And some stuff you might actually want to watch.In the last two days, the remainder of Hulk Hogan’s Rock and Wrestling’s first season has been uploaded. Now for those of you who aren’t interested in something that awesome, we also have four Smackdowns from 2000. I’m all for additional content from the best year the company ever had so this could be a good sign going forward.
And yeah, it’s awesome. However, there’s one major thing that got into my head here.How amazing is it that WWE can throw something like this together in about four days? It’s the beauty of having the Network instead of having this be something like another lame WWE.com feature or a five minute segment on Raw and Smackdown. They made this feel important and did it this fast. That’s a far better treatment for someone like Dusty and this worked very well.
Impact Wrestling
Date: June 17, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero
We’ve got two weeks to go before Slammiversary and it’s time to start building towards the main event of the TV show two weeks from tonight. Yeah the Carter vs. Angle World Title match is going to be held on Impact instead of at the pay per view due to some scheduling issues. That is of course TOTALLY different than TNA being a poorly run company who couldn’t figure out that having a pay per view the day after a TV taping was really, really stupid. Let’s get to it.
We open with a tribute to Dusty Rhodes, who used to be the authority figure here back in the early days.
It’s time for Angle and Carter to sign the contract. In an interesting case, this is coming just after a contract signing closed Ring of Honor. Carter gets to talk first by talking about Angle beating Heartbreak Kids, Texas Rattlesnakes, Dead Men, Immortals, Electrifying Men, Rated R Superstars and some people you can’t even see. He’s also beaten submission machines, phenomenal ones, icons and charismatic enigmas (the first person mentioned actually still with this company. And shouldn’t those all be singular since Angle only beat one each?) but the World Title reigns ends with Carter.
Angle praises Carter, but thinks he’s a disrespectful punk. This time around, Kurt is healthy and ready because he’s been here before. Once Carter loses, it’s going to haunt him for the rest of his life. Both guys sign, but they also get to pick an opponent for each other. Angle gets to go first, and he picks Lashley to face Carter. Not a bad choice. Carter gets to pick next week on a live show.
The X-Division Title will be decided next week. Man just scrap Slammiversary and put on a Barney Miller marathon.
We recap the Tag Team Title series to this point, with the Wolves currently up 2-1.
Here are the Wolves with Davey talking about how they’ve fought around the world to be the best tag team in the world, and that’s what those belts mean. They’ve beaten the BroMans, the Hardys and Team 3D already and now it’s time for the Dirty Heels. Last time the Heels cheated to win, but the Wolves won’t get fooled again. Good line but points off for a WOLVES NATION shirt. Stop just putting a word in front of nation and thinking it sounds good.
Edwards wants to do match four right now, so here’s Roode sans Aries. Austin isn’t here tonight because he’s healing up after last week, so there’s no match. Eddie thinks a singles match is in order and Roode doesn’t think so, but he’ll do it if the winner gets to pick the stipulation for next week. The Wolves are fine and it’s time to go.
Bobby Roode vs. Eddie Edwards
Roode hammers away to start but Eddie kicks him outside for a big suicide dive. Back in and a clothesline gets two for Eddie but he runs into an elbow to the jaw. A Hennig necksnap puts Eddie down again as Roode is a heel this week. It’s good to know as it varies so often. Roode’s chinlock doesn’t go anywhere as Edwards comes back with a leg lariat.
The announcers call last week’s Aries vs. Angle match five stars. At least this time they’re waiting until after the match happened to praise it. There’s a backpack Stunner for two on Roode but he comes back with a spinebuster for the same. Roode tries to bring in a chair but Richards gets on the apron for some reason, earning him a swing from Bobby. The distraction lets Eddie get a rollup pin at 8:22.
Rating: C. This brings up the problem with the entire series: the matches are just ok. They’re not bad or anything, but I barely remember them a few minutes after they happened because they’re just coming and going as we wait for the big match to come for the titles to exist again. The ending made no sense either as the Wolves wound up cheating instead of the Dirty Heel. This story hasn’t been great since it started and it’s losing steam every week.
Davey makes match #4 Full Metal Mayhem. So what’s #5 going to be? Another regular match?
Joseph Park is back, minus his law firm, money or teeth. He’ll face Bram tonight and get to be the guy on top for the first time. So we’re just forgetting that he knows he’s Abyss I guess? Does that mean we’re done with the Revolution too?
We get a ten second video of Drew Galloway talking about how much he loves wrestling.
Bram vs. Joseph Park
Park tries to lecture Bram before the match and gets punched in the face. Bram slugs away but misses a chair shot, allowing Park to get in some shots of his own. Now it’s table and kendo stick time as I guess this is a hardcore match. It was never announced as one but sure why not. Park comes back with some kendo stick shots and a chokeslam for two. Back up and Park misses a spear through the table, allowing Bram to get the pin at 3:53.
Rating: F. A guy as talented as Bram is stuck in the hardcore story because there’s nothing else for him to do right now because they’ve killed off the singles titles other than the World Title and now we’re sitting here watching him against Joseph Park. Bad match here and Bram doesn’t even get to hit his finisher to win? Horrible stuff.
Taryn has a deal for Brooke and Awesome Kong: if they beat the Dolls tonight, they both get a title shot. If they lose, neither can ever have a shot again.
The world is ready to burn and playtime is over. No idea what that is for.
Marti Bell/Jade vs. Brooke/Awesome Kong
Brooke gets jumped in the aisle but here’s Kong for the save. The bell rings and Kong runs Jade over before it’s off to Brooke, who doesn’t have the same luck. Brooke fights off some double teaming but gets thrown right back into the corner as the announcers debate their taste in women. Brooke avoids a charge and spears Jade down, allowing for the tag to Kong. A chokeslam plants Marti and Brooke climbs onto her shoulders for a big elbow and the pin at 6:24.
Rating: D. This wasn’t the worst in the world but good grief Josh is getting on my nerves. Between talking about the number of days the champions have held their titles and calling Dinero the heel commentator, he becomes more of a combination of Cole and Striker every week. Nothing match here as the finish was obvious, though the story wasn’t bad.
We recap the hardcore war which ended with Eric Young choking out Chris Melendez with Chris’ prosthetic leg.
Chris Melendez wants to fight Eric Young right now. This brings Young out to praise Melendez for being an American hero, but Young just doesn’t care. He cares about no one but himself because there’s no reason for Melendez to be in the same ring as Eric Young. Does Chris really want to be here all alone next week? Chris says he’s ready. Young was just a jerk here and not crazy, making him FAR more effective as a heel. Melendez is nothing though.
DJZ vs. Jesse Godderz
Godderz laid DJZ out last week so DJZ charges right at him to start and nails a jawbreaker and middle rope back elbow (love that move). Back up and Jesse slams him down by the arm, setting up a Boston crab for the submission at 1:43.
Post match Godderz cuts a really, REALLY good promo about how he was the BroMans because he was the only one training while Robbie was on a reality TV show and DJZ was in some bar making funny noises. He rants about how Robbie was nothing until he joined the team and now DJZ is nothing either. Jesse gorilla presses him up but Robbie makes his big return and shows more fire than ever before. I’m actually digging this.
We look back at James Storm possibly murdering Mickie James a few weeks back.
Here’s a livid Magnus, two weeks after Mickie was attacked. He isn’t letting this show continue until he gets James Storm out here one on one. Here’s Storm to call Magnus the crazy jealous one for having Mickie followed by cameras. “What do you think was happening when those cameras weren’t there?” Magnus is held back by security but Storm brings out a baby stroller, presumably carrying Mickie and Magnus’ son.
James calls it his insurance policy but walks down the aisle without it. He says Mickie is a sorry excuse for a woman and Magnus is a sorry excuse for a man, which is finally enough to get Magnus past security. Storm kicks the baby stroller off the stage and of course it’s just a doll.
Video on Ethan Carter III.
Ethan Carter III vs. Bobby Lashley
Lashley throws him down to start and nails a hard clothesline before just running Carter over. Tyrus finally grabs Lashley’s boot to stop his boss’ pain but Lashley easily suplexes Carter over. Another Tyrus distraction lets Carter get in a dropkick off the apron to take over. The match isn’t bad so far but I can’t take much more of Josh talking about the number of days Carter has been undefeated. Carter slows him down with a chinlock for a bit before having to escape a torture rack.
Lashley scores with a powerslam for two but Tyrus puts a chair in the corner. The spear hits the chair (Earl Hebner has zero issue with this) and Carter gets two off a DDT. The 1%er is countered and the referee goes down (like it matters), right before the spear connects. Cue another referee but Tyrus takes him out and gives Lashley a Big Ending, setting up the third referee to count two, earning him a shot from Tyrus. Lashley spears Tyrus but gets speared down, only to get nailed in the back with a chair, setting up the 1%er to give Carter the pin at 9:26.
Rating: D+. This was straight out of the Russo playbook with two chairs, three ref bumps and interference in less than ten minutes. Angle was nowhere in sight to help even the odds because the script didn’t say he was supposed to and the whole thing was just way too much. It didn’t help that Josh was driving me up the wall with his counting the days of Carter being undefeated. We get it: you’re Michael Cole and Carter is Miz. Pick a better role model.
Overall Rating: D+. This show is on the verge of flying off the rails and you can see a lot of it coming from here. The problem right now is they’re building to three different shows instead of any one in particular. You have next week’s live show with Full Metal Mayhem and the X-Division Title match, Slammiversary (which I don’t think has anything official yet) and then the bell to bell show in two weeks with the World Title match. It doesn’t help that a lot of the midcard just feels like a big waste of time when they could be doing anything else. The show wasn’t horrible but they need to focus on something quick.
Results
Eddie Edwards b. Bobby Roode – Rollup
Bram b. Joseph Park – Pin after a missed spear through a table
Brooke/Awesome Kong b. Jade/Marti Bell – Elbow drop to Bell
Jesse Godderz b. DJZ – Boston crab
Ethan Carter III b. Bobby Lashley – 1%er
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume III at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
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NXT
Date: June 17, 2015
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan
It’s a big week here in NXT as last week saw Samoa Joe challenging Kevin Owens to a title shot but getting turned down because he hasn’t racked up enough wins yet. Fair point said Commissioner William Regal, so it’s a non-title match tonight instead. This is probably just filler until we get to July 4 in Japan but NXT filler is still good stuff. Let’s get to it.
As you would expect, this show is dedicated to the American Dream Dusty Rhodes.
We open with the Dusty tribute video, which is still awesome stuff.
Opening sequence.
Blake/Murphy/Alexa Bliss vs. Carmella/Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady
Enzo’s speech this week is about Star Wars but he keeps it short. Carmella wants a piece of Alexa Bliss, and Cass is nice enough to spell out the one word that describes Blake, Murphy and Bliss. There’s a new ring announcer who sounds like he has no idea who any of these people are. He has a good, deep voice though. The fans think Blake and Murphy look stupid but switch to BONAFIDE STUD/CERTIFIED G.
Blake and his headlock slow Enzo down to start before a shoulder puts him on the mat. With nothing else working, Enzo opts to dance and hits a very unique cross body where he doesn’t actually jump but takes Blake down anyway. Everything breaks down and the Long Island guys (and Carmella) clean house.
Back from a break with Enzo slugging Blake down but getting dropped from behind by Murphy. We hit the headlock on the mat for a good while before Cass gets dropped off the apron. Enzo avoids a charge in the corner though and makes the tag off to Carmella, meaning Alexa has to come in. Carmella dominates in a hurry as everything breaks down again. Cass plants Blake with the side slam, setting up the Rocket Launcher for the pin at 10:22.
Rating: C-. This was fine, but there’s a major point that caught my eye here. Since turning heel, Alexa has been wearing more revealing attire and Carmella was wearing even less than usual tonight. However, other than Enzo calling Carmella hot during the entrance, their looks or attire are never addressed. The lack of comments from Lawler or the girls ripping on each other for their appearances and just fighting because they hate each other. I love that about NXT and it continues to show how lame and behind the times the Divas division really is.
Stills of Cena vs. Owens II and the aftermath.
Joe is here to deal with Kevin Owens but more than that he’s here because he wants to wrestle in places that are cutting edge. That explains the departure from TNA as I doubt they could even cut paper. As for Owens, his running away last week told Joe that he didn’t want to fight. Tonight though, the NXT World Champion (that’s a new one) is getting what he deserves.
We get the first part of a look at Finn Balor, mainly due to a sitdown interview. First question: who is Fergal Devitt? Balor talks about growing up in Ireland and how his dad built his way up from a cleaner to a train engineer in a cool story. One day a show called Superstars came on his TV and he was instantly hooked. We get some really cool clips of him in some tiny independents as well as Insane Championship Wrestling (Scotland) and Revolution Pro Wrestling UK.
Becky Lynch cries talking about how Fergal (her word) opened a wrestling school in Ireland and got her into the business as a result. She lied about her age to get into the school and so that Fergal might ask her out, which apparently he did. There are some really cool pictures of the two of them going through school and starting their careers, including stuff like being in the ring or just listening to music together so you could tell they were close.
There are clips from Insane Championship Wrestling with him in the demon paint where the announcers praise him for being amazing. Next up was New Japan but he said he’s be back to Ireland. This was about eight minutes long and totally awesome as it made me care about Balor more than I even have before. Part two is next week.
Charlotte vs. K.C. Cassidy
A headscissors takes Cassidy down to start but she comes back with a quick rollup for two. That goes nowhere as Charlotte kicks her in the face and chokes with the boot when asking the referee about the speed of the count. Charlotte’s cravate doesn’t work very well as K.C. comes back with a cross body for two, only to have her eat a spear (good selling too). The Figure Eight makes Cassidy tap at 3:50.
Rating: D+. Just a squash here to remind us that Charlotte is awesome before she gets back into it with Barrett and Emma for the big feud. That spear looked good and could be a good power finisher for her as Charlotte is tall and strong enough to make it work well. Cassidy has potential but is clearly not that experienced.
Dana Brooke says she’s misunderstood because she’s a current fitness competitor who isn’t scared one of Charlotte. She’s replacing Charlotte because she’s the total diva and not using her family name to get into NXT. I have no idea what Carmella was looking at that was just a foot or so off camera but it made her look really weird. She makes up for it just a bit by coming back to pat Devon on the head.
Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe
Non-title. The crowd going silent when Joe’s music changes tells you all you need to know about how horrible it really is. Owens bails to the floor to start but Joe goes right after him and gets in the champ’s face. Back in and the fans already think this is awesome. Not so fast kids. Owens: “THE CHAMP IS HERE!” That earns him a right hand to the face and a big chop to the head as Joe gets in the first offense.
A back elbow drops Kevin again as the fans are quieter than you would expect. The corner enziguri sets up the Facewash and the big running boot to the face to send Owens outside for a break. Back with Joe missing a charge in the corner, allowing Owens to hit a Cannonball, almost out of desperation. A chinlock keeps Joe in trouble and the second version slows things down even more. Fans: “HEADLOCK CITY!” It’s a chinlock but points for creativity.
The hold is finally broken and Joe drops his own backsplash for two. Something like a running enziguri gets the same on the champ but he fights out of the Muscle Buster. They fight to the floor but Owens can’t powerbomb the baron of the buffet. The referee gets shoved down and that’s a DQ at 14:39.
Rating: C-. This was more of an angle than a match but that chinlock in the middle killed everything they had going. I have a feeling they’ll move on to Balor vs. Owens for now before Joe gets his big title match, or maybe just a non-title match against Owens instead. Fun power brawl while it lasted, but that chinlock went on way too long. It was much more of a preview than a showdown.
They do the big brawl with security not being able to hold them back post match. Owens shouts that the champ is here to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. It was another of those setting the future shows, which are often some of the best episodes NXT puts out. The Tag Team Title rematch is set, Charlotte looked dominant and Brooke is ready to fight her, there’s a reason for Joe vs. Owens II and you top it off with the really awesome Balor video. That’s quite an impressive use of 53 minutes as you have four stories set up, which could cover a month of upcoming TV. It’s back to efficient for NXT and that’s what they do best.
Results
Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady/Carmella b. Blake/Murphy/Alexa Bliss – Rocket Launcher to Blake
Charlotte b. K.C. Cassidy – Figure Eight
Kevin Owens vs. Samoa Joe went to a double DQ when they both shoved the referee
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete Monday Nitro Reviews Volume III at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
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Monday Nitro #224
Date: January 24, 2000
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 12,106
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay
It’s actually a big show for once as we’re crowning a new World Champion tonight because the idea of waiting for pay per view is a foreign concept in this company. Kevin Nash is already in the title match but Sid has to qualify by beating Jeff Jarrett, who I don’t think is allowed to fight for the title. Let’s get to it.
This show is dedicated to Bobby Duncum Jr. He had potential.
Nash, Jarrett and Steiner arrive in separate limos with their women for the evening, including Major Gunns and someone who looks a heck of a lot like Victoria/Tara. Scott Hall is here too.
Cruiserweight Title Tournament First Round: Psychosis vs. Kaz Hayashi
The finals are at SuperBrawl, Juventud is out with Psychosis and Kaz gets a jobber entrance. Presumably annoyed by this, Kaz shoulders him down to start and nails a nice release German. An enziguri knocks Psychosis to the floor and Kaz nails a plancha. Back in and Psychosis nails a clothesline before going after the knee.
After a few kicks, it’s back to the floor where Juvy gets in a People’s Elbow. So we have a fake Rock and a fake Road Dogg. I wonder who they’re ripping off next. Back in and Kaz dives right back to the floor to take Juvy out. Psychosis goes up top but dives into a dropkick to the ribs. Well at least they’re finally picking things up a bit. And they head back inside where Kaz misses a spinwheel kick and gets rolled up for the pin.
Rating: C-. Well the flying wasn’t bad but Juvy’s Rock impression, which still just makes me want to watch Rock, is taking away from everything else in the match. Psychosis, while not the best in the world, was clearly winning here because Kaz just isn’t very exciting in the ring. At least the division is getting some attention for a change.
Terry Funk and Arn Anderson arrive.
Nash says Jarrett has failed his physical and can’t go tonight, but the boss has a plan.
After a break, Nash makes Funk vs. Bam Bam Bigelow in a hardcore match.
The Wall vs. Kid Romeo
Squash time. We hear about Nash putting out a $15,000 bounty on Funk. This would be shocking, until you realize that Funk is probably the second biggest face in the company right now. Romeo fires off dropkicks to start and actually knocks Wall to the ropes. He doesn’t knock Wall out to the floor as Wall jumps over the ropes to get there but at least Romeo got him halfway. Romeo’s plancha barely works but he scores with an enziguri back inside, only to try a sunset flip and get chokeslammed for the pin. Wall barely had any offense until the ending.
Sid thinks something is afoot with the Jarrett absence.
Arn tries to talk to Bigelow but Bam Bam would beat up his mother for $15,000. Anderson: “It’s your funeral.”
Scott Steiner and Hall offer the Power Plant guys a chance to fight tonight. Their pick: Al Greene. One of the guys who didn’t get picked was none other than Christopher Daniels, who worked a dark match before the show.
Norman Smiley vs. Shannon Moore
Dang I don’t know who to cheer for. Norman, in Dodgers gear, interrupts the song, therefore making him the instant heel. It also earns him a quick 3-1 beating until it’s just Shannon in the ring. Norman fights up and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and IT’S DANCE TIME! Moore doesn’t care for the spankings and tries a rollup, only to get countered into a front powerbomb.
It’s time to get the rest of the boys involved but Norman is of course way too smart for them (meaning he has an IQ higher than a squid). Shannon is back up with an Asai moonsault to the floor though and Norman is actually in trouble for a change. Back inside and Norman slaps on the namesake Conquest for the submission. It’s pretty sad that this is a major upgrade in feuds for Norman, but I’ll take what I can get.
Post match it’s time to sing again but Moore is still down. Instead, Norman clears the ring and dances for them.
Al Greene vs. Tank Abbott
Abbott knees him into the ribs, punches him in the corner, slams him down, and knocks Greene out with a big right hand for his longest match yet.
Tank yells at his former UFC bodyguard, who Heenan interviews after a break. The bodyguard, who isn’t named, says Abbott is a sellout.
Here’s Ernest Miller, now with blond hair, who promises to whip everybody as soon as he can get back in the ring. The fat boy in the front row can sit down and it’s dance time. How many people in this company dance at the moment?
Greene is loaded into an ambulance and the NWO laughs.
Terry Funk vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Anything goes of course. Bigelow jumps him in the back to start and drags the elder statesman to the arena for some choking with a well placed rope. Some chair shots knock Funk towards the ring but he’s still able to avoid the top rope headbutt. They’re quickly back on the floor and Funk busts out an Asai moonsault of his own to drop the big man. Now it’s Funk with the chair but, ever the crazy man, he tries to headbutt Bigelow and just hurts himself even worse.
Bigelow throws it back inside and this time the top rope headbutt connects, but here are Finlay and Knobbs to help out their mentor (I guess?). That’s fine with Bigelow who easily knocks both guys away and loads up another headbutt. He’s a man of limited offense. This time though, Knobbs puts a chair over Funk and Bigelow knocks himself cold, giving Terry the pin.
Rating: D. So Funk is in a hardcore feud and a main event feud, thereby making this company more and more like ECW every single week. The match was exactly what you would expect from these two (both former ECW World Champions oddly enough) and the addition of Knobbs and Finlay doesn’t make it any better.
Funk promises reinforcements against Nash on Thunder.
Don Harris vs. Sid Vicious
If Sid wins, he faces Nash for the title later tonight. Harris is replacing Jarrett because…..I have no idea why. Sid is smart enough to go after Don before he can even get his jacket off because you know there’s going to be cheating here. They head outside with Sid in control, but he takes too long throwing Don inside and the twins are already switching. Ron clotheslines Sid out to the floor and it’s another switch. We hit the reverse chinlock for a bit before the twins plant Sid with a double slam. Back up and Sid grabs a chokeslam on Don, who rolls outside for a switch, so Sid powerbombs Ron for the pin.
Rating: D. This is a thing that happened. I’m not sure what else there is to say about it but I’m sure that Nash will be able to tell the twins apart (or that he watched the match. Well in theory as not many other people were) and it’s going to be a loophole. Boring match of course, but did you expect anything else from the Harris Twins?
Vampiro vs. Kidman
Torrie comes out wearing basically a zebra print bikini. Vampiro misses a kick to start and they circle each other a bit. A headscissors doesn’t do much good for Kidman as Vampiro throws him down with a release powerbomb. We cut to the crowd and OH GOOD LORD NO IT’S DAVID ARQUETTE! Please cut away from him. Please. I can’t handle it. Kidman reverses a powerbomb as only he can but he gets planted with a side slam for two.
Vampiro misses the top rope legdrop and Kidman hits a big plancha to take him out on the floor. Back up and Kidman dropkicks him to the floor, only to have a slingshot plancha caught. That’s fine with Kidman as he slips down the back and sends him into the post to take over again. Torrie seems way into this. The BK Bomb gets two and Vampiro’s DDT gets the same, much to the latter’s shock.
A little miscommunication sets up a release Rock Bottom from Vampiro but he gets dropkicked out of the air. That’s fine with Vampiro who counters a hurricanrana into a powerbomb for two more. With nothing else working, Vampiro loads up a superbomb but you can’t superbomb Kidman (that doesn’t have the same ring to it), who hurricanranas Vampiro down for the pin.
Rating: B. Again, WHY IS KIDMAN NOT DOING SOMETHING IMPORTANT??? He just got done with three matches at one pay per view and he’s had the best match on the last three TV shows, but he can’t get anywhere near the US Title because that’s Jarrett’s and he can’t get anywhere near the TV Title because it was literally trashed a few months ago. Such is life in WCW.
Arn Anderson is on the phone with champ. “Get your pants on. Can you be in Vegas for Thunder?”
Nash gets a massage, which is part of his plan to win the World Title.
Vampiro has something to say but his mic doesn’t work.
Total Package vs. Booker T.
Liz does an over the top introduction for Luger, who then babbles on about Sting. Just get him back so he can crush Luger and be done with it. No one can compare to Luger, including Hulk Hogan himself. There’s SuperBrawl I guess. Booker comes out and slugs away because he should be moving up the ladder but we need a Road Wild 1997 rematch.
An early Rock Bottom gets two on Luger and the ax kick (good looking one) knocks him silly but Liz offers a distraction. Cue Midnight to take care of Liz, allowing Booker to hit a big side kick, only to have Big T. sneak in with a slap jack to knock Booker silly, setting up Luger’s Rack for the unconscious win. So glad to see Booker getting knocked cold again so the Rack can beat him one more time to set up the big main event Luger vs. Hogan feud that is happening for no apparent reason.
Post match Sting’s music comes on and we have a shadowy figure with a bat on the stage. Smoke comes on and whisks him away however. Great. So now Luger is feuding with Sting, Hogan and Warrior.
Vampiro thinks the WWF sabotaged his mic and wants a rematch with Kidman.
David Flair, Crowbar and Daffney have an idea for the upcoming Tag Team Title match.
Tag Team Titles: Brian Knobbs/Fit Finlay vs. Mamalukes
The Mamalukes are defending but before either team comes out, David Flair, Crowbar and Daffney take over all three commentary spots. David takes over Tony’s job and actually isn’t terrible considering he’s sounding normal with a twinge of crazy. Disco is suddenly fine with being with the Mamalukes after trying to make them lose more than once. Daffney thinks they’re the Marmadukes and Marmalades. Crowbar: “I’m like Bobby Eaton and you have the mat skills of Sweet Stan Lane.”
They shove each other around to start and the challengers get the early advantage. David: “This one time, at band camp, I hit someone over the head with my crowbar.” Standards and Practices come out to watch but only Ms. Hancock sticks around. The camera stays on her for a bit before we see Vito working on Knobbs in the corner. Disco and Hancock stare each other down and Crowbar brings up the crimson mask. Crowbar isn’t half bad as a play by play guy. “Double ax handle to the chest! That could cave in the upper thorax!”
Both challengers crush Johnny in the corner as David starts dancing on the table. Hancock leaves with David and Daffney following as Finlay hits the Regal Roll on Johnny. Disco offers a distraction so Vito can get in a belt shot for two as everything breaks down. Knobbs throws a chair at Finlay by mistake (Crowbar: “A FAUX PAS!”), setting up Vito’s swinging inverted DDT to retain the belts.
Rating: D. Crowbar and Hancock were the highlights of the match. There’s only so much you can expect from these four, but they’re already better in the ring than Flair and Crowbar, almost by default. You could barely keep track of the match with all the shenanigans though, and that gets old in a hurry.
Here’s Nash with something to say, though first he has to steal a fan’s sign about Hall being afraid of O’Doul’s beer (non-alcoholic). The fans want Goldberg but “he doesn’t work here anymore.” He and Sid are about to fight but since the powerbomb is so dangerous, it’s banned from use tonight. Well Nash already beat Sid in a powerbomb match without using a powerbomb so that really doesn’t change much. The NWO is on it’s way to Vegas so it’s one on one.
WCW World Title: Sid Vicious vs. Kevin Nash
Thankfully Nash just stayed in the ring instead of leaving like so many people (including Nash in the past) have done before. Sid shoves him to the floor to start but Nash cheats to win a test of strength to take over. They head outside again as the announcers actually talk about Thunder being taped tomorrow night. I know it’s not exactly a secret but it’s not something you hear about that often. We hit the sleeper on Sid back inside because Nash needs to rest a bit.
Tony’s logic on the match: a loss here makes the NWO even stronger. Sid’s arm goes up after the second drop but he drives Nash into the referee in the corner. A big boot and legdrop set up the hand to the ear to see if the fans want a powerbomb. Cue Jarrett (Nash LIED???) but Sid takes the guitar away to blast Nash, but Sid is smart enough to play possum before crawling over military style for the pin and the title. BIG pop for that.
Rating: D. As I think everyone guessed coming in, this was a slow and mostly dull power match. The ending would have been better suited after a 10-15 minute match, but I don’t think the world was ready for Sid vs. Nash getting that much time in the year 2000. I’ll give them this though: the idea of Sid outsmarting someone is about as entertaining a bit of fiction as I’ve seen in a long time.
Confetti falls to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. This show is getting downright tolerable. Above all else they now have a clear focus in the main event, which is more than you could say a few weeks back. Back then there were so many focuses that it was almost impossible to keep track of what was going on. Unfortunately that focus is on Sid, which isn’t the most interesting idea in the world.
Other than that there’s a more solid undercard being developed, but it would be nice to see some of the people move up the ladder and WAY less emphasis on the hardcore stuff. We get it: you can hit each other with trashcan lids and chairs and Brian Knobbs is totally interesting and worthy of pushing at least in the general direction of the space shuttle. I’m scared to think of who Funk is going to get as a reinforcement, but I’m hoping it’s just Sid so we don’t have to have anyone else coming in. Or maybe it’s Flair, which would work a bit better. Not a good show this week, but at least it’s a few steps ahead of where they were.
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But it has something to do with Dusty Rhodes.
http://www.wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-nothing-mafia/36363/
Makes me think of some more fantasy booking.And again, this isn’t anything revolutionary and isn’t meant to be.
So the story is that the Divas on the main roster aren’t willing to help Paige out against the Bellas. Therefore, Paige is in need of someone to help her out. Maybe she goes back to her roots. Back to where she started. Back down to NXT. Not for a fresh start or anything, but for reinforcements. Like……Sasha Banks, Bayley, Charlotte and Becky Lynch.
I know you hear about these invasion storylines all the time, but in this case I dig the idea. Why not use this opportunity to bring some of them up and breathe some much needed life into that division? Is anyone going to miss Layla or Tamina or Eva Marie or even Natalya? Bring in some fresh blood and cut some of these girls that never do anything.
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http://www.impactwrestling.com/news/item/6455-King-of-the-Mountain-Returns-To-Slammiversary
It’s the reverse ladder match with qualifying pins and a penalty box because TNA isn’t confusing enough as it is. This is their big replacement for the World Title match being on Impact in July, because somehow TNA couldn’t figure out that this was going to happen and have to announce this match, with no participants or prize announced yet, eleven days in advance.
Monday Night Raw
Date: June 15, 2015
Location: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton
It’s time to start the build towards Summerslam as a lot of stuff was wrapped up last night. Rollins successfully defended his World Title against Dean Ambrose in a very close ladder match and John Cena evened the score against Kevin Owens, only to be powerbombed on the apron after the match. With Sheamus as Mr. Money in the Bank, it’s going to be interesting to see where things go from here. Let’s get to it.
We open with the ceremony from last night in Dusty’s memory, followed by the video tribute.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Seth Rollins with something to say. After a break, he thanks us all for coming out here tonight to Monday Night Rollins. He gets right to it and talks about Dean Ambrose coming so close to winning the title last night but coming up just a bit short. Ambrose’s A game is very good, but it’s not as good as Seth’s. Last night he took back what was his but it took a great team to get him where he needed to be.
Rollins has a list of people to thank, starting with Seth Rollins, followed by Seth Rollins and Seth Rollins. Oh wait and just so he doesn’t leave them off: Seth Rollins, Seth Rollins and Seth Rollins. He didn’t need Dumb and Dumber or the devil’s favorite dinosaur or HHH and Stephanie, because that’s how good he is. After last night, he’s a lock for the Hall of Fame and parents all over the world are going to be naming their children after him.
He holds up the title and says Johnny idiot face over there (Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel in the front row) isn’t bringing this city a title and neither is LeBron James. He didn’t even acknowledge the Indians, and as a big Indians fan……I can’t say I blame him. Cue Ambrose for a brawl in the aisle but Dean is limping badly. Seth goes for the knee but winds up leaving when Dean won’t go down. Dean gets a chair and the mic and says he isn’t leaving until Rollins gets back out here to fight him like a man.
We come back with Dean still sitting in the ring and Rollins talking to the Authority in the back. Rollins asks if they’re just going to let Ambrose sit out there all night but Stephanie doesn’t like that Rollins seems to think he’s still in the loop. HHH says that the next challenger for the title will be determined by the end of the night and it very well could be Ambrose.
Back in the arena with Sheamus coming out to talk to Ambrose. Both of them made bold predictions last night and Sheamus actually lived up to his promises. That’s enough to make Dean throw the chair away and it’s time for a match.
Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose
Dean is ready to fight but gets taken into the corner where Sheamus wisely goes for the knee to start. The knee is slammed into the apron to put Dean in even more trouble but he just dives at Sheamus and hammers away, only to be knocked back to the floor as we take a break. Back with Sheamus holding a Brock Lock to stay on the knee but Ambrose fights up with chops and punches against the ropes. There’s no way he can run the ropes though and Sheamus chop blocks him down.
Back up and Dean’s bulldog out of the corner gets him a breather and it’s time to go up top. Again it takes too long and Sheamus slams him down, setting up the Cloverleaf. Dean gets a rope to annoy Sheamus but he takes too long on the ropes, allowing Dean to hit some forearms to the chest of his own. Now the top rope elbow drop connects for two but Dirty Deeds sends Sheamus running to the floor. Cue Orton for a distraction, allowing Ambrose to grab a rollup for the pin at 10:50.
Rating: C. Logical match but my goodness I don’t want to see Sheamus vs. Orton again. Having a match twice isn’t a good way to make me want to see it at third time, at least not when the first two matches weren’t very good. Also, who thought it was a good idea to have Mr. Money in the Bank get pinned in his first match with the briefcase?
Orton beats Sheamus up but can’t hit the RKO.
Rollins brags to the Stooges about the win last night but asks if they know who the Authority is picking for him. Noble says they haven’t heard but wouldn’t say anything if they did. He thinks it should be Joey Mercury though, which Rollins laughs off. Mercury thinks Seth is afraid of him because Rollins is all alone.
Video of Dusty pinning Harley Race to win the NWA World Title in 1979.
R-Truth vs. King Barrett
Truth comes out in a homemade king outfit, consisting of a paper crown, a bed sheet and a plunger. He sits in on commentary but JBL tells him that he has a match to get to. Truth: “What you talking about Willis?” Barrett slugs him down and gets rolled up for a pin in 21 seconds.
Barrett lays Truth out and says this is serious. All hail King Barrett.
The Divas and some low level guys talk to Machine Gun Kelly before his performance later.
Here’s Kevin Owens to brag about John Cena not being here tonight. The only man to blame for that is John Cena himself because Cena forced him to do what he did last night. When Cena offered him a handshake last night, Cena said Owens belonged in this ring. How dare Cena tell him something he already knows and talk down to him like that. Cena was a bad winner last night because Cena always has to be the big man. Owens deserves one more match, but this time he wants the US Title. As for tonight though, how about an open challenge?
NXT Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens
Ziggler gets a kiss from Lana to motivate him before we get going. Before the match, Dolph says he’s going to be the one to give Cleveland a championship right here and right now. We get the big match intros but Owens cuts Lillian off and says he never made this a title match. Ziggler goes right for him to start and gets thrown to the floor as we take a break.
Back with Ziggler fighting out of a chinlock but getting draped ribs first over the top rope. Owens talks some trash until Ziggler comes back with a Cactus Clothesline (popular move recently) and they slug it out on the floor. Dolph is thrown over the barricade (with a very nice jump) but crawls over everyone to dive back in at nine. Back in and the backsplash misses, setting up the running DDT to send Owens outside and us to a second break.
Just like last time we come back with Ziggler fighting out of a chinlock and nailing a superkick for two (with Dolph laying on the legs for a cover). The Pop Up Powerbomb is countered and the Fameasser gets two. A wicked release German gets two for the champ but Ziggler escapes another Pop Up Powerbomb and hits the Zig Zag. He can’t cover immediately though, allowing Owens to finally hit the powerbomb for the pin at 15:35.
Rating: C+. Dolph has to change. There is nothing here that we haven’t seen a dozen times before and it stopped being interesting a long time ago. I have no idea why Lana being with him is supposed to help him, but Ziggler needs to change something up or there’s little need to have him around.
Paige tries to rally the Divas against the Bellas but they can’t trust her. She has a handicap match against the Bellas tonight but no one will team with her. The twins come up and Nikki implies she’s champ because she’s friends with Stephanie. None of these other Divas would want to fight against the Authority would they? Everyone leaves and Paige is all by herself.
Randy Orton vs. Kane
Kane takes Randy down to start and slaps on an early chinlock, followed by the side slam for two. Back up and Orton nails a clothesline but here’s Sheamus before the elevated DDT can connect. Kane grabs a mic and makes it no holds barred. Sheamus comes in to make it 2-1, allowing a Brogue Kick to give Kane the pin at 4:19.
Rating: D. Given that the match was just four minutes long and a good chunk of that was spent on Sheamus coming out and Kane’s announcement. At least they kept it quick instead of letting this drag out when it was almost a guarantee that Sheamus was going to come out there. Oh and now we get a feud between two losers. Nice job guys.
In the back, Rollins flags Kane down and brags about winning last night but Kane reminds him that he has to win night after night after night, all on his own. If Rollins doesn’t understand that, he isn’t an architect but rather an idiot. Rollins says Kane has always had someone holding his hand, but a mention of Paul Bearer and Undertaker gets Kane all fired up. Rollins wants Kane to be the next opponent.
Clip of the Dust Brothers inducting Dusty into the Hall of Fame.
Big Show vs. The Miz
Ryback is on commentary. The sunglasses removal is broken up by a charging Big Show but Miz gets in a boot as they get back in. That sends Miz running away again as there isn’t much to do against a guy that big. Back in and Show is limping, but it’s all a ruse so he can chop Miz’s chest in half. Show charges into a boot in the corner, only to casually throw Miz outside again for another loud chop. He throws Miz at Ryback and the staredown allows Miz to beat the count back in for the countout win at 2:55.
Big Show runs from a Meat Hook post match.
Here’s Roman Reigns to find out what happened last night. He wants to fight Wyatt right now but gets Bray on screen instead. Bray talks about one star telling the truth and the other telling lies. Roman: “Shut your mouth and get out here right now.” Bray says the briefcase should have been his so he could be the beacon of hope that the world needed but Reigns took it away from it. It’s Reigns’ ego that makes him so dangerous and it reminds Bray of someone he knew. It was someone who believed he would be the chosen one to lead his people.
That man had been chosen but the other was cast aside, and it was clear that the people were wrong. Just look outside and you’ll see that they made the wrong choice. The two of them are opposites who balance everything out. They need each other and last night Bray was the justice that Reigns always promised to be. Bray will ultimately destroy Reigns, but not tonight. What sort of an example would that be with Father’s Day right around the corner? Bray holds up a picture of Roman playing with his daughter, saying their fun is just getting started. Run.
Bella Twins vs. Paige
Handicap match. Nikki does the jumping jacks but gets punched in the face. Some knees to the chest on the ropes have Nikki in trouble until Brie trips Paige up to take over. It’s off to Brie for a chinlock followed by the BRIE MODE knee for two. Back to Nikki for a kick to the back and figure four headscissors, complete with pushups to put Paige face first into the mat.
Paige sends the Bellas into each other and does her clotheslines spot to Brie before kicking her in the head in the corner. Brie is sent into her sister again and the Rampaige gets two with Nikki diving in for the save. The big forearm and the Rack Attack finally put Paige away at 5:33.
Rating: D+. As JBL put it: the Bellas win again. This is almost all we see these days and I have no idea why I’m supposed to care anymore. We know that they’re going to hang on for a few more months to make Nikki the greatest Diva of all time so they can have another storyline on Total Divas, so just get us there already.
Machine Gun Kelly performs for a long, long time. Kevin Owens comes out to congratulate him but Kelly’s offer of a handshake earns him a powerbomb off the stage. Like two feet off the stage but still. The fans don’t seem that upset.
Here’s a clip from Terminator: Genisys.
New Day vs. Neville/Prime Time Players
The New Day is positive that they’ll get the titles back because, after all, today is a new day. Woods and Young get things going by running the ropes until Darren just hits him in the face. A neckbreaker gets two and it’s off to Kofi, who has some very taped ribs. A single kick to the bandages sends Kofi over for a tag to Woods, who is knocked down just as quickly. Titus comes in and suplexes Darren onto Woods before a big backbreaker plants Kofi. Neville adds a big flip dive to take New Day out and we go to a break.
Back with Woods holding Young in a cobra clutch before it’s off to Big E. as New Day keeps cutting off the ring. Darren pops up and dives over for the tag off to Neville, who turns on the jets and kicks away at Woods. Xavier escapes the German but charges into a boot to the face. The Red Arrow is loaded up but Neville dives at Kofi instead, allowing Titus to plant Big E. with a spinebuster. Kofi offers a distraction and Woods hits a Downward Spiral on Neville with Darren making the save. Kofi’s reverse suplex is countered and Young hits the double knee gutbuster, setting up the Red Arrow for the pin at 9:39.
Rating: C. This was fine and I love that the champions didn’t just lose immediately after getting the belts. Also, nice touch on having Young’s finisher play into the rib injuries. New Day can be back with a simple promo and cheating to win so there’s little lost here. It’s also nice to see Neville continuing to be pushed as something special, even though he’s probably going to slip into the midcard where he belongs.
We look at Owen’s actions over the last 24 hours.
Ambrose is throwing darts at a picture of Rollins when Kane comes in. Dean laughs at the idea of Kane being the #1 contender and brings up Kane’s days as the monster. It’s just a job for Kane but this is Ambrose’s life. Dean says he needs the title and walks away.
One last batch of Dusty clips.
Here’s the Authority to say that Owens will be disciplined because it’s best for business. It’s time for the #1 contender though, and it’s not going to be Noble, Mercury, Kane or Ambrose. Rollins comes out to say there’s no one on the roster that can beat him. HHH agrees that Seth has beaten everyone put in front of him. Stephanie thinks Rollins has something left to prove because Seth has pushed them a bit too far.
They’ve invested a lot in the future and now they need to take a step back and look at the investment they’ve made. Is the investment worth it, or is it just another cost? The real test is to see if a lump of coal turns into a diamond when you put it under pressure. I believe that’s what HHH said to Orton back in the Evolution days. The pressure is on……and HERE’S BROCK, complete with a Suplex City (Cleveland, Ohio, Exit F5) license plate shirt.
Heyman shakes hands with the Authority and everyone leaves. Rollins looks as terrified as you would expect and Brock very slowly backs him up against the ropes. The champ wisely leaves and walks away to end the show. Maybe he’s off to try to figure out why Cole has completely forgotten that he was suing Lesnar for breaking his neck or whatever it was.
Overall Rating: C+. I liked the show for the most part but again they really need to cut this down to two hours. It’s cool to see Owens hurting lame rappers but do we really need to sit through a five minute performance to get there? They’re firmly into the summer season though and it should be cool to see how we get from here to Summerslam. Lesnar being back immediately picks things up though and we should be solid going forward. Good show but man alive it needed to be trimmed down.
Results
Dean Ambrose b. Sheamus – Rollup
R-Truth b. King Barrett – Rollup
Kevin Owens b. Dolph Ziggler – Pop Up Powerbomb
Kane b. Randy Orton – Pin after a Brogue Kick from Sheamus
Miz b. Big Show via countout
Bella Twins b. Paige – Rack Attack
Prime Time Players/Neville b. New Day – Red Arrow to Kingston
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It’s the final show before Money in the Bank and the big story is WWE HIT HALF A BILLION SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS!!! Ignore the fact that a lot of them are probably the same people on a bunch of different platforms but WE CAN TOTALLY PUT THIS ON PRESS RELEASES AND BRAG ABOUT HOW AWESOME WE ARE BECAUSE PEOPLE TALK ABOUT US ONLINE EVEN THOUGH THEY DON’T WATCH THE TV SHOWS!!! Yeah let’s get to it.
The opening segment this week was Cena coming out and issuing another open challenge, which was answered by Kevin Owens. However, instead of challenging for the title, Owens thought someone might want to challenge for a REAL championship, such as his NXT Title. That’s such a great heel move and makes Owens come off as the most stuck on himself wrestler in the world, but that’s exactly the point because he already beat Cena.
Anyway, Cena tried to accept the challenge but Owens said Cena couldn’t accept because. Just because. The solution was to have someone come out and challenge for either title. This brought out Neville, who would love to challenge for the US Title at some point, but he knew what it felt like to hold Owens’ prize.
As you would expect, Neville vs. Owens was a great fourteen minute match with both guys hitting all their big stuff and throwing in some drama despite the ending being pretty obvious. That’s a sign of a good match and it worked really well here. This was another example of the NXT guys being allowed to be NXT guys instead of just any other guys and that’s the best thing that could happen to them in their early appearances on Raw.
After this, it was time to start bragging about the social media milestone, which would of course happen ALL NIGHT LONG. We’ll come back to this later, but we’ll start off by saying Michael Cole would later say “we’d like to congratulate WWE on this accomplishment”. Meaning WWE is congratulating itself. It’s nice to see them just admitting that’s what they’re doing.
Nikki Bella suggests that Paige has created her own problems and is all serious because she’s a totally serious character and not goofy whatsoever. Nikki then beat Summer Rae in a quick match.
In your standard hype segment, Kane tried to talk about Money in the Bank but everyone came out to interrupt him. This included R-Truth, who talked about being in the match, was told that he wasn’t, and left. That’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen in WWE in a long time, because again, they’re using people who are actually funny instead of just having people do things that are considered funny.
Sheamus beat Orton via DQ in a repeat of their match last week. I have no desire to see these two fight ever again, which is why I’d assume we see them at Battleground.
Rollins ran his mouth to the Stooges and is going to fight them later tonight as a result. This goes along with Rollins’ lines about how he doesn’t need anyone.
Kane beat Dolph Ziggler thanks to Rusev scaring Lana (with the shiniest legs I’ve seen this side of Stacy Keibler). I’m so over this Rusev is broken story and wish they would just let him go off and heal instead of having him look like a sad puppy because Lana has left him. On another note, is Lana doing anything for Ziggler or vice versa?
Both of them are in a story but nothing is happening in it other than Rusev. You could have Lana just walking around and do the exact same thing, which shows how worthless this pairing has been. It should be charging Ziggler up a bit but instead we’re in the same place but with a hot Russian blonde around him. The match was as dull as you would expect Kane vs. Ziggler to be, mainly because Dolph is the exact same character he’s been for years now.
MizTV set up Big Show vs. Miz vs. Ryback in a three way feud, which is going to kick off after Sunday’s pay per view. I see no reason to not just start it now and have the triple threat on Sunday, but this is the kind of feud that needs time to breath I guess. Both guys treating Miz like a joke of an afterthought was funny stuff. Big Show took Shell Shock, because why wait for Sunday to do that when you could get another 384 social media followers by doing it on Raw?
The Wyatts squashed Los Matadores with a 3D. Apparently the Dudleys were annoyed because no one is ever allowed to use a move before. And yes, they used the Doomsday Device back in 2000/2001. Harper said the judgment was coming.
Now we get to the big story of the night: INSTAGRAM! Yeah since tonight was a big deal because of social media (and you know Stephanie was right there cheering it on with her business savvy and pumping everyone full of talks about branding and how important it is to get the proper names out there because that’s what wrestling has become.
Anyway, the idea was that Dean Ambrose was making his way through New Orleans towards the arena, and he sent in a bunch of Instagram photos to prove it. Remember the days when you might get a promo from Ambrose about these things so he could hype up the match? Well forget that, because it’s all about using the stories to get more social media followers. Another reason I detest most usage of social media these days.
Big E. beat Titus O’Neal in a quick match to set up the Tag Team Title match on Sunday.
Roman Reigns beat Kofi Kingston in a better match than you would expect. Ambrose arrived after the match to watch the main event.
The Stooges beat Rollins using some interference from Ambrose, which of course sent people into hysterics, because NO WORLD CHAMPION HAS EVER LOST A MATCH. Not HHH to Jim Ross or John Cena to Kevin Federline. Nope, those never happened and Rollins is officially the lamest champion ever because of one loss that no one is going to care about a week later because that’s how wrestling works.
Overall this show did a decent enough job to build towards Sunday, but it does nothing to hide the fact that they care far more about social media and getting in a press release than being a major wrestling promotion. Those days are long gone and it’s very sad to see, but such is life when you have someone who thinks social media is the be all and end all of wrestling, right down to not letting heels be mean to fans because those fans might talk about it on said social media. You know, like they’re supposed to so people want to see the heels get beaten up. Like in wrestling.
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