Today we have a modern day evil foreign monster with Rusev.

After being trained by Gangrel and Rikishi, Rusev would sign a developmental deal in 2011. Here’s his debut match on FCW TV in June 2011.

Mike Dalton vs. Alexander Rusev

Dalton is currently known as Tyler Breeze. Rusev drives him into the corner to start and hits some nice jumping knees to the face. He hooks a full nelson and drives Dalton face first into the buckle for a nice move. Dalton finally gets up a boot in the corner and gets two off a victory roll. Rusev actually rolls some Germans for the pin to complete the squash.

We’ll jump ahead a bit to a tag match on FCW TV, March 4, 2012.

FCW Tag Team Titles: Bo Rotundo/Husky Harris vs. Antonio Cesaro/Alexander Rusev

Rotundo and Harris (Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt) are defending. Rusev and Harris get things going with some hard headlocks before a double shoulder block doesn’t get us anywhere. Off to Bo but Rusev takes him into the corner for a beating from Cesaro. Back to Rusev for some kicks to the back as the foreign heels take over. Cesaro cranks on the arm before Rusev comes in to do the same. Bo rolls away for the hot tag to Harris as everything breaks down. Rotundo spears Rusev out of nowhere to give Harris the pin.

Rating: D+. There’s an ending that would change a lot of things today. It’s always interesting to see where these guys were before theys tarted on the main roster and this is a great example of something like that happening. These guys are almost all different today with maybe the exception of Cesaro, and the changes have all been for the better. Well in theory at least.

One more FCW match on June 24, 2012.

Alexander Rusev/Colin Cassady vs. Ascension

This is the original Ascension tag team of Conor O’Brien and Kenneth Cameron (Bram in TNA). Ascension’s entrance is totally awesome here and makes the guys look like total monsters. Colin and Cameron get things going but it’s quickly off to O’Brien for some power shoving. Colin actually drops him with a shoulder but Conor comes back with an armbar.

Rusev low bridges O’Brien to the floor and Colin hits a nice fall away slam, complete with a power stare to Cameron. Off to Rusev for some right hands as Cesaro (on commentary) talks about Rusev’s outdoor training regimen. O’Brien nails a knee to the face and the hot tag brings in Cameron. A victory roll gets two on Rusev and Ascension screams a lot. O’Brien plants Rusev with a downward spiral for the pin.

Rating: C-. Not a bad power match here and again it’s interesting to see these guys with different characters before they became what they were best known for. Ascension was much more interesting at this point before they became regular power brawlers. The supernatural elements to them made the team more intimidating but unfortunately that fell apart.

Off to regular NXT now, starting on August 21, 2013.

Alexander Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler

Rusev is a very big man from Bulgaria who breaks a piece of wood with Ziggler’s name on it over his knee. Ziggler is WAY over with the crowd. Both guys are slow to start with Rusev trying basic power stuff and Ziggler easily countering everything thrown at him so he can strut a bit. Alexander throws him into the corner and Ziggler gets serious. He staggers Rusev with a dropkick but his cross body is caught in mid air. Alexander rams knees into Ziggler’s back and drops him on the floor for a breather.

Back in and a running shoulder to the ribs gets two on Dolph. Rusev puts on a quick body vice but misses a second running charge into the corner. Dolph hits a good looking dropkick for two but walks into a running knee to the ribs for the same result. Back up and Ziggler hits a quick Fameasser for two but Rusev comes back with a nice spinwheel kick (for a guy weighing over 300lbs) for another near fall. He misses a top rope splash though, allowing Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag for the pin at 6:14.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I thought I would. Rusev has potential to him as he’s got a good look and moved very well for a guy his size. Ziggler did his job perfectly out there by making Rusev look far better than he would have otherwise. This was a very nice surprise as you would have expected a squash but got a solid match instead.

Another match in NXT on December 11, 2013.

Alexander Rusev vs. Kassius Ohno

Lana introduces Rusev who looks more and more awesome every time he’s out there. This is a result of Ohno beating Rusev’s time in the Beat the Clock Challenge a few weeks back. Rusev takes him into the corner to start and drops Ohno with a single right hand. He lifts Kassius up for a slam before driving knees into his ribs in midair.

Ohno gets slammed down for two and Alexander stays on the back and ribs. We hit the bearhug for a bit before another forearm to the back puts Ohno down. Ohno gets a forearm to the face to set up a small package for two. That’s the extent of his offense as Rusev runs him over and the Accolade ends Ohno at 3:05.

Rating: D. Total and complete squash here as Ohno leaves the company looking like a jobber. He never clicked in this company at all but at least his comments after leaving have been nothing but positive. Rusev has a spot waiting on him on the main roster once they finally make the call and he’ll take a lot of people apart.

One more NXT match against a main roster name on January 1, 2014.

Alexander Rusev vs. Kofi Kingston

Rusev pounds Kofi into the corner as Regal chides Phillips about not being able to talk to Rusev. “If he could talk to you, he wouldn’t need a translator. Fine money spent on your college education.” Kofi is lifted into the air so Rusev can drive knees into his ribs. A Samoan drop gets two on Kofi and a hard shoulder block gets the same.

Alexander misses a running splash and gets dropkicked down. The Boom Drop connects but Rusev heads to the corner so Kofi can’t try Trouble in Paradise. Instead he hits a cross body off the top (good one too despite Kofi slipping on the ropes) for two but a Lana distraction lets Rusev slam Kofi off the top. The Accolade gets the big upset submission from Kofi at 3:52.

Rating: C. Rusev didn’t look great in there but he got a win over a legitimate main roster guy. There’s definitely a future for this guy in the big leagues and he could be something special in the vein of Umaga. Kingston continues to be the same guy he’s been for years and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Rusev would appear in the Royal Rumble but then not get in the ring again until Raw on April 7, 2014.

Alexander Rusev vs. Zack Ryder

Lana is officially named the Ravishing Russian. That won’t last but she looks good in the short skirts. This is exactly what you would expect (plus a nice jumping kick to the face) and ends in 1:19 after the Accolade (Camel clutch) with Ryder tapping very quickly.

Time for a PPY squash at Extreme Rules 2014.

Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth/Xavier Woods

Lana dedicates the match to the most powerful man in the world and her idol: Vladimir Putin. Truth says there’s no time to rap and dedicates the match to the USA. Before the bell, Woods is kicked in the face and into Truth, knocking both of them to the floor. Rusev hits a release belly to belly on the floor to drop Woods and we get the bell as he hammers away on Truth. Fans: “WE WANT LANA!”

Truth gets crushed in the corner but raises a boot to stop a charging Bulgarian. The backflip into the side kick sets up a middle rope dropkick but Rusev is right back up. Lie Detector has almost no effect but an ax kick gets two. Rusev shrugs it off and slams Truth down before the Accolade gets the submission at 2:51. Woods was being checked by doctors for most of the match.

Off to singles matches on PPV at Payback 2014.

Rusev vs. Big E.

Lana does her thing and Rusev is now from Moscow and weighed in kilos. They both hit their running body attacks to start with neither guy going anywhere. A nasty release German puts Big E. down as the fans want Ziggler. Rusev hits a running splash in the corner but Big E. comes back with a kind of STO. Rusev gets back up on the apron and Big E. spears him through the ropes and out to the floor in a BIG collision. Big E. comes up favoring his arm but is still able to get two. The Warrior Splash is countered by the jumping superkick and the Accolade makes Big E. tap at 3:35.

Rating: C+. Another solid match here with Big E. getting to show off before jobbing to the new monster. That jumping superkick is just awesome with Rusev still making great contact despite getting off the ground. The spear through the ropes looked great too as they’re really playing up the physicality tonight.

Rusev would be in a battle royal on Raw, June 16, 2014 for the final spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match.

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.

Rusev would have a match at Money in the Bank as well.

Rusev vs. Big E.

Big E. hammers away to start and actually has some early success. Rusev in knocked to the apron but gets up a knee to stop the spear through the ropes. The gutwrench suplex drops Big E. and we hit a chinlock from Rusev. A splash misses though and Big E. gets two off a belly to belly. Rusev charges into the Rock Bottom out of the corner for two and Big E. avoids the jumping superkick. Another suplex sends Rusev to the apron and now the big spear connects. Back in and the straps come down but Rusev kicks him in the side of the ear. The jumping superkick and Accolade keep Rusev undefeated at 7:19.

Rating: C-. Better than last month’s match between these two but it was still nothing special. Rusev needs to move up a step as he’s defeated Big E. twice in a row now. It’s good to see him get tested a bit though and that’s what this match was designed to do. Those kicks still look good too.

Here’s Rusev’s first big singles match on Raw, July 7, 2014.

Rusev vs. Rob Van Dam

That’s quite the upgrade in opponent. Rob fires off kicks to start but Rusev says bring it on. A slingshot DDT freaks Lana out but Rusev throws Rob off the top to break up the Five Star. He runs Van Dam over and sends him flying with a fallaway slam. We hit the chinlock as Zeb Colter pops up in an inset interview and officially challenges Rusev for Battleground.

Rusev begs Van Dam to hit him in the ribs before putting on a front facelock. A small package gets two for Rob and he gets a boot up in the corner. Rusev is staggered and there’s a top rope kick to the face. Rolling Thunder has to be aborted and Rusev nails the jumping superkick. The Accolade gets the clean submission at 4:38.

Rating: C-. Not a great match but it’s a very good upgrade for Rusev. It’s more proof that Swagger has no chance at Battleground, but the USA chant and Swagger coming in carrying the American flag will be a great visual. Rusev is getting better and that jumping superkick just looks awesome.

The singles match on Smackdown, July 11, 2014.

Rusev vs. Roman Reigns

They lock up to start until Rusev kicks at the legs to take over. Reigns cleans house with right hands and knocks Rusev to the floor as we take a break. Back with Rusev controlling with a nerve hold before he drops Reigns with a spinwheel kick. We hit the nerve hold again before Reigns’ comeback is squashed by a kick to the chest. The fans think Russia sucks and help Roman fight out of the third nerve hold. A running clothesline drops the Russian and a Samoan drop does it again. The apron kick has Lana freaking out and there’s the Superman Punch, drawing in Orton for the DQ at 6:55 shown of 9:25.

Rating: C. This was decent while it lasted but there was no way either guy was getting a clean win here. Also, a nine and a half minute match on Smackdown doens’t have nearly the same atmosphere that these two had in the battle royal. Build these two up a bit more and make it mean something and the match will be much better.

Next up was a patriotic feud with Jack Swagger, including this flag match at Summerslam 2014.

Rusev vs. Jack Swagger

This is a Flag Match, meaning a regular match with the winner’s flag being displayed after the match. Lana talks about how unrealistic Hollywood is, because there will be no happy ending. Swagger comes out with a military escort and a presentation of the American flag. Rusev jumps Swagger before the bell so Swagger puts on the Patriot Lock. They’re finally separated but Lana says Rusev is too injured to wrestle. The referee says ring the bell and Swagger goes after him in the corner.

Rusev is sent outside but Swagger takes him back inside and hammers away. The Russian keeps running so Swagger runs him over with a clothesline on the floor. All Swagger so far. Back inside and the Vader Bomb is countered with a kick to Jack’s bad ribs. Rusev fires off some shoulders in the corner and puts on a bearhug. Jack can’t belly to belly suplex him and Rusev cannonballs down onto his back again.

Swagger fights back with a running clothesline and a big boot followed by the Vader Bomb for two. The superkick is countered into the Patriot Lock but Rusev quickly rolls out. A hard kick to the ribs has Rusev in trouble and a kick to the face sets up the Accolade. Rusev can’t stand on the bad ankle though so it’s a one legged Accolade instead. Jack rolls over into the Patriot Lock but Rusev rolls over and kicks at the ribs. A spinwheel kick to the shoulder drops Jack again and there’s a Warrior Splash, setting up the Accolade and Swagger is out at 8:53.

Rating: C+. Good match here with both guys bringing their harder games. Swagger looks good by not tapping out and the right guy wins. This should end the feud between the two though and hopefully sends Rusev after Sheamus and the US Title. Does anything else really make sense at this point?

Rematch from August 29, 2014 on Smackdown.

Rusev vs. Jack Swagger

Submission match. Swagger immediately goes after the ankle but he can’t suplex Rusev because of the bad ribs. With that not being an option, Swagger kicks him in the ankle and puts on the Patriot Lock, sending Rusev crawling to the ropes. They head outside with Rusev whipping Swagger into the barricade. We take a break and come back with Swagger being sent back outside but Rusev’s ankle is hurting too badly to follow up. Swagger blocks a kick and puts the Patriot Lock on outside.

Rusev crawls back inside for the break so Jack kicks at the leg in the corner. The Vader Bomb connects but the ribs are hurt even worse. Now Rusev puts Swagger in a Patriot Lock until Swagger rolls through into one of his own. The ropes save Rusev again and he nails the jumping superkick. Rusev hooks the Accolade but Jack gets an arm free and grabs a rope. The hold goes back on in the middle of the ring but Jack powers to his feet. A towel comes flying in and Bo Dallas trips up Swagger to put him back in the full hold, making Swagger tap at 7:03 shown of 10:33.

Rating: C. This is an interesting one as they keep Swagger looking as strong as they can, but having him tap defeats the purpose. It continues to set up Swagger vs. Dallas, but that doesn’t really do as much for me with Swagger submitting. Have him pass out again, or let it be a regular match ending in a pin but the tapping out hurts this. It does however keep Rusev strong and that’s more important long term.

The next big shot American to try their luck was Mark Henry at Night of Champions 2014.

Rusev vs. Mark Henry

Lillian Garcia sings the National Anthem before the match and Henry starts crying. Henry wins the early slugout and Rusev bails to the floor. They do the same sequence again but Henry follows him out the third time. Rusev drives him into the steps to take over before hitting a running splash back inside. He puts on a side choke and things slow down a bit.

Back up and Henry hits a quick splash in the corner but can’t lift him for the World’s Strongest Slam. Rusev nails a spinwheel kick and starts in on the bad back. Henry fights out of an Accolade attempt and nails the World’s Strongest Slam out of nowhere but his back gives out. Rusev wisely rolls outside but comes back in with the running superkick. Now the Accolade goes on and Henry quickly taps at 8:35.

Rating: D. That was pretty much exactly what was expected and it really wasn’t anything interesting. No one gave Henry much of a chance here and can you really blame them? At the end of the day the Hall of Pain period was such an outlier in his career as the rest of his career has been such a mess.

After a verbal showdown with Rock, Rusev would face the Intercontinental Champion in a non-title match on Smackdown, October 10, 2014.

Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler

Non-title again. Rusev powers him into the corner to start and kicks Ziggler in the back before choking on the apron. Ziggler fights out of a chinlock but misses a Stinger Splash as we take a break. Back with Dolph hammering away but getting caught with the knees to the ribs and fall away slam. Rusev hooks a front facelock with a body scissors but Ziggler finally rolls forward to escape.

A hard shot to the face staggers Rusev and there’s a dropkick for good measure. The running DDT is blocked but Rusev misses a charge, setting up a bad looking Fameasser for one. Back up and the running superkick sets up the Accolade to make Dolph tap at 8:20. This was only a few steps above a squash save for that one flurry.

Rating: C. But I thought Rock buried Rusev on Raw and there was no way he could ever recover. Those comments still make my head hurt but that’s another story for another time. This was a big win for Rusev and they’re getting more and more common. I know the logical story was to have him go over Sheamus for the US Title, but they’re getting to the point where he needs to go into the World Title picture with wins like these. He’s not there yet, but they can’t ignore him much longer.

Rusev is the modern version of the evil Russian and his athleticism makes him quite the force. The problem with a character like him is that once he loses, a lot of his heat is going to go with him. It happens to everyone, but the question is how well can he bounce back. He’ll do something special in the future though, and that’s more than a lot of people can say.

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:

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Thunder
Date: May 20, 1999
Location: Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay

After a week off for the NBA Playoffs, we’re back for a show taped before the latest Nitro, meaning we’re not likely to get any storyline developments here. The main story is the start of Savage vs. Nash for the title and the ongoing drama around who is in charge. One question to tie the stories together: if Bischoff didn’t have the power to overturn the ending of Piper vs. Flair, why did he have the power to restart Page vs. Nash? Let’s get to it.

We open with Gene bringing out Buff Bagwell for a chat. After some sucking up to the Kansas crowd, Buff says Scott turning on him wasn’t a surprise but Rick was. There’s no loyalty in the NWO, though I’m not sure there’s even an NWO anymore. Buff randomly challenges Randy Savage for a fight later on so that’s likely the main event.

Clips from the main events at Slamboree.

Clips of the Steiners teaming up again at Slamboree.

Clips of Booker T. calling out Scott and getting beaten down off camera from Nitro.

TV Title: Rick Steiner vs. Scott Putski

Rick is defending in case you weren’t paying attention and comes out in a Red and Black shirt. He hammers on Putski to start and drops an elbow before already putting on a chinlock. Seriously. Steiner drops some forearms to the head as Tenay incorrectly says Steiner won the TV Title at Starrcade 1989.

More pummeling ensues as Rick puts him upside down stomach first into the top turnbuckle for two. Choking and some face rubs into the mat set up elbow drops for two, which just seems to tick Steiner off. Putski’s comeback goes as badly as you would expect and he gets dropped by a knee. The Steiner Bulldog and a weird looking arm lock retain the title.

Rating: D-. Of all the things WCW did badly over this year, putting Rick Steiner in this spot for so long might be the worst. He wasn’t over, he hadn’t meant anything without his brother in about nine years, and his matches looked to be bordering on dangerous rather than just stuff. Look at the roster that could use the TV Title and see how stupid it is to keep it on Rick Steiner this long.

Flair and the Horsemen convince Barry Horowitz to lay down for David Flair tonight.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Kidman

The fans are behind Kidman here even though Guerrera slaps hands on the way to the ring. We immediately get the focus off the match as Tenay tells us that Hogan will be back on Monday. Must be time to panic about the ratings. They lock up to start and Juvy heads to the corner to dance a bit. Juvy gets shoved down again and walks into a dropkick as they’re taking their time to start. Kidman’s German suplex is escaped with a backflip and Juvy kicks him in the face to block a backdrop.

We finally start getting some high flying in with Juvy going up but getting crotched, sending him down to the floor. Kidman nails him with a plancha and we take a break. Back with Kidman slamming him down and putting on a chinlock for a bit before Juvy nails a bulldog and talks a lot of trash. Some right hands in the corner stagger Kidman but he powerbombs Juvy down to escape. Not that it matters as Kidman misses something like a Stinger Splash and falls out to the floor. The announcers’ response? To talk more about Hart vs. Nash on the Tonight Show.

Back in and Kidman counters a powerbomb in the sequence that won’t die but can’t follow up. Juvy heads up top and dives onto Kidman’s raised boots. They trade suplex counters until Juvy headscissors Kidman out to the floor for another plancha. Back in and Kidman dropkicks him out of the air for two two.

Juvy knocks him off the top but gets crotched and superplexed for his efforts as this is finally hitting a higher gear. In a nice bit of poetic justice, Kidman’s powerbomb is countered into a sunset flip for two and a missile dropkick gets the same. The BK Bomb gets the same before Juvy loads up the Juvy Driver, only to get rolled up for a quick pin.

Rating: C-. The problem here is that we’ve seen these guys blow the roof off the place so many times that there’s almost no way they can top it. It wasn’t a bad match but it’s been done so many times that it’s hard to care. Still though, not bad and I have a feeling it’s going to be the best thing on the show.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysteiro Jr. vs. Kaz Hayashi

Mysterio is defending of course. Kaz takes him into the corner to start and slaps him in the face to tick the champion off a bit. A hard elbow to the head puts Rey down and Kaz slaps him a little more. Hayashi rakes the eyes and hooks a bulldog but misses a charge into the corner. The champ takes him down with a headscissors, only to get dropped throat first onto the top rope.

With Mysterio down, we get an OH YEAH as Savage and the girls come out for some reason. He welcomes us to the house of madness and says Mysterio is a fine wrestler. Buff may be the stuff but Rey is the man, despite being caught in a reverse chinlock at the moment. Savage keeps praising Mysterio and brings up Rey beating Kevin Nash before offering Rey a spot on Team Madness.

As he says this, Rey’s hurricanrana attempt is countered into a powerbomb. Savage: “HE’S FANTASTIC!” Miss Madness 1999 (called Mona here) says Mysterio is their man and we take a break. Back with Mysterio getting a pin off a top rope hurricanrana. It’s the only move we saw after the break.

Rating: D+. I was tempted to not rate this as a big chunk of the match was spent looking at Savage and the girls. Apparently just taking over Nitro and boring me to death there wasn’t enough for Savage as he’s now taking over title matches. Hayashi was dominating Rey for the most part here as the champ only hit a few moves of his own. What we saw wasn’t bad but there wasn’t much to see.

Post match Savage offers Rey the spot on the team again and says all four members have already voted yes. Mysterio says he’s honored but has other plans for himself. Savage: “OUCH!” He offers again and gets the same response so Savage nails him in the back of the head. Rey actually fights back with a springboard missile dropkick but the girls get in a few shots, setitng up a piledriver from Savage. Kidman comes out for a save and has the same luck. Now Konnan tries Savage but gets hit low, allowing Savage to slam him down and drop the big elbow.

This Week In WCW Motorsports.

We see clips of the almost show saving Tag Team Title match from Monday.

Tag Team Titles: Raven/Saturn vs. Horace/Vince

Raven and Horace brawl before the bell but Saturn breaks it up with a superkick. Saturn cranks on Vince’s arm as we get the opening bell, followed by an easy suplex for two. Raven comes in for the mock Total Elimination and a front suplex into a swan dive from Saturn. Off to Horace as Kanyon has replaced Raven on the apron. I guess we’ve got a Freebird Rule now. Anyway Horace misses a charge and gets forearmed in the jaw. Kanyon comes in for a swinging neckbreaker and it’s already back to Saturn. Well they’re faster than the Freebirds at least.

A double sidekick puts Horace down again but Vince earns his pay with a shot from the apron. Saturn gets beaten for a few moments as Raven switches back with Kanyon. Horace gets in a few shots such as a clothesline and elbow drop followed by a backrake. And yet he still puts in more effort than his uncle. Vince comes back in with a top rope ax handle and a wide variety of fists before it’s back to Horace for another clothesline.

Saturn is sent outside for some cheap shots as this just keeps going. Back in and Horace puts on a sleeper but Saturn reverses into one of his own. Horace breaks it up and the double tag brings in Raven and Vince. There’s the drop toehold onto the chair followed by some heel miscommunication, setting up the Death Valley Driver to pin Vincent.

Rating: D. You know, I can live with bad matches and stupid segments, but these matches that are just borderline ok and go on for what seems like ever are almost impossible to take. We know it’s going to be a squash with the champs barely breaking a sweat, so why in the world do I have to sit through eight minutes of Horace and Vince boring everyone to tears? At least get someone out there who could have a decent match.

Clips of the Hart vs. Nash Tonight Show stuff. Owen’s accident derailed whatever plans they had for this.

We see part of Parker vs. Flair from Monday.

David Flair vs. Barry Horowitz

After a handshake, Barry pats himself on the back and we’re ready to go. He takes David down and we’ve got Horsemen. Some very basic offense has David reeling but the Horsemen get on the apron to remind Barry of the deal. Horowitz chokes in the corner but misses a knee drop, allowing David to hook the Figure Four for the win. So wait, did Barry miss on purpose or did David just avoid a move and capitalize for the win? The same thing happened in the Parker match: he was supposed to be throwing the match but didn’t show any signs of doing so. Again, WCW can’t even keep its own stories straight.

Another side note: Charles Robinson was fine here but the announcers talked about Savage injuring him on Nitro. Since this was taped in advance, Robinson was in perfect health, making WCW look confused again.

Clips of Savage challenging Nash from Nitro.

Main event fireworks.

Curt Hennig vs. Disco Inferno

Hennig takes him into the corner to start and runs him over with a shoulder followed by a dropkick. Back to the corner for some chops from Curt but Disco hiptosses him down. Curt hammers away again and here come Savage and the girls because it’s been thirty minutes since we saw them. Disco goes after him for no apparent reason and the match is thrown out.

The girls help take Disco down and peel back the mats so Savage can rub his face in the concrete. Buff comes out for the save and it’s main event time.

Buff Bagwell vs. Randy Savage

Bagwell hammers away to start and actually does pretty well, nailing ten right hands in the corner, an elbow to the jaw and a dropkick for two. He kicks Savage in the face and puts on a chinlock but gets sent to the floor to stop him cold. Back in and Bagwell gets two more off a small package but gets nailed by an ax handle. They trade elbows until Madusa slaps Buff from the apron (referee? What referee?), which is enough of a distraction for Savage to send him outside. Savage chokes on the barricade and with a chair, finally drawing a DQ.

Rating: D. For DEAR GOODNESS ENOUGH RANDY SAVAGE! The match was just there for Savage to beat up someone else on his path of boring to the World Title match at Great American Bash. Buff was trying but his push was crippled by the loss to Steiner at the pay per view. There’s just nothing there now.

Savage nails Buff in the neck with a chair until security comes out to end the show.

Rating: F. In the span of two hours, Randy Savage beat up the greatest cruiserweight of all time, one of the biggest starts in Mexican wrestling history, a multiple time Cruiserweight Champion, a former TV Champion and a former multiple time Tag Team Champion. So we’re setting up Nash vs. Savage, which they have to know is going to be a disaster, by having Savage destroy half of the roster? I agree it makes him look strong, but you can’t space it out a little bit?

The best match on this show was an underwhelming Kidman vs. Guerrera match and that’s nowhere near enough to bring this up. This was one of the worst yet and that covers a lot of ground. WCW is floundering right now and I really don’t see anything being able to turn it around, at least not for a few months.

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:

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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

Bound For Glory 2013
Date: October 20, 2013
Location: Viejas Arena, San Diego, California
Attendance: 3,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

We’ll wrap up the redos here with a show that really doesn’t feel like the biggest deal of the year. The main event is AJ Styles, who has spent most of the year channeling 1997 Sting as the loner who barely talks, challenging Aces and 8’s President Bully Ray. This doesn’t feel like as big a deal as it should due to Ray only having won the title back about two months ago following a meaningless reign by Chris Sabin. Let’s get to it.

There was a pre-show match in 2013.

Pre-Show: Gauntlet Match

This is a four team gauntlet match with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot on the regular pay per view. We start with Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez. Guerrero and Kaz get things going but it’s quickly off to Hernandez who hits the over the shoulder backbreaker to both guys at the same time. SuperMex heads to the ramp and gets a running start to take out Bad Influence with a huge running double clothesline.

We take a break and come back with Hernandez hitting a kind of powerbomb on Kaz for no cover. Both guys crawl over to make tags so Chavo can speed things up with shoulders to Daniels. Everything quickly breaks down and Hernandez is back up to clean house with clotheslines. Chavo hits Three Amigos on Daniels because he’s an Eddie Guerrero tribute wrestler. Speaking of Eddie, Chavo goes up for the Frog Splash but Kaz shoves him off the top to give Daniels a rollup pin.

Joseph Park and Eric Young are the third team and drop Kaz with a double back elbow. Park’s big splash gets no cover but he does slam Kaz down again. Park tries another slam but gets dropped on his head to change control. Bad Influence changes without a tag because they’re, well, bad, allowing Daniels to send Park face first into Kaz’s boot. A slingshot elbow followed by a slingshot legdrop gets two as Young teases interfering.

Kaz’s sunset flip is countered but Park only hits mat when trying to sit down. We take another break and come back with Eric getting the hot tag and cleaning house with elbows and right hands. A belly to belly gets two on Daniels but he comes back with a release Rock Bottom. He misses the BME though and Park’s Samoan drop gives Young the pin.

Before the fourth team comes out though, Kaz lays out Young with Fade to Black and send Park into the Ultimate X structure. The BroMans are the final team (due to winning a match on Impact and come out with Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Park is carried to the back and we’re starting with a handicap match. Robbie starts for the team but it’s quickly off to Jesse for a shot to the ribs. Young comes back with a double clothesline and some right hands to both Bros. The top rope elbow gets two as Jesse makes a save and the yet to be named BroDown (Hart Attack) gives the BroMans the title shot.

Rating: C. This match got a good deal of time, running about twenty two minutes. That’s far more than you usually get in a gauntlet match and it’s really nice for a change. I always have trouble with gauntlets as most of the falls take no time, which makes me wonder why that never happens in regular matches. This was a free match so it’s hard to complain when compared to the rest of the card.

The opening video is almost all about AJ with his voiceovers talking about how tired he is of doing the right thing all the time. Now he’s back to fight for himself instead of TNA, even though it makes him the same guy he used to be when he got ticked off. One other note: Dixie Carter is now evil and has sided with Bully Ray, who is still trying to take over her company. It was around this time that people were sick of hearing from her, so of course she became a bigger and bigger focal point of TV.

Taz is now part of Aces and 8’s so we have a heel commentator.

X-Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. Manik vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries

Ultimate X with Manik defending against an all-star lineup. Joe is part of the reformed Main Event Mafia which is around to fight Aces and 8’s. Sabin quickly goes to the corner but gets glared down by everyone else in the match. Instead he bails to the floor and pulls Aries outside with him, only to be rammed into the tress. Back inside and Manik is put in the Tree of Woe so Sabin can stand on his crotch.

Tenay says this is the 32^nd time Ultimate X has been held, which is pretty frequent considering the company isn’t even twelve years old at this point. Joe snapmares Chris down for a loud chop to the back, making Sabin’s girlfriend Velvet Sky scream. Manik takes Joe down with a springboard dropkick as Hardy and Aries start going up the tress. Jeff pulls Austin down before Manik hurricanranas Hardy and Sabin down.

Aries is left alone in the ring and goes up, only to have Hardy pull him right back down before hitting the reverse powerbomb from last year. Since it’s a Jeff Hardy match, it’s ladder time until Joe hits a suicide elbow to take Jeff out. Sabin baseball slides the ladder into Joe but Manik dropkicks Joe down. Aries dives onto Joe and Manik but Manik gets back up and hurricanranas Sabin out to the floor.

Joe hammers away on Aries in the corner but the MuscleBuster is countered. Hardy comes back in but eats the running dropkick, followed by Joe getting the same. The brainbuster is countered into a swinging Koquina Clutch to send Aries outside. The champ goes up but gets pulled down into a low blow. Joe hits a running backsplash on Manik before getting dropkicked out to the floor by Sabin.

The Whisper in the Wind drops Sabin and now the ladder is brought in. Manik and Aries climb the ladder and fight over the belt but Sabin knocks it over. He goes after Hardy instead of climbing, earning himself a Twist of Fate. Sabin tells Velvet Sky to stop Hardy from climbing and throws her in the ring against her will. The distraction of Velvet in that tight of a dress lets Sabin run up the ladder to win the title.

Rating: C+. This was a good idea to freshen up the match but at the same time they’ve killed the concept. Why in the world would someone use the hard method of crawling along the ropes now instead of just climbing a ladder? It’s a nice followup to Sabin’s World Title run and heel turn, but it’s not like the title means anything outside of Destination X season.

It’s time for our theme of the night: great AJ Styles moments, starting with Styles becoming the first X-Division Champion back in 2002.

Here’s Bad Influence to fill some time since this is a seven match card. Kaz says no men have been screwed more than them since Brokeback Mountain. It’s an embarrassment that they’re not on the card tonight since Bad Influence IS TNA. They beat Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez and then had to face a lawyer and a fisherman so that shouldn’t even count. TNA loves to mess with things so let’s make it a three way for the Tag Team Titles.

This brings out Eric Young who says he’s here on scientific business. Earlier tonight, Bad Influence created a monster and everyone knows they should run. They beat him down but here’s Abyss to save his partner and clean house. Both Bad Influences take Black Hole Slams and Abyss helps Young up.

Gunner and James Storm tell the BroMans to not worry about their hair and girls because the champions are ready for them. JB’s hair looks funny for some reason.

Tag Team Titles: BroMans vs. James Storm/Gunner

Storm had a spot in a four way Tag Team Title match at Slammiversary and Gunner impressed him enough to get on the team. They won the belts and haven’t had much competition since. Mr. Olympia Phil Heath is with the challengers again. It’s a brawl to start with the champions cleaning house and Storm being backdropped over the top onto the BroMans. Back in and Storm throws Jesse across the ring before bringing in Gunner for some right hands to the head.

Gunner takes Jesse into the corner for some chops but a Robbie distraction lets Jesse pull him off the middle rope to take over. Robbie comes in legally and hammers away before giving it back to Jesse for two. E. quickly comes back in for a chinlock before Jesse breaks up a backslide attempt with a dropkick. The Bros break up a hot tag attempt and Jesse poses a lot. He gets crotched on the top though, allowing Gunner to hit a fall away slam to take Jesse down.

There’s the hot tag to Storm and house is cleaned again. James gets two off a top rope elbow and is sporting a big cut on his leg. Everything breaks down and Robbie escapes the Eye of the Storm before nailing an implant DDT for two. Gunner plants Robbie with an Irish Curse but Jesse breaks up the Gun Rack. A powerbomb/Backstabber combo gets a VERY close two on Robbie. The Last Call plants Jesse but Robbie throws in a title belt for a distraction, setting up the BroDown for the pin and the titles.

Rating: C-. I remember this being a bit better but the match wasn’t that bad. The near fall was really good and having new champions was a big surprise, but it was still missing something. I have no idea why Heath was out there as he didn’t add a thing to this match. Not bad but the new champs wouldn’t have anyone to feud with for awhile.

Video on Angle’s Hall of Fame induction.

Sting comes out to officially induct Angle into the Hall of Fame. Kurt comes out and thanks the fans but says he can’t accept this induction. This wound up being a story and Angle would eventually accept, which makes the Hall of Fame seem like a prop for angles rather than something special. It’s not a horrible thing but I still don’t like this. My guess however is it had something to do with Angle’s DUI in early August.

Clip of AJ wining the World title at No Surrender 2009.

Dixie Carter puts all of AJ’s merchandise on sale. Her nephew Ethan comes up and we get the new catchphrase: “The world needs us. We’re the Carters.” Well he’s easy to hate.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Brooke vs. ODB

ODB is defending and Aces and 8’s member Brooke is Miss Tessmacher. Brooke is quickly run over and Gail gets sent to the floor by the champion. Back up and Brooke stomps away in the corner before giving ODB a Stinkface. That’s fine with ODB who pops up and chest bumps Brooke into the corner for a Bronco Buster. Gail gets back in and is quickly knocked right back to the floor. Brooke faceplants ODB for two as Gail is holding her arm.

ODB powers up to break a reverse chinlock but gets dropped by a running forearm. A spinning neckbreaker puts the champion down for two but Gail pulls Brooke down for a Figure Four around the post. ODB takes Gail down but Brooke gets two off a rollup. Off to a half crab on Brooke and Gail has to run in to break up a tap out. Both challengers go to the top so ODB tries to superplex them both, only to be shoved down. Gail missile dropkicks ODB and Brooke drops a top rope elbow on Kim to put all three on the mat.

ODB is up first to run everyone over but the referee gets crushed in the corner. Another shot knocks him out to the floor and we get the double fireman’s carry to show off ODB’s strength. Brooke falls off so ODB gives Gail the Bam onto Brooke’s body. Cue Lei’D Tapa to fight with ODB and knock the champion to the floor. A powerbomb plants Brooke and Tapa puts Gail on top for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. Giving Gail a new monster bodyguard doesn’t make her any more interesting. Tapa had a different kind of look but at the end of the day, she was nothing compared to Ivelisse from Gut Check. The match was nothing we haven’t seen on Impact a bunch of times and just restarts the circle of Knockouts with the title all over again.

New broadcaster Gil Corsey (he didn’t last) is with the BroMans and Mr. Olympia. Protein shakes are poured and that’s about it.

Bobby Roode says he’ll prove he’s a better man than Kurt.

We recap Roode vs. Angle. Roode didn’t like Angle going into the Hall of Fame so he and Bad Influence (the Extraordinary Gentlemen’s Organization) inducted Bobby into the EGO Hall of Fame.

Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode

This is Angle’s first match back from rehab. Feeling out process to start with Roode actually taking him down to the mat. Kurt is a bit more hesitant to go after Roode this time but gets caught in a headlock anyway. A quick Crossface attempt sends Angle running but his ankle lock does the same to Roode. Back in and Roode hammers away in the corner until Kurt suplexes him out to the floor.

The fight heads out to the floor where another suplex drops Bobby. Angle tries one too many times though and gets his neck snapped across the top rope. Back in and Roode stomps away before getting two off a suplex. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Angle fights up with right hands. The Rolling Germans have Roode in trouble but he gets a shoulder up at two. The Angle Slam is countered with an armdrag and Roode gets two off a spinebuster.

Kurt escapes a Roode Bomb and puts on the ankle lock as we’re into the trading finishers section. The counter sends Angle arm first into the post and a DDT on the arm sets up the Crossface from Roode. A foot on the rope breaks the hold and Roode is getting frustrated. He walks into another suplex but avoids the moonsault. Roode slaps on the Crossface again but Kurt grabs the ankle lock to break the hold. I love that counter. Bobby pulls him down and puts on the Crossface again until Angle rolls over for two.

That gets rolled over for two more and Angle’s clothesline is countered into yet another Crossface. Kurt reverses THAT into another Angle Slam for two but he can’t follow it up. They slug it out from their knees and Kurt starts rolling more Germans. Bobby can’t take more of those though so he grabs the referee, allowing a low blow to Angle. The yet to be named Roode Bomb gets a very close two. He loads up another one but Kurt rolls down into the ankle lock.

Angle gets the grapevine for good measure and Roode starts to black out, but he’s being crafty. Channeling his inner Bret Hart, Roode is goldbricking and uses the referee checking his arm to grab the rope. Kurt is frustrated but takes Roode to the top for a Super Angle Slam. Both guys are down but Roode gets to his feet long enough to fall on Angle for a surprise pin. Angle never moved after hitting the Slam.

Rating: A-. This was the great match of the show with both guys showing off some awesome stuff. I like that they went with the Austin vs. HHH finish from No Way Out where they hit each other but HHH fell on top for a pin. It’s also the right call as Angle didn’t need the win and Roode gets the (unmentioned) win back from Bound For Glory 2011.

Angle is taken out on medics but wakes up when they try to put a neck brace on him, allowing him to walk out on his own.

AJ beat Sting at Bound For Glory 2009.

Styles is getting ready.

Bully Ray is in the back with a bunch of people we can’t see. A lot of the Aces and 8’s had left at this point so it’s implied they’re back tonight. Ray says the team is reborn tonight and says it’s all about the colors. We never saw who he was talking to.

Ethan Carter III vs. Norv Fernum

Fernum is a jobber who might weigh 150lbs and both guys are debuting tonight. Carter throws him around to start as you would expect before dropping him with a forearm. A high collar t-bone suplex makes Taz smile and Ethan rubs his face in the mat. Fernum scores with some dropkicks and a high cross body for two. Not that it matters as the yet to be named 1%er gives Ethan the easy pin.

Rating: C. Of course it’s not much of a match but this was exactly what you want from a debut for a guy like Carter. He’s become such an awesome heel and this was the kind of start they should have gone with. They played up the idea of Carter getting a handpicked opponent, which is something a rich guy would get. Smart and effective debut.

Magnus says he’s going to get his big win tonight and become the star he’s destined to be, even if it’s at Sting’s expense.

We recap Magnus vs. Sting. Magnus was in the finals of the Bound For Glory Series and lost, destroying his confidence. Sting said Magnus, his Main Event Mafia brother, was going to be a star and Sting was going to give him the chance to do just that.

Magnus vs. Sting

Both guys are good here and this is about making Magnus a star instead of a rivalry. They trade headlocks to start until Sting clotheslines Magnus down. A shoulder puts him on the floor and we’re in a slow start. Sting holds the ropes to let Magnus back in before getting knocked out to the apron with a European uppercut. The Brit holds the ropes open for Sting before leveling him with a clothesline to take over.

Off to a bodyscissors from Magnus for awhile until Sting finally grabs the ropes. Some ax handles have Sting in more trouble and Magnus stays on the ribs and back. Sting comes right back with a backdrop and the Stinger Splash followed by the Deathlock with very little torque on it. Magnus powers out of it and a double clothesline puts both guys down.

Back up and Magnus starts no selling shots to the face ala Sting vs. Flair back in 1987 before hitting a Stinger Splash of his own. A Michinoku Driver gets two but Sting shrugs off a Cloverleaf attempt. Now Sting starts no selling and hits his own Stinger Splash and another Deathlock with so little torque that the fans are barely interested. I guess Sting’s knees just won’t let him sit down anymore.

Magnus finally makes the rope and stops another Splash with a European uppercut. The Scorpion Death Drop puts Sting down and the top rope elbow gets two. A second elbow misses but Magnus fights out of some Death Drop attempts with HARD elbows to the face. Sting says Magnus to come on so Magnus takes him down and puts on the Cloverleaf for the very surprising submission.

Rating: D+. The fans are really not pleased with the ending and I can’t say I blame them. One of the biggest problems with Sting’s later TNA stuff is how fast his matches end. There’s no buildup to them and they just stop out of nowhere. This wasn’t a very good match either but that’s the case with almost all passing the torch matches. Without any hatred between them, there’s no reason for them to be fighting and it makes for a dull match.

They shake hands post match but Magnus doesn’t seem too interested.

AJ beat Magnus to get the title shot tonight.

Bully quotes Welcome to the Jungle to tell AJ that he’s going to die tonight. He doesn’t want AJ to die though. Ray wants AJ to have to live with himself and go back to Gainesville, Georgia and go into that trailer park so he can look at his kids and tell them he’s a failure. That will kill AJ and tonight, he’s in Bully’s jungle.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray, which is almost all about AJ vs. Dixie. AJ won the title shot in the BFG Series but the main story is about Dixie Carter not wanting a hick like AJ as the world champion. She’s promised tonight is his last night in the company and has made the main event basically a street fight.

TNA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray

Bully is defending and has the gorgeous Brooke with him. Ray powers him into the corner to start and says he can see the fear in AJ’s eyes. Styles tells him to bring it and gets taken down by the wrist. He finally rolls out but takes AJ down with a big boot to the face. Bully knocks him down again and tells AJ he’ll take care of the wife and kids. That just ticks AJ off and the drop down into a dropkick puts Ray down.

AJ’s Calf Killer goes on out of nowhere but Aces and 8’s member Garrett Bischoff comes out for a distraction. Ray picks up a hammer but AJ kicks it out of his hands and swings it himself. Bully prevents a bad case of death by chopping Styles a few times to Taz’s delight. He mocks Hogan with the hand to the ear before chopping AJ again. AJ asks him for another and Ray backs up into the corner out of fear. Styles goes off on him in the corner but gets nailed by a clothesline.

Ray’s next chop leaves a handprint on AJ’s chest but he comes back with kicks to the leg. Cue Aces and 8’s member Knux for a chokeslam on Styles, giving Bully two. Ray is ticked off at the near fall so he pokes Hebner in the chest, only to get shouted down. A big running clothesline hits Knux by mistake and AJ grabs a rollup for two. Ray kicks AJ right in the face to knock him out to the floor as this is picking up again.

They head outside and Ray picks up the hammer but gets Peled onto the announcers’ table. Styles loads up the springboard 450 but Ray moves, sending AJ crashing through the table for a huge wreck. Taz hands Ray a boxcutter so the champ can start cutting up the ring. He peels back the mat and then the padding underneath, leaving only the wooden boards.

With AJ still down, Ray calls the boys to the ring. Instead he gets Dixie because where would we be without her? She hands Ray a chair but AJ comes in with the springboard forearm to drive the chair into Bully’s face. The springboard 450 connects but Dixie tells Hebner not to count the pin. The hesitation lets Ray kick out at what should have been about 15. AJ’s Clash is countered with a backdrop onto the wood and Ray actually hits the middle rope backsplash. It’s only good for two though so Ray nails him in the back with a chair. AJ escapes the piledriver and nails a Pele, followed by Spiral Tap for the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. The match was good but it felt like a long segment at times instead of a match. The missed splash looked great and ripping up the ring was interesting, but man alive does Dixie Carter drag down segments she’s in. It’s not due to being a bad character as she’s easy to hate. It’s that I just do not want to see her involved because she’s going to get way more focus than she deserves and make things a lot more annoying than interesting.

As for AJ’s character, it’s questionable at best. We spent months on him as the loner who didn’t want anything to do with TNA and teased being a part of Aces and 8’s, but now he’s TNA’s conquering hero? That’s a stretch to say the least and the match felt more about Dixie vs. AJ by the end. They could save that for later on TV, which they would do again because TNA does some questionable things.

A bunch of recaps and a celebration end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show tried and had its moments but there’s not enough here to make the show great. That being said, not having to sit through the bad TV shows setting up this show made things a lot easier. It’s just the wrestling and the main event and Roode vs. Angle matches make it worth sitting through. Not a great show or anything and the booking continues to be AWFUL but the wrestling isn’t bad.

Ratings Comparison

Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. BroMans vs. Eric Young/Joseph Park vs. Bad Influence

Original: C

Redo: C-

Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Manik

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Gunner/James Storm vs. BroMans

Original: C

Redo: C-

Brooke vs. ODB vs. Gail Kim

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Ethan Carter III vs. Norv Fernum

Original: D-

Redo: C

Sting vs. Magnus

Original: C

Redo: D+

AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray

Original: C

Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: D+

Redo: C+

As usual, the lack of sitting through the build is a good thing. When TNA cuts out the nonsense of TV, they’re much easier to sit through.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/10/20/bound-for-glory-2013-why-is-this-the-biggest-show-of-the-year/

So that’s Bound For Glory so far. Overall, the show is very endemic of TNA in general: they have good stuff, but the lack of creating top stars kills them. Four of the first five shows are more about Sting than anything else and the latter ones are mainly about Angle or Hogan. I get the idea of making them look strong so putting someone over them means something, but that only happened once at the biggest show of the year. Other than that, it’s almost all about making the old guys look good and that’s missing the point.

The show is worth checking out most of the time, but you can see TNA going downhill after about 2007. There’s almost always value to the show and none of them are horrible, but man alive they can be frustrating to sit through at times. Again, that’s true of so many things TNA does and they make it hard to be a fan for more than a little while at a time. Check out some of the better matches, but I wouldn’t recommend putting yourself through the full shows most of the time.

Bound For Glory 2012
Date: October 14, 2012
Location: Grand Canyon University Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 2,900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the age of the bikers now as the Aces and 8’s storyline has taken over TNA. This story started back in June and would still be going (kind of) at NEXT YEAR’S Bound For Glory because TNA doesn’t know how to just let something go. Again the real main event isn’t for the World Title, but rather Sting and Bully Ray facing off with two of the masked members of Aces and 8’s with access to the Impact Zone on the line. There’s also something about Jeff Hardy winning the Bound For Glory Series and challenging for the World Title but let’s get to the important stuff like Sting with Hogan in his corner. Let’s get to it.

Before I get started, I have to give this show praise for its tagline: The Memories Are Waiting. That actually gave me a chill when I first heard it and it still really works.

The opening video focuses on the moments at Bound For Glory. Oddly enough a lot of them focus on Sting. This really does make the show look like the biggest event of the year which is a very important thing for a wrestling company to have.

The announcers hype up the show and run down the card.

We have an old school ramp to the ring.

X-Division Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion

Ion is defending and is obsessed with his hair. There’s no story here because there wasn’t time to get one together. Literally the Thursday before the show, Van Dam came out and said he was challenging for the title here. The fans are entirely behind Rob here as you would expect them to be. Feeling out process to start as Rob goes after Ion’s hair to take over. A few kicks to the face send Zema outside but he’s able to run away from Rob’s dive.

Back in and Rob ducks a clothesline but gets caught by a low dropkick. The ring is very loud here. Something like a Whisper in the Wind gets two for the champion but he gets crotched on the ropes and kicked back out to the floor. Rob takes a well deserved bow as this has been mostly one sided so far. The champ comes back in by diving through the ropes into a tornado DDT for a pair of near falls.

Rob gets shoved off the top and down onto the barricade, setting up a big flip dive from Ion. Zema throws him back in and blocks a monkey flip with a kind of hot shot. A missile dropkick gets two on Rob and the champion puts on an abdominal stretch to slow things down. That goes nowhere so they slug it out until Rob throws him into the air for a dropkick to the ribs. Rolling Thunder sets up the Five Star for the clean pin and the title.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I thought I would with Ion being a perfectly adequate foil for the feel good title win. Rob broke a bit of a sweat here but there wasn’t a huge doubt as to who was winning. Ion had been champion for three months at this point and there wasn’t much else he could do with it so giving it to Rob to make him look like he still means something is a good idea.

Magnus says tonight is the biggest night of the year for everyone. Tonight, there is no more hiding behind Hogan for Samoa Joe and Magnus gets his TV Title.

TV Title: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is defending. They used to be partners but Magnus went to the dark side after they lost the Tag Team Titles. Joe won the TV Title and Magnus wants a shot due to the tag team issues and Joe beating him in some BFG Series matches. Feeling out process to start with both guys sending the other to the corner. Magnus’ handshake offer is declined and Joe nails a hard big boot to the jaw. The Brit takes over with a clothesline and pounds away in the corner.

A knee to the face puts Joe down and a Michinoku Driver gets two. Joe gets all fired up and runs Magnus over before getting two off the running backsplash. There’s the STF followed by the Rings of Saturn but Magnus gets his foot on the ropes. Joe’s MuscleBuster and superplex attempts are broken up with a kick to the head and the top rope elbow gets two. Joe puts on the Clutch but Magnus climbs the ropes and flips over to escape. A chop block puts the champion down and he loads up the Figure Four, only to be countered into the Cluth to retain Joe’s title.

Rating: C-. Totally basic match here that could have been on any episode of Impact. Magnus just didn’t have it yet but would show some good improvement in the next year. At the same time, Joe was his normal self here as we’re in the middle of his latest push that wouldn’t go anywhere of note.

Roode says this hatred between him and Storm has been building for a year but ends tonight. I’m sure. Special referee King Mo won’t be a factor and Roode is going to send Storm home forever.

We recap Roode vs. Storm. As you might remember, Roode turned on Storm to win the World Title just after Bound For Glory 2011. This set up their huge showdown at Lockdown 2012 in Storm’s hometown after one heck of a build. Storm destroyed Roode for twenty minutes…..and then accidentally knocked him out of the cage so Roode retained the title.

Again, TNA had the chance to make a new star and just didn’t for….well I can’t say no apparent reason as Storm was banged up, but there was no reason to not give him the title there and then deal with the injury later. You give him the win and the fans get the moment. The reign itself doesn’t matter. See Mick Foley in 1999 for further proof. Anyway tonight it’s a street fight to blow off the feud, even though the cage match was the blowoff already.

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm

Street fight. MMA fighter King Mo is outside referee and comes out in a robe and crown. They stare each other down before Storm takes over with a bunch of right hands. A big backdrop puts Roode down and they head outside. Roode gets rammed face first into the apron but comes back with a shot to the face, only to stop and stare at Mo. Storm nails a Russian legsweep to send Bobby into the barricade to take over.

The Eye of the Storm through the announcers’ table doesn’t work as Roode slips down the back and sends Storm into the post to bust him open. He brings in a chair to knock Storm down even more as the blood is flowing. They head back inside with Roode bringing in a kendo stick, only to drop it to wedge a chair in the corner. Storm picks up the stick and nails Roode before putting a trashcan between Roode’s legs and driving it home with the stick.

An Elevated DDT onto the ramp knocks Roode silly but Storm is weak from the blood loss. A fan hands Storm a crutch for a shot to Roode’s ribs and Bobby is in trouble again. They slug it out with trashcan lids on the ramp and King Mo isn’t sure what to think. Roode finally goes down after a trashcan shot but he comes back with a spinebuster on the ramp.

They fight to the floor where Storm drinks a beer and takes Roode over to the announcers’ table. Bobby fights out of a suplex attempt which clearly wasn’t going to hit and spears Storm off one table and through another. That’s only good for two as Storm’s blood is all over Bobby’s back. He goes after Hebner but Mo gets in the ring and slaps Roode into Closing Time from Storm. The Last Call gets two and Storm is stunned.

Another Last Call is blocked and Roode sends him head first into the chair in the corner for two, even with a handful of trunks. Storm is sat on the top rope for a chair shot to the back….and it’s tacks time. Bobby loads up a superplex onto the tacks but gets shoved onto them instead, followed by a top rope elbow from Storm for two. A low blow puts Storm down and Roode brings in a six pack of beer. Storm returns the low blow and breaks the beer bottle over Roode’s head in the same move that started the feud. Bobby is out on his feet and the Last Call into the tacks gives Storm the pin.

Rating: B+. It’s a really good brawl but the Lockdown match really holds it back. This match comes off like Rock vs. Austin at Wrestlemania XIX: Storm wins here but it really doesn’t mean anything more than revenge. He lost the big match when everything was on the line and now looks like a choker. Still though, it’s a great bloody brawl with Storm looking like he went through a meat grinder. I have no idea why Mo needed to be here though as he didn’t do a thing.

Joey Ryan says he should have been given a contract before he was on Gut Check but Al Snow and the Gut Check judges thought they knew better than 87% of the Impact audience. He’s the opposite of Snow and they’re on his turf tonight. Politicking isn’t going to save Snow tonight because tonight, Ryan is bringing sleazy back to Bound For Glory.

That promo basically covered the recap. Ryan was on Gut Check and got 87% of the fan vote, but the judges said no. Joey showed up at some shows and tried to get on camera, even punching Snow over the barricade at one point. Tonight it’s Snow vs. Ryan for a contract.

Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow

Snow offers to start in an amateur position and easily takes Joey down for some slaps to the back of the head. They head to the corner with Snow dropping him with an elbow and hiptoss. Off to a headlock for a bit before Ryan nails a clothesline and rubs his own chest. Back up and a right hand knocks Snow’s head back for one of the most out there looks I’ve ever seen.

Some clotheslines drop Ryan and there are the headbutts to the chest. The Snow Plow gets two so Snow grabs Head from under the ring. The referee tries to take it away and gets crushed for his efforts. Joey kisses the Head for some reason but misses a baseball slide and gets caught in the ring skirt. Al grabs Head again but Matt Morgan returns through the crowd and kicks Snow’s head (not Head) off. Snow is thrown back in and Ryan gets the easy pin.

Rating: D. This doesn’t hold up very well though Snow hadn’t been active in a major promotion for years now. Joey was much better as a character or talker than an in ring guy but you had to get him on the roster somehow. The story for this wasn’t bad but the actual match didn’t hold up.

Bad Influence says they’re the team the women want to be with and the men just want to be. They’re going to run down their challengers tonight and wash it down with a delicious Appletini.

We recap the Tag Team Title three way. It’s basically good team vs. evil team vs. dream team.

Tag Team Titles: Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Kurt Angle/AJ Styles

These teams have feuded over the titles all summer. Styles and Chavo get things going with Chavo getting two off a shoulder block. AJ takes him into the corner for the tag off to Angle and a nice reaction from the crowd. Kurt hammers away but Daniels tags himself in to take over on AJ. A fast series of tags gives us Hernandez suplexing AJ before Chavo gets two off a slingshot hilo.

Kaz tags himself in but walks into the drop down into the dropkick. Styles brings in Angle who gets driven into the corner, allowing Chavo to come in and work over Kaz in the corner. Chavo brings in Herenadnez for the over the shoulder backbreaker and it’s quickly off to Daniels vs. Styles. Daniels avoids a charge in the corner and Kaz nails a hard clothesline from the apron. Off to Kaz for a slingshot legdrop and a pelvic thrust at Guerrero and Hernandez.

Daniels hiptosses Daniels on AJ for two and we hit a full nelson on the mat. Back up and AJ escapes a monkey flip but avoids a tag from Hernandez and Chavo so he can Pele Kaz down. A double tag brings in Daniels and Angle with Kurt cleaning house. Kaz gets caught in rolling Germans but Daniels climbs his partner for a sunset flip, only to be countered into an ankle lock. Angle misses a charge into the corner but belly to bellies Kaz into Daniels for two.

Chavo and Hernandez are knocked back to the floor so Kaz can hit the slingshot DDT on Angle. Hernandez runs in and knocks Kaz across the ring, only to have AJ knock SuperMex across the ring. Daniels moonsaults out to take out Angle but turns around into a huge dive from Hernandez. AJ isn’t about to be one upped so he fakes a dive onto Guerrero and dives onto Hernandez and Bad Influence for a huge crash. Back in and Chavo tries the Three Amigos on Angle but gets caught in the Angle Slam.

Hernandez breaks up the moonsault and sets for the Border Toss, only to have AJ tag himself in and save his partner. Kurt misses a charge and falls out to the floor, allowing Kaz to slam Styles down. The BME gets two on AJ and Daniels is STUNNED. Chavo dives out to the floor to take Kaz out as AJ escapes Angel’s Wings and nails the moonsault reverse DDT on Daniels. Hernandez tags himself in and drills Daniels with a slingshot shoulder followed by the Border Toss and Frog Splash from Chavo for the pin and the titles.

Rating: B. This was a fun and fast paced three way but unfortunately it would start one of the least interesting title reigns in recorded history. Guerrero and Hernandez were really good in the ring but man alive would they drive things into the ground during their promos. The match was really awesome stuff though with some great spots and saves but it never got to that highest level.

The new champions celebrate post match.

We recap Tara vs. Tessmacher. This is the old mentor vs. mentee story with Tara teaching Tessmacher everything she knew, only to have Tessmacher win the title. Tara couldn’t beat her and got pinned, so she turned heel and set up a rematch. She also has a Hollywood boyfriend who is debuting tonight.

Knockouts Title: Tara vs. Miss Tessmacher

The cast of British Bootcamp, including Rockstar Spud, is in the front row. Taryn Terrell is referee, as she was for every Knockouts match for awhile. They stare each other down to start and Tessmacher gets a few rollups for two each on the challenger. A headscissors puts Tara down again but she comes back with a knee to the ribs and a baseball slide to send Tessmacher out to the floor.

Back in and Tara poses a lot but gets caught in a sunset flip for two. Tara charges into a boot in the corner and gets DDTed for two. Back up and Tessmacher goes nuts with clotheslines followed by a spining clothesline for two. A top rope hurricanrana puts Tara down but she avoids a top rope elbow. The Widow’s Peak gives Tara the title back.

Rating: C-. This was just a step above a standard Knockouts match, meaning it really wasn’t all that good. Like most other Knockouts, Tara can only win so many titles before they just stop meaning anything. At least Tessmacher was a fresh name in the division, but the post match stuff at least validates the new champion.

Tara introduces her Hollywood boyfriend: Jesse from Big Brother. Kissing ensues, accompanied by a big “WHO ARE YOU” chant.

We see Sting’s Hall of Fame induction from last night, making him the first member.

We recap Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray. The bikers have taken over the company and kidnapped Joseph Park. Hulk agreed to a tag match at Bound For Glory in exchange for Park’s release. It’s two TNA guys (Hogan can’t be one) vs. two Aces tonight. If the bikers win, they get full access to the Impact Zone but if they lose, they’re gone. At this point, we still don’t know any members of the group.

Ray volunteered to team with Sting to stand up for TNA, which would wind up being a huge plot point later on. The best part of this whole thing was when the Aces had Hogan in their clubhouse. Hogan agreed to the tag match and said he was one of the guys. The Aces boss: “Hogan, for once in your life this isn’t about you!”

Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray

No DQ and Ray has Sting face paint on. The Aces still have Park with them and he’s now conscious. Keep in mind that Park had figured out who the Aces’ leader was, or at least a lot about them, at this point. That’s also going to be a big plot point later on. It’s a huge brawl to start on the floor with the very big Aces quickly getting beaten down. The Bikers fights back with right hands as the fans are chanting for Hogan.

Ray and Sting double team we’ll say #1 with an elbow to the head and a piece of a table to the same spot. #1 comes back by whipping Ray into the steps and avoids a Stinger Splash against the barricade. They finally get inside with #2 working over Sting with uppercuts and a slam for two. Off to #1 with a clothesline for two as we see Park handcuffed to the barricade.

The bikers start double teaming but Sting no sells a slam and Hulks Up but the Scorpion on #1 is quickly broken up. A Death Drop out of nowhere plants #1 but Sting tags Ray instead of covering. Ray cleans house with elbows and a middle rope shoulder but #1 gets in a knee to the back from the apron. Ray comes right back with a double clothesline to drop the Aces and a splash gets two on #1.

Sting and #2 get in a fight on the floor and #1 brings in a chair. Bully kicks it out of his hands but a third member comes in with a low blow. He spits at Park so Joseph rips the handcuffs off the barricade and hammers away on the third guy. All four of the regular guys are in the ring now and we get a Doomsday Device on #1. There’s a Stinger Splash to #2 and Sting wants the tables. #1 pulls Sting to the floor for a brawl and a fourth Ace comes in for a spinebuster to put Ray through the table, giving #2 the pin.

Rating: C. There was only so much you could do with something like this the bikers were just faceless monsters so the match shouldn’t have been any kind of a wrestling clinic. That being said, Sting can only do so much in the ring so keeping it as a brawl was a good idea. On top of that, this was all about the story instead of the wrestling so they could do almost whatever they wanted out there.

The rest of the team came in for the beatdown until Hogan comes out. Like any villain group worth their salt, they sent attackers at Hogan one at a time so he can punch them all down. Eventually the guy that interfered is left alone with Sting, Ray and Hogan. The masked man is beaten down and Hulk unmasks him to reveal….D-Von, whose contract expired while he was still TV Champion and hasn’t been seen in months. Everyone is stunned that it’s D-Von, who says it was always him.

So yeah, TNA spent four months on this and the first thing we get is D-Von. The response to this was almost universally negative as it felt like a huge letdown. At the end of the day, D-Von is the quieter member of a tag team who won a mostly meaningless TV Title earlier in the year. For him to be the first reveal and in theory the leader of the team, the whole idea sounds laughable. Look at the visual you have: Bully Ray, Sting and HULK HOGAN against D-Von and a bunch of faceless fighters. Why in the world should I care about something like that? Naturally this story went on for another year because….well why not.

As for the two plot points, I think it’s safe to explain these as this show is two years old. First off there’s Park, who found out the identity of at least multiple Aces and 8’s members and maybe even the leader. He was free by the end of the match….AND HE DIDN’T GO TELL HOGAN? Hulk had wanted to talk to Park for weeks and apparently he didn’t say anything immediately?

It gets worse, because to the best of my knowledge, Park NEVER SAID ANYTHING. This brings us to the other plot point. Bully Ray signed up for this match and of course eventually became the leader of Aces and 8’s. They did a good job with the build, but people had it figured out by January or so. Again, that’s not a bad thing though and Ray had raised his game so much that he more than deserved the spot.

Austin Aries says he’s done everything he’s said he would do with confidence but tonight he’s going to do it with anger. He’s defending against Jeff Hardy tonight and had a really weak heel turn like a week before the show to give the match a story.

We recap Aries vs. Hardy, which is all about Jeff Hardy’s redemption after being high on something at Victory Road 2011. Aries said he was tired of being told what to do and now he’s going to be himself. He wanted to know why Hardy got all this special treatment and attacked Jeff on Impact, calling him a failure.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries

Aries is defending and parades around with the belt to start. Jeff shoves him into the corner before they hit the mat for some amateur stuff. They’re wrestling like they have a lot of time which usually makes for a good match. Back up and Aries looks annoyed as Hardy takes him into the corner. Jeff hammers away but gets caught in a headlock, only to counter into a headscissors. Aries escapes with a headstand but misses his dropkick.

The second attempt works a bit better though and Hardy is knocked silly. Aries chokes with a boot but goes outside for a victory lap instead of covering. Back in and Aries tells Jeff to wait a minute, earning him a suplex. Austin rolls to the floor and gets nailed with an ax handle to the back to put him down again. Jeff nails Poetry in Motion off the steps to drive Aries into the barricade and we go back inside.

The champ avoids a dropkick and gets two off a middle rope elbow. He hammers away in the corner and stops a quick splash attempt by raising his knees. A backbreaker gets another near fall and Aries puts on an abdominal stretch on the mat. Hardy fights up again as the fans are split on who to cheer for. The brainbuster is countered and Hardy nails the sitout front suplex. Aries takes him back down and gets two more off a slingshot spinning splash.

Jeff blocks the Last Chancery and picks Aries up for a powerbomb, only to drop him backwards for a big crash. A basement dropkick gets two for Hardy and the Whisper in the Wind gets the same. The Twist of Fate is blocked but Jeff kicks Aries to the floor and into the barricade. He avoids a big plancha though, setting up the suicide dive to send Hardy into the barricade again. It works so well that Aries hits it again but Jeff gets up at two.

Austin is busted open after ramming his head into the steel but it only makes him cover Jeff even harder. The Last Chancery goes on now and only lasts a few seconds as usual. Aries takes him to the ramp for a brainbuster but Jeff counters into a Twist of Fate attempt. That goes nowhere either as Aries sends him back inside with a clothesline. He slams Jeff head first onto the edge of the ramp and Hardy looks out of it. A missile dropkick makes things even worse but Jeff blocks the running corner dropkick.

The Twist of Fate out of nowhere gets two and Hardy goes up top, only to get crotched back down. A great looking jumping top rope hurricanrana puts Jeff down again and now the running dropkick connects. The brainbuster is only good for two and Aries is spent. With nothing left to throw, Aries tries a double stomp out of the Tree of Woe but Jeff rolls away. Another Twist and the Swanton give us a new champion.

Rating: A-. This was the kind of wrestling match they needed to close out the show but the angle and match felt tacked on after the previous stuff. Hardy winning the title back is a good story but Aries didn’t need to turn heel. This made him feel like a villain for Hardy to vanquish rather than a champion in a huge showdown. That being said, it’s a really good match with both guys taking everything the other had and surviving. Excellent main event.

Overall Rating: B+. This show holds up a lot better than I expected it to. The wrestling is good and again, the big reveal doesn’t bother me as much without spending all the months on the build. There’s more than enough stuff here to carry it with the street fight, Tag Team Title match and main event all being good to very good matches. As usual, when TNA cuts out the nonsense and just lets its wrestlers wrestle, good things happen. This show worked and I had a good time watching it, which is rare for TNA.

Ratings Comparison

Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion

Original: C

Redo: C+

Magnus vs. Samoa Joe

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm

Original: B+

Redo: B+

Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow

Original: D+

Redo: D

Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle

Original: B

Redo: B

Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara

Original: D

Redo: C-

Sting/Bully Ray vs. Aces and 8’s

Original: C

Redo: C

Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: B+

Like I said, we’re at the point where not a lot is going to change.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/10/14/bound-for-glory-2012-if-these-are-the-memories-that-are-waiting-amnesia-doesnt-sound-that-bad/

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:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

I’m getting some Nitro reviews done in advance (the things I do for you people) and ran across this match.  I barely remember it and watching it again made me scream at my computer.  The participants are going to surprise you.

 

 

Ciclope/Damien vs. La Parka/Silver King

Bischoff is off commentary. This is a hardcore match for no apparent reason. It’s a brawl to start with Silver King kicking a chair into Damien’s face. Ciclope nails King with a trashcan and whips La Parka into it for good measure. There’s another can brought in and wrapped around La Parka’s head for Poetry In Motion from Damien. La Parka bails to the floor but gets caught with a baseball slide with a chair to knock him silly. Not that it matters as he picks up a chair and nails a diving Ciclope in the head with the same chair in an awesome visual.

Damien dropkicks La Parka off the chair and goes outside, only to have to throw the chair at a diving Silver King. La Parka puts Damien in the chair and takes him down with another suicide dive before Silver King throws a trashcan out of the ring and over Ciclope’s head. He follows it up with an Asai Moonsault to take everyone out in a cool spot. Damien takes La Parka back inside and takes a chair to the head followed by a trashcan lid for a bonus.

La Parka sets up a chair and tries a superplex on Damien, but has to settle for just throwing him face first onto the chair for two. Ciclope NAILS La Parka with a trashcan lid to break up a top rope hurricanrana attempt, swinging so hard that it flies to the announcers’ table and into Schiavone’s hands.

Ciclope gets backdropped to the floor as Damien is setting up a table. It doesn’t last long though as Silver King tornado DDTs Ciclope through the table for another big crash. Damien’s middle rope hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb through another table for two. Tony: “He kicked out!” Heenan: “WHY???” La Parka sets up two chairs and powerbombs Damien onto them (with the chairs not giving an inch) for the pin.

Rating: B. WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THIS COME FROM??? This was an outstanding brawl with all four guys hitting each other as hard as they could for some awesome bumps and spots. It’s a seven minute match that had me wanting to see more, even though I’m not a fan of most of the guys involved. I have no idea where this came from or why it wasn’t done more often, but it’s worth checking out. Really good stuff.

Smackdown
Date: October 10, 2014
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Tom Phillips

Tonight is the 15^th Anniversary Special for Smackdown, meaning we’re likely to get a lot of cameos and clips from great Smackdowns over the years. These shows are always hit or miss and could range from a really fun show to PLEASE LET IT END. The flashbacks should be fun though. Let’s get to it.

We open with a montage of great Smackdown moments. The old man taking off his face to reveal Bischoff blew my mind.

Here’s Stephanie for our first long chat of the night. She talks about the origin of the word Smackdown, saying it was made by the man who lost to her husband on the first episode of Smackdown, the Rock. Smackdown has always been about the people, so here’s BIG JOHNNY ACE! We actually get a PEOPLE POWER chant and Johnny talks about how great his era really was.

Johnny has been doing his research on the WWE Network (Stephanie: “Proof that anyone can use it.”) and has some matches to make tonight. Cue Teddy Long (with JBL doing the Teddy Dance!) who says he was Smackdown GM for six years and he’s not letting Ace take it away again. Ace cuts him off though and says he’s making a tag match with Miz/Cesaro vs. Sheamus/Swagger. Teddy would make it a six man tag with Bo Dallas and Mark Henry being added. Ace: “TEN MAN TAG! TEN MAN TAG! TEN MAN TAG!”

Johnny adds the Dusts and Usos to the mix, but Teddy says let’s make it a FIFTEEN MAN TAG MATCH! Ace says that doesn’t make sense. Teddy takes the previous ten guys and add the Mini Gator, Slater, O’Neil, Torito, Los Matadores and……TITO SANTANA? Stephanie likes the idea, even though Santana isn’t here. Apparently the Gator and Bull count as one guy between the two of them in case the math didn’t make sense. Stephanie adds a stipulation: each guy picks a team and the winning captain is named the best GM of all time. This was totally fun and the battling tag match ideas was a nice idea.

Stephanie isn’t done though as she announces John Cena and Dean Ambrose appearing on MizTV later in the night. This brings out Adam Rose and the Rosebuds to with Smackdown a Happy Birthday. He invites Stephanie onto the Exotic Express but instead she makes Rose vs. Kane next. Stephanie does her own dance and of course Teddy joins in. Even Ace dances a bit.

We get the first great Smackdown moment: the debut episode with Rock vs. HHH. So the pilot has been written off I guess.

Kane vs. Adam Rose

Kane says he isn’t a cheeseburger or Rosebud and tonight he’s going to crash the party. Rose tries to speed things up to start before grabbing a sleeper. That goes nowhere so he goes up top, only to dive into an uppercut. The chokeslam gives Rose his first loss at 1:03. That’s kind of a waste of the last six months but at least he wasn’t given any kind of a push.

Kane goes after the Exotic Express post match as they all go into the ring to check on Rose. He beats some of them up until it’s only the Bunny left. JBL is thrilled but some of the Rosebuds get back in to distract Kane so the Bunny can escape.

From June 27, 2002: John Cena answers Kurt Angle’s open challenge. Undertaker shook Cena’s hand after the match.

AJ Lee vs. Alicia Fox

Non-title. Paige is holding AJ’s title on the announcers’ table during the match. Fox scores with some kicks to start before getting two off a great looking northern lights suplex. We’re in the chinlock less than forty seconds into the match. AJ counters a backbreaker into the Black Widow for the submission at 1:22.

Paige and Fox go after AJ but she fights them off without much effort.

The next moment is a bunch of big dives and crashes, capped off by Lesnar and Big Show breaking the ring. In a nice touch, each package is introduced with a different Smackdown theme from over the years.

Seth Rollins vs. Kofi Kingston

Noble and Mercury are at ringside to watch out for Ambrose. Seth immediately stomps Kofi down in the corner to start before whipping him hard into the barricade. Kofi’s face is dropped onto the apron before he gets another beating back inside. Kingston finally gets a knee up in the corner and scores with a dropkick. Seth just hammers him again and hits the Buckle Bomb. There’s a second buckle bomb and the Curb Stomp gives Seth the pin at 3:35.

Rating: C-. In the words of Big Zeke’s theme song, this here’s what you call domination. Seth squashed Kofi here and it’s kind of sad to see Kingston having such little direction that this is all he can do anymore. There wasn’t anyone else that can take a loss like this? Granted it’s not like it’s going to be remembered in like a day though so it’s not that big of a deal.

Luke Harper release video.

Another video package on Money in the Bank cash-ins.

Rusev vs. Dolph Ziggler

Non-title again. Rusev powers him into the corner to start and kicks Ziggler in the back before choking on the apron. Ziggler fights out of a chinlock but misses a Stinger Splash as we take a break. Back with Dolph hammering away but getting caught with the knees to the ribs and fall away slam. Rusev hooks a front facelock with a body scissors but Ziggler finally rolls forward to escape.

A hard shot to the face staggers Rusev and there’s a dropkick for good measure. The running DDT is blocked but Rusev misses a charge, setting up a bad looking Fameasser for one. Back up and the running superkick sets up the Accolade to make Dolph tap at 8:20. This was only a few steps above a squash save for that one flurry.

Rating: C. But I thought Rock buried Rusev on Raw and there was no way he could ever recover. Those comments still make my head hurt but that’s another story for another time. This was a big win for Rusev and they’re getting more and more common. I know the logical story was to have him go over Sheamus for the US Title, but they’re getting to the point where he needs to go into the World Title picture with wins like these. He’s not there yet, but they can’t ignore him much longer.

Post match Lana says Philadelphia being the birthplace of America explains a lot of things about this country. She brings up meeting Rock on Monday and starts ranting in Russian. Rusev takes the mic from her and says Rock will pay the consequences. He issues a challenge to Big Show for Raw.

We look at Austin vs. Booker T. in a grocery store. I loved that.

After Raw went off the air, Rock came in to see HHH and Stephanie to talk about the upcoming Smackdown special. They bring up the main event of the first Smackdown and Rock giving him a Rock Bottom the next week. HHH thinks it was Road Dogg that got beaten up because HHH kept giving Rock Pedigrees and leaving him looking up at the lights. Rock wonders what would happen if they headlined Wrestlemania one more time.

Both guys talk trash and HHH says name the time and Wrestlemania so he can turn off the electricity on Mr. electricity. They get nose to nose and Rock asks why they’re this close because it’s kind of weird. Rock: “One of us has to back up.” HHH: “Well I can’t do it. I’m the Game.” Rock: “Well I’m the People’s Champ.”

They agree to do it at the same time but neither guy moves. They finally back up and HHH again says name the time and stadium. Stephanie breaks it up and suggests they go to dinner. HHH: “How about we go to Wrestlemania?” Rock: “How about you pay the bill you cheap bastard?” HHH says Rock is cheap because he made all those #1 movies and won’t pay for dinner. This was a really funny segment but I’m not sure I want to see these guys headline a Wrestlemania. Then again, it’s not the worst idea in the world either.

The announcers get a birthday cake and it winds up on Tom’s face since he’s the rookie. It wouldn’t be Smackdown if that didn’t happen.

Booker T. comes out to do commentary on the main event.

Another clip of Austin leaving a rattlesnake in the McMahons’ office and then destroying the DX bus.

Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny

Teddy: Usos, Los Matadores, Mark Henry, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, El Torito

Johnny: Miz, Heath Slater, Titus O’Neil, Goldust, Stardust, Bo Dallas, Damien Mizdow, Mini Gator

Goldust and Fernando get things going and don’t seem all that interested in doing much for the first thirty seconds or so. Fernando finally takes Goldust over with a hurricanrana and it’s off to Stardust who is quickly sent to the floor. Everyone gets in for a staredown as we take a break. Back with Titus knocking Jey into the Johnny corner but the Usos clean house, only to have Stardust kick Jimmy out to the floor. Jimmy gets caught in the corner and takes a splash from the Gator.

The fans want Mizdow and get their wish with a right hand to Jimmy’s head. We hit a chinlock for a bit before it’s off to Titus as things slow down. Titus charges into Jimmy’s foot in the corner but Cesaro breaks up a hot tag attempt. We take another break and come back with Jimmy fighting out of Slater’s chinlock and nailing an enziguri. He backdrops Cesaro down and makes the tag off to Sheamus for very little reaction. Cesaro takes the ten forearms to the chest, just like Slater and Stardust.

Sheamus has all three of them in a row and goes down the line to hit each of them over and over. Everything breaks down and the Usos pull Slater and O’Neil to the floor for suicide dives from Los Matadores, followed by a double dive from the Usos to take out everyone. The minis go at it until Bo powerbombs Torito onto the pile on the floor.

Henry can’t hit the Slam on Dallas and gets low bridged out to the floor. There’s a Brogue Kick to Dallas but Sheamus gets swung by Cesaro until Jey superkicks Cesaro down. Mizdow gets the tag and tries the Skull Crushing Finale but gets driven into the corner. The Brogue Kick to Mizdow sets up Jimmy’s Superfly Splash for the pin at 17:48.

Rating: C+. This was nothing but fun and that’s all it was supposed to be. Was there really any doubt that Teddy was going to win this in the end? He’s the definition of the feel good character and it’s hard not to like him. The match was fine and the big dives were fun as always. Nothing great but a fun way to celebrate fifteen years.

Teddy is lifted onto the winners’ shoulders.

Roway is free video.

Time for MizTV to close the show. We recap the events from Monday before Miz announces the match at Hell in a Cell as an anything goes contract on a pole match. Ambrose and Cena come out, with Cena hugging a Make-A-Wish kid on the way to the ring. Dean says he doesn’t care who Cena is because no one crosses him. Seth Rollins tried to end his career and Ambrose wants his revenge. John wants to take that from him and no one steals from Dean Ambrose.

Cena talks about how the WWE brass is scared of Dean Ambrose because he’ll say whatever is on his mind out of a love for this business. On Monday, Ambrose showed the balls (and Cena has an actual pair of baseballs in his hand) to leave Cena laying because it gets Cena towards what he wants. To Miz: “Why are you looking at these? You don’t even know what they are.”

Cena knows that Dean is going to make him earn it at the pay per view because they’re cut from the same cloth. There’s a reason Cena can come to this ring every night for twelve years: he has a pair of these and doesn’t break his word for anyone. Ambrose better bring his a-game to Dallas because Cena likes his chances.

Miz hypes up Cena’s career and asks Ambrose is he thinks he can beat him. Ambrose: “Yep.” Dean knows he can do it and Miz keeps talking until Cena threatens to slap the glasses off his face. Cena goes to leave but Miz says that’s not how this works. The guests are supposed to fight and I think you know what’s coming. Miz gets beaten down and takes a DDT from Ambrose, only for Dean to get AA’d. Rollins smiles in the back to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I had a good time with this show and that’s all that it needed to be. They had a good time with the Smackdown anniversary, even though they pretty much blew by the last ten years or so. The ending was a nice touch and helps set up the match even better. I like it being a contract on a pole match as it gives Ambrose a better chance to win, even though he isn’t going to pin Cena. That being said, he almost has to win inside the Cell, even though I’m not sure he will. Nice show here and that’s an upgrade for Smackdown.

Results

Kane b. Adam Rose – Chokeslam

AJ Lee b. Alicia Fox – Black Widow

Seth Rollins b. Kofi Kingston – Curb Stomp

Rusev b. Dolph Ziggler – Accolade

Team Teddy b. Team Johnny – Superfly Splash to Mizdow

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:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

This week’s show was a very strange mix of comedy, cancer, hot dogs and HODA’S CRAZY DANCE. You don’t know what HODA’S CRAZY DANCE is? Well you’re in for a treat because HODA’S CRAZY DANCE involves middle aged women drinking wine, dancing, and Hoda being CRAZY. Oh yeah and there’s some other stuff. Let’s get to it.

Rollins opened the show to talk about what Cena and Ambrose did to him last week. He knows he’s a marked man and wants Ambrose to come out here right now. This brings out a charging Cena for a fight and Rollins runs into the crowd. Since this is wrestling, Ambrose is right there in the crowd waiting for him. They brawled back to ringside where Cena got his hands on Rollins again until Ambrose dove on both of them, allowing Seth to escape. The Authority came in and made Cena/Ambrose vs. Orton/Kane/Rollins. Decent but I’m getting tired of these handicaps.

We recap Big Show and Rusev. Big Show had to undergo sensitivity training, which thankfully we only heard about.

Ziggler and the Usos beat the Dusts and Cesaro. My goodness how many times do we have to sit through combinations of these matches before we get to the Cell?

John Cena was on the Today Show to talk about the breast cancer stuff.

AND NOW IT IS TIME! Kathy Lee and Hoda from the Today Show came out as Rosebuds to sit at a table and drink wine (apparently it’s a thing they do on their show). They talk about how much fun they like to have and how crazy they can get. Kathy is happy because they can be crazy here unlike on the Today Show, so Hoda does HER CRAZY DANCE! It’s just her lifting her arms in the air and dancing in a circle and the fans react as well as you would expect. They do the Adam Rose apron fall and that’s it. No breast cancer awareness talk, no interaction with anyone from Rose, nothing.

This is the kind of stupid pandering that wrestling fans get tired of. The entire segment felt like a waste of time and little more than trying to get middle aged women to watch Raw. Here’s the problem with that: yeah you might get eighteen bored housewives to watch your show for five minutes, but how many of your regular viewers do you think changed over to Monday Night Football or ANYTHING else to not have to watch this? It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t interesting, and it feels so totally out of place that it’s not worth bringing these two in.

Same Luke Harper video from last week.

Mark Henry destroyed Bo Dallas again but got counted out. Nothing to see here.

Cena and Ambrose had their big talking segment and said they didn’t want to hate each other but would go after the other if they had a reason. Cena wanted to bury the hatchet for one night but Ambrose said he was hungry and was going to Coney Island for a hot dog. These two aren’t going to have a big emotional fight, but the match should rock either way.

Ambrose got on a subway and left the arena. HHH caught up with Cena and said Rollins would have to start the match so Cena could get his hands on him at least once. HHH’s “Man, kids these days” line made me laugh.

Brie Bella beat Summer Rae with an arm tied behind her back. Again, nothing to see here.

Miz and Mizdow sucked up to Kane with a fruit basket and got a match with Sheamus as a result.

Jack Swagger beat Tyson Kidd with the Patriot Lock because Natalya wouldn’t help Kidd near the end. I have no idea where this story is going and I really don’t care.

Edge and Christian have a special after Raw on the Network but don’t have much to say about it. I need to watch that.

Roman Reigns was live via satellite to say he’ll be back soon. Again, nothing to see here.

Now we get to the bad part of the show. Like, the REALLY bad part of the show: El Torito vs. Mini Gator. This wasn’t funny, it wasn’t interesting, it didn’t have the Bunny (yeah it’s stupid, but are you telling me he’s not about a thousand times more interesting than these two?) and even the announcers ripped on it.

Rusev came out and got cut off by the Rock. I already wrote about this in detail so go here to read why this wasn’t a bad thing:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2014/10/09/new-column-ode-to-a-shovel/

AJ walked out on Emma, causing her to lose to Paige and Alicia Fox. Why that makes AJ more of a face isn’t really clear but I’m sure it involves MIND GAMES. They should just air parts of Michaels vs. Mankind from Mind Games whenever these segments are on.

Erick Rowan has been set free as well. The interesting part of this was a shot of a pregnant woman with the words IT’S COMING written on her stomach. I’ve heard rumors about this and I like where it could be going.

Miz beat Sheamus with a rollup, likely setting up their next feud. There were several pro-Sandow chants here which could lead to something.

Joan Lunden, another cancer fighting journalist, came out to praise cancer survivors in the audience. Yeah it’s cool, but good night do these things bring the show down.

A Real Housewife of Atlanta is going to guest star next week. Dear goodness this is going to suck.

Cena beat the Authority via DQ when they triple teamed him. Ambrose made the save with a Coney Island hot dog cart and condiments were spilled. The good guys cleaned house until HHH came out and made Cena vs. Ambrose at the PPV with the winner getting Rollins inside the Cell. I like the idea and it gives us a way around a stupid triple threat. Ambrose laid out Cena to a huge reaction to end the show.

This show was all over the place. The main event storyline is interesting but these handicap matches are getting old in a hurry. We’ve seen every possible combination of these matches and almost all of them end up in a DQ. We get the idea already and there’s nothing new that they can say with them. Thankfully there’s a match for the PPV now, but there’s still more work to do with it. Ambrose almost has to go over Cena and then Rollins if they want him to have legs though.

Then you have Rock and Rusev, which likely isn’t setting anything up but how many people has Rock ever complimented in a promo? That’s some rare air and Rock gave him a great rub. “BUT RUSEV DIDN’T CRUSH HIM!” No, he didn’t, and people thinking he should have make me shake my head.

Above all else though, we have the celebrity stuff which is what drove this show off the rails. Look, I get why WWE is doing all their cancer charity stuff and, while it’s heavy handed, at least it’s designed to raise money for a good cause (and for WWE to go “LOOK AT US! WE’RE DOING SOMETHING GOOD!”).

That being said, these speeches just bring the show to a grinding halt. They make anything after feel awkward because you have these thoughts in your head about people dying of a horrible disease and how serious it is. That makes it kind of hard to care about a 6’5 pale guy shouting FELLA you know? I get why WWE does these things and yeah they’re important, but they’re so out of place on a WWE show. The fact that they’re all over the show doesn’t help things either.

Overall Raw this week had way more bad than good, but the good stuff has me excited. Things will get better once we get to November and can drop the cancer stuff. Hopefully the celebrities go with them because having a Real Housewife and that Chrisley Knows Best guy don’t make me want to keep watching. They make me want to go write about how much I hate reality TV and miss interesting wrestling. That’s a bad thing to have your fans saying but WWE seems to like the idea. Or maybe USA does but it’s the same result.

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:

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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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Bound For Glory 2011
Date: October 16, 2011
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,585
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

This is kind of the sequel to last year’s show as Hogan and Immortal have spent the year fighting Sting and tonight is TNA’s one chance to get Dixie Carter back in power. The other major change is the introduction of the Bound For Glory Series, a summer long competition where the winner get a World Title shot at Bound For Glory. Bobby Roode won the first Series and is challenging Kurt Angle in the alleged main event. Let’s get to it.

The opening video shows the main event guys getting ready for their matches. We also see clips of Hogan arriving and then turning on Dixie Carter to become the evil monster that he is. Sting wants to turn things around and set TNA right again, which he seems to do every few months. The World Title feud gets a token mention.

The announcers do their intros.

X-Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick

Aries is defending and beat Kendrick for the title at No Surrender. The fans are entirely behind the champion as they counter each others’ wristlocks to start. Kendrick is sent to the corner and a shoulder puts him on the mat. Back up and Brian tries four headlocks which are countered into four headscissors on the mat. A dropkick puts Aries on the floor and things slow down.

Another dropkick sends Aries into the barricade and there’s a nice plancha. The fans loudly boo as this is one of the capital smark cities of the world. Back in and Aries takes his head off with a clothesline before a slingshot hilo and elbow drop get two. Off to a chinlock for a bit before Aries misses the Pendulum Elbow. Kendrick comes back with a forearm to the face and dropkick followed by an ax handle to the back of the head for two. A gutbuster and STO set up Aries’ Pendulum Elbow for two of his own but the running dropkick is stopped by Kendrick’s boot.

Brian gets two of his own off a tornado DDT and both guys are spent. Aries sends him out to the floor for a fast suicide dive, knocking Kendrick into the barricade. Back in and the running corner dropkick connects but Brian escapes the brainbuster with some knees to the head. A superkick nails Aries but he’s still able to counter Sliced Bread #2. Instead Kendrick goes up another rope and hits a super Sliced Bread #2, but Aries lands next to the ropes. Austin comes back in with the running dropkick and brainbuster to retain.

Rating: C+. Good opener here as Aries was kicking off his awesome run with the title. Beating Kendrick for the second time in a row was the best way to get him off to a good start. Kendrick was more than able to hang in there and Aries had to break a bit of a sweat to retain here.

The Angle daughters are hanging out with Traci Brooks. Karen Jarrett comes in and tells them to go find their dad (meaning Jeff Jarrett) before ripping into Traci for being near them. Karen is going to referee a match tonight and Traci has to stay in the back.

We recap RVD vs. Jerry Lynn. They’re longtime rivals and Jerry is jealous that he doesn’t get the attention that Rob gets. It could have something to do with Rob winning every high profile match between them (except one in ECW that no one remembers).

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam

Full Metal Mayhem but you win by pinfall. Feeling out process to start with Rob going after the arm but having to kick out of a rollup attempt. Some clotheslines and a spinning kick drop Jerry but he’s back up with a dropkick to break up Rolling Thunder. More back and forth basics until they botch what looked to be a cross body from Lynn to put both guys on the floor. Instead Van Dam just falls on him before they roll to the floor. That was rather awkward.

Rob is sent into the barricade but misses a moonsault press off the barricade. It’s already ladder time as Rob is favoring his knee. He’s able to pick up a chair but Jerry dropkicks the ladder into his face to keep control. Back in and Rob cross bodies Jerry onto the chair for two before putting the ladder up in the corner. That goes nowhere so he lays the ladder on Jerry for Rolling Thunder and two. Van Dam grabs the chair but Jerry dropkicks it back into his face for two more.

Lynn misses a middle rope legdrop by only hitting the ladder but he’s still able to break up a Van Daminator by throwing the ladder at Rob’s head. A suplex puts Jerry on the ladder and a Lionsault onto Lynn on the ladder gets two. Rob’s rolling monkey flip is countered by a middle rope clothesline as they keep up the idea of knowing each other so well. Lynn rolls outside and finds another ladder but leans it up against the barricade. He escapes a suplex onto the ladder and sunset bombs Rob off the apron and (kind of) onto the ladder for a big crash.

Back in again and Rob is able to kick out at two, giving Lynn even more frustration. Now the Van Daminator connects but Lynn is up at two. With nothing else to do, Rob puts the ladder on top of Jerry in the corner and nails the Van Terminator with a chair to knock Lynn out cold. Rob writhes in pain on the mat for a bit before covering for the pin.

Rating: C. This was entertaining enough but it felt like stuff we’ve seen before. The Van Terminator was a good ending but they never got into that other gear that they were shooting for. Lynn losing makes sense here but it’s the same ending we’ve seen so many times before in this feud. There weren’t even that many near falls.

They hug post match.

Dixie Carter arrived earlier.

Video on Crimson who is undefeated coming in and only lost the BFG Series because of an injury at Samoa Joe’s hands. The same thing happened to Matt Morgan when he went after Joe, so it’s a triple threat tonight.

Crimson vs. Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan

Joe gets double teamed as you would expect him to be and Morgan nails the corner elbows. The Samoan comes back with some chops to Morgan and right hands to Crimson before getting caught between the two of them. Crimson gets low bridged to the floor and Joe goes after Morgan’s knee to put him down. All three get inside again but Joe sends his opponents out to the floor, followed by the suicide elbow to take Morgan down.

Crimson and Joe slug it out as Matt gets up top in a hurry to take Crimson down with a cross body. Back in and Crimson slugs it out with Joe again before a high collar suplex gets two on the Samoan. Morgan gets back in and a double shoulder puts Joe down. Now Crimson and Morgan get in a shoving match until Joe low bridges Morgan to the floor. He kicks Crimson in the head and loads up the MuscleBuster until Morgan makes the save. Morgan misses a Carbon Footprint though, allowing Crimson to spear Joe down for the pin.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do anything for me and felt like the triple threat formula to the letter. Crimson winning makes sense, but they could have made him look more dominant. That’s the problem with most of his streak: it felt more like he was surviving instead of beating guys, which takes away from its impact.

Bully Ray says he doesn’t need an introduction but introduces himself anyway. He’s been exploiting this city for fifteen years and has seven cars and five houses because of it. Anderson has no business in a falls count anywhere match with him, so screw Anderson and screw Philadelphia.

Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

Hardcore. Anderson was part of Immortal and won the World Title but was thrown out about a month later. Ray had cost him his rematch and this is about revenge. The brawl starts fast and Anderson gets an early advantage with some shots to the face and a swinging neckbreaker. Ray escapes the rolling fireman’s carry and kicks Anderson in the face before slowly walking around the ring. He loudly chops away in the corner but Anderson kicks him in the side of the head for two.

We get our first weapon as a fan hand Anderson a sign wrapped around a Dead End sign. A beer to the face has Ray in even more trouble and Anderson sends him face first into the barricade. Ray sends him into the steps to come back for two and it’s already table time. They leave the table at ringside and head to the stage for a suplex from Ray. He reaches up and gets Anderson’s mic to announce that he’s from New York City. Like any good villain though he takes too much time and allows Anderson to get in a cheap shot to take over.

They fight to the back with a bloody Ray missing a shot with a pipe. A piledriver on the concrete gets two on Anderson and they fight back into the arena. Anderson gets the better of it and unhooks a piece of the barricade. That takes too long as well though and Ray runs him over with a clothesline. We get another table brought in and set up near the corner, but Ray gets backdropped onto the barricade.

Anderson misses a Swanton and hits the barricade as well, setting up the Bubba Bomb through the table for a very close two. Ray’s middle rope backsplash lands on the barricade (does that EVER hit?) and Anderson gets two more off a mic check onto the steel in a very close near fall. They head outside again where a trashcan shot puts Ray on the table. Now the Swanton connects with Ray but the table doesn’t break, so the fans boo him instead of worrying about a broken neck. The Mic Check through the table gives Anderson the pin.

Rating: B. Better match than the Full Metal Mayhem match here with better high spots which actually connected. Ray is good for a brawl and Anderson can make things look very good as well. They overused the barricade a bit here but it’s better than having ten table spots in a row. Solid brawl here.

Eric Bischoff is in the back with mostly inept referee Jackson James. The big reveal is that James is Bischoff’s son and no one has figured it out until now. Eric warns him that tonight is going to get ugly and Sting is going to be taken out on a stretcher.

The announcers are shocked.

Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Winter vs. Mickie James

Winter, a kind of lesbian vampire who might be sleeping with Angelina, is defending. No real story here other than a bunch of qualifying matches put together by Knockouts Boss Karen Jarrett. Karen is refereeing here too. We have tags again here so it’s Mickie vs. Winter to get things going. The champ grabs an armbar to start before James comes out of the corner with a headscissors and neckbreaker for two.

Madison comes in with what looks like a handkerchief to Mickie’s face as Karen keeps screeching. Velvet comes in with some facebusters to Madison but Karen is busy tying her shoe. Everything breaks down for a second as Madison and Winter get in an argument. Karen tells the two of them to go fight Mickie and Velvet so we have a double tag. Mickie suplexes Velvet but Karen won’t tag to reenforce what we already knew.

The girls get frustrated at the refereeing before slugging it out. Winter and Madison trip them to the floor, earning them a beating back inside. The champ cleans house until Mickie comes in to take her out. Jarrett yells even more so Winter sprays her blood in Karen’s eyes. The MickieDT plants Winter as Traci comes out to take over. Velvet hits In Yo Face on Madison for the pin and the title.

Rating: D. This was REALLY annoying as there was almost no structure or flow to it. Most of the match was spent on Karen, meaning the big moment of Velvet finally winning the title barely meant anything. The wrestling didn’t get any focus because the whole thing was about the annoying referee. I understand that was the point back in the day, but it really doesn’t hold up.

Kazarian hopes Daniels and Styles will beat on each other and then shake hands but that doesn’t seem likely.

We recap Styles vs. Daniels. Christopher beat him in a fluke when AJ tripped on the ropes and then bragged about it for months. This triggered a heel turn so tonight it’s an I Quit match. Most of the talk here is about their history rather than the match here.

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

I Quit. Styles takes him down and hammers away before Daniels does the same with an STO. AJ won’t say it so he nails Daniels in the head with the mic for the same result. Off to an Indian deathlock with a chinlock but Daniels bites the hand to escape. Back up and the drop down into the dropkick puts Daniels down on the floor and AJ follows him out with a big dive.

Christopher tries to crawl under the ring but gets dragged out with a toolbox. AJ avoids a wrench that is launched at his head but then has to avoid being stabbed with a screwdriver. The screwdriver gets stabbed into the turnbuckle before they head to the apron to trade forearms. Daniels grabs AJ for a Blue Thunder Bomb onto the apron but AJ still won’t quit. Back in and Daniels chokes away before hitting the BME onto AJ’s back. Daniels stays on the back with a half crab but AJ makes the ropes.

Back up and Daniels nails a backbreaker to stop AJ’s comeback. With Styles bleeding a bit from the forehead, Daniels opens a chair across AJ’s throat and sits down on it to talk some trash. He says he’s going to get everything that has been handed to AJ in TNA and will tell AJ’s wife that Styles’ last words were he loved her. Daniels gets up and tells AJ’s wife to take the kids out of the room while he murders Styles.

AJ gets to his feet and avoids a charge in the corner. The moosault into the reverse DDT plants Christopher and there’s the Pele followed by the springboard forearm. Back up and Daniels plants him with the release Rock Bottom, only to miss the BME. He shouts DIE AJ but charges into the Pele and Styles Clash. Now it’s time for a chair but AJ picks up the screwdriver instead, making Daniels quit to avoid pain ala JBL at Judgment Day 2005.

Rating: B-. Good brawl with a lame ending. The problem with something like a screwdriver is the same as it was with Janice last year: you can only tease it so far before you have to stop things. These two are always worth a watch but I think the fans were starting to get sick of the combination. It would get even worse in 2012.

AJ leaves after a highlight package but Daniels lays him out with Angel’s Wings on the ramp, because this feud MUST CONTINUE!

Here’s a ticked off Jeff Jarrett with something to say. He’s feuding with Jeff Hardy and has told him not to show up here tonight, but there are rumors that Hardy has been seen in the city. No one here wants anything to do with Hardy and the Jarretts took a poll of fans earlier today to prove it. He wants Hardy out here right now for the beating he deserves.

Cue Hardy who is still being forgiven for the mess at Victory Road 2011. Hardy says he has one thing to say to Jarrett and the fight is on. Security quickly comes out to break it up but they keep going after each other. Agents can’t break it up either but they finally get Jarrett out of the ring.

Long recap of the Hogan vs. Sting feud. This covers Hogan debuting, Sting accusing Hogan of screwing over the company and being right, and the last year of Hogan and Bischoff running roughshod over the company. Sting went after Hogan for months and Hogan finally agreed to put up the company against Sting’s career. Two notes here: first, this story made Dixie Carter a regular thing on TNA TV. Second, Sting spent 2010 saying the real Hogan would screw over TNA. Then he spent 2011 saying the real Hogan was a good guy.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting

Bischoff’s son is referee. Sting is insane here and wears a Hulkamania shirt to the ring. Hulk is in street clothes. The bell rings and here comes Flair as we keep looking at Dixie Carter in the front row. Sting grabs a headlock to start but Hogan shoves him away and Hulks Up. That gets Hogan a crotch chop so Hulk punches him down and puts on a chinlock. Sting gets sent outside but is quickly back inside to have his back and eyes raked.

Hogan throws him outside for low blows and chops from Flair before Hulk starts biting at Sting’s forehead. The beating goes on for awhile until they head back inside where Flair slips Hogan a foreign object. The shots bust Sting open but Sting comes back with right hands. He stops the beating and goes after Flair, stealing the foreign object to cut Hogan open as well. A pair of Stinger Splashes set up the Scorpion Deathlock and Hogan gives up, forcing referee Jackson James to call for the bell.

Rating: D+. This one would fall under the category of “what else were you expecting?” At the end of the day, TNA basically exists to make Sting look good so this really shouldn’t be a surprise. Someone young probably should have gotten the rub from Hogan, but Sting clearly needed this spot instead right?

Immortal comes out to destroy Sting with chairs as Abyss is shown watching from behind the curtain. Jackson James takes one of them away, turning face about an hour and fifteen minutes after he turned heel. Bischoff hits him with a chair, starting the most unwanted face push in the history of ever.

Sting crawls over to Hogan and begs for help, because if there’s one thing more important than making Sting look good, it’s making Hogan look good. Hogan makes the big face turn and helps Sting clean house, because two bloody guys in their 50s beating up about seven guys armed with chairs makes perfect sense. Posing ensues and of course the old WWF crowd eats it up. It’s a cool segment for the moment, but this was basically all about Hogan and Sting instead of doing anything for TNA long term.

We recap Angle vs. Roode, which is all about Roode’s road to the title. Roode talks about sacrificing everything to become champion and Angle says Roode isn’t ready. Bobby has been facing his Fourtune teammates to make sure he’s ready and has never been more polished. It’s a good idea but the lack of making it personal hurts it.

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode

Alleged main event. We don’t even get big match intros for this one. Roode quickly takes him down for the Crossface but Angle bails to the floor, showing off a heavily taped thigh. Back in and Angle drives a series of knees and shoulders into the ribs for two. Angle rolls a few Germans and goes up for the moonsault, only to have Roode run the ropes and German Kurt from the top.

Roode wins a slugout and scores with a running clothesline before getting two off a Blockbuster. He goes up again but Angle runs the ropes as well and superplexes Roode down. Bobby snaps on the Crossface though and Kurt is suddenly in trouble. Angle reverses into the ankle lock but Roode rolls him into the Crossface. He stops Kurt’s second escape attempt but the third is countered into the Angle Slam for two. Back to the ankle lock but Roode kicks away and nails the spinebuster.

A fisherman’s suplex gets a VERY close two on Angle and a rollup gets the same. Angle Slam is countered but Kurt moves the referee around for a low blow. The second Angle Slam connects for two and it’s time to roll more Germans. Roode reverses another into the Crossface but Angle makes a rope.

Kurt comes back with a spear to stay on the ribs for two. He goes up but dives into the Crossface again. They counter each other’s finishers until Angle nails yet another Slam and grabs the rope for the pin. The rope really didn’t matter as Roode wasn’t even trying to kick out at the end, though his arm looked to be under the rope.

Rating: B-. If there is a dumber ending to a main event on a major show, I can’t think of it off the top of my head. This was entirely set up to be the biggest moment of Roode’s career and then they have him get pinned like that? It completely deflated the crowd and makes the whole thing feel like a waste of time.

However this show has an interesting perspective because of the time that has passed. What we didn’t know here was that Kurt was actually hurt (and made worse in this match) and had to take time off. Therefore, later in the week, Angle dropped the title to James Storm in about 90 seconds on Impact. Storm, WHO WASN’T EVEN ON THIS SHOW, would then drop the belt to Roode two weeks later when Roode turned heel, despite losing the biggest match of his career just a few weeks earlier.

This is a case of TNA trying to shock the crowd and screwing up huge in the process. More than maybe anything else, TNA has issues with making its own stars. Roode was primed and ready to become the breakout star here, but instead it’s Angle getting yet ANOTHER accolade and win that he doesn’t need before before he takes two months off. Sometimes you need to go with Austin at Wrestlemania XIV and do the obvious ending instead of doing something surprising to set up something new. TNA has yet to get this idea.

Angle is helped out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Score one for the old guys! That’s what this show felt like: revenge of the veterans and screw everyone else on the roster. There’s enough good stuff here to watch but it really drives me crazy to see TNA screw stuff up for the sake of pushing guys like Sting, Angle and Hogan AGAIN. You have an incredibly talented roster but these major shows are here to give the old guys another thrill instead of building up someone new. That’s one of TNA’s biggest problems over the years: they don’t look to the future and it’s held them down forever.

There’s good stuff on the show though as nothing is really bad and most of the things are more than worth watching. The time actually helps in a way here as the show doesn’t feel deflating as I don’t have any build to make me care about the matches. As a stand alone show it’s entertaining, but the emotion is what carries a show to higher levels. Live it was a great show with a bad ending. Three years later it’s a pretty good show with an ending that makes you shake your head and say “they did it again.”

Ratings Comparison

Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam

Original: B

Redo: C

Samoa Joe vs. Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Original: C

Redo: D+

Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

Original: C+

Redo: B

Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Winter

Original: D+

Redo: D

Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles

Original: C

Redo: B-

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

Original: C

Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: B+

Redo: C+

I’m not sure what I was thinking on the original. It’s not that good.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/10/16/bound-for-glory-2011-hogan-is-a-face-and-kurt-retains-wait-what/

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:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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Today we’re looking at the Anvil Jim Neidhart.

No Hart Foundation as you would expect.

Neidhart got started in 1979 and we’ll pick things up in Mid-South on January 13, 1984.

Jim Neidhart vs. Tom Lentz

Neidhart goes right after Lentz and the dominance begins. A Samoan drop ends this quick.

Here’s a bit longer match from the WWF on September 14, 1985.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Jim Neidhart

From the same building in September of 85 and I’d guess maybe the same show. Neither guy can get a power advantage so Davey rethinks his attacking method. Both teams are chasing the less talented Dream Team at this point. We get a Stu Hart sex joke of all things. Gorilla wonders how he had time to teach any wrestling since he had thirteen kids. I’ll be over here trying to clean that image from my mind if you need me.

Bulldog takes him to the mat and outworks him. As you may have guessed, Anvil isn’t the best technician in the world. Anvil uses power but gets caught by a dropkick as we stop things again. Off to a top wristlock here but Anvil drills him in the ribs to take care of that. The fans think this is boring so Neidhart stops the wrestling stuff to yell at them a bit. He never was the smartest guy in the world.

Smith is sent to the floor so Anvil follows him out. Into the railing goes the Bulldog and Smith is in trouble. Back in now and it’s all Anvil. Smith fights back and hits a back elbow to take Neidhart down. Hayes is either drunk or really bad at his job. It’s so hard to tell. We hit the chinlock again and Anvil is like screw that and breaks it up. Anvil gets something like a slingshot into the buckle and puts his feet on the ropes for the cheap pin.

Rating: D. Boring match here with no chemistry at all between these two. The power vs. power rarely works which is why both guys had a speed/technical guy as his partner. Also, why in the world are we seeing Anvil get the win here? Was that really the best thing to do on a British Bulldogs’ tape? I don’t get it.

We’ll move on to Boston on March 8, 1986.

Scott McGee vs. Jim Neidhart

How in the world are we over 45 minutes into this show? Alfred, the Englishman, gets Scotland and England confused. Egads to say the least. Jimmy has a new Megaphone it seems. McGee grabs a rollup for two to surprise Neidhart. Test of strength goes well for Anvil as he bites away. McGee gets sent to the announce table as this is another boring semi-squash.

Jimmy says the Harts are splitting into singles matches at the moment because there’s no challenge for them at the moment because they have to beat the Bulldogs first. The match more or less stops for a bit as Gorilla and Jimmy chat. Jimmy has managed to get a siren sound effect on the Megaphone. Neidhart drops McGee throat first to the railing to really take over.

Hayes might be a guest referee for some reason and he says he’ll suck. Ok then. All Anvil here as we’re firmly into the squash territory. Since the match is dull, let’s talk about Piper vs. Mr. T. McGee blocks a suplex into one of his own and down goes Anvil. Some European uppercuts by McGee but a powerslam ends this rather quickly. Guess who won.

Rating: D. Just a squash here as Anvil dominates again. We’re over 50 minutes into this match and they really need to get to something good already. I mean dude, the big match so far has been Sivi Afi vs. Rene Goulet. I’m not sure why the fans haven’t rioted yet but it seems to me like it’s because they’re very patient. Get to something of note, I beg of you.

Here’s a match on the biggest show ever, from Wrestlemania III.

Hart Foundation/Danny Davis vs. British Bulldogs/Tito Santana

Davis is a crooked referee that cost both the Bulldogs and Santana their titles. Apparently this is Davis’ debut as a wrestler. Mary Hart (no relation) is on commentary along with Uecker here as well. Tito beats up Danny before the match before we get going with Bret and Santana. Jesse steals the Bulldogs’ mascot Matilda as he leaves. Off to Davey vs. Anvil and Smith pulls him by the beard. That’s a bit rough even for Neidhart.

Tito comes back in to work on the arm but gets sent to the heel corner for some high quality choking. That goes nowhere so here’s Smith vs. Neidhart again. Jim takes him down with a suplex but Bret misses a middle rope elbow. Dynamite comes in for the chest to buckle bump from Bret but Hart comes back with some punches. Tito tries to break up some interference but only allows even more cheating by Neidhart.

Jim hooks a modified camel clutch on Dynamite before it’s back to Bret. I don’t think we’ve seen Davis in yet but before I can finish that sentence he’s in for a few stomps. That’s the extent of his offense as it’s already back to Bret for some actual skill. The sun is starting to go down so the arena looks dark now. Back to Danny for one kick before it’s time for the Hitman again.

The Harts slingshot Davis right onto Dynamite’s knees and it’s off to Santana for the beating on Davis that the fans have been waiting for. Tito destroys Danny and hits the forearm but Neidhart breaks up the Figure Four. Off to Smith who rams Davis’ head into Dynamite’s. A jumping tombstone (not yet named) kills Davis even more but Smith doesn’t want the cover. There’s the delayed vertical followed by the powerslam but everything breaks down. Davis pops up and hits Smith with the megaphone for the pin in the melee.

Rating: C-. As fun as the beating Davis took was, the ending is really stupid as he popped up like nothing and was able to knock out a power guy with a single shot? The guy was a referee a few months ago but he’s able to do that with one shot? Bad ending aside, this was fun stuff and the fans were WAY into it.

Back to the singles action at Wrestlefest 1988.

Jim Neidhart vs. Lanny Poffo

This was when Poffo was still a leaper and threw out Frisbees with his poetry on them. He was the king of jobbers at this point though so if nothing else he’s not bad. I think his brother would be up next. He uses a moonsault which misses but was a big spot back then as he was the first WWF guy to use it I believe. I think Jim is a heel here but it’s not entirely clear. The crowd is totally dead here. After just beating the tar out of Poffo a powerslam ends it.

Rating: N/A. Total squash here. I think they were toying with splitting up the Harts but that wouldn’t happen for nearly three more years, resulting in Bret breaking out on his own and then Neidhart kind of fading away, although doing so in a positive way. Thankfully they didn’t pull the trigger on him instead of Bret.

Off to a higher profile match on SNME XXI.

Jim Neidhart vs. Randy Savage

Ok seriously, who is Savage fighting tonight? This joke has gone on long enough. Who is Savage really fighting? Nothing against Anvil as he’s fine, but dude, this is RANDY SAVAGE and it’s less than 2 months since his year long title reign ended at Wrestlemania. Why is Anvil out there for this? It just doesn’t make anything resembling sense at all.

They’re making this out to be Savage vs. Bret circa 1992. When did Anvil and Hogan become buddies? Sherri grabs the leg of course and it does nothing of note. Neidhart hooks a bearhug as I’m not even sure what I’m watching. Again, it’s not bad. It’s just odd. We get a great piece of insight from Vince: Sherri is a different human being than Liz.

You mean, they don’t just put different wigs and outfits on them and hope we don’t notice? THANK YOU OWNER OF THE COMPANY! Sweet goodness she’s freaky looking. Anvil gets a BIG kick out, likely throwing Savage high enough in the air that he could have hit the top rope. That’s borderline Yokozuna levels. Anvil gets a slingshot shoulder block which would freaking HURT.

Notice the cameras always getting shots of Sherri’s back. It’s clear Vince was running the company back then given what we know now. This is more or less ALL Anvil here. Sherri unhooks Anvil when his arms are tied up and it lets Savage reset the universe to its natural order as he takes over. Wow that was a long sentence. The elbow finishes soon after.

Rating: B-. This was WAY better than it had any right to be. I don’t think anyone was idiotic enough to think that Anvil was going to win, but still it was nice to see him get in such a long stretch of offense and have time being in control. This was a decent enough match and it got Sherri over as a threat to Savage’s opponents, which was the point here. Not bad at all.

Jim would be in back to back Survivor Series matches starting in 1989.

Ultimate Warriors vs. Heenan Family

Ultimate Warrior, Jim Neidhart, Rockers

Andre the Giant, Arn Anderson, Haku, Bobby Heenan

Andre can barely move and it’s sad to see. Neidhart and the Rockers start before anything happens and Jim is in trouble early. Here’s Warrior without any music (he’s IC Champion here) and a big clothesline puts Andre on the floor, which draws a countout because when the bell rang, Andre was the only Heenan Family member in the ring. We’ve already got the same problem the Hogan match had.

Warrior and Haku get things started for all intents and purposes but it’s quickly off to Anvil vs. Arn. Andre (in blue instead of black) yells incoherently at the Warrior as he leaves. It’s Haku vs. Anvil now with Haku in control. A superkick puts Neidhart down and eliminates him like it’s a squash match. Off to Shawn to make Haku miss him and now it’s off to Jannetty.

Haku tries a double clothesline but only hits Shawn. He picks up Marty but Shawn dropkicks Marty down onto Haku for a near fall. Off to Arn who tries a double suplex with Haku on Jannetty, but Shawn catches his partner in a nice move. Double superkicks put the wrestlers on the other team down and it’s off to Marty vs. Haku. Warrior gets a tag in a few seconds later and Haku immediately goes for the eyes.

Haku backs Warrior into the corner and Heenan points to Arn for the tag in a funny bit. Arn immediately gets taken down and Marty hooks an armbar. Anderson brings Marty to the corner and brings in Heenan for a single punch before it’s back to Haku. Arn knees Marty in the back and Haku superkicks him down so Heenan can drop a knee on Jannetty for the pin. You could loudly hear them calling spots on that sequence for some reason.

Warrior comes in so here’s Anderson again. There’s a bearhug by the Champ and Haku gets one as well. Off to Shawn who gets knocked to the floor with a few shots. Shawn moonsaults out of the corner over Arn and Anderson is in trouble. Warrior and Michaels both punch Anderson at the same time and Arn backs away from Warrior. A splash from Shawn gets two and it’s off to Haku.

That doesn’t last long at all as a cross body eliminates Haku to get us down to Warrior/Shawn vs. Heenan/Anderson. Heenan tries to get in some cheap shots on Shawn which draws in Warrior. Why? Was he that afraid for Shawn’s safety? Arn dumps Shawn to the floor and Heenan goes up….and then regains his sanity and climbs back down. Arn keeps asking for help from Heenan because he’s getting tired so it’s finally back to Bobby who runs at the first sign of trouble.

Shawn rams his head into the back of Arn’s head and both guys are down. They slug it out but Shawn walks into the spinebuster (called the Anderson Drop) for the elimination. Warrior fires off some shoulders but Arn ducks and sends him to the floor. Heenan goes up again but thinks better of it again. Off to Heenan but Warrior quickly Hulks up so we see some more Anderson. Warrior fights him off as well and whips Arn into Heenan to knock Bobby to the floor. The gorilla press and splash get us down to one on one. Warrior sneaks up on Heenan and what do you think happens here? A shoulder block and splash ends this.

Rating: C-. I think it was watching the whole show before this but this was another dull match. Warrior was never in any danger and I think everyone knew it. To be fair, this would have been better with Tully out there and you can’t fault the guys for that. Heenan being in there had to turn it into a comedy match and I can’t hold that against them. Still though, another dull match in a series of them tonight.

And again at Survivor Series 1990.

Million Dollar Team vs. Dream Team

Ted DiBiase, Rhythm and Blues, ???

Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware, Hart Foundation

Rhythm and Blues are Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine and the Harts are the tag champions. Dusty and DiBiase are feuding for obvious character reasons. Now we get to the legendary part of the match: the mystery partner. DiBiase gets on the mic and introduces for the first time ever…..THE UNDERTAKER. Who on the planet would have imagined what this guy would become over the next twenty two years? Unreal indeed. The look on Taker’s face is eerie and he stands there like a zombie which makes it even better.

Quick sidebar: the Undertaker is probably the greatest example ever of someone being the only person that could pull off his character. Mark Calaway is PERFECT as the Undertaker with the look and the size and the dead looking eyes and the tattoos and everything like that. Before this he was just Mean Mark Callous in WCW and was a generic big villain. Sometimes it’s about finding what works and Taker has worked for a very long time. Also a bit of trivia: he debuted at a Superstars taping three days before this under the name Kane the Undertaker.

Undertaker and Bret start with Taker pounding the tar out of him. Well if you want to make someone look like a killer, call Bret Hart. Bret hits the ropes and charges at Taker, only to get caught by the throat and slammed down. It was more like a clothesline that Taker went to the mat with than the usual chokeslam here but he did have Bret by the throat.

Off to Neidhart who can’t move Taker at all and gets slammed for trying. Jim looked TERRIFIED and tags out to Koko, who is too stupid to be afraid. Koko misses a charge and clotheslines himself on the top. The Tombstone (I believed named by Gorilla on the spot here) debuts but isn’t exactly the famous version yet, as Taker has both of Koko’s legs on one side of his head and covers with the folded arms but from the sides. It looked and sounded great though.

Bret comes in and hammers on Undertaker who just stares at him. Taker tags in Valentine and gives one of the most evil glares you’ll ever see at Bret. Off to Big Dust who starts gyrating. They chop it out in the corner and it’s off to Anvil. The Harts take their turns working over Valentine’s arm but Greg gets a knee up in the corner. Off to Honky who is rapidly on his way out of the company. Bret makes a blind tag to Neidhart who sneaks in and powerslams Honky out.

DiBiase comes in to jump Neidhart but it’s quickly off to Dusty for the big showdown. It’s back to Neidhart quickly but Virgil trips Jim up and DiBiase clotheslines him down for the pin. Here’s Bret again who pounds away and it’s back to Dream for more of the same. Back to Undertaker who gets some HEIGHT on a jumping stomp to the back of Dusty’s head.

Bret comes in again and chokes Bret in the corner and somehow shows no emotion while at the same time looking angrier than any wrestler I’ve ever seen. Bret fights off DiBiase out of the corner and it’s off to Dusty. Taker comes in, goes up, walks (a little way) down the rope with no one to hold onto, and hits a double ax to eliminate Dusty. Brother Love stomps on Dusty a bit so Dusty chases him off. Undertaker stalks Dusty to the back to get counted out, which is the only thing they could have done with him here.

Back in the ring Bret rolls up Valentine very quickly and it’s DiBiase vs. Hart. Bret pounds on DiBiase and atomic drops him to the floor, followed by a pescado to take Ted out again. DiBiase’s shoulder goes into the post and his head goes into the steps and they head back inside. They slug it out but DiBiase sends him chest first into the buckle to take over.

A quick backslide gets two for Hart and now it’s time for a classic: Bret trips over DiBiase and fakes a knee injury, resulting in a small package for two. Virgil interference messes up and another rollup gets two for Bret. The backbreaker and middle rope elbow get two for Hart but DiBiase rolls through a cross body for the pin.

Rating: C+. This is a very interesting match as you could see stars being made and stars going away. DiBiase clearly didn’t mean as much as he used to and would shift into a tag team run soon after this. Dusty would be gone in January as would Honky. On the other hand you can see the rise of Bret Hart on the horizon as the crowd was LOSING IT over those near falls at the end. Oh and the Undertaker. That’s kind of a big deal.

Here’s Neidhart in a singles match on Superstars, November 9, 1991.

Ric Flair vs. Jim Neidhart

Neidhart, in the big blue pants, runs Flair over with a shoulder to start and no sells some shots in the corner. A backdrop and some clotheslines have the same effect on Flair but he avoids a running knee in the corner. The leg gets wrapped around the post a few times and Flair gets two off a cross body. The Figure Four goes on and the match is stopped pretty fast.

Neidhart would hook up with Owen Hart in a short lived tag team, including this match at Royal Rumble 1992.

Orient Express vs. New Foundation

It’s Owen/Neidhart as the Foundation here. Owen and Kato start thing off here. All four guys look like they’re in pajamas here. Owen takes him down to the mat by the arm before climbing up the ropes (not in the corner mind you but just the ropes) to backflip into the ring for an armdrag. A rana puts Kato down and it’s off to Neidhart vs. Tanaka. Tanaka gets run over as well, so here’s Owen to beat him up.

Tanaka gets caught by an enziguri and it’s back to Neidhart. The Express gets clotheslined down by Jim and Owen adds a double cross body for two. A spinwheel kick gets the same for Hart so Kato tries to come in sans tag. The distraction lets Fuji hit Owen with the cane to finally give the Express control. Tanaka hooks a chinlock as this isn’t exactly as fast paced as last year’s opener.

Owen gets to do Bret’s chest to the buckle bump before charging into a superkick in the other corner for two. After Kato comes in and does nothing, here’s Tanaka again for a headbutt to the abdomen. A chinlock goes nowhere but a headbutt gets two on Owen. Neidhart gets the tag but the referee doesn’t see it of course. The distraction allows Fuji to put the cane on the corner and Owen’s shoulder goes through it in a loud crunch.

It only gets two though as Owen gets a leg over the rope. Kato channels his inner Anderson with a hammerlock slam before it’s back to Tanaka. Owen finally escapes and things break down for a bit, resulting in a double clothesline for two on Hart. A superkick to the chest doesn’t put Owen down, but Tanaka jumping over Kato to land on Hart’s back does. Hart comes back with a dropkick to take out both members of the Express at once. There’s the hot tag to Neidhart and house is cleaned. Owen dives onto Kato before a Rocket Launcher gets the pin on Tanaka.

Rating: B-. Decent match here but it felt like they were trying to do the same match that worked so well in 1991. The problem was the Express wasn’t anything that good anymore and the team was gone almost immediately after this. Either way, the match wasn’t bad and it’s fine for an opener. The New Foundation never quite did anything until 1994 when Owen was a heel.

Neidhart actually did a few shows with WCW, including on Saturday Night on May 1, 1993.

Jim Neidhart/Junkyard Dog vs. Rip Rogers/Chick Donovan

The jobbers are rather, shall we say, effeminate. Dog’s rival Dick Slater comes out to watch as JYD hiptosses Rogers down to start. A headbutt sends Rip out to the floor and it’s off to Anvil for hiptosses to both guys. We hit the armbar on Donovan before it’s back to Dog for a slam. An atomic drop sends Donovan into another slam and there’s a headbutt onto the arm. The Big Thump powerslam sets up a cobra clutch from Anvil for the submission.

Rating: D. Believe it or not, Dog was actually in something resembling shape here and far better than he looked years earlier. Now that being said, I wouldn’t want him on my screen any more than this, but it’s better than what we had to put up with in 1991 or so. Neidhart in WCW never felt right and this is a good example.

Neidhart would head back to the WWF as a heel for some Hart Family matches, including this one on October 19, 1994.

Bret Hart/British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart/Jim Neidhart

Ok, this HAS to be good right? Bret is world champion here so this is probably around August of 94 as that was the top feud around that time. Still in Albany and likely at the same show. Apparently this was October 19, 1994. I’ve always wondered which shows they picked to film and how they were chosen. Bret and Owen start so we’re guaranteed a good start at least. Granted after that last match anything sounds great.

I love Owen celebrating while doing absolutely nothing. Lots of chain wrestling to start as you would expect. Bret works on the arm and gets a crucifix for two. They speed it up a bit and Bret gets a clothesline to put Owen on the floor. Back in and Bret taunts Neidhart, saying he wants the Anvil.

Now here’s a match I don’t think I’ve ever seen. Bret tries his usual stuff but Anvil catches him in a bear hug. Hart bites Anvil’s head to escape and it’s time for power vs. power. Ok never mind as it’s time for Owen vs. Bulldog. They’re getting in and out of there rather fast. Stan Lane continues to be underrated at the announce table. Owen gets caught in the semi-delayed vertical for two.

We hit the chinlock again even though I thought we had hit the quota of chinlocks in the first match. Spinwheel kick puts Bulldog down for two and it’s back to Anvil who puts on a chinlock of his own. The fans are chanting for Owen actually. Owen comes in again and drills Bulldog with some European uppercuts in a nice bit of irony. Shawn Killer Kick makes Smith flip forward and the double teaming commences.

Neidhart back in there now as the heels are working well together here. Bret chases Owen but the referee stops him. This stopping though allows the New Foundation (Owen and Neidhart of course) to hit a Hart Attack on Bulldog for two. Neckbreaker by Owen gets two and we hit the chinlock one more time. This is very much a stop and go kind of match as they’ll get going and then stop for a chinlock etc.

Bulldog fights up and they hit head to head. There’s a tag to Hart but Neidhart had the referee distracted. Heel miscommunication puts Anvil down and there’s the tag to the champion. He beats up both guys while Bulldog just watches on. What a nice partner he is. Russian Leg Sweep gets two on Owen and it’s Five Moves of Doom time. He actually gets the Sharpshooter but Neidhart makes the save. Off to the Bulldog again and everything breaks down. Bulldog gets a small package, Neidhart turns it over, Bret turns it over again and Bulldog pins Owen to end it.

Rating: B-. If you cut out a lot of the rest holds and give it a bit better ending then this would be a much better match. Still though not a bad match at all and I thought it was pretty good. With these four it’s hard not to have a good match. Neidhart was the worst of these four but he’s certainly watchable in the ring. Decent match but could have been much better.

Here’s a sequel ten days later in MSG, for the only time ever.

WWF World Title: Bret Hart vs. Jim Neidhart

This is fan cam footage so the quality is really low. The place just erupts for Bret. Anvil shoves him to the ropes a few times but gets cross bodied for two. The champ takes a thumb to the eye and bails outside, only to have Jim forearm the post by mistake. Bret sunset flips back in for two but takes his chest bump to give Neidhart control. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Neidhart hammers on Bret’s back and poses. Bret fights out of the corner but charges into a bearhug to slow things down again.

A knee to the ribs gets two for Jim and he whips Hart hard into the corner. There’s a powerslam for two more and they head outside. Bret gets slammed into the steps as Neidhart looks very confident. Hart slingshots him back in though and hammers away before getting two off a small package. We hit the Five Moves of Doom but Neidhart gets a boot up to stop the elbow. Bret gets slammed off the top but avoids a splash, setting up the Sharpshooter to retain.

Rating: D+. This was watchable but I see why it never was a full on program. At the end of the day, Neidhart just didn’t have anything special to throw at Bret besides basic power stuff. The match wasn’t bad due to not even making it nine minutes, but it’s much more of an historical footnote than anything else.

We’ll skip the Who phase (his name was Who. You can figure out the jokes) and get to Jim as part of the Hart Foundation stable at King of the Ring 1997.

Hart Foundation vs. Sid/Legion of Doom

The Harts here are Owen, Jim and Davey, giving us a total of one Hart in the entire Foundation for this match. I love stupid things like that. Why do I have a feeling the heels are going to win and win easily here? This is being written about 3 days after Bret signed with WWE again, so this is very interesting indeed. There’s a sign in the crowd about cheese for no apparent reason.

The faces come out separately which is rather pointless. The LOD get a decent pop but you could tell their time was about over. This takes FOREVER to get going as we get an LOD chant. It’s Owen and Animal to start us up. Hey, call the Superstar line and run up the phone bill to hear bad promos! More or less all we have here is random power matches as five guys in this match are power guys, and no one saw anything wrong with this.

Also, no one saw a problem with putting THE FREAKING LOD AND SID together as a three man team against two good wrestlers and a generic power guy in Anvil, and yet they had the NERVE to wonder why they were having their heads handed to them. Anvil was a political science major at UCLA. All of a sudden my future seems far more bleak. Seriously, who in the WORLD thought Anvil vs. Hawk was a good idea?

You have two guys that have made a career out of not getting hurt. Just as I type that, Hawk takes a piledriver and of course is up before anyone else. Owen comes in and goes insane. Dang how good could he have been as a veteran? Imagine him vs. Angle or Jericho in 2000-2001. Owen would have been in his late 30s then and definitely capable of working well. He’s two and a half months older than Shawn, so it’s completely realistic that he could still be wrestling and having very good matches today.

He EASILY would have won the world title in there somewhere given the absolute awfulness of some of the champions since then. I mean seriously, who would have been better as champion: Owen or Khali? Anyway, this match is just BAD. Yeah, the match ends and I’ve got nothing at all. Owen wins with a top rope sunset flip. Sid would be gone either the next night or in 8 days.

Rating: F. Seriously, WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA??? This fails for reasons that I’ve already given. Owen and Animal were ok, but that’s it. This was just pathetic.

Since we’ve covered the Canadian Stampede match so many times in this series, here’s an elimination match at Survivor Series 1997.

Team USA vs. Team Canada

Vader, Steve Blackman, Marc Mero, Goldust

British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas, Phillip Lafon

If this is the best America can do, I need to learn to speak Canadian. Team America comes out to Angle’s music. Naturally the Americans are booed out of the building. The Canadians come out to Bret’s music to make sure the idea is hammered home. Furnas is from Oklahoma and Neidhart is from Nevada, but he had dual citizenship so it’s not as insane. I think Furnas has the long hair but I can never remember which is which.

Mero, wearing a hat, starts with Bulldog. Mero takes off the hat and Bulldog wipes himself with it, making him a hero in America. Bulldog knocks Mero to the floor and makes fun of Blackman’s martial arts in a funny bit. Vader comes in sans tag and works on Smith’s arm but jumps into a slam. Bulldog EASILY suplexes Vader and it’s off to Lafon. I was right about Furnas having the long hair. Good to know.

Back to Mero who hits a knee lift but gets his head kicked off by Lafon, followed by a clothesline for two. Off to Neidhart and then right back to Lafon. Blackman comes in and JR points out that Steve isn’t a wrestler. Lafon DDTs him for two and gets a crucifix for the same. Blackman fights off Team Canada on his own but gets caught on the floor in a fight with Furnas and Lafon, resulting in a countout elimination.

It’s Mero vs. Neidhart now with Jim missing a middle rope splash. Vader comes in and is immediately knocked down twice by Neidhart. Vader comes back with the running body attack and a splash for the pin. Lafon comes in again with some kicks to send Vader to the floor. Back in and Lafon is sent rolling to the corner and a big belly to belly puts him down. A middle rope splash is enough to put Lafon out, leaving Bulldog and Furnas vs. Vader, Mero and Goldust.

Furnas comes in to pound away but misses a dropkick, allowing the tag in to Mero. Has Goldie been in there yet? Mero pounds Furnas down and goes up for a moonsault press and it looks AWFUL, with Furnas going down like he was trying to powerslam Mero out of the air but Mero hitting the move like usual. Either way it gets two and it’s off to Bulldog because Furnas doesn’t seem to be sure what planet he’s on.

Mero escapes the Bulldog powerslam and blasts Smith with a right hand. Back to Furnas who fires off the rights and lefts. Furnas does the exact same thing, but Mero is a legitimate former amateur boxing champion so that’s not really a fair contest. Mero tries a rollup but gets reversed into one by Furnas who grabs a handful of tights to get us down to 2-2.

Vader pounds on Furnas as the King laments Sable having to leave with Mero. Furnas clotheslines Vader down and it’s off to Bulldog again. Goldust, who apparently has a broken hand, STILL doesn’t want to come in. Vader suplexes Furnas down but Furnas hits Vader low. When Vader gets another break from Bulldog, Goldie hides on the floor from a tag. Furnas suplexes Vader down but doesn’t tag. A Frankensteiner takes Vader down for two but Vader no sells it.

Vader slugs Goldust in the face and pulls him into the ring. This is when Goldust walked out on Marlena when she was pregnant because he didn’t want the responsibility or the lack of attention. Goldust walks out for a countout but Vader slams Furnas down and hits the Vader Bomb for the elimination. Vader turns around and is knocked silly with the ring bell from Bulldog for the final elimination.

Rating: C-. This was a better match by miles and miles than the first two, mainly due to people with actual talent being in there. On top of that, the people CARED about the match and it makes the match a lot better by result. The result was never in doubt given how worthless Team America was, but it was cool to see Vader getting to be like his old self, even for one night. The match still wasn’t great but after the first two matches tonight, this was a masterpiece by comparison.

Due to what happened later in the night, Neidhart would head over to WCW for a bit. Here he is on Nitro, March 30, 1998.

Curt Hennig vs. Jim Neidhart

Can this feud just end already? Rude jumps in on commentary and dodges a question about being Nash’s partner tonight. Neidhart quickly pulls him to the floor and sends Hennig into the barricade before going back inside. Jim keeps asking Rude to come down to the ring for a beating but pounds Hennig down with ease. Hennig gets in some shots but Neidhart rakes him in the eyes to put him down. Off to a bearhug on Curt and Rude runs in for the DQ, only to get caught in a quick bearhug as well.

Here’s a title match on Thunder, June 18, 1998.

IWGP Tag Titles: Tenzan/Masahiro Chono vs. British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart

The champions jump the brothers in law to start and throw Neidhart out to the floor. Smith gets double teamed but comes back with a nice double clothesline to put the champions down. Things settle down with Chono going after Neidhart’s knee to get us going. Some hard kicks to the knee and a quick leg lock take the Anvil down and it’s off to Tenzan for some solid right hands to the head. So much for the technical stuff.

Chono comes back in and goes after Davey, allowing the champions to double team Neidhart a bit. Jim comes back with a hard forearm to Chono and makes the hot tag to bulldog. House is cleaned and the powerslam puts Tenzan down, but Chono hits Davey with the belt for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Somehow this quick, nothing match is probably the best thing we’ve seen so far tonight. The titles being on the line made this a bit better than Monday’s match, but it doesn’t make the fans care about the Japanese guys at all. Granted no one cared about Neidhart and Bulldog at this point either, so it’s not Chono and Tenzan’s fault.

One of Neidhart’s few WCW PPV matches, from Fall Brawl 1998.

Dancing Fools vs. Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog

Why in the world Neidhart was hired is beyond me but whatever. The Dancing Fools are Disco Inferno and Alex Wright. Wright vs. Bulldog to start. The Hart relatives are the faces here I guess. The stalling begins and Bulldog backs him into the corner. Gorilla press slam puts Wright down and it’s a double tag. Disco dances around a lot and Neidhart makes fun of him for it.

Disco actually takes him down and Tony is STUNNED. Off to Wright and Bulldog again with the dancers taking over. The announcers talk about WarGames mostly because the match isn’t that interesting. I mean seriously, Jim Neidhart is on PPV in 1998. Why in the world is that happening? Disco hits an atomic drop but is sent over the top with ease. It’s not a DQ so hopefully they got rid of that idiotic rule.

Apparently Bret has been teasing turning….still heel I guess as he screwed Hogan over on Nitro kind of. The Hart dudes take over as Heenan picks Piper for the main event. The fans want Flair again. Slingshot shoulder block misses for Jim though and here’s the tag to Wright, who is apparently popular now. Wright cleans up a bit and double teaming breaks up the powerslam. Double clothesline puts down Bulldog. The referee goes down for a bit and the powerslam ends Disco clean.

Rating: D+. Just a tag match here but it had Jim Neidhart in it in 1998. Again, I don’t think that requires much more of an explanation. The announcers were bored with it because this belonged on WCW Saturday Night or something like that. Not a fan of this one at all but it wasn’t horrible I guess.

I’m going to cut it there so we don’t have to go through Heroes of Wrestling anymore. Jim Neidhart was fine for a power guy with a cool beard and an awesome laugh. He never was much more than that but his time with Bret caused one of the best tag teams you’ll ever find. Neidhart is fondly remembered because of his time in a tag team and there’s nothing wrong with 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:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

NXT
Date: October 9, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Jason Albert, Renee Young, Rich Brennan

We’re getting closer to the next live special and you can see the card starting to form from here. It’s pretty clear that we’re going to get Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville in the big showdown for the title and maybe Lucha Dragons vs. the Vaudevillains. That’s not the worst card in the world with the NXT Title match sounding excellent. Let’s get to it.

Tyler Breeze vs. Mojo Rawley

This is the result of Tyler attacking Mojo a few weeks ago when Rawley interrupted his walk. Breeze hides in the ropes to start and then lays on the corner to keep ticking Mojo off. Mojo charges into a boot to the shoulder and Breeze stomps on the arm before putting on a Fujiwara Armbar for the submission at 1:15. This quick losing thing has to become a story soon right?

Brennan thinks the referee stopped the match instead of hearing a submission.

Enzo and Cass try to get Regal to give Carmella a job. He isn’t interested but they get him to watch her working out in the ring. She makes some girl tap and Regal says bring her next Thursday.

We recap Hideo Itami vs. the Ascension over the last few weeks.

Viktor vs. Hideo Itami

Konor isn’t anywhere in sight which probably doesn’t spell anything good for Itami. Vikto takes some punches and kicks to start but rips the skin off Hideo’s chest with a chop. A snap suplex gets two on Itami and Viktor hammers away even more. Some kicks give Hideo a breather and a missile dropkick puts Viktor down. Hideo seems staggered by the dropkick but he goes up again, only to be distracted by Konor on the stage with an unconscisous Funaki. Not that it matters as Itami dropkicks Viktor for the pin at 3:11.

Rating: D+. Hideo looked better here but I still want to see some different offense. The dropkicks were at least a different kind of kick to keep things a little fresher and he threw some right hands, but throw in something other than strikes. Again though, it was just a three minute match so it’s way too early to pass judgment. The crowd was oddly silent during this match too.

Post match Konor comes in and Hideo gets tied in the ropes. Funaki tries to make a save and gets beaten down even worse.

Vaudevillains vs. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady

I’m not feeling the Vaudevillains’ new music. Enzo wants the Villains to get back in their Delorean and go back to the future. They want to go back to Pumping Iron to flex like Arnold, but it’s more like Hey Arnold because they never should have got off the stoop. WOW does that line make me feel old. Gotch drives knees into Enzo’s ribs in the corner and Aiden’s legdrop gets two. Enzo finally rolls away and makes the tag to Cass for a big boot. Everything breaks down and Cass suplexes Enzo onto Gotch for two. Cass gets knocked outside to leave Amore all alone and That’s A Wrap at 2:52.

Sami Zayn understands that Titus O’Neil is having issues with a bunny but that doesn’t mean he can come down here to make himself feel better.

Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

Becky is out of the green and into plaid. Sasha insults Becky’s hair to start so Becky whips her hair into Banks’ face. A Majistral cradle gets two for Lynch and she nips up for good measure. Some forearms to the face get two for Sasha and we’re off to a double arm crank. Becky comes back with some clotheslines for two and a springboard kick to the face in the corner. Not that it matters as Sasha hits a quick Backstabber into the Bank Statement (Crossface) for the submission at 4:02.

Rating: C. This wasn’t bad and Lynch clearly has the it factor to her. The fact that she’s very good looking and can clearly go in the ring will make things even easier for her. I was hoping she won here but the Banks vs. Charlotte match is probably going to take place at the next live show. Good showing by Lynch here who looked more complete than Banks, though Sasha has better charisma.

Sami Zayn vs. Titus O’Neil

Sami fires off some forearms to stagger the big guy but charges into a slam. More forearms don’t have much effect as Titus slowly hammers him down again. O’Neil pounds away in the corner and another slam gets two. Sami gets thrown outside and we take a break. Back with Sami caught in a bearhug and being swung around like a rag doll. A third slam gets two as Titus really doesn’t seem to have the most extensive offense.

Zayn gets beaten down in the corner again and has to confirm he can keep going. Off to a waistlock from Titus but Sami fights out and low bridges Titus to the floor. A big flip dive puts O’Neil down and finally wakes up the crowd a bit. Back in and the Helluva Kick is countered by a big boot for two. A second attempt at the Helluva Kick connects but Titus’ foot is under the ropes. Sami tries to walk the corner but gets crotched down and planted with the Clash of the Titus for the pin at 13:14.

Rating: D. Seriously? We have to sit through Titus having one of the most boring offenses this side of Big John Studd and he gets to pin Zayn in the middle of the ring? The bad parts of this match are all on Titus as he just didn’t have anything but slams, clotheslines and forearms. You would think a guy that has been around that many years would have something better than this but he was just dull. I see no need to have him win here though and it really made things worse.

Titus tries to go after Sami again but Neville makes the save.

Overall Rating: C-. This wasn’t their best effort and the main event has a lot to do with it. I see no reason why Sami couldn’t win here and then do the exact same ending. The rest of the show was fine but it’s almost all about setting up stuff for down the road. The different with NXT though is they’re capable of pulling off something like that later on. Not a great show here but there’s good stuff coming.

Results

Tyler Breeze b. Mojo Rawley – Fujiwara Armbar

Hideo Itami b. Viktor – Dropkick

Vaudevillains b. Enzo Amore/Colin Cassady – That’s A Wrap to Amore

Sasha Banks b. Becky Lynch – Crossface

Titus O’Neil b. Sami Zayn – Clash of the Titus

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:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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