NXT
Date: December 16, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph

We’re on the way to New Year’s Evil and that could go a variety of ways. Tonight we find out the new #1 contender to the NXT Title though as Pete Dunne faces Kyle O’Reilly. That could be a heck of a fight and that’s what NXT is shooting for with the showdown. Other than that, the whole show could be all over the place. Let’s get to it.

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

Kushida/Leon Ruff vs. The Way

That would be Johnny Gargano/Austin Theory with Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell. Kushida takes Theory to the mat and the frustration is on in a hurry. Ruff comes in so Theory runs him over with a clothesline and hands it off to Gargano to glare at Kushida. The delay lets Ruff take Gargano down and kick him in the head for two, only to have Gargano hit a gordbuster.

Theory comes back in so Kushida makes the save, with stereo dropkick sending Theory and Gargano to the floor. Ruff loads up a big flip dive but slips and falls flat on his back on the floor for a scary landing. Thankfully he seems to be ok as Theory sends Ruff face first into the apron. Back in and Ruff scores with a DDT for two but Gargano hits his slingshot spear. We take a break and come back with Ruff fighting out of a chinlock and enziguring Gargano, allowing the hot tag off to Kushida.

House is cleaned with Kushida kicking Gargano in the arm but getting kicked in the head for his efforts. Ruff comes back in with a missile dropkick to Gargano and stereo running kicks in the corner give Ruff two. Theory is back in with the spinning torture rack powerbomb for two on Ruff and a double superkick is good for the same. Ruff hits his own superkick to send Gargano into the corner but Theory is back in with This Is The Way (where he picks Ruff up and flips him into a Downward Spiral) for the pin at 13:35.

Rating: B-. They did things the right way here with Gargano and Theory working well together and finishing Ruff in the end. Kushida continues to look strong and it wouldn’t shock me to see him get the first shot at Gargano. That has been a logical place for him to go for the last several months so it would be nice to see them actually do something about it.

Dexter Lumis is watching from the balcony with an easel. Uh yeah.

Video on Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley, with Toni saying that all that matters is her time. She is ending this rivalry on her terms tonight.

Video on Legado del Fantasma.

Shotzi Blackheart is proud of her WarGames team and doesn’t think much of Candice LeRae carrying a trophy that her husband got from a Little League banquet. She broke Candice’s arm in the cage and tonight she’s breaking Candice’s best friend Indi Hartwell.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Tyler Rust

Ciampa leaves a chair and shirt for Timothy Thatcher at ringside. Rust works on the wrist to start but gets taken down into a front facelock. Cue Thatcher to watch so Ciampa hits a running shot to the face to drop Rust again. Ciampa heads outside to yell at Thatcher and Rust runs Thatcher over by mistake. That’s enough to get Thatcher ejected but Rust uses the distraction to get in a shot on Ciampa as we take a break.

Back with Ciampa hitting a Samoan drop to get a breather and elbowing Rust in the face. Rust scores with an ax kick for two but can’t get a cross armbreaker as Ciampa stacks him up. The hold goes on with the second attempt but Ciampa is out again and blasts Rust in the face. The arm is too banged up for the Fairy Tale Ending so Rust grabs a cravate and flips Ciampa forward for two. Rust slaps on a Rings of Saturn with his legs, meaning Ciampa has to use his own leg for the break. Ciampa unloads with chops in the ropes, followed by a running knee to the face. Willow’s Bell is good for the pin at 12:24.

Rating: C+. Rust got to showcase himself here and that’s the reason you put him in a spot like this. Ciampa is in the middle of his big feud with Thatcher and beating up Thatcher’s glorified lackey is as good of an idea as you can have. If nothing else, Rust got a chance to showcase himself and that worked well. Nice stuff here, as both did what they were supposed to do.

Post match Ciampa picks up the Thatcher shirt but here’s Thatcher to glare at him. The two are held back but Ciampa throws the shirt in Thatcher’s face to make it worse.

Video on the Grizzled Young Veterans, who are back after eight months away. There are a lot of new teams around here and they are still the best around.

Video on Karrion Kross.

During the break, Malcolm Bivens came out to tell Rust that he is a star. Rust bumped fists with him and they left together.

Dexter Lumis has drawn the New Year’s Evil logo.

Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly

The winner gets the title shot against Finn Balor at New Year’s Evil. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch are here to start but here’s the Undisputed Era and the returning Breezango to take care of them, meaning it’s one on one. Dunne and O’Reilly go straight to the slugging to start with Dunne not being able to get anywhere off the hammerlock. Instead Dunne takes him down and pulls on the leg but O’Reilly is out of that in a hurry.

O’Reilly sits on his stomach to strike away but the dragon screw legwhip is countered without much trouble. Back up and they run the ropes with Dunne hitting a clothesline to send O’Reilly to the floor. The moonsault off the apron misses O’Reilly but he misses a knee of his own. Dunne scores with a pump kick but O’Reilly slips out of an X Plex onto the apron. The slugout on the floor almost gives us a double countout with both of them diving back in at nine.

Back in and they slug it out with O’Reilly kicking him in the leg. Another kick puts Dunne on the floor again and we take a break. We come back with Dunne’s Bitter End being countered into a guillotine choke. That’s broken up and Dunne is back with the X Plex, allowing him to glare with his bloody mouth. Dunne starts in on the arm with the big stomp having O’Reilly in trouble. The cobra clutch with a leg trap has O’Reilly in pain to go with the trouble.

Back up and O’Reilly starts striking away, including the running elbow in the corner. Dunne tries to run the ropes in the corner but O’Reilly kicks him back down. O’Reilly goes up top with him but Dunne flips out of a German superplex attempt and kicks O’Reilly in the head. The dropkick in the corner connects and we take another break. Back with the two of them on the apron and pulling the other into the buckle over and over. That means a double knockdown until O’Reilly charges into a knee.

Dunne powerbombs him for two and cranks on the arm again. That’s reversed into an ankle lock on Dunne which is reversed into the Kimura on O’Reilly’s bad arm. O’Reilly tries a choke to escape but settles for a brainbuster to put Dunne down again. A jumping knee sets up a belly to back fisherman’s suplex for two more on Dunne. O’Reilly gets pulled into a triangle but slips out in a hurry to hammer away with forearms.

There’s a kick to Dunne’s head, followed by one to O’Reilly’s head. A second to O’Reilly lets Dunne snap the fingers and they head to the apron. The Bitter End onto the apron is countered into a suplex to the floor and Dunne is in big trouble. O’Reilly drapes him over the bottom rope and a top rope knee to the back of the neck sends O’Reilly to the title match at 22:48.

Rating: A-. Well that was awesome and I don’t think that’s any surprise. Two talented people getting the time and having the chance to beat the heck out of each other. What else could you possibly need? What might be a bit surprising is having Dunne loses, as he seemed to be the perfect choice to get the title shot. That being said, O’Reilly vs. Balor was amazing the first time so letting them go at it again in a huge rematch works for me.

Rhea Ripley knows how to deal with Raquel Gonzalez because Gonzalez backed away last week. As for tonight, she’s ending Toni Storm once and for all.

We go back to Xia Li/Boa (hey I didn’t miss it this week) where the old man is ordering a very sweaty Li to attack Boa over and over. She hammers away as the bloody Boa begs them to stop. The old man says do it again as Li is in tears. Li unloads on Boa and they both go a bit stoic.

Indi Hartwell vs. Shotzi Blackheart

The rest of the Way is here with Hartwell. Blackheart is more serious to start here and hits an early dropkick before starting in on the limbs. The running reverse Cannonball in the corner mostly misses Hartwell, who elbows Shotzi down for two. Blackheart jumps over her in the corner though and hammers away, meaning now the reverse Cannonball can connect. A running dropkick sends Hartwell to the floor but Candice gets on the apron for a distraction. Hartwell hits Shotzi with the trophy (and yes it breaks) for the DQ at 4:05.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but the match was there for the sake of getting to the ending and likely the post match beatdown. Shotzi and some other people fighting the Way could go on for months and this worked just fine as a way to move things forward. The idea of Shotzi continuing the fight works well, even if it did mainly start with breaking a tank.

Post match the beatdown is on, including the Wicked Stepsister to Shotzi. Barrett is more worried about the trophy because he knows how to be a commentator.

Karrion Kross video.

Bronson Reed is back at New Year’s Evil.

Karrion Kross vs. Desmond Troy

Scarlett is here as well. Total destruction with the Doomsday Saito setting up the Krossjacket choke to finish Troy at 1:05. That worked.

Post match Kross confirms his match against Damian Priest at New Year’s Evil.

Isaiah Scott confirms that he gets frustrated when he loses to someone like Jake At…..and he cuts himself off. The rematch is next week and the result will be different.

Scott leaves and here’s Ever Rise to say last week was a handicap match so they have tried to have it stricken from the record. Therefore, the team is still on a winning streak. Martel: “You hear that Goldberg? WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!” And no they don’t want a rematch.

Lumis is still drawing and now he is going to be the host of New Year’s Evil. Oh sweet goodness.

Finn Balor says New Year’s Evil isn’t Balor vs. O’Reilly II. It’s Balor vs. O’Reilly The End.

We run down the New Year’s Evil card, which certainly does look big.

Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley

They fight over the lockup to start with Storm slapping on a headlock for little avail. Ripley shoulders her down and they trade crucifixes on the mat. Back up and Storm hits some chops but Ripley is back with some of her own. A double chop to the back knocks Storm down but she slips out of an electric chair. Ripley pulls her to the apron but gets sent into the post and kicked in the face as we take a break. Back with Ripley fighting out of a chinlock but missing an elbow. A superkick connects with Storm though and Ripley knees her in the face.

The Riptide is broken up with some elbows to the face and Storm headbutts her down. Back up and they slug it out until Ripley gets two off a dropkick. The Prism Trap goes on but Storm rolls her into the ropes for the break. A German suplex gives Storm two and Ripley dropping Storm face first onto the turnbuckle gets the same. Ripley drops the leg for another two but here’s Raquel Gonzalez. Ripley kicks Storm onto her but as the referee checks on Storm, Gonzalez sends Ripley shoulder first into the post. Storm Zero gives Storm the pin at 13:48.

Rating: B. This was a big match feel with both women working to make it feel like a fight. Ripley is already a major star and Storm kind of is, so getting the big win here makes her feel that much more important. Throw in the idea of Gonzalez fighting Ripley again and this was a heck of a packed match, as the women’s division is getting crazy deep in a hurry.

Ripley isn’t happy to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Yeah what else are you expecting from a show like this? They had an excellent match in the middle, a rather good main event and a pretty good opener, while also setting up the big New Year’s Evil card. This was a heck of a show though and one of the better things that NXT has done in a pretty long time, as they had good to great wrestling and set stuff up for the future. What more can you want?

Results

The Way b. Kushida/Leon Ruff – This Is The Way to Ruff

Tommaso Ciampa b. Tyler Rust – Willow’s Bell

Kyle O’Reilly b. Pete Dunne – Top rope knee

Shotzi Blackheart b. Indi Hartwell via DQ when Hartwell used a trophy

Karrion Kross b. Desmond Troy – Krossjacket Choke

Toni Storm b. Rhea Ripley – Storm Zero

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Dynamite
Date: December 16, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

The run of big shows continue as we are now on the way to New Year’s Smash in two weeks. The big story continues to be World Champion Kenny Omega, who is going to be headlining the Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill pay per view in January. That could mean an invasion on this week’s show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page/Dark Order vs. Matt Hardy/Private Party

Page and Quen start things off with Quen grabbing a headlock. That doesn’t go very long so it’s Hardy coming in for a kick to the ribs in the corner. Private Party both comes in but the Dark Order comes in as well for a triple big boot. The ring is cleared so Silver jumps on Page’s back to celebrate. Kassidy comes in and gets slammed down so Page drops Silver down onto him for two.

Reynolds tags himself in and it’s a double flipping faceplant to put Kassidy down again. Page adds the running shooting star to give Silver two and he knocks Kassidy into the corner. That lets Silver strike a pose, and Page isn’t sure what to think. Kassidy gets in a shot of his own and it’s off to Quen to start picking up the pace. Stereo basement dropkicks get two on Silver and Hardy comes in for a sleeper. That’s countered into a brainbuster from Silver and it’s back to Page to clean house.

The Side Effect cuts Page off but it’s too early for the Twist of Fate. Page nails a hard clothesline and it’s off to Reynolds to start cleaning house again. A neckbreaker drops Quen and Kassidy is sent outside. Page hits a pop up sitout powerbomb and Reynolds gets two off a rollup. Hardy breaks up the cover and hits a hanging Twist of Fate to pull Silver off the apron for a thud. That leaves Reynolds to take Gin and Juice, with Hardy stealing the pin at 10:48.

Rating: C+. Pretty good action and it didn’t go all that long. I was surprised by the ending too, though I could go for Less Hardy being involved in….well almost anything with some kind of a character for that matter. Private Party winning is a nice surprise and Silver continues to look more and more like a star every time he is out there. I’m curious to see where he goes and the further he gets away from the evil Dark Order, the better he’ll be doing.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman is given a plaque from the New York Times for Best Performance of 2020. Chris Jericho mentions that he was involved as well and MJF actually gives him credit. MJF sees the greatest of all time and his best friend when he looks at Jericho, who can only say thank you.

We go to Cody and Brandi Rhodes’ house where they are trimming the tree. Their doorbell rings and there is a box waiting for them. Inside is a Christmas ornament saying…..that they’re expecting a baby. Pharaoh has a collar saying “Baby Security In Training.” That’s great.

Cody Rhodes vs. Angelico

Cody is introduced as The Future Father in a nice moment. Angelico snapmares him down to start and wipes his hair back. Cody is right back with one of his own before they fight over a wristlock. Angelico kicks him away though and we have a standoff. With nothing else working, Cody takes him down so Angelico kicks his feet for protection. Back up and they shoves each other away, setting up a crisscross. Cody drops down into a dropkick for one and we take a break.

Back with Cody knocking him down again and hitting a few clotheslines. The powerslam gets two but Angelico ties him up in some kind of wacky double arm hold using his legs. Cody bites the rope for the escape because sometimes it’s all you can do. The Disaster Kick misses though and Angelico tweaks his knee, allowing Angelico to grab his Navaro Death Roll. That’s broken up as well and Cody is right back up with the Cody Cutter for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C. Not too bad here and having Cody doing his thing while having to deal with Angelico’s technical/submission stuff worked….in the little amount of time that Angelico did it. That being said, the announcement before the match is going to make a lot of people smile and it’s a lot more important in the first place. Fine enough match, though I could have gone for more from Angelico.

Post match here’s Team Taz to say they don’t get why they didn’t receive their own congratulations for taking out Darby Allin. They’re about to come to the ring to put Cody on paternity leave, but here’s Sting to cut them off. Powerhouse Hobbs has to be held back as Sting stand around with the bat and Darby Allin looks on from the rafters. Sting winks at Cody and leaves so Team Taz goes to the ring and pummels Cody. Well in theory at least, but instead they stand there as we go to a break due to wrestling logic.

Miro has been fined $75,000 for attacking various production workers last week. He says it’s all about the numbers and that is money Orange Cassidy owes him. Next week he’s breaking the internet again when he faces Sonny Kiss and then next week it’s the wedding date announcement. When asked about the people being put in the hospital at Christmas, he says BAH HUMBUG because Christmas is his birthday.

Here’s Eddie Kingston to address his enemies. First up is Pac, who has been injured and left on the shelf. Where is he anyway? Then there is Lance Archer, who rushes the ring to start the fight. Butcher, Blade and Bunny come to the ring for the save but Archer fights them off. The Lucha Bros come in for the save and Pac is back to make it even worse. Death Triangle beats up all four of them with Fenix hitting the big corkscrew dive. Archer grabs Kingston by the throat but Pac kicks Kingston in the face, which Archer doesn’t like. No violence ensues as Kingston and company bail.

Dustin Rhodes says Seven was a bad idea years ago and it was a bad idea last week. Uno said Rhodes was the least important member of the Rhodes Family and that’s just not true. Last week it was Ten and next week it’s Uno going down.

Best Friends/Top Flight/Varsity Blonds vs. Inner Circle

Orange Cassidy sits in on commentary, even though his headset isn’t plugged in and his mic isn’t down. Jericho chops Pillman into the corner to start and poses in the corner while standing on Pillman’s throat. Back up and Pillman nearly slips out of the corner but manages to hit a springboard crossbody to rock Jericho. The triangle dropkick sends Jericho to the floor and a slingshot dive takes Jericho down again.

Back in and it’s off to Garrison for a slam but Jericho drives him into the corner for the tag to Guevara. Dante comes in for a leg lariat to Guevara and Darius comes in for a crucifix (despite what looked to be a bit of confusion). Guevara punches him down with a hard shot and it’s off to Trent vs. Santana for a showdown. Ortiz and Chuck come in as well and the big brawl is on with everyone getting involved. The Inner Circle is cleared out and it’s a six way hug.

Back in and Ortiz suplexes Trent a few times, allowing Santana to come in with a top rope double stomp to the arm. Trent gets sent outside and we take a break. Back with Jericho and Guevara running Trent over and stopping for the double pose (that still works). Sammy misses the shooting star press so Trent nails the running knee. A suplex to Ortiz allows the tag off to Darius to pick up the pace.

The standing Spanish Fly hits Ortiz and Dante hits the big running dive to take out Santana and Ortiz. Pillman adds the springboard shoulder to Ortiz and Hager is low bridged to the floor. Garrison forearms Ortiz but Jericho gets in a baseball bat shot from the floor. Hager is in and hits Wardlow’s F10, allowing MJF to get the pin at 14:09.

Rating: C+. What we got was good enough, but they really could have cut this down to about eight people so there weren’t so many people standing around without much to do. They booked the match well though and the good guys got to showcase themselves rather well before going down. Garrison taking the fall doesn’t hurt him as he got to show off a bit first. Good enough here, and they didn’t get too messy for their own good.

Post match Top Flight clears the ring and we get the big staredown.

Thunder Rosa blames Britt Baker for costing her the NWA Women’s Title and doesn’t like her saying Rosa doesn’t belong here. Rebel comes up for a distraction and it’s Britt Baker jumping Rosa from behind. Baker traps the arm and Rebel pours water on Rosa to mess up the paint. With Rosa out (From what?), Baker looks at the camera to make sure it still works after looking at Rosa’s face.

SCU vs. Acclaimed

Acclaimed raps their way to the ring, including saying that Daniels is an out of date format like a CD and Kazarian’s back must be hurting with the carrying. Kazarian and Daniels rhyme right back, saying the Acclaimed suck. Daniels chops away at Bowens to start but gets backdropped down for his efforts. Castor comes in and hammers away in the corner as commentary talks about Castor’s father’s NFL career. Daniels knocks Castor down for a slingshot lariat to give Kazarian two.

Kazarian grabs an armbar to keep Castor in trouble but he gets sent outside, allowing the beating to be on as we take a break. Back with Kazarian in trouble until he uses the ropes to take Castor down. Bowens gets kicked away and it’s Daniels coming in with some clotheslines to take over. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Bowens and a high crossbody is good for the same. Daniels rolls Bowens up but gets kicked away, allowing Castor to hit him in the face with the boom box. Bowens hits a Rock Bottom slam for the surprise pin at 8:17.

Rating: C+. If there is one thing AEW is good at, it is using its younger talents to put people over. The match worked rather well for the Acclaimed, as the tag division continues to grow by leaps and bounds with all of the additions the make seemingly every month. SCU are a made team so this doesn’t hurt them whatsoever. Good match too.

Post match the Acclaimed rap a challenge to the Young Bucks for next week.

Top Flight challenge Chris Jericho and MJF for next week. They can either accept or run away like b******.

Ivelisse/Diamante vs. Big Swole/Serena Deeb

Swole and Diamante slug away to start and Swole suplexes her down over without much effort. Diamante jumps Deeb on the apron and takes Swole into the corner as we take a break. Back with Deep fighting both of them off at the same time, including an Indian Deathlock to Ivelisse while she suplexes Diamante.

A neckbreaker over the ropes puts Ivelisse down again and a Figure Four goes on. Diamante makes the save and it’s a double slam for two on Deeb. Swole is back in with a headbutt to Diamante and it’s a Clearwater Cloverleaf (with Swole not even stepping over) to make Diamante tap at 9:21.

Rating: C-. Deeb is so far ahead of Swole and Diamante it’s not even funny. Ivelisse can do some things well enough but there’s a polish to Deeb that just isn’t there with her. Diamante and Ivelisse do work well together though and it’s nice to have a team that means a little something. That being said, at least step over to make the Cloverleaf work.

Post match it’s Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero coming in to help beat down Deep and Swole. Red Velvet makes the save with a chair. Can we just not with Rose and Guerrero?

The Best Friends are going to be at the Holiday Bash (next week) when Miro announces the wedding date.

Video on the Jurassic Express. They’ve kind of disappeared in recent weeks.

FTR and Tully Blanchard storm the broadcast booth and complain about not getting any time while a grown up Tarzan and a wannabe dinosaur are featured. This is how Harwood feeds his family and these two men are his family. Top guys out, after a heck of a fired up promo from Harwood.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela

Non-title and no DQ with Don Callis/Sonny Kiss as the seconds. During Omega’s entrance, Tony says he’s glad that Omega took Impact’s numbers from one to six. Not so much on the second week but it did work the first time. Janela throws a trashcan at Omega to start and Callis goes to commentary to take Tony’s headset. Tony tells him what to kiss as Janela whips Omega into the barricade.

Omega is right back with a Kitaro Crusher onto an open chair. There’s a baseball slide into a running flip dive to send Joey into another chair, allowing Callis to praise Kenny on his mic. Hang on as Omega gets the mic and blasts him with a cookie sheet, making sure to show off the extra sound. Back in and a moonsault with a trashcan crushes Janela for two.

Omega is annoyed at the kickout so he beats on Janela some more, setting up a springboard double stomp onto the trashcan. The One Winged Angle is countered with a reverse hurricanrana, allowing Kiss to whip out a table. The top rope legdrop sends Omega through the table but the moonsault misses back inside. Omega hits some V Triggers and the One Winged Angel finishes Janela at 7:01.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t about the action and that’s the way it should have gone here. There was no reason to believe that Janela was going to be a threat here and Omega dealt with him as such. The trash talk and Callis doing commentary were great heel touches and the kind of thing that fits them perfectly. It wasn’t a good match, but it was perfectly put together.

Post match Callis says all of the loose ends have been tied up and now there is no one left with a complaint. Cue Death Triangle with Pac saying that Fenix never got his shot against Omega in the tournament. Callis offers to teach him a lesson, because Pac has no authority. Wrestlers don’t tell the champ what to do, but Pac has talked to Tony Khan and Fenix is getting his title shot on December 30. Omega is livid to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling wasn’t exactly the point tonight as this was all about setting things up for the next few big shows. There are going to be three straight big weeks coming up and that could be some very good news for AEW. I’m not sure what to expect out of those shows, but dang they are making me want to see what they have coming. Another good show this week, and it has me wanting to see more, which is the more important result.

Results

Private Party/Matt Hardy b. Hangman Page/Dark Order – Gin and Juice to Reynolds

Cody Rhodes b. Angelico – Cody Cutter

Inner Circle b. Top Flight/Varsity Blonds/Best Friends – F10 to Garrison

Acclaimed b. SCU – Rock Bottom slam to Daniels

Serena Deeb/Big Swole b. Ivelisse/Diamante – Clearwater Cloverleaf to Diamante

Kenny Omega b. Joey Janela – One Winged Angel

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Maybe this has something to do with those low ratings.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-fire-bronuts-seven-minutes-less/

Blackjack Brawl
Date: September 23, 1994
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 900
Commentators: John Tolos, Carlo Gianelli

So a few months ago I looked at the UWF’s Beach Brawl, which was a special event from one of the more infamously lame promotions: Herb Abrams’ Universal Wrestling Federation. Now it’s time to look at the followup, which is over three years later and not on pay per view. It’s an eleven match card and nine are title matches, with five of those being to crown inaugural champions. This is going to be a really, really long night. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence, with the rather over the top introduction from Abrams and some clips from a press conference.

Abrams is in the ring to shout an introduction, with commentary talking over him. He brings Blackjack Mulligan to the ring to hype up the show and promises a lot of big stuff tonight.

Commentary welcomes us to the show.

We have a celebrity guest ring announcer with Steve Rossi (apparently he was on the Howard Stern Show at least once). After some audio issues, he introduces the Nevada Athletic Commission and brings out Dan Spivey. Rossi: “He’ll show you some wrestling tonight.”

Americas Championship: Dan Spivey vs. Johnny Ace

For the inaugural title (which is not mentioned until a few minutes into the match) and Ace has Missy Hyatt with him. Rossi has to beg the fans to cheer during the introductions and I think you know how this night is going to go. It doesn’t help that the arena (holds about 17,000) is embarrassingly empty. Commentary: “Who cares about these wrestlers when you have Missy Hyatt?”

Ace rolls him up for two and Spivey bails to the apron. Back n and Spivey hammers away, only for Ace to come back with a middle rope crossbody. A dropkick puts Spivey on the floor where he kicks a few things around. Back in and Ace stomps away (Tolos: “That would kill a normal man!”) before grabbing a chinlock. Spivey suplexes his way to freedom as I try to figure out who I’m supposed to cheer for here. A backbreaker gives Spivey two and a Russian legsweep gets the same.

Ace is back up with a top rope clothesline for two but Spivey grabs a DDT for three. Well I mean the referee slapped the mat three times but calls it two anyway, as I guess counting doesn’t work around here either. We look at Missy Hyatt for a second and come back with Spivey hitting what looked like a Boss Man Slam. The abdominal stretch goes on before Spivey slams him back down for two off a legdrop. Spivey grabs it again and Hyatt turns on Ace by throwing in the towel to give Spivey the win and the title at 7:18.

Rating: D. Just think for a second: of the eleven match card that they have planned, THIS is what they felt was the best way to get things going. I’ve said this already but it bears repeating: we are in for a really, really long night. Vince Russo unnecessary screwy finish aside, the match was rather lame as they were just doing moves to each other with no story, build, flow or anything. But at least the manager turned on Ace during their first time together so….development?

Post match Spivey grabs Abrams until Ace chases him off. Abrams yells at Spivey (Abrams: “You’re a double cheating cross!”), who leaves with Hyatt.

We go to a break, with commentary being heard talking to production, just in case you thought this could be competent for more than three seconds.

Post break, commentary cuts out, then Ginaelli slips up by saying Ace won the match.

We talk about the Junior Heavyweight title, featuring Mando “Gareo”. They’ll be right “black” after this break.

Junior Heavyweight Title: Mando Guerrero vs. Jack Armstrong

For the inaugural title and at least Rossi gets Guerrero’s (who comes out to an actual WEIRD AL song) name right. Jack (called Wildman in the graphic and Wildcat during his introductions) looks great and has been wrestling for….THIRTY ONE YEARS??? Granted this is his first match in about four years but when you debut in 1963 and are still wrestling in 1994, I’m a good bit impressed. Odds are that’s going to be the only impressive thing here but still not bad. Gianelli still can’t pronounce Guerrero as he sits on the corner while Armstrong poses.

They run the ropes to start and Mando dropkicks him out to the floor. Back in and Mando grabs an armdrag into an armbar but they’re right back to the floor to get the brawling going. Mando knocks him into the barricade and hits an Asai moonsault, sending Tolos into as close to shock as you’re getting around here. Back in and Mando gets two off a spinebuster as we’re told that this is the first of three Blackjack Brawls planned. Uh, yeah. Anyway Mando misses a moonsault and Jack drops two elbows for the pin and the title at 4:41.

Rating: D+. Well it was better than the previous one, but again it is very clear that they are not putting even the slightest bit of thought into all of these title matches. There was no mention of the title here and Mando dominated until the end when Armstrong picked up the fluke win. Armstrong had a good physique but this was the last match of his career.

Post match, Abrams gets in the ring to say he isn’t pleased with the winner, but at least Armstrong got busted open a bit.

Dr. Feelgood says he’ll win.

SportsChannel Television Title: Dr. Feelgood vs. Sunny Beach

For the vacant title and Missy Hyatt is here with Feelgood. There’s even a theme here as Feelgood has a doctor’s bag and Missy has a stethoscope. Beach takes him down by the arm to start and then armdrags him into an armbar to mix it up a bit. They switch it to a chinlock for a bit before Feelgood is back with some back rakes. Missy gets in a shoe shot to the head, sending Tolos into a speech about how gorgeous she is.

Beach comes back with some right hands and a sunset flip for two, only to get clotheslined down. A backbreaker gives Feelgood two and he plants Beach with a DDT (which commentary describes as “another great professional wrestling move”). Hold on though as Feelgood goes to his medical bag and pulls out a rag. He pours some liquid onto the rag, only to have Beach shove it into his face for the win at 5:27. The referee watched EVERY BIT OF THIS and doesn’t seem to mind. Can you really blame him?

Rating: F. Sweet goodness it’s actually getting worse. What are you supposed to do when the referee just lets the doctor use I’m guessing ether on the surfer? The match is a failure for the refereeing alone and I’m almost scared to see how bad this show gets as we keep going. Terrible match with an even worse ending.

Post match Feelgood takes Beach down with the rag as Missy screams a lot. Blackjack Mulligan comes in to yell, with Feelgood calling him various cowboy insults.

BUY MERCH! That has to be some kind of a collector’s item. Sid walks in and says something about Nolan Ryan signed baseballs.

Herb Abrams talks about Commissioner Bruno Sammartino….who isn’t here tonight! Abrams has Blackjack Mulligan talk about what else is coming tonight. Mulligan: “These other promotions won’t even touch these guys!” Steve Williams would destroy Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Bret Hart!

Southern States Title: Bob Orton Jr. vs. Finland Hellraiser Thor

Believe it or not, Orton actually is the champion coming in and Thor is better known as Ludvig Borga. Orton grabs a headlock to start but gets shoved away by raw power. More power sends Orton into the corner and this time Thor hammers away with shots to the ribs. There’s a side slam to plant Orton again and we hit the chinlock with a knee in the back. Commentary uses the time to discuss who really discovered America as Orton comes back with some shots to the face. Thor backdrops him over the top to counter a piledriver attempt and they fight on the floor for the double DQ at 5:29.

Rating: D. And somehow, that’s in the running for the best match of the night, just due to the people involved if nothing else. Thor is fresh off his time with the WWF and it isn’t a good sign when he is looking like a knockoff version of himself. Orton was pretty far past his prime already but his own talent is enough to carry him pretty far. Not far enough to save this show, but at least they picked things up a tiny bit over the previous match.

They brawl even more post match, showing more fire than anything else on the show. Thor bails and Orton’s eye is busted open, so the ring announcer asks the fans to cheer for him about five times. Orton goes on a rant about how he fights like an American, with all of the values that are falling apart every day.

Midget World Title: Karate Kid vs. Little Tokyo

For the inaugural title and this is FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. The ring announcer is practically begging the fans to cheer for this as things are falling apart before the bell. Tokyo bails from the threat of Kid’s kicks and shoulders him down. A hiptoss drops Tokyo, who glares out of the corner. The armbar doesn’t last long on Kid as the referee yells at Tokyo again. The crisscross is on, with Kid stopping so Tokyo runs around on his own. After the annoyance is over, Tokyo’s armbar doesn’t work all over again. They fight over a test of strength on the mat, allowing Tokyo to yell at the referee some more.

It’s time to dance a bit until Kid gets a quick one. Hold on though as Tokyo yells at the referee AGAIN, followed by a poke to Kid’s eyes. Kid is fine enough to slap on a full nelson, with Tokyo climbing the ropes for the break, only to be dropped straight down for a slight chuckle. Tokyo avoids a dropkick though and Kid….runs into him, allowing Tokyo to get the pin and the title at 7:36.

Rating: D. Yes they gave this the most time of anything so far tonight and while it could have been worse, this was almost the cherry on the sundae of horrible ideas. This felt like it belonged in 1984 or so, and given how many things that could apply to on this show, it seems that things are kind of going badly around here. In other words, this is reaching torture levels all over again.

Post match Abrams and Tokyo have a language barrier. How many times do we need to see him and his yellow coat tonight???

Here’s the same merchandise ad from before the previous match.

Sid says….something that audio doesn’t pick up for the most part but it sounds like he’s coming for Steve Williams and the World Title.

Samson vs. Irish Assassin

They’re both in good shape and Samson is replacing Hercules. This is billed as a REVENGE match, though they don’t actually explain what the revenge is for. They have the lamest lockup I can remember in a long time and Samson’s running shoulder bounces off of the Assassin. A running clothesline in the corner hits Samson as commentary recaps Little Tokyo winning the title. Samson avoids an elbow as Tolos talks about making Gianelli a better commentator. A slam and a suplex give Samson the pin at 4:45.

Rating: F. Sweet goodness man. I don’t remember the last time I saw a show this….lifeless. When you consider that I can’t find anything about Samson and Assassin was a nothing name, I’m not sure why in the world I’m supposed to care about revenge, when THEY DIDN’T SAY WHY THESE TWO ARE FIGHTING. The company isn’t running anything else at the moment, so how many places could they set up something like this? I’m being more and more dumbfounded by this show every match and it wasn’t a high bar to start things off.

CALL THE HOTLINE!

Steve Ray thinks Tyler Mane is tall but he doesn’t have any heart.

MGM Grand Title: Steve Ray vs. Tyler Mane

For the inaugural title. Mane dabbled in WCW for a bit but is far more famous as Sabretooth in the first series of X-Men movies. Granted the pelt with a lion’s head over his stomach is rather noteworthy in its own right. Ray is the Wild Thing and seems to be something like a rock star/Lionheart Chris Jericho type. After Ray makes sure his jacket is taken care of, we’re ready to go with commentary comparing Mane to Big John Studd. An armdrag and clothesline put Mane on the floor but he’s back in to slam his way out of a crossbody attempt.

Ray is fine enough to start in on the leg and the cranking ensues. We pause for a second so the referee can check on the knee, allowing Mane to get in a cheap shot and take over. A chokeslam (not named because….it’s such a complicated concept I guess) plants Ray but he’s back back with a grab of the leg. Mane low bridges him to the floor so Ray tries a sunset flip, only to have Mane sit down on it while grabbing the rope (again, right in front of the referee) for the pin and the title at 6:26.

Rating: D. Again, it says a lot when this is the kind of match that is near the high point of the show. It was a big man vs. small man match with Ray trying to have some energy but not being able to deal with the power. Now that being said, the horrible refereeing at the end hurt it a lot, and it’s not like this show has any benefit of the doubt. Another bad match on the show, which is completely beyond saving in case that wasn’t clear yet.

Post match Abrams presents Mane with the title. Mane, who is taller than Mulligan, says the fat lady just sung on Ray. True actually, as this was his last match for both guys.

Women’s Title: Candy Divine vs. Tina Moretti

For the vacant title and Moretti is better known as Ivory. The pre-match gaffe is on the announcer, as he introduces Divine (yes DIVINE, which is not the hardest word to read, pronounce, spell or understand) as Candy Devian. That’s another level of bad and as a result it fits in perfectly here. Even commentary blasts him for that screwup. Divine popped up in various promotions and was one of the bigger names of her time for outside the WWF. Moretti is billed from Italy, which is rather odd after listening to Ivory for years.

Commentary is all about how the women look as Divine is dropkicked to the floor to start but they switch places in a hurry. Back in and Divine works on an armbar but gets rolled up for a fast two. Divine fights up and chokes in the corner, which Tolos calls a good wrestling move. Moretti gets slammed out of the corner and Divine gets the pin and the title at 3:11.

Rating: D-. I’m not sure what happened there but it was an abrupt ending to an already bad match. Women’s wrestling was absolutely nothing in America at this point so you can’t get too annoyed. Also given how bad some of the things on this show have been, a three minute match is hard to get annoyed over. Take that for what you will.

Post match, the announcer says Devian for the fifth time.

Steve Williams is standing in front of a cutout of himself and says he respects Sid Vicious. He can’t get Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair on the phone but he’ll face Sid tonight. Really not the image you want to present but that’s the least of their problems.

Tag Team Titles: Killer Bees vs. The New Powers Of Pain

For the inaugural titles and that would be Warlord/Power Warrior, the latter being a guy who didn’t do much in his career. Announcer: “And we have a battle royal coming up.” No, we don’t, thank goodness. Blair (who apparently has a great gym) starts with Warrior, who shoves him away without much effort. An armbar has no effect on Warrior and Blair is starting to look a little unsure.

We get a quick recap of some of the things that have happened tonight, which makes me feel better about forgetting them. Brunzell comes in for a double hiptoss but Warlord comes in with a bearhug. That doesn’t last long so Warlord has to slam his way out of an armbar. Warrior comes back in and gets taken down by the leg in a hurry because he isn’t the worker that the Warlord is. Blair stays on the leg but Warrior kicks him into the ropes so Warlord can low bridge him to the floor.

The bearhug goes on back inside but Blair is out in a hurry, allowing the hot tag to Brunzell to take over on Warrior. A catapult into a top rope clothesline drops Warrior as the referee is knocked outside. Cue someone who looks like Warrior (his other brother in the Power Twins) for a full nelson on Blair. Warlord goes up….and we cut to Brunzell throwing the referee back in and we come back to Blair covering Warrior for the pin and the titles at 11:50.

Rating: D. They were having a better match than usual (for this show at least) until the ending, which we didn’t actually get to see. Let me repeat that: you couldn’t actually see the part of the match that actually mattered in any way. Throw in that one of the villains had an evil twin and they managed to lose anyway and I think you know all you need to know about this one.

Jimmy Snuka says there are no two pieces of matter that can occupy the same space at the same time. I’m not sure what that has to do with anything but he says he’s going to fly.

Merch plug, the threequel.

Jimmy Snuka vs. Cactus Jack

Lumberjack match, so the ring announcer says “our next match is for the lumberjack match.” Oh and Cactus Jack is “a mean guy”. Announcer: “You’re going to see a battle royal.” Can we get him to stop saying that or at least find out what it means? Pretty much everyone else on the show so far are the lumberjacks, who get a round of applause of their own and their own individual introductions. Jack shakes his hand and grabs a headlock as we hear about Jack losing his ear.

Snuka reverses into one of his own, which really, really impresses Tolos for some reason. A shoulder puts Jack down as the announcers are talking about bets on the match. Jack knees him in the ribs to send things outside for a bit but makes the mistake of headbutting Snuka. That’s enough to send Jack to the floor but he’s sent back inside as Herb Abrams comes to commentary to talk about how great this is.

The brawl goes over to the commentary table (Gianelli: “THIS SHOULDN’T HAPPEN IN AMERICA!”) but the fight back inside where Jack grabs a chinlock. Back up and Snuka tries a shoulder, only to bounce off of Jack and over the top. They fight into the crowd with Snuka hitting him in the head with a chair….and that’s a double DQ at 9:03. Yes in a lumberjack. Announcer: “I’ve never seen anything like this!” There’s a reason for that man.

Rating: F. Mick Foley is my favorite wrestler of all time and probably always will be. I know it means the world to him to be in the ring with his idol in Snuka, but they had a double DQ in a freaking lumberjack match after nine other matches on this show. In this case, you kind of can blame him because, as a huge Snuka fan, he refused to let Snuka lose to him here so this was the best they had. Points for the respect but….dang man.

Post match they keep brawling into the empty chairs, which is about as dumb of an idea as you can have in any situation.

Herb Abrams shouts that this is the main event, thank goodness.

UWF World Title: Sid Vicious vs. Steve Williams

Williams is defending. Announcer: “It’s time to get rocking and rolling. And I’m getting out of here.” They trade shoulders to start as we hear about Williams being the All Japan Triple Crown Champion. Sid kicks him in the face for a knockdown and it’s time to crank on Williams’ arms. Williams can’t quite reverse so he goes to the ropes for the break instead. Tolos does his best Jim Ross impression to list off all of Williams’ accomplishments as the announcers treat this like the greatest thing they have ever seen.

A chokeslam plants Williams and Sid whips him hard into the corner. Tolos: “If they went into the New York Stock Market, do you think their stock would go up overnight???” Gianelli: “I don’t know.” Sid gets two off a slam and we’re off to the chinlock. They even lay down a bit as this has already been a bit much for them.

Williams fights up and slugs away….as the mat starts coming up like there’s a bubble inside, because OF FREAKING COURSE IT DOES! Williams hits a splash in the corner for two but misses a middle rope shoulder. Sid goes up top (oh boy) but Williams backdrops him down and hits the Doctor Bomb, drawing in Dan Spivey for the DQ at 11:02.

Rating: D-. They were having a watchable power match until the ending but my goodness man. THE RING wanted out of this show and was giving up by the end. It could have been a lot worse but the ending didn’t help anything and teasing a rematch on this show was as dumb as it could have been. Not the worst match on the show, but a perfect way to end things.

Post match the beatdown is on with Williams being double powerbombed. Johnny Ace comes in for the save.

Post break, Abrams asks if Williams will defend the title against Sid in a cage. Williams says he’ll sign a contract if Abrams gets one together before he leaves.

Merch plug, featuring the now dastardly Sid.

Abrams yells at Sid and Spivey, with the former blaming Blackjack Mulligan for being his mentor.

Commentary says next time will be even more treacherous.

Since this show just can’t end, Abrams and Mulligan (who has the World Title for some reason) talks about how this was a Skyscrapers (Sid/Spivey) plan all along. Abrams promises (or maybe warns) us about a sequel to end the show.

Overall Rating: Awbooga. That’s how Abrams, legendary cocaine addict that he was, would probably try to spell wrestling at this point, because WOW. This is one of the all time insane shows that you almost have to see to believe. There is nothing approaching good, nothing approaching normal, and nothing approaching ANYTHING that should be taking place in 1994 on this show.

I know Abrams was kind of a kook (that’s putting it mildly) but sweet goodness this was awful, with one random title match after another and nothing even partially good. The people here are talented wrestlers, or at least they were a few years earlier when they were still regularly wrestling and not ancient in some cases. It’s not the complete train wreck of something like Heroes of Wrestling, but with a barely there (and barely audible) crowd, the disaster on commentary and ring announcing and such low level wrestling, this is a complete mess and something just more depressing than anything else.

The biggest problem here is the wrestling, as they seem to think that any of this stuff matters just because you throw a title or the REVENGE MATCH moniker onto a match. It doesn’t help if there are no stakes to the title or reasons for these people to be fighting and it showed badly. All time awful show, and now I’m off to have nightmares of Abrams screaming in my face while Mulligan is there every time for no apparent reason other than he’s been paid in advance. Avoid this one unless you’re in for a train wreck of Star Fox 64 Forever Train level proportions.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 17, 2006
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re done with Saturday Night’s Main Event and as a result, absolutely nothing has changed. Therefore, it’s time to get ready for Summerslam and John Cena challenging Edge for the Raw World Title seems to be a likely choice. That is the kind of match that deserves the big stage and hopefully that’s exactly what it gets. Let’s get to it.

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

D-Generation X joins us with a special message: a video recapping them being mean to Vince McMahon over the last few weeks. It’s not much funnier in a big video package either.

Here’s DX, featuring hometown boy Shawn Michaels, for a chat. Actually we make that a discussion of which shirt they are supposed to be wearing tonight. HHH thought they were wearing the old one, available at the merchandise stands and WWEShop.com. Michaels thinks it’s the new one, which is also available at the merchandise stands and WWEShop.com, though he has to read his locations off his wrist. HHH: “Easy there Miz.”

With the important stuff out of the way, Shawn has heard that Vince McMahon is kind of mad at them but they aren’t sure why. HHH takes a quick poll of the audience about whether or not they should stop. HHH: “Now come on Shane. Uh, Shawn. It’s live TV give me a break.” Besides, there’s no way the people here, in Shawn’s hometown of San Antonio, Texas, would want to see DX face the McMahons in a tag match tonight.

The fans disagree so HHH thinks we should make the match. Cue the McMahons, with Vince calling DX a bunch of degenerate juvenile delinquents. Vince says tonight, we’ll have Shawn vs. Shane, which seems to take the latter by surprise. Shane didn’t like Shawn’s impression, because he DOES NOT dance around like a midget on crack. Tonight, instead of the Alamo, these people will remember Shane beating Shawn 1-2-3. The DX plugs are always worth a chuckle.

Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin

The winner gets a future Intercontinental Title show (or Cruiserweight Title shot according to the introductions). Shelton headlocks him down to start and the armbar is on in a hurry. That’s reversed into an exchange of rollups for two each before Shelton kicks him in the face for two. The chinlock is on in a hurry and Shelton switches to right hands and choking like a villain should.

It’s off to a sleeper, which is broken up in a hurry so Carlito can hit a clothesline. A springboard back elbow gives Carlito two but the Backstabber is countered. Shelton grabs a cradle but can’t reach the rope. Instead, Carlito reverses into one of his own and successfully grabs the rope for the pin and the title shot.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see in this one and the ending was hardly in doubt after Carlito beat Nitro in the mixed tag on Saturday. There was no need to do anything tricky here and going with Carlito as the next challenger makes as much sense as anyone else. You can always use some fresh stars so pushing someone as a new face is worth a shot.

We look back at John Cena beating Edge via DQ on Saturday, though he did put Edge through the announcers’ table to continue the feud.

Trish Stratus hits on Carlito, who declares that cool.

This Week In Wrestling History: The Brawl To End It All. Yeah that was pretty big.

Trish Stratus/Torrie Wilson vs. Mickie James/Victoria

Candice Michelle is guest referee for obvious reasons. Mickie drops Torrie in a hurry and Trish has to be held back to break up some interference. Victoria’s dancing moonsault takes too long to set up though and it’s off to Trish to take over. Victoria whips Mickie into the corner but misses Trish, only to have Mickie break up the Stratusphere. Candice doesn’t like the interference and throws Mickie outside, leaving Trish to hit Stratusfaction for the pin on Victoria. Short match with an obvious point.

Armando Alejandro Estrada isn’t worried about Umaga facing John Cena tonight. Umaga has no comment on the subject, though he does shout after Estrada hits his catchphrases.

Mick Foley joins us from WWE Studios and yes, this is the shirt he wore when he was interviewed by Katie Couric. For now though, Foley wants to talk about Ric Flair, who remembers beating Foley two straight falls at Vengeance. Foley remembers it as Flair being left bloody and broke, which was Foley’s plan all along. That’s why Flair is getting no rematch, as Foley has nothing left to prove.

Charlie Haas and Viscera are not explaining their actions against Lilian Garcia last week.

We recap the Diva Search Boot Camp from Smackdown.

Highlanders vs. Jared Steel/Russell Simpson

Steel and Simpson jump the Highlanders from behind and the fight is on in a hurry. That’s about it for the offense as Robbie headbutts Simpson down and it’s time for Fun With Kilts. The Scot Drop finishes Simpson in a hurry.

Post match the Highlanders challenge the Spirit Squad for the Tag Team Titles. Unlike the Squad, they have something beneath their kilts.

Post break, DX meets the Highlanders and tells them to go meet Vince in his office. Make yourselves at home, shout in his ear, and hug him a lot. More on this later I assume.

John Cena vs. Umaga

Armando Alejandro Estrada is here with Umaga but Cena jumps him in the corner before the bell. Umaga shrugs it off and sends Cena flying through the chalkboard as the bell rings. A piece of the board goes over Cena’s back and the beating is on in a hurry. Cena tries to fight back but a shot to the throat cuts him right back down. A knee to the chest keeps Cena in trouble and his quick STFU attempt doesn’t work.

Umaga runs him over with a clothesline and here are Edge and Lita to watch Cena being tied in the Tree of Woe. The running headbutt connects but the running hip attack only hits corner. Cena goes after Edge, earning him a whip into the steps from Umaga. The top rope splash misses though and Cena slugs away, even managing the ProtoBomb. There’s the Shuffle but Edge comes in, allowing Umaga to hit a superkick into the Samoan Spike for the pin.

Rating: C. They kept this moving and while Umaga won with some interference, he still beat Cena and that is quite the accomplishment for someone who has only been around for a few months. Cena vs. Edge will be the big showdown at Summerslam, but Umaga got a lot out of this win. They’re trying something new here and hopefully it works out well for everyone.

Vince comes into his office and throws the Highlanders out for eating his food. One of them gives him a spank on his way out, which makes Vince jump.

Randy Orton vs. Eugene

Eugene’s jacket still has the green paint from last week. Orton takes him down in a hurry as the HOGAN chants start up. Eugene gets in a shot of his own and mocks Orton’s pose, earning himself a heck of a clothesline. The backbreaker into the RKO finishes Eugene in a hurry.

Post match Orton tells Eugene to never take advantage of the McMahons again. He would never take advantage of Brooke Hogan like that, because she’s a very pretty girl. Orton likes that song About Us, but he would like to show us his favorite hit. We see Orton giving Hulk Hogan the RKO onto the back of a car on Saturday, which somehow confused Brooke. I mean I know the Hogans are gullible but come on now.

Back in the WWE Studios, Mick Foley gives Melina a shout out and talks about how impressive Ric Flair was in his hardcore match. Flair got extreme, so maybe next week he can wear a flannel shirt or drive a minivan! Foley sings a little Michael Jackson to say that Flair is out of his life but here’s Flair in the arena to interrupt. Flair is bandaged up and shows us a clip of his match with Big Show on ECW. Flair: “That would be an a** whooping and a half!”

Here’s Miz for the first elimination in the Diva Search. Amy is eliminated and we’re having a Diva Dance Off this week on Smackdown.

Vince is annoyed at DX, and Shane finding an “I HEART COCKS” sign on his back makes it worse. Shane’s sign says “ME TOO”.

Shawn Michaels vs. Shane McMahon

HHH and Vince are at ringside. Joined in progress with Michaels sending Shane outside for an Asai moonsault and some right hands. Vince offers a distraction though and Shane scores with a Shawn forearm into the nip up (JR on Vince: “His boy Shane just won the pony.”). The top rope elbow connects and, after running around the ring, Shane tunes up the band.

The superkick is blocked though and Shawn punches him down. There’s the real forearm into the nip up (Shane’s was fake….somehow) and the elbow keeps Shane in trouble. Vince breaks up Sweet Chin Music so HHH chases him off. Cue the Spirit Squad to jump Shawn for the DQ.

Rating: C-. As is the case with most McMahon matches, keeping it short is a good idea. Shane mimicking Shawn was a good idea and the match could have been a lot worse under different circumstances. It’s good that Shane didn’t take the fall, but can DX ever break a real sweat in this feud?

Post match the Squad sends HHH into the steps and beats up Shawn. Shane loads up some chairs but HHH is back with the sledgehammer to clear the ring, because DX can’t look bad even when it’s six on one.

Overall Rating: D+. This show went by rather quickly but that doesn’t mean it went well. Cena vs. Umaga was interesting but the money match is against Edge. Then you have the DX vs. McMahons stuff and….yeah it’s starting to wear thin. There is a lot of juice left in the feud if they do it right, but that’s not what is going on. DX is running through the McMahons and/or their goons every week and that is taking away a lot of the interest in the feud. The rest of the show was your usual stuff, but they need to tweak that main event story in a hurry.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 15, 2020
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Madison Rayne

It’s back to the Kenny Omega Is A Bigger Star Than Anyone Else Around Here Show and that proved to be a winning formula last week as the audience was quite up. Final Resolution has come and gone so now it’s off the Hard To Kill build. I’m not sure what that is going to mean with Omega being thrown into the mix but it’s interesting to think about. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at a mixture of Omega’s World Title win, promo from last week, and the main stories from last week’s show. It is implied that Omega is coming for the various Impact Titles.

Opening sequence.

Tenille Dashwood vs. Alisha

Kaleb With A K (in a pink suit) and Eddie Edwards are here too. Alisha shouts a lot and then gets knocked down in a hurry. The Thesz press with right hands have Dashwood in some trouble and a backsplash gives Alisha two. A headscissors puts Alisha into the corner but she misses a charge, allowing Dashwood to grab a neckbreaker for her own two. The stomping keeps Alisha down in the corner and we hit the chinlock.

Alisha gets up and is sent to the apron, where she manages a knee to Dashwood’s face. The comeback is on and a bulldog gives Alisha two with Kaleb With A K pulling Dashwood to the floor. Eddie goes after him but takes a camera to the face. Alisha dives onto Kaleb With A K but the distraction lets Dashwood hit the Spotlight Kick for the pin at 5:13.

Rating: C-. This is one of Dashwood’s better runs since she left WWE but it still isn’t exactly great stuff. I’m not sure what’s missing but there is a fire that isn’t there and it’s holding her back. Alisha has gotten a bit better in the last few months and she was perfectly acceptable here, even if this felt like it was designed to set up a mixed tag which already happened.

Post match here’s Sami Callihan on screen to tell Eddie and Alisha to spend time with their families, because it might be their last chance.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

The Motor City Machine Guns talk about their three step process to getting the Tag Team Titles back. They have their rematch clause and since there is only space for two machine guns around here, Karl Anderson is going to have to step aside.

We go to Kenny Omega’s bus, where Omega and Callis mock the Guns and tell Karl Anderson, also there, to go get them. Various New Japan tournaments are referenced.

Post break Rich Swann cuts Anderson off before he can go beat up Chris Sabin. Swann: “Because Omega told you to?” Anderson: “I call him Kenny. He’s my friend. You call him champ.” The Guns come in and a match is set between Sabin and Anderson.

Here’s Moose in a suit for a chat. He gives us an injury update on Willie Mack, who will not be able to wrestle for a few weeks. That’s because Moose hurt him, even though no one believes what he is capable of doing. Moose doesn’t like everyone talking about Rich Swann, who may be a great competitor but the difference is Swann stays hurt while Moose hurts people. Swann needs to call Mack and ask what he is getting into.

Cue Mack, who says he isn’t here to wrestle. He isn’t mad at Moose, but rather because the referee said he couldn’t go anymore even though he had plenty left. No one is telling him he’s done, so they can have an I Quit match at Genesis. Moose doesn’t think that’s a good idea but Mack charges the ring. Security breaks it up for a bit so Moose breaks it up.

Moose goes to the back where he is asked what happened out there (Do the interviewers not even watch?). He is tired of indy wrestlers trying to make a name for themselves. One of those guards just ripped his shirt! He gets people trying to do something but don’t you EVER put your hands on him. They couldn’t last three minutes in the ring with him so if you do it again, you’ll get hurt like Mack. That could go a few places.

Chris Bey comes in to see Rohit Raju and congratulate him on losing the X-Division Title at Final Resolution. Raju already has his rematch set for Hard To Kill, which Bey doesn’t seem to like. Bey had an idea for him and goes to leave, but Raju pulls him back. Bey says that if Raju can prove that Manik is TJP, he can get the title back without having to beat him. Raju says he thought of that and great minds think alike. That’s what the two of them should do and as luck would have it, Bey is facing Manik next.

We get another Double Tony Paid Advertisement. Khan says that one of the nice things about Impact is you get to see Kenny Omega and he won’t even slap an injunction on it. Omega is one of the best wrestlers in the world along with Jon Moxley, even though Omega stole the title from him.

Schiavone says it’s hard to find AXS TV, to the point where your smart TV will just ask why if you try to find it. We run down the Dynamite card (Featuring SCU. Tony asked them if they remembered when TNA had fans and they said “no, we don’t”.) and Don Callis is invited to show up so Khan can start teaching him about wrestling. Still funny, with Schiavone being far funnier than he should be.

Eric Young talks about losing his mother to sickness and how sickness and disease can destroy anything. He’s sitting in front of a handcuffed Cody Deaner and promises to baptize him in the holy water of change. Can we go back to Khan talking about how horrible this show is?

Chris Bey vs. Manik

Non-title and Rohit Raju is here with Bey. Manik gets taken into the corner for some choking to start but he’s back with a slingshot headscissors. Something like a torture rack into a reverse Samoan drop plants Bey and Manik sends him outside. The dive connects and we take an early break.

Back with Bey hitting an elbow to the back and going after the mask. Manik fights out of a chinlock attempt and hits a kick to the chest. Bey takes him right back down into a seated abdominal stretch but this time Manik is right back with a belly to back. A quick dropkick puts Manik on the floor though but he’s right back in with a high crossbody. The Detonation Kick looks to set up the double underhook chickenwing, allowing Bey to hit a low blow. Raju tries to come in and go after the mask, so Bey has to stop and yell at him. That’s too far for Raju, who hits Bey in the back of the head to earn Bey a DQ win at 11:32.

Rating: C. Both guys are good in the ring and looked fine here though I’m curious to see where things go. If nothing else, TJP is awesome in whatever role they give him and it’s nice to see him getting a story with some prominent. Raju continues to rise through the ranks and Bey is rather good at anything he does so I approve of all of this.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Sting’s entrance at Final Resolution 2006, setting up his win with Christian over Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown.

Than Page tells Josh Alexander that it’s all going to be ok, even though he lost at Final Resolution. Josh doesn’t want to hear it though because they can’t be a team right now. Page says we (yes we) will always have your back. Page leaves and here’s Brian Myers to say he’s a tag team specialist who won the Tag Team Titles in front of 82,000 people. A team is proposed but Alexander would rather beat him up. Good move man.

Back on the bus, Omega calls Rich a b**** and Callis tells Anderson to go get his name back from the Guns. Anderson goes off (again) but Omega is kind of ticked off about Swann. He is here to make this show about them instead of Swann and it’s been a long time coming.

Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Kiera Hogan/Tasha Steelz vs. Taya Valkyrie/Rosemary

Rosemary takes Steelz down without too much trouble and it’s Taya coming in to whip Steelz into a suplex from Rosemary for two. Some right hands to the head have Kiera in trouble but Steelz gets in a cheap shot from the apron. Kiera grabs a neckbreaker for two and brings Rosemary into the corner so Steelz can kick her in the ribs. Rosemary gets in a quick Upside Down for a breather but Kiera pulls Taya off the apron to break up a tag attempt.

That doesn’t last long as Rosemary gets over for the hot tag a few seconds later. Taya starts cleaning house, including a spinebuster to Kiera. Cue Deonna Purrazzo and Kimber Lee to beat up Rosemary and since the referee doesn’t see it (because he’s not that good), it’s Hogan hitting a superkick into a fisherman’s neckbreaker for the pin on Taya at 7:25.

Rating: C. The match was working well enough until the dumb referee not noticing anything happening, even when Taya was looking outside for a long stretch. Kiera and Tasha advancing isn’t a surprise as they are one of the only regular teams coming into the tournament, but at least they had a decent match on the way there.

Eric Young continues to indoctrinate Cody Deaner about how wrestling is a disease. A sickness cannot give back or provide because it can only take from you. Eric says a parasite latched onto him and Cody says he never saw it. Joe Doering opens a cell door and that’s that.

Kiera and Tasha dance about making it to the finals and promise to win the titles. Tasha says there is no money in the gold fanny pack but here’s Johnny Swinger to talk about when he and Buddy Rose cut off a guy’s finger in Portland. They storm off and Swinger steals the gold fanny pack, complete with the roll of money in a hidden compartment.

Josh Alexander vs. Brian Myers

Alexander goes after him to start but gets taken down with a quick legsweep. Cue Ethan Page to help but Myers posts him for his trouble. Back in and Myers takes Alexander down for some knees between the shoulders. The chinlock goes on but Alexander fights up, only to be sent into the corner. Myers loads up his clothesline…..and here’s the Karate Man (Page’s alter ego) to jump Myers for the DQ at 3:14.

Rating: D. This feels like a parody of a bad wrestling segment, which is probably what they are going for, but they did get Myers off television in a hurry. Nothing match of course, but Page as the Karate Guy does seem a little amusing. It seems like the end of the North though, which is kind of a shame but after that long title reign, they didn’t have much else to do.

Cody Deaner admits that he has the disease so Young pours water over him and declares him cured and free. The world belongs to us. Great. Young is getting a stable.

Acey Romero comes in to tell Tommy Dreamer that Larry D. was set up. Dreamer doesn’t buy it but here are Rhino and Cousin Jake to say Eric Young is poisoning Cody Deaner’s mind. Dreamer tells the two of them to do something about Young and Doering, unless they’re scared.

For the next two weeks: The Best Of 2020.

Chris Sabin vs. Karl Anderson

Alex Shelley is here with Sabin. Joined in progress with Anderson taking him over with a headlock but getting reversed into a headscissors for a standoff. Sabin picks up the pace and runs Anderson over but can’t get la majistral. We see omega and Callis not paying attention as commentary says the two of them are paying attention. Anderson gets in a boot rake to the face and Sabin gets sent hard into the corner.

A few kicks to the ribs don’t get Sabin very far as Anderson rakes the eyes to cut him off again. Anderson sends him hard out to the floor and we take a break. Back with Anderson taking him down in a rather aggressive chinlock before switching to an armbar. That doesn’t last long either as Sabin fights up and a collision gives us a double knockdown.

Sabin starts the comeback with a running elbow in the corner followed by a high crossbody for two. A running boot in the corner sets up a tornado DDT for two more and they’re both down. They slug it out until a double clothesline knocks them both down again. They pop back up and it’s another double clothesline for yet another double knockdown. It’s Anderson up first with the spinebuster for two but a rollup with trunks is enough to finish Sabin at 17:26.

Rating: B. This was a rather solid main event and that’s great to see on any given show. It’s a pretty simple formula: take two guys who can work rather well and put them in a match against each other for a long time. That’s the kind of thing that is going to work out for everyone and it worked well here. Solid main event and that’s never a bad thing.

Post match Rich Swann comes out to yell at Anderson but leaves with him at the same time. Omega gets up and says watch a master at work. Callis follows him as we see Anderson kicking Swann in the face. The Machine Guns come in for the save so here’s Luke Gallows to break it up. Swann superkicks Gallows but Omega blasts Swann with a wet floor sign. Omega thinks it sounds good to make the six man at Hard To Kill, so Callis makes the match official. Goodbye and good night.

Overall Rating: C+. Much, much better show than last week as they had a theme throughout and then paid it off in the end. Omega actually doing something other than sitting around talking helps a lot too and the six man should be awesome. This is the kind of show that they needed to have last week and even though I’m not a fan of Young, it makes sense to give one of their bigger stars (egads) a bigger story like what he was doing here. Pretty nice show here and the kind they needed to have.

Results

Tenille Dashwood b. Alisha – Spotlight Kick

Chris Bey b. Mania via DQ when Rohit Raju interfered

Kiera Hogan/Tasha Steelz b. Rosemary/Taya Valkyrie – Fisherman’s neckbreaker to Valkyrie

Brian Myers b. Josh Alexander via DQ when Ethan Page interfered

Karl Anderson b. Chris Sabin – Rollup with trunks

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

205 Live
Date: December 11, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph

The rise of the new guys continues around here and that’s a good thing. Curt Stallion is leading the pack and I could go with the title match against Santos Escobar. It’s nice that they’re building things up a bit as while Stallion is unlikely to win the title, he is gaining a lot with the victories that are setting it up. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tony Nese/Ariya Daivari vs. Bollywood Boyz

Nigel dancing with the Bollywood Boyz is always worth a chuckle. Samir fights off the early double teaming attempt and it’s off to Sunil for two off a clothesline. A double suplex gets two more but the way too early Bollywood Blast attempt misses. Nese comes back in with a chinlock and then a torture rack, which looks quite impressive on someone who can be bent around like Samir.

That’s broken up and Nese dropkicks Daivari by mistake, allowing the hot tag to Sunil. Everything breaks down and the superkicks abound, meaning that NOW the Bollywood Blast can connect for two. Nese makes the save but it’s Daivari hitting a Rock Bottom on Samir. The Running Nese knocks out Sunil on the floor and the Persian Lion splash finishes Samir at 5:22.

Rating: C-. Just a match here as the Bollywood Boyz’ fall continues. It’s not a big deal to lose to Daivari and Nese, as they needed a boost after their losses to the young guys. It helps when the Boyz have more charisma than they know what to do with and my goodness it’s a lot easier to watch them as faces. Not a good match, but at least it helped the bigger names.

Curt Stallion/Ashante Adonis/August Grey vs. Legado del Fantasma

This is a rematch from the Takeover: WarGames bonus match, which apparently only aired on the YouTube channel a few days after the show. Adonis and Mendoza start things off with Adonis driving him into the corner without much trouble. They trade headlocks until Adonis shoulders him down. Wilde tries to come in and gets caught in a flapjack, followed by a kick to the face to put Escobar on the floor.

Stallion comes in but the distraction lets Mendoza knee him from behind to take over. Escobar hits a heck of a chop for two on Stallion but he kicks Wilde into the corner, allowing the tag to Grey. A gutwrench powerbomb gets two on Wilde and a victory roll gets the same on Mendoza. Escobar low bridges Grey to the floor though and it’s time to take Grey into the corner.

Some running clotheslines in the corner have Grey in more trouble and a suplex into a splash gives Mendoza two. We hit the cravate (with Escobar giving tips on how to crank) but Grey slips out and makes the hot tag to Stallion to clean house. Stallion’s top rope splash hits Wilde for two with Mendoza having to make the save. Everything breaks down and Stallion rolls Wilde up for the pin at 9:54.

Rating: C+. This is where 205 Live has been doing well as of late. No this stuff has no value anywhere else and no the title match isn’t going to be the most important thing, but they are making it feel like a big deal around here. The match and the build are being treated as something important and that is what makes this feel so much better. Good enough match too, with Stallion’s roll continuing.

Post match Escobar loads up a cheap shot on Stallion but Grey and Adonis make the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The main event means a lot more and it carries the show well enough. I’m not sure when they are finally going to get to the title match, but they have done a good job of turning what should be nothing into something I kind of want to see. That’s amazing for a show like 205 Live and this is working out rather well. Good enough show here though and that means a lot for probably the lowest show on the WWE menu.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Main Event
Date: December 10, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe

It’s the last show in the Amway Center before everything moves over to Tropicana Field. Somehow Main Event has actually shaken things up a bit in recent weeks and I could go for more of that. This is the kind of thing that the show has needed for….well several years now and hopefully that is the case again. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory of Pat Patterson.

Opening sequence.

Here is Elias to open things up….and Jaxson Ryker of all people is with him. Elias talks about being electrocuted on Raw last week but he can still play his guitar like this. The electricity gave him a vision though, just like Ryker. The vision taught him that the universal truth is WWE stands for WALK WITH ELIAS. Cue R-Truth with the usual band of idiots, with Ryker taking out Akira Tozawa. Truth gets on the commentary table and says that he likes his own song better. Rapping ensues.

We recap Roman Reigns telling Jey Uso to beat some respect into the rest of his Survivor Series team, setting up the big showdown with Kevin Owens.

From Smackdown.

Otis/Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns/Jey Uso

There is no Reigns to start so Jey has to go it alone. Otis wastes no time in blasting Uso with a clothesline, only to miss a charge into the post. Owens comes in and gets caught in a Samoan drop so here are Reigns and Heyman to even things up. An enziguri puts them both down again and it’s Reigns coming in with a Superman Punch to drop Otis. Reigns isn’t done and he sends Otis into the announcers’ table, the post and the steps.

Just to make it worse, Reigns picks up the steps and CRUSHES Otis over and over. Owens tries to make the save but Jey takes him down as well as we take a break. Back with Owens in a handicap match this time and getting kicked down by Uso. Owens manages to send him into the corner for the Cannonball though and the backsplash crushes Jey again.

Back up and Owens hits his own Samoan drop, allowing him to glare at Reigns. Owens demands that Reigns get in the ring but the referee stops him, allowing Jey to hit a superkick. Jey goes up top but Reigns tells him to tag out because he is finishing this. Owens knocks Reigns off the apron though and drops Jey, only to have Reigns break it up for a lame DQ at 11:26.

Rating: C. This was more about story development than the wrestling and there is nothing wrong with that for a main event like this one. Owens has been talking a lot but now he has woken the beast and things are going to get a lot harder in a hurry. The other important part here is with Uso, who is feeling more and more in place in spots like this, which is almost hard to believe.

Post match Reigns and Uso grab chairs to destroy Owens. The Superfly Splash onto a chair onto Owens makes it worse….and Reigns hits Jey with the chair. Reigns shouts about having to do it himself and unloads on Jey. Reigns yells that Owens has his attention and hits him in the face. Owens should have just taken the title but he had to attack Reigns’ family so now Reigns is taking his manhood and livelihood. Reigns poses with the title to end the show.

From Raw.

Sheamus/Drew McIntyre vs. Miz/John Morrison/AJ Styles

McIntyre shoves Morrison around to start and there’s a headbutt to drop him again. Sheamus comes in and trades arm holds with Morrison before hitting him in the face. Miz gets knocked outside and Sheamus and Morrison follow, where Sheamus almost knocks McIntyre down. Instead, the two of them catch a diving Morrison and toss him onto the announcers’ chairs (geez) as we take a break.

Back with Miz getting planted off a double toss suplex as the dominance continues. Miz gets in a shot to the face and hands it off to AJ to hammer away in the corner. Morrison gets to do the same but Miz gets knocked away without much trouble. That means it’s back to Sheamus to wreck Miz a bit, only to have Morrison get in a shot to the face. A double shot to the back gets two on Sheamus and it’s time for some right hands to the face. Morrison flips over Sheamus and grabs a gator roll before handing it back to AJ.

Some right hands in the corner have Sheamus in trouble and a kick to the head makes it worse. The Calf Crusher goes on but Drew breaks that up in a hurry. That allows the hot tag to Morrison, who starts sending Morrison flying (so much that one of the cameras is sent reeling). A double northern lights suplex has Miz and Morrison down again as everything breaks down. The Brogue Kick hits McIntyre by mistake and it’s the Phenomenal Forearm to finish Sheamus at 15:47.

Rating: D+. This took its sweet time getting somewhere but the ending was the right call. Sheamus feels like a much bigger threat to McIntyre than Miz and Morrison and AJ is the biggest threat out of all of them. In other words, they have a good story in there but Miz and Morrison are just kind of there to clog things up.

We see Sheamus and McIntyre brawling in the back later in the night. They beat up Pat Buck to make things better.

Keith Lee vs. Angel Garza

Garza TAKES OFF HIS PANTS before the bell and we’re ready to go. Lee throws him down to start so Garza has to rethink things. A wristlock has Garza in trouble and Lee knocks him to the floor to make it even worse. Back from a break with Lee unloading in the corner but Garza finally gets in a chop block.

The basement dropkick connects but Lee isn’t having any of this being covered. We hit the chinlock for a bit before another basement dropkick gets a delayed two, as Garza can’t turn him over that easily. Lee hits Grizzly Magnum to stun Garza though and the Spirit bomb finishes Garza off at 10:51.

Rating: C. It’s nice to see Lee win for a change as you don’t see it that often over on Raw. At least they had a decent enough match before the ending, which you don’t get to see very often around here. Lee getting to show off his power is always a good thing and the match worked out fine for the spot it was in.

We look back at Randy Orton finding out that Alexa Bliss may be the Fiend’s weakness.

From Raw.

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt

Bray shoves him around to start and they head outside with Orton being dropped onto the announcers’ table. Bray grabs a headset and says yowie wowie we’ll be right back to send us to a break. Back with Bray in trouble and Orton chokes away in the corner. The stomping sets up the chinlock but Bray fights up and goes Pat Patterson with an atomic drop.

Bray’s crossbody sets up an implant DDT for two but Orton reverses Sister Abigail into the backbreaker. A quick trip to the floor doesn’t work for either of them so Orton pokes him in the eye back inside. The hanging DDT connects but then the lights start going out. The RKO connects on Bray but the lights go out….and Orton is covering the Fiend. It’s the Mandible Claw to put Orton down to end the show as we’ll say the match was a no contest at 11:45.

Rating: C. This wasn’t much to see but the ending was a good way to go. The Fiend running through Orton at the pay per view could be interesting if that’s the way they go, but it doesn’t hurt anything if Orton gets the better of Wyatt. It isn’t like Bray got pinned or anything so this was just a way to get to the ending, which worked out fine.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m still trying to get my mind around a Main Event with a little effort put in, but this wasn’t much to see. Above all else, there is nothing on here worth seeing, especially the return of Jaxson Ryker of all people. Not the worst show or anything, but it doesn’t exactly make me want to see Raw, which has been the case for a good while now anyway.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Fusion #113
Date: December 9, 2020
Location: Gilt Nightclub, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jared St. Laurent, Rich Bocchini

Last week’s show was the best since the Restart and we’re in for some good stuff if they can keep that up. What matters here is capitalizing on the momentum and the big piece is in place as the Von Erichs defend the Tag Team Titles against Contra. That could go either way so let’s get to it.

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

Contra says MLW hasn’t taken control of anything and promises to bring the heroes to their knees. Look at what they have done to Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Alex Hammerstone. Tonight, they come for the Tag Team Titles.

Opening sequence.

Zenshi vs. Calvin Tankman

Zenshi’s legsweep has no effect to start and a dropkick to the back just annoys Tankman. A hurricanrana sends him into the corner and a kick to the head staggers the monster a bit. That’s about it for the offense though as Tankman plants him with a spinebuster and chops away in the corner. Tankman sends him flying but Zenshi knees his way out of a suplex. A handspring Pele rocks Tankman for a bit but he hits Zenshi in the throat. The Tankman Driver finishes Zenshi at 3:44.

Rating: D+. This was designed to make Tankman look like a cross between a tank and a man, which worked out well enough. Having him shrug off everything Zenshi threw at him made for some good visuals, as Tankman seems to be someone they want to push. Given how many names they have lost/are losing, that is one of the most important things they can do at the moment.

Tankman says that’s just a small taste so line him up some more opponents. Heavyweight Hustle is going to knock them all down.

We look back at Richard Holliday and Low Ki winning their first round Opera Cup matches.

Salina de la Renta is at the Aztec Ruins (labeled as such) where she is looking for a certain man. Salina talks about a man being caught in a horrible earthquake in Mexico City in 1985 (uh oh) but a witch brought him back to life. She whips out a knife, licks it, and says she is summoning Pascal Mendoza. This isn’t going to go well.

Dan Lambert doesn’t like Low Ki moving forward in the tournament while King Mo is sitting on the sidelines.

Violence Is Forever vs. Jason Dugan/Robert Martyr

Violence Is Forever is Team Filthy’s Kevin Ku/Dominic Garrini and the jobbers don’t even get first names to start things off. Garrini takes Dugan over with a quick judo throw but a cross armbreaker attempt sends Dugan bailing to the ropes. Ku comes in to step on Dugan’s arm and a brainbuster/kick to the head combination (better known as Chasing the Dragon but not called that of course) finishes at 1:54.

Low Ki is ready to kick Richard Holliday’s Air Pods out.

Holliday hopes Low Ki’s bravado can handle his rarefied air.

We look at Myron Reed challenging Lio Rush.

Rush says he needs no introduction as he is on the way to the studio to record another hit. He won’t be facing Reed on December 23 because Rush is coming for the title on the first show of the new year. Until then, Reed can eat his off brand cereal and train like never before.

We get a sitdown interview with Alex Hammerstone, who isn’t worried about Mags Krugger. He’s also cleared to wrestle so he’ll be back in the ring next week.

Contra hacks the feed and Krugger wants Hammerstone at Kings of Coliseum on January 6.

Opera Cup Semifinals: Low Ki vs. Richard Holliday

Holliday starts fast by stomping Low Ki down in the corner, followed by a hard elbow to the face. Ki is right back with a running elbow of his own and a hard chop, only to get dropped face first onto the turnbuckle. It’s time to start working on Ki’s leg and a belly to back suplex gets two. Holliday switches gears by moving to the arm….followed by a backbreaker as he is certainly mixing things up.

Ki comes back with a choke out of the corner but Holliday falls down into the ropes for the break. Back up and Holliday hits a quick clothesline and they’re both down for a bit. It’s Holliday back up with a heck of a pop up sitout powerbomb for two, meaning it’s time to yell at the referee. A spinebuster gets the same as commentary is getting way into this. Ki dropkicks him into the corner, setting up the Warrior’s Wrath (top rope double stomp) for the fast pin at 9:19.

Rating: B-. This started picking up the pace at the end and that’s great to see from Holliday. I know he gets most of his attention for the talking but he has surprised me in the ring more than once. Ki has been WAY better in MLW than anywhere else I remember seeing him and that’s a great surprise. Both guys were working here and I could have gone with five more minutes.

Post match Ki grabs the Caribbean Title. Sweet on a possible rematch.

We go to the Kings of Coliseum Control Center with Reed defending the Middleweight Title against Lio Rush confirmed.

Reed says it’s time but Rush isn’t taking the title from him.

Tag Team Titles: Contra Unit vs. Von Erichs

Simon Gotch and Jacob Fatu are challenging for Contra. The brawl starts on the floor with the music still playing and the champs taking over. Ross and Simon get in the ring to officially start with Ross snapping off a fisherman’s suplex. Fatu isn’t having that and comes in with the superkick to take over.

Some kicks to the chest don’t do much as Fatu pulls him back in by the leg. It’s back to Gotch for the chinlock for a bit but Fatu comes back in and gets low bridged to the floor. The hot tag brings in Marshall to clean house as everything breaks down. A hurricanrana sends Fatu outside and Marshall claw slams Gotch through a board at ringside. Cue Jordan Oliver and Violence Is Forever for the brawl and double DQ at 7:14.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to get very far and that might be for the best. You absolutely don’t want Contra losing but I can see why you don’t want them to win the titles yet. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a rematch at Kings of Coliseum or on a big Fusion, but for now it was just an ok at best match and the ending came when it should have.

Overall Rating: C. The show had more energy this week and hopefully that keeps up because it helped a bit here. The wrestling wasn’t as good as it was last time around but at least they had a nice show for the most part. They still aren’t hitting their stride with the big matches most of the time but at least the show was decent enough as a whole. I want to see where some of these people go and that’s a good sign for the future.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

I’ve added a menu to the mobile version of the site.  Now you should see a red bar at the top of any page on mobile with a drop down menu option.  This will give you options for things like the home page, All Reviews, Ask KB and more.  I’ll probably be making some more changes in the future too.  Let me know if there’s something that you think would help/would like and if it’s something I can/want to put in, I’ll see what I can do.

KB