Monday Nitro #155
Date: September 21, 1998
Location: Fleet Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 15,144
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko

So the Horsemen returned a week ago and three days later they were outsmarted by Bischoff and Bagwell in an arm wrestling match on Thunder. Due to that loss, Flair is never allowed to wrestle again, which I’m sure will hold up. Other than that we’re coming up on Halloween Havoc and Nitro has turned into a bad horror movie with Warrior kidnapping Disciple last week. Let’s get to it.

Hall arrives and yells at Doug Dillinger about wrecking his car while holding a bag which sounds like it’s full of bottles.

Nitro Girls.

The announcers do their opening chat, mainly talking about Page vs. Goldberg.

The ring fills up with smoke and Disciple is unconscious on the mat. This brings out the Black and White but more smoke fills the ring and the NWO can’t just walk through it and grab his body for some reason. Warrior appears in the rafters under the Warrior Signal with the unconscious Disciple. Hogan says come and finish what you ran away from eight years ago and to tell the people that Warrior lives in fear.

Warrior says he’s been running to reappear and take away all of Hogan’s valuable possessions. Tonight he starts with the Disciple, who kneels beside him because he hasn’t been instilled with the Warrior powers. Warrior promises that the plot will thicken tonight. I know the blowoff match is horrible, but the build for it is somehow even less interesting.

Opening sequence.

Finlay vs. Barry Darsow

They circle each other until Darsow hammers him into the corner but Finlay uppercuts him back. We hit an early nerve hold on Barry followed by a simple pull of the face but Darsow comes back with choking and a chinlock. Finlay counters a piledriver attempt and the tombstone is enough to pin Barry.

Rating: D. Pretty boring brawl for the most part here with Darsow not being interesting at all. Finlay was a decent enough midcarder but he needed more to work with out there. I’ve never understood the mentality behind booking these meaningless matches in the first hour. You have an uncontested hour with no Raw and this is how you use it?

Clips of Flair returning last week.

Clips of Warrior’s speech from earlier because wrestling fans can’t remember something from fifteen minutes ago.

Nick Dinsmore vs. Wrath

Dinsmore is more famous as Eugene. Wrath throws him into the corner to start and sidesteps a dropkick. Meltdown ends this squash quick.

More Flair clips.

Video on Goldberg vs. Page which plays up a battle of the finishers. The match is for the WCW/NWO World Title, making me shake my head all over again.

Rick Fuller vs. Rick Steiner

It’s a brawl to start with Steiner pounding Fuller down to the mat. Steiner catches a jumping Fuller in a kind of belly to belly, setting up the bulldog for the pin in less than a minute. That was a dominant squash.

Steiner gets on the mic and says Goldberg is 146-0 but he’s 9000-0 against his brother.

The evil laughter starts up again.

Here’s the Black and White to continue the nonsense. Hogan wants to take it to the streets with Warrior so he says come to the ring and face him like a man. Warrior appears on the stage and says follow him if you have the courage. The Black and White goes after him and after pausing for the smoke, goes into Hogan’s locker room and finds a burning Warrior symbol and Disciple unconscious in the bathroom. Smoke fills the bathroom and Disciple disappears.

We look at Saturn telling the Flock to go their own ways last week.

Kanyon/Raven vs. Los Villanos

Raven says loyalty is dead and someone has to pay before blasting the Villanos in a fast start. Kanyon loads up a powerbomb on IV with Raven adding a neckbreaker, only to drop IV on the back of his head, causing the match to stop immediately. Raven was checking on IV and looked terrified so I can’t imagine this was fake.

The trainer comes out to check on IV and you can hear the fans gasp as replays are shown. Thankfully it looks like it was his shoulder that landed first. IV is able to sit up and very slowly walk away from the ring, getting a nice ovation from the crowd.

We see Disco Inferno trying to make weight for a Cruiserweight Title shot tonight.

Hour #2 begins.

Alex Wright comes out and shouts in German before saying we’re dumb Americans. He speaks very slowly for us, saying that he can’t stand America and Diamond Dallas Page is even worse.

Alex Wright vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Page is taping his hands up on the way to the ring. Alex stomps him down in the corner to start and knocks him back with a dropkick. A missile dropkick puts Page down again but Page counters a whip into the corner and loads up a belly to back suplex. Wright backflips out but walks into the Diamond Cutter for the pin. I think Page was supposed to catch him during the backflip but couldn’t get his hands up in time, which is hardly a criticism as that would have been very difficult and the way they did it looked fine.

Post match Page says he and Goldberg are different animals with Goldberg rocketing to the top while Page took forever to get there. He’s bringing everything he has at Halloween Havoc and will make Goldberg feel the BANG.

The Nitro Party winner of the week is from a bunch of guys who forgot to include their names.

More Nitro Girls.

Clip of Ernest Miller being arrested last week.

The Cat vs. Lenny Lane

Lane is given five seconds to leave without getting beaten up and actually takes Miller up on the offer. Cat stops him and kicks Lane in the chest before talking even more trash. Another kick to the face drops Lenny as Scott Hall staggers down the aisle. Miller has a chinlock on Lane as Hall says it’s party time Boston style. Dusty Rhodes returns from wherever he’s been for the last few months to yell at Scott, saying he’s throwing his career away. The Feliner ends Lane to wrap up the stuff in the background. We only saw about 45 seconds of the match.

Disco is exhausted and covered in sweat but has made weight. So Matt Hardy in 2003 was ripping off Disco Inferno?

Back from a break with more evil laughter.

We look at Jericho getting lost over and over again. Last week Jericho thinks Goldberg is scared of him and declares himself a unified world champion.

Jerry Flynn vs. Saturn

Saturn easily takes him down before hitting a Thesz Press and a quickly broken choke. Flynn tries a leg lock but Saturn is in the ropes before too much damage can be done. Saturn kicks him in the head a few times and loads up a table on the floor. Flynn hits a nice dive to take Saturn out but walks into a northern lights suplex, which Tony says is out of Curt Hennig’s playbook. More kicks from Flynn set up a cross armbreaker but Saturn rolls out. They head outside and Flynn accidentally kicks the post twice in a row, setting up a splash through the table and the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: D+. WAY too much offense from Flynn here, especially so soon after Saturn’s big win over Raven. It was nice to see Flynn do anything other than kicks, but at the end of the day he’s still the same stupid mullet wearing karate guy he’s always been. Why the table spot wasn’t a DQ is never explained.

Monday Night Jericho ad, featuring voiceovers talking about people becoming Jericholics. The lights come on to reveal that it’s Jericho himself in a funny bit.

Here are Bagwell and Scott Steiner to brag about their physiques and make fun of Boston for losing everything. They’ve been sent here to find out where Bret Hart stands and demand that he come out here right now, fake knee injury or not. Bret comes in for the showdown but the NWO guys beat him down until Sting makes the save. Rick Steiner sneaks up on Scott and gets in a few good shots as Bagwell runs.

Cruiserweight Title: Disco Inferno vs. Kidman

Disco is defending but is already tired coming in. Kidman has no sympathy and dropkicks him down for a fast two and a slingshot legdrop gets the same. A nice running clothesline gets two more but Disco grabs a headlock to get a breather. They run the ropes and Disco collapses from exhaustion. Kidman hooks a chinlock and drops another middle rope legdrop for his fourth two count before we take a break.

Back with Kidman still in control as Lodi comes to the ring with signs saying they need to reform the Flock. Disco uses the distraction to hit a quick jumping piledriver but takes too long to cover and only gets two. He slams Kidman down but stops to dance, wasting even more energy. A middle rope elbow misses and Kidman comes back with a middle rope bulldog for two. Disco comes back with a neckbreaker but stops to dance before trying a powerbomb, allowing Kidman to counter into a faceplant. Kidman scores with sitout spinebuster and the Shooting Star for the pin.

Rating: B-. Nice match here with a good one night angle to back it up. It wasn’t anything original or ground breaking but it gave the match an extra dimension and made Disco look a bit better. It also helps that Kidman was only in trouble once off that piledriver which only connected because of a distraction.

The evil laughter starts up again as Disco is still in the ring.

Nitro Girls with Tygress getting a solo.

More Flair stuff from last week.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Konnan

Konnan does his schtick and Chavo does the same thing, showing that he’s as loveable as Konnan is. Chavo thinks he should be in the Wolfpack too and wants to talk to Nash about it. Instead it’s Konnan taking him down with a pair of clotheslines and scoring with the low dropkick. Chavo bails to the floor for a meeting with Pepe before coming back with a very elaborate arm wringer before pulling on his trunks.

Konnan gets taken down by a dropkick and Chavo stops for a ride on Pepe. The delay lets K-Dawg come back with a gorilla press drop before sending him face first into the buckle. We hit the chinlock for a bit but Chavo fights back with a running forearm in the corner. Now it’s Chavo with a chinlock for a few seconds until we take a break.

Back with Konnan still in the chinlock as Heenan is talking a mile a minute. Chavo cranks on Konnan’s arms before missing a charge into the post to change momentum. Konnan takes him outside and whips him into various metal objects before bulldogging him down for two. The usual stuff finishes for Konnan.

Rating: D+. This match died after the break with both guys laying around and resting far too much. That’s the problem with having a guy like Konnan go long when he mainly wrestles in squash matches. Not a terrible match due to the comedy at the start but it didn’t work for the most part.

We see Eddie being sent to Japan last week.

Here are Liz and Bischoff with the latter being way too happy given what was happening with Disciple. Bischoff brags about building an empire and being responsible for everyone being in their seats tonight. He built up everything you see here and none of the credit can go to Ric Flair. Eric talks about all the mistakes Flair made last week and reminds Flair that just because he has a contract, it doesn’t mean he has the right to wrestle. Flair and Anderson should never wrestle again since this is Bischoff’s company and he gets to make the decision.

This brings out the Horsemen in black (save for Arn in stripes) to the AWESOME galloping horse music. Security stops the Horsemen in the aisle but Flair has a quick chat with Doug Dillinger and the Horsemen get to come to the ring. Flair can’t talk due to the ovation at first which brings a smile to my face. Bischoff lied when he said Flair wasn’t here and lied again when he said the Horsemen were dead. Flair goes through every member of the Horsemen and why they’re all great but says Bischoff gets to live tonight.

Only Anderson wants to get his hands on Bischoff worse than Ric does, and on his worse day he could roll Bischoff up, smoke him, then stomp on him like a cockroach. Bischoff offers Flair a free shot. Ric: “Yeah I want it and she wants Space Mountain but she’s not getting it tonight.” Flair says the only reason he won’t hit Bischoff is he doesn’t have another two million bucks.

Ric brings up Reid’s wrestling tournament that caused the original suspension (never mentioned on TV before I don’t think) so Bischoff can suck it. Bischoff has said that the Horsemen are too old but Flair says he’s just too good. Flair says he didn’t save his money but he made it by being the best. The only reason Bischoff is living like he is now is because of people like Flair, Sting, Luger and Dusty Rhodes.

Ric keeps ranting about selling out arenas from coast to coast while Bischoff was in a bathroom buying his first condom. Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park but it still has the longest line. While Bischoff is puffing his chest, why doesn’t he tell the people who introduced him to Hulk Hogan.

Bischoff says it was just because Flair wanted to carry Hogan’s bag. Ric calls Hogan a guy that went on fourth every night to beat the crowd and says the Horsemen will be in Norfolk for Thunder but Bischoff warns them not to show up. The Horsemen back Bischoff into a corner and show him the fingers to end the segment. No one can rant like Ric Flair, period.

Giant/Stevie Ray vs. Kevin Nash/Lex Luger

The graphic says Stevie Ray/Scott Hall which is due to Giant subbing in for the drunk Hall. Stevie and Luger start us off and do very little before Hall comes up to the announcers’ desk and wants to know why so many people want to see him fight Nash. Scott says there’s no alcohol policy in WCW and his back hurts from carrying Nash this many years. Luger stomps Stevie down in the corner as Hall nearly falls down while talking.

Hall comes down and gets on the apron before throwing the referee to the floor. Nash gets the tag as Tenay plugs a boxing show tomorrow night. Hall tries a right hand and falls down, allowing Giant to come in and beat down Nash. Luger cleans house with a chair and the match is thrown out. No rating due to the lack of action as this was more storytelling than wrestling.

Hall wants to fight Nash but falls to the floor on a charge. Nash is disgusted by what he’s seeing and says that he’s lost his best friend because he doesn’t know who Hall is anymore. Scott yells that he’s lost everything and Nash wasn’t there but Nash says he won’t fight for free. A challenge is thrown out for Halloween Havoc and I guess Hall accepts.

Here’s the Black and White for the final Warrior showdown of the night. Hogan says get Warrior out here so he can send him back to the promised land. Warrior shows up in the entrance and Disciple is behind him. Hogan is thrilled but Disciple turns around to reveal an OWN vest, sending Hogan into a rage as we go off the air.

Overall Rating: D. This was pretty much a throwaway show with one good match out of ten. Even modern day Raw can give you a better ratio than that. The best part of the first hour were those right hands that Rick Steiner threw at Fuller. Let that sink in for a minute: some right hands, the most commonly used move in wrestling, were the best things in an hour of wrestling.

The Horsemen segment was good with Flair explaining his issues with Bischoff to the crowd who probably didn’t know most of the details. However, Bischoff didn’t come off as scared or intimidated in the slightest. He was defiant, bold and standing up to Flair, which makes the Horsemen look far less intimidating than they should. That’s the problem with Bischoff at the end of the day: he almost never got any punishment for what he did, save for the occasional moment like losing to Jay Leno or Larry Zbyszko about ten months earlier. Other than that, Bischoff gets to be this big macho guy who never gets what’s coming to him.

Finally there’s the big story of the week. Based on what we’ve seen since Fall Brawl, it’s very clear that the real main event of Halloween Havoc is Hogan vs. Warrior and Goldberg vs. Page is about five notches lower on the card. I understand the concept of a dream match being bigger than the world title once in awhile, but this is the fourth straight PPV (meaning every one since he won the title) where Goldberg isn’t in the featured match. The title is being treated like it’s an afterthought and that’s not good at any time. This company is on the verge of big trouble and the signs have been there for months.

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There are two of them.For reasons not quite clear, Antonio Cesaro is now known as just “Cesaro” and Big E. Langston is now just “Big E.”

I like the dropping of Antonio but I don’t get dropping Langston.  It gave Big E. the perfect three syllable name and sounded very good.  I can live with it but I’m not wild on it.

If that’s true, I can’t say I’m complaining.As we saw with Rock, a legend coming back doesn’t mean it’s going to be a success.  Austin is nearly 50 years old and while he looks to be in great shape, there’s a big difference in being in movies and hosting a podcast and being on the road all the time while wrestling.  I have no problem with him never getting in the ring again as he’s given us more than enough memories over the years, though the idea of one last Wrestlemania match was interesting.

I’ve shifted a bit on this.At the Rumble, I was ok with Batista winning and getting the title shot at Wrestlemania.  Since then though, it’s pretty clear that things aren’t what they used to be.  Yeah Batista is in a big Hollywood movie this year, but the wrestling fans just do not care.  A lot of this is due to Bryan and Punk, as Batista just came back at the wrong time.  The fans want to see Daniel Bryan winning the title at Wrestlemania and they want Punk back (though the chants were WAY weaker on Monday) and Batista just happens to be there around this time.

As of right now, they would be insane to put Batista in the title match as the only challenger.  He’s certainly a big name and worthy of being in the title hunt, but I think just bringing him back and immediately putting him in the title match in this environment was just asking for trouble.  Thankfully it does seem like the company is backpedaling a bit on him as Batista is barely getting any TV time.  Making the title match a three way would be acceptable, as I really don’t think the fans are as much anti-Batista as they are pro-Bryan.  There’s a future in WWE for Big Dave, but it’s not as the sole challenger for Randy Orton at Wrestlemania XXX.

We’ll stay in TNA today with someone a bit better looking than Sabin: Madison Rayne.

The first match I have is a rarity, as I have no idea when or where it’s from. It’s from September 2006 at the latest and might be from Ohio Championship Wrestling but I’m really not sure. Madison is of course Lexi Lane.

Lexi Lane vs. Traci Brooks

Both girls appear to be faces here and they’re in a high school gym. Both girls try quick rollups for two each and it’s a standoff. Signs suggest this is Hopewell, Ohio, which apparently is a big city for Ohio Championship Wrestling. They hit the mat with Lane putting on a body scissors and rolling Traci (nearly falling out of her top) around for two.

Traci gets spanked into the corner and the fans are far more into the match all of a sudden. Brooks takes her down for some of her own medicine and the referee gets some as well. Lexi takes her to the mat with a headlock but Brooks fights up and gets two off a backbreaker. The referee is accused of looking at Traci’s chest instead of counting before they trade strikes in the corner. Lexi gets two off a clothesline to the ribs (called a spear) followed by some weak forearms. A bad looking X Factor gets the same and Lane goes up for a cross body, only to have Traci roll her through for the pin with a handful of trunks.

Raitng: D+. It was clear that both of them were brand new here and at that point you can’t blame them for not working so well. When you’re that young the main thing you need is ring time and this is the place to get it. They’re clearly still learning the basics and there’s nothing wrong with that.

After getting her start in Shimmer as Ashley Lane, Madison made her debut in TNA in early 2009. She soon joined the Beautiful People with Velvet Sky and Angelina Love and made her PPV debut in a six person tag at Destination X 2009.

Beautiful People vs. Roxxi/Taylor Wilde/The Governor

Yes, the Governor is the Sarah Palin character that Daffney played. What is up with TNA being all political? There are still three Beautiful People at this point: Angelina, Velvet and Madison. At least Wilde looks good here. Governor (in a pantsuit) vs. Velvet to start. The fans chant yes we can because the Orlando fans are rather annoying.

Off to Roxxi and then to Taylor. The non-beautiful ones are tagging in really fast here. Apparently Madison is just now an official member of the BP. Velvet locks in an Octopus Hold to Roxxi who escapes and kicks her in the face. Sign: “Botchmania 71 = this match.” It’s pretty clear the fans aren’t that into this but that’s to be expected.

It’s one of those matches where stuff is happening but there isn’t anything to talk about. Taylor is called the upset queen still despite that being like two years prior to this. Taylor comes in and cleans house as this is one of the least interesting matches I’ve seen in years. Everything breaks down and the Governor dives over the top to the floor to take out everyone not named Madison on the other team. Madison gets caught in a bridging German by Wilde to end this.

Rating: D. What the heck was the point of this? You hear the term “TV match” a lot and this is the definition of one. Nothing at all about this match implies that it should be on a PPV in the slightest and yet here it is, opening the show. You can tell a lot about a PPV and how much effort is put into it by the opener and this one was awful. No one cared, nothing happened and it was short. Weak match indeed and I’m not looking forward to the rest of this show at all now.

The Beautiful People would dominate the Knockouts division in the coming years but they needed some gold. One of their attempts to gain some would come at Turning Point 2009 in a six Knockouts tag with the singles and Tag Titles on the line.

Knockout Title/Knockout Tag Titles: Beautiful People vs. ODB/Taylor Wilde/Sarita

All titles on the line here and the non-beautiful people are champions. No word on how the titles are split up if one of the three pins a tag champion (Wilde/Sarita). You know I wonder what ODB stands for. I think I’ll see what I can come up with (and spare me the comments saying what it stands for. I know already and I need something to get me through this match). The Beautiful People here are Velvet, Lacey and Madison here. Velvet vs. Wilde to start us off but it’s off to Sarita quickly. Ok make that Department of Bacon. We’re less than a minute in and they’ve all been in already.

Headbutt to the ribs gets two for Date of Birth. Madison comes in and does the touch yourself and burn your finger thing. Instead here though she has to go over to the corner and has Velvet blow on it. I guess men and women both want to be blown by her. The delay allows Original Daniel Bryan to bring in Sarita to fight Madison. The tag champions set up a double team moonsault (belly to back release into a moonsault by Taylor) for two.

Madison takes over and it’s off to Madison. After mounting Wilde she throws on a chinlock for about 2 seconds and hammers away a bit more. The fans say Lacey can’t wrestle so we’re back off to Velvet. Octopus hold goes on for a few seconds so the announcers can make Inoki jokes. An elbow breaks the hold and it’s cold tag to Board of Directors. After a fallaway slam to Velvet everything breaks down. They triple team Operation Break Dance which fails completely. TKO ends Madison.

Rating: D. Weak match here that had no point at all being on the PPV. This is what Impact is for: six minute matches with hot women doing nothing of note for the entire match. Also, is there a reason to keep the titles on there? Oxford Dictionary of Britain doesn’t get us anywhere as champion. Angelina would be back soon which helped the division a lot. Anyway, weak match.

Rayne would get her own singles title at Lockdown 2010 in another six person tag with all titles on the line.

Knockout’s Title/Tag Titles: Beautiful People vs. Tara/Angelina Love

Ok so it’s your standard two singles wrestlers vs. tag champions. You know the rules I’m sure. Yep Tara is gorgeous. Velvet and Angelina start us off. Taz is rather annoying on commentary to say the least. Some nice double teaming from the BP there. Make jokes amongst yourselves. Tara pulls an Angle and totally misses a moonsault. Good to see that the accuracy is there still.

Angel is better in the ring than she’s given credit for. Madison takes the Widow’s Peak but Velvet makes the save. Lacey gets in somehow and drills Tara in the head with a belt to give Madison Rayne the Knockout’s Title. So that’s two straight title changes with the champion not getting pinned. Ok then. I do love the BP being the focus of the division. That’s intelligent and not sarcastic actually.

Rating: C-. Not terrible actually. Love is underrated in the ring and Tara is always solid. The booking is right here and we don’t get the wacky tag partners which is never any good. Madison being champion is something new that could be worth a try. I’m rather happy for the first near hour of this show. I must be coming down with something.

Madison would win her third Knockouts Title when she made Tara lay down for her on October 14, 2010’s Impact. Since that’s a 4 second match, we’ll look at one of her title defenses at Genesis 2011 against Mickie James.

Knockouts Title: Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne

Mickie is still insanely sexy.  Madison is doing the whole classy chick gimmick thing again after debuting it a few days ago.  Or was it ten days ago?  Does it really matter?  Madison runs away to start but gets caught in an armdrag for two.  All Mickie to start of course as Madison shrieks.  Madison runs as Tazz makes sex jokes.

The fans say Madison can’t wrestle.  I’m so fed up with them it’s unreal.  Madison uses the ropes to get two in the corner.  This is about as uninteresting as it could be but they’re both hot so that helps a lot.  Rana out of the corner by Mickie drops the champion on her head.  Since it’s TNA we change camera angles every 9 seconds.

Cravate by Madison as we’re killing time now.  There’s a chinlock as this is going way too long, nearly at 9 minutes now.  Mickie gets a nice counter and a rollup for two.  Boot to the head gets two for Madison.  Champ tries the head bounce thing she does but Mickie counters into a wheelbarrow slam for two.  DDT is reversed and Madison gets spanked.

Thesz Press gets no cover.  Mickie sets for the DDT but here’s Tara because she and Mickie haven’t spent enough time together already.  Madison plays possum and loads up her arm with something to get the pin to retain the title.  For the love of crap get the title off of her already.

Rating: D. This got nearly 14 minutes.  Do I need to explain to you why this was a bad idea?  It wasn’t any good for the most part as Mickie dominated the whole time.  I’m bored out of my mind with Madison and her reign as she does nothing interesting while Mickie and Tara are definitely the best girls on the roster.  But hey let’s keep pushing through with the same thing the whole time right?  Bad match.

The only thing left for Madison to achieve was a Knockouts Tag Title and she would get a shot on the November 3, 2011 episode of Impact.

Knockout Tag Titles: Tara/Brooke Tessmacher vs. Gail Kim/Madison Rayne

Time for the monthly defense of the titles. Brooke’s outfit is designed like a Texas flag for some reason. She and Madison start us off but it’s off to Tara quickly. The arm work begins as the champions are tagging fast. Gail comes in and is all dominant and evil for a bit. Tessmacher’s corner hijinks don’t really work this time. Gail beats on Brooke a bit more until it’s a hot tag to Tara. Everything breaks down and there’s the Widow’s Peak. Karen Jarrett has the referee though and Eat Defeat gives us new champions at 5:05.

Rating: D+. It’s not like anyone cares about the belts, but this is what you do with the titles here as they’re actually having a division wide angle going on. Karen is evil and trying to have her girls get the titles. It’s not particularly interesting but a dull story is better than a repetitive one on a treadmill like the Divas have so this was fine, just not that interesting.

Madison would be gone for most of 2013 due to getting pregnant, but she would get the Knockouts Title one more time before the end of the year at Hardcore Justice 2012.

Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Miss Tessmacher

Tessmacher is defending. They shove each other around to start and Earl is refereeing. WHY WOULD STING LET HIM DO THAT? Madison takes over by sending Tessmacher into the corner and then launches her across the ring by the hair. That has to hurt like no other. Tessmacher comes back with some clotheslines but walks into a northern lights suplex for two. The real comeback starts with some clotheslines but that mat slam of Tessmacher’s is countered. The champ slams her down by the hair and hits a top rope elbow for two. Out of nowhere Madison grabs a rollup and uses the ropes for the pin and the title at 5:30.

Rating: D. This was your usual Knockouts match: not that good but the girls look good in their little outfits. Hebner didn’t cheat at all in this which makes the sights of Madison kissing him COMPLETELY POINTLESS. Yes I get that it could mean something later, but WHY DID I HAVE TO SEE THAT HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE??? Not a terrible match but man alive I do not care about women’s wrestling at all in either company. It’s just dull all around.

We’ll close things out with Madison’s return to the company in 2013 after having a baby and a title shot against Knockouts Champion Gail Kim from Genesis 2014.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Madison Rayne

Madison is challenging but is still beaten down from the attack from before the break. Kim beats her down even more by stomping away in the corner but Madison comes back with a rollup for two of her own. Madison can’t shake off all of the punishment from earlier though and staggers down off a forearm to the head. A shoulder block sends the champion to the floor but Tapa runs Madison over and chokes her down. Tapa is finally ejected but Gail does just fine by putting on the Figure Four around the post. The referee breaks it up and Rayne comes back with a flapjack and the Rayne Drop for the pin and the title at 4:00.

Rating: D. Just a match here but at least it ended the less than enthralling Gail Kim title reign. Kim is very talented in the ring but she’s a black hole of charisma, making her title reigns very difficult to sit through. Rayne could be an improvement if she’s actually given the chance to do something different.

I’m kind of surprised by how low most of these ratings are. Madison is a better worker than a lot of the Knockouts but it’s true that she owes a lot of her job to her looks. To be fair though, she can only do so much with limited talent around her. One other thing: you might have noticed the lack of stories here and that’s a big problem for the Knockouts. Almost all they have are title matches with nothing connecting them and that gets old in a hurry.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Old School
Date: February 7, 2014
Location: Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, New York
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

At least they advertised this one. This is the newest One Night Only show with a slightly more obvious theme. Looking at the card though, there isn’t much to see here that’s old school. Speaking of old school, as in something we’ve seen before, this show contains the fifth time that James Storm and Bobby Roode have been in direct competition against each other and their third singles match in just ten shows in this series. Come up with something new already. Let’s get to it.

By the way, I’m aware that this show if officially titled #oldschool. I’m going to assume you know why that’s stupid and why I’m calling it a name normal humans might use.

The opening video discusses the theme of reigniting old feuds. That’s better than the usual tournament, but I’m not sure Old School is the best name for that idea. It’s kind of misleading.

We’re already proving my point about the name: they’re using the word hashtag every time they say the name. It sounds so stupid and I can’t emphasize it enough.

The set is different again, but this time there’s a small lighted entrance for the guys to come to. It looks like the WWF set from the early 90s which isn’t a bad thing.

Austin Aries vs. Chris Sabin vs. Sonjay Dutt

These guys have actually feuded for years, dating back to the Austin Starr days, so they’re keeping up the gimmick through the first match. Tenay and Tazz get on my nerves about four minutes into the show, talking about what it means to be the best man that ever lived and implying three way escapades of a different sort. Sabin chills on the floor while Aries and Dutt run the ropes without much contact being made.

Sabin tells Sonjay he sucks and gets inside, only to walk into a Japanese armdrag from Aries who rides him on the mat for some humiliation. Austin lays on the top rope because that’s the kind of guy he is and all three guys are finally in the ring together. Dutt and Sabin double team Aries in the corner and take their turns charging at him, only to have Chris try a quick rollup to tick Sonjay off. Dutt does the same and there’s another argument to make sure we have every three way trope checked off the list.

Sonjay snaps off a hurricanrana on Aries as Tazz name drops Mike Adamle because commentary in TNA is a joke. Now it’s a Michael Cole reference as Tazz makes the only insightful comment he’ll give all night: he’s always paired with guys named Mike. Aries is placed on the top rope but Dutt and Sabin get in an argument over who gets to do the superplex. Austin fights them both off and we go WAY old school with a double noggin knocker. Both other guys are sent to the floor for a double double ax handle from A Double.

Back in and Aries hits a missile dropkick on Dutt but misses the running version in the corner as Sabin steps aside. Sonjay and Sabin get in another argument with Chris hitting a quick enziguri for two before Dutt sends him to the apron and kicks Aries in the face. Sabin is knocked to the floor and Aries hits a quick brainbuster for the pin on Sonjay.

Rating: C-. Pick a three way match that you’ve seen before, give it about eight minutes and you’ll have this match. It wasn’t anything special but that’s the kind of show you should expect with this series: something you’ve seen done better before but it’s what you’re in for with the reduced price.

Tommy Dreamer gives a serious promo on Bully Ray, talking about their history together and mentioning Ray invading Dreamer’s House of Hardcore show. He holds up a kendo stick and says he may not be Luke Skywalker and this may not be a lightsaber, but he’s cutting the evil fat out of Ray tonight. That may take a lot of carving.

Video on Ethan Carter III as the gimmick takes a nosedive.

Ethan comes out to call out an opponent as even the announcers realize that calling Ethan old school is absurd. The fans tell Ethan that he can’t wrestle and he chants back by alternating with “Yes I can” and “I’m very good.” He gets some cheap heat by making fun of the Yankees and says Dixie has allowed him to pick his opponent tonight.

Ethan Carter III vs. Dewey Barnes

So to clarify, we’re getting storyline development for a storyline that isn’t going on anymore on a theme show that almost no one is going to buy because TNA can’t put together a full card without this filler. Dewey comes from his other job at the merchandise table (he really does that at live events) but doesn’t want to fight. Carter pokes him in the chest and insults Dewey’s social status, which if finally enough for the redneck to fight. Barnes takes Ethan down by the legs but Carter rams him into the buckle and talks trash. The bulldog driver ends Barnes in just over a minute. I’m so glad this got PPV time.

With his back to the camera, Ray talks about meeting Tommy Dreamer back in 1992 and becoming close with him over the years. The word friend is unique in wrestling because Ray doesn’t have that many of them. Twenty five years later, Dreamer started his House of Hardcore promotion and invites Terry Funk instead of him and that’s just not how you treat a friend. We even get clips from House of Hardcore 2 with Ray invading and lighting a table on fire. Tonight Ray is going to beat Dreamer like you beat a friend of 25 years.

Bully Ray vs. Tommy Dreamer

This is falls count anywhere. Ray talks about ending Terry Funk’s career in this building and how he’ll do the same to Dreamer tonight. They stare at each other to start until Ray yells about Funk even more, earning him right hands to the face. Dreamer clotheslines him down but Ray takes him into the corner for some right hands. We get the Flip Flop and Fly from Tommy to send Ray outside as the fans are into this so far.

Tommy is sent ribs first into the barricade but Ray stops to yell at Hebner, allowing Dreamer to suplex Bully down on the floor for two. Back in and Ray counters a bulldog with a belly to back suplex before heading outside to get a table. Dreamer baseball slides it back into Ray’s face but Bully easily blocks a DDT attempt. A splash onto Dreamer on the table is good for two and it’s time for the chain.

Ray gets in another argument with Hebner, allowing Dreamer to get in some kendo stick shots for two. Tommy whips at the knee with the chain but Ray pokes him in the eye to get a break. Another table is sent inside but Ray finds a much more entertaining toy: a cheese grater. Ray tries his own Flip Flop and Fly but Dreamer takes away the grater and attack’s Ray’s crotch to be extra evil.

Tommy pulls out a piece of the barricade but Ray kicks it into his face to prevent further damage. Ray takes too much time going up top for some reason and gets caught in a Death Valley Driver off the ropes through the table for a close two. Dreamer goes up but gets hit in the ribs with a piece of barricade before being superplexed down onto the steel With nothing else to do, Ray pulls out another table and lighter fluid. Again it takes too long and Dreamer blasts him with a kendo stick before spraying the lighter fluid on the table. The distraction lets Ray hit him low and the Bully Cutter is good for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of match that they needed to have with a lot of time letting Dreamer seem like he had a chance. I’m still not wild on them using freaking House of Hardcore to set up a match at a TNA PPV but it’s not like TNA has anywhere else to build a story from.

Joe talks about his history in TNA and how he’s always answered the call when he had to. Tonight he gets a world title shot at Magnus, who he at least has a history with.

Here’s Eric Young with something to say. He says he’s very old school, which is actually true in his case. Young declares himself the president and gives us a gift of Velvet Sky. Eric calls her his favorite Knockout ever but begs us not to tweet it to ODB. Eric has a toast for the fans but Bad Influence interrupts. Mike: “You can’t interrupt the president!” Taz: “This is wrestling. Everyone interrupts everyone.”

Kaz says no one is more old school than they are and no one is hotter than Velvet Sky. They’re the best tag team in the Biz-A-Ness so you have permission to worship them. This brings out the Bro Mans to say that they’re new school and school is in session right now. Velvet isn’t a real woman, but the Bro Mans know what one is, so here’s Lei’D Tapa. Eric makes a six person tag and appoints himself referee.

Velvet Sky/Bad Influence vs. Lei’D Tapa/Bro Mans

Jesse and Daniels get us going with Christopher grabbing a quick headscissors. Daniels cartwheels over Godderz and pops him with a right hand before it’s off to Robbie who charges into an armbar. Kaz comes in with a kick to the back and an elbow drop for two before slamming Robbie face first into the mat for another near fall. Kaz misses a charge and falls out to the floor, only to have Robbie miss the same move and crash even harder.

Back in and Tapa wants Kaz but it’s off to Velvet to fire up the crowd a bit. Sky kicks away at the large leg but Tapa just shoves her away. Velvet blocks a charge coming into the corner but walks into a spinebuster to change control on a dime. The female looking one is sent across the ring for a tag off to Daniels who armdrags Robbie down with ease. Everything breaks down with Bad Influence cleaning house and sending the Bros out to the floor.

Things settle down again with the Bro Mans double teaming Daniels down and stomping away until Robbie drops a middle rope elbow for no cover. Tapa comes in and drops a leg on Daniels before dragging him over to the corner for a tag to Robbie. We hit the chinlock until Daniels fights up and scores with an STO, allowing for the hot tag to Kaz.

Kazarian speeds things up and cradles Jesse but adds a northern lights suplex on Robbie at the same time for a double near fall. Tapa runs over Bad Influence but Velvet takes her down with a cross body. Velvet is thrown over the top to crush Tapa again but Daniels has to escape a Bro Down. The High/Low out of nowhere is enough to get the pin on Jesse.

Rating: D+. Not bad, even though Eric meant nothing at all. Velvet did her thing here by looking hot on the apron and doing a few moves at the end to make sure people knew she was more than just eye candy. Bad Influence worked perfectly well as faces which says a lot about them given how awesome they are as heels.

Video on Monster’s Ball and how insane it can get.

Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy

Obviously Monster’s Ball, basically meaning hardcore. They actually shake hands to start before Abyss shoves Hardy down. Abyss runs him over again and stops a comeback attempt with a running clothesline. The first weapon brought in is a chair but Hardy knocks it out of Abyss’ hands and hits a quick mule kick. Poetry in Motion sends Abyss outside and a running clothesline off the apron drops both guys. Abyss is up first and bridges a table between the ring and the barricade as he’s done before.

Hardy fights out of the chokeslam attempt but is sent HARD into the post to put him down again. Back in and Abyss wedges a chair into the corner but Jeff blasts him with another chair to get a breather. That’s fine with Abyss who sends him face first into the wedged chair for two. Jeff’s forehead is cut open.

It’s thumbtacks time but Hardy fights out of another chokeslam attempt and snaps off some forearms. The legdrop between the legs has Abyss in some trouble and the Twisting Stunner puts him down again. Jeff goes up but Abyss pelts the chair at his head, knocking Hardy through the bridges table in a nice looking bump. It’s only good for two and the kickout doesn’t get the reaction they were hoping for.

Abyss heads outside again and brings in the spiked 2×4 called Janice. Hardy moves to avoid a bad case of death and Janice is stuck in the turnbuckle. The Whisper in the Wind COMPLETELY misses Abyss and the replay makes it look even worse. Jeff picks up Janice but walks into the chokeslam onto the tacks which is always a good looking spot. Jeff’s head landed in the tacks and he has to pull the tacks out. Awesome visual.

That’s only good for two as well though so it’s barbed wire board time. Hardy counters another chokeslam and dropkicks Abyss into the barbed wire. Jeff finds another barbed wire board and sandwiches Abyss between the two of them, setting up the Swanton for the pin despite the tacks still being in his back.

Rating: B-. This took time to get going but the ending was far better than I was expecting. The problem here was the lack of a reason for the violence. The guys didn’t really hate each other (they shook hands remember) so it was just violence for the sake of violence. Still though, good match and a nice surprise given what I was expecting. The tacks in the head was a sick thing to see too.

Kurt Angle talks about going old school (minus the hashtag because Angle doesn’t like sounding like a dolt) with Mr. Anderson tonight.

Video on Angle vs. Anderson which actually was one heck of a feud back in the day.

Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle

Anderson does a nice heel move by teasing throwing his shirt to the crowd but dropping it on the apron instead. Technical stuff to start with Angle taking it to the mat but getting kicked away into a standoff. Angle knocks Anderson into the corner and pops him with an uppercut, only to be send shoulder first into the post. Anderson goes after the shoulder with an armbar but has to escape an Angle Slam attempt and chop block Kurt down to the mat.

Mr. starts going after the knee now by cannonballing down off the ropes before wrapping it up in the corner. Off to a leg bar but Kurt punches him in the side of the head to escape. Anderson goes up but dives into a boot to the jaw to put both guys down. Some clotheslines by Kurt set up a German suplex but the Angle Slam is countered into the rolling fireman’s carry for two.

The Mic Check is countered into the ankle lock but Anderson rolls Angle out to the floor. Back in and Angle runs the corner for the belly to belly superplex and it’s back to the ankle lock. The same counter saves Anderson again and the Mic Check gets two. The Angle Slam connects a few seconds later for the abrupt pin.

Rating: C-. This was the abbreivated version of their match and the lack of time took away a lot of what makes these matches good. It also doesn’t help that there’s no personal reason for these two to fight other than they used to fight in the past, which is the general problem of this entire show.

Bobby Roode talks about his history with James Storm and how they were good friends but make better enemies.

Video on Roode vs. Storm. You all must know this story by now.

James Storm vs. Bobby Roode

Last man standing. A quick shoulder block gets three for Roode and it’s time for a slugout. Storm takes over with an atomic drop and a clothesline but Roode avoids two Last Call attempts. Bobby heads outside but gets suplexed in the aisle for a seven count. Storm sends him into the steps but and barricade before taking him back inside for an enziguri off the apron. Roode counters a suplex to the floor and dropkicks James into the barricade.

Storm is up at about seven and heads back inside, only to get caught in a Blockbuster for another close count. James fights up with kicks and punches followed by a Russian legsweep to put both guys down. Roode comes right back with a spinebuster but Storm is up at six. The Roode Bomb is countered into a Backstabber from Storm followed by the Eye of the Storm for about five. They head outside again for another kick from Storm but Roode gets up in time again.

The weapons are brought in with Storm putting a trashcan between Roode’s legs and blasting it with a crutch. Roode comes back with a hard clothesline but takes too long getting a trashcan ready and walks into the Last Call. Bobby makes it up at about 9.75 but the fans weren’t buying it because that was just one finisher. James sets up two chairs next to each other but Roode escapes the Eye of the Storm and Roode Bombs James onto the chairs for an eight count. With nothing else to do, Roode handcuffs Storm behind his back and cookie sheets/trashcans/beer bottles him down for the ten count.

Rating: C+. It’s a good match but much like Orton vs. Cena, the match has been done so many times that it’s almost impossible to care. This feud has used the same tropes over and over again and the interest just isn’t there for me anymore. It also doesn’t help that Storm almost never wins any of these matches, making him look even more like a choker and/or a loser.

Magnus says there’s an irony in the name of this show because he’s not old school at all. What is old school though is what it says on his title: wrestling. He’s a wrestler, meaning that he’ll beat Samoa Joe in a wrestling match where all of the rules are followed to the letter.

Video on the history of Magnus and Joe from being Tag Team Champions to the Mafia to Magnus’ heel turn.

TNA World Title: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe

Big Match Intros kill even more time before we get going. Joe takes him into the corner to start but the champion slaps him in the face like the evildoer he is. A right hand sends Magnus to the floor and he grabs the mic, saying that under British wrestling rules, closed fists are illegal. Magnus demands that Joe receive his first warning and apparently it’s two warnings for a DQ.

Back in and they fight over the arms as the announcers talk about ESPN reporters. Joe no sells an elbow to the jaw and runs Magnus over with one of his own before ripping his skin off with chops in the corner. A knee to the chest gets two for the Samoan and there’s the corner enziguri to set up the Face Wash. Magnus comes back with a running clothesline and throws punches in the corner for no warning. Outside now with the champion dropping an ax handle off the apron for two as the frustration is starting early tonight.

We hit the chinlock on Joe followed by another back elbow to the jaw and the second chinlock in a short span. Not exactly the most thrilling match in the world here. A HHH knee to the face drops Joe again but Magnus takes his time covering. Joe catches Magnus coming off the middle rope in an atomic drop followed by the snap powerslam for two. Magnus’ leapfrog is countered into a powerbomb into the Boston crab into the STF in the middle of the ring. Joe turns that into the Rings of Saturn but Magnus gets his foot on the rope.

Magnus comes back with a Michinoku Driver for two and the top rope elbow gets the same. With nothing else to do he goes and gets the title belt but Joe easily takes it away. That goes nowhere but Joe ducks a right hand a German suplexes the champion down. Magnus fights out of the MuscleBuster and counters the Clutch with a jawbreaker, bumping the referee in the process. Now the MuscleBuster connects and another Hebner slides in for two. Ethan Carter tries to interfere but gets rammed into the barricade, allowing Magnus to hit Joe with the belt to retain.

Rating: C. Not a bad match but the British rules thing went nowhere. It was fine for what it was and at least it gives a reason for the Ethan match earlier (he had a reason to be in the building for the main event). It’s nice that they actually gave the main event some importance but there’s still not enough here to hold much interest.

The traditional highlight package takes us out.

Overall Rating: C-. It’s not as good as Hardcore Justice 3 but this was fine for a One Night Only show. I can’t emphasize enough how much easier this company is to get through when Dixie Carter and the stupid power struggle isn’t taking up time. It’s still not great, but it goes from horrible to ok just like that, which is as good as you can get from TNA at the moment. The gimmick wasn’t terrible and thankfully they got it back on track after the second match. Nice show tonight but nothing worth going out of your way to see.

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Raw was another mixed bag last night but things are looking interesting going into Elimination Chamber. There isn’t as much to talk about this week though.

We’ll start with the old white elephant in the room. Betty White was the guest star last night and was fine. She’s one of those celebrities that it’s hard to not like on some level. Her segments totaled about seven minutes total and while they weren’t funny, she didn’t hurt anything and was charming so I can’t complain too much. The Outlaws bit was rather dumb but that’s comedy in the WWE for you. Oh and Big Show gets mauled by Brock two weeks ago and comes out just fine? Really?

The Authority did their usual schtick by making Orton look like a hopeless joke which we just have to live with anymore. HHH and Stephanie aren’t getting shown up anytime soon because they’re just so darn likeable and amazing so Orton gets to be the scapegoat. Nothing much to this segment, but can we please stop with the cutting off promos ten seconds in? This has become a thing recently and happened with Orton and Kane last night. It’s kind of annoying, though at the same time it’s less Authority related talking I have to listen to so I’m split on this one.

There were two more long and well done tag matches with a six man and four man version. While both were entertaining, I’m getting a bit tired of them. There are so many stories going on right now and since Smackdown is absolutely worthless anymore, everything gets crammed into Raw in a bunch of tag matches. They’re entertaining, but I kind of roll my eyes when I hear one announced.

After the Wyatt six man we had a promo from Bray Wyatt, calling the Shield toy soldiers in a war they can’t win. Bray said after the war the Family would be moving on to another plan, which has to mean Cena. I’m excited either way as the Wyatts have nailed their gimmick so well it’s unreal.

Miz interrupted Santino vs. Fandango and ranted about not being able to get into a match while the two of them wrestled. As soon as he left, Cole asked what Miz’s problem was. Lines like that are what make me want to watch the show with the sound muted.

I liked Sheamus’ promo about walking into a bar with Christian. It was simple, to the point, and tied back into the Chamber. Nothing wrong with that.

Cesaro looked great in the tag match last night and needs to get away from Swagger immediately. That being said, it’s Swagger who looks to be turning face soon, even though the fans are behind Cesaro. Obviously Colter can’t be turned face, which is what makes me think it’s coming.

Ziggler is supposed to be in line for a push so they job him clean in 90 seconds. Gotta love WWE logic.

Batista beat up Del Rio and their match was announced for Elimination Chamber. I gave Batista the benefit of the doubt at the Rumble and still don’t mind him winning, but the spark is just not there at all. Batista looks in great shape and will probably be fine in the ring, but if he’s the one in the main event of Wrestlemania winning the title, the crowd is going to die a slow and painful death.

Lita is going into the Hall of Fame. The low cut tops she wore when she was with Edge alone are more than enough justification for me. Also, Trish has to induct her right?

It looks like we’re getting Usos vs. Outlaws soon which hopefully gives us the long overdue Usos title reign.

Ambrose’s open challenge was what it should have been. Henry wasn’t much of a challenger but at least it was a title defense that wasn’t wasted. One other thing though: what else was Henry going to do if there wasn’t an open challenge? His return was advertised all night and last week, so were we getting a basket weaving lesson unless Ambrose issued the challenge? Also Dean’s reaction with the bugged out eyes and forced smile when Henry’s music hit had me in stitches. The guy’s facial expressions are some of the best in wrestling today.

That brings us to the coolest part of last night’s show: the Wyatts came out after Ambrose’s match to stare down the Shield. The place went NUTS when it looked like the fight was on but Bray and company backed down. They need to let that match be an all out war instead of a tag match but it’s going to be awesome either way.

The Divas match last night was horrible. I beg of you WWE: put Finlay in charge of them again. The wrestling was horrid and they’re getting back into the horrible habit of the girls being models instead of wrestlers.

Kane vs. Bryan is coming and odds are it’ll be on a big Raw before Wrestlemania. No complaints from me.

The main event was of course Cena vs. Orton again, which isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. The matches are still good but I don’t get excited about them at all. It’s been done so many times now and the premise doesn’t work. Cena is so long since established as the top star and Orton just doesn’t work as the huge rival anymore.

That being said, there were some very good things about the match. First of all, I love how Orton learns during his matches. If you watch his work against guys he’s fought before, Orton will start countering/avoiding signature spots. He did it on Friday by countering the sunset flip out of the corner and last night he avoided the Cena shoulder blocks. It’s a very simple thing but it shows thinking in the ring, which is a lost art.

Speaking of lost arts, Orton put on a clinic in working a crowd like an old school heel last night. He stalled, he played to the crowd, and he had the people wanting Cena to kill him. If you want the fans to pay attention to you, pay attention to them. It’s how Cena has saved a ton of crowds from getting away from them and it’s how almost every top star ever has gotten where they are. Look back at Rock, Austin, Cena, Sting and Bryan now: they all play directly to the crowd and ask them to react to things. Fans love nothing more than being a part of the show and it works the same for heels. Good stuff in that area.

A few more notes about the show:

Can we get Cena checked for short term memory loss? A few weeks ago Orton attacked his dad and never mentioned it. Then the Wyatts cost him the title at the Rumble and he hasn’t talked about that either. I know it’s coming, but at least mention it again.

All of the champions in action lost last night. On top of that, the Outlaws were in a comedy segment that appealed to five year olds. I’m so glad we got the titles off of Goldust and Cody so the tag champions could be used in comedy sketches.

Has Big E. Langston fallen into a hole and no one has been around to hear him scream for help? The guy has disappeared since the Rumble.

Speaking of disappearing, does anyone remember Brock Lesnar demanding to be #1 contender? It looked like he was going to fight the Authority about it and then just disappeared. Good thing too, as it almost looked like the Authority might have to face some adversity and that’s not Best for Business.

Rumor has it that Shelton Benjamin worked a dark match against Tyson Kidd last night.  However, he and Kidd say this isn’t true so chalk another one up for internet reporters.

Steve Austin and RVD were backstage last night with Austin there to talk to Zeb Colter about being on the podcast. From what I’ve heard, there are no plans to bring RVD back to TV soon.

Overall Raw was entertaining, but there was nothing that needed to be seen. It did a good enough job building up the Chamber show, but it didn’t do much for me.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 10, 2014
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

We have an announced main event tonight with Orton continuing to run the Authority gauntlet, meaning tonight it’s Orton vs. Cena. Again. Other than that we’re getting closer to Shield vs. Wyatts at the PPV which has been a well built feud. That Reigns face turn is coming and it’s going to be huge when he spears Ambrose in half. To top it off, we get BETTY WHITE tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with an In Memory graphic for Frank Bullock, a production worker who died over the weekend.

Thankfully we’re getting Betty White out of the way first as Big Show returns from the horrible beating at Royal Rumble like it was no big deal to escort her to the stage. She talks about how great it is to be here but the Authority cuts them off. Stephanie hugs White and that’s all for Betty and Big Show for now.

HHH talks about Orton losing last week, which means it’s time to reconsider who is the face of the WWE. It might be any of the six men inside the Elimination Chamber but Orton interrupts the boss. Stephanie: “Are you seriously doing this again?” That line writes about a dozen jokes on its own. She advises Randy to go to the back to get ready for his main event tonight but Orton thinks he owes the two of them an apology.

Orton says he needs to bring the Viper back for the rest of his reign, but Stephanie isn’t sure if she can believe him. A Daniel Bryan chant starts up as Orton talks about the Authority making a promise to him at Summerslam. Orton wants to be the face of the WWE outside of the ring, including being on every piece of advertising and merchandise that WWE produces because he’s the best in the company.

This brings out Daniel Bryan who is almost immediately cut off by Stephanie. She says everyone who wants to speak to them will need to make an appointment with the Director of Operations, but that’s why Bryan came out here. It seems that Kane is nowhere to be seen unless he’s doing the Authority’s bidding, including last week when he tried to help Orton win. Not that it mattered though, as Bryan pinned Randy last week. Tonight, Bryan doesn’t want an appointment with Kane, but he does want a match.

Stephanie says Kane is on administrative leave for a week and a VERY serious letter of performance approval on his file. Bryan says the Authority is a great combination of arrogance and stupidity but that sets Orton off. Daniel brings up a moment from not too long ago (about five years actually) when Orton handcuffed HHH to the ropes and kissed an unconscious Stephanie. HHH says hold off on the Punt because Bryan is getting the night off. The fans chant no but that’s the segment.

Cody Rhodes/Goldust/Rey Mysterio vs. Wyatt Family

Cody pops Rowan in the jaw to start and dropkicks him into the good corner for a tag off to Goldust. A quick tag brings in Harper who charges into a boot in the corner, setting up a middle rope hurricanrana from Goldie. Cody adds a missile dropkick to send Luke outside, followed by a sliding Rey splash as we take a break.

Back with Rowan cranking on Goldust’s neck and forearming him in the jaw to stop a comeback attempt. Harper comes in with a hard slam for two but Cody comes in for the save. Off to Bray for his aggressive offense and a hard elbow to drop Goldust. Rowan gets two off a knee drop but walks into a middle rope elbow to the jaw to put both guys down. Goldust low bridges him to the floor but Harper comes in and knocks the partners off the apron. Luke walks into a powerslam though and the hot tag brings in Mysterio.

Rey sends Harper into the post and hits a top rope seated senton followed by a tornado DDT for two. Bray makes the save but caught in the 619 position. Harper joins him but Rey only hits Luke as Bray rams Mysterio face first into the apron. Cody and Goldust dive off the steps to take out some Wyatts, leaving Rey alone with Luke in the ring. Rey loads another 619 but Bray charges in and hits a running Sister Abigail for the pin at 10:25.

Rating: C+. Is anyone else getting tired of these six man tags? Shield and the Wyatts have been doing these matches for a year now and while they’re still entertaining, it’s becoming a “we’ve seen this” feeling. The ending sequence with the chaos is always fun but I’m starting to roll my eyes when I hear about a six man tag later in the show.

Post match Bray calls the Shield toy soldiers in a war that isn’t for them. After the war is over, it’s time for the Wyatt’s new day to begin.

Video on Reigns breaking Kane’s Royal Rumble record.

Renee Young asks Reigns about the Shield so he calls her baby girl and says actions speak louder than words. Ambrose and Reigns agree but Renee asks Ambrose about never defending the US Title. Apparently it takes a lot of paperwork to get a title match set up but Reigns doesn’t buy it. Dean puts out an open challenge for the title tonight and walks away, leaving Reigns smiling.

The Divas talk to Betty White when Vickie Guerrero comes in. We’re promised clips of Betty’s show about practical jokes but the New Age Outlaws come up to offer her protection from any pranks later tonight. They escort Betty off to get a cup of tea and the Divas aren’t sure what’s going on.

We look back at Cena vs. Orton at Breaking Point in 2009 with Orton basically filming a torture movie with Cena as the victim.

Santino Marella vs. Fandango

Santino has Emma with him. Fandango quickly takes him down with some headbutts as the fans chant for JBL. Miz comes out to commentary again and says how ridiculous it is for a Hollywood movie star like him to not be in a match while Twinkletoes and a guy whose act is older than Betty White can get in the ring. Cole: “What’s his problem?” Sanitno’s comeback goes nowhere as the headbutt hits knees, setting up the guillotine legdrop to give Fandango the pin at 2:23.

Byron Saxton (NXT commentator and former wrestler) asks Sheamus about teaming with Christian against the Real Americans later tonight. Sheamus talks about always respecting Christian, which makes the teaming a bit easier. Maybe they can even have a pint after the show. That would mean an Irishman and a Canadian walk into a bar on Hollywood Boulevard, but that sounds like the start of a bad joke. The Elimination Chamber isn’t a joke, because it’s the chance to go to Wrestlemania. Sheamus will kick anyone in the face to headline the biggest show of the year.

Sheamus/Christian vs. Real Americans

Before the match we get a quick promo from Christian who thinks he might make a good face of the WWE. He doesn’t have poster boy good looks, though is mom thinks he does. What he does have is a pair of World Heavyweight Titles, but he should make it three at Elimination Chamber. Colter does his usual schtick before the match and thinks Christian and Sheamus snuck across the border after their injuries.

Zeb says Cesaro starts and Swagger isn’t happy with it. A loud WE THE PEOPLE chant starts with Cesaro slamming Christian around before bringing in Swagger. Jack misses a charge in the corner and gets caught by a middle rope dropkick for two. Off to Sheamus who knocks Jack from corner to corner before it’s Cesaro back in with rights and lefts in the corner.

Sheamus comes back with a neckbreaker for two but Cesaro fires off a series of European uppercuts to the delight of the crowd. Sheamus is all BRING IT ON and the fans aren’t pleased as his comeback. A top rope shoulder gets two for the Irishman but a Swagger distraction lets Antonio kick Sheamus to the floor as we take a break. Back with Cesaro taking the Irish Curse for two before it’s back to Christian for a sunset flip, good for two of his own.

The middle rope elbow to the jaw puts Cesaro down but he fights out of the Killswitch. Christian charges into Swiss Death for two and it’s back to Swagger for a front facelock. Swagger breaks up a hot tag attempt and we get the Vader Bomb into the running double stomp for two. Cesaro loads up the Swing to a great reaction and Christian has to get back inside after a nine count. Swagger comes in with a powerslam for two of his own before tagging back to Cesaro, only to have Christian avoid a charge in the corner.

Jack is sent to the floor as well and it’s a double tag to Sheamus vs. Swagger. There are the ten forearms to get the fans back on Sheamus’ side and he loads up the Brogue Kick. Cesaro makes ANOTHER save before the kick is launched and Swagger puts Sheamus in the Patriot Lock. Christian comes in with a high cross body before taking Cesaro out with a DDT, setting up the Brogue Kick for the pin on Jack at 14:30.

Rating: C+. Nice match here again with Cesaro looking like a killer for the most part. The best sign for Sheamus was that the fans didn’t dislike him but that they liked Cesaro more. As soon as it was Sheamus vs. Swagger the fans were right back on Sheamus’ side, proving that he’s still a fan favorite. Cesaro needs to get away from Swagger like six months ago.

Cena says he and Orton have dominated WWE for ten years but now the fans are choosing new superstars like Daniel Bryan. The match tonight is about the future, as Cena closes his rivalry with Randy Orton once and for all. Why do they even bother with lines like that anymore? If the Wyatts, Shield, Cesaro or Bryan think they can be the future, know that they’ll have to go through Cena to get there.

Quick highlight reel of Batista Bombs.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio

Alberto fires off some quick kicks to start but Ziggler takes him down and hits the ten elbow drops. Ziggler gets two off the Fameasser but Del Rio kicks him in the knee and hits the low superkick for the pin at 1:30.

Del Rio goes after Dolph but Batista makes the save and spears Alberto down. He loads up the announce table and powerbombs Del Rio through it to shut him up for a change.

The Bellas tell us how to get the WWE Network.

HHH tells Batista he can’t do the kind of things he just did. A match between Del Rio and Batista is made for Elimination Chamber.

The newest Hall of Fame class is Lita. Nothing wrong with that.

Betty White has tea with the Outlaws but isn’t sure she should trust them. Dogg spikes the tea while Betty admires a tag title but stops to ask for lemons. She switches teacups with Billy while the Outlaws get lemons for her. Comedy will ensue later I’m sure.

Usos vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel

The Outlaws are out for commentary. Jey hammers away on Axel to start as Cole talks about the Outlaws fighting the Usos’ dads. Billy has a stomach ache and I think we’ve got some COMEDY coming up. Ryback comes in again to work on Jey in the corner as Billy’s ailments continue. Back to Axel as Dogg won’t agree to defend against the Usos. Ryback comes in to stomp away as the Goldberg chants begin.

Jimmy comes off the middle rope with a cross body and makes the tag to Jey as house is cleaned. A superkick puts Axel down as the Billy shenanigans continue. Jimmy dives over the top to take out Ryback while tagging at the same time. Jey comes in off the top with the Superfly Splash (while pointing at the Outlaws in midair) for the pin on Axel at 4:00.

Rating: D+. That ending sequence was awesome and I’m glad we’re getting to the Usos getting back in the title hunt. It’s WAY overdue for them to win the titles and a title change at Wrestlemania would be perfect. The Outlaws continue to be a waste of time as champions but if they lose before Wrestlemania it’ll be ok enough.

Billy leaves quickly with stomach issues.

US Title: Dean Ambrose vs. ???

This is Dean’s first defense since October and it’s Mark Henry accepting the challenge. So what was he going to do if there wasn’t an open challenge? The look on Dean’s face is GREAT as his eyes bug out with a terrified smile at the same time. We get big match intros and Ambrose is terrified from the opening bell. Henry shoves him down with ease despite having a heavily bandaged elbow.

Ambrose bails to the floor before getting in some kicks to the elbow. Henry kicks him square in the jaw to stop the champion’s control and sends him into the buckle a few times. Dean goes shoulder first into the post but he takes the brace off Henry’s bad elbow. Mark casually hiptosses him to the outside and we take a break.

Back with Dean still in control and putting on a Fujiwara armbar, only to have Henry fight up and slam Dean off the top. A powerslam crushes Ambrose and Henry counters the bulldog driver into the World’s Strongest Slam, only to have Rollins come in for the title saving disqualification at 8:00.

Rating: D. I’m glad Henry didn’t win as the title changing needs to be a bigger deal than an open challenge getting it off Ambrose. I’m glad it wasn’t Reigns either as the Shield has a big enough story going with the Wyatts to split even further at the moment. Boring match for the most part though and that’s not good.

Reigns spears Henry down post match but the Wyatts’ intro cuts them off. The Family comes to the ring for the face to face staredown and Shield comes back over the barricade. The Wyatts step forward as well as they’re all around the ring. The fans like what they see as Shield gets on the apron. Shield gets in the ring but the Wyatts back off with Bray smiling the whole way.

We look back at Orton attacking Cena’s dad a few weeks ago.

Black History Month video on Bobo Brazil.

Aksana/Alicia Fox/AJ Lee vs. Bella Twins/Cameron

Nikkia hits a quick facebuster on AJ to start and sends her to the floor before it’s off to Aksana. Nikki does the Worm for no apparent reason and kicks Aksana in the back for two. Brie comes in and is slammed down for two and it’s off to Alicia for another slam out of the corner for two more. A rollup gets two for Brie and Alicia runs her over to set up a chinlock. Nikki is sent to the floor as Cameron gets the hot tag and cleans house. Cameron takes Alicia down with a headscissors and gets two off a dropkick to the side of the head. A DDT, apparently called Girl Bye is enough to pin Fox at 4:43.

Rating: D-. Next. That’s all I’ve got here.

Be A Star rally at a middle school earlier today means we get MORE STEPHANIE!

We recap the opening segment.

Here’s Kane who accepts the punishment set down by the Authority and admits that it was ill advised to act on his own. Bryan cuts him off before this can go too far and the fight is on. Kane uppercuts Bryan down but gets low bridged to the floor. Bryan hits the FLYING GOAT and dropkicks Kane into the crowd.

Betty White thanks the fans for welcoming her and introduces us to the main event. Nothing wrong with that.

John Cena vs. Randy Orton

This DEFINES THE FUTURE, whatever that means. Feeling out process to start with Cena sending Orton outside off an armdrag. Back in and John grabs a headlock and gets a quick one off a hiptoss, sending Orton bailing to the floor again. Orton hits the ring again and pounds on Cena with right hands followed by a back elbow to the jaw. They head back outside with Cena being rammed face first into the announce table and dropped back first onto the barricade.

Back from a break with Orton stomping away but getting slammed down. Cena starts his comeback but Orton ducks the second shoulder as everyone knows it’s coming. That’s one thing I’ve always liked about Orton: he’s one of the few guys that learns from earlier matches. Back in and Cena tries an AA but gets caught with a DDT for two. Orton listens to the crowd a bit too long and it’s Cena hitting his finishing sequence but Randy counters the AA into a backbreaker for two.

Cena still can’t hit the AA and gets caught in a powerslam for two more. John blocks a superplex attempt but gets caught in the Elevated DDT out of the corner. There’s no cover though as Orton yells at the crowd and laughs evily. The RKO is countered into the STF but Randy is quickly in the ropes.

A dropkick from the champion puts Cena down again and Randy gets serious by POINTING TO THE SIGN. Orton misses the Punt but escapes the AA for the fourth time tonight before the RKO gets two. The required AA gets the required near fall but Orton fights out of the middle rope AA. Cena hits the top rope Fameasser and grabs a quick AA for the pin at 20:53.

Rating: C+. Now NEVER LET THEM FIGHT AGAIN. That’s what’s so annoying about this never ending series: the matches are usually good like this one was, but I just do not want to see them fight anymore. Any kind of spark this match used to have is gone as Cena has easily won the rivalry over the years and there’s just nothing special to it anymore.

Overall Rating: C-. This felt like Smackdown on a Monday night. Nothing here felt like I needed to see it and none of the stories felt like they went anywhere. Batista vs. Del Rio for the PPV was a given, the Shield and Wyatts didn’t really do anything new, Ambrose defended the title in a meaningless match, and I think I’ve seen that main event somewhere before. It wasn’t a bad show or anything but this episode could easily have been skipped with nothing changing in a fan’s eyes. It’s ok to have one of those around this time, as long as it doesn’t become the norm.

Results

Wyatt Family b. Cody Rhodes/Goldust/Rey Mysterio – Sister Abigail to Mysterio

Fandango b. Santino Marella – Guillotine legdrop

Sheamus/Christian b. Real Americans – Brogue Kick to Swagger

Alberto Del Rio b. Dolph Ziggler – Superkick

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

Mark Henry b. Dean Ambrose via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered

Bella Twins/Cameron b. AJ Lee/Aksana/Alicia Fox – Girl Bye to Fox

John Cena b. Randy Orton – Attitude Adjustment

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $4 at:

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It’s……Lita.  I can live with this.

WWA Television
Date: September 1965
Location: Southside Armory, Indianapolis, Indiana

God bless Youtube. The WWA is an old territory that actually had two offices: one in Los Angeles and the other in Indianapolis. This show aired sometime in the 1960s but it’s almost impossible to track down the exact date. This might not even be the WWA but there’s only so much research you can do on a show that’s (possibly) nearly fifty years old. Let’s get to it.

Tom Jones vs. Gene Kiniski

Kiniski is world champion (not sure if that’s WWA or NWA) and this is a non-title match. Jones is a plucky little face who grabs a headlock to start but Kiniski takes him into the corner and pounds away on the back. The announcer answers a fan letter about what the ring is made of in great detail which is more interesting than the match itself.

Kiniski kicks him in the face but Jones comes back in with rights and lefts before stomping the champion down in the corner. Kiniski comes back with boots of his own and gets two off a slam. A lot of choking ensues and Kiniski chops him in the chest a few times. Jones finally comes back with a headbutt but gets chopped right back down. Three straight backbreakers (Kiniski’s finisher) are enough to end Jones with relative ease.

Rating: D+. Kiniski is a guy that I’ve never actually seen wrestle before but he was a solid heel in there. He acted like a jerk and choked a lot which had the fans wanting to see him lose but Jones just wasn’t the guy that was going to be able to do it. Jones was decent but there was only so much he could do out there.

House show ad with a main event of Larry Hennig/Harley Race vs. Dick the Bruiser/The Crusher. Those guys would be big deals in the AWA which makes me think this is WWA given how close the territories were to each other. Wildbur Snyder comes in to talk about the tag match and how much the teams hate each other. Snyder was co-owner of the WWA which confirms this as much as anything can. The house show is Saturday November 2, which would put this in 1968, meaning Kiniski is NWA World Champion. I love figuring that stuff out.

Assassins vs. Prince Pullins/Rocky Montero

This is 2/3 falls. The Assassins are masked guys with whips who the announcer says “claim the title of World Tag Team Champions.” That might mean they’re champions, which would confuse things even more because the Assassins last held the WWA Tag Titles in 1965. The announcer now says the Assassins ARE Tag Team Champions, so this is sometime between 1965 and 1968. Pullins vs. Assassin #1, who is the smaller of the two, gets things going. The Prince avoids a right hand as they stall early on.

Prince grabs a headlock and Montero comes in for no apparent reason, allowing #2 to come in and cheat. #1 is put down by a headlock takeover but a knee to the ribs put Prince down and allows the tag off to #2. The announcer talks about how big the wrestlers are as Montero keeps wandering around the ring, even winding up on the wrong corner at one point. Prince slugs away on #1 and tries some headbutts, which the announcer calls a popular move “among young negro wrestlers.” Different times indeed.

More headbutts sent #2 into Montero in the corner as everything breaks down. Montero actually cleans house a bit and sends the Assassins outside until it’s #2 inside again. #1 comes in as well but the good guys pick him up and ram him into #2. Not that it matters as #2 pops back up and hammers on Montero before bringing #1 in again for a slugout. Pullins comes back in again with headbutts and right hands but gets driven back into the corner. #2 slams him down and #1 adds a top rope stomp to Prince’s ribs for the first fall.

Montero and #1 start, which confuses the announcer as the people who ended the previous fall are supposed to start the next. Rocky is sent outside and holds his eye due to some shots from the gauntlet on #1 hand. The match stops almost entirely until it’s back to Pullins who is sent to the floor as well. Monster comes back in and rips at #1’s eyes as everything breaks down yet again.

Prince comes back in and cleans house as the announcer talks about the legal issues of referees getting physical. A dropkick gets one on #2 and it’s back to Montero with no tag. Prince is in almost immediately as Montero walks down the apron, meaning there’s no one for Prince to tag. It breaks down again and the top rope stomp plus a seated senton are enough to pin Montero.

Rating: D-. This was WAY too long and not good in the slightest. Montero was all over the place and looked like he had no idea what he was doing the entire time. The Assassins were just generic heels in masks which made the match pretty dull to sit through. Nothing to see here, other than Montero looking like he was lost in the match.

Danny Dolly vs. Dick the Bruiser

Bruiser owned the company and is a very terrifying looking human being. I looked this up online and was told it was September of 1965, making me think that the house show ad was wrong. Bruiser throws him around to start and fires off some knees in the corner. We hit the neck crank as the announcer talks about how no one has ever submitted to a chinlock. Back to the corner for choking by Dick but Dolly comes back with right hands and a headlock takeover. Bruiser easily comes back with kicks to the ribs before throwing Dolly out to the floor. Dick slams Dolly back inside and goes up for a flying knee drop and the pin.

Rating: D+. Total squash here but it was entertaining to see Bruiser clean house like that. He made a career out of destroying various jobbers and is one of the handful of old names that you’ll see hear every now and then. His look reminds me of Brock Lesnar, which was was even scarier in the 60s.

Moose Cholak vs. Tony Parente

Cholak is a big monster who won’t shake hands with the much smaller Tony. We’re also in a different arena here as there are, I kid you not, less than fifteen fans visible in the crowd. Parente goes for the legs before trying an armbar instead. Cholak goes after the leg before the guys collide in the ring which should have been much more one sided than it was. A dropkick staggers the Moose and they trade forearms with neither getting anywhere.

Something resembling an armdrag puts Parente down but he comes back with a knee to Cholak’s leg. There’s a leg lock as Moose is in a bit of trouble now. Back up and Cholak grabs a bearhug for about two seconds before sending Parente into the buckle. Tony slugs his way out of a wristlock but gets sent into the buckle again to stop his comeback. I don’t know if you can even call it a comeback as neither guy has had a long advantage yet.

Parente takes him down with an armbar and cranks back on the arm Fujiwara style before being thrown outside. Back in and Tony scares Cholak into the corner before firing off some hard right hands. Moose shrugs them off, headbutts Tony down and drops a big splash for the pin.

Rating: D. WAY too much offense from Parente here as Moose looked like he won because he survived rather than being dominant at all. The match made Cholak look like he got lucky rather than being the better man, which isn’t what you would want out of a monster like him. Bad match here but the crowd being so small was far more interesting.

Overall Rating: D-. Well at least it was short. This wasn’t a good show for the most part as the most entertaining matches were the Kiniski and Bruiser squashes. The WWA never was a huge territory and if this is any indication of what their product was like, it’s not hard to see why. Really dull show here with nothing that held my interest at all.

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