Thank goodness for wrestling.

Global Wars 2025
Date: June 26, 2025
Location: Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni

It’s time for another special event, which happened to be taped last week in Mexico. This is a Ring Of Honor vs. CMLL card and we have the World Title on the line as Bandido defends against Mascara Dorada. Other than that, this is one of three shows we have left before Supercard Of Honor and it would be nice to start the build. Let’s get to it.

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

Red Velvet/Athena vs. Thunder Rosa/Persephone

Rosa and Athena start things off with Rosa being taken into the corner but coming out with an armdrag to the now legal Velvet. Persephone comes in for a double basement dropkick and pulls a springboarding Athena out of the air. Persephone’s spinning slam gets two but Athena takes her into the corner to fire off some forearms. Velvet hits some running knees to the back of the head but Persephone fights up and gets over to Rosa. Everything breaks down and Velvet splashes Rosa in the corner. Athena O Faces Persephone but gets kneed down by Rosa. A rollup gives Rosa the pin on Velvet at 7:14.

Rating: C+. This was the best way to set up Rosa vs. Athena and that’s about as good of an idea as they were going to have without Athena taking a fall. Rosa is someone who can give Athena a real challenge and that is something that has been lacking for a LONG time. Persephone getting a shot at Velvet wouldn’t be a bad thing either, as Velvet needs someone to come after her as well.

Nick Wayne vs. Titan

Non-title but if Titan wins or lasts the ten minute time limit, he receives a future TV Title shot. Titan flips out of the corner to start but gets knocked off the top for a crash. Wayne follows him out for another crash and gets in some posing. Back in and Wayne chokes a bit before going after the mask, as is custom. A running uppercut in the corner gives Wayne two but Titan is back up to strike away.

Back up and a springboard dropkick drops Wayne, who comes back with a handspring Stunner for two. They forearm it out until Titan charges into a superkick, only for Wayne to grab a standing Sliced Bread. Titan gets up and knocks him to the floor for a running flip dive. A springboard tornado DDT plants Wayne and Titan starts tying up the legs as time expires at 10:00, meaning Titan gets a future title shot.

Rating: B-. Another fine match, though Titan might not have gotten the rules at the end (though in this case it doesn’t make much of a difference). Titan is a talented star and someone who has done well everywhere he’s gone. Putting Wayne in the ring with someone like him is a good move and now they’ll get to do it again.

Titan is annoyed at not winning, possibly not quite getting the rules.

We recap Bandido vs. Mascara Dorada. Bandido was getting beaten down and Bandido made the save but held up the World Title. The match was set.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Bandido vs. Mascara Dorada

Bandido is defending. They take their time to lockup and Dorada backs him into the corner for a friendly tap on the chest. An exchange of legsweeps and takedowns gives us a standoff but Dorada takes him down in the corner. The 450 misses but the 21 Plex is blocked, giving us another standoff. Dorada uppercuts him down and hits a dropkick to the floor, setting up the running corkscrew dive.

Back in and Dorada’s 450 gets two but Bandido gets in some shots of his own. Dorada is knocked outside for a running dive to take him out. Bandido muscles him up for a delayed superplex and a near fall. They trade running shots in the corner until Bandido knocks him outside again, this time for a running flip dive over the corner. A frog splash gives Bandido two but Dorada jumps up, climbs onto Bandido’s shoulders, and then drops down into a hurricanrana for two.

They chop it out until both of them drop to their knees, only to keep at the slapping. They go to the apron and keep chopping until they both try running dropkicks for a double knockdown to the floor. Now it’s time to go to the ramp for an exchange of throws until Dorada climbs the set and hits a huge dive. Dorada sends him back into the ring and gets a running start down the ramp for a moonsault over the top back inside.

Bandido is back up to grab the arms and tie up the legs at the same time, with Dorada pulling himself up. With that not working, Bandido switches into a rollup for two. Dorada catches him on top and does another shoulder stand hurricanrana into a shooting star for two more. Bandido is back with the X Knee into the 21 Plex for a rather near fall. That means it’s a super flipping fall away slam to knock Dorada silly, setting up another 21 Plex to retain the title at 19:09.

Rating: A-. Excellent stuff here, with two guys who have no issues with each other fighting to leave with a prize. You can tell Bandido knows how to work this style very well and Dorada is more than capable of having some great performances. This was easily the best thing ROH has had in a long time and is definitely worth a look.

Rocky Romero, with Konosuke Takeshita, challenges Bandido for Supercard Of Honor on Takeshita’s behalf. Hokey smoke they remembered the show was a thing.

Leila Grey gives Top Flight a pep talk before their #1 contenders match against the Infantry.

We run down the Supercard Of Honor card, including Bandido defending against Takeshita, Athena defending against Thunder Rosa and the Sons Of Texas defending against either the Infantry or Top Flight.

Lee Moriarty talks about what being here means to him and how much he wants to face Blue Panther.

Lee Moriarty vs. Blue Panther

Non-title. They fight over wrist control to start and trade arm holds with neither being able to get very far. Moriarty pulls him into an abdominal stretch, which is quickly countered but Moriarty stops to applaud himself. A bridging rollup gives Moriarty two and they shake hands, with Moriarty kicking him in the ribs.

Some chops and running clotheslines put Moriarty down but he sends Panther outside. The dive connects and Moriarty does it again, followed by the Border City Stretch back inside. Panther can’t roll his way out so Moriarty grabs the other arm, with Panther making the ropes anyway. They chop it out until Panther gets two off a clothesline. Panther knocks him outside and gets a running start for a dive off the ramp. Back in and Panther pulls him into a Fujiwara armbar for the tap at 11:14.

Rating: B-. Panther is quite the star as he is in his mid 60s and can still have a perfectly acceptable match. That was the case here, as it never felt ridiculous that he was hanging with someone younger and more athletic. Panther is an absolute legend around here so having him get a win over the lowest champion on the men’s roster is hardly much of a stretch.

Post match the Infantry comes in for the beatdown, with Shane Taylor joining them. Panther is down but BRYAN DANIELSON of all people sends in some luchadors for the save. Danielson even hits a running knee to Taylor and hugs Panther (Danielson is known to be a massive Panther fan). Danielson gets the mic and praises Mexico for welcoming AEW and Ring Of Honor.

Moriarty vs. Panther for the Pure Title is set for Supercard Of Honor to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The World Title match alone made this a show worth seeing and at only about an hour and fifteen minutes, it’s not like you have to be here long. It does help that the CMLL stars have been around for a bit in advance so it isn’t like we’re seeing a bunch of strangers. Very good show here, and my goodness they actually remembered Supercard Of Honor. The wonders never cease.

Results
Thunder Rosa/Persephone b. Red Velvet/Athena – Rollup to Velvet
Nick Wayne vs. Titan went to a time limit draw
Bandido b. Mascara Dorada – 21 Plex
Blue Panther b. Lee Moriarty – Fujiwara armbar

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

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

Impact Wrestling
Date: June 26, 2025
Location: UMPC Events Center, Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re just under a month away from Slammiversary and the company is taking its time setting things up. That’s perfectly fine as they still have a few weeks, though the main event is officially set. Joe Hendry will get his chance to regain the TNA World Title from Trick Williams and bring the belt back from NXT. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Joe Hendry to get things going and….wow some of those camera shots show hundreds of empty seats. Get the tarp out already people. Anyway Hendry thanks the people for having his back and giving him such a great life. At the same time, he has to acknowledge that he lost the World Title to Trick Williams.

That kills him and he could walk out and go home but hearing these people cheering his name makes it all worth it. He was in the Royal Rumble and at Wrestlemania as TNA Champion and he owes the fans something as a thank you. Now he wants the fans to be part of his redemption and he will bring the title back to TNA at Slammiversary. We’re getting to the point where he has to win the title and while that’s a strong possibility, I wouldn’t say it’s a guarantee.

Killer Kelly doesn’t like Masha Slamovich forgetting their past together and teases a chain match. As for tonight, she’s becoming the new #1 contender in a battle royal.

Ryan Nemeth vs. Zachary Wentz

Their respective partners are here too because these teams (and the Hardys and First Class) are in a four way for the Tag Team Titles at Slammiversary. And say it with me: it’s a ladder match. Ryan works on a wristlock to start but Wentz flips out and wristdrags him to the rope. Nic cuts off a handspring though and Ryan sends Wentz outside for two.

We’re already in the chinlock but Wentz it out rather quickly, earning himself a whip into the corner. A neckbreaker takes too long and Wentz gets in a backslide for two, followed by a kick to the chest. The running shooting star press gives Wentz two but Ryan’s DDT gets the same, leaving his eyes bugging out of his head. Ryan tries to bring in a belt but gets kneed down, setting up the Spiral Tap to give Wentz the pin at 4:25.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do much and as usual, it’s one of the one off matches that has no impact on a ladder match. I like the idea of a four way title match but hearing the stipulation being added kills the interest. Wentz getting a win is nice to see, but it is only going to mean so much when it comes to climbing ladders. Did I mention I’m sick of ladder matches? Just wanted to make that clear.

We look at Joe Hendry showing up in NXT, setting up his match next week with Wes Lee.

Trick Williams is ready to beat Hendry at Slammiversary and he’s ready for AJ Francis to kick Mike Santana back to the block tonight.

Masha Slamovich is ready for the battle royal to crown a new #1 contender. As for Killer Kelly, they can have a chain match next week. Arianna grace runs in to say she has a surprise for Slamovich, but we can’t find out what that is yet.

Battle Royal

Lei Ying Lee, Ash By Elegance, Alisha Edwards, Cassie Lee, Dani Luna, Harley Hudson, Indi Hartwell, Jada Stone, Jessie McKay, Jody Threat, Katie Arquette, Mila Moore, Myla Grace, Rosemary, Tasha Steelz, Tessa Blanchard, Victoria Crawford, Xia Brookside

For a future Knockouts Title shot. By Elegance stops to pose early on, earning a beatdown from the IInspiration. Everyone else gets involved and the five of them are all dumped, leaving the others to brawl. Arquette (yes she’s related to David) is tossed out rather quickly and Stone follows her. There goes Luna as well and we take a break.

We come back with Moore and Hudson tossing Rosemary but getting eliminated just as fast. Steelz dumps Edwards and Crawford follows her out. Brookside, Steelz and Lee are out in a hurry and we’re down to Blanchard vs. Hartwell. They both fight over the top and out to the apron…but Ash By Elegance comes out from underneath the ring and throws them both out to win at 11:26. A replay shows that Elegance went underneath the ropes before being tossed out earlier (fair play as I didn’t catch it).

Rating: C. Usually I can’t stand these “oh wait someone is still in” finishes but they did a nice job of surprising me this time so points for a bonus. Ash getting the shot is interesting as she’s a big enough star to be a threat to take the title. The rest of the match was a standard battle royal, but at least they didn’t do anything too bad.

Post match Masha Slamovich comes out for the staredown but here is NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne as well. And there’s the surprise.

We look at Tommy Dreamer bringing Jake Something back last week to deal with Mance Warner.

Something is glad he’s back and he’s ready to fight Warner next week. Then he wants the International Title. Maclin comes in to welcome Something back.

Mustafa Ali vs. John Skyler

This is a Call To Arms match, where both of them start with one arm tied to the ropes. You untie yourself and then have a regular match, won by pinfall or submission. That’s quite the odd choice for a stipulation. The rest of Order 4 is here too. Ali gets smart by whipping out some scissors to cut himself free and kicks Skyler in the face.

Skyler fights back and manages a backdrop to the floor. Jason Hotch gets the scissors away and gives them to Skyler, which removes the ropes as a factor less than two minutes into the match. Skyler hits a rolling neckbreaker for two but gets sent into the post. Ali hits a quick 450 for the pin at 3:36.

Rating: D. I have no idea what the point of this thing was, as the arm deal was basically not a factor. In theory the idea was to have Ali get annoyed at Hotch for helping Skyler as Order 4 continues to fall apart. That being said, at some point Ali is going to need a serious challenger to come after him and Hotch and Skyler aren’t big enough.

Post match Ali beats up Hotch for helping Skyler but Tasha Steelz blocks a chair shot. Cedric Alexander, and a former rival of Ali’s, debuts and the rest of Order 4 gets behind him. Ali leaves on his own, despite Alexander trying to reason with him. That might not be the big name, but it’s a step in the right direction.

We recap the System beating down Matt Cardona and the Home Town Man last week.

The System is ready for Leon Slater at Slammiversary but Cardona interrupts and wants a fight. The team just leaves instead.

Hardys vs. Northern Armory

Eric Young is here with the Armory. Jeff takes over on Williams’ arm to start and it’s off to Matt to do more of the same. Young pulls Matt out to the floor for a cheap shot though and Icarus takes over in the corner. Young gets caught interfering again though and that’s good for an early ejection. Matt is able to bring Jeff back in to clean house and the Plot Twist sets up the Swanton to pin Icarus at 4:13.

Rating: C+. The Armory was only able to do so much without Young here and that isn’t a big surprise. The Hardys get a win here and get ready for their next title shot in their signature match. I’ll spare myself yet another rant about the ladder stipulation and go with saying it’s nice to see the Hardys looking a lot better in the ring than they did in recent years. They seem to be all together for once and that is great to see.

Post match the Hardys invite Leon Slater to the ring because they’re ready to see him win the X-Division Title at Slammiversary. Slater say that endorsement means so much to him and he promises to win the title for himself and his family and the fans. He’s ready for Moose and will be at ringside during Moose’s match.

Moose vs. Shane Sabre vs. Jake Painter

Non-title and Slater is on commentary. Moose wanted this to be a three way so he could show Slater what is coming for him at Slammiversary. Moose boots both of them in the face to start and hits a double clothesline. Sabre is sent outside and the spear finishes Painter at 2:03.

Post match Slater gets in the ring for the staredown but Moose bails.

Video on First Class helping Trick Williams, including against Mike Santana.

Mike Santana vs. AJ Francis

Street fight and KC Navarro is here with Francis. They go straight to the slugout to start with Santana knocking him to the floor. It’s already time for a table and Santana hits a running boot to send Francis over the barricade. Francis is sent into the barricade but manages to send him into the same barricade as we take a break.

Back with Francis choking with a chair, which he then sits in to talk trash. Santana slugs back but gets slammed onto the chair to cut him off. That doesn’t last long as Santana sends him outside for a flip dive and it’s time to set up the tables. An Asai moonsault cuts Francis down again and the rolling Buck Fifty gets two back inside.

Santana AA’s him through two chairs for two and then does it again through the tables. Cue Trick Williams but Joe Hendry runs out for the save, leaving Santana to hit a frog splash for two. Francis pulls him out of the air for a Styles Clash of all things though and it’s time to bring in the champagne bottle. Santana takes it away though and smashes it over Francis’ head. Spin The Block gives Santana the pin at 15:44.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a fight and I got far more into it than I was expecting. It’s a good example of a match that is made better by the crowd, as they wanted to see Santana beat this guy up. I had a great time with the whole thing and Santana looked like a star. He’s going to be in the World Title picture sooner than later and if TNA doesn’t pull the trigger on him eventually, I have no idea what they’re missing.

Post match Santana thanks the fans and says he wants in the main event for the World Title at Slammiversary to end the show. Well that would be a game changer to the match.

Overall Rating: B-. That main event pulled this one way up and that’s nice to see. Santana continues his incredible rise and very well might be added to the World Title match at Slammiversary. The rest of the show only did so much for me, but Santana vs. Francis was more than enough to boost things up.

Results
Zachary Wentz b. Ryan Nemeth – Spiral Tap
Ash By Elegance won a battle royal last eliminating Tessa Blanchard and Indi Hartwell
Mustafa Ali b. John Skyler – 450
Hardys b. Northern Armory – Swanton to Icarus
Moose b. Shane Sabre and Jake Painter – Spear to Painter
Mike Santana b. AJ Francis – Spin The Block

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

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

Collision
Date: June 26, 2025
Location: ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re rapidly closing in on All In and this week features another Thursday show, which is a good way to go and I would love to see it become permanent. Other than that, FTR is going to be talking to the Outrunners after what happened last week. Hopefully we get to see something on top of that so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Tony Schiavone brings in the Outrunners and FTR, with Stokely Hathaway, for a face to face chat. Hathaway thinks FTR should be getting a Tag Team Title shot but they have to be dealing with this first. He is FLABBERGASTED at the Outrunners’ actions and Cash Wheeler is the same. They have done all kinds of things for the Outrunners but the second FTR starts looking out for themselves, everyone has a problem with it.

We see a video of the four of them working together before Dax Harwood talks about the Outrunners becoming a big deal. Then they got a title shot and what happened? The Outrunners embarrassed themselves and that’s when everyone started seeing them as a comedy act. Harwood yells at the fans for cheering for the Outrunners, who turned their backs on FTR. This little shtick might make them money, but it will never make them FTR money because the Outrunners aren’t that good.

FTR goes to leave but hold on though because Truth Magnum sees all of these Outrunners shirts and knows the people believe in them. The Outrunners believed in FTR and then they got dropped in a hurry. They want a fight but Hathaway says we’ll do it next week. I like the idea of tying up the loose end of their issues and history, though I’m not sure if this was worthy of the opening spot of the show.

Dynamite recap.

Patriarchy vs. Big Bill/Bryan Keith

Keith and Wayne start things off with Wayne backing away into the corner to start. They fight over hammerlocks with Wayne’s shot to the face making Keith smile. Cage comes in and gets to face Bill, which has Cage thinking twice about things. Bill shoves him face first into the mat so Wayne gets to try his luck instead. Everything breaks down and Bill and Keith clear the ring, with Keith hitting a big dive.

We take a break and come back with Cage chopping at Keith with the reverse layout DDT getting two. Keith gets in a shot of his own and Bill comes back in to wreck various people. The spinning Boss Man Slam hits Wayne and the Patriarchy is sent into each other. Hold on though as Bill goes outside to beat up Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne offers a distraction. Keith powerbombs Wayne but Mother Wayne offers a distraction, allowing Cage to make the save. Bill misses a charge into the post and Cage spears Keith down to break up another powerbomb. Wayne kicks Keith in the head for the pin at 12:45.

Rating: C+. The more I see of Keith and Bill, the more I like them, though they’re kind of directionless at the moment. At the same time, the Patriarchy going for the Tag Team Titles could be a spot on the way towards their split. That might be a long way off, and it’s not like the Hurt Syndicate has any other major challengers at the moment (no, Jet Speed are not major challengers).

Josh Alexander is ready to win the TNT Title.

Post break, Christian Cage praises Nick Wayne but they run into MVP. He thought it was a nice debut and their first step towards coming for the Tag Team Titles. MVP tells them not to do it, but Cage says never trust a criminal, especially one like MVP who got caught. MVP isn’t impressed and says good luck, because they’ll need it. That doesn’t sound great.

Brody King/Templario vs. Rocky Romero/Hechicero

Hechicero and Templario start things off with Templario taking him down. Back up and Hechicero hits a running knee in the corner and it’s off to King vs. Romero. King takes over and brawls out to the apron with Hechicero. That doesn’t last as King comes back in for a double clothesline and a backsplash as we take a break.

Back with Templario faceplanting Hechicero and bringing King back in to clean house. King’s cannonball gets two on Hechicero but what looks like a Hart Attack is broken up. Romero and King go to the floor and Templario wheelbarrow suplexes Hechicero for two. King comes back in to chop Templario down but he misses a charge into the corner. Everything breaks down and Templario takes Hechicero down with a dive to the floor. The Ganso Bomb gives King the pin on Romero at 10:14.

Rating: B-. It was a fun match, or at least as fun as something involving Romero can be. King and Templario teamed well enough for someone who were out there together for the first time, though it just makes me miss Buddy Matthews all the more. Hechicero continues to do some amazing stuff in the ring, but sticking him with the Don Callis Family isn’t helping things.

Video on Mercedes Mone vs. Toni Storm. Mone is ready to win while Storm responds with a silent movie…which Mone destroys. Mone’s boots have Storm’s picture on the bottom and she’s ready to take out Mina Shirakawa next week.

Toni Storm is ready to beat up Mercedes Mone but Mina Shirakawa promises to get revenge next week. Storm wants Shirakawa to save a piece for her.

Megan Bayne vs. Vertvixen

Penelope Ford is here with Bayne, who knocks Vertvixen into the corner for some shoulders to start. Vertvixen’s shot to the face just annoys Bayne and it’s a running clothesline into Fate’s Descent for the fast pin at 1:47.

Anthony Bowens is officially in the Casino Gauntlet qualifying match next week and he’s ready for a new strategy with Billy Gunn.

TNT Title: Josh Alexander vs. Adam Cole

Alexander is challenging and has Trent Beretta with him. Alexander goes for the leg to start but gets taken down into a hammerlock. That’s reversed into a front facelock before Alexander sends him into the buckle a few times. A fireman’s carry doesn’t work for Alexander as Cole grabs a neckbreaker (or cutter according to Tony) for a breather. Back up Alexander sends him to the apron for the running crossbody to the back as we take a break.

We come back with Cole hitting some running shots to the face, followed by a Backstabber for two. The Panama Sunrise is countered into a flapjack and Alexander fireman’s carries him on the middle rope, which is broken up with some elbows to the head. Now the Panama Sunrise connects for two but Alexander drops down before the Boom can launch. Alexander is back up with the ankle lock, which Cole breaks up rather quickly. A bridging German suplex drops Cole but Alexander’s neck gives out on the bridge. Cole is back up with the Boom to retain at 12:35.

Rating: B-. Cole and the Paragon vs. the Don Callis Family is a fine enough way to go and it gives Cole a string of opponents to come after the title. This was a good way to have Cole get a title defense, even if Alexander’s stock continues to drop. In theory the Family needs someone who is there to take a fall, though they seem to have that spot covered in droves already.

AR Fox confronts Ricochet in the back when the Gates Of Agony jump Fox. Ricochet approves.

Queen Aminata vs. Skye Blue

Julia Hart is here with Blue. They run the ropes to start and Hart grabs Aminata’s foot from the apron so Blue can take over. Aminata shrugs that off and hits a headbutt, only to be sent head first into the apron. Blue hammers away on the floor and we take a break. We come back with Aminata hitting a running boot in the corner.

A fisherman’s neckbreaker is broken up and Blue’s fall away slam gets two. Aminata is back with her hips to the face deal and knees Blue out to the floor. Ford offers a distraction though and Aminata gets sent into the steps, allowing Blue to hit a top rope dive. Back in and Code Blue is blocked, setting up Off With Her Head to give Aminata the win at 8:33.

Rating: C+. And Blue’s return continues to go pretty much nowhere, which is a shame as she was starting to take off before her injury. Aminata continues to be a perfectly fine hand in the ring, but they’re going to need to change something up with her before she feels important. The in-ring talent is there, but she’s been treated like a lower level star for a long time now.

Post match Hart and Aminata have a staredown but Thekla comes in for the beatdown on Aminata. Anna Jay and Tay Melo make the save. Cue Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford for the big staredown. Putting Thekla with the lower level of the division isn’t likely going to make her feel like a star in the slightest.

Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard are cut off by Rocky Romero, who says the Don Callis Family has no issues with Garcia. Romero suggests that Garcia’s friends are just trying to get what they can out of him. Garcia doesn’t seem convinced.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Kyle Fletcher vs. Kyle O’Reilly

They go to the mat to start with Fletcher rolling away for a standoff. Fans: “THIS IS KYLE!” O’Reilly knocks him to the floor but Fletcher is back in with a knockdown as the various Kyle chants continue. A cross armbreaker has Fletcher bailing over to the ropes and sending O’Reilly to the apron for a running knee.

We take a break and come back with Fletcher slamming him down a few times while holding onto the arm. O’Reilly pulls him into a triangle choke before they kick each other down for a double breather. Back up in and O’Reilly strikes him down before grabbing a guillotine choke. That’s broken up so O’Reilly kicks him away as we’re back to the KYLE chants. O’Reilly bends the leg around the ropes and adds a top rope knee drop to really rock Fletcher.

A top rope knee to Fletcher’s knee gets two and O’Reilly grabs some weird leglock. Fletcher escapes and gets outside, where he nails a loud superkick. O’Reilly is back up with a running dropkick off the apron into Fletcher in a chair. Cue Lance Archer to boot O’Reilly in the face though and a Michinoku Driver gives Fletcher two. A running knee into the brainbuster finishes for Fletcher at 13:31.

Rating: B. While it felt like a lot of this match existed for the sake of allowing the fans to do their KYLE chants, the match was a hard hitting, back and forth fight. Fletcher wasn’t going to lose to O’Reilly, but I’ll take Fletcher having to put in the effort to get there. Solid main event here, with Archer being there to help protect O’Reilly a bit.

Post match O’Reilly gets beaten down again but the Paragon and Daniel Garcia run in for the save.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty nice show this week, with the main event being the strongest part. As tends to be the case though, this show only felt so important, with most of the stories being on the lower side of things. That’s still stuff that needs to be addressed, but having two straight hours of it can be a bit tiring. I’ll take this for a special edition of the show though, with the title match and main event both being solid.

Results
Patriarchy b. Big Bill/Bryan Keith – Kick to Keith’s head
Brody King/Templario b. Rocky Romero/Hechicero – Ganso Bomb to Romero
Megan Bayne b. Vertvixen – Fate’s Descent
Adam Cole b. Josh Alexander – The Boom
Queen Aminata b. Skye Blue – Off With Her Head
Kyle Fletcher b. Kyle O’Reilly – Brainbuster

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 1, 2008
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the last Raw before Unforgiven and the big matches are entirely set. The good thing is that this includes the incredible Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho match, which is pretty much carrying the quality side of things. Other than that you have CM Punk ready to defend in the Championship Scramble which is….well it exists. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory of Killer Kowalski.

Here is the injured Randy Orton for a chat and the hometown fans are happy to see him. Orton confirms that he is not 100% yet but there is something he has to get off his chest. He believes that a brand is only as strong as its champions. When he was on top, Raw was the best thing going but now it’s a joke. Beth Phoenix runs around like a lovesick puppy after the weakest Intercontinental Champion of all time in Santino Marella. Then you have Priceless, who should be called Worthless, because they don’t even have their belts.

Finally though, we have someone who is disgracing the World Title in CM Punk. Four years ago, Punk was wrestling in no name towns but then he won a briefcase and got the World Title. That makes Orton sick and he would love to challenge Punk to get the title back tonight. Cue Punk, who says he is getting a headache from listening to Orton. Not everyone has their daddy and grandfather getting them into WWE.

Punk doesn’t drink, smoke, or go for joy rides on his motorcycle at 3am and make his injury even worse. He’s going to retain the title on Sunday, and then he wants Orton to come tell him how pathetic he is again. Orton says they’ll continue this at a later time and walks away. Cue JBL to interrupt, saying Punk doesn’t get it. Fairy tales aren’t real and the Cinderella run ends on Sunday.

We get the traditional odds explanation and JBL says anyone could take the title from Punk on Sunday. Cue Kane to interrupt, saying that he’s been to H*** and he didn’t see JBL’s Clothesline. He did see Rey Mysterio though, so he’s not likely for the scramble match. Cue Batista to interrupt but he opts to beat everyone else up rather than speaking. Batista walks out rather quickly, leaving the other three laying. I love Punk and I was thrilled when he won the title but egads he could not look much weaker.

Kofi Kingston vs. Charlie Haas

This week’s Haas impression is….John Cena, so the fans are not happy with the fake out. Haas says “the Haas is here and you can’t see me.” Then how do we know you’re here? Kingston starts fast with a monkey flip but Haas knocks him down. The Five Knuckle Shuffle is blocked though and Kingston grabs a Russian legsweep into the Boom Drop. A rollup doesn’t work for Haas and Trouble In Paradise finishes him in a hurry. The Haas impressions are funny enough but if he’s going to lose in short order every time, their charm isn’t likely to last very long.

Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase talk to Randy Orton, who slaps Rhodes in the face. Orton tells them to grow a set because otherwise, he stands by everything he says.

ECW GM Teddy Long, and his assistant Tiffany, are here with Mike Adamle. Their Scramble participants are in a battle royal tonight, which Adamle says is like a Jerry Lawis Labor Day telethon without the kids. Long tries to get his head around that one as Kane comes in to say that Adamle advertising Rey Mysterio was stupid because his body has been destroyed. Adamle was hoping it would make Mysterio show up, so Kane tells him to keep hoping.

Battle Royal

Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, Miz, Finlay, Mark Henry

Henry’s ECW Title isn’t on the line and yeah it’s a five man battle royal. Everyone else goes after Henry to start and that goes nowhere, as Henry shoves them all away. Some double teaming does get Henry off his feet (not a great idea in a battle royal) but Miz goes after Hardy. Guerrero jumps Miz so Henry dumps both of them and we’re already down to three. Henry misses a charge into the corner though and Hardy strikes away but he and Finlay can’t get the elimination. Finlay is tossed but Hardy is back up with the middle rope elbow to the head. The Twist Of Fate is easily blocked though and Henry tosses him for the win.

Rating: D+. What is there to say here? It’s a five man battle royal and only went on for a few minutes. There isn’t much that can be done with a regular match in that amount of time but having such a small field for a battle royal makes it even harder. Henry winning a match that is built for someone like him doesn’t help either, making this quite the weak offering.

Jamie Noble vs. William Regal

Layla is at ringside so Noble can impress her. Regal goes right at him and grabs a full nelson, which is reversed into a rollup for two. A left hand drops Noble and the half and half suplex does it again. Noble is right back up with a small package for the pin out of nowhere and Layla does seem somewhat impressed.

Jillian Hall sings a bit before a six woman tag.

Jillian Hall/Beth Phoenix/Katie Lea Burchill vs. Mickie James/Kelly Kelly/Candice Michelle

Phoenix tells Randy Orton to watch and this is Michelle’s big return after a very long injury absence. Burchill and Kelly start things off with Burchill taking her down for two so it’s off to James for a top rope Thesz press. Burchill takes James into the corner though and Hall comes in, only to get forearmed in the face to cut that off fast.

Phoenix grabs a suplex to drop James again though and it’s back to Hall. A neckbreaker gets James out of trouble and Michelle gets to come in and clean house. Michelle tries a high crossbody but Phoenix rolls through and….I have absolutely no idea what the next sequence was supposed to be. They are on different plants for a bit but after about twenty seconds of not being able to do anything right, Michelle small packages her for the pin.

Rating: D+. They got so messed up in the end there, and while it felt like they just messed up to start and then both tried to fix it in a different way, they did at least get the right result. That being said, they didn’t have time to do much here (again) and Michelle coming back to beat the champ after the better part of a year away pretty much just proves Orton right about Phoenix.

We get a long recap of Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, which is now a personal rivalry over Jericho accidentally (in theory) hitting Michaels’ wife in the face. Michaels was ready to retire, but now it’s time for personal revenge with Michaels angrier than he has been in a long time. This has been the best thing on Raw since it started and now we are ready for one more huge fight between them, which should be outstanding.

Santino Marella vs. D’Lo Brown

Non-title. Hold on though as Marella wants to show that Randy Orton was wrong. Marella orders the HONK-A-METER, which shows that Honky Tonk Man was Intercontinental Champion for 64 weeks. On the other hand, Marella has been the Intercontinental Champion for 2 weeks, putting him 62 weeks back.

That is nothing for Marella, and then he will be the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. I can’t stand Santino but this is still one of those gags that will always make me chuckle. It’s so stupid that it’s funny and that can work so well. Marella drives him into the corner to start but Brown is back up with a running clothesline for two. A Shining Wizard drops Marella but he avoids the Low Down and gets the fast pin.

This week’s classic moment: the first Raw in MSG. Yeah that fits.

Cryme Tyme vs. John Morrison/The Miz

Hold on as Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes run in to jump Cryme Tyme and beat them down. The champs get their belts back and there’s no match.

Post break Rhodes and DiBiase run into Orton, who doesn’t say anything but seems pleased.

WWE is at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

Batista’s game plan for tonight: destroy everyone.

Unforgiven rundown.

Battle Royal

Batista, CM Punk, JBL, Kane

Non-title and it’s somehow even lamer than earlier with a four man battle royal because there’s no Rey Mysterio. There is however Randy Orton, who is watching at ringside. Batista hammers on Kane to start and JBL knocks Punk down in the corner. Some running corner clotheslines have Batista in control but he can’t throw Punk out. Kane boots Batista in the face though and Punk hits a clothesline to get rid of him.

JBL boots the other two out but Punk backdrops him out, leaving us with Punk vs. Kane. Some shots to the face aren’t enough to get rid of Punk so Kane gives him a side slam. Kane knocks him to the apron so Punk tries a springboard, for Kane to grab him by the throat and toss him out for the win.

Rating: D. This felt like something they would do on a Memphis territory house show in front of 200 people when some wrestlers didn’t show up. The match runs about four minutes and nothing really happens, with Orton just sitting there being the, for lack of a better word, highlight. This was rough, but what were the wrestlers supposed to do under these circumstances?

Post match Punk and Orton have a staredown, with Punk hitting him in the face. Cue Rey Mysterio, leaving Kane stunned. Mysterio actually beats Kane down and gives him a 619 around the post.

Jerry Lawler is in the ring for the Chris Jericho/Shawn Michaels contract signing. Jericho comes out and Lawler says that WWE is waived of all liabilities before bringing Michaels out as well. Both of them sign and Lawler tries to wrap it up but Jericho cuts him off. Jericho asks why Michaels has this much security, because Jericho isn’t stupid enough to get violent here. Michaels says it’s not his security because he wants it to be the two of them alone. Jericho sends security and Lawler away, which is following Michaels’ advice, which Michaels would never do for him.

This week, Jericho did sit his family down and tell them that he will never be Shawn Michaels. He will never be a lying, cheating, manipulative monster. They will not be watching Unforgiven because he doesn’t want them to see what he’ll be doing. Jericho isn’t going to go soft on Michaels because of Michaels’ precious wife. The only person Michaels has to blame for this is himself.

Michaels is glad that Jericho’s family won’t be watching and neither will Michaels’. He wants to tell them about the time when he almost walked away but came back so he could look evil in the face and spit in its eye. Unforgiven is an appropriate name for the event because he will never forgive Jericho for what he did. All he hopes is that someday God can forgive him for what he’ll do to Jericho.

That makes Jericho stand up so Michaels takes off his jacket but Lance Cade runs in. Michaels takes him out and glares at Jericho to end the show. These two are selling the living heck out of this match and I want to see them tear into each other. You can feel the intensity here and there is nothing else like it in WWE at the moment.

Overall Rating: C-. I hope Jericho and Michaels got a very nice selection of fruit baskets from the roster because they are carrying this show on their backs. The problem here is so much of the rest of the show is built around the Scramble and there is pretty much nothing left to say about it. That makes for a very tedious show and that was on display here. The Michaels/Jericho segments are great, but that’s about it for the show. Well other than the Honk-A-Meter, but that goes without saying.

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

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

Summerslam 1988
Date: August 29, 1988
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Billy Graham

The main event here is Hogan/Savage vs. DiBiase/Andre in a match billed as Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks. Allegedly the plan was to have Ric Flair jump from the NWA and challenge Savage for the title but Flair backed out, giving us the tag match instead. Other than that we have Honky Tonk Man defending his title against a mystery opponent and the Hart Foundation challenging Demolition for the tag titles. The card wasn’t exactly stacked for this show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video has what would become the Royal Rumble theme song set over shots of the four guys in the main event plus their managers, Virgil and Miss Elizabeth.

Fabulous Rougeaus vs. British Bulldogs

These two teams could not stand each other behind the scenes, eventually reaching the point where the Bulldogs left the company as a result. Davey jumps Jacques to start and rams him into turnbuckle after turnbuckle to put him down. Smith throws Jacques over to Raymond for a tag in a nice display of bravado. Off to Dynamite for a quick headbutt and a slam to keep Raymond in trouble.

Off to an armbar by Dynamite Kid before Davey comes back in for one of his own. Dynamite comes back in with a wicked clothesline to take Raymond’s head off. Chris Benoit idolized Dynamite and you can see so many of Benoit’s moves when you watch Dynamite’s matches. Davey comes in and trades some snappy rollups before it’s back to Dynamite to continue cranking on the arm.

Davey comes in again but Jacques trips him up to shift control to the Canadians. It’s off to some leg work now as Jacques kicks away at Davey’s hamstring. The Rougeaus start tagging in and out with Ray coming in to drop some knees on the hamstring before Jacques comes back in to pull on the leg. Ray comes back in sans tag to pull on the leg before Jacques puts on a spinning toehold. Davey finally gets back up and monkey flips Ray down, allowing for the tag to Dynamite.

The Kid speeds things way up and sends Ray out to the floor, triggering a brawl between Davey and Raymond. Back inside and Davey hits the powerslam but Jacques breaks it up before a one count. Dynamite comes back in for the headbutt but Jacques drills him with a belly to back suplex for two. Off to an abdominal stretch by Jacques followed by a camel clutch from both Rougeaus. Kid fights up and rams Ray into the buckle to escape but it’s right back to the abdominal stretch by Jacques.

Dynamite finally fights up again and headbutts Jacques down to bring in Davey. Jacques immediately grabs the rope to avoid a dropkick but gets caught in a gorilla press onto the top rope. Everything breaks down and Davey picks up Dynamite to launch him into a headbutt on Jacques, but the time limit expires before there can be a cover.

Rating: C+. This was a solid opener as the fans were staying hot throughout the extended rest holds. The parts with both teams brawling and getting to move around made for a much better match, but you can’t do that for twenty minutes when you’re going for the draw. Draws were much more commonplace back in the 80s so this was nothing that odd to see.

We see Ron Bass attacking Brutus Beefcake and busting him open with a spur. The big red X saying CENSORED which doesn’t actually cover the cut on Brutus’ head is hilarious. Brutus won’t be able to challenge Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Title tonight but there’s an unnamed replacement.

Bad News Brown vs. Ken Patera

Patera is a former Olympic weightlifter who has seen far better days. Bad News is a former Olympian as well, having won a bronze medal in Judo. Brown goes right after Patera during Ken’s entrance and drops a quick elbow for no cover. Patera comes back with a clothesline and takes his jacket off to really get things going. A back elbow puts Bad News down but an elbow drop misses. Brown stomps away on the apron as we’re firmly in punch and kick mode here.

Patera blocks a backdrop with a kick to the chest and gets two off a bad backbreaker. Off to a bearhug by Patera but Brown pokes him in the eye to escape. Patera can’t get his full nelson on in either attempt at the hold so he botches a charge into the corner instead, hitting the post shoulder first. The Ghetto Blaster (enziguri) is enough for the pin by Brown.

Rating: F. Patera was terrible by this point, not even being able to run into Brown’s elbow in the corner properly. Even the announcers were suggesting that he retire at this point, which I believe he did soon after. This match was nothing more than punching and kicking which doesn’t make for a very entertaining few minutes. It’s a product of the times on house shows that, which for all intents and purposes is what this show is: a big house show with a big main event.

Ad for a boxing PPV which had some kind of promotional deal with WWF.

The Mega Powers (Hogan/Savage/Liz) are hyped up for the main event and say that Liz is their secret weapon.

Rick Rude vs. Junkyard Dog

Just like in the previous match, the good guy is jumped during his entrance. This time though Rude is backdropped down and headbutted to the floor for a hug from Heenan. Back in and Dog misses a headbutt, allowing Rude to hit Dog with a top rope axhandle. Rude pounds away on the head as Graham shouts that it won’t work. Instead it’s off to a chinlock by Rick as the match slows way down.

Back up and Dog pounds away in the corner but stops to go after Heenan. A Russian legsweep puts Dog down, and Rude goes up top. Instead of immediately diving off though, Rude takes his own tights down to reveal another pair with Cheryl Roberts (as in Jake’s wife) on them. Jake charges in for the DQ as you would expect him to do.

Rating: D. The match sucked but it’s miles ahead of the previous match. If nothing else Dog had some great charisma and kept the crowd in it, as opposed to Patera who put the crowd to sleep seconds after the bell rang. The Dog was just a jobber at this point and would be in WCW by the end of the year.

The Dog is mad post match but nothing comes of it.

Honky Tonk Man, like the dolt that he is, doesn’t want to know the identity of his mystery opponent. He says he wants to be surprised.

Powers of Pain vs. Bolsheviks

The Powers (Barbarian and Warlord) are still faces here and have the Baron (Von Raschke) with them. Just like in the previous two matches the brawl is on as soon as the good guys hit the ring. The Powers double clothesline Boris Zhukov as Volkoff tries to sneak in for a cheap shot. Barbarian easily catches him coming in and sends him flying until we get down to Barbarian vs. Boris to start things off.

Boris puts his head down and…..something happens (it looked like a choke but it’s not really clear) before it’s off to Warlord for a gutwrench suplex on Zhukov. Both Russians double team Warlord but they can’t even get him down to his knees. Nikolai chokes away before Boris puts on a chinlock. The Russians have a double backdrop broken up and it’s off to Barbarian again. Everything breaks down and it’s a double shoulder followed by a swan dive to Boris for the pin.

Rating: D. Another lame match here but the Powers looked decent. The Baron would be gone in a few weeks as the company wasn’t pleased that a dark character was getting cheered, so they turned Demolition and their evil S&M looking gear face instead. Also did the Russians ever actually win a major match?

Ad for Survivor Series.

Here’s the Brother Love Show with a bell ringing to start it for some reason. After a minute or two of talking about love, he introduces his guest: Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Duggan says that he loves the country and that Love is a fake. Love thinks that Dino Bravo knows the meaning of love and loves his country (Canada), but Duggan says that the people of Canada don’t respect Bravo. Duggan says this isn’t Sunday school and he’ll police this company if need be. Love says he doesn’t see a badge on Duggan, but Jim says his 2×4 will do just fine. Duggan gives him a five count to leave and Love is gone at four. This was pointless.

Same boxing ad as earlier.

Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. ???

Honky says to get him someone out here to wrestle and he doesn’t care who it is. After a few seconds, the Ultimate Warrior charges to the ring, pounds Honky with right hands, hits a shoulder block and splashes him for the pin and the title in thirty seconds. The crowd ERUPTS, as this is what they’ve been waiting over a year to see.

So why was this so awesome? This was one of the most perfectly told stories the WWF ever produced and they nailed it every step of the way. Back in 1987, Ricky Steamboat was Intercontinental Champion but wanted to take some time off. The solution was to put the title on the comedic newcomer the Honky Tonk Man, who cheated to win the belt. Honky viewed as a total joke as champion due to his lack of skill and his gimmick of a wrestling Elvis impersonator.

The fans looked at him as someone who would lose the title the first time he defended it against someone far more competent than he was so it wasn’t that big of a deal. This is where Vince had the fans: what if Honky just didn’t lose the title? If there is one thing pure fans hate, it’s seeing a guy who doesn’t deserve a title holding onto it against people they like. Honky did this for the next 18 months by coming up with every way imaginable to cheat, ranging from getting counted out, disqualified, having Jimmy Hart interfere, walking out of matches and all points in between.

Honky continued to hold the title against far better talent, such as Jim Duggan, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat and Brutus Beefcake, with the idea being “he has to lose eventually.” All of a sudden, Honky was one of the biggest draws around because people would pay their money to see him get beaten up, thinking that the lucky streak couldn’t go on much longer. Well the streak DID keep going, stretching into the longest title reign in the history of the belt which still stands to this day and will likely never be broken.

This is why having Warrior out there was so brilliant. Warrior was the last guy on earth that you would expect to pull off something clever, but he did what everyone else had overlooked: he didn’t bother trying to outsmart Honky, but instead just ran over him and beat him in thirty seconds. This is EXACTLY what the fans had wanted to see for over a year and they got it to perfection. That’s the kind of storytelling that you never get anymore which is a shame.

Regis Philbin is here.

Survivor Series is coming, so here’s a four minute highlight reel from last year’s show. This must be intermission.

Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the boxers in the advertised show, thanks Vince for promoting his fight.

Video on Leonard and his opponent in the fight Donny Lelonde.

Lelonde talks a bit as well.

Leonard says he’ll win.

We see the intro video from the beginning of the show again.

Bobby Heenan comes up to the announcers’ booth and says that DiBiase is counting his money while Andre reads the Wall Street Journal. The Mega Powers are currently cowering in their locker room.

Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco

These two fought at Wrestlemania earlier in the year as well. This is power vs. power so they shove each other around to start. Some armdrags put Bravo on the floor before heading back in for a hiptoss. Off to an armbar by Muraco but Bravo comes back with an atomic drop to take over. A Russian legsweep puts Bravo down but Muraco has to go after Bravo’s manager Frenchy Martin. The referee gets kicked but nothing comes of it, allowing Bravo to hit his side slam for the pin.

Rating: D-. Somehow that match ran five and a half minutes. Muraco would also be gone soon before the end of the year and it’s not hard to see why. He was nowhere near as bad as Patera earlier but it was clear that his best days were behind him. Bravo would become Earthquake’s lackey soon after this and have the most productive time of his career.

Another Survivor Series ad.

Jesse Ventura says that he’s going to be impartial as the guest referee in the main event despite taking money from DiBiase.

Tag Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Demolition

Demolition is defending and the Harts don’t even get an entrance. The champions have Mr. Fuji and the Harts’ former manager Jimmy Hart with them. Bret and Ax start things off with Ax pounding Hitman down like he’s nothing. Bret avoids an elbow drop and it’s off to Anvil (Jim Neidhart) vs. Smash with Neidhart taking over. Ax hits a knee to Jim’s back from the apron and the champions take over again.

Neidhart gets in a punch to Ax’s face and it’s off to Hart vs. Smash again. Smash will have nothing to do with this selling stuff and whips Bret shoulder first into the post as the champions get their first extended advantage. Bret’s bad arm is caught up in the ropes and both champs pound away on the injured limb. Smash bends Bret’s arm around his own leg Off to Ax for more cranking on the arm. Bret is shockingly not selling it all that well.

Smash sends the arm into the post again and Bret is in big trouble on the outside. Back in and Ax pounds away while Graham is SCREAMING at Anvil to do something. Bret comes back with a clothesline with the injured arm but the referee misses the tag. Smash charges into a knee in the corner and now the referee sees the tag. Anvil comes in and cleans house, even slingshotting over the top onto Smash on the floor. Back in and Bret throws Anvil into Smash in the corner for two before everything breaks down. Neidhart goes after Fuji, allowing Ax to hit Bret in the back with the megaphone to retain.

Rating: B-. This took some time to get going but once Bret got in and started selling, it was all awesome. Demolition would hold the titles for nearly another year in the longest tag title reign in company history. These teams would go at it again in two years in one of the most entertaining tag matches ever. This was good stuff, but they were capable of much better.

Boxing ad.

Honky is going NUTS in the back, ranting about how this isn’t fair.

Big Boss Man vs. Koko B. Ware

Boss Man is brand new here. This wasn’t included on the home video version for reasons that I’ve never figured out. It was probably a time thing though. Koko fires away to start and staggers the very fat Boss Man with a dropkick. Boss Man is one of the best cases of weight loss you’ll ever see as he lost probably 100lbs in a year and a half, making him MUCH smoother in the ring.

Koko charges into a front facelock and Boss Man pounds him down with a forearm to the back. A splash in the corner crushes Ware but Boss Man pulls him up at two. Off to a surfboard hold but Koko rolls forward and kicks Boss Man in the face. A stiff right hand puts Koko down again but Boss Man misses a top rope splash. Boss Man misses another splash in the corner and a missile dropkick gets two for Koko. Ware charges again but gets dropped face first onto the post, followed by the Boss Man Slam for the easy pin.

Rating: D. This went WAY too long for a squash early on in Boss Man’s run with the company. The match wasn’t terrible and Koko looked good with the high flying stuff, but therein lies the problem: there’s no reason to have Koko look so good here. He should have gotten destroyed in about three minutes as opposed to being somewhat competitive in twice as long.

Boss Man hits Koko with the nightstick post match.

Survivor Series ad. Again.

Ultimate Warrior celebrates in the back and talks about it being like a comic book tonight. He’ll be on the next spaceship to Parts Unknown.

Jake Roberts vs. Hercules

Jake goes for the snake but it’s merely a ploy to get in some quick right hands. A knee lift puts Herc down but Jake can’t hook the DDT. Instead it’s a headlock and Hercules can’t even break it with a belly to back suplex. Herc escapes and drops some elbows for no cover. Off to a chinlock on the Snake as Graham says you can use this to talk to your opponent. In non-announcer speak: it’s a nice way to call spots. A lot of spots could be called here as Herc keeps the hold on for well over a minute.

Jake finally fights up and tries a hammerlock but gets elbowed in the face for his efforts. Roberts pulls Herc from the apron to the floor, only to have his neck snapped across the top rope as Hercules comes back in. We hit the chinlock again but Jake immediately jawbreaks his way out of it. The short clothesline looks to set up the DDT but Hercules backdrops out of it. Herc drops an elbow for two but Jake slips out of a slam and knocks Hercules out lukewarm with the DDT for the pin.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing special but it certainly wasn’t bad. The DDT looked great and the fans went nuts for it so you can’t say they didn’t get what they wanted. Hercules was fine for a role like this as he was strong enough to be a threat to anyone but rarely won anything. Decent little match here actually.

We recap the buildup to the main event. Andre seemed to be challenging Savage for a world title shot but DiBiase jumped Randy from behind, allowing Andre to choke Savage down. The Mega Bucks challenged Savage to a tag match which Savage accepted, saying that he would announce his partner later. If you didn’t know who that was from a mile away, you fail as a wrestling fan. Jesse Ventura, long time Hogan hater, is guest referee for no apparent reason. Andre intimidated Jesse and DiBiase paid Jesse off so the fix is in.

Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks

Jesse sends all three managers (Virgil, Heenan and Liz) to the floor but not to the back. He also makes the teams change corners for no apparent reason. Savage gets to fight Andre to start but it’s quickly off to DiBiase. He wants Hogan and gets both Hulk and an atomic drop into a right hand from Savage. Hogan pounds DiBiase as well and it’s off to Savage for some double elbows. A top rope ax handle gets two for Savage off a slow count from Ventura.

Andre comes in to beat Hogan down but Jesse is with Liz. Now the Giant comes in legally and sits on Hogan’s chest a few times before putting on a nerve hold. With DiBiase coming in sans tag, Andre chokes away with his singlet. Ted comes in legally for a near fall off a clothesline before dropping those trademark fists of his. Off to a chinlock which Gorilla swears is a choke. Hogan finally elbows his way out of the hold but a double clothesline puts both guys down.

The hot tag brings in Savage to pound away on DiBiase with right hands and a backdrop. A top rope ax handle puts DiBiase down again but Ted rams him into the top turnbuckle to change momentum again. DiBiase clotheslines Savage down and it’s off to Giant again. Andre sits on Savage in the corner which is a lot more devastating than it sounds. Back to DiBiase who gets two off a suplex. Ted goes up for a middle rope elbow, but Savage uses all of his flying elbow experience and rolls away.

Hulk comes in again off the real hot tag and cleans house on both Mega Bucks but Savage jumps into Andre’s boot. Hogan puts DiBiase in a sleeper but Andre makes the save with some headbutts. The Mega Powers are down, but Liz gets on the apron and in the most famous part of the match, takes off her skirt to reveal a bikini bottom and some nice legs. The distraction lets the Mega Powers do their big handshake and Hulk Up as one. A top rope ax handle to Andre, a flying elbow and legdrop to DiBiase later and things are pretty much done. Jesse only counts two, so Savage has to shove his hand down for the three.

Rating: B-. Much like the original Wrestlemania main event, there isn’t much to see here but it’s a fun match. It gave the fans exactly what they wanted and the Liz bit was a big surprise as she NEVER did anything sexual up to that point and rarely did after. Hogan and Savage were obviously going to win, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fun moment and a decent main event.

Hogan lifts Liz (who remember is rather scantily clad here) onto Savage’s shoulder for the post match celebration. Savage gives him a look that says “Dude, NOT COOL!” You could see the seeds being planted even back then.

Overall Rating: D+. This is more of the start of a historical series than a good show itself. The only things people remember are Liz’s legs and a thirty second squash and it’s really not surprising. The rest of the show is a bunch of boring matches with nothing of note to them at all. It’s certainly not a terrible show as there are some good tag matches and some decent singles matches, but nothing on here is must see television and nothing is really significant. For a big house show though, not too bad.

Ratings Comparison

For each of the reviews, I’ll be posting a comparison of the original reviews to the redos as I always do. Summerslam was one of the first set of reviews I ever did so the original ratings are going to be very interesting.

British Bulldogs vs. Fabulous Rougeaus

Original: B
Redo: C+

Bad News Brown vs. Ken Patera

Original: D+
Redo: F

Rick Rude vs. Junkyard Dog

Original: D
Redo: D

Powers of Pain vs. Bolsheviks

Original: C+
Redo: D

Ultimate Warrior vs. Honky Tonk Man

Original: A+
Redo: N/A

Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco

Original: B-
Redo: D-

Demolition vs. Hart Foundation

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Big Boss Man vs. Koko B. Ware

Original: D
Redo: D

Jake Roberts vs. Hercules

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks

Original: B
Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: D+
Redo: D+

How could I have possibly liked Muraco vs. Bravo? There’s NOTHING there!

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/23/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1988-liz-has-some-nice-legs/

Dynamite
Date: June 25, 2025
Location: ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Ian Riccaboni

The road to All In is getting rather short and that means it is time to fill up the rest of the card. With the top of the show mostly set, there is still a lot that needs to be done. There is a good chance that we’ll get a lot of it done this week, hopefully with the action to back it up on the way. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Mercedes Mone jumps Toni Storm and Luther in the back and they come into the arena. Mone calls her a stupid little b****, setting up the Bank Statement. Mina Shirakawa makes the save.

The Young Bucks move Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay’s match to now instead of in the second hour.

Will Ospreay/Swerve Strickland vs. Lee Johnson/Blake Christian

Ospreay runs to the ring with his boots half laced, taping his wrist and putting his elbow pad on. Strickland is at least a bit more put together as Ospreay and Christian start things off. Christian charges into a boot in the corner and a double big boot drops Johnson. The Phenomenal Forearm is loaded up but cue the Young Bucks for a distraction, allowing Christian to knock Ospreay to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Christian giving Ospreay the strutting Old School wristdrag. Ospreay fights out of trouble without much of a problem and hands it off to Strickland to clean house. Chasing The dragon drops Christian and the House Call gives Strickland the pin at 9:25.

Rating: C+. The idea here was that the new kind of friends were caught off guard by the match (which they were having but had earlier than expected) but then they just had a pretty run of the mill match. Johnson and Christian were never putting them in any danger and the only issue was when the Bucks offered a distraction. It was a fine idea but didn’t really make anything different.

Post match Ospreay and Strickland have to be held back from the Bucks so they get back inside the ring. Strickland is tired of dealing with the Bucks and suggests a tag match at All In. Ospreay wants to up the stakes, with the Bucks’ Vice Presidencies on the line. Then Strickland dives onto the security and the good guys stand tall. So the Bucks are going to insist Ospreay and Strickland put up something too right?

We look at the return of Kota Ibushi last week.

The Bucks suspend Strickland for the week. The Don Callis Family comes in and they both want Kazuchika Okada to win at All In. And to hurt Kenny Omega of course. Okada and Konosuke Takeshita have a staredown and the fans approve.

Kota Ibushi vs. Trent Beretta

They go up against the ropes to start before Ibushi takes him to the mat to work on the arm. Trent sends him outside for a running cheap shot from Rocky Romero. Back in and Ibushi grabs a powerslam, followed by a standing moonsault for two. Trent is right back with a running knee into a Gotch style piledriver for two of his own. Ibushi snaps off some snapdragons and traps the arms to set up a jumping stomp to the chest. The big knee to the face finishes for Ibushi at 7:22.

Rating: B-. Well Ibushi is back and he was….fine. It was the same kind of match that a lot of people on this show, even down to the knee to the face for the finisher. I’ve never found Ibushi even remotely special in AEW and that was on full display again here. I don’t dislike him but there’s just nothing about him that makes me care. Even repeatedly hitting Beretta in the face. Now if he had done that to Romero, we might be getting somewhere.

Post match Kazuchika Okada comes out for a staredown but walks away without getting physical.

Jon Moxley talks about how Hangman Page has lost who he is. Page has talked about how he isn’t special and that makes Moxley sick. Moxley wants Page to reach out and grab what he deserves. At All In, Page will see what a real World Champion looks like.

Ricochet interrupts AR Fox and suggests that Fox join his new team. Say tonight, against Jet Speed? Fox is a bit anxious, but he’s in.

Ricochet/AR Fox vs. Jet Speed

Knight and Ricochet start, with the latter wanting Fox to watch and learn. This leaves Ricochet caught between both Knight and Bailey for some double teaming. Bailey is sent outside for a big running flip dive from Fox though and the villains (or the team with a villain) take over. Back in and Fox hits a clothesline to drop Knight but Fox and Ricochet are sent to the floor. Stereo dives take them out and we take a break.

We come back with Ricochet trying to talk his way out of trouble, leaving Fox to get kicked in the face. Bailey’s running shooting star press hits Fox for two as everything breaks down. Fox grabs the rolling Downward Spiral but Ricochet drops to the floor rather than tag. Knight drops Fox and hits the spinning frog splash for the pin at 9:40.

Rating: C+. Jet Speed hasn’t been around very long and they’re a fine enough team, though I’m still not wild on Bailey. There is nothing that makes me want to see him and pairing him with the talented Knight isn’t it. Other than that, Ricochet turning his back on someone he had been paired with for less than ten minutes makes sense for him, as he has to find the perfect partner.

Post match Jet Speed say they want to rescue the Tag Team Titles. Knight sings part of MVP’s WWE theme song and says they want the titles at All In. The Hurt Syndicate comes in to take them out. The beating goes on for awhile until Jet Speed is sent through a table. With that out of the way, MVP has the Hurt Syndicate’s music played and they go to the ring. MVP says if Jet Speed can get up, they can have the title match at All In.

MJF gets the mic and MVP has to tell the crowd to be quiet. Next week, MJF is in a qualifying match for the Casino Gauntlet match all All In. MJF says hit their music but here is Mark Briscoe to interrupt instead. Briscoe doesn’t want to hear MJF talk all night and the producer told him to get MJF out of here because we have stuff to get to. MJF doesn’t care because unlike Briscoe, they are actually stars.

These people can relate to Briscoe because they grew up ugly and poor. Briscoe loses if he gets in, so go back to Delaware and pick up chicken s***. Briscoe talks about MJF going through a lot as a child so the Word Of The Day is empathy. Maybe MJF is trying to overcompensate for having a tiny kosher pickle for thirty years. MVP cuts MJF off and yes, we get a KOSHER PICKLE chant. So the Syndicate will get out so Briscoe can lose in peace. I like Briscoe vs. MJF, but Jet Speed getting the title shot at the biggest show of the year makes my head hurt.

Casino Gauntlet Qualifying Match: Mark Briscoe vs. Bandido vs. Roderick Strong vs. Konosuke Takeshita

The winner is the #1 entrant and Bandido’s Ring Of Honor World Title isn’t on the line. Taz tries to make this a four way international deal before realizing there are two Americans and having to stop himself. Takeshita shoulders Bandido down to start and gets nowhere so they go outside. Strong punches Briscoe out of the air but Briscoe is back up with an apron Blockbuster to Bandido. Strong drops Briscoe again though and we take a break.

Back with Strong giving Briscoe a nice dropkick into a backbreaker but getting clotheslined by Bandido. That means an Undertaker situp from Bandido but Takeshita shoves him off the top. Briscoe misses the Froggy Bow and gets rolled up for two, leaving Takeshita to kick Strong in the face. Bandido and Briscoe both hit something off the top, with Briscoe decking Bandido and covering Takeshita for two.

Takeshita breaks up the 21 Plex and German suplexes Bandido and Briscoe at the same time. Strong makes a save of his own but charges into Takeshita’s Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Bandido is back in with the X Knee to Takeshita and a German suplex sends him to the floor. Strong knees Bandido in the face and hits End Of Heartache but Briscoe drops the Froggy Bow for the pin at 11:04.

Rating: B. They were starting to roll near the end there and they had a bonus of not having the champion take the fall. Briscoe getting the first spot in the match is at least something for him to do and now we get to see who else is in the match. Good, fun match here though and it’s nice to see Briscoe do something other than losing for a change.

Adam Cole issues an open challenge to any member of the Don Callis Family for Collision.

Casino Gauntlet Qualifying Match: Kris Statlander vs. Athena vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Thunder Rosa

The winner is the #1 entrant and Athena’s Ring Of Honor Women’s Title isn’t on the line. Statlander sends Athena into a boot to the head from Rosa, who sunset flips Statlander for two. Athena snaps off a headscissors to Statlander and we get a Tower Of Doom less than two minutes in.

We take a break and come back Rosa running over Athena a few times before Nightingale Death Valley Drivers Athena. Statlander faceplants Rosa at the same time, leaving us with Statlander vs. Nightingale. They forearm it out until Athena breaks it up, earning herself a double suplex. Rosa is back in to send them both down before faceplanting Athena. Back up and Athena orders Billie Starkz (her Minion) to get the title but gets sent into the steps.

Athena is fine enough to suplex Rosa off the steps but cue Marina Shafir to distract Nightingale. Cue Wheeler Yuta to jump Nightingale, who Pounces the heck out of him. That’s enough of a distraction for Staturday Night Fever to finish Nightingale and give Statlander the pin at 10:47.

Rating: B-. Again, at least they didn’t pin the champ. Statlander vs. Nightingale continues to be one of the more interesting feuds in the women’s division and it doesn’t seem like we’re close to wrapping it up. As a bonus, it seems that we are going to be seeing Athena vs. Thunder Rosa at Supercard Of Honor, assuming they bother advertising anything in advance.

Video on Nick Wayne and Christian Cage wanting the Tag Team Titles.

FTR isn’t happy with the Outrunners for chasing them off on Collision. Stokely Hathaway wants to deal with this and suggests a tag match on Collision this week.

Hangman Page vs. The Beast Mortos

Page works on the arm to start and a running shoulder just annoys Mortos. Instead Mortos hits some running corner clotheslines but Page hits one of his own. A triangle clothesline sends Mortos outside and a fall away has him crashing into the corner as we take a break. Back with both of them missing a clothesline until Page’s connects for two. Page’s sitout powerbomb gets two but he misses the moonsault out to the floor. Mortos runs him over and grabs the pop up Samoan drop for two back inside. Page gets in a shot of his own though, setting up a discus lariat into the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 9:52.

Rating: C+. This was a bit of a weird choice for the main event, as while it was smart to get Page on the show, it didn’t feel important in any way. Page continues to win on the way to the pay per view, though it’s a good example of a match that could have been done in about four minutes. Otherwise, it was just keeping things going to extend the show’s run time.

Post match the lights go out and here are the Young Bucks to give Page the EVP Trigger. Cue the Death Riders so Jon Moxley can choke Page with a chain. The Opps run in with chairs and Will Ospreay joins them to chase the Death Riders off. Moxley promises to show the world what a real World Champion looks like to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. It wasn’t quite the same as last week (which would be far from a fair comparison) but instead focused on All In. The show is starting to fill out and we can see most of what is coming there. They added a title match and gave us the first entrants in the Casino Gauntlet matches. It might not be the most interesting show on its own, but it checked some things off of the All In list.

Results
Will Ospreay/Swerve Strickland b. Lee Johnson/Blake Christian – House Call to Christian
Kota Ibushi b. Trent Beretta – Knee to the face
Jet Speed b. Ricochet/AR Fox – Spinning frog splash to Fox
Mark Briscoe b. Roderick Strong, Bandido and Konosuke Takeshita – Froggy Bow to Strong
Kris Statlander b. Athena, Willow Nightingale and Thunder Rosa – Staturday Night Fever to Nightingale
Hangman Page b. The Beast Mortos – Buckshot Lariat

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

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

Evolve
Date: June 25, 2025
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Robert Stone, Peter Rosenberg

It’s time to get violent as this week features a Last Woman Standing match between Wendy Choo and Kylie Rae. The two of them have been feuding for a few months now and it is time to blow everything off. That should make for something interesting, but the rest of the show will need to fill in the gaps. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video is about Choo vs. Rae, which does make it feel like a big deal.

Opening sequence.

Keanu Carver doesn’t like the WWE ID talent taking food off his table.

Ice Williams vs. Keanu Carver

Carver jumps him from behind to start and knocks Williams outside before the bell. Back in and Williams gets in a knockdown of his own, with Carver being knocked outside for a baseball slide. Back in and Carver runs him over for two and hits a reverse AA for two (oh that should have been the fall). The chinlock doesn’t last long as Williams fights up and hits the Ice Breaker (superkick) for two of his own. The Pounce cuts Williams back down though and the spinning powerslam finishes for Carver at 5:13.

Rating: C+. Williams is someone who impressed me enough over Wrestlemania Weekend but that was about the last time I thought of him. Oddly enough, it’s also about the last time I thought of the ID Titles, which makes me wonder if they’ll ever actually happen. Other than that, Carver gets to look like a beast again, though he should go with that reverse AA as a finisher.

Cappuccino Jones and Jack Cartwheel talk about their journey to get here.

The Vanity Project was at a Beyond Wrestling event over the weekend and don’t think much of the LWO. They’ll face off next week.

Zara Zakher vs. Kendal Grey

Both have been accused of being the backstage attacker and they argue over it to start. Grey takes her down into an armbar but it’s broken up. That earns Zakher a cross armbreaker, sending her over to the rope. What looks to be an Angle Slam is escaped so Grey goes with a spinning belly to back suplex for the pin at 3:36.

Rating: C. Grey continues to feel like a project around here, though I could go for seeing her having some more development. At the moment, she’s just another athletic woman who only has so much making her stand out. Zakher had a Wolverine style to her gear here, which made sense given her smaller stature. That’s more than Grey has and that needs to change.

Edris Enofe can’t get Stevie Turner’s attention….and Aria Bennett has been attacked. Zara Zakher and Kendal Grey both come in from the ring, meaning they’re both innocent.

Video on the awesomeness that is the WWE ID Program.

Stevie Turner announces the newest Evolve signing: Dante Chen. The fans do Chen’s pose before he talks about getting to join such a great roster. Earlier this year, Ethan Page injured Chen’s ankle and it put him in some dark times. Now he is ready to come back but here is Edris Enofe to interrupt.

Chen is glad to see him, but Enofe says all of the hype for Chen isn’t special. A few weeks ago, Enofe was in this spot and got a lot of attention, but now he can’t get ten seconds of Stevie Turner’s time. And for who? Dante Chen? Enofe is sick of doing things the right way and just getting ignored. Chen isn’t hearing this and gets hit in the face.

Layla Diggs is glad she has evolved but Jin Tala interrupts, saying she’s replacing Aria Bennett in their match next week. Works for Diggs.

Remember how Tate Wilder was coming? He still is.

Lince Dorado thanks the LWO for help. We pan over to Jamar Hampton yelling at Edris Enofe, who doesn’t like it. Hampton tells him to do something about it, but Enofe isn’t doing anything for anyone else anymore.

Wendy Choo vs. Kylie Rae

Last Woman Standing. Rae starts fast and hammers away before kicking Choo outside. A suicide dive connects and Rae picks up a table, which takes too long. Rae is back up with a trashcan to put over Choo and strikes away with a broom. They get back inside with Rae grabbing a suplex, only to miss a Cannonball into the trashcan in the corner. It’s time for a toolbox as commentary makes various monster/slasher movie comparisons. Choo tapes Rae’s legs to the corner and hits her in the ribs with a wrench.

We take a break and come back with Choo tying her in the ring skirt for a beating, only for Rae to get in a fire extinguisher blast. Rae hits a Cannonball against the steps but Choo is back up at 8 and they get back inside. The crossface has Choo in more trouble but she gets out and drops Rae again.

It’s time for the pillow case full of Legos (I don’t like having to write that) but Rae hits her with a teddy bear….which apparently has a brick inside. Rae didn’t know it was in there and panics, earning herself a half nelson slam onto the Legos. They go to the apron where Choo gets the Dirt Nap, only for Rae to drop backwards through the table at ringside. That’s enough for Rae to beat the count for the win at 12:39.

Rating: B-. Good enough here and while the weapons use was getting silly, they didn’t go too insane for the most part. What matters the most is that Rae gets a big win, which she has been needing around here since she debuted. Hopefully it also ends things with Choo, as this feud has been needing to wrap up already.

Natalya is in Stevie Turner’s office and wants to help build Evolve. Turner thanks her but Natalya wants to face Kali Armstrong. Turner isn’t sure to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show has found its groove and that is very impressive for a show about three and a half months old. They have done a nice job of putting everything together and making this feel like something rather logical most weeks. You have people coming in and stories that make sense. I’m finding myself liking this show more and more each week, which is a nice feeling to have as it never burns out its welcome. Another perfectly watchable show this week and it worked well.

Results
Keanu Carver b. Ice Williams – Spinning powerslam
Kendal Grey b. Zara Zakher – Spinning belly to back suplex
Kylie Rae b. Wendy Choo when Choo couldn’t answer the ten count

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

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

NXT
Date: June 24, 2025
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T., Corey Graves

While the Great American Bash is coming up in a few weeks, tonight is about Evolution, as we have a four way match to crown a new #1 contender for the pay per view. Other than that, we should be finding out who is next in ling for Oba Femi and the NXT Title, which could go in a few different ways. Let’s get to it.

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

Lash Legend, Izzi Dame, Jaida Parker and Jordynne Grace all say they’re going to win tonight and go on to Evolution. Three out of four people lying is not a great ratio.

TNA World Title: Trick Williams vs. Josh Briggs

Briggs, with Yoshiki Inamura, is challenging and sends Williams into the corner a few times to start. Williams’ whip is blocked and Briggs hits a running clothesline for two. A hot shot onto the buckle cuts Briggs off and Williams takes him down with a headlock. Back up and they trade some running shots to the face until Williams is knocked outside. Briggs gets in a big boot and we take a break.

We come back with Briggs countering a side kick into a suplex and hitting a splash. Williams gets in a middle rope knee for two and flips out of a chokeslam. A powerbomb doesn’t work for Briggs, who is right back with a chokeslam for two. Briggs misses the moonsault though and the Trick Shot retains the title at 11:30.

Rating: C+. This was a case of giving the champion a fairly safe title defense where he had to work for it anyway. Briggs didn’t even get a pin to earn the title shot so he was playing with the house’s money in the first place. It’s a fine way to open the show, though I could still go for seeing more of Briggs actually winning something.

Post match Williams says he wants respect but here is Joe Hendry from behind to clear the ring as we’re told that Hendry gets the title shot at Slammiversary.

Tavion Heights (in a Ribera Steak House jacket) is ready to win tonight and escape the No Quarter Catch Crew. Charlie Dempsey doesn’t seem thrilled.

Myles Borne is talking to some football players when Lexis King interrupts. King mocks all of them and leaves.

Je’Von Evans vs. Tavion Heights

If Heights wins, he’s out of the No Quarter Catch Crew. Heights easily wrestles him down to start and gets two off an early cradle. The armbar goes on to keep Evans down but he’s back up with a springboard headscissors. Heights is sent to the floor for a big dive and we take a break. We come back with Evans getting the better of a slugout until Heights hits a Pounce for two. A German suplex gives Heights two but he charges into a superkick in the corner. The spinning top rope splash gives Evans the pin at 8:52.

Rating: C+. The result surprised me a bit, as while I wasn’t certain that Evans was going to win, I was surprised that he did it completely clean. Heights and Myles Borne both leaving the No Quarter Catch Crew in the span of a few weeks would have been a lot, but I was expecting Charlie Dempsey to get involved if nothing else. I’m sure Heights will keep trying to get out, but that was a pretty painful loss.

Post match Jasper Troy comes in to drop Evans.

We recap Tony D’Angelo vs. Stacks for the Heritage Cup. Stacks was set for the title match but Noam Dar was injured. As a result, D’Angelo was given the spot for the vacant title instead. The question is about Luca Crusifino, who is working for one of them but it isn’t clear whom.

Ricky Saints vs. Ashante Thee Adonis

They slug it out to start with Adonis fighting out of the corner. A crisscross lets Saints kick him in the face and throw Adonis outside as we take a break. We come back with Saints fighting out of the corner but getting caught with an AA for two. Saints fights back and grabs suplex like a backdrop into a tornado DDT for two of his own. Roshambo gives Saints the pin at 7:58.

Rating: C. They didn’t have much time here with almost half of the match taking place in the break. Saints gets a win to help reestablish himself a bit, though Ethan Page is what really matters for him. This was a fine way to get Saints back on track though and that’s what Adonis should be used for most of the time.

Post match Ethan Page pops up on screen for a distraction but here is Page to jump Saints from behind. Page hits his own Roshambo.

Darkstate says they’ll be front and center with chaos and destruction.

Here is Oba Femi for a chat. He has been NXT Champion since January and since then, a variety of stars have come for his title but wound up as footnotes. Femi loves the fight and wants someone to come step up to him. Cue Yoshiki Inamura to say he’s here to chase gold. He missed Josh Briggs but he also missed NXT, with its culture and the passion of the fans. Femi admires his moxie but says it won’t go well for Inamura. That’s fine with Inamura, who is ready, only for Jasper Troy to take him out. I’d rather have Troy over Inamura, but at least we should be getting a #1 contenders match out of this whole thing.

Izzi Dame gives Tatum Paxley a doll but Zaria and Sol Ruca come in. Paxley walks off with the doll and meets up with Dame and the rest of the Culling. Dame takes Paxley with her.

High Ryze comes in to see Trick Williams and next week, it’s Wes Lee vs. Joe Hendry. Williams approves.

Heritage Cup: Stacks vs. Tony D’Angelo

For the vacant cup. Round one begins with D’Angelo knocking him into the corner but Stacks hammers right back. A trip to the apron and a backdrop get D’Angelo out of trouble. With the wrestling not working, they go back to straight brawling to end the round at a standoff. Round two begins with D’Angelo hitting a running clothesline and adding a spear for the pin at 37 seconds of the round and 4:07 overall.

We take a break and come back with Stacks hitting Cement Shoes for a very near fall as round three ends. Round four begins with D’Angelo slugging away but his knee (which was attacked during the break) gives out on the spinebuster attempt. Stacks gets a small package for the pin at 18 seconds of the round and 9:03 overall.

Cue Luca Crusifino to suddenly be D’Angelo’s corner man. Round five begins with Stacks tying up the leg but D’Angelo fights out and hits the spinebuster. Stacks is sent outside where D’Angelo goes after Stacks’ goons. Crusifino comes in to help but accidentally hits D’Angelo in the back with a bucket. A running knee gives Stacks the pin and the cup at 1:41 of the round and 14:21 overall.

Rating: B-. I’m rather impressed by how they’re managing to find new ways to keep up the mystery about Crusifino’s loyalties. At the end of the day, it could go either way as you could say it’s all a bunch of mistakes or he’s being subtle with his backstabbery. That’s a good way to keep the story going and they’re making it work rather well.

Post match D’Angelo lays out Crusifino.

Fatal Influence isn’t impressed with Blake Monroe and Jacy Jayne is ready for the four way tonight, as she’ll find out who loses next.

Thea Hail rants about recent issues when Lainey Reid comes in to mock her. Lash Legend comes in to say she has a match so they can’t be arguing right now.

Ava yells at Ethan Page for attacking Ricky Saints but Page just wants Saints away from him. They’ll settle it in her office next week. Hold on though as Hank & Tank have been attacked.

Joe Hendry is ready to take out Trick Williams and get the TNA World Title back at Slammiversary. He’ll be around here until then, including next week against Wes Lee.

Andre Chase tells his students that they need to toughen up. The attitude is what made the university a success….but Kale Dixon says it’s what killed it as well. Dixon and Uriah Connors leave, saying it was supposed to be different this time. Apparently they’re the ones who stopped Chase when he was closing the university in the first place (which isn’t that big of a reveal).

Lash Legend vs. Jaida Parker vs. Izzi Dame vs. Jordynne Grace

Fatal Influence is watching as Legend slams Grace to start. Dame takes Grace’s place before the other two come back in. Grace and Parker are sent outside again, leaving Dame to slug it out with Legend. That doesn’t work for Legend, who sends Dame outside before missing a charge into the post.

Back in and Grace gets two off a fisherman’s suplex, followed by Dame’s flapjack getting two on Grace. Legend breaks up the Hipnotique but gets taken down by Grace, who is chokeslammed onto the apron by Dame. Cue Tatum Paxley, so Zaria and Sol Ruca grab her and take her back.

We take a break and come back with Parker hitting a Tear Drop each to Grace and Dame. A fireman’s carry to Grace is cut off by Dame’s big boot but Legend puts Dame on top. Parker cuts that off with a Backstabber to Legend and a sunset flip gets two. Since there are four people involved in the match, we get the Tower Of Doom with Parker getting the worst of things, leaving Grace to get two each. Grace misses the Vader Bomb and Legend gives Parker the over the back faceplant. Dame makes the save, leaving Grace to give Parker a spinning torture rack bomb for the pin at 12:52.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure if this earned the THIS IS AWESOME chants it was getting, but I can go with what we were getting here. If nothing else, Grace is someone who could massacre Jayne if given the chance, but that’s what was supposed to happen when Jayne got her title shot in the first place. This was pretty much Grace’s to lose, but the other three hung in there well enough to keep it interesting.

We run down next week’s card to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. They started to look towards both the Great American Bash and Evolution here and that’s something that needed to happen. There are still a few weeks to go, but what matters is that the corner is starting to be turned. As is often (but not always) the case around here, nothing on here is worth going out of your way to see, but it makes for a good overall presentation. Simple, easy to follow stuff and acceptable action tends to work well for NXT and they did it again here.

Results
Trick Williams b. Josh Briggs – Trick Shot
Je’Von Evans b. Tavion Heights – Spinning top rope splash
Ricky Saints b. Ashante Thee Adonis – Roshambo
Stacks b. Tony D’Angelo 2-1
Jordynne Grace b. Izzi Dame, Lash Legend and Jaida Parker – Torture rack powerbomb to Parker

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 23, 2025
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the last Raw before Night Of Champions on Saturday in Saudi Arabia. That means it’s time to start getting the card finalized, including the King and Queen Of The Ring finals. On top of that, Bayley is challenging Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Title, which should be quite good. Let’s get to it.

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

We get the drone shot flying into the arena and dang that is so cool.

Here are Seth Rollins and company to get things going. We see a clip of LA Knight being attacked by the team on Smackdown, putting him out of action indefinitely. After hitting the catchphrases, Rollins says the people here are giving him mixed signals. Rollins asks the people here what they want, which earns him a CM PUNK chant. The fans keep chanting and singing for different people and Rollins isn’t sure what’s going on.

Rollins says the fans are confused and they want the things that they’re asking for because of him. He created Roman Reigns, Punk is back because WWE wanted to capitalize on how much Rollins hated him, Cody Rhodes needed Rollins to put him on the map. On top of that, Rollins was the first NXT and World Heavyweight Champion. He is the creator and the prime mover and this is the future of this company. Rollins and Paul Heyman know a thing or two about revolutions and sometimes you have to stop someone from messing with you.

That’s what happened to LA Knight (pause for the YEAH), who got Tsunami after Tsunami. In a few minutes, Penta is going to be taken out as well. There are a lot of people who think they can exist at the very top. Those are people like John Cena and Gunther, plus others like the ones in the King Of The ring or CM Punk and Goldberg. What those people don’t understand is they are all running a race for second place. The briefcase is the finish line and the end game and it has always been Seth Rollins. This was the “we’re dangerous” promo and didn’t really change much else, but you have to get these guys on the show.

Penta vs. Bron Breakker

We’re joined in progress with Penta in trouble in the corner but coming out with a running kick to the head. A springboard spinning crossbody drops Breakker and Penta hits the handstand slingshot dropkick in the corner. Back up and Breakker runs him over, setting up a quick suplex to send Penta flying. Breakker’s backbreaker gets two and one heck of a clothesline drops Penta again.

Breakker talks some trash before putting Penta on top for a hard shot out to the apron. Penta manages to knock him out to the floor for a breather but Breakker pulls the dive out of the air. That’s broken up as well and Penta sends him into the post, setting up a big running flip dive.

We take a break and come back with both of them having crashed over the announcers’ table thanks to Breakker’s apron clothesline. Back in and Penta seems to be favoring his knee but it’s fine enough for the gorilla press gutbuster for two. Breakker grinds away on a headlock of all things, which is reversed into a Sling Blade. Penta comes up favoring his own leg but manages a suplex into a bridge (as in he hooked the leg after they landed) for two.

The Destroyer is blocked so Penta goes up, only for Breakker to roll through into a jumping knee (that was sweet). The super Frankensteiner gets two on Penta and it’s time for the straps to come down. Penta cuts off the Super Spear with a superkick and grabs a spinning DDT. Now the Destroyer can connect for two as the fans are WAY into this. Back up and Penta tries a springboard but dives into the Super Spear for the pin at 14:09.

Rating: B. These two had chemistry together and it’s another solid win for Breakker, who can hit that next level like few others. Penta was doing everything he could but there is no way around that kind of power and explosion. That was a heck of a match and I had a much better time with it than I thought I would.

Post match here are Seth Rollins and Bronson Reed, with Rollins telling Penta to stay out of his way.

Liv Morgan is confirmed to be out of action for several months.

Adam Pearce (hey he’s back) meets AJ Styles, who is told Dominik Mysterio is apparently being out with an injury. Styles: “What did he do? Strain his mustache?” Therefore, the title match at Night Of Champions is off, but Styles will get his shot at the first chance. Styles isn’t happy but understands and leaves. New Day and Grayson Waller (no Austin Theory) come in and are told that next week, Judgment Day gets a title shot. Xavier Woods is NOT happy and Waller hits the catchphrase, leaving Pearce confused.

Earlier today, Goldberg sat down with Michael Cole to talk about why he wants to face Gunther. Last year at Bad Blood, Goldberg took his family to a show for fun and got verbally assaulted by Gunther. That was so disrespectful and that is never going to happen. Gunther isn’t getting away with that and as long as Goldberg can get in that ring, he’s making Gunther pay.

He going to beat the **** out of Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event. After the interview was over, Goldberg apparently said it was his last match, but it’s an interesting dilemma if he wins the title. Goldberg was bringing the intensity here and the story makes perfect sense, but it’s still Goldberg in 2025. After all of his previous comebacks, it’s pretty hard to get up for another one.

Judgment Day is upset about what happened with Liv Morgan but Finn Balor gives them a big pep talk. Balor says something that upsets Raquel Rodriguez and that’s the fire that Balor has been wanting. Go take it out on Rhea Ripley.

Bayley is warming up when Lyra Valkyria comes up, wondering why Bayley has ignored her. Bayley apologizes and says she’s been focused on the title match. When Bayley wins, Valkyria gets the first title shot, which seems to smooth things over.

Queen Of The Ring Semifinals: Jade Cargill vs. Roxanne Perez

Perez gets smart by bailing from Cargill to start but does get in a quick slap. The chase lets Perez get in a few shots of her own on the way back in but a sunset flip attempt is blocked. Cargill starts in with the muscle but gets caught with the throat snap over the top. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets Perez out of trouble and they go to the floor, where Perez dropkicks the knee out.

We take a break and come back with Perez staying on the leg, followed by a running uppercut to the back. A springboard moonsault gives Perez two and she grabs a sleeper, which is muscled up into a fall away slam for the big crash. Cargill’s knee is banged up but she boots Perez into the ropes for the spinebuster. A chokeslam gives Cargill two but Jaded is countered into a bridging rollup for two. Something like La Mistica sets up cartwheel knees to the head to give Perez two of her own. Pop Rox is blocked though and Cargill hits a powerslam, setting up Jaded for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: B-. They were trying here but Cargill doesn’t have the skill to hang in a match like this just yet. Cargill’s big appeals are her incredible power and athleticism and she got to show those off, but Perez was there to do a lot of the more complicated work. It’s a good enough match, though Cargill is still rather green.

Post match Asuka comes out for the staredown.

Video on Cody Rhodes vs. Jey Uso.

Sheamus and the Alpha Academy console each other but Rusev interrupts. Rusev asks if Sheamus is still pretending to be everyone’s friend and Sheamus is ready to fight anytime. We even get a League Of Nations reference and Sheamus says it’s time to put up or shut up. Rusev slaps him on the chest and walks away.

Here is Gunther for a chat. Last week was supposed to be his big celebration but Goldberg had to interrupt him. It’s true that Goldberg was the man in 1999 but it’s 2025 and now Gunther is the man. Gunther sees a 58 year old man who can’t lace his boots, so now he’s apologizing for everything that he’ll do to the man who used to be Goldberg. At Saturday Night’s Main Event, it is his responsibility to destroy the myth of Goldberg once and for all. Same as before: good intensity, but the idea of the match itself only does so much for me.

Becky Lynch thinks Lyra Valkyria and Bayley are working together (uhhh….) and storms off but we go over to Sami Zayn. He is about to say how he’s processing his loss on Smackdown when Karrion Kross and Scarlet interrupt. Kross was almost believing him last week but then Randy Orton took Zayn out. The reality is Zayn will never be World Champion. Zayn: “Ok.” Then he hits Kross in the face. He’s done talking to Kross and their match is official.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Bayley vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is defending and in a nice touch, Bayley is wearing the gear she had planned for Wrestlemania before Lynch took her out. Bayley takes her into the corner and hammers away to start before doing it again in another corner. Lynch can’t get a Disarm-Her but the Rose Plant is blocked as well. They fight to the floor for a bit with Bayley getting the better of things and knocking Lynch out of the air back inside. Back up and Lynch snaps the arm over the top rope to take over as we go to a break.

We come back with Bayley hitting some clotheslines but the Bayley To Belly is blocked. The Rose Plant is blocked again and Lynch suplexes her down. The Manhandle Slam is blocked as well and now the Bayley To Belly connects for two. Lynch’s springboard kick to the face is blocked though and Bayley hits a sunset bomb into the corner for another near fall.

Lynch is right back up with a superplex into the cross armbreaker but Bayley slips out again. A half crab works on Lynch’s leg (as Bayley’s arm is too banged up for a full version) but she’s over to the ropes in a hurry. Back up and Bayley hits her own Manhandle Slam, with Lynch bailing out to the floor.

Bayley goes after her and gets knocked over the announcers’ table, where Lynch buries her with a bunch of stuff. Cue Lyra Valkyria to save Bayley with Lynch decking Valkyria, who won’t go after Lynch. Bayley pulls Valkyria off the apron, allowing Lynch to baseball slide Valkyria down. Bayley fights back and loads up the top rope elbow but Valkyria comes in to jump Lynch for the DQ at 13:36.

Rating: B-. This was hurt by the Lyra Valkyria factor, as it wasn’t a question of whether she would get involved but when she would get involved. As a result, it was hard to get invested in the majority of the match as Valkyria wasn’t there yet. Things picked up once she got there and it was far from bad, but this was running with an anchor.

Post match Bayley yells at Valkyria as Lynch kisses the title.

Chad Gable explains some things to Ivy Nile but goes over to mock Penta. This earns Gable an arm snap.

Here is Raquel Rodriguez to call out Rhea Ripley for a fight. Cue Ripley and the fight is quickly on, with Ripley getting the better of things. Rodriguez fights back on the floor and loads up a table but Ripley is on the announcers’ table for a jumping forearm. Cue Roxanne Perez go break up the Riptide though and the numbers game results in Ripley going through the table.

Post break Ripley demands and receives a street fight with Rodriguez. Sounds like a Night Of Champions replacement match and that’s perfectly fine.

Video on CM Punk vs. John Cena, looking at how they’re in different places than during their famous matches.

Night Of Champions rundown.

King Of The Ring Semifinals: Jey Uso vs. Cody Rhodes

They stare at each other to start and we do get a handshake. Uso’s headlock doesn’t get him anywhere so Rhodes shoulders him down for a staredown. Rhodes works on the arm for a bit before they trade armdrags, with Rhodes having the smallest of advantages. Back up and Uso takes him down for a change and a YEET takes us to a break.

We come back with Uso making the ropes to escape a Figure Four. An exchange of strikes sets up a Samoan drop to give Uso two and the running Umaga Attack connects in the corner. The Superfly Splash hits raised knees though and Rhodes goes way different with a kimura. That’s broken up and Uso gets the sleeper but Rhodes powers up and dumps him over the top. A suicide dive is cut off though and they fight up to the top. Rhodes runs the corner for a top rope superplex and they’re both down off the crash.

We take another break and come back again with another slugout until Rhodes hits a running forearm. Uso snaps off a powerslam but his Cross Rhodes is countered into a Cody Cutter to give Rhodes two. The Disaster Kick misses as well though and Uso’s spear gets another near fall. Another spear is cut off though and a top rope Cody Cutter gets a rather near fall. Uso counters Cross Rhodes into one of his own for two more and another spear drops Rhodes again. The Superfly Splash is cut off though and a super Cody Cutter plants Uso hard. Cross Rhodes finishes Uso at 20:06.

Rating: B+. The rise of Uso turned this into a match where the ending wasn’t obvious and that’s great. Uso isn’t on Rhodes’ level but he’s a genuine main eventer and that made him a threat to pull off the upset. It helped that they beat the heck out of each other until one of them was left standing and it felt like an awesome main event style match. Rhodes winning makes more sense, but he wasn’t a lock and that’s a great feeling.

Post match respect is shown and they’re all cool to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a pretty great show with four good matches, but they had to scramble to change some of the Night Of Champions undercard. Thankfully what we are going to get is good enough and I’m fairly interested in the show so what we got here worked well. This one was built around the in-ring side of things and that worked rather well, with that opener in particular being rather entertaining.

Results
Bron Breakker b. Penta – Super Spear
Jade Cargill b. Roxanne Perez – Jaded
Becky Lynch b. Bayley via DQ when Lyra Valkyria interfered
Cody Rhodes b. Jey Uso – Cross Rhodes

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