Monday Nitro #159
Date: October 19, 1998
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 15,722
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone

We’re FINALLY up to the go home show for Halloween Havoc after what seems like months of buildup. Tonight is likely going to focus on Flair getting Bischoff thrown out of the United Center last year, which likely means it’s time for Bischoff to get one up on the Horsemen. Other than that we’re probably going further into the Hogan vs. Warrior mess as it continues to not really have any business on a wrestling show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Bischoff getting ejected by the owner of the United Center last week in favor of the Horsemen.

Nitro Girls.

The announcers do their intro and former AWA star Larry Zbyszko gets a bigger reaction than usual. We get another package on Bischoff and the Horsemen from last week.

Kenny Kaos vs. Saturn

Kaos takes an early advantage with a hard clothesline but Saturn comes right back with a quick swinging neckbreaker. A spinning springboard forearm gets two on Kaos but he drops Saturn over the top and out to the floor. Back in and Kaos hits a nice gutwrench suplex for two followed by a gorilla press slam. Kaos isn’t looking bad but he’s favoring his elbow after that press. Saturn is sent into the corner and kicked in the back, only to come back with some roundhouse kicks to the head. An overhead suplex puts Kaos down and a falcon’s arrow sets up the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: C. This was much better than I was expecting with Kaos putting in a nice performance. Apparently some other people thought the same as we’ll be hearing some more from Kaos in the very near future. For the older fans out there, does this victory over Kaos make Saturn a Control agent?

Tenay polls fans about last week’s show.

Halloween Havoc ad.

Normal intro.

Gene brings out Ernest Miller for a chat. Miller says he hates this town and its’ kids in particular. He threatens Gene until Okerlund gets out of the ring and invites anyone to get in the ring for a challenge. A “fan” jumps the barricade and is stopped by security but Miller says let him in. The fan gets destroyed as you would expect and now security takes him away. We get a better look at the fan and it’s none other than future WCW Tag Team Champion Chuck Palumbo.

We recap Nash chasing Hall around for the last few weeks.

Nitro Party video.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Steiner says he was the real success of the Steiner Brothers and he had to overcome Rick’s weaknesses.

Speaking of Rick Steiner, we see his incident with Chuckie last week and the announcers analyze it like it’s a match.

Video on Goldberg vs. DDP.

Damien/Psychosis/El Dandy/Hector Garza vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./La Parka/Ciclope/La Parka

The former team is LWO and they have their own music now. Damien goes after La Parka’s chair before the bell and gets kicked in the head. Serves him right. This is under lucha rules so going to the floor counts as a tag. Lizmark hammers on Damien in the corner to start and gets two off a hurricanrana before it’s off to La Parka vs. El Dandy with La Parka chopping him in the chest and back. A big enziguri puts Dandy down and it’s off to Ciclope and Garza.

The LWO comes in for a four on one beatdown until Damien snaps off a top rope hurricanrana for two. Garza comes in with a missile dropkick to the back and it’s off to Chavo for the first big pop of the match. Chavo quickly dropkicks him down but things quickly break down.

Psychosis misses a charge into the post but Ciclope comes in with a missile dropkick. Everyone misses something off the top before La Parka and Chavo hit some dives. A Hart Attack with a springboard dropkick from Lizmark gets two on Psychosis but La Parka comes in to clean house with the chair but knocks out Ciclope, giving Psychosis the pin.

Rating: C+. This was the usual fast paced lucha match which was almost impossible to keep track of a the end. La Parka’s chair shot seems to turn him to the LWO which is fine as the team needs some bigger names. The match was able to fire the crowd up as well as advanced the LWO story so nice multitasking WCW.

Post match Eddie comes out and gives La Parka a shirt. So the way to prove you’re united with the other luchadores is to hit another with a chair? Chavo seems happy but walks off, telling Pepe he doesn’t need a shirt.

We look at Bret’s history with Sting and turning on him, leading to the brawl two weeks ago.

Kanyon vs. Scott Putski

We get the Who Better Than Kanyon bit before the match. Kanyon: “You guys just don’t get it.” They fight over hammerlocks and headlocks to start until Scott scores with a few slams. A belly to back suplex gets two on Kanyon but he comes back by sending Putski into the corner and hammering away. Kanyon hits a middle rope Fameasser to send Putski outside and drops him face first onto the apron while standing on the steps. Back in and Putski hits a release overhead belly to belly but gets caught in a fireman’s carry pancake. The Flatliner is enough to get Kanyon the pin.

Rating: C-. Kanyon was fun to watch as always and Putski wasn’t bad either. I still don’t get his choice of attire as he’s an eye patch short of being a pirate from 1638. The match wasn’t bad though and it was a good way to keep Kanyon around. Why can’t we get stuff like this on Thunder?

Video on Hogan vs. Warrior.

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Here’s Scott Steiner to start the second hour. He talks about being cold, having freaks and being your hook up. Last week he beat up Buff Bagwell and calls out any Minnesota Vikings here tonight. Instead he gets Rick Steiner who is ready right now if Scott wants a fight. We have a referee down here but Scott says Rick is too easy.

Scott actually gets in and asks if this is going to be a fair fight. Rick says no and decks Scott in the head before pounding him into the corner. Scott charges into a boot as the announcers play up the idea that they know each other so well. A low blow stops Rick and Scott gets a chair as the bell rings. It never rang in the first place so this wasn’t a match. Buff runs out and takes the chair from Scott before nearly killing him with a big swing.

Nitro Girls video.

Nitro Girls in the ring.

We get a clip of a Goldberg autograph signing for charity.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Fit Finlay

Finlay takes him over with a headlock to start but walks into a slam for two. We hit a chinlock from Smith for a few seconds before another slam gets another two count. Finlay comes back with a clothesline and rips at Smith’s face before missing a charge into the buckle. The referee gets poked in the eye, allowing Alex Wright to run in and hit a quick missile dropkick to knock Bulldog into the tombstone from Finlay for the pin.

Rating: D. This was just a filler match and it didn’t do much to fire up the crowd. The King of Europe storyline wasn’t anything interesting when there were only a handful of people involved and they were just trading wins. This was Bulldog’s last appearance on Nitro as he would go to the hospital for a staph infection from breaking his back at Fall Brawl. Bischoff would fire him via FedEx while he was laid up.

Here’s Jericho with Ralphus at his side to brag about beating Greenberg three times in a row. Goldberg wants the sheet writers to think he’s the best but everyone knows that’s nonsense. DDP comes in and calls out “Jerkicho” for his lies and a match is made for later.

Hall is shown at a bar wearing his title belt and wrestling gear. Nothing else to the scene than that.

Wrath vs. Tokyo Magnum

Clothesline, chops and stomps, flying shoulder and the Meltdown are enough for the squash by Wrath.

More charity stuff from UNICEF.

We look at Buff saving Rick and cut to the back to see him throwing away his NWO shirt. Insert your own sarcastic response here.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Silver King/Super Calo

Silver King and Calo say not so fast because they have replacements.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit

An annoyed Bischoff comes out to commentary as Dean cranks on Wright’s wrist. Eric goes on a rant about how there are four people not getting paid tonight: “Those two Mexicans, Arn Anderson and…..make it five!” Dean hammers away on Wright’s head but gets pulled down to the mat. Disco comes in and walks into a suplex, only to pop up with a clothesline to take over. Inferno dances a bit and turns around to get chopped and stomped by Benoit. Everything breaks down and the Crossface quickly ends Disco.

The Horsemen yell at Bischoff who shouts about breach of contract.

Hall is still at the bar.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Jericho

Non-title of course. A shoulder puts Jericho down and he claims a hair pull. Page drives in his shoulders before they fight over hiptosses. That goes nowhere so DDP takes his head off with a left arm clothesline. Page tries to hammer away in the corner but gets dropped down onto the top turnbuckle to change control.

Jericho throws him outside and whips Page into the barricade for two. Page comes back with right hands and the discus lariat followed by a belly to back suplex for a near fall. Jericho grabs a quick jawbreaker and the Lionsault almost gets the upset. A low blow breaks up the Diamond Cutter but Page counters the Liontamer. Page calls for the Diamond Cutter but Goldberg comes in to spear Jericho for the DQ.

Rating: C+. Better match than I was expecting here as Jericho got in a lot of offense and wasn’t entirely beat at the end. They had to do something to give Page and Goldberg a real issue and this was as good as anything else they could have done. It’s always nice to see a champion not do a clean job too.

Page is ticked and the brawl is almost on until referees make the save.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Billy Kidman

Rey is returning from an injury to challenge for the title here. They feel each other out to start until Kidman takes him down to the mat in a front facelock. Back up and Rey snaps off a standing hurricanrana before backdropping the champion to the apron. Kidman comes back in with a slingshot headscissors and a hard dropkick gets two. We hit the chinlock for a bit on Mysterio before Kidman sends him into the corner for a running forearm which looked like a blown spot.

Mysterio takes his head off with a spinwheel kick and a high cross body for a very close two. Rey tries his sitout bulldog but gets countered into a wheelbarrow slam, sending Rey to the apron, only to get suplexed out to the floor by the masked man. Back in and Kidman shrugs it off and hits the lifting powerbomb for two. We hit the chinlock on Rey but he fights up and takes Kidman to the floor with a hurricanrana. Rey is favoring his knee but hits a nice flip dive to take Kidman down.

Rey takes too much time going up top and Kidman gets up, only to be dropped stomach first onto the ropes. A legdrop to the back of the head gets two but Rey is too banged up to cover. Kidman slams him down and misses a frog splash, allowing Rey to go up for a top rope seated senton and two.

Tony calls it a Thesz Press and Tenay doesn’t correct him. Mysterio hits a double leg Fameasser for two but gets caught in a powerbomb from the champion for two more. Mysterio crotches Kidman to break up the Shooting Star before taking Kidman to the mat with a hurricanrana for two. A jumping Killswitch gets two for Mysterio and he goes up top, only to dive into a dropkick as the bell rings for the time limit at about thirteen and a half minutes.

Rating: B+. This was one of the best matches we’ve had on Nitro in weeks with both guys countering a lot of stuff but still getting in their own big moves. Mysterio’s knee messing up was fine for a story and Kidman more than held up with the cruiserweight legend. I’m not sure how you can have a legend for a division about two years old but Tony kept using that term.

The Minneapolis mayor comes out holding a proclomation to huge booing and a Jesse chant. She brings out future Baseball Hall of Fame member Kirby Puckett and future NFL Hall of Famer John Randle but the fans still aren’t impressed with her. Maybe it’s the very loud and grating voice? Anyway she brings out Ric Flair and declares it Ric Flair Day in Minneapolis.

Flair is thrilled but here’s Bischoff to complain. He doesn’t need some three named mayor to ruin his show but the mayor says this is her town. Randle and Puckett get between them and cops tell Bischoff to stay back. Apparently Bischoff has some unpaid warrants and has 20 minutes to get out of the arena. Eric promises to be back and walks out but sees his car being towed away.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Norton/Scott Hall/Stevie Ray vs. Konnan/Kevin Nash/Lex Luger

Norton comes out wearing the IWGP Title. Hall staggers out after them and his partners aren’t pleased. That’s actually better than Nash who is nowhere in sight. Luger is back in trunks instead of pants. Konnan does his thing and we cut to the back where Nash is staggering around and dropping a cup.

The bell rings and Kevin slowly comes into the arena. Konnan and Stevie get things going but the Wolfpack asks Nash what’s going on. Kevin tries to get in but Luger and Konnan won’t let that happen. Nash keeps drinking until Luger takes the cup away. Stevie and Konnan get things going with Ray in control until Konnan comes back with the rolling clothesline.

Off to Luger and Norton with Lex throwing him around like he’s nothing. The running forearm puts Norton down but Stevie offers a distraction and the Black and White takes over. Nash is kneeling on the apron, cup in hand. Hall is asking for a tag but Ray and Norton just ignore him. Luger and Norton clothesline each other down and crawl to the corners where Hall and Nash tag themselves in. They make a drunken toast to each other but Nash has an empty cup. The fight is on and Hall gets his clock cleaned until the match is thrown out.

Rating: D. This was an angle instead of a match and that’s fine. The Hall vs. Nash idea is fine but I was hoping for it to be an actual match rather than the whole drunken Hall thing. I’m also not sure why it’s on a stacked Halloween Havoc card when it could have headlined a lower PPV card if treated well.

Hogan vs. Warrior promo.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Horace

Raise your hand if you think this is actually happening. Hollywood comes out to the wrong music at first and tells Michael Buffer that this isn’t happening. Horace comes out and admits that he’s Hollywood’s nephew which I thought was public knowledge before this. Hollywood says they’re blood so he calls the NWO out here to see what blood means to him. He’s proud of Horace and loves him before taking his shirt off.

Hollywood talks about the sacrifices you have to make to be in the NWO and says this is his sacrifice. He blasts Horace with a right hand and goes off on him, saying imagine what he’d do to Warrior if he’d do this to family. A chair shot puts Horace down and everyone but Norton leaves Hollywood alone.

Hogan rants about how Warrior is going to admit Hollywood rules the universe and tells him to say his prayers and take his vitamins. The NWO gets back in the ring and here’s Warrior with a ball bat. He cleans house as Hogan bails to the floor. Giant shrugs off a bat shot and chokeslams Warrior down. Hogan spray paints Warrior’s chest and drops some legs. The crowd has almost no response to this at all. They’re not booing or cheering and just kind of sit there for the whole thing.

Here’s Bret Hart to make a challenge. He runs his mouth about how he has no fans but his cat and calls Sting the worst there is, was and ever will be until Sting comes out for a fight.

Sting vs. Bret Hart

It’s a brawl to start with Sting in full control and hammering away. They head outside with Bret being sent into the barricade. All Sting so far as they head back inside with the big jumping elbow actually connecting for two. Bret gets in a kick to the ribs and drops a headbutt to the abdomen. He rakes Sting’s eyes across the top rope and hits the backbreaker but Sting blocks the middle rope elbow. There’s the Scorpion but Bret makes the rope. Sting doesn’t let go and it’s a DQ. “You might as well go get help because I’m not letting go.”

Rating: D. Again there was nothing to the match but that wasn’t the point. I’m not sure why you would have an actual match between them before Sunday, especially with Sting dominating the whole thing with ease. At least it wasn’t a clean finish or anything so there’s a reason to watch the match Sunday.

Referees can’t get the hold off so Stevie Ray and Vincent come out to pound on Sting. He still won’t leg to as he no sells everything before letting it go on his own. Bret limps away to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was better than most Nitros lately and actually has me wanting to see the show on Sunday. There was entertaining wrestling and all of the major matches for Sunday got screen time. What else can you ask for from a go home show? Also Warrior finally got beaten up and the crowd just didn’t care at all. Good show actually.

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This is a spoiler for the 8 of you that watch Smackdown live.It’s Carlos Colon, the king of wrestling in Puerto Rico and father of Carlito.  Nothing wrong with this one.

Wrestlemania IV
Date: March 27, 1988
Location: Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Attendance: 18,165
Commentators: Jesse Ventura, Gorilla Monsoon

Well the crowd is only about 1/5 the size of the one we had last year but there are even more matches this year. This is a one idea show: we’ve got a tournament. The WWF Title is vacant due to the ending of Hogan vs. Andre II at The Main Event (for you ratings people, this show earned a 15 rating on NBC live on a Friday night. Wrestling used to be HUGE.) when there was a twin referee brought in to cost Hogan the title. The title is now vacant and will be decided tonight. Let’s get to it.

Before I forget, it should be noted that as this aired, the NWA (WCW) was airing the first live Clash of the Champions for free on TBS. That show would have one of the best matches the company ever produced with Sting challenging Flair for the world title for the first time.

Here are the tournament brackets.

Hogan

BYE

Andre

BYE

Jim Duggan

Ted DiBiase

Don Muraco

Dino Bravo

Ricky Steamboat

Greg Valentine

Randy Savage

Butch Reed

Bam Bam Bigelow

One Man Gang

Rick Rude

Jake Roberts

Gene welcomes us to the show and presents Gladys Knight to sing America the Beautiful.

Battle Royal

Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Jim Powers, Paul Roma, Sika, Danny Davis, B. Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell, Bad News Brown, Sam Houston, Jacques Rougeau, Ray Rougeau, Ken Patera, Ron Bass, Junkyard Dog, Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zhukov, Hillbilly Jim, Harley Race, George Steele

Just for a big trophy here. Steele chills on the floor and Bob Uecker is in on commentary here. Sam Houston is put out quick as is Sika. Brunzell is sent to the apron by Nikolai but he makes the save. Both Bee’s are sent to the apron but Steele pulls Neidhart out to the floor. Both of the Bees are put out as is Ray Rougeau as the ring is thinning out a bit. Dog puts Bass out but has to fight off the Bolsheviks.

Hillbilly Jim is put out and Roma puts Davis out as well. We’re down to nine and Powers is out too. We’ve got Volkoff, Zhukov, Hart, Roma, Jacques Rougeau, Race, Brown, Patera and Dog. Race and Dog headbutt each other with the canine man winning. Nikolai is dumped by Patera and Zukov gets the same treatment.

Patera is pulled to the floor by Volkoff as Race and Rougeau go out. So it’s JYD, Hart and Brown to go. Dog gets on all fours to headbutt both heels but they finally catch up on him with some double teaming. He gets dumped out and Hart and Brown seem to be willing to split the win. Brown of course turns on Hart and dumps him out to win the trophy.

Rating: D+. This was nothing of note other than the potential beginning of Bret’s first aborted singles push. The problem with battle royals is the same most of the time: there’s no reason for most of them to happen and with no story, there’s not much interest in the match. Sometimes you’ll get a good one, but this wasn’t it.

Brown stands next to the trophy (which stands about 6’0) but Bret jumps him and destroys the trophy.

Fink explains the tournament structure (mainly time limits and saying it’s winners only advancing) and introduces Robin Leech (hosted a show called Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) to read a proclomation.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan

DiBiase is one of the favorites here as he tried to buy the title which started the whole mess. Andre and Virgil are with him here. Ted immediately hides in the corner as the Battle of Mid-South begins. Duggan wins a slugout and an atomic drop puts DiBiase on the floor. I could watch DiBiase fall over the top all day. He was always great at falling over and made it look like a science.

Back in and Jim clotheslines him down before pounding away a bit more. DiBiase charges into a boot in the corner and hits a middle rope ax handle for two. Duggan comes back with a sunset flip of all things for two and to give Jesse a shock. A suplex puts DiBiase down and he jumps into a punch in the ribs to slow him down even more. Duggan slams him down but Andre trips him before the three point clothesline can be launched. Jim looks at Andre but gets caught in the back by a knee, sending DiBiase to the quarterfinals.

Rating: C-. DiBiase’s flipping was a good touch and they got to do some decent stuff in less than five minutes. That’s one of the problems with tonight’s show: since there are so many matches they have to keep things short. Duggan would eventually feud with Andre in some surprisingly decent matches.

Gene is with Brutus and while looking him up and down says “Brutus this is incredible what a package.” After that unintentional comedy, Gene asks Brutus if he’s worried about Jimmy Hart interfering in the IC Title match tonight. Brutus says Hart will get a haircut if he intereferes.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Dino Bravo vs. Don Muraco

Bravo shoves him back into the corner to start to win the first power battle of the match. Muraco hammers him down and tries something like a Vader Bomb but basically just lands next to Bravo instead. Dino comes back with an elbow to the face and a gutwrench suplex for no cover. A knee in the corner misses Muraco so he starts hammering on the knee.

A spinning toehold has Bravo in trouble but Don gets kicked away and gets his head caught in the ropes. Dino uses Muraco’s own piledriver to get two but a second attempt is countered with a backdrop. They clothesline each other but it’s Muraco up first. He hits a flying forearm which works so well that he tries it again, but Bravo pulls the referee into Muraco for the DQ.

Rating: D+. this was slow and plodding but it wasn’t horrible. Muraco was far better when he was less muscular and evil and this part of his career never quite worked that well. One very nice thing here is Jesse freaking out when Bravo got disqualified but then saying it was correct when seeing Bravo pull the referee on the replay. It’s very refreshing to see something like that.

Bob Uecker warns Honky Tonk Man about getting beaten up by Brutus. Honky makes fun of Uecker’s batting average and threatens to backstroke up the Mississippi River. Uecker: “You guys ain’t never coming to my house!”

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat

Should be good. Steamboat brings the future Richie Steamboat to the ring with him in matching outfits. Feeling out process to start with Steamboat taking him down via an armdrag. Gorilla says Ricky has excellence of execution to coin a phrase. A few shoulders get two on Valentine so he throws Steamboat over the top. That of course doesn’t work on the Dragon so he comes back with a dropkick and a crucifix for two.

Valentine comes back with his usual elbows and forearms to put Steamboat down. He pulls Steamboat off the ropes so Ricky drops onto the back of his head. This allows Gorilla to bust out the term “external occipital protuberance”, to which Jesse replies “THE WHAT?” The voice Ventura says that in is hilarious. Apparently it’s that little bump on the back of your head. Steamboat reverses a suplex into one of his own and hooks an armbar. Jimmy Hart goes a rant of instructions to the Hammer which is such a lost art in wrestling.

Steamboat gets dropped on the back of his head, allowing for another discussion of whatever that thing is called. Gorilla: “External occipital protuberance.” Jesse: “Oh ok. Back of the head for all you normal people back there.” Valentine pounds away with elbows as Gorilla says they’re “right in the kisser, right between the eyes.” His biology knowledge is all over the place. Donald Trump is in the front row. Steamboat comes back with some chops for two but Greg puts him right back down with a gutbuster.

Valentine goes after the leg but the Figure Four is broken up. They chop it out with Steamboat taking over, only to charge into a boot in the corner. Valentine hits a top rope forearm but still can’t put the Figure Four on. Steamboat hits an elbow to the face and a top rope chop for two. He rams Valentine into the corner ten times and shoves the referee away when he tries to break it up. Ricky goes up and hits the cross body but Valentine rolls through to eliminate Steamboat.

Rating: C+. Like I said, decent stuff here although Steamboat would be gone pretty much immediately over wanting to take some time off. Vince said no so Ricky left wrestling for about nine months. Anyway, good stuff here from two guys that know how to work whatever kind of a match you ask them to. Valentine was great in a role like this where he wasn’t going to win anything but he could fill in a spot and do just fine.

Steamboat waves goodbye to the crowd so yeah this was it for him.

The British Bulldogs with their recently returned dog Matilda declare her a weasel dog for their six man against the Islanders and Heenan. Oh and Koko is here too.

Bobby Heenan gets a package and actually tips the delivery guy. Ok then.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Randy Savage vs. Butch Reed

Macho and Liz come out in matching blue and Liz really is beautiful. She’s also one of the few females in wrestling that stayed classy (until Russo got ahold of her) for almost her entire run. This is power vs. speed with Reed getting Savage in the corner early on. Jesse asks Gorilla if he would buy a car from Slick (Reed’s manager). Gorilla says no. Jesse: “Not even a bright blue Caddy?” These two are just freaking fun together. They knew how to work off each other so well and it made the late 80s a ton of fun.

Reed pounds away on Savage and guillotines him on the top rope and out to the floor. Back in and Butch stomps on Randy a bit before elbowing him right back down. Savage gets in a kick to the face and fires off some punches, only to get clotheslined down again. Reed goes up top but takes WAY too long to jaw at Liz, allowing Savage to slam him down and drop the elbow for the pin. The pop when Savage hits the elbow is HUGE. You could hear it starting lasts year in Detroit and now it’s full fledged here.

Rating: C-. This was basically a squash until the very end. Savage was great at building up sympathy from the crowd which is why the pops were so huge when he won here. Reed would also head to the NWA soon after this to do nothing for a year before joining Doom. Not much to see here but again, the time crunch hurts things a lot.

Uecker talks about trying to get with Vanna White tonight when Heenan and the Islanders come in. Heenan: “You talk about writing letters. You had 700,000 votes for the Hall of Fame. You would have had more but you ran out of stamps. Heenan isn’t worried about the six man later.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. One Man Gang

Gang pounds away in the corner to start and Bigelow is in trouble. This is one of those big guys that pound away on each other with basic stuff but it looks better because they’re huge matches. Bigelow comes back with a forearm and a low splash for two. Bam Bam pounds away and hits a headbutt and then about four more to take over. He hits the ropes and Slick pulls the rope down though and Gang pounds on him on the apron enough to cause a countout. Too short to rate but this was lame. I think Bigelow had a bad knee here too.

Hogan goes into one of his most bizarre and over the top promos here. He talks about slamming Andre and breaking the United States in half, sending Andre and his next two opponents into the ocean. The rest if going to be nearly verbatim because a description won’t do it justice. Talking about them falling into the ocean:

“And so will Donald Trump and all the Hulkamaniacs, but as Donald Trump hangs on to the top of the Trump Plaza with his family under his other arm, and as they sink to the bottom of the sea, THANK GOD Donald Trump is a Hulkamaniac. He’ll know enough to let go of his materialistic possessions, hang onto the wife and kids and dog paddle all the way to safety. But Donald, if somehow you run out of gas, and all the Hulkamaniacs happen to run out of gas, just hang onto the largest back in the world and I’ll dog paddle and backstroke (wouldn’t the people on his back drown?) all of us to safety.”

So Hogan has just declared himself Jesus. You knew it was coming eventually.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts

This is part of a BIG feud over Rude trying to get with Jake’s wife. Jake immediately goes for the part of Rude’s body that would mess with Rude the most: his face. Rude comes back with a slam and some right hands so Jake comes back with some slams of his own. Rude winds up in the corner with the snake and bails right into an arm wringer by Jake. Try as he might, Rude can’t fight out of the wristlock as it’s pretty clear this is going to last for awhile.

The hold is finally broken by Rude putting him on the top rope but Jake comes off the middle rope with a jumping knee lift to send Rick to the outside. Rude gets slammed again but this time the knee lift misses and Rick stomps away. Rick drops a knee and gets a VERY slow two count. We hit the chinlock and I open a book because we’re going to be here for a long time.

After about two minutes, Rude hits a token clothesline before hooking the chinlock all over again. Jake tries to fight back but gets launched into the head and dropped on his face. A top rope fist to a downed Jake gets two and it’s back to the chinlock. You can hear the fans booing now. Roberts tries a belly to back suplex but Rude still doesn’t break the hold.

Now the boring chants begin so Jake FINALLY hits a jawbreaker to get out of the hold and get the crowd going a bit. The short clothesline looks to set up the DDT but Rude rams him into the corner. Jake is suplexed out of a headlock for two and both guys are down. Rude tries a pin with his feet on the ropes and the time runs out. The fans are NOT happy with that one.

Rating: D-. What in this is supposed to be appealing? We don’t get a DDT, we don’t get any comeuppance for Rude, we don’t get a winner, and we don’t even get a beating for Heenan. This was long and very dull with at least five minutes out of fifteen being spent in a chinlock. If you need to have two guys get eliminated to prevent another match later, wouldn’t it make sense to have this one go fast instead of going the time limit?

Gene and Vanna White look at the brackets so we’ll do that too.

Hogan

Andre

DiBiase

Muraco

Savage

Valentine

One Man Gang

BYE

Vanna has no idea who Bob Uecker is but she wants Hogan to win.

Hercules vs. Ultimate Warrior

They collide to start as the announcers recap the tournament. Hercules hits three straight clotheslines to put Warrior down to Jesse’s amazement. Warrior fires off some chops but gets backdropped out to the floor. They brawl on the floor for a bit as Heenan is reaching in his pockets. Both guys head back inside and pound on each other a little bit more with Warrior hitting the ten punches in the corner. Hercules comes out of the corner with an atomic drop and sends Warrior into the corner chest first. He puts on the full nelson but Warior climbs the corner and falls back ala Bret and Austin at Survivor Series 96 for the fast pin.

Rating: D+. Warrior was rapidly becoming a force but it wouldn’t be another six months before he finally hit something special. Hercules would be around for a few more years but would never do anything of note. This was just a filler match to bridge the gap between the first and second rounds of the tournament.

We recap Hogan vs. Andre, which I’m sure you know the story of, at least up to Mania III. After that, Andre disappeared for the summer until leading his team to victory over Hogan’s team at the first Survivor Series (Hogan was counted out). So anyway DiBiase debuted and wanted to buy the world title but Hogan of course said no. DiBiase instead bought Andre from Heenan and said go get me the belt.

This led us to Indianapolis and the first Main Event, which completely destroyed every ratings record ever for wrestling, drawing a mind blowing 15 rating and 33 million viewers live on NBC on a Friday night. Today, 5 million people watching Raw is reasons for a celebration for Raw. Anyway, there was a screwjob finish with Dave Hebner’s twin brother Earl debuting as an imposter and counting a pin while Hogan’s shoulder was clearly up. Andre gave the title to DiBiase which didn’t fly with President Jack Tunney, so the title was held up and we got the tournament to settle things.

WWF World Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan

Hulk charges into the ring but gets stomped down. DiBiase and Virgil are here in Andre’s corner. Hogan gets rammed into the corner and punched down by the giant but Hogan comes back with some forearms. He has to stop to beat up DiBiase and ram Ted and Andre’s heads together. Hogan chops Andre into the ropes and gets him tied up. DiBiase frees the arms but Hogan punches Andre down and drops some elbows, but the giant grabs him by the throat from the mat and takes over again.

Some standing choking ensues and Hogan goes down to his knees. That gets shifted into a nerve hold but Hogan fights up and fires away on Andre even more but can’t drop him. Hogan goes for a slam but DiBiase hits him in the back as Virgil distracts the referee. Hulk gets the chair away and hits Andre with the chair. Andre gets the chair away and hits Hulk with it, somehow drawing a double DQ despite Hogan clearly hitting Andre first.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t much from a quality standpoint but they were at a far faster pace than they were last year. That’s probably the right idea given how messed up Andre’s body was at this point though. Anyway, this is all part of the Master Plan which we’ll hear more about later on. Not a terrible match but it’s really just there to say it happened.

Hogan chases Virgil and DiBiase down with the former getting suplexed in the aisle. Hulk goes back in and slams Andre before posing for a few minutes despite not winning the match. It’s still going. He didn’t pose this much at last year’s show.

Savage and Liz (now in pink) say that Hogan was cheated and that he’s never been defeated. Oh and Macho is going to win.

WWF World Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Don Muraco vs. Ted DiBiase

The winner goes to the finals because of the double DQ. Ted comes out alone here for the first time tonight. Muraco pulls him into the ring by the hair and we’re ready to go. A quick powerslam gets two and Ted is reeling. There’s a clothesline for another two and Ted tries to bail. DiBiase finally gets to the floor and Billy Graham (Muraco’s manager) tries to hit him with his cane. Back in and Don tries to pull him out of the corner but gets pulled into the corner himself instead. DiBiase finally has some control but misses a falling reverse elbow off the middle rope. Muraco makes a quick comeback but walks into a hotshot for the pin.

Rating: C. Not bad here but yet again the time hurts them a lot. There’s only so much you can do in about five minutes, although it was good to show that DiBiase could get a win on his own which he did here. Muraco would be gone pretty soon if I remember correctly. Not much of a match here but it wasn’t bad.

Demolition talks about hitting people over the head with ball bats and say they’ll win the titles.

One Man Gang’s bye is announced.

WWF World Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Randy Savage vs. Greg Valentine

Savage takes over quickly with a slam and a knee drop for two but Valentine comes back with a pair of forearms, the second from the top rope. A shoulderbreaker gets two for Valentine and it’s time for some more elbows. Greg throws him to the floor and rams Randy into the barricade a few times. More elbows to the head and chest follow as Savage is in a lot of trouble.

Back in and Valentine starts in on the leg but Savage quickly grabs a rope. A suplex gets two for Valentine and Randy is in trouble. All of a sudden Savage goes NUTS (he’s fine then) and pounds away on Hammer with the top rope ax handle. He loads up another one but they kind of collide instead. Savage misses a charge at the ropes and Valentine tries the Figure Four again, only to get rolled up for the pin to advance Savage.

Rating: B-. It’s the best match of the tournament so far but that’s not saying much. Also it’s one of the longer matches of the tournament at just over six minutes so that probably has something to do with it. Savage took a beating in this but managed to sneak out with a win which is always cool to see. The fans continue to pop huge for him too which is a great sign.

Vanna White has no idea who Bob Uecker is. We look at the updated brackets:

Ted DiBiase

BYE

Randy Savage

One Man Gang

Intercontinental Title: Honky Tonk Man vs. Brutus Beefcake

Sherri Martel is with Honky as Peggy Sue here which is a pretty amazing character change for her. This is during Honky’s insanely long run that drew a ton of money and is pretty awesome all around. Brutus hits a quick atomic drop and messes with Honky’s hair to play with his mind a bit. Honky bails to the floor as Jesse and Gorilla debate crooked referees. Back in and Beefcake rams Honky’s head into the buckle a few times as this is one sided so far.

A high knee sends the champion back to the floor but once back in, Beefcake gets caught by a shot to the stomach. Honky takes over and stomps away which is about the extent of his offense. He loads up the Shake Rattle and Roll but drops it and goes back to stomping. Honky tries it again but Brutus grabs the rope to block it. Beefcake pounds away a bit and grabs his sleeper but Jimmy knocks out the referee. Honky gets knocked but but there’s no referee so Brutus celebrates like an idiot. Brutus cuts Jimmy Hart’s hair for fun and Honky walks out. It’s a DQ I think.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here as this show is just going WAY too long at this point. We’re only about two and a half hours into it and we’ve got four matches left. Brutus was just another guy in there to not get the title off Honky, which adds him to a list of about 10 guys who couldn’t do it. Honky would get his soon enough though.

In a semi-famous bit, Andre talks about DiBiase paying him to eliminate Hogan (not really a surprise) and then chokes Bob Uecker.

Islanders/Bobby Heenan vs. British Bulldogs/Koko B. Ware

There’s actually a story here. Heenan comes to the ring in a dog handlers’ outfit (remember the package from earlier?) because Matilda, the dog mascot of the Bulldogs, is back from being dognapped, presumably by the Islanders. Koko is there because when you need a filler, you call Koko B. Ware. We start with Dynamite vs. Tama but it’s quickly off to Haku vs. Davey Boy for a nice power match.

Davey slams him down a few times and it’s off to a quickly broken chinlock. Back to Tama who is gorilla pressed up and down and it’s back to Haku. Jesse: “Heenan seems to be saving himself.” Gorilla: “Yeah for the senior prom.” Did Gorilla just make a sex joke? I can feel my childhood crumbling as I type this. Koko comes in for some quick shots but it’s back to Dynamite for the clothesline that Benoit copied from him.

The Kid charges into a kick in the corner and here’s Heenan for the first time. He stomps on Dynamite, gets hit once in his padded suit, and runs away. That’s about what I expected. Tama tries a Vader Bomb but hits knees, allowing for another tag to Koko. He pounds on both Islanders but Haku takes him right back down. Tama comes in with a top rope chop and Heenan gets his second tag. Heenan chokes a bit but misses a charge into the post. Everything breaks down and the Islanders drop Heenan onto Koko for the pin.

Rating: C. I told you Koko was worthless in this. The stuff with the tag teams was pretty solid but the rest of it was as dull as you would expect. These six man tags with the Bulldogs in there don’t go that well for them but this was their last try at it. This was basically a comedy match and it was only kind of funny.

Jesse Ventura is introduced to the crowd for some posing.

Ted DiBiase’s bye is announced.

WWF World Title Tournament Semifinals: One Man Gang vs. Randy Savage

Savage and Liz are in black for this one. Randy tries to lock up with him to start which isn’t his best play here. Gang shoves him into the corner and pounds him down then does it again for a few more minutes. A pair of splashes miss and an elbow sends Gang into the ropes and out to the floor. Savage tries a slam but gets choked down instead. Liz gets on the apron for no apparent reason as Slick throws in the cane, but Gang gets caught swinging it for the DQ.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here and Savage on defense can’t save most of a match. This is the second win over a Slick client of the night and he would spend the summer feuding with more of them. Gang was a decent big man but at the end of the day he was just another monster for a hero to vanquish. Not that there’s anything wrong with that as people can make a great living like that, especially in the 80s.

Savage gets hit with the cane anyway but he still comes back and sends Gang into Slick.

The finals are DiBiase vs. Savage.

Bob Uecker can’t catch up with Vanna.

Tag Titles: Demolition vs. Strike Force

Strike Force is one of my favorite teams ever and is comprised of Rick Martel and Tito Santana. They had been champions for something like five months and are still considered transitional champions. Smash and Martel start things off and the former lives up to his namesake by beating Rick down. Everything breaks down quickly for a bit and the result is the champions in control. Tito comes in to work over the arm of Ax before it’s off to Smash for more arm cranking.

Demolition comes back with a standing Hart Attack before it’s back to Ax for a powerslam. Smash suplexes Tito down for two but an elbow drop misses. Ax comes back in and gets caught out of nowhere by the flying forearm (Jesse: “He learned that in the Mexican Football League.”). There’s the hot tag to Martel and it’s dropkicks a go-go. The Boston Crab goes on Smash but Tito goes after Ax. The forearm takes him down but Fuji slides in the cane. Rick gets blasted in the back of the head, giving Demolition their first titles. They would hold those belts for over a year and a half.

Rating: C+. Power vs. speed is always a good combination and that’s what you got here. Demolition was a pair of guys who beat the tar out of everyone they fought and that’s what they did here. It took a pair of Horsemen to get the belts off of them if that tells you anything about how awesome they were.

Robin Leech brings out the WWF Title belt.

Bob Uecker is guest ring announcer. Vanna White is guest timekeeper and she gives Bob a kiss.

WWF World Title: Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase

Savage and Liz are now in white and Andre is with DiBiase. Macho blocks some punches in the corner but Andre trips him up like a jerk. Andre does it again and Savage is catching on that he’s got a problem. They trad some cranking on the arm and DiBiase’s sunset flip doesn’t work. A clothesline gets two for Randy and he sends DiBiase to the floor where Andre says go ahead and jump.

Realizing he’s in trouble, Savage sends Liz to the back the obvious reason (hint: the fans are chanting HOGAN). DiBiase hooks a chinlock and heeeeeeeeeeeere’s Hulk. The look on Hogan’s face and his jaws going all over the place make him look high as a kite. Ted pounds away in the corner and Andre pulls Savage to the outside. Hogan jumps the giant but Savage is in big trouble.

A gutwrench suplex gets two for Ted but he goes up top for reasons of general stupidity, earning that slam off the top by Savage. Randy tries a quick elbow but only hits the mat. DiBiase puts on the Million Dollar Dream but Hogan, ever the hero, comes in and whacks DiBiase in the bak with a chair. Savage runs to the top and the big elbow gives him his first world title.

Rating: B-. This was a decent match and the place went NUTS for the win, but they were both really tired and it slowed them down a lot. The Hogan cheating wasn’t really necessary and it made Savage look a bit weak, but at the end of the day it didn’t make that big of a difference. Still though, huge moment here.

Hogan insists on being in the ring for the celebration which really takes something away from it. The three celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The moment at the end is huge, but the time it took getting there isn’t worth it. The problem with this show is that it’s WAY too long and there aren’t that many good matches on it. Sixteen matches are WAY too many to have on a single show and the fans were really burned out by the end. This should have been an eight man tournament with some slightly longer matches. Also this show is almost four hours long and the talent pool just wasn’t deep enough to support that back then. Nostalgia is really all that helps this show for most modern fans, but that’s not a terrible thing.

Ratings Comparison

Battle Royal

Original: C

Redo: D+

Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Don Muraco vs. Dino Bravo

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat

Original: C

Redo: C+

Randy Savage vs. Butch Reed

Original: D

Redo: C-

One Man Gang vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts

Original: D

Redo: D-

Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules

Original: D

Redo: D+

Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant

Original: C

Redo: C-

Ted DiBiase vs. Don Muraco

Original: C+

Redo: C

Randy Savage vs. Greg Valentine

Original: C+

Redo: B-

Brutus Beefcake vs. Honky Tonk Man

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Islanders/Bobby Heenan vs. British Bulldogs/Koko B. Ware

Original: D+

Redo: C

Randy Savage vs. One Man Gang

Original: D

Redo: D

Demolition vs. Strike Force

Original: C-

Redo: C+

Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase

Original: B

Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: D+

Redo: D

About the same more or less.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/03/11/history-of-wrestlemania-with-kb-wrestlemania-4-one-big-tournament-and-thats-it/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

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Today’s Wrestler of the Day is Mr. Anderson.  Allow me to repeat myself.  Today’s Wrestler of the Day is Mr. Anderson.  Now laugh, because that’s funny or something.

While still in the indies, Anderson did some jobbing on the lower level WWE programs, including Velocity in August 2003.

Sean O’Haire vs. Ken Anderson

Sean slams him down to start and puts on a front facelock as the announcers talk about Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals. Anderson comes back with his double revoution spinning kick to the head but O’Haire comes back with a big clothesline. Sean kicks at the leg and hits the chinlock before kicking Anderson HARD in the back. Ken comes back with a nice dropkick but gets caught by another wicked clothesline. A gorilla press into the Widowmaker (O’Haire lifts him up for an AA but slams him back down instead of flipping him over) is enough to pin Anderson.

Rating: D+. This was just background noise while the announcers talked about the big stories in WWE at the moment. O’Haire is a guy I always liked and he had a ton of wated potential. Anderson didn’t get to do much here but his kicked looked good. The match was nothing more than a squash though.

Anderson signed with WWE in February 2005 and made his real debut on Smackdown in August 2005. After facing Eddie Guerrero in Eddie’s last match, Anderson would injure himself on a European tour and be out of action for about six months. Once back he started squashing jobbers again, eventually accepting an open challenge from Batista for Great American Bash 2006.

Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy

This was during the Kennedy is great and keeps beating ex-world champions but never wins the title himself because he keeps getting hurt period. This was supposed to be Mark Henry against Batista but he tore his knee or something and is out for a few months. Batista is coming back from an injury as well and it’s his first PPV match since December. Batista shows intelligence and jumps him during the Mic Drop. All Big Dave to start and they head to the floor. Kennedy goes into the steps and is busted a bit.

Ok so it’s more than a bit as there’s blood flowing down his head. He goes for a walk but tries to sneak in on Batista, only to get speared right back down. Out to the floor again and Kennedy rakes the eyes to take over. He chokes away because he really isn’t much as far as offense at this point. Batista is busted a bit.

Kennedy pounds him down in the corner and a bit more on the floor. Back in it’s time for a chinlock because those work so well right? He works on the arm which was the injury that put Batista out. For some reason he slaps Big Dave and pain is imminent. He sends Kennedy into the post three times then chokes to a DQ. Kennedy claims another former world champion.

Rating: D+. Just a brawl here with a weak ending. This is another example of where they booked themselves into a corner and the only thing they could do was have an ending like this because they couldn’t have either guy lose clean. Batista would get the title back in November while Kennedy would do the same stuff over and over again until getting hurt next year….again.

After dominating the midcard and having success in the main event for so long, Kennedy would receive a US Title shot against Finlay on September 1, 2006.

US Title: Mr. Kennedy vs. Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley

Finlay is defending and Bobby Lashley is a surprise addition to make it a three way. Kennedy tries to form an alliance with Lashley but Bobby pulls him into a belly to belly suplex for his efforts. Finlay clotheslines Bobby down to take over and Kennedy comes in to help on the double teaming. Kennedy quickly turns on the champ and sends him into the post before hitting the Ken-Ton Bomb for two on Lashley.

Finlay comes right back and puts Kennedy in a Boston crab but Lashley is back to run them both over. Kennedy is sent outside and Bobby hiptosses the champion down. A big clothesline puts Finlay outside as well and Lashley rules the ring. Everyone gets back inside but Bobby quickly knocks the champion to the floor again.

Lashley hammers on Kennedy but gets rolled up by Finlay and thrown out to the floor. Kennedy kicks away at Lashley’s ribs but has to throw Finlay to the floor for about the fourth time in five minutes. Bobby heads outside as well but Kennedy kicks both of them down. Kennedy gets caught in the ring skirt though and Bobby scores with a delayed vertical suplex on Mr. Hornswoggle looks out from under the ring as we take a break.

Back with Lashley in control of Kennedy but Mr. escapes a powerslam. Finlay takes Lashley’s leg out to give Kennedy a two count and all three guys are down. Lashley gets double teamed in the corner again but the other two get in a fight over who gets to put the boots to Bobby. They get along well enough to beat on Lashley even more until Finlay clotheslines Kennedy and throws him to the floor.

Horny goes after Kennedy but Lashley gets back up and runs everyone over. A big spear drops Kennedy and there’s a backdrop for Finlay. Kennedy brings in a chair but the distraction lets Finlay grab that Irish club. Lashley spears him down though and nails a powerslam, only to have Kennedy roll Bobby up for the pin and the title.

Rating: C. Nice match here but throwing everyone to the floor over and over again got annoying after awhile. Kennedy stealing the title made sense as he was always the guy that found a way to win after getting beaten on for long stretches in the match. Good stuff here but not a great match.

Next up in the parade of big matches was a match against the Undertaker at No Mercy 2006.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Undertaker

Kennedy is US Champion but that title is underneath Undertaker so this is non-title. Speed vs. power here as Undertaker throws him into the corner but Kennedy escapes. BIG boot takes Kennedy’s head off and it’s time for arm work. Out to the floor and Kennedy’s arm goes into the steps before it’s back inside the square circle. Wristlock is broken up so it’s back to the floor with Kennedy’s arm eating post again.

A boot to the shoulder keeps Kennedy in trouble and now it’s Old School time. Kennedy manages to armdrag him off the top and both guys are down. Kennedy pounds him in the corner but Taker snaps up and hits Old School for two. A running big boot in the corner misses and Taker is knocked into the barricade. Kennedy tries to dive off the apron but gets caught and rammed into the post. He hasn’t been able to get any kind of extended advantage at all for more than about 10 seconds.

Back in the ring and Kennedy pulls Taker through the ropes to get himself a breather. Kennedy drills him coming back in, getting two. The running hip attack to the guy that is on the middle rope gets two. The move Ryder calls the Broski Boot hits and Taker is in trouble. Taker fights up from his knees and knocks Kennedy to the floor. The legdrop across the apron connects.

Back in Kennedy hits a perfectly regular piledriver which Cole calls a Tombstone. It gets two and JBL says he’s speechless. WHY IS SOMEONE PILEDRIVING UNDERTAKER A BIG DEAL??? Cole freaks over it every time when ONLY Kane has had success with it. They even show replays of it. Back at Mania in 2011 they FREAKED when HHH hit one. I don’t get it.

Kennedy hooks a rear naked choke but Taker comes out of it with a Saito Suplex. Slugout is won by Taker with the flying clothesline. Snake Eyes is followed by the big boot and leg, but it only gets two brother. Chokeslam is countered and Kennedy hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. A high kick is ducked and there’s the chokeslam but no cover.

Last Ride is countered and they almost run into the referee. A buckle was exposed somewhere during this match and Kennedy rams Taker into it, followed by a clothesline to take him down. Kenton Bomb gets two so Kennedy is going to walk. Taker grabs the belt and hits him with it for the freaking LAME DQ.

Rating: B-. This was getting REALLY good at the end and then they screw it up with something like that. I mean, at least make it for the belt to make it worth something before you do something that annoying. Taker was actually feeling it tonight to the point that you might have thought Kennedy could pull off the huge upset. Good stuff here until the ending.

Just like his feud with Batista, Kennedy would win the first two matches against Undertaker but lose the blowoff match. Next up on his march through world champions would be ECW Champion Lashley at No Way Out 2007.

ECW Title: Mr. Kennedy vs. Bobby Lashley

This is in the Kennedy is awesome and keeps beating world champions but can’t beat one in a title match period. Lashley comes out first and Kennedy tries to jump him but gets beaten down instead. Cole is almost unrecognizable at this point with his voice being so messed up. We make it into the ring with Lashley completely in control.

Back to the floor again with JBL talking about how great both guys’ futures will be. And never mind as we fight in the ring for awhile. Lashley uses pure power to destroy Kennedy for the most part as we wait for the inevitable mistake to allow Kennedy to take over. He gets a Rack, which someone needs to bring back as a finisher. Maybe Big Zeke? Kennedy rakes the eyes and then goes after the knee to take over.

Kennedy gets a reverse figure four, as in Lashley is on his stomach and Kennedy is on his back. He switches over to a half crab which is important. By switching holds like that you can still do very little but you get enough variety to keep things interesting. Lashley gets back into it but can’t use the leg.

JBL is doing the vast amount of the talking now so Cole can rest his throat a bit. Lashley can’t get a belly to belly and Kennedy counters into a DDT for a long two. Kenton Bomb misses as it eats knees and here comes the bald dude. The Boo/Yay stuff goes to Lashley and he starts throwing Kennedy around for fun.

Lashley gets the Rack again (complete with the line of “made famous by a guy that wasn’t nearly the full package like this guy is” from JBL) and drops to his knees for Shock Treatment ala Abyss. And there goes the referee. Kennedy heads to the floor and grabs a chair. Bobby gets popped by it but the referee doesn’t see it. He gets the chair to drill Kennedy which is good for a DQ win for Kennedy. Cole can’t talk like at all anymore.

Rating: C. Decent match for the most part but the ending was pretty weak. Kennedy took it to Lashley but he had no way to finish people for the most part yet which was his major downfall for the most part. He didn’t have a finisher until the Mic Check so he had to rely on rollups or quick pins which never worked for the most part. Decent match, bad ending.

Wrestlemania 23 was just over a month later and Kennedy was in Money in the Bank.

Mr. Kennedy vs. CM Punk vs. Randy Orton vs. Finlay vs. Matt Hardy vs. King Booker vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge

With this match, we start the tradition of having too many people in a single MITB match and overcrowding the thing. Everyone looks up at the case until Anderson goes to get a ladder. Orton heads to the floor to stop him as the big brawl begins. Finlay DIVES on everyone not named Edge, allowing the Canadian to make a climb, only to be stopped by Matt. They head to the floor, allowing Orton and Finlay to head up top for a brawl on the ladder.

They topple to the floor so it’s Jeff going up, only to be shoved down by Anderson. Booker goes to pull out a ladder but it’s Horny’s, meaning it’s only about two feet tall. Punk takes it away and pounds on people with it, only to have Edge take over again. This is one of those matches that moves too fast to really keep track of things. Punk is bleeding from the forehead as Edge bridges a ladder between the ring and barricade.

Back inside and Booker takes over with kicks and spinebusters for everyone in sight. Before climbing though, here’s a Spinarooni. The distraction lets the Hardys crush Booker with some ladders before Matt and Edge go at it a bit. The Hardys set up a ladder seesaw but Jeff is sent off the top to break up whatever they were going to do to Edge. Instead Edge suplexes Matt onto the ladder, only to be sent to the floor by Anderson.

Anderson pounds away on Matt but the Kenton Bomb only hits ladder. Instead it’s Jeff with a Swanton to Anderson before the brothers team up to drop everyone in sight with the ladder. Both Hardys go up and start slugging it out on top of the ladder, only to be shoved into the top rope by Finlay. Edge hits the spear on Finlay and one for Orton and Booker as well. Kennedy and Matt take spears too and there’s one for Jeff to nearly complete the set. Punk jumps over Edge to send him into the corner and become the only man standing.

Punk puts the ladder around his head and spins around a bit to take everyone out until Edge thinks wisely and DUCKS, allowing him to take out Punk’s vulnerable ribs. Edge gets the big ladder and makes a climb, only to gets caught by Orton and shoved down to the floor. Jeff saves that though and climbs up on his own as Matt puts Edge on the ladder between the ring and the barricade. Jeff dives off the ladder THROUGH EDGE AND THROUGH THE LADDER! Needless to say, Edge and Jeff are DONE.

We’re down to six people in the match now and it’s Orton’s turn to take over with RKOs all around. He picks up a regular sized ladder but Punk knocks him down and sets up a second ladder in the middle of the ring. Apparently Jeff is still on the floor despite Edge being taken out. Orton and Punk both climb up and it’s an RKO off the top of the ladder to end Punk. Booker goes up but has to stop an RKO attempt with a Bookend off the ladder.

It’s Matt vs. Booker on the ladder but Matt drops down and threatens to give Sharmell the Twist of Fate, drawing Booker down. There’s the Twist to the King but Finlay (sporting a NASTY cut on the back of his head) shoves the ladder over. The Celtic Cross (White Noise) crushes Matt against the ladder but hurts Finlay’s back in the process. Finlay is barely able to stand so here’s Horny to climb for him.

Instead though Kennedy pops up the ladder….and gets smacked in the face by Horny. There’s a fireman’s carry roll off the ladder for the little guy’s efforts. Finlay destroys Kennedy with the ladder but gets knocked off the ladder by Matt. Now it’s Punk going up but Kennedy meets him on the ladder for a slugout. Punk shoves him off but Kennedy spears him in the ribs with another ladder, allowing Kennedy to climb up and win the case.

Rating: B. This was definitely the weakest of the matches so far as there were too many people in there and no one to have the big spots like Shelton. It’s definitely good but this one lacked the pop that most of these matches had over the years. Kennedy would lose the case to Edge a few weeks later.

Later on in the year Kennedy would turn heel again and face Shawn Michaels at Armageddon 2007.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Shawn Michaels

Kennedy says he’ll win pre match. Just a respect match here as far as I can tell. Kennedy takes over to start with a lot of basic offense focused on the back. Shawn tries to clear his head so Kennedy hammers on him a lot. Shawn is like wait a minute. I’m Shawn Michaels so let me chop you and sell like I’ve been shot and have a bad stomach ache. Due to the back work, Shawn can’t hit a suplex.

Kennedy tries a Mic Check but can’t it gets countered, injuring Kenderson’s elbow. Shawn, ever the psychologist out there, works on it. See how easy it is to do stuff that makes sense? Now why can so few people get that concept? Kennedy keeps trying to break the hold and finally sends both of them to the floor. That doesn’t go well either as his hand is slammed into the post.

Back inside and Shawn works on the hand and the arm. Shawn grabs a wristlock but Kennedy punches him through the ropes. That’s a new one. Back outside again and Shawn goes into the post. Well not really as he kind of slams against it. I don’t think there’s enough room for Shawn’s body inside the post. A running boot to a seated Shawn in the corner sets up a backbreaker for two.

In a nice bit of thinking from Kennedy, he jumps at Shawn from the middle rope but sees Shawn get his foot up so Kennedy stops his momentum and lands on his feet, avoiding the boot. He then sets for an elbow drop but Shawn rolls out of the way. Kennedy didn’t drop it right then but rather once Shawn rolled over, hitting Shawn in the bad back. Who says heels can’t be smart?

Shawn starts his comeback and chops away so he can hit the forearm and nipup. At least he’s putting a hand on his back for some selling. If he has a weakness, it’s his lack of selling injuries later in the match. There’s the top rope elbow and Shawn starts tuning up the band. I’ve never gotten how no one can hear the fans chanting along or hear Shawn stomping on the mat.

Either way he catches the kick and rolls up Shawn for two. Shawn gets a rollup of his own for the same. Kennedy hits a slingshot to send Shawn into the post and talks some trash. He punches Shawn with the left hand for no apparent reason and hurts it again, letting Sweet Chin Music (bad camera angle shows that it doesn’t hit at all, which is really good control from Shawn) end Kennedy.

Rating: B-. I liked this one as there was enough psychology peppered through it to make things work. Kennedy reinjuring his hand was a nice touch but you kind of have to wonder why he’d use his left hand for a punch. Kennedy wasn’t exactly known for his in ring abilities so this was a nice little surprise.

Soon after it was off to TNA, where Anderson would quickly get involved in a feud with Kurt Angle, leading to a big match at Lockdown.

Kurt Angle vs. Ken Anderson

This is standard rules but Anderson has the key. Not sure I get the point to that aspect as it’s bound be thrown around sometime. Also, I’d prefer a regular cage match but this is fine I suppose. Anderson has the key around his neck. Ok he has a chain around his neck with the key around it but you get the idea. Anderson goes for the door like 30 seconds in and like an idiot, he forgets about Angle.

Anderson accidentally leaves the key in the lock so there goes the point of the ladder match entirely. Angle is bleeding BAD already. Tenay says it was bound to happen at some point. At some point? I think every match has had that so far. This is one of the feuds that I’ve really liked for the majority of it. Angle is WORKING in there man. He’s still one of the best in the world when he works at it.

There is blood everywhere. Ok not really but it sounds good. Angle hits his run up the ropes and hit a belly to belly. Love that. Anderson uses his wrist tape to choke Angle out which is rather brilliant. Solid match so far. Angle gets his Germans. He hits about 6 or 7 of them and Anderson is just about out of it.

Angle goes for the door but stops. Dang it Kurt don’t be freaking stupid. Ankle Lock is on but you can’t win by tap out. And there’s the Mic Check. Yeah I’m stunned too. Anderson gets the lock open but Angle gets the Slam. And Angle locks the cage again. Ok then. And he throws the key away. Anderson freaks, even though there’s no roof on the cage.

Anderson tries to get out but Angle gets a German OFF THE TOP ROPE! SICK spot. Angle sets him for the moonsault but goes TO THE TOP OF THE CAGE! And he hits it. Yeah Angle still has it. Angle gets a key from….somewhere, but Anderson flips the double bird and is able to get a Mic Check.

We’re getting close to overkill here. Angle catches him with the ankle lock though and Anderson taps again. I smell a broken ankle. Anderson reverses but STILL can’t get out. Angel finds a chain or the Warrior Medal and chokes Anderson out with it in a reference to Anderson choking him out in the ladder match on Impact before walking out. GREAT match.

Rating: A+. Yeah I said it. Great match all around and the ending made sense given the way Anderson won the ladder match. This has been a great show and it needed a great match to get it over the hump. It just got that. Angle is still one of the best in the world and he can bring it.

After a very long summer angle involving THEY, Anderson would get one of the first shots at the now heel Jeff Hardy’s TNA World Title. First up though, he had to defeat Matt Morgan at Genesis 2011.

Matt Morgan vs. Mr. Anderson

 

I really hope this has an actual ending instead of a screwjob of some point.  Morgan grabs a headlock to start after the big match intros.  There was a fifteen minute time limit announced and I have a bad feeling that’ll come into play.  All of a sudden we’re talking about Ray Lewis and what he has next to his bed.  You get multiple sports in this company I guess.

They head to the floor with Anderson in trouble.  They have a ton of time here which means they’re likely going to stretch this out as far as they can.  A main point here is that Anderson’s head might not be right which has people scared.  Anderson works on the leg for a long time.  Tazz thinks Immortal wants Anderson to win here because he has a chink in his armor.  Makes sense.

Morgan gets a swinging chokeslam off the top and a clothesline to take over completely.  They slug it out from their knees and neither guy can take over.  Carbon Footprint out of nowhere takes Anderson down for two and Morgan isn’t happy.  Since one finisher gets two the other one has to as well.  They hit heads and Anderson gets a small package for the pin.  Yep that’s it.

Rating: C. Not a bad match I guess but this is supposed to be the major selling point for the show?  The ending came out of nowhere and felt completely flat if that makes sense.  This was ok but I still don’t buy either of these guys as a main event threat.  Nothing great at all but I think it’s setting this up.

Bischoff comes out and the title is on the line RIGHT NOW!

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson

 

I have a really bad feeling the title is about to change hands.  Jeff comes to the ring smoking….a joint?  I must be seeing things.  Maybe they’re afraid of the drug charges?  Twist of Hate gets two as that move is killed more and more every match.  Another Twist of Hate gets two.  Anderson sends him to the floor by the belt as they’re making this kind of competitive.

Morgan takes Hardy’s head off with the discus clothesline out of nowhere.  He sends Hardy in for a close two.  They slug it out and Anderson takes over with a neckbreaker for two.  Jeff grabs a chair but Foley pops up to grab it away.  Here’s Flair to counteract Foley and get us our run-in quorum of the main event.  Hardy gets crotched on the top but manages to shove Anderson off.  Swanton gets two.

Anderson, of course, is bleeding from the head.  Hardy’s jeans are ripped.  He takes Anderson down and calls for Matt.  RVD runs out for the fourth run-in of the match and fights Matt off to the back.  Bischoff becomes the seventh person involved in the match by bringing in a chair but gets caught in a Mic Check.  Twist of Hate is countered into the Mic Check to give Anderson the title.

Rating: D+. Total and complete mess of a match with all kinds of people coming in while the selling from both guys was awful.  Also, no one can ever complain about SuperCena again after that performance by Anderson.  Anderson winning the title should have been a huge moment, but instead it’s going to be something that people see when they turn on Impact Thursday.  I’d be ticked off if I cared about this company, which is waning rapidly.

 

Anderson would lose the title back to Hardy a month later before getting another shot at Sting at Slammiversary 2011.

TNA World Title: Sting vs. Mr. Anderson

 

Sting comes in and jumps Anderson during the entrance.  He’s in all red here and has that paint on his face making him look like the Joker.  All Sting so far as Anderson can’t even get his shirt off.  Into the crowd they go and Anderson goes into a wall.  There’s black/gray around Sting’s mouth for some reason.  Anderson gets a quick reversal and that gets him nowhere at all as Sting pounds on him even more.

Up the steps they go even further and this is wasting a ton of time.  To the ring finally and Sting is sent into the post.  Anderson sends Sting’s hand into the steps and then pulls the arm around the post for awhile.  More F Bombs dropped as an armbar goes on Sting.  Clothesline puts Sting down again for two.  Anderson wastes forever and does Sting’s chest pound before missing a horrible Stinger Splash.

Modified world’s strongest slam gets two.  Anderson is covering a lot here.  Back to the armbar which makes some sense here at least.  Sting starts his comeback and pounds on his chest as he is known to do at times.  Clothesline sets up a backdrop and the splash in the corner.  Scorpion is set up….and here’s Bischoff.  Another Stinger Splash misses and Anderson gets a very close two.

Sting gets a regular DDT with the bad arm for two.  He tries something close to a Banzai Drop but gets caught in the little stingers which gets two for Anderson.  Mic Check hits on the second attempt for two.  Stinger Splash and the Death Drop hit but Bischoff interferes and messes with the count so there was only a two count instead of the three.  Low blow RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE sets up the Mic Check and we have a new champion.  Wow indeed.

Rating: C. The chicanery hits again.  I really hope this doesn’t set up Anderson joining Immortal because it really seemed like it was dying there for awhile.  Bischoff is the source of drama again which is his custom.  Hopefully this sticks around so we don’t have Sting vs. Hogan for the title.  Surprising ending and it more or less locks up Angle winning tonight in the main event.

 

There wouldn’t be much else for Anderson for the rest of 2011, Anderson would spend most of 2012 chasing midcard titles. After missing most of the fall, he would join Aces and 8’s in December. He would serve as Vice President and not do much aside from not winning anything in the Bound For Glory Series. Anderson finally split from Aces and 8’s, earning himself a title shot against Bully Ray at No Surrender 2013.

TNA World Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray

Last man standing with Ray defending. Anderson jumps Ray on the ramp to start and takes Ray into the ring for a whip into the corner. The champion is sent back to the floor as this is one sided so far. Ray is sent into the announce table and barricade so he hides behind Christy, complete with Hemme’s top opening (it’s similar to Lita’s outfits in the Rated R Superstar era) but the power of tape saving her.

Bully gets in a cheap shot and sends Anderson into the steps before asking Brooke for a chair. It takes forever to get there and Anderson gets in a shot to the ribs to take the chair away. He blasts the champion in the back and pounds him back into the ring. Ray goes up but gets hit low, allowing Anderson to hit a rolling senton. The fans are COMPLETELY behind Anderson here and him telling himself to get the tables makes them cheer even louder. Even Tenay is cheering for Anderson.

Ray takes him down with a boot to the face and gets in a chair shot of his own. The table is set up in the corner as we take a break. Back with Ray yelling at Hebner but Earl yells right back at him, looking like a heart attack is imminent. Ray shoves him into the buckle to knock him out but walks into a Mic Check onto the chair to lay him out. There’s no referee though so Ray gets up and hits a Bully Cutter to lay both guys down.

Cue Bischoff, Brisco and Knux to stare at Ray before stalking Anderson. Before they touch him, Brooke comes in with a low blow. Ray bosses them around and a Shield TripleBomb lays Anderson out. Ray helps Hebner up but Anderson is up at nine. Anderson comes back with right hands but Ray drops him. Why the referee isn’t counting Anderson when he’s down is anyone’s guess. Ray knocks Anderson out with the chain, drawing blood. Anderson makes it up to his feet AGAIN but staggers in front of the table in the corner. A spear through the table is enough to retain the title at 17:30.

Rating: B. This match did something that is the best sign you can have in wrestling: they had me believing that something was possible when there was no way it was going to happen. The crowd was WAY into Anderson here and that’s a good sign for TNA. They need some fresh blood at the top and it’s been awhile since Anderson was up there. Good stuff here but the crowd carried a lot of it.

We’ll wrap it up with their rematch from Turning Point 2013, with the future of Aces and 8’s on the line.

Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray

No DQ and it’s career vs. Aces and 8’s. Anderson is in long tights for the first time I can ever remember. The roster comes out to watch the match from the stage. Anderson jumps Ray during big match intros and hits him low while shouting his name a lot. They head to the floor with Ray ramming him into the steps but stopping to breathe a bit. Ray pulls out a table and we take our last break. Back with Anderson being suplexed into the ring and chopped loudly in the corner. There’s a table set up in the corner as well.

Ray takes off the chain to whip Anderson even more but Anderson takes the chain away and gets in a few whips of his own. Anderson loads up a big chained fist but gets sent to the floor instead. Ray pulls back the mats but Anderson backdrops Ray onto the concrete instead.

Knux saves Ray from being piledriven on the concrete but gets piledriven down onto the mats for his efforts. Back inside and Anderson hits the rolling senton but Ray fights out of the Mic Check. A spear puts Anderson through the table in the corner but it’s only good for two. Tazz hands Brooke the hammer but Anderson intercepts it and blasts Ray in the head. The Mic Check ends Aces and 8’s at 13:00.

Rating: C+. Not a bad brawl here but Aces and 8’s hasn’t meant anything in months so this isn’t the biggest deal in the world. I’m glad they’re gone for good and it’s a good feather in the cap for Anderson, but this is hardly some huge moment that changes wrestling forever. Fun match though.

Over his entire career, I’ve seen the potential in Anderson one time: the night he interrupted William Regal’s coronation as King of the Ring. You might notice I didn’t talk about that moment here, because it wound up meaning nothing. That’s Anderson in a nutshell: wasted potential. He hasn’t really won much in his career (two TNA World Titles and the US Title. That’s it for major promotions) and keeps getting sidelined with injuries. There are far worse wrestlers out there, but Anderson really never broke through that glass ceiling he spent so many years pounding on.

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We’ve got a lot to cover this week after a huge Raw last night.

 

First up was Hogan making his announcement that he could rip the bumper off a Cadillac (jack) and wanting to wrestle the whole neighborhood. Other than that the big announcement was the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal which is a great way to put thirty names on the card. That’s the best way they can go about doing so as the roster is huge and they couldn’t fit everyone in without having about thirteen matches with a bunch of multi-man matches. The battle royal also opens up the possibilities of some new faces, hopefully from NXT.

 

After the announcement, John Cena showed up to praise Hogan and throw his name in the battle royal. While a lot of people may not like them, Cena and Hogan are two of the biggest stars of all time and seeing them together for a glorified photo-op is worth seeing. After the usual speeches, the Wyatts showed up with Bray making an incredible speech with the great line of if Cena looks up at him he’ll see a friend, if he looks down at Bray he’ll see an enemy but if he looks Bray in the eye, he’ll see a god.

 

Cena responded with the usual jokes and a Jimmy Buffett song. You knew this was coming and thankfully it was just a quick blast of jokes before he went on to challenging Wyatt for a match at Wrestlemania. Later in the night Bray accepted the challenge after saying he saw Cena’s future in Hogan. There’s probably a lot of truth in that and an interesting look at where we could be moving with Cena’s character. At some point Cena is going to start facing the end of his career and it’s going to be interesting considering how WWE is his life. That’s a very interesting idea and something we haven’t ever really gotten to see.

 

Oh and Cena beat Rowan after getting destroyed (just like he was by Cesaro) before getting a quick pin. Rowan has a future and has looked very good in his two matches with Cena and Bryan.

 

Moving on we had the Authority demanding an apology from Daniel Bryan. I’ll save the rest for later as it’s a huge moment.

 

The Usos beat up Ryback and Curtis Axel in a quick match and it’s pretty clear the Outlaws are getting a rematch at Wrestlemania. Not much else to say here.

 

Kane made Shield vs. the Rhodes Brothers, saying their problems started when they lost the Tag Titles. The Shield said that Kane was deflecting his anger from losing two straight matches last week on them. It seems like a way for Kane to leave the Authority by giving into the inner hate and losing his corporate image. It makes sense and is the logical progression for the character, assuming they go there.

 

Big E. beat Swagger with the second rollup finish in under three and a half minutes of the night. The story here though was the Real Americans being forced to shake hands after Cesaro refused to help Swagger cheat. Again it implies a face turn for someone which is interesting given how strong he’s been pushed lately.

 

We got Undertaker doing his usual Wrestlemania promo on Brock Lesnar after being interrupted by Paul Heyman. There isn’t much to say here as it was the same stuff we’ve always heard: Brock will dominate, Undertaker is unbeatable, the match will be a way. The most intriguing part here was the commentators saying Brock had almost no chance at Wrestlemania. That’s not something you hear that often and it’s another interesting twist to the match.

 

One other note: Paul Heyman mentioned that Shawn Michaels had never won two straight matches at Wrestlemania. Incorrect, as he won at Wrestlemanias VII and VIII. Yeah VII was the Rockers but Undertaker won a handicap/tag match at Wrestlemania XIX so pick one or the other.

 

Shield vs. Rhodes Brothers was exactly what you would expect after these teams fighting over and over. Cody and Goldust are pretty much done as a top tag team but it’s nice to see that they haven’t split. The Black Out from Rollins was awesome looking though and is a good finishing move for him.

 

Next up was the Divas match which continues to prove one simple truth: the Bella Twins are not very good in the ring. You can see them making sure to go through every single spot step by step without being natural about it at all. They’re basically wrestling in swimsuits (nothing wrong with that) but treating them like they can keep up with the traditional wrestlers is just wrong. Nikki pinned AJ and held up the title while looking at Natalya. I’m thinking a multi-woman match at Wrestlemania for the belt.

 

This brings us to the big segment of the night. Daniel Bryan came out for the apology but said tonight he was getting what the fans wanted by occupying Raw. The show went to a break and came back to see probably over 100 fans in and around the ring, all in Daniel Bryan shirts and chanting YES. Bryan stayed on the corner and said the show wasn’t going anywhere until he got his match at Wrestlemania with HHH. The Authority came out and said no way, but security walked away from trying to clear the ring.

 

After a LONG back and forth segment, HHH finally agreed to the match. That still wasn’t enough for Bryan though because he knew the fans wanted to see him wrestling for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. Therefore he threw out an idea: if he defeats HHH, Bryan gets inserted into the title match in the main event. HHH said it would destroy Bryan but finally agreed.

 

This was quite the spectacle but it wasn’t perfect. For one thing, the segment went on too long and HHH looked like he just snapped instead of letting this build up over time. On top of that, the Authority just can’t act. Stephanie’s acting has always been a joke but HHH sounds like he’s trying to take it too far. The segment felt a bit forced but it didn’t go terribly.

 

That being said, it got the job done. There was really no other option to get the results that were needed at Wrestlemania short of a fourway which I don’t think would have worked at all. It seems obvious that Bryan wins the title after beating HHH, but I can’t shake a feeling that Batista walks out with the title. I don’t think Bryan loses to HHH of course, but for some reason I think he loses the main event, probably setting up a rematch at Extreme Rules.

 

Sheamus vs. Christian was good and a nice blowoff to their feud. I could have done without the musical instruments stuff, but it was a good brawl with some nice false finishes. Sheamus still does need to lose once in awhile, but at least the match wasn’t a squash. Christian is falling apart before our eyes though and I can’t picture him being around much longer.

 

That brings us to the main event which didn’t mean anything at all. Occupy Raw should have closed out the night and the match just didn’t work as a result. It was basically a reason to get Bryan in there with the title contenders and there’s nothing wrong with that, but the match was a letdown after the bigger moments earlier in the night.

 

Raw last night was all about the heavy lifting for Wrestlemania. We got Bryan vs. HHH, Cena vs. Wyatt and a thirty man battle royal all set up for the PPV. It solved a lot of the problems the show had been facing and gave us some awesome moments in the process. It was a show that needed to happen for awhile now and a lot of things look better. Wrestlemania is a stacked show now with almost everything of note set up. That’s what these shows need to do and they’re doing it quite well.

 

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Wrestlemania III
Date: March 29, 1987
Location: Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
Attendance: 93,173
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura

This is the biggest show in wrestling history with the biggest match in wrestling history as its main event. How’s that for a standard to live up to? In case you’re one of the six wrestling fans ever that hasn’t heard of this show, the main event is Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Title against Andre the Giant in a match four years in the making. In the undercard we have the greatest match of all time. This is the first show where they treated Wrestlemania as something huge and not just a big house show, making it the first “modern” Wrestlemania. Let’s get to it.

The wide shot of the arena is still quite a sight. Oh and for once and for all: there were 93,000 people there. The argument about how it doesn’t hold that many doesn’t hold up as the total often listed is for football, which requires WAY more space than a wrestling show. It would be like covering half the field with more seats. On the other hand, let’s say WWE is lying about the number. A lie? In wrestling? Surely you jest. I don’t get why people are so obsessed with proving there were less people there than claimed.

Aretha Franklin sings America the Beautiful.

Gorilla and Jesse are with celebrities Bob Uecker and Mary Hart.

Can-Am Connection vs. Don Muraco/Bob Orton

No story here as they’re just two teams having a match. The Can-Am Connection is Rick Martel (Can) and Tom Zenk (Am) which would kind of evolve into Strike Force. Martel and Muraco start things off with Rick hitting a quick shoulder to take Don down. A hip block and a kind of monkey flip put Muraco down again and it’s a standoff. Zenk comes in for a double monkey flip and it’s off to Orton who gets armdragged down as well.

Bob gets hit from one corner to the other until Zenk takes him down with an armbar. All Connection so far. They trade full nelsons and Muraco hits Orton by mistake for two. Bob gets his arm cranked on a bit until FINALLY making the tag out to Muraco. The bad luck continues for the heels as Don is slammed down and has his arm worked on as well.

Orton and Muraco finally start cheating with a knee to Zenk’s back and a shot from the middle rope. Zenk and Bob ram heads and it’s a double tag as everything breaks down. The heels are sent into each other and a double dropkick takes Orton down. Muraco gets double teamed and a cross body with a trip from Zenk is enough for Martel to get the pin.

Rating: B-. I’ve called this the best opening match in Wrestlemania history and I don’t think it’s that far off from the truth. There are definitely matches of higher quality, but think about what an opening match is supposed to do. It’s designed to set the tone for a show and this one did that. It’s about five and a half minutes long and the good guys beat the bad guys with some nice continuity. It’s nothing flashy but it wasn’t supposed to be. This is a very nice, basic tag match and the crowd was into it, which is all it was supposed to accomplish. Good stuff here.

We recap Hercules vs. Billy Jack Haynes which is the battle of the full nelson.

Heenan and Hercules say about what you would expect them to say.

Hercules vs. Billy Jack Haynes

This is power vs. power so expect some pretty weak chemistry. Hebner tries to get in between them in the corner which is more than a referee should do. Haynes hits a press slam but Hercules bails to the corner to avoid the full nelson. Hercules comes back with a big old clothesline and both guys are down already. A backdrop puts Haynes down and Herc pounds on the back a bit. This is very slow paced compared to the opener.

A suplex gets two for Hercules as he picks Haynes up. Billy can’t suplex Hercules because of the back so the Greek guy hits a backbreaker to keep the momentum up. Hercules hooks the full nelson but can’t get the fingers locked, allowing Billy to escape. Jack fights out of it and they clothesline each other down. Haynes grabs a quick atomic drop to fire the crowd up but his back messes up again. A clothesline sets up a legdrop on Hercules and a middle rope fist to the head keeps Hercules in trouble. Jack gets the full nelson but Hercules pulls them both to the floor. Herc gets put in the hold again but a double countout ends this.

Rating: D+. The fact that the crowd is hot for everything tonight is all that made this passable, which can be a great tool to bring a match up a lot. At the end of the day, they’re WAY too similar and neither guy is exactly someone that can carry a match. It’s not terrible but it didn’t go anywhere at all. This would be the only feud of note that Haynes had and he would be jobbing soon.

Post match Hercules blasts Haynes with his chain a few times and busts him open.

King Kong Bundy and his midgets say they’ll beat Hillbilly Jim and his midgets.

The other team says the exact opposite.

Hillbilly Jim/Little Beaver/Haiti Kid vs. King Kong Bundy/Lord Littlebrook/Little Tokyo

Beaver would be 52 and Littlebrook would be 58 at this point. Uecker jumps in on commentary. Haiti and Tokyo start before we get a four way crisscross. The good small guys hook a stupid looking hold called the rowboat on their evil counterparts and the crowd doesn’t seem interested. Off to Beaver as Uecker seems really happy to be here. Jesse wants to see Bundy crush one of these guys because that’s the kind of guy he is.

Littlebrook vs. Beaver at the moment but it’s quickly off to Bundy. Beaver and Haiti annoy him a bit until it’s off to Hillbilly for a nice ovation. Bundy gets dropped by a clothesline and an elbow drop allows Jim and company to pile on for a two. Jim gets caught in a front facelock but Beaver comes in and blasts Bundy in the face to get on his nerves again. Bundy finally grabs Beaver and crushes him with a slam and an elbow drop, drawing a DQ.

Rating: D+. This is another of those matches where you have to consider what they were going for. You’ve got two giants and four midgets out there with Hillbilly Jim picking up a 52 year old man so he can pull on Jim’s beard. How tough can I be on a match like this? Unfortunately Beaver’s back was hurt by Bundy in this and he had to retire.

Even the heel midgets turn on Bundy for what he did. Jim carries out Little Beaver ala Superman and Supergirl.

Macho Man won’t let Liz get interviewed.

We recap Race vs. JYD. Race is the King of Wrestling but Dog refuses to bow because he doesn’t think we have kings here in America. One night JYD put Race’s robe and crown on but Race decked him and tried to force JYD to bow. JYD is the Junkyard Dog in case you’re new at this.

Race, Heenan and Moolah (the Queen) says that there won’t be a new king tonight.

Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog

The loser has to bow. Uecker is apparently in love with Moolah and bails out of the booth. Race comes out to either Lawler’s music or the song Lawler’s music was remixed from. Dog says that he wants to take over the spot on the throne. Oh and I forgot to mention the ring carts which only appeared here and at Mania 6. Those things were AWESOME. Dog blocks some punches to start and pounds away but Race trips up JYD to give Race control.

Dog comes right back with a headbutt to send Race to the floor before pulling him right back in. Race gets knocked to the floor again and is in big trouble. Back in and Race tries a headbutt and knocks himself silly. A Flair Flip in the corner sends Race to the floor AGAIN but it still doesn’t last long. Back inside Dog hits some headbutts but has to stop to chase off Heenan, allowing Race to hit a belly to belly for the pin.

Rating: D. This wasn’t that good primarily due to time. The majority of the match was spent with Race on the floor which isn’t what you expect from him. Dog was all about personality and crowd response as most of his offense was a bunch of headbutts. Not much to see here but the crowd was into it.

Dog bows to Race but then blasts him with a chair and steals the robe.

Hogan talks about riding to the show after hearing people telling him this was his last ride. Tonight it’s time for Andre to face the truth and all Hogan has to do is beat a 7’4 520lb giant. Andre has to beat Hogan and every Hulkamaniac in the world. Hulkamania is going to get Andre, not the dirty air or the politicians (HUH?) and Andre has to face the truth. I’ve seen the match he’s talking about probably 40 times and it still feels huge.

Dream Team vs. Rougeau Brothers

The Dream Team is Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine but they’ve been having problems lately. Dino Bravo and Johnny V are with them here. Ray and Brutus start things off with Ray sending Brutus into the Rougeau corner for some double teaming. Off to Valentine as the Rougeaus tag in and out multiple times. Jacques finally sticks around for a bit and misses a cross body out of the corner.

Greg drops a bunch of elbows and puts on the Figure Four as Bobby Heenan comes into the commentary booth. Jacques gets to the rope before reversing a piledriver so he can tag Ray. Whle this is going on, Bobby and Gorilla argue about midgets. Ray puts Greg in a sleeper and Brutus’ save goes awry. Valentine gets caught in the Rougeau Bomb but Dino comes in off the middle rope though with a shot to Ray’s back, giving the Dream Team the pin.

Rating: C-. This was all angle rather than the match. The Rougeaus were a talented team and looked solid out there while the Dream Team looked like a relic of the past. Thankfully this would be the end for them as Bravo would replace Beefcake immediately, although the New Dream Team never went anywhere.

Valentine, Bravo and Johnny V (short for Valentine but shortened to avoid confusion) leave Beefcake behind.

We recap Adrian Adonis vs. Roddy Piper. Piper had left to make a movie and came back to find Piper’s Pit taken over by Adonis’ Flower Shop with Orton having sided with Adonis. Orton, Adonis, Muraco and Hart broke Piper’s leg but he came back with a ball bat and DESTROYED the Flower Shop. This is also billed as Piper’s farewell match.

Piper says he’s not going out to a man that wears a dress. No Retreat and No Surrender!

Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis

The loser gets their hair cut and is probably the third biggest match on the show if not the second biggest. Piper walks to the ring instead of taking the cart to soak everything in a little bit more. The fans go NUTS for Piper who is still somewhat freshly face. Adonis is rather plump here, giving us a great line from Jesse: “We’re either going to have a bald Scot or Humpty Dumpty.” Piper takes off his belt and they whip each other a few times with Adonis taking over.

Piper comes right back by sending Adrian into the corner for Flair Flip to the floor. Both Adonis and Hart get pulled back in and Piper rams them together to send them back outside. Back in again and Piper throws Hart off the top and onto Adonis but Jimmy FINALLY gets something right by tripping Roddy down.

Now it’s Adonis in control as they head to the floor. Piper gets sent into the announce table and Jimmy adds a spray of perfume into his eyes. There’s Adrian’s sleeper (Good Night Irene) and Piper is almost out, but Adonis lets him go at two arm drops. Brutus Beefcake runs out to wake Piper up and after a missed clipper shot from Adonis, Piper puts him in the sleeper for the win.

Rating: C+. This was the exact kind of wild brawl that you would expect it to be. The ending was the right move as Adonis had accidentally cut Beefcake’s hair recently so it made sense given the haircut stuff. This is the right way for Roddy to go out though and the fans were way into it. Fun stuff here.

Post match Adonis gets his hair cut and punches a mirror. Roddy gets his big sendoff.

Jesse is introduced to the crowd before the next match to annoy Gorilla.

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.

Heenan and Andre say that Andre can’t be defeated and everyone knows it. Bobby’s white suit is rather awesome.

Butch Reed vs. Koko B. Ware

Slick is here with Reed. That comes into play later. Reed overpowers him to start which is appropriate in a power vs. speed match. Koko comes back with that dropkick of his to send Reed out to the floor. Back in and a shot to the Bird Man’s ribs give Butch control again but Koko hiptosses him down. Koko pounds away and hits another dropkick for two. A run of the ropes proves deadly though as Reed rolls through a cross body and a handful of tights pins Ware.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as Koko was there as a warm body to lose to Butch. Reed was going to be the Intercontinental Champion after Steamboat got done with it but Honky talked his way into getting the belt instead. This match was there only to set up the post match stuff which we’ll get to now.

Tito runs in and beats up Slick, ripping off his “expensive” suit. A double dropkick sends Reed to the floor.

So far we’ve had eight matches and on average it’s probably a C- at best. I think the next one might help bring things up a bit.

We recap Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat. On an episode of Superstars, Savage smashed Steamboat’s throat into the barricade and crushed his larynx with the ring bell. One night on SNME, George Steele was facing Randy Savage and promised a surprise. Steele kidnapped Liz and when Savage got up, he saw Steamboat staring up at him and terror reigned.

Savage says that he’s retaining the title and is going to prove how amazing he is.

Steamboat says this is their destiny and the Dragon is going to scorch Savage’s back. This promo still gives me chills.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat

The fans give an audible pop for Savage which even the announcers have to acknowledge. George Steele comes out to back up Steamboat and show off that green tongue. They shove each other around a few times before Randy takes an early breather. Savage misses a back elbow and Steamboat hits a pair of those perfect armdrags of his. Randy is lifted into the air via a choke and it’s back to the floor.

Back in and Savage gets in his first shot before sending Ricky into the buckle. Steamboat immediately comes back by grabbing the wrist and lifting Savage into the air. Savage comes back with an elbow to the face before sending Steamboat over the top and out to the floor. Randy starts going after the throat but has to stop to try to get his left arm working again. Steamboat sends him into the buckle and chops away, sending Savage into the ropes.

With the champion tied up, Steamboat fires away with a vengeance. Savage gets loose and Ricky hits a cross body for two, kicking off one of the fastest sets of near falls you’ll EVER see. Randy finally slows him down with a knee to the back and a toss over the ropes, only to have Ricky skin the cat. Savage throws him out again and knocks him into the crowd for good measure. The top rope ax handle keeps Steamboat down even longer and Savage is in full control.

Savage hits a clothesline for two which Gorilla doesn’t like. Gorilla: “That could be a disqualification.” Jesse: “For what?” Gorilla: “Intentional.” Jesse: “Well of course it was intentional!” Gorilla could find some weird stuff to complain about at times. After a pair of Savage suplexes for two, Ricky starts firing back and sends Savage out to the floor. A top rope chop gets two for the challenger and they speed things up all over again.

We get another chase on the floor followed by a sunset flip by the Dragon for two. They trade ANOTHER great pinfall reversal sequence as Jesse declares this one of the greatest matches he’s ever seen. A slingshot sends Savage face first into the post and there’s a sunset flip for two for the Dragon. Savage reverses an O’Connor Roll with a handful of tights for two. Randy uses the tights again and sends Dragon shoulder first into the post.

They reverse an Irish whip and the referee gets bumped. Randy hits another clothesline and drops the big elbow but there’s no referee. Savage goes to get the bell but Steele takes it away. That earns the Animal a kick in the head so he shoves Savage off the top. Steamboat is back up and famously counters a slam into a small package for the pin and the title.

Rating: A+. This is the greatest match of all time so what do you expect me to give it. I’m amazed at how well this holds up nearly 26 years later as there is nothing wrong with it at all. The story goes that these two practiced this match at Savage’s house for three months beforehand and it shows. Not a thing is even close to screwed up and they’re so fast out there it’s unbelievable. How anyone can say this is anything but perfect astounds me to this day. If you haven’t seen this before, watch it now and take notes.

Alice Cooper (male rock/metal singer) is here to back up Jake Roberts against Honky and Jimmy Hart. This was set up because Honky hit Jake in the back with a guitar, which was allegedly the reason for Jake’s addiction to pain medication that has plagued him for years. Jake says Honky got his shot but didn’t make it count. His mustache alone makes him the favorite.

Honky Tonk Man vs. Jake Roberts

This is one of the matches that is there to give us a breather between the masterpiece and the main event. Jake pounds away to start and hits a knee lift to send Honky out to the floor. Honky still can’t get his ring suit off so Jake rips it off for him. Jake follows him to the floor and slams Honky down before heading back inside. Back in and Jake charges into a knee to the face to shift momentum.

Honky drops a pair of knees to Jake’s back but misses a punch and walks into the short clothesline. The grease in Honky’s hair allows him to escape the DDT and we head outside again. Jake is sent into the post and the barricade so Honky can dance a bit. Back in and a middle rope punch puts Jake in even more trouble. There’s a knee drop to the Snake and a pair of elbows for no cover.

The Shake Rattle and Roll (swinging neckbreaker) is countered by Jake and there’s an atomic drop for the eternally funny selling by Honky. Jake punches him to the apron and Honky gets caught in between the ropes, meaning he bounces back up every time Jake punches him. The DDT is countered again and after a Jimmy interference, Honky grabs a rollup and the top rope for the upset pin.

Rating: C. You could see the Honky Tonk Man character coming on here as Jake was way better but got cheated at the end. Honky would ride that one idea for the next year and a half, drawing WAY more money and heat than he had any right to earn. Jake would feud with various heels for the next few months while being one of the many challengers to chase Honky. He finally got with Rick Rude for an awesome string of matches.

Post match Honky is chased off and Jimmy gets covered by Damien the snake.

Gene Okerlund announces a new world indoor attendance record of 93,173. That’s awesome.

Nikolai Volkoff/Iron Sheik vs. Killer Bees

Unlike the previous match that had a feud going with it, this is just a random heel and face pairing. Slick (the foreigners’ manager) still has his torn up suit on. Volkoff starts singing the Soviet national anthem but the pretty new Jim Duggan runs out to break it up. The Bees finally show up and it’s a big brawl to start. Duggan is marching around at ringside with the 2×4 complete with a little American flag taped to it.

We start with Blair and Sheik but it’s quickly off to Brunzell. The Bees work over Iron’s arm with tags faster than I can type them. They stay on the arm until Brunzell hits his gorgeous dropkick for two on Sheik. Everything breaks down for a bit and Brunzell gets caught in the corner. Nikolai keeps Brunzell in trouble as the fans chant USA. There’s the bearhug by the Russian but Jim smacks his ears to break the hold.

Off to Sheik for the gutwrench suplex for two and a regular version for two. Brunzell comes back with a quick high knee but the referee doesn’t see the tag. A double elbow puts Jim down again and Sheik poses a lot. Duggan chases Volkoff into the ring and sees Sheik with the camel clutch on Brunzell. Being the patriot that he is, Duggan blasts Sheik in the back with the board for the DQ.

Rating: C-. Not a terrible little match here until the stupid ending. This was again about furthering another feud in the form of Duggan against the evil foreigners. Why the Bees would be ok with Duggan doing that is beyond me but I guess since they’re all good guys they have to get along in WWF logic.

Andre says the next time you see him, he’ll be world heavyweight champion. Heenan says he’ll be the manager of the world champion and go down in history.

We recap Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan. Andre was there three years ago when Hogan won the title and they teamed together a few times with Hogan making the save when Andre was double teamed. There’s a LONG story (not mentioned in the show because it isn’t important) about Andre getting suspended and wrestling in a mask until Bobby Heenan, the guy behind the suspension, got it lifted.

Andre appeared with Hogan in Piper’s Pit where both received trophies; Andre’s for being undefeated for fifteen years and Hogan’s for being world champion for three years. However, Andre’s trophy was noticeably smaller, prompting him to say “three years to be a champion, that’s a long time.” A few weeks later, Andre walked into the Pit with Heenan at his side and challenges Hogan for Wrestlemania. Hogan is STUNNED and has the crucifix ripped off his chest. Hogan finally agrees to fight Andre at Wrestlemania and the arena exploded. Make no mistake about it: THIS is why Wrestlemania III is the biggest show ever.

Hogan talks about how he’s going to knock the giant down and shake the world.

Bob Uecker is brought in as the guest ring announcer. Jesse says hi to Terry, Tyrell and Jade back in Minneapolis. He did this on nearly every show but never said who those people were. It was nothing secretive: it’s his wife and kids. Mary Hart is guest timekeeper.

WWF World Title: Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan walks to the ring and the ovation is unreal. To put it simply, this is the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling. We get the historic staredown and we’re really supposed to believe that Hogan is nine inches shorter than Andre? It’s like three at most. Hogan punches away to start but goes for a slam a minute into this and falls down, giving Andre a very close two. That right there would fuel the rematch requests for the next year. Hulk’s back is hurt and Andre starts taunting him. A big forearm hits Hogan in the back and Andre slams him twice. Andre pounds away very slowly and hits a few headbutts.

Hulk fights back up with some forearms into the head. A running elbow staggers the Giant and Hogan sends him head first into the buckle ten times, only to charge into a boot to slow things right back down again. We hit the bearhug and Hogan is in trouble. This lasts for a LONG while until Hogan punches his way out of it, possibly hurting his hand in the process. Hulk rams into him a few times but charges into a chop to put Hogan down again. A boot to the ribs knocks Hulk to the floor but Andre headbutts the post. Hogan tries a piledriver of all things but is easily backdropped down.

We head back in for the legendary ending sequence. Hogan ducks a big boot and clotheslines down. It’s Hulk Up time and in the most famous scene in wrestling history, Hulk Hogan slams Andre the Giant to blow the roof off the place. The big legdrop makes Hogan immortal and the title is retained.

Rating: B. Ok here’s the thing: if you think this is about the wrestling itself, you have completely missed the point here. This was about making Hogan look like the biggest star ever and to say it did that is an understatement. On top of that, the match isn’t that bad. Don’t get me wrong: it’s not a masterpiece or anything like that, but the match is nowhere near as bad as it’s made out to be. This was exactly what it was supposed to be.

Hogan poses for a long time as Heenan leaves with his head in his hands, wondering where it all went wrong.

Overall Rating: A+. There’s really no other grade to give this. It’s the biggest show of all time, the greatest match of all time is on here, and the main event has two of the most famous images of all time. This show is the pinnacle of wrestling in America and it’s never been as big as this again. There’s nothing truly bad on this show as even the weaker matches are at least really short. This show was never about the wrestling though. It’s all spectacle here and it’s an absolute must see show for any fan and it still goes by very smoothly. If you somehow haven’t seen this, definitely check it out.

Ratings Comparison

Can-Am Connection vs. Don Muraco/Bob Orton

Original: B+

Redo: B-

Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Hillbilly Jim/Haiti Kid/Little Beaver vs. King Kong Bundy/Little Tokyo/Lord Littlebrook

Original: F

Redo: D+

Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog

Original: D+

Redo: D

Dream Team vs. Rougeau Brothers

Original: D+

Redo: C-

Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis

Original: C+

Redo: C+

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

Original: C

Redo: C-

Butch Reed vs. Koko B. Ware

Original: N/A

Redo: D

Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage

Original: A+

Redo: A+

Jake Roberts vs. Honky Tonk Man

Original: C

Redo: C

Killer Bees vs. Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff

Original: D

Redo: C-

Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant

Original: A

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B+

Redo: A+

It still holds up.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/03/07/wrestlemania-count-up-3-this-show-is-required-viewing-for-all-fans/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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

Today we enter the world of power lifting with Big E. Langston.

Big E. started down in FCW back in late 2009 so we’ll pick up his career on February 14, 2010 in a tag team match.

Big E. Langston/Skip Sheffield vs. Vance Archer/Alex Riley

Sheffield is now known as Ryback and is a cowboy here. The announcers sound like they’ve never seen Langston before so maybe this is his debut. Langston runs Riley over to start and it’s quickly off to Sheffield for some shoulders of his own. Archer comes in and is easily slammed for Langston gets the tag to do nothing at all. Vance kicks Sheffield in the face for two and it’s back to Riley as the cowboy is in trouble. We hit the chinlock for a bit before both guys try cross bodies and fall to the floor. Langston comes in off the hot tag to clean house but Riley escapes the Big Ending and hits a powerbomb into a neckbreaker for the pin.

Rating: C-. Nice idea for the debut here with Langston looking good but the ending stoppe Langston cold. Langston would get better but you can’t teach raw power like he has and displayed here. Riley also had so much potential but allegedly reacted badly to a rib from Cena in the Raw locker room and lost his push.

We’ll jump ahead about a year to March 27, 2011 with Langston having grown up a bit and facing Leo Kruger.

Leo Kruger vs. Big E. Langston

Langston shoves him around with ease to start and Leo bails to the floor. A headlock is countered with an easy lift into the air before Langston casually trips him to the mat in a nice touch. Kruger rolls to the apron and snaps Big E.’s throat across the top rope to take over. The referee gets bumped but pops back up to see Kruger hit a neckbreaker to send Langston outside. Back in and Langston shoves Kruger away before scoring with some hard clotheslines. A belly to belly suplex gets two but Kruger rolls him up and grabs the ropes for a pin.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but Kruger has almost always been a better character than a worker. Langston was starting to look more and more like his more familiar version but he’s still not completely rounded into form. Also I didn’t realize how often he got pinned in FCW as it’s quite different from his win/loss record on Raw.

We’ll wrap up his FCW run with this stacked six man tag from sometime in June 2011.

Big E. Langston/Calvin Raines/Alexander Rusev vs. Bo Rotundo/Leakee/Richie Steamboat

Raines is a big guy and Langston’s FCW Tag Team Championship partner. FCW Champion Rotundo is now known as Bo Dallas and Leakee is Roman Reigns. Rusev and Richie get things going with Steamboat going after Alexander’s huge calves. Rusev easily throws him away and scores with a shoulder but it’s quickly off to Bo and then Leakee (pronounced Lay Ah Key) to stay on the arm. Alexander easily runs over Leakee before it’s off to Langston for more power offense as we take a break.

Back with Raines running over Leakee for two and putting on something resembling a seated full nelson. Leakee comes back with a sunset flip before running over for the tag to Steamboat. Richie cleans house for a bit until Rusev slams him off the top with ease. Back to Langston who stomps away and hits a spinning belly to belly for two. Rusev comes in again for a bearhug and an overhead belly to belly.

A double tag brings in Raines vs. Steamboat and Ricky is caught in an abdominal stretch. Back to Langston who isn’t hurt by Steamboat chops but a kick to the face has some more effect. The hot tag brings in Bo to clean house as everything breaks down. Bo and Langston are left alone in the ring and a spear is enough to pin Big E.

Rating: B-. I liked this a lot more than I expected to. They followed the six man formula very well here and the whole thing worked quite well. These guys knew how to work together and everything flowed well. That being said, I need to pick better matches the next time I do one of these things. Langston is now 0-3.

Langston made his Raw debut in December as an enforcer for Dolph Ziggler, but around this time he was still a monster in NXT. One night the Shield cleaned out the NXT locker room and stood tall in the ring. Now in a good promotion, the unstoppable monster would come out for a big showdown. Thankfully NXT is a good promotion and Langston made his way to the ring for a faceoff with Roman Reigns. The next week, Langston got a title shot at NXT Champion Seth Rollins.

NXT Title: Seth Rollins vs. Big E. Langston

No DQ and Rollins is defending. Rollins doesn’t have music yet. After the big match intros we’re ready to go. Langston grabs a kick and shoves Rollins down to start, freaking Seth out. The champion grabs a front facelock and gets shoved into the corner for some shoulder blocks. Langston misses a charge into the corner and hits the post, but immediately comes back with a gorilla press to send Rollins to the floor.

Langston goes after him but here are Reigns and Ambrose for the triple beatdown. Big E. gets sent into the steps as we take a break. Back with both guys in the ring again with Rollins firing off kicks to the ribs. Rollins hooks a triangle choke but Langston fights up and hits an electric chair drop to escape. The crowd is ENTIRELY behind Langston here as he fires off clotheslines. A double clothesline takes down Ambrose and Reigns but they run in again to break up the Big Ending.

Some guys from the locker room come out to try to stop the non-champions of the Shield but are quickly dispatched. Eventually about 15 guys come out and FINALLY clear them out, leaving it one on one. Rollins hits the standing Sliced Bread for two and the kickout scares him to death. He loads it up again, but Langston catches him on his shoulder and the Big Ending gives Langston the title at 6:38 shown of 10:08.

Rating: C+. The match itself wasn’t much, but the run-ins were handled perfectly, making this feel like a huge moment and a nearly Attitude Era style main event. I also really like the idea of not having Langston beat up the Shield on his own as it keeps things a bit more realistic given how strong Shield has been pushed. Not a great match, but really good booking of a title change.

After having debuted on the 2013 Slammies, Langston would make his in ring debut in a Tag Team Title match at Wrestlemania XXIX.

Tag Titles: Big E. Langston/Dolph Ziggler vs. HELL NO

HELL NO is defending. This was set up by Ziggler beating Kane and Bryan in singles matches and wanting a title match as a result. This is also Langston’s debut. We get a funny bit to start with Ziggler kissing AJ to taunt Bryan and getting kicked in the head for a VERY close two ala last year. Ziggler bails to the floor and gets caught with a suicide dive. Back in and Bryan fires off the hard kicks to the chest but the big one to the head misses.

Ziggler dives off to tag in Langston and he gets Kane. Big E. easily catches a charging Kane and hits three straight backbreakers to take over. Kane gets a boot up in the corner to stop a charging Langston but the chokeslam is easily broken up. Langston runs over Kane and it’s back to Ziggler for some quick choking. Langston comes in again for more shots to Kane’s chest and ribs. He lowers his head though and there’s a DDT from Kane to put Langston down.

Back to Dolph who breaks up a tag to Bryan, only to miss a splash in the corner. Kane’s side slam gets two but the top rope clothesline misses. The Fameasser kind of misses but Bryan comes in for the save anyway. Ziggler jumps into an uppercut from Kane but Langston splashes Kane for the save at two. The Big Ending is broken up and Kane sends Big E. to the floor for the knee from Bryan. The Zig Zag gets two on Kane and Dolph is frustrated. AJ slides in the briefcase but Kane ducks Ziggler’s swing. The chokeslam connects and Kane takes out Langston. The Swan Dive from Bryan retains the titles at 6:30.

Rating: C. My predictions are taking a pounding tonight. I would assume this means Ziggler cashes in tonight, because we should totally buy him as world champion after he loses to Bryan here right? The match was fine, but at this point there’s no need to see HELL NO with the belts anymore. It’s just dull at this point and they stopped being funny a long time ago.

Dolph Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship the next night on Raw but got injured soon thereafter. With Dolph out, Langston started a feud with Alberto Del Rio and faced him about five times in three weeks, including May 31, 2013 on Smackdown.

Big E. Langston vs. Alberto Del Rio

Langston pounds him into the corner to start and fires off some shoulders, but Del Rio comes back with a kick to the ribs. Big E. drapes him across the top rope and Del Rio is right back down. Del Rio comes back with more kicks and a running clothesline, only to walk into a belly to belly for two. The Backstabber staggers Langston and a German suplex puts him down again.

A hard kick to the face gets two more for Alberto and there’s the armbreaker but Langston picks Alberto up to escape. Langston runs him over for two but gets caught in the armbreaker over the ropes. Del Rio falls to the floor and gets posted after an AJ distraction, allowing the Big Ending to finish Albert back inside at 4:50.

Rating: D+. This match is firmly in the category of matches we don’t need to see for a good while. They’ve fought something like four times in two weeks now, which is way more than any pair should be going at it. The match was nothing special either as they didn’t have time to go anywhere with it.

Langston went on a tear through the midcard, earning himself an Intercontinental Title shot on Raw on November 18, 2013.

Intercontinental Title: Big E. Langston vs. Curtis Axel

They treat this as a big deal with full entrances and the big match intros. Axel, the champion, is officially no longer a Paul Heyman guy. Langston easily takes him to the mat but gets elbowed in the face to give Axel a breather. Big E. easily tosses Axel around and sends him to the floor to start a chase. Back in and Langston clotheslines him down like it’s nothing as this is one sided so far.

A standing backdrop gets two on the champion but he hits a quick hot shot to get a breather. Axel pounds on his back a bit and we take a break. Back with Axel getting two off a dropkick and hooking a front facelock. Langston finally gets up and just throws Curtis off of him before scoring with some clotheslines. A belly to belly puts Axel down and there’s the Warrior Splash for two. The straps come down and the Big Ending gives Langston the title at 8:50.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad but it does beg the question: if they want to make Langston into a big deal, why in the world would you job him clean to Del Rio last week in four minutes? Either way, it was definitely the right idea to switch the belt here as Axel is long past the point of mattering. A gimmick change could help him a lot at the moment because the potential is definitely there.

Around this time WWE started making up challengers of the month for Langston, including this one against Damien Sandow at TLC 2013.

Intercontinental Title: Big E. Langston vs. Damien Sandow

Before the match, Sandow tells the Texas crowd some assorted phrases that are worthless: y’all, ye if followed by haw, and Big E. Langston: Intercontinental Champion. Nice touch. Langston throws the challenger into the corner to start and hits a corner splash to keep Damien in trouble. They head outside with Langston in trouble, only to miss a charge into the post to change momentum.

Back in and Damien pounds away at Big E.’s head before putting on a chinlock. The Wind-Up Elbow gets two for Sandow and we’re back to the chinlock again. Langston powers out of the hold and drops Damien with an electric chair. A belly to belly sets up the Warrior Splash for two but the Big Ending is countered into an Edge-O-Matic for two by Sandow. Another Big Ending attempt is countered into a small package for two but Langston is done messing around. He runs Sandow over with ease and the Big Ending is enough to retain the title at 6:25.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing you wouldn’t see on Smackdown. These two did virtually the same match with the same story earlier this year for Langston’s NXT Title so there was some practice coming in. Langston has a bright future and a title defense on PPV isn’t going to hurt him at all.

Having destroyed the midcard, Langston was given a non-title match against WWE Champion Randy Orton on January 10, 2014’s Smackdown.

Randy Orton vs. Big E. Langston

Non-title of course. Langston takes him down with a shoulder block but Orton rolls to the floor before a cover. Back in and a headlock sets up another shoulder block sends Orton to the floor again. Orton comes in again and punches Big E. down, only to walk into a headbutt for two. Langston sends Orton to the mat with a single right hand to the ribs before slapping on an armbar.

Orton fights up again and pounds on Big E., only to get caught in a backbreaker. A second backbreaker gets two and Langston is getting in a zone. Randy escapes the Big Ending and bails to the floor as we take a break. Back with the chinlock until Big E. powers out, only to get kneed in the ribs for two. Back to the chinlock but Big E. fights up again.

The comeback is short lived again though as Orton sends him through the ropes to the floor. Langston is sent into the steps twice in a row for two before we hit the chinlock again. Big E. fights up one more time and runs Orton over twice in a row, followed by a belly to belly suplex. The Warrior Splash gets two but Orton hits his backbreaker to get a breather. The RKO is countered with a splash in the corner but Orton pokes Big E. in the eye, setting up the RKO for the pin at 14:28.

Rating; C+. I missed pokes to the eyes. They’re such a simple heel move but they can be just what you need to get a heel through an ending. This match worked for the most part but it could have had a few minutes of chinlocks taken out. It’s good that Langston gets to look like he can hang in there against top guys. There’s a future there if he’s used properly.

We’ll wrap it up with what has become too rare anymore: an Intercontinental Title defense on PPV against Jack Swagger, who won a four way on Smackdown to earn the shot.

Intercontinental Title: Big E. vs. Jack Swagger

Swagger is challenging and Colter does his usual schtick before the match. Big E. shoves him into the corner to start and runs him over with a hard shoulder block, sending Swagger to the outside. Back in and some overhead belly to belly suplexes put Jack down but he bails to the floor again to avoid a charging champion. This time Big E. follows him outside and sends him into the steps but the champion goes after Colter.

The distraction doesn’t work though as he spears Jack into the steps in a painful looking spot. Back inside and Jack low bridges Big E. out to the floor and takes over with some running knees in the corner. After a WE THE PEOPLE it’s off to a front facelock for a few moments. Big E. fights up and a double clothesline puts both guys down again. Swagger avoids a charge and Big E. goes shoulder first into the post, drawing a WE THE PEOPLE chant from the crowd.

Back up and Big E. runs Swagger over with clotheslines and a belly to belly suplex but the champion charges into a powerslam for two. The running Vader Bomb is caught in the Big Ending but Jack makes it to the apron. That’s fine with Big E. as he spears him through the ropes in a big crash. Back in and the Warrior Splash gets two so Big E…..goes up top? Jack catches him with a right hand and runs the ropes for a belly to belly superplex and a VERY close two.

Swagger takes out the leg and puts on the Patriot Lock but Big E. kicks his way out. The gutwrench is countered but Big E. runs him over and takes down the straps. Jack grabs another Patriot Lock but Big E. fights up and hits an enziguri of all things, setting up the Big Ending to retain the title at 11:50.

Rating: B. I liked this far better than I was expecting with Swagger putting up a great fight and making it much closer than he had any right to. It’s nice to see Big E. get a win on PPV and a successful title defense over a former World Champion never hurt anyone. It should be interesting to see where the Real Americans go from here.

Overall Langston is a guy with a ton of potential and the fact that he only started about five years ago is astounding. He’s incredibly strong but there’s far more to him than most power guys. Langston once said on Twitter that “When you look like I do, people don’t expect you to think that much.” I love it when people think like that and his career has shown the same promise ever since. He’ll be a big deal one day and he’s been very solid so far in his career.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: March 10, 2014
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re less than a month away from Wrestlemania and something big might change tonight. The main story is Hulk Hogan making a major announcement for Wrestlemania which may have something to do with Daniel Bryan. Other than that John Cena is advertised to wrestle and Undertaker is in the building. Let’s get to it.

We open with Hogan to a nice reaction. He says people have been welcoming him back to the WWE and he’s spent two weeks watching his Wrestlemania matches on the WWE Network. Hogan talks about watching his match at Wrestlemania III and slamming Andre the Giant over his head. It’s got him so jacked up that he wanted to wrestle the whole neighborhood but then he had an idea. At Wrestlemania, there’s going to be a thirty man Andre the Giant memorial battle royal. The winner gets…..a trophy shaped like Andre.

Hogan says goodbye to the Mempho-nites but here’s John Cena (without a limp). John agrees that Hulk still rules and talks about trying to tear off his shirt back in 1987 but not being strong enough yet. Cena asks whatcha gonna do….when he’s the first name entered into the battle royal. Hogan is surprised but here are the Wyatts.

Bray says pride has always been his favorite sin because it blinds everyone, even those who claim to be immortal. “Hey kids, make sure to say your prayers and take your vitamins with hustle, loyalty and respect.” He talks about the two heroes giving everyone false hope when hope is dead, just like John’s future.

Bray lays it all out for Cena right now: if he looks up at Bray, he’ll see a friend, if he looks down at Bray he’ll see an enemy but if he looks at Bray in the eyes he’ll see a god. Cena of course responds by singing Jimmy Buffett and cracking jokes about how stupid Bray and the Family look. Thankfully he keeps the jokes short and takes himself out of the battle royal before challenging Wyatt for Wrestlemania. Bray sends the Family forward but we go to a break as they get to the apron.

Erick Rowan vs. John Cena

We’re joined in progress after a break with Rowan in control and crushing Cena’s head in the double fist vice. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on John and his cross body is caught in a fallaway slam. Cena tries another charge but runs into a bearhug with Rowan literally throwing Cena from side to side. Rowan puts him down with a powerslam but Cena grabs a rollup for the pin out of nowhere at 3:39.

Rating: C-. Cena literally did not have any major offense until the rollup at the end. Rowan hasn’t won many matches but he’s dominated Bryan and Cena before losing in the end. That’s how you make a guy look strong in defeat and it’s more proof that Rowan has a future after the Family breaks up.

Bray is livid but walks away from Hogan and Cena. The two superheroes pose.

You can pick what kind of a match Christian and Sheamus have: falls count anywhere, 2/3 falls or Memphis street fight.

Here’s the Authority to the stage with something to say. Stephanie says Bryan should have been fired after last week but instead offers him an apology. He’s a talented guy but not quite as big of a talent as guys like Batista, Orton or HHH. Bryan is a solid B+ player but he needs to apologize as well. Stephanie makes fun of Bryan for being short and hopes we enjoy the rest of the show.

Usos vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel

Non-title and the Outlaws are on commentary. Ryback and Axel are officially entered into the Wrestlemania battle royal. Jimmy walks into a hard uppercut from Axel before being thrown hard into the ropes. Ryback (with a heavily taped right arm) works over Jimmy for a bit before it’s back to Axel for a chinlock. Jimmy fights over to the corner for a tag and Jey cleans house. A superkick drops Curtis, Jey dives onto Ryback and the Superfly Splash is enough for the pin on Axel at 2:59.

Kane yells at Shield for being unprofessional. Ambrose asks if there’s a point to this and Kane says he doesn’t like the cracks in the team. Those cracks started when Reigns and Rollins lost the Tag Titles to the Rhodes Brothers, so tonight they’re having a rematch. Seth thinks Kane is deflecting his anger from losing twice last week to Bryan and Big Show. Reigns gets in Kane’s face and the Shield leaves.

Big E. vs. Jack Swagger

Non-title again. Big E. counters a whip into the corner and hits some hard running shoulders but Jack slams him down to take over. A running clothesline drops Big E. and Swagger cranks on his arms as we get an inset interview with Big E. saying he’s looking forward to winning the battle royal. Back up and Big E. hits a belly to belly but Jack takes out his leg. Colter tries to get Cesaro to interfere to no avail. Jack yells at Cesaro, allowing Big E. to roll him up for the pin at 3:02.

Rating: D+. This was all angle and story rather than wrestling and that’s ok. I’m surprised that Big E. is in the battle royal instead of a title match but it frees up another spot on the card. Cesaro not cheating points to a face turn for him, but that’s been the case for months now. Nothing to the match but inset interviews always make me smile.

Post match Colter is livid and takes his vest off. He says this is getting settled right now and demands they shake hands. Swagger finally agrees but Cesaro squeezes his hand hard enough that Jack almost goes down.

Here’s Undertaker with something to say. On the way to the ring, the announcers talk about Brock Lesnar having no chance to break the Streak. Before he can get anywhere though, Paul Heyman is on the stage to interrupt. He sounds very nervous while talking about Undertaker preserving the greatest streak in sports, entertainment and sports entertainment. So many people throw around the number 21-0 without considering what it means.

Mr. Wrestlemania Shawn Michaels never won two matches in a row (not true as he won at Wrestlemania 7 as a member of the Rockers and 8 on his own). HHH could never get to three straight, Hulk Hogan couldn’t get to four, Steve Austin and John Cena couldn’t get past four. Think about that for a minute and it really is astounding. Heyman admits that Brock is stepping into the unknown at Wrestlemania by fighting Undertaker, but it’s something that Undertaker needs to fear because Brock will conquer the Streak.

Undertaker says since Heyman is Brock’s messenger boy, take this back to him: the fear of death is far greater than the death itself. But the fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all. One more thing: tell Brock that if he shows up in New Orleans at Wrestlemania, he will rest in peace.

Tomorrow on Main Event live it’s Ambrose vs. Mark Henry for the US Title and Natalya vs. AJ for the Divas Title.

Cody Rhodes/Goldust vs. Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins

Cody hits a delayed front suplex for an early two on Rollins. It’s off to Goldust for a backdrop and two on Seth as the brothers control early. Back to Cody who is sent face first into the middle turnbuckle, allowing for the tag off to Reigns for a hard headbutt. He misses a charge into the corner and the tag brings in Goldust for some quick clotheslines. The kneeling uppercut staggers Reigns and a spinebuster is good for two. Both Shield members are sent to the floor and the Brothers hit stereo dives (Cody off the top, Goldust off the apron) to take them down as we go to a break.

Back with Goldust getting suplexed for two before Rollins comes in and puts on a chinlock. Reigns hits the kick to the apron which is now just one boot instead of two. Rollins cranks on Goldust’s arm before bringing Reigns back in. Goldust actually snaps off a powerslam on Reigns, allowing for the hot tag off to Cody. House is quickly cleaned and a Disaster Kick knocks Reigns off the apron.

The moonsault press gets two on Rollins and a MuscleBuster of all things gets the same. Goldust and Reigns both come back in and the spear puts the golden one down. Cody loads up Cross Rhodes on Rollins but Seth rolls through. The Disaster Kick is countered into the buckle bomb and the Black Out (running curb stomp) is good for the pin at 14:20.

Rating: C+. Nice match here and it’s nice to see Shield get a clean win for a change. That Black Out looked great and I’m glad that they didn’t have it keep going on a near fall. Far too often anymore a big move hits but it’s only good for two. It’s also nice that neither team seems to be splitting anytime soon.

Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee/Tamina Snuka

Natalya is on commentary. Nikki cranks on Tamina’s arm to start before it’s quickly off to Brie for a running knee to the chest. Tamina comes back with another of those HUGE superkicks to send Brie to the floor. Back in and Tamina hooks a chinlock and it’s off to AJ for some kicks and a guillotine choke. Brie fights out and makes the tag to Nikki who cleans house. Everything breaks down and Nikki counters the Black Widow into the Rack for the pin at 4:10.

Rating: C. Not for the match of course. It’s for commercial, because this was nothing more than an ad for Total Divas. At the end of the day, the Bellas are just not that good in the ring. They’re the definition of girls who are having to walk through every single move they do and are out there as eye candy. There’s nothing wrong with eye candy, but don’t make us sit through their matches.

Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J of NCIS: Los Angeles are here.

We recap the opening segment with Cena making fun of Bray.

Here’s Bryan for his apology, but the only apology Bryan is going to make is not kicking HHH in the face a long time ago. HHH can’t have it both ways. He can’t be all corporate and all macho at the same time because if HHH is going to come after Bryan, Daniel is going to fight back. If HHH thinks Bryan is just going to lay down for the Authority, Bryan has one word for him: NO.

This all ends tonight because HHH just isn’t listening to these people. Therefore tonight, the YES Movement is going to occupy Raw. He isn’t leaving the ring until he gets his Wrestlemania match with HHH, but he actually means it because he isn’t alone. This ring and arena will be filled with the YES Movement and on cue a bunch of fans in Daniel Bryan shirts get into the ring as we go to a break.

We come back with probably close to 100 fans filling the ring and ringside, all chanting YES. For once these aren’t even local wrestlers as some of them are old, young and most of them clearly aren’t in wrestling shape. HHH and Stephanie come out to draw a NO chant. HHH says all the other dirty little hippies and trolls that live under a bridge with Bryan must be happy with him, but now real life comes in.

After thirty seconds, HHH calls for security to come get everyone out. Bryan says if they get thrown out, this entire arena can leave and Raw will be in front of an empty arena. Security (two middle aged bald guys) come out and Bryan starts cracking jokes. The security guards look at the mob and immediately turn around. Stephanie yells at the guards but Bryan says this is the fans’ ring. HHH wants the next match to start right now so get someone out here.

Damien Sandow comes out but stops halfway down the aisle. HHH and Stephanie come out and yell at him before Stephanie invokes the name of McMahon and how this is all hers. Bryan asks for the match at Wrestlemania again, saying the show stops until the match is made. HHH thinks about it before saying the truth is he likes Daniel. He saw something in Bryan and tried to protect him from success. HHH would end everything at Wrestlemania because he won’t stop until Bryan is done. The match is on and the place goes nuts. NOW GET OUT OF HIS RING!

Bryan says hang on a second because he’s not done yet. As much as the people want to see him fight at Wrestlemania, they really want to see him fighting for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. How about this: if Bryan beats HHH at Wrestlemania XXX, he’s added to the title match in the main event. HHH charges at the ring but the security drags him away. As he’s being dragged away, the match is made.

The fans have voted for a Memphis street fight by a wide margin for Sheamus vs. Christian.

Sheamus vs. Christian

Street fight of course so they set up the musical instruments. Sheamus has a bad arm coming in and misses an early Brogue Kick. A clothesline puts Christian out to the floor and Sheamus sends him back first into the barricade. Christian misses a big guitar shot against the post but gets in a few shots to the ribs with a second guitar. Sheamus whips him knees first into the steps and crushes Christian’s head against the steps. They head up the ramp with Christian shoving Sheamus off the ramp and hitting a tornado DDT onto the concrete but the pin has to take place in the ring.

Back from a break with both guys in the ring and Sheamus charging shoulder first into the post. Christian gets a kendo stick and goes off on Sheamus with shots to the arm and back for two. Sheamus avoids a big stick shot in the corner but a knee to the ribs puts him down again. Christian’s hiptoss is blocked and Sheamus comes back with running knees and an ax handle to the face.

Sheamus gets the stick now but misses his big swing. The rolling fireman’s carry gets two but Christian reverses the ten forearms. JBL spends the match accusing Lawler of orchestrating the Occupy Raw segment. Back in and Sheamus beats Christian with the stick so hard that it’s splintering but White Noise only gets two. Now about twenty forearms connect with Christian’s chest as Cole calls it the Ten Beats of an Irish drum whose name I couldn’t understand.

JBL says don’t turn around because it’s not the Gentrys (Jimmy Hart’s band) you hear beating on a drum. Christian bails to avoid the Brogue Kick but Sheamus sends him into the post. The Irish Curse off the steps has Christian in agony but Sheamus wants a bass drum. They head back inside as the announcers argue over which Beatle played which instrument. Christian comes back with some hard chair shots before putting two chairs on Sheamus’ chest. A frog splash onto the chairs gets a close two on Sheamus but he Brogue Kicks Christian through the drum for the pin at 14:26.

Rating: B-. This was fun for the most part but the musical instruments were just silly. It’s annoying that Sheamus dominates the feud over and over again, but at least the match here was good. I’m glad these two are (likely) going to be in the battle royal so we don’t have to see this again at Wrestlemania.

How to get the Network on whatever you have!

Brad Maddox tries to calm Batista and Orton down as they yell about the Bryan decision. The Authority is gone tonight but they’ve told Orton and Batista to be A+ players and take care of things tonight. Orton agrees to make it work with Batista but Big Dave smirks and walks away.

Lana and Rusev come out to do their weekly thing.

We look back at the opening segment but the Wyatts take over the feed. Harper says Cena made a big mistake by falling into the hands of the Reaper. We pan over to Bray looking at us upside down in a creepy moment. Bray says he’s not of this world but was thrilled seeing Cena and Hogan together. He sees Cena’s future in Hogan because they’re both too self absorbed to just let it go.

Cena couldn’t admit that he’s every bit the monster that Bray is and it’s the most foolish thing he’ll ever do. Bray has a thousand faces and a million names. He can be an evil beast or a smiling child but as for Wrestlemania, he accepts. Just remember: Cena has everything to lose because his time is up, but Bray’s time is forever. Rowan tells us to run to end things.

Big Show/Daniel Bryan vs. Batista/Randy Orton

Bryan quickly takes Orton to the floor for the FLYING GOAT and we take an early break. Back with Bryan holding a chinlock on Orton but the champ fights up and hits a knee to the ribs. Batista comes in and works on Bryan’s ribs in the corner before sending him to the floor to ram him into the apron. Back inside and a hard clothesline gets two for Dave but Bryan finally gets up and tags in Big Show to almost no reaction.

He grabs Orton by the throat but Batista goes after his knee to break it up. Orton comes in again and stays on the leg before Batista loads up the Bomb. Big Show easily backdrops out of it and tags Bryan for the usual stuff. The YES Kicks get two but he misses the swan dive. Orton grabs a rollup for two but gets reversed into the YES Lock until Batista makes the save.

Everything breaks down and Big Show superkicks Batista, only to walk into the RKO. Batista accidentally spears Orton and there’s the big knee to Dave. Orton avoids the running dropkick and hits the Elevated DDT with a point to the sign. The RKO is countered into a backslide for two and the running knee gets the pin on Randy at 13:06.

Rating: C-. This was like the last thirty minutes of Saturday Night’s Main Event: all the good stuff is out of the way but they have to fill in the last bit of time. It was nothing more than a way to get Bryan in there with the title contenders and the fans just weren’t interested. The Occupy Raw segment really should have closed the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Tonight was a story heavy show and that’s what it needed to be. The major matches are now set for Wrestlemania and the big segment did what it was supposed to do. I’m very intrigued by the battle royal because it opens the door for a lot of new names, hopefully from NXT. There weren’t many other options to get the huge roster on the card and having it be about Andre is a fine idea. I’m getting more and more fired up for Wrestlemania and tonight accomplished a lot. Wrestlemania’s main event is (seemingly) predictable but that’s not a bad thing.

Results

John Cena b. Erick Rowan – Rollup

Usos b. Ryback/Curtis Axel – Superfly splash to Axel

Big E. b. Jack Swagger – Rollup

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins b. Cody Rhodes/Goldust – Black Out to Rhodes

Bella Twins b. AJ Lee/Tamina Snuka – Rack to AJ

Sheamus b. Christian – Brogue Kick

Daniel Bryan/Big Show b. Batista/Randy Orton – Running knee to Orton

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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

It’s one of the options people thought might happen.HHH vs. Bryan is set, and if he wins he’s in the title match.  It’s official, but the moment was AWESOME.  I won’t spoil it here sp make sure you check it out.

It solves some Wrestlemania problems.There’s going to be a thirty man Andre the Giant memorial battle royal.  That certainly gets a lot of people on the card.