IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 12, 1999
Location: Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Attendance: 14,573
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re coming up on Fully Loaded and that means we need a card, though I’d settle for things slowing down a bit so I can keep track of what’s going on around here. The shows are at their usual breakneck pace and that means very little can make an impact. Undertaker vs. Steve Austin is rolling along, though the battle over DX doesn’t have quite the same steam. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s Austin to open things up with a contract in his pocket. His attorneys (Austin shouldn’t have attorneys) have drawn up a contract for a first blood match at Fully Loaded so Vince can come out here and sign it. Here’s Vince in a wheelchair, after having been in a car wreck on the Fourth of July. As you might expect, WWE doesn’t explain why he was fine last week on the fifth of July. Vince is hesitant to sign as he needs to pull out his glasses first. There’s something fishy here though so Austin has to sign it first.

That’s fine with Austin, though he wants back a certain piece of property: the Smoking Skull belt. Vince doesn’t seem to know what to do so violence is threatened. Before anything happens, Kane’s music goes off and Austin looks at the entrance, only to have Undertaker come up from behind with the Smoking Skull belt to the head. You can see Austin blading so the blood is flowing in a hurry. Vince pulls out a pen and has Undertaker fill it with Austin’s blood so the contract can be signed. Cool visual, if not a little over the top.

Post break Austin tells the medics to hurry up because he has stuff to do tonight.

Edge vs. Gangrel

Gangrel tries a cheap shot but gets punched down for his efforts. Some more right hands in the corner have Gangrel in more trouble so he bails to the floor, only to get caught with a baseball slide. Back in and Edge’s top rope hurricanrana is countered into a sitout powerbomb in a good looking landing. Gangrel hammers away as JR is doing a very solid job of pushing this as a battle of two people who actually matter. You don’t get that enough in modern times as the wrestlers are often ignored for the sake of anything else the announcers can do to waste time.

Gangrel gets two off a DDT and we hit the chinlock. That doesn’t last long as Gangrel goes up top so Edge catches him with a neckbreaker back down. A spear connects for no cover as Gangrel heads up the ramp, where the circle of fire is still on the stage. Gangrel actually wins the slugout and knocks Edge through the hole and that’s the match.

Rating: C-. This was actually a perfectly fine little match until the lame ending. My guess is this is going to set up some bad gimmick match involving fire and blood, but it’s a good sign that they’ve figured out to push Edge as the star of the team. The fans have taken to him and it’s a smart move to break up the trio and go with what is almost guaranteed to work.

Austin tells the doctor to get him fixed up because he has violence to tend to tonight.

Jesse Ventura will be at Summerslam.

DX’s music plays but we cut to the back where Road Dogg and X-Pac tar and feather the Fink for turning them into the cops last week. X-Pac talks about Billy Gunn and Chyna wanting the rights to DX, so they can come try to take it at Fully Loaded. Road Dogg isn’t happy either but here’s Kane (actually here this time) to cut them off. X-Pac gets straight to the point and wants to know what Kane’s deal is.

He’s letting Undertaker manipulate him again and if Kane is having anything to do with Undertaker, X-Pac is out. Cue HHH, Chyna and Billy Gunn to beat them down, drawing in Undertaker for the save. Undertaker gets in Kane’s face and says he’d never ask his brother to change. X-Pac isn’t sure what to think as Undertaker leaves. Kane walks halfway to Undertaker but stops without making his intentions clear. For this era, that’s putting the brakes on for a change and taking their time.

Godfather/Val Venis vs. Hardy Boyz

Godfather and Venis are challenging after costing the Hardys a match last night on Heat. Before the match, Venis says he’s like Mick Foley: hard to beat and never wanting to stay down. Val gets driven into the corner to start and Jeff takes his shirt off for his own hip swiveling. An atomic drop gets Val out of trouble and it’s off to Godfather for a Death Valley Driver into the Money Shot, drawing in Michael Hayes with a belt shot to the back for the DQ.

The Hardys pose on the ramp and get jumped by the Acolytes with Venis and Godfather making the save for no logical reason.

HHH, Chyna and Gunn say they’re the real DX and they own everything associated with the team. A six person tag is set up for tonight.

Tori video, featuring her disrobed on a bed with words like Passion written on her. Ok then.

Here are Jeff Jarrett and Debra for a chat. Jeff wants more respect from the fans or Debra and the puppies are staying in his doghouse. This brings out Austin, with a huge bandage wrapped around his head, for a Stunner to get rid of Jeff. Austin wants Undertaker tonight with no rules and no referee with anything going. Instead he gets Big Show, who says if Austin wants Undertaker, he’ll have to face Kane as well. Since that’s the case, Show might as well team up with Austin to fight the monsters. Austin seems cool with the idea and goes to leave so Jarrett gets back up, only to take another Stunner.

HHH/Chyna/Billy Gunn vs. Road Dogg/X-Pac/Kane

Actually hang on as there’s no Kane. HHH offers to let them walk right now if they give up the rights to DX but X-Pac isn’t going there. Instead, here’s a replacement.

HHH/Chyna/Billy Gunn vs. Road Dogg/X-Pac/The Rock

Well that works for a tag partner. Rock hammers away on HHH in the corner to start and runs him over with the clothesline. The jumping knee to the face cuts Rock off and HHH hammers away in the corner. Rock’s swinging neckbreaker gets him out of trouble so Gunn makes a save and knocks Rock outside. That means a beating for Rock on the floor because they’ve done enough wrestling here so far.

Back in and Gunn hammers away on Rock but the Stinger Splash misses. The beating continues, which is quite the odd idea as you would expect Rock to be the one on the apron for the hot tag. HHH comes back in for the sleeper and takes it to the mat to slow things down. Back up and Rock Samoan drops his way to freedom and it’s the hot tag to Dogg (kind of an odd choice) for snap jabs to everyone.

The pumphandle slam (with the hip thrusts that would get Dogg fired today) hits Gunn and Chyna gets punched in the jaw as everything breaks down. The X-Factor gets two on Gunn and the saving HHH is knocked to the floor. Rock is fine enough to hit the People’s Elbow for the pin on Gunn.

Rating: D+. Somehow that’s one of the best matches the show has had in a little while, mainly because of the (slightly) extended time the match received. It also helps having the bigger stars in there, but I can’t shake the feeling of barely knowing what’s going on. Everything moves so fast around here that even the bigger matches like this feel like they just come and go. That’s not good and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better anytime soon.

Droz is ready for an evening gown match, but first he has to wax his bikini line.

Undertaker is talking to Kane in the back.

Droz vs. Al Snow

Non-title and an Evening Gown match because that’s funny. Actually hang on as Snow wants this to be a HARDCORE Evening Gown match. How an Evening Gown match has DQ’s and countouts in the first place isn’t clear but neither is the sanity in this whole thing. Droz hits him in the head with some piece of metal and it’s already time for the table. The powder to the face gets Snow out of trouble….and there’s a breast lock. I’ll let you figure that one out as Snow finds tongs. One grab to Droz is enough for Snow to strip him for the win. I think this speaks for itself.

Post match, Snow caves his head in with a chair shot and then puts Droz through the table. We’re not done yet though as Prince Albert comes out with a hammer and drives a railroad spike into Head.

Earlier today, a very country sounding doctor tells Mark Henry that his blood pressure is 190/120.

On GTV, Joey Abs hits on Stephanie McMahon but gets shut down.

Test vs. Mean Street Posse

Gauntlet match. Test beats them up before the bell and drops an elbow on Pete Gas for the pin in what I’d presume is a hurry. Gas gets in a low blow before he leaves so Rodney comes in and gets powerbombed. The big boot and pumphandle powerslam finish Rodney so Joey is the last man in. Some shots in the corner are shrugged off and Test hits a powerslam, drawing in Shane for the brawl. Now it’s Steve Blackman coming to the ring to take Test apart as the match is thrown out somewhere in there, though it was much more a segment than anything else.

Ken Shamrock comes in to go after Blackman, who runs into the crowd. The Posse gets back up and wrap a chair around Test’s ankle. Stephanie runs in as well to go after Shane, who elbows her in the face by mistake. Shane panics and carries her to the back like Superman carrying Supergirl. You know that’s how they think of each other.

Back from a break and we look at Shane elbowing Stephanie, making it seem like she got shot.

Shamrock and Blackman fought even more during the break.

Undertaker says he and Kane are together again because blood is thicker than water. Speaking of blood, he’s busting Austin open and might even drink from the cut. Kane had his back to the camera and never said anything.

In something I’ve been waiting on, the COUNTDOWN TO THE MILLENNIUM clock appears. I would say it’s a big deal if you’re not familiar with it….but does anyone not know what that is?

Undertaker/Kane vs. Big Show/Steve Austin

The fight is on before Austin is here so you can imagine the chants. My guess would be WE WANT FISH but the glass shatters before I can be sure. Austin, who looks so strange with his head bandaged, chokes Undertaker on the ramp while the other two giants fight at ringside. As JR is in awe of Show’s hands, Undertaker throws Austin off the stage in a bump we don’t see. But did you know Show’s hands are like typewriters???

Austin gets backdropped on the floor and Undertaker hits him in the ribs with a lighting structure. Some choking puts Undertaker down but Austin takes him to the ring for the Thesz press. With Kane and Show nowhere to be seen (and they’re hard to miss), Austin unhooks a turnbuckle pad and hammers away with right hands in the corner. Everyone is back now and it’s Undertaker and Austin brawling on the floor all over again.

Show chokeslams Kane as Austin and Undertaker get inside as well with Undertaker breaking up a cover. Yes a cover, because they’re pretending this is a wrestling match. Kane pops back up with a wrench to Show’s back and it’s time for some double choking on Austin. There’s a chokeslam on Austin and the bandage comes off in the process.

That’s good for two with Show making the save so Undertaker chokes Austin some more. A chair shot misses though and Austin drops Undertaker but Kane beats him up in the corner. Austin is busted open again but snaps off a Stunner to put Kane away as Undertaker watches from the ramp.

Rating: C. I don’t know what this was as a match but it was an entertaining brawl and that’s what they were going for. Or given how insane this show has been for a long time now, you never can quite tell. The violence was good and they did a good job with Undertaker vs. Austin, though Show and Kane were just kind of there on the side. To be fair though, that’s the point of a tag match like this.

Overall Rating: D. I know this is the dark period you have to get through before you get to the great stuff next year but egads these shows are just hard to watch. It’s not so much that the shows are terrible (though they’re not great) but they’re just so all over the place with some dumb, dumb stuff (Droz vs. Snow jumps off the page) and stuff that feels like it’s just filler (Show helping Holly and then teaming with Austin?) that it’s hard to defend the things. They’re not the worst, but my goodness these things are such messes.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 31, 2004
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re up north this time with a show that is likely to contain at least one Montreal Screwjob reference. Bad Blood is in less than two weeks and Chris Benoit is going to be defending against Kane. At the same time though, Kane has something going on with Lita, which we might get some more details on this week. It evens out though as Benoit will be defending the Tag Team Titles with Edge against La Resistance tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Memorial Day video with Vince narrating in the proudest voice I’ve heard from him in years.

We recap HHH vs. Shawn Michaels being set up for the Cell, again as the World Title is left in the midcard scene.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: La Resistance vs. Chris Benoit/Edge

Benoit and Edge are defending. Lilian: “The first match on this special edition of Monday Night Raw is for the World Tag Team Titles!” That’s rather specific. The champs get a nice reaction but La Resistance gets a strong pop. Conway and Edge get things going with Edge grabbing the arm to take over and hand it off to Benoit. The champs keep taking turns chopping away in the corner until Conway gets a boot up to stop a charge.

Grenier comes in to a very nice reaction and it’s off to Edge’s arm for a bit. Even an armdrag gets a reaction as the announcers talk about Quebec being very different than anywhere else. An armbar goes on as Lawler becomes an advocate for the metric system. Edge clotheslines Grenier and makes the hot tag to Benoit, who puts the Sharpshooter on both Grenier and Conway. A save attempt earns Conway some rolling German suplexes but Benoit misses the Swan Dive.

This time it’s Edge making a save and the Crossface has Conway in trouble. Grenier makes a diving save to a big reaction (that’s still weird to see) and we take a break. Back with Grenier holding Benoit in a chinlock stomping away for bad measure. Benoit’s attempted enziguri hits Grenier’s shoulder and it’s Edge coming in to a pretty weak pop. His flying forearm and sitout gordbuster get slightly better reactions and everything breaks down. Edge spears Benoit by mistake and Au Revoir gives us new champions to an eruption.

Rating: C. There’s nothing wrong with this as Benoit and Edge were beating everyone in sight for the last few weeks and La Resistance beat them clean to a big reaction. It’s the right choice to go with it here as the fans wouldn’t have cared otherwise but it makes perfect sense to go with the title change in front of their home crowd. The match wasn’t half bad but the important part thing here is getting Benoit out of the tag scene when he has more important things to do.

The celebration heads into the crowd and is actually quite the moment.

Randy Orton doesn’t think Shelton Benjamin is in his league and couldn’t beat Orton on his best day. We see a clip of Benjamin pinning Orton last week in a tag match so Orton shouts about that being a fluke. Orton is getting awesome in this role.

William Regal is in Eric Bischoff’s office and praises him for the matches made tonight. Eugene comes in and Bischoff recaps his story so far. Bischoff is so impressed that Eugene can have another match tonight against a friend. Coach comes in but that’s not who Bischoff means. Actually Coach is going to have to apologize in public in the middle of the ring. Regal: “That’s one for the books isn’t it Eugene?” Eugene: “WWE Unscripted is a book.”

Here’s Coach in the ring for the apology but first he invites Eugene to join him. Eugene stumbles to the ring and Coach says he knows they don’t like each other. Coach insults him again before offering the handshake. That goes nowhere so Coach talks about all the friends Eugene has, like the Rock and Chris Benoit (Eugene imitates the headbutt). Even all the people here are his friends.

Post break Coach is still laughing in Bischoff’s office when Regal storms in with threats of violence. Bischoff threatens him right back with his firing and makes Eugene vs. Kane for tonight.

Victoria vs. Jazz

Non-title and Victoria is still dancing a lot. I have no issue watching Victoria dance, but it’s not exactly the kind of character you have as a long term champion. Jazz takes her down with ease and cranks on the neck. Back up and Victoria tries to drop down in front of her but gets elbowed in the back of the head for her efforts.

Some kicks in the corner are shrugged off so Victoria can hit the spinning middle rope crossbody for two of her own. Jazz is right back with an STF so Victoria has to slowly crawl to the ropes. A powerslam looks to set up the dancing moonsault but Jazz grabs a rollup with tights for two. Jazz tries a suplex but gets reversed into a suplex to give Victoria the pin.

Rating: D-. This was completely lifeless with nothing redeeming. The women’s division has died again as you have the one woman with the title and everyone else rotating in and out of title shots. There’s no story anywhere to be seen and it leaves everything and everyone feeling like a bunch of not very good filler.

Randy Orton vs. Shelton Benjamin

Non-title again and Orton has Batista in his corner. Benjamin takes him down with ease but Orton pounds away with forearms to the back. Back up and the pace quickens with Orton hitting a dropkick to stop a running Benjamin. A cheap shot from Batista lets Orton send him outside and that means the classic Orton pose, including Orton taking off the turnbuckle pad.

Before that can be used though, it’s a collision of the heads for a double knockdown with Orton being busted open just a bit. As the referee looks at Orton, Batista sends him head first into the exposed buckle. That’s only good for two and we take a break. Back with Orton holding a chinlock with an arm trap for a bonus. Shelton fights up but gets low bridged out to the floor as he just can’t get around the numbers game. This time Batista gets caught though and that’s an ejection.

Orton brings Shelton back in for a whip into the exposed buckle as Lawler is losing it over Orton bleeding. The chinlock goes on until the comeback starts with right hands and a backdrop. A powerslam gives Benjamin two with JR being perfect at making the big spots and near falls seem epic. Shelton rolls through a high crossbody for two more but Orton gets in his backbreaker for the same. Orton teases leaving and suckers Benjamin in for a right hand but walks into the exploder for the clean pin.

Rating: C. They did exactly what they were shooting for here but I’m not often a fan of having the singles match to set up the exact same match down the line. Shelton is getting a heck of a push but at some point he needs to win something that matters. The Intercontinental Title would be a great place to start, though I’d be a bit surprised if they actually took it off of Orton at the moment.

Stacy Keibler recaps the Diva Search concept and doesn’t do the division much good while explaining what a Diva does.

Here’s HHH for a chat. There won’t be a sneak attack this week because Shawn Michaels isn’t here tonight. That’s a shame too as if he was, HHH could put him away for good. Now he has to wait until Bad Blood in the match designed for the purpose of finishing this once and for all. HHH talks about how evil the Cell is and gives us a video on it, set to a cover of Time To Play The Game, which I’m pretty sure was used at Wrestlemania XVIII. Not bad. Certainly better than the nothing between Kane and Benoit.

Bad Blood rundown.

Bischoff tells Johnny Nitro to get Eugene.

Matt Hardy vs. Garrison Cade

Lita is here with Matt, who gets elbowed in the face to break up his early hammerlock. A hot shot gives Cade two and he starts in with the rights and lefts. The chinlock goes on as Lita starts playing cheerleader. It seems to work as Matt gets up and knocks Cade to the floor. That means a slingshot dive and a backdrop back inside, followed by the middle rope legdrop. The Twist of Fate finishes Cade.

Rating: D+. How weird is it to see a completely clean win in a match that isn’t a squash and only lasts a few minutes? Maybe it was expecting Kane to interrupt every few seconds but this was almost a weird one to watch. Cade has most of the tools that you need to be a perfectly acceptable wrestler, except the whole being named Garrison thing.

Smackdown Rebound.

Eugene comes in to see Bischoff, who tells him he knew what would happen with Kane earlier. It was just tough love you see, because Eugene doesn’t belong here. Eugene can prove him wrong tonight though, so he gives Bischoff a very sad hug. Bischoff just stares straight ahead, almost looking like he realizes what has to be done.

Clips of the European tour.

It’s time for the Highlight Reel but instead of Chris Jericho, it’s Trish Stratus and Tyson Tomko. Since Jericho is still injured, Trish will be hosting tonight. That means making a bunch of jokes about the French fans before we get to the highlight: Jericho being destroyed last week as Tomko put him through the announcers’ table. Trish wants to look at it again but here’s Jericho to beat up Tomko and put Trish in the Walls. Tomko makes a quick save and gorilla presses Jericho bad ribs first onto a chair. The chair is used to choke Jericho and Trish has a seat to make it even worse.

Kane stares at the camera without saying anything.

Kane vs. Eugene

Eugene ducks a few right hands to start and manages to take him down for one. That’s not cool with Kane, who blasts him with a clothesline so we can start down the expected path. A sunset flip doesn’t work either but Eugene does manage a drop toehold. Eugene’s top rope ax handle is uppercut out of the air and Kane gets three straight near falls.

Kane gets another two off a suplex and it’s time to choke. A headlock doesn’t help Eugene that much so Kane….chinlocks him. Eugene gets sent face first into the buckle to start the Hulk Up and slugs away, followed by a dropkick to put Kane on the floor. Kane throws in a chair and throws the referee down for the DQ as Eugene gets in a DDT on the chair.

Rating: F. Just a thought, but it might be a really bad idea to have the NUMBER ONE CONTENDER facing what is mostly a comedy character and not being able to pin him in a six minute match, eventually losing to him when the comedy guy lays him out at the end. Kane already has two stories going on and doesn’t need a third with less than two weeks to go before the title match. This wasn’t even that terrible of a match (it was really slow, but I’ve seen worse) but it was a really stupid way to go with Kane’s title shot, which has had almost no build so far, coming up.

Post match a furious Kane destroys Eugene but Benoit comes in before he can use the chair. The Crossface doesn’t work so Benoit grabs a chair to chase him off.

Overall Rating: C. This was far from a really bad show but you can tell that things have changed in a bad way after the last few weeks of great stuff. I don’t know if it’s Benoit turning into a glorified midcarder or WAY too much Kane and Eugene this week (you had to know it was coming as Eugene was getting over) but there was something missing here. It’s like they’ve lost the focus that was making the show work and that’s a bad sign.

Just a few weeks ago, you had Benoit and company vs. Evolution, who are the big bads around here. With Benoit shifting to Kane, it feels like he’s just being given something to do and that’s a big downgrade. Eugene is fun as a non-serious act but he was one of the big focal points here and that’s going to wear out his welcome in a hurry. The fans still like him, but that kind of an act doesn’t have a long shelf life overall and using so much of it in one night isn’t a good idea.

The problem they have isn’t likely to get better with next week as the go home show and I’m almost scared of what they’ll do after the pay per view is over. It’s still not bad and the show is more than watchable, but something is clearly missing and I think that’s going to get worse before it gets better. There’s about as much good as bad here, but the bad stuff here will make your head hurt.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 25, 2018
Location: Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

This one isn’t going to be your normal show, as the entire Roman Reigns issue is likely going to be a heck of a focus this time around. Of course that’s as it should be, but it didn’t help that Smackdown didn’t exactly have much going on. There’s also that whole stabbing in the back thing to end Monday’s show so I’d expect more red than blue tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Zack Ryder vs. Jinder Mahal

Welcome home Jinder and the Singh Brothers. Jinder forearms him in the back to little avail to start as Ryder faceplants him right back. Some right hands in the corner have Mahal in more trouble but he drops Ryder face first onto the top rope. That means knees to the chest and some more to the back, followed by the required chinlock.

Back up and an elbow sets up another knee drop (the guy has a theme), followed by choking on the ropes. The second chinlock follows but Ryder fights up again. This time he gets taken down for a neck crank, broken up by a jawbreaker. Ryder hits the middle rope dropkick and tries the Broski Boot but only hits one of the Singhs instead. A sunset flip gives Ryder the quick and upsetting pin at 5:03.

Rating: D. The chinlocks killed this thing, but that’s the case with most of Mahal’s matches. What amazes me the most about Mahal is how fast he’s fallen down the ranks. He was WWE Champion less than a year ago and now he’s back on Main Event doing jobs for Zack Ryder. It’s not like this win is even going to do anything for Ryder because it’s just Mahal on Main Event. How can they mess one guy up that badly?

From Raw.

Here’s Roman Reigns to say that he can’t fight every day. He’s been wrestling for eleven years and now it’s back. Therefore he has to vacate the title and seek treatment. He was diagnosed with the disease when he was 22 years old and now he has to do it again. Reigns was done with football but the WWE gave him a chance. Whether it was cheering or booing, the fans always reacted to him and that’s what matters most. The best thing for him to do right now is to go home and focus on his family and his health.

This is NOT a retirement speech because he’s coming back to this ring when he’s healthy again. When he comes back, it’s not about titles but about a purpose. He wants to show his family and friends that when live throws a curve ball at him, he crowds the plate and swings for the fences. Reigns leaves the title in the ring and walks away, only to be greeted by Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose on the stage for a big hug and one more Shield pose.

From Raw again.

Here’s DX for a chat. They talk about being afraid of things but neither of them are scared of anything. Shawn: “Ain’t neither of us running for Mayor!” The other word running around has been nostalgia, which Shawn hoped was just a Greek word for “new merch”. It’s really a polite way of saying old. But then again, the #1 movie at the box office came out 40 years ago and two weeks ago, they sold out a 70,000 person stadium. HHH: “Maybe old is just another way of saying “we’re better than you””.

I’ll let you make your own jokes and stick with HHH saying the DX logo has been around for twenty two years. HHH talks about how there’s another X that says the future is better too. Shawn: “And we’re running that too!” They’re not coming to Crown Jewel to make you laugh, but to hand you a beating. Shawn loads up the catchphrase but some electrical noises go off….followed by a gong.

Undertaker and Kane appear on the screen, saying pride goes before destruction. DX can bring their delusions and try to retrieve their lost respect. They’ll unleash their utter contempt because Shawn can’t outrun the reaper or survive the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers will own their souls for eternity and torment them in the deepest pits. They pour dirt into a grave. On a show where the Universal Champion says he has leukemia. And before they go to a country that is in the headlines for murdering a journalist.

From Raw a third time.

Here are the Bellas and Rousey to sign. The twins bail as soon as Rousey shows up but she says she’s not going to beat them up tonight. Instead, she’s going to sign a contract so she can beat them up on Sunday. She even offers to put her hands behind her back because if they can beat her up like that, her own mother would kill her. They have her word, which is Ronda’s bond.

The Bellas come in and mock her for not being as good in judo as her mother or for not retiring undefeated from UFC. Nikki says Ronda’s mother is already ashamed of her so imagine what it’s going to be like when a Diva beats her for the title. She even slaps Ronda, who signs and promises to end Nikki on Sunday. This was WAY better than last week, partially because it didn’t go on for ten minutes. Now hopefully Sunday’s match follows this week’s example and not last week’s.

From Smackdown.

On Saturday, Charlotte was giving a speech at the Performance Center, talking about respect. She talked about how she’s grown up in the last few months and being ready for the first Last Woman Standing match when Becky Lynch came in. Becky is the one they should really be listening to and the fight was on. The rookies break it up.

Revival vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

Roode and Wilder start things off and a grappling exchange goes nowhere. It’s off to Dawson vs. Gable with Dawson getting on his knees to even up the size difference. Gable takes it down to the mat without much effort but Dawson pulls his hair to take over. That’s enough for Chad to be sent outside but Roode is a nice enough partner to make a save. Back in and we hit the chinlock for a bit until Gable fights up.

Dawson comes back in but a double DDT takes down both Revivalists. The hot tag brings Roode in for right hands and clotheslines but he misses the Blockbuster. Everything breaks down and Gable cannonballs off the apron to take out Wilder, leaving Roode to block Dawson’s DDT. Gable makes a blind tag and breaks up a rollup on the illegal Roode, setting up a German suplex to put Dawson away at 6:04.

Rating: C-. Not a bad little match here at all with both teams working well together. It’s kind of amazing that Roode and Gable were thrown together and haven’t been split up yet, which tends to be the case with a lot of teams around here. The Revival’s direction continues to make me sad, as they could be a heck of a team if they were given the chance.

From Raw again.

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

Ziggler and McIntyre are defending. It’s a brawl to start with the champs being knocked outside to send us to an early break. Back with Rollins hitting a suicide dive onto both champs but McIntyre kicks him down back inside. Ziggler comes in, teases a superkick to Ambrose, and goes with a chinlock on Rollins.

That doesn’t last long as Rollins fights up and throws him down, followed by an enziguri on McIntyre. Ziggler is fast enough to get over and pull Ambrose off the apron though, leaving Rollins to take the reverse Alabama Slam. Back from a second break with Rollins making a blind tag and dropping a frog splash for two on McIntyre as Ambrose dives onto Ziggler. McIntyre gets put in the Tree of Woe but of course sits up to throw Rollins down.

Rollins is fine enough to superplex Ziggler into the Falcon Arrow as the fans are going nuts on these kickouts, probably because they know a title change is coming. The Stomp misses so Rollins lifts Ziggler up for a powerbomb into McIntyre. Dean comes back in but Dirty Deeds is broken up and a Claymore sends him outside.

Ziggler sends Rollins shoulder first into the post and gets two off the Zig Zag. The Claymore/Zig Zag combination is broken up by Ambrose but here’s Strowman as Rollins and Ziggler clothesline each other. McIntyre gets up to fight Strowman but they brawl into the crowd. Ziggler tries to grab a title but gets Stomped for the pin and the title at 19:16.

Rating: B. Well….yeah. This was the most obvious title change in recent history but at the same time, it’s the only thing they could do. With the Reigns situation, dedicating the match to him was the best thing they could do to guarantee an invested crowd during the title change. Another entertaining match too.

Post match the celebration is on….until Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on Rollins. The place gets REALLY quiet as Ambrose pounds away on him and shouts about Rollins thinking he’s funny. The beatdown is on with Den throwing a title at him and then peeling back the floor mats for Dirty Deeds on the concrete. Dean rips off the Shield shirt and leaves through the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. There’s not much to see here but the Reigns ordeal was such a big deal that it changed the course of the show. At the same time, you can only get so much out of Smackdown when the whole company was turned upside down by the announcement. The show was fine with some good original stuff, but that’s about as far as it can go with all things considered.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 29, 2018
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

It’s the go home show for Crown Jewel and the question now is how they survive the fans not wanting to hear about the show. When Undertaker can’t make mention of the show without being booed out of the building, they’re in serious trouble. Brock Lesnar is here tonight too and that means a lot of Ladies and Gentlemen. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with the Roman Reigns announcement from last week. Nothing wrong with that.

You know something big is happening in the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup Finals and the Academy Awards, but this time you know for a fact what’s coming. Cue Braun Strowman to say Lesnar is going to get these hands. Corbin tries to separate them and gets powerslammed. Lesnar and Strowman stare each other down until another powerslam leaves Corbin laying. Brock picks up the title and puts it on his shoulder so Corbin gets powerslammed again. That means an F5 for Strowman and Brock poses. Just a hype segment for the title match and it was fine.

We look back at Dean Ambrose turning on Seth Rollins.

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Balor gives Corbin a Too Sweet sign as he’s carried out. I knew it would be Lashley before the announcement because they’ve only done the match once and that means it’s time to do it at least once more the next week. Lio Rush comes out to say that Balor didn’t deserve that win last week because he has way too much false bravado. Maybe Balor can help cheer for Lashley instead of standing there in his leather jacket. Lashley takes him straight into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs and a side slam. The nerve hold goes on as Rush says Lashley smells like money. Does Rush just walk around smelling Lashley?

Balor gets up and dropkicks him to the floor for the big flip dive and they’re both down as we take a break. Back with Balor in trouble and the nerve hold going on again. Balor fights up and punches his way out of a powerbomb attempt, setting up the double stomp to the ribs. Lashley’s spinning Dominator gets two, at least partially because Lashley stops to adjust the headband. The delayed vertical suplex is escaped and the Sling Blade drops Lashley. Rush shoves him off the top to break up the Coup de Grace and the DQ at 8:59.

Rating: C-. I’ll take that over Lashley taking another pin though it’s not like Balor really benefits from this. These two have no direction of note at the moment and it’s a little disappointing that things haven’t picked up a bit with the empty space on top of the card. You would think they might see what sticks up there but having Lashley get pinned one week and then Balor win via DQ the next isn’t going to get them there.

Post match Lashley beats Balor down and Rush gets in a slap. He gets a message on his phone and seems very pleased.

Back from a break, Lashley and Rush go to see a banged up Corbin. He liked seeing Balor get what was coming to him and thinks Lashley should get a reward. Therefore, he’s now in the World Cup of Wrestling, replacing John Cena because he didn’t qualify in the first place.

After Evolution, Becky Lynch interrupted Ronda Rousey after an interview and said she’ll see her soon. They meet at Survivor Series.

Lita/Trish Stratus/Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya vs. Riott Squad/Alicia Fox/Mickie James

Alexa Bliss is with the villains. Trish takes Logan down to start and does the same off a flying headlock takeover. She does it to Logan again with a headscissors to Riott at the same time. Lita comes in for a clothesline to Morgan in the corner and the DDT plants Morgan again. It’s too early for the moonsault so Bayley and Banks hit stereo baseball slides and dives off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Fox in trouble as Banks and Trish drop a double elbow. Fox takes over on Banks though and it’s off to Mickie for a chinlock. Notice that Mickie talks a lot of trash during the hold. So many people would just sit there and glare at the camera. It adds a little something and keeps the hold from being so bland, which is a nice little touch. Logan comes in for a chinlock of her own and screams a lot while holding onto Banks.

It’s off to Fox, who gets kicked into the wrong corner, though she manages to knock down everyone but Natalya. That means it’s off to Natalya for a basement dropkick and the discus lariat for two. Everything breaks down and Bayley and Lita hit stereo Twists of Fate, setting up a top rope elbow from Bayley to Morgan and the moonsault to Riott. Lita holds Fox for the Hart Attack clothesline from Natalya (Shouldn’t she be playing the Neidhart role?) for two, followed by the Sharpshooter to make Fox tap at 13:24.

Rating: C. This was straight out of the night after Wrestlemania XXV with Ricky Steamboat in the ten man tag. The legends looked fine (Lita barely ever hit the moonsault that well when she was active) and even one of the modern wrestlers got the win. This was perfectly fine and it’s not like Fox losing is a new thing.

The winners pose and Bayley bows to Trish and Lita.

Nia Jax says she’s cashing in her title shot at some point after Survivor Series. Ember Moon comes in and says she feels like she caught lightning in a bottle last night when she eliminated more people than Nia. That’s not cool with Jax, who thinks she’s being disrespected, so a match is set up for later.

We look at Ambrose turning on Rollins again.

We look at Undertaker and Kane attacking DX at Super Show-Down.

Here’s Elias for a song. He got here early because Ric Flair had been wanting to hang out with him. Flair told him that Elias was his favorite and Elias already knew. As per Flair’s request, here’s a clip of Elias laying out Baron Corbin last week to a rather positive reaction. As much as it hurt him to break one of his Fender guitars, that felt good. Elias has a song for Corbin tonight but since Corbin can’t be out here right now, he’ll take the music to Corbin.

He heads to the back, denies Dana Brooke a song, tells a guy to take a cake to his dressing room, and knocks on Corbin’s door. Corbin says go away, but Elias tells him to silence his phone and sings about Corbin being a disappointment and a taller stupider version of Kurt. Corbin comes out and is told that he used to be the lone wolf but now he’s just Stephanie’s….and here’s Jinder Mahal to jump Elias. Their match is next.

Jinder Mahal vs. Elias

Jinder jumps the banged up Elias at the bell and hits a chinlock with a knee in the back. That’s switched to an abdominal stretch for a good while until Elias mule kicks him down. That sets up some clubberin in the corner and Drift Away is good for the pin on Mahal at 4:06.

Rating: D. It’s nice to have Mahal down where he belongs with almost no mention of him being the former WWE Champion in that abomination of an idea. For a first match with Elias on the side of good….it could have been worse. He fought through adversity and won, but putting him in there against Mahal wasn’t the brightest idea in the world. Hopefully the eventual match with Corbin is a little better.

Here are the World Cup brackets:

Seth Rollins

Bobby Lashley

Kurt Angle

Dolph Ziggler

Jeff Hardy

The Miz

Rey Mysterio

Randy Orton

Video on Kurt Angle.

Angle says everyone better be ready, because he’s coming to prove that he’s still the best in the world.

Ascension vs Bobby Roode/Chad Gable vs. AOP

The other four jump the AOP before the bell and send them into metal objects. Joined in progress after the break with Cole talking about how it’s not clear what’s going to happen to the Tag Team Titles. Roode gets pulled off the apron to break up a hot tag attempt from Gable and Konnor hits a spinebuster for two with Akum making a save. Gable dropkicks Konnor into Akum to send him outside and it’s Rolling Chaos Theory into a neckbreaker to give Roode the pin on Viktor at 1:08.

Post match the AOP destroy all four of them.

Some kids with cancer tell Roman Reigns to get better.

Another look at Ambrose turning on Rollins last week.

Here’s Rollins without the Tag Team Title to thank the fans for all the support they’ve given Reigns. Last week was a crazy night that ended with him winning half of the Tag Team Titles. Then his best friend turned on him and maybe it was Seth’s fault. Maybe Ambrose couldn’t forgive Seth for four years ago when Rollins did the same thing to him.

The only person who can answer that is Dean himself but if Ambrose doesn’t want to be found, he’s not going to be found. However, Rollins knew he could find Ambrose here so if he wants the spotlight so badly, come out here and get it. Ambrose’s music plays but no one comes out. Ambrose pops up in the crowd without saying anything so Seth says at least he faced Dean like a man when he turned his back on him.

Dean comes down a few steps but still won’t say anything. Seth yells about Dean spitting on them on the most emotional night in the history of the Shield. Dean made it all about himself and now he has the spotlight, plus all of Seth’s attention from now on. With nothing being said, Seth goes up the aisle after him but Dean gets out having never said a word. They’ve got something here and watching Dean and Seth tear into each other could be amazing.

Rush talks about how the only thing left for Lashley to accomplish is to be the best in the world.

Video on DX being ready for the Brothers of Destruction.

Nia Jax vs. Ember Moon

Rating: D. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and now we’re setting up Nia vs. Tamina. I know I get annoyed at Tamina being around but this feud is going to be the worst thing they can do for her because it’s going to showcase the problem: Nia is everything Tamina is supposed to be but better. Nia is bigger, stronger, moves better, has more charisma, isn’t as injury prone, is from the same family and is even younger than Tamina. How in the world am I supposed to be interested in Tamina when there’s a better version across the ring from her?

Tamina and Nia have a post match staredown.

Lucha House Party vs. Revival

It’s Lince Dorado and Kalisto for the House Party here and I’m completely down with this. The tag division needs more teams and there’s always room for a luchador tag team. Kalisto kicks Wilder out of the corner to start as Graves already can’t stand the House Party. Wilder comes back in for a hot shot and belly to back suplex before handing it off to Dawson for a snap suplex. Dawson grabs a Gory Stretch before knocking Dorado off the apron. A little trash talking is a bad idea though as Kalisto hits a springboard Salida Del Sol to finish Dawson at 3:20 as Dorado dives onto Wilder.

Rating: D+. While I shed another tear over the Revival losing to another team, it’s a good idea to send the House Party to the main roster. It’s not like they have anything else to do on 205 Live and with the new names showing up, moving them on is hardly a stretch. Kalisto is a former US Champion so he can certainly hang on the main roster. Makes more than enough sense to me.

Here are Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre for a chat about Crown Jewel, which McIntyre isn’t on. Now that they’ve broken the Shield, Drew is looking at Lesnar vs. Strowman for the Universal Title. Ziggler says that’s cool, but Angle saying he’s going to win the World Cup isn’t so cool. He’s looked up to Angle for most of his life but now things have moved on. Ziggler is the best in WWE and the best in the world so he’s going to steal the show again.

Apollo Crews vs. Dolph Ziggler

Joined in progress with Ziggler charging into an elbow. The jumping clothesline gives Apollo two but he seems a bit shaken up. Ziggler pulls him off the top for a close two but Apollo is up again. That means a very delayed gorilla press into the standing moonsault for two on Ziggler. Apollo takes too long going up again though and the frog splash hits knees. A superkick finishes Apollo at 2:57.

Clip of Undertaker and Kane filling graves in front of tombstones for Shawn and HHH. The tone deafness of this company is amazing at times.

Here are Kane, because running Knoxville is a part time job at best, and Undertaker for the big closing segment. The fans chant for Undertaker, who says it’s not easy to reach the end. But when the reaper calls, no matter how hard you fight, it’s your time to go. I’ll let it sink in that UNDERTAKER is talking about how you have to go when your time is up. Kane says what started as a whisper has now become a deafening cry.

This Friday at Crown Jewel (minor booing), the Brothers will take the battered souls of DX to the firey gates. It will be the end of DX’s error, but that’s on Friday. Tonight, DX is being summoned to the ring right now to have their souls destroyed. Cue HHH (with glow sticks, because WWE can’t decide if this is supposed to be serious or fun) without Shawn so Kane goes up the ramp after him, allowing Shawn to sneak in and superkick Undertaker. DX bails as Undertaker sits up (after going down from something he shouldn’t fall for) to end the show. This was four old guys talking about how old they are like they’ve done for years now.

Overall Rating: D+. This was the hard sell show for Crown Jewel and….it kind of worked. The thing is, the show isn’t that interesting on its own. WWE has hit the brakes on it in a hard way because of all the controversy around it and the card never looked all that great in the first place. There’s a tournament for a prize that seems to have no meaning beyond Friday and four other matches, one of which might not even happen if the rumors about Daniel Bryan are true. That’s not exactly inspiring stuff.

That being said, this show was much more in WWE’s wheelhouse: focusing on one show (announcing Lynch vs. Rousey was a one off segment and didn’t take away any focus from Friday) and hyping it up as hard as they could. That’s been lacking due to Super Show-Down and the Evolution, so it was a necessary thing to do. It’s too little too late to really excite me over the concept, but at least it’s an effort, which is more than they’ve had so far.

Results

Finn Balor b. Bobby Lashley via DQ when Lio Rush interfered

Trish Stratus/Lita/Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya b. Riott Squad/Alicia Fox/Mickie James – Sharpshooter to Fox

Elias b. Jinder Mahal – Drift Away

Bobby Roode/Chad Gable b. Ascension and AOP – Rolling Chaos Theory/neckbreaker combination to Viktor

Nia Jax b. Ember Moon – Legdrop

Dolph Ziggler b. Apollo – Superkick

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 19, 1993
Location: Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, New York
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, Rob Bartlett

We’re a few weeks removed from Wrestlemania now and the big story here is a Tag Team Title match between Money Inc. and the soon to be gone Beverly Brothers. Other than that, expect your regular assortment of squashes that aren’t the most interesting things in the world but do in fact fill in an hour of TV time. Let’s get to it.

Money Inc. laughs off the idea of the Beverly Brothers as a threat.

The Beverlies are ready to bankrupt Money Inc.

Razor Ramon vs Virgil

Yes really. Virgil grabs a hammerlock to start so Razor takes the easy way out by going to the ropes. Razor’s headlock takeover is reversed into a headscissors to get things back to even. Bartlett is impressed by Razor not losing the toothpick behind his ear, even as he gets caught in another hammerlock. The fans are behind Razor here because….well….would you cheer for Virgil? A missed dropkick lets Razor take over and it’s off to the abdominal stretch.

Razor slams him and gets in the slaps to the back of the head, setting up something like an STF. Virgil taps as Bartlett suggests that Virgil pull a knife to get out of the hold. He finally grabs a rope instead and gets up a boot in the corner. The middle rope clothesline looks to set up a spinning crossbody but Virgil only hits the mat. The Razor’s Edge is good for the pin.

Rating: D. How did Virgil keep a job for so long? I know he was a name but don’t you have to win more than one or two matches in your life for that name to have value? He just wasn’t interesting and Razor taking nearly seven minutes to beat him didn’t look great. Boring match too.

Rob Bartlett has a black eye from the Luna/Sherri brawl last week.

Giant Gonzalez vs. LA Gore

Gore has one of the best, ahem, adult mustaches I’ve ever seen. Gonzalez pulls him in the ring by the head and hits a big clothesline to start. There’s a chop to set up the chokeslam for the easy pin. Total squash, as you probably guessed.

Luna Vachon, in a small dungeon, promises evil on Sherri. We see some clips of Luna beating her up multiple times, including last week. In short, she’s just crazy and a fight should be coming.

Tatanka vs. Art Thomas

Thomas has a great physique that you would think would get him a spot somewhere. He sends Tatanka into the corner to start and gets in a few shots to the ribs. Some more forearms to the back wake Tatanka up as Vince keeps calling him Mark Thomas. The Papoose To Go finishes Thomas in a hurry.

Money Inc. vs. Beverly Brothers

Non-title with Vince admitting that no one likes either team. Before the match, IRS promises that there will be no extensions if you didn’t file your taxes. Money Inc. jumps them to start but gets knocked outside in a hurry. Ever the unfunny non-genius, Bartlett thinks he’s watching the Beverly Hillbillies. Blake works on a wristlock to start and gets nowhere at all.

A shoulder drops Blake and now Bartlett thinks Vince is named Dave. It’s off to Beau for the arm work with Blake adding a flying headbutt to the elbow. An armbar goes on and DiBiase’s hot tag to IRS isn’t seen. I….I don’t know how to handle the idea of DiBiase as a face in peril. Thankfully Bartlett is there with a stupid question about Luna being a woman of the 90s. Savage’s advice: “Never trust a woman whose voice is deeper than mine.” That’s rather logical actually.

DiBiase’s arm is sent into the buckle but manages a slam for the hot tag off to IRS. That just earns him an armbar of his own as the Beverlies are looking better than I’ve ever seen them. I mean, they’re still dull, but that’s an upgrade for them. A fireman’s carry takeover gets two and Blake cranks on another armbar. Some double team choking keeps IRS in trouble and we take a break.

Back with IRS holding Beau in a front facelock as the announcers don’t bother explaining how control changed. DiBiase comes in with no tag but insists he made one and that’s good enough. A swinging neckbreaker gets Beau out of trouble and bringing Blake back in because now the Beverlies are faces. Beau gets tagged back in way too soon but gets two off a backdrop. Heel (I think?) miscommunication causes Beau to clothesline Blake though and DiBiase steals the pin.

Rating: D+. This could have been something interesting with a better team than the Beverly Brothers but there’s not much you can do to get past their nothing status. They never were an important team and since no one cared, why would I be interested in watching them fight the top heel team? Get a more charismatic team in there and this could have worked, but here it was a waste of time.

Vince brings out Bret Hart for a chat. Bret says he was the underdog against Yokozuna but he’s used to that status. He’s lost titles before and he feels strange without having one on his shoulder right now. Therefore, he’s going to get some revenge and first up on his hit list is Lex Luger. He got knocked out by Luger’s elbow at the Wrestlemania brunch and thinks there should be an investigation because there’s more than bone under that pad. Bret wants the title back too and he’s going to go through Luger, then Yokozuna and even Hulk Hogan to be champion again.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Phil Apollo

Apollo would eventually play Doink. Bigelow throws him off a headlock to start and hits a running headbutt for a bonus. We’re already off to the neck crank as this isn’t likely to last long. A dropkick is swatted away and a suplex drops Apollo again. Speaking of Doink, here he comes to spray fans with his umbrella. Apollo gets splashed in the corner as Bigelow is taking his time on this one. A backsplash sets up the Swan Dive to finally finish Apollo.

Rating: D. Bigelow was in an interesting place at this point as he was being pushed pretty hard but didn’t break through to the main event scene for the better part of two years. He’s fine in this role, but an actual story for him might be nice. You know, like with someone who can bounce off of him well and make both of them look good.

Post match Friar Ferguson comes out for the staredown with Bigelow. THAT’S NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND!!! Ferguson dropkicks Bigelow in the back to put him on the floor. Again: THAT’S NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND!!!

Overall Rating: D. I can’t get my mind around the fact that they thought Ferguson was going to be around long enough to get beaten up by Bigelow. Other than that, this was a show where they started to move towards some more interesting stuff, mainly with Bret being there. Star power is one of the most important parts of Raw and if your biggest name is a still pretty new Razor Ramon, you’re not getting very far. They’re getting closer to getting somewhere, but it’s not here yet.

I’ve already done the April 26 show so here you go if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/04/27/on-this-day-april-26-1993-monday-night-raw-1993-with-a-marriage-proposal/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 12, 1993
Location: Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, New York
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, Rob Bartlett

We’re back with the post-Wrestlemania stuff this week and that means the show almost has to be better than last time. This week’s show is headlined by Money Inc. vs. the Bushwhackers because this is one of the darkest times the show has ever seen. Hopefully it’s better this time around but I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Let’s get to it.

Money Inc. pays off the Beverly Brothers for information about the Steiner Brothers. The report: they can suplex, they’re fast and they’re strong. Oh and avoid the Frankensteiner. How did DiBiase get rich with this kind of bad investments?

Opening sequence.

IRS vs. Scott Steiner

If they’ve already changed the advertised match to something else, imagine how bad the original plans were going to be. Since it’s tax season, IRS keeps his PAY YOUR TAXES speech short this week. IRS bails straight to the ropes to get out of a hammerlock as Bartlett gets into a discussion of toothpaste being thicker than blood. A good looking powerslam plants IRS but Scott stops to yell at DiBiase and that’s enough for a breather.

Back in and Scott shoulders him down, setting up an armbar as IRS can’t keep up on the mat (Michigan beats Syracuse I guess). The announcers make tax jokes (the height of 1993 comedy) as Steiner gets two off a suplex. IRS elbows him to the floor where DiBiase gets in a clothesline as we take a break.

Back with IRS hitting a piledriver for two and the chinlock going on. And staying on for a long time actually, because that’s how you want an opener to go. IRS gets a backbreaker but takes WAY too long going up top for the jump straight into a raised boot, making it look even dumber than usual. Scott starts slugging away and even snaps IRS’ throat across the top with his tie. The tiger bomb connects but DiBiase comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. That chinlock really hurt things but the bigger problem is this match getting so much time. Their tag matches would be better but the singles matches don’t exactly have a spark. It’s almost like a wrestling tax man isn’t the kind of gimmick you want in a longer match. Just dull for the most part, which is quite a long time for a match getting this long.

Post match the Beverly Brothers come in for the double team but clothesline DiBiase by mistake. Shoving ensues and DiBiase wants his money back. Money Inc. goes to leave and gets jumped from behind. I guess this is a face turn, even though the Beverlies were leaving within a month at the most.

Tatanka vs. Von Krus

Von Krus is better known as Vito and is from just Germany. He spits at Tatanka’s feet to start so it’s a monkey flip and hiptoss to put him down. Cue Doink the Clown to spray water out of his umbrella as Tatanka gets poked in the eye. Some chops get Tatanka out of trouble and there’s the big jumping elbow. Krus hits an elbow of his own, this time to the jaw, followed by a headbutt. A backdrop gets Tatanka out of the already limited trouble and it’s off to the warpath, capped off by the Papoose To Go for the pin.

Rating: D. This was just barely a squash as Krus got in some offense to make the match go on a little longer than you would have guessed. Tatanka was still undefeated at this point and you would think that would lead somewhere at some point. It would still be a few months before that would be the case, but it wasn’t like he had the highest ceiling in the world.

Wrestlemania report, with both title changes being announced. Not the best idea in the world when you’re still selling the replay. Double Doink and Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez get some attention as well. You would think some of the actual good things would be mentioned here but that’s not the WWF style in 1993.

For reasons I don’t want to imagine, Bartlett gets to do an interview with Luna Vachon, who seems to scare the heck out of him. Ok fair enough. She’s the woman of the 90s and the true balance between genius and insanity. A few insults to Sherri bring her out for some yelling of her own. Luna says she’s a woman of the wild and promises to wipe Sherri across the ring like a fine Picasso.

The fight is on and clothes ripping ensues, including Bartlett’s, sending him running off. This goes on for a while with the fight heading into into the crowd until Sgt. Slaughter and Savage break it up. Post break, Luna comes back and loses more clothes (Savage: “OH YEAH!”). I want to see these two fight, which I never would have expected. Also, this is way further with the exposed skin than you usually get at this point.

Papa Shango vs. Scott Taylor

Fink calls him Skip for some reason. Taylor that is, not Shango. Some right hands and a dropkick just annoy Shango so he drops Taylor with a belly to back. A headbutt to the ribs keeps Taylor in trouble as Bartlett staggers back out and faints at commentary. Shango finishes with a shoulderbreaker.

Friar Ferguson vs. Chris Duffy

Yes he’s a wrestling monk who would go on to become Bastion Booger. Duffy gets shoved down to start and backdropped out of a piledriver attempt. Hold on though as Ferguson has to stop to pray. Duffy tries to slingshot him inside but gets tossed to the floor instead. Ferguson pulls up his robe to dance a bit and gets two off a splash, pulling up for some reason. A nerve hold continues this way too long squash. Back up and Duffy tries a sunset flip so Ferguson sits on his chest for the pin.

Rating: F. I know we talk about the Goon, Duke Droese and Aldo Montoya as the worst gimmicks of all time. Let me say this again though: HE’S A WRESTLING DANCING MONK! What in the world were the ideas that DIDN’T make air? This is one of those so terrible it’s forgotten ideas and you can see why.

Here are some fan interviews from Wrestlemania. The gist of it: shouting whatever country they’re from.

Money Inc. is ready for the Beverly Brothers next week so here are the Beverlies to jump them from behind to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. I still can’t get over the monk thing. They’re still in the post Wrestlemania lull, which you have to expect for a few weeks. There isn’t much going on at the moment and that’s fine considering the big stars aren’t actually back yet. However, there’s a point where you have to have something actually good on the show, but that didn’t happen here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 5, 1993
Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 1,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage

Opening sequence.

Virgil vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

During the entrances, Savage talks about Hogan winning the title last night. So either they did commentary later or they were a lot more trustworthy with some of the results. Virgil can’t get very far with the wristlock so he dropkicks Bigelow in the forearm as the fans tell Virgil that he sucks. For some reason Virgil tries a crucifix and gets crushed with a Samoan drop to change things up in a hurry.

We hit the chinlock as Vince gets in the required laughable line that Wrestlemania IX might be the best of all time. A headbutt sets up the neck crank and then a bearhug as this isn’t exactly thrilling. Virgil finally gets out and hits a bad looking missile dropkick for two. That’s enough for Bigelow, who headbutts him down and hits the top rope headbutt for the pin.

Rating: D-. There’s not much you can do with these two and they weren’t really going as hard as they could. Virgil was one of the weakest jobbers to the stars that I can remember and considering how bad some of them were, it’s covering quite a bit of ground. Bigelow wasn’t exactly at his peak here either and it wasn’t going to get any better for awhile.

Jerry Lawler comes out for his first ever WWF match but leaves over the BURGER KING chants.

Still at the backstage set of Wrestlemania, Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna have launched an official complaint about Hogan being the champion. There was no contract and therefore, no title change. Gene Okerlund tells us all that as Fuji and Yokozuna never actually talked.

Bob Backlund vs. Kim Chee

Chee is Kamala’s handler and probably played by Steve Lombardi (Brooklyn Brawler). Backlund’s handshake is declined so he trips Kim down with next to no effort. An elbow puts Backlund down and we’re already off to the chinlock. A sunset flip gives Chee two more and we hit the chinlock. Backlund fights up without much effort and hits some hiptosses. Chee tries a monkey flip but Bob rolls him up for the fast pin.

Rating: D+. Backlund is still worth seeing for his technical prowess but I don’ think anyone was thrilled with seeing the old guy back for one more run like this. It’s just not that thrilling of a story as the character is hardly interesting, which is kind of the point. At least they kept it short, which is a common ting to say around this era.

Damien Demento vs. Jim Brunzell

Regular commentator Rob Bartlett calls in, saying that he’s wasted all of his money at the tables in Las Vegas and can’t get back to work. He begs Vince for money but Vince can’t hear him in an unfunny bit. Why this is happening during a match isn’t clear, but why Demento was a thing isn’t either. Bartlett asks Vince to send him some money or a ticket as the “connection gets worse and worse”. So that wasn’t funny.

Brunzell works on the arm for a bit and Demento is annoyed that he has to grab the rope for the break. Brunzell gets two off a sunset flip as Vince hypes up the Wrestlemania replay. I didn’t want to see it in the first place. The announcers debate whether or not Hulk Hogan is a legitimate World Champion after last night as Demento hits him in the throat. Brunzell gets in his big dropkick for a bad looking two but gets caught in a neckbreaker. A knee drop of all things finishes Brunzell.

Rating: D-. The match was just a backdrop for the announcers talking about whatever they could come up with at the moment. That’s rarely a good idea and that’s a problem that kept happening around this time. Bartlett’s joke was funny for all of five seconds and then just got annoying, much like most of the stuff they had him doing.

Lawler comes out for the match again but still doesn’t like the Burger King chants and walks out a second time.

Steiner Brothers vs. Beverly Brothers

I didn’t realize the Beverlies were still around at this point. Scott takes Beau down without any effort but Beau complains of a hair pull to get out. Beau’s second attempt goes a bit better as he slams Scott’s head into the mat, only to get caught in a butterfly suplex. Well you knew that was coming. Blake and Rick come in with the former hitting a pretty nice powerslam. It’s back to Scott, who gets kneed in the back, allowing Beau to jump over Blake’s back and land on Scott (ala the World’s Greatest Tag Team).

A backbreaker gets two and we take a break. Back with Scott fighting out of a reverse chinlock, meaning we might have missed five seconds. Scott gets choked in the corner as the fans don’t seem thrilled with what they’re seeing. Beau puts on a bearhug until Scott muscles him over with a suplex. A missed legdrop and a tilt-a-whirl slam are enough for the hot tag to Rick so house can be cleaned. Everything breaks down and Scott hits a quick Frankensteiner for the pin.

Rating: D+. Pretty much a long beatdown on Scott until we got to the obvious ending. The Steiners were going to be the biggest stars in the division in no time because the division was so horrible at this point. The Beverlies are still fine for some low level jobbers, though they would be done in less than a month. Not terrible, but longer than it needed to be.

Watch WWF Mania! I always did.

Jim Powers vs. Jerry Lawler

Powers (a good 50lbs of muscle lighter than his Young Stallions or WCW days) punches him from behind to start and we’re off in a hurry. A top rope shot to the head lets Lawler do his great selling and a clothesline sends him scurrying out to the floor. Back in and Lawler gets slammed so he bails to the floor again. That means a lot of stalling, as you would expect from a Memphis legend.

Back in again and Lawler stalls even more, only to get annoyed at the BURGER KING chants. Powers misses a dropkick though and Lawler wants him to kiss his feet. Lawler starts choking and drops the fist but stops to yell at Savage. A raised boot in the corner gets Powers out of trouble and he sends Lawler into the corner a few times. Lawler has finally had it and hits the piledriver for the pin (with trunks because Lawler of course).

Rating: D. Boring match of course but Lawler deserves the chance to get to show just how awesome he was. Look at how little he did here but how much the fans were chanting at him. How much do you see people do today for almost no reaction? It’s because you can get so much more out of so little if you know what you’re doing.

Post break Lawler comes over to commentary and mocks the fans for yelling at him before calling out Savage as a coward. Savage stands up and Lawler bails to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. This was about as bad as it could get with nothing resembling a good match and no storyline advancement from Wrestlemania. Odds are that comes next week, but it doesn’t exactly thrill the fans who were watching this show. They were still very new to the Raw concept so it’s a bit more excusable, but sweet goodness what a weak night.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 24, 2004
Location: Metro Centre, Rockford, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re coming up on Bad Blood and we now have a World Title match. Last week saw Kane win a battle royal to become the new #1 contender to Chris Benoit’s World Title, but you know full well that won’t be the show’s biggest match. In the same battle royal, Shawn Michaels interfered to cost HHH his title shot. I think you know where this is going. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of everything I just said.

Eric Bischoff is in HHH’s locker room where HHH demands that Shawn be reinstated. Bischoff has already done that and announces the match between HHH and Shawn at Bad Blood. That’s fine with Shawn, who can have anything he wants. Bischoff leaves and HHH yells at Evolution, saying he wants some unity tonight.

Ric Flair vs. Edge

Orton is here with Flair, who starts with some strutting. They take turns hitting each other in the corner until Edge takes over with a backdrop. Flair gets sent to the floor and begs off back inside, only to get clotheslined down. Some right hands take Edge down and the knee drop gets two. Edge is right back up with some shots to the jaw and another backdrop but Flair pokes the eye. Even a blind Edge is able to knock him out of the air but Orton gets in a cheap shot to give Flair two. Cue Shelton Benjamin to take care of Orton, leaving Edge to spear Flair for the pin.

Rating: C-. The wrestling wasn’t much here but it gives us another step forward in Benjamin vs. Orton, which almost has to be the title match at Bad Blood. The perk of having a group like Evolution is you can throw a variety of people at them, including Edge and Shelton, both of whom are getting a nice rub as a result.

HHH and Batista are waiting on Shawn.

Earlier today, Vince McMahon had a bunch of women behind him to announce a reality show called the $250,000 Raw Diva Search. Have fun meeting the new generation that brought the women’s division down to new depths.

We look back at last week when Lita said yes to Kane.

Matt tries to find out what Lita was saying yes to but she still won’t say. They haven’t talked all week and he’s been worried about her. She’s been thinking about him and realizes she loves him. They kiss, and she wants to show him how much she loves him. Lita goes into her locker room to get her bag and finds (in addition to a camera waiting) Kane. Apparently something has happened between them but Kane said it was over. He says it is indeed over, allowing Lita to leave, without telling Matt what happened.

HHH and Batista go to beat up….Steven Richards as he arrives by mistake. Batista is sent to check on the rest of Evolution and HHH kicks Richards one more time to let off some steam.

La Resistance vs. Rosey/Hurricane

During the entrances, we’re told that Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young will be on the Tonight Show. I NEED to see this….I think. Rosey throws Conway to the floor to start and it’s off to Hurricane for a middle rope legdrop. Hurricane picks up the pace but gets low bridged out to the floor so the French beatdown can begin.

Conway works on an ankle twist until an enziguri gets Hurricane out of trouble. That’s enough for the hot tag to Rosey, who hits a running spinning legdrop on Grenier. Rosey rolls underneath a double clothesline (which you don’t see very often) and hits one of his own, allowing Hurricane to hit a high crossbody for two. The Shining Wizard misses though and Grenier gets in a cheap shot, setting up a rollup to finish Hurricane.

Rating: D+. Nothing wrong with a short match to get La Resistance over. Benoit and Edge need some regular teams to face and La Resistance, especially with Conway doing most of the work, is a perfectly fine choice. The match was short enough to not be too bad, though Hurricane and Rosey don’t have the same charm without their funny vignettes.

HHH is still waiting when Shawn pops up for the fight. Referees and security eventually break it up, though after both guys get in a few more shots.

It’s time for the Highlight Reel and Jericho is proud of himself for getting rid of Christian. The sexy beast is hot and so is his guest tonight. That would be Randy Orton, who is on fire right now. Orton comes out and Jericho praises him for holding the Intercontinental Title longer than anyone in the last seven years. Jericho lists off the names that Orton has killed, including Steve Austin, before moving on to Shelton Benjamin. That doesn’t do anything for Orton, because Benjamin is NOT getting a title shot.

That makes the next question obvious: why is Orton scared of Shelton? Orton doesn’t like that and it’s made even worse when Jericho cuts him off. Jericho says Shelton beat HHH and since HHH is a legend, Orton must want to face him. That’s too much for Orton, who wants to put Jericho on his list. The fight is on but Batista runs in. Cue Shelton for the save and I think you know where this is going, with Bischoff coming out to make the tag match.

Chris Jericho/Shelton Benjamin vs. Batista/Randy Orton

Joined in progress with Jericho headlocking Orton down and then turning it into a bow and arrow hold. Back up and a clothesline keeps Orton in trouble, which is made even worse by a tag to Shelton. Batista comes in as well and Shelton looks a bit nervous. Batista grabs him by the throat so Shelton kicks at the leg. That just earns him a heck of a clothesline and it’s Evolution taking over.

A neckbreaker gets Shelton out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Jericho to speed things up. The Walls are broken up so Jericho settles for a springboard dropkick to knock Batista off the apron. Now the Walls can go on but Batista makes the save, only to have Jericho dive onto both of them on the floor as we take a break. Back with Jericho in trouble, because that’s how WWE returns from commercials. Trish Stratus jumps in on commentary as Orton starts working on the arm.

Batista gets in his own arm cranking as Lawler keeps drooling over Trish. A crank of the arm cuts off Jericho’s comeback and it’s off to a shortarm scissors. Benjamin gets drawn in like a moron, allowing Batista to come in for a cross armbreaker. Jericho finally fights up and hits a springboard dropkick to drop Orton, setting up the hot tag to Benjamin.

House is cleaned as everything breaks down with a sunset flip getting two on Batista. That’s not cool with him though, so a hard clothesline takes Benjamin’s head off. Orton comes in and gets rammed into Batista for two off a rollup, followed by a powerslam for the same. Jericho cuts Batista off and it’s the exploder suplex to put Orton away.

Rating: B. Like I mentioned earlier, WWE can get miles out of this Evolution vs. everyone feud because they can do matches like this for months. Benjamin pinning Orton should be the logical way to set up the title match, which is the logical path for him after all those wins over HHH. Good match here, which is becoming commonplace on this show in this spot.

Post match Trish yells at Jericho, allowing Tyson Tomko to run Jericho over. Tomko powerbombs him through the announcers’ table for a bonus.

Here’s Kane to talk about how he’s envious of Chris Benoit for a variety of reasons. He wants to be the World Heavyweight Champion and live his dream life instead of a life of nightmares. That all changes at Bad Blood because he always gets what he wants.

Shawn is in Bischoff’s office, demanding that the match be the way he wants it. Bischoff agrees and here’s HHH to jump Shawn. Security finally breaks it up again.

Victoria vs. Molly Holly

Non-title and Gail Kim is here with Molly. Victoria spends a lot of time dancing on the way to the ring, which isn’t the worst thing in the world for a variety of reasons. Molly wastes no time in sending her to the apron where Gail pulls Victoria face first onto the apron. Back in and Molly grabs a double fish hook as the announcers talk about the Diva Search. A reverse cravate goes on and Victoria stays in trouble. There’s a running flip neckbreaker for a slightly delayed two but Victoria grabs a backslide for the same. Gail gets knocked off the apron and the Widow’s Peak finishes Molly in a hurry.

Rating: D. The women’s division is a mess right now as Victoria has cleaned the whole thing out, aside from Trish. The other problem is the talent isn’t exactly being treated as anything special. Is there really any reason for these two to be fight other than what happened two months ago at Wrestlemania? We need something a little better than that.

Post match Gail jumps Victoria and is quickly taken down by a Widow’s Peak of her own.

Smackdown Rebound.

Bischoff tells Johnny Nitro to round up the roster to act as security tonight.

Post break, Bischoff gives the locker room a speech about getting control back. If they don’t help, they’re all fired. Chris Benoit should not be in the same crowd as Val Venis and Hurricane.

We look back at the Rock/Eugene/Coach segment from last week. Still awesome.

Eugene is running around like a plane as William Regal is starting to warm up to him. When asked about Rock, Eugene goes into IF YA SMELL and Regal seems proud. They’re teaming tonight but Nitro comes in to say Regal isn’t cleared and can’t wrestle tonight. That’s too far for Regal, but the threat of Bischoff means it’s going to be a handicap match, unless Eugene can find a partner. Regal gives him a brief pep talk and the tag match is next.

Jonathan Coachman/Garrison Cade vs. Eugene/???

Eugene needs a partner for THESE TWO? He has one anyway and it’s….Chris Benoit. Egads they’re attaching a rocket to Eugene and it’s kind of awesome. The shocked face on Coach and the elation from Eugene make this even better. Eugene grabs the titles and starts running around so Coach trips him, which isn’t cool with Benoit. The early chopping has Cade in trouble and there’s the snap suplex. Eugene comes in and takes Cade down with a headlock without even taking the jacket off.

Cade hits Coach by mistake so we’ll go with a crisscross, setting up “HEY! WHAT’S THAT?” and a chop to Cade’s head ala Chief Jay Strongbow. It’s back to Benoit, who gets chopped and clotheslined in the corner by Cade. Coach comes in and Lawler knows it’s not going to end well. Everything breaks down and it’s an airplane spin to Cade. Benoit rolls some German suplexes on Coach and drops the Swan Dive. Eugene gets to hit one of his own for the pin and another big reaction.

Rating: C. There’s something so easy to cheer for about someone who has no business being here but succeeds anyway. Eugene is such a ridiculous concept but WWE has turned it into one of the most well done concepts they’ve had in a long time. This was especially strange to see if you watched Eugene in OVW, where he was basically a Benoit clone, down to using the rolling German suplexes and Crossface as his finishers.

Shawn and HHH are at it again. Good grief get a ring already.

Here’s HHH for the big showdown to end the show. He wastes no time in calling Shawn out so the fight is on. Shawn gets the better of it but has to deal with Evolution. Benoit and Edge come take care of the extras so here are some goons to try and break it up. Shawn gets in the dive onto the pile so more guys come out and finally separate them. Bischoff makes the big announcement of Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood. More brawling ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I’m having flashbacks to being a huge Eugene fan back in the day and it’s helping to fuel this string of very good shows. They’re building up new and actually interesting characters instead of slapping an ugly coat of paint on someone who wasn’t that great in the first place. It’s no surprise that Raw is smashing Smackdown every single week right now and why I’m really enjoying these shows week after week. Good stuff here, assuming you ignore the World Champion being treated like an upper midcard act with a non-existent feud with Kane for the pay per view. Fix that and the show is that much better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 22, 2018
Location: Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Corey Graves, Renee Young, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for Evolution so expect a lot of hearing about Nikki Bella vs. Ronda Rousey, which somehow is the highest profile match we can have on what was supposed to be a top level show. Other than that we have Crown Jewel next week, even though we’re not allowed to hear where the show is taking place. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to say that he can’t fight every day. He’s been wrestling for eleven years and now it’s back. Therefore he has to vacate the title and seek treatment. He was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 22 years old and now he has to do it again. Reigns was done with football but the WWE gave him a chance. Whether it was cheering or booing, the fans always reacted to him and that’s what matters most. The best thing for him to do right now is to go home and focus on his family and his health.

This is NOT a retirement speech because he’s coming back to this ring when he’s healthy again. When he comes back, it’s not about titles but about a purpose. He wants to show his family and friends that when live throws a curve ball at him, he crowds the plate and swings for the fences. Reigns leaves the title in the ring and walks away, only to be greeted by Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose on the stage for a big hug and one more Shield pose.

The announcers are nearly in tears talking about what happened and wish Reigns the best.

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Lio Rush hypes Lashley up as he throws Balor around. Balor knocks Lashley to the floor and chases after Rush, only to get run over by Lashley as we take a break. Back with Balor caught in a nerve hold as Rush keeps up the LASHLEY chants. Finn fights up but has to escape the delayed vertical suplex. The Sling blade looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Lashley pops up and blasts him with a clothesline. Balor is fine enough to grab a rollup for the fast pin at 8:29.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and it’s not like the fans cared about it after what opened the show. I know it’s hard to think about the title picture at the moment but Reigns leaving is going to open the door for a lot of new names in the main event picture. Balor could be one of them and a clean win here might suggest that being the case.

The announcers talk about the future of the Universal Title. Nothing has been determined yet but we might be getting updates throughout the night.

We look back at Drew McIntyre hitting the Claymore on Braun Strowman last week.

Dolph Ziggler and McIntyre say they have to look over their shoulders every night. McIntyre says when Strowman got done with Ziggler, he was coming for him so it was attacking first. After tonight, Ziggler won’t have to worry about a thing. McIntyre leaves to go monster hunting.

Sasha Banks vs. Ruby Riott

Preview of the six woman tag at Evolution. The early Riott Squad distraction lets Ruby beat Banks down from behind and we take an early break with Banks in trouble. Back with Banks getting elbowed in the face for two but sending Ruby into the buckle to get a breather. The right hands set up the double knees in the corner, followed by the middle rope Meteora. The Bank Statement goes on and draws Sarah Logan in, only to have Bayley make the save. That’s enough of a distraction for Ruby to send her into the corner, setting up the Riott Kick for the pin at 8:44.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here, though again there’s only so much energy you can have all night long. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it and that’s making it hard to focus on the show. For a setup for the six woman tag, this was perfectly acceptable, even if this story has been going on for what feels like ever.

We see the Undertaker and Kane’s promo from last week.

Nia Jax says she’ll win the battle royal.

Here’s DX for a chat. They talk about being afraid of things but neither of them are scared of anything. Shawn: “Ain’t neither of us running for Mayor!” The other word running around has been nostalgia, which Shawn hoped was just a Greek word for “new merch”. It’s really a polite way of saying old. But then again, the #1 movie at the box office came out 40 years ago and two weeks ago, they sold out a 70,000 person stadium. HHH: “Maybe old is just another way of saying “we’re better than you””.

I’ll let you make your own jokes and stick with HHH saying the DX logo has been around for twenty two years. HHH talks about how there’s another X that says the future is better too. Shawn: “And we’re running that too!” They’re not coming to Crown Jewel to make you laugh, but to hand you a beating. Shawn loads up the catchphrase but some electrical noises go off….followed by a gong.

Undertaker and Kane appear on the screen, saying pride goes before destruction. DX can bring their delusions and try to retrieve their lost respect. They’ll unleash their utter contempt because Shawn can’t outrun the reaper or survive the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers will own their souls for eternity and torment them in the deepest pits. They pour dirt into a grave. On a show where the Universal Champion says he has leukemia. And before they go to a country that is in the headlines for murdering a journalist.

We see the Reigns promo again.

Wrestlers have sent out tweets to Reigns.

There will be a new champion crowned at Crown Jewel when Strowman faces Brock Lesnar in a one on one title match.

We look back at the Bella Twins/Ronda Rousey segment from last week.

Here’s a somewhat shaken up Paul Heyman for a chat. His thoughts and prayers are with Reigns and he’s proud to have been in a locker room with that much pride for their friend. Tonight, Reigns was a man who sacrificed what he loved because he couldn’t be the Universal Champion. When you’re Universal Champion, you’ve earned the right to have people point at you and say you’re the best. Until 8:05pm EST tonight, we had the right to brag that the Universal Champion was the best in the world.

But now, no one is the champion so we need to find a new best in the world. There is only one person worthy of being champion and it certainly isn’t Braun Strowman. The only person who deserves to be walking into the Octagon as the Universal Champion is Brock Lesnar, and Strowman isn’t in his league. Cue Strowman and reality sets in quickly. Strowman says he’s going to bring the title back to Raw and when Reigns gets back from beating leukemia, he’s the first man in line for a title shot. For now though, Lesnar is going to get these hands. Strowman goes to leave and walks into the Claymore from McIntyre.

Post break Ziggler praises McIntyre, who says he did what most of the roster won’t do. He’s a grown man who doesn’t check under his bed for monsters. When Strowman shakes the cobwebs clear, he’ll realize that he needed them. Tonight, they defend the Tag Team Titles.

Here’s Elias to play a little guitar. Before he gets into the song about Apollo Crews though, here’s Apollo to cut him off.

Apollo Crews vs. Elias

Crews dropkicks him to the floor to start and hits a moonsault off the apron as we take a break. Back with Elias holding a chinlock for a rather long while until Crews powers up. The jumping clothesline drops Elias and the standing shooting star press gets two. A fall away slam into a Samoan drop is good for the same but Elias grabs the rope to avoid the toss powerbomb. The jumping knee to the face sets up Drift Away to finish Apollo at 8:00.

Rating: D. Well so much for Crews. I’m still not sure what the point is in having Elias out there for these nothing matches over and over, but at least they’re doing something with him and keeping him in front of the crowd. That’s certainly better than having him sit on the bench for weeks at a time and letting the fans forget about him. Still though, give him a push already.

Kurt Angle talks about how tough the World Cup of Wrestling is going to be. He talks about (as in reads cue cards about) all of his possible opponents with highlight packages of all seven of them. Angle has done a lot of things, but now he has the chance to be the best in the world. On this one night, he can do it all again.

Back from a break and here’s Elias to try the song again. This time it’s Baron Corbin interrupting, saying it’s his job to keep the show moving. Stephanie McMahon has sent him out here for something far more important than Elias playing his little guitar. He better quit staring at Corbin too, because if Stephanie didn’t like him, Elias would be fired.

Elias says he was in his own little world there for a second and writing a song in his head that he’s going to sing right now. The new song is about how Corbin is a coward and a puppet but Corbin has the mic cut. Elias walks off but comes back and blasts Corbin with the guitar. The face turn is a long time coming, but I’m not sure how well it’s going to work. Still though, you couldn’t hold it back much longer.

We look at the Bellas turning on Ronda Rousey two weeks ago.

Here are the Bellas and Rousey to sign. The twins bail as soon as Rousey shows up but she says she’s not going to beat them up tonight. Instead, she’s going to sign a contract so she can beat them up on Sunday. She even offers to put her hands behind her back because if they can beat her up like that, her own mother would kill her. They have her word, which is Ronda’s bond.

The Bellas come in and mock her for not being as good in judo as her mother or for not retiring undefeated from UFC. Nikki says Ronda’s mother is already ashamed of her so imagine what it’s going to be like when a Diva beats her for the title. She even slaps Ronda, who signs and promises to end Nikki on Sunday. This was WAY better than last week, partially because it didn’t go on for ten minutes. Now hopefully Sunday’s match follows this week’s example and not last week’s.

Reigns’ speech again.

Rollins and Ambrose say there are no words to talk about how they’re feeling, so tonight they’re going to win for Roman.

Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax vs. Tamina vs. Ember Moon

One fall to a finish. It’s a brawl to start as the announcers try to push Tamina vs. Nia as an interesting battle. Nia drops Dana and hits a flip splash but gets superkicked to the floor by Tamina. Ember goes up and hits the Eclipse to pin Tamina at 1:37.

Evolution rundown.

Here’s Titus O’Neil on the stage to introduce a group of breast cancer survivors with title belts.

Trish Stratus and Lita are ready to fight on Sunday and aren’t worried about Mickie James and Alexa Bliss. Alicia Fox comes up to make fun of them but here’s Mickie from behind for the cheap shot brawl. Security breaks it up but Trish and Lita run back in to beat them up. Trish: “That’s how we did it in the Attitude Era.”

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

Ziggler and McIntyre are defending. It’s a brawl to start with the champs being knocked outside to send us to an early break. Back with Rollins hitting a suicide dive onto both champs but McIntyre kicks him down back inside. Ziggler comes in, teases a superkick to Ambrose, and goes with a chinlock on Rollins.

That doesn’t last long as Rollins fights up and throws him down, followed by an enziguri on McIntyre. Ziggler is fast enough to get over and pull Ambrose off the apron though, leaving Rollins to take the reverse Alabama Slam. Back from a second break with Rollins making a blind tag and dropping a frog splash for two on McIntyre as Ambrose dives onto Ziggler. McIntyre gets put in the Tree of Woe but of course sits up to throw Rollins down.

Rollins is fine enough to superplex Ziggler into the Falcon Arrow as the fans are going nuts on these kickouts, probably because they know a title change is coming. The Stomp misses so Rollins lifts Ziggler up for a powerbomb into McIntyre. Dean comes back in but Dirty Deeds is broken up and a Claymore sends him outside.

Ziggler sends Rollins shoulder first into the post and gets two off the Zig Zag. The Claymore/Zig Zag combination is broken up by Ambrose but here’s Strowman as Rollins and Ziggler clothesline each other. McIntyre gets up to fight Strowman but they brawl into the crowd. Ziggler tries to grab a title but gets Stomped for the pin and the title at 19:16.

Rating: B. Well….yeah. This was the most obvious title change in recent history but at the same time, it’s the only thing they could do. With the Reigns situation, dedicating the match to him was the best thing they could do to guarantee an invested crowd during the title change. Another entertaining match too.

Post match the celebration is on….until Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on Rollins. The place gets REALLY quiet as Ambrose pounds away on him and shouts about Rollins thinking he’s funny. The beatdown is on with Den throwing a title at him and then peeling back the floor mats for Dirty Deeds on the concrete. Dean rips off the Shield shirt and leaves through the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I’m giving this one a big break tonight because of the opening announcement changing everything. That being said, I’m less interested in seeing either Evolution or Crown Jewel than I was coming in, though I’m wanting to find out where some other things are going. This week’s show made those two pay per views feel more like things we have to get through rather than something I want to watch, which is a really bad sign. Not a great show, but you have to give them a break on some parts of that.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 5, 1999
Location: Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Attendance: 8,227
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

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

We open with a recap of last week’s title change. You can hear the ratings climbing again. Undertaker wants a First Blood rematch. I’m guessing he requested that on Heat?

Opening sequence.

Here’s Austin to open things up. He may have been bleeding last week but he got the job done. Vince McMahon may have spent four months trying to take the WWF Title away from Austin but last week he crumpled those plans up and put them….uh….well you get the idea. The First Blood match is on for Fully Loaded and he hasn’t forgotten Undertaker busting him open last year against Kane.

Cue Vince to say that’s not happening. Austin cuts him off by saying his hair isn’t so good and Vince has 15,000 people calling him an a******. One of them has to go and go for good and Vince is willing to bet on the Undertaker to get rid of Austin. He’ll even let Austin’s attorneys draw up the contract. The only rules are that if Austin wins, Vince is done with him but if Austin loses, he never gets another title shot ever.

The thought of Austin as the champion makes Vince want to vomit and something has to be done about him. Either way, this is going to be the end of an era and if Austin wins, Vince is gone for good. Austin says deal, just so he can get rid of Vince. This was kind of long (standard around here) and there has to be something up on Vince’s part, which is the whole point of the thing.

Rock is cool with the idea of being locked in a cage with HHH because HHH is nothing to be scared of. Before he goes any further though, Michael Cole’s face needs to be covered by Rock’s new shirt. I mean, he’s got a point. Anyway HHH doesn’t know what he’s in for tonight because Rock emits electricity. As for Billy Gunn (To Cole: “Keep your head still jabroni.”), he’s still nothing so Rock is here to electrify as only he can. The energy is there but he doesn’t have his classic cadence just yet.

Tag Team Titles: Acolytes vs. Hardy Boyz

The Hardys are challenging and have Michael Hayes in their corner. Bradshaw is coming in with a bad neck after taking a Tombstone onto the steps last night. It’s a brawl to start with the Hardys’ dives before the bell not working so well. Jeff gets sent into the steps but Matt grabs a neckbreaker to put Faarooq down. The top rope splash/legdrop combination gets two but Faarooq plants Matt with a spinebuster.

Bradshaw comes in and hammers away, including catching Matt’s high crossbody. Jeff is right there with a dropkick to Matt’s back to knock both of them down so Faarooq comes in to beat Jeff down as well. A DDT gets two of Faarooq though and Jeff kicks Bradshaw in the face. That just earns Matt a Clothesline for two as the champs just can’t get rid of these guys. Everything breaks down and Hayes throws Jeff his cane to crack Bradshaw in the head. Matt’s tornado DDT is good for the pin and the titles in a huge upset.

Rating: D. The match was all kinds of sloppy but this was one of the biggest upsets in Raw history. I know the Hardys would move on to become one of the most successful teams of all time but at this point they were two nothing guys who were mostly interchangeable with each other. You have to start them somewhere though and maybe the Hardys can go somewhere. Way down the line. If ever.

Post break the Hardys and Hayes can’t believe they won but the feed breaks up, sending us over to GTV where Droz and Prince Albert are in drag with Droz saying it feels sexy. Well that was stupid.

Gangrel vs. Godfather

Gangrel isn’t happy with Godfather, who seemed to let Edge have some of the ladies for helping him out recently. Speaking of the ladies, Godfather has two of them here and one of them is none other than Lita. Actually hang on as Godfather wants Val to come out here, followed by Albert and Droz. Thankfully JR is there to explain that they’re dressed like women due to losing a match to Godfather and Venis. That doesn’t make it better, but at least it’s there. Droz is way too happy to be in the clothes and you can hear Russo laughing from here.

Gangrel jumps Godfather and there’s a clip with Godfather suddenly facing the other way. I wonder how bad that could have been. A spinwheel kick puts Godfather down but Gangrel misses a charge. Godfather misses a legdrop, avoids an elbow, and drops the leg for the pin. What an odd little match.

Post match Albert and Droz jump Godfather and Venis with Gangrel joining in. Edge and Christian come out to ask Gangrel what he’s doing but don’t bother to help Val.

Stephanie tells Test to be careful.

Test vs. Joey Abs

Joey jumps him before the match but gets kicked in the face for his efforts. The gutwrench powerbomb takes Joey down again but here’s Shane dragging Stephanie to the ring as the rest of the Mean Street Posse comes in to beat Test down.

Stephanie has to watch the beatdown. Shane glares at her as he leaves.

Chyna is furious that someone has vandalized her “beloved” car, thinking it was DX. The DX painted on the car would suggest she’s right. She tells the cops that either they can deal with it or she will.

Hardcore Title: Al Snow vs. D’Lo Brown

Brown is challenging and spends a lot of time talking trash, allowing Snow to come in and hit him in the head with a cookie sheet. They head to the floor and into the crowd with Snow breaking a broom over his back. Brown punches him up an escalator with some kid trying to run up the other side and screaming about the fight. Snow falls back down (at least on the proper side) and Brown chokes him with a pay phone. JR: “Somebody better call 1-800-Collect!” Brown: “Next time, call 1-800-Collect!”

They go through another door (thankfully with the camera running up to them instead of being ready for them) where Brown hits him with a shovel. It’s off to catering with Brown hitting the Low Down onto Snow onto a table, which of course doesn’t move because it’s a real table. Brown whips him through a standing table but Mideon pops up for no apparent reason to hit D’Lo and give Snow a breather. Snow puts Brown on a table and uses a forklift to get in the air for a splash to retain.

Rating: D. These matches are still entertaining, even if they’re this stupid. The best parts of the matches is to have them go through the back and see what toys they can find so the phone part was the highlight of the whole shindig. Snow was the most entertaining of the hardcore guys so this was as good as it was going to get. The Mideon thing isn’t likely to go anywhere but that has to happen at least three times a show.

Mideon walks by and looks at Brown.

The cops are looking for X-Pac and Road Dogg and Fink tells them where to go.

Road Dogg vs. Val Venis

So the cops around here suck. Val is banged up from earlier and doesn’t even do his catchphrase. A missed charge lets Val stomp away in the corner and he hits his running knees against the ropes. Val hits the Russian legsweep and hits the hip swivel, setting up a butterfly suplex for two. Dogg is right back with the shaky jabs but here are the cops with X-Pac in handcuffs. They arrest Dogg as well for one of the weirdest no contests you’ll ever see.

Chyna and Billy Gunn are very pleased with these results.

DX is put in the squad car.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Chaz

Chaz is challenging in case you’re rather slow. The fans want puppies but settle for an exchange of wristlocks instead. Chaz gets in a shot in the corner and powerslams Jeff for two. Debra offers the puppies so Chaz’s girlfriend Marianna goes over to yell, allowing Jeff to hit the Stroke to retain in a hurry.

Post match Jarrett goes for the guitar but Thrasher runs in for the save. What a moment.

Edge vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man powers him into the corner to start but gets drop toeholded down as the pace picks up. A missile dropkick gives Edge two but Boss Man hits a splash for three two’s. Edge is right back with a spear (not a good one either) for the fast pin.

Post match Boss Man hits him with the nightstick and cuffs him to the ropes for a beating. Christian runs in for the save but gets the same treatment as Edge. There is no Gangrel in sight and the post match angle was longer than the match.

Chyna is going to press charges. HHH is ready to beat up Rock but wants to know where it’s going to get him.

Billy Gunn vs. Meat

Chyna and PMS are here too. Gunn jumps him before the bell but Meat hits a layout F5 for two. Not that it matters as a Jackhammer sets up the Fameasser (with Gunn getting a heck of a jump) for the pin.

Post match Jacqueline yells at Gunn and gets dropped by Chyna. Gunn spray paints Ryan Shamrock (JR: “This spray painting idea is really original.”) and Chyna helps him do the same to Jacqueline and Meat, with JR thinking Chyna might have painted her own car while making more NWO references. This is another story that feels like it has a bunch of twists and turns, including starting and paying off a twist in the span of forty minutes.

Kane vs. Big Show/Hardcore Holly

Holly tells Show to start for the team so Kane dropkicks Show in the chest, only to be powerslammed for his efforts. Now Holly is willing to come in to pound away in the corner and dropkick the knee. Cue Undertaker and Paul Bearer for a staredown with Show, leaving Kane to chokeslam Holly for the fast pin.

Post match Kan and Undertaker beat Show down. Kane leaves and Undertaker chairs Show in the head as Kane isn’t sure what to do.

HHH vs. The Rock

Inside a cage with escape only. They slug it out to start with Rock getting the better of it until a kick to the ribs cuts him off. Some right hands in the corner keep Rock down but he gets in a kick of his own. Stomping ensues but the jumping knee to the face takes Rock down. HHH goes for the door but would rather get some handcuffs from Chyna to hit Rock in the head. A low blow prevents Rock from being attached to the cage but HHH is right back with a swinging neckbreaker.

It’s still too early for HHH to get out though and it’s something like an armdrag off the top of the cage. Rock goes for the door but of course Chyna shoves the referee down, slams the door on Rock’s head, gets called a Jezebel by JR, and gets inside to help HHH out. Rock follows him though and things keep going because there’s no referee. HHH gets catapulted into the cage and they head back inside as the match pretty much restarts.

A few rams into the cage and a DDT have HHH in trouble, followed by a top rope ax handle of all things. HHH is back up and hits a hard clothesline but takes too long getting up. They both wind up on top for the slugout until Chyna hands HHH a chair for a hard shot to the head. For no logical reason, HHH comes back inside and crotches himself on the ropes, leaving Rock to climb down for the win.

Rating: C-. This was a pretty messy match and felt more like a big time house show match than a TV main event. That being said, Rock vs. HHH is always worth at least a look and that was the case again here. Rock winning is fine as a way to send the fans home happy and HHH technically won so he has a bragging point for later.

Post match here’s Gunn for a Fameasser to Rock on the floor and a double beatdown ends the show.

Overall Rating: D. As usual, there’s no much going on here that it’s almost impossible to keep track of everything going on. They set up the title match for the pay per view but other than that, it’s a bunch of stuff that feels like it’s being thrown at the wall instead of trying to have anything coherent going on. In other words, it’s very Russo. The title change would wind up being historic but there was no knowing what it would mean at this point. Overall there are worse shows from the era, but the DX angle isn’t working and the wrestling was barely there, as always.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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