IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: September 9, 2005
Location: Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s a big night as Smackdown moves over to Fridays, where it would stay for a very long time to come. This is a stacked card with Batista defending the World Title against JBL in a bullrope match, Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio in a cage match and Heidenreich/Animal defending the Tag Team Titles against MNM. Let’s get to it.

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

A small note about this show: the first hour was aired on WWE.com due to a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Heidenreich/Animal vs. MNM

MNM is challenging with Melina at ringside. Heidenreich rushes both of them to start and the fight is on in a hurry, with Nitro’s flip over him only resulting in a crash. Animal drives Nitro into the barricade and punches Mercury in the face as the dominance is strong early on. Mercury’s arm is wrapped around the post but Melina offers a distraction so he can snap Heidenreich’s throat across the top.

A running knee in the corner lets Nitro hammer away and it’s back to Mercury for a front facelock. With Heidenreich down, Mercury goes up but takes his time, earning himself a slam right back down. The hot tag brings in Animal to clean house but the referee gets bumped. Melina brings in a title but gets caught, allowing Animal to belt Mercury in the head to retain.

Rating: D+. I was kind of surprised by how not horrible this was. Animal and Heidenreich have been champions for about a month now and while they really don’t need to be around much longer, they could have been worse. At least the ending wasn’t clean so there is a reason for a rematch in the near future.

Video on Randy Orton vs. Undertaker with Orton promising to retire the Undertaker.

Here’s Ken Kennedy for his match, but first he needs to tell Tony Chimmel that there are two things he sucks at: announcing and announcing. Kennedy handles his own introduction again and you really can feel the charisma dripping off of him.

Ken Kennedy vs. Paul London

Kennedy elbows him down to start and stomps away, setting up a middle rope elbow. A bearhug (what an odd visual) goes on but London is out in a hurry with a spinning kick to the head. London takes him up but gets caught with the middle rope Regal Roll for the pin, meaning Kennedy can handle the victory announcement.

Rating: D+. Not much to this one but Kennedy continues to roll. It’s easy to see what they see in Kennedy and I could go for more of him. The It Factor is strong with him, though it’s a little weird to have him go from beating Booker T. one week to beating Paul London the next. At least he looked dominant though and that’s the right idea early on.

Theodore Long and Palmer Cannon are shown watching. Yes, the bosses are in fact here.

Paul Burchill vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Fallout from an attack on Velocity and William Regal is on commentary to make our lives better. Burchill declares himself the most dangerous import since Regal, which makes his eyebrows go up. Scotty slugs away to start but Burchill takes him down by the arm and hammers away. The armbar with a chinlock goes on early on but Scotty fights up. That earns him three straight whips into the post, setting up a shoulder breaker. The Fujiwara armbar makes Scotty tap.

Rating: C-. Burchill is someone else who gets your attention and has the aggression that can take him a long way. That and being out there with Regal will always help him, as the evil British guys is a trope that has worked for years. I liked what I saw here and they’re doing some interesting stuff with the new talent, so well done there.

Kennedy comes up to Sharmell in the back and introduces himself, while bragging about beating Booker T. last week. Sharmell leaves but Kennedy brings up the lack of title shots that Booker T. has received. Like say, against Chris Benoit. Friends shouldn’t let friends drive drunk but they should give friends title shots.

Here’s the Undertaker to deal with the Ortons. Undertaker says that he and death wait for no man so Randy and Bob can get out here right now. Cue the Ortons on the stage and Randy brings out the check for $1,416 towards Undertaker’s retirement fund. If Undertaker wants it, come get it. Instead, Undertaker sends a bolt of lightning to light it on fire. The idea of Undertaker and money is just wrong.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

In a cage and Eddie has new music. Eddie walks right over to him before the bell and hammers away in the corner before sending him into the cage three times in a row. Rey is back up with a spinning armdrag and a monkey flip but the cage prevents a 619. It’s too early to climb though and Eddie powerbombs him down for a double knockdown. Eddie pulls him down again, this time wrenching Rey’s knee (yes, a Mysterio knee injury) and we take a break.

Back with Rey trying to pull Eddie down and getting kicked away. Instead, he jumps up onto the ropes for a super Russian legsweep, because going Russian usually works. Rey goes up again and this time they both wind up sitting on top of the cage for the slugout. It’s Rey getting his legs over the side first but Eddie pulls him back in and they wind up on the top rope instead. In a pretty unique spot, Rey dropkicks him into the cage and they both crash down.

Eddie is back up with a DDT but Rey grabs the leg for the save. Back from another break with Rey hurricanranaing him off the top but tweaking the knee again. Rey goes up again but makes the rather dumb mistake of trying a high crossbody, earning the crash and burn landing. Eddie has the chance to leave but goes up top instead and hits the frog splash to FINALLY beat Rey.

Rating: B. This felt like a weird afterthought with Summerslam already done but at least Eddie FINALLY got a win over Rey. It’s the only way the story could end from Eddie’s side and that’s the right call if they’re going that way. Both guys are ready for something new and that’s long overdue at this point.

Linda McMahon asks you to donate to Hurricane Katrina relief.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

Benoit is defending and we see both full title matches during his entrance. Jordan misses a right hand and gets Crossfaced for the tap at 22.5 seconds. Yeah it’s still funny.

Video on Batista.

Long and Cannon announce Undertaker vs. Randy Orton for next week.

Smackdown World Title: John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Batista

Batista is defending in the four corners variety bullrope match. JBL slugs away to start but Batista uses the rope to cut him off in about half a second. The rope gets wrapped around JBL’s neck for a few buckle slaps (complete with the lights so you know who has scored) but JBL breaks it up. That earns him some stomping in the corner so JBL has to hit a big clothesline to cut Batista off again.

A poke to the eye and a kick to the head have Batista down in the corner and a cowbell to the head knocks him silly. That’s good for three turnbuckles but Batista pulls him back again, despite laying on the ropes at the time. Maybe JBL needs to hit the gym a bit harder. JBL hits him low with the rope and we take a break.

Back with Batista carrying him on his shoulders for two buckles but it’s broken up again and reset. The Clothesline From JBL is blocked with a forearm and the whipping begins. The Batista Bomb connects and JBL is busted open. Batista doesn’t mind as we get the slow walk around the ring with both of them hitting three buckles. A spinebuster lets Batista get to the fourth buckle for the win.

Rating: D+. What were you expecting from this one? These matches are only going to be so good with the gimmick limiting what they can do. This was almost every version of this that you’ve ever seen with both of them going cutting the other off and then the near tie to end the show. That’s almost all you see here and the lack of drama really hurt things. Not the worst, but really lame for a main event.

An Undertaker vs. Orton video ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The cage match was good and felt like a big moment, but this show came off as underwhelming. They had a lot of matches that felt important but almost none of them lived up to the hype. For a show on a new night, they didn’t exactly treat it like some major change, but at least we had that one good match. It’s not a bad show, but I was expecting a lot more.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: February 7, 2020
Location: SAP Center, San Jose, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re less than three weeks away from Super ShowDown and that means it’s time to line up some major guest starts. We’ll likely start that tonight as Goldberg is here and is going to need a match. I’m not sure who that is going to be but I’m hoping we might get to see him face the Fiend. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at Goldberg returning.

Opening sequence.

Here are Miz and Morrison for the return of the Dirt Sheet. Morrison: “My name is John Morrison. My shirt has buttons but I don’t use them.” In honor of the Academy Awards, we see a clip of Once Upon A Time On The Dirt Sheet, a film which is guaranteed to win all the Slammys (it’s also rated A for AWESOME). We see a trailer featuring various cameos, including Miz’s dad, Lance Storm and Johnny Ace. Basically Miz needs to prove himself again, Morrison is back and the two of them want to show they’re better than New Day. This is all in a Once Upon A Time In Hollywood style and words aren’t doing it justice.

Back in the ring, Morrison talks about how interesting it is that people want to talk to them now that they’re the cool kids again. Cue New Day, with popcorn buckets, to talk about how awesome the trailer was. They saw the amazing athlete in Mr. Miz and your trivia for the night: Kofi is Mr. Miz’s favorite superstar. Kofi: “That’s a shoot.”

It had comedy too, like the idea that Miz and Morrison could win the Tag Team Titles. Cue the Usos to say Miz and Morrison never beat them so welcome to the Uso Penitentiary. That sounds like an interesting match so here are Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode because we were this close to having some fun and that’s not what Ziggler and Roode are all about. Miz and Morrison jump New Day and the match is next.

Usos vs. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode

Well yeah of course it’s this match. What else was it going to be? Roode and Jimmy exchange chops to start until it’s Jey coming in to chop as well. Ziggler gets the tag and hits a dropkick, followed by the Fameasser for two. The Zig Zag/spinebuster combination gets two on Jimmy as Jey makes the save. Jey hits an enziguri and goes up, only to have Ziggler offer a distraction so Jey can get knocked off the top in a crash.

Back from a break with Roode stomping Jey down in the corner but Ziggler gets punched in the face a few times. A kick to the jaw allows the hot tag to Jimmy as the pace picks up. The Samoan drop hits Ziggler and Roode, the latter of whom is right back with a powerslam. Ziggler takes too long loading up the superkick though and it’s Jimmy hitting one to each of them. The Superfly Splash hits knees and Ziggler gets two off a small package. The double superkick hits Roode though and now the Superfly Splash can connect for the pin at 12:33.

Rating: C+. They’re both good teams (or great in the Usos’ case) but the lack of interest that hits as soon as Ziggler’s music hits is astounding. I don’t need to see him do anything else ever again but more importantly, I don’t need to hear anything associated with the Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin feud again and this was a spinoff of that feud, meaning I’m good with not watching them associate in any way.

Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss are ready for Bliss’ chance to become #1 contender.

We look back at Corbin getting covered with dog food last week.

Corbin storms into the production truck and the out the guy who played the tape. Agents prevent further violence.

Here’s Elias for a song. He’s facing Cesaro tonight and needs all the support he can get, so this song is called Third Time’s The Charm. After two words, here’s Cesaro to cut him off, with Sami Zayn as a bonus. Elias points out that he always gets interrupted but Sami goes on a rant about how Elias laughed when Shinsuke Nakamura lost the Intercontinental Title. Therefore, it’s time to learn a lesson.

Elias vs. Cesaro

Joined in progress with Corey’s microphone not working and Cesaro hammering away against the ropes. A Sami distraction cuts Elias off and we hit the chinlock. An elbow gets two and there’s a gutwrench suplex to keep Elias down. The chinlock goes on again but this time Elias gets up for a jumping knee to the face.

Elias’ top rope elbow is broken up with a running uppercut and the apron superplex gives Cesaro two. Elias gets fired up and stomps away in the corner, which is a lot more offense than you usually see from him. A slam sets up the top rope elbow for the completely clean pin at 7:33.

Rating: D+. Elias is such a weird case as I’m still not sure how he should be used. His character is fine and the songs will keep him around for years, but the wrestling just isn’t there. He can be passable in the ring but that’s about his ceiling, which isn’t going to get him very far. Then there’s Cesaro losing clean and….are you really surprised? Even to Elias?

We’re ready to talk to Goldberg but here’s King Corbin to interrupt. Everyone should respect him because last week was an abomination. Roman Reigns should have lost last week, just like the 49ers lost to his Kansas City Chiefs. Reigns can’t do anything without his lapdogs because the Usos had to bail him out again.

If Reigns was as tough as he says he is, he would have fought one on one at the Royal Rumble. Then Corbin would have won and been the one headlining Wrestlemania. Corbin demands one more match with Reigns and pours a drink over a fan’s head. Cue Reigns with a Superman Punch and Corbin runs off. Reigns accepts the match and they’ll do it in a steel cage at some point. Reigns makes sure to talk to the fan who got the drink on his head.

Goldberg joins us live via satellite from Texas and gets straight to the point: he watched the Royal Rumble and it gave him the itch again. Brock Lesnar is already dealing with Ricochet and Drew McIntyre, but what about the Fiend and the Universal Title? He never got a rematch, so here’s some Breaking News from Firefly Fun House News. William Goldberg is considering challenging the Fiend and that’s bad news for Billy, because he accepts.

Mercy the Buzzard gives us the weather report: it’s going to be a cold day in h*** before the Fiend loses the Universal Title. Goldberg says he won’t be intimidated and the only thing he’s taking is the Universal Title. The Fiend is next and the fans like that idea. Goldberg leaves and Bray says that wasn’t very nice. Let him in. Bray: “Bye! See you Bill! Bye!”

Daniel Bryan is watching in the back when Heath Slater comes in. Slater recaps the Fiend going after Bryan….or maybe it was Miz. Heath reminds Bryan about the beating that he got from the Fiend and rambles on about how evil Fiend is. Bryan offers to face Slater right now and walks off, leaving Heath rather confused.

Video on Bryan vs. Fiend at the Rumble.

Daniel Bryan vs. Heath Slater

Slater is in street clothes. Running knee, suicide dive, missile dropkick, YES Kicks, another running knee, stomps to the head and the LeBell Lock for the win at 1:47. More of an angle of Bryan being more aggressive than the match. Commentary played up the idea of the Fiend changing Bryan.

We look at Braun Strowman winning the Intercontinental Title.

Here’s Strowman for his first comments as champion. He can’t believe this is happening because after everything he has done, he has never won a singles title. Cue Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura to demand a rematch, Strowman says they’re on but that’s not what Sami means. They’re going to use their resources for as long as they can, so here is the Revival to jump Strowman from behind. The beatdown is on but Strowman fights them off with ease but he spends too much time going after Sami, allowing Nakamura to hit Kinshasa.

Tucker helps Otis get ready for his date with Mandy Rose, including exercise (situps into a bite of pizza), clothing advise (suit jacket with the sleeves ripped off) and table manners, which results in the table being turned over. Tucker: “You’re ready.”

Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus

Crews starts fast with the kicks to the head, only to miss a charge and get Brogue Kicked for the pin at 29 seconds. That’s how it should have gone.

Post match Sheamus loads up another Brogue Kick so here’s Shorty G. for the save. In this case, that means some chops before Sheamus Brogue Kicks him again. See, they needed Gable to get beaten up three times in a row because he’s short and Sheamus is big and WWE doesn’t want to leave ANY doubt about who is better.

Super Showdown rundown, with Reigns vs. Corbin added to the card.

Dana Brooke vs. Carmella vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss

One fall to a finish and the winner gets a shot at Bayley (ringside). Only Naomi gets an entrance and they start fast with a series of rollups, followed by Carmella being taken into the corner. Dana hits the handspring elbow and everyone goes to the floor, leaving Naomi to hit a corkscrew dive. Bayley holds up the title so Naomi shoves her down to trigger a brawl with Naomi being sent into the steps.

Back from a break with Naomi fighting back up and cleaning house, much to Bayley’s annoyance. Bliss is back in to take Naomi down, leaving Carmella to hit the Bronco Buster on Brooke. Naomi is back up with the split legged moonsault as Dana has to make a save. Brooke tries a wheelbarrow to Naomi but gets caught with a Stunner for two.

Naomi’s legdrop gets two on Bliss but she shoves Naomi off the top for two of her own. Brooke gets back on the apron so Naomi suplexes her in and hits the split legdrop for another near fall. Bliss sends Naomi into the corner but Twisted Bliss hits knees. The Rear View hits Bliss but Carmella is back in with a superkick to finish Naomi at 11:43.

Rating: D+. Is this Graves’ February bonus or something? They did a good job of setting up Naomi as the obvious winner before pulling the surprise….but Carmella? Naomi was set up as the next challenger to Bayley last week and now it’s just Carmella due to reasons of surprise. The match was your usual two in, two out for the most part and that has been played out for years. Carmella is the bigger deal here as she may be a fresh challenger, but she isn’t the most logical one.

Bayley jumps Carmella to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. This was a weird one as I didn’t mind a lot of it but by the ending I was wondering what was supposed to have been good on the show. Goldberg vs. Fiend is interesting for a short, one off match but other than that, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to cheer for. More Reigns vs. Corbin? Carmella getting a surprise title shot? An Elias match? The Dirt Sheet was the highlight of the show and then they were just gone for the sake of Roode and Ziggler. This wasn’t a good show and I kept waiting on the good moment that never came. Hopefully they fix this soon because it didn’t make me want to watch next week.

Results

Usos b. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode – Superfly Splash to Roode

Elias b. Cesaro – Top rope elbow

Daniel Bryan b. Heath Slater – LeBell Lock

Sheamus b. Apollo Crews – Brogue Kick

Carmella b. Naomi, Alexa Bliss and Dana Brooke – Superkick to Naomi

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: September 1, 2005
Location: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the last night on Thursday and we have a pesky network boss running around trying to tell Teddy Long how to do his job. This is going to be an interesting show as it is mainly going to exist as a setup for next week’s big edition, meaning I wouldn’t expect too much to happen. Maybe they can surprise me though. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Heidenreich vs. Joey Mercury

Animal, Melina and Johnny Nitro are all here. Heidenreich and Animal clear the ring to start and Mercury’s cheap shot at the bell doesn’t work. They head outside with Heidenreich beating him up even more but Mercury catches him with a neck snap across the top rope to take over. Nitro even gets in a cheap shot so Mercury can drop a knee. We hit the chinlock but Heidenreich is straight back up with the one two combinations. A big boot staggers Mercury and a chokebomb gives Heidenreich the pin.

Rating: D. What else were you expecting? Animal and Heidenreich are the new monsters and there is no reason to have someone as small as Mercury be a serious threat. The tag match itself could be better but they’ve been very smart to keep things quick in these matches. It’s the best thing they could do, even though they haven’t exactly been great.

Post match Animal gets beaten down in the corner but Heidenreich makes the save. Mercury and Nitro have to save Melina from the Doomsday Device and Animal gets sent into the steps. The Snapshot leaves Heidenreich laying.

Jillian Hall is grateful to Palmer Cannon for the title shot next week. Oh and he likes her…earrings, and was certainly not looking at her blemish. Jillian leaves so here are Christy Hemme and Stacy Keibler. He apologizes for last week but standards and practices didn’t like the idea of a lingerie match. They can have a regular match tonight instead.

Here’s Cowboy Bob Orton to introduce his son Randy. After a lot of posing, Randy talks about his dad telling him that he would be the greatest wrestler ever. Eventually, every legend would fall at Randy’s feet and that makes Bob a genius. It’s interesting that no one has ever seen Undertaker has Summerslam because he’s running scared.

That’s why the two of them have signed Undertaker’s new DVD and you can bid on it at WWE.com. The money goes to the Undertaker’s retirement fund and Randy will match it dollar for dollar. Undertaker can even come here in person next week and accept his retirement fund. As for tonight, Randy has Rey Mysterio, who has lied to his son for years. Tomorrow, he’ll have to lie to his son again when his son asks if Rey won his match, because tonight it’s the RKO.

Chris Benoit wants to test his timing again so let’s see how long it takes him to, ahem, relieve himself. Benoit beats the time, though hand washing may not have been included.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

Jordan is challenging and we have a clock on screen. Jordan unloads in the corner but gets Crossfaced for the tap at 23.4 seconds. This is great stuff.

Christy Hemme vs. Stacy Keibler

The bell rings but hold on as here’s Sylvain (Grenier) to say the two of them don’t compare to him. Cue Hardcore Holly to say that he doesn’t care about Sylvester because he’s here to see the girls. Sylvain calls him Bobby and gets beaten up.

Teddy Long and Palmer Cannon preview next week’s show and mention that next week’s JBL vs. Batista match will be a bullrope match. As for tonight, JBL has the night off, which is news to Long. Since he doesn’t like the surprise, he has one of his own: next week it’s Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio inside a cage.

Booker T. vs. Ken Kennedy

Christian, with a broken nose, is on commentary and Sharmell is here with Booker. Kennedy isn’t happy with Tony Chimmel’s introduction though, suggesting that he sounds like the adults in a Charlie Brown special. After handling his own introduction, Kennedy asks if you can dig that, earning himself a forearm to the face. Booker jumps him to start and stomps Kennedy down in the corner, which Christian seems to like. A superkick puts Kennedy down for two and a backdrop gets two as it’s one sided so far.

Kennedy misses a spinning kick to the face so he keeps spinning and catches him the second time around. Booker gets sent into the corner as Tazz diagnoses Christian’s thumb injury. Some shots to the face keep Booker in trouble but he’s right back with his own kick to the face. That just earns him a hot shot and a running neckbreaker for two so Booker grabs a spinebuster for another comeback. Hold on though as we need a Spinarooni as Sharmell goes over to yell at Christian. The distraction lets Kennedy catch him on top for the super Regal Roll and the pin.

Rating: C. Egads this Sharmell stuff needs to go far away as it’s just her yelling at people and being annoying. What matters here though is Kennedy getting a much harder push in a hurry. Beating Funaki is the Smackdown version of a participation award and the fans know it, so giving him a win over someone who matters is something that could actually get him somewhere.

Here’s Simon Dean, on his personalized Segway (the Dean Machine), to say that Batista is a Simon System user. It has made him bigger, stronger and faster, but not smarter. Hit the music.

Batista vs. Simon Dean

Non-title. Hold on though as Batista can’t remember trying the Simon System. He’s willing to try it though because he’s into fitness and open minded. Batista tries some and says he feels bigger, stronger….and more aggressive. The big clothesline starts us off and the beating is on in a hurry. Batista hits the spinebuster but stops for more to drink, which makes him shake the rope. The Batista Bomb connects but he grabs the drink and poses with it as he covers Dean with one foot. This gave me a few chuckles and was a different way of using Batista, which is a good idea.

William Regal/Paul Burchill vs. Scotty 2 Hotty/Funaki

Fallout from this weekend’s Velocity where Burchill debuted and helped Regal beat Scotty down. Scotty and Regal start things off with Regal’s arm getting worked over. Funaki comes in and monkey flips Burchill, only to miss a charge and get sent head first into the mat. Regal comes back in to suplex Funaki but an armdrag is enough for the tag off to Scotty. Everything breaks down and Regal gets in a cheap shot, setting up a shoulder breaker from Burchill. A Fujiwara armbar makes Scotty tap in a hurry. Burchill looked good in his debut.

We preview next week’s big show.

Eddie Guerrero is standing behind a piece of a cage and very quietly says Rey didn’t just get Eddie’s son. Rey got his whole family because Vickie Guerrero cost Eddie the match. That made Eddie realize something though: she wasn’t just shoving the ladder over to save Rey’s family because she had lost him too. It’s Eddie’s fault though because he had Rey at the edge of defeat so many times and toyed with him. Next week Rey will have to take him on, but how can he beat someone who has already lost everything? This was almost creepy.

Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton

Bob is here with Randy, who starts with some early short jokes. These mesmerize Mysterio so much that Randy can kick him in the ribs and forearm him out to the floor. Back in and a heck of a clothesline drops Mysterio but he’s right back up with a hurricanrana to the floor. This time Mysterio gets to mock Orton a bit by stealing his pose on the ropes. Orton gets back in so Rey hammers away to really rock him for a change.

That’s a little too much for Orton who throws him under the bottom rope and we take a break. Back with Orton holding a standing chinlock of all things before saying Rey is as big as his ten year old brother. Mysterio is back with a dropkick to the knee but Orton hits….a delayed atomic drop. Not exactly a big heel move but Rey sold it sell enough. The chinlock goes on again for a good while, followed by a rake of the boot to the face.

Rey gets in a rollup for a quick two and the sitout bulldog puts Orton down again. Orton’s backbreaker gets a pair of near falls but he dives off the middle rope into the raised boots. As luck would have it, Orton falls into the ropes but gets up before the 619 can connect. Orton uppercuts him from his knees instead, only to run into a boot so Rey can hit the springboard seated senton. A headscissors sets up the 619 but Bob breaks up the West Coast Pop. Randy hits him low and puts Rey on top for a super RKO and the pin.

Rating: C+. This took some time to get going but they’re talented enough that the match was almost always going to be good. Orton winning was hardly a secret but it helps when you have Mysterio out there to do whatever you want from him. Bob is fine for a short term addition but Orton has already been a main eventer on his own and doesn’t exactly need him out there. It’s a good act for now though and as long as it doesn’t drag so long, it should work out.

A promo for the show moving to Fridays ends the show.

Overall Rating: C. The show was fine enough, though not exactly something memorable. One thing I really do like at the moment is that the way that they’re doing short form stuff with some bigger names. Stuff like Batista and Benoit running through people is a good way to get them on television and pop the crowd without wasting anything. It’s a different way of doing things and rather nice for a change. Next week’s show is a big one though and that’s the one that matters.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 31, 2020
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re done with the Royal Rumble and since Drew McIntyre won, we need a new #1 contender to the Smackdown World Title. Granted that probably won’t be happening until Elimination Chamber or whatever else is next, but you can almost pencil in Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin in some form for the title shot. Let’s get to it.

Here’s the Royal Rumble if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here are Roman Reigns and the Usos to open things up. Reigns is happy to have beaten King Corbin but he’s not happy with losing the Royal Rumble. They’ll regroup tonight against…well these three as Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode interrupt. Corbin talks about how the Usos are the reason he didn’t win the Royal Rumble. The Usos talk about beating the three of them up over and over so Corbin brings up their suspension.

We see the dog food incident again, with Cole saying we’ve seen this “ad nauseum”, as even WWE admits that this feud has gone on WAY too far. Reigns accuses Corbin of having a dog food fetish and offers a stipulation: the loser of the main event eats dog food. A bunch of dog food is wheeled out and Cole suddenly finds the possibility of Corbin eating dog food to be HILARIOUS. It’s almost like he’s suddenly 74 year old man child who is entertained by juvenile ideas.

Heavy Machinery vs. Lucha House Party vs. Miz/John Morrison vs. Revival

The winners get a Tag Team Title shot at Super Showdown and Kalisto is the odd luchador out. Tucker bearhugs Wilder to start and it’s quickly off to Otis, so Tucker throws Wilder to him as the bearhugging continues. That’s broken up and it’s Morrison coming in to get caught with a springboard hurricanrana from Metalik. Revival breaks up a sunset flip for two as everything breaks down.

Heavy Machinery is sent outside for double dives from the House Party, followed by Morrison hitting a huge top rope corkscrew dive. Miz teases his own dive but Dawson cuts them off, allowing Metalik to hit his own dive as we take a break. Back with Dorado hitting a double Golden Rewind on Miz and Morrison and everything breaks down again. Otis hits a double Caterpillar on Miz and Morrison for two but Dawson knocks Otis into a tag from Metalik.

A springboard crossbody from Metalik sets up a top rope splash from Dorado but Otis comes back in to clean house. Dawson DDTs Otis but Dorado slips out of a slingshot suplex. Back to back moonsaults connect but the third is cut off, setting up Wilder’s belly to back superplex on Kalisto. Miz sneaks back in with the Skull Crushing Finale into Starship Pain to Dawson for the pin and the title shot at 11:57.

Rating: C+. They didn’t bother with anything but action here and that made for an entertaining match. There was no reason to do anything more than go all the way with something like this and we even got the logical challengers out of it. The match was fun and that’s as good as they could have done.

Fire & Desire come up to Heavy Machinery with Mandy thanking Otis for his help in the Royal Rumble. Tucker tells him to go for it so Otis admits that he likes Mandy and asks her on a date for next Friday. She has plans on Friday, but she doesn’t have any two Fridays from now. As in Valentine’s Day.

Video on Daniel Bryan vs. the Fiend in the strap match. Daniel Bryan thinks he might have gone too far because his wife wouldn’t let his daughter see the scars on his back.

Video on Halftime Heat, twenty one years ago today.

Fire & Desire vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross

The winners COULD get a future title shot. It’s a brawl before the bell with Sonya getting tied in the ring skirt and Nikki having to be dragged off. Bliss gets knocked into the announcers’ table but says she’s good so the bell can ring. The chinlock goes on before it’s off to Mandy, with Nikki having to be taken out. Bliss forearms her way out of the corner and gets in a hard shot to Sonya. A roll underneath Mandy is enough for the hot tag to Nikki so house can be cleaned. Everything breaks down and the Purge into Twisted Bliss finishes Mandy at 3:28.

Rating: D+. The usual shortened women’s tag here which had little going for it as commentary talked about Otis and Mandy. Therefore, of course it makes sense for Mandy to take the fall here. The two stories aren’t connected, but Mandy is the only one of the four doing something interesting and it’s not like her getting pinned advances anything else. It’s a little thing but why mess with a story that is getting somewhere?

Intercontinental Title: Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura is defending and has Sami Zayn and Cesaro with him. Strowman shoulders him down to start and hits a running splash in the corner to make it even worse. Sami gets in a cheap shot from the floor though and Nakamura takes over with a front facelock. Some kicks in the corner have Strowman rocked so he blasts his way out with a clothesline.

The running shoulder on the floor has Nakamura down again but Strowman misses a charge. Nakamura kicks him in the head and hits the running knee to the back of the head for two. Sami goes for the turnbuckle pad and Cesaro offers a distraction, only to have Strowman send Nakamura into the buckle instead. The running powerslam gives us a new champion at 4:35.

Rating: D+. It took long enough. Strowman winning a title does feel like a big deal and even though it should have been the World Title and over a year ago, I’ll take what I can get. This actually came off as something important and the fans seemed happy with what they saw. Not much of a match, but Nakamura had held the thing since July and not done a thing with it. I can’t imagine that changes under Strowman, but at least he FINALLY won something that matters.

Post break Sami is livid but Elias is in the ring to interrupt them. Sami tries to rant but Elias keeps interrupting with the guitar. That’s enough as Sami sends Cesaro to the ring to deal with this. Elias beats Cesaro up and stands tall.

Video on Shorty G. vs. Sheamus.

Sheamus vs. Shorty G.

Gable jumps Sheamus from behind on the ramp and we take a break before the bell. We’re joined in progress with Gable fighting out of a chinlock but getting taken to the floor for the Regal Roll. Back in and Sheamus hits a reverse Wasteland but Gable ties him in the ropes and slugs away. The Liger kick in the corner sets up the moonsault for two but Sheamus is right back up. The Irish Curse into the Brogue Kick finishes at 3:49.

Rating: C. Just in case you didn’t get the point on the Kickoff Show. This was the same result as Gable tries hard but can’t overcome the size difference, because we need to hammer home the one thing that the company sees in him. Why or how this is the best thing they can do with him is beyond me but I guess we’re just lucky that way.

Here’s a very happy Bayley to brag about retaining the Women’s Title at the Royal Rumble. You can’t recreate her and she crushed Lacey Evans’ dreams for injuring Sasha Banks and putting her on the shelf. Bayley did all this with Lacey’s daughter Summer in the front row so now she knows what a failure her mom is. If Summer needs a role model, she can sit in the crowd with these idiots and watch Bayley. We all know Charlotte is going to pick her for the title match so just get out here right now.

Cue Naomi instead (now with what looks like a light up bowl around her head during her entrance) to say she can’t help but hear the trash talk around here. Bayley has never beaten her and that title could use some glow. Before the challenge can be on, Bayley drops her with one shot. The belt shot misses though and Naomi hits a springboard kick to the head. This is a fresh challenger with some credibility so good for them.

Usos/Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin/Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

The losers must eat DOG FOOD, which Cole has repeated about 37 times tonight. Corbin punches Jey down for an early two and a low bridge puts Jey on the floor. Roode, now in long tights, hits a spinebuster on the floor as Cole puts over how bad the dog food smells. We take a break and come back with Roode cranking on Jey’s arms. Jey slips out so Ziggler comes in, only to miss a Stinger Splash in the corner.

Corbin gets the tag and breaks up the hot tag though, allowing him to make Jey look at the dog food. That’s enough to make Jey get over for the hot tag to Reigns as everything breaks down. A big boot connects for Reigns but Corbin is back with a chokeslam for two. Ziggler adds a superkick and it’s the Deep Six for two more on Reigns. Jimmy is back in and sends Roode over the announcers’ table, setting up another dive to Ziggler. Reigns misses the spear but rolls Corbin up for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: C-. Yeah it’s another watchable match but it’s everything else that is making it bad. Between Cole shouting about the dog food over and over and over again and the fact that we’ve seen these people fight for months now and how this was nothing new as far as a six man formula goes, this wasn’t exactly thrilling. It’s fine for a house show stipulation where the kids can laugh, but when you have to hear about it all night long, it’s way too much.

Post match Corbin tries to leave but he gets speared down and handcuffed, meaning he gets chained up like he did to Reigns months ago. The buckets of dog food are poured over him so Reigns and the Usos can pose to end the show. It’s a poetic way to go about things with Corbin, but the feud has gone on for so long now that the impact is really, really weakened. Also it’s not exactly brilliant, cutting edge stuff in the first place.

Overall Rating: D+. So that’s how we start up the Road to Wrestlemania: building to Super Showdown, a Valentine’s Day comedy angle, a Royal Rumble rematch and dog food (plus a title change and a new challenger for the Women’s Title as it did have some good stuff). This could have been a show from any time during the year and I’m not exactly thrilled with how the important season started off. There were some positives here but the negatives were more as it didn’t exactly feel inspired.

Results

Miz/John Morrison b. Heavy Machinery, Revival and Lucha House Party – Starship Pain to Dawson

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross b. Fire & Desire – Twisted Bliss to Rose

Braun Strowman b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Running powerslam

Sheamus b. Shorty G. – Brogue Kick

Roman Reigns/Usos b. King Corbin/Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler – Rollup to Corbin

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 25, 2005
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

Summerslam has come and gone and that means a lot of things have wrapped up for good. First and foremost, Batista defeated JBL to retain the Smackdown World Title, which means we need a new #1 contender. Other than that, Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero (again) to gain custody of his son, but I wouldn’t bet on the feud being done just yet. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Summerslam if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Summerslam, or at least the Smackdown side of it.

Here’s Cowboy Bob Orton to talk about how Randy Orton did exactly what he promised to do at Summerslam. This brings out Randy….and he’s having a match.

Randy Orton vs. Hardcore Holly

Holly is now the Alabama Slamma. Feeling out process to start as they shove each other around a bit with the fans being all over Randy. Orton is smart enough to get away from the threat of a chop as we’re still waiting to get into first gear. The threat of an Alabama Slam (or Slamma according to Cole) freaks Orton out again so they can stare at each other even more.

Holly cranks things up with a headlock takeover but Orton reverses into one of his own. Back up and another Alabama Slam attempt is countered so Holly takes him down with an STF. A suplex gives Holly two but Orton runs him over and drops the knee for his own near fall. The neck crank keeps Holly in trouble but he breaks up the superplex attempt.

Holly’s middle rope elbow hits (kind of) a raised boot so he goes right right hands instead. A full nelson slam gives Holly two and a top rope clothesline connects for the same. The Alabama Slam is loaded up so Bob gets on the apron for a distraction. The RKO doesn’t work though and Holly hits the great dropkick for two more. Since it didn’t work the first time, Bob grabs Holly’s leg and now the RKO can finish him off.

Rating: D. This wasn’t good with a weird opening that felt like they were on different planets at times. Then there’s the ending, which could have been done just fine off the initial distraction and didn’t need the second. It also doesn’t say much when you need the same help to beat both the Undertaker and Bob Holly. Summerslam was one thing but you really don’t need the same help for both.

Theodore Long comes into his office and finds a man in a suit that he doesn’t recognize. That would be Palmer Cannon, who works for the network. Which network? Not important here. Anyway, he’s here to help Smackdown continue to be successful in his time slot and to make sure the network’s opinion is represented. In two weeks, the show is moving to Friday nights and Cannon has a huge main event for the debut show. That would be Batista vs. JBL for the World Title, which suggests that Cannon isn’t very good at his job.

Here’s Christian for the Peep Show. Before we get to the business, Christian is ready to face the Mexicools anytime because he just finally got the smell out of his carpet. As for tonight though, here are his guests: Booker T. and Sharmell. Christian welcomes Mr. and Mrs. T. and starts explaining that Booker is a five time, five time….but Booker cuts him off because that’s his stuff. Therefore, Christian asks his first hard question: are they still on speaking terms?

We see a clip of the mixed tag last week with Jillian Hall tripping Sharmell to give Melina the pin. Christian calls Booker out for the non-wrestler wife losing, which puts him in contention for the Ike Turner/Tommy Lee Husband of the Year Award. Sharmell has to hold Booker back as Christian talks about all of Booker’s accomplishments. Granted he can’t think of any at the moment….so what has Booker exactly done lately? Sharmell: “That’s a pretty good question.”

Booker talks about beating up Christian at the Great American Bash and then beating up Kurt Angle for what he did to Sharmell. That’s all true, but Sharmell tells Booker that it’s time to get back to being who he is. Booker remembers who he is…and we’ve got Mexicools. Christian goes after them on the floor and it’s Juvy knocking Sharmell down by mistake. That’s enough to get Booker in on things and the Mexicools are cleared out. Booker made a good fired up comeback but the Sharmell stuff is dragging him way down.

Johnny Nitro vs. Heidenreich

Jillian Hall introduces MNM and brags about the team being on the cover of Smackdown Magazine. Animal, Mercury, Melina and Hall are at ringside. Heidenreich goes with the power to start, including a running knee to rock Nitro. The threat of a shot to the face puts Nitro on the floor and he has to run from Animal for a bonus. Back in and Nitro gets in a kick of his own for two and we hit the chinlock. Heidenreich fights up and hits a few clotheslines, setting up a side slam for two. Everyone gets on the apron at the same time and Mercury chairs Heidenreich in the knee for the DQ.

Raw Rebound.

Chris Benoit is proud of making Orlando Jordan tap out in 25.5 seconds and wants to see what else he can do that fast. We get a clock n the screen and see the whole match as Benoit tries to make a cup of coffee faster than he made Jordan tap out. Benoit wins again. Ok that’s really funny.

JBL yells at Jordan for losing so badly but ignore that because JBL needs him tonight. And make it longer than 25.5 seconds!

Christian/Booker T. vs. Mexicools

Juvy is the odd man out here. It’s a brawl to start with Booker and Christian taking over until we settle down to Christian faceplanting Crazy for an early two. Booker comes in to kick Psicosis in the chest but it’s back to Christian, who goes shoulder first into the post. Crazy’s middle rope missile dropkick gets two so Booker has to be held back from interfering.

Christian can’t fight away from everyone at once and walks into a spinwheel kick from Psicosis. The moonsault misses for Crazy though and it’s back to Booker for the house cleaning. Juvy offers a distraction so the double teaming can ensue. Sharmell tells Christian to get in there but he walks out instead, leaving Booker to take a double belly to back suplex to give Psicosis the pin.

Rating: D+. The Mexicools still aren’t interesting but at least they’re not beating big names clean. Booker vs. Christian is something we’ve done before and I’m not wild on seeing it again, but the Sharmell factor would suggest that a heel turn is coming for Booker. If nothing else, I could go for a Booker vs. Batista in a one off title match.

Post match, Sharmell yells at Booker some more. That’s kind of all she does isn’t it?

The Ortons brag about destroying the Undertaker and have even signed an Undertaker DVD. It’s going to be auctioned off on WWE.com and the proceeds will go towards Undertaker’s retirement, because he’s dead.

Cannon praises/recaps tonight’s show and wants more Orton on Smackdown. Long doesn’t think that’s the best idea because he has an announcement to make. Cannon stops him, because he wants to know first. That’s not happening because Cannon can find out when everyone else does….right now. Oh yeah Cannon is going to get old in a hurry.

Here’s Long in the ring to announce a lingerie pillow match. He has two women who he knows “can shake that Laffy Taffy” so here are the two newest Smackdown Divas: Stacy Keibler and Christy Hemme. They’re about to disrobe but here’s Cannon to say the network doesn’t want to see this. So yeah, he’s your new heel boss, because this show needed two authority figures.

Ken Kennedy vs. Funaki

Kennedy has been on Velocity before and now he’s making his Smackdown debut. He does his own ring announcing, insisting that Funaki speaks no English but is somehow the #1 announcer. Oh and he says his name twice, which is apparently brilliant. Funaki armdrags him down to start and works on a wristlock but gets sent outside. Kennedy tells everyone to clear out of the way….as he throws Funaki back inside. A splash hits raised knees though and Funaki scores with an enziguri. Kennedy crotches him on top though and finishes with the Green Bay Plunge. Not a blow away debut but you can feel his charisma to start.

Kennedy declares himself the winner. And that’s Mr. Kennedy.

Chris Benoit/Rey Mysterio/Batista vs. John Bradshaw Layfield/Orlando Jordan/Eddie Guerrero

Triple Summerslam rematch and the entrances take their sweet time. JBL, Eddie and Rey are very banged up (with Eddie’s arm and JBL’s ribs heavily taped) after Sunday. Benoit and Jordan start because that’s a great idea for the team. Jordan is quickly German suplexed into the corner and Benoit beats him to the floor for an early break. Back with Eddie hammering on Rey because he can’t let anything go.

A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Rey but he’s right back with the wheelbarrow bulldog. JBL comes in to stare at Rey before demanding Batista. That’s what he gets and the slugout is on, even though the interest was gone after their first match. Batista drives him into the corner for shoulders to the ribs and Benoit comes in to stomp away at them as well. A suplex gets two but Benoit is sent outside for a right hand from Jordan. That actually works for a change and Eddie takes over on Benoit inside.

The abdominal stretch stretches Benoit’s abdominals until Jordan comes in to grab the same hold. Benoit hiptosses his way out because Jordan is worthless and it’s back to JBL to hammer away. Jordan comes back in for two off a swinging neckbreaker and JBL comes in again before Jordan can screw anything up. Benoit avoids a charge though and hits an enziguri, allowing the hot tag to Batista. House is cleaned but Eddie breaks up the Batista Bomb to Jordan. Everything breaks down and a 619 into a German suplex into the Batista Bomb finishes Jordan.

Rating: C-. This felt like a post show dark match that got to appear on TV. That’s not a bad thing either as it’s something they can play safe without hurting anyone in the process. Jordan is there to take falls and that’s all he should be doing. Batista continues to look dominant as champion, but another match with JBL sounds as uninteresting as I can imagine at the moment.

Overall Rating: D-. Anything good that Smackdown had going for it before Summerslam has been wiped out now as this was a wreck of a show. There was almost nothing good in any sense and the idea of a heel authority figure, even if it seems to be there to mock UPN, makes my head hurt. It’s a stupid idea that has been played out for years and now we get to do it again as Smackdown channels ECW on TNN. Awful show here, with one bad match after another and a lot of uninteresting people getting television time. Hopefully it back to normal next week, because this was dreadful.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 24, 2020
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for the Royal Rumble and that means we need the final push towards Houston. The men’s Royal Rumble is probably as set as we are going to get in advance but there are only give names announced for the women’s match. It’s hard to imagine not getting some names announced tonight and that is long overdue. Let’s get to it.

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

Usos/Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin/Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

At least they’re getting it out of the way early. The Usos elbow Ziggler down and drop more elbows for a bonus, meaning it’s already off to Roode. Everything breaks down with Roode backdropping Jimmy to the floor and Ziggler sending him hard into the steps. It’s a knee injury and that means we’re going to be having a handicap match. Back with Jey coming in and being dragged into the wrong corner.

Jey slugs away on Corbin but walks into a heck of a Deep Six for two. Roode’s neckbreaker is good for the same and Ziggler gets in his big jumping elbow. The spinning enziguri drops Roode but Corbin pulls Reigns to the floor to break up the hot tag attempt. To make it even worse, Reigns is sent into the barricade a few times and we take a second break. Back with Jey still in trouble until he sends Corbin hard into the post.

The hot tag brings in Reigns to beat up Ziggler with the raw power as everyone else is knocked to the floor. Roode offers a distraction though and Corbin breaks up the spear, allowing Ziggler to hit a superkick for two. Reigns gets sent outside for the stomping and Ziggler drops another elbow for two more. Corbin comes back in and hammers away with right hands but the Glorious DDT (you knew that’s what it was going for as Roode shouted GLORIOUS and tried a DDT) is countered with a slam.

Ziggler pulls Jey off the apron though and sends him into the barricade, just like they did to Reigns earlier. The superkick is broken up with a Superman punch and here’s Jimmy back to ringside to get the hot tag. The knee is fine enough for the fired up comeback, including a high crossbody for two on Roode with Corbin making the save. Corbin gets Superman punched and Reigns throws him into the crowd. Jey dives onto Ziggler and Jimmy hits the Superfly Splash for the pin at 25:01.

Rating: C. I’d love for WWE to explain what they see in this feud to give it twenty five minutes to open the show, especially when Corbin vs. Reigns is likely to get nearly that much time on Sunday. The feud isn’t that interesting and odds are we’ll be seeing Roode/Ziggler vs. Usos added to Sunday as well. WAY too long here and they really could have cut ten minutes out and had a better match.

Video on Bayley vs. Lacey Evans.

Here’s Lacey for a chat. She has fought back against Bayley and Sasha Banks because she doesn’t put up with bullies. Her upbringing wasn’t all that great and her father lost his battle with addiction. Lacey wants to use her platform to show that you play the hand you’re dealt and you can make it. She’s worked hard to be a mom and a Marine and we see a clip of Banks mocking Lacey’s family. It’s hard to be a mother when your daughter is scared by two bullies….and here’s Bayley to jump her from behind. Bayley: “WHERE’S YOUR DAUGHTER NOW???”

Carmella and Dana Brooke are ready to win the Royal Rumble. We pan over to Lacey throwing Bayley into things so Dana and Carmella run over in a failed attempt to break it up.

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Fire & Desire

Sonya and Mandy are in the Rumble too. They seemed to make up earlier in the day. Lacey Evans and Bayley brawl to the ring and it’s a double DQ at 21 seconds.

The fight continues…and we don’t have time for that because we need to go backstage.

Elias is strumming his guitar when Braun Strowman comes in to say they need to go to work.

Here’s Elias to sing his new song, Texas Dream, which is a short one about the Rumble and a way to introduce Strowman. Before we get to the match, Elias asks the fans if they want to see Strowman sing with him. They start things up but here’s the interruption for, you know, some wrestling.

Elias/Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro

Sami Zayn is out with Nakamura and Cesaro. Elias gets uppercutted to start but he sends Cesaro face first into the turnbuckle to get out of trouble. A Nakamura distraction gets Elias in trouble but Strowman runs people over as we take a break. Back with Elias in trouble but Kinshasa is broken up with a jumping knee to the face.

That’s enough for the hot tag to Strowman so house can be cleaned, including the big forearm to Nakamura’s chest. Nakamura comes back with the middle rope knee to the chest and Strowman is sent shoulder first into the post. Cesaro comes in but Sami’s distraction doesn’t work. The running powerslam plants Cesaro and Elias’ top rope elbow gets the pin at 8:31.

Rating: D+. Just a quick match here, almost in the vein of a house show actually. I’m a little surprised, as well as a bit relieved, that Strowman didn’t pin Nakamura again. They still haven’t announced the title match for Sunday so maybe they’ll wait a little longer before setting that up. Nakamura has held the title for a long time now and I’m curious to see how long he can keep going as champion.

We look back at Daniel Bryan challenging the Fiend to a strap match at the Rumble.

Big E. is VERY oiled up, which is his strategy to avoid being eliminated from the Royal Rumble. Kofi Kingston comes in and is ready for John Morrison tonight. They’re ready to go on to Houston for the Royal Rumble and this year it’s for Xavier Woods.

We look back at the opening match.

Corbin doesn’t like being asked questions.

Rumble By The Numbers time!

1070 total competitors

6,596 feet in height

1:16:06 Bryan lasted in 2018

56:01 Natalya lasted in 2019

1 second for Santino Marella

2003 Royal Rumble won by Brock Lesnar

7 people have won two Royal Rumbles

3 Royal Rumbles won by Steve Austin

2 others have won from #1

64,000,000 views of Royal Rumble videos since the Network launched

3 brands

2 Royal Rumbles

1 night

Note that they mentioned this being the 33^rd Royal Rumble, though they now included the Greatest Royal Rumble in the record books.

Sheamus is ready for Shorty G.

Kofi Kingston vs. John Morrison

Before the match, Miz talks about how he’s the same person who lets you into his home every week on Miz and Mrs. Oh and he and Morrison are now in the Royal Rumble. They’re not exactly leaving many spots left. Morrison dodges away from Kofi to start so Kofi lands on his feet out of a monkey flip. Kofi’s monkey flip sends Morrison face first onto the mat and Morrison misses a dive over the top to crash on the floor. Kofi adds a flip dive so Miz is right over there for some applause.

Back from a break with Kofi kicking Morrison in the face and sliding through the legs, only to get kneed hard. Kofi is right back with a faceplant for two but Trouble In Paradise is kicked out of the air. The referee gets distracted for a bit so it’s a poke to the eye, setting up a middle rope Spanish Fly for a close two on Kofi. The SOS gives Kofi his own two but Big E. and Miz get into it on the floor. Kofi kicks Miz off the apron but gets knocked down, setting up Starship Pain (best one Morrison has hit in forever, and this time he jumped up instead of pulling himself up) for the pin on Kofi at 9:55.

Rating: C+. There was some good action in here and the ending should set up a Tag Team Title shot, in case they hadn’t done enough to get that ready yet. I’m not sure when they’ll do that match as the Rumble card is already loaded, but that has never stopped them before. Miz and Morrison still work well together though and that’s what matters.

It’s time for the contract signing for the strap match. Bray’s music hits but he comes up on screen instead, trying to fax in the contract from the Firefly Fun House. That might be better for everyone though because there is no reason to tie yourself to the Fiend. Bray tries to call customer service (Bray: “Yes. English or ancient Sumerian please.”) but Bryan wants him out here right now.

That isn’t happening due to Bray’s lawyer (Mercy the Buzzard) advising against it, so Bryan says he’s seeing through Bray. Bray hears Bryan mention a mistake and that is the Word of the Day. This is all about Bryan’s big mistake when he betrayed Wyatt and now it is time to pay. Since Bryan isn’t competing against Bray on Sunday, it’s only fitting that He sign the contract.

Cole bails as the lights go out and the Fiend is in the ring, holding the strap. Bryan goes after him and is Mandible Clawed in a hurry. Sister Abigail plants Bryan and Fiend rips off Bryan’s shirt for a whipping with the strap. Fiend sits down at the table and grabs the pen, which he stabs into his own hand. He rubs the blood over the contract and throws it at Bryan, which counts as signing (I don’t think evil monsters are that well versed in law). The lights go out and Fiend disappears to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Pretty meh show overall but it did a decent enough job of setting up Sunday. If nothing else it was nice to nearly double the amount of names in the women’s Royal Rumble. The wrestling was pretty lacking but that’s not usually the point on a show like this. Sunday is all that matters anyway and no one is going to remember this one after that anyway. Not much to see this week, but it’s one of the least important shows of the year anyway.

Results

Usos/Roman Reigns b. King Corbin/Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode – Superfly Splash to Roode

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Fire & Desire went to a double DQ when Bayley and Lacey Evans interfered

Braun Strowman/Elias b. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura – Top rope elbow

John Morrison b. Kofi Kingston – Starship Pain

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 18, 2005
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 7,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the go home show for Summerslam and that means we aren’t likely to be getting much in the way of important wrestling tonight. Instead, this week is likely to be focused on promos and building towards the pay per view and that’s what’s best for everyone. Now just find a way to make it interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the social worker taking Dominic away from the Mysterios because Eddie Guerrero is an evil man.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Eddie Guerrero to sit on a ladder, as the match with Mysterio is now a ladder match “for the custody of Dominic.” Eddie says Teddy Long was right and the ladder match is the only solution. Dominic’s custody papers will be hanging above the ring (alas not Dominic himself) and Eddie will be the one to climb the ladder and claim Dominic for himself.

See, Eddie loves his son and the truth always prevails over lies. On Sunday, he’s going to climb the ladder because for every father that loves his son. Eddie starts climbing and dedicates it to his father, brothers and Dominic, who will be the best Guerrero of them all. So smile son, because as of Sunday, Dominic is coming home with Papi.

This is a weird situation as Eddie’s evil was on full display here and in another circumstance it would be incredible, but he’s hindered pretty badly by the material. You can only get so far when there’s an image of an eight year old boy hanging above the ring and spinning around as a ladder match takes place underneath him.

Melina/Joey Mercury vs. Booker T./Sharmell

Fallout from last week and Jillian Hall handles MNM’s entrance. Melina gives Mercury a kiss on the cheek to start as the men get things going. Booker runs him over and chops in the corner so it’s off to the women for a change. Sharmell beats her up for a bit so Mercury comes in, earning himself a rake to the eyes. It’s back to Booker for two off a kick to Mercury’s face but Mercury is right back with a neckbreaker.

A flapjack gets Booker out of trouble and there’s the ax kick into the Spinarooni. With Mercury mostly done, Booker drags him over to force the tag to Melina and it’s time for Sharmell to get in her beatdown. Melina gets in some choking too, followed by a bodyscissors in the rope with Sharmell’s eyes bugging out. Sharmell punches her in the ribs and gets two off a shove as everything breaks down. Jillian trips Sharmell though and Melina grabs a cover with her feet in the ropes for the pin.

Rating: D. The match wasn’t any good and I can’t put any of that on Sharmell, who isn’t a wrestler and isn’t supposed to be able to do any of this. I’m not sure if they’re going to continue with this but Booker is going to need a partner if he’s going to keep fighting with MNM. It’s either this or Animal/Heidenreich working a longer match so I’ll take what I can get here.

Post break Sharmell yells at Booker for not being there to help her. They’re a team and she’s tired of taking beatings. Has she taken another one before tonight?

Orlando Jordan comes up to Chris Benoit and talks trash about how athletic he is. Benoit: “WOW! That’s impressive!” Benoit promises to make Jordan tap on Sunday.

Animal gives Heidenreich his spikes in a moment that isn’t as emotional as they think it is.

Animal/Heidenreich vs. Rudy Silverstein/JP Arson

Non-title and Candice Michelle is guest ring announcer for the sake of curves. House is cleaned in a hurry with slams, chokes and big boots. The Doomsday Device finishes without much trouble. Keeping these things short is the best thing they could do and they know it.

Funaki interviews JBL and shows us a clip of JBL’s attack on Batista last week. JBL says that Batista letting him pick the stipulation for Summerslam was the dumbest thing he could have done. Maybe he should demonstrate that tonight in a No Holds Barred match against….Funaki.

Randy Orton talks about winning the World Title a year ago today in this arena when he defeated Chris Benoit. Tonight it’s a rematch, and then on Sunday he destroys Undertaker’s legacy.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Funaki

No Holds Barred. JBL chops away in the corner and drops the elbows as the point is pretty clear in a hurry. The fall away slam makes it worse and JBL steals the timekeeper’s belt to whip away. Funaki gets beaten up on the announcers’ table and a whip into the steps keeps him down. A chair shot to the head draws out Batista for a spinebuster and a chair shot of his own, sending JBL running for the no contest.

Rating: D. Just a build towards Sunday and that’s all it should have been. It’s not like the no contest means anything here as it was all about making us care about the title match. Granted that isn’t exactly the case as JBL is hardly a thrilling challenger, though in this case it’s not like they have many better options.

Post match Batista promises violence on Sunday.

Rey Mysterio vs. Simon Dean

Rey is rather somber here. Before the match, Dean talks about how horrible Rey looks and offers a discount on the Simon System family pack. With Rey’s family shrinking, he can have it half (as he suggests someone Dominic’s size) off, so Rey punches him in the face. Cole says Rey hasn’t talked to his son in weeks after putting him in foster care last week, mainly because Cole isn’t that bright.

Mysterio hammers away in the corner but gets dropped face first onto the buckle. Dean stomps away and grabs a kneeling torture rack of all things. That’s broken up and Rey hits a crossbody into the 619 before Dropping The Dime for the pin. Much like earlier, there was no need to make this longer than it was as the point was proven.

Raw Rebound.

It’s time for the Peep Show and Christian is of course beloved for a change. Christian is happy to be here and has a big time guest for this week: HIMSELF! Hang on though as here are the Mexicools to cut him off. Christian: “You better be delivering me some burritos Speedy Gonzalez!” They mess with the set and even pop the inflatable chair. The fight is finally on and Christian gets beaten down, including a moonsault/guillotine legdrop combination. WWE is doing everything they can to get the Mexicools over and the team is trying but I don’t exactly see this having legs.

Mysterio doesn’t like Dominic being in foster care and it’s all because of Eddie. Violence is promised and Rey is bringing his son home with his real father. Rey: “And that’s me!”

Summerslam rundown.

Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit

Joined in progress with Orton grinding away at a headlock until Benoit reverses into a top wristlock. Benoit starts in on the wristlock but gets reversed into a headlock takeover as they’re going a bit more technical than I would have bet on. Back up and Benoit armdrags him into an armbar but Orton reverses it into another headlock. Since when did Orton get good at this kind of thing?

Back up again and Orton pokes him in the eye, only to get chopped away. It’s too early for the Sharpshooter as Orton pulls him down by the tights. Benoit tries it again so Orton makes the rope as we take a break. We come back with Benoit finally getting the Sharpshooter so Orton has to make the rope again.

Orton sends him shoulder first into the post and plants him with the hanging DDT for two. The chinlock goes on with Orton cranking on it even more than usual. Benoit fights up and Orton can’t hit his over the shoulder neckbreaker so he switches to a DDT for two. As in more neck stuff to set up the cutter, because Orton knows how to do some psychology.

A hard whip into the corner drops Benoit but his head rams into Orton for the double knockdown. The comeback is on with chops and the rolling German suplexes to put them both down again. The Swan Dive connects but here’s Orlando Jordan for the distraction, allowing Orton to hit the RKO for the pin.

Rating: B. These two work well together and it was cool to see Orton do something different. They made sure to protect Benoit with the interference ending which gives Benoit another reason to take the title from Jordan on Sunday. The match was entertaining and long and it was nice to have something good on this show for a change.

Post match the lights go out and Undertaker is in the ring for a chokeslam. Undertaker leaves and Orton smiles, leaving Undertaker confused to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was very similar to Raw with little in the way of anything big being added to the show and a lot of bad wrestling to go with it. At least this show had a good main event to build it up a bit, though Summerslam is going to need to be quite good given the last week of pretty lackluster TV shows.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also -available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 17, 2020
Location: Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re nine days away from the Royal Rumble and everything is pretty much set. We still have some time to set things up though and that includes a tables match between Roman Reigns and Robert Roode, with the winner getting to pick the stipulation for Reigns vs. King Corbin at the Rumble. That’s the brilliant “stipulation begets stipulation” booking, which makes so much sense. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s Kane to open things up. It’s his favorite time of the year because we’re coming up on the Royal Rumble. The match gives wrestlers a chance to go through h*** to get to immortality and Kane is proud of having eliminated more than anyone ever before. It was a lot of fun….and here’s the Firefly Fun House.

Bray is glad to see Kane but doesn’t like someone bragging at someone else’s misfortune. He gives Kane a chance to say he’s sorry but nothing happens. Oh and before we move on: Ramblin Rabbit is alive and well (complete with an IV of carrot juice). Anyway, winning the Royal Rumble isn’t the best deal in the world because it means you get to challenge for the Universal Title at Wrestlemania. Kane’s picture is on the wall though because he and the Fiend got it on.

Bray says he’ll never forget Kane and we see a clip of their match at Summerslam 2013 (Bray’s in-ring debut). Neither will he, and there go the lights. The red lights come on and Kane is on the floor as Fiend crawls through the ring. Kane: “WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?” Cue Daniel Bryan with the running knee to the Fiend and a bunch of right hands to send Fiend into the hole. The smokes comes up as Fiend disappears….and Bryan pulls out some of Fiend’s hair. The lights come back up and Kane and Bryan do the YES pose. Good segment.

Post break Bryan says the Fiend is best at disappearing, so let’s make the Rumble match a strap match. Bryan is done with the mind games and the running so Fiend isn’t running down the hole anymore. At the Rumble, Bryan is changing the Fiend.

Big E. vs. John Morrison

Kofi Kingston (with blond hair) and Miz are the seconds and yes the slow motion is back. Morrison starts fast by kicking Big in the head a few times and hammering away, setting up a neckbreaker off the apron as we take a break. Back with Big E. fighting out of the chinlock but getting kicked back down. Morrison’s spinning splash gets two but Big E. powers him up.

Morrison kicks him in the head and springboards into a flip over Big E., only to get caught in the belly to belly suplexes. The Warrior Splash connects but Morrison cuts him off with the Moonlight Drive. Kofi and Miz get into it on the floor and Morrison flip dives off the top onto Kofi (with his knee getting dangerously close to Kofi’s head). Back in and Morrison kicks Big E. in the head again, setting up Starship Pain (which still looks bad) for the pin at 8:02.

Rating: C. Morrison is back and it’s still really hard to not want to make him a face. He looks great, he has the flips and a high flying finisher. The problem is he hasn’t exactly done well as a face before so I get why they don’t go there, but the temptation must be strong. I could certainly go for Miz and Morrison taking the titles from New Day as singles runs might be the way to go for Kofi and Big E. for the time being.

Video on Roode vs. Reigns.

Reigns and the Usos are in some dark place and they’re ready to go tonight.

Usos vs. Revival

Scott and Jey run the ropes to start until Dawson gets knocked down. Jimmy comes in but it’s a cheap shot from Dash to put him in trouble in a hurry. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Jimmy fights up and hits the spinning enziguri for the break. Wilder comes in and cuts off the hot tag, only to give it up seconds later. Double superkicks put Dash down and the Superfly Splash from Jimmy (as Jey dives onto Dawson) finishes Wilder at 5:00.

Rating: C-. This was rather underwhelming as there was little drama and they went through the formula in a hurry. It wasn’t a bad match but you expect a lot more from these teams. I can go with getting the Usos back on track, but it would have been nice to see this get a little more time and energy.

Post break Revival says they’re frustrated and a change needs to be made. Hold on though as we hear a fight and pan over to see Bayley and Lacey Evans brawling as Sasha Banks is down and holding her ankle. Referees break it up.

We look back at Mandy Rose giving Otis the cake last week and Otis….staring at her for lack of a better term, while eating it.

Mandy is ready for Sonya Deville’s match tonight but Sonya asks her if Otis can be at ringside tonight. She won’t say why but if Mandy asks, Sonya will do it.

Sasha is icing her ankle while she and Bayley rant about Lacey. Adam Pearce comes in and says Bayley is facing Lacey instead, albeit in a non-title match.

Bayley vs. Lacey Evans

Non-title. Bayley starts forearming away to start so Lacey snaps off a headscissors to sent her outside. Back in and Lacey small packages her for two but Bayley’s rollup with feet on the ropes doesn’t get anything. Bayley grabs the hair to snap the back of Lacey’s neck across the rope and we hit the armbar (Wouldn’t a chinlock make more sense after you started on the neck?).

Lacey fights up and kicks her in the ribs, followed by the running clotheslines. Another kick to the chest puts Bayley in the corner for the slingshot Bronco Buster but the double jump moonsault hits knees (looked great otherwise though). Lacey gets sent outside for a whip into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Bayley being sent back inside again but she snaps off a belly to back for two. A middle rope back elbow to the face gets two for Bayley but she misses a high crossbody. The Woman’s Right finishes Bayley at 11:25.

Rating: D+. This was a weird one as I like both of them but there were parts here that felt like they didn’t know what they were doing. It felt like some of this was a bunch of stuff instead of something that flowed from the beginning to the end. Lacey saluting time after time didn’t help either as it’s as pandering as you can get. It also didn’t help when this whole thing was filling time until we could get to one of WWE’s favorite booking tropes. At least there is a bit of an explanation this time as Bayley wasn’t ready, but it’s still more of the same.

Shorty G doesn’t like Sheamus coming back and talking down to everyone so he’s willing to teach him a lesson. Sheamus comes in to ask if anyone has seen Shorty G. After finding him, Sheamus pats Shorty on the head and gets double legged for some right hands to the face. Referees break it up and Sheamus is furious.

Braun Strowman wants an Intercontinental Title shot anytime. For now though, he’ll settle for entering the Royal Rumble.

Here’s Elias for a song, though he makes it clear that he needs our help. The song is about walking in Greensboro but here are Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn and Cesaro to interrupt. Sami is sorry to interrupt the sing song, but they have to deal with Braun Strowman to deal with right now. Strowman isn’t getting any Intercontinental Title show because he’s in no position to demand anything. Sami calls the shots around here and reminds everyone that Nakamura has won the Royal Rumble. Elias sings a song about how Sami needs to shut up so the fight is on. Strowman runs in for the save and cleans house.

Video on Rocky Johnson, who passed away earlier this week. It’s quite the tribute actually and Johnson was a lot of fun to watch in the little I’ve seen of him.

Alexa Bliss vs. Sonya Deville

Mandy Rose, Nikki Cross and Heavy Machinery are at ringside. Sonya knees her in the chest and ribs for two to start and we’re in the chinlock less than thirty seconds in. Bliss fights up and slugs her down so Mandy gets on the apron, only to get knocked into Otis’ arms. The distraction lets Bliss grab a rollup for the pin at 1:48. This is feeling more and more like the days of women’s divisions past every week.

King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler give Robert Roode a pep talk before the main event.

Shorty G. vs. Sheamus and Lacey Evans vs. Bayley for the title have been added to the Rumble card.

Roman Reigns vs. Robert Roode

Tables match and the winner gets to pick the stipulation for Corbin vs. Reigns at the Rumble. Roode jumps him from behind to start but Reigns punches his way out of trouble and loads up the announcers’ table. That earns him a whip into the steps but Reigns fights up again, only to miss a VERY hard spear through the barricade. Cue King Corbin on the throne and we take a break.

Back with Reigns slipping out of a superplex attempt but not being able to powerbomb Roode through a table. Instead Roode is sent outside as Reigns sets up a table in the corner. Corbin runs down and offers a distraction, allowing Dolph Ziggler to run in with a superkick (or Sweet Chin Music according to Cole). Reigns is sat on the announcers’ table but the Usos run in for the save. Ziggler is splashed through the table and Reigns spears Roode through the table for the pin at 11:45.

Rating: C. This was just a way to get to the stipulation at the end and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like Roode was any serious threat to Reigns and they advanced the story a bit by having the Usos there to make things even, which allows Reigns to be the better man even against adversity. I really hope they blow off Reigns vs. Corbin on Sunday though because egads I don’t think I can take much more of it.

Post match Reigns picks Falls Count Anywhere.

Overall Rating: C. The point of this show was to set up the Royal Rumble and they did that rather well on a lot of fronts. At the same time though, it was a rather uninteresting show on its own, with none of the matches being worth seeing and almost everything just coming and going with little impact tonight. It’s a watchable show, but something that you would be better off recapping rather than watching.

Results

John Morrison b. Big E. – Starship Pain

Usos b. Revival – Superfly Splash to Wilder

Lacey Evans b. Bayley – Woman’ Right

Alexa Bliss b. Sonya Deville – Rollup

Roman Reigns b. Robert Roode – Spear through a table

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also -available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: August 11, 2005
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re less than two weeks away from Summerslam and the card seems to be set on both sides. This time around we need to build more towards the lower half of the card as Randy Orton vs. Undertaker and the World Title match are mostly set. I’m not sure what that is going to mean for tonight though so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Booker T. vs. Joey Mercury

Fallout from last week where Mercury stole a pin on Booker in a tag match. Sharmell is here with Booker while Melina, Nitro and Jillian Hall are here with Mercury. An early Jillian distraction lets Nitro get in a cheap shot so that’s an early double ejection of both Nitro and Hall. Booker hammers away to start and hits an elbow and kick to the jaw.

Mercury is back with a knee to the ribs and a clothesline to set up the chinlock. That’s broken up in a hurry as Booker strikes away even more, setting up a side slam for two. The flapjack into the Spinarooni into the Book End looks to finish but we need a catfight on the floor. Mercury’s rollup gets two so it’s the ax kick to give Booker the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a match here with Booker not exactly breaking a sweat against Mercury. That being said, it’s not like Mercury is supposed to be much on his own, hence the whole team aspect. Booker is a much bigger star and we might see a Tag Team Title match at some point, assuming Booker and Benoit are still partners.

It’s time for the Peep Show with a rather awesome set, including an inflatable flame chair. Christian wastes no time in bringing out Batista as this week’s guest and the fans are rather pleased. Christian can’t believe that he, the biggest Draft pick, isn’t on Summerslam. Batista certainly is though and we hear about the match with JBL.

That’s not cool with Christian, so he’s going to be beating Batista tonight. Batista: “Are you talking to me?” Christian freaks out so Batista takes the mic and says Christian needs an attitude adjustment. The fans seem interested though and the match is made. Better than more of Batista trying to make me interested in another match against JBL.

Heidenreich/Animal vs. Scotty Sabre/Jason Static

Non-title. Heidenreich and Animal jump them before the bell and the beatdown is on in a hurry. A Boss Man Slam hits Sabre so it’s off to Static, who gets his head knocked off by Animal’s clothesline. The powerslam into the Doomsday Device finishes in a hurry.

The Mysterios arrived earlier.

We recap last week’s announcement of Eddie Guerrero wanting custody of Rey Mysterio’s son Dominic.

Randy Orton is returning to the ring tonight and demands to know his opponent. Theodore Long says Orton can find out in the ring. All Orton can know is that it’s a legendary opponent of the Undertaker.

Randy Orton vs. ???

The opponent is…..Kamala, with Kim Chee. Was Damien Demento not available? Kamala slaps his stomach a lot and chops away, followed by more belly slapping. Orton gets in some right hands and a dropkick puts Kamala down. Kim Chee gets on the apron as Orton cranks on the neck. A knee drop gets two and Orton brings Kim Chee inside for an RKO. That fires Kamala up so Orton pokes him in the eye and hits the RKO…as the lights go out. We’ll say that’s the no contest.

Rating: D. Yeah what else were you expecting here? Kamala was 55 at this point and wasn’t exactly someone you expected to win a big match at this best. It was fine as a way to get to the post match stuff and it worked out just fine. The match itself was nothing of course and the setup with Undertaker was all that mattered.

Post match the blue lights come on and the ring fills with smoke. Nothing is said, but it’s a cool visual.

A woman from child protective services is here to observe Eddie and Dominic to decide what is best for tonight. Eddie says he’ll she her what is going on.

Here are Eddie and the social worker, who looks rather intimidated to be in a big arena. After getting the social worker’s name wrong, Eddie talks about wanting to bring Dominic into a home full of….compassion and…..honesty and truth, all of which aren’t the easiest things for him to say. The Mysterios come out and Eddie drops to his knees as Dominic looks confused (as usual).

Eddie blames the Mysterios as the social worker takes notes. With Dominic not coming to him, Eddie gets in Rey’s face and says no one beats him. Rey doesn’t quite agree but Dominic hasn’t spoken a word since Eddie’s story last week. Eddie has beaten everything, including addiction, but he can’t beat Rey. Even when Eddie gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, his plaque will say he couldn’t beat Rey Mysterio.

So the solution is clear: they need to have a match for the custody of Dominic at Summerslam. Eddie doesn’t think so, but Rey calling him a chicken****. Eddie finally agrees and says Dominic comes home with him tonight. Social worker: “Are you kidding me? You people are a bunch of crazies!” Until Summerslam, Dominic is going into foster care. Rey tells him it’s going to be ok and Eddie promises Dominic that the nightmare ends at Summerslam. This went over twenty minutes but the social’s worker’s response was funny and it gave us one of the most infamous match stipulations ever so I can live with it.

Mexicools vs. William Regal/Scotty 2 Hotty

Earlier today, Regal was disturbed by the idea of Scotty’s Worm. Scotty and Crazy start things off with Scotty running him over. A cheap shot from the floor lets Juvy (not in the match) get in some cheap shots though and it’s Crazy hitting a running dropkick. Psicosis comes in with a legdrop for a delayed cover, though he already made a tag for a rather confusing choice of actions. Scotty fights up but Regal drops to the floor instead of accepting a tag, meaning it’s handicap time. Crazy knocks Scotty down and Psicosis’ guillotine legdrop is good for the pin.

Rating: D. Another match designed to be about the angle instead of the match and….do they think I’m going to be interested in Regal turning on Scotty in a match with the Mexicools? I know you have to have some lower level stories but coming up with some more interesting people shouldn’t be that difficult.

Rey and his wife Angie are in tears.

Jillian Hall challenges Booker and Sharmell to a mixed tag against Mercury and Melina. And don’t look at her blemish.

Here’s John Cena’s new music video.

Chris Benoit vs. Simon Dean

Dean calls Benoit a flabby wolverine and the beating is on in a hurry. A few forearms to the back and a clothesline get Dean out of trouble. The front facelock goes on with Dean firing off some knees to the face so Benoit rolls the German suplexes. Three in a row set up the Crossface for the fast tap. Just a step above a squash.

Christian vs. Batista

Non-title. The trash talk is on in a hurry so Batista tells him to bring it on. Christian tries to shove him away from a lockup and is launched into the ropes for his efforts. Some rams into the corner have Christian’s face in some pain and his sunset flip attempt just annoys Batista. A backdrop puts Christian on the floor and a right hand drops him again. Back in and Batista gets sent shoulder first into the post, meaning it’s time for the armbar. Batista powers out of that as well and hits a super backdrop, setting up the shoulders in the corner. There’s the spinebuster but JBL comes in for the DQ.

Rating: C-. This was too short to mean anything but there could have been a nice match in there if they had some more time. What we got was watchable enough though as Batista is getting into the groove of being the top dog. It’s very good that he’s gotten away from HHH for a change though as that was only going to let him get so far. Christian continues to look like a star in the making and at least he didn’t get pinned when he didn’t have to.

Post match Christian offers a distraction and JBL gets in a chair shot to the head. A bunch of chair shots to the back keep Batista down to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. As was mentioned more than once, this wasn’t a show built around adding anything major to Summerslam. The show is set and all we needed was some finalizing of details (you knew Eddie vs. Rey was coming and this just made it official). The build was mostly good, though that Eddie vs. Rey promo could have been cut down by a good bit. The problem is that while it did some good things, it wasn’t in the most interesting way and that brought it down a lot. Not a very good show, but at least it got some things done in a bit of a different way.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 10, 2020
Location: Ford Center Evansville, Evansville, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re getting closer to the Royal Rumble and things started to pick up a lot this week on Raw. Therefore, you can probably assume the same thing here because these shows tend to follow each other. I’m sure we’ll get more from Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin now that the Usos are back, because this feud just needs to keep going. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

It’s MizTV to get things going. People have said Miz has changed since his issues with Bray Wyatt but last week was just a bad day. Sometimes people want to tell you to smile but he didn’t want to do that last week. He wants to apologize to Kofi Kingston for what he said last week but he has been going through a lot. One of the few bright spots has been the return of an old friend though, so here is the returning John Morrison as his guest.

We get a highlight package of Morrison’s time in WWE and he talks about his big comeback. He was promised new music, a new shirt, a team of pomeranians pulling him to the ring at the Royal Rumble (Morrison: “Small dogs only because there’s only one big dog around here.”), but he’s been doing some thinking. The more he thinks about last week, the more disappointed he is in the fans. Miz had one bad day and the fans say he sucks?

These people don’t know what it’s like to be in the ring but here’s New Day to interrupt. Big E. thinks Miz is such a bad actor that he couldn’t be cast as the back end of a centipede. With that image out of the way, Kofi talks about how Miz should have just said he had a bad day and it would have been so much better. Miz respects Kofi’s six month reign as WWE Champion but not the six seconds it took him to lose the title right back. Kofi says Miz is changing and he sucks….and that’s it in an abrupt ending as we need a commercial.

Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz

Morrison and big E. are on commentary. Feeling out process to start with Kofi dropkicking him into the corner before we go to a far too long look at the commentary table. Miz knees him in the ribs as Morrison asks why Kofi didn’t give Big E. a title shot during his six months as champion. Kofi elbows him in the face as Big E. explains that the team is a brotherhood and they were all World Champion at the same time. A suicide dive takes Miz out but he shoves Kofi into Big E. as we take a break.

Back with Kofi fighting out of a chinlock with Morrison and Big E. off commentary. Miz goes after the knee to cut Kofi off and hits some YES Kicks. The Skull Crushing Finale is blocked and Kofi gets two off the SOS. Miz charges into a kick to the face in the corner but kicks the knee out of the air and slaps on the Figure Four. With that broken up, Morrison dives onto Big E. and the distracted Kofi walks into the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 11:29.

Rating: C. You knew the 50/50 booking was coming as soon as this match was announced as we set up a likely Tag Team Title match at the Rumble. That’s a rather interesting match on paper and I can go for cocky Morrison as something for him to do. It’s not like this show is dying for faces as you could argue Otis is one of the top faces on the show at this point.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with Bray saying he loves everyone here. That feels special but not everyone is worthy. He means Daniel Bryan because whatever the opposite of what love is is what HE feels about Bryan. Daniel has been naughty lately and he’s in a heap of trouble at the Royal Rumble.

First, the Fiend wanted him to remember, and we get some clips of Bryan’s time in the Wyatt Family, plus his rebellion. Then he wanted to change Bryan, with clips of the haircut. Now that Bryan wants the title, HE wants to destroy Bryan. Bray: “Bye! I love you! Not you Daniel!” I’m as shocked as you are that WWE actually remembered a history between these two from so long ago but it’s rather nice to see for a change.

Sonya Deville is happy for a new year for Fire & Desire but Mandy Rose seems distracted. Sonya leaves so Mandy pulls out a box, which seems to be a gift.

Here’s Elias for a song. He sings about the Royal Rumble, including about how he’ll win and how much more interesting he is than Brock, mainly because he’s actually here.

Mandy, with the box, comes up to Heavy Machinery. She apologizes for letting Dolph stomp on his mom’s fruit cake (a line you will only hear in wrestling) and made him something to make up for it. It’s a cake that says I’m Sorry but she has to go have her match…and we’re off to a break before anything else can be said because this show feels very rushed.

Alexa Bliss vs. Mandy Rose

Bliss and Nikki Cross are both in the Rumble. They shove each other to start and Bliss doesn’t like it, earning Rose a slap to the face. Another slap puts Rose on the floor for a baseball slide but Sonya offers a distraction. Cross breaks that up but Mandy gets in a knee to the head for two. They trade kicks to the face and a double clothesline puts them both down. Bliss is up first with Insult To Injury….and here’s Heavy Machinery with the cake. The distraction lets Rose grab a rollup for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: D. What was this supposed to be? They needed to have the freshly face Bliss lose to the distraction rollup here? Right after they announced her as one of the first names in the Rumble? This felt like one of the most standard WWE booking tropes around and it came after a match that seemed to exist to fill time until the finish. I like the Mandy and Otis stuff though, just because of the weird charisma that Otis has.

Mandy smiles at Otis.

Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks

Hold on though as Bayley pops up on screen to say Sasha is AWOL tonight and even a jar head like Lacey can understand that. Bayley is here tonight because she has to be so Lacey talks about how she loves to be in the heartland. She wants a title match tonight but Bayley isn’t her kid and won’t be doing what Lacey says. Lacey goes to the back and gets jumped by Bayley, who says put on her mom jeans and go home. Referees break it up.

We recap last week’s main event with the Fiend attacking Daniel Bryan.

Bryan says Fiend wants a lot and Bryan does remember the Wyatt Family. He also remembers outsmarting them and Fiend must not be happy with that. Then Fiend wants him to change so Bryan feels more dangerous. The one thing Fiend can change about him is that he can’t be broken. Ramblin Rabbit pops up on screen behind him and offers to tell Bryan the secret to defeating the Fiend but Bray grabs him and says snitches get snitches. Bryan nods a bit. I need scenes of Bryan trying to meet with Rabbit in secret to get information, preferably in wacky costumes with false identities.

Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title and Nakamura has Sami Zayn and Cesaro with him. Nakamura avoids a charge in the corner to start and starts striking away but runs into a big boot. Now the running splash in the corner connects but Sami pulls Nakamura to the floor before a second can hit. A distraction lets Nakamura post Strowman and we take a break. Back with Nakamura kicking Strowman down for two and putting on the chinlock.

Another kick to the face looks to set up a middle rope shot to the head, only to have Strowman clothesline him out of the air. The forearm to the chest gets two but Nakamura hits a running dropkick. A running knee to the head connects for two more but Strowman is back with a spinebuster. Cesaro tries to bring in a chair and Nakamura tries to bring in the title but Strowman just powerslams him for the pin at 9:35.

Rating: C. I kind of liked this one and I could go for another one, even though I’m not sure I can imagine Strowman winning the title. That’s his deal: look unstoppable in the build and then get stopped when it matters most. Normally I would say he has to win this time but I’ve said it so many times that I don’t believe it myself anymore.

Post match Strowman holds up the title but Sami runs in and takes it back.

Sheamus calls Shorty G. an example of everything wrong with Smackdown since he left. Small is something to be crushed and disposed of because size does matter. Sheamus wants to embrace chaos.

Bryan finds a present in his locker room. It’s a deformed Ramblin Rabbit, who has had half of his head ripped off.

Here’s Roman Reigns for a chat before the main event. He’s been dealing with King Corbin and his friends so Reigns knew he needed friends. This time he needed more though so he needed family. This is going to be his year and he’s going to win the Royal Rumble so he can move on and main event Wrestlemania for the fifth time. He’ll do it with the Usos by his side.

Cue the Usos to say they have this show on lockdown. Corbin disrespected the family with the dog food but this brings out Corbin and Ziggler to say the three of them are scared. Reigns would love to beat up Corbin twice in one night so they should fight twice at the Rumble. Corbin agrees and is now in the Rumble as well. The Usos hit big dives and the main event is next.

Usos vs. King Corbin/Dolph Ziggler

Jimmy shoulders Ziggler down to start and it’s a double elbow drop for two. Corbin comes in for a clothesline and Jimmy gets caught in the wrong corner. Some right hands in the corner stagger Corbin a bit and a jumping enziguri puts him down. Jimmy goes up but here’s the Revival to distract him, meaning Ziggler can send him into the barricade.

Cue Reigns (Why did he leave?) to beat up the Revival and we take a break. Back with Jey hitting the running hip attack in the corner but diving onto Corbin, who pulls him out of the air. Corbin sends Jey into Reigns so Jimmy superkicks Ziggler to set up the Superfly Splash. Back up and Corbin gets speared down by Reigns for the DQ at 8:55.

Rating: C. You knew someone was going to get disqualified here as the Usos may be back but we can’t have Corbin and Ziggler lose because they’re the major heels. The Usos looked like their old selves and that’s rather good as they’re still one of the best teams in the world. Just find someone more interesting for them to face.

Post match Robert Roode returns and hits the Glorious DDT on Reigns on the floor. The Usos get laid out as well and it’s a spinebuster/elbow drop to put Reigns through the table to end the show. Just in case you weren’t overwhelmed by the levels of boring in Corbin and Ziggler already, now Roode is back.

Overall Rating: D+. Not a very good show here, though again you can see where each of the stories are going and you know what they’re going for in each case. Now that doesn’t mean that they’re very good or interesting, but that’s more about the booking and the way the wrestlers are presented. Tonight we had two distraction finishes, a failed distraction finish and a DQ. That’s not much on a show that included two half hour segment/match portions. There are good parts to the show but the presentation isn’t that interesting and it’s becoming more and more of a problem.

Results

The Miz b. Kofi Kingston – Skull Crushing Finale

Mandy Rose b. Alexa Bliss – Rollup

Braun Strowman b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Running powerslam

King Corbin/Dolph Ziggler b. Usos via DQ when Roman Reigns interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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