IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 3, 2020
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the first Smackdown of the new year and we are on the road to the Royal Rumble. That could mean a lot of things but one of them is likely to be more build towards Daniel Bryan vs. the Fiend II. I’m curious to see where things go, though King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler are in the main event to temper my interest. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Bryan becoming #1 contender last week.

Miz comes up to Bryan and tells him to defeat the Fiend for everyone.

Opening sequence.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Lacey Evans/Dana Brooke vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross

Banks messes with Lacey’s mind to start before bringing Nikki in instead. That means Brooke gets to come in for one off a slam and everything breaks down for a bit. Lacey is sent outside and Bliss dropkicks Banks. Bayley pulls Bliss off the ropes though and the Meteora in the corner gives Banks two. Banks chokes her a bit but everything breaks down again and they wind up on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Brooke cleaning house, including a snap suplex for two on Banks. Everything breaks down again until it’s Bayley stomping on Brooke some more. Brooke fights out of the corner so Banks knees her in the face to set up Bayley’s belly to back suplex for two. An enziguri finally gets Brooke out of trouble and it’s back to Lacey for the standing moonsault on Bayley.

The slingshot Bronco Buster looks to set up the springboard moonsault but Banks pulls Bayley away. That’s only good for two as everyone makes the save so Lacey has to slip out of a double powerbomb. The Woman’s Right hits Banks and Dana adds the Swanton (with a thud) for the pin at 13:17.

Rating: D+. This was a near mess with the match just going and going until someone got the fall. The match didn’t have much of a flow or structure to it and Dana getting the win was rather surprising. In theory this gives Dana and Lacey a Tag Team Title shot but Lacey seems in line to face Bayley so it could be some combination of both.

We recap Dolph Ziggler crushing Otis’ fruitcake.

Mandy Rose comes up to Otis, who didn’t see the fruitcake get destroyed. His mama did though and she’s not happy. Tucker comes up to say they have a match so the two of them leave, with Mandy actually looking sad.

Miz runs into New Day but isn’t in the mood to celebrate the new year. Big E.: “I watched the balls drop.” Kofi: “There’s only one ball. What were you watching?” Big E: “I don’t know!” Kofi tries to make Miz feel better by saying Miz won the most titles in the 2010s, though Big E. points out that Miz was tied with Kofi himself. That’s not enough for Miz, because Fiend violated his family’s home. The pancakes are turned over and a match seems to be made for later.

Here’s Elias for a song. This one is about how many things need to change in 2020, like Shane McMahon going to Raw and Revival being harder to watch than Dolph Ziggler’s comedy act. He also implies that he’ll be in the Royal Rumble.

We look at Revival getting beaten up in the Miracle on 34^th Street Fight.

Revival doesn’t like being made to look like bad jokes. They want respect in the new year but here’s Chad Gable to say embrace who you are. Revival makes fun of Gable for being short, but Gable says they don’t bother him anymore. His new motto is Rise Over Size (egads) and the result is Dash vs. Gable tonight.

Shorty G. vs. Dash Wilder

Scott Dawson is on commentary for more short jokes as Wilder gets two off a suplex. Gable is back with a high crossbody for two before grabbing the ankle lock. That’s reversed into a rollup for two, with Cole calling Gable inspirational. Dawson: “He’s inspirational because he’s short???” Another ankle lock makes Wilder tap at 2:52.

Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz

Kofi sweeps the leg and hits a quick splash for two, setting up the monkey flip to frustrate Miz even more. A back elbow to the jaw drops Miz again and it’s time for a breather on the floor. Back in and Miz kicks away at the ribs in the corner, setting up a running knee for a bonus. Miz charges into a kick to the head though and Kofi adds a top rope chop to the head. Miz’s reverse DDT is blocked but so is the SOS. The Skull Crushing Finale doesn’t work either and Kofi rolls him up for the pin at 3:54.

Rating: C-. These two are always good for a passable enough match and it seems Miz is a heel all over again. To be fair that fits him better, as it’s pretty hard to cheer for him when he failed against Wyatt at the pay per view. Just let him be a heel again because neither face run has worked for the most part.

Post match Miz jumps Kofi to end the face experiment again. Miz shouts that he’s given the fans everything.

Daniel Bryan says he’s winning the title at the Rumble, so Roman Reigns enters the Rumble. That would make Bryan vs. Reigns at Wrestlemania so Bryan says bring it on. They’re ready for their tag match tonight.

Post break Cathy Kelly knocks on Miz’s door but John Morrison answers, saying Miz has nothing left to say tonight.

Otis vs. Drew Gulak

Before the match, Gulak says that he is an expert in matters of the heart, which means he knows Mandy would never date Otis. We have a POWER POINT PRESENTATION but Otis jumps him to start in a hurry. A suplex sends Gulak flying and another drops him in a hurry. There’s a gorilla press but hang on as Dolph Ziggler is hitting on Mandy in the back. Otis throws Gulak down and hits the Caterpillar, setting up a Vader Bomb for the pin at 2:27.

Braun Strowman vs. Cesaro

Cesaro has Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura with him. They do the power lockup to start with Cesaro getting launched into the corner. Strowman cleans house and chases the other two off of the apron as we take a break. Back with Cesaro diving into a choke but reversing into a quick sleeper.

That’s broken up in a hurry so Cesaro hits a running uppercut in the corner. Another misses though and Strowman heads to the floor for the train of shoulders. Sami comes in for a distraction so Cesaro can send Braun into the post. The Neuralizer is countered into the running powerslam to finish Cesaro at 8:12.

Rating: D+. Just a match here with the break eating up a good chunk of it. Strowman is pretty obviously getting the Intercontinental Title shot at the Rumble and he might as well win the thing. It’s not like it matters who wins it at this point so trading it to someone more popular might be an improvement over what we have at the moment.

Post match Nakamura hits Strowman with Kinshasa so the trio can leave.

We recap Roman Reigns attacking King Corbin last week.

Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan vs. King Corbin/Dolph Ziggler

Corbin jumps Reigns at the bell and gets punched in the face for his efforts. It’s off to Ziggler, whose neckbreaker is easily broken up so Reigns can hit a big boot. Bryan comes in and kicks away….but we have the Fiend laughing and lights flickering. Back from a break with Reigns kicking Corbin in the face but running into Deep Six for two. Corbin sends him into the steps and Ziggler begs Reigns to do something.

The Superman Punch finally gets Reigns out of trouble and it’s back to Bryan to pick up the pace. Bryan elbows Ziggler down and hits the YES Kicks, only to miss the big one. Ziggler’s rollup is reversed into the LeBell Lock with Corbin making the save. Reigns spears Corbin and Bryan knees Ziggler….as the lights go out. The Fiend is here so Bryan hits him with a suicide dive.

Fiend gets posted but is right back with the Mandible Claw to send Bryan through the barricade. The Claw goes on again and there go the lights, meaning the Fiend is gone. Ziggler and Corbin jump Reigns as he goes to check on Bryan, meaning it’s time for the handcuffs and dog food. Cue the returning Usos for the save though, which is pretty long overdue. We’ll say the match ended at about 10:00.

Rating: C-. This was all just a means to get to the end of the match and that’s fine as it didn’t exactly overstay its welcome. That being said, this didn’t help hide the fact that Ziggler and Corbin aren’t exactly as interesting as a lot of the other people on the show, including the three other people involved in the match. Not a bad match or anything, but a means to an end more than anything on its own.

Overall Rating: C. While the wrestling wasn’t great, this show felt like it had stuff happening. There were four returns (only one of which we knew was coming) and you can see where the stories are going. Compare that to Raw where it feels like the stories either have no direction or are having twists thrown into them to keep things going. This may not be the most thrilling show, but it’s a structured show and doesn’t leave you wondering what you just watched. Unfortunately it doesn’t leave you overly entertained, but I’ll take that over Raw almost every day.

Results

Lacey Evans/Dana Brooke b. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross and Sasha Banks/Bayley – Swanton to Banks

Shorty G. b. Dash Wilder – Ankle lock

Kofi Kingston b. The Miz – Rollup

Otis b. Drew Gulak – Vader Bomb

Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns b. Dolph Ziggler/King Corbin via DQ when the Fiend interfered

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: January 2, 2020
Location: Bonus Arena, Hull, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips

We’re back from a week off and it’s time to hit the gas on the build towards Takeover: Blackpool II. Most of the card is either already set or all but set, meaning it’s time to firm everything up. That is where NXT shines so hopefully they can do the same thing over in England. Let’s get to it.

Sid Scala and Johnny Saint confirm Tyler Bate vs. Jordan Devlin and Trent Seven vs. Eddie Dennis for Takeover. Nothing wrong with keeping these announcements quick.

Opening sequence.

Dave Mastiff vs. Kona Reeves

Before the match, Reeves rants about how unfair it was when the fans threw him off against Trent Seven a few weeks back. The jet lag messed up his nutrition and his sleep so he wasn’t ready! Then there’s Mastiff, who used to be undefeated around here. Now he gets to go home and tell his family that he was defeated by the Finest.

They go to the floor almost immediately and Reeves’ dive is puled out of the air. He’s fine enough to slip out and send Mastiff’s knees into the steps a few times in a row. Reeves ties him in the ring skirt for more shots to the head before taking it back inside. A DDT gets two on Mastiff and a big boot connects for the same. Mastiff is right back with a suplex into the corner and Into The Void is good for the pin at 3:18.

Rating: C-. Mastiff gets another win and I got to see Reeves getting crushed so I’m rather pleased with the whole thing. Mastiff is someone who surprises me quite a bit most of the times he’s in the ring and this was no exception. He only hit two moves here but Into The Void is a good finisher and something they have built up as a winning move so they’ve got a little something there.

Here’s Toni Storm for a chat. Kay Lee Ray took her to a very dark place and it made her snap on someone she considers a friend. Therefore, she would like to talk to Piper Niven right now. Cue Piper in person and Storm says she hasn’t been cool to Piper lately. Before they get past this though, Toni needs a favor. She’s going to need Piper to step aside from the title match so she can deal with Ray on her own. Then after Toni gets the title back, Piper can get the first title shot.

That doesn’t seem to be happening as Piper says she’s gone through a lot to get here and Toni has had her shot. Toni grabs her but Piper nails a headbutt, only to immediately regret it. Referees break it up so here’s Ray to laugh at the brawl, sending Toni after Piper again. It’s a good idea to give Toni and Piper a reason to fight because it makes things more of a triple threat, which you don’t get very often.

Takeover rundown.

Kassius Ohno vs. Ligero

We get a production gaffe as the recap video says this is fallout from “earlier this year”. Ohno grabs the arm to start but Ligero flips out in a hurry. A forearm puts Ohno down and he shouts that HE’S TRYING TO WRESTLE! Back up and Ligero starts kicking at the leg, including a dropkick to the thigh. Ohno misses a flip splash attempt and gets anklescissored out to the floor early on.

Ligero throws him back in but gets caught with a neckbreaker over the ropes to put him right back down. The Kassius Clutch goes on with Ohno demanding that Ligero not make Ohno hit him. Ligero slips out and hits a missile dropkick so Ohno goes for the mask, as he did in their previous match. That’s broken up and Ligero gets two off a sunset flip, only to have Ohno pull him down off the ropes. Another Kassius Clutch on the mat makes Ligero tap at 6:55.

Rating: C. Just a match to get Ohno back on track here as he lost a big one to Tyler Bate and needed a correction. Ligero is someone the fans are going to get behind every time and it’s not like a loss really hurts him. It’s good to have people like him around and I’m impressed that Ohno has had some staying power around here. Usually he loses and moves on but this could have some legs.

Post match Ohno says he’s back to being the best in the UK because no one in the back knows anything about British wrestling. Tonight he beat Ligero with wrestling instead of knocking him out because he is the greatest British wrestler alive.

Joseph Conners interrupts an A-Kid interview to say he is worthy of a spot on Takeover.

Dave Mastiff tells Kassius Ohno that if he wants a match with a British heavyweight, Ohno knows where to find him.

Ashton Smith/Oliver Carter vs. Outliers

Moss gets a running start to run Smith over as they’re starting fast. Carter is right back up with a kick to the face, only to get caught with a running elbow to the face. Mack comes in for a big toss but a double dropkick puts him out on the floor. Some double forearms do it again and Smith and Carter clear the ring.

Back in and Mack gets more serious with some running elbows to Carter in the corner. The aggressive Moss forearms Carter down in the corner but Carter fights out of a chinlock. That’s enough for the hot tag to Smith so house can be cleaned, including some kicks to the faces. Moss shoulders Smith right back down, only to get small packaged to give Smith the pin at 5:52.

Rating: C. Another standard match here with Smith and Carter finally picking up a win. The Outliers are a team who look rather good but might not have enough to back it up in the ring. The tag division is pretty stacked around here and having two more teams like this is a good thing. That being said, finding roles for all of them to play could be rather tricky.

We get a rather awesome video on the Tag Team Title ladder match with all four teams talking about how important the titles are and how all four teams want to be the best. The clips of classic ladder matches make it even better.

Ilja Dragunov vs. Alexander Wolfe

No DQ with Gallus and Imperium barred from ringside. Dragunov comes to the ring but sneaks through the dark arena to attack Wolfe during his entrance in a smart move. The fight heads to ringside with Dragunov getting the better of it, only to have Wolfe post him. Dragunov is fine enough to hit a spinning chop into a backsplash, setting up a big ax handle out to the floor to knock Wolfe silly.

Wolfe is right back up to disarm Dragunov of a kendo stick so Dragunov says bring it on and goes for the stick, only to get kicked in the face. Some stick shots to the back have Dragunov screaming but he blocks the big shot to the head. Wolfe is back with a kendo stick legsweep into a backbreaker for two, followed by the stick going across the mouth. That’s broken up as well and Dragunov starts striking away with the cane as well. Dragunov hits a heck of a shot to the chest on the floor, meaning it can be table time.

The table is set up in the corner and Dragunov kicks him down to the floor again. Wolfe is right back up with a chair shot though, setting up a Death Valley Driver onto the apron for the big knockdown shot. Dragunov hits a quick enziguri and shakes his head as Wolfe goes for the chair. Said chair is put onto Wolfe’s face in the corner for a Coast To Coast and a near fall, only to have Wolfe come back with a chair shot of his own.

Wolfe can’t follow up though so Dragunov throws in a bunch of chairs of his own. That takes too long so Wolfe grabs a German suplex and a DDT onto the chair for two. A chair gets sent into Dragunov’s throat but Dragunov gets up and says bring it. That’s what Wolfe does, by slamming the chair around Dragunov’s hand. Wolfe does it to the other hand as well but Dragunov is back with a clothesline and a running Death Valley Driver through the table. Torpedo Moscow finishes Wolfe at 14:52.

Rating: B+. They beat the fire out of each other here and this was the kind of match that shows Dragunov’s incredibly high potential. He could be a top star around here in a heartbeat because of his insane facials alone but when you throw in his ability in the ring, the star power is even stronger. Heck of a match here and I had a great time with it.

Post match Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel come in for the beatdown. Walter approves from the stage but Joe Coffey runs out for a cheap shot on Walter before bailing from the numbers advantage.

Overall Rating: B. This show did what they needed to do to make me want to see how Takeover is looking. They only have a little time left to really hammer things down and that’s what they did here. The main event was awesome and I want to see these people fight again. Now that the setup is going well, the payoff needs to work as well, and that very well may be the case. Check out the main event if you have the time.

Results

Dave Mastiff b. Kona Reeves – Into The Void

Kassius Ohno b. Ligero – Kassius Clutch

Ashton Smith/Oliver Carter b. Outliers – Small package to Moss

Ilja Dragunov b. Alexander Wolfe – Torpedo Moscow

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Royal Rumble 1994
Date: January 22, 1994
Location: Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Attendance: 14,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Ted DiBiase

Vince is on commentary here and gets to do his carnival barker stuff. The guy knows how to make a show sound exciting, I have to give him that. DiBiase comes out to do commentary with McMahon due to having to retire late in 1993 due to a bunch of injuries.

Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Tatanka gets in a shot to the head and tries a top rope sunset flip, only to have Bam Bam sit on him. When all else fails, sit on the other guy. Off to a bearhug for about two minutes before Bigelow drops him with a shoulder block. Tatanka starts his war path thing so Bam Bam decks him in the head with an enziguri to drop him. The moonsault misses though and Tatanka goes up again, this time hitting the cross body for the pin.

Rating: C+. Shockingly hot opener here and if you cut the bear hug in half or so, this is a really solid match. They stuck to the formula really well here and the match was good as a result. This is one of the nice surprises in wrestling: on paper this sounded horrible but it turned out to be a pretty nice match. Good opener.

Tag Titles: Bret Hart/Owen Hart vs. Quebecers

Intercontinental Title: IRS vs. Razor Ramon

Guess who is defending here. JR and Gorilla Monsoon do commentary for this match. IRS goes on a big rant about how evil the crowd here is for not paying their taxes, even though they have about three months left to file. Razor goes off on IRS to start, knocking him out to the floor. IRS comes back with some forearms but Razor punches him right back down to take over again.

Ramon hits a bunch of basic stuff like atomic drops and clotheslines for some two counts, but IRS ducks under a clothesline to send Razor out to the floor. Back in and IRS goes up but jumps into a boot. For one of the only times I can EVER remember this happening, IRS avoids the foot and drops an elbow for two instead. WHY IS THAT SO HARD FOR PEOPLE TO DO???

Or maybe another referee comes out to explain the interference and the match is restarted. Razor hits the Edge to retain.

Bearer and Undertaker are making a coffin for Yoko.

We recap the world title match, which is Yoko being scared of Taker and Taker being one of the last hopes to stop the monster. Apparently the contract was signed before Yoko and company knew it was a casket match. Taker I believe debuted his popping out of the casket spot in this feud.

WWF World Title: The Undertaker vs. Yokozuna

AND HE GETS UP. Diesel comes out and they get Taker in the coffin but he fights ALL OF THEM OFF. Yoko steals the Urn and hits Taker in the head with it before opening the Urn. Green smoke comes out of it and Taker now is powerless. Everyone hits a bunch of moves on him as this goes on WAY too long. After ALL THAT, Taker is put in the coffin and Yoko retains the title.

BUT IT GETS WORSE!

Then, to REALLY hammer home the point, the image on the screen starts to rise up through the top of the screen (which should be the top of the casket, meaning it should be ramming into the people that put him in the freaking casket) and A FREAKING BODY RISES OUT OF THE TOP OF THE SCREEN. AS IN A TANGIBLE BODY (which might have been played by Marty Jannetty).

The usual Rumble interviews eat up some time.

Royal Rumble

Mabel is #16 and dang there are some big guys in there. He goes right for Diesel in a terrifying preview of Summerslam 95. Mabel cleans house until Sparky Plugg (Bob Holly as a racecar driver and debuting here as a replacement for the 1-2-3 Kid) is #17. Shawn Michaels is #18 and stares down Diesel to start. Everyone gets on Diesel and Shawn gives the final push to eliminate him. Diesel gets a VERY audible ovation and chant as he leaves.

For your big face pop of the match (other than Diesel): Bret Hart is #27 and limping very badly. Today, people would have a bandage on the knee and charge to the ring because modern wrestling is stupid. Fatu is #28 and DEAR FREAKING GOODNESS THROW SOMEONE OUT ALREADY! A bunch of guys team up and FINALLY throw Crush out as Marty Jannetty is #29. Naturally he goes right for Shawn and punches Shawn to the apron.

Ratings Comparison

Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Original: B

Redo: C+

Quebecers vs. Bret Hart/Owen Hart

Original: A+

Redo: B-

Razor Ramon vs. IRS

Original: C+

Redo: D+

Yokozuna vs. Undertaker

Original: F

Redo: F

Royal Rumble

Original: B

Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: C-

DANG I liked this show a lot better on the first viewing.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/13/royal-rumble-count-up-1994/

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Royal Rumble 1994
Date: January 22, 1994
Location: Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Attendance: 14,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Ted DiBiase

A year later, and while the roster hasn’t changed a ton, it’s matured a lot. Yoko has dominated the title scene since winning the title from Hogan in June after the mess that was Mania 9. He’s taking on Taker tonight in their first of the two casket matches that they had. Yes, it’s that match. We also have Razor in another title match and not in the Rumble as he’s now a face and fighting IRS for the IC Title.

The Rumble is more or less Yokozuna and his cronies against Luger with Hart on the side. Yoko had been feuding with Luger but Luger can’t have another title shot. Since the Rumble winner gets a title shot, Luger and Cornette who also worked for Yoko made a deal: Luger can fight in the Rumble but Cornette gets to bring in some guys that will represent Yoko.

That would have been nice to have been told to us on the PPV, but why waste time with that when we can remind you that WE ARE LIVE! Also, we have the next chapter in the brother war, which will be nothing but awesome so let’s get to it.

The crowd is hot if nothing else. Vince on commentary just works better for some reason, despite me loving Monsoon and Heenan. DiBiase I think was a surprise on the mic here as he just kind of pops up after Vince does the main intro. You have to give him this: he’s absolutely insane about his product. I defy you to find someone more dedicated to his company. There’s a reason why he’s the most successful promoter of all time.

DiBiase gets insane heat and it’s a shame he broke his neck and was pushed down the card so far over the years. He says he was in every Rumble to date, which just isn’t true, so at least he’s got the theory behind being a commentator down already: lie about stuff and hope no one remembers.

Note: this is important for one major reason: Brooklyn Brawler actually WON A MATCH in the dark match, beating Jim Powers. He is officially the joke of the company.

Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

This was supposed to be Ludvig Borga but Borga hurt his ankle and never came back. Tatanka starts out fast and this could be a solid match, on this LIVE SHOW! He gets a nice jumping DDT on Bigelow as I can’t believe it but Tatanka is actually impressing me. Luna is with Bigelow here in one of the strangest concepts in wrestling history that worked beautifully. For the first time ever, guys in the earlier matches are going to be in the Rumble as well which is something long overdue at this point.

Both announcers have a small orgasm over a running splash. God bless overhyping. Why does Vince always suggest stuff? I don’t get that at all. This isn’t bad at all, but the bear hug isn’t helping it. Vince says that only in the WWF will you ever see a man of Bigelow’s size use a moonsault. That is of course until he went to both WCW and ECW and did it there too. It misses though, and Tatanka hits a basic cross body off the top for the win. Wow that came from out of less than nowhere.

Rating: B. This was actually good for what it was: an 8 minute opener. Tatanka won clean and the fans were into him so it got a good reaction. That’s what an opener is supposed to do: get the crowd built up a little bit. This wasn’t anything great but I’ve certainly seen worse matches. I liked this one a lot though, so there we are.

We hit the recap button on Bret and Owen’s issues and their teaming up. This stems from the Survivor Series match where Owen was the only member of his team eliminated, which for some reason ticked him the heck off. I guess it was because Bret was in a way the cause of him getting eliminated, but at the same time you could argue that it was only Owen’s fault.

Bret said that he would love to help Owen forge a path and legacy in the company, and his way of doing this was helping Owen get his first championship: the tag team titles. How that helps Owen get out of Bret’s shadow was never explained but whatever.

We see clips of the Quebecers losing the belts and then getting them back a week later. That was really pointless as it kind of makes them look weak but we can overlook that. We go to Bret and Owen with Todd as Owen is behind Bret in some great symbolism.

Tag Titles: Bret/Owen Hart vs. Quebecers

Quebecers are managed by one Johnny Polo, who in less than a year would be in ECW as a character called Raven. So I’ve watched about 15 minutes of this so far and I have no complaints. It really is a great tag match. I’m not going to go into the discussion of this match as it’s really good and there’s nothing I can poke fun at other than DiBiase and Vince trying to sound cool which fails epically. Anyway, after about 13 minutes, we get to the point.

The point of the first 13 minutes: Bret and Owen are awesome. Eventually, Bret has the ropes pulled apart and hits the floor, injuring his knee. Following an overblown sequence in which his knee is hit by a chair, the post, the guard rail and a golf club, his knee is a bit hurt. We hit the ring again and Bret is just getting destroyed. His knee is gone and he can barely stand up. He does however dodge the Quebecers finisher and looks for Owen.

However, there’s no tag. Why isn’t there a tag? There isn’t one because Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but his knee gives out and the referee calls for the bell due to injury. Owen is TICKED and I can’t blame him. As Bret limps to his feet, Owen kicks him in the bad knee, sending him to the mat in agony and turning Owen heel, setting up the EPIC feud for the rest of the year.

On his way to the back Owen says that Bret was selfish and all he had to do was tag Owen and they would be champions. Bret is still holding Owen down and Owen has had enough of it. Despite Bret being in agony, Vince sends Ray Rougeau to the ring to find out about him. Well isn’t that nice. As Bret is being stretchered out we go to the back with Todd and Owen.

Owen, with Bret watching him on the stretcher, goes into a great angry rant about Bret’s ego and never having a title because of Bret. This is a great promo by Owen here as he just lets out a ton of anger and yells at Bret, although we do get the famous botched line as he says it felt so good when he kicked Bret’s leg out of his leg, instead of out from under him. Anyway, this was awesome. DiBiase applauds him.

Rating: A+. It’s a great match and a better angle that set up one of the best matches and feuds of all time. What kind of a grade do you expect me to give it? Go find this segment as it’s just excellent all around.

IC Title: Razor Ramon vs. IRS

Fink is very excited to announce this match. IRS is really solid on the mic to say the least. JR and Gorilla do commentary here as the other guys do Radio WWF I guess. Razor is insanely over. My goodness the quality of commentary just shot up. The battle royal that Razor kind of won the IC Title in has jumped from 20 people to 30 people in just a few months. Razor is rocking the baby blue tonight.

IRS apparently stole the necklaces and jewelry from Razor and has it in his briefcase, which Gorilla calls a briefer for no apparent reason. The crowd is on fire for this. That’s making up for it being just above average as a match. IRS takes over here and we’re in a formula based match here and there’s not a thing wrong with that. We hear talk of issues with Michaels and Razor. Oh yes. Also, Razor cost IRS a loss to a man named PJ Walker. He’s more commonly known to you as Justin Credible.

We’ve got a ref bump and Razor prevents the briefcase shot and knocks IRS out with it. Razor sets for the edge but here’s Shawn with his IC belt to nail Razor with. Why can’t we watch the ladder match now? IRS…gets the three count? Wait what? Ah there’s the other referee to explain things here. They did the same thing with a Borga match on a tape I think. We’ll ignore the referee’s decision being final too. The Edge ends this about 8 seconds later.

Rating: C+. This was about Shawn and Razor, but that’s fine. IRS is a fine choice for a midcard heel to keep Razor busy until he gets the major feud going. The match itself was probably about the level of something you would see on Raw or a house show, which doesn’t mean that it’s bad. This was adequate, that’s the best thing I’ve got for it.

Paul Bearer says nothing out of the ordinary.

WWF Title: Undertaker vs. Yokozuna

This is a casket match. For your backstory here, it’s pretty simple: Taker is the only top face that hasn’t fought Yoko yet, so this is his shot. Oh and of course Yoko is scared. Yoko comes out first with Cornette, who looks like his twerpy best from the 80s and Fuji. In something that I wish I was making up, Vince cuts off DiBiase to say we are LIVE! I know I make fun of that a lot, but come on now Vinny.

Anyway, this is considered an epic battle, but Taker is just beating the tar out of him. They’re trying to make Taker look like a god here and they’re doing a pretty epic job. However, despite being slammed into the steps and being fine, salt to the eyes apparently is his kryptonite as all of a sudden the same move has him messed up. Back in the ring, Yoko’s offense that has killed the likes of mere Hogans has no effect here.

Taker beats down Yoko with relative ease and after maybe 6 minutes has him in the casket ready to close the lid when we get to the real part of the match: the run-ins. Crush is first, fighting Taker back but naturally getting beaten down. Kabuki of WCCW fame and Tenryu run in next but are also stopped by Taker. Bigelow comes out as Crush and the others are back up. It’s 4-1 now and Fuji has stolen the urn.

Yoko is back up now too, but Paul Bearer actually takes out Cornette and Fuji to get it back! Here he comes again! Taker is fighting them off again, but a shot from the salt bucket apparently does nothing at all. Adam Bomb is here now. Here’s Jeff Jarrett to make it 7-1. The Headshrinkers make that number 9 but Bearer holds up the urn and TAKER COMES BACK AGAIN!

Ok, now wait a minute. I can get him coming back 4-1, considering Tenryu and Kabuki were just henchmen and he’s shown that he can beat the tar out of Yoko on his own. Crush is tough but Taker is better, so that’s actually plausible. But come on: NINE guys?

Oh if that’s not enough, Diesel is here too and finally they get him in the casket. Just remember the match is still going on here. Something occurs to me. These guys are coming down presumably because they hate Taker or they’ve been bought off I’m assuming.

A question rises from this: WHERE ARE THE OTHER FACES??? I mean DANG. Savage hates Crush, Luger hates half the guys in there, Tatanka had a match with Bigelow earlier tonight, it’s the mid 90s so I’m sure Razor has beaten half these guys for the IC Title already. The Steiners can’t stand the Headshrinkers, and yet not a single one of them come down. I don’t think that was ever addressed but it makes no sense.

If nothing else, Taker could have been turned heel when he got back over that, but I guess it wouldn’t fit witht he character. Blast it has a big logic hole in it though. Anyway, Taker AGAIN fights back, this time from in the casket but Yoko steals the urn and hits him with it, which apparently is more powerful than 9 guys beating on him but whatever. The top comes off the urn, and green smoke comes pouring out of it.

Taker stops getting up, and after a ton of finishers and big moves, FINALLY they close the casket. Bigelow jumping on top of it as soon as it’s shut made me chuckle for some reason. However, we’re not done yet. The heels, all 12 of them, start wheeling the casket back, and the gong is heard. Smoke similar to the kind from the urn starts coming out of the casket as the lights go out.

On the screen, we see a shot of Taker lying on his back (despite being thrown in on his stomach/side) and his eyes pop open. He gives a ridiculously over the top speech, which amazingly can be heard throughout the arena, more or less saying that he’ll be back. Oh also, we’re led to believe this is inside the casket, despite seeing the bottom of the lid of the casket is plain wood. We hear electrical sounds and the screen looks like it’s being electrocuted, until the image of Taker actually explodes.

I don’t mean that in a figurative sense. I mean it looks like the Death Star blowing up, but all that’s left is a negative picture of Taker, as in his body and clothes are all white and his skin is black if you know what kind of picture I’m talking about. Oh we’re not done yet. That image is then changed so that it looks like he’s rising up out of the screen, and then to top it off, a man (allegedly Marty Jannetty) is on top of the screen and raised up on visible strings into the rafters.

There’s just one problem: On PPV, YOU CAN’T SEE ANY OF THIS! I’ve seen this show about 10 times and until I read about it, I had zero idea what was going on that Vince and DiBiase were freaking out about. This time I knew what to look for and I could see it, but DANG I had no idea that’s what was going on for years.

Vince and Ted scream about how supernatural that was. After the heels run off, Bearer has the now smokeless urn and is pointing up while pushing the casket away. That was just…uh yeah.

Rating: F. This is an F for one reason: they have just completely screwed up Undertaker’s character. This match, and more importantly the smoke from the urn being the source of Taker’s power reminded me of the Midi-Chlorians from Phantom Menace. You don’t explain the Force. You just know what it is and what it’s capable of, but you never question it.

That’s why Taker worked so well. We just knew he had powers and abilities, but by trying to explain them or show what they were was just a waste of time. This was insane and just didn’t work at all. Taker would be out for about 7 months until LESLIE FREAKING NIELSEN was brought in to “solve” the case in a horrible comedy bit at Summerslam. Yeah, Vince really didn’t have a freaking clue how Taker’s character worked. This was horrible. Oh and the “match” sucked too.

Savage says he’ll win the Rumble and get Crush.

Jarrett says he’ll win too.

Tatanka says there’s no friends and he’ll win.

Diesel says he’s going to Mania. Well I’d hope so. I’d hate for Vince to keep his own employees from going.

Doink is excited.

Shawn says he’ll be the new champion at Mania.

Luger says this is his big chance.

Vince and DiBiase says anything can happen and keep talking about Taker.

Royal Rumble

After Howard goes over the rules, we’re ready to go. Oh and it’s 90 seconds this year instead of 2 minutes. Number one is Scott Steiner and he gets Samu of the Headshrinkers. What a coincidence AGAIN! They punch the heck out of each other and again, the idiocy of power vs. power is shown. Also considering this is Samu this isn’t going to go well at all. The clock is sponsored now. I give up.

Rick is #3, so shockingly a team has gotten almost consecutive numbers. How do people not catch this time after time? As the Casio clock, so at least it’s a watch company, gets us to zero, Kwang is 4th. He’s more commonly known as Savio Vega in case you’ve never heard of him. As he comes out, Samu misses a cross body and gets his head caught between the top and middle ropes to be eliminated soon after.

Kwang hits the Muta mist to Rick to get it to one on one. DiBiase points out how easy it would be to just have the Steiners beat on everyone as they came at them which is true, but what does he know? Vince says Rick is smarting from the mist still. I think he said that so that it can be said that Rick is smart for the only time in his career. Scott is rocking the Triforce on his singlet so if nothing else he looks cool.

Owen Hart is fifth to some HUGE boos. He takes out the visually impaired Rick without much trouble and the double team on Scott begins until Bart Gunn is in at 6th. This is going too fast. Apparently something has happened in the back. Well it’s good to know that everyone isn’t just sitting around doing nothing. Diesel comes in at 7 to apparently clear out some of these guys.

At this time he’s just a body guard with zero character to him at all. In about 40 seconds he drops all four guys and we have Backlund in at 8 and it’s one on one. Well at least we have something close to a story going here with the dominant giant. He hits the ring and starts crawling on his stomach. It looks dumb at first but DiBiase does his job and points out that Bob is going after Diesel’s legs.

People on Raw and Smackdown: PAY ATTENTION! That is what an analyst is supposed to do. He explained something that might have been a bit confusing otherwise and he’s got the resume and experience to be believable. See what I mean? It looked a bit odd, so the analyst said what’s going on. That wasn’t complicated at all, but some clarification is always a good thing. They can do more than make stupid jokes you know.

Bob actually gets Diesel close to out but just can’t do it which is fine. A few seconds later Diesel is on his own again, which for some reason surprises DiBiase. And Ted, you haven’t been in every Rumble. You’ve been at them all, just not in them all. Get your facts straight.

Billy Gunn is next, and apparently you can find out the order of the wrestlers by calling the WWF Hotline. WOW. Ok, where to begin with why that’s stupid. #1, it ruins the mystique of knowing who is in the match. 2, that’s the first time we’ve heard about that all night long so nice job of advertising. 3, who in the world thought that was a good idea? Never mind, it’s a Vince McMahon show and there’s money to be made. All is explained.

Anyway, mullet man is victim #6 of Big D, lasting maybe 15 seconds. What’s up with the way he punches? It’s like he hits people with the wrist. We see a clip from earlier to Tenryu and Kabuki jumping Luger in the back. Yeah you can tell it’s been a dominant performance if we have time for a segment during the match. The power of Shane Stevens stops them though.

Virgil is #10 as an alternate for Kamala and despite DiBiase laughing hysterically over it, Diesel drops him in about a minute. Wow we’re already a third done with this. We have a story here though so I’m very proud. This is a new approach to the match that really is working. Also we don’t have to worry about the ring filling up with jobbers. Ah here we go: Randy Savage is number 11 and he hammers the big man.

See this is a smart way of doing the Rumble: they had all those guys like the Gunns and Virgil and Kwang that weren’t going to mean a stupid thing and got them in and out so the bigger names can be around later on. That’s very smart and it gives you a bonus of making Diesel look amazing. I’ve always been a bit surprised that DiBiase and Savage’s feud from 88 was really never mentioned on WWF TV after it ended.

There was never any mention of them having any issues or of DiBiase main eventing a Wrestlemania or anything like that. It’s like it was forgotten, and it’s not like DiBiase is on bad terms with the company or something like that as far as I know. He’s made a ton of appearances over the years yet you never hear about it. Anyway, Jarrett is 12th as I have visions of WCW dancing in my head.

I kind of liked the Jarrett story of using wrestling as a springboard to country music. That’s very original if nothing else. Savage takes him out with relative ease so we’re back to him and Diesel again. It’s Crush to a huge reaction from the audience. He and Savage were in the middle of a mega feud at this point which was just purely awesome. For the life of me I don’t get why Crush never got a huge push.

Him against Hart would have been very interesting at least to me. Doink comes in because I guess there wasn’t enough stupid comedy to meet the quota. Savage is gone and we’re at two monsters against a clown. He actually is smart though as he just watches the big men fight. He actually sprays water from a flower and steps on their toes. Thankfully they wake up and beat the tar out of him as Bigelow comes in at fifteen.

This is going really fast but there’s a bit of a flow to it here and it’s not as bad as I expected it to be. Bigelow puts Doink out with the same thing he did to I think Spike Dudley in ECW, which had just started to be booked by Heyman two months prior to this show.

Since he’s an idiot, Crush hits Diesel when they have Bigelow an inch away from being out. Mabel is 16th as the smallest person out there is Crush as 6’9 and about 310lbs. Diesel goes right for him as I’m digging this planning of the Rumble. There’s been distinct segments here and that’s a major plus. And here’s Bob Holly to screw that up. He’s subbing for 1-2-3 Kid. WOW that’s not a good way either way.

WE ARE LIVE! WE GET IT ALREADY VINCE! What’s the freaking point in showing wide shots of the crowd and saying how live we are? I didn’t buy this PPV to be shown the audience. I bought it for the matches, so quit showing big wide shots of the stupid crowd and emphasizing that you’re live. It means jack and no one cares but you. WOW how many things could that be said about that he’s come up with?

Shawn is in at 18. All of the big guys get on Diesel and Shawn gives the final shove to put him out. That gets no reaction at all. He gets some applause on his way out though, and you can hear the wheels turning in Vince’s mind. Mo, the most worthless wrestler of all time is in next. Greg Valentine (seriously???) is in at 20 to a decent pop (seriously???). 21 is Tatanka to a short but loud pop.

To recap, we’ve got Crush, Bigelow, Mabel, Holly, Shawn, Mo, Valentine and Tatanka in there at the moment. Kabuki is in next as someone else that no one knows. A bunch of people jump Mabel and he’s out, which surprises Vince for no apparent reason. Luger sprints out with apparently no damage at all to him from the earlier attack and naturally goes straight after Kabuki, and there he goes.

In a STUNING, yes STUNNING I say, turn of events, Tenryu is next at 24. The buzzer rings for 25 but no one comes out, which was apparently Bret Hart. To recap, we have Crush, Bigelow, Holly, Michaels, Mo, Valentine, Tatanka, Luger and Tenryu. Luger and Michaels could have been an interesting feud. Martel, more commonly known as he who will not go away, is 26th and it amazes me that we’re this close to being done.

At 27, in the words of Vince, IT’S BRET HART!!! He’s limping badly so of course everyone goes for his knee. He’s barely in there when Fatu is out at 28. We’ve got WAY too many people in there at the moment with something like 11 or so. A ton of people get together to eliminate Crush as Marty Jannetty comes in and goes right for Shawn. Now, since we have 10 guys in the ring, what’ the best thing to do? Why, go to the back to hear from Crush!!!

Yep, they actually cut from the ring to Ray Rougeau in the back with Crush for an interview. Savage jumps him and they brawl. This would have been stupid if it went on for 20 seconds, but it lasts over a minute! Also you can see Adam Bomb clearly standing there getting ready to come out so it also gives away #30. We get back to the ring and apparently nothing has happened, but geez how freaking stupid was that? They hate each other, we get it already.

Ok, so with Bomb, who Vince says will win the Rumble, gives us a final group of Bomb, Bigelow, Holly, Shawn, Mo, Valentine, Tatanka, Luger, Tenryu, Martel, Fatu and Jannetty. Oh and they figure out that the guy that didn’t show was Bastian Booger.

Bret and Shawn eliminate Holly. They work very well together. I hope those two do more in the future. With such great teamwork they could really do some great things. Ok bad jokes are mostly over as we have 11 people left. Dang that’s just too many at the end. Bret Hart beats on Mo which has to be the highlight of Mo’s career. Bret is limping everywhere, so he wins salesman of the year already. Valentine is out.

They’re just kind of mulling around at this point. Martel is out by Tatanka. Bomb is out as we’ve rapidly picked up the pace. Mo is out and gets no recognition by name. I love that. Bam Bam just throws Tatanka out like a jobber. Are these guys all double parked or something? Bigelow does a Flair Flip and goes out by Luger. Jannetty goes out and we’re down to five with Luger, Hart, Tenryu, Michaels and Fatu. Hart and Luger get rid of Tenryu to take us down to four.

Bret and Shawn go at it, as I’m completely unstunned. Shawn and Fatu go out on stereo backdrops and we’ve got Luger vs. Bret. They go right at it and dump each other out at the same time. Both men are announced as the winner individually and since Hart gets a bigger pop I guess he wins.

They’re named co-winners, even though later on we would see video where Luger clearly hit the ground first. Tunney comes out and makes the official co-winner decision. This led to a coin toss where the winner would get the first title shot at Mania and the other guy had to fight someone “of an equal level”, which led to Bret vs. Owen. Had Bret won the toss, Luger would have fought Crush.

No matter what, the person that didn’t get the shot would get the title shot later in the night against whoever had the belt after the first title match. I like that system a lot better than the triple threat which wasn’t around in the WWF yet. Granted that could be because we’ve seen so many triple threats that they’ve lost their luster. Anyway, that ends our show.

Rating: B. This was a good Rumble. I was quite surprised that the intervals worked as well as they did here, since the shorter ones usually don’t work that well. This had a lot of segments in it and you could tell that it was well planned. 92’s was better simply because of star power, but this is easily the 2nd best so far.

I really liked this match and it did a lot of good things, including advancing stories and making you interested in seeing how they would fix the issues brought up in the match. That to me makes it a success. It’s not great, but it’s very good.

Overall Rating: B. This was a mostly solid show. If you factor out the Taker/Yoko debacle this is an instant A. Razor vs. IRS is probably the weakest match but it works very well and certainly isn’t bad at all. The Rumble itself is a good one and the tag titles is must see stuff.

You factor in all those things and this was a very good show. There’s more here than just the Rumble, but that’s the centerpiece. Overall definitely a good show and well worth checking out, as long as you’re not a diehard Taker fan because you might want to shoot your TV.

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: December 26, 2019
Host: Scott Sanford

It’s going to be another week of just recaps here as this week’s Monday Night Raw was taped in advance. That being said, it’s not like anyone was paying attention to the television shows in the previous few days anyway. I’m not sure how well this is going to go but you never can tell with what they’re going for with this show. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Bray Wyatt beating Miz at TLC after shrugging off everything Miz threw at him. This switches into short haired Daniel Bryan returning to attack Bray, setting up a likely title match at the Royal Rumble.

Opening sequence.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Bryan for an opening chat. Bryan talks about how he looked in the mirror after Bray’s attack on him a few weeks ago. His hair and beard were gone, but what he saw was the lack of the Daniel Bryan brand. Then he went home and when his daughter saw him without his hair and beard for the first time ever, she cried. Bryan sees something new in his face. He doesn’t see the man who main evented Wrestlemania, but rather the man who worked for years to get here. Bryan wants Wyatt out here right now but here’s the Miz instead.

Miz talks about how what happened to Bryan was terrible, but Wyatt attacked him personally. Bryan doesn’t know what it’s like to have his home violated so Miz wants revenge. He’ll be taking what Wyatt treasures most when he takes the Universal Title. Cue King Corbin to mock them for being bad fathers before playing a loop of the announcement that he won on Sunday.

Corbin says he’s next in line for Wyatt because the two of them have failed as wrestlers and fathers. The fight is almost on but here’s Dolph Ziggler from behind for the beatdown so Corbin can stand tall. So yeah Bryan is back and everything, but it’s Corbin and Ziggler to open things up again. I know you’ll hear this thrown around a lot, but this felt like WWE just trolled us by bringing out Corbin and Ziggler in another opening segment.

From Smackdown.

Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. New Day

Non-title and Cesaro’s entrance now looks like the Matrix. Kofi dropkicks Nakamura down for an early one so it’s off to Big E. to run Nakamura over as well. A spinning kick to the head drops Big E., so he’s right back with the Rock Bottom out of the corner. Cesaro makes the save so Kofi hits a big flip dive to take Cesaro down outside. A running clothesline drops Big E. though and Nakamura adds in a knee to the head.

Big E. gets sent into the steps and we take a break. Back with Nakamura kicking Big E. down but Kinshasa is blocked with a heck of a clothesline. The hot tag brings in Kofi to clean some house, only to get caught with Swiss Death. The Cesaro Swing gets two but the Neutralizer is broken up. A rather sloppy small package finishes Cesaro at 12:02.

Rating: C-. Pretty paint by numbers match which felt like it could have been on any house show. To be fair though, it’s not like they are going to do anything significant on this show and the champs won. Cesaro taking falls isn’t even worth getting annoyed over anymore either and that’s a sad reality….which we’ve been in for years now.

Post match the beatdown is on but Braun Strowman makes the save and hits the running shoulders around the ring.

Video on the Seth Rollins/AOP vs. Kevin Owens.

From Raw.

Mojo Rawley vs. Kevin Owens

Owens runs him over to start and throws in a bunch of chairs. Back in and Mojo manages a fireman’s carry faceplant onto said chairs for two. The chairs are set up next to each other and Mojo actually slams him onto them for two more. Since being slammed onto opened chairs doesn’t really hurt, Owens hits a superkick into the Swanton for two of his own. A table is brought in and it’s a Stunner into the Pop Up Powerbomb through the table to finish Rawley at 6:30.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure what to think about this one. They were smart to keep it short because no one was going to buy Mojo as a threat to Owens, but it wasn’t interesting in the first place and the match was just an annoyance for Owens. The No DQ part was just a detail and a way to increase the violence, but it never got interesting or really close to it.

Post match, Owens calls out Rollins and the AOP for a fight. Post break here are Rollins and AOP with Rollins saying a lot of things without having a microphone. He offers a handshake but Owens superkicks him down. That means a beatdown from the AOP though and Rollins is back up for the Stomp. This sends Samoa Joe into a rant about how those aren’t men because they’re just thugs. Someone needs to strike first so you can tell one story.

From Smackdown.

Daniel Bryan/The Miz vs. King Corbin/Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler gets in trouble early and it’s the stereo YES Kicks to both villains. Bryan hits some YES chants and we take a break. Back with Bryan hitting the running corner dropkicks on Corbin but the Deep Six plants Bryan. Ziggler’s big elbow gets two and it’s back to the corner to keep up the beating. The trash talk is on and Ziggler hammers away in the corner.

Corbin hits a running clothesline but takes too long bragging, allowing Bryan to hit the missile dropkick. Miz comes in for a bunch of kicks to both and a rollup for two on Ziggler. The Skull Crushing Finale hits Corbin but Ziggler’s superkick is good for two. Another superkick is countered into the Figure Four though and, with Bryan taking out Corbin, Ziggler taps at 10:21.

Rating: C-. This had a little more energy than the other tag match but I’m not exactly buying Miz as a threat to anyone after he got beaten just five days ago. Corbin and Ziggler continue to be little more than villains who just happen to be here and I don’t see that changing. I mean, Ziggler does wear a hat now so he’s changing a little right?

The lights flicker and the Fiend’s laugh end the show, though we do get an announcement for next week: Miz vs. Bryan vs. Corbin in a #1 contenders match for the Rumble title shot.

Video on Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles.

From Raw.

Randy Orton/Viking Raiders vs. OC

Fallout from last week’s main event. Ivar shoves Anderson into the corner to start and it’s off to Erik for a slam of his own. An Ivar knee gets two on Anderson and Erik slams Ivar onto him for two. Gallows comes in for a change of pace and kicks Erik in the head to put him on the floor. AJ gets in a cheap shot and it’s Erik in trouble for a change. The jumping knee gives AJ two and it’s Anderson grabbing the chinlock.

This one doesn’t last long though as Anderson goes with the spinebuster for two instead. Erik gets in a forearm to AJ though and the hot tag brings in Orton. Gallows doesn’t waste time in backdropping him to the floor though and Orton’s already banged up knee is hurt again. The big staredown on the floor takes us to a break and we come back with Gallows working on the knee some more.

Orton fights up and brings Erik back in for the tag so house can be cleaned. Ivar is in rather quickly for a side slam and basement crossbody. Erik drives Ivar into Anderson in the corner and the Viking Experience gets two with Gallows making a save. Orton comes back in off a blind tag as AJ sends the Vikings outside. The RKO is broken up so Anderson takes one instead. Gallows goes after the knee though and it’s the Phenomenal Forearm to put Orton away at 14:01.

Rating: C. This was a bit boring but it tied into last week and gives us a reason to see both matches again. I could go for more AJ vs. Orton as their match last week wasn’t too bad but the Vikings vs. the OC isn’t exactly thrilling. As long as the AOP is walking around, it’s hard to buy anyone else as a major threat to the titles. At least we had something to fill in some time here though, which was part of the point.

And from Raw again to wrap it up.

US Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

Mysterio is defending and Rollins has the AOP. Side note: Rollins no longer has BEASTSLAYER on his Titantron (not sure how long it has been gone but it was there the night after Survivor Series). Good, as that had nothing to do with what he is doing at the moment and involved one feud that hasn’t been active since August. Rollins starts fast but Rey slips out of a suplex attempt. A discus forearm knocks Rey silly so he’s right back with a headscissors.

The 619 misses though and Rey is sent shoulder first into the post. He’s also thrown hard to the floor as we take a break. Back with Rey fighting out of an armbar and sending Rollins outside. That means a sliding sunset bomb into the barricade, setting up the springboard seated senton. A tornado DDT gives Rey two but Rollins scores with the buckle bomb and a low superkick for his own two. The Stomp misses though and Rey hits the 619, only to have the AOP interfere for the DQ at 9:53.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of action that you would expect from these two but the ending saves the big match for another date. It might be an annoying way to end the show but that was the right way to go here. Mysterio can fight Rollins another day, perhaps when he has some more backup. I could go for more and that’s what they were trying to get the fans to want.

Post match the beatdown is on and they go to the announcers’ table. Joe stays in his seat though and doesn’t like being told to move. If he gets up, it isn’t going to be to move. Joe gets up so Rollins gets in his face, meaning the jacket comes off. Rollins walks away but tells the AOP to finish him. The beatdown is on and Joe gets taken out as Rollins Stomps Rey. The AOP puts Joe through the table to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. As tends to be the case, this show did little more than remind me of how uninteresting a lot of what WWE is doing at the moment really is. It’s not terrible but it’s just there, and I need more than that to keep my interest from week to week. That being said, it’s still better than having the same nothing matches over and over again so they’re going in the right direction here, even if it isn’t going to last.

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: January 1, 2019
Host: Ian Riccaboni

It’s the second Best Of 2019 show and this time around we’re looking at the Madison Square Garden G1 Supercard. I’m not sure why Ring of Honor would want to do that given that it was where everything started to fall apart, but they might as well get whatever tiny bit of credit they can, despite New Japan being responsible for the success. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a clip of Kazuchika Okada winning the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Jay White in New York.

From the G1 Supercard.

Never Openweight Title vs. ROH TV Title: Will Ospreay vs. Jeff Cobb

Title for title. They shake hands before the bell and Cobb wastes no time in shouldering him out to the floor. Ospreay gets in a shot for a breather and runs back in for a Flying Space Tiger Drop, which is pulled out of the air. Whatever Cobb was trying is countered into a tornado DDT on the floor but he’s fine enough for the delayed vertical superplex for two back inside. There’s a hue toss across the ring as the power vs. speed is on full display early on.

We hit the bearhug with Ospreay having to elbow his way to freedom and nailing a spinwheel kick to the face. Pip Pip Cheerio gets two but it’s way too early for Stormbreaker as Cobb reverses into a fall away slam. The Samoan drop into the nip up into the standing moonsault gets two as Cobb gets to show off. Ospreay grabs the ropes to avoid the Tour of the Islands and it’s the Spanish Fly to drop the monster. A missile dropkick to Cobb’s bad shoulder keeps him in trouble but Code Red only gets two.

The Oscutter is broken up and Cobb turns him inside out with a clothesline. In a scary sight, Cobb goes up but misses the frog splash. The Oscutter is countered with Ospreay being thrown into the corner, where he bounces right back to make it connect on a second attempt for two. A hook kick to the head drops Cobb and there’s the Cheeky Nandos kick. Ospreay makes the mistake of trying a super Stormbreaker though because it’s a super Tour of the Islands to crush Ospreay dead. A regular version gives Cobb the pin and both titles at 12:56.

Rating: B. That was fun and the perfect choice for an opener. Cobb looked like a star who survived everything Ospreay could throw at him and hit his crazy power moves to retain/win. Power vs. speed is almost as basic as you can get in wrestling and when you do it right, it’s a very cool match, just like this one was.

We look at Rush beating Dalton Castle in less than 20 seconds with Ian explaining the whole thing over the video.

Video on the Honor Rumble.

From G1 Supercard to wrap it up.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven vs. Marty Scurll

Lethal is defending in a ladder match and Taven is played to the ring via piano. The ring announcer makes it clear that this ladder match is ONE FALL. You can tell Lethal is fired up to be here, as he should be. Marty goes straight for a ladder so Jay baseball slides it into him. Taven is right there with the no hands dive to take them both down but bangs up his wrist in the process. Lethal goes with some chairs and bridges a ladder between some in the aisle.

That takes too long so Marty jumps him from behind and goes inside to put a pair of ladders in a pair of corners. Lethal and Taven are back in with Jay hitting both of them with ladders to take over. Instead of going up, he bridges a ladder over the bottom rope and of course gets sent face first into it. Marty ties Lethal in the Tree of Woe in the ladder and blasts it with a chair a few times. Lethal is mostly dead so Marty sets up a ladder in the middle, grabs the umbrella, and goes up.

That takes a bit too long though and it’s Taven making the save with a superkick. Taven knees the ladder around Lethal’s neck but it’s Marty going up the ladder. Lethal ties him up in a Figure Four in the ladder but they have to let go so Taven can be stopped. Marty takes a cutter on the apron and Taven powerbombs Lethal onto the bridged ladder in the aisle. This gives Aldis another chance to be the best analyst in wrestling today because he ACTUALLY ANALYZES THINGS.

Back in and Marty gives Taven a 619, which further injures his knee. Taven ladders Marty down and the fans are all over him, because Taven is as popular as a bad fungus. For some reason Taven climbs a ladder in the corner, earning himself a superplex back down. Lethal comes back in and flips out of the chickenwing attempt. With Marty down, Lethal goes up, punches Taven down, and gets caught in the chickenwing on the ladder.

Taven goes up as well and gets his fingers snapped but Lethal kicks them both off the ladder. A Lethal Combination sends Taven into the ladder and Lethal misses a charge, putting one ladder through another in the corner. Marty drops Taven onto the X between the ladders but walks into the Lethal Injection. Lethal throws the double ladder outside and it nearly knocks out half of the first row. Fans: “THAT’S A LAWSUIT!”

Scurll gives Lethal a brainbuster on the floor and loads up a table as Aldis is suddenly very anti-Lethal. Taven is back up and spears Marty off the apron and through the table. They’re both down so Lethal pulls out another table and the big ladder, setting up Hail to the King for the crazy spot of the match. Lethal and Marty go up but Taven busts out a big purple ladder. They all get knock down as Aldis has to explain to Riccaboni why a taller ladder is a good idea. Taven climbs up, hits Lethal in the head with the title, and wins at 29:38.

Rating: B-. This was good for the most part but it’s the worst possible outcome that deflated the crowd. The fans just do not want to see Taven on top of the company and have made that very clear. Instead, he gets the World Title because ROH had put so much time and energy into him that they just did it anyway. The match was entertaining but could have been at least ten minutes shorter on an already long show where New Japan has already lapped ROH five times.

Overall Rating: B. As I was getting some of the matches from the original review, it was really painful to see how much New Japan dominated the Ring of Honor side. The matches were better and their star power was higher, making everything feel that much better and more important. It was a good enough show but it really made me sadder than anything else. Ring of Honor could be something special, but right now, things are not looking good.

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

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: December 25, 2019
Host: Ian Riccaboni

It’s time for the first of two Best of 2019 shows, which is likely going to draw some jokes given how things have been going around here. They have a lot of stuff to pick from and thankfully Ring of Honor is the kind of promotion which is much better when they focus on the wrestling and not the storylines. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a look at Shane Taylor winning the TV Title in a four way match in Toronto.

From Best In The World.

TV Title: Bandido vs. Shane Taylor

Taylor is defending and Bandido slaps him in the face to start. That ticks Taylor off so Bandido can start ducking and dodging in a fast manner. They head outside and this time Taylor catches him with a powerbomb onto the apron to take over. Back in and the chinlock goes on but Bandido kicks him in the head for the break. Another kick to the head sets up a corkscrew crossbody to send Taylor outside.

You don’t do that against a luchador and it’s a running dive to take Taylor down again. Back in and another middle rope moonsault keeps Taylor in trouble but he catches a charge in the corner with something like a chokeslam. The middle rope splash gives Taylor two but Greetings From 216 is broken up. A superkick rocks Taylor but the 21 Plex is blocked with a grab of the rope. The powerbomb and a knee to the head set up a package piledriver for two on Bandido.

That means frustration sets in so Shane goes up….AND BANDIDO CATCHES HIM IN MID AIR??? That’s the kind of thing that impressed people when Diesel did it to Bret Hart so good freaking grief man. Bandido powerslams him for two and a shooting star gets the same. Another 21 Plex attempt is countered into the Greetings From 216 to retain the title at 12:35.

Rating: B. It takes a lot to truly shock me with a spot but Bandido, who is far from a big guy, pulling Taylor out of the air, actually stunned me. I don’t remember the last time that happened but my goodness it was awesome. Bandido is a lot more than just a high flier but he’s awesome at that too, making this one a very nice surprise.

Highlights of Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven in a 60 minute draw at the 17^th Anniversary Show.

From Global Wars Espectacular.

Villain Enterprises vs. Okamura/Rey Bucanero/Hechicero/Barbaro Cavernario

Back from a break with King cleaning house, including a sunset flip from Marty into a King powerbomb for two on Bucanero. The cannonball hits Bucanero in the corner and it’s a brainbuster into a Swanton as everyone makes the save. Hechicero hits a cutter on King for no cover, leaving PCO to get crushed against the barricade. King gets drop toeholded into a double surfboard to make it even worse. Back up and King sends them to the floor for the big flip dive, only to have Hechicero hit his own springboard moonsault.

Cavernario kicks Flip and Marty to the floor for a springboard dive and Bucanero gets launched to the floor. Back in and it’s Hechicero taking the strap down for a strike off with PCO. Hechicero is sent to the floor and that means the PCOsault to take everyone down again. Scurll goes after Okamura’s fingers and it’s King’s backsplash onto Okamura onto Scurll’s knees for the pin at 13:26.

Rating: B. Yeah this worked, with everyone getting to do whatever they could. The point here wasn’t the tag wrestling or anything more than just throwing a lot of people in the ring and letting them do whatever they wanted. The fans liked it and it was a good showcase all around. What more could you want here?

Highlights of Matt Taven winning the World Title in Madison Square Garden.

We hear about the Guerrillas of Destiny vs. the Briscoes in a ladder war too violent for TV.

From ROH TV, July 31.

Briscoes vs. Dragon Lee/Rush

It’s a brawl to start (yes, in a Briscoes match) with Lee sending Mark to the floor off a hurricanrana. Jay and Rush trade flips and corner splashes, followed by Jay getting forearmed down. Lee and Mark trade kicks but Lee’s suicide dive is caught in midair for a double suplex.

We take an early break and come back with a notice that this match has been edited for content. Lee is in trouble as Mark hits a swinging suplex before handing it back to Jay for some shots to the face. A double shoulder puts Lee down again as the fans are WAY into the Briscoes here. Lee sends Mark into the corner and brings Rush in for the running slap and a nice reaction. Everything breaks down with the Briscoes being sent into the barricade a few times each.

Back in and Rush makes Jay scream off a chop, setting up a double basement dropkick. A bloody Mark comes back in and gets caught with a basement dropkick of his own. Rush and Lee hit the Tranquilo pose and we take a second break. Back again with Mark using a chair for a big springboard flip dive onto everyone. The Froggy Bow (with Mark’s face blurred for the blood) gets two on Rush with Lee making the save to a chorus of booing.

The slugout is on with Mark getting the better of it but getting caught with a reverse hurricanrana. Jay gives Lee a Death Valley Driver but Rush is back up with a snap German suplex to put everyone down. It’s Mark up with a Rock Bottom suplex and Jay loads up the Jay Driller on Rush. That’s broken up without much effort and Lee hits a running hurricanrana over the ropes to send Mark from the apron to the floor (sticking the landing, of course). The Bull’s Horns hits Jay for the pin 13:11.

Rating: B. I could go for the full version of this one as these four beat the heck out of each other and saved the show. While I can’t imagine Rush sticking around and not winding up in either WWE or AEW, ROH needs to push him to the freaking moon. He’s the best thing they’ve had in a LONG time and having him run through Taven in about ten seconds would be a great thing to see. The Briscoes have proven themselves time after time and Rush/Lee looked every bit as good. It’s a heck of a fight and the kind of high impact match you only get in the tag division around here, so I’ll take what I can get.

Overall Rating: A-. As is the case with almost any Best Of show, they could pick and choose whatever they wanted here and that’s a lot better than trying to take PCO seriously as the top guy in the promotion. They didn’t do anything storyline related here and they shouldn’t have tried. Ring of Honor has all of the material they need and we got a nice selection here so very well done, even if it’s not their usual stuff.

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

IMG Credit: AEW Wrestling

Dark
Date: December 31, 2019
Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Dasha Gonzalez

It’s the end of the year and we’ll be looking at the Best of 2019, despite not having a year’s worth of material to cover. That being said, there’s more than enough to fill in a show like this and it’s better than putting something like this on an episode of Dynamite that no one will watch. Let’s get to it.

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

The hosts welcome us to the show and tell us what we’ll be seeing.

From Dynamite, October 2.

Cody vs. Sammy Guevara

Brandi is here with Cody and that is a lot of pyro. Feeling out process to start with Sammy’s speed giving Cody some issues. A trip to the floor lets Cody have a breather and it’s back in for an armbar from Sammy. That’s broken up as Cody powerslams him down and slaps on the Figure Four so we can hit the WOOing. Sammy makes the rope so Cody kicks him down again and does some pushups, setting up a springboard cutter/Stunner for two. Sammy is right back with a slingshot cutter for two of his own.

Cody sends him outside as well though and nails a suicide dive….which hits both Brandi and Sammy. Thankfully Brandi isn’t knocked cold and gets in a shoe to Sammy’s head, setting up Cody’s Disaster Kick for two. To mix it up a bit, Cody takes it to the top rope for a reverse superplex for two more. They head up again with Sammy hitting a super Spanish Fly, only to have a shooting star hit raised knees so Cody can small package him for the pin at 11:52.

Rating: C+. They were clearly jazzed to be on a big show and you knew Cody was winning here to set up his World Title shot at the next pay per view. The spots were good here and Sammy was fine for a villain here. They didn’t need to do anything more than get through a fast paced match here and that’s what they did. Nice first match with Cody playing the face role well.

BUY MERCH!

From Dynamite, November 27.

Pac vs. Kenny Omega

Omega starts fast with a snapdragon and sends him to the floor for the big dive. Pac gets in a kick to the ribs but it’s another snapdragon to put him back down. The suplex off the apron doesn’t work as Omega gets knocked to the floor with Pac nailing a moonsault as we take a break.

Back with Omega striking away in the corner and hitting another suplex. Omega goes up though and gets caught in a super Falcon Arrow for two. The Black Arrow is loaded up as JR congratulates Excalibur for getting in the Bowling Shoe Ugly line. Omega rolls away to make Pac crash and there’s the V Trigger to set up the One Winged Angel. That’s reversed as well so Omega rolls him into a crucifix for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: B-. This felt like the structure of a Pac vs. Omega match but it needed another eight to ten minutes to really make it work. What we got was good enough though and Omega won clean to continue his road to redemption. Pac losing again so soon after the loss to Page is a bit questionable, but so is having this many big matches so soon after the show debuted.

WATCH REVOLUTION!

From Dynamite, October 9.

Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Young Bucks vs. Private Party

Private Party weigh 27 ounces of vodka cranberry and come from a place you need an invitation to. Isaiah Kassidy and Nick Jackson start things off with neither being able to hit a superkick. Nick spits his gum in Kassidy’s face so Kassidy flips out of an atomic drop attempt. Kassidy gets caught in a backbreaker/flipping neckbreaker combination to put the Bucks in control. A dive misses though and Kassidy hits a Lionsault to take him down.

Marc Quen comes in and starts busting out his own dives to a BIG reaction (as he deserves). A 450 gets a VERY close two on Matt but Nick is back in to start the Superkick Party. Nick sunset bombs Kassidy, with the powerbomb onto the ramp for a nasty landing. Back in and a powerbomb/Sliced Bread #2 combination gets two on Marc, setting up the Sharpshooter to work on the back even more.

With Kassidy down, it’s a top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination for two more on Quen. A spear gets two more on Quen as Kassidy gets pulled back off the apron. Quen gets over for the tag a few seconds later though and Kassidy comes in with a missile dropkick. He comes up holding his back but is fine enough to hit a double hurricanrana. Matt rolls the northern lights suplexes to bang up the back quite a bit before suplexing Quen at the same time for two.

The buckle bomb/kick to the head in the corner sets up another Sharpshooter, with Nick adding a facebuster. The tap seems near but Kassidy rapid fire crawls over for the tag. Quen makes a blind tag though and it’s the hurricanrana into the cutter (Gin and Juice) to rock Matt. The perfect shooting star press gets two on Nick and that should have been the finish. The Meltzer Driver is loaded up but Kassidy breaks up the springboard, allowing Quen to roll Matt up for the pin at 13:47.

Rating: B. They had one too many false finishes in the end though I’m happy with Private Party winning. That could have gone either way though, as you can either give Private Party the rub now or give the rub to whoever beats the Bucks in the finals. As long as the Bucks didn’t win though, as there was no need for that to happen. Good match too, with Private Party looking like an incredibly polished team right out of the box.

From Dynamite, October 23.

Here’s Cody for an interview but the Inner Circle starts blowing air horns every time he talks. Cody says that this isn’t like the other wrestling company they used to work for and he can come up there and take Jericho out. Jericho makes fun of him and we get a shot of Cody showing the almost entirely empty hard camera side. After that rather bad angle, here are Dustin and MJF (Jericho: “Now I’m supposed to be scared of someone wearing a scarf? Who wears a scarf?”) to even things up a bit.

Diamond Dallas Page of all people is here to even things up and the Inner Circle bails into a locked room. MJF hands Cody the scarf so Cody can break through the glass and the fight is on as they head into the concourse. JR: “They’re gonna destroy Dip N Dots!” Jericho points at the ticket as security breaks things up and takes Cody away. Jericho was awesome here, as he tends to be.

From Dynamite, October 2.

Women’s Title: Nyla Rose vs. Riho

For the inaugural title and Britt Baker is on commentary. After the Big Match Intros, Riho starts with some dropkicks but gets shouldered down without much impact. Riho knocks her down again and tries a double stomp to the back but Rose just sits up for the block. The STF goes on for a bit until Riho makes the rope to save herself. A running knee sends Rose outside but she’s fine enough to send Riho into the barricade.

The ref takes a chair away so Rose sends her into the barricade again and pulls out a bunch of chairs. She puts Riho on those chairs but the middle rope dive only hits the steel, allowing Riho to hit a double stomp off the apron. Another double stomp sets up a Bank Statement inside and we take a break.

Back with Riho in trouble and making the mistake of trying a backdrop. Some forearms are cut off by a kick to the face but Riho slips out of a powerbomb. A rollup gets a very close two and the fans aren’t pleased by the kickout. Rose’s Death Valley Driver gets two more and she goes up top, only to get caught with even more forearms. A northern lights superplex gives Riho two so she knees Rose in the face for the pin and the title at 13:27.

Rating: C+. Yeah I can’t say I’m surprised. The tiny newcomer beats the seemingly unstoppable monster in your metaphor of the night. The problem with Riho continues to be that her whole character is that she’s small. Rose continues to lose far more often than she should and that was the case here as well. The crowd got into it though and those near falls were quite good at times. Fine match, but it’s going to take some time to get into Riho.

From Dynamite, October 30.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. SCU

For the inaugural titles and they’re just in the ring when we come back from a break. Various teams are watching in the back. It turns into a brawl to start and Pentagon hits the Pentagon Driver for a very early two on Kazarian. The Sling Blade takes Sky down but we settle down to Kazarian slamming Fenix and dropping the spinning legdrop for two, with Kazarian being ready for Pentagon’s save.

Fenix is back up to clean house and Pentagon superkicks Sky on the floor. Sky is sent outside and gets kicked in the face as well, setting up a backbreaker/slingshot legdrop combination to really take him down. Back from a break with Kazarian fighting out of trouble and hitting an Angel’s Wings as an ode to Daniels.

Sky gets the hot tag and everything breaks down (again) with Kazarian somewhat missing a hurricanrana tot he floor. Back in and a pair of tornado DDT drops both Bros for two. SCULater is broken up and Pentagon hits the Pentagon Driver on Kazarian. Fenix’s rolling cutter gets two on Sky, followed by stereo crossbodies to put Fenix and Sky down. Pentagon powerbombs Kazarian through a table at ringside, followed by a splash off of Pentagon’s shoulders for two on Sky. The spike Fear Factor is blocked though and Kazarian cuts Fenix off so Sky can get a small package for the pin at 12:36.

Rating: B. I know it’s a fine rating but that was a rather disappointing result. The wrestling and action was good (though it felt WAY too similar to the six man) but it didn’t have enough time and the ending came out of nowhere. I am a sucker for the fast paced, flying all over the place matches ending with a quick change of gear into a fast pin though and the match was entertaining, but I was expecting a lot more and didn’t get it, mainly due to having everything be so rushed.

And from Dynamite, November 20.

Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley

Allin has a big, special entrance this time with a video of a Moxley body bag being crowd surfed. Allin is then carried to the stage in said body bag for a creepy visual. Moxley comes in through the crowd so Allin takes him down with a dive. They fight into the crowd, including a Thesz press onto the concrete to Moxley. Allin gets thrown back to ringside and an overhead belly to belly makes things even worse for him.

They head inside for the opening bell and Allin hits a shotgun dropkick in the corner. Allin’s high crossbody bounces off of Moxley though and it’s another shotgun dropkick to put Allin in the corner this time. Moxley even chills on the top rope as we take a break. Back with Moxley letting go of an STF, allowing Moxley to hit a running crossbody to the floor. Moxley’s hand is slammed into the steps but he gets knocked off the top, landing on the ropes in the process.

Moxley knocks him to the floor but stops to pick up the body bag, allowing Allin to hit a running flip dive. Back in and a heck of a clothesline turns Allin inside out and it’s time to put him in the body bag. Allin isn’t having that and hits a Stunner, only to get caught in a swinging Boss Man Slam. The Paradigm Shift is blocked and a missed charge into the corner lets Allin get two. Code Red gives Allin two but the Coffin Drop is countered into a rear naked choke. Allin flips backwards for the near fall and Moxley heads up, bites Allin on the head, and hits a SUPER PARADIGM SHIFT (Allin sold it like death too) for the pin at 11:15.

Rating: B. That ending alone makes this work as Allin got dropped HARD on his head for one of the best looking endings in a long time. Allin has become a star during his time with AEW and that is something they had to do. He is the kind of guy who you can point to and say that AEW is creating stars and the more of those they can do, the better they are going to be. Moxley winning here is good too, as he needs to build up his record quite a bit.

Overall Rating: A-. Yeah that’s exactly what it needed to be and all they could have asked for. AEW is built around its in-ring product and showcasing that for an hour and a half is a good idea. The matches covered a lot of stuff in the show’s history and I had an easy time watching everything here. We can get back to normal next week and there’s nothing wrong with something like this as a one off.

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

IMG Credit: AEW Wrestling

Dark
Date: December 24, 2019
Location: American Bank Center, Corpus, Christi, Texas
Commentators: Excalibur, Colt Cabana
Hosts: Tony Schiavone, Dasha Gonzalez

It’s the final Dark of the year and since there is no Dynamite tomorrow, I’m not sure what to expect from this one. That makes things a little more interesting, though there is a good chance that it is going to be a normal show. Your individual taste on that may vary, but having a show on Christmas Eve might not be the brightest idea in the world. Let’s get to it.

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

Tony and Dasha give us the usual welcome, albeit with more Christmas references than you get in most weeks.

Sammy Guevara vs. Brandon Cutler

Sammy is already filming during the entrances so the holiday isn’t messing with his routine. We hit the posing in the corner before Sammy rolls away and dances a bit. A dropkick puts Cutler down and Sammy spins into a pose, followed by the headlock for a bonus. Cutler is right back with a dropkick into the corner and a pose of his own, setting up a suplex to the floor. A big flip dive to the floor drops Guevara, who is right back up with a corkscrew dive.

Cutler is back up as well with a suicide dive and some right hands, only to have Sammy hit a top rope double stomp to the chest onto the apron. Hold on though as Sammy needs to yell at the fans on the mic before getting two. That’s a rather Guevara move to make and it fit him very well. Sammy goes up, points at Cutler, and then drops down for a chinlock instead. Cutler is back with a kick to the head and a Phenomenal Forearm gets two.

Another kick to the head rocks Cutler this time though and a springboard cutter plants him as well. The shooting star press connects but Sammy barely covers, allowing Cutler to roll him up for two in a great false finish. That’s enough for Sammy, who hits something like a reverse GTS for the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C. As much as Cutler is just a warm body in the ring, this was a great showcase for Sammy, who got to showcase himself while also getting a win. He’s such a slimy heel that you want to see get beaten up, which isn’t something you get to see done so well very often. The near fall off the crucifix was a great little moment, but this was the Sammy Guevara show and I had some fun with it.

Tonight, Joey Janela is yelling TIMBER to end Shawn Spears once and for all. He’s the man you won’t forget.

Hybrid 2 vs. Private Party vs. Santana/Ortiz vs. Best Friends

The Hybrid 2 and Santana/Ortiz are backdropped over the corners but they pull the other four outside. Back in and Evans hammers away at Chuck, only to charge into a boot in the corner. Kassidy comes in for the screaming right hands but it’s Santana coming in and allowing a blind tag to Ortiz for a springboard crossbody. Santana hits two Amigos but hands Kassidy off to Ortiz for the delayed third.

Santana and Ortiz aren’t sure what to do but it’s the Best Friends hugging in the ring to break that up. The Friends hit stereo flip dives to take everyone out and it’s Cassidy hitting a dive onto Santana/Ortiz. Back in and Silly String drops Trent but Santana counters another attempt. The referee gets distracted and it’s the loaded sock to Cassidy. The Street Sweeper finishes Kassidy to give Santana the pin at 16:04.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of match where you knew what you were getting and it was still a good time. It worked just fine and they all got to look good for at least a little while. All of the dives and flips were cool and it was a good way to get the crowd going. Now granted if this took place after Dynamite then it missed the purpose but at least the fans got to have some fun.

Here’s Pac, who brings out Michael Nakazawa (with commentary saying that this is taped after Dynamite so no, Pac hasn’t had him captive for six days) to continue the beating. If Kenny Omega doesn’t give him the rubber match, this will continue.

Joey Janela vs. Shawn Spears

Back in and Spears crotches him on top but Janela keeps rolling away as Spears goes up top over and over. The fans chant TEN so Spears does a cartwheel and flips them off. Janela fights back and they head to the floor with Janela using a chair as a launchpad to knock Spears into the crowd. After a quick cameo from a fan dressed as Jesus, Spears comes back with a spinebuster. Tully gets in the ring and we get some shots of Jesus threatening to beat him up. The distraction lets Janela knock Spears down and drop a top rope elbow for the pin at 7:42.

Rating: C-. This was mainly a feel good match that was just a step above comedy, which is fine for what it was supposed to be. Janela vs. Spears has not been a thrilling feud so blowing it off here in a goofy match is the best option they had. There’s nothing wrong with a fun match like this and that’s what they went with here. The fans reacted well to it and that’s as good as you can get.

Post match Janela offers Spears a beer before dropping him with a Stunner. Eh it was filmed on Austin’s birthday so fair enough.

Overall Rating: C+. This is the kind of show I’ve been wanting Dark to be. They didn’t waste time and they didn’t spend forever recapping things that the audience is already going to know. The show was three matches and a quick segment. Keep things tight and moving, because that’s the point of a show like this. I liked what we got here and if they keep going like this, they’ve got a smart use of their time.

Results

Sammy Guevara b. Brandon Cutler – Reverse GTS

Santana/Ortiz b. Hybrid 2, Private Party and Best Friends – Street Sweeper to Kassidy

Joey Janela b. Shawn Spears – Top rope elbow

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 1, 2005
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

We’re less than three weeks away from Summerslam and this week has a big title rematch. Last week Chris Jericho helped Carlito defeat John Cena to earn the title match this week, even though it’s pretty clear that we’re coming up on Cena defending against Jericho. Other than that, we have more on the Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan build. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Chris Jericho to get things going. He and Eric Bischoff have been working on a BRILLIANT plan to get the WWE Championship off of John Cena. First of all, we saw Cena’s exposure as a fake rapper and then as a fake champion after Carlito beat Cena with a completely fair referee. After a quick clip of Carlito winning thanks to a low blow, Jericho gets serious to promise Cena some pain at Summerslam. Cue a charging Cena and the fight is on, with Bischoff sending security out a few seconds later. With the fight broken up, Bischoff makes Jericho guest referee for Carlito’s title shot. Cena looks crushed, as expected.

Big Show/Shelton Benjamin vs. Snitsky/Chris Masters

Fallout from last week. It’s a brawl before the bell with Show throwing Shelton inside and pulling Snitsky outside. We settle down to Shelton shouldering Masters and bringing in Show for some headbutting. The huge chop lets Show mock Snitsky’s pain but Masters’ attempt at a cheap shot completely fails. Show tosses him over the top for the big crash onto Snitsky and we take a break.

Back with Shelton hammering on Snitsky some more but having to deal with Masters again, allowing Snitsky to block the Stinger Splash. Masters hits some backbreakers for two, followed by the bearhug. A powerslam gives Masters two and it’s back to Snitsky for the chinlock. Shelton finally gets two off a rollup to Masters but a backslide is countered with a heck of a clothesline. Back up and Shelton finally gets in a neckbreaker for a breather, allowing the hot tag to Big Show. House is cleaned with splashes and running shoulders but Snitsky kicks Show in the face. Not that it matters as Show chokeslams him for the pin.

Rating: D. This was VERY long and dull but I’ll take whatever gets Shelton going again. I don’t expect it to last at the moment, but at least he finally got something back. I don’t know what kind of a future Masters and Snitsky have, though it’s not like there is anyone else doing anything at the moment in the tag division (including the champions).

Here’s Eugene, now with Christy Hemme as his literal cheerleader, for the Eugene Invitational. The hometown hero is….Kurt Angle, with Eugene demanding to know where his name is and where he is from. Angle gets so annoyed that he admits he isn’t from Connecticut so there’s no match. Sure Eugene said he was from Cleveland last week but that was pretending and this is real! Angle brings up that this is an Indian casino and asks who could really be from here. And now, for your random cameo of the week.

Eugene vs. Tatanka

Eugene is rather pleased that Tatanka can drive him back into the corner so Tatanka shoulders him down for two. They fight over the arm with a minute gone and Lawler talking about Christy’s pom poms. A chop puts Eugene down and Tatanka tries the warpath to a non-existent reaction. The top rope chop to the head gets two on Eugene with just under a minute left. Eugene hits an Angle Slam and pulls down the non-existent straps. The ankle lock goes on and Angle comes in for the DQ. Tatanka can’t take a loss here? Really?

Post match Eugene and Tatanka clear the ring. That’s a bad tag team at a legends of wrestling event if I’ve ever seen one.

Post break a furious Angle promises to get his medal back next week in Pittsburgh. Next week, he’s making Eugene REALLY special.

We look at Kane losing the stretcher match and kidnapping Lita to blow off some steam.

Carlito and Jericho rant about Cena and nearly come to blows. Bischoff comes in to calm things down, saying Jericho’s job is to make Carlito WWE Champion. Now go come up with a plan. Jericho thinks a fast count is in order.

Vince McMahon arrives.

Here’s Vince in the ring for a major announcement. This is the 636^th episode of Raw, putting the show past all other original shows for total episodes. The classy thing to do would be to thank the fans, but Vince thanks himself instead. He has a history of making good business decisions, like bringing back people or concepts that make him money. That’s what he’s doing again tonight as he brings back a former WWE superstar. This man has been wrecking havoc backstage and now he will be facing Edge at Summerslam: MATT HARDY.

We see Matt walking through the back before hitting the arena for a big reaction. Matt says he should thank Vince but it was the people who brought him back to Raw. Unlike Vince, Matt is willing to thank the fans for getting him back here. Matt recaps the entire love triangle with Edge and Lita, including real names and breaking kayfabe by talking about how the marriage to Kane was just on TV.

The story came out and the fans let Edge and Lita know how they felt. Then he heard 20,000 people chanting WE WANT MATT in Madison Square Garden so now Matt is back to destroy Edge’s life. Matt promises to hurt Edge at Summerslam and he WILL NOT DIE. It’s a big moment, but after Matt popped up a few times, it was hardly some game changer.

Vince is in the back and runs into Kerwin White, but he’s been rich for so long that he’s forgotten what it’s like to be middle class. Vince leaves and Kerwin longs for some polo.

Rob Conway vs. Val Venis

Conway debuts his “Just Look At Me” song and wrestles in sunglasses because he’s now something like Buff Bagwell. From now on, he’s doing things the Con-Way. JR is incredulous over the sunglasses as Conway starts with a headlock. Venis runs him over and the glasses fall off, sending Conway over the edge. Conway is so mad that he gets wristlocked and hammerlocked, though he does get in an elbow to the jaw. An exchange of forearms on the floor doesn’t last long but Conway snaps him throat first across the rope.

The beating against the barricade keeps Val down and it’s time to crank on the neck back inside. Venis spins out into a Blue Thunder Bomb as the announcers make porn jokes about Venis to fill in some time. A reverse Figure Four sends Conway over to the ropes as we get a loud THIS MATCH SUCKS chant. I’d go more with it’s not that interesting but it doesn’t suck. The Money Shot is broken up and a hanging swinging neckbreaker (the Ego Trip) finishes Venis.

Rating: D. Conway feels like someone who belongs in another era, as you could see him being a star in something closer to the territory days. On Raw in 2005 though? This really didn’t click, though part of that is due to the match being Conway vs. Venis. Who is going to look at this and see something they might want to watch? Conway could be fine in the midcard, but don’t expect to see me care about him with a heel character that isn’t exactly groundbreaking.

And now, Shawn Michaels imitates Hulk Hogan on a fake Larry King Show, getting in every old joke that he can think of and talking about how different he is outside of the ring. With about five BROTHER’s per sentence, Shawn takes a call from Battle Creek, Michigan, where he’ll never go again because Hulk only makes the big towns brother. We get a long and good Shawn highlight video, capped off by the superkick to Hogan.

Shawn, in Hogan pose: “…..brother….”. Before the match, “Hulk” has a lot of politicking to do with Vince. We hear about how Shawn failed when Hogan bailed on the company for more money because Shawn would rather work as hard in Battle Creek, Michigan than he would in Madison Square Garden. It won’t matter though because (“You know something Mean Gene!” Larry: “It’s Larry King!” Hulk: “It doesn’t matter brother. I’m selling tickets!”) he’ll prove himself at Summerslam.

Hulk gets a bad cramp but he’s fine enough to superkick Larry and rip off the wig. Hogan has a reality show, but at Summerslam, reality is kicking him in the face, just like Shawn kicks the camera. Shawn is great at this stuff and even though it’s pretty easy to mock Hogan, you can tell Shawn is in this one hard. That being said, you can imagine how Hogan is going to take this because he’s a little serious about himself. Shawn at least feels like he’s saying something though and it’s coming across even with the comedy stuff. That’s more than Hogan has done, as he’s just promised to beat Shawn up. More of Shawn’s stuff please.

It’s Diva Search time and Summer is cut. Yes another good looking blonde is out, leaving the rest to try Queen of the Mountain (the duel with big sticks). Hold on though as here’s Rob Schneider of all people to promote Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo. Schneider: “As you battle, do not be distracted by my boner.” The four do their tournament, Schneider isn’t funny, Schneider gets physical on the big inflatable mat, Elizabeth wins. So much for them not spending as much time on this stuff.

We recap Carlito vs. Cena from last week.

Raw World Title: Carlito vs. John Cena

Bischoff is at ringside, Cena is defending, Carlito’s Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line and Jericho is guest referee. Jericho gets in a distraction to start so Carlito can hammer away at the bell. Cena’s early comeback is cut off by Jericho and a crazy fast count gets two. Jericho helps Carlito send him shoulder first into the post and we take a break. Back with Carlito hitting a running neckbreaker for a fast two and the handicap match continues.

Cena tries a suplex but Jericho breaks it up so Carlito can hit a DDT for two, despite Cena being all over the ropes. A flying shoulder drops Carlito and Cena spears Jericho, only to get taken down from behind again. We hit the chinlock again but Cena powers out, meaning it’s time for another cheap shot from Jericho.

They head outside with Jericho pulling the pad off of the barricade. Even Jericho gets in a ram but Cena comes back with the shots to the face. The usual looks to finish but Jericho won’t count, meaning Cena goes after him again. Jericho breaks up the FU, only to hit Bischoff by mistake. Cena clotheslines Jericho to the floor and hits the FU to get the retaining pin from another referee.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure what to think about this one. They didn’t waste time hiding what they were doing here but there was no chance that they were going to change the title with a Summerslam main event ready for them. The idea is there, but was there NO ONE but the Intercontinental Champion for this spot? Throw Snitsky in there or something but find a better way to protect the title.

Post match Jericho hits Cena low and busts him open with a TV camera. The Walls go on and Bischoff slaps Cena a few times, sending JR over the edge to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. Matt coming back was cool (yet it would have been better had he just gotten into the fight with Edge some other way), Shawn’s deal was funny and that’s it for your positives on this show. A fifteen minute Masters/Snitsky match? The same main event we had last week? ROB SCHNEIDER AND TATANKA??? They had a few ideas here (Conway is at least a genuine attempt to push someone new and I can go for that) but the bad stuff really cripples anything good the show could have had. It’s not a failure, but they need to get rid of the awful stuff in a hurry because it’s killing what good things they have.

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