Hell in a Cell 2014 Date: October 26, 2014
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s a double main event this year as we have two matches inside the Cell for the sake of having two matches inside the Cell. First up, in what should be the main event, we have Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose in a well built feud that belongs in the Cell. On the other hand, we have Cena vs. Orton in a match that is in the Cell to fill in a spot on the card. Let’s get to it.
Pre-Show: Bo Dallas vs. Mark Henry
This is a bonus match and seems to have replaced MizdowTV. Bo declares himself the new World’s Strongest Man after beating Henry four times in a row. He’s immune to Ebola (not said by name here) and is ashamed that this city shares his name. Therefore his last name is Bo Washington (the Washington Redskins are playing the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football tomorrow night). Henry hammers away to start and almost throws Dallas out of his shirt. World’s Strongest Slam ends Bo in 34 seconds.
Bo says he wasn’t ready and that Henry cheated. Cheaters never win, so Bo is the winner in the record book of life and is 5-0 against Henry. Mark throws him into the barricade for good measure.
The opening video focuses on how violent the Cell can be. Most of the focus is on Orton vs. Cena, which hopefully doesn’t mean that’s the main event. Ambrose vs. Rollins gets its share of time too though.
Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro
This is 2/3 falls with Ziggler defending after they traded wins in the last week. Ziggler comes out first for some reason and Cole actually brings up the title being won for the first time in Rio de Janiero. Cesaro looks to have shaved the rest of his hair. We get some grappling to start with Cesaro taking him down to the mat and cranking on a chinlock. Off to a chinlock as Cesaro does some of the most obvious spot calling I’ve seen in years.
Back up and they trade rollups for two each until Ziggler gets caught in the Swing for two. Dolph kicks out but hangs on to Cesaro for a rollup and the pin at 3:43. Cesaro is furious and hammers away but misses a middle rope elbow. A STIFF right hand puts Ziggler down and we hit a kneeling reverse chinlock on the champion. Cesaro goes after the arm but still can’t tie things up. He sends Dolph to the apron for the superplex but Dolph his arm across the top rope to take over.
Dolph actually stays on the arm with a cobra clutch but Cesaro spins him around into a suplex attempt. Ziggler turns that into something like a Kimura until Cesaro drives him into the corner. The hold stays on as Cesaro climbs the ropes and throws Ziggler up for a superplex. That looked great but Cesaro can’t cover due to the arm. Ziggler is up at two and avoids a charge to send him arm first into the post, setting up the Fameasser for two. The running DDT is countered into Swiss Death for two but the Neutralizer is countered into a Stunner on the arm and the Zig Zag to retain the title at 12:24.
Rating: B-. Good match here, even though it makes me wonder why they bothered having Ziggler lose clean on Monday. Cesaro did his usual here: blow the fans’ minds with big moves and then lose anyway because I guess his victory was popping the crowd. I’m not sure where Ziggler goes after this but at least he had a good match here.
We recap the end of Raw where Rollins attacked Orton in a big surprise.
The Authority is in the back and Orton is looking for Rollins. Stephanie tells him to use his anger on Cena tonight but Orton wants to get his hands on Seth. HHH tries to calm things down again by saying Orton and Rollins are a lot alike. Randy leaves, but says if HHH doesn’t deal with Rollins, he will.
Brie Bella vs. Nikki Bella
Loser is the winner’s servant for 30 days. They lock up to start with Brie sending Nikki into the corner but missing a charge. Nikki runs her over for two and a facebuster gets the same. The fans start chanting JBL because NO ONE CARES ABOUT THIS STORY. Brie plants her face first for two before hitting a few dropkicks. A running knee to the face has Nikki in trouble but she misses a charge and falls out to the floor.
She comes up clutching her knee and heads back inside to take a missile dropkick for two. Nikki pops back up and hooks the Rack for two. Brie slaps on the YES Lock but Nikki gets her feet on the ropes. Nikki comes back with a hard forearm to the face and a second Rack for the pin at 6:21.
Rating: D+. The worst part: the wrestling wasn’t all that bad. The problem with this is it’s one of the least interesting stories in years as I don’t even remember why they’re fighting. I get that it’s about Brie quitting but are we really supposed to care that a woman is dating John Cena (wait, does that relationship exist in WWE?) and had to wrestle some handicap matches against some heels. Also, if Nikki hates her sister so much, why would she want her around for thirty more days?
WWE2K15 ad.
The expert panel of Renee, Booker T., Heyman and Alex Riley talk about what we’ve seen so far.
Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust
The Dusts are defending. Stardust and Jimmy get things going with the twin getting slammed down. Jimmy comes back by missing a kick but gets two off a flip splash. Off to Goldust vs. Jey as the challengers take over, only to have Jimmy get sent knee first into the post. Goldust slaps on a chinlock and gets two off a powerslam. The release gordbuster drops Jimmy and we hit the chinlock again. Back up and Stardust’s bulldog is countered before Goldust is backdropped to the floor.
The hot tag brings in Jey to clean house as the Usos hit their big dives. Goldust takes the running Umaga Attack in the corner for two but Jey has to go after Stardust, allowing Goldust to get two of his own off a spinebuster. Jey superkicks him down for two more before the Usos hit stereo superplexes. There’s a Superfly Splash to Goldust but Stardust makes a save at two. A quick kick to the back of the knee sets up the Final Cut from Goldust to retain the titles at 10:25.
Rating: B-. Another good match but another case where I do not care about the story because we’ve seen these teams fight half a dozen times in six man tags over the last few weeks. The division is back to having two teams again and that makes some very dull periods. At least the wrestling is good but it’s only going to last so long.
Some singer cares about breast cancer. November can’t get here soon enough.
We recap Orton vs. Cena with a nice package on rivalries. They’re playing this up to be amongst the greatest rivalries ever but the amount of times they’ve fought hurts it a lot.
Randy Orton vs. John Cena
In the Cell and the winner gets a match with Lesnar at some point in the future. Before the match the camera picks up on a Cena vs. Orton sign then zooms out when we see that it’s complaining about how many times they’ve fought. Orton takes over to start and hammers away to send Cena out to the floor. John goes face first into the steel before they head back inside. Orton brings in a chair but Cena kicks it away for a breather.
That’s fine with Randy as he headbutts Cena down and gets in a few chair shots for two. Orton drives the chair into the ribs a few times before taking Cena outside to rub his face against the Cell again. A few more rams are good for two and we hit the chinlock. Cena fights up for his comeback but walks into a kick to the head and the powerslam. The Elevated DDT is countered with a backdrop and now it’s Cena ramming him back first into the Cell.
John tries one too many times though and gets crotched against the post to change advantage again. They stay on the floor with Cena sending him back into the cage and pulling out a table. It’s set up in the corner but Orton gets in the first few blows to take over again. The RKO gets two and Cena being thrown through the table gets the same. Randy’s next weapon of choice is the stairs but Cena slams him onto the steel for two more. The AA is countered though and a low blow gets two for Randy.
The STF goes on but Orton makes the ropes. This is the Cell though so it means nothing, meaning Orton has to crawl under the ropes to escape. John picks up the steps and throws them as hard as he can through the ropes, only to hit the Cell by mistake. Back in and they trade finishers for two each, including the AA countered into the RKO. Even the fans knew to expect that spot. Another AA gets two but both guys are down. Randy brings in another table and crotches him on the top but a middle rope RKO is countered into a middle rope AA through the table for the pin at 25:50.
Rating: B. They went with the regular big match showdown here and that’s the best thing they could have done. These two are almost out of ideas and thankfully they had a good one here. It wasn’t a masterpiece or anything but they know how to work the big match formula. Also thank goodness this was the first half main event instead of having it close the show.
Cena stares Heyman down.
Big Show and Henry are getting ready in the back.
US Title: Miz vs. Sheamus
Sheamus is defending. Apparently the MizdowTV did happen as the pre-shows are now all an hour long. There doesn’t seem to be much to it as Miz praised Mizdow and Sheamus might have Brogue Kicked a cameraman. Sheamus starts the match with a Brogue Kick attempt but Miz bails to the ropes. That’s fine with Sheamus as he grabs the ten forearms, complete with Mizdow grabbing the bottom rope and selling them as well.
They head outside with Miz taking out Mizdow by mistake but actually using the distraction to nail Sheamus and take over. Sheamus quickly fights back and hits the rolling fireman’s carry on the floor for two. He motions that it’s time for the face but Miz takes him down and gets two of his own off the low DDT. The fans chant for Mizdow as Miz counters White Noise into a failed Figure Four attempt. Sheamus scores with a powerslam and calls for the Brogue, only to have to go after Mizdow. Miz’s rollup doesn’t work but the Skull Crushing Finale gets two. Not that it matters as the Brogue Kick retains the title at 8:25.
Rating: C. Mizdow was the star of this match and I’m hoping they get to his face turn soon enough. Maybe they can have him get the title off Sheamus soon enough and make Miz jealous or something like that but it would be better than Sheamus beating them up every week. Match was nothing you wouldn’t see on Raw.
Post match Mizdow lays next to Miz so Sheamus has some fun with them by making Miz, and Sandow as a result, do the YMCA dance.
Brie has to load up Nikki’s bags in the car and is all evil about a smoothie. You can guess where the smoothie winds up.
We recap Rusev vs. Big Show. In short: America good, Russia bad, repeat for six to eight weeks and throw in Rusev kicking a US soldier.
Rusev vs. Big Show
Lana is in pink tonight. They slug it out to start with Rusev getting the better of it by going after the leg to put Show down. Rusev stays on the leg with the wide variety of leg stuff that you often see used on giants as this isn’t off to the hottest start in the world. A nice suplex drops Show again for two. The Accolade is countered into something like Charlie Haas’ Haas of Pain but Rusev is right next to the ropes.
Back up and Show hits a spear as Henry comes out. There’s the chokeslam to Rusev and he rolls outside, only to have Show call Henry off and throw Rusev back in. There’s the jumping superkick to Show and Henry, followed by two more to Show. The Accolade goes on and Show gives up at 8:04.
Rating: D. This was every big Rusev match we’ve seen so far but there’s only so much you can do with osmeone like Big Show. There’s no doubt in who is going to win these things and that’s the problem with someone like Rusev. He really needs to move up to someone more mobile now and Sheamus might be just the right option.
You know breast cancer? It’s still bad.
Ambrose goes on a rant about Seth Rollins as a Halloween costume resembling roadkill and oatmeal on a pogo stick. It didn’t make any more sense when he said it.
Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Paige
AJ is defending and Alicia Fox is in Paige’s corner. They trade knockdowns to start until Paige kicks her in the ribs to take over. AJ comes back with a rolling cradle for two and they head outside with AJ having to nail Fox. Back in and Paige takes over with some shots to the back and a double arm crank to kill some time. They get back up and Paige stays on her, including a fall away slam (complete with skipping) for two. Back outside with AJ sending her head first into the barricade, setting up the Black Widow to retain at 6:55.
Rating: D+. Not terrible here but again, I’m sick of seeing these two fight. They’ve had like five or six matches on PPV already and there’s just no need to have them go at it anymore. Much like the tag division, there’s such a lack of depth to this title and it’s really starting to show again.
The Cell is lowered and we recap Ambrose vs. Rollins. Seth turned on the Shield and joined the Authority, sending Dean on a quest for revenge. The Authority kept interfering so let’s lock them in a big box.
Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
Dean is out first and throws a bunch of chairs and some bags in the ring before climbing the Cell. Rollins comes out but doesn’t want to go up so he sends the Stooges up instead. They go up and get the beating you would expect, only to have Rollins sneak up and destroy Ambrose with the Stooges’ help. There hasn’t been a bell yet. They slowly climb halfway down the side of the cage and we get the first major spot of the match as they ram each other into the Cell and fly through the announcers’ tables.
Both guys are put on stretchers as the match stops. Dean realizes what’s going on though and gets off his stretcher. He goes after Rollins and drags him into the Cell to officially start things off. Dean busts out some duct tape but blasts Seth over and over again with a chair instead of using it. He tries the screwdriver to Seth’s face but Rollins snaps his throat across the top to escape. Dean pops back up and dropkicks Rollins into the Cell to take over again. They get back inside so Dean can clothesline Seth out to the floor.
The suicide dive sends Seth into the Cell wall and Rollins is almost dead. Back in again and Dean piles up chairs but gets suplexed onto them instead. Dean gets right back up and puts Seth across a table at ringside for a middle rope elbow ala Cactus Jack. He rubs Seth’s face into the steel but Kane pops up with a fire extinguisher to blind Ambrose. Seth powerbombs Dean through a standing table against the Cell and they go back inside again.
The Curb Stomp gets two and Seth is frustrated. He goes outside for the briefcase but instead just destroys Dean with chair shots. Rollins puts him head first on the briefcase but Dean counters with Dirty Deeds, only to have Seth escape with a kick to the head. Dean comes back with a Rebound clothesline and a briefcase shot to the face for an even closer two.
Now it’s cinder block time with Dean loading up a Curb Stomp of his own but we’ve got Wyatts. Well at least Bray speaking in tongues and now a lantern in the ring. Smoke fills the ring and we have what looks like a ghost in the middle of it. Bray pops up and nails Ambrose as the lights go out again. Back up with Bray spider walking over to Ambrose and laying him out with a release Rock Bottom to give a shocked Rollins the pin at 13:48.
Rating: B+. It’s a good fight but the ending hurts it a bit. This is probably the best option they could have gone with as you don’t want Rollins losing but you also don’t want Dean to lose all of his heat. Ambrose vs. Wyatt should be good but I would have liked this feud to have a more definitive ending. Unfortunately that wasn’t really possible and this puts Bray back in the spotlight with a feud he could actually win.
Dean takes Sister Abigail to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. The big matches delivered but man alive does the midcard need to be replenished. Most of the stuff in there just feels like we’ve seen it a million times before and it’s really hard to care again. They desperately need to figure out something other than “put the wrestlers in tag matches” or “just have them fight a few times before they fight again on PPV” because it’s killing the PPV matches. Still though, it’s an entertaining show and that’s all you can hope for with gimmick shows.
Results
Dolph Ziggler b. Cesaro – Zig Zag
Nikki Bella b. Brie Bella – Rack
Goldust/Stardust b. Usos – Final Cut to Jimmy Uso
John Cena b. Randy Orton – Middle rope Attitude Adjustment
Sheamus b. Miz – Brogue Kick
Rusev b. Big Show – Accolade
AJ Lee b. Paige – Black Widow
Seth Rollins b. Dean Ambrose – Pin after a Rock Bottom from Bray Wyatt
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Thunder – June 3, 1999: The Wolverine Will Save Us
Thunder Date: June 3, 1999 Location: North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, South Carolina
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko
Thing shave to be getting better soon. I mean, I don’t think it’s possible for them to continue being this bad. WCW has been trying this idea of just throwing every boring idea they have out there to bury the good stuff and it’s bombing horribly. The lower card stuff is terribly uninteresting and the main event stuff is awful but there’s a little glimmer in there with all the talent they’ve got. If some of that got a better focus, there’s serious potential in there. Let’s get to it.
The announcers do their intro and the fans want Goldberg. You’ll have to wait until production wraps people.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Scotty Riggs
Before we have the match, Riggs has the referee hold the mirror for him. Bigelow, mentioned as a Tag Team Champion but sans belt, hammers away in the corner. Riggs escapes a slam and dropkicks Bigelow into the corner for ten punches, followed by another dropkick and choking. The big man takes him down with a drop toehold of all things and headbutts the leg before going to a chinlock.
Riggs tries to fight back but gets dropped by a knee to the ribs. They head outside with Bam Bam working on the chest and sending Riggs into the barricade. Back in and Bigelow drops a headbutt for two but gets rolled up for the same. Bigelow takes Riggs’ head off with clotheslines but charges into a boot in the corner, followed by a Fameasser for another near fall. Riggs goes up and dives into a punch, setting up Greetings From Asbury Park for the pin.
Rating: C-. Shockingly competitive match here as a new champion had to rbeak a bit of a sweat to beat a narcissistic….Riggs is a heel right? He has a heel character but he was wrestling like a face here. The match wasn’t bad for an opener and it actually entertained me instead of making me look for a pillow and blanket.
We look back at Bigelow and Page winning the Tag Team Titles on Monday. Shouldn’t that have aired before the match?
Clip of Brian Knobs attacking Hak on Monday.
Hugh Morrus vs. Kidman
Morrus hammers away to start but gets caught by a headscissors. A hurricanrana and dropkick put Hugh outside and Kidman nails a nice plancha. Jimmy Hart tries to get in a cheap shot and is stared away in fear. Back in and Hart interferes again to let Morrus take over as the power game begins.
Morrus hammers away on him in the corner and gorilla presses him down for two. He sends Kidman into the corner for a running splash but misses another charge, allowing Kidman to hit a missle dropkick. Morrus comes right back by clotheslining Kidman out to the floor. Back in and Kidman avoids the top rope elbow, setting up a Bodog out of the corner for two. Morrus’ powerbomb is of course countered but Brian Knobs runs out to break up the Shooting Star for the DQ.
Rating: D. Much more basic match here as we’re now using Kidman to push the First Family. Again, we have an example of a guy that could have moved up the card being used to push more dead end older characters that aren’t going to go anywhere but for some reason keep getting the push over someone like Kidman.
Post match the First Family destroys Kidman until Hak makes the save….and beats Kidman down as well. That’s what you get for tearing the house down with Mysterio and Guerrera for months.
Brian Adams vs. Buff Bagwell
Adams, ever the gentleman, offers a handshake but gets posed at instead. Buff hammers away in the corner and they trade atomic drops with Adams’ having no effect for some reason. An armdrag and dropkick send Brian to the floor and us to a commercial. Back with Buff fighting out of a bearhug but walking into a belly to belly suplex. We break away from that to listen to some words of wisdom from Vince. A backbreaker gets two on Buff and Adams throws out him out to the floor. Vince gets in a few more shots because he can talk trash and forearm people in the back.
Back in and Buff avoids a knee drop to start his comeback with the usual stuff: clothesline, neckbreaker, cross body, strut. The referee gets bumped so Vince brings in a chair (he can do THREE things!) and accidentally hits Adams (I didn’t say he could do them well). The referee wakes up to count the pin but says it was two, even though he slapped the mat three times and Buff’s music played. We keep going with Adams nailing a big boot and sending Buff to the floor for a beating from Vince. Bagwell dispatches him pretty easily of course and the Blockbuster gets the pin.
Rating: D. Too long here and the ending made me say “great. We get to keep going.” Adams really isn’t all that good other than being a generic power guy and there are tons of them in WCW. The match went on longer than it should have and Bagwell really doesn’t look all that special from beating up Vince and Adams.
We see Savage vs. the fake Nash from Monday.
This Week In WCW Motorsports.
Recap of Scott Norton vs. Ernest Miller.
Scott Norton vs. Silver King
I don’t see this ending well. King tries to come in with a missile dropkick but it just bounces off of Norton’s chest. The pain begins with Norton just toying with King, blasting him with a hard clothesline and even harder chops in the corner. A pair of headbutts put him down again but Norton finally misses a charge. Silver King’s moonsault press has the same effect as the dropkick and it’s another clothesline followed by the powerbomb to complete the squash.
Rating: D+. See, this is the Scott Norton I could get behind. He was never going to be a big deal in WCW but you could make him look like a monster for someone to beat in a big win. Maybe throw him into the midcard title scene if those belts weren’t locked up by the Steiners for whatever reason.
Recap of rap vs. country.
Curt Hennig vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
If Hennig tries this could be awesome. He jumps Mysterio during his entrance and sends him face first into the buckle. Rey comes back by sending Hennig head first into the mat and nails a quick springboard legdrop to send Curt outside. Back in and Curt snaps Rey throat first across the top rope and hits a quick atomic drop to seen Mysterio throat first into the buckle. They head right back outside with Mysterio being thrown into the barricade and dropped throat first onto the barricade as we take a break.
After we look at ads for WCW Magazine, we come back with Mysterio headscissoring Hennig down and going after his knee. He dropkicks it down and hammers away in the corner until Curt rakes the eyes. Hennig drops some elbows to the chest and face, followed by the Hennig Neck Snap for two.
We even get a Rick Rude hip swivel as a nice tribute before Curt scores with a dropkick. Back up and Rey goes to the knee again, setting up a split legged moonsault out of the corner for two. Curt counters a standing Lionsault but gets sent chest first into the buckle. It’s right back to the knee to set up a springboard seated senton for two, followed by a low dropkick to the face. There’s the Bronco Buster but Bobby Duncum comes out and breaks it up for the DQ. So Konnan will stop cowboys from beating up his friends but not hardcore freaks?
Rating: C+. Yeah it was good but of course it had to end in a DQ because Heaven forbid we get a pin in anything but a squash. Mysterio looked good out there and the knee work was a nice running idea throughout the match. These two getting PPV time and a finish could be great stuff.
The cowboys double team Mysterio until Kidman and Konnan make the save.
We see the septic tank stuff with Nash and Savage from Nitro.
Chris Benoit vs. Ric Flair
Think this is going to be better? Asya is the only second in the entire match. Ric takes him into the corner to start and they trade some chops until the referee breaks it up. It’s Benoit taking over with more shots in the corner to send Flair out the floor and up the aisle. Back in and Benoit takes him to the mat and puts on a Figure Four to check off a spot on the Flair Bingo card. Ric realizes he’s about six inches from the ropes and the hold is broken.
Flair begs off but gets beaten up in the corner even more. Naitch finally goes to the eyes to get a breather and stomps away on the ropes. Asya plays old school JJ Dillon by getting in some shots but unfortunately doesn’t take off her shoe. Benoit comes back with a bunch of right hands in the corner and a backdrop to put him down again. The veteran begs off and trips Chris up for a rollup with feet on the ropes in the corner for two.
They fight outside for some Canadian chops before Benoit takes him back inside for a snap suplex. Both guys ram heads to put each other down. It’s Benoit up first with a sleeper until Ric counters, only to be sent face first into the buckle again. Chris gets two off an O’Connor Roll and fires off even more chops.
Flair kicks him in the face and tries the Figure Four but gets rolled up for another two. Ric gets in a knee crusher though and now the Figure Four goes on. The hold is turned over and Benoit makes the ropes before nailing an enziguri to put both guys down again. Back up and Benoit nails his running clothesline but Bigelow and Page break up the Swan Dive for the DQ.
Rating: B-. The intensity here alone makes it a better match but it’s not quite a great match. Benoit looked more than capable of hanging in a main event match and should be ready to move up the card. It’s a good match but we’re reaching the point where you know someone is going to run in and that’s ruining a lot of entertaining matches.
Benoit takes an elevated Diamond Cutter and isn’t saved to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. The main event brings this up a lot and it’s certainly one of the better ones, but the DQ’s need to stop. They keep doing the same thing over and over to protect people for the big matches, but then the same thing happens in the big pay per view matches. At least it was better than some of the more recent shows, even though it still wasn’t anything great.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Reigns started as Roman Leakee in FCW in late 2010. We’ll pick things up at some point in June 2011 on FCW TV.
Big E. Langston/Calvin Raines/Alexander Rusev vs. Bo Rotundo/Leakee/Richie Steamboat
Raines is a big guy and Langston’s FCW Tag Team Championship partner. FCW Champion Rotundo is now known as Bo Dallas and Leakee is Roman Reigns. Rusev and Richie get things going with Steamboat going after Alexander’s huge calves. Rusev easily throws him away and scores with a shoulder but it’s quickly off to Bo and then Leakee (pronounced Lay Ah Key) to stay on the arm. Alexander easily runs over Leakee before it’s off to Langston for more power offense as we take a break.
Back with Raines running over Leakee for two and putting on something resembling a seated full nelson. Leakee comes back with a sunset flip before running over for the tag to Steamboat. Richie cleans house for a bit until Rusev slams him off the top with ease. Back to Langston who stomps away and hits a spinning belly to belly for two. Rusev comes in again for a bearhug and an overhead belly to belly.
A double tag brings in Raines vs. Steamboat and Ricky is caught in an abdominal stretch. Back to Langston who isn’t hurt by Steamboat chops but a kick to the face has some more effect. The hot tag brings in Bo to clean house as everything breaks down. Bo and Langston are left alone in the ring and a spear is enough to pin Big E.
Rating: B-. I liked this a lot more than I expected to. They followed the six man formula very well here and the whole thing worked quite well. These guys knew how to work together and everything flowed well. That being said, I need to pick better matches the next time I do one of these things. Langston is now 0-3.
Another FCW match that might headline Wrestlemania someday. From January 12, 2012.
Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
Reigns is known as Leakee here but that looks better as a title. The winner gets a title shot next week. Ambrose stops to look at William Regal, who he’s been having a long feud with at this point. We’ll get there eventually. Leakee pulls Dean down as Regal talks about how glad he is that his children don’t have evil in their eyes. Rollins gets double teamed but Leakee slams both of their faces into the mat to take over.
Now it’s Leakee getting double teamed as we take a break. Back with Leakee still being double teamed as Regal talks about how great it is for he and Ambrose to be evil but he’s trying to control his hatred. Ambrose rolls Rollins up for two before getting sent to the floor. Leakee knocks Rollins out of the air for two but Ambrose takes Leakee down into the Regal Stretch as part of an obsession with getting a rematch.
Leakee makes the ropes but Rollins springboards in with a clothesline to Dean. The low superkick sends Leakee to the floor but Dean counters another attempt into a wheelbarrow slam for two. Ambrose misses a knee trembler (Regal’s finisher) and Rollins hammers away, only to miss the curb stomp.
Instead he dives through the ropes to take out Leakee before heading back inside to slug it out with Dean. Regal admits that he knows Ambrose will be the end of him as Ambrose turns Rollins inside out with a clothesline. Leakee comes in and Samoan drops both guys at the same time before Checkmate (a running bulldog, a terrible finisher for him) ends Ambrose for the pin.
Rating: C+. All this really did was make me want to watch Ambrose vs. Regal in a match that tears the house down and shows more emotion than anything WWE has done in years because they’re both old school workers like that. The match itself was your usual triple threat. Leakee changing finishers was the best idea he could have had.
Off to NXT now, starting on October 31, 2012.
Roman Reigns vs. CJ Parker
Reigns used to be Leakee in FCW. He’s a member of the Anoa’i family and is the son of Sika and the brother of Rosey. The announcers pound in the fact that Reigns has the IT factor and that we’ll be talking about this debut for years to come. Reigns catches Parker’s crossbody and pounds on the arm and shoulder. A DDT on the arm puts Parker down and Reigns cranks away on it some more. Parker fires away some elbows to escape but a side kick misses and Reigns slugs him down again.
A belly to back suplex by Reigns is countered into a cross body by Parker for two. Parker hits some knees in the corner but gets caught by a flying forearm. Reigns kind of roars and hits a belly to back slam for the pin at 3:43. Think Cena’s Protoplex (the spinning slam he sets up the Shuffle with) but instead of spinning the other guy around, Reigns drives the down with his hand.
Rating: D+. The commentary is over the top but Reigns looked fine here. He’s got a good look and a good physique and his in ring abilities were fine. The match was just a squash though with Parker getting in a few shots here and there. Much like everyone else, it’s too early to say what Reigns has without giving him a more serious challenge.
Reigns would join forces with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins to form the Shield. He and Rollins formed a regular tag team and had a Tag Team Title shot at Extreme Rules 2013.
Tag Titles: Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins vs. HELL NO
This is Texas Tornado rules, meaning all four men are in the ring at the same time. The fact that there were some deaths a few days ago due to tornadoes in Texas makes this bad timing for this gimmick. Kane and Bryan are defending. It’s a big brawl to start as you would expect with the champions taking over. Bryan puts Rollins in the surfboard and Kane adds in a low dropkick for two.
Kane gets double teamed down in the corner and then Bryan gets the same treatment. Reigns loads up a powerbomb off the middle rope but Bryan counters into a rana to put everyone down. Kane grabs both Shield members by the throat before shoving them to the floor, allowing Bryan to hit the suicide dive to take both guys out. The champions take turn hitting clotheslines on both guys in the corners before Kane hits the top rope clothesline on Rollins, allowing Bryan to hit the Flying Goat for two.
Bryan gets the NO Lock on Reigns but Rollins finally makes the save. A chokeslam puts Rollins down but Roman catches Kane with the spear. Back up and Reigns shoves Kane into Bryan, only to get caught around the throat. Seth comes in off the top with a knee to Kane’s head, allowing Reigns to hit a second spear. Bryan makes the save but can’t get the NO Lock on Reigns. Rollins makes the save so Reigns can put Bryan in a torture rack. Seth comes off the top with a knee to the chest, good for the pin and the titles at 7:24.
Rating: C+. Again this was ok but nothing great. They could have used another five to ten minutes here but for some reason they’re flying through these matches tonight. Shield winning was the only logical conclusion as there was nothing left for Bryan/Kane to do with the belts at this point. Decent but not great here.
To Smackdown on May 31, 2013.
Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan
This starts immediately after the previous match ends. Bryan sends Reigns into the corner and kicks away at the arm to take over early before tying his legs into Roman’s and dropping forearms to the face. The fans also love Bryan which isn’t all that surprising. He fires off more kicks in the corner before hooking a dragon screw leg whip to put Roman down again. Roman hits a hard clothesline to take over as we take a break.
Back with Bryan trying to speed things up but getting caught by another clothesline for two. Bryan gets all fired up and hits a hard set of kicks to the chest followed by a running dropkick in the corner for two of his own. Reigns drills him in the stomach to slow Bryan down but Bryan hooks the NO Lock out of nowhere. Reigns crawls over to the ropes but only gets there with Seth pushing the rope towards him. Kane goes after Rollins but hits Reigns for the DQ at 9:20.
Rating: C. This was a better match than the opener, but that’s likely because the smaller guy as the face is an easier formula to work with. Bryan’s kicks get more awesome every week and it’s very wise of him to use those as his main strike. I mean, can you imagine him throwing a convincing punch given his size? Kicks are far better for a guy like him.
One of the team’s biggest feuds was against the Rhodes Brothers, culminating on Raw, October 14, 2013.
Tag Titles: Shield vs. Goldust/Cody Rhodes
No DQ here. The challengers take over to start and work over Rollins with Cody getting two off a dropkick. Reigns interferes with an elbow to Cody’s jaw and the champions take over. Roman stomps Cody down to the floor for two before bringing Rollins back in for some right hands to the head. We hit the armbar for a few moments before Cody comes back with an attempted Alabama Slam out of the corner. Rollins slides down the back but Cody dives into a tag off to Goldust.
Goldie can’t hit Shattered Dreams but settles for a bulldog out of the corner for two on Rollins. Seth ducks something like a cross body to send Goldust to the floor and us to a break. Back with Rollins cranking on the arm even more as Cody plays cheerleader on the apron. A backslide gets two for Goldust but Seth clotheslines him back down. Back to Reigns for a chinlock but Goldust fights up and comes out of the corner with a back elbow. Rollins breaks up the hot tag but dives into a powerslam to put both guys down.
Ambrose’s interference doesn’t stop Cody and the younger brother cleans house. Reigns is sent into the post but Cody only gets two. The moonsault press gets the same and a Disaster Kick knocks Dean out to the floor. A springboard missile dropkick puts Rollins down again but Reigns makes the save. Ambrose comes in to break up Cross Rhodes and the numbers catch up with the challengers.
They load up the TripleBomb but Goldust comes in with a chair for the save. He can’t keep Reigns down though and Roman gets the chair. A big chair shot misses and Goldust scores with a cross body, crushing the chair against Reigns’ chest. Cody tries a Disaster Kick off the steps but gets caught in a running powerbomb against the barricade. Goldust hits atomic drops on the tag champions and a Cactus Clothesline puts Goldust and Reigns on the floor but here’s Ambrose to jump the painted one.
The fans correctly say that this is awesome right before Reigns DESTROYS Goldust with a spear through the barricade. That looked AWESOME. Dean throws Cody and Reigns back into the ring but here’s Big Show through the crowd. Shield grabs chairs but Show cleans house anyway until only Reigns is left standing. Cody kicks Roman into the KO punch and Cody gets the pin and the titles at 19:15.
Rating: A-. Well that helped. This felt like Mankind beating the Rock for the title back in January of 1999 which is about as high of a compliment as I can give a match. This is the kind of moment that this story has been dying for since it started and just like the match at Battleground, it was built up through emotion and it worked like a charm. Great match.
Here’s where Reigns started rolling, at Survivor Series 2013.
Rey Mysterio/Usos/Goldust/Cody Rhodes vs. Real Americans/Shield
Elimination rules of course. Ricardo Rodriguez is on Spanish commentary. Colter does his usual routine before the match before attempting to twerk because what would a wrestling show be without that? Cody and Ambrose get things going as this is the Shield’s debut anniversary. They trade waistlocks to start but Cody takes over with some right hands, only to have Ambrose pound away in the corner. Rhodes comes back with even more punches as Cole tells us that Friday is Lawler, Colter and JBL’s birthday. Ambrose pounds away in the corner but gets in an argument with the referee, allowing Cody to get a quick rollup for the elimination.
Everything breaks down with the Usos cleaning house and hitting dives to take out all of their opponents. We settle down with Goldust vs. Rollins but it’s quickly off to Swagger to drive Goldust into the corner. Jack takes him down and Cesaro comes in with a knee drop for two. Cole messes up his history by saying Andre the Giant was the sole survivor of the first Survivor Series match (that would be the main event or the fourth Survivor Series match ever).
Goldust gets a backslide for two on Cesaro and scores with a powerslam. A jawbreaker puts both guys down but Cesaro is able to tag first. Swagger comes in but misses the Vader Bomb, allowing for the hot tag off to Mysterio. He easily takes Swagger down to set up the 619 and it’s a superkick from Jimmy followed by the Superfly Splash from Jey to eliminate Swagger.
Cesaro immediately comes in with an uppercut to Jey to set up the Cesaro Swing. The fans count along with the swings but it’s only 15 revolutions. Jimmy comes in without a tag and gets a swing of his own 19 revolution swing. Cody gets the tag and scores with a sunset flip out of nowhere for the elimination, leaving us with Rollins/Reigns vs. all five members of the other team.
Reigns comes in to work on Cody’s arm but it’s off to Jey instead. Roman easily tags him into the Shield corner and the two remaining members take over with the alternating tags. Rollins comes in with a top rope fist to Jey’s jaw and we hit the chinlock. Jey fights up and backdrops Rollins over the top rope, allowing for the tag off to Jimmy. A Samoan Drop gets two on Reigns and the running Umaga attack in the corner keeps him in trouble. Jimmy goes up top but has to headbutt Reigns down. He jumps down but the spear is enough for a quick elimination.
Cody comes in with a missile dropkick followed by the moonsault press for two on Rollins. Cross Rhodes connects but Reigns made a blind tag, allowing him to spear Cody in half for the elimination, leaving us at 3-2. Jey comes in and takes Reigns to the floor, sending him into the barricade and post. Back in and Rollins makes a quick tag to set up the Black Out (running one foot curb stomp) to eliminate Jey, leaving us with Reigns/Rollins vs. Goldust/Mysterio.
It’s Rey vs. Rollins with Mysterio getting in a quick dropkick, only to go up top and get caught in the Tree of Woe. Back to Reigns who sends Mysterio out to the floor but Rey makes it back in at 9. Reigns’ spear goes into the post by mistake but Rollins knocks Goldust to the floor to prevent the hot tag. Rey grabs a rollup out of nowhere to get rid of Rollins and make it 2-1.
Rollins stomps on Mysterio a bit before leaving, giving Roman a big advantage. Rey slides through Reigns’ legs and catches him with an enziguri before sending him into the corner with a drop toehold. There’s the hot tag to Goldust who gets two off a spinebuster. He pounds down right hands to Roman in the corner before a powerslam gets two. Reigns comes right back by countering the bulldog into a spear and it’s one on one. Rey tries the 619 but gets speared in half as well, giving Reigns his star making performance with his fourth elimination for the pin at 23:30.
Rating: B-. Total star making performance by Reigns here as he was completely unstoppable out there. Save for a meaningless fall over an Uso, Reigns literally got every elimination for his team. From the beginning I’ve said Reigns was the star of the team and if this isn’t proof of that, I’m not sure what is.
We’ll keep that going on Raw, January 6, 2014.
Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk
Feeling out process to start with Punk taking him down into a headlock. The Outlaws are sticking around at ringside. Reigns comes back with a shoulder block and we take a break. Back with Reigns knocking Punk off the apron and into the barricade. Reigns brings him back inside for some shots to the head and a body vice. A headbutt puts Reigns down again but he comes back with a cross body, only to hurt his ribs even more.
We hit the bearhug from Roman before he shifts it around to a body vice. Punk tries to escape but Reigns suplexes him down, only to miss the Superman Punch and get kicked in the head. More kicks have Reigns in trouble and Punk drops him with some ax handles and a neckbreaker for two. The running knee in the corner gets two more but Reigns breaks up the Macho Elbow.
Punk breaks up a superplex attempt and drops the elbow (to Ambrose according to Cole) for no cover. The Outlaws and Shield get into it on the floor and Punk dives out to take care of Rollins, only to dive into the Superman Punch for two. The spear hits the middle buckle and Punk gets a VERY close two off a rollup. Punk snaps off a high kick for two more but Reigns escapes the GTS. Another Ambrose distraction lets Reigns spear Punk in half for the pin at 16:14.
Rating: B. This took time to get going but the near falls at the end were all great stuff. They’re pushing Reigns to the moon and it continues to show how annoying these start and stop pushes can be. Look what happens when you push guys like Reigns and Langston to the moon without having them trade wins against midcarders for a change. It’s like people get behind monsters who clean house or something.
Even more on Raw, February 17, 2014.
Mark Henry vs. Roman Reigns
The fans are behind Reigns as he hammers away on Mark to get us going. Henry blocks an Irish whip so Reigns casually picks him up in a Samoan drop for two. Reigns kicks him out of the corner and hits the Superman Punch followed by the spear for the pin at 2:45. Basically a squash.
We’ll jump ahead to Raw on June 16, 2014 with Reigns trying to get into the Money in the Bank match for the World Title.
Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Battle Royal
Titus O’Neil, Damien Sandow, Bo Dallas, Jack Swagger, Diego, Fernando, Curtis Axel, Fandango, Dolph Ziggler, Rusev, Ryback, Sin Cara, Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, Big E., Roman Reigns, Rob Van Dam, Bad News Barrett, Xavier Woods
Those are all the people on the graphic so there’s a chance I missed a few. Damien is LeBron James because why not. Not that it matters as everyone gets together to put him out ten seconds in. Bo throws Santino out and Rusev does the same thing to both Matadores. Woods gets the same treatment from Rusev and everyone brawls for awhile.
Ziggler is sent to the apron and Reigns eliminates Titus. Swagger puts Sin Cara on the apron before catapulting him out. Kofi can’t get Swagger out and Big E. can’t get rid of Axel. Rusev gets Ziggler to the apron but a kick to the head saves Dolph. Kofi finally gets Swagger out and we take a break. Back with Rusev, Reigns, RVD, Ryback, Ziggler, Fandango, Dallas, Big E., Axel and Barrett still in, meaning Kofi (via Ryback) was the only elimination during the break. Speaking of eliminations, Ryback punches Ziggler out to the floor for his second straight elimination.
Reigns starts cleaning house and even takes Rusev down with a Superman Punch but can’t take care of Ryback that easily. Roman sends Fandango to the apron but has to spear Ryback and Axel down. A kick to the head puts Fandango out and Rusev kicks Reigns in the chest. Big E. dumps Ryback and Reigns throws out Axel. Another kick puts Roman down but Van Dam kicks Rusev in the face. Van Dam and Dallas start fighting but Barrett takes Rob down with a big boot.
Rob comes back with more kicks but Bo shoves him off the corner for a surprise elimination. That could be Bo’s first big feud. Barrett lays out a celebrating Bo and throws him to the apron but Bo hangs on. Nice little call back to the Rumble from a few years ago. Reigns dumps Barrett and Dallas knocks out Big E., but walks into the spear. Dallas is dumped and we’re down to Rusev vs. Roman.
The fans are WAY into this and the slugout is on. Reigns gets the early advantage but walks into a wicked spinwheel kick. They trade running charges in the corner and Reigns puts him on the apron. Some big right hands can’t get rid of the Russian but the Superman Punch sends Reigns to Money in the Bank and the crowd is VERY happy.
Rating: B. I was doubting Reigns for awhile but he’s coming off like a STAR at this point, just like Ambrose. This was a really solid battle royal as there were some good saves and the last bit of the match was really solid stuff. The last pairing is how you should do big matches: take two guys who look unbeatable and have them fight. Notice the reaction and you’ll see why that’s an idea.
And now, the Money in the Bank match.
WWE Title: John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kane vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Cesaro
The title is vacant coming in. It’s a brawl to start with everyone going for a ladder or each other early on. Bray escape an AA attempt and dives at a ladder to crush Sheamus before he and Cesaro to clean house. Reigns and Orton fight while Sheamus and Kane do the same on opposite sides of the ring. Reigns and Sheamus pick up ladders to crush Kane and pin him underneath the smaller ladder. Del Rio stops Reigns from going up as Cesaro and Sheamus climb. All four start climbing two ladders but Kane breaks it up and cleans house.
Cena comes back in and charges into a chokeslam before Kane cleans out most of the ring. He sets up a ladder in the middle of the ring and tells Orton to go up just like he did with Rollins earlier. Reigns shoves Kane into the ladder for the save but gets jumped by Bray. Cena comes back in with a ProtoBomb to Wyatt, only to walk into Swiss Death. Cesaro and Sheamus slug it out on top of the ladder as Bray spider walks up and shoves the ladder over. The Europeans are left hanging in the air and eventually fall to reset things.
Orton is all ticked off after getting hit with the ladder so he pulls out more ladders. He bridges one between the announce table and apron so he can put Sheamus over the bridge for an Elevated DDT. Back in and Orton throws a ladder to the floor before setting up the big one in the middle. Everyone gets back in and we go into scramble mode with no one getting higher than the second or third rung.
The people all get steadily knocked to the floor until only Kane is left standing. He takes down the big ladder and goes over to fight with Sheamus instead of climbing. Sheamus comes back with the forearms to the chest and White Noise, followed by a Brogue Kick to Cena. Sheamus sets up the big ladder again but Kane makes a save. The Irishman goes up but Cesaro bridges a ladder into the tall one to climb faster for another save. Cena and Del Rio fight to the floor as Reigns lifts up the big ladder with Sheamus and Cesaro on top. The bridged ladder keeps them from falling and Cena pushes it back to level.
Everyone is back in again and Cena is slammed onto the bridged ladder by Wyatt. Kane pulls people off the ladder but gets speared by Roman. Orton sends Reigns into the big ladder and knocks it over though, leaving no standing ladder in the ring. Reigns comes back with Superman Punches all around and the apron boot to Del Rio. HHH is all ticked off and we’re down to Cena vs. Reigns. They slug it out and Cena tries the AA, only to get speared out of his shoes.
Reigns goes up but Orton makes a last second save. With blood on the top of his head from earlier, Orton goes up but Bray takes him down with Sister Abigail. Del Rio stops Bray (and kills the crowd) but Sheamus shoves the ladder over and kicks Del Rio’s head off. An RKO pulls Sheamus off the ladder but Reigns stops Randy’s attempt. Orton is busted open BAD so Reigns rips at the cut and headbutts him a few times. Kane is back in for yet another save though by chokeslamming Reigns off the ladder. Cena grabs Kane for an AA though and Orton gets one as well, allowing Cena to get the titles at 26:30.
Rating: B. They toned down the big spots in this which kept my stomach in better shape this time. These matches are fun but man alive can they be scary at times. Cena winning is going to annoy some people but he’s the most logical choice as Lesnar is waiting in the wings for whoever gets the belt here. Brock vs. Cena will be awesome and is the money match that people will pay to see.
Reigns got another title shot at Battleground 2014.
WWE World Title: John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kane
Cena is defending and has both belts again here. It’s a brawl to start and Orton is in blue instead of black. Randy sends Orton into the steps but Reigns fights off both Authority members. A double suplex drops Reigns and gives Orton two as Kane seems to play defense against Cena. The champion comes back in and Orton takes him down for two more as Kane guards against Reigns.
Kane breaks up an AA attempt on Orton as the early going continues. Reigns and Kane fight on the floor so Cena can start up his finishing sequence on Orton. The AA is blocked so Cena throws Orton to the floor before turning around to see Reigns. Kane and Orton break it up before anything happens and Kane gets two on Reigns to annoy Randy. They start to shove each other and a YES chant starts up.
Orton says it’s supposed to be Kane watching his back but Kane uppercuts him. Kane loads up a superplex but Cena and Reigns come in to make it a Tower of Doom. Now we get Cena vs. Reigns but Kane sits up to stop it again. They stop Kane to the floor but Orton sneaks in with a backbreaker to Roman. A double Elevated DDT puts down both heroes but Kane breaks up a pin.
Cena and Reigns send Kane to the floor before Cena grabs an STF. Reigns adds a half crab at the same time but Kane makes the save. An AA sends Kane back to the floor and Orton is put in the STF again. Reigns pulls Orton to the ropes and throws him over the announce table, FINALLY giving us the showdown. They slug it out and Reigns tries a clothesline but Cena goes the wrong way so it’s kind of an old Vader body attack. The STF is countered and Reigns hits a Samoan drop. The Superman Punch misses and Cena hits the ProtoBomb.
Reigns pops up and hits the Superman Punch followed by the spear but Kane makes the save (with Cena’s head up and watching Kane come in the entire way). Kane gets hammered down and Reigns hits the jumping kick to all three guys. Orton gets speared through the barricade and the fans think this is awesome. Back in and Reigns spears Kane down but Cena makes the save.
Cena throws Roman to the floor and hits the AA for two as Reigns makes the save. Reigns and Cena slug it out again and an AA gets two with Kane breaking it up. Both heroes get chokeslammed but Reigns kicks out at two. The tombstone is countered and another spear connects until Orton makes the save. The RKO puts Reigns down but Cena comes in with an AA to Orton before pinning Kane to keep the title at 18:15.
Rating: B. Good match but the ending never being in doubt hurt things a bit. Some of the near falls did have me thinking we might get a surprise but at the end of the day this was the best option they had. Cena keeps the title and now we’re heading to his showdown with Lesnar where Brock gets his win back next month.
Another Raw match on August 4, 2014.
Kane vs. Roman Reigns
Last man standing. Reigns hammers away to start as the announcers talk about the Network even more. They head outside with Reigns being hammered up against the barricade and then sent into the steps for a five count. Reigns is sent into the post a few more times as the announcers continue to hammer the $9.99 joke into the ground to the point where I’m laughing at it.
We take an early break and come back with Reigns reversing Kane into a chair wedged into the corner. Some charges into the corner have Kane in even more trouble and Roman hammers away with right hands. There’s the apron boot but Kane blocks a spear. A table is brought in and Kane counters a Superman Punch into a quick chokeslam to put Reigns through the wood for nine.
Kane is frustrated and sets up a chair in the middle of the ring. The tombstone is countered and Reigns hits a DDT onto the chair. Reigns hits the Superman Punch but charges into another chokeslam. Reigns slips out again and nails a bad spear to keep Kane down for the ten count at 15:16.
Rating: C-. Well that happened. I have no idea why but it happened. This idea of throwing gimmick matches onto the card is a really bad idea. It wasn’t a very good last man standing match either as there was no way Kane was going to win. Reigns beating Kane is a good thing, but not in an unnecessary gimmick match.
Here’s Reigns’ biggest match to date at Summerslam 2014.
Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns
Orton is mad at Roman for costing him the chance to be #1 contender. Roman pops him in the jaw to start and follows up with a headbutt. Orton is sent to the floor and into the barricade but he reverses Reigns hard into the steps. Back in and Orton slams him head first onto the mat before stomping on Reigns’ hand. A big superplex gets two for Randy and we hit the chinlock.
Roman fights up into a chinlock of his own but Orton falls back to break it up. Reigns grabs it again and squeezes very hard, only to get caught in a side slam for two. Back up and Reigns nails a Samoan drop before winning a slugout. Some running clotheslines have Orton in trouble and there’s the apron kick. Reigns is reversed into the post and barricade for two though and the fight goes back outside.
Randy throws him over the announcers’ table but gets caught by a Stunner over the ropes. Orton fights out of a superplex attempt but Roman muscles him up into a top rope Samoan drop for two. There’s the Superman Punch but the spear is countered into a very fast powerslam for a near fall. The RKO is countered but Reigns dives into a second attempt, only to kick out at a VERY close two. I bought that as a finish for a second there. Orton misses the Punt and walks into the spear for the pin at 16:41.
Rating: C. The match was good but not really good if that makes sense. The fact that Reigns was the obvious winner didn’t help, but at least the match was good on the way to the ending. Reigns kicking out of the RKO is a big moment for him as his rise to the top of the company continues. This was by far his biggest win to date.
Time for a six man on Raw, September 1, 2014.
Chris Jericho/John Cena/Roman Reigns vs. Kane/Randy Orton/Seth Rollins
HHH and Stephanie are at ringside. Reigns and Orton get things going with Roman quickly winning a slugout. A big clothesline drops Randy but Reigns pulls Rollins into the ring instead. Seth bails outside and we take a break. Back with Reigns hitting a Samoan drop for two on Orton. Rollins comes in with a shot to Reigns’ head for two and we hit the chinlock. Off to Kane for a chinlock of his own as the fans are getting restless.
Back to Randy who stomps Reigns’ head for two and kicks him down to the mat. Reigns finally gets in a clothesline but the hot tag brings in Jericho to face Rollins. The Lionsault has Rollins in trouble and there are the Walls, only to have Orton make a save. There’s a Superman Punch for Randy but Kane comes in with a chokeslam. Cena AA’s Kane, only to take the springboard knee from Seth. Jericho rolls up Rollins for two but gets kicked in the head. A Codebreaker puts Rollins down and we take a break.
We come back to Jericho fighting out of a chinlock but Rollins sends him into the corner. Rollins hits a running forearm to put the Canadian down and goes up top. Jericho pops up though and dropkicks Seth out of the air in a nice counter. Kane breaks up a hot tag attempt and puts on a chinlock of his own.
Jericho fights to his feet but dives into an uppercut for two. Orton can’t superplex Chris and gets knocked off the top, setting up a high cross body for two. Kane breaks up yet another tag attempt but Jericho nails him with a forearm and makes the real hot tag to Cena (BIG reaction for that). John cleans house and hits an AA on Kane before tagging out to Reigns for the spear and the pin at 22:54.
Rating: C+. This was the standard long match to end a bad show. Cena not getting to come in until the very end was a nice idea and let him explode all at once. Kane taking the fall was pretty clear and there’s nothing wrong with that. This was nothing special though and felt like a house show main event more than anything else.
We’ll wrap it up two weeks later on Raw, September 15, 2014.
Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
Don’t these two already have a match at Night of Champions? Seth speeds things up to start and snaps Roman’s throat across the top rope. A hard clothesline sends Rollins running to the floor but Roman catches him trying to come back in and sends him face first onto the concrete. Back in and another shot puts Rollins on the floor as Reigns is dominating. Rollins is thrown over the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Reigns missing the Apron Kick and getting caught by a suicide dive into the barricade.
Reigns quickly fights back and nails him in the face before hitting the Apron Kick. The Superman Punch looks to set up the spear but Seth leapfrogs him and nails a low superkick for two. Back up and Seth tries what looks like a Pedigree off the top but gets countered into a slow motion backdrop, only to have Rollins catch him in an impressive running buckle bomb across the ring for two more. Reigns gets back up, ducks a charge and hits the spear for the pin at 11:23.
Rating: B-. The match was good but why in the world do you have this match in full with a clean ending before they have the same match six days later? That’s some very odd booking and a sign that they don’t have enough people to fill in a three hour show every week. This is even worse when you consider how many people they have on the roster but how few they put any effort into.
Roman Reigns is clearly going to be a top star and you can tell the company is treating him as something special: as of October 15, 2014, he hasn’t been pinned or submitted in a singles match since he debuted. In a company where everyone from Cena to Bryan can lose matches clean on TV at the drop of a hat, that’s the highest praise you can get. I see him as a future Batista and there’s nothing wrong with a run like that.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Today is a guy you probably only know under one gimmick: John Nord.
Nord started in 1984 and we’ll pick things up in the AWA at Wrestlerock 1986.
Nord the Barbarian/King Kong Brody vs. Jimmy Snuka/Greg Gagne
A few notes here: Snuka is a mystery partner subbing for Jerry Blackwell (that’s for the better, trust me), this match originally went on second of the three cage matches, King Kong Brody is Bruiser Brody because of some legit complaint from Dick the Bruiser, and if Snuka/Gagne win, Verne gets 10 minutes in the cage with Sheik Adnan-Al Kaissie. This is announced as the main event, even though there could be more stuff after it. Oh and Nord the Barbarian is just called Barbarian and is more famous as the Berzerker.
Snuka gets zero fanfare at all. Gagne looks like a 1996 version of Chavo Guerrero. They have to tag here so the match is automatically dropped a few notches. Gagne starts with Brody. Greg gets in a few punches but Brody kicks him in the face, making Gagne look like he got shot. Off to Barbarian who gets punched back into his own corner. Off to Snuka for a death defying chinlock.
The match slows way down as Brody comes in and knocks Snuka down. Then they stand around. Then they stand around some more. Snuka does his leapfrogs but Brody knocks him right back down. Off to Gagne and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it makes the match way better. If nothing else he sells everything like death which is usually a cool thing to see.
Greg gets rammed into the cage to bust him open. Good piledriver by Brody gets two. Nelson turns into an annoying fanboy again but Gagne’s comeback is shortlived. He manages to send Nord into the cage and there’s the hot tag (with a pop) to Snuka. Off to Brody who is busted open. He yells a lot as Snuka hammers away on him.
Snuka gets in Superfly position but hits a headbutt instead. Nord interferes and Snuka is in trouble again. Everything breaks down and the heels get rammed into each other. Double dropkick puts Nord down and a double suplex does the same to Brody. Snuka rams into Gagne by mistake, but Snuka gets up and dropkicks Nord who trips over Gagne and gets pinned.
Rating: D. Oh boy did they screw this up. First of all, WHERE IS THE SUPERFLY SPLASH??? You bring in Jimmy Snuka and he doesn’t even hit the move he’s legendary for in the kind of match he’s legendary for hitting it in? Second, there was way too much heel control here. The idea is supposed to be faces control to start, Gagne opens, tag to Snuka for more dominance, back to Gagne, Gagne gets beaten down, hot tag, finish.
Instead it was faces control, heels control, faces comeback, faces screw up, faces steal a win. The problem is that it doesn’t allow the fans to build up momentum. This match had the pieces of a decent match, but they were all in the wrong order which is what made it hard to stay invested in. Also the lack of a splash hurt it a lot.
A few years later Nord would become Yukon John, a lumberjack as over the top as he would later be as the Berzerker. From the AWA, I believe in 1990.
Yukon Eric vs. The Menace
Generic masked guy. He bounces off the far bigger Eric and a big boot drops Menace again. A dropkick knocks him a third time and Yukon plants him with a powerslam. Eric howls a lot and drops a leg for the pin. Nord has an awesome look.
It was off to the WWF in early 1991 as the Berzerker, but first he was the Viking, with the exect same gimmick. Here’s his debut on Wrestling Challenge, February 16, 1991.
The Viking vs. David Eisley
Viking shoves him around and nails a big boot as this doesn’t look to last long. A dropkick does the same thing and Viking starts shouting HUSS a lot. Another big boot against the ropes drops Eisley again and a gordbuster knocks him silly. Viking lifts David up and throws him out to the floor like he’s nothing and it’s a countout.
Berzerker was in action at Survivor Series 1991.
Team Mustafa vs. Team Slaughter
Colonel Mustafa, Berzerker, Skinner, Hercules
Sgt. Slaughter, Tito Santana, Jim Duggan, Texas Tornado
A lot of these guys are on their way out. Hercules would be in WCW by May, Tornado would job to the stars until leaving in July as would Mustafa (Iron Sheik), and the rest of the guys would do nothing of note for the rest of their time in the company. Kerry (Tornado) looks high as a kite and almost falls off the apron getting into the ring. This is pretty recently after Slaughter’s face turn as he was a heel at Summerslam. This isn’t exactly the most talent laden match ever and the only feud is Slaughter vs. Mustafa.
Tito and Skinner start with Santana taking over with a headlock. There’s the flying forearm out of nowhere and Skinner hits the floor without a cover. Off to Berzerker vs. Tornado which would work a lot better down in Dallas. Berzerker (a crazy viking who tried to stab Undertaker with a sword) misses a dropkick and it’s off to Mustafa. After some very brief offense, Kerry tumbles to his corner and brings in Duggan to face Hercules, which was in the first ever match at Survivor Series.
Duggan gets taken down by double and triple teaming and it’s off to Mustafa. He loads up his curled boots (it’s a Sheik thing) and does nothing with them. Thanks for wasting our time with that. Duggan pounds away and backdrops Mustafa down before the hot tag to Slaughter. The big showdown is an atomic drop and a clothesline to Mustafa for the elimination.
Berzerker comes in with some clotheslines and a kick to the fat gut of Slaughter. A boot to Slaughter’s face puts him down and it’s off to Hercules for some two counts. Back to the viking who gets crotched on the top rope and kicked in the legs. Off to Duggan who clotheslines Berzerker to the floor and backdrops him back there a few seconds later. Tornado comes in and pounds away on him before it’s off to Hercules again. Tito gets a blind tag and hits a forearm to the back of the head (El Paso Del Muerte) for the pin and the elimination.
Skinner, the guy that owned now former developmental program FCW, comes in as it’s 4-2. When you have Skinner and Berzerker as your only guys left, the team is in big trouble. A blind tag brings in Slaughter who rolls up Skinner for the elimination. Slaughter whips Berzerker into Duggan’s clothesline for the elimination and the win.
Rating: F. The match sucked, it was never in doubt, and the biggest deal on the heel team was Skinner, who would get an IC Title shot soon after this. What a horrible match and one of the most worthless ones in the history of the show so far, which is covering quite a bit of ground. Nothing to see here at all.
Here he is in MSG on December 29, 1991.
Berzerker vs. British Bulldog
This should be short and relatively bitter. Bulldog’s music is rather hard to hear here. Crisscross to start and Berzerker kicks him in the head. Bulldog is a favorite in the Rumble because he won some other battle royal in England. Gorilla said the cup he won was ugly. What a great ambassador Gorilla is.
You can tell the fans aren’t exactly caring here, even though if the chart I saw is correct, this was the opener. No Fuji with Berzerker here for some reason. Camel clutch by Berzerker has Bulldog in something resembling trouble. Gorilla and Heenan talk about people in the Rumble as they don’t care at all here. It’s a shame that they have something to talk about here as Gorilla and Jesse could be hilarious when they got bored. Powerslam is blocked and Berzerker falls on him for the pin.
Rating: N. As in nah that didn’t really happen. I’m just so bored here that I wanted to do something to break up the monotony. Bulldog gets the worst rollup ever about a second later for the real pin.
Rating: D-. Boring match with these two managing to botch a rollup of all things. That’s HARD to do. This went nowhere at all and nothing at all came of it. I get that Bulldog is supposed to be getting a push, but wouldn’t the powerslam be a better way to do that? We really needed to protect John Nord?
Here’s an upgrade in opponent on Superstars, January 18, 1992.
Undertaker vs. Berzerker
Mr. Fuji steals the urn to start and Berzerker nails him with the shield and sword (yeah he hit him with a sword) but misses a stab attempt. A clothesline puts Berzerker on the floor, right in front of Fuji. He drops the urn but Berzerker dives off the apron to put Undertaker down again. The mats are pulled back and Undertaker gets piledriven on the concrete but he sits up a few seconds later. We get the slow stalk up the aisle and the villains leave. I’m not sure if this was a match or not but again Berzerker looked AWESOME.
Here’s a power tag match on June 3, 1992.
Undertaker/Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango/Berzerker
The good guys clean house to start until we get down to Undertaker vs. Berzerker in a tall slugout. This time it’s Undertaker getting the better of it but missing a charge in the corner and getting dropkicked out to the floor. The fight heads outside with Undertaker ramming him face first into the steps. Back in and it’s off to the Warrior but Shango hits him in the back with the voodoo stick.
The heels take over with some forearms to the back and actually make some nice tags to keep the fresh guy in. Warrior gets tied up in the ropes and stomps by Berzerker until he gets his arms free and backdrops the big man to the floor. The hot tag brings in Undertaker who chokeslams Berzerker for two. The flying clothesline drops Shango and everything breaks down with Warrior hitting a quick shoulder and splash to pin Berzerker.
Rating: D. Not much to this one but I’m still kind of astounded by how well Berzerker is moving out there. I liked Undertaker learning from getting beaten up by Berzerker before and adjusting in future matches. He’s always been a smart wrestler and that’s some good, basic psychology that so many wrestlers just miss. This was a standard house show match and was probably much better for the live crowd than someone watching elsewhere.
Another big tag match from Prime Time on July 21, 1992.
Ric Flair/Berzerker vs. Undertaker/Randy Savage
Savage is still WWF Champion here and starts with Flair. Ric takes him into the corner to start and WOOs in the champ’s face. Randy goes after the arm until he drops Flair a few times with a clothesline and shoulder. Off to Undertaker and Flair is already begging off into the corner. Chops and punches have the exact effects you would think they would on the dead man and he gorilla presses Flair down.
Berzerker finally comes in for the monster slugout and a big boot puts Undertaker on the floor. Back in and Undertaker slugs away before bringing Savage back in with a top rope ax handle. The heels take over on the champ with Flair putting on a chinlock. Berzerker puts him in the corner and kicks Savage into the post.
Randy gets beaten up on the floor even more until Undertaker comes over to scare them off. A slam onto the exposed concrete has Savage in even more trouble and Berzerker ties him up in the ropes. Randy kicks his way out though and makes the hot tag off to Undertaker. A quick tombstone plants the viking and Savage’s elbow is good for the pin.
Rating: C+. Much better match here with better workers to fill in the teams. Flair vs. Savage is one of the best feuds WWF had that people don’t remember enough about and this was another good, albeit short, performance from them. Fun match here that had more time to build and was better as a result.
Berzerker was in a dark match at Summerslam 1992.
Tatanka vs. Berzerker
This is the final dark match and is held right before the main event but I’m putting it here for the sake of simplicity. Berzerker wants a test of strength to start and easily takes the smaller Tatanka down. The Native American comes back by easily shoving Berzerker to the floor before they slug it out back inside. They collide after a crisscross but Berzerker misses a dropkick, allowing Tatanka to fire away on the leg.
A World’s Strongest Slam gets two on Tatanka before a regular slam puts him down outside the ring. Back in and Heenan makes Indian jokes as Berzerker kicks Tatanka in the ribs. A backdrop puts Berzerker on the floor before Tatanka starts his war dance back inside. The Papoose to Go is enough for the pin on the viking.
Rating: D. To give you an idea what this match was, think of nothing. Now take away any possible interest that nothing has and you’ll have this match. It was very dull and uninteresting and the fans clearly wanted to see the main event instead of more worthless wrestling. Tatanka would become a pretty big deal against Yokozuna in about a year.
Here’s another match on November 23, 1992.
Crush vs. Berzerker
We’re in Erie, Pennsylvania here and apparently this is going to be a classic. Gorilla and I need to have a chat about what it means to be a classic. Hayes likes Berzerker and thinks bCrush should have more of a mean streak. We get a test of strength and the power of Hawaii wins.
Apparently Mr. Fuji has left Berzerker. I’m sure it has nothing to do with that Yoko guy. He misses a big knee drop. Yeah he’s not inspired by Bruiser Brody AT ALL. Crush makes his comeback but manages to mess up an atomic drop. That’s hard to do. He was over as all goodness though so I can’t complain. Crush gets the Head Vice for the submission.
Rating: D+. Just a way to get Crush a win to keep him over which is fine. To say he was over is an understatement and this was just a way to get him over. This was short enough to not be that bad though, which helps a lot. Berzerker’s stock is starting to fall, even though it wasn’t very high in the first place.
Another match against a big name guy on January 2, 1993.
Berzerker vs. Mr. Perfect
Berzerker gets right in his face to start but gets chopped back. Perfect ducks a big boot and clothesline before a dropkick sends him out to the floor. Back in and Perfect misses a charge into the post but has to avoid a shot from the sword. A big boot puts Perfect down again but he backdrops Berzerker out to the floor. Cue Ric Flair for a distraction, though not a good enough one for Berzerker to get in any good shots. Flair leaves and the big guy is able to drop Perfect though and we take a break. Back with Berzerker getting two off a World’s Strongest Slam but he ducks his head and gets PerfectPlexed for the pin.
Rating: C-. Not the worst match in the world but the Flair interference stopped what they had going. The sword thing continues to be so over the top that it’s awesome, which is the best thing you can do for a character like Berzerker. I mean, he’s a viking with a sword and shield. How serious can you be with him?
We’ll jump way ahead now to a return run in WCW, starting on Nitro, January 5, 1998.
John Nord vs. Barbarian
You might remember Nord as the Berzerker from the early 90s. He’s part of a new wave of talent coming in apparently, which will also include a former WWF Tag Team Champion debuting later tonight. Nord is just a guy in white trunks and furry boots here. They clothesline each other and no one goes anywhere but another clothesline puts Barbarian on the floor. Nord, a big guy in his own right, hits a dive over the top to crush Barbarian but he stops to go after Jimmy Hart. Barbie rams him into the barricade but Nord sends him head first into the steps.
They whip each other into the barricade as this is way more energetic than you would expect it to be. Back in and Nord hits a Samoan drop for no cover followed by a series of elbow drops. Jimmy gets choked a bit but Barbarian hits a big boot to the jaw, sending Nord out to the floor. Back in and a pumphandle slam gets two for Barbarian before he chops Nord in the corner. Nord misses a charge into the corner and falls outside again, only to come back in with a middle rope elbow. A modified camel clutch by Nord (Nord was sitting almost on the mat while pulling back on the chin) is good for the submission.
Rating: C+. This was WAY better than I ever could have expected it to be as Nord looked pretty solid out there. Barbarian was his usual self but a bit more physical than he usually was, making for a pretty solid surprise here. I barely remember Nord at all around this time which is one of the fun parts of rewatching these shows. Good stuff here.
We’ll wrap it up with one more WCW match on Worldwide, July 4, 1998.
John Nord vs. Goldberg
A big boot immediately drops Goldberg but he pops up and clotheslines Nord to the floor. They head outside (the Worldwide set is interesting as the ring is surrounded by a platform, meaning the guys are just under the top rope when they’re standing otuside) with Goldberg slugging him around but getting punched a few times back inside. Not that they matter as the spear and Jackhammer are good for the pin. Goldberg would win the World Title two days later.
I was expecting a boring, mostly comedic set of matches here but Nord was actually awesome with some great flexibility and a look that made him even more intimidating. If you gave him a serious gimmick in the WWF, he could have been a big deal with all of his athletic gifts. This one was a very nice surprise.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
This show has a strange build to it as we’ve seen almost everything there is to see for the setup but I don’t know if WWE can give us the payoff we need due to the lack of the violence. We always hear about the violence inside the Cell and how insane it’s supposed to be but there’s a good chance we’re not getting anything close to that. Let’s get to it.
We’ll start with what is likely going to be the main event and say Cena beats Orton. That’s unfortunate as Orton vs. Lesnar could headline a few PPVs in a row but it looks like we’re going to get another Cena vs. Lesnar match which really doesn’t have a huge audience. Orton is on the brink of a face turn too and face Orton with the RKO against Super Beast Brock would have me drooling. Instead though it’s probably going to be Cena and it’s probably going to headline the show because that’s what WWE seems to think we want to see.
Next up is the match that has had the build and should be the main event since Cena and Orton don’t need it, but instead will probably be the show stealer that people want to see close things out. I think Rollins beats Ambrose due to some shenanigans but the drama is going to be amazing. Ambrose could be a huge deal, but I don’t see him winning while holding the briefcase. Unfortunately Reigns is kind of holding the match hostage and there are so many possibilities with him in there. I just can’t see Ambrose winning, but I think Rollins takes the beating in a lifetime to get the win.
Nikki beats Brie due to interference of some sort. There’s just no logic in having Brie win, but it means I don’t have to listen to BRIE MODE twice in a row. Nikki wins and is all evil to Brie for a month, setting up yet another match that drags the show down. Somehow Brie is the best face the division has at this point, but I have no idea why I’m supposed to care about these two fighting.
Sheamus beats Miz to retain the title and we get Miz vs. a face Mizdow in the future. Damien has a future due to pure hard work. Imagine that.
Rusev beats Big Show, hopefully by TKO. These two had a match that was way better than it had any right to be recently so maybe they can do it again here.
AJ beats Paige in another match we don’t need to see again.
The Dusts retain in a match that feels like we’ve seen it a dozen times due to all the six man tags.
Ziggler retains over Cesaro, making the losses mean nothing whatsoever.
Overall the show has me interested but my expectations are low due to the violence not being allowed. That’s the problem with PG: they can talk the matches up as being the most violent things you’ll ever see but they can’t deliver due to the restrictions. There’s nothing wrong with the restrictions and you certainly can have a violent match in the Cell in this era, but I don’t know if the young guys can pull the pathos to make it work.
As for the other Cell match….I just do not care. I’ve seen these two fight about 40 times now and I do not want to see it again. I don’t care that it was in the Cell, I don’t care that it’s for the title shot and I don’t care that it’s likely going to headline the show. The interest isn’t there and it’s high time WWE figures that out. They’ve WAY overplayed this match and there’s almost nothing left for them to do anymore. When they’ve traded the title so many times before and talked so much about how big and epic their rivalry is, I just do not have enough interest in seeing these two fight.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Smackdown – October 24, 2014: In Search Of A Gas Station
Smackdown Date: October 24, 2014
Location: Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s the final show before Hell in a Cell and things are all set. The main story coming out of Raw is Seth Rollins finally attacking Randy Orton, his partner on Monday, by Curb Stomping him to end the show. This is likely going to help set up Orton’s face turn and then Orton vs. Rollins, which could be some very interesting stuff down the line. Let’s get to it.
Here’s Ambrose to open things up. Ambrose talks about defying the laws of physics because he keeps getting back up no matter what the Authority does to him. Yeah it hurts to get knocked down so many times, but the difference between someone like he and Mick Foley is that Foley is a nice guy. Dean doesn’t have anything to live for beside hurting the people that hurt him. He’s been waiting for this day since Rollins stabbed him in the back for business so if Rollins has any final words, come out here and say them now.
Rollins pops up on screen and says Dean can’t call him out. Seth is the one that does the calling out and he’ll be doing that later tonight. It was always Dean believing that something special was coming from the Shield but Seth was just using it to get ready for his big moment. On Sunday, Dean Ambrose goes away and Rollins can cash in his contract to become World Champion. Dean wraps it up by saying they’ll burn together on Sunday, but Seth will burn alone.
Miz/Damien Mizdow vs. Los Matadores
Sheamus is on commentary. Damien hammers on Diego to start and it’s quickly off to Miz who gets chopped in the corner. Miz comes right back with ten forearms to the chest to annoy Sheamus but the champ is just bored. It’s back to Damien, but Fernando kicks him in the face to take over and make the tag to Diego. They head outside for a Figure Four on Diego as Miz puts one on Fernando for the submission at 2:56.
Bo Dallas interrupts the Dusts’ odd chat of the week. They’re in a six man later and Bo thinks they just need to Bolieve. Goldust: “What a weirdo.”
AJ Lee vs. Alicia Fox
Still non-title despite Fox pinning AJ on Monday. Fox takes her down to start but gets caught in a guillotine choke. Paige, in Fox’s corner, shouts instructions to get out of the hold and Fox takes over for the first time. Lee fights out of a chinlock but gets slammed down with ease. Paige gets on the apron but AJ slams them together, setting up a rollup for the pin at 2:04. So AJ now needs heel miscommunication to beat Alicia Fox?
Remember that Wyatt Family video where the Family is free but Bray is never free? Well it’s airing again here.
We get a sitdown interview from earlier in the week with Big Show to talk about what happened with the soldier on Monday. Show asked for the interview and we see a clip from the incident to get things going. Big Show talks about how personal some of the things Rusev say can get but Rusev attacked the soldier when the incident was over. He has a lot of friends who are Russians (seriously) and he’s had to apologize to them more than once.
Show has been lucky enough to go around the world and meet some wealthy people, but those aren’t his heroes. He gets to meet his heroes when he goes around the world and meets the servicemen and women who defend this country. A few years back he met a two star general who broke down when meeting Big Show because it was such a big deal.
Now we get a clip of Big Show’s “idol” (to be fair Show laughs this off) Hulk Hogan saying no one is more American than the Big Show. On Sunday, Show is going to feel the power of America and it’s going to carry him to victory. We close out the interview where Show says he can’t keep his emotions under control but he’ll knock Rusev out for a pin on Sunday. This was longer than it needed to be and I see no reason for it not to take place in the arena.
Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro
Cesaro is challenging after pinning Dolph on Monday. Why the Divas didn’t do the same isn’t quite clear. They hit the mat to start with Ziggler actually in control but getting nailed in the ribs. Dolph flips out of a monkey flip attempt and gets two off a rollup. A nice pinfall reversal sequence ends with Ziggler nailing a dropkick for two but Cesaro sends him shoulder first into the post.
Back from a break with Cesaro putting on a sleeper but having to break up Ziggler’s sleeper a few seconds later. Dolph’s hurricanrana is countered so he comes back with a sunset flip for two instead. The running DDT is countered into a spin out slam for two as Cesaro is getting frustrated. A big boot and powerbomb get two more but the Swing is countered into a small package for two. Cesaro loads up an uppercut but gets Zig Zagged to retain the title at 11:25.
Rating: C+. Nice match but was there a need to have Dolph lose via pin on Monday? Couldn’t you accomplish the same thing by having them both get counted out or something like that, setting up a big match on Sunday? Heaven forbid of course because we need to give Cesaro another win over a champion to make him strong, even though you could do the same by having him Neutralize Ziggler on the floor and win by countout. That might be too much creativity though so it’s clear why it didn’t happen.
Nikki Bella/Cameron/Summer Rae vs. Brie Bella/Naomi/Natalya
Only Brie gets an entrance because we need BRIE MODE. Brie and Cameron get things going and Cameron actually manages to not botch anything in the first ten seconds. She elbows Brie down and starts a YES chant before it’s off to Summer for a clothesline. We get a totally genuine Brie chant as she kicks Summer down but Cameron takes Naomi off the apron. Nikki comes in for the Rack and the pin on Brie at 2:02. Well that happened.
Post match Nikki says for thirty days, she’ll be the evil sister and Brie can be the Cinderbella. This is what I sit through for you people. Remember that.
Hell in a Cell by the numbers.
Video on Orton vs. Cena.
Hogan picks Cena to win on Sunday.
Usos/Mark Henry vs. Goldust/Stardust/Bo Dallas
Dallas runs from Henry to start so it’s Stardust and Jey starting instead. A headbutt has Stardust in trouble so it’s off to Jimmy vs. Goldust. The Usos clothesline Goldust out to the floor and we take a break. Back with Stardust clotheslining Jimmy before it’s off to Goldist for some choking. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Jimmy fights up for an enziguri. The hot tag brings in Henry for clotheslines as everything breaks down. Jey dives onto Goldust and it’s Dallas alone with Mark. Henry throws him into the corner but has to World’s Strongest Slam Stardust, allowing Bo to hook the Bodog for the pin on Henry at 8:00.
Rating: D+. This was every six man tag with two different people to supplement the standard tag match that we’ve seen a half dozen times now. I don’t know what there is to gain by having Dallas pin Henry again as you would think we got the idea when he beat him twice in a row, but that might require a fresh thought from creative.
Ziggler is in the back bragging about his wins when Cesaro comes in and says Dolph got lucky. Cesaro calls the title the most prestigious in the company and asks for a 2/3 falls match for the title on Sunday.
Here are Rollins and the Stooges to the ring where there are some tables covered with weapons. Rollins says he bought in for the millionth time and says it’s foreign to everyone here in Kansas. There are no rules on Sunday so let’s have a preview of what Ambrose is in store for on Sunday. Seth starts with the handcuffs because Dean has surprised him from different places. Now he can have Ambrose in one place.
Next up is a screwdriver to prove that Dean has been a screwup all along. Seth picks up a lead pipe to prove that Dean is indeed destructable before moving on to a chair which stared the whole thing. We get to the point now as Rollins calls Dean out because this is his chance to have things one on one.
There’s no Ambrose though so maybe he’s smarter than Seth thought he was. We see a clip from the end of Raw as Ambrose sneaks up behind Seth and nails him with a kendo stick shot. The Stooges come in but Dean fights them off and tries a powerbomb through a table. The Stooges finally do their job and take Dirty Deeds before being elbowed through the tables to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. This was about everything other than the Orton vs. Cena match which makes me think that it’s getting the main event slot, despite it having no need to do so. The problem with Ambrose vs. Rollins is they have to go insane with the violence to justify everything they’ve talked about and I don’t think that’s going to be allowed. The show should be entertaining but I don’t know if they’ll be able to take it far enough or be able to resist going with Orton vs. Cena as the main event. Nice build show this week but it’s clear that these stories are almost out of gas.
Results
Miz/Damien Mizdow b. Los Matadores – Figure Four to Fernando
AJ Lee b. Alicia Fox – Rollup
Dolph Ziggler b. Cesaro – Zig Zag
Nikki Bella/Summer Rae/Cameron b. Brie Bella/Naomi/Natalya – Rack to Brie
Goldust/Stardust/Bo Dallas b. Usos/Mark Henry – Bodog to Henry
NXT – October 23, 2014: My Kind Of Champion
NXT Date: October 23, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Alex Riley, Rich Brennan
NXT continues to be the show gives me the most hope in wrestling as you can see the big stories building and they’re as well put together as anything else in wrestling today. You can see Zayn vs. Neville coming and you can hear the roar of the crowd for the near falls. There’s other good stuff coming too so let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Ascension vs. Jason Jordan/Tye Dillinger
Jordan takes Viktor down by the waist to start but gets chopped hard back into the corner. Off to Konnor for a double shoulder and a big stomping in the corner. Konnor charges into an elbow and Dillinger comes in off the tag, only to walk into the flapjack. Fall of Man is good for the pin at 2:30.
Hideo Itami comes out post match but gets destroyed with ease.
CJ Parker vs. Tyler Breeze
Parker is quickly sent to the apron and then out to the floor as Breeze is more aggressive than usual. Back in and Parker hammers away before a top rope ax handle gets two. An injured Mojo Rawley comes out as Breeze punches CJ out of the air. A rollup gets two for Parker before the Beauty Shot is good for the pin at 2:56.
Vaudevillains vs. Buddy Murphy/Wesley Blake
English cranks on Blake’s arm to start before it’s off to the partners. Gotch takes him down and the fans call him manly. The villains start taking Murphy apart by the arm, including slamming it onto the mat for two. Blake slips over Aiden’s back and teases a rollup but crawls over to make the tag instead. Smart move there. Wesley cleans house but Aiden makes a blind tag, setting up a European uppercut from Gotch to the back of the head and a running neckbreaker from English (combined to form the Gentlemen’s Congress) for the pin at 4:21.
Rating: C-. Basic tag match here with the Vaudevillains clearly as the next opponents for the Dragons. They have a good gimmick that could set up a new team with a big win and that’s all you need most of the time. Good little match here and the Aussies (Blake and Murphy) have a future of their own.
Bayley vs. Sasha Banks
Bayley chases her into the ropes a few times before finally taking her down and slamming Sasha’s head into the mat. A knee drop gets two on Sasha and she armdrags Sasha out of the corner. Sasha finally kicks her in the ribs to take over and stands on Bayley’s hair for good measure. A running slap gets two and Sasha cranks on both arms at the same time. Back up and Bayley sends her into corner and gets two off a middle rope back elbow to the jaw. Not that it matters though as the Backstabber sets up the Bank Statement to make Bayley tap at 5:13.
Rating: C-. Standard Divas match here with Sasha continuing her climb up the card for a showdown with Charlotte at the next Takeover show. Sasha may not have it in the ring as well as many others but at least she has the character down, which is far more important than the in ring abilities.
Sasha goes after her post match but Becky Lynch runs down, only to turn heel and beat Bayley down herself.
NXT Title: Titus O’Neil vs. Adrian Neville
Titus is challenging and we get some big match intros. The champ grabs a headlock to start before dropkicking him into the corner. Adrian tries to flip again and finally gets caught by a charge to take over very slowly. Titus sets Neville on the top rope and kicks him down to the floor for a big crash and two back inside. We take a break and come back with Titus putting on a bearhug. Adrian slaps him in the head to escape and nails a kick in the head. O’Neil charges into a boot in the corner and the Red Arrow retains the title at 10:02.
Rating: D. Get Titus out of NXT NOW. The guy is dragging down good wrestlers because he has almost no energy out there and is doing the most generic power guy act I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t help that he’s billed as a WWE star but Neville has accomplished more in his career in NXT than Titus has ever accomplished in WWE.
Post match Sami comes out for a congratulation but says he’s on a mission to become NXT Champion. Adrian says anywhere and any time because Sami can’t win the big one.
Overall Rating: C. That ending has me drooling for the next Takeover show because Neville is being built up to be an unbeatable champion instead of the same cowardly heel that we almost always get. By the time we get to the next Takeover, both guys are going to look unbeatable, but that’s what Sami has looked like going into every big match he’s had. The rest of the show wasn’t much but it sets up some stuff for the future. Hopefully we get there soon though as this treading water is getting a bit hard to take.
Results
Ascension b. Jason Jordan/Tye Dillinger – Fall of Man to Dillinger
Tyler Breeze b. CJ Parker – Beauty Shot
Vaudevillains b. Buddy Murphy/Wesley Blake – Gentlemen’s Congress to Blake
Sasha Banks b. Bayley – Bank Statement
Adrian Neville b. Titus O’Neil – Red Arrow
Wrestler of the Day – October 24: Steve Lombardi
Today it’s the most famous loser in WWE history: Steve Lombardi.
Lombardi started off under his real name in 1983 and we’ll pick things up on February 11, 1984.
Steve Lombardi vs. Iron Sheik
Sheik bows to Blassie before we get going. A few kicks to the ribs and the camel clutch end this quick. The match ran about 30 seconds.
Off to a pretty famous show with the Brawl To End It All.
Battle Royal
Sika, Luis Rivera, Butcher Vachon, Antonio Inoki, Tony Garea, Jay Strongbow, Afa, Steve Lombardi, Dick Murdoch, Bob Orton, Adrian Adonis, Rene Goulet, Ron Shaw, Charlie Fulton, Terry Daniels, Iron Sheik, Tito Santana, Paul Orndorff, Sgt. Slaughter, Samu
This is of the 20 man persuasion and is the last match before we go on MTV. In other words, everyone that was on the card tonight other than Hogan and Valentine and Backlund plus three other guys that I don’t feel like figuring out. Slaughter goes right after Sheik and of course it’s too nuts to really call. Lombardi is out. Orndorff’s tights say O. P. Isn’t that backwards?
Orndorff is gone as Gene isn’t on commentary here. Strongbow is out and looks very old. Slaughter and Daniels are partners so they’re working together. Orton hits the floor twice but never over the top. Ok scratch that as he and Sheik are gone. Scratch that scratching as Orton is still in. Vachon is out.
This is of course very slow paced with not much going on at all. Adonis is gone and he’s ticked off about it. And of course he won’t leave. He’s still a biker dude at this point. Murdoch is gone and won’t leave either. Ok so he’s not out. This is confusing. Fulton is out. Not a lot is happening at all here. The Samoans are dominating for the most part.
Ok so Adonis is still in too? What the heck is going on? He goes out AGAIN but through the second rope this time. Shaw was eliminated and is back in anyway. Santana keeps Goulet from putting Slaughter out. Adonis, Slaughter and Murdoch all go out in about 4 seconds. There are about 10 left. Afa goes out and that gives us ten.
Tito is out and so is Sika. Rivera goes out and I can’t really tell who is left. Daniels gets us down to six when he goes out. Samu goes out I think and it’s Inoki, Goulet, Orton, Shaw and Garea. If you can’t get the winner from that list you have no business reading this list. Enziguri puts out Orton in some of the funniest selling I can ever remember. Garea is put out, leaving only Inoki as a face in there. Heel miscommunication puts Shaw out and Inoki wins easily.
Rating: D. Boring match here but the crowd was hot for it. This was just to give the fans something to get excited about as we went to the MTV show. Battle royals are usually solid for getting a crowd going and this was no exception. Boring match but the crowd liked it so I guess it did its job.
Off to the Superstars era, starting on January 24, 1987.
Steve Lombardi vs. Koko B. Ware
LET THE JOBBERS EXPLODE! Lombardi would become the Brooklyn Brawler soon enough. He beats up Roma who is still there after getting beaten down. That’s probably his biggest accomplishment of the decade. Fink does another voiceover and advertises Special Delivery Jones.
Dang that card must have sucked. Lombardi hits a decent spinning neckbreaker. Not bad at all. Koko has a muscle shirt on which looks very odd on him. The darker skinned jobber takes over and looks completely stupid. Lombardi is tough apparently. Koko hits the missile dropkick after WAY too long of an amount of time on offense to get the win.
Rating: C-. Longer match here but not terrible I guess. It’s fine for what it was is a good way to put this. The fans seemed to boo the ending though which is rather odd to say the least. Boring stuff but not terrible at all. At the ending of the day though, Brawler probably should be in the Hall of Fame over Ware and that says a lot.
And again on February 7 of the same year.
Outback Jack vs. Steve Lombardi
Seriously, how did I never make this guy OCW Champion (a lot of you won’t get that reference)? Don’t you always love how over the top wrestlers and characters like Jim and Jack have such great wrestling training? Isn’t that amusing? Lombardi gets some offense in here and controls for a few seconds. Jack is really bad. He wins with a bulldog that would be called a clothesline to the back of the head later named the Boomerang. Now if he used a clothesline to the front, he could be world champion for 9 months.
Rating: F+. It went long enough and wasn’t a total squash. That being said, it was just boring. Yeah Piper’s Pit is next and it’s kind of the biggest angle ever so that’s all you get here.
Some happier times on February 11, 1989 with Lombardi now known as the Brooklyn Brawler.
Red Rooster vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Best of? Seriously? Oh these commentators could make my head hurt. I think we’re in Philadelphia here but I’m not positive. This was a feud coming off of Mania and Rooster rebelling against Heenan, so Bobby sent Brawler after him. Yeah there’s a reason why he never went anywhere. Brawler is a force to be reckoned with apparently. That’s just comical. He’s not a great wrestler though. Hayes is annoying as all goodness a lot of the time.
Again, this is on the Best of the WWF…why? Hayes’ latest great insight is that Brawler is a brawler. Oh that makes my head hurt. We get a close up of the Brawler and Hayes says he’s not a very good looking man. This is closing in on ten minutes and it’s just bare bones stuff. I think someone hit a hip toss for the biggest move of the match. Rooster gets a sunset flip for the pin and next to no reaction.
Rating: D. For the Brawler, this would indeed be considered better times. Oh man this was boring. Just WAY too long for a match with the Brooklyn Brawler in there. Also I can’t stand Terry Taylor so that has something to do with it also. I know you can have a decent match with really basic moves, but this wasn’t it.
Another jump forward to MSG on December 29, 1991.
Chris Walker vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Walker is some muscle head that I’m sure Vince, ahem, enjoyed a few times in order to get a job. He’s awful as Brawler carries him to a bad match. I shudder to think what it would have been like without him. Walker looks a bit like Kerry Von Erich if he was more muscular. The guy can jump though. This is his debut apparently.
Brawler takes over for a bit and gets in his jobber offense. Gorilla wants Hulk to win the Rumble. Well of course he does. Did Gorilla EVER cheer against Hogan? Even against other faces? Walker looks good and that’s all he has going for him it seems. Small package gets two. Top rope cross body ends Brawler.
Rating: N/A. Just a squash and nothing too impressive. Walker was about as uninteresting as you could imagine. He’s not horrible that is, but he’s a body and a decent jumping ability and that’s about it. Nothing special here at all, much like the rest of Walker’s career despite his great look.
Time for a new gimmick on Wrestling Challenge on September 25, 1994 as the Brawler becomes a walking baseball. Just go with it.
Abe Knuckleball Schwarts vs. George Anderson
The character was introduced as a reference to the Major League Baseball strike because “this exists” is the definition of comedy at this point in WWF. Anderson hiptosses him down but gets planted with a neckbreaker for two. Schwarts throws him to the floor as we get a baseball themed inset interview which is as bad as you would think. Even Monsoon says it’s bad. Back in and Abe gets a quick pin off a superplex.
Another jump to March 24, 1997 on Raw.
Flash Funk vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Funk takes him into the corner and hammers away, only to get kicked in the face. A hurricanrana gets two on the Brawler and Funk hits a reverse t-bone suplex. Funk’s standing moonsault hits knees but he comes back with a dropkick and throws the Brawler outside. Back in and the Brawler runs into a superkick, setting up the 450 to give Flash the pin. Nothing match.
We’ll jump ahead to February 28, 2000 on Raw for a bigger challenge.
The Rock vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Brawler gets in some shots in the corner but it’s the Rock Bottom to end it in about 40 seconds.
From Smackdown on July 6, 2000.
HHH vs. Brooklyn Brawler/Kaientai
Elimination tag. The trio wisely gangs up on HHH and stomps him down into the corner. Funaki hooks a headscissors and the Brawler gets two off a swinging neckbreaker. HHH slugs Kaientai down but gets clotheslined out to the floor. Taka’s Asai moonsault hits Funaki but Brawler is right there to chop away. He walks into a facebuster for two though as Taka makes the save. Kaientai gets back in and a pair of Pedigrees get rid of them both in about 30 seconds. It’s down to the Brawler vs. HHH but HHH makes the mistake of throwing the referee down. Cue Chris Jericho to lay out HHH with a Lionsault to give Brawler the huge upset.
Rating: D. What exactly are you expecting here? It’s there for the surprise ending and to enhance Jericho vs. HHH. Still though, the Brooklyn Brawler pinning HHH at the height of his powers is something worth a chuckle at least. If you want to see this done better, watch Taka vs. HHH from earlier in the year. Taka loses but he made it far more interesting than it had any right to be.
Another jump to Vengeance 2003.
Bar Room Brawl
Shannon Moore, Doink the Clown, Faarooq, Bradshaw, Brother Love, Nunzio, Matt Hardy, Chris Kanyon, Danny Basham, Doug Basham, The Easter Bunny, Sean O’Haire, John Hennigan, Orlando Jordan, Funaki, Los Conquistadores, The Brooklyn Brawler, Johnny Stamboli, Chuck Palumbo, Matt Cappotelli, and Spanky.
There’s a bar set up in the arena and we’re just going to fight in there. Los Conquistadores are Rob Conway and Johnny Jeter in case you’re wondering. Aaron Stevens is the Easter Bunny. He was on Smackdown for a cup of coffee as Idol Stevens in like 05 or 06. McCool managed him. John Hennigan is more commonly known as John Morrison, and this Doink is played by Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore.
In essence, this is a big OVW party as a ton of these guys were in OVW at the time. Most of the jobbers don’t get intros. Spanky is up on the bar dancing. Bradshaw says the rules are that the last man drinking wins as we’re testing the toughness and their livers. Ok that’s creative. Brother Love wants to pray before we start. Naturally it’s just a massive fight with no rhyme or reason to it. The Easter Bunny is drinking bears and getting punched. This is wrong.
O’Haire beats the APA up with pool cues. This is idiotic. Brother Love beats up Shannon Moore. I’d think that sums up why no one buys him. The Easter Bunny goes through a window. A bunny watching this would be traumatized for life. Hardy can’t break a table which is kind of funny.
There’s nothing of any kind of logic going on here at all. Funaki passes out from beer. Bradshaw beats up Brother Love and I guess that gives him the win. He’s the last man standing even though Farroorq is standing next to him.
Rating: N/A. This was a waste of about 5 minutes. Moving on.
And again to ECW on SyFy on August 1, 2006.
Brooklyn Brawler vs. Kurt Angle
Ankle lock. Do you really need another detail?
From Raw on July 12, 2010. Sadly enough I was there for this.
Santino Bunch vs. Regal Bunch
Her video is literally nothing but clips from the Brady Bunch. No one under the age of 15 gets this at all as she’s just some old woman. It’s weird seeing a Boyle County (big old corn fed Kentucky high school football team) shirt on WWE TV. Florence is the announcer here and says she’s feeling groovy. It’s Regal, Ryder (with regular tights now), Primo and Doink (I’d bet on Nick Dinsmore, aka Eugene) vs. Santino, Khali, Kozlov and Goldust. That’s actually a fairly accomplished face team.
Henderson gets a MUCH better reaction here than she did in the video earlier. Wow apparently it was Steve Lombardi as Doink, more commonly known as the Brooklyn Brawler. The captains start us off as Santino has been less annoying lately. Florence puts on Regal’s robe and Santino goes Cobra on us. I wonder if he’s Cobra Commander.
It’s a big mess already and here’s Doink. The crowd only cared about him for the sake of comedy. Khali comes in and falls victim to a squirt gun. A big chop ends this in like a minute. Khali’s music really is good. Henderson is a sport here and at least seems like she wants to be there which is a very good thing if nothing else. She kisses Khali afterwards which is disturbing.
Rating: N/A. Although anything with these 8 guys can’t be incredibly good. Thankfully it seems that the guest host concept is ending. Shame it’s only 7 months too late but whatever.
Raw, July 2, 2012.
Heath Slater vs. Doink The Clown
This is basically a squash with Slater hitting his spinning sleeper mat slam (didn’t that have a name?) for the pin at 1:20.
We’ll wrap it up with a pay per view match at TLC 2012.
3MB vs. Alberto Del Rio/The Miz/Brooklyn Brawler
You know what? Why not? He’s in a Brooklyn Nets jersey as apparently he’s abandoned the Yankees (Bronx, not Brooklyn) shirt. Ignore those RYDER chants of course. Del Rio and Slater start things off with Alberto in control. Off to Brawler who beats up Mahal a bit before getting punched down by Heath. Brawler avoids a middle rope knee drop as we hear about 3MB having their tattoos messed up. Not hot tag brings in Miz who gets two on Jinder off a DDT. Del Rio drives Drew into the remnants of the announce table. The Finale takes down Mahal and the Brawler gets the win off a Boston Crab at 3:37.
Rating: D. It should have been Ryder. Seriously, what else do you want me to say here?
Again, what else do you want me to say here? It’s the freaking Brooklyn Brawler. The guy has a career record of like 3-3948584 but he’s still going to get a nostalgia pop when he comes out. He never was a big deal but he was around for the better part of twenty years. That’s not bad for a loser, though I have to wonder, in kayfabe terms, why in the world did he keep a job?
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Impact Wrestling – October 22, 2014: Is That A Light Up Ahead?
Impact Wrestling Date: October 22, 2014
Location: Sands Bethlehem Events Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz
We’re closing in on the Lashley vs. Roode showdown with the champion seeming to have some issues with the rest of the Trio. Other than that we have the start of a tag team tournament for a shot at the titles at some point in the future. I kind of like TNA just doing the week to week TV stuff instead of building to meaningless PPVs for a change. It works for NXT most of the time so why not TNA too? Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Lashley vs. Roode from a few weeks ago and then Bobby winning the four way last week to earn another shot.
The Wolves want the tournament to start so they can have some new opponents.
Matt Hardy comes out and introduces his partner for the tournament: Jeff Hardy. Well that was anti-climactic.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Hardys vs. BroMans
Jesse/DJZ here. Matt and DJZ start things off as Tenay and Taz are already in their own world. The guys in the ring (as in the guys the show is actually supposed to be about) trade headlocks until Matt takes him down and slams DJZ’s head into the mat over and over. Off to Jeff for Poetry in Motion to give Matt two. The Hardys go old school with the Spin Cycle (think both guys doing a half wheelbarrow suplex) but it’s quickly off to Jesse to take over.
Jeff kicks him down with ease before it’s back to Matt for a double belly to back. The BroMans are sent into each other but the distraction lets Jesse dropkick Matt down to take over. DJZ cranks on an armbar until Matt jawbreaks his way to freedom and tags in Jeff. The better Hardy cleans house with dropkicks and a gordbuster followed by the Whisper in the Wind. Jesse loads up a gorilla press but Matt tags himself in and it’s Twist/Swanton for the pin at 6:19.
Rating: C-. Just a basic tag match here that we’ll list under “what else would you expect to happen?” I can’t imagine the Hardys getting another shot after the Series blew the roof off as it would defeat the purpose of having a tournament. I’m also wondering if there are eight teams to fill out brackets as the division barely exists at this point. Decent match though.
Here’s Bram to address his surprise attack on D-Von last week. He loves hearing something being driven through a human’s skin, just like when he drove Janice into Abyss. Bram is the new king of hardcore and D-Von is his target because he’s called a hardcore legend. Whatever it takes, Bram will make sure everyone fears his name. This brings out D-Von and the beating is quickly on. Bram fights back and they head to the floor until security breaks it up in the ring. Angle comes out and makes a hardcore match between the two for later.
Brittany comes up to Samuel Shaw in the back and says she’d love it if he won tonight.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Low Ki/Samoa Joe vs. Samuel Shaw/Gunner
Joe sends Shaw into the corner and hammers away to start before nailing an enziguri for good measure. Off to Ki for a springboard kick to the face but Gunner nails him with a clothesline. Brittany comes down to be in Shaw’s corner as Ki chops away at Gunner. The heels (kind of?) start double teaming Ki but Gunner tells Shaw to get rid of Brittany.
The distraction lets Ki avoid a middle rope dive, allowing for the hot tag to Joe. Things speed up with Joe hammering away and getting two of his own off a running kick to the face. Brittany hooks Gunner’s leg for no apparent reason, allowing Ki to kick him into the Clutch from Joe for the submission at 4:36.
Rating: D+. This was more storytelling than anything else as Gunner and Shaw continue to do….whatever it is that they’re doing. They’ve been going on with this for months now and I’m really not sure where they’re going with it. The match was nothing of interest but at least didn’t take up too much time.
Shaw stands next to Brittany but Gunner comes up to yell at her. Samuel nails him with a chair and goes evil again before kissing Brittany.
Ethan Carter III says he can feel it coming in the air tonight. He thinks a Tag Team Title reign with Tyrus would be a good buildup to his World Title win. Spud might be in the building tonight so why doesn’t he find a friend to get in the ring with Ethan and his new friend? Because he’s scared.
Lashley is asked about the title match with Roode but MVP cuts him off and says it’s just another day at the office. King says he and MVP are in the tournament.
Rebel vs. Angelina Love
Love doesn’t show up but here’s Havok instead to destroy Rebel. Gail Kim charges out for the big brawl with the champion until security breaks it up.
Video on Roode vs. Lashley, which I believe is the same video that opened the show.
Angle thinks we’ll raise the stakes in the contract signing later tonight.
Bram vs. D-Von
Hardcore. They start fighting on the floor before D-Von takes him inside for a release flapjack. It’s already back on the floor with D-Von in full control and sending him into the barricade. There’s a bottle of water to the head and Bram goes into steps for good measure. Back in and D-Von nails him in the head with a trashcan lid before hitting a one man Conchairto on the trashcan lid onto Bram’s head.
Bram comes back with a trashcan lid shot of his own because apparently he’s immune to concussions. He shouts that D-Von is nothing and gets a low blow for his efforts. D-Von loads up What’s Up on the trashcan but Magnus comes out with a kendo stick shot for the save, allowing Bram to use the metal bar for the pin at 5:57.
Rating: D. It’s not even that the match was terrible but it’s uninteresting. D-Von just isn’t interesting as a singles guy but at least he’s putting someone over at this stage in his career. Bram already has more star power than Magnus has almost ever shown and has a future, hopefully as more than just a hardcore guy.
Anderson and Melendez are in the tournament.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Kenny King/MVP vs. Chris Melendez/Mr. Anderson
MVP and King are quickly knocked out to the floor but we settle down to Anderson vs. King. Mr. grabs a headlock to take over but MVP trips him up from the floor, allowing King to kick him in the head for two. MVP taunts Melendez with a tag in the corner like a true heel should before hooking Anderson in an arm crank. A running boot to the side of the head gets two but a double clothesline puts both guys down. Melendez and King come in off the tags with Chris cleaning house as everything breaks down. In the melee, King rolls up Melendez with a handful of tights for the pin at 4:55.
Rating: D+. Another middle of the ropad match here as the stories are now being applied to the tournament. That’s not the worst idea in the world and sets up some interesting matchups in the second round. Nothing great here or anything but it got the job done and kept this story going.
Eric Young fires Spud up and they’re in the tournament tonight.
The Wolves do a quick interview saying they’re looking for the best competition. They go off in different directions and Davey runs into James Storm. James tells Davey how great he is and offers to show him the way. Manik comes in to explain the beauty of the Revolution.
Tag Team Tournament First Round: Ethan Carter III/Tyrus vs. Eric Young/Rockstar Spud
Young has to give Spud a pep talk to get him to the ring and there’s no Rockstar at first. Carter laughs at Spud being a coward and even has a new response to the audience: “You wish you could.” He goes on a rant about how the villains win in this world and how the 99%ers here in the audience are all losers. That’s enough to get Spud to the ring and we’re ready to go.
Spud asks to get in the ring with Carter to start. After the staredown but no contact it’s off to Tyrus but Spud won’t tag out to Eric. Spud hammers away but gets caught by a punch to the chest. Spud’s sleeper attempt is countered into a Big Ending and Tyrus throws him around with a t-bone suplex. Tyrus misses a charge but stays on Spud, knocking him down with a single shot.
Off to Carter for some slaps to the face but Spud comes back with a huge one of his own, allowing for the hot tag to Young. Eric cleans house and gets two off the elbow. Everyone heads outside for a huge dive from Young before Spud dives on both villains. Back in and a quick Tongan Death Grip slam from Tyrus gives Ethan the pin on Spud at 7:14.
Rating: C. Better match here with Spud starting to look like a big deal. It wasn’t a great mathc or anything but it was nice to see some of the stories making sense. Young continues to be the guy you call to fill in a story and that’s all he was here. Carter’s rocket push is still coming and I like sayint that.
We run down the card for next week
Here’s Angle for the contract signing between Lashley and Roode. He has a bonus stipulation to make things more interesting next week, but first he asks if either guy has anything to say. Roode admits that Lashley was the better man last week but says that Lashley will be a marked man next week. Lashley has other priorities in MMA, but wrestling is all Roode has. Being champion is the only thing he wants and next week, he’s fighting with a passion to put the title back around his waste.
MVP has built Lashley up very well, but next week Roode will prove that he’s just a man. MVP cuts Bobby off and says Lashley can takes out anyone he faces because he’s a destroyer. Angle cuts them off and says he’ll be guest referee next week. That’s not cool with MVP but Lashley signs, giving us a staredown to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. I didn’t mind this week’s show as they actually seem to have some interesting stuff coming in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, they need a show to air them on and right now we don’t know where that’s going to be. Roode vs. Lashley should be entertaining and the tag matches will be solid too, making next week interesting TV. However, this week’s build was only decent with the tournament matches being average at best. It gave me some hope though and that’s a big plus.
Results
Hardys b. BroMans – Swanton Bomb to Jesse
Samoa Joe/Low Ki b. Gunner/Samuel Shaw – Koquina Clutch to Gunner
Bram b. D-Von – Metal pole to the head
MVP/Kenny King b. Chris Melendez/Mr. Anderson – Rollup with a handful of tights to Melendez
Ethan Carter III/Tyrus b. Rockstar Spud/Eric Young – Tongan Death Grip Slam to Spud
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Today we’re looking at the greatest heel commentator of all time: Jesse Ventura.
Ventura got his start in 1975 but we’ll pick things up on March 14, 1982 in MSG.
Bob Backlund vs. Jesse Ventura
Ventura is more or less a copy of Billy Graham minus the in ring skill and some of the muscle mass. Ivan Putski, a Polish wrestler, is guest referee here for reasons not explained by the commentary. Ventura, nicknamed the Body, shoves Backlund into the corner a few times and poses. Jesse tries to do it again but the champion is too fast for him, tripping up Ventura and sending him to the floor.
Back in and Backlund pounds away on Backlund’s ribs but it doesn’t seem to have much effect. A slap to the back of Backlund only gets a glare from the champion and Jesse is mad. Backlund starts hammering away and drives an elbow into Jesse’s face before cranking on the arm a bit. Ventura finally gets in a shot of his own and takes over, stepping on Backlund’s throat. The champion is sent into the corner and Jesse chokes even more, showing off the variety of offense that he has in his arsenal.
Putski finally pulls the cheating Body off of Bob so Jesse pounds away at the champion’s head. Backlund fights back with some shots to the head before the two of them collide with Jesse falling on top for two. Jesse chokes away even more and gets a very slow count from Putski. Even the usually neutral McMahon is complaining about the speed. Ventura puts Backlund over his shoulder in the Body Breaker (a backbreaker) but Backlund escapes and falls on top for two. Bob escapes a second attempt and rolls up Ventura for a fast count and the pin to retain.
Rating: D. This was a rather uninteresting match which is the problem with most of Backlund’s matches: unless he’s against a top level talent, he isn’t able to bring people up to the next level. The match was boring for the most part with Ventura only choking and Backlund using very basic offense to make his comeback for the pin.
Jesse was a big deal in the AWA so here’s a fairly big match from Turkey Day Turmoil on December 25, 1982.
Jesse Ventura vs. Hulk Hogan
Jesse bails to the floor to start and then bails some more. Back in and Jesse actually takes over by cranking on the arm and punching at the ribs. The arm gets snapped over the top rope and Jesse keeps the pace as slow as possible. Back in and we hit the wristlock again with Jesse pulling Hogan down by the hair like a villain should. The sequence works so well that they do it again and Jesse sits there to pull on the arm. He snaps it across the top rope again before putting on a hammerlock.
Another snap across the top as we’re somehow nine minutes into this. Jesse wraps the arm around the top rope and walks around a lot but Hogan starts shaking. Ventura dives into a bearhug and Hulk rams him into the buckles. Now it’s Jesse’s turn to have his arm wrapped around the ropes and snapped down. A back elbow puts Jesse on the floor and they fight over a chair for the double DQ.
Rating: D. This took its sweet time to get going but Hogan made up for it by doing the same stuff to the arm that Jesse did to him. To be fair though, Ventura was never known for his in ring abilities and this was a good example of why. It wasn’t a good match or anything but Hogan made the people care.
Still in the AWA for Super Sunday 1983.
Jesse Ventura/Blackjack Lanza/Ken Patera vs. High Fliers/Rick Martel
The High Fliers are Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell and they’re the tag champions. The heels (Ventura’s team) has Heenan managing them. Martel vs. Patera gets us going. Patera tries to draw him into the corner but Martel is BRILLIANT (Gene Okerlund said so) and wants to keep it in the middle. This is power vs. speed and Martel snaps off some armdrags. Martel takes him down and works on, say it with me, the arm.
Off to Brunzell for some fresh arm work and an atomic drop. Back to the arm and it’s off to Ventura, who is called Mr. V. here. Brunzell grabs the arm and it’s off to Gagne who comes off the middle rope onto the arm again. Ventura easily picks him up and carries Gagne to the corner and brings in Lanza. The size difference here is huge but it doesn’t last long as Martel comes in and is a house of fire.
Martel drags Lanza into the corner but does it so slowly that Ventura falls into the ring from reaching so much. Patera comes back in as does Brunzell and the power man pulls the Flier into the corner. Off to Ventura for a bearhug. Things break down and Gagne comes in to beat up everyone. Martel comes in to help and the Heenan Family is in trouble. Gagne puts a sleeper on Patera but Ventrua makes the save.
It settles down with Lanza and Gagne and Lanza drives his knuckles into the side of Gagne’s head ala Sgt. Slaughter in 1991. Ventura comes in and hits a backbreaker for two. Gagne gets the tag to Martel but the referee doesn’t see it. I’ve always loved that sequence for some reason. Off to Patera for the bearhug again and Gagne is in big trouble. Gagne escapes with a kind of Thesz Press and sends Lanza into the corner and makes another hot tag to Martel.
Rick misses a dropkick and it’s back to Patera for a suplex for two as Brunzell makes the save. Lanza interferes to break up a potential hot tag and comes in legally, only to get kicked in the face so we can get the actual hot tag to Brunzell. He hits his signature dropkick and puts on a Figure Four, called an Indian Deathlock. Everything breaks down and Heenan gets up on the apron, only to get knocked back down again.
Things settle down again and it’s Brunzell backdropping Patera to set up another Deathlock attempt. Patera breaks it up and everything breaks down again. Somewhere in there Patera pins Brunzell as it’s possible that there was a foreign object sent in there by Heenan when he was on the apron.
Rating: B-. This isn’t something that everyone is going to like but I was getting into it by the end. They had every face in there getting beaten down at different times as well as a lot of hot tags. The fans were staying in this too and it was by far and away the best match of the night so far. The High Fliers were exactly what their name said and it worked pretty well for the most part. Good match here.
Still in the AWA at some point in 1984.
Jesse Ventura/Mr. Saito vs. Baron Von Raschke/Kenny Jay
Saito and Jay start things off but it’s quickly off to Baron vs. Jesse. The Baron drops Ventura ribs first over the top rope so it’s back to Saito for some shots to the ribs. Jay comes in to help his partner and walks into a Russian legsweep from Saito. Jesse drops some elbows on the back of Jay’s head before tying him in the Tree of Woe.
Baron comes over for the ave like the wild man that he is and beats up Saito with ease. He follows up on Jesse by ramming him into the buckle over and over before slapping on his Claw hold. Now it’s Saito making a save and Jesse pops back up to slug away at Baron. There’s the over the shoulder backbreaker with Saito coming in with a top rope chop. Baron is busted open and some other guys come in for the save, drawing a DQ.
Rating: D+. The Baron’s energy made this one a lot better and Jesse was just kind of a background character. The ending made the heels look great though and that’s why you have someone get busted open like this. On top of that they kept things quick here instead of letting it drag like the Hogan match.
Off to the WWF with Jesse appearing on the infamous Black Saturday show.
Jesse Ventura vs. Chris Curtis
We’re in Minneapolis here but Jesse is billed from San Diego. He gets a roar anyway as you would expect. Gene and Gorilla are the commentators. The electronic scoreboard says that there’s a car with its lights on. That’s like something out of a joke for some reason. Jesse yells at a Minnesota Viking in the front row.
We start the match and Jesse wastes time. This was his trademark at the time along with all kinds of colors. Jesse keeps yelling at the football player. Again we know nothing about Jesse other than he wears a lot of colorful stuff. Jesse’s offense is very generic to put it nicely. Curtis gets some offense in but runs into a knee in the corner to end that completely. Body Vice (over the shoulder back breaker submission) is the academic win. Another squash.
Rating: N/A. Just a long squash with no context or anything at all like that. Jesse of course dominated and there was no rhyme or reason to it. Jesse is just some dude that beat up a jobber and we know nothing about what he’s done or currently is doing or anything like that. That seems to be a theme here.
Here he is in MSG on August 24, 1984 in one of Jesse’s biggest feuds.
Jesse Ventura vs. Ivan Putski
Putski jumps Ventura on the entrance and the fans are actually waking up a bit here. Ventura hides on the floor for a bit before going back in, only to be shoved right back to the outside. Ivan hooks a headlock and pounds on Jesse’s head a bit before kicking him to the floor again. Back in (again) and Ivan grabs Jesse by the beard to pound away on him even more. Ventura rolls to the floor again as the stalling continues.
The Body puts a top wristlock on the much shorter Ivan and pulls him to the mat by the hair, meaning we can lay around again! Putski fights up and knocks Jesse to the floor but Ventura gets in a shot on the way back inside. Jesse pulls out some kind of foreign object to choke Ivan but of course doesn’t get caught. Ivan steals it away and clotheslines Jesse with it before choking as well. The referee seems to be fine with this. They head to the apron with Jesse hitting him in the throat and getting back in for a countout win.
Rating: F+. You wouldn’t believe this match was twelve minutes long would you? Jesse was a master at doing absolutely nothing in a match but still getting booed and this was no exception. Putski continues to be one of the most worthless wrestlers I’ve ever seen, as he has nothing of note at all and the match was incredibly boring.
We’ll jump ahead a bit more to March 17, 1985.
Junkyard Dog/Andre the Giant/Jimmy Snuka vs. John Studd/Ken Patera/Jesse Ventura
This is two weeks before Wrestlemania and in MSG. Isn’t that pushing things pretty close together? Dog vs. Patera gets us going and the fans are already into it. Andre is in quickly and the dominance begins. Patera is knocked all over the place and Heenan tries to calm him down. Off to JYD again and Patera can barely stand up. Andre runs Patera off again and it all breaks down pretty quickly.
The heels take over and it’s off to Jesse who uses his usual stuff. In kind of a surprise, Jesse tries to ram Dog’s head into the buckle and it works as well as it always does. Here comes Snuka and the fans go crazy. Jesse gets in a shot though and the heels take over. Studd comes in and Andre wants a piece of him but has to wait a few weeks. Off to a bearhug to Snuka and the heels use the old switcheroo to bring back Patera.
Jesse comes in and we complete the trio of bearhugs. Back to Studd who bearhugs him as well. The place is going to erupt when Andre comes in. Jimmy breaks the hold and tags Andre. I was right about the place erupting. It’s a battle of the giants but Patera breaks up the slam. Studd runs and it’s off to Jesse. Everything breaks down and Snuka splashes Jesse for the pin while Andre runs interference.
Rating: D. Very boring match for the most part but the MSG reactions for Andre and Snuka were just great. Those two could do no wrong back then, which is probably what made the heel turn for Andre work so well. Boring match but a good ending which helped it a little bit. The Superfly Splash is always worth seeing.
Still from the world’s most famous arena on November 13, 1985.
Randy Savage/Jesse Ventura vs. Mario Mancini/Mike Rice
Ventura drives Mancini into the corner for some right hands before it’s off to Savage to start the beatdown. Savage kicks him in the back of the head and pulls Mancini in to stay on the beating. Jesse slams Mancini down and the flying elbow is enough for the pin.
Here’s one of Jesse’s most high profile (and last) matches. From Saturday Night’s Main Event IV.
Jesse Ventura/Roddy Piper/Bob Orton vs. Cousin Luke/Uncle Elmer/Hillbilly Jim
Jim is the most talented of the face hillbilly team. What does that tell you? Piper and Orton say funny things about the hillbillies. He was a total master on the mic in this era. The hillbillies say generic hillbilly stuff. The mat is dark gray and the ropes are mixed up, as in they go blue, red then white. It’s weirder than it sounds. Also, the ring looks TINY. Uncle Elmer and Ventura start. Elmer is REALLY fat.
Wow it’s odd hearing Heenan from this era. It really is. He’s a totally different commentator. He’s still his usual jerky self, but his voice sounds different to put it mildly. Luke…sucks. That’s all there is to it. I mean he sucks HARD. Naturally he gets beaten down for the majority of the match. Piper was still moving in the ring at this time and was far better at wrestling than he was given credit for.
Jesse’s wrestling was underrated. He knew how to sell and could work a crowd really well. Luke gets his head handed to him for a good while. We get the classic ref doesn’t see the tag spot which is one of the easiest ways in the world to get heat on someone. Piper beats up Uncle Elmer, who is like 6’7 and close to 500lbs on his own. It’s rather amusing. We get a melee and after a cast shot to Luke, Piper puts him to sleep to end a glorified squash.
Rating: D. Weak stuff here but like I said, I’d expect a lot of that. There was heat from the crowd, but when the third best in ring guy is Hillbilly Jim, it’s a bad sign. This just didn’t work and felt weak. Jesse wouldn’t be around much longer due to issues from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Elmer and Luke would be gone because……well I think you get the idea.
We’ll wrap it up with Ventura getting a title shot on February 9, 1986.
Intercontinental Title: Jesse Ventura vs. Tito Santana
Interesting point to start: we’re told that Jesse and Adonis held the tag titles. They did, but they were the AWA tag titles. They said this regularly but it wasn’t something you expect to hear. I think this is in Toronto. Jesse complains about the closed fist because that’s what heels do before punching their opponents. He calls Santana Chico which is always awesome. Jesse keeps getting caught in holds and heading for the ropes.
Time for a wristlock as the fans are almost all behind Jesse. They pop for Tito’s reversal as well though so I guess the Canadians are confused here. Off to a headlock but Jesse gets a knee to the ribs to take over. Out to the floor now and it’s confirmed that we’re in Toronto. Jesse’s offense is pretty basic but he knows how to work a crowd like a master which is more important.
Tito gets in a few punches but Ventura pokes him in the eye to stop him. Win if you can, lose if you must but always cheat. Backbreaker gets two and an atomic drop does the same. Here’s a bearhug which makes sense given the back work that was done earlier. Tito smacks him in the head to escape. Gorilla: “Look at that firey Mexican!” Tito grabs the Figure Four but Jesse gets the rope. They fight up the ramp and Tito puts the Figure Four on out there but Jesse kicks him into the ring for the countout win.
Rating: C. Not bad here but it worked for the most part. It was actually a double countout if you care. This was fine for a house show title defense, especially with someone like Jesse who was a rarity to see in the ring at this point. He knew how to work a crowd but the people loved him which is the right idea.
In the words of Mick Foley, Jesse was a great talent but not inside a ring. People remember him as the heel commentator that ripped on Hogan every chance he got and that’s quite the career to have. Ventura is one of the most interesting people you’ll ever find and wrestling is just a small part of that. Listen to him instead of watching him though.
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