Wrestlemania XXXIII
Date: April 2, 2017
Location: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 75,245
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield, David Otunga, Tom Phillips
America the Beautiful: Tinashe

I was in the stadium for the show so this is my second time seeing it. My seat was in the upper deck and I had the hard cameras opposite me with the set (amazing visual which looked even better at night) on my right, basically in line with the upper right hand corner of the ring. This presented a bit of an issue as you could see two of the screens above the ring, meaning I was looking at most of one screen and the right side of another. In other words, when New Day was out for example and standing Woods, Big E. and Kofi, I was seeing Kofi, Woods, Big E., and Kofi again. That took some getting used to.

The ramp is HUGE, apparently running eighty yards and coming down from what would have been the second deck of stands.

Pre-Show: Austin Aries vs. Neville

We take a break and come back with Neville holding a chinlock, as is the common action when coming back for some reason. Neville takes too long yelling at the fans and misses a Phoenix splash, allowing Aries to hit the big ax handle to the floor. Another kick to the face stops Aries but he shoves the superplex away.

Pre-Show: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Only Big Show and Braun Strowman get introductions. We see Rob Gronkowski in the front row, just in case you wanted to have some drama about the ending. Braun tosses Primo at the bell and Kalisto goes out a few seconds later. What in the world happened to him? Gotch and Slater are gone, followed by Jey Uso and Goldust. Everyone has been put out by Big Show and Strowman so far to really hammer the idea home.

That makes sense though as you have to get rid of a bunch of the dead weight in this thing. Ziggler is sent to the apron for a second time but hangs on again and manages to backdrop Truth out. Rhyno follows him to the floor and Mahal puts Ziggler on the apron again to no avail. American Alpha dumps English, Axel and Jimmy Uso as the ring is rapidly clearing out.

Mojo finally gets rid of Ziggler and Titus kicks Harper out (Huh?) to get us down to five. Sami clotheslines Titus to the floor but gets dumped by Dain to suck the life out of the crowd. Mahal is down in the corner so we get Mojo vs. Dain, which sounds a lot more interesting than I was expecting. A tackle actually drops the monster but Mahal sends Mojo through the ropes to the floor.

Gronkowski gets in and runs Mahal over and Rawley hits the running right hand to Dain, setting up a clean elimination. Mahal gets sent to the apron and eventually the running fist gives Mojo the win at 14:08. I was legitimately scared they were going to give it to Mahal at the end so well done on the fake out.

Rating: D. Yeah it was boring (and flat out bad at times) but it was on the pre-show and we got a good choice for the winner (and not just because I picked Rawley for the win). This is the kind of match where you can give someone a rub without damaging anyone else so if it bombs, no one loses anything as a result. The Gronkowski stuff was harmless (and gave me a good laugh with the referees having to get rid of security) and Rawley is going to energize the crowd. Also, what the heck happened to Strowman? He goes from a potential main eventer to this in a month? Really?

Pre-Show: Intercontinental Title: Baron Corbin vs. Dean Ambrose

Ambrose charges right at him and gets dropped twice in a row. Corbin tries his slide underneath the bottom rope and gets taken down by a suicide dive. Back in and Dean is sent ribs/back first into the post as the beatdown begins. We get another audio break with no video break and come back (I think?) with Corbin working on the ribs. A choke shove (stop stealing from Alexa Bliss) drops Ambrose for two and Baron sends him into the barricade to vent some frustration.

Back in and we hit the chinlock with Dean looking more bored than in pain. Corbin is sent shoulder first into the post but the top rope elbow is partially blocked. Dirty Deeds is fully blocked but Corbin is sent outside. Dean sends him into the steps and now the top rope elbow connects. Back in and Deep Six gets two on the champ, only to have the rebound lariat put Corbin down as well. Corbin gets up first and starts talking trash, only to take too much time with End of Days, allowing Ambrose to grab Dirty Deeds to retain at 10:54.

The opening video focuses on the Ultimate Thrill Ride concept with a camera going down a roller coaster. Almost everyone on the card is seen at one point. All of the usual suspects were booed out of the building, though Miz and Maryse got one heck of a pop. Lesnar received a mixed reaction, which could make for one heck of an interesting Raw World Title match.

AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon

AJ reverses that into a one leg/arm Styles Clash for two (because that move is worthless anymore) and both guys are spent. A slugout goes to Shane but the referee gets bumped, allowing AJ to go and grab a trashcan. As luck would have it he loads up Shane for the Coast to Coast, which is broken up by Shane using the can to knock him out of the air.

US Title: Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho

Charlotte goes right after Nia with Sasha and Bayley helping, only to have the monster shrug them all off. Sasha and Bayley get splashed in the corner, leaving Charlotte to chop away at Nia. With Bayley and Sasha on the floor, Nia throws Charlotte onto them and everyone is down. Back in and everyone goes after Nia at the same time, including a big boot into a double belly to back suplex for two.

Charlotte bails to the floor and tells the two of them to fight, only to pull Bayley to the floor so Sasha can score with a flip dive. Charlotte busts out the corkscrew dive and hits it PERFECTLY for a change, which is an incredibly rare sight. Back in and Natural Selection is countered the Bank Statement but Charlotte slips out again.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2017 is presented:

Diamond Dallas Page (LONG overdue for what he did after retirement if nothing else)

Rock N Roll Express (Even longer overdue)

Teddy Long (One of the most versatile performers ever)

Beth Phoenix (Good worker in a bad era)

Kurt Angle (One of the best of all time and easily deserving of the headlining spot)

Raw Tag Team Titles: Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. Sheamus/Cesaro vs. Anderson and Gallows

Raw Tag Team Titles: Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. Sheamus/Cesaro vs. Anderson and Gallows vs. Hardy Boyz

We recap the Miz/Maryse vs. John Cena/Nikki Bella. This is built around the idea of Miz and Maryse being a real couple and Cena/Bella being a robotic couple who are only there for the cameras. Cena and Nikki finally started acknowledging their relationship on TV and a mixed tag was set, which set up some hilarious parodies of Total Bellas with Miz and Maryse impersonating Cena and Nikki.

John Cena/Nikki Bella vs. Miz/Maryse

HHH vs. Seth Rollins

Anything goes. In his annual over the top entrance, HHH comes out on a three wheeled motorcycle flanked by police motorcycles. This is completely redeemed by Stephanie as biker girl in leather pants. I know she gets on my nerves a lot but my goodness she looks great here. Seth has a torch for some reason, which I guess symbolizes burning the place down. Rollins kicks him to the floor to start but a dragon screw legwhip to the good knee takes Rollins down.

HHH throws him in the reverse Figure Four which put Rollins out for weeks but Rollins reverses into a modified Crossface. That goes nowhere so HHH chairs the knee again and puts the hold on outside. Rollins tries to go underneath the ring to find whatever he can, including a sledgehammer which he throws to HHH for reasons of general stupidity. They head back inside with Rollins not only being able to stand but also being able to win a slugout.

That one spot COMPLETELY woke the crowd up after this long match had sucked the life out of them and shows what happens when you finally give the fans the comeuppance that a villain has earned (granted it might be nice if it happened more than once a year but you take what you can get with Stephanie). Rollins hits the Pedigree for the pin at 25:25.

Rating: C+. Major knee issues aside, this was actually much, much easier to sit through on a second viewing. It was a horribly boring match live and I was checking out reaction to the show instead of paying attention to the match. This viewing felt like the time was cut in half and I never really got bored.

Pitbull and company perform. You could actually see the fans stand up almost in unison and head for the concourse.

Smackdown World Title: Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton

The pilots from the fly over are here.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg

The Jackhammer only gets two (I believe Hogan is the only other person to kick out of that, which I think was due to Nash missing his cue) and you can see the life come back into Heyman. Goldberg loads up another spear but Lesnar leapfrogs him, sending Goldberg into the buckle. Seven more German suplexes (for the sake of the Tye Dillinger TEN from the crowd) sets up an F5 to give Lesnar the title back at 4:47.

Naomi and Carmella are put in a double Sharpshooter which falls apart before Natalya can even turn it over. The MickDT gets two on Becky and Mickie runs into a superkick (literally, as in she was out of range and had to move forward). Naomi clears the ring and hits the Rear View on Bliss before diving onto everyone else. Back in and Bliss punches Naomi out of the air, only to get caught in a weird submission (kind of a reverse Crossface actually) to give Naomi the title at 5:33.

New Day announces the attendance record of 75,245. Again, I forgot they were a part of this show.

We recap Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns. This is your pretty standard story: Undertaker is the old guard and Reigns is the new young star who thinks this is his yard. I know you hear this kind of story with Undertaker a lot but it really did feel different this time around.

Roman Reigns vs. Undertaker

This is announced as no holds barred, which is a new stipulation. In a very smart idea, Undertaker rises out of the middle of the ramp instead of walking all the way down. I completely missed that as I was looking at the stage and then glanced down to the ring as he was getting in. No matter how old he is, that entrance is still chilling live.

Undertaker starts fast and knocks Reigns to the floor and says this is still his yard. Back in and Reigns scores with a right hand before sending Undertaker over the top and right onto his feet. Reigns goes into the steps, only to come back with a Samoan drop to put Undertaker down. They head outside again with Undertaker popping him in the jaw to cut off the momentum, which makes sense from someone billed as a great striker. They head back inside again with the Snake Eyes into the big boot dropping Reigns for two.

Reigns poses in front of the big fireworks display in what would normally end the show.

He takes off the gloves (just like last year), the coat and finally, with a heavy sigh, the hat, leaving all of them in a pile on the mat. Undertaker finally leaves the ring, kisses Michelle McCool in the front row, and walks up the stage to the riser that brought him up for his entrance. With one last look back (and what appear to be tears), Undertaker raises his fist one last time as he descends to the gong sounding and THANK YOU TAKER CHANTS.

Results

AJ Styles b. Shane McMahon – Phenomenal Forearm

Kevin Owens b. Chris Jericho – Apron powerbomb

Bayley b. Nia Jax, Sasha Banks and Charlotte – Top rope elbow to Charlotte

Hardy Boyz b. Anderson and Gallows, Sheamus/Cesaro and Enzo Amore/Big Cass – Matt pulled down the titles

John Cena/Nikki Bella b. Miz/Maryse – AA to Miz and Rack Attack 2.0 to Maryse

Seth Rollins b. HHH – Pedigree

Randy Orton b. Bray Wyatt – RKO

Brock Lesnar b. Goldberg – F5

Naomi b. Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Becky Lynch and Natalya – Arm trap submission to Bliss

Roman Reigns b. Undertaker – Spear

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.

As always, please click on all of the videos if you can and get on the site’s Facebook page.

WWE RUMOR: Peacock Making Upgrades Sooner Than Expected.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-rumor-peacock-making-upgrades-sooner-expected/

You May Be Seeing Big Cass Again Soon.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/may-seeing-former-wwe-star-soon/

VIDEO: Major Angles Takes Place To End AEW Dynamite.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-major-angles-takes-place-end-aew-dynamite/

First Time Ever Gimmick Match Taking Place On May 5 Dynamite.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/first-time-ever-gimmick-match-taking-place-may-5-dynamite/

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/two-title-changes-take-place-takeover-stand-deliver/

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/becky-lynchs-wwe-return-not-distant-future/

WWE President Says Ronda Rousey Will Return.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-president-says-ronda-rousey-will-return/

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/welcome-back-keith-lees-wwe-return-confirmed/

Dynamite
Date: April 7, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

Believe it or not we have a big six man tag here with the Young Bucks and Jon Moxley teaming up to face Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers. That certainly has potential, as does the next step in the Inner Circle vs. the Pinnacle. Throw in the explanation from QT Marshall about his new group and….you’ll realize that this place has a lot of stables. Oh and Mike Tyson is here again. Let’s get to it.

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

The Inner Circle arrived in some very expensive cars.

Opening sequence.

Max Caster vs. Hangman Page

Page doesn’t seem to like the rap and sends Caster into the buckle over and over. Caster gets in some right hands of his own but Page takes him down and hits a backsplash for two. They head outside where Page sends him into the barricade but stops to yell at Anthony Bowens. Back in and Page sends Caster outside again, this time setting up a slingshot dive. Caster is sat on the barricade for a clothesline, followed by a stare to get Bowens to put the boom box down.

The distraction lets Caster start in on the arm with some knee drops and a hammerlock with a crossface. That doesn’t last long as Page is back up with a spinebuster into an exploder suplex for two. They head to the apron for a slugout until Caster charges into a belly to back drop. Page goes up again but Bowens offers another distraction, allowing Caster to grab a superplex.

Zack Gibson’s Shankly Gates has Page in trouble but he’s out in a hurry and clotheslines Caster out of the air. The boom box comes in again for a distraction, allowing Bowens to slide Caster the chain. One heck of a right hand gives Caster two but the Mic Drop misses. Bowens breaks up the Buckshot so Page takes him out, followed by the Buckshot Lariat to finish Caster at 10:04.

Rating: C. That’s kind of a long time to beat a tag guy (who was somehow #3 in the rankings). Page is the #1 contender for whenever he gets the title shot and at least he had to take care of both of the Acclaimed here. The match was fine enough, though it didn’t exactly make Page look like the guy who is ready to take on Omega.

Tony Schiavone brings in the Death Triangle for a chat. Before they can say anything, here are the Best Friends (now complete with Kris Stadtlander), with Orange Cassidy showing us a clip from May when the Triangle took them out. The Triangle laughs them off but Pac is willing to give them another beating. Trent says the boys are back in town and now they have an alien with them. I’ll consider that a Toy Story reference as we wrap things up, basically with an announcement of what is next for both group.

Urban Meyer, coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, talked with Mike Tyson earlier.

Here’s the Inner Circle for a chat. After a break, Chris Jericho says they’re back in black after a beatdown from the Pineapple. He apologizes for the bad things they did but that was because of MJF (My Jerkoff Friend). Jericho talks about being bad in chemistry, to the point where his high school teacher asked him if he was on dope. No one is smart at chemistry, but Jericho is smart at people. He didn’t let MJF into the Inner Circle to help him up, but rather to keep him under Jericho’s thumb.

Then MJF outsmarted them, but then Jericho put his face in a toilet. Jericho knows that MJF is going to be the great one one day but he wants to be the great one now. Instead, be better than Peter Avalon, be better than Michael Nakazawa and be better than that scarf, because it is old and is sucks. Jericho was doing the scarf thing five years ago so why is MJF stealing his s***?

MJF is the one who ran to the back to ask how he did, which is called being a mark. Actually, from now on we’re going to call that being a Max. Then there is the Pinnacle, which is quite the lineup. You have Tully Blanchard, who is nothing more than the third string member of the Four Horsemen, right between Ole Anderson and Paul Roma (OUCH). Then there is FTR, who he can’t tell apart. They’re like the Jonas Brothers, in that they’re talented but no one can remember who is which.

Then you have Shawn Spears, and the only thing Jericho knows about him is the phone call Jericho got from him when WWE fired him ten years ago. Finally there is Wardlow with a million dollar brain and a thirteen cent body (yes that is what Jericho said) and is so stupid he has to strip to count to 21. Jericho: “I’ve seen him do it.” They are going to turn the Pinnacle into a human centipede and on May 5, it’s Pinnacle vs. Inner Circle in a Blood & Guts match. Jericho was showing the fire here and his face turn should breathe some new life into him.

Christian Cage talks about bringing Kazarian up to another level last week. Taz comes in and offers him a spot on Team Taz but leaves pretty quickly, telling Christian to sleep on it.

Bear Country vs. Jurassic Express

Bear Country is sent outside to start, where they catch Boy’s dive. They can’t catch Luchasaurus though and it’s time to head back inside. Boy’s top rope hurricanrana is cut off so Luchasaurus dives at them and….bounces off of them, making Bronson and Boy stagger around a bit.

We take a break and come back with Boy taking a backdrop and being powered into the corner. A few elbows get him out of trouble and a few slides between the legs are enough for the hot tag to Luchasaurus. The hot tag brings in Luchasaurus to clean house with strikes but Bronson catches him on top with a superplex. Boy breaks up the cover and mostly hits a slingshot tornado DDT.

Luchasaurus covers Boulder but Bronson picks up Boy and drives him into the cover (while not looking great in the process) for a save of his own. A double Cannonball in the corner crushes Luchasaurus but he sits up to avoid some kind of electric chair splash. Boulder gets kicked in the face and sent to the floor, leaving Bronson to take a chokeslam. Luchasaurus’ standing moonsault is good for the pin at 8:58.

Rating: C-. This was rather messy with not much of a flow or anything, plus some ugly looking sequences and spots. They were kind of lumbering around and trying to go a little bit faster than they should have. Throw in the moves they were doing not quite working and it wasn’t the best thing in the world. At least Jurassic Express won, even if they aren’t getting close to the titles anytime soon.

QT Marshall talks about how sick he is of Cody Rhodes, who was stuck behind Ted Jr. in WWE. That’s why Cody went to the indies and surrounded himself with small guys so he could stand out for once. Marshall has surrounded himself with men, like Aaron Solow who will never be someone’s boyfriend (Bayley’s ex), Commarado, who will never be just a body guy, and Ogogo, who is a household name in the UK. This is Marshall’s factory now. Nice promo, but it’s still QT Marshall leading a stable.

Sting comes out for a chat but here’s Jake Roberts to cut him off before Sting can say a word. Jake says Sting is insane if he keeps trying the same thing and expecting something else. Cue Lance Archer to say how awesome he is and how sick he is of Sting getting the mic time. Sting takes the mic and says he’s tired of Archer being left out too. So why isn’t Jake telling him how to do it? Sting tells Archer to make it showtime and leaves.

Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky are watching from the rafters.

Taz cuts off Ricky Starks and Brian Page because they need to focus on Christian.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. JD Drake

Allin is defending and has Sting in his corner. Drake knocks him to the floor with a single chop, where Ryan Nemeth goes after Allin. That earns him a stalking to the back from Sting and we take a break with Allin still in trouble. Back with Allin rolling outside but Drake tosses him into the ropes (from the floor) and nails a hard clothesline. Drake’s Cannonball against the barricade only hits barricade so Allin takes out Cezar Bononi (because Drake has multiple friends too).

Back in and Drake gets him in the Tree of Woe, meaning the Cannonball can connect this time for two. Drake misses a moonsault that wouldn’t have connected even if Allin had stayed in the same place so Allin goes up top. That brings Drake up with him so Allin bites his finger for the break. The super Code Red sets up the Coffin Drop to retain at 9:13.

Rating: C. Not too bad here and it’s nice to see Allin having an actual title defense. Drake is someone with potential, though I’m not sure where he (and his friends) fit in other than being new jobbers. This was fine for a one off match and that’s all it needed to be, though I’m curious as to what Allin’s next actual feud will be.

Post match the Hardy Family Office runs in for the beatdown but Sting and the Dark Order makes the save. Tay Conti comes in for the brawl with the Bunny.

Video on Kenny Omega’s issues with the Young Bucks, who used to be friends, then they weren’t friends, then they were friends, then they weren’t friends, then Don Callis talked to them a lot, and now it’s complicated.

The Pinnacle jumps Chris Jericho and bring him into the ring for the beatdown. The spike piledriver plants him as we see the Inner Circle locked in their dressing room. They break through the door and we come back to the arena where MIKE TYSON saves Jericho and beats up Shawn Spears in the corner. The rest of the Inner Circle comes in for the real save and Jericho poses with Tyson (who is in pretty good shape here).

Britt Baker and Rebel think that Baker deserves a Women’s Title shot because the rankings are nonsense. She is going to be getting her wins up because rankings aren’t based on things that matter like merchandise sales and star power.

The Bunny vs. Tay Conti

The Hardy Family Office, the Dark Order and Hikaru Shida are all at ringside. The brawl is on in a hurry with Bunny hammering away and yelling a lot. Conti is back up with a capture suplex, allowing Excalibur to compare her to Akira Maeda. Bunny is fine enough to send her into the apron and then nail a running dropkick against the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Conti hitting a spinning backbreaker but missing a running knee in the corner. Down The Rabbit Hole is broken up and a failed Matt Hardy distraction lets Tay hit the TayKO for….two. Bunny gets in a neck snap over the top and knocks down Shida to take away her kendo stick. Shida takes it back though, allowing Conti to hit a superplex. The DDTay finishes Bunny at 7:43.

Rating: C+. Conti is on a roll as of late and Bunny got in enough to carry her half. It seems that Conti is the next challenger for Shida, though I have no idea if she would wind up taking the title because Shida seems likely to be the champion for the rest of time. Maybe Conti is the one, but it’s not like there is a reason to believe it at this point. She has been awesome as of late though and this was more good stuff.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Video on Jade Cargill vs. Red Velvet.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Young Bucks/Jon Moxley

Don Callis is on commentary. Matt and Anderson start things off as JR calls it a six man tag instead of a trios match. Actually we’ll make it Omega vs. Matt instead, meaning a lot of trash is talked. The lockup doesn’t go anywhere so it’s off to Nick to crank on Omega’s arm. A hurricanrana puts Omega on the floor so it’s Anderson coming in. Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s the triple dives to take down Omega and the Brothers.

Back from a break with Matt making the hot tag to Moxley so house can be cleaned, including snapping off some German suplexes. Anderson manages to take Moxley into the corner for two, setting up a big boot to drop him again. Moxley manages to come back up with a neckbreaker and the hot tag brings in Nick to face Anderson. Nick sends Omega to the floor and cleans house on the Brothers until Anderson snaps off a spinebuster. Matt comes in to hiptoss Omega a few times, setting up a DDT to plant him.

Matt can’t bring himself to superkick Omega though, instead asking if he is ok. That earns him a slap from Omega so Matt takes Omega down and hammers away. The rung is cleared out again and Omega grabs the snapdragon on Matt. There’s another snapdragon but Moxley breaks up the V Trigger. Matt piledrives Omega but stops to check on him, only to go with More Bang For Your Buck for two.

Anderson makes the save so the Bucks clear the ring again. The BTE Trigger is loaded up on Omega but can’t do it. Moxley comes in instead for the Paradigm Shift into the rear naked choke….but the Bucks superkick Moxley. Eddie Kingston runs in for the attempted save but gets laid out by the Brothers. A Magic Killer to Moxley is enough for Omega to get the pin at 16:25.

Rating: B-. You knew it was coming and now we’re finally here. The big Bullet Club reunion that….well I guess someone must find it fascinating. It’s the big heel stable again and odds are they are going to hold the titles for a long time to come against a variety of challengers. The story makes sense but it’s not exactly thrilling stuff. At least we’re finally here now after months of “well maybe the Bucks are going to do something” and that’s an improvement. I guess.

Post match the Bucks hit a double superkick on Moxley and the big hug ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The big angle at the end wasn’t exactly inspiring but the rest of the show was pretty good for the most part. They need to find something to do other than big group beatdowns though, because there were quite a few on this show alone. AEW has a bad tendency to repeat things in their angles and post match segments (which happen in almost every match) and it would be nice if they could mix it up a bit. It’s starting to get tiring and that is never a good feeling. It’s still a very energetic show, but it needs to have something fresh in there for a change.

Results

Hangman Page b. Max Caster – Buckshot Lariat

Jurassic Express b. Bear Country – Standing moonsault to Bronson

Darby Allin b. JD Drake – Coffin Drop

Tay Conti b. The Bunny – DDTay

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Jon Moxley/Young Bucks – Magic Killer to Moxley

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.

Takeover: Stand & Deliver Night One
Date: April 7, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix

Things are changing a bit here as we have the first ever two night Takeover. It’s going to be interesting to see if they can make a two night event work, but I have learned never to bet against NXT. Hopefully they can make that work here, with Io Shirai defending the Women’s Title against Raquel Gonzalez in the main event. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Zoey Stark vs. Toni Storm

The fans are split on this one to start. They trade headlocks to start with Toni getting the better of things early on. Stark drives her down with a knee into the arm but Storm is back up with a shoulder. Stark gets away and hits a quick missile dropkick to rock Storm. That’s enough for Stark to go up but Storm pulls her off of the middle rope for a crash. Storm knocks her into the corner and stomps away a bit, followed by a slap out of the corner.

This time it’s Storm going up but Stark catches her with an enziguri, setting up a superplex for the double knockdown. A kick to the face rocks Storm and a half nelson suplex makes it even worse. Stark’s running knee to the face gets two but Storm is right back with an electric chair faceplant for two of her own. Storm Zero is blocked and Stark hits a heck of a superkick for another near fall. A pair of quick German suplexes drop Stark but she counters Storm Zero into a small package to pin Storm at 9:49.

Rating: C+. I’m surprised that it happened but Stark had to win something at some point. You can only be the one who comes close so many times while still losing for so long so the win is a good sign for her future. I’m not sure how much doubt there was that NXT wanted to push her, but now they are actually giving her a little something. Somehow Storm now needs a win to stop her downward slide, but I’m not sure when that is actually going to come.

Nita Strauss plays America the Beautiful to open things up.

A bunch of lightning goes off and the voiceover says welcome to the show. There are a lot more fans here here than there have been in recent weeks and you can feel more energy than NXT has had in a very long time.

There is even a ramp to the ring to make things feel even more unique this time around.

Pete Dunne vs. Kushida

Kushida takes him straight to the mat for a failed cross armbreaker attempt. A kneebar doesn’t work either but Kushida ties up the legs and grabs the arms. They get back up to fight over arm control with Dunne not being able to keep a hammerlock. Kushida tries a Tajiri handspring but Dunne cuts him down and starts in on the fingers. Dunne snaps the arm across the bottom rope for a nasty visual, followed by a painful looking stomp to the head.

Back up and Kushida kicks him in the arm, setting up the cartwheel dropkick to put Dunne on the ramp. Kushida misses a dive but manages the handspring elbow on the ramp instead. Back in and Dunne jumps onto Kushida for a Hoverboard Lock of his own but Kushida reverses into a quickly broken real thing. Kushida hits a fisherman’s buster for two and we take a break.

We come back with Kushida grabbing a Falcon Arrow into the cross armbreaker but Dunne is out in a hurry. Dunne’s armbreaker is broken up as well and they trade headbutts on the mat. Kushida hits a running dropkick to the arm and there’s a running flip kick to send Dunne to the apron.

The Hoverboard Lock goes on on top and Kushida flips him down into the full version on the mat. Kushida reverses into another arm crank, forcing Dunne to have to reach the ropes with his foot. A hard knee to the arm sets up another Hoverboard Lock but Dunne makes the rope. That’s fine with Kushida, who grabs the Hoverboard Lock on the other arm instead. Dunne escapes again and stomps on the hand, setting up the Bitter End for the pin at 10:41.

Rating: B-. I was getting into this one near the end and then it just wrapped up all of a sudden. They were getting somewhere with all of the arm work and building to a big submission battle but it felt like the match needed another five to six minutes to really hit that other gear. It’s good and Kushida was doing better than he usually does, but it just didn’t have the time to reach that next level.

Gauntlet Eliminator

There are six people involved here and a new entrant comes in every three minutes. Pinfall and submission only for eliminations and the winner gets a North American Title shot against Johnny Gargano for tomorrow night. We come back from a break with Leon Ruff in at #1 and Isaiah Scott in at #2, with both guys already fighting in the ring (possibly because the Peacock feed is continuing during the commercials). Thankfully we get the opening bell here and they fight to the floor in a hurry.

Ruff is dropped onto the barricade but comes back with the twisting cutter off the announcers’ table. Back in and Scott sends him into the corner but a superbomb is countered into a good looking hurricanrana to put them both down again. Bronson Reed is in at #3 so Ruff dives at him on the ramp, only to get thrown back in over a ducking Scott. Reed sits on Scott’s back to put him down and then German suplexes both of them at the same time.

Cameron Grimes is in at #4 and a quick triple team knocks Reed to the floor. Scott and Grimes start double teaming Ruff but he bounces off the ropes in the corner (that was cool) and slides between Grimes’ legs. That doesn’t work to get rid of Scott though and a faceplant puts Ruff down again. Scott goes outside to kick Reed in the face and keep him down.

Back in and a hard clothesline puts Ruff down and it’s Dexter Lumis is in at #5. During the entrance, Scott pins Ruff for the first elimination at 9:46. Lumis gets in and fires off the suplexes to everyone but Reed, meaning it’s time for a staredown. Back up and Lumis manages to lift him up in a fireman’s carry but that doesn’t quite last. Instead Reed is thrown outside with Lumis and Grimes being knocked down as well. LA Knight completes the field at #6 and it’s time to talk a lot of trash on the mic. Reed scares him down though and we take a break.

We come back with Lumis grabbing the Silence on Grimes but Knight grabs a rollup to pin Lumis at 14:50. Grimes plants Knight though and Reed adds a backsplash to get rid of Knight at 15:25, much to Barrett’s annoyance. Lumis Silences Knight after the elimination and it’s a three way slugout inside. Grimes puts Scott down but a staggered Reed falls onto both of them to leave everyone on the mat for a breather. Back up and Grimes manages to counter Reed’s crossbody with the flipping powerslam (that was impressive) but Scott rolls Grimes up with trunks for the pin at 18:29.

Reed knocks Scott down and goes up but Scott catches him with a running kick to the head. Scott manages something like a Death Valley Driver onto the apron for a big knockdown, followed by a 450 for two back inside. The House Call rocks Reed again but another attempt is countered with a grab to the throat. Scott isn’t having that and hits another House Call for another two. Reed is back up with a powerbomb into something like White Noise. The Tsunami sends Reed to tomorrow at 22:25.

Rating: B. This was another good one but it never came close to that top level. That being said, Reed is a very fresh name to push in this spot and that is something interesting. There is something to be said about a monster who can hit a heck of a splash like that and I could go for Gargano seeing what he can do with Reed. If nothing else, it isn’t Lumis and I’ll take that pretty much every time.

Post match Gargano comes out for the staredown.

United Kingdom Title: Walter vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Walter is defending and Ciampa is in trunks for the first time in a long time. Ciampa’s headlock doesn’t last long as the much bigger Walter drives him into the corner. You don’t do that to Ciampa, who goes into Blackheart mode and stomps Walter down into another corner. A running boot is cut off by a big chop though and they head outside, where a missed chop sends Walter’s hand through the announcers’ table.

The arms are fine enough to drop Ciampa onto the apron though and they head back inside. A big chop is cut off with a raised elbow and Ciampa kicks away at the bad hand. Walter kicks him down for a breather and a half crab has Ciampa in more trouble. That’s broken up so Walter kicks him in the face again. Walter slowly knocks him around but Ciampa gets in a few shots of his own and we take a break.

Back with Ciampa managing to hit the Fairy Tale Ending and not being able to believe the kickout. Walter can’t get the sleeper but he can hit a release German suplex into the huge clothesline….for two. Back up and Ciampa pulls another clothesline into a Fujiwara armbar with the hand being bent back as well. The rope is grabbed so Ciampa unloads on Walter, who can only cover up until he makes the rope again.

Walter gets up on the apron and headbutts Ciampa down but he is right back to catch Walter on the top. That means a super Air Raid Crash gets two and they’re both down. Walter is back up to chop him down again and the powerbomb plants Ciampa one more time. Then it’s another powerbomb with Walter stacking up the cover for two. A sleeper suplex drops Ciampa again and the big chop is finally enough to put him away at 16:05.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and that’s what you want from Walter. I don’t think there was any drama over who was leaving with the title here, due to a combination of Rampage Brown already having a title match tomorrow at Prelude and, you know, Walter doesn’t lose. The hand injury being kind of forgotten near the end hurt things a bit, but these two beat each other senseless and that’s all this was for a good while. Pretty awesome stuff.

The dog from last week runs into an elevator, comes out of an elevator, and then runs into the ring where a woman (or at least her legs) are waiting. The name is confirmed as Franky Monet.

Tag Team Titles: MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma

The titles are vacant coming in. Legado elbows Lee down to start and drop Gibson as well. There’s a double basement dropkick to Lee but the Veterans get together to dropkick Wilde in the knee and the head to send him outside. Caster comes back in with a high crossbody to Gibson but Drake hits a clothesline to take him down. Drake stomps Carter down in the corner and we hit the chinlock.

That’s broken up as well so Lee comes back in to double team Gibson to the floor. Carter hits a step up dive to take the Veterans down again but Mendoza kicks Lee outside. Legado hits stereo dives (one of which included a flipping springboard) to take everyone down at once and we take a break. Back with Carter in trouble in the corner as Legado keeps up the double teaming.

Some running charges in the corner set up a double a suplex, followed by a moonsault to give Wilde two. Carter manages to get in a shot of his own though and the hot tag brings in Lee to clean house. The big flip dive takes out Legado on the floor and there’s the moonsault kick to Drake’s head. The push moonsault gets two more on Drake but Gibson is right there to pull Lee off the apron. Carter knees Drake but Legado is back into drop Carter again.

Lee hits a springboard moonsault into a double reverse DDT to put Legado back on the floor. Gibson is right back up to tie Lee’s hand in the turnbuckle, with Drake adding a running dropkick to crush the hand. The Shankly Gates has Lee in trouble but Carter grabs his hand to break up the tap. Gibson chokes Carter out but Mendoza breaks it up. A Death Valley Driver plants Drake and Wilde hits a top rope splash on Gibson.

The Russian legsweep/clothesline combination gets two on Lee and Legado can’t believe it. The Veterans load up the running Doomsday Device to Wilde and Carter Racks Mendoza for a running knee from Lee. That leaves us with MSK vs. the Veterans in the big showdown into a slugout. Carter hits a double cutter to put the Veterans down again and the flipping neckbreaker Hart Attack finishes Gibson for the titles at 15:29.

Rating: B. Yeah this was exactly what it needed to be here and that is all you can ask for. They had three teams going nuts for fifteen minutes and the young team won. I would assume that they were going to win the titles here anyway, so maybe we can see them face Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch when they get back. If nothing else, NXT just did what Impact Wrestling didn’t do in the years the team was there as the Rascalz: win something important. This was the high energy match that you would expect it to be and I’ll certainly take that.

We run down the night two card, which does look a lot better.

Stephanie McMahon and Sarray are here.

Women’s Title: Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez

Shirai is defending and Dakota Kai is here with Gonzalez. We get the Big Match Intros and Shirai charges straight at her, only to get sent into the corner. A hurricanrana doesn’t work for Shirai so she slaps her legs around Gonzalez’s head instead. That sets up a good looking top rope hurricanrana but the slingshot knees are blocked with straight power. Shirai sends her outside and hits the suicide dive against the barricade to keep the pace up.

Kai goes after Shirai though and that means the big over the top ejection. A kick to the chest sets up a Lionsault to drop Gonzalez again but she blocks another one. Gonzalez lawn darts her shoulder first into the post for two, followed by a powerbomb flipped forward into a kind of spinebuster for the same. Another powerbomb is dropped backwards to send Shirai throat first onto the top rope for two more.

Gonzalez drops some elbows for three but Shirai kicks out at four (that was a REALLY bad mess up as the referee clearly knew something went wrong) so we can keep going. Back up and Gonzalez puts on something like a Gory Stretch but Shirai reverses for a hurricanrana. A double stomp has Gonzalez in more trouble and the 619 makes it even worse. The springboard missile dropkick into a Code Red gets two on Gonzalez so Shirai goes up top.

Gonzalez catches her in the lifting powerbomb but Shirai slips out into a Crossface to have Gonzalez in trouble again. The rope is finally reached and the moonsault onto the ramp drops Gonzalez again. Shirai hits some running knees to leave Gonzalez mostly done. Naturally Shirai has found a way to climb onto the skull set and hit a HUGE high crossbody to crush Gonzalez for about the ninth time.

Back in and Shirai hits the moonsault for two. Gonzalez is down on the floor so Shirai goes after her, only to get caught in the lifting powerbomb. Back in and Gonzalez blasts her with a clothesline to turn Shirai inside out. One heck of a lifting powerbomb gives Gonzalez the pin and the title at 12:54.

Rating: B. Gonzalez winning was the best way to go here as Shirai is all but out of challengers after holding the title for over ten months. I’m not sure if Shirai is on her way to the main roster, but she didn’t need to have the title any longer. You also needed a big moment to end the night here and Shirai was doing everything she could here. They told a nice story of having Shirai try everything she could, only to come up short in the end. This felt like a main event and that’s a nice way to wrap up the show.

The long celebration ends the show.

Overall Rating: A-. It says a lot when the worst match on the show would be one of the best matches of the month on Raw. I’m not sure if it felt like a Takeover (the commercials on the TV version took a lot out of it) but they kept things going here and it was a very entertaining show. Above all else, it was an awesome start to Wrestlemania weekend and I had a great time. Tomorrow night awaits us though and that’s when the big stuff goes down. For now though, more Takeover awesomeness, which really shouldn’t surprise you.

Results

Pete Dunne b. Kushida – Bitter End

Bronson Reed won a Gauntlet Eliminator last eliminating Isaiah Scott

Walter b. Tommaso Ciampa – Chop

MSK b. Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado del Fantasma – Flipping neckbreaker/spinebuster combination to Gibson

Raquel Gonzalez b. Io Shirai – Lifting powerbomb

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

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Ring of Honor
Date: April 7, 2021
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Things are in a bit of a shifting phase here as we are done with the 19^th Anniversary Show but I’m not sure if we are going to be seeing the fallout just yet. The taping cycle usually has a few weeks of lag but when everything is being taped in the same place at the same time, I’m not sure if that is going to be necessary. In other words, I have no idea what to expect here. Let’s get to it.

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

Quinn McKay gives her usual welcome.

We look at the end of Fred Yehi beating Wheeler Yuta to win last week’s Pure Rules gauntlet match.

Yehi is proud of his win and is in the business of breaking people.

Brian Johnson loves wrestling and hates Danhausen. The internet is ready for their third match because it is time to win the trilogy. He has a PhD in wrestling and it is time to take Danhausen to school. Johnson gets rather animated about how serious this is to him and isn’t having Danhausen disrespect him. It is Mecca vs. everyone.

Danhausen talks about how he beat Johnson at Final Battle but then Johnson cheated to beat him. He holds up a sack of money but it’s half empty because Johnson stole the win. Now it is time to do this again in a rubber match, though Danhausen has no idea what it has to do with rubber. No matter, because he’ll beat Brian Johnstone (yes Johnstone).

Danhausen vs. Brian Johnson

Mark Briscoe is on commentary. Danhausen is slimmed down to 300lbs (or at least he is billed as such) and is now twice as nice/thrice as evil. Johnson drives him into the corner to start and goes to the mat with a headscissors. That’s switched into some knees to Danhausen’s hammerlocked arm, followed by a running shoulder. Danhausen fights up but gets caught in a hot shot, followed by a Tower of London for two. A top rope clothesline stays on Danhausen’s neck and continues the complete dominance.

Some rollups give Danhausen two and a snap German suplex drops Johnson out of the corner. We take a break and come back with Danhausen not being able to hit the Good Night Hausen (GTS). Instead he goes with a slingshot bridging German suplex for two and a backdrop puts Johnson on the floor. A running hurricanrana off the apron drops Johnson again but he throws….something in Danhausen’s eyes.

Not that it matters as the Good Night Hausen connects but the referee gets bumped. That means there is no count on the cover so Johnson takes him down for a slingshot splash. The referee gets up and sees Johnson’s feet on the ropes and breaks up the count so they get back up again. Danhausen drives him into the corner but nearly crushes the referee, allowing Johnson to get in a low blow. Trust The Process finishes Danhausen at 9:23.

Rating: C. Danhausen is a weird case (to put it mildly) as his promos are awesome but he isn’t all that impressive once he actually gets in the ring. He’s completely fine, but when you get that kind of buildup, you need a bit more than what he gives you. Johnson has a lot more of an upside and should have won here though, and it isn’t like Danhausen is the kind of guy who loses a lot by getting pinned. Fine result, though it’s still a little weird seeing Danhausen wrestle.

Post match a limping Johnson says he’d done with the freak and the locker room is on notice. Johnson leaves, but shouts at Mark Briscoe a bit.

Jonathan Gresham is ready for the 500^th episode, where he will defend the Pure Title.

Jay Lethal is Jonathan Gresham’s friend but he is coming for the title in two weeks on the 500^th episode.

LSG wants to be in the TV Title division because that is where greatness comes from in this company. Years ago, he and Eli Isom had a match that was supposed to set them up as the future, but that was a long time ago. Now they are meeting again and Isom isn’t holding him back from climbing the TV Title rankings.

Eli Isom says he isn’t the same guy that LSG remembers. Isom can fly with the best of them and is willing to go through LSG to get where he wants to go. They are both one win away from being in contention for the TV Title and that win is going to him.

Eli Isom vs. LSG

They go to the mat to start and it’s an early standoff. A test of strength doesn’t go anywhere as they wind up on the mat again with LSG getting the better of a hammerlock. Back up and Isom armdrags him into an armbar but LSG sends him outside. LSG wins a chop off on the floor and another back inside, followed by a running forearm to the face for two.

A cravate holds Isom down and a running flip neckbreaker gets two more. Back up and Isom gets caught in a belly to back suplex to set up another cravate to slow things down again. Isom fights up and kicks away, meaning it’s time to slug it out from their knees. A release northern lights suplex sends LSG flying so he bails out to the floor for a breather. That means Isom can hit a springboard moonsault to the floor and then gets two off a bridging suplex back inside. LSG grabs a swinging faceplant to drop Isom and the St. Splosion gets two.

We take another break and come back with Isom catching him on top but getting knocked off again. LSG’s high crossbody connects but Isom rolls through into a Death Valley Driver for two more. Isom knocks him to the apron for a spear through the ropes, meaning it’s another slugout on the floor. The big dive lets Isom beat the count and they unload on each other back inside. Isom slips out of a Gory Stretch and grabs the Promise (a brainbuster) for the pin at 15:15.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of thing that Ring of Honor needs to do: pick someone and push them. I know Isom might not be the next star of the promotion and the main event guy, but he could be a somebody and that is what you can always use. Go with that and give him some wins, because it isn’t like they have anything else to lose at the moment.

Mark Briscoe is ready to face his brother Jay at the 500^th episode.

Jay Briscoe is ready to face his brother Mark at the 500^th episode.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s another stand alone episode and this time had a little bit better focus than last week’s. I liked the Pure Rules gauntlet from last time but giving Isom a long form win is a better way to go. The company still needs a lot of changes but the 500^th episode should be a good event in a few weeks. Ring of Honor is a completely watchable show and one of the easiest shows of the week, which is always a nice place to be.

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You know what I mean.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-its-here/

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 6, 2006
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We are done with Cyber Sunday and the big story continues to be John Cena vs. Kevin Federline. That might not be the most thrilling story in the world, but hopefully we can move on from this and get on the way to Survivor Series at the end of the month. If nothing else we have new Tag Team Champions with the probable and at the same time improbable team of Ric Flair and Roddy Piper. Let’s get to it.

Here is Cyber Sunday if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Kevin Federline costing John Cena the World Heavyweight Championship last night.

Opening sequence.

Here is Rated RKO, complete with the new Women’s Champion Lita (who has Lawler’s jaw dropping in a hurry). Edge brags about their accomplishments last night and again names the team. There will be no DX tonight to make their stupid jokes and we see why, with a clip of Rated RKO stealing the win last night. Randy Orton says they handed DX their first ever loss and it is all because of the fans voting for Eric Bischoff.

Therefore, here is Bischoff to thank the fans and Rated RKO for their performance last night. In addition, Bischoff needs to thank Vince McMahon, who agrees that controversy creates cash. We get another book plug with Bischoff talking about how much money it is making for the company. As a result, Vince McMahon is allowing Bischoff to run Raw for one night only.

Bischoff even has some ideas for tonight. First of all, John Cena has the night off and DX is banned from the building. Bischoff announces Johnny Nitro, with Melina, who he thanks for firing Mick Foley, will challenge Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Title, but here are Ric Flair and Roddy Piper to interrupt. Flair is very fired up about their win last night and is ready to beat up Bischoff to celebrate.

Edge reminds Flair of the last time they were on the Cutting Edge together and Edge beat the heck out of him. That’s too far for Piper, who says the Cutting Edge is a Piper’s Pit ripoff. Granted it’s a good one, while Orton can’t even rip off his old man. Also, who is Bischoff to talk about controversy when Piper was born into controversy? The music plays but Bischoff says hang on a second because tonight it is going to be Flair/Piper defending against Rated RKO in a No DQ match.

John Cena has been on all kinds of media stops for the Marine. So now we’re talking about Cena talking about the movie?

Intercontinental Title: Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy

Nitro, with Melina, is challenging. During the entrances, we see Nitro and Melina at Kevin Federline’s CD release party. Nitro starts in with the hammerlock but Hardy sends him outside for a dive. Back in and Nitro sends him into the corner, allowing Melina to choke away. That’s enough for a DQ but Bischoff says restart it.

We do just that after a break and come back with Nitro getting two more as Melina screams a lot. Hardy fights up and they hit stereo crossbodies for a double knockdown. The sitout gordbuster gives Hardy two and the Whisper in the Wind gets the same. Melina comes in for a quickly broken choke but Hardy goes up top for the Swanton. Nitro crotches him down in a hurry and gets in a belt shot for the pin and the title.

Rating: C. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere but they are doing a nice job with spicing up the Intercontinental Title a bit. Just by having people fighting over the title and then trading it a few times is more interesting than having it sit around for months. The matches have been fine enough too and both guys are getting more TV time and a bit of a boost as a result. Not a bad job.

Eric Bischoff brags about the power he has and makes the Spirit Squad vs. Jim Duggan/Eugene with the losing team never being able to team again. Jonathan Coachman is pleased but here is Maria, who Bischoff remembers at his trial last year. Bischoff thinks she pretends to be stupid but has all kinds of brains. Those brains will be splattered all around the ring tonight when she faces Umaga.

JR is incensed.

Kevin Federline pops up on screen to challenge John Cena for a match on the New Year’s Day edition of Raw.

Spirit Squad vs. Jim Duggan/Eugene

The losing team can no longer team together and it’s Kenny/Johnny for the Squad. Eugene gets hammered down to start but Johnny gets annoyed at Kenny for a blind tag. Kenny whips Johnny into the corner to clothesline Eugene, meaning we can hit the chinlock. Eugene fights up for a Rock Bottom and it’s off to Duggan to clean house. Everything breaks down and Kenny grabs a rollup with trunks for the pin.

Post match Duggan and Eugene are upset, only to have Eugene jump him from behind. Eugene beats on him with the board and runs away in hysterics.

We get a clip from the new Roddy Piper DVD, featuring a look at the history between Piper and Ric Flair. That really is quite the pairing/rivalry over the years.

Umaga vs. Maria

Coach drags Maria out and the stalking is on in a hurry. Maria gets pulled out of the corner and eventually Samoan dropped, leaving her mostly destroyed. The running hip attack in the corner connects, but here’s John Cena for the save and what should be a DQ but we’ll go with the no contest here.

Post match Cena cleans house and Umaga bails. Cena says everything is messed up and crazy around here. North is south and the last time he remembered seeing Eric Bischoff was when he was being thrown in a dumpster. Then you have Kevin Federline calling him out for a fight. It’s time to make some sense around here, so he FU’s Todd Grisham for interviewing him and says Umaga can bring it.

As for Kevin Federline, he better use that $300 million he got for marrying Brittney and buy an army, a navy and an air force, because that’s the only way he’s getting out of Miami on New Year’s Day. Hit me baby one more time, because the match is on. It doesn’t matter if you’re Kevin Federline, Eric Bischoff, ABBA, the Charlie Daniels Band or the ghosts of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; he is John Cena and he is right here. Cena vs. Umaga works for me.

Bischoff brags to Lita about his success tonight and she is looking forward to Rated RKO having some success tonight. What he doesn’t understand is why Lita wants to defend the title against Mickie James tonight, but she whispers something in his ear. Bischoff approves, and then makes himself guest referee for the Tag Team Title match tonight.

Carlito and Torrie Wilson seemed to have fun on their date last week but here’s Shelton Benjamin to say he would have won the Intercontinental Title last night. He’ll beat Carlito tonight and is sure that the only reason he didn’t get the shot is because he’s a black man. Shelton says it proves that Americans are prejudiced against minorities. Carlito: “CARLITO’S A PUERTO RICAN!”

Carlito insults him in Spanish and Shelton is annoyed, despite not knowing what it means. Shelton talks about little black kids singing their theme song as a lullaby in China and Yugoslavia. Black men around the world look up to him, so here is Ron Simmons for the catchphrase which is becoming a bigger deal week after week.

This Week In Wrestling History: The Wrestling Classic. There is a show you don’t hear about very often.

Chris Masters is in the ring when Bischoff comes up on the screen to say Masters needs an opponent. Let’s make that JR, who has been bad mouthing Bischoff all night. Jerry Lawler says not so fast because he’ll fight Bischoff right now. Bischoff says no, but Lawler can wrestle Masters. Oh and for a bonus, if Lawler wants to keep his job, he can wrestle the match with one arm handcuffed to the top rope.

Chris Masters vs. Jerry Lawler

Coach brings out the handcuff and gets punched out before Lawler’s wrist is cuffed. Lawler gets in a few shots but Masters knocks him down and gets straight to the choking. The referee uncuffs Lawler so the Masterlock can finish him off in a hurry.

Cryme Tyme replaces King on commentary, which could be fascinating.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito

Shelton seems cool with Cryme Tyme before the match and jumps Carlito early. The beatdown is on with Shelton choking away and slapping on the chinlock. Carlito fights up in a hurry and the springboard elbow is good for two. Shelton misses the spinwheel kick to the face and gets caught in a flapjack for two more. Back up and Shelton hits a big boot but Shad picks up Shelton’s necklace. The distraction lets Carlito hit the Backstabber for the fast pin. JR: “SHELTON HAS LOST THE MATCH AND HIS BLING BLING!”

Coach joins commentary.

Women’s Title: Lita vs. Mickie James

Lita is defending and, upon Bischoff’s orders, Mickie has to wrestle with one arm behind her back. The referee takes way too long to get the knot tied, to the point where Lita is telling him to get on with it. Lita circles her a few times and then grabs a Russian legsweep. The moonsault misses though and Mickie hammers away, only to get caught with the DDT to retain Lita’s title in a hurry.

Post match Lita announces herself as the winner and introduces Bischoff as the referee for the main event.

Tag Team Titles: Rated RKO vs. Ric Flair/Roddy Piper

Piper and Flair are defending, No DQ with Bischoff as referee and Lita is here too. Flair chops Edge in the corner to start but Edge gets in a quick knockdown. A missile dropkick (with Edge having to stretch to connect) gets two but Flair gets over for the tag to Piper without much effort. Piper’s knee to the face gets two on Edge, setting up the sleeper. Lita offers a distraction though and Orton chairs Piper in the head.

Orton, with a cut between his eyes, holds Piper down so Edge can drop an elbow. Edge drags Piper by the very pale leg back into the corner, allowing Orton to get in his required chinlock. That doesn’t work very well for Edge though so he grabs one of his own before sending Piper outside.

A chair shot only hits post, allowing Piper to get over for the tag off to Flair. Everything breaks down but Orton kicks the Figure Four off, sending Flair into Bischoff. Edge spears Flair down so another referee comes out to count two. Cue DX to lay out Orton though and Flair gets the pin to retain.

Rating: D+. This was just a way to get to the ending and that is not the best way to go most of the time. I don’t think anyone is believing that Flair and Piper, the latter of whom can barely move, are going to be champions for long so there was some drama here, but it was hardly the most thrilling match. Flair can still do his thing well enough, but the point here was to have DX run in and that’s fine.

Post match Bischoff is surrounded by DX and this isn’t going to go well. HHH has a special for him tonight, with three words: BIG DICK JOHNSON. I think you know everything that is going to happen to close the show from here and….indeed it is exactly that, complete with DX being painted on a certain part of Johnson, with Bischoff’s face going into the letters.

Overall Rating: C. They had a stand alone show after the pay per view and before they go to Europe next week. There was a lot going on here but it is pretty fine for a one off show. Cena vs. Umaga is an interesting way to go in the next few weeks and I’m curious to see where we are going to go with the rest of the show. This one didn’t change anything in the long term but it filled in two hours after a pay per view and I don’t think they were trying to do anything else.

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

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AND

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Cyber Sunday 2006
Date: November 5, 2006
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s time for the interactive show as we have the fans picking a lot of the specifics about the card. This can range from stipulations to titles on the line to participants, though hopefully we don’t have more of the two joke options and one real one. The main event is the Champion of Champions match, which certainly sounds big. Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks about how the fans have the power and runs down the major matches/fan choices.

The huge computer setup with the keyboard stage looks awesome.

Umaga vs. ???

Kane – 49%

The Sandman – 28%

Chris Benoit – 23%

There’s something surprising about Benoit finishing last, though Kane has been feuding with Umaga and Sandman at least got a promo about the match. Umaga has Armando Alejandro Estrada with him. The slugout is on to start with Kane knocking him into the corner and choking away. Kane charges into a belly to belly suplex though and earns himself a kick to the chest for trying the sit up. The spinwheel kick drops Kane again and there’s a facebuster to cut off the comeback attempt.

Umaga hits a pretty far middle rope headbutt for two and they head outside, where the Samoan Spike only hits the post. Back in and some running clotheslines rock Umaga, who is right back with the Samoan drop. Kane sits up again and avoids a splash in the corner, setting up a belly to back suplex. It’s time to go up but Umaga knocks him out of the air, setting up a jumping Samoan Spike for the pin.

Rating: C. Not a bad power brawl here and that is all it needed to be. Let them go out there and have a fun match, which worked out rather well because they’re both good at this kind of thing. Kane is going to be fine despite losing every single match in the feud because he is long established in his spot. Umaga is rolling though and there aren’t many spots left for him before going to the main event.

Queen Sharmell talks to Big Show and suggests a King Booker/Show alliance. Show says she may be beautiful, but offers to put that shiny scepter somewhere.

Cryme Tyme vs. Charlie Haas/Viscera vs. Highlanders vs. Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch

Texas Tornado – 50%

Tag Team Turmoil – 35%

Fatal Four Way – 15%

I don’t think this was mentioned on TV, or at least not mentioned extensively. The brawl is on in a hurry with Cade and Murdoch and the Highlanders fighting out to the floor. Haas gets low bridged out to the floor but Viscera’s elbow misses JTG. A middle rope splash gets two with Cade making the save.

The Highlanders come in and clear the ring before everyone heads out to the floor. JTG is back in with a dropkick to Haas and Shad slugs away on Viscera. That earns Shad a swinging Boss Man Slam, leaving the Highlanders to slug it out with Cade and Murdoch. Robbie gets dropped with a High/Low but Shad takes out Cade and JTG steals the pin.

Rating: C-. This was short but energetic as Cryme Tyme gets another win to keep their momentum going. That is such a lost art these days and it is nice to see Cryme Tyme getting a push. They might not be the greatest or most polished team in the world, but they are getting more and more popular while establishing themselves as a good team. It still really can be that simple.

Post match Cryme Tyme steals Lawler’s laptop. Lawler: “IT’S NOT EVEN PAID FOR YET!”

Shawn Michaels is messing with a laptop when HHH comes in to say stop worrying about the guest referee. They already shoved Vince’s head into Big Show’s tights and spray painted Coach, so that leaves Eric Bischoff as the one person they haven’t done something horrible to yet. Controversy does create case….but Shawn isn’t the controversial anymore. Shawn: “I’M THE ONE WHO PUT BRET HART IN THE SHARPSHOOTER YOU KNOW” And HHH married…..what’s her name!

Shawn sees a backstage worker named Stan (hi Shawn Spears) and superkicks him, saying he just kicked STAN. Shawn goes running down the hall, ranting about controversy and superkicking everyone he finds. HHH thinks it’s funny, and he’s absolutely right, as this is one of my all time favorite backstage segments. Shawn might not be the funniest guy ever, but he found a style that worked for him and played it very well, including the bizarre visual of him running around superkicking strangers. I throw this on when I need a laugh and it still holds up.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy vs. ???

Carlito – 62%

Shelton Benjamin – 25%

Johnny Nitro – 13%

Well that’s a landslide. They trade knockdowns to start until Carlito dropkicks the knee out. A suplex gives Carlito two but Hardy hits a running dropkick to put him down as well. Carlito takes a breather on the floor and There’s the running dropkick through the ropes. Hardy’s run the barricade clothesline is dropkicked out of the air so they head back inside, where Hardy fights out of a chinlock.

The slingshot dropkick in the corner is blocked as well so Carlito slaps on a waistlock. Hardy grabs a rope but Carlito is right back with a double legdrop to the ribs. We hit the waistlock again as commentary says this is our third interactive pay per view, without actually mentioning Taboo Tuesday of course. A backbreaker gets two more on Hardy and the sleeper (Carlito: “GO TO SLEEP!”) goes on.

That’s broken up and Hardy hits something like a tornado DDT for two as Lawler won’t shut up about Hardy’s hair color. A sitout gordbuster drops Carlito again but he’s fine enough to get the knees up and block the Swanton. Carlito’s springboard elbow gets two so Hardy runs the corner for the Whisper in the Wind. Hardy goes up top where Carlito catches him, only to get shoved back for a crash. The Swanton retains the title.

Rating: B-. This started slowly but then turned into a rather fun back and forth match as they played a game of trying to top the other. Hardy didn’t so much win as much as hitting the last big move, which means we are likely to see more from Hardy vs. Carlito. I’m not sure how well Carlito’s face run is going, but he was in a pretty good one here..

We recap Edge/Randy Orton vs. DX. Edge and Orton were tired of DX dominating WWE and wanted revenge on them for apparently causing all of Edge and Orton’s problems. This needs a special guest referee though and Vince McMahon is an option.

D-Generation X vs. Edge/Randy Orton

Eric Bischoff – 60%

Jonathan Coachman – 20%

Vince McMahon – 20%

That’s a very surprising result as it’s weird to see McMahon on anything without winning. At least it’s something a little more fresh though. Before the match, DX spends a good amount of time playing to the crowd for some alternating cheers. Shawn finally gets in his catchphrase, because the fans shouting it first. JR officially dubs the team Rated RKO, which really was about as good of a name as you were getting.

Edge punches Shawn in the face a few times to start but gets knocked into the corner for a right hand from HHH. A rollup lets Shawn pull Edge’s tights down and then chops away (JR: “Shawn taking Edge out of his boots after he takes Edge out of his tights!”). The armbar doesn’t last long as it’s already off to HHH to hammer away on Edge’s jaw. Orton comes in and stomps away in the corner but HHH snaps off a suplex. There’s the knee drop for two and more pummeling ensues until Orton is knocked over for a tag to Edge.

This time it’s HHH getting hammered down in the corner with Orton coming in to do more of the same. A quick DDT gets HHH out of trouble so it’s back to Shawn to pick up the pace. Orton is sent outside and Edge is slammed down, setting up the top rope elbow. Sweet Chin Music is loaded up but Orton sweeps the leg and crotches him against the post. Some knee drops give Orton two and Edge comes back in for some stomping.

Commentary agrees that Bischoff has been fine so far as Edge hits a dropkick into a front facelock. Shawn fights up but gets his head taken off with a big boot for two more. Orton hits a dropkick for two and we hit the required chinlock. Another comeback is cut off by Orton’s backbreaker but Edge’s spear hits Bischoff. Shawn enziguris Edge down and the hot tag brings in HHH to clean house. The spear hits HHH and Edge throws in the crotch chop so Shawn crossbodies Edge out to the floor.

The RKO takes HHH down again and another referee comes in for two. Another RKO is shoved into Sweet Chin Music but Bischoff pulls the other referee out. Edge chairs Shawn down and another chair shot breaks up the Pedigree attempt (with Bischoff watching). The RKO onto the chair finishes HHH.

Rating: B. Yeah believe it or not, these four were able to have a good match. The shenanigans at the end were fine enough and HHH did do the job, despite kicking out of a spear and RKO in less than thirty seconds. Above all else, DX losing is the right thing because they were basically unbeatable for their entire reunion. They have needed someone to put them in check and if Rated RKO can do that then we might be able to get another dimension to the whole thing.

Video on the Marine.

Edge and Orton don’t want to hear about the chair and promise a new era in WWE. That era will be Rated RKO.

Lumberjack Match – 46%

No Disqualification – 40%

Submission Match – 14%

For the vacant title, though the rest of the women being in the ring before the match kind of spoiled things. Mickie is sent outside in a hurry but comes back in to throw Lita outside as well. JR mentions a possible wardrobe malfunction and Lawler is instantly more interested in the match. Back in and Lita hits a shoulder block but Mickie grabs the leg to cut her off. Lita tries to go to the apron but gets shoved back in as the women are near a brawl at ringside.

Lita snaps off a suplex for two but Mickie sends her face first into the buckle. Some choking takes Mickie down again though and the sleeper goes on. That’s reversed into a quickly broken Fujiwara armbar to mess up Lita’s elbow, allowing Mickie to hit some elbows to the face. The hurricanrana out of the corner is broken up and they both crash out to the floor. Back in and Mickie tries a tornado DDT….which lands in the corner. I’m not sure if that was a planned spot which looked bad or a botch but either way, egads. One of the women distracts Mickie though and a DDT gives Lita the title back.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but putting the title on Lita makes sense here. She is by far the biggest star the division has, even if she is not exactly the same as when she became a star in the first place. Mickie is going to be fine and is probably the future of the division. At least they had an out for her with the distraction, but it still wasn’t much of a match.

Kenny gives the Spirit Squad a pep talk, but has to explain why he is the leader. Apparently it’s because he beat Ric Flair, which is code for he’s the only one who has been treated as anything competent.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Ric Flair/??? vs. Spirit Squad

Roddy Piper – 46%

Dusty Rhodes – 35%

Sgt. Slaughter – 19%

Flair and Piper, who disturbingly takes his shirt off, are challenging. Rhodes and Slaughter come out to even things up and it’s Kenny starting with Flair. That means a headlock takeover and some WOOing but Kenny is right back up with a dropkick. Piper comes in to hammer away on and bite Mikey but he has to deal with the rest of the Squad. Mikey gets in a splash in the corner and hammers away on Piper with the rapid fire forearms to the back.

Kenny comes back in for a chinlock into a sleeper, before being smart and pulling Piper back into the corner. A slam looks to set up Mikey’s middle rope splash off of Kenny’s shoulders, which only hits mat. The hot tag brings in Flair for the assorted chops and a double clothesline puts Kenny on the floor. The Figure Four has Mikey in trouble but Kenny makes the save. Flair gets bored of dealing with Mikey though and pulls him down into the Figure Four for the win.

Rating: D+. I know Flair was old here but he was miles ahead of Piper, who not only looked horrible but could barely do anything. I can go with the old guys winning here though because it’s not like there is any team ready to take the titles, save for maybe Cryme Tyme. The Squad has been mostly done for a long time now though and it was long past time for them to drop the titles.

Post match the celebration is on. One thing you’ll notice about the legends: they treat winning titles like the biggest thing in the world. Learn from that.

We recap the main event, which is all three champions fighting at once.

We need a title to be defended.

Smackdown World Title – 67%

ECW World Title – 21%

Raw World Title – 12%

Smackdown World Title: King Booker vs. Big Show vs. John Cena

Booker, with Sharmell, is defending and earns a right hand to the face for another proposed alliance. Show runs Cena over and whips him hard into the corner. A headbutt sends Cena outside so Booker finally comes in to kick Show into the corner. Show isn’t having any of that and chops away in the corner. Cena finally comes back in and the double teaming finally puts Show on the floor.

That leaves Cena to slug it out with Booker and the release fisherman’s suplex gets two, with Show pulling Cena to the floor. Show picks up the steps so Cena dropkicks the knee out to send Show face first into said steps. Back in and the Book End gives Booker two on Cena and the slugout is on again. A hot shot into a superkick gets two on Cena but he is right back with a belly to belly for two.

We get a bit of an awkward exchange until Booker takes him down into a chinlock. Cena powers out again and plants Booker for two as things slow down a bit. A splash of all things hits Booker’s knees and he grabs a DDT for two. The STF sends Booker to the ropes so Cena hits a clothesline into a suplex as we plug the Marine a bit. Booker gets crotched on top but Show is back with an electric chair to Cena, so Booker missile dropkicks Show in a smart move.

Show reverses a double suplex to put both of them down again and a double shoulder sends them flying as well. There’s the chokeslam to Booker and another shoulder puts Cena on the floor. Show loads up the announcers’ table but Cena posts him. Cena initiates the finishing sequence on Booker, chairs Show, FU’s an invading Sharmell, and grabs the STFU on Booker. Cue Kevin Federline to break it up with a chair though, allowing Booker to Cena with a belt shot to retain.

Rating: C-. I don’t think anyone was realistically expecting a title change here and there is nothing wrong with that most of the time. The Federline interference might not be the most popular ending but at least it is something they have set up in recent weeks and it gave them an out here. The Booker vs. Cena section was really awkward, but other than that it was a watchable enough match, even if it was a lot of waiting around until the obvious winner.

Overall Rating: C. This is one of the most “this was a show” shows I can remember for a long time. The wrestling was ok enough but the gimmick worked out fine, with some actual options for just about every match. It’s a gimmick show and the idea worked out well enough, but it isn’t a show I’m going to remember watching in a matter of hours, let alone any long time.

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Wrestlemania XXXII
Date: April 3, 2016
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 101,763
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton

As we get ready for the pre-show matches, the place might be 10% full at this point as there was some confusion in opening the gates. There were no lines and it was just a sea of humanity trying to get inside.

Pre-Show: Ryback vs. Kalisto

Ryback plants him off a headlock and easily throws the champ outside. Kalisto gets in a quick bulldog for two but the kickout sends him outside. Some double knees to the chest get the same result and Ryback gets to show off by gorilla pressing Kalisto up the steps and back inside. We take a break and come back with Kalisto taking a hard elbow to the jaw for two.

Team Total Divas vs. Team B.A.D. and Blonde

Total Divas: Natalya, Brie Bella, Paige, Alicia Fox, Eva Marie

B.A.D. and Blonde: Naomi, Lana, Summer Rae, Tamina, Emma

Post match Nikki Bella comes out in her neck brace in what is supposed to be some big moment.

Usos vs. Dudley Boyz

Post match the Dudleyz load up some tables but get splashed through them instead. Cool visual if nothing else.

Fifth Harmony sings a very nice rendition of America the Beautiful.

Inter-continental Title: Kevin Owens vs. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder vs. Stardust vs. Sin Cara vs. Sami Zayn

Cara hits the big dive to put Stardust through the ladder, leaving Owens and Zayn to slug it out above the ring. Sami gets the better of it and hits the half and half suplex to drop Owens head first into a ladder (sick looking landing). That lets Sami go up until Miz shoves him over but this time Miz takes too long going up, earning himself a big shove off from Ryder, who climbs the ladder for the huge upset at 15:24.

AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho drives him into the corner to start and the AJ STYLES chants are already going nice and strong. Styles gets in a hurricanrana and a snappy armdrag before sending Jericho outside. That should mean a slingshot dive but Jericho dropkicks him out of the air to take over. Back in and a neckbreaker sets up a dragon sleeper for a change of pace.

AJ tries to fight back but gets pulled down into the Walls for some good old fashioned ASK HIM/AHHHH exchanges. A rope is grabbed so AJ can hit the moonsault into a reverse DDT for two. Both guys head to the corner for a super sitout gordbuster and one heck of a crash. The Pele is countered into a Walls attempt but AJ reverses that into the Calf Crusher.

The Styles Clash is broken up and a Codebreaker gets a delayed two (with Cole making sure to say the near fall was due to the delay in a nice touch). For a change of pace, Jericho loads up AJ for the Styles Clash but gets planted face first for two instead. A rollup exchange sets up the real Styles Clash for two and the springboard 450 gets the same. With nothing else left, AJ heads to the apron and loads up the Phenomenal Forearm, only to have Jericho shove the referee away and catch Styles with the Codebreaker for the pin at 17:08.

New Day vs. League of Nations

Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar

Anything goes and Heyman gives Brock a big, over the top intro. JBL gives us a good example of trying to be too smart by calling Lesnar a former NWA Champion (assuming he means NCAA), which of course he never won. Brock hits the first suplex inside of ten seconds and the huge video screen above the ring kept count (It had been all over the place all night with unicorns for the New Day and various three camera shot replays. In other words, it was annoying in a hurry.).

Hall of Fame time with a pretty good class:

Godfather (So completely out of place here.)

Stan Hansen (How was he not in already?)

Joan Lunden (Warrior Award, which seems to have been forgotten this year.)

Fabulous Freebirds (You could argue they were the headliners.)

Snoop Dogg (Harmless. Not exactly PG but harmless.)

Sting (Only entrance and the loudest reaction.)

Everyone trades rollups to start in a fast and pretty athletic sequence until Charlotte kicks Becky in the face. That earns a nice round of applause and you can tell the women are ready tonight. A hurricanrana sends Charlotte across the ring and Sasha throws in an Eddie dance. They botch (not bad) a sunset flip/German suplex spot before Charlotte it sent outside, leaving Sasha to elbow Becky in the face.

Charlotte poses and gets some pyro to really make this special.

The Cell is lowered for the 33^rd time in WWE history. That stat kind of pulls things back a bit no?

Shane McMahon vs. Undertaker

Rating: D-. WAY too long here with a match that should have been a glorified squash (which this was) that ran only about half this long. The idea that Shane could hang in there with Undertaker under these or any circumstances (including a bunch of run-ins, which never happened), is a combination of insulting and stupid.

The pre-show panel chats for a bit.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Konnor gets rid of Page a few seconds later as this is already pretty dull stuff. The yet to be official Golden Truth eliminates Konnor and Tatanka goes on a warpath that no one was asking for. Corbin tosses Tatanka to no reaction and Kane backdrops Swagger out. The Social Outcasts of all people clean house and get rid of Goldust and Truth. We get a victory lap until Kane and Corbin get rid of Rose and Axel.

Wrestlemania XXXIII is in Orlando.

The Rock vs. Erick Rowan

Rock Bottom, six seconds. Again, I saw this called Rock burying the Wyatts. You know, because people are worried about ERICK ROWAN needing protection.

WWE World Title: Roman Reigns vs. HHH

Rating: D. And a lot of that is just for having the guts to go out there and do a match this boring in this spot on this show. This match was twelve minutes of HHH working on the arm and then getting into the main event style that went exactly where we knew it was going. The lack of drama or really anything interesting (save for that Stephanie spear) killed this and there was no recovering given how long the thing ran.

A quick celebration sets up the traditional long music video to wrap things up.

Ratings Comparison

Zack Ryder vs. Stardust vs. Sin Cara vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

Original: B

Redo: B

AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho

Original: B

Redo: B

New Day vs. League of Nations

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose

Original: D+

Redo: C+

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Shane McMahon vs. Undertaker

Original: D

Redo: D-

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Original: D

Redo: D

The Rock vs. Erick Rowan

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

HHH vs. Roman Reigns

Original: D

Redo: D

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: D

Oh yeah I was still feeling the in-person vibe when I watched this back the first time. A C- is WAY too generous.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2016/04/08/wrestlemania-xxxii-strap-yourselves-in-this-is-a-long-one/

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Wrestlemania XXXI
Date: March 29, 2015
Location: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Attendance: 76,976
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

Pre-Show: Tag Team Titles: Tyson Kidd/Cesaro vs. Los Matadores vs. Usos vs. New Day

Pre-Show: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Ryback gets rid of Goldust but Kane saves Big Show for no logical reason. Miz and Mizdow take a double chokeslam from Kane, who is quickly slammed out by Cesaro. Show dumps Jimmy but gets picked up by Cesaro again, only to escape and dump Cesaro with ease. Ryback grabs a spinebuster on Show and is eliminated for trying to get any momentum.

Aloe Blacc sings America the Beautiful.

Intercontinental Title: Daniel Bryan vs. Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Stardust vs. Luke Harper vs. R-Truth vs. Dean Ambrose

Truth sets up the big ladder but Stardust goes for the climb, only to get superplexed back down by Barrett. Bryan, Ziggler and Ambrose go up top until Dean drops down and shoves the ladder over. Dean goes up until Harper powerbombs him off the ladder and through a ladder bridged between the barricade and ring. Ziggler tries a sleeper on Harper as he climbs, followed by the Zig Zag to bring them crashing down.

Somehow Dolph is able to climb up, only to have Barrett pull him down into the Bull Hammer. Another one knocks Truth off but Bryan makes a quick climb and kicks Barrett down. Barrett is right back up though and makes a save, followed by a quick running knee from Bryan, allowing him to climb up, headbutt Ziggler off and win the title at 13:55.

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton

Rollins is Mr. Money in the Bank and has Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble as his personal stooges. Seth starts by flipping away from Orton, only to eat a dropkick and bail to the floor from the threat of an RKO. Back in and a big clothesline looks to set up the RKO again but the Stooges offer a distraction to break it up. Orton deals with them early off a double elevated DDT from the apron.

Ronda Rousey is here.

HHH vs. Sting

No DQ or countout. Sting is played to the ring by some kind of Japanese band with drums and a gong. As you might expect, HHH completely upstages him with a full on Terminator commercial with the robots rising from the stage, a clip from the movie, HHH dressed as a Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger himself appearing on screen for the introduction. It might be time to call in Robocop.

Sting fights them off with ease and backdrops HHH onto them, setting up a dive off the top (remember that Sting is 56 here) to take them all out. Back in and a Pedigree gets two so HHH gets the sledgehammer (one of at least two under the ring). This brings out the NWO (Hall, Nash and Hogan) to save Sting (SO much wrong with that statement, not even counting trying to remember if the Kliq exists in storylines or not). They take their sweet time and eventually clean house, allowing Sting to hit the Scorpion Death Drop (reverse DDT) for two.

Ads for new shows coming to the WWE Network, including the new Divas Search.

Maria Menunos, in a Bushwhackers shirt, brings in Daniel Bryan. First ever Intercontinental Champion Pat Patterson comes in to congratulate him, as do Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair (of course) and Bret Hart, who starts a YES chant. Ron Simmons comes in and scares them all before hitting his catchphrase.

AJ Lee/Paige vs. Bella Twins

Real people vs. reality stars (from Total Divas), even though Paige had already become a cast member. Nikki is Divas Champion and in the middle of her reign of doom. Paige debuted at the Raw after Wrestlemania last year and has formed a dream team with AJ to take on the sisters.

Rating: C-. This was a handicap match for the first half with Paige cleaning house, which was made even weirder when AJ came in anyway. Not that it mattered though as the Bellas were going to be pushed as the stars as long as they wanted to because of that stupid reality show. In theory this should have set up AJ as the next challenger but she retired later in the week and left the company for good.

We get a tale of the tape for Lesnar vs. Reigns, which Cole says is the result of a computer analysis. The stats include height, weight and career accomplishments. Did this computer analysis take place in the Korean War?

Hall of Fame video, with highlights of Lanny Poffo reading a poem to induct his brother Randy Savage and Connor Michalek receiving the first Warrior Award.

The Class of 2015 includes Rikishi, Larry Zbyszko (mainly famous in the 80s), Alundra Blayze, Connor Michalek, the Bushwhackers (with Butch on crutches but still doing the strut), Tatsumi Fujinami (a legendary Japanese wrestler), Randy Savage (represented by his brother), Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Kevin Nash (for the required Kliq member, though I wonder why he can go in under his real name and not Hall).

US Title: Rusev vs. John Cena

Rusev blames Lana for the loss.

Wrestlemania XXXII is in Dallas.

The pre-show panel talks about the Tag Team Title match and Big Show winning the battle royal. Thanks for reminding me.

Here are HHH and Stephanie to brag about the new attendance record and desperately fill in some time as we have two matches left and nearly an hour and a half to go. Stephanie talks about watching Wrestlemania I live and seeing her friend Andre the Giant (This was a thing for her around this time as she would mention this whenever she could. For some reason this was her justification for not letting Cena be in the Andre battle royal.).

Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker

Ad for Extreme Rules.

WWE World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns

A belly to belly overhead brings Reigns back in over the top rope but Reigns shakes his head at Brock again. Another F5 gets two and now Brock take the gloves off. Some hard slaps put Reigns down but he tells Brock to bring it on. Another German earns him another bring it on so Brock gives him suplex number ten. The third F5 gets two more, putting Reigns past Undertaker last year. Brock takes Roman outside but Reigns posts him, drawing some real blood from Lesnar.

WWE World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins

The Curb Stomp puts Brock down but Reigns has to spear Brock down to save Seth from an F5. Another Curb Stomp (and a whisper of “thank you so much” to Reigns) gives Seth the title at 16:43!

Rating: A-. They went in a TOTALLY different direction here and it was the best thing they possibly could have done. Reigns vs. Lesnar had little interest as a match but as a one sided war with Reigns giving it everything he had near the end, they turned it into one of the most dramatic spectacles you could find. They had me on the near fall after that second spear and I lost it when Rollins came out.

Fireworks and posing take us out.

Overall though, this was a major surprise and a better show than it had any right to be. The low expectations helped it a lot, but this was looking like one of the worst Wrestlemanias in history and wound up being a lot of fun. Nothing on it really stands out above the rest (save for maybe the main event) so the whole is greater than the sum of all its parts. Really fun show here.

Ratings Comparison

New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. Usos vs. Cesaro/Tyson Kidd

Original: C+

Redo: B

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Original: D+

Redo: D

Intercontinental Title Ladder Match

Original: B

Redo: B

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton

Original: B

Redo: B

Sting vs. HHH

Original: B

Redo: B-

Paige/AJ Lee vs. Bella Twins

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Rusev vs. John Cena

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker

Original: B

Redo: C+

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Overall Rating

Original: A

Redo: B+

Yeah the shock had a lot to do with it but there was good stuff throughout.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2015/03/29/wrestlemania-xxxi-shock-and-awe-shock-and-awe/

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

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AND

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