more than one thing at a time.

Dusty Rhodes is fine with Sapphire taking the money because he offered up his innocence to her and she paid him back in scorn (he used that line a lot in his career and I’m still not sure I get what it means). Now the fans are asking when he’s going to get mad and even. He’s coming for Ted DiBiase because….America can give him shelter from the storm? Ok then.

Lord Alfred Hayes explains how the cage is built for the main event.

Hulk Hogan talks about how there are new buildings being built around the world and they are all earthquake proof. Hogan is going to take that big fat dude (his words) around the world and beat him over and over until he is the #1 contender. That’s not how you usually become #1 contender. Anyway, Hogan has a fourth demandment: believe in yourself. For now though, he going to get a new nine foot surfboard (or gun as he calls it) and go to the beach to chase sharks, at least until he finds that TITLE wave. Then he pretends he’s on a motorcycle and rides backwards out of frame. Hogan was a weird dude.

With welts on his back, Earthquake promises that it isn’t over with Hulk Hogan and promises more pain next time. Dino Bravo and Jimmy Hart rant a lot too.

Ultimate Warrior: “Do you know what Bobby Heenan has in common with the Liberty Bell? One is cracked and the other is a ding dong.” Would that be Ding or Dong? A lot of Founding Father references are made with Warrior promising to beat Rick Rude. The idea of the match is that Rude beat Warrior back at Wrestlemania V (which is never mentioned by name) so he could do it again here. In short, it didn’t work and this is a really lame main event as a result.

WWF Title: Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior

Rude is challenging in a cage and they start fighting on top of the cage. Warrior knocks him down and hits a top rope ax handle to take over, setting up the ram into the cage. Another ram into the cage drops Warrior and Rude goes up, where he has to kick Warrior away. For some reason Rude comes back down and keeps stomping away but it’s too early for the Rude Awakening.

Warrior knocks him down but the splash hits knees, allowing Rude to hit the Rude Awakening. For no adequately explained reason, Rude goes up to the top of the cage for a right hand to the head. He STILL won’t cover so he goes up again (Heenan: “WHERE ARE YOU GOING???”) and gets punched out of the air this time.

Warrior goes for the door and gets it slammed on his head for two, as this just keeps going. Rude goes for the door as well but gets pulled back in, with the tights coming down in the process. This time Warrior pulls Heenan in and knocks him down, followed by an atomic drop out the door. Some clotheslines into the gorilla press lets Warrior escape (complete with hip swivel) to retain at 10:01.

Rating: D+. Not only was it a completely nothing match, but it was a match that didn’t stick around for very long. In this case that might be a good thing though, as Rude was a lame duck of a challenger as you could have. There was no one for Warrior to face and it showed badly, making this a pretty weak main event. It might have worked as a quick house show main event, but (allegedly) headlining Summerslam? Not quite.

Warrior celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Nostalgia plays a big role in this one but it’s actually a rather good show. They keep things moving and important things take place, including Hogan’s return and two title changes. It’s still the very tail end of the Golden Era and now things can move forward into the new era. It’s not a classic show, but it is a lot of fun and certainly memorable (at least for me), which is something I’ll take every time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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