Makes sense……BROTHER.Nah just messing with you.  It’s Kurt Angle.

I’m listening to the sweet Wyatt Family theme (Broken Out in Love) and started to think.Bray Wyatt and his Family are coming to Raw.  As most of you likely know, Wyatt used to be on the main roster as Husky Harris.  Bray Wyatt is a completely new gimmick for him, which is something that is becoming more frequent lately.  This means that fans are likely going to chant Husky Harris at him, which will get annoying in a hurry.  Why do fans insist on doing this?  They did it to Tensai by chanting Albert and I’m sure they’ve done it before then.  It’s no secret that he’s a different guy and it’s not like no one has ever been repackaged before.  Why do fans insist on reminding everyone else that they recognize someone?  It doesn’t work that way in movies or on TV, so why do we constantly have to be reminded of someone’s past identity in wrestling?

Why on earth TNA would use one of their four PPVs a year as a filler show is beyond me, but that’s exactly what we’re getting here.  Let’s get to it.The main story here is of course Sting vs. Bully Ray as part of the now year long feud between TNA and Aces and 8’s.  The fact that this story lost its legs months ago means nothing to TNA, so the bonus feature is is that it’s Ray’s title against Sting being able to challenge for the title ever again if he loses, as well as the match being no holds barred.  That alone should tell you everything you need to know about the ending.  That being said, this is TNA, meaning they might put the title on Sting as a swerve.  I’m going to say it’s Ray retaining, possibly with Brooke screwing Sting over “for love”, as all signs seem to point to Hulk vs. Ray at BFG.

One of the other big matches on the show is the fourway for the tag titles with Chavo/Hernandez defending against Bad Influence, Bobby Roode/Austin Aries and the new team of Gunner/James Storm.  Adding Storm and Gunner brings some fresh blood into the mix, but the story still isn’t all that interesting.  Either way, they NEED to get the titles off Chavo and Hernandez, as they’re just not interesting at all.  Aside from Storm and Gunner, these same six guys have been feuding for what feels like ever and the story is very old already.  Let these guys fight different people over something a bit more important for a change.  As for the winners, I’ll go with Storm and Gunner, which is a shame as Storm could do so much more (once he’s healthy that is).

In Styles vs. AJ, I think it goes to Styles.  Angle doesn’t need the win and what good is AJ if he loses his first big match back from his pouting?  The Storm match he won was somewhat big but facing Angle on PPV is a bigger deal.  Anyway, I’ll go with Styles for the win here in what should be the match of the night.

Jeff Hardy is back in the six man tag with Joe/Magnus vs. Bischoff/Brisco/Anderson (Anderson is replacing Doc to give Aces and 8’s something resembling a chance).  There’s no reason at all for Aces and 8’s to win here and I can’t imagine they will, as Hardy needs to start getting revenge on Aces and 8’s and there’s no better place to start than here in a meaningless six man.  TNA wins, as they should.

I’ll take Park to win the TV Title, although it’s not like it really matters as he won’t defend the stupid thing.  I don’t get why TNA does this with so many TV Champions.  Joe defended it quite often and it made the belt seem valuable for a little while.  Anyway, Park wins, which will at least remind people that the belt exists.

Then there’s the X-Division Title match in an Ultimate X match with Kenny King defending against Chris Sabin and Suicide.  This is where the X-Division rules get on my nerves.  Sabin and King have a feud going, but we have to add Suicide to it to fulfill some requirement.  Suicide adds nothing to the match at all and is there just to fill in a spot.  I mean, was anyone begging for Suicide to come back?  The match would be fine as Sabin vs. King with Sabin being able to show that he isn’t frail and can still hang with anyone in the world.  Sabin should win the title and I think he will, although watch out for a surprise Suicide win.

Last Knockout standing between Gail Kim and Taryn Terrell: it makes sense for Taryn to win and set up the showdown with Mickie at BFG for the title so we’ll go with stupidity and logic by saying Taryn wins, but it’s really hard to care about this match for me.  I will however give them this: they’re doing a better job with building stories in the Knockouts division as it’s clear how we got here and it doesn’t feel like something we’ve seen a dozen times before.

Finally we have Sam Shaw vs. Jay Bradley in the BFG Gut Check Tournament final.  I’ll go with Bradley as he’s a better prospect and leave it at that, as this is just a match to determine who gets to be the jobber in the tournament while geting a single fluke win.

 

Overall Slammiversary should be ok as a show, but the buildup to it has done nothing for me.  The show feels like a filler PPV, which makes no sense for TNA given that they only have four shows a year.  Sting vs. Ray with Sting’s future title chances on the line again make it about Sting and not the title/champion, which is the way of life in TNA.  The whole Aces and 8’s story has taken so long to go anywhere (it began the show after last year’s Slammiversary) that it’s really hard to care at this point.  At the end of the day, it’s Sting/Hogan vs. the Dudley Boys and Anderson.  Other than that, there isn’t anyone in Aces and 8’s worth a thing and they’re fighting two of the biggest names ever.  TNA is rather dull right now because it takes forever to get anywhere with this lack of PPV, and now they use one on a Sting story.

 

Also I’ll take Jarrett or Angle for the Hall of Fame.

NXT
Date: June 1, 2010
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews

We come at last to the grand finale and the last episode of NXT that I haven’t reviewed yet. I’m kind of excited for this as the ending of the first one had me very interested indeed. Anyway, the finalists are Justin Gabriel, Wade Barrett and David Otunga. Otunga is probably the weakest one but maybe I’m wrong. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the entire season which is always cool to see. The first season of this show was actually pretty good. This show is live for once.

Striker points out the previously eliminated rookies who are here tonight. Here are the Pros as we’re filling in a lot of time here. Now we bring out the finalists. There will be two eliminations tonight and up first it’s a triple threat match!

Before that though we need to introduce some rookies for next season! First up is Husky Harris who is a third generation star. His pro is Cody Rhodes. He isn’t Dashing yet. Maybe just jogging lightly at this point.

Monday is Viewer’s Choice Raw.

Another Pro is John Morrison who has Eli Cottonwood who is kind of odd.

Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett vs. David Otunga

 

We’ve got elimination rules here too just to make it awesome. Finally we get going after 9000 announcements. Barrett gets sent to the floor early as Otunga beats on Gabriel. Wade back in now as Gabriel hits the floor. We’re told that in the second season of NXT there will be a 50/50 split between the Pros and the fans which is important. Otunga vs. Gabriel at the moment.

Really bad powerslam puts Gabriel down. Barrett can’t stay in the ring here for too long which is kind of funny. Gabriel puts Otunga down and gets the 450 but Wade pulls him out to get the pin on Otunga instead. We take a break as we’re down to one on one. Back with Gabriel breaking up an armbar on the mat. Off to an abdominal stretch by Barrett. He’s working on the ribs so that the 450 is less of a weapon. Wouldn’t the knee be smarter then?

If nothing else this is a rematch from last week which is kind of good for some reason. Gabriel gets some nice kicks and a cross body for two. Wasteland is countered into a sunset flip for two. Gabriel gets him down and it’s 450 time again. SICK counter as Gabriel lands on the knees of Barrett. That looked incredible. Small package is academic for Barrett.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t bad at all from an in ring perspective, but the idea here was that Barrett looks good. That’s exactly what was supposed to happen here and it worked perfectly well. Fun match and it’s cool to see them all in the ring at once in straight competition. This worked exactly like it was supposed to so I can’t complain.

The Pros are getting ready for the new Poll.

MVP introduces Percy Watson who likes to party. I didn’t like the idea of Watson at first but he had insane charisma and was definitely someone that caught my attention which was very good.

Zach Ryder introduces Titus O’Neil who really wasn’t all that bad I didn’t think.

The rookies are in the ring so it’s time for the first elimination. First though we’re going to hear the predictions of the eliminated rookies. Tarver says himself. Yeah he was a bit out there. Bryan says Otunga can’t wrestle and Gabriel can’t talk so Barrett should win. Sheffield says he doesn’t care. Young says Barrett should win because he’s strong mentally and physically. Slater says Barrett due to what he’s proven tonight.

Time for the poll.

1. Wade Barrett. No shock at all.

2. David Otunga

3. Justin Gabriel

REALLY disagree here as Otunga had nothing but a celebrity wife going for him. Gabriel had a very flashy finisher going for him which was something that would make me want to stop and see what that was. He says he’ll be back like almost everyone else has said. Matt says Justin is like him. Oh dang he’s screwed.

Laycool have Kaval. Let the internet explode.

Mark Henry has Lucky Cannon. Henry is somehow the more talented one. It sounded like Cole gave Lucky a first name which sounded like Jesson or Jason.

One last rookie showdown as both get 60 seconds to tell the other why they should be gone. Otunga says Barrett is ugly. He makes fun of Barrett’s physique so Wade does a mini-pec dance. Basically Otunga says he’s more charismatic which is pretty much true.

Barrett says he’s ugly because he’s a fighter. Barrett says Otunga has the IT factor because there’s nothing else that Otunga has going for him. Wade was definitely more insulting here but made better points I think. The final Pro’s Poll is next.

Kofi Kingston is a Pro and has Michael McGillicutty who was my favorite from last season.

It’s time for the announcement of the winner, but Miz has something to say. He’ll be back as a Pro next week with his rookie Alex Riley. Riley talks about how awesome he is for a bit.

We delay the vote again as the Pros get into an argument. Regal thinks it’s over before the announcement and congratulates Jericho and Barrett. He asks anyone to do something about it so Truth does his stupid dance. Christian says sit down because he hasn’t won a match in a year. Punk leaves. Jericho tries to calm Regal down but says that Barrett is winning because of Jericho, not because of Barrett’s own talents. Regal says he’s always like Jericho’s two moves. This is hilarious stuff so Striker cuts us off.

Naturally Barrett wins as he certainly should have. Otunga says he’s the real star and thinks he’s being Punk’d. Barrett says he told you so which he did. He warns the Pros that this is the beginning of a new era and talks about the Winds of Change. Is Wade Barrett an Obama fan?

Overall Rating: B. This was a good way to close out the season. The match was good and more importantly: the right man won. Barrett dominated the entire season and other than Bryan has been the best since, which granted no one knew going into the show. Anyway, this was a good finale and I remember enjoying it as I watched it live. Good stuff indeed and this set up the following Monday, which was the Nexus.

So that’s the last of NXT. We’re most of the way done with Season 4 as I’m writing this and the first season is still by far and away the best. The talent was there, the intrigue was there, the challenges are far more interesting and the drama worked. Also the poll was a nice touch. Either way, this was good stuff and it worked better than anything else they’ve done yet. Check these shows out as for the most part they’re rather entertaining.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon at:

In Your House 22: Over The Edge
Date: May 31, 1998
Location: Wisconsin Center Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 9,822
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Well it’s a month after Backlash and nothing has really changed. Taker is kind of waiting for a feud which would come soon enough, the Nation and DX have started their feud that would last until Summerslam, Kane and Vader are going at it again and we get Austin/Love 2. The buildup for this actually existed, as Foley had to earn his title opportunity, this time by beating Funk in the first ever hardcore match and then Goldust in a regular match.

See what that does right there? It gets Foley back to where he was without he and Austin interacting because Foley is beating midcard guys that he’s supposed to be better than. That’s something that is drastically missing from wrestling today and would help them out quite a bit I think, as it would stop the monotonous matches we get on a weekly basis. I remember this main event being better than last month’s so let’s see if I’m right.

The intro video is of course over the top as anything with scenes of the Nazis marching around Europe as a voiceover talks about how people must conform but Austin is disagreeing with this. That’s going a bit hard with the idea of Vince ruling all don’t you think? I mean, can you imagine a place about wrestling where the authority figures are referred to as Nazis? That’s a screwed up place if I’ve ever heard of one. We get that weird kind of country sounding music again which just doesn’t work at all.

Legion of Doom vs. Disciples of Apocalypse

Sunny and Droz are with the LOD. Droz for those of you that don’t know was a decent wrestler but nothing great. He was crippled and is now in a wheelchair after a botched move that was neither guy’s fault. He works for WWE.com I think or something like that. Animal scared the heck out of me by using a dragon screw leg whip. Where in the world did he learn something like that?

That’s a decent move that is fairly difficult. Hawk takes a pile driver which for some reason he has never once sold in his career that I can remember. We get that American Originals line again as I don’t get what the point of that was. It was never incorporated into their gimmick or anything like that. The announcers try to imply that the LOD have lost a step and aren’t as popular as they used to be.

Not sure if I agree with that or not. I think that’s what JR said but I had some trouble hearing over the LOD chant. For some reason JR insists this should be a number one contenders match, but he never says why. You win a match and you get a title shot apparently. Droz hits one of the DOA and Animal powerslams him for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was ok. The problem was that they styles were far too similar style wise and the flow was just not there. This was fine for a warmup though and it did just fine in that sense. The crowd loved the LOD and that’s what the match was built on. That and Sunny looking great of course.

Rock comes out to badmouth Milwaukee. That’s something that could be done more often also: random interviews and promos. Just have someone come out and talk for a bit. It’ll work wonders. Farrooq comes out and beats on him. He pile drives “on a chair” which clearly is behind Farrooq when Rocky’s head hits. Rocky is taken out in a neck brace.

Jeff Jarrett vs. SteveBlackman

Jarrett’s annoying manager Tennessee Lee, more famous as Colonel Robert Parker in WCW, introduces him. Blackman has his stick things now. This match is ok but that’s all it is: ok. It’s the definition of filler as they had a minor feud going but it was nothing special at all. It’s just two guys having a basic match that would be good on a house show. The fans aren’t really that into it as neither guy has a very exciting style.

There’s nothing that bad but it’s just not that exciting at all, which is odd because Jarrett can have good if not very good matches. I guess it depends on his opponent. Blackman was ok for what he was but I never got into his gimmick. It just felt like it was very bland and had almost no thought put into it at all. Lee of course gets involved and that goes nowhere until he hits Blackman with one of his sticks to let Jarrett pin him. Jarrett needs Debra and badly at this point.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad but it really wasn’t that entertaining. It’s hard to comment on matches like these because they’re just there. It was ten minutes of acceptable wrestling but I never really cared who won or who lost, nor did I care about their mini feud. Decent match, but just filler and not particularly good filler.

We see the setup for Sable and Mero, which was based around Sable wanting to be free of him but him saying no. The deal is Sable picks someone. If Mero wins, Sable is gone but if the other guy wins, Sable is free.

Marc Mero vs. Sable

Yeah of course it’s her. Mero gives a speech about how this is ridiculous and it shouldn’t have come to this and lays down for her. You can fill in the dots yourself here as Mero rolls her up to get rid of her. She’d be back I think the next month or two as this meant nothing at all. I want to stone the person that wrote the goodbye song.

Rating: N/A. It was less than 30 seconds.

Cole recaps the 20 second match we just saw, in case we don’t remember it.

Kaientai vs. Taka Michinoku/Bradshaw

This is billed as a bonus match, meaning there literally was no build for it and it was just put on the card. Ok, that’s fine I guess. It’s 3 on 2. Now this match is even more proof of what was wrong with the LH division and it can be traced to a JR line. The three members of Kaientai are all light heavyweights that are ticked off at Taka (never explained why).

Ross says he’s looking forward to seeing Taka one on one with them in the upcoming months in some great light heavyweight action. Now in theory, that’s fine. You have a face against three heels, which should be at least three months of at least passable matches right? Well in theory, yeah that’s a good idea.

However, instead of having that be the case, Kaientai starts feuding with Val Venis of all people. I mean really, Val, I debuted last month with my old gimmick, Venis? Taka eventually turned heel and joined them, making the belt even more worthless as there were no face challengers for him until Christian debuted and won the title in October, or 4 and a half months after this.

The booking made no sense as Taka rarely ever defended the belt and simply was the champion. The whole thing was just to try to capitalize on WCW’s success and it never worked, mainly because Taka was the only light heavyweight on the roster. Dick Togo does a…..wait, there’s a wrestler named Dick Togo?

Anyway, he uses a swanton which JR calls a rolling headbutt, which it kind of is. Eventually Togo wins with a back splash. Oh I almost forgot: Al Snow was at the Spanish announce table as he was continuing to try desperately to get a meeting with Vince to get a contract. This led to some of the best comedy I’ve seen in a long time as Snow is absolutely hilarious when he’s given the chance.

Rating: B-. It was literally not announced but it was ok. No one really wanted to see it but factoring all that in, this was an ok match. The sad part about it is of course what I mentioned earlier with the complete and total failure of the lightweight division.

Sable is shown leaving the arena, which amuses the King for no apparent reason.

Intercontinental Title: Farrooq vs. Rock

We await the Rock who won’t come out, likely due to his neck issue from earlier. Slaughter instead comes out and says that he’ll award the title for Farrooq if Rocky isn’t out here by the count of 10. He starts the countdown and at 2 Rock’s music hits and he comes to the ring very slowly due to his neck. Now, think about this sequence for a second.

Does it sound even remotely complex? Not to me it doesn’t. A guy comes out, says one line and counts down from 10 to zero. Anyway you cut it, that shouldn’t be a hard thing to do. Somehow though, Slaughter manages to stumble over a bunch of the words. It was unbelievable to me. His count from 10 to 2 takes at least 30 seconds. How could someone go from world champion to this?

Farrooq jumps him and within a few seconds Rock’s neck is fine but he’s getting beaten on. This is a short match so it’s kind of difficult to talk about it. It lasts a little over five minutes which is odd to me. Rock lands the elbow which doesn’t have a name yet. They beat on each other the whole match which is physical to say the least. The main point of it comes when the Dominator is hit but Rock gets his foot on the bottom rope before the three count.

Farrooq is confused and argues forever during which Rocky recovers. He rolls up Farooq and uses the ropes for the pin. After the pin, more piledrivers follow so Rock’s neck is reinjured. The Nation comes out for the beatdown but DX makes the save and you know this is going to be one heck of a feud in the upcoming months, which it certainly was.

Rating: B-. While very short, it was intense. The length of the match can be overcome with good work throughout and this was a match like that. How these two never got the big blow PPV match is beyond me as it would have been at least quite good. The ending was kind of stupid though with Farrooq arguing WAY too long over the foot on the rope. Other than that, this was fine.

Kane vs. Vader

This is mask vs. mask, which is kind of stupid given Vader’s mask style but I get the idea they were going with here. It’s pretty much a redoing of their match from No Way Out but shorter and not as good. Vader is a pure jobber here and it’s really sad. You can tell that he’s on the verge of being gone and it’s pathetic. You want to talk about a guy that Vince just messed up to no end, this is it right here.

To me, it all comes down to Vince’s ego. Vader was a huge deal in WCW and overseas, so Vince didn’t want to use him. Someone with his size, look, ability and character is just so naturally easy to hate that it was mind blowing to think Vince didn’t cash in on it. I’m not saying you make him world champion for months on end, but he should have been in the main event scene, not jobbing to the rookie Edge when he debuted in a few months.

Anyway, Kane pretty much dominates here other than some token offense by Vader which was mainly punches. He uses the same fake looking wrench on Kane that Kane used on him in their last match. This really is going nowhere at all as Kane predictably sits up from the moonsault. He hits a decent chokeslam which is impressive given the gravitational pull of Vader’s fat.

Tombstone ends it and Vader’s mask is removed revealing…something we’ve seen about 10 times. Post match Vader says he’s too big and is a big piece of crap. Vince loved that line and I’d say Vince coined it as well. Vader would soon be jobbing to death as he was almost gone from the company within a few months. Ross talking about how no one can stop Kane is just stupid given his back to back losses to Taker.

Rating: C-. This was just two big guys beating on each other and a way to get Kane over even more than he already was. Vader was nothing at this point and had been for awhile which I’ve already gone over. No one thought he had a chance here and in a seven minute match he was somehow squashed which is hard to do in that short of a time frame. This wasn’t very good at all.

We get a mini legends ceremony with Mad Dog Vachon and The Crusher who are both big names in the area. Vachon literally is almost passed coming down the aisle by Crusher who comes out second. This is far below what they did in St. Louis a few months ago. Vachon talks for awhile with an odd voice and criticizes Vince for what he’s been doing lately and also corrects everyone and says Luna is his niece, not his daughter.

Crusher sings part of a polka which was part of his character or something. During this, Lawler is heckling them to no end, even booing so much that you can’t hear what Vachon is saying. He gets in the ring at the end and insults them even more. Crusher takes off his jacket and has arms that can rival Vader’s. This guy is a freaking truck. He punches Lawler and apparently he was 72 at the time.

That is insane as he is moving around very well considering his age and looks like he’s about 50. It’s fine until he takes his shirt off at least. Lawler takes Vachon’s prosthetic leg which is just not as intense as it was two years ago when Diesel did it.

Crusher punches him out again. Crusher gets the leg back to Vachon and Lawler attacks again and for the third time gets dropped. Was there a point to any of this with Lawler? The legends thing is fine but why have Lawler do his stuff? I don’t get that part.

DX says they’re ready for the Nation. Big lack of promos tonight.

D-Generation X vs. Nation of Domination

This is a 6 man with HHH and the Outlaws vs. Brown, Kama and Owen. It’s given a lot of time at nearly 20 minutes which is a nice plus. It’s your standard big fight but the benefit of a multi man team match like this is that everyone can fight everyone and it gives you a lot of different combinations to play with, as I’ve already gone into in my orgy comparison.

This was before HHH had really been promoted to the main event level status but this feud would put him in that place as the feud more or less boils down to Rock vs. HHH. Their ladder match at Summerslam is something I’m really looking forward to getting to as it’s one of my favorite matches. In this match a lot of the guys are beaten down so we get the slowdown process which allows for a lot of time to be killed without the match seeming repetitive in a nice touch.

Six mans have the potential to be great but they have to be done just right. Billy is still using a piledriver but has started using the Rocker Dropper which will become known as the Fameasser. This is a war for the most part and it’s working quite well I think.

Of course in the end it turns into the big melee that we were all waiting on with Henry and Chyna first getting involved with each other in what would one day become one of the defining moments of the Attitude Era as they would begin dating and Chyna implied she wanted a threesome and brought in a transvestite to sleep with Mark, which I’ve always thought was a rib on herself. Sweet goodness that was a long sentence. Anyway, the European title belt gets involved and Owen pedigrees HHH on it for the pin to end this.

Rating: B. This was a good match I thought. We had a long match here but it never was dull. The crowd being into it naturally helped things out a lot and it worked on a lot of levels. HHH vs. Owen was finally, and I do mean finally, coming to a close here and we would transition into Rock vs. HHH like it should have been all along. Either way, this was a good match with a nice flow to it.

Very long recap of Austin and Dude Love’s feud which now has McMahon involved in it. In tonight’s match, Patterson is the announcer, Brisco is the bell ringer and McMahon is the referee. In an interview Vince reminds us that this can only end by his hand. Remember that line. Also if Austin touched Vince, we have a new champion.

WWF Title: Steve Austin vs. Dude Love

Due to how many people there are, the entrances take over ten minutes on their own.  Brisco and Patterson both have to talk about their accomplishments forever and it’s just plain overkill at this point. It’s pure filler which could have been used for, maybe a match? Foley is still in his suit as he’s corporate now. This was the same place where he first said Austin 316, so this is a special place in company history, given that said line saved the company.

To kill even more time for no reason at all, Taker comes to the ring. Apparently he and Vince have been interacting lately, which would be another part of the Conspiracy Theory storyline. It’s a standard fight to start with Dude’s teeth apparently falling out. A Vince is dead chant starts up which is quite creepy when you think about it. They hammer each other even more until Love gets the claw on Austin.

It’s countered by having Love thrown into the ropes where his head gets stuck. They brawl onto the floor with JR asking how long is this going to go before it’s a DQ. Patterson announcers that it’s a No DQ match which Ross freaks over. A sick clothesline sends Foley over the railing where he lands on his head. These two are beating the tar out of each other as we get another reminder that it’s falls count anywhere, making this a hardcore match.

This was brand new stuff at the time so no one was really sure what to make of it. Austin is so over it’s scary as even a punch from him gets a huge pop. Vince’s expressions are making this match better as he is so desperate to get the title off of Austin. Many people don’t like him including myself but it’s hard to deny that he has talent in front of the camera and has a clear love for what he’s doing.

He was a big factor in Austin’s success and he’s making this work quite well indeed. The brawling on the cars near the entrance that say Brisco Brothers Body Shop is just pricelessly funny. Remember folks: it’s worth the drive. We get the token brawling which is often times the best part of a match. It takes up a majority of the time and while no one really believes the match will end here, it certainly makes for some entertaining spots and is the core of the match’s story.

Taker continuing to stand behind McMahon as a threatening presence is just freaking sweet. Foley misses an elbow onto the concrete which would just have hurt like nothing else more than likely. Dang that’s a short aisle. It takes almost no time to get from the entrance to the ring. Austin gets a chair that Foley brought in and in a funny spot is going so crazy with it he hits the top rope and it hits him in the head by mistake.

Austin then kills Foley with the chair but McMahon simply refuses to count. Foley accidentally blasts McMahon with the chair so he’s out. Taker beats up Patterson for trying to be the referee and then does the same to Brisco as the fans are going nuts. Both Stooges are chokeslammed through tables are ringside. Another stunner puts Foley out and then in the memorable part from this match, Austin grabs McMahon’s hand and counts the three as Vince is out cold.

It’s recaps and middle fingers a go-go as we go off the air. The next night on Raw Dude was fired and Mankind reappeared, causing Taker to lose to Kane in a #1 contenders match, setting up the double main event at King of the Ring, which is the Cell match with Taker and Mankind and the first blood match where Kane wins the title.

Rating: A-. The Vince and Austin was is the main part here, as well as Taker getting back into the main event picture. It was a wild brawl with the Stooges making it more fun with the added stipulations. It really showed how Austin had to overcome all kinds of odds to win and while Austin never really was in serious danger, it was fun to see how he would manage to win. Very fun match.

Overall Rating: B. This may not be a landmark show or anything like that, but it’s a fun one. There’s really only one boring match on the show which is filler with Jarrett and Blackman and even that’s watchable. The main event is by far the best match of the night as it’s quite fun indeed. It’s another show that isn’t particularly good, but it’ll more than do the job if you have 3 hours to kill. Check it out if you’re interested but you won’t be missing anything. The main event is worth a look though.

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 30, 2011
Location: Qwest Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Josh Matthews, Michael Cole

Three weeks out from Capitol Punishment and we now have some new stories set up. It’s looking like we’re setting up some form of Truth vs. Cena at the PPV which is probably the best option right here. Other than that it’s kind of hard to say where we’re going with major matches as other than that, Show vs. Alberto is probably coming later with the knee injury angle. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a tribute to Memorial Day and soldiers that have died in combat. Nothing wrong with that.

And now we have a black screen. Oh wait here’s R-Truth at a merchandise stand destroying stuff. And never mind as we’re gone again with a graphic saying there are technical difficulties. Ok now he’s destroying the stand with no audio. He messes with a concession stand and we cut to black again. We have some background audio but whatever he’s saying into the microphone isn’t heard.

Cole and Lawler are talking but their words don’t match their movements. Lawler says it’s something to do with the conspiracy. Now Truth is coming down the steps in the audience and yelling at people in Cena gear. There goes the audio again. Truth comes down to a family in Cena gear and the audio is way out of sync. He calls the kid little Jimmy and the kid’s father big Jimmy. The father says What’s Up and Truth isn’t happy. The sound sounds like it’s in a tunnel or something and is about 8 seconds ahead of the video.

He’s in the ring now and ranting about how the fans are the problem instead of him. It’s about Little Jimmy apparently. Here comes Cena as Vince must be losing his mind right now. Cena says that Truth is losing it because he thinks everyone is named Jimmy and there is no conspiracy. The audio is in sync now, about 10 minutes into the show. Truth says it’s the fans and Cena that are crazy, not Truth.

The fans chant for Cena and the picture is still jumping a bit. Cena says that these are the greatest fans in the world and they agree that Truth should be in a straightjacket. Cena says he has no problem knocking some sense back into Truth. Truth wants a match so all the little Jimmys can watch him beat Cena down. Cue the GM for an E-Mail read by Cole and the main event is Truth vs. Cena with no little Jimmys allowed at ringside. Truth thinks it’s a joke and says Cena will get got.

Kharma will speak tonight.

Dolph vs. Kofi next.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston

 

Cole says he’s thankful for being back at ringside to call this show. Dolph is blonde again which is a big improvement for him. Technical stuff to start as Lawler says Vickie looks good tonight. I know they were having technical difficulties but dang man they’re messing with Lawler’s words now. Slower paced match than was probably expected. Ziggler takes him down with a shoulder block but Kofi speeds things up a bit.

The referee has an elbow pad on for some reason. Cole keeps sucking up to Vickie as Kofi takes over a bit. No one has really had an extended advantage yet. Kofi tries his jump into the punches in the corner but Dolph moves, allowing Kofi to land on the top rope. Dolph shoves him to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Dolph holding an armbar and pulling Kofi back down by the hair. Elbow drop gets two and we go to a chinlock. Stinger Splash in the corner misses for Dolph and Kofi speeds things up again. He can’t get the SOS but the jumping clothesline does hit. There’s the Boom Drop but Trouble in Paradise misses. Sleeper almost goes on and Kofi hits a pendulum kick. Top rope cross body misses and a Fameasser gets a close two. Small package gets two for Kofi but he walks into the Zig Zag for the pin at 10:50.

Rating: C+. This got a lot better near the ending but the first part of it was kind of uninspiring stuff. Not a great match or anything but it’s nice to see them get about ten minutes to go out and let a match build upon itself instead of being like three minutes long. Not bad but nothing great, especially compared to what they did on Smackdown last year.

Here’s Alberto in an Audi. We get a clip from last week where Big Show was hit by the car driven by Ricardo. Part of the clip shows Alberto was driving and Ricardo switched places with him in the background. Ricardo explains his side of the story in Spanish. Alberto says bad things happen to bad people. They owe him money for damaging his car and Ricardo will send them the bill. Get well soon Big Show. So it took almost 8 minutes to say “I’m not sorry”?

Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres vs. Bella Twins

 

Eve vs. Brie to start as Eve does her gymnastics. She hooks some kind of a choke/arm lock on but Twin Magic prevails. The Bellas beat down Eve for a good while as the crowd really doesn’t seem to care. There’s the tag to Kelly who does what is supposed to be a Thesz Press I think. Kelly’s belt goes flying off and she gives whichever Bella that is a Stinkface. Everything breaks down and the K2 ends let’s say Nikki at 2:56. Just your typical Divas match with the looks being the only thing of note.

There’s a cookout in Nebraska. No real reason for it being shown but it’s the second time we’ve seen it tonight.

Cole is in the ring to talk to Riley about his attack last week. The Raw GM has apparently signed Alex Riley again. We see the beatdown on Miz from last week. Here’s Riley with his own theme song and a decent reaction from the crowd. Cole yells at Riley about how he betrayed Miz after Miz had done so much for him. What about Miz apparently? Miz looked at Riley like a brother and Cole wants to know how Riley can do what he did to Miz last week.

Riley says he’s never felt better and Cole suggests Riley beg Miz for forgiveness. Cole rants on him a bit more and Riley cuts him off. Riley says Cole has a big mouth and is starting to get annoying just like Miz. Cole calls Riley a bastard an Riley grabs him. He of course takes too long and here’s Miz for the beatdown. He looks manly in pink. Miz tries to get a kick in but Riley takes him down. Miz tries to run but Riley takes him down in the aisle and continues the beating. Riley throws him onto the table and Miz runs into the crowd and out the door as Riley stands tall in the ring.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

 

Ryan is with Punk here. Cole can’t wait to tell us that a guy on American Idol wore a Punk shirt. You know, for all the WWE fans that watch American Idol. Punk takes over to start but gets caught in a kick to the chest and a headscissors. Into the corner but Punk gets out of the way and sends Rey to the floor. Rey gets on the apron but Ryan sends him into the post as we take a break.

Back with Punk holding Rey in something like a Gory Stretch for a bit. Rey escapes but a headscissors is countered into a backbreaker for two. Punk hammers away but Rey manages to dropkick him into 619 position. CM hits the floor but Rey hits a suicide dive to send Punk over the announce table. Back in Rey hits the seated senton and the springboard cross body for two. A sweet pinning combination gets two.

Big spin kick misses and Punk gets another backbreaker for two. Punk loads up the GTS but Rey counters into a rana to set up the 619. Ryan blocks it so Rey dropkicks him to the floor. Rey tries to skin the cat back in but Punk catches him in the GTS position. Rey counters again but a big kick to the head is enough for Punk to pin him at 9:05.

Rating: B-. Pretty good match here as they let both guys do their thing. Punk and Nexus’ push continues and it’s definitely not a bad thing. Also seeing Rey lose is always a plus as it gets a good deal annoying to see him beat every single person he’s in there with. Either way, good stuff here and Punk’s push continues, which is a good thing.

We get a clip of Austin on Jimmy Fallon.

Here’s Kharma to explain what happened last week. Her voice is a lot softer than you would expect. Her dream was to be a WWE Superstar (not Diva) and here she is. She tried out for season 2 of Tough Enough and JR apparently told her she was too fat to be a Diva. She went to Japan where she cleaned floors for training. She went to every wrestling promotion in the world (no mention of TNA) before WWE called.

Her other dream was to be a mother. She’ll be a mother because she is currently with child. This is a high risk business and she can’t risk anything happening to her because it’s a high risk sport. She’ll be back though. Here are the Bellas to make fun of her. They say they’re impressed that she found a guy to hook up with. It must bother her to not be able to beat them up right now. They make fat jokes and the Bellas try to run. Kharma will be back in a year and she hopes they’ll still be here because then she has a new dream. Her music plays her out.

We get the really stupid press conference promo on Capitol Punishment. At least mix it up a bit. I think this one is different but still, the joke is over.

Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger

 

Swagger hammers away to start but an attempt at a belly to back suplex puth both guys on the floor. Back in and it’s all Swagger so far with him hammering away on the back of Bourne. Rather slow match here but Bourne tries to speed things up a bit, only to walk into a sidewalk slam. Swagger keeps smacking him in the head and seemingly wasting time. And yep there it is as Bourne grabs a victory roll for the pin at 3:14.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match there to have Swagger mess up and continue this feud with Bourne. I hope this leads to a face turn for Swagger as his character can only go so far as a heel. He has the talent but they haven’t really gone anywhere with it. Pretty much a nothing match but with 3 minutes what can they do?

Truth talks to himself some more.

Cena talks to Ryder who looks like he has something resembling the IC Title.

R-Truth vs. John Cena

 

We do get part of the segment to open the show from earlier tonight with working audio. Cena’s music hits at 10:58 so this is going to be a pretty short match. Cena sends him to the floor almost immediately and Truth rants at some fans. Truth gets something going but is sent to the floor again where he runs his mouth some more. They’re intentionally not having a ton of contact here.

There are the dueling chants as Cena gets going. At least he’s not gone get got. Cena takes him to the floor again and Cena gets frustrated. Truth escapes the Attitude Adjustment and hits the crowd this time. Cena goes after him but gets caught with a shot to the head and it’s a count out win for Truth at 4:00.

Rating: D+. Not even a match really as there might have been a total of 30 seconds of contact the entire time. Still though they’re setting up for later on, likely with a PPV title match coming up. If that’s the case then this is fine as the point was to not have them actually do anything yet. Not even a match though so the grade means nothing really.

Truth goes back into the crowd and throws soda in the face of the fans from earlier. Cena gives them his wristbands to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a rather good show overall with the pacing being far better than it’s been in recent weeks and a good deal of wrestling to go with it. Truth being all insane is a nice touch to his character as he’s playing that character to perfection. A lot of stuff was advanced tonight and we got a high amount of wrestling too. What more can you ask for? Very solid show here indeed.

Results

Dolph Ziggler b. Kofi Kingston – Zig Zag

Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres b. Bella Twins – K2 to Nikki Bella

CM Punk b. Rey Mysterio – Kick to the head

Evan Bourne b. Jack Swagger – Victory Roll

R-Truth b. John Cena via countout

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon at:

Smackdown
Date: May 31, 2013
Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Josh Matthews

It’s the final show of the Canadian tour and the main story tonight is of course Shield vs. whomever they can find to face tonight. Other than that we’ve got Ryback trying to get people to care about his feud with Cena and the three guys fighting for the Intercontinental Title. Right now is a pretty lame time in the WWE as they’re in a very slow mode so tonight’s show probably won’t change much about that. Let’s get to it.

We open with a list of names that Shield has taken down in the last week. Tonight Shield is in singles matches against various people.

Seth Rollins vs. Kane

Rollins pounds away on Kane to start but all the speed only gets him taken down by a shoulder. Seth jumps over Kane in the corner but gets kicked in the head for two. A delayed vertical suplex gets two more for the big man and it’s off to the chinlock. The fans are really into Kane here for some reason. Rollins finally gets in a shot and goes after Kane’s knee with some solid kicks and elbow drops. Kane comes back with some right hands, only to have his knee kicked out again.

Rollins cannonballs down onto the knee but has a leg lock blocked before it can go on. Seth goes to the middle rope and kicks away a chokeslam attempt before hitting a tornado DDT for two. Back from a break with Kane slugging Rollins down and hitting the top rope clothesline. Reigns gets on the apron, only to be shoved to the floor. The distraction lets Rollins hit a dropkick, but Reigns’ distraction lets Bryan shove Rollins off the top and a chokeslam ends this at 9:22.

Rating: C-. For a nine minute match, this was pretty overdone. Rollins losing a singles match is fine because Shield is always about the team mentality. I’m not sure if they need to keep going with HELL NO vs. Shield at this point, but it’s not like there are any other teams worth fighting right now.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan

This starts immediately after the previous match ends. Bryan sends Reigns into the corner and kicks away at the arm to take over early before tying his legs into Roman’s and dropping forearms to the face. The fans also love Bryan which isn’t all that surprising. He fires off more kicks in the corner before hooking a dragon screw leg whip to put Roman down again. Roman hits a hard clothesline to take over as we take a break.

Back with Bryan trying to speed things up but getting caught by another clothesline for two. Bryan gets all fired up and hits a hard set of kicks to the chest followed by a running dropkick in the corner for two of his own. Reigns drills him in the stomach to slow Bryan down but Bryan hooks the NO Lock out of nowhere. Reigns crawls over to the ropes but only gets there with Seth pushing the rope towards him. Kane goes after Rollins but hits Reigns for the DQ at 9:20.

Rating: C. This was a better match than the opener, but that’s likely because the smaller guy as the face is an easier formula to work with. Bryan’s kicks get more awesome every week and it’s very wise of him to use those as his main strike. I mean, can you imagine him throwing a convincing punch given his size? Kicks are far better for a guy like him.

Post match Bryan yells at Kane for costing him the match. Bryan is completely right here but Kane walks off anyway. Bryan follows, shouting that he doesn’t need Kane’s help.

Here’s Damien Sandow with something to say. He says that last week he proved that his mental strength is superior to Sheamus’ physical strength. Apparently Canada has limited mental strength because they gave away Wayne Gretsky. When it comes to intelligence, Sandow is the real Great One. To prove his intellect, he has a simple challenge in the form of a shell game. There are three cups and a ball on a table. The idea is to put the ball under a cup and shuffle them around. It should be easy to win, but here’s Sheamus to interrupt.

Sheamus congratulates him for tricking him with the knot last week, but now Sandow is out here playing with his little balls. Sandow lets Sheamus play the game and shuffles the cups pretty slowly. Sheamus guesses wrong, thereby renewing his idiot license for another year. Sandow allows him to try again with just two cups but Sheamus gets it wrong again after a lot of thinking. Sheamus wants to see the ball under the third cup but Damien seems reluctant. Fans: “SHOW YOUR BALLS!” There’s no ball but Sandow says it was magic, earning himself a Brogue Kick. Are we really building towards a big match between these two?

Curtis Axel vs. Sin Cara

Man they drop the level of competition for Axel on Smackdown. On the way to the ring, Heyman says that he always tells the truth about his clients. In his first two weeks, no one has accomplished what Axel has done. Axel says that Cena and HHH have 26 world titles between them, but in two matches he’s made HHH refuse to continue and made Cena get himself counted out. When you’re a Paul Heyman guy, life is perfect. Cole: “That was cute.”

Axel hits a quick backbreaker and dropkick to take over before ripping at the mask a bit. After a quick chinlock Sin Cara comes back with some kicks of his own, followed by a springboard crossbody. A Tajiri elbow is countered by a forearm to the back of the head though and a PerfectPlex ends Cara at 2:00.

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.

We look at Cena’s challenge for a 3 Stages of Hell match from Raw.

Kofi Kingston vs. Ryback

Kofi charges right at him and pounds away in the corner before getting two off a springboard dropkick. There’s the Boom Drop but Ryback catches trouble in Paradise in mid air. Kofi rolls through that as well and hits a middle rope cross body for two. Ryback blocks a kick in the corner though and slams Kofi down to take over. The Meat Hook sets up Shell Shock for the pin at 2:48. This was better than I expected, although Kofi injured his elbow somewhere in there and will be out 4-8 weeks.

Post match Ryback powerbombs Kofi through three tables.

Jericho talks about all the diseases Punk has from sleeping with dogs like Heyman.

Chris Jericho vs. Cody Rhodes

Jericho starts fast and takes Cody to the floor, only to walk into a front suplex onto the top rope for two. A boot to the face gets two more for Cody and it’s off to an armbar. Jericho comes back with a top rope ax handle but the Walls are broken up. An Alabama Slam gets two for Cody but he jumps into a right hand to the ribs. Cross Rhodes are countered into a Walls attempt which is countered into a small package for two. Now the Walls get the submission at 4:46.

Rating: C-. My goodness Cody Rhodes matches are hard to sit through anymore. It’s not that they’re bad or anything because Cody is really good at making his matches work, but there’s no reason to believe he’s got a chance. Cody hasn’t won a match of note in months now and it’s hard to care about watching him lose to anyone at all.

Wyatt Family video. These guys are awesome.

Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose

Dean takes it to the corner to start and goes Anderson by raking Orton’s eyes across the top rope. Orton comes back with right hands of his own in the corner, only to have Ambrose fire off some knees to the chest to take over again. They head to the floor with Orton dropping him on the barricade, only to be sent into it himself as we take a break. Back with Ambrose in control with knees to the back followed by stomps in the corner.

Randy comes back with a quick suplex to get himself a breather and they trade headbutts and right hands. Orton gets the advantage but has the Elevated DDT countered by Ambrose. Dean goes up but jumps into a dropkick followed by the Elevated DDT. Ambrose bails to avoid the RKO and here’s the Shield for the DQ at 11:55.

Rating: C-. Not much here but they were getting a nice flow going right at the end. The good thing about Shield is they’ve attacked so many people that you can swap in any combination and have a good match with them. Not a bad match at all and thankfully you never can tell if Shield is going to run in or not, meaning the endings aren’t obvious.

Post match HELL NO comes in for the save, with Bryan down almost all of the work himself, and Shield is sent running. A HUGE YES chant ends the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Is there any reason to watch Smackdown anymore? It’s nothing but a supplement to Raw as nothing significant happens here and all the good long matches happen on Mondays as well. The show isn’t even really bad, but rather really uninteresting. I need a little more fresh content than Sheamus playing a shell game with Damien Sandow. Shield continues to be a highlight and there’s some decent stuff in the midcard, but anything with Sandow or Rhodes in it is incredibly dull, although that can’t be blamed on them. Very uninspiring show this week.

Results

Kane b. Seth Rollins – Chokeslam

Roman Reigns b. Daniel Bryan via DQ when Kane interfered

Curtis Axel b. Sin Cara – PerfectPlex

Big E. Langston b. Alberto Del Rio – Big Ending

Ryback b. Kofi Kingston – Shell Shock

Randy Orton b. Dean Ambrose via DQ when Shield interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @Kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon at:

 

Thunder
Date: January 8, 1998
Location: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

Due to the success of 1997, WCW decided to add another show to it’s TV schedule so here’s their new idea. Tonight is a souped up show as debuts often are, as we have a Cruiserweight Title match, an update on the world title situation after the debacle at Starrcade, and the Larry Zbyszko vs. Eric Bischoff match from Starrcade in full, which I’m sure wouldn’t get on the nerves of the fans who paid for the show. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about how they’re sure Sting is the world champion.

Randy Savage is supposed to be in the opening match but he isn’t here yet. Instead, here’s a clip from Nitro of the NWO arriving in two different limos. We also get Bischoff saying there are no problems.

Tony shows us a clip of the attorney from Nitro (a week ago according to him, which is Tony speak for three days ago) saying that anyone, either WCW or NWO, who violates a WCW policy will be fined and/or suspended. Nick Patrick was suspended at least until tonight to show us that WCW was serious.

Now we see the end of Nitro with the NWO getting in a fight to end the show.

Chris Adams vs. Randy Savage

Adams is a British guy who trained Steve Austin and brought the superkick to America. That’s more or less the extent of his major accomplishments but he’s in the first match ever on Thunder for some reason. Savage jumps him from behind as we hear about WCW never losing Nitro in the first place. Adams is sent to the outside so Savage can drop him on the barricade. Chris comes back with a whip into the post and gets back in which distracts the referee, allowing Luger to come out and cave in Savage’s head with a chair. Adams gets the pin to open the show with a huge upset.

JJ Dillon comes out but we go to a break before anything can happen.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff with something to say. Something I forgot to mention earlier: the set is a big stone wall that had an opening broken into it by some lightning earlier. Shouldn’t the show be called WCW Lightning then? Actually Thunder is perfect: it’s a bunch of noise with nothing of substance. It’s perfect for WCW at this point.

Hogan and Bischoff take forever to get to the ring where Bischoff introduces Hogan as the world champion. Apparently every good looking woman on the beach said that Hogan was the real world champion and tonight we’ll see the tape proving it. Hollywood is the only heavyweight champion in the world and he’s just too big and too tanned.

Here’s JJ again to say that Randy Savage wins the match because of Luger’s interference. Luger comes out and rants against JJ because only now is WCW doing anything after a year and a half of the NWO doing whatever they want. He says that WCW is going to band together and do whatever they want. Point for keeping continuity at least.

Louis Spicolli vs. Rick Martel

Louis cranks on the arm to start but is quickly sent to the floor with a clothesline. Back in and a few dropkicks send Spicolli right back to the floor. They get back in again and Spicolli pounds him down as the Flock heads to their seats. Martel fires off a cross body for two and a left hand to the ribs to stagger Louis. Another dropkick misses but Martel punches Spicolli down and hooks the Quebec Crab for the win.

Rating: D+. For a guy who hasn’t been around in years, Martel really does look smooth out there. At first I wasn’t wild on him coming back as he was just Rick Martel: guy in leather jacket, but they’re pushing him as someone with ring experience who can beat guys with relative ease, which is actually working for him.

We get a clip from Starrcade of Hall saying Nash wouldn’t be there, earning a beating from Giant in the process. I still don’t get why they didn’t just have Hall be a replacement as he would be more than adequate to fill in.

Tenzan vs. Ohara

Tenzan is a guy from Japan who is apparently part of the NWO. Tenay talks about how Ohara is like Ray Traylor as he was thrown out of the Japanese NWO and is now a freedom fighter. He pounds away on Tenzan to start but gets slammed down. The fans don’t seem pleased as Tenzan hits a spinwheel kick for no cover. Ohara comes back with a clothesline and powerbomb for two but gets caught in a middle rope chop. Tenzan hits a swan dive to end a quick match.

We get another clip from Nitro of the very good Bret and Flair segment where they argue over who is better and say each others’ catchphrases.

Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho

Before the match, Jericho apologizes for his recent behavior and to present Penzer with another new suit jacket. Flair takes him into the corner to start and there’s our first WOO. Jericho takes it to the mat with a headlock and a monkey flip sends Flair down. Chris takes too much time though and gets poked in the eye by the master, giving Flair control.

A clothesline puts Flair back down though and there’s the Flair Flip in the corner. Jericho dropkicks him off the apron before Flair can run to the top but the Lionsault misses as Flair gets back in. Flair asks for the time and hits a low blow before stomping away a bit. Jericho hits a quick backdrop and a top rope elbow for two but a missile dropkick misses. Figure Four ends Jericho quick.

Rating: C-. This was a glorified squash for Flair but he looked very smooth out there which is a good thing for Jericho. At this point, Jericho was nowhere near what he would become so a match with Flair was one of the best things that could happen to him. That’s what veterans are supposed to do and Flair did it more than almost anyone.

Jericho freaks out again post match.

Giant vs. Meng

As Meng comes out, Tony announces Flair vs. Bret for Souled Out and yes, he says it might be the biggest announcement in the history of our sport. Meng hits a clothesline but gets caught in a powerslam to put him down. A backdrop puts Meng down and Giant vs. Nash is announced for the PPV as well. Tony basically says that it’ll actually happen this time, which is a pretty pathetic way to push a match. “Remember last time when we said it would happen and it didn’t? Well this is nothing like that and we’ll actually do what we say!” Meng avoids a splash and fires off some strikes, only to be chokeslammed down for the fast pin.

Goldberg vs. Steve McMichael

It’s just Goldberg now. Mongo goes after him on the floor to start and whips Goldberg into the steps before heading in to be stomped. A gorilla press powerslam puts Mongo down and there’s a rolling leg lock for good measure. Mongo gets to the rope and goes after the leg as well before hitting a middle rope clothesline for two. McMichael calls for the tombstone but gets caught in the spear and Jackhammer for the pin. Heenan points out that Goldberg is undefeated.

Tag Titles: Steiner Brothers vs. Buff Bagwell/Konnan

Scott and Buff start things off and it’s time to pose. Buff takes him down with a hiptoss but Scott drills him with some clothesline and a tiger bomb. Konnan is knocked to the floor as well and it’s time to stall. Off to Konnan vs. Rick with Konnan being rammed stomach first into the buckle, only to take Rick down with a clothesline. Back to Buff who jumps right into a belly to belly and it’s a double tag to bring Scott back in. Everything breaks down and Rick loads up the bulldog, but Scott goes to the other corner for the Frankensteiner for the pin to retain.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but the main idea is the Steiners having issues. That’s probably the best move as the Steiners had been a big deal for about nine years at this point, so there wasn’t much else that could be done with the team. Scott had been the one WCW wanted to push for years anyway so it really isn’t surprising when you think about it.

Here’s Larry Zbyszko vs. Eric Bischoff from Starrcade to tick off the fans and fill in time, because if there’s one thing WCW doesn’t have, it’s a roster big enough to fill in a full show.

Bret Hart comes out to be guest referee. There’s no pyro, there’s no big entrance, there’s nothing but generic music and Bret casually walking to the ring. The theory is that he’s in the NWO but that’s never been confirmed yet.

 

Eric Bischoff vs. Larry Zbyszko

 

This should have been Hall vs. Larry, as those two had been talking trash to each other for months. However, Larry only gets Hall if he beats Eric here tonight. If Eric wins, the NWO controls Nitro. Larry is in good shape here considering he’s 46 and hasn’t wrestled regularly in about five years. Bret checks them for weapons and we’re ready to go. Bischoff has the body of a 15 year old girl. He is however a black belt in karate so you can expect a lot of striking.

 

Bischoff hits a quick shot to Larry’s head and immediately celebrates. More strikes follow and Eric heads out to the floor for consultation with Hall. Back in and Larry hits some shots of his own and Eric is scared. Larry goes after him again and Eric hits a spin kick to the side of the head that knocks Larry down. That’s enough for Zbyszko and he charges at Eric and takes him down to the mat. Bret admonishes him for pulling Eric’s hair, so Larry puts on a sleeper and a headscissors, both of which are broken up for being chokes.

 

Off to a standing figure four but Eric quickly makes a rope. The damage is done though and Larry goes after the leg. Makes sense against a karate guy. Bret keeps Larry away from Eric and the announcers PANIC. Imagine that: a referee following the rules. Eric is sent into the steps and takes a brief walk around the ring. Back in and Bret blocks a right hand from Larry, allowing Eric to get in a kick to the head. Bischoff fires more kicks with Larry on the ropes, although Bret is fine with them.

 

Eric is starting to kick himself out though as the kicks are getting weaker and weaker each time. Now he fires rights and lefts in the corner as Larry is just covering up. Eric can barely move now and Larry shakes everything off. A suplex puts Bischoff down and Larry ties him in the Tree of Woe. Hall pulls something out of his pocket and loads it into Eric’s shoe, WITH BRET LOOKING RIGHT AT THEM. I mean, he knows what’s going on so why not LOOK THE OTHER WAY???

 

Anyway, Eric kicks him in the head with the loaded foot and the piece of metal goes flying. Bret isn’t supposed to see it, despite watching it fly through the air. Eric celebrates, so Bret hits both Bischoff and Hall before putting Hall in the Sharpshooter, which is Bret’s version of the Scorpion Deathlock. Larry chokes Eric for a bit and is declared the winner, presumably by DQ.

 

Rating: F. This was in the second to last spot on the biggest show of the year and featured the boss of the company who has no skill whatsoever in the ring. Larry did fine all things considered, but to waste this spot on this match and to waste BRET HART’s in ring debut on this match is absolutely ridiculous in every sense of the word.

Back on Thunder now here’s Larry to talk about his match with Hall at Souled Out. Larry talks about how he understands why Hall hates his guts after Larry took Hall so far ten years ago. Now instead of being a world champion, Hall is on the ship of fools heading towards Larry Land. Larry can still bench press 405lbs, drive to the golf course and shoot a 73 and then beat Hall from one side of the ring to the other. He’s wrestled in front of royalty around the world and just like he did in 1980, he’ll change the NWO at Souled Out. This was actually a pretty decent promo and I remembered it from when I watched this live.

We recap Ray Traylor being thrown out of the NWO and beaten down by Hogan.

Ray Traylor vs. Scott Hall

Traylor shoves him down to start but Hall comes back with the driving shoulder blocks. He slaps Ray in the back of the head and gets sent into the corner and pounding away for his efforts. A corner splash crushes Hall and it’s off to a bearhug to waste some time. The referee takes a shot to the eye so we head to the floor for a bit with Hall hitting Traylor in the face with his NWO tag title belt. That’s only good for two and the middle rope bulldog gets the same for Hall. Scott heads to the floor to grab a chair but Larry comes out to stop him. The distraction lets Traylor hit the Boss Man Slam for the upset pin.

Rating: D+. The match was barely anything but it did advance the Larry vs. Hall feud so I can’t complain all that much. I’m not sure how many people wanted to see Zbyszko vs. Hall but at least it was a feud that had the time to build up for a few months. Speaking of having the time, can we get a match to last five minutes tonight?

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Ultimo Dragon

Dragon is defending. Apparently Scott Steiner has been fined $5000 for hitting the referee during the tag match. The announcers didn’t even notice it so it’s likely a bit extreme. Feeling out process to start with both guys hitting some quick strikes until Juvy hits a springboard spinwheel kick for two. Guerrera misses a splash in the corner and gets stomped down as we actually talk about the match for a bit. Actually scratch that as it’s time to talk about Starrcade a bit more.

Dragon misses a handspring elbow in the corner as the fans think this is boring. Juvy loads up a top rope rana but gets crotched to the floor instead. Dragon hits a moonsault to the floor but injures his knee in the process. They head back in and Dragon hits a release German suplex for two but the top rope rana is countered again. Juvy knocks him to the mat but dives into a dropkick fro Dragon, only to come back with a quick DDT. The Juvy Driver sets up the 450 for the pin and a new champion.

Rating: C. Pretty slow paced stuff here as their high spots weren’t connecting all that well. Dragon only held the belt for about eight days here so it’s kind of hard to care about the title changing this fast. It’s not a bad match but again at just under five minutes we didn’t have time to get invested in it at all.

Here’s Bret Hart for a chat. Bret says that he’s called himself the best there is, was and ever will be and he means it and he’s meant it every time. He’s accomplished a lot over his career but now he has to prove himself all over again. Bret isn’t going to stop calling himself the best ever….and here’s Flair with a rebuttal. Ric talks about how he’s heard from a thousand people since last week (what’s with that? It was three days ago, not last week but people have been saying it all show long) that they want to hear Bret say his catchphrase to Flair’s face.

Bret does just that, sending Flair into a rant about how Bret used to sit in the front row with a box of popcorn wanting to be like Ric Flair. Bret has been a five time WWF Champion, but while he was doing that, Flair was wrestling Brody in Singapore for an hour. Not exactly but Flair is on a roll so I can forgive him. Flair yells about how he’s been around the world but Bret says he’ll have to beat the man to prove that he’s the man. Ric says it’s not just beating the man, but it’s staying the man. More good stuff here, questionable history aside.

Lex Luger vs. Scott Norton

Norton jumps him on the floor to start before heading inside for a clothesline. A backbreaker puts Luger down but a splash misses in the corner. Luger vs. Savage is announced for the PPV and here’s Buff for a distraction. Norton hits the shoulder breaker for two but Luger comes back with the forearm. The Rack ends Norton quick in a rare loss for him.

Bagwell gets Racked too as Savage comes in, only to be chased off by Luger as well.

We get the video from Starrcade of the “fast count” and it’s just not fast no matter how they look at it.

We get the long awaited footage from Nitro, which shows the referee going down and being replaced by Nick Patrick (who was suspended earlier on Nitro), who counts three on Sting as Hogan rolls him up with a handful of tights. Hogan and Sting keep fighting because that’s just what they do, so Sting makes Hogan give up in the Scorpion, which counts now because the original referee never called for the bell, which is the exact same thing that happened at Starrcade but this is almost over so I’m not going to think about it that hard. JJ comes out and gets decked by Bischoff, causing a huge brawl between WCW and the NWO.

Back live again with JJ in the ring for his decision. Before the decision is announced we need Hogan in the ring. Naturally he brings out about five guys (to no music for some reason) for the big meeting. JJ also asks Sting to come to the ring and bring the belt. The official decision is that the title is vacant until they can make an official decision. Sting says JJ has no guts and that Hogan is a dead man, which is the first thing he’s said in a year (ignoring what he said at Starrcade of course). Heenan swears this is a victory for the NWO because that’s what you do when anything happens in WCW.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash

Hogan comes out with Nash (despite both guys being in the ring for the previous segment) as Tony swears that we’ll stay with the show no matter what, a mere ten minutes after we saw footage from a match that ended after Nitro went off the air. Page cranks on the arm to start but Nash elbows him down. The champ gets two off a swinging neckbreaker but Nash goes to Page’s eternally injured ribs to take over.

A clothesline in the corner has Page down again and the side slam gets two. Nash pounds on him in the corner and sends Page outside for more very slow pounding. Page is sent into the steps as Hogan tells him to give up. Back in and Nash hits Snake Eyes and an elbow drop for two. Page fights out of another Snake Eyes attempt and loads up the Diamond Cutter but Hogan hits him in the ribs for the DQ.

Rating: D+. We were clearly just killing time until the DQ here which is the case in almost all WCW main events anymore. Hogan being out there was kind of surprising as it could have been any WCW goon for the same ending. Also any bets on there being no mention of a fine to Hogan for doing the same thing Luger did earlier?

Post match Giant comes out to break up a Jackknife and brawls with Nash to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Take everything that was good about Nitro from this week and throw it out the window. Let’s see: short and mostly meaningless matches, the title situation is a mess (and will get messier) and the NWO’s problems aren’t even mentioned. In other words, the focus is all back on the NWO being some kind of a threat and WCW needing to pull together, which is exactly what it’s been since like March. This show wasn’t terrible, but man was it frustrating.

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

Thunder
Date: January 8, 1998
Location: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

Due to the success of 1997, WCW decided to add another show to it’s TV schedule so here’s their new idea. Tonight is a souped up show as debuts often are, as we have a Cruiserweight Title match, an update on the world title situation after the debacle at Starrcade, and the Larry Zbyszko vs. Eric Bischoff match from Starrcade in full, which I’m sure wouldn’t get on the nerves of the fans who paid for the show. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about how they’re sure Sting is the world champion.

Randy Savage is supposed to be in the opening match but he isn’t here yet. Instead, here’s a clip from Nitro of the NWO arriving in two different limos. We also get Bischoff saying there are no problems.

Tony shows us a clip of the attorney from Nitro (a week ago according to him, which is Tony speak for three days ago) saying that anyone, either WCW or NWO, who violates a WCW policy will be fined and/or suspended. Nick Patrick was suspended at least until tonight to show us that WCW was serious.

Now we see the end of Nitro with the NWO getting in a fight to end the show.

Chris Adams vs. Randy Savage

Adams is a British guy who trained Steve Austin and brought the superkick to America. That’s more or less the extent of his major accomplishments but he’s in the first match ever on Thunder for some reason. Savage jumps him from behind as we hear about WCW never losing Nitro in the first place. Adams is sent to the outside so Savage can drop him on the barricade. Chris comes back with a whip into the post and gets back in which distracts the referee, allowing Luger to come out and cave in Savage’s head with a chair. Adams gets the pin to open the show with a huge upset.

JJ Dillon comes out but we go to a break before anything can happen.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff with something to say. Something I forgot to mention earlier: the set is a big stone wall that had an opening broken into it by some lightning earlier. Shouldn’t the show be called WCW Lightning then? Actually Thunder is perfect: it’s a bunch of noise with nothing of substance. It’s perfect for WCW at this point.

Hogan and Bischoff take forever to get to the ring where Bischoff introduces Hogan as the world champion. Apparently every good looking woman on the beach said that Hogan was the real world champion and tonight we’ll see the tape proving it. Hollywood is the only heavyweight champion in the world and he’s just too big and too tanned.

Here’s JJ again to say that Randy Savage wins the match because of Luger’s interference. Luger comes out and rants against JJ because only now is WCW doing anything after a year and a half of the NWO doing whatever they want. He says that WCW is going to band together and do whatever they want. Point for keeping continuity at least.

Louis Spicolli vs. Rick Martel

Louis cranks on the arm to start but is quickly sent to the floor with a clothesline. Back in and a few dropkicks send Spicolli right back to the floor. They get back in again and Spicolli pounds him down as the Flock heads to their seats. Martel fires off a cross body for two and a left hand to the ribs to stagger Louis. Another dropkick misses but Martel punches Spicolli down and hooks the Quebec Crab for the win.

Rating: D+. For a guy who hasn’t been around in years, Martel really does look smooth out there. At first I wasn’t wild on him coming back as he was just Rick Martel: guy in leather jacket, but they’re pushing him as someone with ring experience who can beat guys with relative ease, which is actually working for him.

We get a clip from Starrcade of Hall saying Nash wouldn’t be there, earning a beating from Giant in the process. I still don’t get why they didn’t just have Hall be a replacement as he would be more than adequate to fill in.

Tenzan vs. Ohara

Tenzan is a guy from Japan who is apparently part of the NWO. Tenay talks about how Ohara is like Ray Traylor as he was thrown out of the Japanese NWO and is now a freedom fighter. He pounds away on Tenzan to start but gets slammed down. The fans don’t seem pleased as Tenzan hits a spinwheel kick for no cover. Ohara comes back with a clothesline and powerbomb for two but gets caught in a middle rope chop. Tenzan hits a swan dive to end a quick match.

We get another clip from Nitro of the very good Bret and Flair segment where they argue over who is better and say each others’ catchphrases.

Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho

Before the match, Jericho apologizes for his recent behavior and to present Penzer with another new suit jacket. Flair takes him into the corner to start and there’s our first WOO. Jericho takes it to the mat with a headlock and a monkey flip sends Flair down. Chris takes too much time though and gets poked in the eye by the master, giving Flair control.

A clothesline puts Flair back down though and there’s the Flair Flip in the corner. Jericho dropkicks him off the apron before Flair can run to the top but the Lionsault misses as Flair gets back in. Flair asks for the time and hits a low blow before stomping away a bit. Jericho hits a quick backdrop and a top rope elbow for two but a missile dropkick misses. Figure Four ends Jericho quick.

Rating: C-. This was a glorified squash for Flair but he looked very smooth out there which is a good thing for Jericho. At this point, Jericho was nowhere near what he would become so a match with Flair was one of the best things that could happen to him. That’s what veterans are supposed to do and Flair did it more than almost anyone.

Jericho freaks out again post match.

Giant vs. Meng

As Meng comes out, Tony announces Flair vs. Bret for Souled Out and yes, he says it might be the biggest announcement in the history of our sport. Meng hits a clothesline but gets caught in a powerslam to put him down. A backdrop puts Meng down and Giant vs. Nash is announced for the PPV as well. Tony basically says that it’ll actually happen this time, which is a pretty pathetic way to push a match. “Remember last time when we said it would happen and it didn’t? Well this is nothing like that and we’ll actually do what we say!” Meng avoids a splash and fires off some strikes, only to be chokeslammed down for the fast pin.

Goldberg vs. Steve McMichael

It’s just Goldberg now. Mongo goes after him on the floor to start and whips Goldberg into the steps before heading in to be stomped. A gorilla press powerslam puts Mongo down and there’s a rolling leg lock for good measure. Mongo gets to the rope and goes after the leg as well before hitting a middle rope clothesline for two. McMichael calls for the tombstone but gets caught in the spear and Jackhammer for the pin. Heenan points out that Goldberg is undefeated.

Tag Titles: Steiner Brothers vs. Buff Bagwell/Konnan

Scott and Buff start things off and it’s time to pose. Buff takes him down with a hiptoss but Scott drills him with some clothesline and a tiger bomb. Konnan is knocked to the floor as well and it’s time to stall. Off to Konnan vs. Rick with Konnan being rammed stomach first into the buckle, only to take Rick down with a clothesline. Back to Buff who jumps right into a belly to belly and it’s a double tag to bring Scott back in. Everything breaks down and Rick loads up the bulldog, but Scott goes to the other corner for the Frankensteiner for the pin to retain.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but the main idea is the Steiners having issues. That’s probably the best move as the Steiners had been a big deal for about nine years at this point, so there wasn’t much else that could be done with the team. Scott had been the one WCW wanted to push for years anyway so it really isn’t surprising when you think about it.

Here’s Larry Zbyszko vs. Eric Bischoff from Starrcade to tick off the fans and fill in time, because if there’s one thing WCW doesn’t have, it’s a roster big enough to fill in a full show.

Bret Hart comes out to be guest referee. There’s no pyro, there’s no big entrance, there’s nothing but generic music and Bret casually walking to the ring. The theory is that he’s in the NWO but that’s never been confirmed yet.

Eric Bischoff vs. Larry Zbyszko

This should have been Hall vs. Larry, as those two had been talking trash to each other for months. However, Larry only gets Hall if he beats Eric here tonight. If Eric wins, the NWO controls Nitro. Larry is in good shape here considering he’s 46 and hasn’t wrestled regularly in about five years. Bret checks them for weapons and we’re ready to go. Bischoff has the body of a 15 year old girl. He is however a black belt in karate so you can expect a lot of striking.

Bischoff hits a quick shot to Larry’s head and immediately celebrates. More strikes follow and Eric heads out to the floor for consultation with Hall. Back in and Larry hits some shots of his own and Eric is scared. Larry goes after him again and Eric hits a spin kick to the side of the head that knocks Larry down. That’s enough for Zbyszko and he charges at Eric and takes him down to the mat. Bret admonishes him for pulling Eric’s hair, so Larry puts on a sleeper and a headscissors, both of which are broken up for being chokes.

Off to a standing figure four but Eric quickly makes a rope. The damage is done though and Larry goes after the leg. Makes sense against a karate guy. Bret keeps Larry away from Eric and the announcers PANIC. Imagine that: a referee following the rules. Eric is sent into the steps and takes a brief walk around the ring. Back in and Bret blocks a right hand from Larry, allowing Eric to get in a kick to the head. Bischoff fires more kicks with Larry on the ropes, although Bret is fine with them.

Eric is starting to kick himself out though as the kicks are getting weaker and weaker each time. Now he fires rights and lefts in the corner as Larry is just covering up. Eric can barely move now and Larry shakes everything off. A suplex puts Bischoff down and Larry ties him in the Tree of Woe. Hall pulls something out of his pocket and loads it into Eric’s shoe, WITH BRET LOOKING RIGHT AT THEM. I mean, he knows what’s going on so why not LOOK THE OTHER WAY???

Anyway, Eric kicks him in the head with the loaded foot and the piece of metal goes flying. Bret isn’t supposed to see it, despite watching it fly through the air. Eric celebrates, so Bret hits both Bischoff and Hall before putting Hall in the Sharpshooter, which is Bret’s version of the Scorpion Deathlock. Larry chokes Eric for a bit and is declared the winner, presumably by DQ.

Rating: F. This was in the second to last spot on the biggest show of the year and featured the boss of the company who has no skill whatsoever in the ring. Larry did fine all things considered, but to waste this spot on this match and to waste BRET HART’s in ring debut on this match is absolutely ridiculous in every sense of the word.

Back on Thunder now here’s Larry to talk about his match with Hall at Souled Out. Larry talks about how he understands why Hall hates his guts after Larry took Hall so far ten years ago. Now instead of being a world champion, Hall is on the ship of fools heading towards Larry Land. Larry can still bench press 405lbs, drive to the golf course and shoot a 73 and then beat Hall from one side of the ring to the other. He’s wrestled in front of royalty around the world and just like he did in 1980, he’ll change the NWO at Souled Out. This was actually a pretty decent promo and I remembered it from when I watched this live.

We recap Ray Traylor being thrown out of the NWO and beaten down by Hogan.

Ray Traylor vs. Scott Hall

Traylor shoves him down to start but Hall comes back with the driving shoulder blocks. He slaps Ray in the back of the head and gets sent into the corner and pounding away for his efforts. A corner splash crushes Hall and it’s off to a bearhug to waste some time. The referee takes a shot to the eye so we head to the floor for a bit with Hall hitting Traylor in the face with his NWO tag title belt. That’s only good for two and the middle rope bulldog gets the same for Hall. Scott heads to the floor to grab a chair but Larry comes out to stop him. The distraction lets Traylor hit the Boss Man Slam for the upset pin.

Rating: D+. The match was barely anything but it did advance the Larry vs. Hall feud so I can’t complain all that much. I’m not sure how many people wanted to see Zbyszko vs. Hall but at least it was a feud that had the time to build up for a few months. Speaking of having the time, can we get a match to last five minutes tonight?

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Ultimo Dragon

Dragon is defending. Apparently Scott Steiner has been fined $5000 for hitting the referee during the tag match. The announcers didn’t even notice it so it’s likely a bit extreme. Feeling out process to start with both guys hitting some quick strikes until Juvy hits a springboard spinwheel kick for two. Guerrera misses a splash in the corner and gets stomped down as we actually talk about the match for a bit. Actually scratch that as it’s time to talk about Starrcade a bit more.

Dragon misses a handspring elbow in the corner as the fans think this is boring. Juvy loads up a top rope rana but gets crotched to the floor instead. Dragon hits a moonsault to the floor but injures his knee in the process. They head back in and Dragon hits a release German suplex for two but the top rope rana is countered again. Juvy knocks him to the mat but dives into a dropkick fro Dragon, only to come back with a quick DDT. The Juvy Driver sets up the 450 for the pin and a new champion.

Rating: C. Pretty slow paced stuff here as their high spots weren’t connecting all that well. Dragon only held the belt for about eight days here so it’s kind of hard to care about the title changing this fast. It’s not a bad match but again at just under five minutes we didn’t have time to get invested in it at all.

Here’s Bret Hart for a chat. Bret says that he’s called himself the best there is, was and ever will be and he means it and he’s meant it every time. He’s accomplished a lot over his career but now he has to prove himself all over again. Bret isn’t going to stop calling himself the best ever….and here’s Flair with a rebuttal. Ric talks about how he’s heard from a thousand people since last week (what’s with that? It was three days ago, not last week but people have been saying it all show long) that they want to hear Bret say his catchphrase to Flair’s face.

Bret does just that, sending Flair into a rant about how Bret used to sit in the front row with a box of popcorn wanting to be like Ric Flair. Bret has been a five time WWF Champion, but while he was doing that, Flair was wrestling Brody in Singapore for an hour. Not exactly but Flair is on a roll so I can forgive him. Flair yells about how he’s been around the world but Bret says he’ll have to beat the man to prove that he’s the man. Ric says it’s not just beating the man, but it’s staying the man. More good stuff here, questionable history aside.

Lex Luger vs. Scott Norton

Norton jumps him on the floor to start before heading inside for a clothesline. A backbreaker puts Luger down but a splash misses in the corner. Luger vs. Savage is announced for the PPV and here’s Buff for a distraction. Norton hits the shoulder breaker for two but Luger comes back with the forearm. The Rack ends Norton quick in a rare loss for him.

Bagwell gets Racked too as Savage comes in, only to be chased off by Luger as well.

We get the video from Starrcade of the “fast count” and it’s just not fast no matter how they look at it.

We get the long awaited footage from Nitro, which shows the referee going down and being replaced by Nick Patrick (who was suspended earlier on Nitro), who counts three on Sting as Hogan rolls him up with a handful of tights. Hogan and Sting keep fighting because that’s just what they do, so Sting makes Hogan give up in the Scorpion, which counts now because the original referee never called for the bell, which is the exact same thing that happened at Starrcade but this is almost over so I’m not going to think about it that hard. JJ comes out and gets decked by Bischoff, causing a huge brawl between WCW and the NWO.

Back live again with JJ in the ring for his decision. Before the decision is announced we need Hogan in the ring. Naturally he brings out about five guys (to no music for some reason) for the big meeting. JJ also asks Sting to come to the ring and bring the belt. The official decision is that the title is vacant until they can make an official decision. Sting says JJ has no guts and that Hogan is a dead man, which is the first thing he’s said in a year (ignoring what he said at Starrcade of course). Heenan swears this is a victory for the NWO because that’s what you do when anything happens in WCW.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash

Hogan comes out with Nash (despite both guys being in the ring for the previous segment) as Tony swears that we’ll stay with the show no matter what, a mere ten minutes after we saw footage from a match that ended after Nitro went off the air. Page cranks on the arm to start but Nash elbows him down. The champ gets two off a swinging neckbreaker but Nash goes to Page’s eternally injured ribs to take over.

A clothesline in the corner has Page down again and the side slam gets two. Nash pounds on him in the corner and sends Page outside for more very slow pounding. Page is sent into the steps as Hogan tells him to give up. Back in and Nash hits Snake Eyes and an elbow drop for two. Page fights out of another Snake Eyes attempt and loads up the Diamond Cutter but Hogan hits him in the ribs for the DQ.

Rating: D+. We were clearly just killing time until the DQ here which is the case in almost all WCW main events anymore. Hogan being out there was kind of surprising as it could have been any WCW goon for the same ending. Also any bets on there being no mention of a fine to Hogan for doing the same thing Luger did earlier?

Post match Giant comes out to break up a Jackknife and brawls with Nash to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Take everything that was good about Nitro from this week and throw it out the window. Let’s see: short and mostly meaningless matches, the title situation is a mess (and will get messier) and the NWO’s problems aren’t even mentioned. In other words, the focus is all back on the NWO being some kind of a threat and WCW needing to pull together, which is exactly what it’s been since like March. This show wasn’t terrible, but man was it frustrating.

NXT
Date: May 29, 2013
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Brad Maddox

Tonight we have some main event stuff to get to as it’s time for the #1 contenders battle royal, with the winner getting a shot at Langston at some point in the future. Other than that it’s hard to say what we’ll get which is one of the most interesting parts of a show like NXT. Odds are everyone will be in the battle royal with some working other matches tonight. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Wyatt Family vs. Travis Tyler/Sawyer Fulton

Non-title. There’s something very wrong about the Family having Twitter handles. Sawyer and Harper get things going with Lke running over Fulton like one half of a monster tag team running over a jobber in a squash match. Off to Rowan who pounds away in the corner with a headbutt and a chop before it’s back to Harper for more chops. Tom says that the tag is off to Fulton, making me think he has no idea which is which. Not that it really matters as Harper charges at Fulton in the corner and the discus lariat is good for the pin at 2:30.

Here’s Stephanie McMahon (in a studio) for a big announcement. She says that there will be a tournament to crown the first NXT Divas Champion. The tournament starts next week.

Emma vs. Audrey Marie

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m warming up to the dancing. Why this isn’t a first round tournament match is beyond me but the more interesting part is the crowd going NUTS for Emma. She wants her music started again after the bell rings for more dancing but Audrey smacks her in the face. More dancing ensues but Emma gets two off a sunset flip. A bad looking gutwrench suplex gets two for Marie and they trade some backslides for two each. Emma even busts out a Tarantula, called the Dilemma. Emma hits a slingshot to set up a bridging Indian Deathlock (complete with dancing as she bends back) for the win at 2:52.

Scott Dawson and Garrett Dylan are in the back but their loud and annoying manager with a French accent. The manager isn’t named but it might be that Enzo Amore guy from last week.

Scott Dawson/Garrett Dylan vs. Brandon Traven/Jake Carter

Apparently the manager is named Sylvester LeFort. Dawson and Dylan look like Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. Apparently LeFort is an eccentric French investor who travels the world looking for interesting business opportunities. That’s not one you hear everyday. Carter pounds away on Dawson in the corner to start but Scott sends him out to the floor to take over. A few knee drops get two before it’s off to Dylan.

Garrett hooks a chinlock on Carter for a bit as Maddox describes Dawson as someone who likely doesn’t flush. I’m not touching that one. Anyway Carter fights out and crawls between Dylan’s legs for the tag to Traven who is almost immediately clotheslined down. Dawson hits a spinebuster followed by a middle rope ax handle to a laid out Traven for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: D+. Not much here and I’m not all that wild on Dylan and Dawson. The manager has some potential but two good old boys (Maddox’s words) aren’t going to make me all that interested. They’re trying here, but guys named Garrett and Scott don’t really sounds all that intimidating you know?

Big E. Langston vs. Derrick Bateman

Bateman has a haircut which makes him look even more bland if that’s possible. Langston doesn’t have the I’m A Soldier part at the beginning of his music now. Bateman jumps Big E. to start but gets shoved down and thrown into the air to put him back down. Langston runs him over and the Big Ending ends Derrick at 58 seconds.

Another Big Ending sets up the five count post match.

The Raw ReBound is about the main event between Cena and Axel.

Next week it’s Ohno/Graves vs. the Wyatt Family.

Langston is on commentary for the battle royal. This should be awesome.

Battle Royal

Corey Graves, Sami Zayn, Bray Wyatt, Yoshi Tatsu, Kassius Ohno, Bo Dallas, Adrian Neville, Mason Ryan, Sakamoto, Briley Pierce, Alexander Rusev, Curt Hawkins, Knuckles Nelson, Baron Corbin, Aiden English, Conor O’Brien, Dante Dash, Mojo Rawley

I think I’ve got everyone in this listed. Ryan throws out Sakamoto and Pierce with ease and sends out Curt Hawkins and Alexander Rusev for good measure. Ohno and Wyatt keep brawling as everyone goes after Ryan. He throws them all off and screams a lot as Corbin and Nelson are tossed out. Rawley and Tatsu are out as is Dash.

English goes after Ryan and is thrown out with Zayn being thrown on top of them. Ryan has eliminated every single person so far and we’re barely two minutes into this. Mason loads up a powerbomb but Neville ranas him out to the floor. We’re down to Neville, Ohno, Wyatt, Dallas, O’Brien and Graves as we take a break. Back with Wyatt squaring off with O’Brien and Bray being kicked through the ropes very quickly, meaning he’s not eliminated.

Ohno knees Conor in the head and teams up with Graves to dump him out. Bray dumps Ohno and Graves at the same time, leaving us with three guys. Wyatt pounds on both guys in opposite corners and hits Sister Abigail on Dallas. Neville comes back with an enziguri and knocks Wyatt out before low bridging Dallas but the feet don’t touch.

Dallas sends Neville over the top but only one foot touches. Both guys get back in but Neville is backdropped to the apron. Dallas charges into a kick to the head to knock him down, but the Red Arrow hits Dallas’ knees. Neville is thrown out to give Dallas the win at 7:23 shown of 9:53.

Rating: D+. No matter how much fans loathe him, WWE has decided that Bo Dallas will be pushed to the moon in NXT and there’s nothing we can do about it. Maybe the teased heel turn will help him, but at this point a Dallas push does nothing to excite me at all. The fans didn’t react at all to him winning either, which is something you never see in NXT. Other than that, the only thing of note here was Ryan but it’s not like he’s going anywhere anytime soon.

Overall Rating: D+. This was probably the worst episode they’ve had in Florida. It was a night of squashes and a lame battle royal with a winner that isn’t the most popular guy in the world. The most interesting thing here though is the Divas Title tournament next week. Can you imagine Cole reminding us to be back next week for a Divas Title match? Dawson announced it here and it worked fine. Not an entertaining show tonight by any stretch.

Results

Wyatt Family b. Travis Tyler/Sawyer Fulton – Discus Lariat to Fulton

Emma b. Audrey Marie – Emma Lock

Scott Dawson/Garrett Dylan b. Brandon Traven/Jake Carter – Ax handle to Traven

Big E. Langston b. Derrick Bateman – Big Ending

Bo Dallas won a battle royal, last eliminating Adrian Neville

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 30, 2013
Location: USF SunDome, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz, Todd Keneley

We’re finally at the go home show for Slammiversary but there are actually a few things to get through tonight. We have a six man tag between Sting and Joseph Park partners vs. Aces and 8’s, as well as finding out which “big” free agent TNA has signed. The problem with that is Dixie Carter has called many people a big signing over the years so it’s hard to take her at her word anymore. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s show with Bully saying he still loves Brooke and Styles still being neutral.

Bully is with Aces and 8’s, saying tonight is about AJ Styles. Ray leaves and Anderson lays out D’Lo Brown for not being angry enough I guess.

Here are the former Dudley Boys to open things up. On Sunday it’s Sting vs. Ray and Joseph Park vs. D-Von for the respective titles. Sting wanted no holds barred and that’s exactly what he got. Ray talks about the legends that Sting has beaten, such as Flair, Hogan and Angle. Oh and Sting beat Jeff Hardy but Ray has too. The difference is Ray took Hardy out of action like he’ll do to Sting at Slammiversary. However, Ray wants the tag match NOW.

Bully Ray/D-Von vs. Joseph Park/Sting

It’s a big brawl to start with Sting ramming D-Von into whatever metal objects he can find. The brawling on the floor continues for about two minutes with nothing of note happening. Ray rams Joseph’s hand into the steps before climbing into the ring. Sting looks up at him and the in ring part of the match finally begins. They throw a few punches and it’s a double clothesline to put both guys down as we go to a break.

Back with D-Von working over Park until Joseph gets in a shot and goes up. Ray crotches him to stop any momentum before coming in and dropping an elbow for two. Off to D-Von for some Hogan posing as Park lays on the mat. Back to D-Von for a jumping back elbow before Ray comes in for a pretty awesome looking dropkick. Park finally gets over for a tag and Sting starts cleaning house.

Sting loads up the Scorpion on D-Von and Park tries one on Ray, only to be kicked into Sting to break the hold. Sting takes both guys down clotheslines but misses a Stinger Splash in the corner. The reverse 3D takes Sting down and the bikers load up What’s Up, but Abyss’ music hits. The distraction lets Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop on D-Von for the pin at 13:28.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do anything for me for the most part. I do like the idea of putting two feuds into one match though as it’s a great way to free up space for later in the night. However, the match didn’t work when neither feud is anything interesting at all, which is the case here. You can barely even say that Park and D-Von are feuding as they’ve only been interacting for a few weeks. Sting vs. Ray is the filler main event of the year, which is a bad idea when you only have four PPVs a year. Not terrible here but very pedestrian.

Kurt Angle will be watching AJ’s match very carefully.

Dixie Carter comes out to say that we’ll induct a new member into the Hall of Fame on Sunday. The fans will all be cheering for Sting in the title match….but here are Aces and 8’s to disagree. Garrett says that Sunday is going to be more like a funeral but here are Joe and Magnus for the save. Joe doesn’t know who gave Garrett a chance to speak, but instead of talking let’s fight right now.

Samoa Joe vs. Garrett Bischoff

Joe pounds away and hits the corner enziguri as we go to a break. Back with Joe being tripped up by Doc, drawing in Magnus for the save…..and the DQ when Garrett goes to the floor to beat him down. The bell rang at about 5:40 but about four minutes of that was in a commercial.

Post match Joe says that it’s a six man on Sunday with Jeff Hardy making his return.

Storm says he picked Gunner because he’s a beast who has killed people for our country.

Hulk yells at Brooke about being suckered in by what Bully said. Hulk: “When he looks at you like that, it’s permission to rape your life.” Apparently Hogan is betting everything he has on Sting on Sunday, pretty much guaranteeing Sting loses.

Austin Aries/Bobby Roode/Bad Influence vs. James Storm/Gunner/Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez

Gunner and Daniels start things off with Gunner running him over with a back elbow. A backdrop puts Daniels on the floor where Kaz has a quick consultation. Back in and it’s off to Aries who is rather tentative to face Gunner. He’s so worried about it that he tags in Bobby before making any contact. All of Roode’s partners are on the floor so he has to do this on his own, which include charging into a boot to the face before it’s off to Chavo.

Hernandez gets the tag maybe ten seconds later to hit a splash before bringing Chavo right back in. Chavo hits Three Amigos but is sent to the floor very quickly to give the heels their first control. Aries comes in with a slingshot splash to Chavo before it’s off to Kaz for a chinlock. Daniels misses a splash in the corner though, allowing for the hot tag to Hernandez.

All of the heel team tries their luck with SuperMex but he runs them all down, only to have Kaz break up the Border Toss. Aries hits a sweet running dropkick in the corner to slow Hernandez down but Austin is suplexed down to counter the brainbuster. Gunner tags himself in and no sells a discus lariat before putting Aries in the Torture Rack for the submission from Aries at 9:30.

Rating: C-. If they don’t change the titles on Sunday, just retire the things already. There’s nothing interesting about this never ending feud and it’s been boring for months. Adding Gunner and Storm to the thing just makes it more cluttered and keeps Storm from ascending up the ladder even longer. The match was ok but there’s nothing interesting here, which is the tagline for this whole feud.

AJ Styles arrives, causing Bully to go into a massive speech to the Aces. He has a job for Knux and declares war on Impact Wrestling. If there aren’t victims, any member of the team could end up like D’Lo.

Bound For Glory is in San Diego.

Here’s Mickie James to celebrate her title win. She brags about winning and thanks her fans for standing by her, but there are some people doubting the way she won the title. Mickie calls out Velvet to clear the air because they’re friends. Mickie talks about how tough Velvet is and how much she loves her for giving Mickie the shot when she wasn’t 100%. Velvet wants her rematch which Mickie is cool with, but Velvet wants the match at Slammiversary. Mickie says no because there’s already a Knockouts match at Slammiversary.

This brings out Gail to yell at Mickie, claiming that Mickie wouldn’t have won the title without Gail hurting Velvet’s knee weeks ago. Gail has been hurting anyone in her path lately because of how frustrated she’s been. She says she gets the first shot but Velvet gets in her face and says no. Gail goes after the bad leg but Taryn makes the save as Mickie stands around.

Kenny King/Gail Kim vs. Taryn Terrell/Chris Sabin

Taryn goes nuts on Gail to start and hits a quick neckbreaker to take her down. A high cross body takes Gail down for two before it’s off to the guys. Sabin takes King down and cranks on the arm, only to be clotheslined in the back of the head to give the X Champion (King) control. King misses a slingshot legdrop and gets caught in a spinning DDT for two but everything breaks down. Taryn spears Gail down and Sabin hits whatever his driver is called for the pin on King at 5:00.

Post match Sabin says he’ll win on Sunday but King lays him out. Suicide comes in to clear out both guys and hold up the belt.

Sting talks about all of his title wins over the years.

We run down the Slammiversary card.

Mr. Anderson vs. AJ Styles

Anderson jumps AJ as he comes into the ring but AJ fires off some right hands to come back. Mr. runs him over but gets tripped down and hit with a quick suplex for one. AJ snaps Anderson’s neck on the top rope but keeps looking around for the bikers to run in. Anderson is sent to the floor for a baseball slide as we take a break. Back with AJ not being able to suplex Anderson back in so we head to the floor with AJ being sent into various objects.

Back in and Anderson takes it to the mat with a body scissors and arm lock. AJ fights up and takes Anderson down to shift momentum again. A knee drop gets two but Anderson comes back with the fireman’s carry roll for two. AJ loads up a superplex in the corner but here’s Kurt Angle for the DQ at 13:58.

Rating: C. This was fine but it was too late to save this show. I do like that AJ is wrestling while in this Sting from 1997 period as it keeps him fresh and crisp in the ring. The ending makes sense, but it doesn’t do much for the rest of the show. At the end of the day, it would be ok to have Anderson lose here. Not much of a match but not terrible.

Post match here are the bikers and all of their opponents on Sunday other than Jeff Hardy. Everyone but Sting and Ray clear out and the champ is put in the Scorpion, only to have D-Von make the save and hit 3D on Sting to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. If you don’t like Aces and 8’s, do not watch this show. Literally over half of the TV time this week was dedicated to that single storyline, making for a very tiring episode. The ONLY other stories going on are the three other title matches and none of them have what I would call a strong buildup. This show has become so hard to sit through as the Aces and 8’s story continues to drag on and on. Slammiversary looks good on paper, but the main event feels like nothing but filler, which is very stupid with just four PPVs a year. This show built up the PPV well enough, but man alive stay clear if you don’t like Aces and 8’s.

Results

Sting/Joseph Park b. D-Von/Bully Ray – Scorpion Death Drop to D-Von

Samoa Joe vs. Garrett Bischoff went to a no contest

Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez/Gunner/James Storm b. Bad Influence/Bobby Roode/Austin Aries – Torture Rack to Aries

AJ Styles b. Mr. Anderson via DQ when Kurt Angle interfered

 

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