In a non-title match on the pre-show. Wasn’t the Tag Team Title match on the pre-show already? If there are two matches there, we have a six match pay per view card. That’s an awfully thin show, but maybe Nikki vs. Naomi can go 15 minutes or so.
You know what we haven’t had in a long time in WWE?A good mystery. Like a masked man, someone attacking others in the back but not getting caught, a mystery opponent (that was properly built up), finding out who was behind something, figuring out what something meant (like a logo/symbol being left backstage) etc. Everything is revealed in like a week at most and there’s no waiting on anything. Remember the search for Vince’s child, or who ran over Austin, or finding out what the Taz logo was? Mix it up a little and let us wait every now and then.
This isn’t going to be the longest one in the world as NorCal and I already did the full podcast preview for this show. In case you didn’t listen to that show for some reason (and you should. Check it and the other episodes here http://mightynorcal.podbean.com/), here’s a shorter than normal version.
On the pre-show, I’ll take Cesaro and Kidd to retain the Tag Team Titles. Cesaro and Kidd have been on fire with the belts and there’s no real need to give the belts to New Day, who can stay over as heels for six months on that clap alone. I like New Day, but they don’t need the belts yet.
Rollins over Orton in the Kane Show with Orton and Rollins as the backup players. I’m almost sure Orton will hit an RKO or two but Kane will somehow screw him over, because NO ONE would see a swerve like that coming because the Authority is just so much smarter than we all are. My interest in this match fell through the floor when Kane became involved and that’s not how you want your first title defense to go.
Cena retains of course in probably the most brutal match on the show. Those two are going to beat the fire out of each other and probably go on to have yet another match, which will only make Rusev look all the lamer. It’s a shame too as the guy has shown he can hang in there with the top guys, but since we NEED a tetralogy instead of just the regular trilogy. Also, can we please find a different way to end the match instead of Cena following him around?
I don’t think Bryan is going to be able to go, meaning it should be Neville getting the shot. Who will it be though? Probably Truth or Ryder or one of the other designated losers. Barrett walks out with the belt either way, but my goodness do they really have to wait until the day of the show to announce that Bryan is hurt? Barring a shocker, they’ve known for a week and should just announce it instead of jerking the fans around with their “well he MIGHT be there!”
Sheamus beats Ziggler in the stupidest gimmick of the night that I’d assume only Vince and Dunn find funny.
Nikki retains the Divas Title. All hail the Bellas and forever praise be their names, even if it defeats the purpose of turning Naomi heel, which defeats the purpose of common sense as she wrestles the natural face style but they decided to turn all the Divas heel for some reason.
Reigns over Big Show to FINALLY END THIS STUPID STUPID FEUD THAT WAS DEAD FIVE MONTHS AGO BUT LET’S JUST KEEP THEM FIGHTING BECAUSE BIG SHOW IS BIG AND THAT MEANS FANS WANT TO SEE REIGNS BEAT HIM UP EVEN THOUGH SHOW BEAT HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WWE BECAUSE HE’S BIG AND THEREFORE INTERESTING!
And Ambrose over Harper in what should be a hot opener.
Overall this show doesn’t have me all that fired up, but it’s usually a sleeper hit. If they let the violence get cranked up, they can overcome the lame build but it’s going to take some work. As usual, this is the Wrestlemania rematch show and you almost have to have the gimmicks to keep it from being Wrestlemania Part II.
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Thunder
Date: December 2, 1999
Location: Landon Arena, Topeka, Kansas
Attendance: 2,467
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay
After a week off due to Thanksgiving, we’re back for one of the final live Thunders as the tapings would soon move to Tuesday nights. In other words, this might be the last “good” show in the series’ run. We’re less than three weeks away from Starrcade and the World Title scene is very slowly rounding into form. Unfortunately everything else is rounding into form and it’s not a pretty sight. Let’s get to it.
Hardcore Title: Norman Smiley vs. The Wall
Norman, the champion, is in karate attire and Berlyn comes out for commentary. There are weapons in the ring already but Norman relies on the power of the 80s with a Crane Kick pose, earning him a clothesline. Wall blasts Norman with some weapons shots as Berlyn is suddenly fine with speaking English and demanding an apology from the big guy.
Norman keeps screaming as the beating continues but eventually kicks the trashcan into Wall’s face. The Big Wiggle is teased but Wall hot shots him instead. The chokeslam is loaded up but Berlyn hits Wall with the belt, knocking him out with his hand still around Norman’s throat. Norman covers while still being choked to retain the title.
Rating: D+. I love Norman. Even when he’s just getting beaten up he’s fun to watch as he’s clearly trying, unlike so many of the other wrestlers on this show. Wall is fine for a big man, but do you really want him jobbing in one of his first singles matches? Just have him maul some people, like maybe those worthless cruiserweights. Actually we can’t because they’re getting beaten up later to further the parody of Jim Ross. I guess we just have to make the new monster lose in a comedy match.
Luger isn’t happy that he’s fighting Sid tonight.
Silver King wants his check back from Dr. Death, as apparently Williams hasn’t cashed it for some reason. Football insults are hurled and death will come soon for Silver King.
Kaz Hayashi doesn’t like Maestro. Time for a transition!
Kaz Hayashi vs. Maestro
No Symphony here, meaning my interest quickly fades. They hit the mat for a faster sequence than you would expect with Maestro getting two off a rollup. Tenay is of course talking about Jeff Jarrett, because Russo likes getting announcers involved. Kaz comes back with a dropkick but gets sent face first into the buckle. Choking and stomping ensue to show that Maestro is a heel. It’s actually not clear otherwise, even with David Flair kidnapping him on Monday.
We hit the chinlock on Kaz and here’s David with the crowbar. Kaz flips out of a German suplex and hits a dropkick but the referee gets bumped, bringing David inside. His crowbar hits Kaz by mistake, sending Maestro running for the hills. The unconscious Kaz wins by countout and is shocked when he wakes up.
Rating: D. Another day, another match with a stupid finish designed to get a bad angle over instead of the wrestling. Maestro is a guy whose looks deceive you as he had a decent match despite looking out of shape. Kaz is solid in the ring as well and can give you a good performance when he isn’t cannon fodder for a David Flair feud.
Disco and Lash Leroux arrive but have to run from the Mamalukes.
Lex Luger loses his bag, takes Jimmy Hart’s by mistake, then gets his own bag back. He tries to leave but has flat tires because…..I have no idea actually.
Chavo Guerrero vs. Buzzkill
Buzzkill’s entrance: “It’s me, it’s me, it’s that B-U-Double Z!” Chavo tries to sell him some tyedye and a broken lava lamp, which Buzzkill tries to turn on despite a lack of electricity. The fans are ALL OVER this and Chavo only makes it worse by giving Buzzkill a Walkman to make him go down on the mat to the music, but it’s only good for two. Chavo gives up on the sale but has a shirt for the referee, allowing Buzzkill to hit him with the briefcase for the pin.
Buzzkill is mad at himself for cheating, but borrows money from the referee to buy the tyedye and lamp from Chavo.
I’m pausing now and trying to compose myself. Normally I would write up some rant about how Russo doesn’t get wrestling and what a waste of talent this is, but I can’t bring myself to care. That was one of the stupidest segments I’ve ever seen I wrestling and it was painful to watch. There’s nothing wrong with a comedy segment here and there, or even more than one a show. However, when your entire promotion is one comedy/stupid segment after another, you lose the benefit of the doubt. You lose your audience too but that’s another story.
Chris Benoit is ready for his match with Liger, who he respects very much. For once, there’s nothing else going on in a promo. The idea of Benoit vs. Liger is one of the only things that can bring me back after what I’ve sat through already.
Meng gets into his dressing room but Lash and Disco show up and swap his name plate for theirs.
Evan Karagias is in the back with Madusa and implies that he’s rather, shall we say, antsy. Madusa promises him “everything” after Starrcade.
Long recap of Nitro. That doesn’t help things, though at least it’s shorter.
Luger is still worried, but he knows he’s the best and has nothing to worry about. But doggone it, do people like him?
Sid is playing with a Luger action figure as Gene tells him that he has a powerbomb match vs. Nash at Starrcade. Gene doesn’t have the match if that’s not clear. Nash wouldn’t take it after seeing Gene and Hogan team up against Steele and Fuji back in 84. Sid breaks the figure to show what’s going to happen to Luger tonight.
Luger calls a cab. Can’t he just walk to a bar or something and wait until the show is over?
The Mamalukes beat up some production guy and lock him in a freezer so he can give Disco and Lash a message.
Steve Williams vs. Villano IV/Villano V/Silver King
This should be short. Larry leaves the booth because Oklahoma disgusts him so much. For once, I can’t say I disagree. The trio gets destroyed to start until Silver King nails a dropkick. A triple headbutt is shrugged off though and King gets press slammed. I’m missing a good chunk of the match, though as a consolation I do get a lot of shots of Oklahoma talking. Vampiro comes out to go after Oklahoma, which allows Silver King to sneak down and take his check. Williams pins a Villano off the Stampede in a quick match.
Luger is trying to get into his cab but the Mamalukes stop him to ask for Disco and Lash. In one of the smartest things Luger has ever said, he recommends the dressing room with their name on it. As this is going on, Silver King dives into the cab and leaves. Luger is completely thwarted, because that was the only cab (or form of transportation it seems) in all of Topeka.
After a break, the Mamalukes are outside the dressing room door. Thankfully they’re nice enough to not go in or do anything else until after the next match.
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Chris Benoit
Please let it go long. Please let it go long. Please let it go long. Larry is back on commentary and annoyed at all the guest announcers screwing up. We can’t start just yet though as Juventud Guerrera comes out for commentary with his arm in a sling and flanked by Psychosis and La Parka (rocking the red skeleton attire). Juvy sits in on commentary and he’s going to be the focus of the match isn’t he?
Liger rolls out of an early suplex attempt and they hit the mat for a technical sequence into a backslide attempt from Benoit but Liger powers into a sunset flip. A stalemate gets some polite applause from the crowd as Juvy says IT DOESN’T MATTER what the wrestlers are doing. Benoit is taken down in a test of strength but Liger can’t break his bridge. The Liger Kick connects as Juvy takes credit for building the Cruiserweight division. He doesn’t mention his current reign as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title but why should he do that?
Tenay announces Benoit vs. Nash on Nitro and a US Title shot in a ladder match at Starrcade. That’s quite the schedule. Liger hooks his feet under Benoit’s arms and takes him to the floor in a crash before putting on the Surfboard back inside. The brainbuster gets two and Liger wins a chop off. Benoit breaks up a tornado DDT attempt and it’s a double clothesline to put both guys down. There’s the snap suplex and a belly to back for two on Liger and Benoit nails him with a clothesline to the back of the head. Liger is able to crotch him down and nail a superplex, but the other cruiserweights come in for the double DQ.
Rating: B-. I want to complain about the ending destroying what could have been a great match, but this is such a rare treat these days that I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I’ll go on about what a shame it is that they bring in Jushin Thunder Liger and use him as a way to get over Juvy’s (albeit funny) Rock imitation, which could have been done with almost anyone on the roster. At least we got about seven minutes of Benoit vs. Liger though, which is better than anything else we were going to get.
Benoit and Liger clean house.
Buff promises to beat Meng tonight.
Speaking of Meng, the Mamalukes find him in the dressing room and get beaten up as you would expect.
Luger disguises his voice and calls the WCW offices to say he has a family emergency and needs to leave. Terry Taylor pops in to say….I’m assuming nice try as Buff’s music was drowning him out. I don’t know if that kind of thing is a Russo joke or if the WCW production guys all just stopped caring at once, because it’s been a thing for months now and it’s really annoying.
Buff Bagwell vs. Meng
Well it would have to be this match after that last segment wouldn’t it? Meng throws him around like a Tongan monster throws around a pretty boy to start. Buff’s right hands and clotheslines have no effect but some dropkicks stagger Meng. Apparently Buff has an easily built ego as Buff tries ten right hands in the corner, only to get dropped on the top rope before he gets to nine. Meng comes back with strikes in the corner as Larry thinks there’s something up with the Outsiders and Russo. Gee Larry, YOU REALLY THINK SO???
A lot of choking ensues before Buff gets bent over Meng’s knee in a backbreaker. Buff comes back with his swinging neckbreaker and a cross body for two as we have Mamalukes. Say it with me: the ref gets bumped, allowing the mobsters to beat up both guys for reasons not exactly clear. Meng fights them off and Buff goes up, only to miss Meng and hit the Blockbuster on Vito. The Tongan Death Grip gives Meng the win.
Rating: D. Can we get some tougher referees? Or some wrestlers that aren’t quite as careless and don’t hit a referee on half the matches every show? I like that they’re keeping Meng strong, even if it doesn’t seem likely to lead anywhere. You can always find a way to use someone like him, but in Russo’s case he’ll probably wind up as a bus driver with an unhealthy fear of parrots.
Meng beats up the mobsters for fun.
Gene is in the back with Mona and Jarrett and can’t stop looking at her chest. Mona: “Do you see something you like Gene?” Jeff yells at her for taking half his interview time and calls her Miss Slappy. This Monday, Goldberg and Dustin Rhodes are on his hit list.
The Mamalukes drink Surge to make themselves feel better, though Johnny could go for a cheese sandwich.
Jeff Jarrett/Mona vs. Evan Karagias/Madusa
Is there a reason why Jarrett and Mona got together and I just missed it? Larry: “If he’s so chosen, why is he in a match he doesn’t want to be in?” Tenay wants Jeff fined and suspended for his actions on Monday. Evan and Mona get things started as Jarrett walks around ringside. He takes her down with ease to start but the camera goes to see Jarrett and Tenay yelling at each other. I wonder if that’s what the TNA meetings were like.
Mona armdrags Madusa down but gets caught in a double backdrop. Now Jeff sits on the steps (which is nothing like when Mankind did the same to the Rock, appropriately enough against the Hollys) while Madusa cranks on an armbar. Back up and Mona slams her off the middle rope and crotches Evan, followed by a top rope hurricanrana. Madusa gets back with a German suplex though, allowing Evan to hit a corkscrew plancha for the pin.
Rating: D. So to recap we have a woman who is using sex to get a title shot at Starrcade, another woman who wrestles hard but gets beaten up at the end, but the whole thing is about Jeff Jarrett arguing with an announcer. They really thought this was the answer to women like Chyna?
Mona dropkicks Jarrett post match and eats a guitar to the head. Serves her right for trying in her match.
Long recap of Bret’s WCW career. No real context or reason for this but it’s there.
The Revolution talks about having their own country. Saturn: “And our own continent! Asya!” Get out while you can boys.
Luger is on the phone with Russo and is told that the winner of the match with Sid gets a World Title match this Monday.
Gene is with Lash and Disco and recaps the Mafia angle. Wouldn’t it have been better to do this EARLIER? They agree that they need each other to survive and Disco asks Lash not to do the splits tonight because dancing is his gimmick. I can’t even roll my eyes at these terms being dropped anymore.
Disco Inferno/Lash Leroux vs. Perry Saturn/Dean Malenko
Shane makes fun of Disco and Lash’s accents before the match. Cue the Mamalukes to go after Disco and Lash but the Revolution mocks them as well, triggering another brawl. Disco and Lash are smart enough to stand outside and watch as Asya hits the Italians low, allowing the Revolution to clean house. Security gets them out of here so Disco and Lash jump Saturn from behind and get two off a Russian legsweep.
Tenay announces Evan vs. Mona vs. Madusa on Monday with the Cruiserweight Title shot on the line. Logic would say Mona vs. Madusa in a singles match, but why do that when it can be men vs. women? Lash beats Saturn up even more and does the split into a punch spot, prompting Disco to angrily tag himself in. This time it’s Disco knocking Saturn around but stopping to dance, allowing Dean to come in and kick Disco’s head off (yet the hair still doesn’t move). Disco fights back with a sunset flip but Saturn kicks him again to break it up.
The Last Dance is broken up and Disco gets sat on top, allowing Saturn to bulldog him out to the floor in a nice spot. Lash and Dean get tags and the Cajun cleans house on Malenko but Whiplash is broken up by Saturn. A superkick drops Lash to the floor where he almost gets into it with Asya, allowing Shane to get in a cast shot. The Cloverleaf on the unconscious Lash gets the win as Saturn holds Disco.
Rating: D+. Disco and Lash are prime examples of guys that were doing nothing but were given a unique story by Russo. Unfortunately, Russo’s intelligence ends as soon as the matches start as they were cannon fodder for the Revolution in their first match as a team. It doesn’t help that they’ve gotten into a buddy comedy instead of a tag team, but Russo thinks he’s writing B movies instead of a wrestling show anyway.
Total Package vs. Sid Vicious
Winner gets Hart on Monday for the title. Bret comes out to do commentary and doesn’t seem interested in talking about facing Sid. Luger does a quick easy way/hard way promo but gets caught holding pepper spray. Sid stomps him down with ease but gets hit low, allowing Luger to go into his offensive arsenal. Cue Liz as we get a double clothesline to put both guys down.
That’s some clothesline as neither can get up after LESS THAN A MINUTE of action. Liz gets the pepper spray and goes for Luger but he takes the bottle away and sprays Sid, who powerbombs the referee, because pepper spray takes away your abilitiy to feel a shirt. Luger grabs a rollup (with Sid’s feet in the ropes) for the pin from a second referee and the title shot.
Post match Sid can suddenly see and powerbombs Luger to end the show.
Overall Rating: D-. Let’s recap quickly: interference – belt shot, interference – crowbar, briefcase shot, interference (didn’t change ending), interference – double DQ, interference – sets up pin, double teaming, cast shot, pepper spray. The closest thing we had to a clean finish in nine matches was double teaming in a glorified handicap match. All night long we couldn’t a rollup for a pin or just someone hitting their finisher to win without someone cheating or interfering? I know there are a lot of common criticisms against Russo, but with shows like these, they’re not exactly unfounded.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
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The show gets WAY more streamlined this week as we have our first pay per view preview with a look at Extreme Rules 2015, complete with a little fantasy booking, Dixie Carter’s face on chocolates and of course a fire on a life raft. Come check us out as we run down the post Wrestlemania pay per view offering.
http://mightynorcal.podbean.com/e/wwp-episode-3-extreme-rules-preview-with-kb/
Also keep in mind that we’ll be back with an Extreme Rules fallout show the same night.
Let me know what you think.
KB
Impact Wrestling
Date: April 24, 2015
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentator: Josh Matthews
This is a special episode, focusing on the Knockouts. We’ll be seeing new Knockouts debut, a Knockouts Title match with Taryn Terrell defending against Awesome Kong, a four way for the #1 contendership and an announcement on Mickie James’ in ring future. In non-Knockouts news, we have another announcement from Ethan Carter III and Kurt Angle defending the World Title against Eric Young. Let’s get to it.
The opening video hypes this up as TKO: A Night of Knockouts.
Here’s Angle to call out Eric Young for a talk. Eric comes out in his crazy attire instead of the old version that Kurt wanted to see. Before they fight tonight, Angle wants to know which version he’s getting. Young talks about being called crazy all his life but one day last year, that turned into a World Title. The crazy kept going but last week it stopped when Angle turned his back on him to offer Eric a free shot. Eric says he’ll fight Angle tonight, but it’s going to be the best version of him.
They shake hands but here’s Austin Aries, who says he’s cashing in tonight so Eric can find something else to do. He tells Angle to go get ready because it’s going to be one of the biggest fights of his life. Young doesn’t look pleased and will likely be back around for later in the night. Sidebar: what exactly is crazy about Eric Young? He’s certainly angry and aggressive, but not crazy.
Taryn Terrell says she’s keeping the title.
Gail Kim vs. Angelina Love vs. Brooke vs. Madison Rayne
Madison jumps Brooke in the aisle and it’s a big brawl before the bell. We take a very early break and come back with Brooke and Madison fighting over a suplex until Brooke gets sent to the apron, only to snap both Madison and Angelina across the top rope. Gail gets back in it with a double dropkick and a splash to Madison, only to eat Angelina’s spinwheel kick to put her down again. Brooke gets knocked to the floor, leaving Madison to get two off a northern lights suplex.
Gail sidesteps a missile dropkick but Brooke intercepts her charge and hammers on Madison in the corner. A middle rope X Factor gets two on Madison and Love gets dropped by a flapjack. We get the big multi-submission spot which has never gotten a fall ever, followed by Brooke dropping a top rope elbow on Rayne. Gail dropkicks Love down before both good girls cross body each other down. It’s time for the parade of finishers and Brooke hits the Tesshocker on Madison for the pin at 10:40.
Rating: C. If the Divas got time like this, I might be able to care about them a lot more. I also like that there aren’t many perky, happy Knockouts. It helps to have some shades of gray in there and girls with slightly more developed characters. Queen Bee, perky model and serious wrestler aren’t in depth characters, but they’re miles more defined than Alicia Fox, Layla and Natalya.
The Rising wants a fight with the BDC tonight, one on one. I’m still waiting on an explanation for why the Rising needs to exist.
Eric Young isn’t happy.
Micah vs. Kenny King
Rising vs. BDC. MVP says it’s going to be one on one but King jumps Micah in a surprise to get things going. The Rising is quickly ejected as Micah fights back and stomps King in the corner. King sends him to the floor for a beating from the BDC and puts on a chinlock, only to miss a spinning kick to the head. A Big Ending puts King down but MVP distracts the referee, allowing Low Ki to grab Micah’s foot. King kicks Micah in the head for two but springboards into a Samoan drop to give Micah the pin at 5:00.
Rating: C-. The match was fine but I have no idea why this feud needs to exist. Both teams are pretty generic and they would have been better off just doing MVP vs. Galloway. Not a bad match here but it’s a story I don’t care about because I haven’t been given a reason to care.
The Rising runs in but gets beaten down, including some shots with a pipe.
Post break, Galloway wants Low Ki next week in a steel pipe on a pole.
Jade vs. Laura Dennis
Dennis is better known as indy wrestler Cherry Bomb while Jade is Mia Yim as one half of the Dollhouse. She and Marti Belle skip to the ring to piano music and dance with each other in the ring. Laura kicks her in the side of the head to start as a Cherry Bomb chant starts up. Jade gets more fired up and pounds Laura in the head for two. Marti hands Jade something that looked like a jawbreaker, which seems to fire Jade up even more as she hits Laura in the head. Marti trips Laura up and gets ejected so she nails the referee and helps with a double team on Laura for the DQ at 4:03.
Rating: D+. Well that was creepy. Dollhouse is definitely something interesting and WAY different than the rest of the Knockouts. It’s the kind of different we haven’t seen since Winter, but hopefully this doesn’t turn into something really stupid. Really effective debut though and I want to see more from this team.
Dollhouse isn’t cool with how Christy announces the decision so they beat her up and stick the jawbreaker in her mouth and dropkick her into the steps.
Angle tells Young that he didn’t know Aries was going to do that. Young says history keeps repeating itself but Angle offers him the next shot. That’s not cool with Young, who threatens to leave. Amazingly enough, Angle doesn’t try to stop him. Smart man that Kurt.
Magnus introduces Mickie James for her big announcement. Mickie talks about her history in the ring and how amazing it feels to be in action, but now she has something more important: their son Donovan. She’s very grateful for the fans, but as of tonight, she’s going home to be a mom. This brings out James Storm, who says people know he loves hot women, fast cars and cold beer. He sees a female version of himself in Mickie and knows she loves to hear those chants.
No one wants to see her go, but Magnus says this was too hard of a decision. James keeps going but Mickie asks him to stop because her decision is made. Storm understands the love she has for her son but these people love Mickie James. He’s asking for one more match and actually talks Mickie into it. This was more Cowboy James Storm than Revolution James Storm, which is rather interesting indeed. Magnus looks annoyed at the decision but forces a smile.
During the break, Magnus says he supports the decision but still doesn’t look thrilled. Davey Richards comes up and warns Magnus to stay away from Storm because he’s evil. Magnus appreciates the advice.
Davey Richards vs. Manik
In a case of bad editing, Davey is in the ring three seconds after he was shown walking to the ring and Manik gets an entrance. Feeling out process to start with Davey nailing a dropkick but charging into a hurricanrana with Manik going into a cross armbreaker. A snap suplex into a belly to back puts Richards down for two and we hit the chinlock. Manik puts on another armbreaker over the ropes but dives into a kick to the chest. The double stomp misses so Davey throws him into the air for a kick to the chest, setting up Creeping Death for the pin at 5:40.
Rating: C. Well, that was in fact a wrestling match and I’m kind of struggling to come up with anything else to say about it. The X-Division is just filler at the moment and I actually had to think for a second to figure out who has the title right now. Nothing to see here but the match was fine.
Post match the Revolution comes out to beat on Davey but the Hardys make the save, likely setting up a six man.
Ethan Carter says he debuts a new campaign tonight.
Here are Ethan and Tyrus (in a suit and hat, holding balloons) for the announcement. Josh says we’ve been wondering about this for weeks. I’ve been wondering about it for maybe an hour and a half as I hadn’t heard about it until the beginning of this show. Carter declares himself the next World Champion and brags about beating every member of the Hall of Fame. This brings out Mr. Anderson for some easy political jokes but Tyrus gets in his face. Anderson gives a good speech about the work it takes to win championships but Ethan wants to fight. They start brawling but Carter bails before it gets too bad.
Video on Taryn Terrell wanting to fight Awesome Kong.
Knockouts Title: Awesome Kong vs. Taryn Terrell
Terrell is defending. Before the match, Taryn asks to make this No DQ and Kong has no issue. Kong easily knocks her to the floor and giant swings the champ into the barricade. It’s kendo stick time, because those were just laying under the ring in case a No DQ match broke out. Taryn escapes a powerbomb into the steps and avoids a splash back inside.
An ax handle puts Kong down and it’s table time, as per the fans’ request. As she’s setting it up though, here’s the Dollhouse. They stand at ringside as Kong puts Taryn on the table for a splash before getting on the apron for some very weak kendo stick shots. Taryn gets up and a triple powerbomb puts Kong through the table for the pin at 5:12.
Rating: D+. Angle instead of a match here but I’m digging the idea of Taryn leading the Dollhouse. It’s certainly an interesting idea that they haven’t tried before, and the Knockouts division has needed some fresh blood for way too long now. Good idea here and an interesting turn.
Taryn grabs a mic and says everyone told her she couldn’t do it. Well now no one can beat her because her friends don’t play nice. This is their house: the Dollhouse. Jade and Marti dance around her before giving Kong the jawbreaker.
Aries is coming to the ring and runs into Young as he leaves. Austin apologizes and offers Eric the first shot.
Magnus comes up to the production staff and asks them to follow Mickie while he’s working.
TNA World Title: Austin Aries vs. Kurt Angle
Angle is defending but it’s 10:56 and Angle’s music hasn’t even started playing yet. As you probably expect, Eric Young sneaks in and attacks Aries with the briefcase before Kurt appears and piledrives him on the floor. A second piledriver on the steps FINALLY brings Angle out for some shouting. Young sends Angle into the steps to bust him open and goes after the knee, setting up the Figure Four.
The show ends with a preview for next week’s Hardcore Justice, which was April’s One Night Only and includes at least one match from the show. That’s a new idea and based on the old One Night Only shows, one of the worst possible things they could do.
Overall Rating: B. Other than the Eric Young stuff (more on that later), I really liked this show. The Dollhouse is an interesting idea and a fresh direction for the division and the focus on the Knockouts held up WAY better than I was expecting. As I said earlier, just adding some character to their matches helps it so much and gives you something to cheer for. I also dug the idea of Storm going after the family unit for whatever reason. Him not having the Revolution around him makes him so much more enjoyable too.
As for Young, this was another example of why I don’t like him in this spot. In addition to not liking the CRAZY thing (because he isn’t acting crazy), there are so many other people who could be in this spot. Storm, Carter, Bram, Aries, even MVP or Galloway would be more interesting opponents for Angle. Young comes off as a guy who is in over his head and is just there to get beaten in the end. Why have average when you could have really good? Anyway, really solid show tonight and a very big surprise.
Results
Brooke b. Gail Kim, Angelina Love and Madison Rayne – Tesshocker to Rayne
Micah b. Kenny King – Samoan drop
Laura Dennis b. Jade via DQ when Marti Belle interfered
Davey Richards b. Manik – Creeping Death
Taryn Terrell b. Awesome Kong – Powerbomb through a table
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:
WWE does this from time to time. They’ve sent out a survey asking about potential DVD topics. Here they are with my thoughts on each.
* 20 Years Later: Best of 1996 – Matches and discussion from the best WWE and WCW PPVs as well as historic Nitro, Raw and ECW matches and moments.
Eh I could go for that, as at least it’s not yet another rehash of the Monday Night Wars period.
* Booker T – Extended WWE Network documentary plus matches, interviews and memories.
The documentary was good so sure why not. Booker deserves a 6 hour set or so.
* Bruno Sammartino – Bruno documentary with exclusive material filmed at his home as well as Bruno backstage at Wrestlemanias, plus archival footage and matches.
Take my money now. If they’re going to do this they need to do it soon as Bruno is going to be 80 this year. Get this while you still can.
* Dudley Boyz – Documentary and match collection.
Fine, though it could easily be expanded to include Edge and Christian and the Hardys.
* Eric Bischoff – Similar in vein to the Paul Heyman release, a documentary on the only man who came close to taking WWE down with matches and interviews as well as a documentary on his time in pro wrestling.
I’ve had my fill of Eric Bischoff in my life and his story is really well documented already.
* Greatest Rivalries: Eric Bischoff vs. Vince McMahon – Sitdown interview discussing the Monday Night War interspersed with footage from that era.
LET
IT
DIE!
* Greatest Rivalries: Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven – Dreamer and Raven discuss their feud with Joey Styles, interspersed with complete matches, clips and interviews.
I could see this one but it’s not my cup of hot chocolate.
* How to Become a Self-Made Millionaire with JBL – Following a day in the life of JBL, focusing on his life and how he made his fortune, including personal wealth tips.
That’s a bit outlier and I’m not sure how big the audience would be, especially given how big a market there are of these things already. This sounds more like a book.
* Hulk Hogan: Immortal – Hulk Hogan documentary and matches presented, built around the story of a Hogan bronze statue being created and released.
How many Hogan documentaries do we need? That statue thing sounds like a 20 minute special, not a feature attraction.
* Lex Luger – documentary on life and career of former WCW World champion.
Zero issue here as Luger actually has some good stuff and doesn’t get a lot of attention.
* OMG! ECW’s Top 50 Craziest Moments – A countdown of the craziest moments in Extreme Championship Wrestling and WWE ECW’s collective history.
Again, not my thing but there’s certainly a market for it.
* Roman Reigns – Documentary and match collection, built around Reigns heading into his first Wrestlemania.
Are you kidding? Win a title first.
* The Sheamus Experience – Sheamus interview as he tours Ireland plus matches, interviews and memories.
I could go for this but it wouldn’t be on the top of my pile.
* Stone Cold – One Man Show with Steve Austin.
This exists?
* True Story of Tribute to the Troops – Documentary on creation and execution of the annual WWE event for the United States military plus matches and memories from different events.
If it’s the original stuff the fine but the new glorified house shows need to just end already.
* WWE Divas – documentary looking at the past, present and future of women’s wrestling in WWE.
There’s some good stuff in there, but I don’t need to hear about Sunny, Sable, Trish and Lita again.
Wow that’s……pretty much the least surprising thing I’ve heard in a long time. I’d have loved to see Rousey in a WWE ring (or anywhere for that matter), but this was a long shot at best so I’m not at all surprised.
Really you should. I’ve been told they’re quite good. Granted I was talking to myself but it was in fact said. I have quite the selection to pick from and all are available on Amazon Prime:
1. History of ECW Pay Per Views
3. History of the WWE Championship
4. History of the Royal Rumble
5. Only On Pay Per View 1998 (Every pay per view from WWF and WCW in 1998)
6. History of Saturday Night’s Main Event
8. Complete Monday Nitro Volume I – 1995/1996
9. History of Clash of the Champions
11. Complete Monday Nitro Volume II – 1997
12. History of Survivor Series
13. Complete 1998 Monday Night Raw
14. Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw
All of them run over 200 pages and many break 400. That’s not bad for under $4 each. Check them out as I’ve yet to hear someone who doesn’t at least like them a little bit. They’re all e-books and can be read on pretty much any device and you can find free apps to read them on for almost any device here.
KB
With just six days to go until Extreme Rules, WWE has a long way to go to get me interested in the show. It isn’t likely helping that they’re just back from the big European tour and are likely to be jetlagged half to death. The big story is likely to be more build between Rollins and Orton, who are loading up for a pretty lackluster title match. Oh and Kane because of reasons I don’t understand.
Orton opened the show in a cage, promising to hurt Seth this Sunday and take the title. Rollins and the Stooges came out and told him to get this out of his system now because it won’t work on Sunday. This sounds appealing to Randy, who promises RKO’s all night.
I really, really didn’t care for this segment as it’s more of the old standard walking you through everything they’re doing that night instead of doing anything that feels organic or natural. Why do they have to tell us everything they’re going to do instead of SHOWING US everything they want to do? Just have Orton start RKOing everyone backstage and let the fans go “oh that was cool” instead of sitting around waiting for it. Not a fan here but this story isn’t exactly one that inspires intellectual stimulation.
Ambrose and Harper had a quick non-match to set up their street fight on Sunday. These two could have an entertaining brawl if they’re allowed to just go nuts.
The Prime Time Players continued their recent awesome run by scaring the daylights out of Rollins and the Stooges, who are terrified of Orton attacking them. HHH popped up and laughed off their worries, as well as mentioned Kane because that’s the big story around here.
New Day, now fully heel, cheated to earn a title shot on Sunday over the Lucha Dragons via countout. Notice that they didn’t just have the Dragons get pinned here to kill their momentum. Instead, the faces (or faceless ones actually) lose because the heels cheated, keeping them strong and making the heels look like cheaters. That’s common sense booking and hopefully something that we see more often.
Orton came out and RKO’ed Kingston (with a botch as Kofi wasn’t ready to be thrown into the air, which looked really bad. He’s done) and Woods. This would be more of the theme that they made VERY CLEAR earlier in the night in case you were too stupid to figure out that Orton is RKOing everyone he can on a path to Rollins. That’s a bit too complicated for wrestling fans I suppose.
Fandango beat Curtis Axel in the weekly filler.
HHH announced the return of Tough Enough and most people didn’t seem to care. Could it be because outside of John Morrison, the most successful winner had a career highlight of eliminating Undertaker from the Royal Rumble and having the most amazing eyebrows in the history of wrestling?
Anyway the REAL story here was Kane coming out and tried to quit his job as Director of Operations because he’s tired of Rollins disrespecting him. Rollins came out and argued a lot as this story just won’t die already. HHH made them shake hands after Kane said the Rollins was just in the right place at the right time and anyone could have been made champion in his place. They kept arguing after a break and Rollins vs. Ziggler was made for later tonight.
Then the Bellas decided they were good now and Nikki shouted COME ON BRIE about 100 times to show off her new found goodness as Brie lost to Naomi. This would be the polar opposite of the “here’s what we’re going to do” booking as instead of showing you every step, they’re just at the end already without any real reason.
Think about it. The Bellas went from being full on villains to halfway down the spectrum in a week and for what? Mainly because WWE screwed up and turned almost the entire Divas division heel. I know I get on the Bellas quite a bit (which I still say they deserve a huge amount of) but the direction of their characters and sudden drastic changes to their characters have been some of the most jarring and worst ideas I have ever seen in wrestling. That being said, they don’t do themselves any favors with their average at best matches and BRIE MODE/COME ON BRIE!
Randy Orton RKOed Heath Slater into his salad. See, THIS is the kind of surprise moment they should have been going with all night instead of telling us the idea.
Roman Reigns wanted Big Show but got Bo Dallas. Superman Punches, spears and Reigns saying Bo-lieve that abounded in a fun little segment.
Sheamus massacred Zack Ryder until Dolph Ziggler came in for the save. This was fine to get the point across.
Cena issued the open challenge and had a horrible match with Kane to retain the title. Here’s a sign of Cena’s greatness: he has bad matches with Kane and Big Show, but name someone else he doesn’t bring up to a higher level. If there are only two people in his career where it doesn’t work, he’s roughly 100 steps above most other talent. Rusev would attack Cena later in the night to set up the title match Sunday.
Bray Wyatt talked about how his new target can’t lift his way out of this one. That makes me think Ryback, which could be a nice surprise or a disaster, though they’ve been treating Ryback like a monster again, which is certainly a good thing.
Miz beat Mizdow in less than three minutes when Summer Rae turned on Mizdow in one of the most obvious heel turns this side of Big Show turn #1894. So to recap, Mizdow takes forever to turn on Miz, loses the battle royal to Big Show after getting really close, then loses two out of the three matches to Miz. Why do I even bother getting behind someone when their big goal is to build someone up to sacrifice them on the altar of WWE Studios? Miz got an RKO to emphasize that the entire Miz vs. Mizdow story meant nothing.
Ryback mauled Adam Rose and then beat up a hot dog and banana.
Kane and Rollins bickered some more with Rollins offering an apology.
Rollins vs. Ziggler was every Rollins vs. Ziggler match you’ve ever seen. The cage lowered post match so Rollins could hide from Kane. If you don’t know what was waiting for him when he turned around to end the show, you haven’t been paying close enough attention.
Raw really wasn’t very good this week and so much of it revolves around how lame the main stories have been. Kane was the focal point of the show this week with this never ending argument with Rollins, which seems destined to result in Kane screwing Orton over on Sunday and the Authority revealing it was all a huge swerve that we never saw coming. The wrestling was nothing to see this week either and it made for a really weak three hours. Extreme Rules and these rematches need to be gone soon, as does Kane’s never ending main event run. He just isn’t interesting and it’s killing the rest of the card.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UYAMB8U
And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at: