Lucha Underground – July 29, 2015 (Ultima Lucha Part One): I Don’t Want It To End
Lucha Underground Date: July 29, 2015
Location: Lucha Underground Arena, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Matt Striker, Vampiro
We have arrived. Tonight is a rare idea in wrestling as we’re at a season finale, in this case called Ultima Lucha. This is the first of two shows as there was too much to contain in one show. One of the major matches tonight is going to be for the Trios Titles with Angelico/Son of Havoc/Ivelisse defending against the Disciples of Death, who I don’t remember having an actual match yet. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap focuses on Cage vs. The Mack, Drago vs. Hernandez and the Trios Title match so I’m guessing that’s what we get tonight.
Black Lotus is working out in her cage when Dario Cueto comes in wearing a tuxedo and sipping champagne. Dario talks about pitbulls becoming monsters because their masters make them hurt people. That’s what happened to Dario’s brother, but he didn’t kill Lotus’ parents. It was El Drago Azteca, Lotus’ master, who killed them and blamed Cueto’s brother. Dario leaves Lotus to think about that because he has a show to run. Lotus is so angry that she starts pounding the wall, which seems to start giving way.
The announcers run down tonight’s card, with the three matches from the opening recap.
The Mack vs. Cage
Falls count anywhere. Mack beat Cage twice in a row and then brawled around the arena with him to set this up. Cage jumps Mack during his entrance and they’re fighting early. A slam onto the roof of Cueto’s office has Mack in trouble as this is one sided so far. As I type that of course, Mack suplexes him onto the bleachers for two.
Cage is whipped through the door to a storage closet but he finds a fire extinguisher and a stop sign. Why a stop sign is in a storage room of a wrestling arena isn’t clear but Cage’s DDT onto the sign is good for two. Mack comes back with a cooler of beer and blasts Cage in the head before opening the cooler, popping some beers and hitting a Stunner for two on the floor! Striker: “THAT COOLER HAD A FAMILY!” I usually can’t stand Striker but he has just won the entire night. The beers into a Stunner were awesome too.
Cage tries to head towards the ring (they haven’t actually been inside yet) but gets powerbombed off the top and through a table at the floor for two. That was quite the crash and quite the kickout too. They head into the balcony and Mack spinebusts Cage through it for a near fall. Vampiro: “I NEED TO TAKE A SHOWER OR SOMETHING!”
Cage superplexes Mack from one side of the balcony to the other for two, which gets a bigger reaction than it probably should have, which is the sign of a white hot (or well paid) crowd. There are some cinder blocks on the balcony for no logically explained reason and Cage, just because he’s all violent, curb stomps Mack’s face through one for the pin in quite a violent finish.
Rating: B. Oh yeah this is going to be fun. The Stunner spot had me loving this and the violence was a great choice to open the show and fire up an already hot crowd. Cage continues to be one of the bright spots here and I saw some of the potential in Mack that I haven’t quite seen before. Really, really fun opener that didn’t actually get inside the ring, which makes perfect sense here: if they can fight anywhere and want to hurt each other, why would you go inside a ring?
We run down next week’s two hour card. I’m really glad about that as I was wondering how they could fit that many big matches in just an hour.
Trios Tag Team Titles: Disciples of Death vs. Angelico/Son of Havoc/Ivelisse
The Disciples (Barrio Negro, El Siniestro de la Muerte, Terce) are challenging and have Catrina in their corner. This is under tornado rules so no tagging. Ivelisse still has a broken leg and comes in on crutches to make this even more of an uphill climb for the champions who can’t get along. At least the Disciples have different color masks so it’s not another Crew situation.
The champs get jumped to start as this is already looking one sided due to Ivelisse’s injuries. Havoc and Angelico fight back and hit a dive each and the standing shooting start gets two on Barrio. Ivelisse gets dragged in though and the champs are in trouble again as she gets caught in a Brock Lock. Havoc finally makes a save as the Disciples were staring at her and laughing in a creepy moment.
Siniestro and Angelico go up towards the balcony and this can’t end well. A backdrop puts Angelico down on the bleachers, leaving Havoc to fight off two guys at once. Angelico is up though and goes even bigger this time, diving onto the two Disciples at ringside instead of in the ring for a VERY scary landing.
With everyone down at ringside, Catrina gets in the ring and holds up the stone to wake up the Disciples. Ivelisse gets in on her crutches but throws them away and takes Catrina down for a beating. The stone goes flying and the Disciples are in trouble, only to have Catrina get the stone back and blast Ivelisse in the face to give Negro the pin and the titles. That’s the first title change in company history.
Rating: C. Total insanity which loses a bit of its strength after the previous brawl but at least this was fun. Catrina having all the gold is an interesting idea and I kind of like the fact that we still only kind of know what her deal is. They told a good story here too as Ivelisse was too weak of a link this time and even the big dive from Angelico wasn’t enough to survive yet again. It makes sense that they lose and you could easily do a rematch once Ivelisse is healthy.
The announcers drink a “so refreshing, so good” beer in a totally spontaneous and not at all compensated moment.
Drago vs. Hernandez
This is Believer’s Backlash, meaning the fans at ringside have straps. Drago came back and took the #1 contendership, causing Hernandez to beat him with a strap. Then things got serious when Hernandez said dragons weren’t real. Hernandez jumps Drago to start, then easily jumps to the top rope to dropkick Drago to the floor. We get the obvious reaction as the fans don’t attack Drago but beat the tar out of Hernandez as soon as he goes to the floor.
Back in and Drago kicks Hernandez in the face to take over as Hernandez realizes he can’t go outside. Drago is fine with knocking Hernandez outside for a whipping with a good sized guy getting in a big shot. Hernandez finally figures out that he needs to stay inside and keep Drago down so he scores with an Alpha Bomb but the top rope splash hits knees. Drago tries a slam for some reason but opts for the Dragon’s tail (or whatever that rollup is called) instead.
Hernandez is all ticked off and strong and such so he Border Tosses Drago onto the fans for a huge crash. When all else fails, throw people at other people. Hernandez loads up a dive but we’ve got mist to knock him out of the air. The big blind guy crawls under the ring, leaving Drago to pull out a table. Cue Hernandez from under the ring but the fans are waiting on him with a beating. Hernandez finally has enough and takes a strap from one of the fans……so Drago pulls out nunchucks to beat the tar out of him instead. A frog splash puts Hernandez through the table and another splash in the ring gives Drago the pin.
Rating: C+. Fun main event here with Drago (who is somehow 40) getting a definitive win over Hernandez, who is one of the bigger heels in the promotion. There’s a future for Dragon as a top name in a second season but this was more about the fans than anything else. This worked, but the Trios Titles probably should have wrapped things up.
El Dragon Azteca (I think) is walking in front of the temple when someone in a white hoodie comes out. They spar for a bit before Dragon says he has to save her. The hoodie guy (apparently the one that Dragon saved at the beginning of the season) says that Puma can help and Dragon doesn’t have to go in and save Lotus because of a prophecy that says Dragon dies if he enters the temple. Dragon goes in anyway to end the show. I really have no idea what is going on with this Dragon Azteca/Black Lotus story but DANG if it’s not awesome.
Overall Rating: B+. Oh yeah Lucha Underground is awesome. They’ve set up this show all year and this was really just a glorified pre-show before we get to the major matches. The Black Lotus stuff has me really intrigued and I’m wondering how big of a story it’s going to become as it seems perfect for a cliffhanger to end the season. The wrestling here worked more than well enough and I was getting way into it after about two minutes, which is how a major show should feel. I’m hoping this doesn’t end because it’s such an entertaining show and it had a great start to Ultima Lucha.
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Summerslam Count-Up – 1991: The Future Is Wearing Pink
Summerslam 1991 Date: August 26, 1991
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Roddy Piper, Gorilla Monsoon
This is a show that almost no one remembers other than one match. The main event is Hogan/Warrior vs. Slaughter/Adnan/Mustafa, which would have been a much better match a few months ago when Slaughter was still a threat. Other than that we have the wedding of Savage and Miss Elizabeth who reunited at Wrestlemania VII in one of the best moments in company history. Let’s get to it.
We open with Savage in the back getting ready while Alfred Hayes asks him questions. Savage says that he’s ready and in the danger zone, but HAYES’ TIE IS CROOKED. “NOW YOU’RE OK AND IT’S TIME TO GO CHECK MY BABY BLUE EYES!”
We get the regular intro with the theme of a match made in Heaven and a match made in Hell.
Ricky Steamboat/British Bulldog/Texas Tornado vs. Warlord/Power and Glory
Steamboat is just The Dragon here, complete with what looks like a lizard man costume and breathing fire. The heels get the jobber entrance and have Slick with them. Steamboat and Roma get things going as Gorilla is listing off the rest of the card. Roma slams him down and mostly misses a dropkick before posing. Paul goes to the middle rope but dives into the armdrag and Steamboat cranks on the arm even more. Ricky hits a much better dropkick to put Roma in the corner for a tag to Hercules who gets caught in some armdrags of his own.
Off to Tornado and the fans go nuts as he rams Herc’s head into the buckle. Ten right hands to the head in the corner have Hercules in even more trouble but it’s off to Warlord vs. Bulldog which was a decent power feud. Bulldog hits the suplex for two and it’s off to Steamboat for a top rope chop to the head. Warlord blocks a monkey flip though and it’s back to Roma with a suplex of his own for two. Three straight backbreakers have Steamboat in even more trouble before it’s back to Hercules for a gorilla press.
Steamboat starts fighting back but gets caught in a big hotshot to put him down. Here’s Warlord again but he dives into two feet from Steamboat, allowing for the tag off to Tornado. The Texan cleans house but makes a blind tag to Bulldog who hits a cross body. That plus the Tornado Punch to Warlord is good for two as everything breaks down. Bulldog powerslams Roma down and Ssteamboat adds the high cross body for the pin.
Rating: C+. Nothing wrong with this as it was a basic six man tag to fire up the crowd. Everyone looked fine and the crowd was WAY into the smark god known as Ricky Steamboat. The heels were all about to be gone from the company with only Warlord making it to 1992.
Sean Mooney says to call some hotline to hear prerecorded comments from Liz and Savage!
Mr. Perfect says he’s an awesome champion.
Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart
Perfect has been champion since last November so he’s a pretty big deal. He also has his Coach (former wrestler John Tolos) with him. Stu and Helen Hart are in the audience to watch their son. Feeling out process to start with Bret scoring first by hip tossing Perfect to the floor. Back in and Bret grabs a headlock followed by a crucifix for two. Bret puts the headlock on again as Heenan and Piper are going to war on commentary. Gorilla: “WILL YOU STOP???”
Perfect grabs at the hair to escape and chops Bret’s chest off. A slam puts Bret down but he kicks Perfect away and slams him down, only to have Perfect kick him right back. Bret is all like screw this wrestling stuff and clotheslines Perfect to the floor. The champ tries to run but Bret throws him back in and the dude in pink is mad. Perfect gets in a HARD kick to the ribs and Bret is sent to the floor where Coach whistles at him.
Bret tries to get up but is knocked off the apron and right on top of a production guy who has a very confused look on his face. Back in and Bret jumps over Perfect in the corner and gets two off a rollup. The fans are WAY into this so far. Perfect sends Bret chest first into the buckle to take over again as Heenan is starting to lose his marbles. Another hard whip into the buckle gets two for the champion followed by the Hennig neck snap for two more.
Hart is sent to the floor for a bit and they both come back in on the top. It’s Bret crashing down to the mat to give Perfect two as Heenan is thinking Perfect should get himself disqualified. The champ hooks a sleeper but Bret fights up into a crucifix, only to be dropped down into a Samoan drop for two. The PerfectPlex looks to finish Bret but it only gets two, sending MSG into delirium.
Back up and Bret fights back, sending Perfect across the ring and crotch first into the post. A suplex and small package get two each for Bret and it’s Five Moves of Doom time. Bret yells at the referee and gets rolled up for two before Bret starts going after the knee. He loads up the Sharpshooter but he has to knock Coach to the floor. The distraction lets Perfect get in a shot to take over. Perfect drops a leg between Bret’s legs but as he tries it again, Bret grabs the leg and puts the Sharpshooter on from his back. He turns the hold over and Perfect submits really fast but it’s good for Bret’s first singles title.
Rating: A. Oh come on it’s Bret vs. Perfect from Summerslam 91. Do I really need to explain this one? It’s one of the best matches of all time and holds up over twenty years later. The counter by Bret is a great way to show how solid of a mat wrestler he was. Kicking out of the PerfectPlex was the perfect idea as Bret took the champ’s best shots and still won. It’s still excellent and required viewing for wrestling fans.
Bret celebrates with his parents.
The Bushwhackers are ready for the Natural Disasters and Andre is ready for Earthquake, the man who broke his leg a few weeks back.
Natural Disasters vs. Bushwhackers
Andre looks terrible here and would be dead in less than 18 months. The Whackers sneak up on the big men on the floor and poke them in the eyes. We finally start with Butch vs. Typhoon and the big man being bitten on the trunks. Earthquake tries to come in but splashes his own partner by mistake. A double clothesline puts Quake down and the Bushwhackers are in full control.
Earthquake finally realizes he weighs more than both Bushwhackers put together and pounds Butch down with a few shots to the back. Heenan makes an obscure Newhart reference as Quake slams Butch into the corner but misses an elbow drop to the back. The second attempt connects though and it’s off to Typhoon for more fat man offense.
Off to an over the shoulder backbreaker on Butch which transitions into a bearhug by Earthquake. Heenan leaves to go find Hogan and embarrass him which we’ll get to later. Quake finally hits Typhoon with a clothesline by mistake as everything breaks down. The Bushwhackers hit Battering Rams on both Disasters but it’s finally the big men crushing Luke and the Earthquake for the pin.
Rating: D-. This was a waste of time and everyone knew it was going to be from the moment the bell rang. The Bushwhackers were the epitome of comedy bumpkins and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not sure why they picked them of all teams for Andre to back and the match was horrible.
Post match the Disasters go after Andre but the LOD comes out for the save. This was Andre’s last appearance for the company.
Heenan goes to Hogan’s dressing room with the NWA World Title to issue a challenge. “Hogan” (you never see him) opens the door and slams it in Heenan’s face. For the life of me I can’t get over seeing that belt in the WWF.
Virgil recaps his feud with DiBiase. You’re probably familiar with this one: Virgil was his bodyguard for years but at the Rumble, DiBiase pushed him just once too often and Virgil snapped. DiBiase lost to Virgil via countout at Wrestlemania and tonight it’s a rematch with the Million Dollar Title on the line.
Million Dollar Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil
This is one of the very rare defenses of this title. DiBiase has Sensational Sherri with him. Piper is Virgil’s mentor so the commentary is going to be rather slanted. Virgil starts fast and hits three straight clotheslines to send DiBiase out to the floor. Heenan is back on commentary but doesn’t want to talk about Hogan. Virgil misses a dive to the floor and DiBiase sends him into the steps to keep him down. Back inside and Ted is in full control but he brags too much and gets caught in the Million Dollar Dream. The fans go nuts but Sherri comes in and blasts Virgil with her loaded purse for the DQ.
Rating: D. Actually hang on a minute.
The referee says the match MUST continue, sending Sherri to the back and Roddy into delirium. Virgil pounds on DiBiase in the corner but since he doesn’t have much experience he can’t do anything. He tries to whip DiBiase across the ring but gets countered into a ref bump to put both guys down. Ted yells at Piper like the true heel that he is before suplexing Virgil down. A piledriver lays Virgil out but sicne there’s no referee, DiBiase rips the turnbuckle off instead. Ted yells at Piper once too often though, allowing Virgil to ram him into the buckle twice for the pin and the title. Piper goes NUTS.
Rating: D+. This is a good example of a match where the crowd and announcing make it much better than it would have been otherwise. Virgil just wasn’t that good and this was his one and only storyline with the company due to there being nothing else to his character. How the guy kept a job for so many years with both WWF and WCW is beyond me.
The Mountie is ready for his Jailhouse Match with Boss Man. We get a clip of him shocking a handcuffed Boss Man from a few weeks ago. Moutnie insults the New York cops who take the loser to jail later tonight.
Boss Man says Mountie is going to jail tonight.
Mountie vs. Big Boss Man
Mountie talks trash to start so Boss Man punches him in the mouth to take over. They slug it out with Boss Man hitting a back elbow and a splash for two. Boss Man hits his running crotch attack to the back of Mountie’s neck followed by the sliding uppercut. Mountie dives into a good looking spinebuster for two but Boss Man chases Jimmy Hart instead of following up, earning him a trip into the steps.
Back in and Boss Man misses a splash in the corner as Heenan says it’s not Mayberry for the Boss Man tonight. Mountie gets two each off some elbows and a dropkick but the kickout sends him to the floor. He pulls Boss Man to the floor as Gorilla calls Jimmy a walking advertisement for birth control. Back in and they slug it out with Mountie hitting a piledriver for no cover. Instead Mountie gets his shock stick but only hits the mat. A hard uppercut sets up the Boss Man Slam for two (I don’t remember anyone not named Hogan kicking out of that) before another piledriver attempt is countered into an Alabama Slam to end Mountie.
Rating: D+. I’ve seen far worse and Boss Man’s high impact offense is always worth a look. This is the perfect blowoff to the feud which is something you rarely see anymore. Today feuds just keep going with some random gimmick match which may or may not fit the feud. This was the logical ending to it and it was tailor made for the blowoff. Why thy don’t do this anymore is beyond me.
Mountie is dragged away by cops.
DiBiase goes on a huge rant about the title, saying that Virgil stole it and he’ll get it back.
Bret says this is the best day of his career and he waited a long time to prove how great he is. I’m pretty sure we’re in intermission.
The Natural Disasters are going to eat the Legion of Doom for dinner.
Boss Man asks Sean Mooney what kind of bird can’t fly. A jailbird of course. He brags about winning a bit more.
Savage is nervous for the wedding.
Speaking of the wedding, here’s the phone number again, complete with a countdown clock for a five minute intermission. Seriously they just count down five minutes of dead air time. AND THIS WAS ON THE HOME VIDEO.
Mountie arrives at the jail and shouts that the cops can’t do this to him because HE’S THE MOUNTIE! He tries to read the cops their rights and gets thrown in a cell.
Jimmy Hart is panicking while his Nasty Boys are read for the LOD. It’s a street fight later tonight.
Mountie is tricked into having his picture taken.
The Legion of Doom wants the tag titles. Hawk says once they win the belts they’re going to chew up the Natural Disasters and spit them out “like the tartar that sticks to your teeth.”
Mountie yells about having being fingerprinted. These bits are so overblown that they’re hilarious.
Sgt. Slaughter and his cronies are excited about having a 3-2 advantage. Slaughter says he might have a surprise for later.
Sid Justice, the referee for the main event tonight, says that he’ll call it down the middle. Gene shows us a video of Slaughter and company offering Sid a spot on the team but Sid says they stopped him but he turned them down.
Tag Titles: Nasty Boys vs. Legion of Doom
The Nasties are defending and this is No Countout/No DQ, making it a street fight in modern terms. The champions are sent to the floor and the fight is on early. Back in the ring Animal hits a quick powerbomb on Knobbs for two followed by Hawk enziguring Sags down. We get down to the stupid tagging part of the street fight with Sags sending Hawk to the floor and hitting him with a bucket of water.
Back in and Knobbs works over Hawk in the corner before Sags sends him into the steps. A back elbow gets two for Knobbs and a top rope version gets the same for Sags. Brian goes up top again but jumps into Hawk’s boot, finally allowing for the hot tag off to Animal. Everything breaks down and Sags hits Animal in the back with Jimmy’s helmet for two. Hawk steals the helmet and lays out both Nasties, setting up the Doomsday Device on Sags for the pin and the titles.
Rating: D. This SUCKED as the street fight rule was barely used at all. It was little more than a few shots with the helmet when the referee wasn’t looking anyway. Hawk and Animal barely broke a sweat out there as they were already talking about the Natural Disasters earlier tonight instead of worrying about winning the belts. This win was a long time coming though.
The Mountie is put in a cell by some VERY sweaty policemen.
I.R.S. vs. Greg Valentine
Uh…..sure. Feeling out process to start so Gorilla recaps the show so far. Valentine takes over with a quick shoulder block and a clothesline. Somehow we’re nearly two minutes into the match with this much action. IRS rolls to the floor as Gorilla says Undertaker and Jake Roberts might be here. Back in and Valentine slams him down, sending IRS right back to the floor.
The tax guy heads in again and puts on an abdominal stretch followed by a jumping clothesline for no cover. Off to a chinlock before IRS misses a knee into the corner, giving Greg the opening on the leg. The Figure Four is quickly broken by a grab of the ropes and a second attempt at the hold is countered into a small package for the pin by IRS.
Rating: D. The match wasn’t even that bad but it had no business being on a pay per view. This would be the equivalent of the Divas match on a modern show to give the fans a breather between the big matches. Valentine was long past his point of being a star but he could still put people over like he did here.
Buy Hulk Hogan’s PPV, which is a Best of Hogan show. I’ve heard of worse ideas.
Hogan and Warrior talk about their victims in the main event.
Ultimate Warrior/Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter/Colonel Mustafa/General Adnan
Sid Justice is guest referee and Hogan is WWF Champion. Hogan and Slaughter get things going but the Sarge wants to stall. Slaughter pounds on him in the corner but gets caught between the right hands of both superheroes. Off to Warrior for a clothesline followed by a double big boot to put Slaughter down again. A clothesline gets two for Hogan and it’s back to Warrior. This is completely one sided so far. Hogan comes back in with a middle rope ax handle for two.
Sid breaks up some choking in the corner and the distraction lets Slaughter get in some shots on Hogan. Adnan, an old manager, comes in to rake Hogan’s back and slowly pound away in the corner. Off to Mustafa (Iron Sheik) for the gutwrench suplex and the camel clutch but Warrior makes the save. Slaughter comes back in to choke away in the corner and send Hogan into Sid for a staredown. Sarge jumps the distracted Hogan and stomps away on the back.
Warrior breaks up a top rope something by Slaughter, allowing for the hot tag to the painted one. Warrior cleans house on Slaughter but runs into Sid for another staredown. Back to Mustafa who gets caught in a suplex but Slaughter blocks a tag. Slaughter puts Warrior in a chinlock, only to have the Ultimate One fight up and clothesline Sarge down. There’s the hot tag to Hogan as Hogan chases the lackeys to the back with a chair. More on that later as Hogan throws powder in Slaughter’s face and drops the leg to win.
Rating: D+. I’m not a fan of this one as the match was never in doubt at all, but above that the Iraq War had been over for six months so the interest in the feud was done long ago. Nothing to see here but the fans reacted pretty well to it. This would have been better as a house show main event instead of the main event of Summerslam. If nothing else there was a match around this time on a Coliseum Video with Slaughter/Mustafa/Undertaker against the superheroes. Wouldn’t that make a much better main event here?
Hogan and Sid pose for a long time post match.
Mountie is in jail and a fat biker hits on him.
Hogan and Sid are STILL posing.
We get the video of Savage proposing to Liz and her responding with an OH YEAH. We also get a four minute music video highlighting their entire history together to a sappy love song.
The ring is set up like a chapel for the wedding. Savage comes out in a shiny tux with a big feather on his hat. Heenan: “Why is the second most important guy called the best man?” From what I’ve read this is a legit renewal of vows as the two were already married in real life. There isn’t much to say here other than it’s a wedding and no one interrupts it. This takes like ten minutes.
With the show in the arena done we go to the reception with Savage telling Heenan to beat it. Gene Okerlund does the ceremonial toast. They have the first dance and everything seems to be fine. Now we eat cake before heading over to the gift table where things get interesting.
First off, “WE GOT A BLENDER!!!” Savage freaks out as only he can as you would think he just got the WWF Title instead of a blender. Liz goes to open a present…..and there’s a cobra inside. She freaks out and Savage tries to pull her back, but Undertaker comes in and bashes him in the head with the urn. Jake Roberts comes in and holds the cobra in front of Liz’s face until Sid makes the save with a chair to end the show. This would set up Roberts vs. Savage in the feud of the year which resulted in Undertaker’s face turn.
Overall Rating: C-. This is an interesting show in that the first half is a much higher quality than the second half. The second half has all predictable matches where the winners were never in doubt, but that doesn’t exactly make it terrible. The show is definitely entertaining and set up a lot of stuff down the road while launching Bret Hart up to the next level. It’s worth a watch if you can find it in full but I wouldn’t expect to be blown away.
Ratings Comparison
British Bulldog/Ricky Steamboat/Texas Tornado vs. Warlord/Power and Glory
Original: D
Redo: C+
Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
Original: A+
Redo: A
Natural Disasters vs. Bushwhackers
Original: C-
Redo: D-
Virgil vs. Ted DiBiase
Original: B
Redo: D+
Big Bossman vs. The Mountie
Original: D
Redo: D+
Legion of Doom vs. Nasty Boys
Original: D
Redo: D
Irwin R. Schyster vs. Greg Valentine
Original: D+
Redo: D
Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter/Colonel Mustafa/General Adnan
I knocked this out tonight instead of Thursday so we’ll see how this goes early instead of waiting for showtime.
Smackdown Date: July 30, 2015
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Jimmy Uso, Jerry Lawler, Tom Phillips
Smackdown has the potential to be interesting this week as we could get some more midcard build for Summerslam, which could be some of the more interesting stuff going on in WWE at the moment. The big story is likely to be Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens, which could be the match of the night at the pay per view. I don’t like that many could’s. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Seth Rollins to open things up. Seth: “SO WHAT?” Those are the words he’s heard so many times over the year. He heard them when he was the first person to cash in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania and the man who stood toe to toe with Brock Lesnar at Battleground and came out with the title. This past Monday he reached his breaking point and the victim of his rage was John Cena, who went to the emergency room with a broken nose.
We see a clip of the knee that broke Cena’s nose and Rollins calls himself an artist, but here’s Cesaro to interrupt. Cesaro really doesn’t want to hear Rollins go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how great he thinks he is like he does every single week. See, Rollins is leaving out the part where Cena made him tap out. Rollins calls it a strategic move that he made because he has bigger things to worry about than the US Title. Cesaro says he’ll see Rollins later tonight, unless they both want to have their match right now.
Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins
Non-title. Cesaro goes after the leg with some dragon screw leg whips to start but the threat of a Sharpshooter sends the champ bailing to the floor. Cue Kevin Owens to watch as we take a break. Back with Rollins holding a headlock and Owens’ head holding a headset for commentary. Cesaro double stomps Seth for two and catches a diving Rollins in midair. That’s not enough of a power display for Cesaro though so he throws Rollins up for a suplex. As I say every week, that man is scary strong.
Rollins is able to send him into the buckle with the release Downward Spiral and now it’s Seth with the European uppercuts for a change of pace. A chinlock doesn’t get Rollins very far as Cesaro powers out (I’m as shocked as you are) with a belly to back suplex. Cesaro loads up the Swing but Owens comes in for the DQ at 8:35.
Rating: C. This was fun while it lasted but it didn’t have enough time to go anywhere, especially with a good chunk of this match taking place in the commercial. Cesaro vs. Owens could be one heck of a brawl, especially if they let them have fifteen minutes or so. I mean, it’s a four hour show so there’s no reason every match shouldn’t have a lot of time right? Assuming there’s no lame musical guest so……yeah Cesaro vs. Owens is going to be lucky to get eight minutes right?
Owens lays out Cesaro and Rollins gets in a few shots of his own.
Los Matadores/Lucha Dragons vs. New Day/Ascension
Weren’t the two masked teams fighting on Monday? Before the match, New Day says the Lucha Dragons and Los Matadores could be #1 contenders, so if New Day wins tonight, they should be the #1 contenders! After some WAY over the top introductions, it’s Woods on the floor as Diego leg sweeps Viktor to start. A slingshot elbow from Diego sets up a slingshot hilo from Sin Cara, who starts working on the arm.
It’s off to Konnor for some hard kicks to the ribs before New Day breaks up a dive and sends Cara out to the floor. Well that sucks. Back from a break with Woods calling Cara stupid as the villains take turns stomping away in the corner. Viktor’s chinlock doesn’t work very well as the Players say they’d love to face the Usos. Big E. holds Cara for a running knee to the face (well mask) from Kofi as Woods is still going on.
Darren passes the time by wearing glasses and taking notes. That’s not something you often see but it makes sense. Viktor runs Cara over for two more as hear about Big E. making Young sick for some reason that Young doesn’t want to get into. A Crossface keeps Cara in trouble but he finally avoids a charge, allowing for the Kalisto. Everything breaks down and Kalisto kicks Big E. down, leaving Torito to hit a kind of 619 to knock Woods silly. Big E. loads up the Midnight Hour but Viktor takes Kofi’s tag, only to get rolled up by Kalisto for the pin at 10:10.
Rating: C+. Standard face in peril tag match here but I liked Woods on the floor and the Players on commentary. They’re setting up some decent stuff here with the division, but it says a lot that the NXT tag team division has equal depth with half the roster. I could see a big multi-team match at Summerslam, even though I’m really not a fan of them. Just give me a feud with a story.
Owens is told that the Authority has made Owens/Rollins vs. Cesaro/whomever he can find. Kevin isn’t pleased and is going to take it out on Cesaro’s partner.
Video on Becky Lynch, complete with some old school pictures of her in Japan with Natalya.
Luke Harper says Bray Wyatt saved him by showing him the truth so now Harper has everything he needs. Wyatt talks about Harper liking where he is now and deciding to stay. Anyone but you Roman.
Rusev comes out for his match but first up he and Summer have something to say…..about the fish thing from Raw. Lana ruined the hot Summer because she’s jealous and now Rusev would never fall for her again. After winning tonight, Rusev is going to take Summer and Dog Ziggler for a walk anywhere but Oklahoma. Maybe they’ll lay on a blanket, stare into each other’s eyes and….oh geez here we go again.
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
SERIOUSLY??? Well to be fair we’re in Oklahoma and Swagger hasn’t lost to Rusev recently. Swagger starts with some AMERICAN armdrags to send Rusev outside as Tom makes the mistake of talking about their rivalry last year, because that’s so thrilling to hear about. Back in and Swagger wrestles him to the mat but Rusev just throws him into the corner and drives a knee into the face.
Rusev starts in on the back but since Swagger used to be something years ago, Rusev can’t just beat him in three minutes and shorten our agony. The slow stomping continues as the fans try to believe. So Oklahoma is the new center of delusion? Swagger comes back with some clotheslines and punches in the corner, only to have Rusev blast him in the face as we go to a break, because this feud just has to keep going. Back with Rusev holding a front facelock as the fans are already dying.
Swagger fights up and kicks Rusev’s ducked face but the Vader Bomb misses. Instead Jack plants him with a belly to belly and is promptly nailed with a spinwheel kick. The back and forth continues as Swagger goes after the leg to set up the Vader Bomb. Tom: “What is it going to take to put away Rusev?” A different opponent Tom. The superkick sets up the Accolade so Swagger can tap to Rusev at 14:40, because that’s the entirety of Swagger’s job description.
Rating: D. I know I wanted the old Rusev back but did we really need to see ANOTHER destruction of Jack Swagger? I know he isn’t ever going anywhere but good grief we get the point already. Find ANYONE else, even if it’s some rookie jobber, for Rusev to beat up every time you want to do Rusev vs. Swagger because it’s dead.
Post match Swagger pulls himself up and avoids a charge, followed by the Patriot Lock to Rusev for Oklahoma’s consolation prize.
Cesaro isn’t going to hunt for a partner because no one here owes him anything. He’s gotten here on his own (I’d try to forget the Heyman era too) and if he has to, he’ll fight on his own. I liked this but Cesaro can’t connect to me so maybe it’s a desire for nachos that I’m interpreting as caring about a wrestler.
We recap Neville vs. Stardust. It might not lead anywhere, but it’s certainly different.
Stardust vs. R-Truth
R-Truth has been using that theme song for over 12 years. When is it time that he gets started? He’s really bad about procrastinating. They run the ropes to start and we get a bit of an awkward pause as Truth has to hit a running fist to take over. Stardust gets in some shots, R-Truth gets in his kicks, Stardust sends him into the buckle and the Queen’s Crossbow (Cross Rhodes) is good for the pin at 2:01.
Stardust says Neville has failed this city (a line from Arrow) so here’s Neville to save Truth from further beating. Again, nothing great, but I’m kind of liking this.
Sheamus says he kicked Orton in the face on Monday for Orton showing him up at Battleground. He did it because he’s a real man, unlike Orton who just thinks he’s a real man. How many REAL MAN characters are there going these days? The idea of WWE without Orton is like Oklahoma without Tulsa: a dream come true. Hey, did you know that Vince hates Oklahoma?
Video on Undertaker vs. Lesnar. Brock is back on Monday.
Cesaro/??? vs. Kevin Owens/Seth Rollins
Cesaro is here alone until Dean Ambrose comes down as a surprise. It’s a big brawl before the bell with the good guys cleaning house twice in a row as we wait for the opening bell. We take a break and come back with the bell (THANK YOU!), meaning it’s Dean vs. Seth before Cesaro quickly comes in to keep the champ on the mat. Owens gets punched off the apron but the distraction lets Rollins gets in a shot to take over.
The bad guys take over with Owens firing off knees in the corner and it’s back to Rollins for a chinlock. Back to Owens for some right hands for two (seriously?) and a chinlock of his own. Rollins comes back in and misses the top rope knee to the head, allowing the hot tag to Dean. He backdrops Seth to the floor for a suicide dive. Dean’s superplex doesn’t work as well as Rollins counters into a buckle bomb for two. You wouldn’t expect a power move like that to work for someone like Rollins but he makes it look good.
The top rope knee to the head and low superkick get two more but Owens takes too much time going up and gets crotched for his efforts. You don’t try to superplex Kevin Owens though as he counters into the swinging superplex for another near fall as Cesaro dives in with a double stomp for the save. The backsplash misses too and it’s the real hot tag to Cesaro.
That kind of reverse Angle Slam sets up the Crossface on Owens but Rollins’ attempt at a save earns him a Swing. Cesaro clotheslines Owens outside, leaving Dean to stop Rollins from diving on the two of them. Instead Dean superplexes Rollins down, only to have Owens try the Pop Up Powerbomb. Dean is ready though and slips out, setting up a rollup from Cesaro for the pin on Kevin at 14:03.
Rating: B-. I had a better time with this than I was expecting as it felt like an old Coliseum Video exclusive where they took two random pairings and gave them time to have a fun match. It’s nice to see Cesaro getting a big win for a change, but I’m not sure where Owens goes if he loses at Summerslam.
Overall Rating: C. The main event and Rusev vs. Swagger mess cancel each other out so we’ll say the show was in the middle. I can easily live with Smackdown as a wrestling heavy show focusing on the midcard instead of the lame show it’s been for so long, though I have almost no faith in WWE to keep this up. Maybe they’ll start fixing things when Smackdown moves to USA in January, but I don’t have a reason to get my hopes up. Fun enough show this week if you ignore the really dull Rusev vs. Swagger mess.
Results
Cesaro b. Seth Rollins via DQ when Kevin Owens interfered
Los Matadores/Lucha Dragons b. New Day/Ascension – Rollup to Viktor
Rusev b. Jack Swagger – Accolade
Stardust b. R-Truth – Queen’s Crossbow
Cesaro/Dean Ambrose b. Kevin Owens/Seth Rollins – Rollup to Owens
Impact Wrestling – July 29, 2015: Oh Shut Up Already
Impact Wrestling Date: July 29, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews
The big story coming out of last week is Matt Hardy earning the #1 contendership in a tables match over Bobby Roode. This was the result of the night’s main story being thrown out due to the Hernandez issue, which is likely going to cause even more problems tonight. Other than changing things up though, we do get Jeff Jarrett’s Hall of Fame induction. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week’s major events, including Jeff Jarrett being announced as the next Hall of Fame inductee, Serena being announced as James Storm’s partner and Matt Hardy becoming #1 contender.
Here’s Austin Aries with something to say. Aries may not have a title right now, but politics and backstage issues aside, there is no one on the face of this planet who is better than he is. Therefore, why wasn’t he involved in the #1 contenders match last week? Bully Ray may be in charge but he’s already off to a bad start with mistakes like that.
Cue Bully Ray, who says his opinion is the only one that matters. Sure Aries is great. He’s so great that he even beat Bully himself at one point. Aries is going to get another shot at what he deserves. Austin interprets that as a World Title shot but Ray says Aries already lost that chance. In that case, Aries will settle for a Tag Team Title shot with Bobby Roode. That’s a no as well, so Aries can challenge for the X-Division Title later tonight.
Aries isn’t happy because that title is beneath him. The X-Division Title is for people like Rockstar Spud, who comes out in objection. Spud is a big Aries fan, but a statement like he just made hurts. Option C gave people like Spud a chance to be World Heavyweight Champion because it gave them a reason to believe in themselves. Austin laughs this off because Option C was made for people like himself, not Rockstar Spud.
Yeah Angle beat him once, but that would only happen one out of ten times. Spud on the other hand would lost to him every time. Since Aries has nothing to do tonight, why doesn’t he beat Spud up instead? Spud thinks he can beat Aries instead of just hanging with him, which makes Aries say he’ll leave if he loses tonight. Ray accepts that as a contract and the match is on for later tonight. Aries agrees, but wants the Rockstar moniker if he wins.
The Jarretts are here.
Chris Melendez tells Kurt Angle that he has to beat Eric Young to move forward in his career.
Sgt. Chris Melendez vs. Eric Young
Angle is out with Chris. Before the match, Melendez says he’ll keep fighting no matter what, just like he did overseas. Young comes out and says Melendez doesn’t want him coming in there because it will end badly for him. The bell rings and Eric slaps him in the back of the head a few times as we’re suddenly told Aries vs. Spud is next week at No Surrender. Is there even a point to having specials when they’re the same shows we get every week? Young stays on him and drives some elbows into the back of the head before a quick piledriver is good for the pin 3:12. Well that was a waste of time.
Rating: D. TNA, I know Melendez is a cool story, but there is nothing interesting about him. He’s nothing special in the ring, he’s nothing special on the mic and his one legged gimmick is long past its expiration date. What is there about him that is supposed to interest me? Nothing to see here and I have a feeling it’s going to keep going.
Sting Hall of Fame video.
Matt Hardy doesn’t know what stipulation he’s picking for his title match against Ethan Carter III. “We will announce the stipulation later.” JB wants to know who the other half of we is, even though it was already announced next week.
Knockouts Title: Brooke vs. Marti Bell
Brooke is defending yeah this is just the token title defense against the former champion’s lackey. The champ cleans house to start but goes after Taryn (in a tutu), allowing Marti to get in a cheap shot to take over. Brooke comes back with a quick shot to the face for two, only to have a kick to the jaw change control back to Marti. A superplex is broken up though and Brooke nails a middle rope clothesline. Brooke gets two off a Russian legsweep but the Dollhouse tries to interfere, only to have Gail Kim…..play her entrance video for a distraction, allowing Brooke to hit the Butterface Maker on Marti to retain at 4:40.
Rating: D. I’m so sick of this division. They had something interesting in the Dollhouse but they take the title off Taryn for the sake of pushing Brooke, who is there for one thing and one thing only. Oh and we get Gail Kim being all serious because what else is she supposed to do? Lame match too.
Kurt Angle Hall of Fame video.
More from Tigre Uno in Tijuana, this time talking about what TNA has done for his family. He loves lucha libre and thinks it’s better than anything in the world. These aren’t exactly thrilling statements.
Tigre Uno calls Donald Trump a coward.
Ethan Carter III isn’t worried about what stipulation Matt picks.
Here are Carter and Tyrus for Matt’s announcement. Remember when World Title matches were just wrestling matches? After saying Bully sucks eggs, Carter rips on the Hardys for being a couple of North Carolina hillbillies. If this was against Jeff Hardy then maybe Ethan would be worried but Jeff broke his leg on a motocross bike. Ethan says Matt isn’t a World Title contender so here’s Jeff to object.
Jeff admits that he cried from the pain of his broken leg but he conquers fears. Before Carter knows it he’ll be dropping titanium shins on Ethan’s face. Before Carter knows it, Jeff will be the next World Champion. It’s nice to see Jeff admitting that his brother has no chance. This brings out Matt who draws a NEXT WORLD CHAMP chant.
Matt talks about the Hardys being told they can’t do it and always proving people wrong. It’s not a competition between the brothers to see who is best, which is why Jeff is supporting him this week. Jeff gets to make the announcement but instead of saying anything, he asks Matt to pull some stuff out from under the ring. Matt pulls out a table, a chair and a ladder because WHAT ELSE WOULD THE HARDYS PICK??? In case it’s not clear, next week is Full Metal Mayhem. On top of that, no one is allowed at ringside during the match. This took WAY too much time for the only possible conclusion.
Team 3D Hall of Fame video.
Magnus and Mickie James are ready for James Storm and Serena.
James Storm/Serena vs. Mickie James/Magnus
This is a result of Storm being a psycho who tried to get Mickie in the ring for one last match as a way to get inside her head and make her join the Revolution. The guys officially get things going with Magnus in control until Storm gets in a knee from the apron. Storm slaps on a chinlock and we take a break.
Back with Mickie chasing Serena around, only to allow Storm to plant Magnus with a Backstabber. Storm throws his sweat on Mickie and puts Magnus in a quickly broken chinlock. Magnus can’t get anything going though as he charges into Closing Time (Codebreaker) to keep him in trouble. Josh thinks it’s a gutbuster for reasons not entirely clear.
Both guys try cross bodies and it’s off to the girls with Mickie cleaning house. Everything breaks down and Storm goes after Mickie, only to get speared down for his efforts. Serena calls out Khoya, who hits Storm with the stick by mistake. Magnus adds a powerslam to Storm and the MickieDT ends Serena at 12:15.
Rating: D+. I don’t know if it’s been the boring show that led up to it but MY GOODNESS I did not care about this match. Serena could have been any warm body out there and she didn’t add much to the match. It doesn’t help that this feud basically ended a few weeks back but they dragged them out there one more time for the “blowoff”, which really didn’t do anything. Boring match which was mainly about the men while trying to be about the women.
Storm gets a MickieDT for good measure.
Mr. Anderson is worried about facing Bram because of the depths he’ll have to sink to.
Bram suggests Anderson kiss his kids goodnight and tell them goodbye because he isn’t going home.
We run down the No Surrender card.
Video on Jeff Jarrett’s career. I do get a good chuckle of TNA trying to make Jarrett seem like someone on Rock and Austin’s level, especially after they spent so much time ripping on him over the years.
Here’s Dixie Carter to induct Jarrett into the Hall of Fame. She tells a story of meeting Jeff when she lived in Tennessee and compares him to George Bailey from It’s A Wonderful Life. Dixie welcomes the Jarretts to the ring and after a break, it’s time to hear from Jeff. Jeff thanks everyone who has ever bought something from TNA and everyone who has ever worked for TNA. He leaves off people who have done work for them but haven’t actually gotten paid but I’m sure they’re included too.
Jeff lists off a bunch of production guys and office workers in what felt like something special. Mike Tenay gets thanked for holding things in place when they fell apart at times. “Don West not so much.” Then you have the X-Division, Knockouts and tag teams who all work so hard and prove that it can be more than just heavyweights main eventing. The heavyweights get a thank you as well, including AJ Styles.
Jarrett talks about a falling out with his dad (a legendary promoter in his own right) over this company but thanks him so much for getting him here. His children are the reason he’s here and even though they drive him crazy, they keep him going. Last but not least in family is Jeff’s wife Karen, who has been Jeff’s rock. A quick thank you to the fans leads to a THANK YOU JEFF chant and the roster (like 15 people) come out to applaud as the show ends. This was a nice ceremony and speech, but it felt really rushed because of the lack of time.
Overall Rating: F+. This was awful. With under twenty minutes combined of actual wrestling (if you count the commercial in the tag as ring time they crack it by less than ten seconds) and a bunch of last second building to a “special” that was announced tonight, what was the point of this show? To show that Jarrett is still a big deal? They did that already with all the packages and Slammiversary main event.
This show felt like it went on forever and built up nothing interesting. No Surrender feels like a show that is there to pop a rating, which TNA has kind of almost sort of done what, once or twice ever? I really didn’t care for this show and I didn’t want to sit through the rest of it, but that’s all we get these days in TNA. The wheels are falling off and the TV is getting worse and worse every single week. GFW getting here is supposed to be their saving grace, but TNA is barely worth saving at this point.
Results
Eric Young b. Sgt. Chris Melendez – Piledriver
Brooke b. Marti Belle – Butterface Maker
Mickie James/Magnus b. James Storm/Serena – MickieDT to Serena
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
NXT Date: July 29, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Rich Brennan, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We have a clear path towards Takeover: Brooklyn now with a main event of Finn Balor defending against Kevin Owens in a rematch from their Beast in the East showdown. Other than that it seems that we’re going to get Bayley challenging for the Women’s Title, but first she wants to get through Charlotte. However, Charlotte first wants to go through Dana Brooke, who she faces tonight. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady vs. Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder
Cass keeps it simple here, just saying that you’re S-A-W-F-T if you’re not a certified G. Enzo and Scott get things going with Enzo taking it to the mat and walking over Dawson’s back so he can do some dancing. Everything is about to break down when Dawson and Wilder realize that Cass is a foot taller than everyone else in the ring. Off to Cass, who seems to be a bit more over with the fans.
Back to Enzo for two on Wilder from a high cross body, only to charge shoulder first into the post. Wilder and Dawson start alternating as we get some NXT house show ads. The heels crank on the arm and Wilder stops Enzo from diving through the legs for a hot tag. A slingshot suplex (that’s so appropriate for a team like these two) gets two on Enzo but the bad guys collide, allowing for the hot tag to Big Cass. Everything breaks down and Enzo chases Wilder around the ring, only to be caught in a 3D into a Codebreaker (Shatter Machine) to give Wilder the pin at 6:39.
Rating: C. Well ok then. Unless they’re going to do a quick turn around and put Enzo and Cass in the title match in Brooklyn, I can’t imagine these two are going to be around NXT much longer. There’s not much left for them to do in NXT if they’re not going to win the titles, so let them go replace Santino on Raw.
Chad Gable and Jason Jordan say they’re not your common team but they get things done when they need to. They’re not as loud as the Hype Bros or Enzo/Cass, but they find a way to win. Jason doesn’t want to say they’re ready, willing and Gable.
We recap Charlotte vs. Dana Brooke, which is over Charlotte being in the Tap Out commercial, because Dana says Charlotte has been given all of her chances because of her last name. Dana wants a match to show her abilities and gets her chance tonight.
Baron Corbin vs. Jesse Sorensen
Yes that’s TNA’s Jesse Sorensen and he gets taken out by End of Days in 22 seconds.
Tyler Breeze comes in to Regal’s office and yells about Regal not answering his Twitter, Facebook or Instagram messages. Regal: “I sent a carrier pigeon.” Breeze will fight anyone from around the world but Regal says be careful what you wish for.
Jason Jordan/Chad Gable vs. Elias Samson/Levis Valenzuela Jr.
Jordan rides Levis down to start so it’s off to Samson (who looks like Damien Sandow and Wade Barrett’s lovechild) who wants Gable. Chad comes in and casually spins out of a wristlock before taking Samson down to the mat and cranking on the legs. Chad’s smile as he does this is great stuff. Back up and Levis gets in a knee to Gable’s back to take over before a slam gets two. Chad shrugs it off (because it’s just a slam) and makes the hot tag to Jason, who quickly puts on the double belly to back suplex (now called the Grand Amplitude) for the pin on Levis at 4:23.
Rating: D+. They’ve got something special here with Gable. The guy has that grin that is so cocky that you want to cheer him and see him get his face kicked in at the same time but can also get on the mat with anyone NXT has to offer. The finisher is great too and the pair have great chemistry together. Well done NXT as they develop more teams in a year than WWE has developed in the last ten years.
Dana Brooke is ready to conquer Charlotte, just like she’s conquered everything else she’s ever done. So she’s the female Brock Lesnar?
We recap Bull Dempsey’s struggles to stay in shape before seeing him trying to work out at the Performance Center. This goes badly, though some of it might have to do with his workout gear looking like it’s made of trash bags. The tagline is “It’s time to get Bull-Fit”, which is kind of catchy. There’s comedy potential here at least.
Charlotte vs. Dana Brooke
Charlotte shoves her down to start but has to go after Emma. The distraction doesn’t work for once but Dana is able to pound Charlotte down in the corner for two. It’s off to a bodyscissors on Charlotte until she lifts Dana up, only to have Brooke fall on top for two. Brooke cranks on an arm and a leg on the mat while shouting about Charlotte wanting to pose for Tap Out. A catapult sends Charlotte throat first into the bottom rope but she pops up with a neckbreaker and spear, followed by Natural Selection for the pin at 4:23.
Rating: C-. Not much of a match here as Charlotte shrugged off everything thrown at her and just beat Brooke up for the pin. Still though, that’s kind of the point as Charlotte is on to something bigger and better while Brooke is just kind of there at this point. Emma could still do something entertaining though and that’s all she needs to do, especially with so many of the NXT girls moving up to the main roster.
Samoa Joe is targeting Rhyno because they’re both predators. Joe is going to choke Rhyno out.
Last week, Regal was upset that Kevin Owens ran him over, but Owens comes up and apologizes for going into fight or flight mode. Regal can’t wait to see him take a beating.
Eva Marie says last week was just the beginning and she’s coming for Sasha Banks and the title. They really can’t be serious can right?
Kevin Owens vs. Martin Stone
Stone is a British wrestler who looks like a shorter Luke Gallows. Owens nails a clothesline to start and the backsplash. Stone runs into a release German suplex, followed by the Cannonball, a swanton bomb and the Pop Up Powerbomb for the pin at 1:48. Total squash.
Owens gives Stone an apron powerbomb post match.
Video on Rhyno’s time in NXT.
Tag Team Titles: Blake/Murphy vs. Vaudevillains
Blake and Murphy are defending. Fans: “DOWN WITH DUBSTEP!” Blake and Gotch fight over a top wristlock to start until Simon grabs a monkey flip into a cross armbreaker, followed by a dropkick for two. English comes in and stays right on Blake with a top wristlock of his own. Murphy comes in but both champions take Japanese armdrags as this is all Vaudevillains so far.
Back from a break with the Vaudevillains working on Murphy’s arm some more. English throws both champs to the floor but Blake is able to kick him in the side of the head to finally take over. Running forearms in the corner set up a chinlock on Aiden but he fights up and dives over for a tag to Simon. Fans: “OH MY GOTCH!” Gotch cleans house and the Whirling Dervish is loaded up, only to have Bliss grad English’s leg, allowing Blake to roll him up and grab the tights to retain at 10:18.
Rating: C. This was a squash until the ending which seems to be there to set up a rematch in Brooklyn. The Vaudevillains are ready to take the titles as Blake and Murphy feel like a glorified transitional team and have since they won the belts. Bliss is the star of the team but they’re far from bad.
The Vaudevillains clean house until they’re alone with Bliss. Fans: “CHIVALRY! CHIVALRY!” They hold the ropes open for her but Bliss slaps both of them and leaves with the champs to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. This is one of the areas where NXT shines: they had a show here with almost no main event or top level story advancement, but they showcased their tag division with five regular teams, all of whom could be considered contenders for the titles (in addition to mentioning a sixth in the Hype Bros). On a one hour show, NXT has managed to build up a full tag division and made the title match feel like a big deal. It’s a great illustration of what you can do when you treat things like they matter. Well done here on a show that got to brag about the hard work they’ve put in to get here.
Results
Scott Dawson/Dash Wilder b. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady – Shatter Machine to Amore
Baron Corbin b. Jesse Sorensen – End of Days
Jason Jordan/Chad Gable b. Levis Valenzuela Jr./Elias Samson – Grand Amplitude to Valenzuela
Charlotte b. Dana Brooke – Natural Selection
Kevin Owens b. Martin Stone – Pop Up Powerbomb
Blake/Murphy b. Vaudevillains – Rollup to English with a handful of tights
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Does it count as news when you haven’t done anything in months if not years? She’s from that model era of wrestling where the Divas were mostly worthless in the ring and Layla was really just the bubbly one who looked good in small outfits. There were FAR worse Divas out there and Layla reached a point where she wasn’t too bad. I’ll give her this too: I saw her at a house show in person and my goodness the cameras don’t do her justice. She was stunning.
Monday Nitro #230 Date: March 6, 2000
Location: Student Activities Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Attendance: 4,682
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden
We’re getting closer to the horror that is Uncensored 2000 and Jeff Jarrett vs. Sid Vicious. Both guys are talented and have their place on the card, but the main event isn’t the right spot for either of them, especially coming off HHH vs. Foley and transitioning into HHH vs. Rock. Other than that, since we’re in North Carolina, you can pencil in Flair for a loss or some sort of humiliation. Let’s get to it.
We open in the back with Fit Finlay choking Vampiro after promising to teach him some respect last week. Vampiro fights back but we cut to the arena for some pyro.
Psychosis vs. Kaz Hayashi
Juventud Guerrera is out with Psychosis for his Rock stuff and promises to live la vida loca. Kaz quickly knocks Psychosis to the floor and dives onto both guys for a nice spot. Back in and a dropkick puts Psychosis (Madden keeps calling him Psycho) down again and a spinwheel kick fires Kaz up even more. This is more emotion than I’ve seen from him in a long time.
Psychosis grabs a quick gordbuster as Juvy sits on the apron. Cue Finlay and Vampiro to fight at ringside and then into the ring to really wake the crowd up. Psychosis’ top rope hurricanrana gets two but here are Paisley and the Artist etc to watch. Kaz gets dropkicked out of the air and takes the guillotine legdrop for no cover. Instead Prince gets on the apron and hits Psychosis with the belt, giving Kaz a rollup pin.
Rating: C. Yeah it was an overbooked mess, but it was a fun overbooked mess and that’s a good way to open a show. Kaz looked like a guy who was trying to make something of his TV time and I can never fault someone for doing that. It’s not a great match and Prince is still an anchor holding the division down, but this was the fast paced, fun match the division has been missing.
Psychosis and Juvy beat Prince down post match.
We look back at Jarrett pinning Vampiro last week.
Tonight’s main event: Sid/Vampiro vs. Jarrett/Don Harris. I’m digging these young guys getting main event slots but good grief the heels are dragging these things down.
Security finally breaks up Vampiro and Finlay, ten minutes after we first saw them fighting.
The NWO, in a room with couches and black walls, laugh off the idea of facing Vampiro tonight.
Disco and the Mamalukes aren’t worried about the Harris Twins. Johnny is swearing off cheese sandwiches until Uncensored and Vito is taking out Ron Harris tonight.
Vampiro is beating up various trashcans backstage.
Ricki Rachman and the Nitro Girls were at Duke University on Friday. This eats up far more time than it should. To their credit there was some money given to a children’s hospital so at least some good came from it.
Ron Harris vs. Big Vito
Harris stomps him down to start but Vito kicks him in the face. Tony: “Would you call that a Mafia Kick?” Madden: “I’d call it an Italian American Heritage Kick.” The Twins quickly switch places and Don hits Vito with a chain for the pin in less than a minute.
And never mind as instant replay shows the cheating and Vito wins. Disco and the champs take H Bombs until the Power Plant security guards and a cop come out and get beaten down as well.
David Flair, on his 21st birthday, is going to beat up the Wall for hurting Crowbar on Thunder. That was one heck of a chokeslam through the table.
The Harris Twins are arrested for shoving the cop. I’m not sure why they both are when only one touched the cop but it’s wrestling logic.
The official tagline for Sid vs. Jarrett at Uncensored: the monster against the music. This is getting higher and higher on the list of horrible WCW ideas every single week.
The Wall vs. David Flair
Wall throws him to the floor to start and puts up a pair of tables. Daffney distracts Wall with screams, allowing David to hit him in the back with a crowbar. The metal rod to the back is no sold and David gets chokeslammed through both tables for the DQ.
Daffney cries over how hurt David may be. Trainers come out, as do Curt Hennig, Terry Funk and Arn Anderson. Curt says David’s old man should have been here. Ric was shown in the back earlier.
Back from a break with David being taken away on a stretcher. Bam Bam Bigelow yells at Wall for taking it too far so Wall hits him once, knocking him onto a table. Bigelow implied that he trained/mentored Wall before getting knocked six feet off a single punch.
The Dog vs. Evan Karagias
I’ve wondered this forever, but why in the world is Brian Knobbs’ theme music a rock version of My Sharona? Dog beats up all three members of 3 Count but gets triple teamed, drawing in Knobbs and Finlay. It’s eventually just Dog in the ring, leaving everyone else to mindlessly fight outside. Dog hits a running splash on Evan and then bites his ear. Finlay throws Evan into the barricade and we see Dog’s red eyes. All six get in again until Knobbs helps Dog with a middle rope powerslam to pin Evan.
Rating: N/A. It was long enough to rate but this was such a mess and the two people actually in the match were only together in the ring for about half the time. Much like the Tag Team Title feud, this isn’t interesting but at least it’s a feud that can be simply explained. That doesn’t make it good, but it makes sense which is more than you can say about a lot of stuff around here.
Ric Flair says his son is a big boy and can take care of himself. He’s ready for Hennig again tonight.
Jarrett yells at his three NWO girls about the situation tonight.
Nitro Girls for the first time in a long while.
Sid begs Vampiro to help him fight tonight. Vampiro says he’ll be there.
Here are Jarrett and the girls with something to say. Jeff ejects the girls (who now have names: Kim, Tylene and Midajah) and says tonight there was a travesty of justice. The Twins are gone, but Jeff has a replacement: The Wall. Again, well done on putting young guys in big spots, and for once that’s not sarcasm.
2XS (Lane and Idol) are on the phone but Idol says he lives here now so he’s over with the rats. They see Demon’s coffin and have an idea.
Curt Hennig vs. Ric Flair
Please give them time. Flair rips on the UNC Tar Heels basketball team and thinks they should be wrestling at Duke (UNC’s major rival) tonight instead. Curt chops away in the corner to start and gives Ric a backdrop as only Flair can take one. They head outside with Flair striking away until Hennig chops him against the barricade. Back in and Flair goes…well he goes Flair actually as he suckers Hennig into the corner for a low blow.
More chops on the floor have Curt in more trouble as the idea is Flair being more aggressive than usual because of Hogan. So yeah, we’re back to the RIC IS CRAZY because of Hogan idea from 1994. After some stomps to the leg, the Figure Four goes on but Hennig turns it over as you would expect him to do. They’re not exactly blowing the roof off the place here. Hennig makes his comeback but has to deal with Luger, followed by a quick PerfectPlex for the pin on Flair.
Rating: C. Totally acceptable match here but that’s par for the course from these two. Hennig vs. Flair is always good for a decent match and it’s nice to see an older guy like Flair still trying around here. Luger and Flair are a good enough heel team, but Luger is so worthless these days and it’s killing whatever good Flair brings to it.
Hennig’s arm gets broken but Arn Anderson comes out to stand over him. Luger pulls the bat back to hit him but Flair shakes his head no and Lex drops it.
Lane and Idol weld the Demon’s casket shut, because WCW catering now has blowtorches if you get the meal deal special. Demon comes up but gets beaten down because WCW isn’t scared of a lawsuit.
More Nitro Party stuff.
Hennig is taken into an ambulance.
Flair and Luger brag and Liz looks especially gorgeous here.
Lane vs. Norman Smiley
Idol is on commentary as Norman starts with some dancing. A victory roll doesn’t work so well and Smiley is sent outside, where Lane takes him down with a big flip dive. Back in and Lane gets slammed down but breaks up the Big Wiggle with a low blow. As usual, the referee sees this and doesn’t seem to care. Lane misses a moonsault (landing on his head) to set up Norman’s giant swing. Cue Miss Hancock to get on the table but she doesn’t dance. The distraction is enough for the Norman’s Conquest to make Lane tap out in a hurry.
Demon comes out to beat up Lane and Idol but gets in a staredown with Norman. Sure why not.
Sid promises to win at Uncensored.
An angry Tank Abbott is in the ring and doesn’t care for the GOLDBERG chants. He isn’t worried about Sid either because he only tapped because WCW was taking him off TV. Tank isn’t leaving until he gets a match.
Tank Abbott vs. La Parka
One punch knockout. I’m so glad La Parka was given a winning streak over the last few weeks.
Doug Dillinger won’t get Tank out of the ring so here’s Meng, but JJ Dillon threatens to dock him 60 days pay if he gets in. Nothing comes of this because having a fun segment isn’t something WCW will tolerate on their television shows.
Nitro Girls again.
Hogan, in a pre-taped interview, has signed release notes for the Yappapi Strap Match against Flair. He goes over the mindset behind the match and promises to strap Flair over and over. This was an old school promo but this isn’t an old school show.
Kidman vs. Harlem Heat 2000
Kidman says he has a partner but gets beaten down before he can bring anyone down. After about thirty seconds of beating, here’s Booker to even things up. Booker cleans house but the double teaming gets to him as this actually breaks down into a tag match. Everything breaks down and there’s a Book End on Big T. with Kidman dropping a top rope elbow but Cash (or is it Cass?) pulls the referee to the floor. Stevie hits something on Kidman off camera for the pin, because pulling the referee to the floor isn’t a DQ in WCW. I think the better question is what IS a DQ in this company these days.
Here’s Dustin Rhodes with some barbed wire (clearly not real) and something to say. He knocks Terry Funk unconscious two weeks ago but Funk got up and kept coming because he’s a stupid old man. Dustin rips on the internet fans and says he’s ready to make Terry bleed tonight.
After we don’t hear the end of “you people s….” because SUCK of all things is censored, Terry Funk comes out to call Dustin a chicken. He imitates Foghorn Leghorn of all things and says he has Dustin’s illegitimate brother in a garbage bag. Inside the bag is a plucked chicken wearing a diaper because why not. Terry thinks Dustin wants a barbed wire match so Dustin throws powder in his face and piledrives him. The threat of a powerbomb makes Funk come back with a low blow and a slam onto the wire.
Jeff Jarrett/The Wall vs. Sid Vicious/Vampiro
Before the match, Jeff ejects the girls again. Tony makes the big announcement for Sting vs. Luger: it’s a lumberjack cast match with everyone whose arm Luger has broken will surround the ring. It’s a brawl to start with the big guys fighting out to the floor. We settle down to Vampiro working on Wall’s arm until Jeff gets in a cheap shot from the apron to change control.
Jeff comes in and works over Vampiro with that riveting Memphis style of his until Vampiro plants him with a Rock Bottom. The hot tag brings in Sid to clean house and chokeslam Jeff, but Wall breaks it up. Sid clotheslines Jarrett to the floor and the big guys grab each other by the throat, only to have Jarrett sneak in with the guitar to Sid. Wall chokeslams Sid and Jeff gets the pin to end the show.
Rating: D. I really didn’t care for this one but it’s nice to see someone like Wall getting a spot here. Vampiro was really just kind of there but it’s always cool to see the youth movement finally going somewhere. Unfortunately it ends with Jeff pinning Sid again to set up the lame World Title match down the line, but that’s WCW for you.
Overall Rating: D+. As boring as the main event stuff has been lately, this really wasn’t a bad show. They’re building up some coherent stories and the young guys are getting some higher spots on the card, which makes for a show that actually entertains at points. Now don’t get me wrong: it’s still really boring and the idea of Uncensored makes me cringe, but this has been a major upgrade over the last few months.
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Summerslam Count-Up – 1990: Oh Warrior. We Barely Knew Ye.
Summerslam 1990 Date: August 27, 1990
Location: Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 19,304
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper
This is a personal favorite of mine as I’ve probably seen this show upwards of 40 times. It was the first tape I ever owned and I went through at least two copies. We have a double main event tonight with Hogan returning to face Earthquake and Ultimate Warrior defending the world title against Rick Rude in a cage for the final blowoff in their rivalry. Let’s get to it.
We open with a look at the fans coming into the arena and buying merchandise.
Now we get a traditional intro with Vince shouting about the double main event.
Rockers vs. Power and Glory
Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma) get a jobber entrance. The camera immediately goes wide during the opening brawl so you don’t see Shawn’s knee get grazed by Hercules’ chain. His knee was REALLY badly hurt at this time so he’s just here for an appearance, making this a handicap match for all intents and purposes. Marty hits a quick dropkick to both guys and gets a small package on Roma but Slick has the referee.
Vince is freaking out over the referee missing stuff as Marty clotheslines Herc to the outside. We officially start with Roma vs. Jannetty and Roma tagging his way out of a sunset flip. Shawn is still on the floor as Hercules pounds away and slams Marty down. Roma plants Jannetty with a backbreaker for two but Marty comes back with a powerslam. The top rope fist connects with Paul’s head but Hercules breaks up the pin. Roma sends Jannetty into a clothesline from Herc as Shawn is screaming in pain. The superplex/top rope splash combo is enough to finish the massacre of Jannetty.
Rating: C-. The match wasn’t too bad all things considered. The crowd is white hot here and they carried the match to a higher level than it could have reached on their own. It’s kind of a shame that Marty had to be Shawn’s partner as his own skills were overlooked by his far more talented partner.
Post match Shawn finally gets into the ring but Marty covers his injured leg and takes a beating himself. Shawn is taken out on a stretcher.
Mr. Perfect isn’t worried about the Texas Tornado because he’s perfect. Tornado had been around for only a few weeks if even that coming into this. Heenan says Texas Tornadoes never do any damage because you can see it coming from a mile away.
Texas Tornado says that Perfect doesn’t know anything about Texas Tornadoes. They’re powerful and devastating, and tonight he’s going to go back into the clouds with the Intercontinental Title. I’ve always liked this promo: it’s short, it’s to the point, and it ties into the character name. Short and sweet. Note that Tornado is wearing yellow trunks here, just like Perfect. He’d change to white for the match
Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Texas Tornado
Tornado launches him into the corner to start and Perfect has a breather on the floor. The idea is that Perfect hasn’t had time to plan for Tornado and doesn’t know how to deal with him. Back in and Perfect hooks a quick hiptoss but Tornado slams him down and clotheslines Perfect out to the floor.
Back in and Perfect hits a clothesline of his own and the necksnap has Tornado in trouble. Off to a sleeper on Tornado but he quickly makes the rope. Perfect tries slapping him in the face, but Tornado pulls him into a slingshot, sending Perfect head first into the post. The Claw hold and Tornado Punch are enough for the pin and the title.
Rating: D+. This is a weird one as it’s about three and a half minutes of stalling before the fast ending. This was supposed to be Brutus Beefcake’s shot but he injured his face in a parasailing accident and Tornado was here as a surprise, which is likely why they went with the title change. Perfect would get the title back a few weeks later.
Mean Gene is talking about Sapphire being nowhere in sight (remember that as it becomes important later) when Hennig and Brain come in and say Tornado cheated by sending Perfect into the post. Heenan swears, yes SWEARS I SAY, that the shoulder was up at two.
Sapphire vs. Sensational Sherri
Sherri has on something like a big Mardi Gras mask which terrified me as a kid. Not that it matters as there’s no Sapphire. The music plays again but there’s still no Sapphire. Sherri says count to ten and then ring the bell. There’s still no Sapphire so Sherri wins by forfeit.
Dusty Rhodes isn’t sure where Sapphire, his chick, is. The idea is that Sapphire has been getting a bunch of gifts and no one knows who is sending them. The benefactor is scheduled to be revealed tonight. In what can only be described as a bizarre and random cameo, Jim Duggan pops up, says he hasn’t seen Sapphire either, and walks away. Dusty lists off the gifts (ring, bracelet, fur coat, Cadillac etc) and that’s about it.
Warlord vs. Tito Santana
Piper makes Mexican jokes as Tito grabs a headlock. Warlord easily shoves him down and Piper suggests going for a taco. Three straight dropkicks send Warlord out to the floor for a consultation with Slick. Back in and Tito pounds away but is launched to the outside on a kickout. Warlord rams Tito’s back into the post as Piper does a horrible Slick impression. Back in and Warlord pounds on the back but Tito fires off a quick clothesline and right hands. The flying forearm hits out of nowhere but Warlord gets his foot on the ropes. Back up a few seconds later and a powerslam abruptly ends Tito.
Rating: D+. Tito was a jobber to the stars at this point and made Warlord look as good as he could have, but the match was nothing special at all. Warlord just wasn’t all that good other than having muscles on top of muscles. Tito also jobbed to Barbarian at Wrestlemania so they had an idea of what they were using him for at this time.
Ad for Survivor Series. That show SUCKED.
Demolition says it’s going to be a surprise combination of them facing the Hart Foundation for the titles. Sean Mooney asks them about a match with Legion of Doom, giving us this joke from Crush: “They’re just a couple of second rate imposters.” It’s funny if you know your history.
Demolition has their entrance and it’s Smash/Crush. The Hart Foundation says they don’t care which combination they were going to face.
Tag Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Demolition
This is 2/3 falls and Demolition is defending. Basically the Harts have about as much chance coming into this as I have at being Miss America 1974. Bret starts with Smash but the Harts knock Crush to the floor before anything gets going. Things settle down and Bret gets a quick rollup for two. Anvil comes in to crank on Smash’s arm before Bret comes back in with a fist to the back. Smash tries to get into a technical match with Bret and gets caught in an armbar for his stupidity.
Smash finally slams Bret down and brings in Crush, only to have Bret avoid an elbow and pound away. Crush charges into a boot in the corner and gets rolled up for two before it’s off to Neidhart vs. Smash, only to have Crush kick Jim in the back to give the champions the advantage. Crush comes in again and misses a charge into the corner, allowing for another double tag to Bret and Smash. Neidhart falls to the floor as everything breaks down. Smash is whipped into Crush and Bret gets two off the middle rope elbow but here’s Crush again. The Decapitator to Bret is enough for the first fall.
The second fall begins with Crush hitting a hard clothesline on Bret and Smash pounding on the chest. After a quick neck crank by Crush, Bret fires off the Hart Attack clothesline on Smash, allowing for the hot tag to Neidhart. A powerslam gets two on Smash and Bret launches Anvil into Smash in the corner. The Hart Attack takes Smash down but Crush breaks up the pin for the DQ to make it 1-1. Why they didn’t let the Harts get the pin there is beyond me.
During the break between falls, Demolition knocks Bret to the floor, allowing Ax to run down and sneak under the ring. The third fall starts with Bret getting two off a sunset flip before taking Smash down by the leg. Neidhart picks Bret up for the reverse powerslam for two on Smash. Now things get tricky as Smash rolls to the floor and rolls under the ring, switching places with Ax.
The idea is that Ax and Smash look so much alike that the referee can’t tell them apart. This is fine except for one problem: THEY DON’T LOOK ALIKE! Ax is taller, heavier set and has a rounder head, not to mention a deeper voice. This reasoning never made sense to me as a kid and it still doesn’t to this day.
Anyway the fresh Ax destroys Bret and gets two off Bret’s chest bump in the corner. Anvil comes in sans tag as Smash takes Ax’s place again. They try to switch again and the Legion of Doom come out to break it up. Smash goes after Hawk and Animal as Anvil shoulder blocks Crush into a rollup by Bret for the pin and the titles. The place comes unglued as the Harts have shocked the world.
Rating: B. That’s probably a bit high but I love this match. The wrestling is just ok but the storytelling is as good as you’ll get in a tag match with the LOD coming out to even things up, allowing the Harts to finally do the impossible and win the titles. This is a popular match among old school fans and if you watch it you’ll see why.
Wrestlemania VII ad, with Vince promising over 100,000 fans. “Terror threats” prevented this from happening, which is WWF speak for “the Los Angeles Coliseum would have been half empty so we’ll move it to an arena.”
The LOD goes on a big rant about how they’re the real thing and Demolition is living in their world. The Harts come in and say they’ll fight anyone anytime.
Demolition wants to get their hands on the LOD.
Sherri has hear rumors about Sapphire and thinks she might be a UFO and not that stupid. It’s a rather strange interview and we’ll leave it at that. Basically Sapphire has done something that Sherri thinks is smart.
Nikolai Volkoff and Jim Duggan are proud to be international tag team partners. We’re in intermission if that wasn’t clear.
Earthquake and Dino Bravo brag about putting Hogan on the shelf. Big Bossman, Hogan’s friend of the month, will be no problem for Dino. Jimmy Hart says Bossman and Hogan will leave on side by side stretchers.
Jake Roberts says he isn’t afraid of Bad News Brown’s sewer rats. The snake keeps wrapping around Jake’s throat in a creepy visual.
Jake Roberts vs. Bad News Brown
Big Bossman is guest referee for no apparent reason. Brown jumps Jake before Bossman is in the ring but has to bail out of a DDT attempt. Back in and Bad News tosses Jake down and gets two off a legdrop. Jake tries the DDT a second time but Brown bails to the floor again. Roberts follows him out and gets hit in the ribs with a chair which isn’t a DQ for some reason. Back in and Bad News pounds away as Piper asks if Vince has ever smelled Brown. Jake avoids a middle rope elbow and hits the short clothesline but Brown backdrops out of the DDT. Another chair shot to Jake is good for the lame DQ.
Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and I’m still not sure why Boss Man was in here at all. Jake and Brown didn’t do anything else after this and Brown didn’t go after Boss Man after the feud, so I guess he was there as an enforcer for reasons not important enough to explain. The match was just ok.
Brown tries to drop a leg on the snake but Bossman makes the save. Bad News beats him down as well but Jake pulls the snake out of the bag to chase Brown off. This was Brown’s last major appearance in mainstream wrestling.
Demolition yells a lot.
Time for the Brother Love Show with a REAL American as his special guest: Sgt. Slaughter. This would be the start of his heel turn as he didn’t like the idea of Nikolai Volkoff becoming an American and wants America to be how he liked it. Slaughter gives Love the Great American Award and declares WAR on Volkoff, while also saying that Sadaam Hussein would destroy America in a real war. Somehow this took nearly ten minutes.
Mr. Fuji says his Orient Express will leave big red marks on Volkoff’s head.
Gene sees Sapphire go into a dressing room and lock the door behind her.
Orient Express vs. Nikolai Volkoff/Jim Duggan
Duggan and Volkoff sing God Bless America and get jumped in a twist on the old foreigners’ gimmick. We start with the small Tanaka trying to match strength with Volkoff. Vince: “That wasn’t too bright.” Piper: “Yep, real dumb.” You can’t make it any simpler than that. Sato kicks away at Volkoff a bit but it’s hot tag to Duggan who cleans house and finishes Tanaka with the three point clothesline. This was nearly a squash.
Sapphire won’t open the door for Dusty but Rhodes swears he’ll figure this out tonight one way or another.
Macho King Randy Savage doesn’t care about Rhodes being out there alone and says he understands Sapphire’s decision to leave a common man. I’m a big Savage fan and the energy he puts into his promos always impresses me. He’s got NOTHING to talk about here and he was going nuts anyway.
Dusty Rhodes vs. Randy Savage
Before the match we hear a familiar laugh and cut to Ted DiBiase on the interview platform. He’s been spending the last several weeks telling Dusty that he has a price just like everyone else but Dusty has kept turning him down. Tonight, someone else had a price: Sapphire, Ted’s latest purchase. Ted’s latest gift to her is a bag of money which is hard to pass up. DiBiase brings up the most obvious point to the story: who else could afford to pay for all the gifts Sapphire has been getting?
Rhodes charges at DiBiase but Savage jumps him from behind to start the match. Back in and Savage hits a top rope ax handle for two. Dusty comes back with some elbows but his heart isn’t in this. He has to stop to chase Sherri though, allowing Savage to knock Rhodes out cold with Sherri’s loaded purse for the pin. This was nothing.
DiBiase leaves his suite but bails with Virgil and Sapphire as Dusty arrives. This would start a long feud which would include the debuts of Undertaker and Dustin Rhodes and Virgil’s face turn.
Hogan says that he can’t tell a lie because he’s like George Washington. He loved his Hulkamaniacs for supporting him and remembers Tugboat for leading the charge until Earthquake and Bravo beat him down. Bossman says that Quake and Bravo have the Constitutional right to a beating tonight.
Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake
This is Hogan’s big return after being gone all summer due to an attack by Earthquake which broke his ribs. They lock up but Hogan can’t shove the big man around. Now Quake shoves him down a few times as Jimmy is losing his mind. Quake shoulders him out to the floor and Hogan takes a breather with Bossman. Back in and Hogan tries pounding away but Quake sends him into the corner to take him back down. Hogan gets a boot up in the corner and nails some clotheslines but Quake won’t go down.
After knocking Bravo and Hart off the apron, Hogan finally drops Earthquake with the big windup punch. All four guys get inside and the heels both take big boots to the face. The referee puts Bossman out though, allowing Bravo and Quake to hit a double slam on Hogan. A big elbow drop keeps Hogan down and a top rope forearm (from the 468lb Earthquake) to the back has Hogan down again. Off to a Boston Crab but Hogan tries to push his way out. That doesn’t work so Hogan looks to his left and realizes he’s about four inches from the rope for the break.
Bravo gets in some cheap shots on the floor but Earthquake misses an elbow drop back inside. Hogan finally gets to his feet (sidenote: Roddy Piper should not be allowed to cheer for Hogan. Ever.) but falls back down on a slam attempt. Off to a bearhug by Earthquake as the match slows down. Hulk punches out of it and tries a cross body like a schnook, earning the powerslam he gets as a result. Earthquake drops a pair of Earthquake splashes (seated sentons) but Hogan gets up at two to shock the crowd.
It’s Hulk Up time and there’s the slam but Dino distracts the referee after the legdrop. Jimmy comes in but gets tossed at Earthquake, sending everyone to the floor. Hart accidentally hits Quake with the Megaphone and Hogan slams the big man onto a table (it’s in Philadelphia after all)….for a countout? For the life of me I have no idea why Hogan didn’t get a pin here. I guess they wanted to save that for house shows, but it’s not like people wouldn’t want to see Hogan do it again live.
Rating: B-. The match itself was nothing of note but this is exactly what the fans wanted to see other than Hogan getting a pin. These two feuded on the house show circuit for the next four months or so, which really is amazing when you consider how basic the angle was that set it up. This falls into the fun category which is fine for a show like this.
Post match Quake chokes Hogan until Bossman blasts him in the back with a STEPLADDER. Quake finally drops him and looks at Bossman so the cop pulls out the nightstick to chase them off. Lots of posing ensues as you can see the house show rematches with any combination of these four guys being made up.
We go to the back where Rude and Heenan talk about Rocky Balboa facing Apollo Creed. Rude has beaten him before and he’ll do it again because a cage is his kind of match. Heenan says there will be no sequels either.
Dusty goes on a rant about being in a storm with only America being able to offer him shelter. He doesn’t have a price for Ted DiBiase and he’s coming for the Million Dollar Man. The feud would have been better if Sapphire hadn’t disappeared after this show.
Lord Alfred Hayes talks about the cage being constructed and how it’s put together. It’s more interesting than it sounds.
Hogan brags about winning and says there’s a fourth demandment: believe in yourself. He wants the world title back and will beat Earthquake as many times as it takes to be #1 contender again.
Vince and Roddy talk about Hogan vs. Earthquake happening again.
Earthquake, Hart and Bravo say the war isn’t over for Hogan and Bossman.
The Warrior rants about Rick Rude being cracked like the Liberty Bell. He says he’ll win and quotes some historic documents to continue the Philadelphia theme.
WWF World Title: Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude
In a cage where you can win by pin or escape. Rude tries to block Warrior from getting into the cage so Warrior knocks him off the top and down into the ring. The champion finally comes in with a top rope ax handle smash and throws Rude into the cage. Rick goes into the cage a few more times but ducks a charge to send Warrior face first into the bars. Rude kicks Warrior away but jumps off the top to put him down again instead of climbing out.
A hard slam into the cage has Warrior down but Rude still won’t try to climb out. Rude tries the Rude Awakening after winning a quick slugout but Warrior easily breaks the hold with raw power. They clothesline each other down before Rude hits a quick Rude Awakening for no cover. Instead Rude goes up to the top of the cage for a right hand to Warrior’s head. Heenan is losing his mind trying to get Rude to cover but Rude goes up the cage again.
This time Rude jumps into a right hand to the ribs but Heenan slams the door on Warrior’s head as he goes to escape. After the two count both guys collide and they’re down again as the match drags some more. Warrior stops him from crawling out while pulling Rude’s trunks down in the process. Heenan is pulled in and whipped into the steel before being sent outside again. The champion Warriors Up and hits the gorilla press before climbing out to retain.
Rating: D. This match sucked and the ending was exactly what people expected. These two had a match on SNME a month earlier and maybe Rude should have taken the title there to give it back to Warrior here. There was nothing of interest here and Warrior never seemed to be in any real danger due to Rude not going for a cover or trying to escape.
Overall Rating: C+. This is a show where the individual parts don’t reflect how the whole show comes out. This is a turn your brain off and have fun show. The main events were exactly what the fans wanted and the other stuff is fun as well. There was a show long angle with Dusty which set up another feud on top of all that. It’s a good example of how not everything needs to be a huge show that changes everything and that’s a good lesson for modern WWE to learn.
NWA San Francisco TV – July 1, 1979: I Think There’s Something Wrong With Him
San Francisco TV Date: July 1, 1978
Location: KXTV Studios, Sacramento, California
Commentator: Hank Renner
I had a good time with the previous show and I’m assuming this is the followup. I’m guessing we won’t be seeing Piper or Race here as it was rare to see the same lineup week after week. It was a nice way to keep things fresh and you never knew who you were going to see on a week to week basis. Let’s get to it.
Just like last time, the show is incomplete and at least the first match is missing. That’s something you have to expect on something like this though.
Jerry Monte vs. Buddy Rose
Rose is a big time heel. After some quick stalling it’s Rose taking Monte down and slapping on a chinlock. That goes nowhere so Rose, in his overly huge trunks, misses an elbow and gets caught in an armbar. Well at least Monte has some psychology to him. They trade slams and it’s right back to that armbar.
Back up and we get some miscommunication as both guys try a drop down at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before. Monte slaps on a third armbar until Buddy fights up with some basic strikes. A rake to the face freaks Buddy out and the fans are getting into this. Buddy whips him hard into the buckle though and drives some knees into the back, setting up a backbreaker (similar to the Irish Curse) for the pin.
Rating: C-. I liked this way more than I was expecting to as Monte was game for a fight here. Rose was obviously going to win, but at least they didn’t go with something really simple and boring. Monte tried out there and did some decent stuff with the arm until we got to the only possible conclusion.
Buddy Rose brags about his robe and says he has the accomplishments at 25 years old that no one else has ever had. He’s been compared to Ray Stevens, but Rose is just that much better. That match might be coming one day, but Stevens will be facing the man with a steel stomach (seriously), Pepper Gomez, on July 15. Rose knows Gomez has a hard stomach but he can pound on everything else.
The younger generation is taking over and it’s no longer Lou Thesz’s world. It’s Buddy Rose’s world because he’s earned this reputation. Last week he was wrestling all over the country and he’s insulted by having to fight in a preliminary match in the Cow Palace. It’s only main events for Rose and only if the money is right. This was an interesting case as the message was good but Rose has an awkward way of speaking and it didn’t work as well as it could have. He needed to cut down a bit and get to the point faster, though he got the points across.
Guy Lambert vs. Roddy Piper
We get some more bagpipes before the match. Piper takes his sweet time in taking off the kilt before we can get going. Lambert scores with a quick slam to send Piper outside and three armdrags into an armbar. Piper fights out of a wristlock (how did he ever manage to do that?) and hammers away in the corner, followed by a clothesline for two of his own. A high backdrop gets the same but Lambert puts on a freaky abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere and Piper punches a lot more before finishing with a pair of swinging neckbreakers.
Rating: D. Boring match here with Piper destroying the guy but with far less energy or entertainment value than last week. The match wasn’t that long and Lambert was fine for a jobber, but you expect more from someone like Piper, especially after the really fun match he had last week.
Post match Piper says the match with Mayne was non-title, which is either a mistake on Wikipedia or a lie to sell the rematch on the 15th. Roddy won the match, despite Mayne barking a lot. Every time Piper got up and hit him again, the barking got weaker and weaker. The match was stopped and Mayne attacked him post match, busting him open. The cuts on Piper’s face look really awesome. Next up is a title match, as ordered by the NWA. Well at least according to Piper, as the interviewer says it was Mayne’s idea.
The rest of the tape is cut off.
Overall Rating: D+. I didn’t like this one as much as the previous one but that might be due to the lack of Harley Race being all gruff and awesome. Piper picked things way up in his promo where he went insane as only he could, but the rest of the show didn’t do much for me. Then again it would have helped to be able to see the whole thing instead of just under half an hour.
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