Summerslam 2003
Date: August 24, 2003
Location: America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 16,113
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s one of the biggest shows of the year and I can’t bring myself to get excited over it. This show really hasn’t been built up very well with only the Smackdown World Title match with Kurt Angle defending against Brock Lesnar offering much interest. The rest of the show feels very flat, especially the Raw World Title match which should have been Goldberg vs. HHH. Let’s get to it.

The United States Marine Corps Color Guard presents the flag and Lillian Garcia sings the National Anthem. As always, it’s an outstanding performance.

The opening video shows a beach but the sun goes behind a cloud and the shot shifts to the Elimination Chamber. The narration basically makes it sounds like the Chamber is poisoning everyone’s souls and turning them all evil, including Kane, who isn’t even in the thing. I’d bet money that Jim Ross wrote that, thinking it sounded even more dramatic than when he gives the Cell human characteristics.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. La Resistance

La Resistance is defending and Bubba brings out the American flag. The Dudleys jump them in the aisle and the beatdown is on with D-Von choking Dupree with the robe. An armdrag into an armbar (FEEL THE HATRED!) doesn’t go very well as Dupree takes D-Von into the corner so the champs can take over. D-Von is right back with the shots to the head, allowing the tag off to the very loud Bubba. It might be annoying, but I can always go for a partner making noise and being active on the apron instead of just standing there.

Grenier gets tied in the Tree of Woe so Bubba can stand between his legs for a loud scream. It’s not quite table time, allowing Grenier to get in a cheap shot so the champs can really take over. Dupree grabs a bearhug, which is quite the odd visual on someone as big as Bubba. A Bubba Bomb gets him out of trouble though and the not very hot tag brings in D-Von for the house cleaning.

Dupree gets powerslammed for two but the champs clear the ring again. The double spinebuster gets two on D-Von (there’s the crowd reaction, and all it took was kicking out of the champs’ finisher). Bubba comes back in for the Flip, Flop and Fly, followed by What’s Up on Grenier. 3D connects but Grenier pulls the referee out, allowing a cameraman to deck D-Von with his camera, giving Dupree the pin. It’s the serviceman from Raw of course.

Rating: C-. The match was ok, but not exactly the hottest choice in the world for an opener. Having the Americans lose to the EVIL Frenchmen doesn’t quite get the show off on the right foot and now we’re likely to see another rematch between these teams as this feud to show off THE POWERS OF AMERICA continues. La Resistance is fine to hold the titles, but they need something more than “we are French and therefore evil”.

Post match Spike Dudley comes in and gets beaten down as well. So after the big American military opening and carrying the flag, the Dudleys lose to the heatless champions again. The Dudleys would get the belts back a month later, but instead we need to see them lose here. Of course we also needed this match instead of the World’s Greatest Tag Team, Rey Mysterio, John Cena or Christian.

Coach tries to talk to the Dudleys but makes the mistake of praising La Resistance’s success. Bubba declares that people who hate America suck and promises to get the belts back.

Christian asks Eric Bischoff why he’s not on the show but Eric blames Steve Austin. Since he can’t wrestle, he offers to be Bischoff’s backup tonight. Bischoff has a plan though and promises to tell the world what happened with Linda on Monday.

We recap A-Train running Stephanie McMahon over last month and costing her a match against Sable. This turned into A-Train vs. Undertaker and WWE actually expects us to believe that this isn’t going to turn into Sable vs. Stephanie again.

A-Train vs. Undertaker

Sable is with A-Train in a rather nice outfit. Undertaker has bad ribs so he dodges a bit to start instead of going in full steam ahead. Instead of staying on the ribs, A-Train tries a headlock, allowing Undertaker to knee him in the ribs and take over. The running DDT gets two on A-Train and Old School connects early on. A shot to the ribs finally cuts Undertaker off (thanks for finally getting the idea Train) and some forearms to the ribs are good for two.

A-Train stays on the ribs with a vertical suplex, followed by a headbutt. Cole: “It’s like being hit in the head with a typewriter.” Normally I would question that, but Cole is the kind of dolt who would do that for fun. Undertaker manages Snake Eyes and a double clothesline puts both guys down for a quick rest.

A slugout goes to Undertaker (well duh) and a big legdrop gets two. For some reason Undertaker tries the Last Ride but a shove gives us a ref bump. The Derailer of course gets a delayed two and the referee gets bumped again. That is way, WAY too popular of a booking trope these days. A-Train hits the bicycle kick to take Undertaker down but gets a chair kicked into his face for two. The chokeslam gives Undertaker the pin.

Rating: D. Matches against power guys like this can be Undertaker’s bread and butter but there’s only so much you can do to make A-Train interesting. The match wasn’t terrible and they kept it slow enough, but this Undertaker stands up for Stephanie thing is about as forced as you can get. There’s only so much you can do as a surrogate for Vince vs. Stephanie, especially when the best villain available for the spot is A-Train.

Post match Undertaker loads up the Last Ride but Sable comes in and rubs his chest. Undertaker grabs her by the throat and STEPHANIE IS BACK!!! WE CAN LIVE HAPPY LIVES AGAIN!!! Stephanie gets to do some catfighting until A-Train pulls Sable out. I guess this is what passes for a big moment around here.

Some fans in the front row think Goldberg is going to win the Chamber. Uh, thanks for that.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff, which starts off looking a lot like Shane vs. Kane. Bischoff then decided that he hated Shane for stealing WCW from him back in 2001. You know, because that’s a story people were thinking about. Eric went after Shane, including having Kane attack him and cost him a match against Eric.

Then Eric went to Connecticut and may have forced himself on Linda McMahon. It came out of almost nowhere and really was more of a complicated way to get to Kane vs. Shane. It’s more of WWE thinking you could just toss a McMahon into a story and everything would be fine, which doesn’t work as well when you do it in two straight matches.

Shane McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff

Before the match, Bischoff addresses what happened with Linda, saying it happened again and again and again. Now he knows where Shane gets all of his energy, so here’s Shane in a….complete non hurry actually. Shane pounds him down in the corner with reckless abandon (Or is it still Ruthless Aggression?), followed by some forearms to the ear (called crossfaces by JR).

Eric can’t make it up the aisle as Christian might be coming off like a good idea right about now. A baseball slide sends Eric into the barricade as this has been one sided so far. Shane’s dancing punches take Bischoff down again but the Coach of all people comes in to chair Shane down. Let me make sure I’ve got this straight: Bischoff thought COACH was a better option than the Intercontinental Champion? I get that they want to protect Christian from having to get beaten up by Shane but that makes no sense from Bischoff’s perspective.

Eric says he’s restarting the match as falls count anywhere with no disqualifications so Coach sends Shane into the steps for two. They head inside where Bischoff tells the production staff to cut JR and King’s microphones so Coach can do live commentary in the ring. Bischoff throws kicks as Coach does the traditional job of mocking JR. Shane finally gets in a kick of his own and scores with a DDT, only to have Coach hit him low.

That’s enough to make the glass shatter, as everyone knew was coming. Coach does the “I’m not touching you” thing until Shane shoves him into Austin, meaning the beatdown can be on. The dispatching doesn’t take long and Austin orders JR and King’s mics be turned on again. Austin is about to leave but Shane grabs Bischoff’s hand and slaps Austin in the jaw, meaning a Stunner is perfectly acceptable. Shane pulls him up at two though, as the big elbow drives Bischoff through the announcers’ table for the pin.

Rating: F. What did this accomplish? There’s no reason this couldn’t have been the end of Monday Night Raw as the big deal was Coach turning heel. Use this valuable pay per view time (some of the biggest pay per view time of the year) on the people who matter, not for the sake of making Kane look good because he never gets to do that otherwise. This was really annoying, especially when you consider everything that was left off the show so this could get a lot of time.

Beer is consumed post match because this hasn’t eaten up enough time yet.

HHH and Ric Flair get very serious with Randy Orton, telling him that he needs to focus on keeping the title on HHH and nothing more. Orton: “What? I got it.”

US Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri vs. Rhyno

Eddie is defending under tornado rules and one fall to a finish. Tony Chimmel tells us that this is the four way for the US Title before telling us that this is the four way for the US Title. It’s a brawl to start with Eddie staying on the floor, which might not be the smartest move in the world here. With Tajiri sent outside, Benoit snaps the Crossface onto Rhyno, drawing Eddie in for the save. Rhyno clotheslines Tajiri for two and Eddie is there for the save again. Eddie gets triple teamed but Rhyno shifts over to Benoit for some reason.

A powerslam gives Rhyno two on Eddie as it’s still all over the place, albeit not at the fastest pace. Rhyno and Benoit are sent outside, leaving Tajiri to monkey flip Eddie for two. All four are back in with Rhyno superplexing Eddie for two with Tajiri making the save. Tajiri gets the same by kicking Benoit in the head but the champ saves this time. A headscissors puts Rhyno on the floor and Eddie’s rope walk hurricanrana gets two on Benoit.

Tajiri comes back in and gets caught in the Lasso From El Paso but Benoit quickly follows with a Crossface on Rhyno. Eddie isn’t sure what to do but Tajiri making the ropes makes his decision much easier. That earns Eddie a Crossface of his own until Rhyno and Tajiri break it up. Rhyno busts up Tajiri’s spine for two and it’s Benoit rolling some German suplexes to make Tajiri feel even worse.

Tajiri manages to get in one of his own though and bridges back for a close two, leaving everyone down at once. Back up and Tajiri gets Benoit in the Tarantula, leaving Rhyno to Gore Eddie. The problem is Eddie had the US Title in his hands to bust up Rhyno’s shoulder, leaving him down in pain. Benoit’s Swan Dive gets two as Tajiri dives in for a save, only to have both of them fall outside. Eddie sneaks in with a frog splash to pin Rhyno and retain the title.

Rating: B-. This was a good match that was trying hard to be great. There were a few too many dead spots in there though and they never hit a higher gear that they were capable of, but at least they did well with what they did. Eddie stealing the pin after cheating with the belt makes perfect sense for him and it’s the right idea to keep the title on him with the roll he’s currently on.

We look at Brock Lesnar destroying Zach Gowen, who will be out for a good while as a result.

Earlier tonight on Heat, Matt Hardy accepted a forfeit win over Gowen.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle. Brock beat Angle for the title at Wrestlemania and Angle went on the shelf. While he was out, Angle and Lesnar became friends, which lead them to Vengeance where Angle won the title back in a triple threat. A few weeks later, Lesnar turned on Angle to join forces with Vince in the name of being the REAL Brock Lesnar. Brock attacked Angle in a cage and left him laying, which has only ticked Angle off coming in to the title match.

Smackdown World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar

Brock is challenging and we actually get an old school rules explanation from the referee. They hit the mat to start with Angle getting the better of it (not exactly shocking) and frustrating Lesnar early on. Another takedown looks to set up the ankle lock but Kurt goes to a headlock that Brock can break far more easily. Odd thinking there. Back up and Brock shoves him away without too much effort so Angle armdrags Lesnar outside, frustrating Brock all over again.

Kurt follows him outside and starts in on Brock’s knee before sending him into the barricade. Back in and the first suplex gets two on Brock, who responds by gorilla pressing him out to the floor in a big crash (great visual with Angle just falling to the floor). Now it’s Brock’s turn for a suplex as he’s starting to look all surly. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Kurt and we hit the rear naked choke before that meant much to a lot of fans. It’s off to a regular bodyscissors instead, followed by a chinlock.

Of course Angle fights up (after Brock let go of two better holds), this time being cut down by a hard knee to the ribs. A hard clothesline drops Angle again and the move that would become known as Shell Shock (complete with walking around the ring) gives Brock two. Some shoulders in the corner stay on Angle’s ribs so Kurt hits him in the face. You don’t do that to Lesnar though and Angle gets more shoulders to his ribs for his efforts.

Brock’s big running charge goes into the post though and Kurt’s running shoulder block staggers Lesnar. A dropkick to the knee has Brock in more trouble and it’s time to roll the German suplexes (with Lesnar holding the shoulder off each one). The Angle Slam doesn’t work and Brock goes back to the ribs with a spinebuster. Since one finisher is countered, the other has to be as well so Kurt reverses the F5 into a good looking DDT for two of his own. Now the Angle Slam is good for two and Angle is even more fired up.

In my favorite Angle spot, he puts the straps back up so he can take them down all over again. The ankle lock goes on but Brock rolls forward, sending Angle into the referee. Kurt charges at him for what looks like a sunset flip but stops halfway, wrapping his legs around Brock’s neck and arm (almost in an upside down triangle choke). Since that’s not the easiest hold to maintain, Angle switches over to the ankle lock for the tap but there’s no referee.

Cue Vince to chair Angle in the back, setting up the F5 for a delayed two. Another F5 is reversed into the ankle lock to put Brock in real trouble. He grabs all four bottom ropes but the hold isn’t broken for absolutely no apparent reasons, meaning Brock has to tap to retain Angle’s title.

Rating: B+. It’s not quite their Wrestlemania match but Angle getting his win back makes sense….in theory. They’ve been building Lesnar up as the unstoppable monster for the last few weeks so it would have made sense to have him win here (with Vince’s help) before losing the rematch down the line. That being said, I’m fine with Angle retaining here as it makes sense from the long term. In other words, this one depends on how you look at it, but it’s a rather strong match either way.

Vince gets an Angle Slam through a chair to wish him a happy birthday.

We recap Kane vs. Rob Van Dam. Kane lost his mask and despite Van Dam trying to calm him down and say that he didn’t need the mask, Kane went crazy and started destroying everything in his path. This included beating up Van Dam, Shane McMahon and Linda McMahon and setting Jim Ross on fire. This seems to be setting up Kane vs. Shane, but first Van Dam gets his shot tonight.

Kane vs. Rob Van Dam

No Holds Barred, which is added right before the match. JR refers to Kane as the “byproduct of an inbred mongrel dog”. As I so often wonder of both JR and Jim Cornette: WHERE DO THEY COME UP WITH THIS STUFF??? Van Dam tries to start fast but gets clotheslined down in short order. They head outside with Kane sending him into the barricade but charging into a boot, allowing Rob to follow up with another kick to the face.

Van Dam gets posted though and it’s time for a ladder. Rob is smart enough to kick it into his face, followed by a top rope kick to the chest. A crossbody puts them both on the floor and of course Kane takes over again. The announcers talk about what Kane did to Linda, which is both a good and bad idea. It’s good in that it shows you what Kane is capable of and how evil he is, but it also shows you how unimportant this match is because it’s all about Shane vs. Kane down the line.

Back in and another kick to Kane’s face knocks him into the corner (there’s certainly a pattern here) as JR deems Kane smelly. Kane shoves Rob off the top and down onto the barricade as the violence starts to go the monster’s way again. The ladder to the face drops Rob again and it’s time for some simple choking. Thankfully the referee doesn’t break it up because that comes off as barring a hold, which might get a lawyer involved with his life.

Rob gets kicked outside again and this time Kane follows by going to the top, only to dive into the barricade by mistake (that looked bad on replay as Kane seemed to slip, leaving him without enough distance and sending him head first into the barricade). Now it’s Rob getting in a ladder shot, which Kane of course shrugs off.

A DDT on the floor knocks Rob silly but he’s able to drop toehold Kane into the steps. The spinning kick from the apron drops Kane again, followed by Rolling Thunder onto the chair. Kane sits up so Rob dropkicks the chair into his face for good measure. The Van Terminator misses though and a Tombstone onto the steps is enough to end Rob.

Rating: B. Nice brawl here but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it didn’t mean anything given the story they’ve already told us is coming. Rob was trying here though and made the match fun, especially with the story of the wrestling going to Van Dam and the hardcore stuff going to Kane, but we’re heading for Kane vs. Shane and everyone knows it.

Bischoff is banged up and doesn’t want to talk about his loss but Linda McMahon comes in. Eric starts stammering and gets slapped in the face as the billionaire gets revenge. I can totally relate.

Flair gives HHH a final pep talk.

The Chamber is lowered.

Long recap on the main event, which also features a look at the Chamber. HHH was scheduled to defend against Goldberg one on one but a torn groin necessitated a multi-person match because Heaven forbid HHH take a spear and Jackhammer and lose in a short match with the excuse that he wasn’t ready or was wrestling hurt or any other idea they had. Somehow we get Kevin Nash in another main event though, because that’s what the world was waiting for. There have been some personal issues added after the match announcement but it still feels a little thrown together.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash

The intervals are three minutes this year because we need to move this along. Goldberg slips during his entrance, which is edited out of the Network version (though he goes from standing in the middle of the stage to a few steps to the right off a camera cut). Shawn and Jericho start us off as the fans chant for Goldberg. They hit the mat to start for the Flair pinfall reversal sequence before trading slaps.

Shawn backdrops him but has to switch to a small package to escape the Walls attempt. Jericho can’t hit the Lionsault so instead we’ll listen to JR mess up history by saying this title has only changed hands once before in Arizona. That’s some nice sounding trivia, but remember that this title isn’t even a year old yet and has its own lineage. Sure that doesn’t mean much, but this is the way WWE has set things up and they can’t keep it straight. Anyway, Orton is in third with a high crossbody for two on Shawn, followed by the signature backbreaker gets the same on Jericho.

The RKO is broken up though and Jericho backdrops Orton onto the steel. Now the Walls work just fine on Shawn but it’s Kevin Nash in fourth. That’s enough for Jericho to break it up and go after Nash, who isn’t happy with his new haircut. I find it rather spiffy, even as Nash throws Jericho into the Chamber wall. Nash’s side slam gets two on Orton and Jericho is busted open. Nash goes over for a Jackknife, only to get superkicked down, allowing Jericho to roll him up for the pin, meaning Nash was in there for all of two minutes.

HHH is in fifth….and Shawn superkicks him right back into the pod. Nash isn’t done yet though and Jackknifes Jericho and Orton as a parting gift. Shawn, who is down off throwing a superkick, covers both villains for two each. Everyone punches it out until Goldberg is in to complete the field. Right hands and forearms abound and it’s the spear to get rid of Orton in short order. Jericho gets launched onto the cage floor again and another spear sends him through the Plexiglas.

As Goldberg gets back in, Shawn scores with a forearm followed by the top rope elbow. Sweet Chin Music misses though and it’s a spear and Jackhammer to get us down to three. The same thing gets rid of Jericho and it’s HHH (who still hasn’t gotten out of the pod) vs. Goldberg for the title.

Flair shuts the pod again and holds it shut as well as he can, only to have Goldberg break the “unbreakable Plexiglas”. Some right hands keep HHH in trouble and Goldberg sends him into the Chamber walls a few times. A clothesline takes him down again and HHH is busted open. Goldberg loads up the spear but Flair slips HHH the sledgehammer to knock Goldberg cold and the title is retained.

Rating: D. This wasn’t even twenty minutes long. The best way to describe this match would be a middle finger to the fans who are nearly dying to see HHH lose that freaking title already but we need to make sure he’s ready to give Goldberg the rub or something. I’m not sure how WWE can validate keeping the title on HHH when they have Goldberg right there and HHH can barely move, but I’m sure it’s just the right thing to do, at least according to HHH. That’s 2003 in a nutshell: cheer for whomever you want, but you get HHH.

The rest of the match was of course nothing because Goldberg was the only person who could conceivably win the thing. Instead of something competitive and compelling, it was fifteen minutes of waiting around on Goldberg, then Goldberg crushing people for a few minutes, and then HAHA IT’S THE SLEDGEHAMMER AGAIN! The ending was so deflating that there’s not

Evolution beats Goldberg down and handcuffs him to the Chamber because WWE needs to demonstrate how to book Goldberg.

Overall Rating: D. The show isn’t even that bad, but rather almost completely flat. There are a few good matches with Brock vs. Angle being a highlight but that just made me want to watch the Wrestlemania match again. The TV coming into this show has been really dull due to a lot of McMahons and while they were used more sparingly here, you could still feel them throughout the whole show. That main event really took the life out of the whole thing though and there was nothing else that was going to fix things. Not a good show, but it could have been worse.

Ratings Comparison

La Resistance vs. Dudley Boys

Original: C

2013 Redo: D+

2018 Redo: C-

A-Train vs. Undertaker

Original: D

2013 Redo: D

2018 Redo: D

Eric Bischoff vs. Shane McMahon

Original: D

2013 Redo: N/A

2018 Redo: F

Rhyno vs. Tajiri vs. Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B+

2018 Redo: B-

Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: A-

2013 Redo: B

2018 Redo: B+

Kane vs. Rob Van Dam

Original: C-

2013 Redo: C-

2018 Redo: B

HHH vs. Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash vs. Randy Orton

Original: D

2013 Redo: C-

2018 Redo: D

Overall Rating

Original: D+

2013 Redo: C

2018 Redo: D

That’s one of the hardest swings I’ve ever had on a show but you can see a little consistency in there somewhere.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/06/history-of-summerslam-count-up-2003-brock-vs-angle-ii/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/08/08/summerslam-count-up-2003-meet-the-old-hhh-same-as-the-new-hhh/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Summerslam 2003
Date: August 24, 2003
Location: America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 16,113
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tazz, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

The US Marine Corps presents the American flag while Lillian sings the Star Spangled Banner.

The opening video talks about how there is evil in this world and the Chamber tonight will prove it.

Raw Tag Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. La Resistance

Coach says La Resistance was clever so Bubba accuses him of being anti-American and vows to get the belts back.

Undertaker vs. A-Train

A-Train starts pounding away on the ribs and sends them into the barricade for two back in the ring. Taker gets in some shots to the ribs of his own for a breather but A-Train comes back with an impressive suplex to take him down. This is the kind of character A-Train was perfect as: a heavy who could do some impressive moves at times. A-Train fights out of a sleeper with a belly to back suplex but Taker hits a quick Snake Eyes to get a breather. A big boot misses the big bald head and a double clothesline puts each other down.

Taker wins a slugout after A-Train hung in there a lot longer than expected. Now the big boot sets up the legdrop (BROTHER) for two and another legdrop to the back of the head with A-Train on the apron has the bald one staggered. The Last Ride is easily broken up but the referee is bumped.

A-Train hits the Derailer (chokebomb) but the delayed count only gets two. Taker accidentally clotheslines the referee down again (the second match does NOT warrant two ref bumps) and A-Train brings in a chair, only to have it cracked over his own head for a near fall. A-Train escapes a tombstone but gets caught in a chokeslam for the pin.

Rating: D. What are you expecting out of this match? This was back when Taker was pretty bad in the ring due to being completely unmotivated and bored with the biker character. Thankfully he would be the Dead Man again by Wrestlemania and would eventually reignite his career around 2007.

Post match Sable tries to seduce Taker for some reason but Stephanie comes in to go after her, presumably setting up a mixed tag.

Coach polls some fans on who wins the Chamber.

Shane McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff

Wrestlemania moment. Kind of an odd time for one of these but Shawn superkicking Bret was an awesome moment.

Flair and HHH tell Orton to keep the title on the Game tonight and nothing more.

US Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Tajiri vs. Rhyno

Eddie is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Eddie has ticked off all three challengers so they all want to take him out. The champion bails to the floor so everyone else can fight and we quickly get down to Rhyno vs. Benoit. Chris hooks a quick Crossface, drawing Eddie in for the save. Tajiri is back in as well but Eddie breaks up a cover. Everyone is in now and all three challengers go after Eddie at the same time.

Tajiri makes the ropes so Eddie turns around to dropkick Benoit in the head for the save. Benoit grabs the Crossface on Guerrero but Rhyno and Tajiri make the double save. Rhyno hits a spinebuster for two on Tajiri but Benoit knocks Rhyno to the floor. Chris rolls some Germans on Tajiri but Tajiri reverses into one of his own for two on Benoit.

Smackdown World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

Lesnar picks up the belt and tries to walk out with it but Kurt pounds him down in the aisle to start the brawling. Back in and Angle snaps off the first overhead belly to belly for two before stomping him down in the corner. Brock comes right back with a gorilla press and throws Angle out to the floor. Angle is sent into the steps as this is far different from the Wrestlemania match. Back in and Brock hits a release belly to belly without leaving his feet.

Some Arizona Diamondbacks are here.

Kane vs. Rob Van Dam

RVD kicks out of the chokeslam but gets knocked out to the floor as the brawl continues. Kane sends him into the steps and is in full on monster mode. Back in and Van Dam scores with a kick and some shoulders to the ribs for two. Rob goes up top but gets shoved down onto the barricade to give Kane control again. A ladder to the face gets two back in the ring and a big clothesline puts Van Dam down again.

We hit the slow motion part of the match as Kane pounds on Van Dam very slowly to stop the crowd from being interested. Van Dam is backdropped to the floor but Kane badly botches the top rope clothesline, nearly falling on his head and dying. Kane avoids another ladder shot and DDTs Van Dam on he floor, only to have Rob catch a charging Kane in a drop toehold to send him face first into the steps. Kane is kicked into the crowd and crotched as he tries to come back to ringside.

Eric is annoyed that Terri is asking him questions. Linda comes in and slaps Bischoff in the face.

HHH looks at the world title.

The Chamber is lowered.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton

Flair shoves the pod door closed to save HHH so Goldberg kicks the pod door in so we can actually have a match. Goldberg pounds away in the pod before sending HHH face first into the cage. The champion is busted open but he FINALLY gets in a kick to the leg and sends Goldberg into the cage. Goldberg comes right back with a clothesline and they head into the ring. The spear is loaded up but hits the sledgehammer that Flair slid in, keeping the title on HHH.

Post match HHH and Evolution gets to destroy Goldberg again with the hammer to really pound in who is the star. Goldberg is handcuffed to the cage so HHH can shove the belt in his face and remind him who the champion is to end the show.

Ratings Comparison

La Resistance vs. Dudley Boyz

Original: C

Redo: D+

A-Train vs. Undertaker

Original: D

Redo: D

Eric Bischoff vs. Shane McMahon

Original: D

Redo: N/A

Tajiri vs. Rhyno vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit

Original: B-

Redo: B+

Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

Original: A-

Redo: B

Rob Van Dam vs. Kane

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Goldberg vs. HHH vs. Kevin Nash vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton

Original: D

Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: D+

Redo: C

So I liked almost all of the matches more or the same the first time, but the overall rating is much higher this time. Not surprising.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/06/history-of-summerslam-count-up-2003-brock-vs-angle-ii/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Summerslam 2003
Date: August 24, 2003
Location: America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 16,113
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tazz, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

So Austin and Rock are retired, Lesnar is still a big name, HBK stuck around to shock the world even more, and that’s about it. Seriously, not much else has happened. Cena and Batista haven’t risen to power yet as they’re about a year and a half away from taking over the company. There is a new arrival however: Goldberg, who I wouldn’t call a flop but I’d call him a disappointment.

He’s at war with HHH over the title currently, so that’s your main feud, but of course they couldn’t just have them go one on one, so we get the second Elimination Chamber instead. Your other main event here is Brock vs. Angle in a Wrestlemania rematch. The card looks….ok I guess but a bit top heavy. Let’s see how it is.

Lillian Garcia sings the Star Spangled Banner with the Marine Corps Color Guard on the stage. To say she’s gorgeous is an understatement. They need to do this more often at PPVs. The opening video is pretty good, as we hear a clock striking what I would assume to be midnight and with each bell sound we see a clip of another match. Oh I forgot to mention: Lesnar is a heel again and is working for Vince.

Raw Tag Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. La Resistance

This is as simple as you can get here: the French champions make fun of American so the American team that’s never really been patriotic rally round the flag to fight for the Red White and Blue, despite the fact that the French flag has the same colors but you get the idea I guess. La Resistance are the guys that were the tag team of the year at this time, always holding the belts mainly due to the fact that they never had any opponents of note to face them.

The Dudleys were guys you could just throw into the title picture and it would work though, much like they do now in TNA. Guys like that are great to have because their resume makes them a legit threat so you know you’ll get a decent performance out of them and they make the other team look good. It’s the same thing that Shawn Michaels did in the last year or so.

He was never going to beat Jericho for the belt, but he was a legit challenger that you could count on for a solid match and he can be thrown into the title picture at a moment’s notice and be perfectly credible. That’s a very valuable asset to have. This was also back in the day of the old school tag title belts which I’ve always loved. JR touches on the idea that Bubba and D-Von are related which he kind of brushes off.

The faces are WAY over and take control early on which makes sense. They continue to dominate after a brief heel comeback, but after the 3D a cameraman comes in and hits D-Von with the picture taking machine for the pin. Bubba was too busy counting the three to stop the run in to break up the 3D, so the heels steal it. Post match, the camera guy beats up D-Von, Bubba and Spike who runs in for the attempted save, with the camera. Of course it’s Rob Conway, who didn’t have a name yet.

Rating: C. This felt like an extended TV match to me. It was ok, but nothing you wouldn’t see on Raw. The tag division was pretty much the same for about 5 years and it’s still that way today, with not much of anything of note going on other than the occasional title change. La Resistance was nothing special, but they were ok I guess. Not a bad match, just nothing that jumps off the page at me.

Coach interviews the Dudleys in the aisle, saying that the French were clever. Bubba doesn’t like this.

Bischoff is warming up and Christian talks to him like they’ve never met. Really? Bischoff is fighting Shane tonight for some reason. Christian is upset that he doesn’t have a match and Eric blames his co-GM, Stone Cold. The audio is bad here for some reason and I can’t make out all of what they’re saying.

We see the recap of Taker against A-Train. Basically Vince is hiring all the monsters he can find and Taker is the one he can’t get, so he’s the one that fights them off. A-Train started by attacking Stephanie last month at Vengeance to keep her from beating Sable, who Vince was having an open affair with.

Then, Taker fought back but A-Train kept making him lose matches, including one on Smackdown by pinfall to John Cena. Yes, Cena has indeed hit the FU to the Undertaker and pinned him in the middle of the ring. Anyway, that of course leads to this match.

Undertaker vs. A-Train

Taker’s music with lyrics is just awesome. This is the very end of his biker character though, as he was literally buried at Survivor Series by Kane in a Buried Alive match. I used to get the opening to A-Train’s music and JBL’s music confused. How can Sable be this hot at this age? She’s even hot now with Brock and this is 6 years later. Why is Taker in the second match of the night? Can I get an explanation?

Sable’s chest is EPIC here. Taker still has taped up ribs. Basic big man match for Taker which is probably his specialty: fighting monsters. A-Train was always someone that they wanted to push it seemed but it just never happened. Old School puts the train down.

We hit the floor for a bit and Taker’s back goes into the post as A-Train takes over. Can we just look at Sable’s chest some more? It’s certainly more entertaining. Taker grabs a sleeper of all things but walks into a belly to back suplex as Train keeps dominating. Taker gets out of the corner as nothing but punches. At times it seems like he does nothing but that and his finishers.

After some very basic stuff Taker can’t get the Last Ride and walks into a Derailer (choke powerbomb) for two of course. Good grief this is a formulamatic match. Down goes the referee as A-Train hits a bicycle kick and grabs a chair. It gets kicked into his face for two as we learn a good lesson about bringing a foreign object in. Use AMERICAN DANG IT! Chokeslam ends it clean.

Rating: D. Again, Taker is good at fighting monsters, but it feels like a TV match and nothing more. Why would I want to watch a TV match on PPV when I have to pay for it? It’s ok, but that’s all it is. A-Train was an underused talent, but come on. Taker deserves more than an underused talent, and to be fair he would be put into a title feud with Lesnar starting in the next week or two. Sable was hot as fire though.

Post match, Sable comes in to try to seduce Taker. Taker doesn’t go for that and chokes her until Stephanie returns and beats the heck out of her. Cole says she kicks the heck out of her, but I’m pretty sure it’s only punches. Then again, I’m no professional. Sable and A-Train bail as Cole freaks because of the power in the ring at the moment.

Brock has a new DVD.

We see Jericho stretching in the back as Coach is at ringside asking fans who they think will win the EC tonight. Everyone thinks Goldberg. If you’re going to waste time, I guess you might as well involve the audience.

Hit the recap button for Bischoff vs. Shane. This is REALLY long so I’ll try to summarize it as well as I can. Shane and Kane were feuding because Kane tombstoned Linda. Vince is being a jerk and won’t let Shane fight Kane, so Shane fights Bischoff. Kane saves Eric and helps him win. JR then decides that since Bischoff caused Kane to try to burn JR alive, that he’s going to sue Eric.

Austin comes out and says that JR won’t sue if Bischoff agrees to face someone. Eric, assuming it’s Shane, agrees. However, it’s Kane. For no apparent reason, Kane bails and Eric immediately wins by count out. However, the contract had a clause in it that said that the winner got Shane at Summerslam.

My that’s a fast contract to have drawn up in a matter of minutes isn’t it? Anyway, Bischoff goes to Vince’s house and kisses Linda and it’s implied he either raped her or slept with her with her being willing.

Eric Bischoff vs. Shane McMahon

According to Tony Schiavone, anyone that follows tournament karate knows that Bischoff is a great fighter. In other words, about 4 people know that. Eric gets on the mic before Shane comes out and implies again that he slept with Linda. Eric is cut off by Shane’s music. You can tell he’s mad because he only dances a bit. They’re on the floor inside of a minute as Shane is just killing him as you would expect.

Shane keeps rolling in and breaking the count and then goes back out again and it’s getting annoying quickly. JR references an elevator company, and sadly enough I get the reference. Coach pops up and smacks Shane in the back with a chair. Bischoff gets on the mic and makes it a hardcore match. Bischoff says that since Coach is the best commentator of all time to cut off JR and Lawler so that Coach can do all of the commentary. Yeah, this isn’t going to be bad at all.

What was the appeal of Coach? I’ve yet to ever be entertained by him at all. Without commentary this is somehow more boring if that’s possible. Shane finally wakes up and fights them both off, breathing some much needed life back into the crowd, but Austin comes out to really wake things up. I miss JR screaming about this. Austin can’t hit Coach though unless he’s touched so we get the I’m not touching you joke.

Shane makes Coach touch him though, which I think is illegal in some states, leading to the Austin beatdown. Austin and Shane make a weird team to say the least. Austin thankfully turns the announcers back on, which I hope is illegal in all states. Bischoff slaps him and gets a stunner from the man that he fired via fed ex.

Shane puts Eric through the Spanish Announce Table, which is famous enough to get all capital letters, with the elbow for the pin on the floor. JR calls this coast to coast. No JR, no. Austin and Shane have beers to kill some more time.

Rating: D. This was more like a big angle and it went on WAY too long. There were parts of this where it was just dragging on and on and on. Austin coming out completely saved this as it was an incredible boring segment. Coach is a waste of air and always has been so why would I care about him?

This was just really bad with only Austin being interesting at all. You know, even after this, the problem for Shane is that it’s never known if Linda did anything or not, so what does Shane actually gain out of this?

Of all things, we get a Wrestlemania Recall. Dude, the show is EIGHT MONTHS AWAY. I get the idea of early promotion, but come on now isn’t that a bit much?

Nash is getting ready for the Elimination Chamber.

Flair is with Orton, talking about how HHH will win tonight. Evolution was in a weird stage at the moment as Batista was out with an injury. The real reign of terror would begin in October when he came back.

US Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Rhyno vs. Tajiri

Eddie is champion here. All four are in the ring and the first person to either get a submission or as Chimmel puts it, catch a pinfall, is the champion. After announcing that, he says it again seconds later in case we weren’t listening I guess. There’s no backstory here that I know of and if there is they don’t cover it. I can’t find any mention of one, so I’m guessing it’s one of those let’s throw everyone together and have them do their best. That can be a great idea at times.

Eddie comes out in a car of course. He would very soon be pushed to the main event and given the WWE Title in one of the biggest head scratchers of all time as he wasn’t a big enough star and obviously wasn’t ready for it, and likely never would be ready for it. Oh so Eddie hit all of them with the belt on Smackdown so that’s our story? Dude, anyone can do better than that. The US Title is just over a month old at this point, so it’s not like there’s time for a real history.

Eddie beat Benoit for it in a tournament final at Vengeance the previous month. It’s funny seeing the table all destroyed with Eddie standing in front of it. It looks so out of place and it’s making me chuckle. It’s kind of cool to think that Benoit and Eddie would both be champions at the end of Mania in 8 months. I love the Rhyno character around this time as he was just completely insane and liked hurting people. I love that.

In other words, he was his normal self. Four ECW guys out there as well, so if nothing else ECW had an eye for talent. I always like the Lasso From El Paso. In a very cool spot, Benoit puts Rhyno in the Crossface at the same time Eddie has the Lasso From El Paso on Tajiri. For one thing, the referee isn’t sure who to check on, but Eddie has a problem. Does he try to win, or does he break up the Crossface to save the title? That’s very smart and I really like it.

Tajiri gets to the ropes though so that’s all over. Eddie gets put in it and it takes several kicks from Rhyno and Tajiri to get him to break it up. Why does ever spinebuster have to contain an Arn Anderson reference? We get it, he had a sweet move. I will always mark out for the rolling German suplexes. Rhyno hits a gore but Eddie is holding the belt which is an old and classic move. Benoit and Tajiri fight to the floor which allows Eddie to steal the pin with the Frog Splash.

Rating: B-. To me, this is perfect for a PPV title defense for a new champion. It looks challenging, he gets a clean pin over an opponent, it’s about 11 minutes long, and two guys save face, allowing them to challenge for the title in the future because they didn’t get pinned. The wrestling was fine, but as is the problem with multi-man matches, it can get hard to follow. Either way, this was fine and a great way to really start Eddie’s reign.

Shawn Michaels is in a hallway getting ready. I guess that’s better than being in a closet.

Metallica is doing the theme song, with St. Anger. Still not sure if I like that album or not. The song is good, but I’m not sold on it. It’s certainly not bad, but I’m not sure if it is good enough for Metallica.

Lesnar has been a monster lately and this past Thursday he beat up Zach Gowen, and for those of you that don’t know, he had one leg. He broke his leg apparently. Gowen was supposed to fight Matt Hardy on Heat, so Matt declared himself the winner. Matt saying that real wrestlers fight through injuries absolutely cracked me up.

We get the recap of the Angle/Lesnar feud, which they more or less say has only happened over the course of a month and not 8 months, which is the real case. Angle was a heel back then so I guess that’s why. Angle won the title at Vengeance as a face but it was a triple threat. Kurt and Brock formed kind of a super team in between the shows as Angle said Brock helped him through his injury. After he agreed to the title match though, Lesnar turned heel in a complicated angle.

Vince said that Brock had to earn the title shot, but he would have to beat Vince in a cage match to earn it. Ok, that makes little sense on Vince’s part so I guess that means everything is perfectly normal. To continue making things odd, he makes Kurt the guest referee. Before the match though, someone attacks him.

Lesnar goes into the match anyway but collapses. Angle beats up Vince but Lesnar is faking and turns heel by beating up Angle. I’m not wild on Lesnar being the heel, but I guess that works. I am glad that he comes out alone though.

Smackdown Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

They start with amateur moves which I’m always a fan of. It’s just cool to see guys that are so naturally talented at things like that and it’s always fun to watch. This was back when Angle still had meat on him and didn’t look like he was about 200lbs. He was also relatively sane at the time, which is always a plus. In a funny visual, Angle out wrestles Lesnar and sends him to the floor. The Spanish guys STILL have no table.

They have at least a dozen tables for hardcore matches but they can’t loan the Spanish guys one for the night? I’d love to hear how ticked off they are at times. It turns into more of a brawl and Lesnar takes over as is expected. Lesnar’s second press slam is countered into a rollup. I like that as it shows that Angle learns with every move that he uses. That’s a nice little touch that likely wasn’t even intentional at all.

Lesnar busts out a rear naked choke so I guess MMA was always in his blood. We slow it down a LOT as Brock takes over with some standard heel stuff which is fine, but when I watch Brock Lesnar I want to see more than just stomps and chin locks. They keep talking about how Brock won the title last year, which is stupid as I’m pretty sure he’s done more since then. In this match, we get some of the good Angle, as he gets into that zone of his and more or less wills himself to victory.

He continues to steal moves from other wrestlers as he launches into a series of Germans from that other guy. Angle gets thrown over his head as I completely love Brock’s belly to belly and I always have. This review is rather short but as I’ve said many times, it’s hard to make fun of a good match. Lesnar’s shoulder hit the post so it’s hurt as well. Angle counters the F5 into a DDT while making it look miles better than Eddie would at No Way Out.

He pulls the straps down and for likely the first time ever, I’m loving Kurt Angle. He’s much better as a face than a heel to me, but I’m odd in that area. In a very weird thing, Angle puts the straps back up, only to pull them down again. Um, why? It looked very odd to see him do that as he got the big pop for it once so I guess he wanted another big pop? Either way it came off as odd. Ankle lock is on after Brock kicks out of the slam. In a huge twist, the referee gets knocked down.

Angle looks like he’s going for a sunset flip but in a unique move he locks his legs around Brock’s head and I guess uses a sleeper? It looks cool and I could see it working as a knockout hold I guess. From this he transitions to the ankle again and after about 30 seconds and two ropes Brock taps but there’s no one to tap to. I guess Brock is a drunk man? Vince runs out and chairs Angle to break it up as I’m going into a play by play guy which I don’t like doing.

Vince looking around as if to say I didn’t do anything makes me laugh. To just show how much of a freak he is, Lesnar hits the F5 while standing on one leg. To say that’s insane is the understatement of all time. It looks completely sick too as Angle lands straight on his head. However since this is a major PPV, Angle kicks out. Vince’s shirt looks completely stupid. The F5 is reversed into the ankle lock but Brock gets to three of the bottom ropes (called all four by Cole as he’s just a stupid boy).

However, despite him touching the ropes and even grabbing them, Kurt pulls him back and the referee doesn’t count them I guess. Lesnar taps as Kurt Mir keeps the belt. Post match Vince tries to attack Kurt with a chair and in an odd looking bit Vince misses but falls on his back. Angle slam through the chair looks completely sick.

Rating: A-. This was a GREAT match. It was two machines working very hard out there and with the right amount of time they were able to make this something special. Brock would get the title back in a few weeks after an iron man match on Smackdown. This was a very good match all around with Angle having to go to lengths he rarely had to in order to keep the title. Very good match and you should watch it.

We get an ad for Shawn’s first DVD which is also available on VHS. That just sounds odd.

Goldberg is getting ready with IPod headphones in. That makes me chuckle.

I think it’s Vince’s birthday if I’m reading the commentator’s hints right.

We see the first diva search winner, Jamie. She never got a contract which is why you’ve never heard of her. She’s cute.

Recap of RVD and Kane. This came about because Kane had to unmask in a very creepy moment and he blamed RVD for it for no apparent reason. Since then he’s just been a violent big red monster. Van Dam tries to fight him off but Kane just keeps destroying him, leading to Van Dam being tortured.

RVD vs. Kane

Just before the match starts, Fink announces that it’s been made no holds barred. At the time Kane was wearing the singlet top with pants and no mask, so he looks like a freaking moron. Anyway, Van Dam comes out and Kane of course kicks his head in for the most part. The opening half is just about all Kane but Van Dam is able to get some random punches and kicks in, but of course since he’s a main event guy, they work better. I’ve always wondered that.

Why do jobber punches mean nothing while a single right hand from say Austin can stop a guy dead in his tracks? Is it the punch that makes a guy great or is it the guy that makes the punch great? We get weapons brought into the equation and now Van Dam at least has a fighting chance. I wouldn’t call this filler, but it’s certainly not a major match, at least not in my eyes, as it’s sandwiched between the two title matches.

It’s odd to think that RVD has been world champion for far longer than Kane was, twenty two times for that matter. Kane comes off the top with the diving clothesline but misses and hits the barrier which is awesome looking.

This is back when Kane was really quite good in the ring still, but for no reason at all they wouldn’t give Kane the belt in 2002 when he was at his hottest since his debut. Van Dam gets in his usual offense but it was fairly obvious that Kane was getting the win here. RVD goes for the Van Terminator but Kane moves. This leads to the tombstone on the stairs to end it.

Rating: C-. You have a former tag team, no rules, and a violent guy. That should be a solid match wouldn’t you think, especially with two of the bigger names around. This just fell flat to me. It’s ok, but it wasn’t something I wanted to really watch. Some people would probably say it was good and I likely wouldn’t argue with them, but I just couldn’t get into it. I think the placing on the card was bad for this.

In the back Eric is getting iced and Terri asks how he’s feeling. He asks if she’s stupid. This came off as really funny to me when it likely wasn’t that great, but I really liked it. Linda comes in and Eric gets all nervous. She slaps him.

HHH is looking at his title belt. I’ve always wondered if it talks back to him. Flair gives him a pep talk.

The Chamber is lowered.

We get a recap of the first chamber match, including HHH’s legit throat injury. The problem is that we’re never told why these 6 are in this match. We instead get a music video set to St. Anger. From the best I can tell, HHH and Shawn have been kind of feuding, Nash and Jericho I know were feuding, Orton is there because he’s in Evolution, and Goldberg is the next big feud for HHH and his current feud. This is all what I remember and infer from the video.

Raw World Title: Kevin Nash vs. Jericho vs. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Orton vs. Goldberg

In case you don’t know the rules, you start with six guys, four in the individual pods and two in the ring. After a set amount of time, one of the four are released. It’s pinfall or submission, last man standing wins. Orton is out first, so he’ll be in the pod, as will the next three. I’m 21 years old. That’s how old Orton is here. That’s absolutely scary. Nash, out second, got his hair cut by Jericho on Monday, which in reality was for a movie he was in.

Third is HHH, who I would say needs no introduction but he’s getting one anyway. Flair isn’t with him. Correction yes he is, but just very far behind. HHH was coming off a torn groin at the time so he’s rocking some shorts, kind of like Lashley wears but a bit longer. Think of Cena’s but tights. Goldberg is out fourth so Jericho and HBK will be starting. WWE of course had to change his music, which is dumb because his music was awesome.

The chants have already started. Him walking through the pyro was always cool. JR says that describing Goldberg as intense is like describing the universe as fairly large. Listen here fat boy, I use analogies, not you, UNDERSTAND? Goldberg is also wearing the shorts now and he also looks stupid. I guess it was to avoid looking too much like Austin, which makes sense as he was a pure rip off of him already. The fans are WAY into him.

Orton is just a kid here and he looks almost scared to death. Jericho is next, making Shawn last. HBK is the grizzled veteran here who once again is going for one more shot at the title which would be his storyline going into Mania. The Chamber really does look awesome. There’s the bell and we’re finally ready to go. Jericho and Shawn had the classic at WM 19 so this is going to be good. JR says a coin toss determined who starts. How can you have a six way coin toss?

JR says that HBK dominated the late 80s and early 90s. Am I thinking of a different HBK? The fans are chanting Goldberg so I’m not sure what promotion I’m watching. The announcers do a good job of playing up HBK vs. Jericho as JR talks about the history of the world title changing in Arizona. Dude, you’re either preparing WAY too much or you’re the most bored man in the history of the world. Wait, that’s not right anyway.

That was the original world title, not this one. This belt has only been around about a year at this point, so no it hasn’t changed in Arizona. Are you starting to see why I can’t stand JR? This is probably my favorite period in Jericho’s career. It’s a shame he was turned face soon and feuded with that waste of air Christian. Orton is in third so it’s 2-1 in favor of the heels. I wish he did that cross body more. It’s awesome and always has been.

We get the WOO for Jericho’s chops, which is interesting as Flair is at ringside. I wonder if he considers that a compliment. I’d have to think that he would. Ross is really getting annoying with his repetition of things. Ross calls for Orton to break free of HHH and work for himself. Give it about a year or so there Jimmy boy. They finally go outside the ring and hit the cage a bit and the match instantly gets more interesting.

Shawn goes for…something and Jericho catches him with the Walls. It looked bad as more or less Shawn jumped perfectly for the Walls. Nash is in now as they try as hard as they can to make him sound like a credible threat. Well, he’s been in there 15 seconds and he’s not hurt yet so he can consider tonight a victory of sorts I guess. He has short blond hair here, so he looks completely stupid.

He’s the jobber here as no one, and I mean no one thought he was a legit challenger, despite being the only guy here to actually have beaten Goldberg. Jericho is busted. Nash and HHH had easily the worst Cell match ever earlier this year, ending any credibility that he had left. Apparently Shawn is really close to a lot of people. It’s a shame none of them are named Becca.

Shawn super kicks Nash leading to a Jericho rollup to get rid of him, just furthering the theory that he’s a jobber. HHH is next and in a cool spot he steps through the door and HBK kicks him in the face. HHH falls back into the pod, out cold. Nash, desperate to get injured so he gets more time off with pay I guess, jackknifes Jericho and Orton before leaving. It’s a shame that he couldn’t stay healthy as he’s certainly a decent worker, especially when he’s talking.

He gets a solid pop when he throws his hand in the air, so if nothing else the people still liked him. HHH looks like he’s taking a nap. Shawn is bleeding now too, so at least we’re getting some solid violence in this one. This match isn’t very good. It’s about half the length of the original if even that and it’s just not interesting. All anyone wanted to see was Goldberg and HHH, yet for no good reason, we got this. It’s a novelty and nothing more, and in this case it’s hurting things.

Back in 2002, it was great because it was new and flashy. It’s been a letdown since then and this match is a great example of that. I think a big part of last year being a success also was Shawn’s big moment, which really was cool when you think about it. I’m actually pretty bored right now watching this. I think it’s the lack of drama. Everyone knew that it was coming down to Goldberg and HHH, so why have the other four?

There are a bunch of combinations you could put those guys in, so why have the Chamber other than to bump up buyrates? Goldberg and HHH had the one on one showdown the next month, so it’s not like it was never going to happen. It makes little sense to me and it’s really hurting things because we have to wait 20 minutes before Goldberg is there and another 10 before he and HHH get into it.

What’s the point? Most of the rant is over but I reserve the right to come back to it later on which I likely am going to do. Yeah this is another reason it sucks. Right now and for the last 45 seconds or so, EVERYONE IS DOWN. Literally, we’re watching them lay there and try to get up. Dude I can go to my aunt’s house and watch people lay around and do nothing if that’s what I’m looking for. Why would you have a match based on a lot of action and then do nothing with it?

Who do you think you are, TNA? Of course since we get a fistfight, JR says it’s like Saturday night in some obscure Oklahoma town. Is there really nothing better to do in Oklahoma than get in bar fights and choke in big football games? Oh yeah apparently you can overeat and become the world’s most annoying announcer who does nothing but shout and be a big country boy.

I get that JR is a great announcer and he’s had some masterful moments, but DANG he’s just annoying most of the time. Some of the stuff that he says blows my mind with how annoying it is.

Man I want to just sit here and rant about him for the next few minutes but I guess that would be fairly boring, so instead I’ll continue rambling like this. Oh Goldberg is in and the fans have a pulse again. Good for them. JR says he’s hitting everything with a heartbeat. If that’s so, why isn’t he hitting the camera guys or himself?

Jericho and Shawn commit an ultimate sin and cause a sign of the apocalypse by teaming up to fight Goldberg. Orton gets the heck speared out of him to eliminate him and HHH has been down a LONG time now. Oh he’s up. I guess that’s this being a cowardly heel thing I’ve heard about so many times. I know it’s hard to believe but yes, the WWE does make their heels cowardly from time to time.

In the first really good spot of the match, Goldberg spears Jericho through the Plexiglas. That just looked and sounded awesome. Sweet Chin Music is ducked and Shawn gets speared. I don’t have a Becca joke here. Jackhammer ends him. Just before that he points at HHH and JR says it’s as if he’s saying you’re next to HHH. My oh my what a great phrase JR has coined. How does he EVER come up with these things?

Jericho gets the same combo platter so it’s now one on one but HHH is still in his pod. There’s no way to get him out, so Goldberg kicks and punches the door in. That’s actually really stupid but it was all he could do. Anyway, HHH gets completely destroyed as you would expect. HHH starts coming back so at least this isn’t a squash. The showdown lasts all of 3 minutes though as they go into the ring and Flair slips the hammer to HHH.

Goldberg goes for the spear but he gets a hammer into the head. After the match we get the Evolution beat down. JR says that it’s felonious assault. You know what, that’s so stupid I’m not even going to make fun of it. You Jim Ross, are annoying, plain and simple.

They handcuff him to the cage as JR is saying that they think Evolution doesn’t want to see Goldberg around here anymore. Really JR? Did you figure that all by yourself? Did you manage to tie your own shoes together too? I guess Vince and Linda must like each other since they have kids. HHH poses with the belt as we go off the air.

Rating: D, For reasons already given, this match just sucks and it sucks badly. Actually that makes no sense because it means it’s bad at being bad, making it good. Oh dang it I’m turning into JR. Where’s my Texas shirt when I need it? Anyway, this match was horrible.

It was about two guys and they were together for all of 4 minutes out of 18 the match went for. Last year it was anyone’s to win, even guys like Booker or RVD. This year, we knew it would be one of the two, so why should we care? Add onto that the dead time and Nash and this was just really bad.

Overall Rating: D+. This was really quite bad. There’s one very good match here with Brock and Kurt, but other than that everything is either bad or average at best. I liked the US Title match but for the way it was booked more than the match itself. This show is pretty bad, as was most of the WWE around this time.

Nothing of interest was going on and it wouldn’t until the young blood stepped up and took over next year with Benoit’s title reign and Edge coming back from his injury to fight Evolution. Batista would be back in about a month or so to complete the team, which was both good and bad but that’s a rant for a later time. I wouldn’t watch this again, but Brock and Kurt is definitely worth checking out. Other than that, stay away.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 26, 2019
Location: St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Don Callis

We’re finally back to a regular show this week after last week’s Mash-Up Tournament show. Next week is the big Unbreakable show, which will feature Tessa Blanchard vs. Sami Callihan for the #1 contendership to the World Title. Tonight it’s Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin in a street fight, which isn’t likely going to be the next major story. It’s a long way to Bound For Glory so we don’t need to get things going from here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap and preview.

Jordynne Grace vs. Kiera Hogan

Hogan now has blue and silver hair instead of the fire red. I’m not sure if that’s an upgrade or not. Madison Rayne comes out for commentary and now wants to be known as Her Royal Highness The Queen Bee. Grace goes straight for Hogan in the corner and takes her outside for a belly to belly. Since selling isn’t the strong suit of today’s wrestling, Hogan is right back up with a suicide dive to take over. Back in and Hogan stomps away as Madison talks about being friends with Meghan Markle.

A running hip attack in the corner gives Hogan one but it’s a helicopter bomb out of the corner to put Hogan down for two. The Michinoku Driver gets two but Hogan kicks her into the corner for some running basement dropkicks. Hogan unloads with shots to the head until Grace blocks a neckbreaker out of the corner. A Vader Bomb gets two but Hogan sends her outside. That’s fine with Grace, who hits a suplex on the floor but Madison throws Hogan inside. Grace is right there with a bridging cradle for the pin at 8:57.

Rating: D. The lack of selling was really noticeable here as they were doing moves to each other and then popping back up to go to the next move. Hogan being more aggressive and changing her look is fine, but having her lose so soon might not be the best idea. That and focusing so much on Madison again doesn’t do much for me, but Impact certainly loves doing the same stuff over and over again.

The announcers run down the rest of the show.

Brian Cage promises to send Michael Elgin to the hospital this week.

Taya Valkyrie talks to Rosemary about Slammiversary but gets shushed. Their deal is done and unless Taya is willing to offer another title shot, they have nothing to do with each other. John E. Bravo offers to take care of this.

Here’s Sami Callihan for a chat. He demands that Tessa get out here right now so here she is in a hurry. When Sami was first told he was wrestling Tessa, he thought it would be a night off. But then Tessa showed that she has spunk and fire, drawing a TESSA chant. Sami cuts that off and then talks about winning the tournament last week. He can admit when he is wrong and he gave Tessa equality. From one wrestler to another, Sami respects her. He’ll show her respect now, but on August 2, it’s winner take all. They shake hands and he calls her toots and gives her a quick spank. The beating is on and Tessa hits Magnum.

Callihan yells at OVE for not coming to save him but he told them to stay there. Sami says Tessa sucker punched him so next week she can face Mad Man Fulton. Given that she is already scheduled to face Sami next week, that might be a conflict of interests.

Moose vs. Ray Steel

Moose throws him around to start and blocks a whip attempt. No Jackhammer Needed finishes Steel at 58 seconds.

Post match Moose says what matters around here is not being loyal to this place. He’s the guy who has put the company on his back and now he’s here to beat up a piece of garbage. Moose yells at Callis and apron bombs Steel for good measure.

Bravo finds Havok and tells her there will be no Knockouts Title match. She can have some fun with him though. Havok chokes him, which Bravo calls the hard way.

Video on the North retaining the Tag Team Titles at Slammiversary.

The Rascalz get a Tag Team Title match next week. Joking ensues and Gail Kim of all people pops in to talk about the Jonas Brothers.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Kurt Angle beats Matt Morgan at Bound For Glory 2009.

Kiera Hogan and Madison Rayne argue and Melissa Santos walks off.

Ace Austin hits on Alisha Edwards with some magic and gets blown off. An unnamed woman comes in and hits on Austin but he isn’t interested.

Willie Mack vs. Rob Van Dam

Rob takes his time coming out of the curtain for some reason. As Callis talks about Rob being relatively injury free over his career (not quite), Rob works a headlock to start. Mack snaps off a spinwheel kick and Rob needs to stop for a breather. They head outside with Rob kicking him in the face as Callis continues to talk about how big Rob is. The running cannonball off the apron drops Mack again but a charge against the barricade is cut off without much effort.

Back in and a pump kick in the corner sets up a reverse cannonball in the corner. The standing moonsault gets two, with Josh calling the match one sided. Mack has been in control for about a minute and a half chum. Rob kicks him back down but the split legged moonsault hits knees. A Backstabber puts Rob down again but he’s right back with a springboard kick to the face.

Another kick to the face sets up Rolling Thunder for two and Mack is in trouble. He’s fine enough to come back with a cutter for a breather, followed by an exploder suplex. Mack’s frog splash misses though and it’s the stepover kick and it’s the Five Star to finish Mack at 12:22.

Rating: C+. Van Dam still looks slow and old but he can still do his greatest hits well enough. I’m not sure I would have had him go over someone with the potential that Mack has but Van Dam is the legend around here and is going to get a win like this every now and then. Not a bad match, but it got Rob some momentum back.

They shake hands post match.

Ace hits on Alisha again but can’t get her to put her hand in a box and grab a live bird. The box is just below Austin’s stomach in case you don’t get the joke. Alisha leaves and Stone Rockwell comes up to grab whatever is in the box, making Austin wince. Rockwell: “Seems malnourished.”

Ortiz, with a censored bottle in his hand, rants to Konnan about wanting to finish the North. Konnan tells him to calm down because Daga is going to replace the injured (torn MCL) Santana. Daga comes in and Ortiz isn’t happy, but Konnan says he has this.

Michael Elgin thinks it’s non-title tonight because Cage is scared. Cage needs to stop worrying about his fiance (who is holding the mic) and worry about him instead.

X-Division Title: Jake Crist vs. Rich Swann

Swann is defending and Crist is here alone. Crist headlocks him down to start Swann reverses into an armbar and they flip up to a standoff. Swann wastes no time in sending him outside for a flip dive but here’s Dave Crist, who gets kicked in the face. The distraction lets Jake hit a running DDT on the floor though and we take a break.

Back with Jake working Swann over in the corner before grabbing the reverse Rings of Saturn. That’s broken up so it’s a camel clutch to keep Swann in trouble. Swann breaks out of that as well and rolls forward into a flipping clothesline. Some kicks to the head give Swann two but he jumps into a Death Valley Driver for two as well. They slug it out again with Swann getting the better of it and hitting a top rope elbow for another near fall.

It takes too long to go up again though and it’s a superplex into a swinging neckbreaker for two on Swann. An exchange of kicks to the head sets up the Phoenix splash but Dave puts the foot on the rope. Swann cutters both of them but it’s Mad Man Fulton coming out to shove Swann into a cutter from Jake. Sliced Bread #2 gives Jake the pin and the title at 15:46.

Rating: B. This feels like a bigger deal because Swann had been built up as a huge star. There is no reason to not put him into the main event now as there isn’t anything left for him to do in the X-Division. It was a surprise title change and it wasn’t clear, and it even came at the end of a rather good match. These two worked well together and the ending was the best way to get the title out of Swann in a singles match.

Post break Sami says the team won the title and doesn’t like Jake calling himself the Golden Draw. Sami: “IT’S SILVER!” They need to focus on Tessa.

Unbreakable rundown.

Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin

Non-title street fight. Hang on though as Cage crawls through the curtain and it’s Elgin standing over him with a chair. Elgin chokes him with the chair in the ring but stops to grab a mic. He rants about this being non-title because Cage is scared of him. Elgin grabs another chair and hits the Conchairto on Cage’s head as we won’t be having a match here.

Security is quickly beaten up and Elgin wraps the chair around Cage’s head. Cue Melissa Santos to beg but the masked man comes in for the save. Elgin chairs him in the face but a second masked man comes in to Gore him down. The second masked man runs into the crowd and unmasks as Rhyno (it wasn’t really a secret) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling was up and down here but they got in some angle advancement and storytelling so the show worked well. This felt like the big fallout show from Slammiversary and while they did lose some momentum, it was still a good show that picked up where the previous stuff took off. Unbreakable can be a nice stepping stone towards Bound For Glory and Impact could be in a good place for a while to come.

Results

Jordynne Grace b. Kiera Hogan – Bridging cradle

Moose b. Ray Steel – No Jackhammer Needed

Rob Van Dam b. Willie Mack – Five Star Frog Splash

Jake Crist b. Rich Swann – Sliced Bread #2

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: February 24, 2005
Location: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re finally done with No Way Out and that means we’re officially on the Road to Wrestlemania. After this week’s Raw, we now have an official main event with John Cena winning the #1 contenders tournament, earning a Smackdown World Title shot against JBL. I wonder what they’ll talk about. Let’s get to it.

Here are Sunday’s results if you need a recap.

This show is sponsored by Friends Of JBL, meaning we’re starting with a look at him surviving No Way Out’s main event against Big Show.

We look at Batista signing to face HHH, leaving Cena to challenge JBL.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio vs. Basham Brothers

The Bashams are challenging in a rematch from No Way Out. The fans are behind Eddie to start as he shoulders Danny into the corner early on. Some kicks to the arm allow a tag to Rey, who snaps off a headscissors for two. It’s already back to Eddie but the Bashams get him into the corner, setting up a super spinebuster (cool, though not as cool as it sounds) to send us to an early break.

Back with Eddie grabbing a swinging neckbreaker for a breather but Rey is down on the floor. Danny hits his own swinging neckbreaker for two as we see Doug sending Rey into the steps during the break. I can appreciate the bonus details like that. Eddie gets over for the corner for a tag but there’s still no Rey to keep the theme going. Danny cranks on Eddie’s arms before a quick powerslam gets two. A half crab lets Doug do something in the match but he lets go to take care of Rey again.

Eddie fights out of the corner and walks over for the tag to Rey, which wasn’t as awesome as it should have been. Everything breaks down and the champs hammer away in the corner. Rey’s springboard moonsault press gets two but Doug is right back with an Angel’s Wings for two. Eddie is right back in but the 619 hits him in the ribs by mistake. A belly to back suplex into a top rope headbutt gets two with Eddie diving back in for the save. The 619 into the frog splash into Dropping the Dime retains the titles.

Rating: C. This is a much better use of the Bashams as they’re fine for a midcard heel team who wins on occasion. Rey and Eddie’s tension continues, which you can all but guarantee for a match at Wrestlemania. They can have some better than usual tag matches on the way there though and that’s a nice way to go for a few weeks.

Stills of Cena vs. Angle.

The women are in their locker room when Orlando Jordan, in a tuxedo, comes in (after being invited like a gentleman should). They are all invited to JBL’s celebration tonight and it’s black tie. Good thing they have wrestling gear (or whatever you call what they’re wearing here) and formal wear packed on the same night.

Here’s Kurt Angle for his invitational. He’s not in the mood to play around tonight so let’s get this going fast.

Kurt Angle vs. Matt Martel

Martel is better known as Matt Striker. Hang on though as Martel won’t let Angle finish talking. He wants to know how it felt to lose to Cena. Angle punches him in the face and gets two off a German suplex, which he pulls up at two. Another suplex sets up something like an STF (which Tazz calls a freestyle bow and arrow) into the Angle Slam. Angle pulls him up again so it’s the grapevined ankle lock for the easy win.

Post match Tazz asks Angle about Shawn Michaels challenging him to Wrestlemania. Angle leaves without saying anything.

JBL has a lot of friends arriving for later.

Heidenreich is writing a poem and ignores a question about Booker T. to read it. The poem is about getting disqualified against Booker because Heidenreich is crazy.

Stills of the barbed wire cage match. We also see some new footage of JBL crawling out from under the ring as Big Show posed on the steps. Then Batista and Cena showed up to clean house.

It’s time for the celebration, featuring a bunch of food on tables in the aisle and well dressed people.

JBL is so banged up that he can’t wear his cowboy hat. He isn’t postponing the celebration either because he has earned this moment. It’s his entrance into the Hall of Fame.

The Bashams and Jordan are in the ring as everyone else is drinking champagne. Jordan introduces JBL, who takes his sweet time getting to the ring, with his music even starting over. Jordan gives another introduction and unveils a portrait of JBL as champion. JBL finally gets to talk and says he loves everyone, which is appropriate in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia needs him because none of their sports teams are champion, but they can live through him.

This Sunday, he made the impossible look routine when he beat Big Show. JBL cannot lose and that is why Batista didn’t come to Smackdown. He likes the best things in life and is the kind of champion these people can never be like. In the 242 days he has been champion, he has proven his greatness, which he will do again at Wrestlemania.

JBL says it’s time to start the party (before the ice sculptures of his cowboy hat melts) but here’s Big Show to break a lot of stuff. Uh, you lost clean on Sunday dude. Stop being so uppity. The numbers get the better of Show, who gets tied in the ropes. Cue Cena for the save and I think we have a tag match for later. Naturally the portrait is broken over JBL’s head and we cut to a crowd shot for something. Indeed, here is Long to make the tag match. This went a good while and the setup took longer than it needed to, but Cena’s reaction was very strong.

Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero vs. Funaki

Chavo is defending and kicks away at Funaki to start. Some stomping has Funaki in trouble but he’s back up with some right hands. Chavo goes face first into the buckle but the tornado DDT is broken up. What looks to be an Alabama Slam out of the corner sees Chavo driven back first into the buckle, only to have him get to his feet (with some help from a rope) for the Gory Bomb to retain.

Rating: D+. Another match without enough time to do much but giving Chavo the pin over the former champion is a good idea. He won the title in a gauntlet match and didn’t pin Funaki, so it makes his reign look more legitimized here. It wasn’t anything worth seeing but at least it went the right way.

Post match Paul London runs in and chases Chavo off.

Undertaker vs. Mark Jindrak/Luther Reigns

Good grief how long does Undertaker have to spend beating these two up? Reigns drops to the floor so Undertaker can beat up Jindrak without any problem. Undertaker beats Reigns down and triangle chokes Jindrak for the easy win.

Post match Reigns yells at Jindrak and lays him out until referees break it up.

Here’s Theodore Long to find out the fate of his job. He’s proud of what he has done as GM but here’s Carlito to say he’s looking forward to Long being fired. Long brings in Linda McMahon to bring up the energy….and we’re robbed of the old Wrestlemania theme song because she’s just on the screen. Long gets to keep his job, and even steals Carlito’s apple. Next week, it’s payback time for Carlito. I’m guessing he’s healthy again because the angle ended in a hurry.

Big Show/John Cena vs. Orlando Jordan/John Bradshaw Layfield

Show has a taped up head and JBL has tape on his ribs and left arm. For some reason, Tony Chimel nearly laughs as he reads Big Show’s weight. Joined in progress with Show chopping and throwing Jordan around. He wants JBL and even reaches Jordan’s hand over for the tag which doesn’t come. Instead it’s off to Cena for the first time and the beating continues, with JBL running from Cena.

JBL does trip him from the floor though and then sends Cena hard into the steps, only to be stalked by Show. Now JBL is tilling to come in (how heelish of him) but a single punch to the bad ribs means it’s back to Jordan. A clothesline gives Jordan two and JBL makes sure to choke with the tag rope in the corner. Cena is in trouble so Show comes in to wreck some people, including a big shoulder to Jordan. The FU plants Jordan again but Cena doesn’t cover. Cena: “THIS IS WHAT WE DO!”. The Shuffle of all things gets the pin for a change.

Rating: D+. Just a short form house show main event here, with Cena and Show destroying Jordan in the end, which is how something like this should have gone. There was something rather satisfying about seeing Jordan get run over by Show and JBL laying there while Cena wrecked Jordan was rather appropriate. In other words, I like seeing Jordan get beaten up.

Overall Rating: D. This wasn’t the strongest show but all that matters is Cena vs. JBL and that got a bit of advancement in the end. They have a few weeks to really hammer that match in, though the ending to the title match is about as obvious as you can get. There is still time to set some stories up, though Reigns and Jindrak splitting isn’t going to do it. Not the worst show, but it was all about one story and they spent a lot of unnecessary time talking to get there.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 30, 1995
Location: Manatee Civic Center, Palmetto, Florida
Attendance: 2,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels

We’re still dealing with the fallout from the Royal Rumble and that means we’re probably going to be hearing a lot about Lawrence Taylor tonight. After the disaster that was the build towards the Rumble, that sounds like quite the improvement. It’s not like there is anything else going on at the moment as we don’t get to the real Wrestlemania build for a few weeks. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a quick recap of Bam Bam Bigelow (named Scott here in a rare moment) attacking Taylor at the Rumble. Bigelow has been suspended for thirty days but has to apologize tonight after last week’s apology didn’t air due to technical difficulties.

Opening sequence.

King Kong Bundy vs. Mabel

Over The Top Rope Challenge and you can see the fans going up the steps during the entrances. After Ted DiBiase explains the rules, Bundy starts hammering away with the forearms to the back. Thankfully Mabel is smart enough to start going straight for the toss over the top but can’t get anything to work. Bundy can’t do it either so we hit the WHOMP THERE IT IS chants. The big elbow misses Bundy though….and the rest of the Corporation comes in to finally dump Mabel and give Bundy the win.

Rating: F. Yeah….this is a thing that happened and I’m not sure what else there is to say about it. They really felt the need to do something like this eight days after the original Rumble? And between these two? I get the idea but people….it’s Wrestlemania season at the moment. Come on now.

We get Bigelow’s apology as he talks about having a rough night with Vince saying that the fans can boo as much as they can, which is what Lawrence was doing. Bigelow talks about how disrespectful Lawrence was and there will not be an apology. He’s so incensed that he wants a match with Taylor.

Shawn and Vince, in his brown jacket, compare it to a football game.

Hakushi vs. Ricky Santana

Hakushi wastes no time in hitting an enziguri as Shawn talks about his own catlike agility. The slow pounding begins with a bunch of chops to the back and headbutts to the, uh, head. Santana’s comeback is cut off in a hurry and it’s time for more chops. The chop off goes to Hakushi and he nails a heck of a dropkick. A top rope shoulder takes Santana down and the cartwheel moonsault is good for the pin.

Rating: D. This was another old school squash that only did a little bit for Hakushi, but that is the case for so many of these things. They’re great to drive up house shows, but when you have a weekly show on in prime time, there is only so much benefit to have. Hakushi was WAY ahead of his time though and this showcased that status very well.

Stills from the Rumble.

Aldo Montoya vs. David Sierra

Shawn talks about Aldo having a jockstrap for a mask as Aldo hits a dive to the floor. Back in and Aldo chops away but Sierra hits some right hands to take over. He takes way too long going up top though and Aldo slams him down, setting up a middle rope spinning bulldog for the pin. This was nothing.

Ken Norton Jr. of the San Francisco 49ers is going to Wrestlemania.

It’s time for the King’s Court with special guest Bob Backlund. Lawler lets us know about Backlund’s latest idea: the crossface chickenwing isn’t being broken until someone says I QUIT MR. BOB BACKLUND. Bob repeats the statement in a voice that sounds like he’s in a library. This goes for ANYONE, though Lawler thinks he’s exempt.

That’s not cool with Bob, who slips up and says that even he isn’t safe from the hold. Shawn: “If anybody could figure out how to put a hold on himself, it’s Bob Backlund.” Bob grabs it on Lawler, who quits in a hurry. That sends Bob up the aisle as Lawler says he meant he was quitting the interview if Backlund didn’t behave himself….and there goes the jacket. Lawler says Bret Hart is here and runs as Backlund poses in the ring. Turning this Backlund face would not work.

BUY THE RUMBLE ENCORE! Even though we’ve already told you everything that happened!

Tag Team Titles: Smoking Gunns vs. Bob Holly/1-2-3 Kid

Holly and the Kid are challenging after losing the titles last week. Billy and the Kid (make your own jokes) start things off with the Kid taking him down without too much trouble. A headlock takeover is countered into a headscissors and it’s an early standoff. Bart comes in and gets kicked in the ribs so Holly can come in to drop a knee to the face.

It’s already back to Billy vs. the Kid with an elbow to the face giving Billy two. Back from a break with Holly hitting a heck of a clothesline for one with Billy making a fast save. Shawn doesn’t like the idea of the champs defending again so soon as Holly gets beaten up even more. Holly can’t fight out of the corner as Billy pounds him down again, allowing Bart to slam Kid down.

Bart looks at him, thinks about it for a second, and then covers him for two. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Holly fights up and makes the hot tag off to the Kid. You wouldn’t know it based on the fans, but the Kid does come in. Kid goes up top and misses a flip dive to a standing Billy….and starts convulsing. His eyes are rolling back into his head and the referee stops the match.

Rating: C-. It could have been worse but the injury ending (Kid was working the next day so it wasn’t quite legit) was kind of a confusing one. I guess they didn’t want the underdogs losing two weeks in a row, which is fine, but it’s not exactly something that builds up the most interest.

Post break the Kid is still down but post another break, we’re told he left under his own power.

Kama Mustafa vs. Jumbo Barretta

I wonder if he’s related to Trent. Jumbo slugs away to start but gets kicked down in the corner. Kama slams the big guy down and pulls at his mouth before going back to the kicks. This squash is just dying and yet Kama would one day be in the Hall of Fame. Wrestling is funny that way. A neck crank into a belly to belly into something like an STF finishes Jumbo.

Rating: F. This match was designed to make me care about Kama and it failed miserably. Kama came off as boring, uninteresting and little more than a slow moving guy who kicks a lot. When you watch Hakushi fly all over the place with a rapid series of kicks, watching someone do it at quarter speed isn’t going to work.

We’re so out of time that Vince can’t even finish the Rumble encore plug.

Overall Rating: F. It’s rare for two matches on a show to get an F but this show managed to pull it off. The wrestling was mostly terrible with the Tag Team Title match just being watchable at best. There’s a reason the company is dying this badly and it’s getting harder and harder to watch.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 16, 1995
Location: Summit, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels

We continue the build towards the Royal Rumble though you would barely know it based on the TV shows lately. The main focus here has been on Bret Hart, who is getting a WWF Title shot at the pay per view but he’s been busy dealing with Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler instead of going after Diesel. It’s the go home show tonight and I don’t see this going well for the Rumble build. Let’s get to it.

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

Vince narrates a Star Trek style opening video about Hart vs. Jarrett with William Shatner in Bret’s corner.

Opening sequence.

Heavenly Bodies vs. 1-2-3 Kid/Bob Holly

This is a rematch from the Tag Team Title tournament semifinals where the Bodies lost. The Bodies jump them before the bell with the Kid being sent outside and Holly getting kicked in the ribs. Del Ray clotheslines Holly for two and we hit the choking. Prichard comes in and gets legdropped onto Holly for two as the announcers talk about the Super Bowl points spread.

The gutwrench powerbomb gives Prichard two more and it’s back to Del Ray for a high crossbody. Holly rolls through for two and here are Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow, who get Holly and Kid for the titles on Sunday. A double clothesline is broken up as Holly dives onto the two arms to pull the Bodies together (I’m still not sure if that makes sense or not) and it’s off to the Kid. Everything breaks down and Kid gets caught in a double suplex, only to have Holly make the save with a spear. Kid rolls Del Ray up for the pin.

Rating: D+. Totally basic formula here and there’s nothing wrong with opening a show like that. The Kid and Holly are still not a great team but they’re exciting enough to give a chance, even if it doesn’t last long. It’s not like the tag division has any depth at the moment so see what two fun guys like that can do.

Bret Hart and William Shatner are ready for tonight. Hart insists he has no ring rust and Shatner dubs Roadie as Road Dogg.

Mantaur vs, Jason Ahrndt

Jim Cornette is managing Mantaur, which is a rib on him for reasons of the company having a bad sense of humor. Mantaur runs Jason over to start and slowly stomps away as Shawn says his Rumble number doesn’t matter. Another charge takes Jason down and a splash finishes in a hurry. Mantaur’s theme music is literally a moose’s call. Can you blame Cornette for hating this stuff?

Royal Rumble Report. You should order the show because Pamela Anderson is going to be there. Something about wrestling too. There’s nothing to this card aside from a Bret vs. Diesel match we’ve seen before and they know it. Case in point: Undertaker and Paul Bearer talk about being ready for IRS.

Jeff Jarrett says he’ll win the Intercontinental Title and take care of Bret Hart tonight.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Bret Hart

Roadie and William Shatner are here. Vince brings up a good point: why would either of these two take a match before they’re challenging for titles on Sunday? Bret gives his glasses to a young fan at ringside and the kid smiles so much that even I have to smile. I know wrestling gets a lot of flack at times, but kids smiling at wrestling is one of my favorite things.

Feeling out process to start and Bret gets a bit heelish by raking the eyes across the rope. An atomic drop and running clothesline take Jarrett down and the armbar goes on. Jeff can’t even slam or armdrag his way out of the armbar as Bret is rather tenacious with the thing. Back up and Bret grabs a sleeper, which is broken up a bit more easily. A swinging neckbreaker takes us to a break and we come back with Bret sunset flipping him for two.

Shatner is playing cheerleader and does at least seem happy to be there. That’s more than most celebrities can say. Jarrett’s middle rope ax handle hits Bret but some right hands start the comeback. The Russian legsweep gives Bret two and we’re firmly in the Five Moves Of Doom.

Jeff blocks the Sharpshooter with a rake to the eyes so Bret ties him into the ropes for a change of pace. Roadie makes the save though, allowing Jeff to slap on the Figure Four. The rope is grabbed, albeit with Shatner shoving the rope towards Bret for a little help. Back up and Jeff tries an O’Connor Roll but Bret uses the tights to reverse into one of his own for the pin (without tights).

Rating: C+. Of course the match was fine and Bret was feeling it well enough with the slightly heelish tendencies, though I’m not sure how smart it was to have Jeff take the pin six days before he’s going to challenge for the Intercontinental Title. He lost to a big name, but that isn’t exactly making things that much better. There was no one else to have take the spot in the mini feud with Bret? The bad thing? There really isn’t.

Post match Shatner knocks Roadie down and avoids a dive off the top by just stepping to the side. He even sends Roadie into the buckle a few times and then over the top.

We recap the Tag Team Title tournament before Sunday’s fine.

It’s time for the King’s Court with the Million Dollar Corporation as the guests. DiBiase is ready for the team to have a great night on Sunday when Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka win the Tag Team Titles, IRS gets rid of Undertaker and King Kong Bundy wins the Royal Rumble. Then the next night, Bigelow and Tatanka can beat the Smoking Gunns to really show how great they are. Somehow, this takes the better part of five minutes.

Mabel vs. Lee Tobin

Tobin’s headlock works as much as you would imagine it would on a 6’10 560lb guy in purple and gold. A suplex puts him down as the announcers talk about OJ Simpson and the Rumble. Mabel’s jumping enziguri connects but Tobin manages to shoulder him into the corner. That’s about it for him though as Mabel runs him over and hits the legdrop for the pin.

Post break Mabel says he’s going to win the Rumble but Shawn disagrees. So does King Kong Bundy, who wants to fight right now.

Royal Rumble ad, again focusing on Pamela Anderson more than the wrestling. In this case, I get the idea.

Back with no Bundy on Mabel violence but the announcers preview the Rumble.

A video on Diesel ends the show.

Overall Rating: D. The Jarrett vs. Hart match was pretty good but this was a dreadful go home show for the Rumble. It felt like they were trying to cram in whatever they could into the last segment and that’s not a good sign less than a week before one of the biggest shows of the year. Pretty awful show here but the middle match was perfectly fine.

I’ve already done the January 23 show, which you can find right here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/01/23/on-this-day-january-23-1995-monday-night-raw-a-1995-raw-that-doesnt-suck/

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 9, 1995
Location: Summit, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels

The slow build towards the Royal Rumble continues and that means we get to sit through some more horrible shows. This is one of the worst times the company has ever had and last week’s show couldn’t have been much worse. At least this week’s show is the two year anniversary of the show so maybe it can be a little better. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Vince and Shawn talk about the show, which thankfully is in an arena instead of a high school gym. They’re VERY excited about William Shatner appearing on the King’s Court tonight, meaning the Star Trek jokes abound.

Shatner is ready to deal with Lawler but he’s here to promote his new show. Only one Star Trek joke abounds here.

Intercontinental Title: Owen Hart vs. Razor Ramon

Razor is defending and we get the Madison Square Garden style set with the entrance across from the hard camera. Hart takes his time coming in so Razor gets in a sucker punch but the referee won’t let him hit a belt shot. Owen gets knocked outside and slammed off the top as this is one sided so far.

It gets even worse for Owen as he misses a charge into the post, meaning it’s off to the armbar, complete with some slaps to Owen’s head. A clothesline gives Razor two and the armbar goes right back on. The fall away slam looks to set up the Razor’s Edge but Owen backdrops him to the floor. That means a suicide dive, which is a very different move for 1995. Razor’s rolls through a high crossbody for two and we take a break.

Back with Owen’s enziguri connecting and a spinwheel kick dropping Razor again. The chinlock goes on before Owen jumps on his back for the sleeper. As expected, Razor suplexes his way to freedom and gets a very delayed two. The yet to be named chokeslam puts Owen down but he’s fine enough to crotch Razor on the ropes. Owen hits a missile dropkick but here’s Bret for the DQ before the Sharpshooter can go on.

Rating: B. This was really getting somewhere and the ending makes sense. Owen has made it clear that he wants to be better than Bret and Bret is still mad over Owen costing him the title so he costs Owen a title as well. It helps when Razor can have a good match with anyone and they can do a rematch if they want to go there. This show is already 49x better than last week’s so they’re off to a good start.

Post match Jeff Jarrett tries to come in for the save but Bret and Razor stand tall.

Royal Rumble Report, with Todd Pettengill explaining the whole concept, including the dreaded sixty second intervals. The rest of the card gets some attention too, though that doesn’t make the show sound much better. Diesel wants to know if Bret Hart has changed while he’s been hanging out in Calgary. Bret better be ready for the Rumble.

Jerry Lawler is ready for Shatner.

Hakushi vs. Matt Hardy

This is Hakushi’s debut and who would believe he’s nowhere near the bigger star? Matt tries to pick up the pace to start and gets superkicked for his efforts. Shawn Michaels makes menu jokes about Hakushi and it’s a snap suplex into a slingshot splash to finish Hardy in a hurry. Total squash.

It’s time for the King’s Court with Lawler listing off all of William Shatner’s accomplishments before bringing him out. Lawler wants him to say this is his greatest accomplishment, but Shatner isn’t going there. He was chewing gum yesterday and that was more impressive than Lawler. That doesn’t go well as Lawler pokes him in the chest, meaning Shatner takes the mic away.

The fight is almost on with Shatner twisting Lawler’s fist behind his back. A monkey flip sends Lawler flying and here’s Bret to clear him out. Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie come to ringside but nothing happens. I’ve never seen a single Star Trek anything so this didn’t do much for me.

Royal Rumble ad with Pamela Anderson in her apartment and various wrestlers calling to hit on her. She was the big focal point of the show and looked like she would rather be having dental surgery.

King Kong Bundy vs. Gary Sabaugh

Avalanche finishes Sabaugh in less than thirty seconds. Yes they are running long.

Post match, Bundy tells Shawn that he’s winning the Rumble, which Shawn doesn’t buy.

We look at the Tag Team Title tournament. Here are the updated brackets:

Bam Bam Bigelow/Tatanka

Headshrinkers

Heavenly Bodies

1-2-3 Kid/Bob Holly

The Bushwhackers fire Howard Finkel up for his tuxedo match.

Well Dunn does the same for Harvey Wippleman.

Video on Kama Mustafa, the toughest man in the world.

Harvey Wippleman vs. Howard Finkel

Yes a tuxedo match and yes this is the main event with Well Dunn and the Bushwhackers at ringside. They start the expected brawling with Finkel’s pants coming down but not off as Harvey loses his shirt. Both of their underwear say RAW of course as the ugly grappling continues. Harvey thinks he wins but Howard still has his cummerbund on, allowing him to steal the pants and the win. This is something I never need to see again.

A lot of dancing and celebrating ensues. By that I mean longer than the match itself went as they just keep marching around the ring for the better part of four minutes.

Next week: Bret vs. Jarrett.

The announcers give a recap and preview as they’re filling in all the time they can. Jarrett comes out and promises to take care of Hart and Shatner next week.

Overall Rating: D. That one match did help a lot but come on man. Even a fifteen minute match which was quite good wasn’t enough to save the show from Fink vs. Harvey, which is hardly surprising. I’m sure Vince found it hilarious but you finish on that instead of the celebrity appearance of the good match? It’s the Saturday Night’s Main Event formula all over again, but that doesn’t make it smart.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 2, 1995
Location: Liberty High School, Liberty, New York
Attendance: 1,400
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Shawn Michaels

We’re picking things up not too far removed from the last set. This time around we’re getting ready for the Royal Rumble and that means things should start to get interesting. There aren’t a lot of fresh challengers for Diesel’s WWF Title at the moment so getting someone new out of the Rumble is a good idea. Let’s get to it.

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

Jeff Jarrett is ready to sing tonight. I’m sure.

Opening sequence.

It’s so weird to hear Monsoon doing commentary. He says that Vince is under the weather….but Vince did commentary on the first two shows of this taping cycle. Huh?

Bam Bam Bigelow/Tatanka vs. Lex Luger/British Bulldog

Bulldog is late getting to the ring so Luger is in early trouble. Bigelow beats him down to start but a running shot to the face staggers Bigelow right back. A middle rope clothesline gives Luger two on Bigelow and the armbar goes on. DiBiase’s distraction lets Tatanka get in a knee to the back as Shawn asks how Luger would wrestle without a clothesline.

The chops to the head have Luger in more trouble and Tatanka drops some elbows for two. Back from a break with Tatanka hitting the top rope chop to the head and slapping on the bearhug. Monsoon isn’t sure why someone of Tatanka’s size is putting a bearhug on and given how fast it’s broken up, he might be onto something.

Tatanka is right back with a belly to back suplex and Bigelow comes in for a headbutt to keep Luger down. Luger comes right back up with a powerslam and it’s off to the Bulldog for the house cleaning. The real running powerslam drops Tatanka but Bigelow makes the save. Everyone heads outside and it’s a double countout for a pretty lame ending.

Rating: D. Well that was pitiful. This was a bunch of slow action until the ending which doesn’t help anyone. I can understand the idea of not wanting either team to job but they couldn’t have DiBiase hold a foot or something? It wasn’t any good and there wasn’t much that could be done given the way this was being set up.

Royal Rumble Report, with Todd Pettengill criticizing the double countout. We get a quick rundown on the card before breaking news: the tag match WILL CONTINUE later tonight. Well that just makes my day. The rest of the card gets some attention, including IRS busting out his own druids to counter Undertaker. We get a list of Rumble participants, which…..leaves something to be desired shall we say.

Roadie is getting ready for Jeff Jarrett’s singing debut tonight. This has been teased for months now and I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

Duke Droese vs. Mike Bell

Bell’s chop just makes Droese mad and it’s a backdrop into a chinlock. A powerslam sets up the Trash Compactor (tilt-a-whirl powerslam) for the fast pin. Droese is someone who has grown on me a bit over the years.

Video on Kama Mustafa. This was before we knew what mixed martial arts were so it’s not the easiest thing to accept.

We look at the Tag Team Title tournament.

Here’s Jerry Lawler for the King’s Court with Owen Hart as the guest. After they practice the kingly wave, Lawler praises him for his acting job at Survivor Series. Lawler gets in his classic jokes about Stu and Helen Hart, leaving Owen to recap his master plan. I mean, he didn’t win the title himself but he did cost Bret the title and that’s what matters most.

Owen has the very towel that Helen threw in to cost him the title and is far too proud of the thing. That brings him to the new year, when he’s going to win every title there is to win in the WWF. He just won’t lose it like Bret did. Gorilla: “That’s the scoop?” Owen enters the Royal Rumble, which is the real announcement. He certainly took his time getting there.

Next week: Razor Ramon vs. Owen Hart for the Intercontinental Title and Howard Finkel vs. Harvey Wippleman in a tuxedo match. Egads do I have to?

Jeff Jarrett vs. Buck Quartermaine

Gorilla doesn’t want to hear about how great Jarrett is. Jeff takes him down to start and walks over Buck’s back before snapping him throat first across the top. A top rope clothesline connects as Shawn makes fun of Quartermaine’s name. The running crotch attack to the back sets up the strut into a belly to back suplex. Gorilla is getting frustrated, telling Jeff to get in, sing his song and get out. A superplex sets up the Figure Four for the fast tap. Total squash.

Post break it’s time for the song but the microphone levels and lighting are all messed up so that’s not happening. Gorilla: “Where’s Kevin Dunn when you need him?” Jarrett throws in the towel and there’s no song tonight.

We see a clip of Super Dave Osborne’s (comedian who plays a horrible stuntman) new show.

Lex Luger/British Bulldog vs. Bam Bam Bigelow/Tatanka

We’re joined in progress on the restart with Bigelow beating on Luger. Tatanka comes in for some chops and a clothesline before it’s back to Bigelow for the headbutts. We take a break and come back (Gorilla: “After a short short.”) with Shawn saying it feels like this match has been going all night. Tatanka clotheslines Bigelow by mistake and it’s off to the Bulldog to clean house. Another clothesline puts Bigelow on the floor and Bulldog whips Tatanka into Bigelow for the pin (after Tatanka not being ready for a rollup).

Rating: D-. I would love to know the thought process here. Was there any reason to have this match go on again after how boring the first part was earlier on? Now we get to watch the second version, which was shorter, less interesting and had a break in the middle despite not being that long. Another bad stuff, as Luger continues to count down the days of his contract.

Overall Rating: F. I always forget how bad some of these shows can be. Some of them are just not any good with one bad idea after another and this was right up there on the list. Shawn wasn’t even that funny on commentary aside from a few good one liners in there as he and Monsoon didn’t have the chemistry of Shawn and Vince. Awful show that couldn’t finish fast enough.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

205 Live
Date: July 23, 2019
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Aiden English, Vic Joseph

We’re coming up on Summerslam and that means we need a new #1 contender. They haven’t named a new #1 contender yet but that tends to be a better idea around here. Things are better when we have a bunch of matches taking place instead of focusing on one, which is the case tonight. This time around Isaiah Scott (Shane Strickland) is coming up, presumably for one night only, to face Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Mike Kanellis driving Drake Maverick to violence last week with an insult of Maverick’s wife. That’s all well and good, but having Maverick play two different characters on the different shows makes it a bit harder to buy. Maverick is willing to give Kanellis a title shot, but he has to win a match first. As you might have guessed, that match is against Maverick.

Maverick says his actions as General Manager last week were uncalled for but as a man, they were very appropriate. Next week, they won’t be competing because they are going to fight. Just to make sure it’s as violent as possible, the match is unsanctioned.

Opening sequence.

Lucha House Party vs. Humberto Carrillo/Raul Mendoza

Lince Dorado is the odd Lucha out here. During his entrance, we get a video on Mendoza in a smart move. Mendoza and Kalisto start things off with Kalisto spinning out of an early wristlock attempt. Both guys spin out of a tilt-a-whirl attempt before they both block armdrags. Kalisto’s rope walk into an anklescissors doesn’t work and it’s an early stalemate.

Kalisto goes with a multiple springboard wristdrag and of course Mendoza is right on his feet again. Metalik and Carrillo come in with the former grabbing a headlock so Carrillo flips him away for a breather. The House Party starts in on the arm with a kick to the shoulder, followed by a quickly broken chinlock. That’s fine with Kalisto, who grabs a second one because the first one didn’t take.

Carrillo fights up again and gets kicked in the face, freaking English out all over again. That doesn’t last long though as it’s back to Mendoza for the Lucha Bros’ wheelbarrow splash and a near fall on Kalisto. Mendoza grabs an armbar on Kalisto but hands it back to Carrillo before getting too far with it. Come on man you have to put in more effort than that. Kalisto is fine enough to hit a kick to the head and it’s back to Metalik for the kicks to the head.

The running clothesline into the rope walk dropkick gets two but Carrillo’s awesome springboard spinning crossbody gives him a breather. Mendoza and Kalisto come in with Mendoza hitting a heck of a dropkick, followed by a better rope walk dropkick. Everything breaks down and Kalisto hits his handspring kick to the head, only to get dropkicked by Mendoza again. Metalik and Carrillo start trading the kicks to the head until they head to the corner with Metalik snapping off a super hurricanrana for two more. Mendoza dives onto Kalisto but Metalik’s moonsault hits raised boots. Carrillo is right back up with the Aztec Press to finish Metalik at 12:16.

Rating: B-. There’s something so fun about watching luchadors fly around like this and Carrillo is one of the smoothest guys around. He and Mendoza work very well together and the Lucha House Party have the star power. It was fast paced and entertaining, which is pretty much exactly what they were going for.

The Singh Brothers want Akira Tozawa and Brian Kendrick next week.

Video on Isaiah Swerve Scott, with Swerve meaning confidence. This guy really is awesome and he’ll be a star in no time.

We look back at last week’s great Chad Gable vs. Jack Gallagher match with Gable winning and showing respect after the match.

Oney Lorcan vs. Tony Isner

Lorcan wastes no time in hammering away in the corner, including some running elbows. The half and half suplex finishes Isner at 1:08. Short and sweet.

Drew Gulak isn’t surprised that no one from 205 Live wanted to face him, which is why Scott is here from NXT. Gulak trained Scott and knows everything about him. Tonight, Scott taps out.

Drew Gulak vs. Isaiah Scott

Non-title. Gulak dropkicks him at the bell and grabs a very early headlock. Scott breaks away without any trouble and it’s already into a standoff. A shove puts Scott on the floor and Gulak tells him to bring it. Back in and Scott grabs a wristlock before rolling away to put in some frustration. The dropkick sends Gulak outside and the confidence is flowing from Scott.

A cartwheel moonsault catches Gulak on the way back in and it’s back to the mat for the grappling. Scott punches him in the face for two and drops a knee to the chest for the same. They head outside with Gulak whipping him into the barricade as the anger begins again. A running Razor’s Edge into the post (egads) gets two on Scott as I try to imagine how long someone would have been out for had Razor Ramon used that. Back in and Gulak starts in on the leg before going aerial with a middle rope clothesline.

Scott hits his own clothesline for two and the running kick to the back of the head gets two. Gulak is right back with the Gulock, sending Scott’s foot underneath the rope for the break. Back up and Scott sends him outside for a stomp to the chest, followed by the top rope stomp for two. A tilt-a-whirl slam into an armbar has Gulak in trouble until he bends the fingers back for the break. Another crank on the bad hand sets up the Cyclone Crash to finish Scott at 14:07.

Rating: B. Yeah if they manage to screw Scott up, I have no idea what to tell them. Scott looks like as natural of a talent as you can find and there is almost no way that they could mess him up. He has the look, the charisma and the natural talent, all while the fans are behind him. What more could you ask for someone?

Overall Rating: B+. These shows are on a roll lately and having Scott in there is one of the better ideas they’ve had in a long time. This week’s show was about the guest stars and they made the show feel fresh for the week. You can all but pencil in Lorcan for the title shot, but that might change in the next two weeks before we get to the show. There is almost a guaranteed title shot at Summerslam and they might want to set something up sooner or later.

Results

Raul Mendoza/Humberto Carrillo b. Lucha House Party – Aztec Press to Metalik

Oney Lorcan b. Tony Isner – Half and half suplex

Drew Gulak b. Isaiah Scott – Cyclone Crash

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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