IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: August 21, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

So in a bit of a surprise, this is the start of the last of the one hour taping cycles. It’s also the start of the fallout from Takeover: Toronto and that means things could be in for a shakeup as we move towards Takeover: WarGames III, which is likely to feature Undisputed Era again. That’s not a bad thing as they’re becoming the Horsemen of NXT, but now they need opponents. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look at Matt Riddle and Killian Dain brawling at Takeover.

Here’s the Undisputed Era, with new shirts, to get things going. Adam Cole says he did everything he promised to do in Toronto and the fans certainly seem to like him. If there was an NXT Mount Rushmore, it would be his face four times over. Roderick Strong says they all deserves to hold the gold.

The other three got screwed though, with Velveteen Dream pinning Pete Dunne, meaning the North American Title reign is on borrowed time. Kyle O’Reilly shows us a clip of Bobby Fish tagging himself in at Takeover but O’Reilly was pinned. As we ignore the referee not seeing the tag, which usually holds precedence in tag matches, they demand that William Regal come out here and make this right. With that not happening, Cole says they are two steps away from making NXT truly Undisputed.

As the team leaves, here’s Jordan Myles with his Breakout Tournament contract. Cole: “You’re joking right?” Cole threatens to break the smile off of Jordan’s face so Myles should go after Shayna Baszler instead. Or maybe go to NXT UK or 205 Live because they’re not on Cole’s level (I know it isn’t happening but seeing the look on Cole’s face if Walter’s music hit would be glorious). Myles hands the contract to Cole but drops it at his feet, which means the challenge is on.

Bronson Reed wants more in NXT but Shane Thorne interrupts him and the match is made for tonight.

Mansoor vs. Damian Priest

Priest isn’t wasting time this week as he pulls Mansoor off the top for a crash into the buckle before knocking him back into the corner. Mansoor’s forearm has no effect as Priest drops him with a single shot. The chokeslam is escaped and Mansoor gets in an enziguri, followed by a low bridge to the floor. There’s the running flip dive and a slingshot neckbreaker (pretty nice) drops Priest back inside. Priest has had it though and it’s a Razor’s Edge toss into the Reckoning for the pin at 3:14.

Rating: D+. Mansoor has some nice charisma to him and some of the offense looked good. Priest came off like a monster, but egads man you have a toss Razor’s Edge and you use Roll the Dice for a finish? It’s not that complicated to figure this out and hopefully he changes it to what makes sense. Find something else to use on bigger people but don’t use one of the most overdone moves ever for your finisher.

NXT to USA announcement.

Mia Yim vs. Vanessa Borne

Borne start fast with a Samoan drop and stomps away in the corner as we hear about Borne’s love of art. With Yim hanging over the ropes, Borne puts a sticker saying LOWER no the back of her jeans. That fires Yim up so she chops away in the corner, followed by a Cannonball. Protect Yo Neck finishes Borne at 2:50. Anytime Yim wants to go away, I’d be perfectly fine with it.

Post match here’s Shayna Baszler to say Mia took her to places no one has taken her to before. Mia has been to some dark places and now she can stand beside Shayna. Cue the other Horsewomen, with Shayna saying it’s a cold business but nice and warm under the dragon’s wing. Mia would rather fight and the beatdown is on. Do we really have to watch these two fight again?

Next week: Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic.

Video on Lee vs. Dijakovic, which was a heck of a big man fight. They had a history on the indies as well and since NXT does this kind of thing, we get to hear about it. As usual, well done with making a match feel epic.

Shane Thorne vs. Bronson Reed

Thorne’s rage against the Breakout Tournament continues. Some early kicks annoy Reed but Thorne bails out to the floor. Back in and the much bigger Reed sits on Thorne’s back to keep him in trouble. Thorne tries a leapfrog and gets powerslammed down, setting up a facewash in the corner.

A shot to the knee slows Reed down though and Thorne hammers away in the corner and there’s the running Cannonball (Good grief can we get a moratorium on that already? It feels like everyone uses it anymore.). Reed comes back with a Samoan drop into a backsplash (same as the Cannonball) so Thorne rolls outside. Back in and Reed goes up top but gets knocked back down, setting up the running knee to give Shane the pin at 5:15.

Rating: C-. Reed moves well for a big man and I like where he’s going. Thorne on the other hand felt like someone who was there because he had been around forever and they needed to do something with him. I’m not sure what it is but there’s something to him that makes me want to see more, so he’s fine for now.

Here’s Velveteen Dream on the couch. His shirt is $30, his glasses are $10 and retaining the North American Title by pinning Pete Dunne is priceless. The Dream winds up on top of anyone in the locker room because he likes it best on top. That’s where the spotlight is so the spotlight is now on Roderick Strong. If Strong wants a title shot, give Dream an experience he’s never had before.

Myles challenges Cole in two weeks.

Next week: the Street Profits Defend against Fish and O’Reilly.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain

Riddle comes in through the crowd and jumps Dain before revealing taped up ribs. The forearms and strikes knock Dain into the corner and a kick to the head puts him on the floor. The forearm off the steps puts Dain down again but Dain elbows him in the head. Dain’s running crossbody crushes the ribs as he looks more and more like Bray Wyatt every day.

We hit the seated abdominal stretch to stay on the ribs and then Dain just stands on them for a bonus. Dain sits on the ribs (keeping it simple can work well) but Riddle somehow manages a release fisherman’s suplex. Riddle strikes away and gets in an exploder into the Broton. The seated elbows to the face have Dain in more trouble, setting up a German suplex for the double knockdown. Dain is back up with a shotgun dropkick into the corner, setting up the Cannonball (three matches out of four).

Riddle pops up with a Bro To Sleep and a powerbomb into a running knee for two. The spinning Broton hits knees though and Dain sends him shoulder first into the post. Riddle gets dropped onto the steps and a backsplash (two matches out of four) crushes him again. A Vader Bomb off the apron sets up three regular Vader Bombs inside to finish Riddle at 11:20.

Rating: B. Overuse of the same moves aside, this was another case of having two guys hit each other really hard until one came out on top. Dain needed the win to establish himself and Riddle gets to save face because his ribs were banged up. The match was the kind of hard hitting fight that NXT does very well without going to far or over the top with it. Good stuff here and a star is made.

Riddle charges after Dain to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Other than a good main event, this wasn’t a show built on the wrestling. What it was built on was setting up things for later and it did that quite well. I want to see where a lot of these stories go and that’s where NXT shines. This is the farewell tour for the old way of doing things and it’s nice to see them doing it the way they do it best.

Results

Damian Priest b. Mansoor – Reckoning

Mia Yim b. Vanessa Borne – Protect Yo Neck

Shane Thorne b. Bronson Reed – Running knee

Killian Dain b. Matt Riddle – Vader Bomb

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com 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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 21, 2005
Location: Jefferson Civic Center, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Wrestlemania is less than two weeks away and that means we’re in the final stretches of the build. That can be both good and bad as some of the stories can be interesting but at the same time, some of them are running on fumes and not that great. Tonight it’s another Pick Your Poison match with Batista facing Kane. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Conway

Sylvain Grenier is here with Conway while Shawn is on his own. An early Grenier distraction doesn’t do much as Shawn sends Conway outside and beats up both French guys. That means a big flip dive to the floor for a bonus as I’m not exactly buying Shawn as being in much danger here.

A cheap shot with the flag pole gives Conway two and we take a break. Back with Shawn fighting out of a chinlock and skinning the cat to avoid a nasty landing on the floor. They slug it out as Conway is getting in far more offense than you would expect here. Shawn makes the real comeback with the usual and drops the top rope elbow. A very hot crowd is pleased as Sweet Chin Music finishes Conway.

Rating: C. That was better than I would have expected with Shawn working hard in a match that doesn’t mean anything for him. That’s how you get a crowd more interested in Wrestlemania as if Shawn can do this against someone like Conway, what could he do against Angle? Rather nice surprise here.

Video on Kurt Angle, who has won everywhere he goes and will do so again at Wrestlemania. The ankle lock gets a lot of extra attention here.

Christy Hemme is ready to fight and has been working on her kicks. She offers to demonstrate to William Regal and Tajiri, who immediately cover their crotches.

Basic Instinct Wrestlemania trailer. That’s a bit of a flashback over the last few weeks.

Molly Holly/Simon Dean/Maven vs. Christy Hemme/William Regal/Tajiri

Oh this is going to hurt. Trish Stratus comes out (with her hair pulled back for a change, making her look like a shorter Michelle McCool) to watch as a bonus. Regal takes Dean down by the arm to start and runs him over with a shoulder for no count. Tajiri comes in and gets dropped by a cheap shot from Maven.

It’s Tajiri getting beaten up as JR tries to keep Lawler from talking about Playboy. Dean goes after Regal but gets kicked in the face by Tajiri, meaning it’s off to the women. A Trish distraction doesn’t do much good as Christy kicks away at Holly but Dean breaks up a sunset flip. Regal knees Dean to the floor and the Molly Go Round misses. The reverse Twist of Fate finishes Molly.

Rating: D+. Well it could have been worse. The whole point of this match was to showcase Christy and have her look good in her outfit while managing to do the one move that she needs to do for the title match. The Tag Team Champions were just kind of there, but that has been the case for years now with those titles.

Classic Steve Austin moment: Vince and the bedpan. Vince’s heart monitor freaking out in time with the beatdown was a great touch.

Here’s an angry HHH for a chat, but first he sets a chair in the ring. He can’t believe how underappreciated he is for everything he does for this business. Do you know what it took to make Batista and Randy Orton into stars? The two of them ruined their own careers with their bad decisions and look where they are now.

Orton is currently volunteering to put his head on the chopping block for the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. He groveled for nothing when he was in Evolution too, but at least he was a star, just like Batista. See, Batista could have made the right decision and gone over to Smackdown, where he could have beaten JBL and John Cena. Now Batista is coming to Wrestlemania and he’s going to lose there too.

Batista went to Wrestlemania once and then won the Royal Rumble so he knows how to win now? The problem for Batista is that he’s coming up against a wrestling god and now the big loss is coming. Last week, Chris Benoit was added to the list of people that Benoit has beaten when Batista picked his poison.

Tonight HHH gets to do the same, as Batista faces Kane in a lumberjack match. HHH gets to pick the lumberjacks of course and anything goes. He’s going to make a decision that needs to be made the animal will be put down. We get some references to the Terry Schiavo case to finally end this after nearly fifteen minutes of HHH’s slow talking about how awesome he is.

Chris Jericho/Shelton Benjamin vs. Edge/Christian

Remember the previous tag match that looked bad? This one doesn’t. Tyson Tomko is here with the Canadian team. Jericho’s headlock on Christian doesn’t get him very far to start so a shoulder gives him two instead. Christian gets knocked outside though and it’s a meeting with Edge and Tomko, allowing Shelton to bust out the big flip dive for the showoff moment.

Edge comes in so Shelton hammers away in the corner until Christian gets in a cheap shot from the floor. Christian’s neckbreaker gets two and we hit the chinlock. Shelton gets up and hits a kick to the head, allowing the tag to Jericho (which looked to have been a bit short). The Lionsault hits Christian but Jericho has to dropkick Tomko off the apron, allowing Christian to hit the reverse DDT.

Back from a break with Shelton coming in off the second hot tag and powerslamming Edge for two. Everything breaks down and the Canadians load up Poetry in Motion, only to have Shelton use Edge as a launchpad to clothesline Christian. Jericho drops both Edge and Christian but dives into Tomko’s boot. The Stinger Splash hits Christian but he’s right back with a belt to the head, setting up Edge’s spear for the pin.

Rating: B-. This Edge and Christian reunion has been a lot of fun so far as they have the natural chemistry but it doesn’t feel like a rehash of the same stuff they’ve done before. They’re different people now and it’s the two of them as singles stars instead of a regular team. You can throw any combination of the awesome upper midcard scene at them and get a good match, just like this one.

Post match Edge and Christian lay out Shelton but Chris Benoit runs in for the save. Tomko brings in the ladder to drop Benoit.

Ric Flair gives the lumberjacks a pep talk, saying that Batista ruined their careers by not going to Smackdown. Tonight can be their own Wrestlemania and they need a new member of Evolution.

A nervous Eric Bischoff comes in to see Batista, telling him that he had nothing to do with the lumberjack match. He’s worried that Batista won’t be happy around here after winning the title at Wrestlemania but Batista says he isn’t worried about it. Batista asks if Bischoff has ever considered running for office. It turns out Bischoff has considered running for mayor of his hometown in Arizona, which is what Batista is talking about. Batista leaves but comes back, saying maybe Bischoff should just be a used car salesman. This didn’t work very well.

Randy Orton has a box for Undertaker and wants Stacy Keibler with him when he goes to the ring.

Smackdown Rebound.

Here are Orton and Keibler for a chat. Orton is ready to add another moment to his legacy at Wrestlemania when he ends the Streak. We see what is in the box: a shirt listing off all of the legends that Orton has killed. He isn’t afraid of Undertaker (take a shot) and will do whatever it takes to win. We get a video on Orton killing various legends before Orton talks about wanting to kill Undertaker’s legend.

That brings him to Stacy, and something he has wanted to do for a long time. They kiss, and it’s an RKO to lay her out. I’m hoping that the big moment was supposed to be their first public kiss because I find it hard to believe that nothing has happened between those two otherwise. I know this probably sounded good on paper, but Orton and Stacy belonged together as much as Stacy did on a wrestling show.

Classic Hulk Hogan Moment: the Mega Powers Explode. Sylvester Stallone will be inducting Hogan for your celebrity appearance.

Tyson Tomko vs. Chris Benoit

Fallout from earlier and Benoit has taped up ribs from the ladder shots. Tomko hits a running knee to knock Benoit to the floor at the bell but Benoit is fine enough to roll some German suplexes. One heck of a Swan Dive (which Benoit might have left short) hits (maybe) Tomko but the banged up ribs means it’s only two. Tomko boots him in the head as Lawler shouts to WORK ON THE RIBS. Another big boot misses and it’s the Crossface to finish Tomko. Always listen to Lawler.

Muhammad Hassan comes up to Shawn (who always looks weird in a suit) to tell him that Shawn knows nothing about adversity. Hassan should be on Wrestlemania because he has not been pinned on Raw. Daivari rants a lot but Shawn cuts them off, challenges Hassan for next week and dubs himself Mr. Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania trailer: Taxi Driver, featuring a bunch of people doing the famous line and Batista doing his best Jim Ignatowski bit.

Kane vs. Batista

No DQ lumberjack match with HHH on commentary. Kane shoves him into the corner to start but gets powerslammed right back. A Muhammad Hassan distraction lets Chris Masters get in a cheap shot on Batista and it’s time for the slow power brawl. Batista has to kick La Resistance away, allowing Kane to get in a DDT to put him down again. Kane chokes on the ropes but stops to kick Snitsky, allowing Batista to slam him off the top. A big clothesline gives Batista two as the fans are looking at someone who appeared to fall down.

The chokeslam and Batista Bomb are both blocked so Batista shoulders him outside. Snitsky and Viscera go after Kane with the latter posting himself like a moron. The rest of the lumberjacks go after Batista but Edge, Christian and Tomko beat up Kane. Batista gets back up, fights them off, kicks out of the chokeslam and hits his two moves for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was every lumberjack match you can think of and that’s neither good nor bad. What was pretty bad was the match itself, as Kane isn’t the best when he’s up against another monster. He wrestles rather slowly and it makes for some pretty dull matches. Batista winning was never in doubt as he probably won’t be losing a match for several months, let alone this one.

HHH is livid to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The only thing that matters on this show is Batista vs. HHH as the other matches have been hyped up on either both shows or Smackdown alone. What we got here was good enough, but they’re running out of ways to hype up Batista vs. HHH in a pretty clear ending. Wrestlemania as a whole looks good, though the World Title matches have a limited hype ceiling and we reached that a few weeks ago.

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 20, 2019
Location: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, David Otunga

It’s Smackdown’s turn to do King of the Ring as we’re getting two more first round matches tonight. Last night’s pair of matches were pretty good so maybe Smackdown can keep up the pace. Other than that we get to find out who was behind the attack on Roman Reigns, or at least who Daniel Bryan and Rowan say it is. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Randy Orton to open things up. After a clip from last night’s attack on the New Day, Orton talks about Kofi cheating to get out of a fight with him at Summerslam. But Kofi isn’t done yet because Kofi is stupid. Last night was fun but here’s New Day’s music, with Kofi sneaking in from behind with Trouble in Paradise to drop Orton. Kofi grabs a chair and wraps it around Orton’s ankle but here’s the Revival for the save. That’s fine with Kofi, who cleans house with the chair as the villains run.

Long video on the Roman Reigns attacks. More on this tonight.

NXT to USA announcement. Why this was announced in an email this morning and not on TV last night still confuses me.

Kevin Owens comes in to see Shane McMahon, who wants to talk about the $100,000 fine. He’s had a week to think about it and now he knows how bad this is. They’re not from the same background and while $100,000 is nothing to Shane, it means his kids’ future. Shane will take it under advisement.

King of the Ring First Round: Andrade vs. Apollo Crews

Crews clotheslines him down at the bell to start (a trend in the tournament so far) but gets sent into the corner. The running knees in the corner rock Crews but he’s fine enough to dropkick Andrade out of the air. They head outside with a hurricanrana sending Crews into the steps as we take a break.

Back with Apollo hitting a pop up uppercut and grabbing an Angle Slam for two. Andrade kicks him away but misses more running knees in the corner. An enziguri into the standing sets up a standing shooting star press for two. Crews goes to pull him away from the ropes but Vega grabs the leg, allowing Andrade to hit the spinning elbow to the head. The hammerlock DDT finishes Crews at 9:53.

Rating: C. Even WWE wasn’t dumb enough to have Andrade go from being Rey Mysterio two straight falls to having him lose in the first round. Andrade is someone who could be a possible winner and Crews exists to put people over so what else were you expecting to see in this one?

Daniel Bryan and Rowan bring a man whose head is covered with a towel into a locker room. He’s sat in a chair and told not to move under the threat of implied violence.

Elias is in the back and finds the disguised referee. A bit of a threat shows that Drake Maverick is hiding in a case, so Elias opens it up and grabs him by the throat. Elias makes him read a letter but grabs him by the throat. Drake: “To whom it may….do you mind?” Shane has suspended the 24/7 Rules for the night so Elias can win his King of the Ring match. Drake is placed back in the case but as Elias leaves, he pops out to say he just wants to consummate his marriage.

It’s time for A Moment of Bliss with Alexa saying that even though they’re champions, the show will not change. It’s still going to be the show for the downtrodden and people beneath them, because it’s for everyone. Tonight’s guest is Charlotte, who thinks she should be sitting on the King of the Ring throne. Charlotte is the face of the Smackdown women’s division, though Bliss thinks it might be Bayley. It’s true that Bayley is champion but Charlotte is marketable. Can you imagine Bayley on a red carpet with her side ponytail? The division is an afterthought because Bayley is an afterthought.

Cue Bayley to say she’s tired of hearing the same things. It sounds like a bunch of excuses coming from Charlotte because Bayley is still champion. That means she’s better than Charlotte, which has to eat her up inside. Charlotte isn’t buying it because her match with Trish Stratus was all anyone was talking about at Summerslam. Bayley accepts a challenge for Clash of Champions and shoves Charlotte out of the chair. Charlotte gives her shocked face.

Roman Reigns comes in to see Buddy Murphy and wants to know who he’s lying to. Murphy says he’s telling the truth about Rowan, so Reigns threatens him with violence if he’s lying again.

Daniel Bryan vs. Buddy Murphy

Rowan is here with Bryan, meaning someone is just sitting back there quietly in a locker room. That’s expecting some high levels of obedience. Hold on though as Bryan calls Buddy a liar and promises to show Murphy was involved in the attacks as well. Bryan knees him in the face for two at the bell but Bryan is back up with the kicks in the corner. A bite to the face keeps Murphy down and Bryan slaps him while calling him a liar. Murphy doesn’t take kindly to that and sends Bryan to the floor for the big flip dive.

Back from a break with Murphy hitting a missile dropkick, followed by the top rope Meteora. Bryan is right back with the LeBell Lock, which he then switches into Rings of Saturn to make it even worse. The leg is pulled back but Murphy slips out and gets his foot in the rope for the break. The fans are behind Buddy here as Bryan kicks away and tells him to stay down.

As you might have guessed, the big one misses but Bryan ties him in the Tree of Woe for more kicks. Bryan scores with a running baseball slide and a belly to back superplex gets two. Buddy is right back with a Cheeky Nandos kick into a running sitout powerbomb for two of his own. The running knee is countered into some strikes to Bryan’s face and a brainbuster gets two. Murphy has to superkick Rowan off the apron before hitting the big knee, followed by Murphy’s Law for the huge upset at 13:24.

Rating: B. My goodness it’s like they remember how to pull the trigger on someone! This was a hard hitting back and forth match and they did something that could make a star in the end. At some point you have to make a new star and having Murphy get a clean pin on a former multiple time World Champion is a great way to do just that. I’m rather pleased here and Murphy winning actually means something for a change. The fans seemed into Buddy too so they might have something here.

Post break Murphy is about to be interviewed when Bryan and Rowan run up and attack him. Bryan keeps calling him a liar as Rowan crushes him with a boot.

Here’s a banged up Revival for a match but first they yell about New Day being cowards just like everyone here is for cheering the beating. They know Xavier Woods is still limping out of Minnesota but they want a Smackdown Tag Team Title match. Cue their opponents.

Heavy Machinery vs. Revival

Tucker is smart by going with a bearhug on Wilder’s injured ribs. Revival gets sent outside in a hurry and we take a break. Back with Tucker swinging his arms to get out of a chinlock but getting taken down again by Dawson. The middle rope elbow misses though and it’s the hot tag off to Otis. House is cleaned with Otis dropping the Caterpillar on Dawson. Tucker gets the Thesz Press on Dawson but Wilder gets an Oklahoma Roll to pin Tucker at 6:04. Not enough shown to rate but Heavy Machinery is always worth a quick look.

Chad Gable is used to being an underdog in the tournament because he’s been an underdog his entire life. As he is talking, Shelton Benjamin, his opponent in the first round next week, puts a sign on a door. Gable is ready to win next week and goes towards the locker room, with the sign saying “you must be this tall to participate in the King of the Ring Tournament.” Gable: “Funny.” No Chad, it isn’t.

It’s time for MizTV with Sami Zayn as guest. Sami says he doesn’t care about the show because last night, he finally saw things clearly. Last night he found out why people like Miz always get caught up in the trap. It is the WWE trap of greed and the only path to redemption is to help other people. Yeah he’s one of the greatest alive today but there are so many people who need his help. Miz: “Like who?” Sami brings out Shinsuke Nakamura of all people, giving Miz a look like he just drank some surprisingly sour lemonade.

Miz asks Nakamura what he can get out of this but Sami calls Miz out for asking him in English. Sami talks about Nakamura being an artist and a poet who is being held back. That’s something Sami can understand and from here on out, Nakamura does not need to feel that pain. Miz asks Nakamura what is going on but Nakamura points to Sami. That’s enough of a distraction for Nakamura to lay Miz out, setting up Kinshasa to leave Miz laying. Assuming it still counts, maybe throw in Ali for a four way at Clash?

Bryan and Rowan go in to see their mystery man and it’s time to hear what he did. Or later apparently.

Owens comes in to see Shane again because Shane remembers what he needed to say earlier. It occurred to Shane that Owens had never apologized for attacking Elias so Owens apologizes. Shane is reconsidering the fine but if Owens ever puts his hands on another official, he is fired. Owens offers a handshake but Shane isn’t there yet.

King of the Ring First Round: Elias vs. Kevin Owens

Non-title. Elias’ music now has his catchphrase at the start and sounds like him singing. Owens doesn’t waste time in clotheslining him out to the floor but Elias walks away before the big flip dive. A whip sends Owens into the barricade but he’s right back with the Cannonball for two. Cue Shane to watch from ringside as we take a break. Back with Elias holding a chinlock and throwing in a rake to the eyes for a bonus. Owens fights up and gets caught with a jumping knee to the face for two.

Rating: C. This story just won’t end. I’m not sure why it needs to keep going, but WWE certainly sees value in having Shane do the same stuff he’s done for months now. I’m sure we’ll see a rematch, possibly all the way at Hell in a Cell for a rematch from two years ago. The match was just waiting around for Shane to reveal the shirt, because that’s the only way it could have ended.

Reigns comes in to see Bryan and Rowan to find out who is under the hood. The hood comes off and it’s….someone who looks like Rowan plus twenty years. Nothing is said to end the show. So I guess Murphy was confused and thought it was the Rowan lookalike, who we’ll have explained to us later? That’s certainly a different way to go with things.

Overall Rating: C+. The show went by very quickly with a lot of stuff happening but the ending left me scratching my head a bit. The wrestling was average to good and the stories were advanced, but a lot of it felt like going exactly where it seemed we would be going with nothing out of line. That doesn’t make for a bad show, but it doesn’t make for the most exciting show.

Results

Andrade b. Apollo Crews – Hammerlock DDT

Buddy Murphy b. Daniel Bryan – Murphy’s Law

Revival b. Heavy Machinery – Oklahoma roll to Tucker

Elias b. Kevin Owens – Rollup with a fast count

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

This one is from January 2015 but it’s completely timeless.

I don’t care for the Best Friends. I never have and I don’t think I ever will. They can have some good matches with the right opponents, but there is something about them I just cannot bring myself to care about. When I pulled this one out of the box, I kind of rolled my eyes a bit as I can never escape from these people. Then I found out that it’s them interviewing Teddy Hart and had no idea what to think. It wound up being way different than what I would have ever expected.

This is one of the most unique interviews you’ll ever see as there is very little about wrestling and much more about the life of a wrestler. There is one thing that changes this one though: Teddy Hart is completely insane. I know that word is thrown around a lot, but in this case it seems to be the case. Maybe it’s the ridiculous amount of weed he smokes or just one too many shots to the head, but you can see that Hart is several steps off but he completely embraces the whole thing. You’ll never see someone like Hart and it makes for a fascinating interview.

I’m not going to bother going into the details of the stories here because I can’t do them justice. Hart’s way of speaking and it could only work for him. You can see Trent and Chuck being terrified and intrigued by everything that he is saying and it’s rather awesome in several ways. If you can find this one, check it out whether you’re a fan of the people involved or not, because it really is like nothing else.

Oh and as a bonus: there are a dozen or no indy wrestlers in the background, including Ricochet and Drew McIntyre. They all seem disturbed too, as they should be.

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 23, 2007
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the night after Great American Bash and that means John Cena is still the World Champion followed a pretty big match showdown against Bobby Lashley. The next stop is Summerslam, but we have about a month to go before then so there is plenty of time to get things ready. Let’s get to it.

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

Acting General Manager Coach brags about last night’s show but we’re looking towards Summerslam. Tonight he’s going to be watching every show and seeing who belongs in the title match. I think I remember where this one goes.

Opening sequence, which is so much more energetic than today’s stuff.

There’s a table in the ring with a bowl of fruit and a big throne set up, so here are Sharmell and King Book-ah. After a look at Book-ah and Lawler getting in a pull apart brawl last week, Book-ah asks Jerome if they can settle their issue like gentlemen. Lawler gets in the ring and sits at his end of the table, which has no tablecloth, bar stool, a coffee mug and a doughnut with a bite taken out of it (ok that’s funny).

Lawler’s mic doesn’t work so Booker talks about how he earned the crown last year and now Lawler is calling himself the King without earning it. The same is true of the Sacramento Kings you see and they should really be the Sacramento Peasants. Booker asks who should be king until Lawler asks if he’s done. Sharmell cuts him off with an ALL HAIL KING BOOKER but Lawler eventually calls Booker a pompous royal pain. That’s too far with Booker and the fight is on with Lawler sending him outside.

Mickie James/Maria vs. Melina/Beth Phoenix

Maria has Santino Marella with him and he sits in on commentary. Beth charges into Mickie’s elbow to start and gets taken down with a hurricanrana out of the corner. Mickie gets taken into the corner and stomped down but Melina gets double backdropped. Beth gets in a cheap shot from behind though and it’s Maria in trouble, including a chinlock.

The double chickenwing makes Maria scream (Santino: “Oh Mama Mia!”) and Melina rubs her face on the mat. Maria gets up and brings in Mickie for the Thesz press on Melina. A high crossbody gives Maria two with Beth making the save. Santino trips Beth and Melina, allowing Maria to bulldog Melina for the pin.

Rating: D+. This is a weird time for the women’s division as it’s completely forgotten but they were trying. There is a fine line between the depths of the women’s division which are just embarrassing and barely even wrestling and this, which was just dull. I’ll take this every day and they were trying to make some new stars. That’s a lot better than a thirty second match with two moves if you’re lucky. Maria wasn’t great, but the other three all looked solid. Just get rid of Santino.

Video on Cena vs. Lashley.

Gerald Brisco gives Cody Rhodes a pep talk before his rematch with Randy Orton. Cue Orton to say Dusty didn’t teach Cody common sense, which doesn’t sit well with Cody. Orton didn’t Punt Dusty last night because he was afraid. Tonight, Orton will just take out the anger on Cody instead. Cody is given a chance to back out but Cody will see him out there. There’s some fire in Cody, even if it’s just his second week.

Snitsky is ready to hurt people for his own pleasure. Brush your teeth man.

John Cena tells Todd Grisham to close his eyes and imagine Candice Michelle walking towards him and being ready to team with him. She says they can wrestle (Grisham likes the idea) but then the cast of Brokeback Mountain and a huge Samoan who smells like urinal cakes comes in and starts a fight. That’s what Cena is having to deal with tonight. Then he has to worry about the next #1 contender, but come get it.

Carlito/William Regal vs. Sandman/Jim Duggan

This….might be the most amazing tag match of all time. Sandman and Regal start (what a pair) with Regal driving him back into the corner. Coach is shown watching in the back because we’re supposed to believe that these four are #1 contender contenders. Regal unloads with some left hands but Sandman backdrops him down, allowing the tag off to Duggan. That means big right hands (from the only right hander in the match) in the corner as JR isn’t sure what to make of this one. Duggan misses a charge into the corner and takes the Backstabber for the fast pin. Amazing while it lasted.

Post break Carlito thinks he should be #1 contender. He loads up the apple and spits….right onto Lashley. Carlito runs into the arena and says accidents happen sometimes so he’s here to publicly apologize. If Lashley accepts his apology, don’t say or do anything. Cue Lashley to jump over the steps and plant Carlito with the running powerslam. That should get him back on track.

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

No Dusty in Cody’s corner this time. Orton headlocks him down but Cody is right back up, earning himself some forearms to the back. A crossbody out of the corner gets one (which isn’t a near fall JR) on Orton and a sunset flip out of the corner gives Cody the same. Orton snaps off the backbreaker and kicks Cody in the head as the limited mercy is long gone.

Cody gets a rollup for two but Orton blasts him with a clothesline for the same. The required chinlock goes on for a shorter time than usual and Cody is back with the drop down right hand to stagger Orton. A top rope clothesline misses though and Orton finishes with the RKO.

Rating: C-. Cody is trying here and has the fire that he needs but there was no way he was going to beat someone like Orton, either at this point or even a few years from now. Orton was on a roll at this point and while beating someone like Cody might not seem like the biggest deal, it was the way that he did it that matters.

Post match Orton loads up the Punt but Dusty runs in for the save. Dusty checks on Cody but lowers his head, allowing Orton to get in the Punt. You can hear the fans (and JR) get serious on that one and rightfully so. The replay makes it look even better and Dusty does a stretcher job.

Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Kennedy

Before the match, Kennedy says he’s about to become #1 contender. Jeff takes him into the corner to start and dodges a slap as the feeling out process begins. Kennedy goes for the arm as JR talks about how proud he was of Jeff last night against Umaga. The armbar is reversed so Kennedy forearms him in the chest, only to miss a dropkick. The legdrop between the legs….connects but Jeff goes down so Kennedy can get two.

Kennedy misses some kicks to the head so Jeff hits the legdrop between the legs for….no count as Kennedy’s shoulder was off the mat. What a weird exchange. They fight over a hammerlock, which suggests to me that they’re trying to get on the same page. Jeff sends him outside for a slingshot flip dive and we take a break. Back with Kennedy hitting an Alabama Slam out of the corner for two and the high pitched squeals erupt on the kickout. The front facelock stays on Jeff’s neck and a messed up neckbreaker gets two.

The cravate keeps Hardy in trouble until he breaks away and goes up top….where he falls down without being touched. That’s only good for two and the pop for the kickout is strong. Back up and Jeff hits the Twist of Fate (what he appeared to be trying before), setting up the slingshot dropkick in the corner. Jeff’s facebuster looks to set up the Swanton so Kennedy bails to the floor. That’s fine with Jeff, who runs the barricade for the clothesline before sending Kennedy into the set. Jeff remembers how to count though and runs down the ramp to beat the count for the win.

Rating: C. Kennedy is one of those guys where I never quite got the huge appeal (outside of one moment in 2008). I get why they would want to push him but this wasn’t anything great. The fan reactions to Jeff alone show you how they’re ready to pull the trigger on him, but it would still be a good while before that took place.

Dusty Rhodes was taken to the hospital with Cody riding in the back with him. Jim Duggan was there as the ambulance pulled away for a cameo.

HHH is coming back at Summerslam.

Brian Kendrick/Paul London vs. World’s Greatest Tag Team

Benjamin gets in an early cheap shot on Kendrick, who is fine enough to hit a middle rope armdrag on Haas. Kendrick has to dive onto Benjamin on the floor though and it’s Shelton taking over back inside. The chinlock fires Kendrick up again so Shelton kicks him in the head. Kendrick enziguris Haas to even things up and it’s the hot tag to London to clean house. The double dropkick puts Shelton on the floor but Kendrick misses his dive. That leaves Shelton to jump over Haas onto London’s back, setting up a bridging German suplex to give Haas the pin.

Rating: C-. Londrick was a good team but their time had come and gone. The World’s Greatest Tag Team reunion felt like something that could have gone somewhere but I never bought it as having the longest shelf life. Their time had come and gone, though they certainly had some value, even if it was in the short term.

We look at Orton Punting Dusty again. They’re not hiding where the ending is going here.

Here’s King Book-Ah again, with Queen Sharmell threatening Lawler for his earlier rudeness. Next week it’s Lawler vs. Book-Ah in a match that should help set up Summerslam.

Coach is ready to go tell the #1 contender about his pick when Candice Michelle comes in. She begs to not be put in a match with Umaga but Coach says she’s a champion. Fair point indeed.

Umaga/Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch vs. Candice Michelle/John Cena

Non-title, No DQ and everyone is a champion. Candice looks terrified and even Cena’s music doesn’t seem to make her feel better. Never the brightest guy in the world, Cena charges in and gets triple teamed down. We settle down to a regular handicap with Cade and Murdoch pounding Cena down.

Umaga comes in and hammers away but hands it back to Murdoch, with Cena managing to fight back. That just earns Cena a swinging Rock Bottom from Umaga to cut the comeback off in a hurry. Cade and Murdoch chase Candice inside and catch her in the corner but here’s Jeff Hardy to blast Umaga with a chair over and over. Candice runs away so Cena can post Cade and Murdoch, with the latter taking the FU for the pin.

Rating: D. Those chair shots from Hardy were scary with all of the unprotected shots to the head, but they were the only memorable parts of the match. This was all a way to have Cena in the ring to set up the post match stuff and while that might not be the most entertaining idea in the world, it served its purpose and let us look at Candice so it’s not a complete disaster.

Post match Cena turns into the RKO and here’s Coach to name Orton as the #1 contender. I’m as shocked as you are.

Overall Rating: D+. This was all about setting up Orton as the #1 contender but since that was obvious for about half of the show, there is only so much that you can ask for out of the whole thing. They’re setting up Summerslam well enough though and that’s where this is all leading. Orton is LONG overdue to get back into the title hunt so the ending is a good choice. They needed a better way to get there though and that holds the show back.

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

In an email because reasons.https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-wwe-officially-announces-nxt-moving-usa-full-details-included/

You knew this was coming sooner or later and that doesn’t make things any better.  Starting September 18, the show is going to expand to two hours and air live, though it will still be at Full Sail.  Meltzer says it’s worth $50 million a year to WWE so the money makes sense.  However, you know what this means as it’s going to be another place for low level WWE stars to appear over the minor leaguers, because WWE thinks that people who are already on the main shows are more interesting than the top NXT names.  Hopefully that’s wrong, because it sounds like a nightmare otherwise.  And for two weeks, it’s Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday of WWE on USA.  Because that’s what we need.

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 19, 2019
Location: XCEL Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Renee Young

It’s royalty night with the first round of the King of the Ring tournament kicking off. That means we should be in for some good wrestling, but it could also mean that we’re in for some annoying booking. This would also apply to the likely announcement of NXT moving to USA to fight off the combined forces of Marko Stunt, Orange Cassidy and Sonny Kiss. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to open things up. After we see a long recap of the whole Whodunit story, here’s Dolph Ziggler before anything can be said.

Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler

Hang on though as Ziggler insists that he is NOT a Twitter warrior like the fans and is worried about what is happening to Reigns. Ziggler goes into a rant about how he was beaten up at Summerslam and even lost to Maryse’s husband last week. Now it should be him, and there’s a superkick to Reigns before the bell.

Reigns takes his time getting up for the bell but manages to knock Ziggler outside. The clothesline off the steps misses though and Ziggler hits the Zig Zag on the floor as we take a break. Back with Reigns backdropping him to the floor and hitting the apron kick. A big boot drops Ziggler again but Ziggler scores with the running DDT for two.

The Fameasser is countered into a powerbomb attempt with Ziggler slipping over the back and hitting the Zig Zag for two more. The superkick (with Cole calling it Sweet Chin Music) is blocked with a Superman Punch. Back up and the spear is countered into the Fameasser for two as it’s the friendly exchange of moves. Ziggler shouts about being better than Reigns and how Roman blew his chance. The Stinger Splash is cut off by the spear to end Ziggler at 10:55.

Rating: C+. Yeah fine. This was pure Ziggler and that’s why the interest wasn’t there. It’s the EXACT SAME THING that Ziggler always does to the completely nothing returns. I know he’s been around for a long time now but what does WWE see in Ziggler from a character standpoint? I don’t remember the last time he did anything different and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Video on Sasha Banks returning last week and attacking Natalya and Becky Lynch.

Becky talks about how everyone is coming for the title, including Banks, who just vanished for four months. It took Becky a few interviews to do what Banks never did: become the top dog in the division. Why did it take Becky to unleash the real Sasha? The real great ones don’t need to be provoked. This is a cat and mouse game and Becky is going to give Sasha something to go home and cry about.

Here’s Jerry Lawler in the ring for the King’s Court. Before he brings out Sasha Banks as his guest, he talks about the King of the Ring and how important it has been to some careers. We see the bracket, with Lawler picking Cedric Alexander and Ricochet on the Raw side….and there go the lights for Bray Wyatt. Lawler is smart enough to bail before the lights go out in full but the Fiend pops up behind Lawler on the stage. Cole: “TURN AROUND KING!” Yes so the Fiend can give him the Mandible Claw, which is exactly what happens.

Vic Joseph has replaced Lawler on commentary.

Ricochet/The Miz vs. Drew McIntyre/Baron Corbin

On the prospect of Baron being King, Renee says “for the love of God, someone please stop Baron Corbin.” Ricochet starts fast with a springboard crossbody to McIntyre as there is some weird red light in the ring. The fans are happy when it goes off as the villains are sent outside. Ricochet adds the big middle rope moonsault and we take a break. Back McIntyre throwing Miz with a suplex and cranking on the arm.

It’s off to Corbin, who is now in a black tank top, which looks at least somewhat less stupid. Corbin does the slide around the post for the clothesline to set up McIntyre’s spinebuster for two. Miz gets in a DDT and brings in Ricochet for the fast paced kicks. A rolling dropkick gets one on Corbin and the running shooting star gets two.

McIntyre is back in to throw people around but the Claymore is broken up. The Skull Crushing Finale hits McIntyre but Corbin chokeslams Miz. Another chokeslam to Ricochet is broken up so Corbin settles for two off the Deep Six instead. Miz pulls Ricochet out of the way of a charge in the corner though and the Recoil finishes Corbin at 10:20.

Rating: C-. Baron Corbin, who main evented pay per views earlier this year, has made his biggest impact by changing his shirt. What does that tell you about the level of interest this guy has? I have a bad feeling he’s going to go far in the tournament though and him winning it wouldn’t be out of the question. It would be out of the realm of something that makes fans happy, but that’s always the case with Corbin.

Booker T. joins us via Skype to talk about the Fiend being a monster. As for King of the Ring, he likes Drew McIntyre. There’s nothing significant to these interviews but they’re a nice little change of pace for two minutes a week.

US Title: AJ Styles vs. Braun Strowman

AJ is defending and has the rest of the OC with him. This is fallout from Strowman running in last week to save Seth Rollins from a beatdown last week. AJ slaps him in the face to start and tries a chop block, which has no effect. A chase to the floor doesn’t work well and it’s Strowman backdropping AJ. The OC is knocked off the apron but Strowman charges into a boot in the corner. The Phenomenal Forearm is knocked out of the air but the OC comes in for the DQ at 1:50.

Post match the beatdown is on but Rollins runs in for the save. With the OC cleaned out, Rollins shakes Strowman’s hand, but Strowman takes his time letting go. Eventually he does and nods at Rollins, who doesn’t look sure about this.

Post break Rollins comes up to Strowman in the back and says Strowman should be the next challenger. Strowman sounds intrigued but tonight, Rollins thinks they should become Raw Tag Team Champions. Strowman growls in what seems like an agreement.

King of the Ring First Round: Samoa Joe vs. Cesaro

Joe says that he’ll win and let his actions do the talking. Cesaro says the tournament plays to his strengths so the King of Swing can be the King of the Ring. Cesaro’s running uppercut gets two about five seconds in so Joe elbows him right back. The springboard spinning uppercut gives Cesaro two more but Joe sends him outside and over the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Joe knocking him down again and cranking on the neck. The backsplash misses though and Cesaro kicks him in the face. A suplex gives Cesaro two more and the high crossbody is good for the same. Joe knocks him out of the corner though and drops the backsplash. That just earns him an uppercut into a Crossface but Joe slips out and pulls him into the Koquina Clutch for the win at 10:11.

Rating: C-. Good, hard hitting match with Joe getting a not very surprising win. Cesaro is mainly in WWE to put people over these days so there is only so much that can be done to make him a convincing challenger. Joe winning the tournament isn’t out of the question as he is always a threat, which is a very valuable thing to have.

Cole talks about some matches coming up later and mentions the Wild Card Rule for the first time in probably a month.

Over the weekend, Drake Maverick tried to attack Elias in a recording studio and got beaten up.

Here’s Elias for a song. Hang on though as his microphone keeps messing up. With that out of the way, Elias says hang onto your loved ones because this is his farewell performance. He has too much going on, from the 24/7 Title to being King of the Ring that he doesn’t have time to perform. The guitar is out of tune though so he needs a replacement as the mic keeps messing up. The assistant gets in the ring and even Renee know what’s going on here. It’s R-Truth and a referee but the rollup only gets two. Truth gets smart by hitting the ax kick for two more but the big guitar shot misses. Elias bails and escapes for now.

Rey Mysterio talks about having a beautiful family and a wonderful career. He’s had the chance to meet people all over the world and considers them his friends. Things haven’t been clicking for him recently though and Andrade ripped his mask off. When he’s in the ring, he knows what he needs to do but his body isn’t responding to it.

His biggest fear though is that his injuries have caught up with him and he didn’t expect it to come so soon. It’s time for him to hang up the mask (big gasp for that) and let the new generation step in. Rey goes to unmask but his son Dominick stops him. With Rey crying, Dominick says he wants to be Rey’s partner. Rey says he’ll stay for Dominick. Good promo here, with Rey showing as much emotion as I’ve ever heard from him.

New Day vs. Revival

Non-title. Revival is wearing snake skin boots, courtesy of Randy Orton. Big E. shoulders Dawson in the corner to start and it’s off to Woods for a change. Everything breaks down early on and the Revival is clotheslined outside as we take an early break. Back with Big E. cleaning house and loading up the dive to the floor, only to have Orton run in for the RKO for the DQ at 6:20. Not enough shown to rate but the action was entertaining while it lasted.

Post match Kofi Kingston runs in to fight off all three of them but walks into the RKO. Woods gets back in but runs into a three man 3D. They’re not done yet though as Revival goes old school and crushes Woods’ knee, with Orton making Kofi watch.

Sasha Banks joins us from the back for an interview with Cole. Banks talks about how crazy of a week it has been for her and she would like to explain from the beginning. Last week she looked in the mirror and realized that blue is her color and now it’s all over social media. She looks good and feels even better. Cole: “No one is talking about your new hair.” When asked about attacking Becky and Natalya last week, Banks says you’re welcome and walks off. If that microphone offended her, it might be three months before we see Banks again.

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Fire And Desire

Non-title. Sonya gets some early rollups for two each on Bliss to start and it’s off to Mandy, who cartwheels over Bliss and poses a bit. Mandy gets knocked outside with Bliss not looking happy with her. It’s back to Cross for a crossarm choke but Bliss comes back in very quickly, earning herself a knee to the face from Mandy. The hot (?) tag brings in Sonya for some strikes of her own and a spinebuster to Bliss. Cross is right back with the Purge for a very sudden pin at 4:20.

Rating: D+. That ending was out of nowhere and it seemed like they were told to go home in a hurry. Bliss and Cross are already doing more with the titles than either of the previous champions and while I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing the titles on TV more, this is a lot better than what we’ve seen before from them.

Rollins tries to talk strategy with Strowman, who keeps looking at the Universal Title. They argue over who should follow who’s lead.

King of the Ring First Round: Cedric Alexander vs. Sami Zayn

Cedric says he’s a man of action and it’s time to raise the Age of Alexander. Sami says he’s been losing for months now and it turns around tonight. Zayn is aggressive to start and kicks Alexander down for some early one counts. A backbreaker gives him some near falls and we hit the chinlock. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Zayn goes with a Michinoku Driver for another two. Alexander fights back up and hits the spinning elbow to the face, followed by the anklescissors. That means a suicide dive to the floor and the Neuralizer connects back inside. The Lumbar Check finishes Zayn clean at 3:38.

Rating: C-. I like the Alexander push though my goodness whose dog did Zayn kidnap and sell for Pop Tarts cereal? He’s not just losing a lot but he’s losing in fast matches. At least he did get some offense in here though and looked aggressive, but it seems that they might be leading somewhere with these losses. I hope so at least.

The Street Profits (minus the NXT Tag Team Titles) check their brackets. Ford is 2-0 but Dawkins’ is already busted. They preview the rest of the first round but Dawkins wonders why we can’t have a tag team King of the Ring tournament. Ford: “We’re already kings.” I mean, he is wearing a crown. They’re ready for the Tag Team Title match tonight when Seth Braulins can win the gold.

AJ Styles gives the OC a pep talk.

Natalya has just seen the WWE doctor again but needs to rant about Sasha for interrupting her last week. Cue Banks to jump Natalya again and send her into an anvil case. Banks: “Go to h*** Nattie. And tell your daddy I say hi.” That was a good line.

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman vs. OC

The OC is defending and has AJ with them. Strowman runs Gallows over to start and it’s off to the taped up Rollins to work on Gallows’ arm. Anderson comes in but a quick tag brings Gallows back in, meaning Rollins has to knee him to the floor. A running kick to the head puts Anderson outside as well but the numbers catch up with him.

That means Gallows gets to drop Rollins ribs first into the barricade a few times and we take an early break. Back with Anderson hitting a spinebuster on Rollins, but Anderson gets knocked off the top. That means the Blockbuster, but Rollins bangs up the ribs again. With the hot tag near, Gallows is smart enough to post Strowman and cut him off. Gallows comes back in as everything breaks down, with Rollins getting to clean house again.

A low bridge puts Gallows on the floor, leaving Anderson to take the Falcon Arrow for two. The numbers catch up with Rollins again as AJ crotches him on top but it’s Strowman back up to run over AJ and Gallows. Back in and Rollins rolls over for the hot tag to Strowman and it’s time to wreck things. Rollins cuts Styles off with the Stomp and Strowman hits the running powerslam on Anderson for the pin and the titles at 12:04.

Rating: B-. Good match here with a surprise ending and that’s not a bad thing. This seems to be the way to set up the Strowman vs. Rollins match next month so odds are we’ll be seeing the OC get the titles back pretty soon. It’s a booking trope that has been done for years and it’s going to work fine enough here.

Strowman and Rollins celebrate to end the show. There is NO announcement about NXT.

Overall Rating: C+. It was another acceptable show where it felt like things were happening. That’s what makes a show work so much better and the show never felt long. What mattered here was they’re setting things up for Clash of Champions and it feels like we’re seeing some fresh names getting a chance. For so long it was the same people over and over so that’s the best thing that could happen to the show. Good night here, and I’m curious to see where things are going for the first time in a long while.

Results

Roman Reigns b. Dolph Ziggler – Spear

The Miz/Ricochet b. Drew McIntyre/Baron Corbin – Recoil to Corbin

Braun Strowman b. AJ Styles via DQ when the OC interfered

Samoa Joe b. Cesaro – Koquina Clutch

New Day b. Revival via DQ when Randy Orton interrupted

Nikki Cross/Alexa Bliss b. Fire and Desire – Purge to Deville

Cedric Alexander b. Sami Zayn – Lumbar Check

Seth Rollins/Braun Strowman b. OC – Running powerslam to Anderson

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

IMG Credit: WWE

With Summerslam finally out of the way, I had some extra time and started back in on the pile of DVDs I bought a few weeks back.  I took care of this one, which was the first of the set so far that had actual wrestling (shocking I know).  Let’s get to it.

Bigelow is an interesting case as he’s one of the first high flying big men to gain prominence in America.  He had a very unique look with a lot of size that could move around, but that head tattoo is one of the best trademarks you’ll ever see.  He was always someone to watch and would have been a main event player back in the late 1980s had his knees not given out (and had he not been as loyal to Japan).  If nothing else, he was the first wrestler whose name I could say as a baby, though given that my first word was cranium (I don’t get it either), I don’t know how much of a positive that is.

What we have here is a collection of very random matches and parts of a 1998 shoot interview.  The interview itself is about two hours and forty five minutes but we only get about forty five minutes here.  What we do get is rather entertaining though as Bigelow is a pretty good interview, talking about everywhere he’s been (which is a lot of places) and speaking highly of himself, but not going insane.  He has praise for some people and criticisms for others so it’s not like he’s going nuts or anything.  At the same time, his discussions of what happens when you have no competition and a billionaire comes along with a bunch of money to invest in wrestling hold up 21 years later in an almost eerie manner.  I could go for the whole interview as what we got was intriguing stuff.

The matches….I don’t get it.  I understand that they could only use certain stuff so we have an indy match, a pair of ECW fancam matches and a short clip from a Memphis match in 1986, but there’s one problem: Bigelow goes 1-3 in these matches, including losing a title in one of them.  If the set is supposed to be a nice look at Bigelow, who in the world thought showing him losing most of the time was a good idea?

The whole thing only runs about an hour and a half so it’s a very quick sit with one good match and some interesting stuff in the interview, so this was as easy of a DVD as you could sit through.  The other three matches combine to be about as long as the good one so even they don’t weigh it down too much.  It’s a nice entry, but it feels like it was put together without thinking things through.  Bigelow isn’t going to get the big WWE DVD release so this is about all you can ask for.

And now, the matches.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Samu
Date: November 6, 1998
Location: Patterson Catholic High School, Patterson, New Jersey
Commentators: Unknown

This is from an Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling (ISPW) event. Samu (Roman Reigns’ father) is a pretty big guy as well, though nowhere near as big as Bigelow of course. Commentary talks about Bigelow being a champion everywhere in the world. And that’s very true, assuming you leave out the two biggest companies he had worked for so far. Samu jumps him at the bell and gets in a “beautiful eye rake”. Bigelow comes out of the corner with some clotheslines and it’s time to go out to the floor.

Samu goes into various metal objects as one of the commentators suggests going after the bare pinkie toe. Back in and Bigelow misses a splash in the corner, allowing Samu to hit a “beautiful” side kick. Choking ensues and what looked to be a low blow in the corner keeps Bigelow in trouble. Samu bites in the corner and pokes him in the eye, only to miss a splash of his own. The referee gets bumped off a clothesline, just as Bigelow hits his headbutt. The timing of these things is one of the great marvels of wrestling. Cue another Samoan to hit Bigelow with a chair though and Samu gets the pin at 3:49.

Rating: D+. Of all the matches you could pick for Bigelow, you start the match with a loss? I know it’s kind of hard to find an indy match for him, but you would think they could find a squash win for him. Either way, they treated Bigelow as a big deal here and it wasn’t a clean loss, but the match wasn’t even that good.

Post match, Bigelow promises to get a piece of Samu’s a** and make it his. That’s getting a tad personal, no?

ECW TV Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Date: April 4, 1998
Location: Burt Flickinger Center, Buffalo, New York
Attendance: 2,600

Bigelow is defending and this is fan cam footage so the quality isn’t exactly quality. Bigelow (with a bandage on the side of his head) comes out to Welcome To The Jungle and the star power is strong with this one as Bigelow almost charges to the ring and you can feel the raw energy. The song is kind of perfect for a wrestling entrance (it was used in the WrestleCon Supershow Battle Royal and one of the commentators said “This could be any independent wrestler since the 80s!”) but my goodness it’s weird to see Bigelow with a belt. Van Dam (with Bill Alfonso) is just a cocky heel at this point and not the ECW legend he would become.

We get some LAWRENCE TAYLOR chants during the Big Match Intros for a little old school twist. They take their time to start with Bigelow being weary of the kicks. Bigelow gets smart and punches him in the face but Rob is right back with the kicks. For some reason Rob tries a charge in the corner and is thrown down like he’s not even there. I mean, as much as you can throw something that isn’t there….I think. We get a breather on the floor so Fonzie can give Van Dam some pointers, or maybe make a weed order.

Back in and Bigelow pounds away some more but the top rope kick to the face takes him down. Rolling Thunder: beta version gets one and Bigelow low bridges him to the floor. That means an exchange of postings before Van Dam’s headscissors is easily countered with a shove over the barricade. They’re playing up a nice story here with Rob using all of his flying and athleticism and Bigelow just using raw power.

The fight into the crowd is capped off with Bigelow being sent face first into the barricade and then getting kicked right back into the chairs. Fonzie declares Bigelow soft as a boiled egg as Van Dam pelts a chair at Bigelow’s head. That sets up the big dive over the barricade as Van Dam is breaking him down. A CRAZY top rope flip dive over the barricade takes Bigelow down again but Van Dam crashes even harder. The legdrop over the barricade (minus the spin) keeps Bigelow in trouble but Van Dam is spent from all the flips.

Bigelow is back up with a slam onto the timekeeper’s table and a big elbow off the apron puts Van Dam through it in a crash that isn’t as big as you would expect around here. It takes some time for them to get up so Van Dam kicks him in the head, with the bandage gone and the blood flowing. Back in and Bigelow runs him over again but misses the moonsault (I always liked how he did those), setting up the Five Star (or close to it) for two.

A Samoan drop (with Van Dam landing on his shoulder) gets two and Bigelow spikes him with a scary looking brainbuster for the same. Greetings From Asbury Park bumps the referee so here’s Sabu to throw a chair at Bigelow. Not to be outdone, Bigelow throws Sabu at Van Dam and then powerbombs him, with Sabu somehow landing on his face (only Sabu). The chair is back in though as it’s the Van Daminator for the pin and the title at 15:47.

Rating: B-. Remind me to not sign up for a compilation DVD anytime soon as it seems to be a bunch of losses. I liked this one and the interference at the end is fine as it makes sense to have Fonzie’s guys cheat to win the title. Van Dam was about to have a rocket attached to his back as he would hold the title for nearly two years without ever being defeated for it as a broken ankle forced him to vacate it.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. New Jack
Date: February 20, 1998
Location: Woodbridge Armory, Woodbridge, New Jersey
Attendance: 1,200

Fancam again and since it’s a New Jack match, the music is blaring so loudly that there may or may not have been a bell. Bigelow jumps him during the entrance and pounds away with a headbutt sending Jack into the pile of weapons. A low blow is loaded up as Bigelow somehow doesn’t notice Jack holding a big metal sheet, which goes right along the tattooed head. And now, here’s an umbrella, because Jack apparently inspired Jack Gallagher.

Rating: D+. Well at least he won something. This was all about the weapons vs. the wrestler though Bigelow can brawl very well in his own right. I’ve never cared for New Jack for the most part but it’s hard not to smile a little bit at him being so into what he does. As long as they don’t advertise him as a wrestler and just acknowledge that he’s a gimmick nutjob, he can be acceptable in small doses like this one.

Post match the beatdown is on until someone (looks like John Kronus) comes in for the save. This goes badly for him as well with Greetings From Asbury Park leaving him laying. Jack and Kronus get destroyed with the weapons.

AWA Southern Title/AWA International Title: Jerry Lawler vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Date: September 8, 1986
Location: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentator: Lance Russell

Lawler is International Champion, Bigelow is Southern Champion and this is a Texas Deathmatch, meaning Last Man Standing but you have to get a pin before the count starts. Therefore, we’re joined in progress in the seventh fall, with Russell saying we’re about thirty minutes in. Lawler knocks him down but gets whipped into the referee in the corner.

A splash gives Bigelow the pin from a groggy referee, who doesn’t notice Lawler’s feet on the ropes. Bigelow’s manager Larry Sharpe blasts Bigelow with a chair by mistake and they’re both down after a rest period. Lawler gets to his feet first and gets both titles at 4:14 shown. I’m not rating four minutes (with over a minute of the two of them laying after the bell) of a thirty minute match but this was classic Memphis.

Post match Sharpe beats Bigelow up, which for some reason needed a quick intro from Lawler.

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 15, 2019
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Sam Roberts, Byron Saxton, Renee Young

We’re FINALLY done with Toronto in any way shape or form and that means….well very little really as there isn’t much to get excited about on this show. The more I watch Main Event the more I wonder why WWE doesn’t put the slightest bit of effort into it when you have a free hour to do stuff every week. Even if it stays as a recap show, you can at least add in something with the matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Lacey Evans vs. Dana Brooke

Lacey can’t trip her down to start so Dana gets in a headlock, only to have Lacey land in some pushups. Not to be outdone, Dana does her own pushups and gets a bigger reaction than she does most of the time. Maybe she’s in the wrong business. Back up and Lacey pulls her down by the hair….which she then ties around the top rope. The slingshot Bronco Buster sets up an armbar and Lacey slams the arm into the mat. Dana fights up and uses the good arm for some clotheslines but cartwheels into a choke in the corner. The Woman’s Right finishes Brooke at 5:10.

Rating: D+. Dana is very slowly growing on me and is getting better in the ring. She’s very easy to cheer as she’s the pretty blonde in great shape and you can see what WWE sees in her. It’s not her fault that she was called up so soon and she’s never going to be a huge star but she’s slowly improving and I can go with someone trying to get better.

Video on Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.

From Raw.

Here’s Rollins to get things going. He can’t believe he’s here because Lesnar is everything that he is touted to be. Lesnar is a freaking beast so we get a BEAST SLAYER chant, which sounded a lot like a HEATH SLATER chant at first. Last week he went somewhere he hasn’t gone before….and here’s the OC to interrupt. AJ says they wanted to be the first to congratulate Rollins, but he also wants to challenge Seth. That’s a yes, because Rollins doesn’t respect Styles anymore. They’re on for tonight. They shake hands and the Good Brothers tease a beatdown but smile instead.

From Raw again.

Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles

Non-title, the OC is here with Styles and Rollins has taped up ribs. Rollins starts fast by tying AJ in the Tree of Woe for a running dropkick. An OC distraction lets AJ take it outside though and a belly to back faceplant drops Rollins’ ribs on the floor. Back from a break with AJ getting two off a suplex to send Rollins out to the apron.

The Styles Clash on the apron is broken up and Rollins sweeps the leg to send AJ into the apron. Back in and the Falcon Arrow gives Rollins two but AJ fights out of a reverse superplex. AJ charges into a superkick but Gallows breaks up the frog splash. While they aren’t caught, the OC gets ejected, only to come back in for the DQ at 9:21.

Rating: C+. This was fine and the ending was the way to go rather than having either of them take a fall of any kind. I was worried that we would see WWE make the titles look weak again but maybe they’re starting to learn their lesson. It’s better than having the same losses every week so hopefully things are changing a bit.

Post match the beatdown is on with Ricochet’s save attempt not working. The super Styles Clash is loaded up but Braun Strowman comes in for the real save. A pair of powerslams to Styles as Rollins isn’t sure what to think. Strowman picks up the title and hands it to Rollins before a handshake can end the show.

From Raw.

Here’s Natalya with her arm in a sling for a chat. She was in a fight last night but she wouldn’t change a thing she did or said to Becky and they’ll meet again. Last night after the show, she had a dream where her dad said he was proud of her. Her dad passed away one year ago….and here’s Sasha Banks for the first time since Wrestlemania.

She hugs Natalya and turns on her in nearly record time. The bad arm is sent into the corner and then the steps so here’s Becky for the save. Banks knocks her down with a right hand and gets in some chair shots to leave Becky laying. Graves rips Sasha apart for being selfish as the beating continues. Well Becky has been needing a top opponent so this is a good way to go.

EC3/Cesaro vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Cesaro headlocks Ryder to start and gets flapjacked for his efforts. It’s off to Hawkins who gets in an elbow drop, followed by a heck of a dive off the top to take both of them out. We take a break and come back with Hawkins suplexing his way out of trouble, allowing the hot tag to Ryder to clean house. The neckbreaker counters EC3’s suplex but Cesaro uppercuts Ryder into the Neutralizer for the pin at 6:53.

Rating: C. Another match that was cut off by time, which is annoying as they were trying to get something going with this one. Hawkins busted out a dive that had no business taking place on a show like Main Event but it’s always cool to see someone giving it a try like that. But hey, we must need more time for some other recap from Raw right?

Video on Roman Reigns being attacked.

From Smackdown.

Here are Rowan and Daniel Bryan for a chat. It’s clear that someone is out to get Reigns but neither of them had anything to do with the attacks. All that matters is Murphy is a liar but Bryan doesn’t blame him for what he said. Any one of you would cave if Reigns held you against a wall and Murphy had to give a name. The problem is Murphy gave the wrong name. The fans say Bryan did it and Bryan says that’s what’s wrong with society. A lie is spread all over social media and then it becomes the truth. They had nothing to do with it and tonight they’ll prove it.

From Smackdown again.

Buddy Murphy vs. Roman Reigns

Roman doesn’t like being shoved in the face to start so he hits an uppercut. Murphy is right back with a jumping knee to the face for an early two and the stomping is on in the corner. They head outside with Reigns being sent into the barricade a few times so he throws Murphy hard over the announcers’ table. Murphy sends him into the steps though and comes back with knees off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Reigns fighting out of a chinlock and hitting a powerbomb out of the corner. Reigns hits the clotheslines in the corner and a big boot puts Murphy down. The spear goes into the post though and Murphy gets two off a rollup. Reigns is sent outside for the big running flip dive (which looked great) and the top rope Meteora gets two back inside. A Superman Punch out of nowhere gives Reigns two but Murphy hits a series of knees to the face. The brainbuster gives Murphy two and he goes up top, with a Superman Punch knocking him back down. Reigns hits a spear for the pin at 13:40.

Rating: B. This felt similar to last night’s Cedric Alexander vs. Drew McIntyre match as a young star gets a chance on the show against a hard hitting big man. Ok so it sounds very similar but that’s a good idea when it makes for a good match on both nights. Murphy looked like a star here, though I’m not sure why it took four months for his first match.

Bryan and Rowan go into the locker room and tell everyone but Murphy to get out. Bryan gets right in his face and demands that Murphy admit that he lied. Rowan hits Murphy in the face and pins him against the wall, with Bryan wanting Murphy to admit that he lied. Murphy admits it and Rowan lets him go, but Bryan says he hates liars. That earns Murphy a trip into the garbage.

Roman comes in to see Bryan and Rowan, who have been conducting their own investigation. Next week, they’ll bring the one who did it to Reigns.

Overall Rating: C+. They packed a lot of stuff into this one but I don’t get putting the Reigns story, which is arguably the biggest thing on the show, at the very end. Also, we can’t even get a long video about the King of the Ring? There’s a lot going on in WWE at the moment and that’s a good thing, but this isn’t something that matters whatsoever and it could be done so much better.

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

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 16, 2019
Location: St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Don Callis

Impact has been going up and down as of late with some of the stories being better than others and some good enough shows. It’s not the best show in the world but at least they have enough stuff going on that I can remember it for a change. That’s more than they’ve had going for them in the past so at least there are some positives around here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Moose vs. Fallah Bahh

Rematch from two weeks ago when Bahh beat him in about a minute. You really can see how much weight Bahh has lost and that’s a good thing. Moose gets smart by stomping on the bare foot and sending Bahh outside, setting up a pump kick against the barricade. You don’t do that to someone like Bahh, who crushes Moose with a running crossbody. A splash on the ramp makes it even worse but Moose goes for the eyes to take over.

Some slow kicks to the face let Moose call Bahh a fat piece of garbage so Bahh shouts his name a lot. The Samoan drop takes Moose down and a rolling belly to belly gets two. Moose crushes him in the corner though and manages a top rope superplex (not bad) but the spear hits buckle. The Banzai Drop misses though and it’s No Jackhammer Needed to give Moose the pin at 8:52.

Rating: D+. Bahh slimming down makes him look better but it takes away one of the best things he had going for him. Moose seems to be flailing for something to do at the moment, which is why he’s stuck facing Fallah Bahh in a two match series for whatever reason. At this point he needs to get into the World Title picture or change things up because he’s stuck in that weird not quite ready for the top spot but too big for the midcard limbo.

Tommy Dreamer comes in to see Tessa Blanchard and gives her a history lesson on….her family. It took others to make her family a success and now Tessa needs help to get through OVE. Dreamer wants to stand with her to improve this business so she’s with him. Good grief Dreamer couldn’t be more forced into this story if his career (which has gone on for thirty years and he respects the business so freaking much) depended on it.

Video on Su Yung.

Kiera Hogan/Madison Rayne vs. Jordynne Grace/Alexia Nicole

Fallout from Kiera and Madison beating up Nicole last week. Kiera jumps Nicole before the bell and it’s already time for some villainous double teaming. A sliding basement clothesline gives Madison two but she stops to GRR at the referee, allowing Alexia to hit a running Meteora. We take a break and come back with Madison chinlocking Alexia.

Some yelling at the referee lets Madison poke Alexia in the eye and it’s Hogan coming in for a basement dropkick. Alexia pops up and gets over for the tag to Grace as everything breaks down. Alexia hits a high crossbody on Hogan but Madison is legal. Said legal Madison hits CrossRayne to finish Nicole at 9:41.

Rating: D+. This story continues to not do much for me as I’m not even sure why they’re fighting. I guess Grace doesn’t like Rayne acting like a big shot but since Impact doesn’t know how to let things go or advance them a lot of the time, we’re likely to be watching these same people feud for a good while.

Post match the brawl continues but the lights go out and it’s Rosemary to chase off Rayne and Hogan.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong from Bound For Glory 2015.

Alisha Edwards comes up to Ace Austin in the back. Ace is fearing for his safety from Eddie Edwards but Alisha insists they’re just friends. She’ll worry about Eddie.

Post break, Ace lays down when he sees Alisha coming but here’s Eddie to beat him up when he sees the two of them together.

Taya Valkyrie is in California and has John E. Bravo do various things for her, mainly including taking care of her dog.

Rhyno and Michael Elgin are fighting outside.

Rascalz vs. Willie Mack/Rich Swann/Rob Van Dam

This could be interesting. The Rascalz, and the fans, want Van Dam to start and they get their wish, with Rob kicking Wentz into the corner for the tag off to Xavier. Mack kicks him as well and a running elbow gets two. Swann comes in for a dropkick of his own as it’s one sided so far. A shot to the face sends Swann into the corner and it’s Miguel coming in to chop away. The slingshot hilo gets two on Swann and the fans want RVD. Instead they get an enziguri to Swann for two more but Swann slips out of a double backbreaker.

A cutter drops Miguel and there’s the hot tag to Van Dam. The split legged moonsault gets two on Wentz and Mack’s standing moonsault into Van Dam’s Rolling Thunder is good for two more. Everything breaks down but the push moonsault is broken up. Wentz and Swann chop it out and the pace picks up with Swann getting the better of it. Van Dam hits the Five Star and Swann drops the Phoenix splash for the pin on Wentz at 13:01.

Rating: B-. It wasn’t as good as it could have been but having Van Dam as the one to come in and clean house with his signature stuff is the best thing for him at the moment. Swann and Mack are potential future superstars around here and putting them with a big name is a good idea. Keep that up, as long as Van Dam doesn’t get the spotlight.

The North says they’re going to California to defend the Tag Team Titles at Cali Combat next week.

Jake Crist comes in to laugh at the Rascalz, Swann and Mack. Some glares send him running.

Deaners vs. Desi Hit Squad

The losers are the winners servants, meaning this feud is going to continue beyond tonight. It’s a brawl to start with everyone going out to the floor and the Deaners getting the better of things. Raj gets dropped ribs first onto the top rope and a knee knocks him back off. The Squad is right back up for a double suplex on Jake do Cody comes in for a clothesline.

Back from a break with Raju raking Cody’s eyes, leaving Gama to low bridge Cody to the floor. Cody gets caught in the Squad’s corner with Gama getting in a cheap shot from the outside. Raj rips at Cody’s face (it might be an improvement) but Cody kicks Raju away. That’s not enough for the tag though as Raj pulls Jake off the apron. A sidestep sends Raj outside and now the hot tag can bring in Jake.

Everything breaks down and Cody hits a suicide dive, followed by Jake’s running dive. Back in and Jake hits a Michinoku Driver for two on Raj and things settle back down. Gama’s distraction lets Raju get a rollup for two more as everything breaks down again. An assisted top rope double stomp gets two on Cody but Raju’s Cannonball is caught in the corner. Raju is sent outside and it’s the assisted suplex into the Side Effect (CTD) for the pin on Raj at 14:49.

Rating: D. Yeah THIS MATCH just got nearly fifteen minutes and I don’t get why either. We’ve spent how many weeks on this culture clash feud and now it’s going to be even longer. The segments will probably be funny enough but that doesn’t make up for having to watch these four have such an uninteresting rivalry for so many weeks. The match could have been worse, but that’s not much in the way of praise.

Sami Callihan wants to know where Jake Crist is but switches over to threatening Tommy and Tessa. She will NEVER beat him and tonight will be exactly like any other night.

The Deaners are ready to make the Squad work on their farm. Why can I not get the dueling banjo music out of my head?

Sami Callihan/Dave Crist vs. Tessa Blanchard/Tommy Dreamer

At least Tommy doesn’t get the last entrance. They start fast with Tommy and Tessa trying stereo Bionic Elbows (because the BLANCHARDS just love Dusty Rhodes) but have to settle for kicks to the face instead. Everything breaks down early on and Tommy hits a double clothesline off the apron. Tessa hits a top rope dive of her own (landing on her feet of course) and we take a break.

Back with Dreamer handing Tessa a beer from the crowd (I bet Dusty Rhodes would like a beer, but he’s gone so consider this the next tribute from Dreamer) so she can spit it in Sami’s face. Dreamer does it to Dave (passing it on to the next generation you might say) and we settle down to Sami begging off from Tessa inside. Everything breaks down again in record time with all four heading back outside.

Dave catapults Dreamer throat first into the barricade (add that to the list of injuries he’ll talk about for the next 15 years) and takes it back inside to crank on both of Dreamer’s arms. Staying down in a hold like that would damage the industry though so Dreamer is right back up, only to have Sami take him into the corner. Dreamer fights back using the power of tears over his memories of wrestling but Tessa gets pulled off the apron. Double Bionic elbows and the diving tag bring in Tessa (with a scary look on her face as she cleans house).

A running Codebreaker out of the corner gets two on Dave as everything breaks down and the ref gets bumped. Double DDTs lay out OVE (Because Dreamer stole that move too. Does he actually do ANYTHING original? Other than the Tommyhawk, which was awesome, that is.) with a second referee running in for two. Dreamer loads up a piledriver with THUMBS UP THUMBS DOWN (The Repo Man didn’t steal this much stuff!) but stereo low blows put….well just Dreamer down as Tessa glares at Dave for not thinking it through. Magnum with a kendo stick finishes Dave at 13:49.

Rating: C-. Did I ever tell you about the time that Tommy Dreamer did something in wrestling? The exact thing doesn’t matter because it’s probably something that has been done a million times, but he did it while looking sad, drinking a beer, hitting someone with a kendo stick an hour after wearing a shirt that talked about some famous wrestler.

But he just wants to help the business, including his House of Hardcore promotion, which is in no way another attempt to cash in on ECW’s legacy again and again because he’s never done anything noteworthy not associated with ECW. If you’ve never heard that story before, don’t worry because he’ll probably do it again in a week.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a miss as there just wasn’t enough good stuff to warrant half an hour of Deaners/Squad/Dreamer. Tessa doesn’t need Dreamer helping her out so he can steal more of her spotlight, especially after Swann, a young star who could go a long way around here, offered to help her last week. It’s a spot where someone could get a nice rub but instead it’s Dreamer for no logical reason whatsoever. The rest of the show was skippable aside from the six man tag, which hopefully isn’t a new trend around here. Hopefully they bounce back next week because this was a rough sit.

Results

Moose b. Fallah Bahh – No Jackhammer Needed

Kiera Hogan/Madison Rayne b. Jordynne Grace/Alexia Nicole – CrossRayne to Nicole

Rob Van Dam/Rich Swann/Willie Mack b. Rascalz – Phoenix splash to Wentz

Deaners b. Desi Hit Squad – CTD to Singh

Tessa Blanchard/Tommy Dreamer b. Dave Crist/Sami Callihan – Magnum to Crist

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com 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