WWE Releases A Ton Of Wrestlers, Plus Others

Spring cleaning is here.Kurt Angle (The biggest name of all)

Drake Maverick (He was just a boss and occasional wrestler, though his comments on the release are heartbreaking)

Curt Hawkins (Fair enough)

Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson (They’re the biggest surprises)

Heath Slater (You had to know this was coming)

Eric Young (He never caught on so this isn’t a big shock)

Rowan (That spider thing was death)

Sarah Logan (She never did anything on the main roster)

Mike Chioda (He was around FOREVER)

Mike Kanellis (It was Maria’s world and I think he knew it)

EC3 (For the life of me I will never get how they let him just sit there)

Aiden English (Not much of a shock)

Lio Rush (He was finding his calling but dang that’s a fast fall from grace)

Epico/Primo (Yeah I thought they were already gone too)

Plus a ton of agents being released/furloughed. This is a rather nutty day and I’m sure there are going to be even more releases coming throughout the day. That’s a good thing in a way as a lot of these people have been sitting around doing nothing for months. I never saw why WWE needed this many people in the first place so cleaning out a lot of the space is a smart move, though not the best news for the wrestlers. It had to happen though and while unfortunate, it makes business sense.

205 Live – April 10, 2020: The Next Step Forward

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: April 10, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jon Quasto, Byron Saxton

The timing could be interesting around here as William Regal has announced a tournament to crown an interim Cruiserweight Champion due to Jordan Devlin being unable to leave the UK. The tournament won’t start until next week, but at least it gives them something to focus on around here. Or maybe it won’t be mentioned yet because of the taping schedule. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence

Tony Nese vs. Danny Burch

Commentary does know about the tournament so that’s a nice change of pace. Burch armbars him down to start so Nese reverses into a headlock on the mat. That’s broken up into a standoff so Burch goes for the leg, sending Nese to the ropes again. They do the same things with the roles reversed as they’re staying mostly even here. Burch slips out of a headscissors and grabs a headlock but Nese sends him to the apron.

An elbow to the face puts Burch on the floor and it’s a splash for two back inside. The bodyscissors stays on Burch’s ribs and Nese switches over to a waistlock, which is countered with a Stunner of all things. Burch fights back with some clotheslines and a middle rope missile dropkick gets two. Nese flips out of a German suplex and stomps on the ribs for two. The Lionsault gets the same but Burch pulls him down into the Crossface. That’s broken up as well and it’s the German suplex into the corner. The Running Nese finishes Burch at 10:16.

Rating: C+. I liked this one a good bit as the two of them worked well with each other and there was a story throughout the match with Nese working on the ribs throughout. Nese winning makes sense as Burch is usually the one who loses around here most of the time so this was the smart way to go.

Post match Nese brags to commentary and promises to be the next champion.

Jordan Devlin isn’t happy about the tournament but he’ll be here to take the title from whoever wins it.

Oney Lorcan vs. Jack Gallagher

Nese is still at ringside and talking more trash but Gallagher comes out and gets in his face to get rid of him. They go with the grappling to start with Burch taking it to the mat for a headscissors. That’s reversed and Gallagher pounds away, only to bail from the threat of an ankle lock.

Gallagher heads to the ropes, followed by more grappling to send Gallagher to the ropes again. Burch takes him down by the leg so Gallagher gets in some elbows to the head for the break. A few more shots send Burch outside but he’s back in with chops. Those just make Gallagher smile and he strikes away in the corner. They slug it out from their knees with Burch getting the better of things, only to get headbutted down.

Burch BLASTS him with a clothesline for two and loads up a belly to back superplex but gets elbowed back down. Gallagher hits a spinning high crossbody to put both of them down but Nese is here for a distraction. A rollup gives Burch two so Gallagher headbutts the heck out of him. That’s enough for Nese as he comes in and jumps Gallagher for the DQ at 8:01.

Rating: C+. Another good match here and a different style than the first one as this was more of a brawl. The ending even felt like an angle, which hasn’t been the case around here for a few weeks. Lorcan (and Burch) are still great for matches like this as they can work with anyone and have a good match as a result, even Gallagher doing his Conor McGregor deal.

Post match Nese stays on Gallagher but Burch makes a save. Nese gets up and grabs the chair but Lorcan runs out for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is the first time that they had any kind of an angle on the show for about a month and it made things a little bit better. What matters though is they have good enough matches and the show doesn’t include the horribly annoying people who were dragging things down for so long. That and the shorter run time makes the show that much better. Good stuff here, even if the show is still on the lowest level on the totem pole around this company.

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

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

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

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

Checked Out The Ruthless Aggression Series

IMG Credit: WWE

The things you can do when you sit down to do a big jigsaw puzzle.

I know I’m a bit late on this but it wouldn’t be me if I actually did something on time for a change. The series has not exactly been well received and I can’t imagine I’m going to be all that different from the masses as this thing was, for the most part at least, the series was WWE showing off their unique brand of history again.

Episode One: It’s Time To Shake Things Up

So after WCW and ECW went under, WWE needed someone to give them competition. Since WWE was SO awesome, they decided it needed to be themselves. They also decided that they should just be called WWE, because there was no lawsuit or anything forcing them to do so. That second part is about all you need to show you that this is going to be WWE’s history and little more.

The gist of this one is that things needed to be changed so we had the Brand Split and a bunch of new wrestlers, most of whom were trying hard and being all great and awesome, but they needed one thing. That would be Ruthless Aggression, which is where we get to John Cena, who of course gets (and deserves) his own episode.

Episode Two: Enter John Cena!

If you ever needed a short and not all that great John Cena biography, you have it right here. The whole thing is little more than talking about how great Cena is, how he was ready to fail until the rapper gimmick saved his career (which it did) and then everything was awesome because Cena is that amazing.

Really, that’s about it on this one. We hear about one of Cena’s great matches, part of his character’s rather limited evolution, then he wins another big match, then he’s a bigger star, then it’s Wrestlemania XXIII and we’re done. There’s very little in the way of criticism or anything that made Cena such a big deal. It comes off as “he wasn’t good, then he was a rapper, then he was the face of the company”. Now stretch that out to fifty minutes, with a section about how dumb the spinner belt was.

Episode Three: Evolution

Then there’s this, and it’s by far and away the best show of the series. Believe it or not, HHH’s team gets the longest show out of five and this time around it’s actually earned. This is a full history of the team as we hear about how/why it was formed and the thought process of putting the whole thing together. I know it sounds as simple as HHH’s Four Horsemen but it’s a little more than that and makes for some interesting television.

This is where the extensive video library comes in and helps things out so much as there are so many little clips of things that help tell the story. You get things like Mark Jindrak being part of the team, a ton of backstage stuff, and some great clips of Ric Flair that show you how out of it he really was when the team was put together. I liked this one far better than anything else and it’s worth a look on its own if you’re a fan of the team.

Episode Four: The Next Big Thing

Did you know that Brock Lesnar is a freak of nature and one of the best athletes that wrestling has ever seen? If not, you can watch any given thirty second stretch of this and hear the same narrative over and over again. This one is straight out of the Cena style, with almost no substance and “Lesnar is awesome and could do anything he wanted because he’s that great.”

In other words, there’s nothing to this one and it comes off like the highlights of a Wikipedia article. It’s Lesnar running over someone, becoming a big star, and then hearing about how great he was at any sport he tried. There’s nothing about the more interesting stuff and nothing from Lesnar. It felt like they needed an episode on Lesnar and threw together whatever they could with this. Big waste of time here and something anyone who has ever seen Lesnar could put together in a hurry.

Episode Five: Civil War: Raw vs. Smackdown

Now we get to the big finale and the narrative that WWE remembers every November: the battle of the shows. There are two ways of looking at this and only one of them is interesting. You hear a good bit about the backstage rivalry between the shows with Smackdown being viewed as the far less important show but putting on WAY better shows. That was certainly the case for the wrestlers, but I have yet to see a fan who cared that much about which show they watched. Fans still saw it as WWE all over the place (because it was) and it made the rivalry pretty forced.

They veer off of the idea a good bit though and include a look at the rise of Eddie Guerrero and Randy Orton, which makes you feel like it could have been a LONG series with several episodes, as it’s not like those two couldn’t have been individual episodes of their own. Other people get some attention as well, as everyone knew they were all working to fix up WWE. In an episode about the Civil War.

Overall

This whole thing comes off as something that could be interesting if they put in the effort, but there was almost no effort to be seen. Instead, it’s “here’s the concept, here are three people/groups who were major players, and here’s a big catch all for the rest of the people”. You could EASILY make this a 10-12 part series with looks at all kinds of other concepts (and they did mention more coming later this year) but the big narrative was “and everyone was so happy because WWE is incredible”.

Other than a little here and there in the Evolution episode, there is nothing controversial, overly interesting, new for the most part, or anything that even hints at the idea of WWE being less than perfect. There could be an interesting look at this if you consider how bad some of the stuff in this era was, but you’re not getting that here. If you’re an Evolution fan check out that episode, but skip the rest of this as it’s as fluffy of a series as you’re going to see.

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

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

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

205 Live – April 3, 2020: Plain And Simple

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: April 3, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jon Quasto, Aiden English

It’s the very final show before Wrestlemania and that means a grand total of nothing this time around as 205 Live has no presence on the show. All that matters here is having a few decent matches between people who aren’t going to be getting any time on any of the major shows. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Kushida vs. Danny Burch

They go technical to start with several switches out of some armbar attempts. Kushida takes it to the mat but Burch grabs the leg to get out. The fight over arm control sets up another standoff as things reset a bit. Kushida takes him down by the leg and cranks on the arm a bit, implying that it wasn’t very hard. Burch’s headlock works a bit better for him until Kushida reverses into a front facelock to continue the frustration.

Burch manages to send him to the apron but Kushida switches places and kicks him outside. Back in and Burch punches him out of the air for two and it’s time to stomp Kushida down. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Kushida knocks him outside for a running knee from the apron. The springboard DDT is broken up though and Kushida pulls him into a Crossface. Believe it or not, Kushida escapes that as well and dropkicks the knee out. The Sakuraba Lock finishes Burch at 10:06.

Rating: C. This was almost a long form cat and mouse game as Kushida never felt like he was in any real danger and kept pulling Burch back in every chance. It wasn’t a terrible match or anything and Burch was working hard, but he was overmatched here and it was a matter of time until Kushida finally caught him. Good story though.

Tyler Breeze vs. Jack Gallagher

Gallagher runs him over to start but walks into a dropkick for his efforts. Breeze’s headlock doesn’t work very well so he clotheslines Gallagher for two instead. Now the headlock on the mat works a bit better but Gallagher reverses into one of his own. Some right hands keep Breeze down and a few uppercuts put him in the corner. We hit the armbar for a bit but Breeze is back up with a sunset flip attempt.

Gallagher sits down on him for two (how he beat Breeze in the elimination match) but the Supermodel kick gets the same. Breeze heads up top but gets his arm pulled down onto the top rope. A few cranks on the arm make it worse and the Fujiwara armbar has Breeze crawling over to the rope. Back up and they slug it out until Breeze knees him to the floor. Back in and Gallagher hits a discus elbow for the fast pin at 10:00.

Rating: C-. Not as good as the first match but still decent enough. They’ve nailed the look to make Gallagher remind you of Conor McGregor and it’s one of the best transformations I can remember in a long time. That being said, he isn’t exactly in a place to move that far up the ladder. At least he has something that makes him stand out though and that’s more than a lot of the cruiserweights can say.

Overall Rating: C. I really don’t know what to say about these shows anymore. What we had was decent enough but there is no story in sight and the wrestling is only decent enough. It’s the first show that the company should be dropping but there is no indication that they are going to. The show has been stripped down to the bare basics and it’s just really not all that interesting. Not bad, but nothing I’ll remember by next week.

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

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

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

Main Event – April 2, 2020: They Have The Talents

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: April 2, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

We’re back in time a bit here as it’s the last Main Event before Wrestlemania. I have no idea what that is going to mean this time around but that’s something I say every week on this show. Things have at least been a little different lately and maybe we can get a better show here again. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Good Brothers vs. Ever Rise

That would be Chase Parker/Matt Martel (better known as 3.0) and yes they still sound like a battery. Parker slugs away at Gallows to start with as much success as you would expect. Anderson comes in and gets his wrist cranked a bit and it’s off to Martel for a slingshot elbow to the back.

Gallows offers a distraction though and Anderson hammers away to take over on Parker. A fall away slam sends Parker flying and we hit the chinlock. Gallows misses the big boot in the corner though and it’s back to Parker to pick up the pace. That goes as well as you would expect so it’s a big boot to Martel and the Magic Killer to finish Parker at 5:09.

Rating: D+. Ever Rise continues to be a team who just kind of exists but for the sake of something like this, they’re a pretty acceptable choice. It wasn’t a competitive match or anything but it’s good to see the Brothers getting to beat someone up for a change. They had a bit more energy than most of the empty arena matches too so well done.

From Smackdown.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House but the lantern seems to get in Bray’s head. Bray says that it already failed against John Cena but He won’t. See, Bray has a way to win so let’s go to the blender. Take some self loathing, rage, disappointment, hot sauce (for flavor) and a carrot (so he can see John Cena)…..plus Ramblin Rabbit (for some completely unnecessary opinions) and throw them all in a blender and mix them together. Bray says He wants Cena to join Cena in the world of insanity in a Firefly Fun House match at Wrestlemania. No word on that means, but Bray wants to be let in.

From Raw.

Here’s Becky for a chat. She beat two champions last year at Wrestlemania and walked out with two titles. Ever since then she has walked a razor blade lifestyle and now who she is if she loses the title. She knows she’s getting in Shayna’s head too though. Shayna has always wanted to be out of Ronda’s shadow and if she wins at Wrestlemania, she can get out of that shadow forever. If she loses though, she’s right back in there for good. Cue Shayna to choke Becky out and then swing her hard into the announcers’ table.

Video on Edge vs. Randy Orton.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Cedric Alexander vs. Fabian Aichner

The unique Main Event main events continue with Aichner headlocking him to start. Alexander slips out and strikes away but a springboard is broken up. We take a break and come back with Aichner kicking away in the corner and putting on the chinlock. Back up and Aichner misses a running knee in the corner.

A dragon screw legwhip has Aichner in trouble but the Lumbar Check is blocked. Instead Aichner catches him coming off the top and counters into a suplex for two. That doesn’t matter much though as Alexander is right back up with the Neuralizer to finish Aichner off at 10:16.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t great but again, it’s so nice to have a fresh match for a change. They didn’t have a great match or anything but I’ll take this over a boring match that I’ve seen a dozen times any day. Hopefully Alexander can bounce back though as he stopped meaning anything in the fall and never got better. Main Event isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing.

Video on Undertaker vs. AJ Styles.

From Raw.

Undertaker says that Allen Jones’ (AJ Styles’ real name) mouth is writing checks he can’t cash. AJ has been a big fish in a small pond for most of his career and now he’s saying that fifteen years ago, he wouldn’t have done this. Undertaker lists off a lot of legends from around that time and thinks it was smart of Allen to wait for them to be gone, except for him.

He gets what AJ is doing, but mentioning Michelle McCool is crossing the line. Is it because the Faithbreaker is better than the Styles Clash? Undertaker: “She got it over.” They’ll be in the bone yard and AJ should try him because Undertaker will make him famous. Anderson and Gallows can come too because they can all get hurt and rest in peace. The camera pans back to show an AJ tombstone. Good promo, with Undertaker showing some fire.

From Raw.

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar are in the ring for a chat. Heyman talks about how this is the go home segment on the go home Raw for Wrestlemania. For the better part of twenty years, it has been Brock Lesnar int his spot and that is because he is the beast to slay. This year, Drew McIntyre has stepped up and compared to most people, he is special. Compared to most wrestlers in that locker room, Drew McIntyre is special. So were the Rock, Hulk Hogan, Shane Carwin, Randy Couture and the Undertaker and they all went from special to Brock’s b****.

The Claymore Kick is good but so were the Rock Bottom, the legdrop, the Tombstone and the Attitude Adjustment, because none of them mattered against Brock when it mattered. At Wrestlemania, Brock will survive the Claymore Kick and then next year, Brock will be standing here with the title again because Drew is the latest great story to tell. This year, Drew walks in special and then walks out just like everyone else.

Overall Rating: C. Just a show here which did a decent enough job of making me want to see Wrestlemania. The show isn’t going to be like any version before and it needed a strong build to make people care. That only worked to an extent here, but it could have been a lot worse. Now just keep things going well after Wrestlemania and we might be somewhere.

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

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

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

Main Event – March 26, 2020: What I Asked For

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: March 26, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

This was a bit more interesting than usual last week so maybe that can continue this time around. Granted I’ve said that more times than I can count about this show and it never sticks. The empty arena shows have long since lost their charm so I’m not sure how much good this one is going to do. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Asuka vs. Kayden Carter

Asuka sends her face first into the mat to start and hits the early dance. That earns her a dropkick and they shout at each other a lot, setting up Carter’s multiple springboard wristdrag. Asuka gets in a kick though and more dancing on the floor ensues. Back in and Asuka stomps away before grabbing the armbar. That’s broken up so Asuka kicks her in the head and grabs the Asuka Lock for the tap at 5:12.

Rating: D+. I like Carter but this was just a step above a squash. There’s no reason for it to be anything else though as Asuka is a far bigger star than almost anyone else on the roster and having her run through someone on Main Event is a fine enough way to have her get something out of the show.

From Smackdown.

Michael Cole is in the ring to introduce Rob Gronkowski, the host of this year’s Wrestlemania. After a video on Gronkowski, Mojo Rawley comes in to say that’s not hyped enough and handles the real introduction. Gronkowski comes out and dances to the ring, saying he’s ready for the party even in front of no fans. Rawley promises to have his back and front but here’s King Corbin to interrupt. Corbin talks about how we don’t have pads around here but he knows what it’s like to be in the NFL.

Cue Elias to say he wants to sing a song about Corbin, who finally agrees to listen to it. Elias sings while Rawley and Gronkowski dance behind Corbin. With the song over, Corbin gets in Gronkowski’s face but Rawley gets behind him and shoves Corbin over, allowing Elias to throw him over the top. Gronkowski says he can’t make matches, but he thinks Elias should face Corbin at Wrestlemania. I already can’t stand Gronkowski and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

From Smackdown again.

Here are Roman Reigns and Goldberg to sign the Wrestlemania contract. Cole recaps the events setting up the match and asks Reigns why he challenged Goldberg. Reigns says the greats have challenged him and they’ve all lost, so Goldberg will be the same. Cole brings up a tweet from January when Reigns said it was stupid to headbutt a locker before a match. Reigns says that’s stupid and he took a shot because it made sense. He’s taking the title at Wrestlemania and signs.

Goldberg says he’s been headbutting doors around the world for years and he’ll beat Reigns at Wrestlemania. The contract is signed and the table is turned over, meaning the staredown can end the show. That tweet made this feel less intense and I don’t really buy that these two don’t like each other. Not that it matters though as Reigns is likely holding up the title to end Wrestlemania anyway.

From Raw.

Heyman and Lesnar are in the ring (with the camera now looking at the Titantron for a change), with Heyman talking about how McIntyre can train all he wants. He can get in great shape and spar with mixed martial artists, but he can’t beat Lesnar at Wrestlemania. McIntyre can pray all he wants but God is going to give him a busy signal on this one. Instead, Lesnar will answer his prayers to make it quick, but not painless. At Wrestlemania, McIntyre is another victim, just like everyone else.

Video on AJ Styles vs. Undertaker.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Danny Burch

Well you can’t say it’s an old match. They fight over arm control to start and that means an early standoff. Carrillo rolls over and grabs the ankle, only to get reversed into an armbar. A headscissors gets Carrillo out of trouble and it’s the standoff sequel. Back up and the high angle springboard crossbody gives Carrillo two and the top rope missile dropkick sends Burch outside.

We come back from a break with Burch uppercutting away and hitting a snap suplex for two. The chinlock goes on for a few seconds but Carrillo is up in a hurry with an enziguri. Burch’s German suplex gets two but Carrillo dropkicks him down. The moonsault finishes Burch at 7:45.

Rating: C. Bit of a styles clash here but the match worked out well enough. If nothing else, this is the kind of thing that I’ve been wanting to see around here for years: fresh matches instead of the same people over and over again. This may not have been a good match or anything, but it’s better than another combination of Curt Hawkins/Cedric Alexander/Mojo Rawley/Shelton Benjamin.

We recap Edge challenging Randy Orton to a Last Man Standing match at Wrestlemania.

From Raw.

Here’s Randy Orton to answer Edge’s challenge. A few weeks ago he told Beth Phoenix that her husband is an adrenaline junkie. That’s all Edge is and that’s why he’s still here. About eighteen years ago, Orton debuted on the main roster and won the Intercontinental Title. Then he took the torch from Mick Foley at Backlash 2004. Was any of that handed to him? He has become the most dangerous name in wrestling and now Edge is questioning his grit.

Orton doesn’t think grit is sitting on your couch for nine years. Instead, grit is longevity and becoming the one constant in WWE for all those years. Orton has heard Edge’s challenge for a Last Man Standing match and at Wrestlemania, he is ending Edge’s story. He accepts to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was your usual Main Event match, with little that you need to see but there was at least a breath of fresh air included for a change. That help things out as well as anything else is going to so maybe this show isn’t as bad as it seemed before. The weekly shows still aren’t exactly bouncing with life, but at least we had something passable enough here.

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

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

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

205 Live – March 27, 2020: The Secret To Their Success

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: March 27, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jon Quasto, Aiden English

We’re still in the new version of the show here and that’s the kind of thing that 205 Live has been needing. It’s just a showcase show these days with no pressure or stories, but more importantly they don’t have the vanishing crowds or extended shows. It’s a good sign, even though the show is little more than filler on the Network. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Isaiah Scott vs. Joaquin Wilde

Wilde goes with the hammerlock on the mat to start before switching over to the armbar. Scott is right back up and they trade headscissors to a standoff. Another headscissors sends Scott to the floor but he pulls the ring skirt aside to trap Wilde. Some kicks to the back set up some forearms to the face as Scott is a bit more aggressive this time. The chinlock sets up a Gory Stretch of all things, cranking the arms together rather hard.

Scott even leans down into a backslide for two but Wilde is fine enough to shove him off the top. A top rope hurricanrana sends Scott outside again, followed by a ram into the announcers’ table. Back in and Scott blocks a tornado DDT, setting up the slugout. Scott gets the better of things and hits the House Call for two, only to have Wilde get in a kick to the head. Wilde goes up top, only to get pulled down into a flipping slam (Quasto calls it a pop up Michinoku Driver so good enough) for the pin at 8:34.

Rating: C+. Scott is officially on a roll around here and it would be nice if he had somewhere to go as a result. This was a good enough match and that’s all it needed to be. The entirety of 205 Live has turned into little more than good exhibitions and until things change in a big way, that’s all it needs to be.

We look at Jordan Devlin retaining the Cruiserweight Title on NXT UK.

Tony Nese vs. Oney Lorcan

Nese bails to the corner to start as the announcers bicker about whether or not Lorcan cheated in the elimination tag. Nese’s hammerlock doesn’t get him very far so Lorcan takes it down into a headscissors on the mat. That’s reversed into a front facelock, which is reversed into a quickly broken Fujiwara armbar. That means a standoff until Nese is right back with another chinlock.

Lorcan slips out in a hurry and starts cranking on the wrist before going to a headscissors. Back up and they strike it out with Nese having to bail to the floor. That doesn’t last long as Nese elbows him down and slaps on a bodyscissors to keep Lorcan down for a bit. Lorcan fights up again and hits the running Blockbuster for two but Nese snaps the throat across the top. The Lionsault gets two and it’s a German suplex into the corner. The running Nese finishes Lorcan at 9:47.

Rating: C. Just a match here though Nese getting a win is a nice way to keep him relevant around here. I’m still a little tired of him after his rather long time around this show but he’s established and fine enough in the ring. Lorcan is rather hot and cold most of the time and this was another week where he was fine but lost again, as tends to be his case.

Overall Rating: C+. I know it’s a nothing show but this has turned into something fairly refreshing most of the time. They don’t waste time with nonsense and are in and out with nothing going on that shakes things up these days. Just go with what they need to do and get out, which might have been the solution all along: let the wrestlers wrestle and stop pretending that this show is ever going to matter.

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

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

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

Roman Reigns Off Wrestlemania And More Changes Likely To Come

Just stop it already.

We are less than two weeks away from Wrestlemania XXXVI and my goodness it couldn’t get much worse. I love Wrestlemania and WWE quite a bit but egads it’s falling apart right in front of our eyes. Roman Reigns is now likely off the card, meaning that one of the show’s main events is going to be off the cards. I’m not sure what that is going to mean (likely Braun Strowman taking Reigns’ place) but how many more things can go wrong?

According to the Observer, quite a bit as as apparently a lot more names are going to be taken off the show or just did not come in for it in the first place. I still understand why the show is happening and why WWE is so gung ho about it, but I don’t think even they could have had any idea how bad this is going to be. No rational fan is going to grade this fairly against any other Wrestlemania of the past, but at this point we’re looking at more of a joke than anything else.

What is anyone here supposed to do? Act like everything is fine and this is what they want? I’m not sure how good or bad the show is going to be, but they are reaching new levels of pathetic. I know the whole thing isn’t their fault, but at what point does someone throw in a towel because they’ve taken enough? My guess would be the night after Wrestlemania, even though that show has been taped as well. This is getting even worse in a hurry, and I didn’t think that was possible at this point.

205 Live – March 20, 2020: The Scaled Down Scaled Down Show

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: March 20, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jon Quasto, Aiden English

We’re back here and thankfully this show has gotten into the formula that it should have had years ago: a short form show which gets in and out without wasting a bunch of time. Last week saw Kushida and Isaiah Scott surviving the elimination tag and that could set up some stuff for the future. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Joaquin Wilde vs. Danny Burch

Burch cranks on the arm to start and takes him down with a wristlock. That’s switched into a Fujiwara armbar to work on a different part of the arm because Burch is that thorough. Wilde reverses into an armbar of his own but they wind up heading outside instead. Burch knocks him into the barricade, only to have Wilde dive off of said barricade to drop Burch again.

Back in and Wilde goes back to the arm for a good bit until Burch jawbreaks his way to freedom. Some shots in the corner set up a middle rope missile dropkick for two but Wilde gets in a jawbreaker of his own. Burch headbutts him down though and the Crossface makes Wilde tap at 8:10.

Rating: C-. Just a match here with the arm work actually playing into the finish. Burch is someone who can have a nice enough match against anyone, though I’m not sure how smart it is to beat someone like Wilde, who could actually go somewhere. It’s not great, but at least it was a fresh match.

Video on last week’s elimination tag, with John Cena watching from the production area.

Isaiah Scott vs. Oney Lorcan

This could be interesting. Lorcan drives him into the corner to start and they hit the mat with Lorcan cranking on both arms. He drives Scott back down to the mat until Scott flips forward and nips up. Scott cranks on something like an abdominal stretch so Lorcan gets over to the rope. An uppercut in the corner rocks Scott again and they trade rollups for two each.

Lorcan is back up and snaps the knee around the rope, sending Scott outside in some pain. Back in and Lorcan cranks on the knee some more but Scott uses the good leg to kick him in the face. A discus lariat turns Lorcan inside out and a middle rope kick to the back of the head makes it worse. The rolling Downward Spiral gets two but Lorcan scores with a chop. Scott is sat on the middle rope but kicks him down, setting up the Swerve Stomp for the pin at 9:54.

Rating: C+. Nice match here with Lorcan being a good foil for Scott, who picks up one of his biggest wins to date. Scott is someone who could go a long way around here but it isn’t going to work if he doesn’t win a few matches on his own. That’s what they did here and coupled with being one of the survivors last week, he could start to go somewhere. Or as far as you can go on this show at least.

Overall Rating: C. All things considered, this was a rather nice show and again, the shorter run time helps it so much. Couple that with the lack of the same tired acts that have dragged this show down for so long. This was just a wrestling show with some watchable matches and after several months of mostly lame shows, this was a nice change of pace.

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

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

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

Main Event – March 19, 2020: This Is What It Took

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: March 19, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Mickie James

As strange as this is going to be, it might be an improvement for what we usually get on this show. Given the amount of people they are allowed to have in the building, it would surprise me if they brought some of the normal low level wrestlers that frequent this show. Then again Ricochet was on here last week so it could go in a bunch of ways. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Aleister Black vs. Leon Ruff

Well at least there’s some star power. Ruff is from Evolve and looks a bit terrified. Black sits down in the middle of the ring to start, with Mickie telling Ruff to kick him in the face. That doesn’t happen though as Black Mass finishes Ruff at 1:13.

From Smackdown.

Here’s John Cena for the big interview with Cole. Cena says he can’t wait to get back to the fans before moving on to Bray Wyatt. Cole brings up the Wrestlemania XXX match and Bray saying that it led to his downward spiral and the birth of the Fiend. Cena is used to being blamed for things and it has been a long list of people with potential. That’s a dangerous thing because it can get you a long way but it can also make you believe your own hype.

Six years ago, Wyatt lost and got lazy but blamed Cena instead. Cena never gives up and some people say it’s because he wins a lot. That’s true, but what about all of his big losses to Miz, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk, The Rock, Brock Lesnar and others? It’s because Cena always keeps going and rising up again without blaming everyone else. So how does he respond to Wyatt? Give him a chance and he’ll give the Fiend an Attitude Adjustment.

After we look back to two weeks ago with the start of Cena’s promo about not wrestling at Wrestlemania, Cena says that he’s facing Bray because he wants to invest in the future. People like Drew McIntyre, Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle and Velveteen Dream deserve the chance instead of giving Bray his fifth or sixth chance. Wyatt pops up in an empty seat and says Cena can say this while having everything. A lot of people want to imagine what it’s like to be Cena for one day.

In reality, Cena is the sick one because no one believes that it’s about the future. Cena will smash and bury everyone as long as he gets the spotlight. He craves it like an addict and even fiends for it. Six years ago, Cena took something from Bray and he’s thought about it a lot since. He wanted to crush his brain for five seconds of peace from the voices but then he started listening. Those voices became a fun house and he was put back together as the Fiend. At Wrestlemania, it’s going to be a slaughter. Let him in.

This was very good stuff as the silence made Bray’s words a bit creepier. I love that they’ve taken something that seems so disconnected and turned it into a big story for Wrestlemania. I’m not sure if the Cena match was always the catalyst for the Fiend stuff or if they made this up at the last minute, but it ties in logically and that’s all you can ask for in a story.

Video on Undertaker vs. AJ Styles.

From Raw.

Lawler brings out Undertaker for the contract signing and Undertaker power walks to the ring, where he turns the table over in anger. Post break, Undertaker is still in the ring and waits on AJ, whose music plays a few times but he doesn’t show up. AJ and the OC show up on screen with the contract, which was never in the ring. He’s the one who challenged Undertaker last week because Undertaker is the one who won’t just go away. You don’t see Michael Jordan or Brett Favre showing up and taking up a spot, but you know Undertaker will be at Wrestlemania.

It’s old Money Michelle’s fault because she makes his dust off the hat and coat so she can have things. Undertaker needs to let it go and stop sticking his nose in OC business. AJ is willing to pay for Undertaker’s assisted living after Wrestlemania because Undertaker will be resting in peace. Styles signs the contract and sends Gallows and Anderson to take the contract to him.

That’s a big negative but AJ finally talks them into it. They come into the arena and lay the contract down, but the gong hits and the lights go off. Back up and he’s behind them, meaning the beatdown is on. With Anderson and Gallows down, Undertaker signs the contract and stuffs it in Anderson’s mouth as a disgusted AJ looks on from the screen.

Angelo Dawkins vs. Murphy

Montez Ford is here with Dawkins and Akam is out with Murphy. Dawkins takes him into the corner for the early clean break so Dawkins runs the ropes. That earns him a trip to the floor but he’s right back in for a shot to the face. Murphy sends him into the post though and we take a break.

Back with stereo right hands putting both of them down, sending Ford into a frenzy on the floor. They seem to work as Dawkins hits the spinning corner splash and a regular version gets two. A quick Akam distraction lets Murphy hit a top rope Meteora for two, meaning Ford superkicks Akam. Murphy sends Ford into the barricade but walks into a Sky High for the pin at 8:16.

Rating: C-. I’m trying to get my head around the idea of a match you could see on Raw taking place on Main Event. It wasn’t anything great but it’s nice to see something like this. What confuses me more than anything else though is why they can’t do this occasionally on Raw. You have the people there and the storyline is already built. As usual, my one request from this show is an effort, and for once, it’s coming close.

From Raw.

The announcers are in the ring to welcome us to the show and hype up everything happening tonight. After a clip of AJ Styles talking about Undertaker and Michelle McCool last week, here’s Edge to interrupt. He shows us a package of everything that has happened with Randy Orton over the last few months, which is quite the emotional ordeal. Back in the arena, Edge talks about the long road between the two of them over the last twenty one years.

Edge knew that their careers would intertwine and that’s what they did, as they fought over the Intercontinental Title and then forming Rated RKO. They both owe Mick Foley for pushing them to this new level but Edge took a lesson from Foley that Orton never did: grit. After all the surgeries and time off, Edge fought back and got here again. He didn’t have his dad pushing him this far because he was raised by a single mother who broke her back to help get him here.

Then Beth Phoenix came out to give a medical update on him, but Orton took her out with an RKO. What Orton didn’t know was that Beth was here to announce Edge’s retirement. The beatings and injuries were too much, but Orton dragged Beth out of the hole. At Wrestlemania, if Orton has the guts, the match is on in a Last Man Standing match.

From Raw one more time.

Here’s Steve Austin (announced as the greatest of all time, which is now applied to both himself and John Cena) for a chat, complete with cans of his IPA. Austin says if you want to know what 3:16 Day is all about, give him a h*** yeah. We cut to a shot of the empty seats and Austin asks for it again. Byron Saxton gives him a VERY enthusiastic H*** YEAH and Austin reads some jokes off a card, saying like 3:16 Day means flipping people off and…..a bunch of gibberish because Austin has the card upside down. As he reads these, Byron holds up big cards with a rating for each joke.

Austin gets a 5 for his last joke before saying Byron has been so helpful during this entire time. Therefore, he can come down to ringside and celebrate 3:16 Day with Austin. Byron comes down and drinks before the Stunner means beer can be consumed. Cue Becky Lynch with a cooler but Austin brings up her Stunning her the last time they were in a ring together. They drink a lot (with one more Stunner to Saxton) to end the show. This was uh….rather stupid, though Austin asking for the fan response and cutting to the empty seats made me chuckle.

Overall Rating: C-. I have no idea what to make of this show as they actually did something different this time, though it wasn’t anything great. It’s just nice to see some people on here and have it not feel like a punishment. I have no confidence in this continuing once we’re out of the Performance Center, but seeing some bigger names is nice for a one off (or however many off this is going to be).

Results

Aleister Black b. Leon Ruff – Black Mass

Angelo Dawkins b. Murphy – Sky High

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

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

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