IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: September 4, 2018
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

With the Cell less than two weeks away, it’s time to start filling out the rest of the card. One such match would be the Smackdown Tag Team Title match. While we won’t find that out this week, we’ll know one more option for the shot at the Usos as we have another triple threat match in the latest tournament. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella for a chat with Renee Young to open things up. As I wait for an explanation for why Brie is allowed on both shows when no one else can do so, we see a clip from last week’s show where Andrade Cien Almas, Zelina Vega, Miz and Maryse beat the two of them down.

Bryan thanks Renee for making the fans upset but there’s another clip from earlier of Miz and Maryse calling out Bryan and Brie when the arena was still empty. Back in the arena, Bryan and Brie call them out for a fight right now but Miz and Maryse have already left. Instead here are Vega and Almas to talk about how much fun last week was and how they’d love to do it again. Sure why not?

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Daniel Bryan

Might be better than letting Brie kill herself on another suicide dive. Bryan wastes no time in going for the YES Lock but Almas gets to the rope and shoulders Bryan down. The armbreaker over the ropes has Bryan in trouble and another shoulder sends him into the barricade. Back in and Almas misses a running knee, sending him outside in a heap as well. Bryan’s running knee off the apron gets dropkicked out of the air but he’s right back up with a suicide dive to send Almas into the barricade and us to a break.

Back with Almas getting crotched on the top but Almas knocks Bryan backwards, setting up the moonsault into the standing moonsault. Bryan kicks away and rocks Almas again but the big kick is reversed into a rollup to send Bryan head first into the corner. The double knees in the corner have Bryan in more trouble until Almas misses an elbow. The running knee finishes Almas at 11:38.

Rating: B-. Almas isn’t winning these big matches but he’s being competitive and that’s a good sign for his future. Now that being said, he still needs to actually beat someone at some point because you can only get so far on getting close. This was a rather nice opener, though you can tell Bryan isn’t quite back to full speed yet. To be fair though, that’s a heck of a layoff and it’s not as simple as “I’m wrestling again”. Shawn Michaels took well over a year to be back to full speed after his comeback so it’s pretty unfair to ask Bryan to be back at peak level five months after his return.

Post match Vega goes after Brie and gets kneed in the face for her efforts. Miz and Maryse pop up on screen to say they’re enjoying a nice meal at an Italian restaurant, but they were smart enough to shut the place down so they don’t have to dine with anyone from Detroit. They’ll see Bryan and Brie at the pay per view. Arrivederci.

Post break, Bryan and Brie, still in their gear, say they feel like Italian. Bryan: “I hope they don’t have a dress code.”

We recap Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch.

Charlotte and Becky are in separate locations for an interview. As the fans chant for Becky, Charlotte talks about winning the title in a fair match and wondering what Becky thinks she should have done. Becky asks if Charlotte is done taking the spotlight but Charlotte cuts her off, saying she knows what it’s like to be in someone’s shadow. All Becky had to do was ask for a title match. Becky: “Screw you.”

Becky is done playing and doesn’t care how it affects Charlotte because it was a full time job being her friend. Charlotte says when they fight, she’s not going to see her friend because Becky is always second best. Becky tells her to shine the title up real nice for her but Charlotte wants to know what the excuse is going to be next time. The intensity was good here, though Becky continues to come off like the face with Charlotte sounding like a villain in the whole thing.

Naomi vs. Peyton Royce

The IIconics argue over who has more fun beating up Naomi, which turns into a “no, me” argument in their usual annoying way. Naomi goes straight at her in the corner to start but Royce’s slap takes it to the mat. The trash talk doesn’t work very well and Naomi baseball slides Billie Kay. A sunset flip finishes Royce at 1:23.

Post match Naomi gets double teamed but Asuka runs in for the save. It’s about time she had something to do.

Video on Jeff Hardy defying death for years, but now he gets the chance to do it inside the Cell. The Cell won’t contain him because he will rise to the top and Randy Orton’s obsession will be his destruction.

Miz and Maryse are back at the arena because the food from a Detroit restaurant is disgusting. They’re back to call out Brie and Bryan one more time but Paige tells them about the two of them leaving. Paige says Miz isn’t done yet and gets to face anyone who wants to fight him. Miz isn’t happy but Paige says if he doesn’t fight, they’re done around here.

R-Truth is looking for Carmella but finds Maryse instead. Maryse doesn’t like being confused with Carmella, who she calls Staten Island trash. Miz doesn’t like this so Truth thinks Miz is married to Carmella. Miz asks when they teamed together last, because it was the last time Truth was relevant. Truth doesn’t know what Carmella sees in Miz. Confusion reigns.

Here’s Samoa Joe to say he didn’t see AJ Styles here tonight. Last week he promised to show up at AJ Styles’ house so he’s sure that AJ is locked up tight with his family, probably cradling a baseball bat. AJ’s wife Wendy is probably cradling their daughter Annie, telling them that Uncle Joe is a bad guy. See, Joe isn’t a monster though because he’s managed to make AJ be home on a Tuesday for once.

Annie can enjoy being tucked in tonight and she can get used to it, because after Joe gets done with AJ, he’ll be there every Tuesday night. AJ pops up on screen to say it’s time to stop talking. Cue AJ for the fight with Joe grabbing a chair. AJ takes it away but misses a big swing against the post. Referees break it up so AJ springboards onto Joe, taking out one of the referees in the process. Paige finally gets AJ to leave.

R-Truth and Tye Dillinger go Carmella hunting and Truth finally finds her. Truth to Carmella: “Hey! Have you seen Carmella?” He wants her to accompany him to the ring to face Miz because Miz will have the other Carmella in his corner. Tye: “That’s Maryse.” Truth: “No Maryse is my cousin from Detroit.” Truth mentions what Maryse said about Carmella and that’s enough to get Carmella in his corner. Tye: “For the love of Kid Rock, what are you doing?” Truth is trying to teach Tye something. Tye wants to know what that could be. Truth: “How to get into the main event of Smackdown Live!” Tye has nothing.

Video on what Orton will do in the Cell. It’s going to change people and destroy their sense of morality. He’s going to do things to Hardy that will keep you up at night but they’ll make Orton smile.

Usos vs. Sanity vs. Rusev Day

Young and Dain for Sanity. The winners face the Bar in a #1 contenders match. Joined in progress with the Usos taking English into the corner but Dain tags himself in and pulls Jey to the floor to take over. The beatdown begins with Dain tossing him hard into the corner and grabbing a neck crank. A running dropkick sends Jey to the floor and Young drops an elbow from the apron for good measure.

Back from a break with Jimmy coming in to clean house but Rusev tags himself in to superkick Young. A spinwheel kick drops Eric again but another blind tag lets Jey hit a Superfly Splash on Young with English making a save. Dain runs English over but gets superkicked to the floor. Jey dives onto Dain and breaks up Rusev’s dive. Young’s rollup gets two on Rusev but the Machka Kick finishes Young at 11:15.

Rating: C+. This got a lot better after the break and that works just fine. I’m glad it’s at least something different than the Usos vs. the Bar again, though you can probably pencil the Bar in for the title shot. Rusev Day is a popular team, though I can see why you wouldn’t want to put them against New Day and risk a weird reaction from the crowd.

Post match the Bar comes out to laugh at Rusev Day.

Quick look at the return of Mixed Match Challenge.

The Miz vs. R-Truth

Maryse has changed clothes since earlier and Carmella is with Truth. Before the match, Miz tells Kerwin to roll the footage from last week again. Miz is tired of having Bryan and Brie running around all night because they can drop the two of them faster than a defense drops Matt Stafford. They throw out one more challenge but Truth and Carmella cut them off instead.

Joined in progress again with Carmella on the apron as Truth does his dancing legdrop. A spinebuster and some right hands have Miz in more trouble but he knees Truth in the ribs to take over. We hit the chinlock with a knee in the back, followed by the YES Kicks. Miz misses the ax handle off the top and gets caught with a Stinger Splash but hits the short DDT.

Graves: “Truth has been asking what’s up for twenty years and has never gotten an answer.” The running knee is countered with a jumping kick to the face but Miz kicks him in the face. It’s time for the Skull Crushing Finale but here are Bryan and Brie for a distraction, allowing Truth to grab a rollup for the pin at 7:18.

Rating: C+. Truth was feeling it here and had one of his better matches in a long time. The guy is hilarious and can still go in a match like this if you give him the chance. I can’t imagine he does it all the time but once in awhile is a nice surprise. The ending wasn’t great though as the distraction finish is so overdone that it made me roll my eyes.

Post match Miz gets the YES Lock on Miz as Brie goes after Maryse but Almas and Vega make the save. Miz and Maryse leave so Bryan and Brie grab stereo YES Locks on Almas and Vega. With the two of them tapping, Miz runs back to the ring but puts the brakes on as Bryan is waiting on him to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Maybe it was just how bad last night’s Raw was but I had a really good time with this show. The wrestling was better than usual, the promos ranged from funny to intense and nothing was really bad. It’s amazing how much better this show is over Raw most weeks and it’s more than just the missing hour. There’s a goal here and they’re moving the stories forward week to week. That adds so much and it gives you a fun show a lot of the time. Good stuff here, again, which I’m sure has nothing to do with the lack of Evolution and Super Show-Down hype taking over the show.

Results

Daniel Bryan b. Andrade Cien Almas – Running knee

Naomi b. Peyton Royce – Sunset flip

Rusev Day b. Usos and Sanity – Machka Kick to Young

R-Truth b. Miz – Rollup

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: April 1, 2004
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re officially in the JBL Era here and that’s going to go on for a long time. Last week we saw the debut of the new character, followed by him interfering in an Eddie Guerrero vs. Booker T. World Title match. I was hoping that it was just a bad dream but now it seems that we’re going to be in for the long haul. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence, which STILL includes Rock.

Here’s General Manager Kurt Angle to open things up. There’s something behind him underneath a black blanket, which Cole thinks might be a surprise. Angle talks about sacrificing his in-ring career for the good of both the fans and Smackdown. He can’t do it alone though and needs someone to step up and help him.

Tonight, someone needs to show that they’ve earned what is underneath the blanket: a trophy, which is the Kurt Angle Great American Award. Eddie Guerrero isn’t eligible, mainly because the winner gets the next shot at Eddie’s title. Tonight there will be a series of matches with the winners being the official nominees, with the first match beginning right now.

Great American Award Nominee Match: Big Show vs. Rikishi

Rikishi slugs away to start but gets knocked down with next to no effort. The slow beating begins, including the boot choke in the corner. One heck of an overhand chop puts Rikishi down but he superkicks Show in the corner. The Stinkface is broken up though and the chokeslam gives Show the pin. They kept it short, as they should have.

Earlier today, JBL with the horned limo arrived, complete with him yelling at the Latino driver, especially for not speaking English. Cole hypes up JBL’s portfolio beating the stock market SEVEN YEARS IN A ROW, which is now the way you push a top heel.

Rey Mysterio/Spike Dudley vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./Chavo Guerrero Sr.

Chavo has new music. Rey and Jr. start things off with Mysterio’s standing Lionsault getting caught, only to have him armdrag Jr. down. Everything breaks down and it’s a Bronco Buster to Jr. and Spike’s running corner stomping on Sr. Rey gets crotched on top though and Sr. comes in for a butterfly suplex.

The fans think Chavo sucks and Tazz wants to know which one. My money is on Jr., who comes in with a camel clutch to Rey. That doesn’t last long and Rey sends Jr. into a right hand from Spike, who comes in for more offense than you’re usually going to see from him. Jr. saves his dad from a 619 so Spike Dudley Dogs Jr. while kicking Sr. to the floor for the pin.

Rating: C-. It’s a bad night for the champions so far and the match just wasn’t working very well. I can certainly go for having Spike as a cruiserweight more than as the plucky underdog though and at least he’s getting some more time. That being said, if you’re going to use this to likely set up a title match, maybe you shouldn’t have had Spike lose to Jr. last week.

Post match JBL comes in to beat up Rey and Spike, because cruiserweights mean nothing around here.

Great American Award Nominee Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Charlie Haas

Rematch from last week, though Haas now has new trunks. Haas tries to take it to the mat but has to avoid a kick to the face. Another attempt gets Rob on the mat, though jumping him from behind works. Unfortunately for Haas, the second attempt at kicking him in the face works as well but Haas is smart enough to start in on the leg. A headscissors sends Haas to the floor and he picks up a chair. Cole: “Great Americans don’t run around hitting people in the head with steel chairs.”

Back in and more shots to the leg have Rob in trouble and Haas wraps it around the post a few times. Charlie pulls him down by the leg again and puts on a half crab, which works a bit better than last week. Van Dam still gets out in a hurry, but this time Haas doesn’t get kicked in the face. A trip up top takes too long though and now Haas gets kicked in the head. Rolling Thunder (What leg injury?) gets two but the Five Star misses. Haas rolls to the floor and grabs the chair to knock the suicide dive out of the way, setting up the double countout.

Rating: C-. Not bad, Van Dam’s selling issues aside. I can appreciate the idea of building Haas up though as you can always have a good technical guy on the roster to get a good match out there. Haas isn’t likely to go anywhere and going 0-1-1 in two matches isn’t the best start, but the talent is clear and with a few wins, he could be a fine midcarder.

Actually hang on as Angle comes out and says Haas wins because he was ahead on points. Well yeah, he certainly was. Cole, obviously lacking an eye for talent, freaks out.

Video on JBL’s big promo and interference from last week. They’re certainly going full speed ahead with this guy.

We look back at JBL getting out of the limo earlier and then beating up Mysterio and Spike.

Booker wants in on the Great American Award and gets a Nominee match with Hardcore Holly. So Booker is slumming it with Holly while freaking BRADSHAW is pushed as one of the top heels. Who writes this nonsense?

Video on the WWE getting an award from the USO.

Great American Award Nominee Match: Booker T. vs. Hardcore Holly

They trade shots in the corner to start as Cole talks about earning respect on Smackdown. You know, like Holly has done for all those years. Holly knocks him to the floor for a seven count so Booker comes back in with the hook kick to the face. A delayed vertical suplex gives Holly two and it’s off to the armbar.

Booker fights up and gets two off a side slam before dropping a knee. An elbow gives Holly two and it’s back to the armbar. Back up and Booker’s Cactus Clothesline puts them on the floor as we take a break. We come back with the side kick putting Holly on the floor but not being able to suplex him onto the steps.

Instead Holly suplexes him onto the floor and throws Booker back inside, only to have Booker get two off his twisting sunset flip out of the corner. Holly makes the fired up comeback and gets two of his own off a powerslam. The dropkick gets two but Booker Book Ends him for the same. With nothing else working, Booker grabs a rollup with trunks for the pin.

Rating: D+. The post break half was way better than the first but my goodness why is Hardcore Holly going move for move with Booker T. for more than fifteen minutes? I don’t know who in the world thinks JBL is a better top heel than Booker (at least given their statuses at the moment) but we really are getting Booker as the midcard act who has trouble beating Holly while JBL gets to run people over.

Dudley Boyz vs. Akio/Sakoda

Bubba headlocks Sakoda to start and shoulders him down, only to have Akio kick Bubba in the back of the head to take over. The stomping begins, which makes sense given that Akio and Sakoda are just generic villains now that Tajiri is gone. Sakoda cranks on the neck but Bubba just blasts him with an overhand chop. It’s off to Akio so Bubba hits a pretty good looking spear to cut him down as well. The diving tag brings in D-Von to clean house and the villains are sent into each other. A 3D finishes Akio in short order.

Rating: D. Just a short match here as the Dudleys are still getting settled in around here. That being said, the Dudleys vs. Scotty/Rikishi isn’t exactly a big time match so I’d assume a title change before we get to the title showdown. Akio and Sakoda aren’t bad by any stretch, but they’re not going anywhere without a few tweaks.

We look at the nominees for the Great American Award.

The Dudleys check on Spike when Teddy Long comes in to offer his services. Well for Bubba and D-Von at least.

Raw Rebound looks at Chris Jericho ripping Trish Stratus apart and Shelton Benjamin upsetting HHH.

Eddie arrives and talks to the limo driver. Plans seem to be forming.

Rene Young and Fifi come out for commentary with Tazz interviewing the dog.

Great American Award Nominee Match: John Cena vs. Nunzio/Johnny Stamboli

Cena gets a heck of a reception as the star power is growing at a remarkable rate. He doesn’t think much of the other nominees because that award is his. Cena also throws in an insult to Dupree and Fifi, suggesting that Cole is in love with him. I’ll let you figure out who Cena is talking about. Cena easily pounds Stamboli down and knocks Nunzio off the apron before catapulting Stamboli into his partner. The Throwback and Shuffle set up the FU to put Stamboli away. I don’t think Cena is even sweating.

Post match Cena gets in Dupree’s face.

Angle recaps the Great American Award process and wants Eddie in the ring next.

Here’s Angle with the trophy for an announcement. He’s proud of the locker room because they’ve shown that HHH wouldn’t have lasted five minutes here. The award will be given out next week because the fans can vote for the winner. Make your choice careful too, as the winner will be the new #1 contender to Eddie’s title. This brings out Eddie, who cuts Angle off a few times to annoy the boss.

Eddie is ready to fight right now but Angle isn’t going to do that because he’s the General Manager. Instead, he wants someone skilled to take the title from Eddie. Someone who is as adept at the stock market as Eddie is at stealing cars. That would of course be JBL, who is now the fifth nominee for the Award. JBL comes out in the limo and climbs on top to thank Angle for the nomination. He can’t wait to get out of here and get back to New York City to his Central Park home.

We hear about all of his TV and radio show appearances, plus hear a plug for his TALK RADIO SHOW! As for Eddie, last week was just business and now he wants the WWE Championship. Eddie wants to make it personal and climbs onto the limo where he steals the hat as JBL goes back in through the moon roof. With JBL saying that the hat costs $1000, Eddie passes it around the arena, telling fans to put whatever they want into it. Angry Texas ranting ends the show. I don’t know about you, but I could really go for more from the #1 contender than “I wear expensive hats and talk about the stock market”.

Overall Rating: D-. So, much like last week, we got to see the new names showing up and having matches that meant absolutely nothing because it’s clear that JBL is getting the shot and didn’t have to wrestle a match to get there. The wrestling ranged from pretty meh to bad and then you have the entire change of pace at the end of the show. Just a worthless show as you can see the cliff coming from here and that makes it really hard to watch.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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 28, 2018
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

Things continue to chug along around here as we have the continuing stories of AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe and The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan, plus a title match between new Women’s Champion Charlotte and Carmella. The latter could be the most interesting as it seems WWE has already pulled the plug on Becky Lynch’s heel turn and might be giving the spot to Charlotte instead. Let’s get to it.

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

They are now Lord Xavier the Wise, Sir Kofi the Brave and Big E. Hang on though as Big E. wants a cool name too. Booker says he already has it though. Big E.: “You just went FULL SAXTON ON ME!” Booker: “Tell me you didn’t just say that.” Booker officially welcomes them to the Five Time Champions Club and the celebration is on, including the Spinarooni. Woods and Kofi do one of their own (Woods’ was better) and Big E. does one, albeit with some help from his partners. The Booker cameo was fun and this was all it needed to be without going long.

The Bar vs. The Colons vs. Good Brothers

The winners face the winners of another triple threat for the right to face New Day at the pay per view. New Day has their own commentary table again as Anderson and Sheamus hit the mat to start. Sheamus can’t do much with him so it’s off to Cesaro, who gets taken into the wrong corner for some double teaming. Primo tags himself in so Anderson sunset flips him, only to have Epico come in for the save.

New Day is busy trading pancakes as the regular announcers talk about World Records. Anderson hits a running kick to the head in the corner but Epico shoves him to the floor. Back from a break with Anderson fighting out of an over the shoulder backbreaker and finally bringing Gallows back in. A pumphandle slam and running splash get two on Cesaro. Everything breaks down and it’s a belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination to drop Cesaro. Epico saves Primo from the Magic Killer and it’s a double Backstabber to Gallows. Cesaro breaks up the cover though and steals the pin at 10:04.

Rating: C-. New Day didn’t add a thing here as their commentary was only played for about ten seconds combined. We’re likely looking at New Day vs. the Bar at the pay per view and while that’s a good match, it’s not something that I need to ever see again. Get some fresh blood in there already.

In the back, Rusev Day comes in to see Paige, who says they’ll be in the other triple threat match along with Sanity and the Usos. Rusev thanks Lana for getting the opportunity but it was actually Aiden English.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte, with Becky’s edited promo which makes her sound like she’s been ripped off instead of snapping.

Here’s Jeff Hardy, with RKO painted on his face, to talk about Randy Orton getting inside his head. Orton has messed with his mind and made him believe that he can fly. We see a clip of last week with Hardy Swanton Bombing Orton through a table. That made Jeff feel rebroken by fate so Orton needs to get out here and finish what he started.

Orton is glad to see Hardy being back to what he truly is but he’s not finished working on Jeff yet. This version is the one that Orton is going to take away. You can call him whatever you want, but all that matters is RK….Jeff: “NO!”. They’re going to be inside the Cell. Egads Jeff is going to die. Orton doesn’t say yes but that seemed official.

Carmella laughs about how she’s beaten Charlotte twice and tonight she completes the trifecta because Charlotte didn’t beat her at Summerslam. She leaves and R-Truth comes in asking which way she went. Tye Dillinger comes in to try and talk him down but Truth thinks that’s good planning. Tye is rather confused and says this is his life.

Naomi vs. Billie Kay

Before the match, Billie says she’s clairvoyant and sees Naomi losing again, just like she lost to Peyton Royce last week. Naomi knocks her down and stands on the hair while dragging Billie around. That seems to annoy Billie more than anything else and she yells a lot, only to get kicked in the head. Naomi bulldogs her into the corner and gets two off a rollup. The kickout sends Naomi’s head through the ropes, where she waits on Peyton to hit her spot and kick her in the head, allowing Billie to get a rollup pin at 1:53.

Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella look at Brie punching the Miz last week and seem rather proud.

Here are Bryan and Brie for a chat. Bryan is tired of Miz acting like he’s not a coward and bragging about his punching. That’s why it was so nice to see Brie come in last week and punch him in the face. Brie talks about how great it was and Bryan says it was also really hot. He can’t wait to see her in the mixed tag but here are Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega to interrupt.

Vega brags about Almas and thinks that since Miz has already outsmarted Bryan, it’s time for Almas to outwrestle him. Almas says he’s the only star in this ring so let’s do this right now. Bryan can’t do that, but does ask for someone to come make it for them. Paige eventually does come out and, after catching her breath, makes the match.

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Daniel Bryan

Feeling out process to start with Bryan sending him into the ropes, allowing Almas to hit the tranquilo pose. With Miz and Maryse, in matching AWESOME jerseys, watching in the back, Almas grabs an inverted Gory Stretch before hitting one of the loudest chops I can remember in a long time. Bryan avoids the running knee in the corner though and Almas falls to the floor. The running knee from the apron doesn’t miss and Miz and Maryse walk away from the monitor as we take a break.

Back with Almas holding Bryan in a triangle choke over the ropes because Smackdown knows how to do something other than a chinlock. Bryan catches him on top but here’s Miz (no Maryse) for a distraction. A suicide dive takes him out but the distraction lets Almas hit a springboard corkscrew dive. Almas hits an inverted tornado DDT for a close two but the moonsault hits raised boots. The YES Lock has Almas in trouble but Brie has to deal with Vega. Maryse runs in and posts Brie so the hold is broken, allowing Miz to run in for the DQ at 9:25.

Rating: C+. We’ll call the ending a pleasant surprise as I was fully expecting Almas to tap there. Almas doesn’t need to be losing big matches like that over and over again so protecting him is a good sign. Now just give him a win or two and maybe we’ll see someone get elevated towards the top of the card.

Post match Almas hits the Hammerlock DDT and Miz Crossfaces Bryan. With Bryan helpless, Brie takes the running knees from Vega and a DDT from Maryse. The Skull Crushing Finale plants Bryan and Miz kisses Maryse.

Charlotte is sick of being blamed for Becky not being able to win the big one. She’s worked hard to get here and Becky can have the spotlight, after Charlotte takes care of Carmella.

Here’s AJ Styles to discuss Samoa Joe attacking him again last week. The rematch is official for Hell in a Cell (not announced as being inside the Cell) and AJ admits that Joe is great with the mind games. Why can’t Joe just come face him like a man though? It’s because Joe isn’t a man and the mind games are going to end right here, right now. AJ doesn’t have to wait for their match so Joe can get out here right now.

Joe pops up on the screen and is standing in the parking lot. He calls AJ’s wife and asks how “our” little Annie (AJ’s daughter) is. He knows why Wendy is angry and says he’ll keep the promise that AJ never kept. Make sure to save him a plate at the back to school barbecue next Sunday and maybe he’ll stop by next Tuesday. More good stuff here, as you had to expect.

Hardy vs. Orton is confirmed in the Cell.

AJ is running through the back to find Joe and nearly knocks out a production guy.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Carmella

Charlotte is defending and they have a lot of time. Carmella gets two off a rollup as the fans are already asking for Becky. A headlock keeps Charlotte in trouble so she suplexes Carmella down, which at least quiets the BECKY chants for now. The moonsault takes too long to set up though and Charlotte gets shoved into the barricade. Carmella hits the suicide dive for two and we take a break.

Back with Carmella hitting a headscissors and shouting a lot, as is her custom. Charlotte gets kicked in the chest but rolls through a high crossbody for one. The champ goes up but gets pulled back down in a pretty good looking super hurricanrana. Carmella slaps her in the back and screams a lot, followed by a pair of not very superkicks for two. Charlotte shrugs it off and hits a spear, followed by Natural Selection. The Figure Eight goes on and Carmella finally taps at 13:02.

Rating: D+. As usual, I have no reason to buy Carmella getting in any kind of offense on Charlotte but that’s what we’re stuck with. Thankfully Carmella lost clean here and we can get away from her for a bit. She’s fine as a short term champion but the four month title reign and seeing her ruin Asuka was WAY too much from here. Now we can move on to the better stuff and I think you know what’s coming.

Post match here’s Becky to jump Charlotte (to some loud cheers) and says she’s getting the title back at Hell in a Cell, “you b****”. Becky leaves and we get a bunch of replays to fill in the show as it feels like they went home way too early. That was more full on heel from Becky (and it went about as well as the other stuff) so I’m not sure what was up with that edited promo last week.

Overall Rating: B. Smackdown is just a fun show and that was the case here. They kept things moving with nothing really dragging and advanced some stories that I want to see. I’m curious about why Joe vs. AJ isn’t worthy of the Cell but Orton vs. Hardy is. They could do a bit better with their pay per view choices but at least the TV is good and they’re setting up stuff that could go in some interesting directions. Nice work this week.

Results

The Bar b. The Colons and Good Brothers – Double Backstabber to Gallows

Billie Kay b. Naomi – Rollup

Daniel Bryan b. Andrade Cien Almas via DQ when Miz interfered

Charlotte b. Carmella – Figure Eight

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: March 25, 2004
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re past the Draft Lottery and the big move saw HHH come over to the blue brand. That opens up several doors and after the end of Raw, there’s a good chance that we’ll be seeing him challenge Eddie Guerrero for the SmackDown World Title again soon. Other than that, the big name would be Rob Van Dam, who could help move some people forward. Let’s get to it.

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

We get a long recap of the Draft picks, with a long look at HHH and Paul Heyman. With Heyman quitting, there is no Smackdown General Manager. I think we have a plot point.

Opening sequence, featuring a lot of Eddie Guerrero.

Here’s HHH….’s music but instead we get Kurt Angle in a suit. He gets straight to the point: Heyman ha quit so we need a new General Manager. Tazz: “It’s gotta be Stephanie McMahon. It’s gotta be.” And it’s Angle, because Tazz isn’t that bright. Angle is putting his wrestling career on hold so he can be in charge. He won’t back down from anyone, including HHH.

Earlier today, HHH demanded a rematch with Eddie Guerrero but got turned down, partially because he’s been traded back to Raw for the Dudley Boyz and Booker T. (along with Miss Jackie and Rico, with A-Train and Chuck Palumbo also going to Raw, though none of those are announced here). Booker comes out to say he’s not happy to be here. He liked wrestling on Raw because the fans over there appreciated him.

Video on the European tour, including John Cena in a kilt.

Rob Van Dam vs. Charlie Haas

After we hit the pose, Van Dam sends him into the ropes but gets carried like a fireman. Some spinning kicks have Haas in trouble and some armdrags set up an armbar. Van Dam tries to go up top but gets shoves off and into the barricade, which tends to happen to him quite often. Back in and Charlie ties the leg up in the rope for some stomping and it’s off to a half crab.

Since Rob is Rob, he uses the free leg to kick his way out of trouble. Another kick to the face has Charlie in trouble and Rolling Thunder gets two. Haas’ rollup in the corner gets the same, though the feet on the ropes help a bit. Charlie unhooks the turnbuckle pad but gets small packaged for the fast pin.

Rating: D. That was certainly a match. Van Dam isn’t exactly the best in the world in this situation and even someone talented like Haas can’t get much out of him. Van Dam needs to either be a big underdog or on a team as he’s not exactly going to get much otherwise. Pretty bad match here but Van Dam is going to be a big star no matter what.

Clip of Rene Dupree being drafted to Smackdown.

Clip of the big brawl that ended this week’s Raw with Steve Austin getting involved.

Billy Kidman vs. Rene Dupree

Rene has Fifi the poodle with him. Kidman can’t get a hiptoss to start but he can get a hurricanrana to bring on the early frustration. Back in and one heck of a whip into the corner allows Dupree to pose and the French Tickler elbow gets two. We hit the bearhug, which isn’t something you would expect from Dupree.

That’s broken up in a hurry and Kidman makes the comeback, including a middle rope elbow. Kidman does his own French Tickler and hits a dropkick but gets crotched while going for the shooting star. An over the shoulder sitout powerslam (which had no snap or force to it and Cole called it a powerbomb) gives Dupree the pin.

Rating: D+. Dupree has charisma and works better as a singles guy than in La Resistance but there’s only so much you’re going to get out of a three and a half minute match with a pretty weak looking finisher. Kidman is very good for a role like this though and is a big reason why he stayed around so long.

Post match here’s John Cena to say Tazz is a thug and Cole is gay. He wants to make sure that Dupree is prepared bro: don’t leave your wallet anywhere near Guerrero. More gay jokes aren’t funny and that’s that. Cena has found his swagger since winning the title and it’s sending him through the roof.

Video on Undertaker beating up Paul Heyman last week.

Teddy Long tries to recruit Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi and gives them a card. Josh Matthews looks interested but they’re “playas only cracka”.

Eddie comes in to welcome Rob Van Dam and Spike Dudley to the show but Booker doesn’t have time for this nonsense. He talks down about Smackdown and that’s not cool with Eddie, who won’t stand for someone disrespecting the show. Booker: “Consider yourself insulted.” The fight is quickly broken up and I think we have a main event.

Dudley Boyz vs. Basham Brothers

It’s a fight to start until we settle down to Bubba chopping Danny into the corner. D-Von comes in for some right hands but it’s off to Doug as the punching match continues. A neckbreaker from Bubba mixes things up a bit but it’s right back to the crossface shots. The double flapjack gets no cover and it’s time for some Twin Magic so Danny can come back in and take over. The abdominal stretch goes on for a little while but D-Von powers out and brings Bubba back in. That means more hard shots to the face and a sidewalk slam gets two on Doug. The Flip Flop and Fly into What’s Up sets up the 3D for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was every Dudley Boyz match I’ve seen in years and your mileage may vary on that. There’s no way around the fact that they haven’t changed things up in a long time and that was the case here all over again. They can be a nice addition to the division but they’re not going to be anything special.

Booker comes in to ask what Angle is going to do about Eddie so Angle goes into an explanation of how worn out Eddie is. Therefore, Booker gets a title shot tonight. Why is that not at the next pay per view?

Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero vs. Spike Dudley

Chavo is defending and the Dudleys are still at ringside. They trade hammerlocks to start and a frustrated Chavo hides in the ropes. The Dudley Dog is broken up with a nasty bump out to the floor but Bubba and D-Von scare Chavo Sr. away. Back in and Chavo puts on a seated abdominal stretch for all of a few seconds. Spike gets free and small packages him for two, followed by the top rope double stomp for the same. The Gory Bomb is reversed into a sunset flip for two more but Spike misses a missile dropkick. Now the Gory Bomb can retain the title.

Rating: C-. Spike was trying here and this was a much better fit for him. You can only have him do the ultra underdog role for so long and putting him against someone like Chavo, who isn’t that much bigger than Spike, worked well. Not much time to do anything, but Chavo needs some fresh challengers.

We look back at the APA splitting last week and Bradshaw talking about being a big time financial analyst.

Here’s Bradshaw in a suit with the white cowboy hat, now under the name John Bradshaw Layfield. Bradshaw says he was horribly misunderstood last week because he and Faarooq have been up and down more roads than almost anyone. He can’t be held responsible for what Ron Simmons did for him though, because Bradshaw has all kinds of things going on. We hear about his portfolio, his book, his upcoming radio show and appearances on FOX News. He can’t give all that up and no one would give up all he has.

There is no right or wrong in society but rather everyone is out to get something for themselves. People like him run industries and governments and he’s never sold anything but stock. He’s succeeded in everything but wrestling, because he thought a friendship was better than success. The impact is coming and business is about to pick up.

And so it begins. This seems like the kind of gimmick that would be a lame midcarder but since WWE has a tendency to go insane with some of its pushes, we could be in for a very long and rough road from here. At the end of the day, Bradshaw hasn’t been more than a Stan Hansen ripoff and now he’s some mixture of Money Inc. That doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence.

Bob Holly speaks for some of the locker room, telling Booker that no one wants him here. After Eddie gets done with him, the Smackdown locker room is waiting for him. Given that names such as Holly, Billy Gunn and Funaki are here, I get why Booker isn’t feeling threatened.

Smackdown World Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Booker T.

Eddie is defending. Feeling out process to start with Eddie taking him down but getting punched in the corner. A snapmare sets up a very early chinlock on Booker until he jawbreaks his way to freedom. Booker gets his own chinlock and has it broken up just as fast. The slingshot hilo gives Eddie two and it’s off to the third chinlock in….well way too little time to have three chinlocks.

Back up and Eddie gets in a very snappy dropkick but walks into a hot shot. We come back from a break with Eddie in another chinlock (two apiece now) before Booker gets creative with a sleeper. A cover gets two and we hit the sleeper again. This time Eddie gets out a little faster and hits a flapjack for a breather. It’s way too early for the frog splash though and Booker hits a superplex for a delayed two.

A side slam stays on Eddie’s back and IT’S ANOTHER CHINLOCK. He’s been working on the back and he can’t do a half crab? Booker chokes on the rope but only manages to fire Eddie up for some right hands. Another backbreaker is countered into a headscissors but the Book End gives Booker two. The side kick gets the same and Booker can’t believe these kickouts. Eddie ducks the ax kick though and the Three Amigos connect. The frog splash looks to finish but we’re edited to Bradshaw coming in for the DQ.

Rating: C+. Once they got past the crazy amount of chinlocks, they settled down and had a pretty good match. The ending isn’t exactly a brilliant idea though as Booker would have been perfectly fine as a one or two off pay per view challenger for the title while Bradshaw established himself a bit more. Instead though, we seem to be sailing straight into the new character getting a mega push right off the bat. We’re so lucky.

Bradshaw Clotheslines Eddie down to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Not great wrestling and a pretty horrible new villain to wrap up the show doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence. This was all about a big welcome to all of the new stars and….yeah they’re people who have been around for a long time now and are now just on a blue show instead of the red one. It’s not their worst effort, but it’s another restart without much fire behind the new cast.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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 21, 2018
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s the final night in Brooklyn and things have gone rather well so far. Summerslam was a lot of fun and now we can move forward towards Hell in a Cell. It’s pretty clear that AJ Styles will be facing Samoa Joe again and that’s something that I can look forward to. Other than that, we’ll be seeing Miz bragging about beating Daniel Bryan. Let’s get to it.

Here are Sunday’s results if you need a recap.

Miz and Maryse open things up with Miz looking rather serious until the Daniel Bryan chants start up. Miz says he was able to close his eyes and feel that in a way he never could before. Two nights ago, something happened at Summerslam and now he has a family to think about. Maryse is hugging Miz as he looks near tears and says that with a heavy heart….hang on as he needs to cry some more. He announces his retirement and there’s a YES chant.

Actually it’s his retirement of ever facing Daniel Bryan again because Sunday was a satisfying conclusion. Miz did exactly what he promised to do when he beat Bryan in front of a sold out Barclays Center. The 100 punches from Bryan didn’t equal one Miz punch because he has the hardest punch in this entire arena. Bryan promised to punch him but when Miz did it, he got the pin. Miz praises Maryse and plugs Miz and Mrs. but here’s Bryan to interrupt.

Bryan calls Miz a coward over and over again as Miz hides behind Maryse. It doesn’t matter what Bryan calls him because the record books will always say that Miz got the win at Summerslam. Bryan asks him to shut up for once because Miz is just hiding behind things, like the makeup he’s wearing right now. On Sunday, Bryan got to do what he wanted: expose Miz as a wannabe Hollywood star cosplaying as a wrestler.

Maryse tells Bryan to change his name to Daniel Bella but here’s Brie to punch Miz in the face. Miz and Maryse bail and Bryan announces a mixed tag for Hell in a Cell. Good thing Maryse chose now to bring Brie into it. I can go with this as A, Brie was always less annoying than Nikki and B, this isn’t the kind of match that should be in the Cell so having it move forward in another way is the right idea.

Post break Miz yells at Paige, calling her a worse GM than Bryan. Paige: “Well you got punched in the face by Brie Bella.” The tag match stays.

Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton

Orton shoves him into the corner but Hardy will have none of that and comes out with right hands of his own. Jeff gets caught on top though as Orton hits him in the back, sending him into the post and then onto the steps for a nasty crash. Back from a break with Jeff getting out of a chinlock and hitting Whisper in the Wind. The legdrop between the legs and a basement dropkick set up the Twisting Stunner but Orton is ready for the Swanton. Jeff gets crotched. It’s the finger through the ear again but Hardy is fine enough to block the hanging DDT. An intentional low blow is enough to disqualify Hardy at 7:11.

Rating: D+. This was about the storyline instead of the action and that’s perfectly fine. The ending (as well as the ads from the arena) would suggest a rematch inside the Cell, because Hardy hasn’t been banged up enough yet. Still though, this can be a good first big win for the new Orton character and if everything goes well, they can beat the heck out of each other in style.

Post match Hardy throws him over the announcers’ table and into the crowd. They fight towards the production area where Hardy blasts him with a few chair shots. A camera to the head knocks Orton silly and there’s the Swanton through Orton through a table in a scene very similar to Kofi Kingston’s big boom drop from about nine years ago.

The Bar challenges the winners of tonight’s title match to a future title shot but here are the Good Brothers (with Gallows in a suit and speaking in a weird accent and Anderson in big glasses) to say they should get a shot. Anderson: “Now back to Karen in the studio.” They’ll meet next week.

Naomi vs. Peyton Royce

Corey says he’s followed Peyton and Billie since NXT and they’ve never looked better. He’s quite the observer. Before the match, Billie insults Brooklyn and Naomi as only she can. Joined in progress with Naomi hitting a splits legdrop for two and baseball sliding Royce down. A Billie distraction lets Peyton kick Naomi down as Corey says some people on social media can’t take a joke and read too much into everything. Back in and the long legged boot choke sets up the chinlock as Naomi is in trouble. That doesn’t last long but Naomi has to go after Billie, allowing Peyton to hit a quick fisherman’s suplex for the pin at 3:32.

Rating: D. This felt like a match to build Peyton back up after a pretty ridiculous week. It’s not like Naomi is doing anything anyway and a win over her still means something. Billie and Peyton can play some nice roles in the division and if they get over with their annoying characters, good for them. Graves was hilarious ripping on Meltzer here too, which you had to know was coming.

Big E. has taped up ribs so he’s eating some fresh ones. Xavier Woods talks about this being the birthplace of Francesca and about how this is where they’ll become five time Tag Team Champions.

Video on Charlotte winning the Women’s Title and getting laid out by Becky Lynch after the fact.

Here’s Becky to say that she should be Women’s Champion but Charlotte stole it. The night was supposed to be about her and no one else. The fans chant for Becky but she talks over them, saying it was her time to get out of Charlotte’s shadow. Sure the people are acting like they’re with her now but where were they all along? There was no Becky hashtag but there was no boycott when Charlotte was added to the match.

Then the people applauded Charlotte when she won the title so they weren’t really that upset. For some reason Becky isn’t considered the best of all time and is now seen as the afterthought. A few nights of praise doesn’t work because this is a generation of all talk and no action. The third count on Sunday was like bringing her out of a trance. It was then that she knew Charlotte was holding her back and now it’s her time. Not because the people say it is but because it’s her time, period.

No one can tell her differently but here’s Charlotte to interrupt. The fight is on with Becky trying to get out through the crowd but Charlotte drags her back. Paige sends in the women’s locker room and they’re finally broken up. That lasts all of a few seconds until they’re dragged apart again, only to have Charlotte dive off the apron to get in a few more shots. Heck of a segment here and Becky sold the heck out of the promo, but it wasn’t going to work in front of this crowd. Their Cell match should rock.

Andrade Cien Almas/Zelina Vega vs. Rusev/Lana

Rematch from the Kickoff Show. The guys start with Rusev hitting a hard clothesline to take over earlier on. A quick armbar over the ropes doesn’t do much good on Rusev as he kicks Almas away and brings in Lana. Another kick puts Vega on the floor and the double scream takes us to a break.

Back with Vega choking Lana on the ropes and putting on a crucifix hold. Lana kicks her away and brings in Rusev….who is quickly taken into the corner for the running knees. The hammerlock DDT is broken up and there’s a clothesline to send Almas outside. Vega goes after Rusev and gets speared down as Aiden English appears to take a chair away from Almas. The Machka Kick sets up the Accolade to make Almas tap at 7:28.

Rating: D+. There’s your 50/50 booking in 48 hours as they trade wins, leaving everyone right back where they started. I wouldn’t have Almas taking a fall at the moment but odds are this leads to him beating Rusev at HIAC. You would think Lana beating Vega would have made more sense but sometimes WWE does these things without the most thought going into them.

Shinsuke Nakamura talks about the poem on the Statue of Liberty and says this is now the United States of Nakamerica.

Video on AJ Style vs. Samoa Joe at Summerslam.

Renee Young brings out AJ for an interview on the platform. AJ isn’t happy with what happened at Summerslam but he wouldn’t change a thing. He has a promise for Joe: the next time Joe mentions his family’s name, he’ll rip Joe’s heart out. Joe trips AJ from behind and pulls him down off the platform for the Koquina Clutch knockout. Joe: “OH WENDY!” AJ can’t come home and tuck in the kids because he’s already gone to sleep.

We recap the opening sequence.

Carmella comes in to see Paige, who says Carmella has lost ten pounds. A rematch is demanded but here’s R-Truth to say she’s been dodging him for weeks. All he has to do is pin her to get a title match. Paige says no (Truth: “You got lucky this time.”) and Carmella gets her rematch next week. Moon walking ensues but Truth picks Carmella up despite Paige’s protests.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Bludgeon Brothers

The Brothers are defending and this is No DQ with no Big E. at ringside due to his rib injury. Rowan certainly has a lot of padding around his arm. The fight is on to start with Woods and Kofi both being taken to the floor. Woods dropkicks Harper over the announcers’ desk but gets a chair thrown at him as we take a break.

Back with Woods sending Harper face first into the announcers’ table and Kofi kicking Rowan in the face. It’s time for a ladder but the delay lets Harper take them both out with a suicide dive. Some chairs are thrown inside and Woods gets whipped hard into the steps. A big boot gets two on Kofi but he kicks the chair back into Harper’s face. Kofi gets a tornado DDT near a chair for two as Rowan pulls him to the floor.

Rowan headbutts Kofi against the post before grabbing the mallet. Harper hits him three times in a row but misses a charge (Why did he need a mallet for a charge?) through the barricade. Back in and a mallet to Harper’s ribs sets up the rope walk elbow through the table to give Woods the pin and the titles at 15:23.

Rating: B. It’s not exactly a surprise given Rowan’s injury but they did it in a good match. Sunday’s ending left this as an option so it’s not like it came out of nowhere. New Day can keep the titles warm until someone can take them away and that’s a perfectly fine place to be. The mallet was a nice callback to the previous match and it made for a good ending with Woods getting the win.

Big E. comes out to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. It’s full speed ahead to the Cell and that’s perfectly fine. This show was much more about moving forward with everything and they did a pretty decent job with that. It was no secret that some of the matches would be set up for next month and WWE didn’t hide that. I liked the straightforward storytelling and the good main event helped a lot. Not a great show as the bad wrestling in the first half hurt things, but the angle advancement made up for a lot of it.

Results

Randy Orton b. Jeff Hardy via DQ when Hardy kicked him low

Peyton Royce b. Naomi – Fisherman’s suplex

Rusev/Lana b. Andrade Cien Almas/Zelina Vega – Accolade to Almas

New Day b. Bludgeon Brothers – Rode walk elbow to Harper

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: March 18, 2004
Location: FleetCenter, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the first show after Wrestlemania and, much like this week’s Monday Night Raw, the level of importance of this show might be pretty low. Eddie Guerrero is still Smackdown World Champion, having vanquished Kurt Angle, meaning he now needs a new challenger. There aren’t many options though and that makes things a little more complicated. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Wrestlemania if you need a recap.

Here’s hometown boy and new US Champion John Cena to open things up. Cena is glad to be home and talks about how he used to buy tickets for the old Boston Gardens. Back at Wrestlemania, he put Big Show on an FU diet and Show came out ten pounds lighter. Cena brings championships home like he’s Tom Brady. The FCC is getting on him and they suck just like the Yankees. It’s time for Cena’s first match but here’s Paul Heyman instead.

Heyman confirms that Brock Lesnar is gone from Smackdown and WWE as well, so maybe Cena can be the new face of the show. This Monday though, Cena might be getting sent over the Monday Night Raw. If Heyman was one of the superstars in the locker room, he would be on his knees praying to be drafted to Raw. Everyone left on Smackdown will be suffering Heyman’s wrath and that includes Cena. Heyman slaps him and gets knocked down but here’s Rhyno to start the title match.

US Title: John Cena vs. Rhyno

Cena is defending and takes an early spinebuster for two. He charges into a hard elbow in the corner to make it worse but the fans are still behind him, despite his tendency to charge in too soon. The real comeback (after being on defense for all of a minute) starts with some shoulders and the Shuffle, complete with pumping up the shoes. The FU retains the title in a hurry. Cena has taken about three giant steps forward into stardom since winning the title and you can see that fire in his eyes.

Edge is coming back. Still no date given.

Heyman is upset by what happened but runs into the APA, who laugh at him over what they saw. Therefore, if they don’t win the Tag Team Titles tonight, they’re fired.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Scotty 2 Hotty/Rikishi vs. APA

Rikishi and Scotty are defending. Bradshaw starts with Scotty, who tags out for the showdown with Rikishi. A slugout goes badly as Rikishi takes over with a headbutt and now it’s off to Scotty for some right hands of his own. Scotty’s middle rope crossbody goes as badly as you would expect and Faarooq comes in to slowly punch away. Bradshaw comes back in for a torture rack (still would be a great finisher for someone) and Faarooq puts on the chinlock.

Faarooq starts jumping onto Scotty’s back but eventually lands on raised knees, ala Arn Anderson. A tornado DDT to Bradshaw gets Scotty out of trouble and it’s off to Rikishi for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down and Faarooq breaks up the Worm with a right hand. Now why did no one else ever think of that? Not that it matters as Rikishi superkicks Bradshaw to retain.

Rating: D. Pretty bad match here and that’s not exactly a surprise. Why would you expect the APA to do anything more than bad at this point? They haven’t had a good match in a long time and it’s way past their expiration date. Scotty and Rikishi aren’t very good champions but with the rest of the available options, they’re about as high a level as we’re reaching right now.

Post break the APA storms into Heyman’s office so he can fire them to their faces. The thing is, they didn’t listen to Heyman because only Faarooq is fired (Heyman did say that if Faarooq and his partner didn’t win “you are fired”) because Bradshaw has too much value. Faarooq says they’re both out of here but Bradshaw stays, turning himself heel in the process. It should be noted that Faarooq was fired earlier in the day so this wasn’t the most shocking result.

We see Vince’s Lottery announcement from Raw.

Dawn Marie has gathered Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn and Rey Mysterio in a locker room. Heyman comes in to talk about the Smackdown locker room being united against him last week so tonight, they’re going to play Divide and Conquer. He can’t control what happens on Monday, but he can control what happens tonight. The four of them are running a gauntlet and the winner gets a WWE Title shot tonight. Haas and Benjamin aren’t interested in fighting each other so Heyman makes them the first part of the gauntlet.

Video on Wrestlemania.

Gauntlet Match

Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin get things going, showing off their blue and gold singlets. To the shock of no one, they go straight to the mat for a fight over arm control. Charlie gets the better of it for all of a few seconds before they get back to their feet where Shelton takes over with a headlock. That takes us to a standoff until they fight over a top wristlock. This time it’s Haas taking him down into a leglock, which is reversed into another headlock.

Shelton tosses him down and taps Charlie on the jaw, meaning it’s time to get serious. After a trip to the floor, they’re right back inside with Shelton hooking a front facelock. Shelton slaps him in the jaw again and Charlie isn’t having any of that. Back in and Haas gets two off a suplex (you would have expected more than that), followed by a bridging German suplex for the same. Shelton jumps over him in the corner though and the Dragon Whip (to the chest) is good for the pin.

Back from a break, Faarooq tries to leave but gets stopped by Bradshaw, who begs him not to leave. Bradshaw is a freaking one man conglomerate and he can’t be fired just because Faarooq said something stupid.

Now back to the match with Billy Gunn in third to face Shelton. Gunn takes too long getting in so Shelton stomps away in the corner. A running clothesline drops Gunn again and they head to the floor. This goes a bit better for Gunn as Shelton is whipped into the barricade for two back inside. Shelton doesn’t seem to mind as he elbows Gunn in the face and knees him hard in the head. Gunn gets out of a reverse chinlock with a jawbreaker and catches a charging Shelton with a raised boot. The good looking tilt-a-whirl powerslam gets two but the Fameasser misses. Shelton grabs a rollup (and the rope) for the upset (Maybe?) pin.

Before we get to the next name, here’s Big Show to say he’s not happy about losing the US Title to a cheater like Cena and is entering the gauntlet as the last man.

Back to the match again with Mysterio as the fourth man. They trade some rollups to start until Shelton snaps off an exploder suplex to take over. A delayed belly to back suplex gets two and some knees in the corner have Rey in even more trouble. Shelton whips him hard into the buckles and it’s off to a cross armbreaker. That switches over to a regular armbar, which Rey reverses into the sitout bulldog. Shelton is right back with a powerslam but Rey slips out of a German suplex. The 619 lets Rey Drop the Dime for the pin in the best section of the gauntlet so far.

Hall of Fame video. Why are they doing all of these breaks in between the matches?

So it’s Mysterio vs. Big Show for the title shot with Rey getting smart early on by rolling to the floor. Back in and Rey dives between Show’s legs but gets backed into the corner, allowing Show to toss him around. Show stands on Rey’s head but Rey snaps him throat first across the top. A springboard missile dropkick rocks Show, who kicks Rey in the face for two as the comeback is cut off in a hurry.

Show standing on Rey’s back has Mysterio bailing outside again, this time with a good bit more pain. Back in and Show gives him a rather impressive gorilla press drop, launching Rey into the air so the crash is even bigger. Cue Cena for a distraction though with Show going outside to get him, allowing Rey to hit a 619. The referee yells at Rey, allowing Cena to get in a belt shot to bounce Show off the post for the countout.

Rating: D-. This was a bunch of lame matches and while the most interesting choice won, it felt like they were doing the least interesting thing they possibly could have, which made this a very long match with almost nothing standing out as good. Mysterio vs. Benjamin was passable, which is probably why it was the shortest section of the whole thing. At least the title match has serious potential though.

Smackdown World Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is challenging and they shake hands to start. An exchange of wristlocks and armdrags give us a standoff with Rey holding his arm. Eddie trips him down and puts on a headlock, only to have Rey snap off a heck of a headscissors to send the champ outside. Rey motions that he wants the title as Eddie looks stunned. Back in and Rey slaps him in the face for some reason so Eddie sends him arm first into the buckle to stop Rey cold. An armbar goes on but Rey realizes he’s next to the rope for a fast break.

Eddie, having a brain, takes him down into another armbar but Rey, being Rey, spins out and monkey flips Eddie down. Mysterio pulls him to the floor for an Asai moonsault and we take a break. Back with Eddie hitting a top rope superplex for two and staying on the back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. To really crank things up, Eddie puts on a cross between a Gory Stretch and a chickenwing (egads that looks painful), making Rey tap twice. Why these taps (with Tazz and Cole saying Rey is tapping, as he’s clearly slapping his shoulder) don’t count isn’t clear but Rey reverses into a small package for two.

Eddie takes him down again and twists the arm even more, followed by some stomping to the arm. Rey fights out of another armbar and tries a springboard moonsault to Eddie’s back, driving him face first into the mat for two. The springboard seated senton gets the same as the pace is picking up. There’s a tornado DDT for two more but Rey is spent. Two rolling verticals connect but Rey reverses the third into a rollup. Eddie finally hits the third and tries the frog splash, which only hits mat. Rey hits the 619 and Rey Drops the Dime but Eddie rolls away. La majistral retains Eddie’s title.

Rating: B+. Oh come on like these two were going to have anything short of a great match. They know each other so well and it was no surprise that they were able to tear it up out there. Mysterio wasn’t likely to win but he’s good enough to make you believe that a miracle could happen to give him the title. That’s a valuable asset and Mysterio can do it as well as almost anyone else ever.

Post match Heyman comes out to say he didn’t know Spanish was the new language around here. He hopes Eddie and Rey’s families get deported because they have no place on his Smackdown. Next week he’s the only person guaranteed to be on Smackdown….and the gong strikes. Heyman decides to get back in the ring with Mysterio and Guerrero as Undertaker takes off the coat and hat (revealing a bandanna for a weird look). Eddie shoves him into a Tombstone to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. It says a lot when a really good Eddie vs. Rey match can’t save your show. This was as much of a punt of a show as you could imagine and unfortunately that’s not the biggest surprise in the world. They could have done something better than this, but I guess Shelton Benjamin vs. Billy Gunn was one of their best available ideas at the moment. Really lame show, but I can kind of understand why it happened.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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 14, 2018
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the final show before Summerslam and there isn’t much to do this time around. Sunday is set up and unless they add one more match to the card, which is entirely possible around here, I wouldn’t get my hopes up on much happening tonight. Hopefully the promos are good enough to carry things. Let’s get to it.

Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Carmella all come to the ring to open things up. Carmella isn’t happy with having to defend the title in the triple threat match but she’s so awesome that it doesn’t matter. Becky doesn’t have a chance now and should probably go back to being a clown, because it’s the one thing she does better than Charlotte.

It’s true that Becky doesn’t want Charlotte in the match because she’s going to make it harder to win. Becky was losing sleep over the idea of beating up Carmella one on one but now she’s dreaming of beating them both. Carmella laughs off the idea of Becky beating Charlotte because it’s really hard to do. I mean, Carmella did it twice (and beat Asuka twice) but Becky isn’t doing it.

Charlotte points out all the cheating and thinks it’s why no one respects her. Or is it because Carmella is a Diva living in a women’s era? Are we really going back to that again? It must be Total Divas season again. Anyway, Carmella is proud of being a Diva because neither of them have her looks, body or career. Cue Paige to thank Carmella for losing to Charlotte so the match can be a triple threat. It’s Paige’s job to give us good competition so let’s have a tag match right now with Carmella on commentary.

Becky Lynch/Carmella vs. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville

Carmella is on commentary as Charlotte avoids some early kicks from Sonya. That means a strut, which is of course crazy over here in Flair Country. A few chops put Sonya in the corner and it’s Becky coming in for the running legdrop after what looked like some confusion (it looked like Becky wasn’t sure what to do, maybe due to Sonya not being in the right place).

Mandy comes in and has some better luck, including posing a lot. It takes a bit too long though and Becky scores with a dropkick, allowing the tag off to Charlotte. Sonya comes back in and misses a sliding knee, allowing Charlotte to throw her down with a fall away slam to send Sonya outside.

Becky adds a forearm from the apron as Corey and Carmella take shots at Saxton. A cheap shot from the apron knocks Carmella down though and we take a break. Back with Sonya choking Becky until an enziguri gets Lynch out of trouble. Mandy breaks up the hot tag but Becky kicks her in the face. There’s the Bexploder to Mandy and a baseball slide to Sonya, setting up the Disarm-Her to make Mandy tap at 10:56.

Rating: C-. The story they were telling here was fine with Becky not wanting to share the spotlight, but egads Carmella and Graves were annoying on commentary. The ripping on Byron stopped being entertaining a lot time ago, which is why WWE is hammering it into the ground even more. To make it even worse, it wouldn’t shock me to see Carmella retain the title, because four months of “HAHA I’M STILL CHAMPION” hasn’t been enough.

Miz and Maryse are at home and have some huge news: there will be a second season of Miz and Mrs.!

Charlotte asks why Becky didn’t tag her in but Becky doesn’t quite answer. They agree that the best woman should win on Sunday and Becky says she will.

Triple Threat vs. Bludgeon Brothers

No names for the jobbers. The Brothers jump them to start and knock the trio to the floor. Rowan slams Harper onto one of them as I don’t think the bell ever rang. The crushed one gets slammed onto the member on the apron, followed by a powerbomb/middle rope clothesline combination. No match.

We get part one of a three part series on Miz vs. Daniel Bryan. It starts with Bryan debuting in NXT, back in the competition days with Bryan as a rookie and Miz as his pro. Bryan was new to WWE, even though he had been wrestling for over ten years. Miz had a reputation of a reality TV star and we see some clips of Miz yelling at Bryan and talking down to him.

Miz says all Bryan had to do was shut up and listen, which is why the whole thing failed. Then Bryan was eliminated fairly on in the competition, partially due to going 0-10. Bryan got a match on Raw against Miz and beat him, so maybe Miz needed Bryan instead of vice versa. More on this later.

Sanity vs. New Day

Kofi has a Birthday Boy sign and celebrates by throwing out some pancakes. Big E. and Young start things off as we have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY chant. A belly to belly suplex puts Young down and it’s off to Kofi, who jumps over Big E. for a backsplash. Wolfe low bridges Kofi to the floor though and a big crash puts Kingston in trouble. We go split screen for a Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar video and come back with Dain dropkicking Kofi into the corner.

Wolfe’s top rope forearm gets two and we take a break. Back with Kofi hitting a DDT on Wolfe and bringing in Woods to speed things up. The numbers game gets the better of Woods though as Young slams him onto Wolfe’s raised knees and brings Dain back in for more stomping. That doesn’t last long though as Kofi comes back in with Trouble in Paradise to Wolfe. Kofi hits the big dive off the top onto Wolfe and Young, leaving Big E. to tag himself in and scoop Dain up (with ease) for UpUpDownDown and the pin (including Big E. hip swiveling on the count) at 10:14.

Rating: C+. The ending was the right call here but egads Sanity coming up to the main roster feels like a big waste of time. I don’t think they’ve won an important match yet and they’re just around to put over teams like New Day and the Usos at the moment. Maybe they can get a story after Summerslam, but for now it’s not working.

Here’s part two of Miz vs. Bryan. We start with Bryan’s retirement in 2016 but Bryan said he wasn’t ready to leave yet. Miz says it’s Bryan’s fault for wrestling such a reckless style. Bryan couldn’t wrestle like the coward that Miz is, but before that could go anywhere he got the chance to be General Manager of Smackdown.

That led us to the famous Talking Smack segment where Bryan called Miz a coward, sending Miz into the rant of a lifetime against Bryan for being the real coward. Bryan said he had to leave without doing something he would have regretted. Miz thinks Bryan would have been fired for being a man but left instead. Then Miz started stealing Miz’s moves but Bryan started training for a comeback. Miz thinks Bryan is the coward, and he’s ready to prove it.

Paige knocks on Samoa Joe’s door and asks why he doesn’t want to address the WWE Universe separately from AJ Styles. She needs Joe to be professional, but Joe doesn’t think that’s what Paige was looking for when she made the match in the first place. Joe isn’t saying what he’s going to do and Paige can deal with the consequences. Paige can enjoy her night, just like Joe is going to enjoy his.

We recap the Lana/Rusev vs. Zelina Vega/Andrade Cien Almas issues.

Aiden English vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Before the match, Aiden sings about fighting for Rusev Day. Joined in progress with English hitting a clothesline and adding a frog splash (with an Eddie Guerrero chest slap) for two. Almas elbows him in the face though and the running knees in the corner set up the hammerlock DDT to finish Aiden at 1:26 shown.

Post match Vega and Almas say Sunday is the end of Rusev Day. Vega accuses Lana of being the dead weight that drags down Rusev, but here are Rusev and Lana to interrupt. Rusev promises to end Vega’s luck and Lana, with the accent coming in and out, promises to crush them because Summerslam is on Rusev Day. These four can’t get on the main show but Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor can?

Paige begs AJ to keep it together out there with Samoa Joe. AJ says he’s keeping his promise.

Part three of Miz vs. Bryan focuses on Bryan’s return to in-ring competition, which he never thought would happen. Miz didn’t care that Bryan came out of retirement because they were on different shows. Bryan stepped down as Smackdown GM, but before he left he insisted that Miz move over to Smackdown. Miz says Bryan has embarrassed himself over and over again because Miz has carried him all these years. After Summerslam, Bryan will have to admit that Miz is the better man.

Bryan admits that Miz has a bunch of things that he’ll never have, but that’s not why Bryan came back. He’s not back to have a big house and celebrity friends. He’s back because he loves wrestling and wants to do nothing more than prove that he’s the better man. These were all great videos and while there’s no chance it’s going to happen (and I understand why not), there’s a case to be made for this closing Summerslam.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy

Joined in progress with Shelton putting on a chinlock. The BROTHER NERO chants bring Jeff up and let’s go split screen for a Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss ad less than a minute after we’re back to the show. Jeff….I guess hits Whisper in the Wind as he jumped for it while we were still in split screen but the contact was cut off by a full screen Summerslam graphic. Thankfully the replay shows it connecting for the subsequent two count, followed by the basement dropkick for the same.

The kick to the chest puts Benjamin down and it’s the reverse Twist of Fate to make things even worse. Benjamin is too far away for the Swanton so he pulls Hardy down with a superplex for two. That’s it for Shelton though as the Twisting Stunner (stop calling it the Twist of Fate) is good for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: C-. Well what we could see in full was fine but the inset promos strike again. As usual they have nothing better to do that fill a show with ads, even though WWE TV tends to mostly be ads for their bigger shows in the first place. Hardy vs. Nakamura could be anywhere between interesting and a mess but it should be fun to watch either way.

Post match Shinsuke Nakamura comes out and knees Hardy in the back but Kinshasa is reversed into a Twisting Stunner. The Swanton leaves Nakamura laying as Randy Orton is shown watching from the shadows.

Summerslam rundown.

Here’s AJ Styles for the big closing segment. He talks about his time in this business, which has allowed him to travel the world and face the best in the world. Sure there’s pressure to being WWE Champion, but Samoa Joe hit his pressure points. We see a clip of Joe attacking AJ and signing the contract, followed by Joe talking about AJ’s family cheering for Joe at Summerslam. That was too far for AJ, who was ready to take Joe out until he saw his family. AJ’s wife told him to not lose his cool and AJ is ready….to be cut off by Joe.

With a piece of paper in his hand, Joe says AJ knows that’s not true. The paper is a letter from a fan which AJ needs to hear. The letter says that Joe’s comments a few weeks ago made the person physically ill. Not because he was wrong, but because what Joe said was true. Now it’s clear that AJ never wanted kids or a wife, which is why AJ is such a great champion: he’ll do anything to stay away from his family. The fan hopes Joe wins because he lost AJ a long time ago. Signed Wendy Styles (AJ’s wife). Well that worked. Very well actually.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s kind of amazing what a lack of Roman Reigns will do for a show. When that isn’t being focused on all night long, the show is that much easier to watch. The difference between Raw and Smackdown continues to be about how many things get a focus. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar dominated last night’s show, along with the other bad match that Raw focuses on. Bryan vs. Miz got a lot of time tonight, but it’s the right kind of focus. Smackdown doesn’t have that annoying stretch that Raw tends to go through every week and it makes a world of difference.

Results

Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville – Disarm-Her to Rose

New Day b. Sanity – UpUpDownDown to Dain

Andrade Cien Almas b. Aiden English – Hammerlock DDT

Jeff Hardy b. Shelton Benjamin – Twisting Stunner

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: March 11, 2004
Location: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the final show before Wrestlemania and we’ve got a guest star with Steve Austin in the house. Tonight should focus heavily on the Smackdown side of things but there’s a good chance that we’ll be seeing more of the interpromotional matches. That’s not the worst idea in the world as it’s not like the blue only matches are the hottest things in the world. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Austin vs. Brock Lesnar, which has turned into the real feud since Goldberg isn’t around at the moment.

Opening sequence.

Here’s John Cena for the opening match but first he has to rap about chasing the US Title like Big Show chases the ice cream truck. Show is a mark for himself and plays Blackjack alone to beat his own hand. Oh and Cena is large in a rather specific area.

John Cena vs. Rhyno

Cena drives him into the corner to start and gets two off the Throwback. Rhyno’s spinebuster slows Cena down but he shrugs off a knee to the ribs. The ProtoBomb sets up the Shuffle and FU to send Cena into Wrestlemania strong.

The locker room (save for the top stars of course) has a meeting in the locker room with Paul Heyman giving a speech. Just like last week, he’s willing to fight for Smackdown because he’s really good for this place. What’s good for Smackdown is good for the wrestlers because it puts food on the table and sends their kids to college. Steve Austin is coming tonight and doesn’t want their kids to go to college.

Austin is here to deal with Brock Lesnar (nowhere to be seen at the moment) and Smackdown can’t let that happen. Everyone better volunteer to help with this because at some point tonight, Lesnar is going to lead them in a battle to defend their turf. No one messes with their Smackdown but no one actually agrees to help. How many times do you think Heyman gave a nearly identical speech to ECW? No one can sell it like Heyman and this was really entertaining. Rather illogical and over the top, but entertaining.

Hall of Fame video.

Rey Mysterio vs. Jamie Noble

The Chavos are on commentary with Jr. trying to figure out why he’s defending against nine guys. Tazz: “Why does the #8 contender get a shot?” That’s a completely fair question and I’d love an answer. Rey grabs him by the hand and walks the ropes for a springboard headscissors but gets caught on top. The sitout bulldog gets Rey out of trouble in a hurry and the moonsault press gets two. The 619 is loaded up but here are Akio/Sakoda/Tajiri for what should be a DQ, but let’s wait for the other cruiserweights to come in to make it a no contest.

Rating: D+. They needed some more time of course but at least we’re going to be seeing something else besides just this match. Noble was just starting to heat up as a face when they turned him heel all over again so there’s not much hope for him at the moment. Mysterio is the real challenger for the title though and really, it should have just been him vs. Chavo on Sunday.

Billy Kidman/Funaki/Ultimo Dragon/Rey Mysterio vs. Tajiri/Akio/Sakoda/Jamie Noble

Joined in progress with Dragon hitting a Japanese armdrag on Tajiri and bringing in Kidman for a good looking dropkick. Chavo Sr. doesn’t want to hear about anything other than his son, which includes Funaki working on Tajiri’s arm. Akio comes in for some more luck with a cross arm choke and a spinwheel kick to take over on Funaki. Some baseball slide dropkicks to Funaki in the Tree of Woe get two as everyone is getting a chance here.

Cole rips on the Chavos so Tazz tells him to go frost his hair in a line that was funnier than it should have been. It’s off to Noble for a hard legdrop as Cole gets on Tazz for not calling the match. Cole: “Nonetheless Sunday, the title on the line with ten men!” Noble’s chinlock doesn’t quite work but Chavo Sr.’s Spanish ramblings make it a little better.

Funaki kicks Jamie away and brings in Rey, sending commentary even further into insanity. A Code Red gives Mysterio two and everything breaks down. There’s the 619 to Noble but Sr. gets on the apron. Jr. holds Mysterio for Noble, who hits Jr. by mistake and a hurricanrana gives Mysterio the fast pin.

Rating: C. That was a lot more like it, especially with the hilarious commentary. Sr. ranting and raving about how great Jr. was and how unfair everything was to his son was tremendous and made the match a lot better. It’s also a good idea to let the cruiserweights shine before Sunday in a match whose rules haven’t actually been announced yet.

Post match, Shannon Moore and Nunzio come in to keep up with the brawling.

Heyman gives the FBI a pep talk about getting rid of Austin but he gets a message saying that Austin is in the arena. Actually he’s at the beer stand. Heyman runs off shouting for Brock.

Long recap of Heyman’s issues with Eddie Guerrero, including last week’s great closing angle with Kurt Angle destroying the helpless Eddie.

Here’s Eddie for a match but first he wants to call out Angle for what happened last week. This is Angle’s chance to get rid of him once and for all. Eddie is the only WWE Champion who tells kids to lie, cheat and steal but since there’s no Angle, he must have no testicular fortitude. Angle isn’t fooling anyone because he’s not coming out here. Eddie talks about being an addict, which is the kind of person Angle would want to take out. Once Eddie wins at Wrestlemania, he’s going to lie, cheat and steal more than ever before. What a weird face, but that smile is more than enough to make it work.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Shelton Benjamin

Non-title. Shelton hits an early suplex and sticks the landing off a monkey flip to avoid a crash. Eddie sends him outside though and takes care of Charlie Haas too, earning Haas an ejection for his efforts. Back from a break with Eddie grabbing an abdominal stretch until Shelton hiptosses his way to freedom. Shelton’s arm is banged up so he has to settle for a belly to back suplex instead of a German suplex.

Shelton whips him into the ropes….and we’re edited to Eddie coming off another rope (he was sent into the ropes on the hard camera side and was then coming off the ropes facing the set) for a faceplant. I’m assuming there was a heck of a botch in there and that wasn’t the smoothest edit in the world. Eddie gets all fired up and Shelton doesn’t know what to do as the comeback is on.

A backdrop sets up the rolling vertical suplexes but the ref gets bumped. Cue Haas to throw Shelton the title but Eddie dropkicks it back into Shelton’s face. Haas and Benjamin get a belt shot each and Eddie drops down so the referee won’t know what happened. As usual, cheating can be smart. Eddie staggers to his feet, smiles at the audience, and hits the frog splash for the pin.

Rating: C+. I remember watching Eddie’s rise to the top of the show when I was a teenager and I didn’t give it nearly the credit that it deserved. Eddie is just so, so good out there with the wrestling being perfectly smooth and the mannerisms being even better. He’s just such a treat to watch and somehow seems to be getting better every single time, if that’s possible.

Post match Angle comes out and motions that the belt is his.

Sable and Torrie Wilson were at the Playboy 50^th Anniversary party. They giggle about their match at Wrestlemania.

Heyman’s correspondents have lost Austin. Orlando Jordan walks through a door and Heyman makes sure he’s going to do what’s right for Smackdown. Jordan says he will, but he respects Austin. Heyman threatens to fire him.

Big Show vs. John Walters/Arch Kincaid

Walters is a minor indy name who has worked for ROH before and was a semi-regular WWE jobber around this time. Both guys get thrown around a lot and the chokeslam Walters in about a minute.

Post match Cena comes in and takes out Show’s knee.

We look back at last week’s setup for the four way Tag Team Title match.

Heyman is very glad to run into the APA as they can do what’s right for Smackdown. They agree, without saying anything specific about what they’ll do.

Rikishi/Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Basham Brothers

Non-title. Doug sends Scotty into the corner to start so it’s a headlock to slow Doug down. A blind tag brings in Danny to kick him in the head though and the Bashams take over without much effort. We’re already in the chinlock, followed by a legdrop for two. Danny misses a charge in the corner and a slide between his legs is enough for the hot tag to Rikishi. Doug gets kicked to the floor but he switches place to save Danny from the Stinkface. He charges at Rikishi….and gets superkicked for the pin. Well that was sudden.

Rating: D. The ending was pretty odd and I’m not sure what the point is in having the champs get a clean pin over some of their challengers three days before the pay per view title match. At least they didn’t have it go on too long though as it’s not like there is anything beneath this on the Wrestlemania card.

Video on Lesnar vs. Goldberg, which has turned into a mess after what should have been a layup. Austin as guest referee really does feel like a last ditch effort to save the thing.

Austin’s truck has been moved.

Clip of Kane ranting about Undertaker on Raw and being told it all begins again Sunday.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Here’s Paul Heyman, flanked by a big chunk of the Smackdown roster. Post break Heyman brings out Brock Lesnar, who calls out Austin for a fight. This is his ring and if Austin is here for some knuckle sandwiches, he better bring a bunch. Cue Austin who backs his truck into the arena and stares down the mob. They step aside and let him pass, even as Heyman shouts GET HIM over and over. Big Show is the only one to stand in front of Austin but, after a staredown, even he lets Austin go.

The locker room leaves and Austin teases getting in but takes the ATV instead. He stops it in the aisle though and turns around, holding up the key. Cole: “That’s the key.” Tazz: “Yeah I know.” Austin wins a slugout and posts Lesnar before throwing him inside. A Stunner takes Heyman down but Lesnar is back up. The F5 and Stunner are countered and the bleeding Lesnar leaves, I believe in his final ever appearance on Smackdown. The ATV is ridden and loaded into the truck so Austin can drink beer to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was exactly what you would expect from the go home show, save for the ending which was pretty off, considering it was a referee beating up a wrestler. It was good to let Eddie get something back before the pay per view and the wrestling was mostly watchable. I actually thought Raw did a better job of making me want to see Wrestlemania as this show was fine with a big angle that involved what’s available from one of the biggest matches. Not bad, but it’s time for Wrestlemania.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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 7, 2018
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

We’re in the final stages of the Summerslam build and that means there isn’t much left to do. The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan match was confirmed earlier today so, aside from setting up the Tag Team Title match, everything is going to be ready pretty soon. That means we only have to get through the rest of the build, which can make for some fun television. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Randy Orton to a heck of a face reaction to open things up. Orton talks about Jeff Hardy calling him out last week and we see the beatdown that ensued, including Orton wiping away Hardy’s face paint. He liked feeling Hardy squirm last week because he’s here to take out everyone that the fans have put on a pedestal. Orton is going to become so violent that he’s going to make people want to change the channel.

You can believe in your superheros like Hardy but Orton is here to destroy them all. When he started his career here, he was the youngest guy in that locker room. Since then he’s become a thirteen time World Champion and won everything that there is to win. The fans have made their choice and Orton has chosen to erase everyone the fans believe in. You can call him the Legend Killer, the Viper, the Apex Predator or whatever else you want, but all that matters is RKO.

I’m digging this Orton character change. He’s someone who has a long history and has done almost everything he can do in WWE. Changing things up like this is a great idea and one of the only ways you can get him booed as a heel. Orton is so good at what he does but he needs to be freshened up a bit. Having him go after the popular guys is a good idea, but he’s going to be turned into a face again by the end of it because of how well he pulls the thing off.

Becky Lynch and Charlotte are in the back to discuss Charlotte being added to the Women’s Title match. Lynch was really looking forward to getting a shot at the title, but now there’s a big blonde boulder in the way. Charlotte did what she had to do and Lynch is cool with that. They’re fine for their tag match tonight because they’re not like Sasha and Bayley.

Charlotte/Becky Lynch vs. Iconics

Carmella is on commentary. Before the match, the Iconics play a word association game about how sad this place is and how Carmella is going to win. Becky is going to stay in Charlotte’s shadow because she’s always a bridesmaid and never a bride. As usual, history isn’t WWE’s strong suit. The fans dub this boring, though it’s hardly that bad. Charlotte starts in on Billie’s arm to start and a pair of double hiptosses have both Aussies down. It’s too early for the Disarm-Her though and they bail to the floor. Charlotte dives onto both of them as we take a break.

Back with Billie and Charlotte hitting stereo big boots because Smackdown isn’t the kind of show that has to comeback from a commercial with a chinlock. Becky gets the tag and starts cleaning house but Billie breaks up the Disarm-Her. Charlotte tags herself back in and moonsaults onto both of them, setting up the Figure Eight to make Peyton tap at 6:18. Way too little shown to rate but the idea here was Charlotte stealing the spotlight.

New Day is proud of their commentary last week but now it’s time to try their hand at backstage interviewing, with Kofi in a blue suit and blond wig. They’re not worried about facing the Bar or the Bludgeon Brothers because both teams will bow down to the power of positivity. New Day cracks up and says they can do that too. Even Renee Young is smiling.

Earlier today, Miz accepted Daniel Bryan’s challenge for Summerslam.

Byron Saxton will have an interview with Miz later tonight and Corey Graves is stunned.

Becky and Charlotte are excited about their win but things will be different at Summerslam. They’ll have to be great against each other instead of with each other.

Video on AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, set to Joe’s great promo from last week about how Styles has sacrificed everything to be WWE Champion, including his family. AJ’s family will be cheering for Joe at Summerslam so daddy will finally be home.

Here’s AJ for a chat. AJ talks about how a lot of things go on between these ropes, including a lot of trash talking. That can get personal and Samoa Joe did that last week. AJ is doing this for his family, just like a lot of people do. That’s what he’s supposed to do as a father and as a man. He misses his kids’ little league game and birthdays. Two days ago, he celebrated 18 years with his wife, but she’s basically a single parent because he can’t be there. We’re supposed to give our families what they need and occasionally you can give them what they want.

AJ wants to be there to pick his kids up when they fall and Joe knows all of this. Joe knows AJ’s wife and kids and AJ isn’t going to let Joe get his hands on this title. At Summerslam, Joe isn’t walking out the WWE Champion because he’ll be lucky to walk out period. Very intense stuff from AJ here, which is a place he doesn’t go to very often. It’s also nice to have these promos not be interrupted by something or someone. Just let them talk and see what they can do.

Lana is getting ready for her rematch with Zelina Vega when Rusev comes up. He’ll be in her corner tonight to make sure it’s a Happy Lana Day. That makes Lana happy but here’s Aiden English to apologize to her again. Rusev accepts, but thinks English should stay in the back tonight. English looks disappointed.

Lana vs. Zelina Vega

Rematch from last week with Rusev and Andrade Cien Almas as the seconds. Vega slaps her in the face to start and gets kicked to the floor. That lasts all of two seconds as Lana throws her back in to start the brawling. Zelina’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Lana suplexes her down and drops some elbows. Almas jumps onto the apron and the distraction lets Vega score with a jawbreaker. Rusev throws Almas around but Vega kicks him in the back of the head. That earns Rusev a posting but Lana kicks Vega in the head. Cue English to save Rusev, knocking Lana down again. The running knees in the corner finish Lana at 3:36.

Rating: D+. Much like last week, the match wasn’t great but Lana didn’t embarrass herself out there, which means she’s making actual progress. She already has the charisma and the association with an act like Rusev Day could allow her to go pretty far. As is the case with so many people, she just needs ring time so having matches like this is the best thing for her.

Shinsuke Nakamura isn’t going to be facing Jeff Hardy at Summerslam because Hardy was erased. He’ll face what’s left of Hardy, but here’s R-Truth to challenge Nakamura for the US Title instead. Nakamura: “How are you going to do that?” R-Truth: “The same way everyone else does: I’m going to pin Carmella.” Nakamura speaks Japanese and Truth is horrified, because he can’t repeat that in public. It’s bad enough that the match with Carmella is off and he wants Nakamura tonight. Truth continues to be one of the funniest guys in WWE, just by following WWE logic.

Byron is in the ring to interview Miz, who pops up on screen instead of coming to the ring. He calls Byron a bad announcer and plugs the success of Miz and Mrs., which doesn’t have a single bad review on Rotten Tomatoes. Byron keeps asking about the match with Bryan but Miz ignores him to plug the show. Tonight he learns CPR, which would be a good idea for Bryan because he needs to resuscitate his career. Miz finally mentions it, saying he’s become a star while Bryan has been working in a garden.

Bryan needs this match while Miz needs to be recognized as WWE Champion. Miz is here night after night while Bryan has been off in bed crying. He’s not hiding from anyone and at Summerslam, Bryan is getting exposed as being beneath Miz. Go talk to Bryan about it because he’s probably off eating kale and talking about his wife. Bryan runs into the room, beats up security and punches Miz a few times until a potted plant to the back of the head lets Miz escape. The string of good promos continues tonight, but that kind of goes without saying for these two.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. R-Truth

Non-title. Corey says he can understand more of Nakamura’s song than Truth’s. Nakamura chokes him in the corner and says COME ON so Truth charges at him with a rollup. Now it’s Truth shouting COME ON before taking him down with a hurricanrana. Nakamura gets in a kick to the back of the head and hooks a triangle choke but Truth gets over to a rope. A reverse exploder puts Truth down and Kinshasa is good for the pin at 3:13.

Rating: D. Exactly what you would expect here with Truth getting in some entertaining stuff but falling short against the bigger name. It’s rather impressive that Truth is still completely watchable at 46 years old, which is far beyond the end a lot of careers. If nothing else just let him do his funny cameos in the back and he’ll be around forever.

You know how the Bludgeon Brothers haven’t cared who they fight at Summerslam? It’s still true as they promise to break whoever faces them both physically and mentally. They’re going to have fun.

Bludgeon Brothers vs. 3SK

Non-title as this is a 3-2 handicap match. The Brothers dropkick two of the guys off the apron (Roman Reigns Starter Kit and Tazz Jr. according to Graves) and Rowan crossbodies them. The other guy gets kicked in the face and Harper is slammed onto the other two. A powerbomb/middle rope clothesline combination gives Harper the pin at 1:27. That’s the kind of squash that makes these two look great.

Summerslam rundown.

Tag Team Title Tournament Finals: New Day vs. The Bar

The winners get a shot at Summerslam. The fans want pancakes so Xavier Woods, on the floor for this one, throws some into the crowd. Big E. and Cesaro actually grapple a bit to start but it’s time to swivel the hips. Kofi comes in and sticks the landing on a monkey flip to frustrate Cesaro even more. It’s off to Sheamus, who knocks Kofi to the floor in a heap so New Day stops to check on him. A hard uppercut keeps Kofi down and Cesaro grabs a chinlock back inside.

Back from a break with Kofi still in trouble (but not in a chinlock) but avoiding a charge so Big E. can come in for the belly to belly suplexes. More hip swiveling (it’s his gimmick) looks to set up the Warrior Splash but Big E. has to knock Cesaro off the apron instead. A Rock Bottom out of the corner gives Big E. two on Sheamus and it’s back to Kofi vs. Cesaro. The SOS gives Kofi two but Big E. makes a hot tag, only to miss the apron splash. He seems to have banged up his arm and the distracted Kofi takes the Regal Roll on the floor.

A double implant DDT gets two on Big E., with the fans sounding very relieved on the kickout. We settle back down with Big E. in trouble and take a second break. Back again with Big E. still in trouble, including Sheamus kicking him in the face to set up Cesaro’s superplex into a top rope knee from Sheamus. That’s only good for two though so Sheamus tries a Texas Cloverleaf.

Big E. uses the leg strength to kick him to the floor though and the hot tag brings in Kofi. A springboard shot to the head drops Sheamus and the Boom Drop has him in even more trouble. Air Kofi hits both Sheamus and Cesaro, followed by a top rope double stomp for two on Cesaro. Big E. is sent outside again and a double backbreaker gets two on Kofi. The Brogue Kick misses and Kofi’s dropkick is enough to bring Big E. back in.

The Midnight Hour is quickly broken up though and a spike White Noise gets….two again as Kofi makes a very last second save. Cesaro swings Big E. into the Sharpshooter as Kofi hits a tornado DDT to plant Sheamus on the floor. Big E. can’t get to the ropes as Cesaro rolls over into a Crossface. That’s powered out as well, with Big E. muscling him up (that’s just scary strength) into the Midnight Hour for the pin on Cesaro at 25:10.

Rating: A-. Now that’s more like it with two great teams getting to show off for a long time in an entertaining match. New Day winning wasn’t the biggest surprise in the world and it’s VERY nice to not go to another triple threat match, which I was expecting for a long time during the match. The Bar not being able to make TV for months is absurd given how awesome they were here, but you can’t expect something like that to matter in wrestling.

The Bludgeon Brothers look on to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was an excellent show with great promos and an outstanding main event with everyone working hard and getting ready for Summerslam. It’s amazing how much better this was than Monday Night Raw, which was downright unwatchable last night. Just go with a build that works and isn’t full of rematches, bad promos and Roman Reigns overload. Is that really too much to ask?

Results

Becky Lynch/Charlotte b. Iconics – Figure Eight to Royce

Zelina Vega b. Lana – Running knees in the corner

Shinsuke Nakamura b. R-Truth – Kinshasa

Bludgeon Brothers b. 3SK – Powerbomb/Middle rope combination to ???

New Day b. The Bar – Midnight Hour to Cesaro

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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: March 4, 2004
Location: Savannah Civic Center, Savannah, Georgia
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We have two shows left before Wrestlemania and the show is mostly set on the blue side. It includes the best built match on the card with Smackdown World Champion Eddie Guerrero defending against Kurt Angle. Last week Angle turned it into a morality play, which makes for an interesting story between the two. Let’s get to it.

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

Paul Heyman is in his office and welcomes us to the show, which is a very stressful time for him. He narrates a recap of last week’s show with Eddie trying to get at Angle and getting arrested for his efforts, which Heyman says is a familiar place for him. Tonight, both of them will get to tell their side of the story live, in the ring. By that, he means Eddie is ordered to apologize.

Opening sequence.

Steve Austin’s music hits and here’s Brock Lesnar riding out on Austin’s ATV. Lesnar admits to stealing the ATV (I think he’s made that clear) and says it’ll drive over anything, except a tow truck. Unlike Austin, Lesnar has the courage to come on another man’s show and do something he feels like doing. We get a clip of the F5 to Austin and Lesnar promises that Goldberg is next. Actually someone else is next.

Hardcore Holly vs. Brock Lesnar

Holly charges in and kicks Lesnar to the floor but walks into a big spinebuster back inside. It’s already off to the gutwrench that dominated their Royal Rumble match because it worked so well the first time. As Cole calls their Royal Rumble match a classic (egads man), Holly fights up but gets clotheslined outside. Holly manages to post the shoulder and gets two off a belly to back suplex. Lesnar shakes that off though and hits the F5 for the pin. Too short to rate but much more energetic and better than the “classic” at the Rumble.

Post match Lesnar has some beers to Austin’s music.

Danny Basham vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Scotty headlocks him down to start and hits a suplex into some dancing. That earns him a posting and a Fujiwara armbar (makes sense) keeps the shoulder in trouble. The hold doesn’t last long (they probably don’t have the time) so Scotty comes up with a superkick but the referee yells at Rikishi. The distraction lets Doug come in instead, setting up a small package for the pin on Scotty. Just a way to set up the title match at Wrestlemania.

Video on Angle vs. Guerrero.

Angle joins us via satellite and talks about all the horrible things you hear athletes doing today. You can’t open the paper without seeing someone with a drug or legal issue. He’s not going to let that happen again with Eddie. Cole talks about Eddie’s public apology tonight but Eddie isn’t buying it. Would Cole be ok with his children acting like Eddie? If his actions are able to change one person’s mind about Eddie, the boos are worth it. He won’t let people like Eddie take over this company.

This was a great lesson in heel psychology. A heel doesn’t have to be right in their actions. All they have to do is justify their actions in their own mind, which is what Angle has done here. Angle has turned heel, but he still thinks he’s doing the right thing and views himself as the hero in the whole thing. That makes for a great heel turn and Angle is selling it very well.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Funaki

Non-title. Funaki dropkicks him to the floor to start and adds a baseball slide to break up some consultation with Chavo Sr. Back in and Chavo takes over with a shot to the ribs and an abdominal stretch. With the hold on, Chavo Sr. jumps on commentary to complain about his son having to defend the title nine times at Wrestlemania. Funaki gets two off a bulldog as the fans aren’t exactly thrilled here. A high crossbody drops Chavo but Sr. gets on the apron for a distraction. Chavo rams the back of Funaki’s neck into his knee and steals the pin after kind of a weird finish.

Rating: D. I’m not sure what the point is in having Chavo win the match here and take away whatever momentum Funaki could have as a challenger. I know he doesn’t have much of a chance to win the title but why give him a loss when you don’t have to? This could have been good if they had some more time but at three and a half minutes, it’s the longest match on the show so far.

Heyman tells Dawn Marie that it’s time for Eddie’s apology.

Video on the South Africa tour.

Heyman and Dawn Marie are in the ring but he sends her to the back in case things get ugly. Here’s Eddie (on foot this week) and Heyman lays out the reasons Eddie needs to apologize, including knocking Dawn Marie down last week. Eddie actually apologizes….but he was lying! He even mocks Heyman for falling for something like that and looking like the deer in the headlights. Eddie is proud of being a father, husband and the WWE Champion who represents these fans. He going to walk into Wrestlemania XX as WWE Champion but then he’s walking out just the same.

Heyman is livid and says the only thing he disdains more than Eddie as WWE Champion is Eddie as a person. He wishes his hands weren’t tied by the board of directors or he’d give Eddie a beating himself. Eddie: “You couldn’t beat me if I had both hands tied behind my back.” You can figure out where this, including the ending of the show, is going. Heyman makes a match between the two of them for later tonight with Eddie handcuffed. Eddie’s face is perfect as he couldn’t look more relaxed about the whole thing.

Billy Kidman/Ultimo Dragon/Rey Mysterio vs. Tajiri/Sakoda/Akio

It needs the time, but I can’t believe the Cruiserweight Open is getting two matches of build. Or that Dragon is still employed. Dragon misses an early spinwheel kick but settles for rolling out of a sunset flip and kicking Sakoda in the chest. Tajiri and Kidman come in with more kicks having Kidman in trouble.

Akio slaps on a bearhug as Tazz completely loses himself in a discussion of what would happen if Tajiri and Akio wind up fighting for the title. Even Cole calls him out for making no sense and Tazz actually concedes. You know it’s stupid if even he’ll admit it. Kidman gets in a bulldog and dives over for the hot tag to Mysterio so things can pick up in a hurry. Everything breaks down and Dragon dives onto Sakoda but Tajiri breaks up the 619. Kidman dives onto him instead and Rey’s spinning DDT finishes Akio.

Rating: C-. This needed about three more minutes as it was really turning into the usual awesome cruiserweight spot fest, which is what these six should be doing. Mysterio is the top challenger for the title at Wrestlemania so having Kidman or Dragon getting the pin here would have made sense, but at least we got something with a little more time.

Heyman swears vengeance on Guerrero and Dawn Marie isn’t talking him out of it.

Here’s the World’s Greatest Tag Team dressed up as the APA (with Shelton as Bradshaw and Charlie as Bradshaw for some reason). Southern jokes run amok, including shots at beer drinking, smoking and marrying your sister’s cousin. Bradshaw thinks Haas and Benjamin are a couple of sexual tyrannosauruses but it’s time for a song.

Just when I’m thinking the only thing missing is a West Texas Rednecks song, THEY SING A WEST TEXAS REDNECKS SONG with APA Is Crap. Cue the real APA for the brawl, followed by the Bashams and Scotty 2 Hotty/Rikishi. So yes, sixteen people are going to be in two bad Tag Team Title matches. Is it too early to request a battle royal instead? Throw the cruiserweights in there and you’re already at 26.

Wrestlemania recall: Rock vs. Hogan. Well that works, even if they don’t show the Hulk Up.

Big Show vs. A-Train

First up, Cena makes American Idol jokes and promises to win the US Title. The energetic Cena gets shoved down, bringing a smile to his face. They head outside with A-Train clotheslining the post by mistake to give Cena a target. Back in and some arm cranking doesn’t get Cena far as A-Train uses the good arm to clothesline him down.

It’s time to work on Cena’s bad knee with A-Train in trouble as we take a break. Back with Cena firing off some right hands and forearms until more shots to the knee cut him off. Cena’s big clothesline gets him out of trouble and there’s the Shuffle. The FU gives Cena the easy pin.

Rating: D. I can appreciated A-Train working on the knee and all that good stuff but there wasn’t exactly much to see here. They were going with the idea of Cena fighting a giant to set up his more important match against the other giant so the booking is sound, but there’s not much of a way around such a lame match.

Post match Big Show comes out to brag about how awesome he is and lists off the things he’s done. The girls may love Cena’s abs but Big Show isn’t exactly impressed. At Madison Square Garden, everything ends for Cena.

Wrestlemania rundown. It looks good, but really, really long.

Heyman tells the referee to make Eddie’s handcuffs tight. Oh and Heyman will keep the key so he can beat some sense into Eddie.

The Hall of Fame Class of 2004 is announced:

Jesse Ventura

Harley Race

Billy Graham

Tito Santana

Sgt. Slaughter

Bobby Heenan

Don Muraco

Greg Valentine

Big John Studd

Junkyard Dog

Pete Rose

I’m glad the thing is back, but for the first class in nearly ten years, they don’t really have a major headliner, at least not for their time in WWE. Some big names, but the biggest WWE name is….Heenan? Ventura? Maybe Slaughter? Not exactly the big headliner you would expect.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Paul Heyman

Non-title with Eddie’s hands cuffed behind his back and the announcers acting like this is Austin vs. Hogan. Heyman talks a lot of trash and gets kicked into the corner where he shouts in pain. Another kick is enough for Heyman and he walks out….with Angle replacing him as the match ends.

Angle gives him a death stare that would intimidate Ivan Drago before slowly taping his fists. Not being the brightest guy in the world, Eddie gets into the ring (still cuffed) instead of running through the crowd. Angle slowly gets in and stalks Eddie before taking him down so the proper beating can begin. The taped right hand puts Eddie down and the fans chant for the champ. You can see the fear in Eddie’s eyes as he knows he’s screwed. Angle picks up the belt and knocks Eddie cold to end the show. More great stuff from Angle, who came off like a heartless machine here, which makes me want to see Eddie fight back.

Overall Rating: D+. Eddie and Angle are carrying this show on their backs but the weight is a little too much for them. Looking back over this show, there is next to nothing going on that would make me want to see what’s next for Smackdown. We’re ten days from Wrestlemania and there’s one Smackdown match worth seeing. The problem continues to be cramming so much stuff on there and the bad is outweighing the good. I’ve said something similar to this before and it’s true here: the good is very good but the bad is much more uninspiring and dull, which can be a lot worse than bad.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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