Final Battle 2024
Date: December 20, 2024
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the biggest show of the year and we have a double main event. In this case, the actual main event will be a rematch from last year as Athena defends the Women’s Title against Billie Starkz. The other half of the main event will see Matt Cardona challenging Chris Jericho for the World Title. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Dark Order vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

Evil Uno is here with the Order as Reynolds and Drake start things off. They both try armdrags and dropkicks to no avail so it’s a four way staredown to start. Gibson comes in and yells a lot before being taken into the corner so Silver can kick away at the chest. The Veterans start taking over by Silver’s leg though, with Gibson grabbing a half crab. Drake cranks on the leg as well and kicks him in the knee before they go up top.

Silver managers a super hurricanrana for a breather and it’s Reynolds coming in to clean house. Everything breaks down and a spear/brainbuster combination drops Drake on the floor. Back in and Gibson charges into a boot in the corner but is fine enough to hold Reynolds up for a Doomsday Device. Uno whips out the papers though and a shot to the head lets the Order hit their sequence for two on Drake. Silver’s knee gives out again though and a high/low finishes Silver at 11:28.

Rating: C+. This was a nice choice for an opener with a feud that saw the villains being mad at the Order and wanting to beat them. That’s all you need for a match like this and the people involved did the rest. I’ll call this one a nice little result, as it didn’t try to do anything elaborate but made it work at a simple level.

Zero Hour: Harley Cameron vs. Hanako

This is Hanako’s debut and she’s Mina Shirakawa’s rather tall stable mate. Hanako shoves her down to start and hits a shoulder to knock Cameron into the ropes. Cameron loses a battle over a suplex and a pair of big boots puts her on the floor. A missed charge lets Cameron send her into the steps though and some kicks to the ribs keep Hanako in trouble.

Back up and Hanako ties her in the Tree of Woe but Cameron gets the knee out. A Shining Wizard gives Cameron two and a rather spinning headscissors takes Hanako down again. Hanako is right back with a backbreaker though and a torture rack spun into a faceplant finishes Cameron at 7:21.

Rating: C. I’m sure this is part of the build towards Wrestle Dynasty and Stardom (Hanako’s home promotion) has to get a win to hype up the show, but egads man. Cameron has gone from just another annoying person on the roster to someone the fans have gotten behind. There was no story to this match and anyone could have put Hanako over here. Why have Cameron, who the fans are getting behind, lose when you have so many other options for the spot? If Hanako just has to beat someone here, don’t have it be someone who is getting themselves over through pure talent and willpower.

Zero Hour: Infantry vs. Undisputed Kingdom

Trish Adora and Shane Taylor are here with the Infantry. The Infantry jump them before the bell and Bravo suplexes Taven to get things going. Taven is back up with a big dive to the floor and they get back inside for a middle rope dropkick to Bravo. Dean sweeps the leg though and hits a Stunner off the apron as Taven is in trouble again. Some corner forearms and a wind up DDT drop Taven for two but he grabs a DDT of his own.

The referee doesn’t see the tag to Bennett though, meaning the beating has to continue. That’s broken up and Bennett comes in, with a Death Valley river sending Bravo onto Dean for two. An assisted swinging slam gets the same on Bennett, who quickly gets back to Taven for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Just The Tip into Bennett’s piledriver gets two. Adora’s cheap shot sets up Boot Camp for two but Taven pulls Bravo to the floor. Rockstar Supernova finishes Dean at 9:49.

Rating: C. Another nice match here with something that would have fit in just fine on the weekly show and probably didn’t need to be added to this crowded card. The Undisputed Kingdom are already involved with the Adam Cole/MJF story so having them win here was the only way to go. The Infantry are the current midcard villains tag team and that isn’t going to be enough to overcome bigger stars like the Kingdom.

Zero Hour: LeeJ vs. Gates Of Agony

Johnson and Kaun start things off and they trade leapfrogs until Johnson hits a dropkick. Nduka adds a swinging side slam but Johnson comes back in and gets crotched on top. Liona comes in to drop an elbow for two but Johnson scores with a pop up dropkick. We get the big Liona vs. Nduka forearm exchange before they trade hard clotheslines.

Nduka gets sent into the corner for running hips/knees to the face but Johnson makes the save. Liona and Nduka both hit Pounces before Liona Samoan drops Nduka. A running knee sends Nduka into the steps, leaving Johnson to neckbreaker Kaun. Johnson’s dive off the apron is cut off and Open The Gates gets….two. Another Open The Gates finishes Johnson at 10:24.

Rating: C+. So LeeJ is built up as an interesting team for a few weeks, all to lose to the Gates Of Agony? That’s certainly a choice, but the team only felt like a way to get Nduka’s feet wet. That being said, it doesn’t seem like Nduka is ready for such a push on his own as he hasn’t done much other than have some squash matches. Weird ending here, but it’s not like it’s going to matter for the title picture anyway.

Post match respect is shown….and then LeeJ turns on them. As usual, a heel turn would have more impact if it didn’t come after a clean loss.

And now, the show proper.

We open with a look at the show’s history in New York City before looking at the show’s double main event.

Atlantis Jr. vs. Mansoor

Mason Madden is here with Mansoor. They touch tips to start and we’re ready to go. As commentary confirms that this is over things that are happening in CMLL, Mansoor takes him down and strikes a pose, setting up some armdrags. Atlantis is back with a snapmare before tying up the legs to take over. A leglock sends Mansoor over to the ropes and we pause for a pose from Madden. Mansoor takes over and hits a Falcon Arrow before going after the mask.

More posing in the corner allows Atlantis to come back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, followed by another to make it worse. Madden offers a distraction though, allowing Mansoor to grab a northern lights superplex. A Death Valley Driver into the corner gives Mansoor two but Atlantis wheelbarrow suplexes him into another corner. Mansoor tries a springboard but gets cuttered out of the air for two. Madden tries to interfere….but Danhausen of all people comes out to cut him off. Mansoor accidentally dives onto Madden and then gets taken out by an Atlantis dive. The frog splash gives Atlantis the pin at 12:00.

Rating: C+. Nice enough match, but maybe give us a bit more about why these two are fighting? Other than something about “this happened in CMLL”, we had no context for why these two are fighting. Show us what happened or have the talk about something, but give us a bit more than that, especially on a show as big as this one.

Post match Madden jumps Atlantis but gets cursed by Danhausen. A German suplex drops Madden and Danhausen pours teeth into his mouth.

Chris Jericho talks about how New York City is his city and gets a few details wrong. He’s ready to leave the Grand Apple as World Champion.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tommy Billington

This is Billington’s ROH debut and they have no notable history together. They fight over wrist control to start with Billington flipping his way to freedom. Billington reverses a headlock into a headscissors but Shibata starts working on the leg to take over. Back up and Billington sends him to the apron and hits a big running flip dive.

Shibata is right back on the leg and the figure four has Billington in trouble. That’s broken up with a rope break so Shibata grabs an STO. An armbar sends Billington to the ropes but he’s fine enough to elbow Shibata into a suplex. A springboard tornado DDT sends Shibata head first into the apron for a double down on the floor. Back in and Billington strikes away, only to get pulled into a sleeper for the tap at 9:50.

Rating: B-. What is there to say about a match where there is no backstory and one of the people is making his in-ring debut for the promotion? It’s another match that was fine in the ring but there is little reason to get interested in what they’re doing. They’re just having a match and while it was good enough, I’m expecting something a bit more intriguing at the biggest show of the year.

Respect is shown post match.

We recap QT Marshall vs. Jay Lethal. With Lethal returning to Ring Of Honor, Marshall wanted them to join forces. Lethal turned him down and a match was made, with Marshall bringing up a previous injury he had and seemingly blaming Lethal for what happened.

Jay Lethal vs. QT Marshall

….and they’re both in Randy Savage cosplay, which had nothing to do with this story coming in. Aaron Solo and an unidentified woman are with Marshall while Sonjay Dutt and Karen Jarrett (in NWO Elizabeth gear) are with Lethal. We start fast with Lethal hitting the Savage neck snap over the top into a top rope ax handle. The rolling dropkick lets Lethal send Marshall outside, where he gets in a shot of his own.

A kiss to the unknown woman lets Lethal come back with a suicide dive but a Solo distraction cuts Lethal off. Marshall’s tornado DDT gets two but Lethal fights up with some forearms. Marshall can’t hit a Lethal Injection so Lethal gives him a pop up neckbreaker for two. Lethal goes after the leg and grabs the Figure Four so Solo tries to come in, earning himself a Figure Four from Dutt.

The Lethal Combination connects but Solo crotches Lethal on top. Cue Jeff Jarrett to guitar Solo and Hail To The King connects for two. The Lethal Injection is countered into the Cross Rhodes for two but Lethal kicks him in the head. A cutter hits Marshall, who is right back with his own Lethal Injection. Back up and Lethal small packages him for two, followed by a pair of Lethal Injections for the pin at 12:32.

Rating: B-. I have so many questions. This was all over the place but in a rather entertaining way, as they stopped trying to have this be anything but insanity and that worked. I have no idea why Marshall was doing a Savage impression or really why Marshall was on this show in the first place, but it was by far the most entertaining thing on the show so far and I’ll take that at this point.

By the way: we are just shy of two hours into this show and this is the first match that had anything resembling an important story (Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Dark Order and LeeJ vs. Gates Of Agony are not important). In the words of rock legend Lenny Haise, this is an opportune time to pick it up a little.

We recap Leyla Hirsch challenging Red Velvet for the Women’s TV Title. Hirsch is getting the title match based on winning a match in July before she was injured and has won one match since (and lost a four way, also involving Velvet). Again: not much in the way of major builds so far.

Women’s TV Title: Leyla Hirsch vs. Red Velvet

Velvet is defending and is rapped live to the ring. Hirsch grabs a headlock to start but gets rolled up for an early two. Back up and Hirsch works on the arm, which doesn’t last long as Velvet is back with a headlock. Velvet starts in on Hirsch’s previously injured arm and we pause to check on Hirsch. She’s fine enough to be shoved into the corner, followed by a heck of a spear to give Velvet two. Hirsch starts going after Velvet’s arm for a change, setting up a sunset German suplex (that was cool).

A spinning German suplex drops Velvet again, followed by a powerbomb into a top rope Lionsault for two. Velvet is back with a powerbomb of her own and a spinning kick to the head gets a near fall of her own. A right hand staggers Hirsch but she sends Velvet into the buckle for a breather. Velvet’s shot to the face gets two so she grabs a turnbuckle (as in the big metal rod). That’s taken away so she whips out a wrench and knocks Hirsch cold for the pin to retain at 11:52.

Rating: B-. I guess that was supposed to be some big heel turn at the end but it came so out of nowhere that it didn’t have much of an impact. Velvet has gotten better in recent months but there still isn’t much that makes her stand out. Maybe the heel turn will help her, though she’s going to need a bit more to really make it work.

Lee Moriarty has issue an open challenge for a Pure Title match because he wants the best challengers.

Pure Rules Title: Lee Moriarty vs. ???

Moriarty is defending against….Nigel McGuinness. Well that’s a big one. Hold on though as Nigel wants this under Old School Pure Rules. Taylor says OLD is right but McGuinness isn’t impressed and insults are traded. Moriarty wants the match so Nigel says we’ll do it old school. Bobby Cruise lists off the rules…which are the same as the new school rules.

They take their time to start until Nigel goes for a waistlock, which makes Moriarty burn through his first rope break. Back up and Nigel claims a right hand from Moriarty, which counts as his first thrown punch. Taylor wants and gets a second referee out here as Nigel can’t quite get a crossface. The London Dungeon has Moriarty in more trouble but he uses the rope again.

Moriarty pulls him into a stretch of his own, sending Nigel to the ropes. Nigel heads outside to yell at Taylor, who Moriarty accidentally takes out with a running knee. Back in and McGuinness strikes away and the Tower Of London connects for two. The London Dungeon is countered into a Border City Stretch and Nigel has to use his second rope break as well. Another Border City Stretch has Nigel using his final break but he’s back up with the rebound lariat for two.

Nigel catches him on top with another Tower Of London, with Moriarty using his final rope break, meaning neither has any left. They uppercut it out until Moriarty backslides him for two. An exchange of rollups gets two each and Moriarty’s suplex Downward Spiral gets two more. Moriarty gets the Border City Stretch on again and uses the ropes for leverage to make Nigel tap at 17:04.

Rating: B. Having Nigel back was a nice surprise and it gave the fans a reason to believe that the title might change hands. The point of an open challenge like this is to put a big name out there and Nigel certainly fits the bill. That being said, I’m still not sure if we need the Pure Title out there on a regular basis, as it just doesn’t feel like it matters most of the time. For now though, heck of a match with Nigel being able to do this kind of wrestling in his sleep.

Post match respect is shown and Moriarty lets Nigel have the ring.

We recap the Righteous challenging the Sons Of Texas for the Tag Team Titles. This has mainly been about Dustin Rhodes vs. Dutch over a cowbell that Dusty Rhodes once owned because Dusty saw something in Dutch, making it personal.

Tag Team Titles: Sons Of Texas vs. The Righteous

The Righteous are challenging in a double bullrope match, meaning both of them are bound together and you win with a pin or submission. The brawl starts on the floor (and before the tying) with Guevara hitting a big flip dive before the bell. They get inside with Dustin hitting the drop down uppercut and a double suplex dropping Dutch. Now they bother tying up and the bell actually rings. The champs take over to start and hit stereo Shattered Dreams.

That doesn’t seem to have much of an impact as the Righteous fight up and it’s time to head outside. Dustin chairs Dutch in the back before Sammy and Vincent collide for a double knockdown. Dutch comes back with a Boss Man Slam on the ramp and it’s time for a barbed wire table. That takes too long and Dutch is knocked through the table but Vincent kicks Rhodes low. Orange Sunshine off the barricade drops Sammy and Vincent pulls himself out of the rope.

Sammy has to save Dustin from being choked out and they head back outside with Vincent being rocked again. Sammy is unhooked as well and it’s time to set up a regular table and a ladder. The Swanton only hits table though, leaving Dustin to beat up Vincent. Dutch’s shot in the corner gives Vincent two so Dustin flips both of them off. Orange Sunshine gets two with Sammy making the save. Sammy and Vincent crash out to the floor and a Canadian Destroyer drops Dutch. The cowbell to the head pins Dutch to retain the titles at 15:34.

Rating: B. If you ignore the bull ropes being broken up part of the way through the match and the whole thing turning into a pretty run of the mill street fight, it worked well. The cowbell finishing Dutch was the logical ending after the story they have been telling too. That being said, I can’t fathom that the Sons Of Texas are going to make it to the new year with the titles, as I have no idea how they have this much appeal.

TV Title: Komander vs. Willie Mack vs. Mark Davis vs. Blake Christian vs. AR Fox vs. Brian Cage

Cage is defending under elimination rules. Christian bails to the floor to start and pulls Komander with him, leaving Fox to hit a dive. Cage and Davis slug it out with Davis getting the better of things, including a running backsplash. Back in and Mack avoids Davis’ swings, setting up a running boot to the face. Mack is sent outside and Fox hits a bunch of dives for a bunch of knockdowns.

Back in and Komander flips away from Fox before sending him outside for a big springboard corkscrew moonsault. Christian hits Cage with suicide dive and a spear on the apron hits Komander. Christian’s big corkscrew dive takes out a few people but Cage gives him a neckbreaker back inside. A double German suplex sends Fox and Komander flying but Mack is back in to clean house. Mack Samoan drops Komander and Fox at the same time (hip swivel included) and a standing moonsault gets two on Davis. A series of Stunners takes everyone down, only for Cage to hit a discus lariat to pin Mack at 9:32.

Fox comes back in to kick Cage in the face, followed by a running hanging DDT to Davis. Komander’s running dive is cut off with a DDT on the apron, setting up Fox’s imploding springboard flip dive. Back in and Fox’s 450 gets two on Komander but Lo Mein Pain is countered into a super sitout powerbomb so Cage can pin Fox at 13:28.

Cage and Davis slug it out until Komander comes in with a super hurricanrana to Davis. An F5 drops Komander but Davis drops Cage with a clothesline. A piledriver gets rid of Cage at 16:39 to guarantee a new champion. Christian hits Davis low and rolls him up with trunks for the pin, leaving us with Christian vs. Komander for the title. Christian kicks Komander into the corner and a double stomp to the knees keeps him down. Komander is back with something like an abdominal stretch on the back but Christian shoves him out to the floor.

A 450 misses back inside though and Komander knocks him outside again. Komander’s dive is cut off with a Spanish Fly for two but he’s back up with a super poisonrana. The rope walk flip dive takes Christian out on the floor but he kicks the referee into the ropes to break up Cielito Lindo. Christian’s swinging belly to back superplex gets two but it’s a Canadian Destroyer into a 619 into Cielito Lindo to give Komander the pin and the title at 25:20.

Rating: B-. Oh boy where do I start here? First of all, it was a fun, action packed match, but DANG it went on for a long time. This is a match that could have had ten minutes cut off and not lost much but it just kept going with one long sequence after another. It had enough spots to keep me interested, but get on with it already.

Second, there’s the Komander problem. While he has been fairly regularly featured around here and has had some success, you can only get so far with having someone who is little more than cannon fodder in AEW. Komander hasn’t won a match yet in this year’s Continental Classic (and very well may not) but he’s only won two singles matches in AEW this year. That is going to need to change, or the ROH TV Champion is going to lose a lot going forward. That’s not a good way to present any title and it shouldn’t happen.

Finally, there’s the issue of someone like Blake Christian. Now I know who Christian is and several other people will, but he means nothing Ring Of Honor. He has won one singles match in ROH this year and that was in August, which was also his most recent match. Christian hasn’t wrestled in AEW since last spring and has never won a match on AEW TV. I’m aware he’s a big deal in GCW and had a run in Japan, but if I don’t follow those promotions, I have little idea who Christian is because he’s someone who just pops in periodically and loses. Now he’s getting a title shot? Come up with something better than that.

Komander gets a nice reception for his victory.

We get long previews of upcoming AEW shows.

The House Of Torture wants a Tag Team Title match at Wrestle Dynasty.

We recap Matt Cardona challenging Chris Jericho for the ROH World Title. Jericho wants to face a New Yorker so Cardona stepped up. This resulted in Jericho proving that he is a REAL New Yorker, despite knowing very little about New York. That’s your main event, despite Cardona never wrestling in ROH before.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Matt Cardona

Jericho, with Bryan Keith and some knockoff Rockettes, comes out to a Frank Sinatra song and is wearing an I Heart New York shirt. Jericho mocks the crowd to start and gets caught with a quick Radio Silence for two. The Reboot misses in the corner as Jericho bails to the floor, allowing Cardona to hit a big flip dive.

Back in and Cardona whips him with the belt, as I guess rules are lax here. Jericho gets in a backdrop on the ramp and a dropkick knocks Cardona off the apron. This time Jericho follows him out and shoves who appears to be Cardona’s father in the crowd. That earns him a big running forearm but Jericho sends Cardona into the post to cut off the comeback. Back in and Jericho hits a super hurricanrana but misses a charge, allowing Cardona to hit a middle rope dropkick for two.

Cardona misses a regular dropkick and gets Lionsaulted for a near fall. The Walls attempt is countered into a spinebuster and a tiger driver gets two. Jericho hits a Codebreaker for two of his own and they trade big boots for a double knockdown. This time Jericho gets the Walls but Cardona is quickly out. Keith’s interference doesn’t go well as Jericho is sent into him, allowing Cardona to get two off a rollup.

Another Radio Silence is countered into the Walls, with Cardona making the ropes again. Cue the returning Big Bill to kick Cardona in the face for two but he’s back with his own Codebreaker for his own two. Bill offers a distraction though and Keith comes in with a belt shot so Jericho can retain at 18:26.

Rating: B-. Again, another long match on a very long show and it wasn’t getting up the level to make it need that much time. It was a bunch of Jericho cutting Cardona off and then Cardona falling victim to the numbers game. That doesn’t make for an interesting match, but rather a 2003 HHH formula which wasn’t good back then either. This was the biggest match coming in and it just barely worked here.

Post match the beatdown is on but Bandido returns for the save. Ignore him slamming his head on the mat when he comes in with a dropkick and clearly being knocked for a loop.

We recap Athena defending the Women’s Title against Billie Starkz. Last year, Athena treated her badly and then beat her in the main event. Since then, she’s still treated Starkz badly and now Starkz asked for a rematch. That’s how the main event of the biggest show of the year was set up.

Women’s Title: Athena vs. Billie Starkz

Athena (in a Two Face theme) is defending and gets a special introduction from Lexi Nair. They shake hands to start and take turns trading shots in the corner. Starkz hits a big boot but gets kicked out of the air to slow that down again. The cravate brings Starkz back up but her spinning kick to the face is countered into a Brock Lock. Starks gets out but is powerbombed right back down so Athena can go after the leg.

Said leg gets tied up in the ropes for some hard kicks and Starkz falls outside, where Athena yells at what seems to be Starkz’s mom (eh Jericho did it better). Starkz gets in a shot for a breather but Athena fights out of an electric chair. The leg is almost wrapped around the post but Starkz pulls her face first instead. Back in and something close to Cross Rhodes gives Starkz two and we hit the chinlock.

Something like a brainbuster gives Starkz two but Athena is back with a shot to the leg. A springboard spinning crossbody gets two on Starkz but the O Face is countered into a German suplex. They fight over a Tombstone until Starkz connects for two, giving us a shocked kickout face. Athena’s powerbomb onto the apron is countered into an Alabama Slam, allowing Starkz to hit a Swanton to the floor.

Back in and Athena throws her out to the floor again, meaning it’s a suicide dive onto Starkz and the referee. Lexi Nair uses the opening to hand Athena a microphone but Starkz kicks it out of her hand. Something like a One Winged Angel gets two but Athena manages to pull a turnbuckle pad off. Starkz goes head first into the steel and the O Face retains the title at 25:31.

Rating: B. They were in a weird place here as Starkz’s challenge was as pathetic as you could get and it would have been pretty lame to see her knock off Athena a year after she should have. At the same time, the Fabulous Moolah would think this Athena reign has gone on lone enough.

There is no one in AEW worth anything that she hasn’t beaten yet, to the point where this is the same match from last year’s Final Battle main event. I’m not sure what this is supposed to accomplish anymore and while Athena is still great, she has LONG moved passed the time where she should be on the main roster. It was a long, back and forth match, but the leg stuff just stopped mattering and it could have been about ten minutes shorter, especially as it was almost midnight by the time the match ended.

Athena and Nair celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling itself was fine to rather good with nothing close to a truly bad match. That’s all well and good and there isn’t much to criticize from the in-ring side of things. That being said, OH MY GOODNESS STOP WITH THESE ALMOST FIVE HOUR SHOWS! I wasn’t enjoying the last hour plus of the show because I was just so sick of the whole thing because it kept going.

There is no need to have a good chunk of this show (multiple matches with no backstory or people making their debuts), plus the last three matches adding up to over an hour bell to bell. There comes a point where the show needs to end and Tony Khan has never quite figured that out. It was far from a bad show, but you shouldn’t be able to cut off nearly two hours from a show without missing much. Just stop putting so much on these shows already, because it is really bringing things down.

Results
Grizzled Young Veterans b. Dark Order – High/Low to Silver
Hanako b. Harley Cameron – Torture rack faceplant
Undisputed Kingdom b. Infantry – Rockstar Supernova to Dean
Gates Of Agony b. LeeJ – Open The Gates to Johnson
Atlantis Jr. b. Mansoor – Frog splash
Katsuyori Shibata b. Tommy Billington – Sleeper
Jay Lethal b. QT Marshall – Lethal Injection
Red Velvet b. Leyla Hirsch – Wrench to the face
Lee Moriarty b. Nigel McGuinness – Border City Stretch with ropes
Sons Of Texas b. The Righteous – Cowbell to Dutch’s head
Komander won Survival Of The Fittest last eliminating Blake Christian
Chris Jericho b. Matt Cardona – Belt shot from Bryan Keith
Athena b. Billie Starkz – O Face

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Royal Rumble 1989
Date: January 15, 1989
Location: The Summit, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 19,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura

This is the first PPV version of the show and things have changed a lot. Tonight, everyone is in the match and they’re focusing more on the idea of every man being for himself. The match wouldn’t be worth anything for a few more years but things should be a little bit stronger tonight as they have a better idea what they’re doing. Let’s get to it.

We start off with a listing of presumably everyone in the Rumble tonight. If not then it’s at least most of them.

Dino Bravo/Fabulous Rougeaus vs. Jim Duggan/Hart Foundation

2/3 falls here. Anvil vs. Bravo gets things going and they collide a few times with no one going anywhere. Both guys miss elbows and it’s off to Duggan for a BIG reaction. Ray Rougeau comes in and is immediately slammed down and hit by a knee drop. Hart comes in to a small but audible reaction and gets two each off a small package and a sunset flip. Jacques comes in and things break down a bit with all three heels being caught in one corner where Anvil drives shoulders into them, crushing Ray against the corner under two other guys.

Ray FINALLY gets something in by low bridging Bret to send him to the floor. At the end of the day, when you need someone to sell something you call on Bret. Dino’s side suplex puts Bret down and The Rougeau Bomb gets the first fall. Bret and Ray start things off in the second fall with Hart in big trouble. Jacques comes in and sends Bret into the corner for the traditional chest first bump in the corner which gives Dino two.

Bravo puts on a bear hug for a bit before it’s back to Jacques. A sunset flip gives Bret a quick breather but he’s immediately put in a camel clutch. Anvil makes the save but as he’s being put back in the corner, Ray comes in and puts the same hold back on. That’s good stuff there. The heels take turns working over Bret until Jacques puts on a Boston Crab. Gorilla wants Duggan or Neidhart to come in and break the hold up, because you’ve got five seconds. I love the hypocrisy you would get from him at times.

Bret breaks the hold and tags in Anvil but the referee didn’t see it. That’s such a basic spot but you don’t see it much anymore. Ray puts on an abdominal stretch before it’s off to Jacques for the exact same hold. Bret FINALLY hits an atomic drop to break up the momentum and there’s the white hot tag to Duggan. Anvil hits a slingshot shoulder on Ray and a Duggan elbow drop ties the match up at a fall apiece.

Duggan pounds on Ray to start before going to the wrong corner to try to beat up both guys. Bravo hammers away a bit but rams Duggan’s head into the buckle for no effect at all. Duggan gets punched over into the corner and there’s the tag to Hart. Everything breaks down and Duggan hits Bravo with the board to give Hart the pin.

Rating: C. This was fine but Duggan’s reactions are amazing. The guy was probably the third most over guy in the company at this point, which is covering a lot of ground given how over some of the guys were in 1989. This was fine for an opener but the ending was never quite in doubt, which is ok.

We get a clip of some people pulling their numbers earlier. DiBiase isn’t thrilled at all and immediately goes to find Slick to work out a deal of some kind. These segments need to come back, if nothing else to try to make us believe the numbers are random. The Bushwhackers are happy with their numbers but they trade anyway. Honky is mad about his number. Bad News says his is good news. Demolition seems annoyed. Jake….you can’t tell emotion from him anyway. The Rockers don’t seem to hate theirs.

It’s time for the Super Posedown, which is exactly that: Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude posing against each other to further their feud. Warrior is IC Champion here and man alive if this happened on a PPV today the fans would likely riot. Well not riot but boo heavily at least. Heenan actually sucks up to the fans because it’s decided by fan vote. Again, the ending here isn’t exactly in doubt. This goes on WAY too long, as it’s just posing and people booing/cheering depending on who is posing. Rude finally attacks Warrior with a bar and bails. Warrior chases after him and that’s it. This somehow took nearly fifteen minutes.

Womens’ Title: Judy Martin vs. Rockin Robin

Robin is defending and is Jake Roberts’ real life half sister. Sherri is in the ring and wants the title shot at the winner of this. Martin misses a charge and Sherri sits in on commentary. They pound on each other and it’s clear that they’re not incredibly skilled in the ring. Martin slams her down and blocks a sunset flip with a punch to the head. Robin puts on a Boston Crab as this is going nowhere.

Martin blocks an O’Connor Roll as Sherri complains about not getting a rematch yet. Gorilla talks about the process you have to go through to get a rematch, which is a nice sounding idea when you think about all the automatic title rematches you get today. Imagine that: EARNING a title match. Something resembling a DDT gets two on Martin but Robin misses an elbow drop. Martin misses one also but a backslide gets two for Judy. Robin kicks her in the face for two and gets the same off a small package. Sherri: “Come on somebody win.” Robin goes to the middle rope, fakes Martin out, and cross bodies her to retain.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here but the ending wasn’t bad. The Women’s Title would be retired about 13 months later and wouldn’t be restored until about 1993. At the end of the day, no one cares about womens wrestling other than for how small their outfits are. Robin and Martin aren’t exactly eye candy either, so this didn’t do much for anyone. At least it was short though.

Slick says the Twin Towers (Boss Man and Akeem) are probably winners of the Rumble but denies knowing anything about shenanigans with DiBiase. Sean Mooney has footage (the original Vickie Guerrer) of Slick and DiBiase together and suddenly Slick realizes he misunderstood Mooney the first time. He has no comment though.

Rude runs his mouth a bit about beating Warrior. This must be intermission.

Yep, it’s intermission as we get promos from a few managers, saying their guys are going to win. Nothing to see here but we hear from Fuji (representing the Powers of Pain), Liz (Mega Powers) and Jimmy Hart (Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine). Like I said, nothing to see here.

Jesse is sitting on the throne that will go to either Haku or Race. He thinks he might just run for King because the chair is comfortable.

King Haku vs. Harley Race

Race was King but got hurt and the crown went to Haku. This is his chance to get it back in a one time only return to the ring. Harley shoves over Haku’s throne to start and the brawl is on. You know Race is going to be the brawler in this. Back in and Race pounds away before suplexing Haku down for two. Heenan manages both guys here but Race is kind of the face by default.

They head to the floor again with Race being sent into the post and chopped a few times. Haku sends him back to the floor after a few seconds in the ring as we stall for a few moments. More chops have Race in trouble as Jesse talks about Hogan injuring Race, which is only kind of true. Race no sells a headbutt and gets two off a piledriver. They collide again and Race falls to the floor as Heenan plays both sides, saying he’s for both guys when the other is out of earshot.

Back in and Race punches some more before getting two off a suplex. Haku gets sent to the floor again as it’s pretty clear there’s not much to this match. Race tries to piledrive Haku on the floor but gets backdropped as is the usual. A second attempt at a piledriver works but not incredibly well. Back in and a clothesline puts Haku down for two but Haku comes back and misses a top rope headbutt. Race misses a headbutt of his own and charges into the superkick from Haku (looked GREAT) for the pin to keep the crown in Tonga or wherever he’s from.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t terrible and the ending kick looked awesome, but other than that there wasn’t much to see here. Race was clearly old and banged up and he didn’t have a lot to work with in the form of Haku. The crown was mostly a minor title that was only somewhat official. Nothing to see here, but no one cares about anything but the Rumble tonight anyway.

Time for more Rumble promos, with Beefcake, Greg Valentine (both of whom say they just need their fists), the Powers of Pain (Fuji does the talking for them), Big John Studd (freshly back in the company), Mr. Perfect (pretty new at this point) and Savage (insane of course).

DiBiase is much happier about his number now.

Heenan says the Family (Brainbusters and Andre) is ready and Andre says he’ll thrown them out if he has to. Arn whispers to Tully when Andre isn’t looking because Arn Anderson is more awesome than you.

Hogan gives his usual promo with the focus on Boss Man and Akeem this time.

Royal Rumble

The entrants are every two minutes, allegedly. #1 is Ax and #2 is Smash, beginning a tradition of having partners fight at the beginning of these matches. They immediately pound on each other and amazingly enough, they actually sell the offense. It’s a bunch of clotheslines and punches, but the key to Demolition has always been how HARD they hit each other, which is what you get a lot of here. In at #3 is Andre, which gives us one heck of a handicap match.

Demolition immediately hits a double clothesline on Andre and start demolishing him to a BIG pop. Andre is way past being past his prime here but this is still cool to see. Here’s Mr. Perfect at #4 and he strolls down the aisle, which is pretty wise for him. Andre starts fighting Demolition off and for some reason this turns into a tag match. Andre easily throws out Smash, resulting in a 2-1 attack on Andre.

The Giant fights them off and Perfect sells a headbutt as only Mr. Perfect can. Here’s Ronnie Garvin at #5 and they get Andre tied up in the ropes. The Giant breaks free and beats up Ax while Garvin and Hennig fight a bit. Andre shifts over to beat up Perfect, giving us some more awesome overselling. Greg Valentine is in at #6 to make it 4-1 against Andre. AGAIN Andre is all like BRING IT ON and knocks them away, eliminating Garvin in the process.

Andre chokes Valentine in the corner while Ax and Perfect continue their rather uninteresting fight. Andre starts choking Ax and the look on his face is eerie. Jake Roberts is #7 and Andre immediately pounds him down. Nothing of note happens for two minutes so here’s Ron Bass at #8 as Jake gets eliminated by Andre. Shawn Michaels is in at #9, giving us Ax, Perfect, Andre, Bass, Valentine and Michaels. As I type that, Perfect knocks out Ax.

Perfect throws Shawn over the top rope but some skinning the cat brings him back in. Shawn dropkicks Perfect to the apron as we get into a sell-off. #10 is Butch who gets a big pop of his own. As Butch gets in, here’s Jake Roberts again with the snake to scare Andre out of the match. The fans look at something, presumably Jake and Andre in the aisle, as things settle down a lot. It’s Honky Tonk Man at #11 as things are in that annoying slow period of most Rumbles.

Tito Santana is in at #12 to finally balance the heel/face ratio out a bit. There’s almost nothing going on here other than the energy burst you get from the new guys coming in. Bass hits a good backdrop on Michaels as Santana barely survives an attack from Valentine. Bad News Brown is #13 and Butch and Santana (there’s a pairing for you) dump Honky. Butch gets beaten up and Shawn goes up top to jump on Bad News and Bass. Marty Jannetty is #14 and the Rockers double dropkick Bass out.

Tito kills Valentine with the forearm and world champion Randy Savage is #15. NOW the place wakes up as he hammers away on Bad News. Perfect and Savage go at it in a match that would have the purists drooling. Speaking of making purists drool, Arn Anderson is #16. Savage dumps Valentine as Shawn fights Arn. Savage….saves Anderson and eliminates Shawn? Now there’s one I didn’t expect. To recap, we’ve got Marty, Anderson, Butch, Brown, Savage, Santana and Perfect in there at the moment. That’s quite the lineup for the most part.

Tully Blanchard makes the lineup even stronger at #17. Just to be clear, that’s two tag teams getting back to back numbers. Gee, what are the odds? The Brainbusters double team Marty as we’re just waiting for Hogan at this point. And here he is at #18. There goes Perfect, giving him the new Iron Man record at just under 28:00. Off camera, Savage and the Busters put Santana out as Hulk beats up Brown. Hogan fights off all three heels as Savage beats on Butch. Nice partner, especially after Hogan saved Savage when he got to the ring.

Here’s Luke at #19 as things slow down again. Butch gets thrown out after a remarkable 18 minutes. Hogan hot shots Blanchard but has to beat up Luke instead of eliminating Tully. After a brief lull, here’s Koko B. Ware at #20. After more of that epic Hulk vs. Luke showdown, Arn goes up top and is immediately slammed down by Hogan. Dude, you’re best friends with RIC FLAIR. Why would you think that’s smart? Hogan dumps Koko and Luke but gets double teamed by the Busters.

Warlord is #20 and Hogan clotheslines both Busters out at the same time. Warlord poses on the apron, gets in, and is clotheslined out in 2 seconds flat, setting a record that would last 20 years. Hogan also dumps Bad News, but it takes out Savage in the process which adds even more fuel to the Mega Powers Exploding in less than a month. Liz comes in to play peacemaker and the Powers shake hands.

Now we get the big showdown of the match as Big Boss Man is #21 and gets to face Hogan one on one. This is when Boss Man weighed like 400lbs and was just freaking fat. Hulk slams Boss Man down and pounds away in the corner but falls victim to a splash. A piledriver puts Hulk down and Boss Man stands tall. Gorilla says Hogan has been out there for half an hour (it’s been about 8 or 9 minutes) and Jesse is hilarious in freaking out.

To give us the third team back to back in this Rumble, #22 is Akeem. Hogan rams them together and slams Akeem but the numbers catch up with Hogan. After a brief comeback, a double splash crushes Hogan and he’s easily tossed. Hogan, ever the jerk, pulls Boss Man out and beats on him, which is apparently an elimination. Beefcake is #23, which means we just missed what could have been a good house show tag match.

Hogan and Boss Man brawl to the back as we get to the pretty dull third act of the Rumble. Red Rooster is #24 and helps double team Akeem a bit. They try to dump Akeem but Barbarian comes in at #25 and breaks it up. Gorilla: “That was kind of stupid.” Taylor and Akeem pair off, as do Barbarian and Beefcake and the heels take over. Akeem crushes the Rooster (Terry Taylor in case you’re some young kid) and here’s Big John Studd at #27.

Nothing of note happens there so here’s Hercules at #28. Again nothing happens so Rick Martel is #29. He goes right for Akeem but Studd shoves him away because Akeem is his big piece of chicken tonight. DiBiase is of course #30, giving us DiBiase, Akeem, Hercules, Beefcake, Studd, Barbarian, Rooster and Martel. Jesse and Gorilla have a debate about what a manager is as DiBiase throws out the Rooster to get us down to seven.

DiBiase and Barbarian team up to put out Hercules and Beefcake, leaving us with five. This last part isn’t quite death for the match but it’s certainly a bad sickness. Martel puts out the Barbarian to give us a final four. Akeem misses a splash on Martel in the corner and Rick fires off some dropkicks to no avail.

A cross body is caught and Akeem dumps Martel to get us down to Studd, Akeem and DiBiase. Akeem pounds on Studd as DiBiase gives instructions. Studd pulls Ted in front of a splash and dumps Akeem to get us down to two. DiBiase offers money but Studd shakes a finger at him. Studd actually fires off some suplexes to the shock of Monsoon. The elimination is academic and Studd wins.

Rating: C-. The last third REALLY hurts this. It’s not that it’s bad but after Hogan leaves you could almost hear a pin fall. Ha I made a wrestling joke. Also, John Studd? Really? They’ve got all those guys in there and they pick Studd to win? After Wrestlemania the guy was pretty much gone and I don’t think there was ever a clear reason for Studd winning given, other than they thought he was going to be a big deal. It’s just an odd pick and one that hindsight doesn’t look kindly on. Anyway not a terrible match but the booking hurts it.

Savage reassures himself that he’s still great. You can hear the paranoia and see the heel turn coming if you look hard enough.

Jesse and Gorilla wrap things up.

Overall Rating: D+. I can’t say this was a bad show because nothing on here is truly terrible, but it’s certainly not good either. This is very characteristic of the late 80s as other than Hogan and Savage, the stories were very limited at best. They were trying though and that’s something you can’t fake. Not a terrible show, but it’s nothing more than a moment \for the most part.

Ratings Comparison

Jim Duggan/Hart Foundation vs. Dino Bravo/Fabulous Rougeaus

Original: C+

Redo: C

Rockin’ Robin vs. Judy Martin

Original: C-

Redo: D

King Haku vs. Harley Race

Original: C

Redo: D+

Royal Rumble

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: D+

About the same again. That’s interesting compared to what happened with the Survivor Series Redos.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/08/royal-rumble-count-up-1989/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Royal Rumble 1988
Date: January 24, 1988
Location: Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 18,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura

This is the first of the Rumbles and it aired on live TV instead of on Pay Per View. The battle royal tonight is twenty men instead of thirty and we also have three other matches on the card on top of that. We also get a bench press demonstration from Dino Bravo (just go with it) and the contract signing for Hogan vs. Andre II at the first live Main Event which would happen in twelve days. In a KB related story, I would happen in about ten days. Let’s get to it.

Vince does the intro over what I thought was Rude’s music. Oh it was Rude’s music. No wonder they sounded alike.

Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat

This should work well with a career face vs. a career heel. That’s another thing you never get anymore: matches for the sake of having a match. You know what? It could work today too. For the sake of simplicity, Rick will only be used for Rude and Ricky will only be used for Steamboat. Rude pounds away to start but Steamboat fires off chops in retaliation. Rude throws him over the top because he’s still new at this WWF thing. Steamboat skins the cat back in and throws Rude to the floor.

Steamboat does Rude’s pose and Rude complains of a pull of the tights. Back in and Rude wants a test of strength and Dragon, ever the slow one, accepts. Down goes Ricky but he finally hits a knee to the hand to break the grip, followed by a wicked spin out to take Rude to the mat. Steamboat cranks on the arm and does so for a good while. The crowd is pretty much quiet here, so we can hear the individual shouts from fans which give Vince and Jesse something to talk about.

Rude escapes but Steamboat chops him right back down and armdrags him down as only Ricky can do. An elbow puts Ricky down for a bit and Rick pounds away some more. Steamboat comes back with chops and another armdrag into an armbar. More slugging out occurs with chops vs. punches dominating the action. In something you don’t often see, Steamboat seems to botch a spot, resulting in him backing into a knee from Rude and falling (intentionally) to the floor.

Rick sends Steamboat back first into the apron and slams him down as Steamboat is in trouble. There’s a camel clutch by Rude as he finally has a body part to work on. Steamboat taps but that wouldn’t mean anything else for about six years. The referee checks the arm and they make a BIG error as Ricky lets his arm fall three times before stopping it on the fourth drop. Jesse FREAKS as only he can but the match just keeps going. Gotta love that live TV thing right?

Anyway Steamboat stands up and drops Rude on his back to put both guys down. It’s Steamboat up first but a splash hits knees. Back to the chinlock but Ricky makes the ropes and sends Rude into the buckle ten times. A chop to the face gets two and we hit the mat for some technical stuff and a pinfall reversal sequence. By that I mean about five pin attempts each and the crowd is waking up now. Ricky suplexes Rude down but Rude pulls the referee in the way of the cross body. Rude puts on the over the shoulder backbreaker (his move before the Rude Awakening) but it’s a DQ win for Steamboat.

Rating: C. The main issue here was the length. This runs about eighteen minutes and a lame ending didn’t help things either. At least you had two talented guys in there to make the match work a bit better. Still though, cut about five minutes off of this one and it’s WAY better all of a sudden. Steamboat would be gone in just a few months.

It’s time for the bench press lift record attempt. Dino Bravo is doing the lifting (in wrestling gear) and Jesse is spotting. Frenchy Martin, Dino’s manager, is here too. Dino presses 415 to start but first demands complete and utter silence. The 415lbs are easily lifted ten times. We’re going for over 700 by the end so this may take awhile. Next up is 505, which I believe is what Yokozuna weighed when he debuted. That one only goes up eight times as we’re at six minutes spent on this so far.

This time it’s going to be 555. Great this is going to take even more time now. Dino stops to yell at the fans a bit first and now we’re going to the lifting. This one gets about seven reps as this continues to take time. Now it’s 595. They keep talking about a world record, even though there’s no official there to confirm this is happening or anything like that. Wait let’s yell at the fans some more before he lifts it three times. We’re at ten minutes now.

Jesse yells at McMahon a bit and Bravo takes forever to do 655. Gene doing the used car salesman selling of this segment helps a bit due to how over the top and ridiculous it is. Now they go for 715, but the record would be unofficial because the bar will have to be weighed later. We stop to yell at the fans of course first though and storms off. As Bravo goes to finish, Ventura reaches down and pulls the bar up. Yep, that’s the actual payoff of over fifteen minutes of this nonsense.

Women’s Tag Titles: Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Glamour Girls

These are real titles (held by the Glamour Girls at this point) which have perhaps the most confusing history ever, as the belts were literally bought and sold between two wrestling companies. Anyway, they’re here now and the Angels (Tateno and Yamazaki) beat the Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Lelani Kai) in the finals of the Survivor Series match which basically set this up. This is also 2/3 falls.

I’m not entirely sure which is which on both teams but Vince doesn’t even know the names of the Angels at all until someone tells him later on. The Angels immediately charge at the Girls and hit stereo dropkicks to take over. For those of you unfamiliar with the Angels, basically imagine the Hardys before they became poster children for what drugs can do to you but with long hair and wearing one piece female swimsuits.

We start with Kai vs. Yamazaki (the one in pink. Got it) and a knee to the back from Martin gives the Girls control. Yamazaki Matrixes out of a cover and rolls Kai up for two. Off to Tateno for a kind of suplex out of a piledriver position for one. Jesse asks Vince the names of the Bomb Angels and Vince has NO idea. He suggests calling them pink and red. Yamazaki tries a cross body but it literally bounces off the shall we say rotund Martin.

Off to Kai again so Yamazaki knees her down before bring Tateno back in. Both Angels fire off forearms to take Kai down and there’s an Octopus Hold (a freaky kind of abdominal stretch from Japan) from Tateno. The Angels put on stereo figure fours before it gets down to just Tateno on Kai. There’s a legdrop between the legs ala Jeff Hardy but instead Tateno spreads her own legs to spread Kai’s into the splits as well.

Yamazaki hooks something like a Sharpshooter while being off to the side of Kai. That’s incredibly painful looking and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it otherwise. The Angels get in a tug of war over Kai with Martin losing the war. Martin makes a tag but it doesn’t count because her feet weren’t on the apron. There’s a rule you never see enforced. Not that it matters as there’s the regular tag anyway. Martin comes in and beats on Tateno a bit before hitting a falling backwards facedrop out of a powerbomb position for the first fall. Big Show called that the Alley Oop if it wasn’t clear.

Martin pounds on Tateno after the break but Tateno bridges out in the Matrix move from the mat. Martin misses a splash and there’s Yamazaki again. A middle rope clothesline puts Martin down for two as Vince knows the Angels’ names now. The Angels cause some heel miscommunication but Martin loads up the same move that won her the first fall. In a classic example of PSYCHOLOGY, Tateno rolls through it into a sunset flip for the second fall this time. See? She LEARNED over the course of the match. That shows thinking, which is psychology! It’s not that hard! She slipped a bit on the flip but I’ll forgive it this time.

The third fall begins with a double clothesline from the Angels for two on Kai but Lelani pounds away on her in retaliation. Off to Martin who blocks a fisherman’s suplex and escapes a backslide out of the corner. A slingshot sends Yamazaki into the wrong corner and double teaming gets two on her.

Off to Tateno who is thrown around even more than Yamazaki was. Tateno comes back with a pair of release atomic drops minus the knees and it’s off to Yamazaki for a top rope knee for two. A double underhook suplex gets two on Kai but a senton backsplash misses for Tateno. With Kai trying to get in, the Angels hit stereo missile dropkicks on Martin for the pin and the titles.

Rating: B. For the late 80s and women’s wrestling, this was off the charts. The Angels are every bit as good as any male cruiserweight not named Mysterio you’ll ever see and when they’re against people like the Girls, their skills are shown off even better. This was beyond state of the art for this time period and is still amazing today. Check these chicks out and you won’t be disappointed.

We recap Hogan vs. Andre at Wrestlemania by getting the opening minute or so which saw Hogan trying the slam and Andre getting a “controversial” two count. Andre wants a rematch and has been sold to DiBiase, who wants to buy the world title. Andre showed how evil he was by attacking Hogan on SNME and easily choking him down, setting up the rematch in about two weeks and a match which drew an INSANE 15 rating on LIVE national TV on NBC. Today Vince would lose his mind at a 5 on cable, so this was unthinkable back then.

Oh and now we get the contract signing between Andre and Hogan on tonight’s show for the match on February 5 in Indianapolis. DiBiase is here too as Jesse points out how stupid the fans are for cheering for a song called Real American here in Canada. Even Jack Tunney is here. For those of you unfamiliar, picture Johnny Ace if he wasn’t dripping with charisma.

Gene actually calls Andre Mr. Roussimoff here, which you NEVER hear on WWF TV. Andre won’t sit down and then he won’t sign. Hogan signs but Andre wants to read the whole thing first. One thing to note: Gene has probably said the date of the match about ten times. It’s so simple yet so effective. Andre signs and beats up Hogan for fun to end this after a LONG time.

Jesse and Vince talk about the Rumble and say that if you go over the top, it doesn’t matter where your feet touch because you’re out. I’m assuming that means you have to hit the floor but it’s not exactly clear.

Royal Rumble

Okerlund explains the rules and the intervals are every two minutes here. If you don’t know the Rumble rules, you have no business reading this. It’s a battle royal, people come in every two minutes, there are 20 people in it (this year only) last man standing wins. #1 is Bret Hart and #2 is Tito Santana, and wouldn’t you know it their tag teams are feuding right now. I mean what are the odds?

They slug it out to start with no one having any kind of advantage. Bret finally takes him down and heads towards the rope as Butch Reed comes in at #3. This is a different kind of Rumble as heels don’t fight heels and faces don’t fight faces yet. They just kind of work together as you would expect them to. Tito is almost thrown out by Reed but he escapes and beats on both heels for a bit.

It’s Neidhart in at #4 as not a ton is happening so far in this match. This leaves Santana more or less down 3-1 and everyone pounds away on him. The clock is pretty lenient so far as there’s no way they’re going two minutes between each of these entrants. We get some slow triple teaming and after a choke on the ropes, here’s Jake Roberts in at #5 to quickly toss out Reed. We’ve got Roberts/Santana vs. the Hart Foundation which is quite the tag match when you think about it.

The Harts get beaten down and then thrown into each other but Neidhart breaks up the DDT. Bret piledrives Santana down and Harley Race is in at #6. The crowd is staying way into this which is a good sign for the future. Things kind of slow down a bit as the faces and heels beat on each other for a little while. Here’s Jim Brunzell at #7 to make it a six man tag for all intents and purposes.

Roberts goes EVIL by pulling on Neidhart’s beard. Only Reed has been eliminated so far. The good guys are in control at the moment with Race almost being thrown out. Here’s Sam Houston, Jake’s real life half brother, coming in at #8 to beat on everyone in sight. Well every heel at least. The Harts finally get together and throw out Santana to get us down to six people in the ring.

After about 90 seconds, here’s Danny Davis at #9. To be fair he’s barely a jobber so it’s not like this is going to give the heels any significant advantage. Oh wait he’s fighting Sam Houston so yeah, the heels are in control. Race gets caught in the ropes and Jake keeps knocking him back and forth in a funny bit. Davis tries to kick Jake and gets his leg caught, followed by a suplex from Roberts.

Danny escapes a DDT as we get Boris Zhukov at #10, maybe 80 seconds after Davis came in. Things continue to go slow as we’re trying to build up to a regular battle royal. Race goes after Boris in the first instance of heel vs. heel in this match. Race and Hart double team Brunzell for a bit as this continues to be slow. Don Muraco comes out as #11 but Nikolai Volkoff follows him out, apparently thinking he’s #11. Now there’s a story you don’t see that often but which could work.

Brunzell puts out Zhukov and apparently Nikolai is going to be #12 in a few moments. After way too long of nothing happening, Nikolai is officially #12. Brunzell is put to the apron but gets back in just as Race is eliminated by Muraco. We’ve got eight in there at the moment, which would be Hart, Neidhart, Roberts, Brunzell, Houston, Davis, Muraco and Volkoff. Race won’t leave ringside so as Duggan comes out at #13, he beats Race up on the way. This would lead to one of those so ridiculous it’s hilarious moments at the Slammys.

Duggan goes right after Neidhart because HE wants to be the Jim in this match. The place is way into him too so the crowd reaction is good. After maybe a minute here’s Ron Bass at #14. Volkoff dumps Brunzell as Jake and Neidhart collide. The clock gets even shorter as B. Brian Blair is #15. There are way too many people in the ring now. Everyone fights everyone as Hillbilly Jim is #16, and the fourth person in this match named Jim. He also dumps out Jim Neidhart to empty the ring a tiny bit.

Dino Bravo is #17 as Bass dumps Houston. Back to slow motion mode with everyone pounding on people near the ropes without really doing much. Ultimate Warrior (doesn’t mean anything yet) is #18 and Bret is FINALLY put out by Don Muraco. I timed this next one, and the One Man Gang comes out at #19, 53 seconds after Warrior. They’re not even trying here. Gang immediately pounds on Roberts so Warrior jumps on the big man’s back. This is WAY before he would have been able to slam him anyway.

Gang dumps Blair and Roberts in about ten seconds, which is the best thing that could happen in this match. The Junkyard Dog is #20, giving us a final group of Davis, Volkoff, Muraco, Bass, Hillbilly Jim, Dino Bravo, Ultimate Warrior, Gang, Duggan and Dog. Hillbilly and Gang hammer on each other as Duggan puts Volkoff out. Gang tosses Hillbilly as Bravo and Davis double team Duggan. This ends badly for Davis as Duggan dumps him to a BIG pop.

Bravo and Gang dump the Warrior as we’re down to six pretty quickly. Bass jumps the Dog and tosses him to get us down to five. Muraco dumps Bass and we have a final four of Muraco, Gang, Duggan and Bravo. Gang splashes Duggan in the corner, leaving Muraco to have to fight off both guys. He even takes Frenchy Martin down with a dropkick, only to have Gang clothesline him out to get us down to three.

Jim gets double teamed for awhile and Bravo drops an elbow on him. The same clothesline sequence the heels tried earlier backfires and Bravo gets clotheslined out. Duggan pounds on Gang in a Mid-South reunion but a single shot from Gang takes him down. Gang beats on him next to the ropes, so Duggan low bridges him to win the first Royal Rumble.

Rating: C+. This is one of those matches where the words “well, they tried” come to mind. That’s the best way to put this match: they didn’t really know what they were doing yet, but they tried. The lack of star power hurt this one as only Duggan and maybe Dog were big names here. It wouldn’t be until next year when the star power came into this and it became a main event thing. Still though, it’s certainly not a bad match and they would get better as time went on.

We recap (see? It even happened back then) the contract signing from earlier tonight.

Hogan is in the arena (in jeans, which is a weird image for some reason) and says that he wants Andre. Standard hype interview for a big match but it’s Hogan in the late 80s so you know it’s awesome.

Islanders vs. Young Stallions

Another 2/3 falls match here just to fill in the final part of the show. The Islanders have recently kidnapped Matilda and are recently back off suspension for returning the dog. Tama and Powers (It’s Haku/Tama vs. Jim Powers/Paul Roma) start things off and no one can get a real advantage in the early going. The Stallions beat on Tama a bit, with shots to the head for some reason, before it’s Haku in off the tag.

A cross body gets two for Roma and the Stallions work on the arm for awhile. Off to Tama who gets in like one shot before we cut to a camera angle from over the announcers shoulders. That’s a new one. Powers gets caught by a double headbutt and Haku hammers away on him some more. This continues to go nowhere so I think out of boredom it’s off to Roma vs. Tama.

Roma dropkicks Tama down but Haku low bridges Roma, sending him to the floor and injuring the knee. That’s good enough for a countout for the first fall and the Stallions take Roma to the dressing room to get his knee looked at. In other words, we need a reason to show the contract signing again and let Andre talk a bit. Just like Hogan, Andre doesn’t have much to say but it hypes up the Main Event.

Back to the match after the promo, the recap and a pair of breaks and it’s basically Powers in a handicap match now. You can see big gaps of seats where fans have left. For this one, I can’t say I blame them. Powers dropkicks him down and we hear about Giant-A-Mania from Jesse. Off to Tama who pounds away even more and kicks out of a small package at two. Tama’s jumping back elbow takes Powers down and it’s a little Samoan trash talk for good measure. Haku’s dropkick gets two and there’s a gutwrench suplex for two more.

It’s off to an abdominal stretch but Powers finally hiptosses out of it to get a breather. Haku misses a splash and things slow down again, but there’s no one for Powers to tag because of Roma’s knee injury. Roma finally tags himself in and Haku casually kicks the leg out to take over. Jesse wishes that was Vince’s knee because that’s the kind of guy he is. Tama puts on a half crab and the referee stops it.

Rating: D. This match is a victim of its spot on the card. The problem here is that everything else is done and this was the textbook definition of filler. It’s hard to care about something like this when there’s no story and no interest in this match, and on top of that it wasn’t even anything decent. This is one of those matches though where you can’t blame a lot of the problems on the wrestlers.

Jesse and Vince chat a bit about what we saw to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. There’s one major thing to keep in mind about this show: it was on free TV. On PPV, this would have been bad, but to be fair they had no idea what they were going for here so anything good, which a lot of stuff on here was, was a surprise. This was a decent entry into the show, but they did WAY better next year when they had an idea what they were doing. Good first effort though.

As I did with the last series of reviews, I’ll be comparing the new ratings to the original ones and posting a link to the original review.

Ratings Comparison

Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude

Original: C+

Redo: C

Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Glamour Girls

Original: B-

Redo: B

Royal Rumble

Original: C-

Redo: C+

Islanders vs. Young Stallions

Original: C-

Redo: D

Overall Rating

Original: C+

Redo: C+

This show hasn’t changed much other than a few tweaks here and there.

Here’s the original review:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/08/royal-rumble-count-up-1988/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Dynamite
Date: December 25, 2024
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s time for the end of the Continental Classic and that means we have a bunch of matches to wrap up the whole thing. In this case we have to get ready for Saturday’s Worlds End pay per view, so the rest of the show is going to need some more time as well. Granted nothing has come close to receiving the focus of the tournament so there is a lot to cover here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Continental Classic Gold League: Will Ospreay (6 points) vs. Brody King (6 points)

The loser is eliminated. King powers him into the corner to start and easily blocks a hurricanrana attempt. A shoulder drops Ospreay but he gets the knees up to stop a backsplash. The Ganso Bomb is blocked as well and they head outside, with King hammering away to take back over. Back in and we hit the neck crank for a bit before they slug it out. Ospreay goes down again and we take a break.

Back with King grabbing a release fisherman’s suplex but getting knocked to the floor for a corkscrew moonsault. Back in and King backdrops his way out of something before shrugging off some chops. The Cannonball in the corner gets two but Ospreay gets up to chop it out again. Shockingly this goes to King but Ospreay scores with a headbutt. Some Kawada Kicks into a Styles Clash get two on King but he blasts Ospreay with a clothesline for two of his own. Ospreay forearms him into the Hidden Blade for two, followed by Stormbreaker for the win at 15:29.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the heck out of each other and that’s what you need in a match like this one. Ospreay was wrestling more like a superhero again instead of whatever he’s been doing recently and that was great to see. It’s a shame to see King lose again, but dang I’ve missed this Ospreay and hopefully he can make a deep run in the tournament, if not outright win it, to get out of his up and down stretch. Heck of a match here.

Gold League Standings

Claudio Castagnoli – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Ricochet – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Will Ospreay – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 6 points (1 match remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Komander – 0 points (1 match remaining)

The Hurt Syndicate is banned from the building, as per Christopher Daniels, for Shelton Benjamin’s match. Oddly they agree out of respect for…Renee Paquette?

Continental Classic Gold League: Darby Allin (6 points) vs. Ricochet (9 points)

Allin chills in the corner to start and Ricochet gets annoyed before they grapple around for a bit. Allin’s shoulder puts him down but Ricochet nips up, where Allin grabs a headlock. They go into the corner where Ricochet hits a right hand and we take a break. Back with Ricochet messing with the toilet paper and dropping Allin again.

A springboard clothesline into a Lionsault hits Allin but it’s too early for the 450. Allin rolls him up for two and sends him outside, where it’s time for a table, despite a table having nothing to do with this match. Ricochet’s 630 seconds Allin through the table and the referee is just fine with this happening.

We take another break and come back with Ricochet hitting a springboard double stomp. Allin forearms him on the top and hits a super Code Red, followed by a regular Code Red for two of his own. Ricochet sends the bad ribs into the ropes but misses a springboard 450. Allin grabs a Fujiwara armbar and cranks o the other arm as well but Ricochet makes the rope. A Scorpion Death Drop hits Ricochet and Allin adds the Coffin Drop but time expires at 19:57 (close enough), which is enough for Ricochet to advance to the semifinals.

Rating: B-. So one of the whole points of the tournament is not having interference so there is no way to have the referee distracted for the table spot. Well then maybe don’t do the table spot. Shocking idea I know but anyway, the rest of the match was fine enough, with Allin surviving against the crazy athlete despite the bad ribs. Just cut out the unnecessary table deal, which didn’t really make a significant impact.

Gold League Standing

Ricochet – 10 points (0 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Will Ospreay – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Komander – 0 points (1 match remaining)

Jay White is ready to win the AEW World Title.

Continental Classic Gold League: Komander (0 points) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (9 points)

Komander’s newly won ROH TV Title isn’t on the line. Castagnoli strikes away to start and grabs a delayed suplex. The neck crank goes on as Schiavone rapid fires upcoming shows and on-sale dates. A super gutbuster gives Castagnoli two and a jumping double stomp gets the same. The chinlock doesn’t last long as Komander switches up into an electric chair, where they crash over the top and out to the floor.

Komander stays on his shoulders, at least until Castagnoli sends him face first into the apron. Back up and Komander hits a running flip dive to the floor, followed by a running faceplant back inside. Castagnoli crotches him on top and hits a big boot out to the floor, where Komander finds some brass knuckles. A right hand knocks Castagnoli silly and Cielito Lindo pins him at 7:37.

Rating: C+. What a heroic way to win! As usual, the Death Riders look strong even in defeat, with Komander doing quite the random heinous act of violence to win a match that means very little to him. I do like Komander winning his first match since becoming champion, but he couldn’t win with a rollup here to actually make him look good as opposed to a cheater?

Gold League Standings

Ricochet – 10 points (0 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Will Ospreay – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Brody King – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
Komander – 3 points (0 matches remaining)

Post match the Death Riders run out to wreck Komander but Orange Cassidy and Jay White come in for the save. Then Jon Moxley beats them both down and says neither of them will get close to the World Title. Hangman Page comes in and Moxley is finally beaten down, leaving the other three to argue over the briefcase.

Video on Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander.

Continental Classic: Kazuchika Okada (7 points) vs. Shelton Benjamin (6 points)

They start slowly with Okada taking him up against the ropes for the slaps to the chest. Benjamin is back up and Okada bails out to the floor, where he catches Benjamin with a DDT. Back in and a super hiptoss gives Benjamin two and we take a break. We come back with Benjamin winning an exchange of forearms but getting caught with a DDT.

An ankle lock slows Okada down but he escapes into the cobra clutch. With that broken up, Okada hits the White Noise onto the knee before they exchange rolling German suplexes. The Rainmaker is countered into Paydirt but the exploder is countered into the Rainmaker to give Okada the pin at 12:35.

Rating: B-. Another good match here with Okada getting his win and likely going on to the next round. It’s nice to see Okada having some bigger and better matches, though that is going to have to continue long term. Benjamin continues to be rather excellent in AEW as a much more serious star who can work with anyone. That’s better than he had been used in WWE and it’s hard to fathom how they couldn’t find a better use for him.

Blue League Standings

Kazuchika Okada – 10 points (0 matches remaining)
Kyle Fletcher – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 7 points (1 match remaining)
Shelton Benjamin – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
The Beast Mortos – 0 points (0 matches remaining)

Post match Okada teases flipping him off but shakes his hand.

Swerve Strickland wants to step up in 2025 but Ricochet interrupts, saying he’s going on to Worlds End. Strickland tells him to not screw it up.

We get a New York Minute with Chris Jericho and the Learning Tree, where he accepts Anthony Bowens’ challenge for Rampage.

Toni Storm vs. Taya Valkyrie

Deonna Purrazzo is here with Valkyrie, who strikes away to start as the fans declare Storm a rookie. Valkyrie’s running knees in the corner get two but Storm fights up with a clothesline. That earns her a leg wrap around the ring to put Valkyrie in control again as we take a break. Back with Valkyrie kneeing her way out of the corner and hitting a clothesline. Storm hammers away and scores with a hip attack but Storm Zero is blocked. Valkyrie yells at her a lot but gets small packaged to give Storm the pin at 7:05.

Rating: C. It’s still weird to see Storm as a rookie who can’t remember knowing anyone in her history. I’m not sure where that is going to lead, but there is still the chance that it is little more than a big mind game. That would make more sense, though I could go for more of the traditional Storm for a long time.

Video on MJF vs. Adam Cole.

Christopher Daniels interrupts Hangman Page, who isn’t interested in Daniels’ offers of help. Daniels knows what it’s like to be alone, but if Page needs a friend at Worlds End, he’ll be there.

Continental Classic Blue League: Daniel Garcia (7 points) vs. Kyle Fletcher (9 points)

Non-title, Garcia advances with a win, Fletcher advances with a win or a draw. They fight over a lockup to start with Fletcher powering him into the corner. Garcia slips out of a slam attempt though and hammers away, only to be sent outside. Fletcher follows him out and hammers away before powerbombing Garcia onto the apron.

We take a break and come back with Garcia hitting some clotheslines and sending Fletcher crashing out to the floor. Back in and Garcia hits a hanging swinging neckbreaker but Fletcher hits a running boot in the corner. They go out to the apron where Fletcher hits a DDT, followed by a sitout powerbomb for two. A brainbuster gets two more and Fletcher takes them up top, where Garcia reverses into….something for a double crash. Garcia’s Sharpshooter is broken up and Fletcher takes him into the corner for the brainbuster onto the buckle for the pin at 15:06.

Rating: B-. The mega push of Fletcher continues and this should set him up for a rematch with Will Ospreay at Worlds End. I’m not sure that is going to mean for Fletcher, but he is certainly getting a chance to show what he can do. Other than that, Garcia loses again and hopefully that means he’ll have some title defenses coming up, as he’s lost a few matches as champion in the tournament.

Blue League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 12 points (0 matches remaining)
Kyle Fletcher – 9 points (1 match remaining)
Mark Briscoe – 9 points (0 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 7 points (0 matches remaining)
Shelton Benjamin – 6 points (0 matches remaining)
The Beast Mortos – 0 points (0 matches remaining)

So the semifinals are Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher and Ricochet vs. Kazuchika Okada. Therefore, Ospreay comes out for the staredown.

Worlds End rundown.

Jon Moxley is ready to end things at Worlds End and if you are not willing to sacrifice when he will sacrifice you. And he’s a king.

Overall Rating: B. This show is going to depend on what you think of the Continental Classic, because the vast majority of the show was focused on the tournament. Other than the Death Riders/Page and company segment, the first hour and fifteen minutes was almost entirely built around the Continental Classic. It does help that the show was on Christmas night, but dang that is a lot of focus on a tournament for a midcard title while some things on the pay per view were entirely ignored. I’m not sure what AEW is going to have planned for the shows after the tournament is over, but we’ll be finding out rather quickly.

Results
Will Ospreay b. Brody King – Stormbreaker
Darby Allin vs. Ricochet went to a time limit draw
Komander b. Claudio Castagnoli – Cielito Lindo
Kazuchika Okada b. Shelton Benjamin – Rainmaker
Toni Storm b. Taya Valkyrie – Small package

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

NXT
Date: December 24, 2024
Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

It’s Christmas Eve and yes we are indeed having a regular NXT rather than some kind of Best Of show or something more traditional like that. We are two weeks away from New Year’s Evil and last week’s main event saw Eddy Thorpe and Trick Williams go to a draw for the NXT Title. 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 title match, plus the fallout after the show with the match being ruled a draw so Trick Williams retains.

Cora Jade vs. Stephanie Vaquer

Vaquer takes her down to start before flipping Jade out of the corner. A quick rollup gets two and Vaquer suplexes her into a figure four necklock. That’s broken up and Vaquer hits a dropkick but Jade Backstabs her out of the corner as we take an early break. Back with Vaquer fighting out of a chinlock and grabbing a belly to back suplex. Eat Defeat sends Jade into the corner for some running knees, followed by something like a standing STF. Jade breaks that up but gets caught in the package backbreaker to give Vaquer the pin at 9:41.

Rating: C. Vaquer is still one of the stronger names in the division and having her go over someone with the status of Jade makes sense. Jade is someone who feels like she is best used as someone’s lackey and that might be her ceiling. She has talent, but I’m not sure if it is going to be used with her as a solo star of any kind.

Post match Kelani Jordan runs in with a kendo stick to go after Jade but Vaquer pulls Jordan off.

The D’Angelo Family want the Tag Team Titles, with Stacks promising to beat the other teams’ faces in like his mother beat up Santa Claus with a broom one Christmas night.

William Regal offers to be in Lexis King’s corner for the Heritage Cup match. Regal has the brass knuckles and that’s an oooo moment.

Heritage Cup: Lexis King vs. Charlie Dempsey

King, with William Regal, is challenging. Round One begins with some grappling as King rolls him up for two. A dropkick misses as Booker says King needs to believe in himself like Neo in the Matrix. Dempsey pulls him into an armbar but gets hiptossed down for one. Lexis reverses a cravate into a headlock as the round ends.

Round Two begins with King jumping him in the corner and chops away. A gutwrench suplex drops King for two and King wrestles him down again. Dempsey stays on the back with a half crab but King gets out again. A superkick out of the corner sets up a super sunset flip for two on Dempsey, leaving King frustrated. Dempsey pulls him into something like a bow and arrow as the round ends.

Round Three begins…and ends during a break so we come back with Round Four beginning with King hitting a clothesline. A backbreaker gets two and we hit the chinlock. Some chops into the corner set up a northern lights suplex for two on Dempsey and they trade shots to the face. Regal tries to send in the brass knuckles but King says no, earning himself a shot from Regal to knock him cold. Dempsey picks up the knuckles…and the referee calls it a DQ win for King at 2:53 of the round and 13:32 overall, making King the champion.

Rating: C+. This is the kind of ending that should set up a “did he or didn’t he” ending and it should work well. King has been teasing going the right way but then wins the Cup in something less than a fair way. I like the idea of paying something off on the whole story, though I’m not sure how long this is going to last.

OTM is ready to get the Tag Team Title shot.

We look at Ethan Page injuring Je’Von Evans last week.

Kelani Jordan yells at Stephanie Vaquer but Lola Vice breaks it up. Jordan calls both of them out for always interfering and wants them out of her face.

Unholy Union vs. Fatal Influence

Fallon Henley is here with Fatal Influence. Nyx and Dawn start things off with Dawn shoving her out of the corner. A dropkick has Dawn over to the corner for the tag off to Jayne, who gets chopped by Fyre. Nyx is back in with a running kick to the chest as Kayden Carter and Katana Chance are watching in the crowd. Dawn comes back in for a running knee as Shotzi, Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolin come out.

We take a break and come back with Dawn being whipped into the corner so Jayne can kick her in the face. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Nyx gets two off a PerfectPlex (Vic: “The plex wasn’t perfect enough!”). Dawn kicks her way out of trouble and hands it off to Fyre as Carter and Chance are now at ringside. Fyre cleans house with a bunch of kicks and a gordbuster as everything breaks down. Fyre and Jayne headbutt each other own as a fight breaks out at ringside. Dolin uses the distraction to shove Jayne off the top so the Gory Bomb/Downward Spiral combination can give Dawn the pin at 12:47.

Rating: C. This felt like it was designed to set up some big team match down the line, which isn’t the most thrilling thing but there are so many women in NXT that they have to do something like this here. Fatal Influence being in trouble when the numbers are even (or worse) makes sense as the numbers game has been their thing since their inception. The match wasn’t anything great, but it is probably a step in a bigger story.

The No Quarter Catch Crew is ready for the #1 contenders match.

Izzi Dame interrupts Sol Ruca and Zaria but Shawn Spears and company cut them off. Dame tells them to leave her alone.

Dion Lennox vs. Ashante Thee Adonis

Adonis punches him down to start and hammers away against the ropes. Nikkita Lyons comes out to watch as Lennox reveres a neckbreaker into a backslide for two. An elbow to the ace gives Adonis two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Lennox slugs away, setting up a spinebuster and powerslam for two, with Lyons putting the foot on the ropes. Lennox is so annoyed that he gets rolled up for the pin at 5:10.

Rating: C-. The problem with this match comes down to one thing: the story isn’t interesting. I get the whole idea they’re going for but it’s really hard to care about anything going on. It feels like this story that has been going on for months now and I still have no reason to care about anyone involved. That makes a not so good match even harder to care about and that was an issue here.

Hang And Tank are ready for the four way tag match.

Shotzi, Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolin run into Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. The Meta Four come in to mock them all.

We get a profile on Roxanne Perez, who brags about her accomplishments and how she has overcome various issues. Maybe only people like Simone Biles and Caitlyn Clark can understand her greatness. She’s ready for Giulia in two weeks. Somehow I don’t see that happening.

Lexis King is happy with his win and cuts off the interviewer before she can ask about William Regal.

Ethan Page is happy with what he did to Je’Von Evans last week. He found his smile by taking Evans’.

D’Angelo Family vs. OTM vs. Hank And Tank vs. No Quarter Catch Crew

For a Tag Team Title shot and it’s tornado rules. Hank and Tank swing Christmas trees to start but get blasted by a fire extinguisher. Nima cleans house with a chair but gets it dropkicked into his chest. OTM beat up Hank and Tank with presents as Santa is watching from ringside. Crusifino comes in with a bowling ball to hit Hank low in the corner but Stacks gets powerbombed through a table of cookies.

We take a break and come back with Crusifino being tied up so the Crew can wreck people with kendo sticks. The Family comes back in to choke them with the sticks but OTM make the save. A table is put up in the corner with Borne sailing through it in a big crash. Hank and Tank hit dives onto the floor but here are Tyriek Igwe and Tyson DuPont to brawl with them to the back. This lets Tony D’Angelo slip the Family some candy cane crowbars. A Shatter Machine connects for the Family but Santa lays out D’Angelo. OTM hits the assisted Alabama Slam to pin Crusifino at 12:41.

Rating: C+. There was so much going on here that it was hard to keep track of everything, but there is nothing wrong with getting a fresh team involved in the title picture. Teams like OTM have been around for months without getting much of anywhere so this is better than anything else they have been doing. It was a wild brawl with a theme going on and while there was a lot going on, it could have been worse.

Santa is….Ridge Holland.

Here is Trick Williams for a chat but Oba Femi cuts him off. Eddy Thorpe cuts them both off, saying Williams escaped instead of beating him. Femi says it’s time to move on to him but Thorpe isn’t having that. Williams makes it a triple threat match and Femi isn’t happy. Thorpe tries to say something but gets shut down by Femi. Ava comes out to make the match official, laving the brawl to be on. Femi wrecks Williams but Thorpe escapes to end the show. That’s a lame way out, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they are saving Williams vs. Femi for Stand & Deliver.

Overall Rating: C+. This was more of a show that was designed to move things forward for later on, which makes sense as it was a show of fresh content on Christmas Eve. There is likely going to be a big chunk of the audience missing so putting much of note on here would have been a waste of time. It’s not a bad show, but it’s also not one that feels overly important, which is often worse.

Results
Stephanie Vaquer b. Cora Jade – Package backbreaker
Lexis King b. Charlie Dempsey via DQ when William Regal interfered
Unholy Union b. Fatal Influence – Gory Bomb/Downward Spiral combination to Jayne
Ashante Thee Adonis b. Dion Lennox – Rollup
OTM b. Hank And Tank, No Quarter Catch Crew and D’Angelo Family – Assisted Alabama Slam to Crusifino

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 23, 2024
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

We’re almost to the end of the year and since it’s the holiday week, we have a taped show from last week. We are also two weeks away from the show’s big debut on Netflix and that means it is time to finish building up the card. Everything is already looking big enough and now we could be in for some more additions tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Drew McIntyre to get things going. McIntyre talks about how banged up he has been since the Cell, but he has also been gone due to the death of a close family member. There are some people who are probably saying they didn’t know, but they also never asked. McIntyre’s brother John would never stab him in the back, but people like the Usos and Sami Zayn certainly would. He has given so much time over the years and kept fighting, only for those people to forget about him.

From now on, he is going to take and tell the truth, like the fact that the real villains are people like Roman Reigns and CM Punk. After Reigns did everything to those people, he snapped his fingers and they came running back. Cue Zayn to interrupt, saying he didn’t know what was going on with McIntyre’s family.

Zayn knows about losses and having to go to work, with missed birthdays, weddings and funerals. He knows exactly what it is like because this is the life that they have chosen. They are lucky to be here, but everyone in these stands have their own stories of losses and sacrifices. Those people keep getting up every day and doing what they have to do, but McIntyre thinks he’s different because someone called him the Chosen One.

What the Usos or Zayn do has nothing to do with him, but if McIntyre wants to blame them, that’s fine. It’s also fine with Zayn to face McIntyre right now. McIntyre talks about his family being far away but Zayn has never beaten him. Instead, McIntyre thinks Zayn needs to go to the back with his family and leave before things get worse. Zayn swings away but gets dropped. Cue Jey Uso for the save. This was McIntyre getting to explain everything wrong with him and why he was so angry, which is all you need for his situation. He’s arguably the biggest villain on the show and now we know why, which should do him good.

The Pure Fusion Collective suggests that Sonya Deville take Kairi Sane’s place in the Women’s Intercontinental Title tournament. That’s a no from Adam Pearce, who has put Iyo Sky in the spot instead.

Women’s Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round: Alba Fyre vs. Iyo Sky vs. Natalya

Fyre jumps Natalya to start but gets sent outside. Natalya’s basement dropkick to Sky is broken up with a basement dropkick and Sky takes them both out as we take a break. Back with Sky slipping between the ropes and springboard dropkicking Fyre. A tornado DDT drops Sky and Fyre pulls Natalya into a Koji Clutch. That’s broken up and Natalya puts both of them into a double Sharpshooter. That doesn’t last long either so Sky sends both of them outside and hits a springboard moonsault. Back in and Over The Moonsault to Natalya gives Sky the pin at 8:08.

Rating: B-. Pretty to the point here, with Sky getting to do her thing and move on to the final four. Her getting the spot over Kairi Sane makes for an interesting option, as there is always the chance that Sky had something to do with it. For now though, Sky has a real chance of getting the title, which would be a nice way to go.

Judgment Day bickers over their loss last week and Dominik Mysterio volunteers to face Damian Priest this week to step up. Things still aren’t good, with everyone sneering.

Sami Zayn and Jey Uso are glad they’re together again and they both want to take out Drew McIntyre tonight. Zayn has this, with Uso having next. They’re good.

We look at the Netflix Kickoff Show last week, with Logan Paul officially coming to Raw.

Chad Gable vs. Akira Tozawa

American Made and the Alpha Academy are here too. Gable wastes no time in chopping him down to start but stops to yell at Otis. That’s enough for Tozawa to snap off a spinning kick to the head but Gable pulls him into an armbar over the ropes. A slap to Otis lets Tozawa kick Gable in the face, only for the top rope backsplash to hit knees. Rolling German suplexes into a powerbomb into the ankle lock finish Tozawa at 2:10.

Post match the hold stays on but Otis makes the save.

New Day runs into Dominik Mysterio, and even he thinks what they did to Big E. was “crazy”.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Damian Priest

Mysterio bails to the floor to start as a good coward should do. Back in and Priest grabs a torture rack to crank out some aggression but Mysterio gets outside again. Priest throws him over the announces’ table but has to stop to go after a Santa Claus. That would be JD McDonagh, who is thrown over the announcers’ table. Carlito gets in a distraction but it’s Finn Balor jumping Priest for the DQ at 2;53.

Post match the brawl is on but the Viking Raiders make the save.

We get a sitdown interview with Seth Rollins, who is asked about the driving force behind his feud with CM Punk. Rollins talks about how he wants to cut Punk out and they’ll fight on January 6. He was sick of Punk after Survivor Series and now it’s time to wrap everything up for good. It’s going to be violent, but Rollins has to stop this. This was a fine way to bridge one of the weeks before the showdown.

The Miz vs. Dexter Lumis

They go outside in a hurry with Lumis sending him into the apron, followed by a running flip dive off said apron. Back in and Lumis hits a Thesz press into a running elbow but has to dive on the AOP on the floor. Then Karrion Kross jumps Lumis for the DQ at 2:25. Sweet goodness I know it’s a Christmas show but you can actually have a match get some time.

Post match the Final Testament surrounds Lumis but the lights go out and we’ve got Wyatts. The Wyatts quickly clear the ring and Nikki Cross is powerbombed onto the Testament.

Damian Priest thanks the Viking Raiders, who said they owed him one from last week. They’ll go to war with the Judgment Day together.

We recap the fans’ issues with the New Day, who come out to complain about commentary. They claim biased commentary, with Joe Tessitore not being around long enough to know how things work. Xavier Woods accuses Wade Barrett of being just like Big E., meaning not man enough to get back in the ring. New Day gets in the ring and says the fans shouldn’t be upset when they didn’t hurt Big E. again.

Tonight is a homecoming for Kofi Kingston and his mother is in the front row after a 20 hour flight from Ghana! Kingston says his mom doesn’t deserve this and goes over to her for a hug….but she just walks away instead. That’s a great visual and the heat on New Day is great. Turn that into something and they could go a very long way.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

New Day runs into Rey Mysterio, who thinks they should apologize if they want to start fixing things. Kofi Kingston says they didn’t do anything wrong, so Rey says he tried. Just get used to NEW DAY SUCKS chants.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn chops away in the corner to start and knocks McIntyre to the floor. That means the tease of the dive with a flip back into the corner as we take a break. Back with McIntyre suplexing him back inside, setting up a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Zayn manages a tornado DDT for a needed breather, with McIntyre bailing out to the floor. The slingshot dive is pulled out of the air though and Zayn is sent into various hard objects.

A side slam onto the apron has Zayn screaming in pain and McIntyre looking all giddy as we take another break. Back again with McIntyre missing a shoulder into the post but he catches Zayn on top. The super White Noise gets two but the Claymore is cut off with a clothesline. Zayn’s back gives out on a Helluva Kick attempt though and the Claymore finishes him of at 15:45.

Rating: B. To the point match here, as they played up the idea that Zayn can’t beat McIntyre, which could make for a big payoff down the line. For now though, McIntyre working over the back and then having Zayn’s back give out at the end is a nice story for the match. McIntyre being all vicious and violent is good stuff and I could go for seeing just how far they can take it.

Post match the beatdown is on but Jey Uso runs in with a spear. Cue the Bloodline to lay Uso out, with McIntyre just walking away. Uso and Zayn fight back

Overall Rating: C. Oh they were phoning this one in and there was no hiding it. Other than McIntyre and Zayn, there was very little here that you needed to see and a good chunk of the matches were barely getting started when they wrapped up. WWE knew this show wasn’t going to get an audience this week and didn’t bother trying. That didn’t make for the best show, but it’s probably what they should have done here.

Results
Iyo Sky b. Natalya and Alba Fyre – Over The Moonsault to Natalya
Chad Gable b. Akira Tozawa – Ankle lock
Damian Priest b. Dominik Mysterio via DQ when Finn Balor interfered
Dexter Lumis b. The Miz via DQ when Karrion Kross interfered
Drew McIntyre b. Sami Zayn – Claymore

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

It’s that time of year again as I’ll be looking back at the history of the Royal Rumble, with a review of the 1988 show going up on December 26 with one new edition each day until the 2025 edition on February 1.  As usual, I’ll be redoing at least two editions of the show and you get to pick one.  I’ll be doing the 2024 edition, plus whichever you vote for me to do.  All are available, save for the following, which I’ve ever done recently or too often:

1992

2001

2014

2023

Vote in the comments below and pick which Royal Rumble I redo!

KB

Make sure you check out some recent reviews:

Smackdown – December 20, 2024

Rampage – December 20, 2024

Invasion Of The Bodyslammers (2024 Edition)

Impact Wrestling – December 19, 2024 (Best Of 2024 Part 1)

Ring Of Honor – December 19, 2024

Last One: Full December 31 NXT Taping Results (SPOILERS).

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/last-one-full-december-31-nxt-taping-results-spoilers/

And More: WWE Officially Confirms Major Change To SmackDown.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/and-more-wwe-officially-confirms-major-change-to-smackdown/

Showdown? WWE Could Be Planning A Surprise Match For Roman Reigns At WrestleMania 41.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/showdown-wwe-could-be-planning-a-surprise-match-for-roman-reigns-at-wrestlemania-41/

About Him: WWE’s Reported Backstage Reaction To Lee Fitting Allegations.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/about-him-wwes-reported-backstage-reaction-to-lee-fitting-allegations/

LOOK: Cody Rhodes Wears Neck Brace Following Kevin Owens Attack.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/look-cody-rhodes-wears-neck-brace-following-kevin-owens-attack/

Still At It: Big E. Offers Update On His Neck Injury Status.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/still-at-it-big-e-offers-update-on-his-neck-injury-status/

Getting Back: Update On Charlotte’s Return To WWE Following Devastating Knee Injury.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/getting-back-update-on-charlottes-return-to-wwe-following-devastating-knee-injury/

Quick Time: Good News On Injured NXT Star Following WWE TV Taping.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/quick-time-good-news-on-injured-nxt-star-following-wwe-tv-taping/

WATCH: Costco Guys Return To AEW, Get Into It With AEW.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/watch-costco-guys-return-to-aew-get-into-it-with-aew/

They Would Know: Netflix Answers Some Questions About WWE’s Move To The Platform.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/they-would-know-netflix-answers-some-questions-about-wwes-move-to-the-platform/

WATCH: Netflix Teases New Behind The Scenes WWE Series.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/watch-netflix-teases-new-behind-the-scenes-wwe-series/

Tick Tock? WWE Talent Reportedly Unclear On Important Monday Night Raw On Netflix Detail.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/tick-tock-wwe-talent-reportedly-unclear-on-important-monday-night-raw-on-netflix-detail/

Happy Christmas: Full AEW Dynamite Results For December 25 *SPOILERS*.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/happy-christmas-full-aew-dynamite-results-for-december-25-spoilers/

WATCH: Famous Wrestling Family Planning To Have Another Member Join The Business.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/watch-famous-wrestling-family-planning-to-have-another-member-join-the-business/

LOOK: WWE Unveils Previously Unseen ECW Title.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/look-wwe-unveils-previously-unseen-ecw-title/

WATCH: Becky Lynch And Seth Rollins Appear At Chicago Bears Game.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/watch-becky-lynch-and-seth-rollins-appear-at-chicago-bears-game/

WRESTLING RUMORS: Big Hint On Inaugural WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wrestling-rumors-big-hint-on-inaugural-wwe-womens-intercontinental-champion/

As always, hit up the comments section to chat about what is going on and get on the Wrestling Rumors Facebook page and follow us on Twitter (featuring news stories written by ME).

Ring Of Honor
Date: December 19, 2024
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

It’s the night before Final Battle and that probably means we’re going to be getting a bunch of matches added to the card. That should open up the door for some important stuff, but this show has a hit and miss track record. Hopefully the show makes me want to see Final Battle more than I do coming in so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

Lee Johnson vs. Bishop Kaun

EJ Nduka and Toa Liona are here too. Johnson can’t do much with the power to start as Kaun easily powers him into the corner. Back up and Johnson picks up the pace, with a running dropkick sending Kaun outside. The dive connects but Kaun is smart enough to tie the leg up in the ropes to take over. After a random stomp on the arm, Kaun cranks on the leg and dragon screw whips it out of the corner.

The half crab sends Johnson over to the ropes so Kaun blasts him with a clothesline. The goo leg lets Johnson hit a basement superkick into an enziguri, setting up a standing moonsault for two. Kaun catches him on top for a superplex though and some knees to the ribs get two of his own. A double underhook is loaded up but Johnson reverses into a jackknife rollup for the pin at 8:28.

Rating: C+. Standard speed vs. power match here with Johnson hanging in there against the rather strong Kaun. It makes Johnson 1-1 against the Gates of Agony an odds are it leads to a tag match at Final battle to give Nduka a showcase. That’s not a bad idea and it comes after a good enough match here.

Post match a fight is teased but Kaun whispers something to Liona, who backs down from Nduka.

Lee Moriarty is ready for anyone at Final Battle.

Leyla Hirsch and Red Velvet go face to face in the back and they’re ready to fight at Final Battle.

Lady Frost vs. Queen Aminata

Aminata shoves her down to start and they trade forearms, with Aminata getting the better of things. Frost gets in some kicks to drop Aminata and a standing moonsault gives her two. A fisherman’s suplex gives Frost two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Aminata kicks her in the face for two but Frost scores with a kick of her own. The handspring cannonball gives Frost two more but she misses a spinning kick to the head. Aminata ties her up in something like an Octopus with the legs wrapped up for the tap at 6:44.

Rating: C+. This is a good example of a match between two people who have nothing going on. They’re both just kind of there and having decent matches without moving up the ladder. The match was ok enough but neither of them are going anywhere and it’s hard to get interested in whatever they’re doing here.

The Righteous go to Dustin Rhodes’ wrestling school and jump him (as he’s vacuuming the ring). They choke him out and bust him open before calling Sammy Guevara to promise more at Final Battle.

Murder Machines vs. Iron Savages

Don Callis and Jacked Jameson are here too. Cage and Boulder trade shoulders to start until Cage snaps off a suplex. Bronson comes in and Archer crossbodies him down without much trouble. A crossbody out of the corner gets Boulder out of trouble and a double chokeslam drops Archer. The Beefcake Bomb gets two but Cage is back in for the save. Archer’s splash gets two more and everything breaks down. The chokeslam/powerbomb combination finishes Bronson at 5:23.

Rating: C. Archer and Cage are a fine power team but my goodness I never need to see the Savages again. They’re the whipping boys of ROH/AEW and just hearing their music makes me want to fast forward. The Machines beat them up well enough here but it’s another case of “here’s a match to remind you that the winners are in fact still here”.

QT Marshall is late to a face to face meeting with Jay Lethal. They bicker about Lethal wanting to get back to the top of ROH while Marshall has to deal with a neck injury. Lethal was in the match where Marshall got hurt but it wasn’t his fault. Marshall hits him in the face. Why in the world is Jay Lethal vs. QT Marshall getting roughly 10x the build that the main event is getting?

From Final battle 2023 and from a previous review:

Ring Of Honor Women’s Title: Athena vs. Billie Starkz

Athena, the hometown star with a broken nose, is defending. Starkz knocks her fast into the corner and they fight out to the floor. Athena sends Starkz face first into the barricade a few times, with Starkz coming up bleeding. Back in and Athena keeps up the beating, including a neck crank as the blood continues to flow. Starkz gets sent to the floor as this has been much more of a brawl than a match so far.

Athena cuts off a comeback attempt but Starkz fights out of the Tree of Woe and suplexes her into the corner. They both mix kicks to the face before Starkz grabs a dragon suplex. Starkz spears her down and pulls off the mask, setting up some less than great looking forearms. The Swanton connects for two so Athena goes outside, with Starkz hitting a suicide dive into the barricade.

Athena gets in a shot of her own and loads up the announcers’ table but Starkz suplexes her down to the floor. A fireman’s carry is escaped and Starkz pulls her down by the hair. They fight onto the barricade again and it’s a reverse Sling Blade to send Starkz face first onto the floor. It’s time to really try something new so they head back inside for a top rope German superplex for two on Starkz. Back up and the ref gets bumped so Athena asks guest ring announcer (and head Minion) Lexi Nair to hand her the title.

Starkz dropkicks Athena into Nair and Starkz’s End gets two. Back up again and they fight to the apron, where Starkz hits an electric chair driver to knock Athena silly on the floor. The Swanton misses back inside and Athena punches her in the face for a double knockdown. Athena wins a slugout and hits Despicable Knee for two. They trade some rollups for two each until Athena ties her up in something like a modified Octopus hold for the tap to retain at 28:21.

Rating: B. I would bet that this had to be more of a brawl than a match due to the injury, as the style let Athena take a few long breaks in there. Other than that….my goodness who is left to take the title from Athena? This is the match that has been built up for months now and, again, Athena just retains. I’m not sure who in the world is supposed to take the title from her, but it might not be happening for a bit. It’s cool to see a milestone like the women headlining, but it would also be cool to see a heel lose a major title match around here.

Sidney Akeem vs. Serpentico

They fight over arm control to start and flip around a bit until Akeem is sent to the apron. Serpentico’s baseball slide misses and some spinning knees give Akeem two. Serpentico grabs a hurricanrana into a clothesline for two, followed by a double stomp for the same. Akeem sends him into the corner for a running clothesline into something like a Swerve Strickland House Call. Akeem’s top rope standing moonsault press gets two and they trade forearms. Back up and Akeem goes with a double backflip into a cutter for two more but Serpentico knocks him off the top. The Swanton finishes for Serpentico at 6:26.

Rating: C+. If you like flips and video game style matches, you’ll like this. There was very little here to be seen, as a lot of the stuff has been done to death around here. Neither of them has anything going on with the pay per view and this was little more than a way to extend this show, which feels like quite the bad idea on a long show before the biggest event of the year.

Respect is shown post match.

Billie Starkz/Athena vs. Missa Kate/Blair Onyx

Athena chops Starkz so she can start, with a German suplex dropping Kate. A kick to the head and hurricanrana out of the corner drop Onyx but Kate kicks Starkz in the face. Kate gets slammed onto Starkz for two before Athena comes in to throw Starkz at both of them. Starkz gets suplexed onto Onyx before Athena chokes her out for the win at 3:18.

Rating: C. There were some creative spots in there with Athena using Starkz as a weapon but my goodness it is hard for me to fathom that Starkz vs. Athena is the main event of Final Battle again. It feels ice cold compared to last year’s match and they are going to need a lot more than this to make me interested.

Post match Starkz steals the custom Athena title and rips her picture off. The fight is on with Athena beating her down.

Final Battle rundown.

Chris Jericho is in the back of a car and says that Matt Cardona is making a big mistake. We look at Jericho invading a GCW show and attacking Cardona. The summary of why this whole thing feels off: Jericho is wearing an AEW shirt rather than something from Ring Of Honor.

Video on Lee Moriarty.

Grizzled Young Veterans/Shane Taylor Promotions vs. Dark Order/Undisputed Kingdom

Gibson and Reynolds fight over a lockup to start and get nowhere. Reynolds takes him down and nips up, allowing Uno to come in. That means Moriarty comes in and takes over on the arm and a basement forearm connects for two. Back up and Uno sends Moriarty into a triple boot in the corner and it’s Bennett coming in for a Thesz press on Drake.

Taylor comes in for a chokeslam to Taven and the villains take over. Drake and Gibson take turns on Taven until he enziguris his way to freedom. Everything breaks down and it’s a parade of strikes until Taylor is low bridged to the floor. The Order and the Veterans brawl to the back, leaving Bennett to knock Taylor outside. Moriarty then rolls Bennett up for the pin (while grabbing the rope) at 10:12.

Rating: C+. Another fast paced match but again, I’m not sure how this is the best way to wrap up a show before the biggest pay per view Ring Of Honor offers. The Veterans are just kind of there and Moriarty is a singles champion. That doesn’t exactly make me interested in seeing what Moriarty (the only one on the actual pay per view card) is going to do. As usual with a match like this, it was a lot of people running around until someone got a (cheating) win, which isn’t going to let anyone really stand out.

Overall Rating: C. Again, if this is supposed to make me want to watch Final Battle, they really didn’t do a good job. As usual, there is a bunch of stuff from people who have nothing to do with the bigger stories, or really any story, and it makes things a lot less interesting. Ring Of Honor’s biggest problem is there is too much content without the interesting stars to back it up and that was on full display here. Not a bad show on its own, but for a show designed to draw interest in Final battle, it didn’t work so well.

Results
Lee Johnson b. Bishop Kaun – Jackknife rollup
Queen Aminata b. Lady Frost – Leg tie Octopus
Murder Machines b. Iron Savages – Chokeslam/powerbomb combination to Bronson
Serpentico b. Sidney Akeem – Swanton
Billie Starkz/Athena b. Missa Kate/Blair Onyx – Choke to Onyx
Grizzled Young Veterans/Shane Taylor Promotions b. Dark Order/Undisputed Kingdom – Rollup with rope to Bennett

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 19, 2024
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt
Host: Tom Hannifan

We’re done with Final Resolution but as tends to be the case around here, the year is wrapping up with a pair of Best Of shows. That means looking at some of the better things about TNA over the course of the year and that should make for a fun few weeks. We’ll also see the end of the year award winners for a bonus so let’s get to it.

Note that I’ll be posting the original versions of these matches with no possible edits on the broadcast.

Opening sequence.

Hannifan welcomes us to the show and throws us to the first match, from January 18.

Josh Alexander vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay flips out of a wristlock to start and takes him down, which is good for an early standoff. Alexander’s running shoulder just makes Ospreay nip up, where he can chop Alexander down and hit a standing shooting star press for two. A backbreaker gives Ospreay two but Alexander breaks up a springboard. The running crossbody on the apron sends Ospreay out to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Alexander winning a fight over a suplex and hitting a powerbomb onto the knee for two. A regular backbreaker sends Ospreay to the apron, meaning it’s time to fight over a drive through the table (because there’s a table at ringside). Ospreay hits a tiger driver through said table and we pause for the medics to check on both of them. The referee says we’re continuing but Alexander has to beat the count….where Ospreay hits a springboard missile dropkick to the ribs.

The Oscutter gets two but the Hidden Blade misses. We take another break and come back with Alexander hitting a Tombstone on the ramp. They get back in with Alexander getting two off a super Regal Roll, setting up the ankle lock. Ospreay rolls it into the corner, setting up the Cheeky Nandos Kick.

A super poisonrana sets up the Hidden Blade to give Ospreay two and they both need a breather. Another Hidden Blade sets up the Storm Driver 93 for two more and another breather. A third Hidden Blade is cut off and Alexander runs through him with a clothesline. The C4 Spike is countered but so is Ospreay’s Styles Clash, with Alexander hitting one of his own for two. Now the C4 Spike can finish Ospreay at 22:45.

Rating: A-. This was a heck of a match and it gave Alexander the big win that he has been needing. Ospreay is one of the best in the world at the moment and it means a lot for someone to get that kind of a win over him. Alexander hung in there with him the entire way and then dropped Ospreay on his head for the pin. Great match here and worth a look.

Jordynne Grace is the Knockout Of The Year. Well who else was it going to be?

From Hard To Kill.

Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Trinity

Trinity is defending and they shake hands to start. Grace easily powers her up against the ropes to start but the threat of a kick Grace backing up. For some reason Trinity tries a test of strength but she does show some intelligence with a mule kick. Grace picks her up and plants her back down for two, followed by a World’s Strongest Slam for the same. It’s too early for the Juggernaut Driver so Trinity is back with a crossbody.

Grace knees her in the face and hits an Alley Oop for two more. Trinity needs a breather but Grace runs her over with a suicide dive into a Jackhammer on the floor for a nasty crash. Trinity manages a shot of her own and they head back inside for a strike off. Grace gets dropped so Trinity hits a split legged moonsault for two more. A full nelson puts Trinity back down but she makes the rope for the break.

With the holds not working, Grace grabs a MuscleBuster for two more. The Rear View puts Grace down for two and they head to the apron for something like a Heatseeker Pedigree from Trinity. A sitout powerbomb into Starstruck has Grace in more trouble…until she muscles Trinity up into a German suplex. The Juggernaut Driver gives Grace the title at 14:34.

Rating: B-. Grace getting the title back is a nice moment and the good thing is she has all kinds of challengers waiting for her. I know Grace has held the title before, but she feels like she has come more than a few feet since her most recent title reign. Trinity has held the title for a good while now and has only been so interesting. There is a good chance that she is back in WWE sooner than later and at least she had a decent one to go out on.

We look at the return of Tessa Blanchard at Final Resolution.

The Moment Of The Year is Joe Hendry’s concert on May 2. Here is said concert.

Still in their box, First Class introduces Joe Hendry for the in-ring apology. Hendry comes to the ring with a guitar and says their issues started with a song, meaning they have to end the same way. He sings the first song he wrote about AJ Francis’ failures, which would have been bad enough.

That means we need to hear the second song, which focuses on Francis’ ineptness with dives. This time we need an apology though and Hendry is going to go go higher, meaning it’s time for a Creed inspired theme about how Francis needs to get fired, like he has twice before. Hendry: “I’m sorry.” And that’s it, with the fans loving Hendry even more (as they should after something that awesome).

Hendry is honored to win. Ignore that the real Hendry Moment Of The Year was him showing up in NXT but I get why they couldn’t go there.

Leon Slater is name the One To Watch In 2025. He’s ready to win the X-Division Title.

From October 17.

X-Division Title: Mike Bailey vs. Leon Slater

Bailey is defending. They both miss dropkicks to start and it’s an early standoff with Bailey doing his martial arts stance. Slater knocks him to the floor but his dive is knocked out of the air and Bailey gets in a posting as we take a break. Back with Slater’s arm giving out on a handspring attempt so Bailey kicks him down, only to miss a running shooting star press. Slater kicks him right back down as the fans want them to fight forever.

Bailey goes back to the arm but Slater snaps off a flying mare to the floor. The big dive is cut off though and Bailey’s moonsault knees have Slater down again. Slater sends him to the apron, only to miss a dive and get caught with an Asai moonsault. Back in and the tornado kick is cut off by a leg lariat, with Slater sending him outside for the big dive. Bailey goes after the arm again but gets planted off the top. The Swanton 450 misses though and Bailey grabs a chickenwing suplex. The Ultimate Weapon into the Flamingo Driver retains at 15:03.

Rating: B-. Maybe it’s just been seeing him with the title for what feels like ever but I am completely sick of Bailey in almost anything he does. He has a certain style to him that might be impressive but it’s feels so much like a performance rather than trying to win a match. It doesn’t help that he’s also rather active, which makes what he does feel all the more repetitive. Just not my guy and it becomes less interesting every time he’s out there.

Respect is shown post match.

ABC are the Men’s Tag Team Of The Year with Ace Austin accepting on his own.

From Slammiversary.

Tag Team Titles: ABC vs. The System

The System, with Alisha Edwards, is defending. Austin strikes away at Eddie to start and it’s Bey coming in for a double Japanese armdrag. A Hart Attack (with ABC in pink and black) gets two on Myers but a running knee to the face hits Bey for the same. Alisha gets in some choking from the floor but Bey ducks a double clothesline and brings Austin back in (the fans are REALLY pleased).

Bey is back up with a big running flip dive, only to have Alisha distract Austin so Eddie can send him into the apron. Back in and Eddie’s snap suplex gets two, which causes some frustration to set in. Myers’ reverse chinlock doesn’t last long so Eddie catapults Austin throat first into the middle rope for a nasty impact. Austin fights up and makes the tag….but Myers has the referee for the classic misdirection, meaning no tag. The chinlock goes on for a bit, though Austin is ready for the Roster Cut.

That’s enough for the hot tag off to Bey so house can be quickly cleaned. Eddie is sent outside but Alisha is right there to cut off a dive. They all wind up on the apron, with Bey hitting cutter to set up Austin’s big Fosbury flop. Back in and Bey’s frog splash gets two on Eddie but the 1-2-Sweet is broken up. Myers’ spear gets two on Bey so Austin comes back in for a Magic Killer to Myers for two more. Alisha comes in and accidentally gets caught in the Art Of Finesse, leaving Myers to get caught in the 1-2-Sweet for the pin and the titles at 16:44.

Rating: B. ABC is a heck of a team and they are becoming one of the most decorated teams the company has ever seen. This was treated as a big deal, even if it ends a mostly mediocre run from the System. They were milking those near falls near the end too and I was into it for most of the time. Solid opener here.

Hannifan wraps it up with one more plug for the Chris Bey fundraiser.

Overall Rating: B. I never know what to say for an overall rating for something like this as it’s not meant to be a regular show. Instead it’s a week off for the wrestlers and the company as a whole, which is perfectly fine all things considered. TNA had a good year and this was a look at part of it, with the rest coming next time. Good show here, which is pretty much the point of the whole thing.

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.