Monday Night Raw
Date: December 10, 2001
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re past Vengeance now and we have an Undisputed Champion in the form of Chris Jericho. He did the only thing he ever talked about for the next year and a half last night by beating Rock and Austin in the same night. Other than that nothing else happened because no one cared about anything else on the show. Tonight we being a series of about three throwaway shows on the way to the Rumble. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Flair to open the show with both world titles. He talks about how he’s going to present the new champion with his title tonight (not really but whatever) and brings out Jericho. The new champion has a list of names of people to thank with the most important of all being himself. He brags about proving everyone wrong and thanks Rock and Austin for their performances last night.

Jericho begins his tradition of talking bragging about how he beat Rock and Austin in the same night. He also thanks all of the little people who supported him before moving on to Flair. Jericho tells Flair that Flair has the honor of being presenting him with the titles, making him the first and only Undisputed Champion. Flair puts both belts on Jericho’s shoulders and says that tonight, Jericho is defending the title tonight in a cage. His opponent: Steve Austin.

Hardcore Title: Spike Dudley vs. Undertaker

Taker won the title last night and Spike sits on his bike on the way to the ring. Pain ensues. Taker puts him in the Tree of Woe but Spike gets in a low blow and some weapon shots but they get shrugged off. A HUGE Last Ride onto a trashcan ends this quick. Taker is still insanely over because he’s still the same character he was before his heel turn.

Taker kills him again with a chokeslam because once wasn’t enough.

Vince comes up to Flair to gloat and has Booker T with him. He also has some doberman guard dogs. It worked when he used them on Austin in 98. Vince says that tonight it’s Rock/Trish vs. the Dudleys. Flair says he’ll apologize in a bit. This was an awkward segment.

Booker and Vince go to their sky box and admire the view of the arena.

Kurt Angle vs. Rikishi

Angle has a new remix of his music and it’s not working. Angle says he’s here to avenge Vince. This is Rikishi’s first match back in like seven months but he was back on Smackdown with Rock shoving Vince’s face into Rikishi’s thong, hence the avenging line. Rikishi jumps him to start but Angle is all like oh no you did not jump me and snaps off a great looking German to take over. Angle tries a sunset flip but Rikishi drops down onto him to take over. Angle gets knocked into the corner but bails before the Stinkface. He keeps on bailing to give Rikishi a quick countout win.

Post match Rikishi dances but Angle jumps him. It goes bad for the Olympian as he gets beaten down and takes a Stinkface. From a world title match to this in 24 hours. That’s not good. Angle blasts Rikishi with a chair during Rikishi’s second dance.

They Dudleys and Stacy aren’t worried at all about their title defense later. Bubba makes fun of the challengers in a funny bit.

Lance Storm comes in to see Flair and asks for a match tonight despite not having a job. Flair says no. Ok then.

Regal jumps Edge during an interview and knocks him out with brass knuckles.

Storm still can’t get a job.

William Regal vs. Kane

Regal has to be searched before the match. He says the attack on Edge was just the beginning because he’s going to be dishing out a lot more punishment in the future but gets cut off by Kane. Kane takes over to start and pounds Regal down before beating on him in the corner. A sidewalk slam gets two and Kane goes up, only to get knocked to the floor. Regal loads up the knucks but gets kicked in the face. Back in and Kane hits the clothesline but Regal breaks up the chokeslam with a knucks shot to the ribs and head for the pin. Another short match in a series of them tonight.

Tag Titles: Dudley Boys vs. The Rock/Trish Stratus

Trish hides in the corner to start so Rock and D-Von start things off. A backdrop puts D-Von down and a clothesline puts him on the floor. D-Von gets rammed into the table as does Bubba who I guess tagged in somewhere. If he did it wasn’t shown on camera. A Samoan Drop puts Bubba down for two but it’s back to D-Von who has a bit more luck this time. Rock gets pounded in the corner but Rock clotheslines him down. The numbers finally catch up with Rock as Bubba clotheslines him down to take over.

A double flapjack puts Rock down but he comes back with a clothesline to put Bubba down. He can’t tag Trish in of course though so there’s no worry of a hot tag. Stacy pulls Trish off the apron and Bubba gets two off a neckbreaker on the Brahma Bull. There’s a sleeper but Rock eventually suplexes out of it.

The numbers catch up with Rock AGAIN (you may be noticing a pattern here) but he ducks a clothesline, causing Bubba to take D-Von down. A DDT puts Bubba down and all three guys are down. 3D doesn’t work but Bubba breaks up the Sharpshooter on D-Von. A spinebuster sets up the Elbow on Bubba but D-Von makes a last second save. Trish gets tagged in and What’s Up D-Von? Stacy gets brought in and What’s Up Stacy? Test runs out to brawl with Rock in the aisle and 3D to Trish retains the titles.

Rating: C-. You easily could have cut out three or four minutes here and had about the same match. Rock vs. Test doesn’t do anything for me but I don’t think it was ever going to go anywhere anyway. It was clear that the Dudleys were going to retain, which makes the match going long all the more pointless. Nothing to see here but it wasn’t horrible and we got some good shots of Stacy and Trish.

Test kicks Rock’s head off.

Vince and Booker patronize the crowd a bit and Vince talks about all the people he’s going to beat up/has been beaten up because of Vince. Vince insists he’s the real boss and introduces some celebrities here tonight. Never mind as he’s talking about Booker T. This went NOWHERE.

Lita tries to tell Matt she didn’t screw him on purpose last night. Make your own jokes. She says she loves him and he doesn’t seem to care. She goes to leave and Matt breaks up with her. Jeff pops up and tells her it’s ok.

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy/Lita

Matt shoves Lita down so he can jump Jeff to start. There are tags for the team here so it’s one on one for the most part. Jeff pounds him down in the corner and this is turning into a brawl very quickly. Jeff charges into a boot in the corner and they head out to the floor. A clothesline off the apron takes Jeff down but Jeff rams Matt face first into the apron. A brawl into the crowd goes nowhere so we head back inside. Matt pounds on him a bit and counters a quick Twist attempt. Jeff gets sent to the floor so Lita hits the Litarana on Matt. The Swanton from Jeff misses though and Lita tags herself in, but gets rolled up for the pin.

Rating: D. The Hardys have some of the best tag team chemistry of all time, but sweet merciful goodness they don’t have it against each other. I think the problem is they try to have some big epic match and it just doesn’t work because they don’t come off as guys that hate each other. This went on for awhile too.

Storm asks Flair AGAIN, so Flair gives him an all or nothing match. He wins and gets a job or he loses and is gone.

Lance Storm vs. Big Show

The bell rings and the beating begins. I don’t think they’re going to break the streak of short matches tonight. Storm gets knocked to the floor but comes back in with a thumb to the eye. Show pounds him down again but Storm goes for the knee. A missile dropkick gets two for Lance but he gets caught in a chokeslam for the pin. That was basically a workout for Show.

Vince and Booker have sandwiches sent to them but Booker thinks it’s a trap. He makes the waitress try one and it seems fine. Booker and Vince have the sandwiches. Seriously, that’s the whole segment.

We get a HHH video set to Beautiful Day by U2.

Austin says WHAT a lot and challenges Booker to a fight. Gee I wonder what’s going to happen in the cage match later. He also talks about what he had for lunch at Sonic.

The cage is lowered.

WWF World Title: Steve Austin vs. Chris Jericho

In a cage of course. Jericho stalls for awhile so Austin gets out of the cage and beats on the champ on the floor. Austin tries a chair but the referee takes it away, allowing Jericho to get inside the cage to hide. Austin sneaks in behind him as the bell finally rings. There’s the Thesz Press and Jericho is in trouble early. There’s no referee in the ring so this is escape only. Either that or it’s the stupid kind where referees come into the ring to count a pin which takes way too long.

Austin whips Jericho into the corner and the Canadian tries to climb, only to get pulled down very quickly. Jericho gets sent into the cage again as this is all Austin so far. Jericho tries a Stunner so Austin tries the Walls. That doesn’t work either so Jericho sends him into the cage and tries to climb, only to be stopped before he can get that far.

Austin superplexes him back down but Jericho comes back with an enziguri. Jericho crawls for the door but Austin makes the save. Then Jericho crawls for the door but Austin makes the save. Austin rams him into the cage a few times and removes a turnbuckle pad. Jericho goes face first into the exposed buckle about eight times, busting the champion open.

A slingshot sends Jericho into the buckle and then drops him on top of it with snake eyes. WE GET IT ALREADY! Austin goes to leave but Jericho flips him off, drawing Austin back in for a Stunner to the champ. Steve goes for the door again but Booker slams it on his head, allowing Jericho to crawl out and escape to retain.

Rating: C-. This took a long time to get going and once it got going, it didn’t really go all that far. The ending might as well have been a big flashing neon sign after the promo Austin gave just before the match. This would lead to the grocery store fight which isn’t exactly the expected retaliation for this but at least it was entertaining, unlike this for the most part.

Overall Rating: C-. This show falls into the worst category you can be in: the dull but not bad kind. That’s what this show came down to: the stuff wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. That makes for a very uninteresting show with no good matches and most of the show being spent on stuff that didn’t go anywhere, like the sandwiches bit. HHH gets back in a few weeks but it’s not like he can fix a whole show. Please don’t let him see that as I know he’d love to try to do so.

I’ve already done the 12/17 show so here it is:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/12/27/monday-night-raw-december-17-2011-nuns-groceries-and-bingo/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 17, 2012
Location: Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jim Ross

It’s the night after Night of Champions and we have a dispute in the world title scene. Cena and Punk went to a draw last night and now we have six weeks to set up Hell in a Cell and the final showdown (for this feud). Also we have some great news in that Lawler has gone home after the heart attack last week and we have JBL filling in for him. JBL was awesome last night so I have no issues with him here tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Heyman to Punk’s music to open the show. He talks about Cena not winning the title last night and mentions the controversy from last night’s main event. Heyman asks referee Chad Patton to come out and we get a still photo from last night which shows all four shoulders down. Patton says he made the right decision which Heyman agrees with. Heyman talks about some fan cam footage showing the ending of the match. Apparently it’s been taken off Youtube but we see it anyway.

Heyman rants a bit more and here’s Cena. Even his Titantron stuff is now pink. Nothing wrong with charity stuff. Cena tells Heyman to shut up and says it was the right call. Cena says it wasn’t him that took the video down and says that last night he said to Chad that you can’t end the match in a tie because it’s like ending the Super Bowl in a tie. John wants to know if that gives Punk the respect that he craves and Heyman says it does.

Cena says that they have different definitions of respect because a draw isn’t something that gets respect. He wants to know who the winner is and he wants to know tonight. Punk isn’t here tonight apparently but Heyman is the voice of the voice of the voiceless. Cue Alberto of all people to complain about the Brogue Kick being legalized at the last minute. Del Rio wants another title shot so here’s AJ who has no jurisdiction over that I don’t think. Tonight it’s Punk/Del Rio vs. Sheamus/Cena. Heyman goes after AJ but she skips away.

Cole is wearing a Long Live The King shirt. That’s a nice touch. He’s alone at the commentary table right now. We see a Tout from Lawler from last week and we’re told he’s gone home to Memphis. That’s awesome news. Lawler will be here via satellite next week.

JBL comes out for commentary. AND SO DOES JIM ROSS! WITH THE BEARD!

Sin Cara/Rey Mysterio vs. Epico/Primo

Cara and Primo start us off and some double teaming gets two on Primo. Off to Rey as we take a break. Back with Epico holding Cara in a front facelock before it’s back to Primo. A tornado DDT puts Primo down and it’s off to Epico and Rey. Rey speeds things up and it’s back to Cara. Both cousins get caught in a 619 and Cara hits a Swanton for the pin on Epico at 6:52. Most of that was in the break so no rating but it was a squash.

Post match the Prime Time Players jump Mysterio and Cara. My goodness it’s almost like THERE ARE TAG TEAMS THAT ARE FEUDING FOR A SHOT AT THE BELTS! LIKE A DIVISION! Titus says they’re tired of having things taken from them and Young says that ends now. The Players seem to be a lot more serious now.

The new champs defend against the old champs tonight. See that? FIVE actual teams!

We talk about breast cancer a bit.

Miz has his own talk show called MizTV now.

Beth Phoenix vs. Eve Torres

Non-title here and Layla is on commentary. JBL is back on the conspiracy theory thing from last night. Beth shoves the new champion down as Layla thinks Eve is behind Kaitlyn’s injury. Beth pounds away on Eve and is being all aggressive here for some reason. She loads up the Glam Slam but Eve kicks Beth in the shin to break it up. That gets her nowhere as Beth pounds on Eve in the corner. Eve escapes snake eyes and rolls Beth up for the 1:47. What was up with this? Eve looked like she was a jobber until the end.

Layla and Eve have a staredown post match.

Brodus Clay vs. Heath Slater

They’ve cut out Brodus’ speech before the intros. The good news here: Cesaro is on commentary and is being asked about Brodus a lot. Slater gets in some offense to start but Brodus makes his comeback. A Cesaro distraction lets Slater hit what I think is his finisher (falling cutter) for two. Slater goes up and jumps into the headbutt. The splash gets the pin at 2:05.

Here’s Miz for his talk show. He brags about keeps the title last night and talks about what you get an Intercontinental Champion. You get him a talk show of course. He talks about how great his show is compared to everyone else because he’ll be controversial and awesome. He proved that last night when he beat the three best guys his guest could throw at him. Here’s Booker and Miz talks about how his career is better than Booker’s. Miz points out that he beat three guys BLINDFOLDED last night. That’s awesome indeed.

Miz won’t let Booker talk but the fans chant for Booker. Miz asks about the Brogue Kick being reinstated and thinks it’s because Booker misses the spotlight. Booker finally gets in a word and says that Miz needs a new guest. It’s someone used to beating more than one person at once. Cue RYBACK! YES! Miz runs and Ryback destroys the set. A couch misses Miz and the idiot fans chant Goldberg as usual. HE GORILLA PRESSES A SOFA! GOOD FREAKING NIGHT! Did I mention I’m a big Ryback fan?

We see Lawler’s Tout again and hear the announcements from earlier.

Josh interrupts Punk and Heyman in the back. Punk isn’t looking forward to teaming with Del Rio tonight and is annoyed at still not getting respect.

Santino Marella vs. Dolph Ziggler

JBL isn’t a Cobra fan to say the least. Santino tosses Ziggler down to start and gets dropkicked in the face. Dolph whips him in and Santino power walks. A jackknife cover gets two and Santino hooks an armbar. Ziggler comes back with a neckbreaker and elbow drop for two. He stuffs the Cobra in Santino’s mouth (keep it PG please) and it’s a slow motion slugout. Santino does his comeback stuff but there’s no Cobra. Vickie steals the sock and the distraction lets Ziggler hit the Zig Zag for no cover. Another Zig Zag gets the pin at 4:10.

Rating: D+. It’s a freaking sock. Why is this supposed to be entertaining? I get that it’s for the kids and at least it didn’t have magical powers tonight, but the fact that I just had to type that should sum up all of the problems that I have with this character right now. At least this was a squash, but it says a lot that this is Ziggler’s biggest win in weeks.

Wade Barrett vs. Justin Gabriel

Gabriel speeds things up to start but Wade kicks him in the ribs and we head to the floor. Back in the ring and Barrett works over the ribs and back some more. A right hand to the head gets two and it’s back to the ribs. The fans who still won’t shut up now want Nexus. Barrett’s pumphandle slam is countered and Gabriel hits a top rope Lionsault for two. Barrett pulls on his nose and hits a big forearm/punch for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: C. Not bad here but I’m not wild on Barrett using a forearm as a finisher. It does fit with his character at least which is the right idea. I’m certainly not a fan of the match focusing on Gabriel’s ribs before a big right hand ending the match. Still though it’s good to see Barrett back and I like his grizzled look better than the clean cut one.

Truth and Kofi are having a birthday party but they can’t figure out who it’s for. It’s for SUBWAY and the Jerrid guy is here with sandwiches for them. The guys leave and here’s Sandow with an idea for a sandwich. Ryder shows up and offers the WOO WOO WOO You Know It sub. Ryback comes up and takes a sandwich. FEED ME MORE. He takes another sandwich and leaves. This goes less than nowhere. It takes us backwards.

Sheamus and Cena are in the back and Cena looks distracted. He didn’t win last night and he isn’t sure what’s going to happen in the future. Sheamus says don’t worry about it and we’ll toast the end of Punk’s reign tonight.

Kane and Bryan are telling anyone that will listen that they’re the tag champions. That would be they’re alone and shouting that they’re “the tag team champions.”

We get a clip of Lawler landing in Memphis.

Tag Titles: Kofi Kingston/R-Truth vs. Kane/Daniel Bryan

The place EXPLODES for Bryan. Kane and Bryan get in an argument before the match about who starts and the fans chant YES. Bryan and Kofi start things off and dang can Kofi jump. Off to Truth as the former champions work over the arm. Bryan charges into Truth’s boot and a cross body gets two for Kofi. Off to Kane and Kofi fires off some shots to the body which get him punched in the face. Kofi low bridges Kane and backdrops Bryan onto the big man. They get in a fight over THAT too and we take a break.

Back with Truth breaking free of a bearhug from Kane and getting some feet up in the corner. A middle rope dropkick puts Kane down and it’s off to Kofi who comes in off the top with a shot to Kane’s head. The top rope crossbody gets two for Kofi and there’s the Boom Drop. The kick is caught in a chokeslam but Kofi escapes and goes up, only to jump into the uppercut. Kane holds his arm up for the chokeslam and Bryan tags himself in, leading to argument #3.

Truth gets the tag and hits the spinning forearm to Bryan followed by the release sitout suplex for two. Back to Kofi who cranks on the arm a bit and the former champions hit a double Russian legsweep for two. Bryan sends Truth into the buckle with a drop toehold and it’s off to Kane with the top rope clothesline.

The low dropkick gets two on Truth and the sidewalk slam looks to set up the chokeslam, but Kane has to stop to look at Bryan who tries another blind tag. Kane tries to chokeslam him but Bryan guillotines him on the ropes. Little Jimmy gets two on Kane as Bryan saves his mistake. There’s the chokeslam to Truth but Bryan tags himself in for the NO Lock and the submission at 12:46.

Rating: C. This is another example of a match that isn’t so much good as it was entertaining. The arguing champions are still great and the division actually means something at this point which is more than they’ve been in years. I have no idea where this is going but it’s very entertaining.

Post match they fight AGAIN over who is the tag team champions. I can feel my old English teachers cringing at that line. Bryan wants to hug it out as Kane has both titles. They hug and Bryan steals a belt, leading to fight #5.

BE A STAR! FROM LAST MARCH!

Randy Orton vs. Tensai

Tensai powers him into the corner to start and elbows Orton down before working over the back in the corner. A powerslam gets two and it’s time for more face crushing. Time for a bearhug and then a nerve hold. Sweet goodness this is dull stuff. Orton finally hits a powerslam and the Elevated DDT and after the first attempt is countered, the RKO gets the pin at 6:00.

Rating: D. SWEET GOODNESS FIRE TENSAI ALREADY! The guy is not interesting at all and he’s dragging down every match he’s in. Orton had a great match last night but here we get this dull thing because we need to sit around and let Tensai use his slow and incredibly boring offense. The Japanese thing does nothing for him at all either. Just dreadful and Orton is better than this.

Otunga and Del Rio meet with Punk and Heyman with Harvard Boy saying he thinks Punk sleeps in a box on the street. Punk whispers to Heyman and Heyman says Del Rio should go back to Survivor Series last year where Punk beat him for the title.

Here’s Sandow to make fun of the commentary tonight. He has a list of vocabulary words that may help us for the upcoming school year. Sandow explains a few words before Ryder finally interrupts him. He has two words for Sandow: shut and up.

Zack Ryder vs. Damien Sandow

This is joined in progress with Sandow (in light purple tonight) controlling Ryder with a headlock on the mat. Ryder sends him to the floor and hits a plancha which gets two back in the ring. Sandow comes back with a knee to the ribs followed by a chinlock. A Russian legsweep sets up the wind up elbow for two. A rollup and small package get two each for Ryder and a facejam takes Sandow down.

Ryder hits a running forearm in the corner but Sandow heads to the floor before the Broski Boot can hit. Back in and Sandow runs into the knees in the corner. There’s the Boot but it only gets two. Not that it matters though as the double arm neckbreaker gets the pin at 5:34.

Rating: C-. Nothing much to see here but at least Sandow had to go a bit longer in the ring. He and Ryder do seem like a natural pairing but I don’t know if I can see a full on feud between the two of them. At least it’s better than Sandow getting beaten up by Brodus all the time though. Not much here though.

John Cena/Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio/CM Punk

Punk holds up the title for a LONG time before the match starts. We come back from a break and the match STILL hasn’t started. Del Rio and Cena start although I didn’t hear a bell. Del Rio fires off some kicks to the legs but Cena comes back with a monkey flip and backdrop for two. Off to Sheamus who beats up Del Rio a bit more before it’s off to Punk. Cena comes in and immediately tries the AA but Punk bails to the floor where he wants time out.

Cena got thumbed in the eye somewhere in there and Punk stomps away on him. Off to Del Rio who works on the arm a bit. Cena finally gets in a shot and brings in Sheamus who hits the ten forearms in the ropes. White Noise hits and Sheamus loads up the Brogue Kick. He has to stop to take out Punk though and Del Rio takes Sheamus down. Punk comes in and hooks a bow and arrow to take over.

Del Rio comes back in for a chinlock followed by the Blackout (it’s the running foot to the back to drive Sheamus into the mat. NXT Champion Seth Rollins uses it as a finisher) for two. Del Rio charges into the Irish Curse and both guys are down. Double tag brings in Punk vs. Cena with John starting his finishing sequence. The Shuffle is blocked but Cena counters into the STF. Alberto makes the save but Sheamus kicks Del Rio’s head off. The AA hits and gets the pin at 9:48 but Punk’s foot was on the ropes. The referee missed it and we have another messy call.

Rating: C. Standard main event tag match here with the ending being messed up to set up another match in the future, which we only kind of needed after last night. As long as Del Rio and Sheamus don’t have their fourth match on PPV I’m ok there, but I’m guessing we’ll get a challenger for him on Smackdown. The match was fine but it wasn’t the super match the announcers hyped it up as.

Punk yells at the referee post match and won’t let him leave. He follows the referee up the ramp to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show a lot and if they didn’t have about an hour in the middle of it, the show would have been a great one. I’m REALLY excited about the idea of Ryback and Brodus having title feuds and the pushing of Sin Cara is a good sign too. We’re getting a significant amount of new people being pushed and that’s something that has been needed for a long time. Good show tonight and a good followup to the great PPV last night.

Results

Rey Mysterio/Sin Cara b. Epico/Primo – Swanton Bomb to Epico

Eve Torres b. Beth Phoenix – Rollup

Brodus Clay b. Heath Slater – Splash

Dolph Ziggler b. Santino Marella – Zig Zag

Wade Barrett b. Justin Gabriel – Right Hand

Daniel Bryan/Kane b. Kofi Kingston/R-Truth – NO Lock to R-Truth

Randy Orton b. Tensai – RKO

Damien Sandow b. Zach Ryder – Double Arm Neckbreaker

John Cena/Sheamus b. CM Punk/Alberto Del Rio – AA to Punk

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Night of Champions 2012
Date: September 16, 2012
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s another WWE PPV here and in this case almost everything is for a title. This doesn’t really mean much as almost every show has four or five title shots but it’s an interesting theme I guess. The main event here is Cena vs. Punk III for the title with Punk defending for once, which is the third combination they could go with in their series. Other than that not much really stands out here so let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

Brodus Clay, Epico, Primo, Justin Gabriel, Tensai, Tyson Kidd, Michael McGillicutty, Zach Ryder, Titus O’Neal, Darren Young, Jinder Mahal, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater, Ted DiBiase, Santino Marella

The winner gets a US Title shot at Cesaro later in the night. Cameron is back from suspension apparently. Anybody but Santino. Anybody. Slater asks everyone to stand back so he can dance and he’s eliminated by 15 people at once. McGillicutty is thrown out as is DiBiase in about 40 seconds. Brodus dumps Primo and Mahal a few seconds later. The problem in battle royals is that there isn’t much else to say other than who tosses out who until we get to the end. Brodus puts out Epico and Tensai LAUNCHES Gabriel out.

Kidd is sent to the apron and tries a slingshot hurricanrana but gets powerbombed onto the pile of people. The monsters square off and Santino tries a double Cobra to no avail. The Players and McIntyre team up and dump Brodus, who may have hurt his shoulder. The Cobra puts JTG out and Ryder dropkicks McIntyre out. Brodus leaves and his shoulder seems fine so maybe it was just something quick. There’s the Cobra and it drops Tensai and Young, with the latter getting covered.

O’Neal dumps Santino and we’re down to Titus, Young, Tensai and Ryder. Titus suplexes Young onto Tensai before the partners go after Ryder. The Players double team Ryder but get dumped by Tensai. Tensai thought Ryder went out but he slid back in. Tensai charges into the double knee in the corner but he blocks the Rough Ryder into a powerbomb position. He goes to dump Ryder but Ryder counters into a hurricanrana to eliminate Tensai for the win at 5:42.

Rating: C-. It’s a battle royal so there isn’t much to say here. Ryder getting the shot is fine as the fans are going to react to him. He doesn’t have much of a chance against Cesaro but that’s ok as I’m sure more than one other title will change hands tonight. This was about what you would expect, but at least Santino didn’t win which would have been insufferable.

The opening video is all about Cena vs. Punk. They aren’t even hiding that the Smackdown Title means nothing does it?

Cole talks about the Lawler story and says that Jerry is going home this weekend. That’s great to hear. JBL is introduced as the replacement and says that he’s just keeping the seat warm for Lawler.

Intercontinental Title: The Miz vs. Sin Cara vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

Before the match, Miz complains about having to be in this and says that he’s going to file a complaint against Booker T for making him do this. Miz is champion coming in if you’re new at this. Rey is sent to the floor to start but Cara sends Cody to the floor as well before armdragging Miz outside too. Cody and Rey come back in as Cara drops to the mat for no apparent reason.

It’s time for the masked guys to fight. I know this has been a match people have wanted to see and I’m not really sure why. Rey takes Cara down for two but Cody makes the save. The unmasked guys go at it for awhile and everything breaks down. Rey goes up but takes too long so Cara goes after him. The Disaster Kick hits Cara but Miz breaks up a superplex so he can hook a Tower of Doom which gets two on Rey. Miz sends Cody to the floor as the fans sound like they’re chanting for Cody.

The short DDT gets two on Rey but Cara comes back with some high flying stuff to send Miz to the floor, followed by a big dive. Rey hits a headscissors on Cody on the floor followed by a seated senton off the apron. Cara gets two on the champ off a slingshot senton but he gets sent into the corner for the corner clothesline from Miz. Rey comes in with a kind of Vader Bomb for two (why has that move become so popular lately?) but Cody jumps him from behind for two of his own.

Cara puts Cody in 619 position but gets sent into the post by Miz. Miz goes after Rey but winds up taking the 619 instead. The top rope splash gets two for Rey on Miz but Cody saves. Cody tries to steal the pin on Miz but Cara saves. Cody goes for Cara’s mask but Rey saves. Rey gets sent to the floor with his sliding bump and Cara hits Cody in the head with an enziguri from the apron.

Cara tries to put another mask on Cody but Miz runs in and hits a backbreaker/neckbreaker combo for two on Cara. Miz tries to powerbomb Cara but Cara puts the mask on him instead. Cody tries Cross Rhodes on Cara but Miz bumps into them (he can’t see because of the mask) and hits the Finale on Cody for the pin to retain at 12:42.

Rating: B-. This was a great choice for an opener as they hit a great streak of near falls and saves in there. The ending was creative but I’m really not sure what it added. Miz pinning Cody doesn’t mean anything significant and he would have hit the Finale on him in that situation if he could see or not. Good opener here which got the crowd fired up.

The Prime Time Players are talking to Eve when someone comes up to tell her there’s an emergency. Eve runs off and finds Kaitlyn down with a bad ankle. She isn’t sure who attacked her but Eve says they’ll figure out something.

We recap the Anger Management story with I believe the same video that aired on Friday. Basically Kane and Bryan both have anger issues and have been sent to anger management, resulting in some wacky outcomes and a tag title shot tonight.

Kofi Kingston/R-Truth vs. Kane/Daniel Bryan

Kane and Kofi start but it’s quickly off to Truth. The big man powers Truth down and it’s off to Bryan for some NO kicks which drive him crazy. Truth armdrags him down and it’s back to Kofi with a top rope forearm for two. A BIG kick to the face puts Bryan down and it’s back to Truth for the spinning legdrop. The champions are the heels here by default, but it’s more like they’re just the less popular team.

Back to Kane who pounds Truth down into the corner and stomps away a bit. Back to Bryan and the fans erupt. The fans are going to turn this guy face by force soon and it’s going to be massive. Bryan fires off some kicks for two and it’s back to Kane for a low dropkick for two. The challengers try to work together but Bryan misses a dropkick in the corner and it’s time for a fight.

They almost brawl but Bryan wants to hug it out, drawing the pop of the night so far. JBL freaking out over stuff is something I’ve missed. Truth FINALLY makes the hot tag after apparently writing the great American novel while the challengers hugged. Kofi hits his usual stuff and it sounds like the fans are booing him.

Kane pulls Bryan to the floor to avoid Trouble in Paradise and they get in another argument. Kofi dropkicks Kane and (almost) hits a flip dive onto Bryan. NO Lock to Kofi doesn’t work as Truth makes the save to more booing. Bryan kicks Kofi in the face but Kane tags himself in and loads up the clothesline. Another argument with Bryan lets Kofi run up for a rana but Bryan holds Kane’s foot. Kane stays on the top but Bryan shoves him off into a splash to Kofi to win the titles at 8:30.

Rating: B-. This was different but the fans ate it up with a spoon. There was absolutely no other option for this match as Kane and Bryan are currently over like free beer in a frat house. The pop for the win is bigger than probably all of the reactions for a tag title match in the last five years combined, so at least people are paying attention now.

Both guys say they’re the champions post match but Kane sends fire from the posts to end the argument.

Kaitlyn can’t go tonight and Eve says no one deserves the title match tonight. Booker says Eve can have it. Teddy isn’t pleased.

Cole and JBL talk about breast cancer and how WWE is partnering with a cancer research foundation which is why the middle rope is pink. Nothing wrong with that at all.

US Title: Zack Ryder vs. Antonio Cesaro

Ryder won the preshow battle royal to get this shot. The word of the night is Unfair, which is what Cesaro thinks this match is. Cesaro takes him down with ease to start but Ryder takes Cesaro down by the wrist to counter. A flapjack and dropkick get two for Ryder but Cesaro shrugs them off and hooks a chinlock. A clothesline gets two for Cesaro as does the gutwrench suplex.

Cesaro gets the same off a regular suplex and the fans cheer for Ryder. They slug it out but Cesaro throws him into the air and hits the European uppercut for two. Cesaro hooks a reverse neckbreaker but pulls Ryder onto his back for a submission hold. Ryder escapes and hits a discus lariat for no cover.

A rollup gets two for Ryder as does a middle rope dropkick. Ryder hits a neckbreaker for two and Cesaro rolls to the apron. He goes up but Ryder brings him down with a hurricanrana. Ryder loads up the Broski Boot but Aksana pulls him to the floor. Back in and a European Uppercut sets up the Neutralizer to retain the title at 6:40.

Rating: C-. This was perfectly fine. It wasn’t a great match at all but for a thrown together PPV title defense this was fine. Cesaro needs a bit more development but he’s fine having random challengers like this one. Ryder is good to throw out there as the people still like him so the fans react to what he does. Nothing great but this was fine.

Otunga, Del Rio and Rodriguez are in the back. Ricardo has his neck brace off and Otunga yells at him, saying it needs to be on at all times even though Ricardo says it’s not hurting anymore. They call Ricardo stupid and he puts the brace back on.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton

Basic grudge match here. The fans like Ziggler and they fight over a lockup to start. Ziggler avoids a right hand and brags about doing so. A clothesline takes Ziggler down and Randy stomps away. Dolph comes back with a dropkick and a neckbreaker for two. Cole is playing the straight man on commentary here tonight and it’s really refreshing. Orton counters a suplex into a slingshot suplex for two.

The backbreaker sets up some clotheslines from Randy but he can’t hook the Elevated DDT. The camera keeps cutting to Vickie and it’s getting distracting. Ziggler tries a hurricanrana but Orton counters into a powerbomb. Orton gets shoved off the top and a missile dropkick gets two for Ziggler. Dang it quit cutting to her. We get it: she’s on the floor and shouting a lot. We can see that very clearly from the regular camera shot.

Ziggler drops a bunch of elbows capped off by the jumping elbow for two. Off to a chinlock with the headstand by Ziggler but this time he bridges forward to crank on the neck even more. Back up and another dropkick gets two for Ziggler. Dolph goes up but gets crotched and superplexed down for two. They slug it out and Ziggler holds his own. He runs into an elbow but takes Orton down with the Fameasser for two.

They head to the floor with Orton taking over. He hits the Elevated DDT off the barricade but Orton throws Ziggler back in instead of taking the countout. That only gets two back inside and Orton loads up the RKO but gets countered into the sleeper. Orton throws him off his back, throws Ziggler into the air and pulls him into the RKO for the pin at 18:15.

Rating: B+. Very good match here with Ziggler more than hanging with Orton. JBL pushed the idea that if Ziggler cashes in, Orton should get a title match. My guess is that they’ll go with that feud after Orton gets back from the movie which isn’t a bad idea. I’m not wild on Ziggler losing AGAIN but at least it was in a competitive match.

We get a sneak preview of Dredd 3D.

Divas Title: Layla vs. Eve Torres

I can’t say I blame them for swapping in Eve. Kaitlyn just can’t do anything in the ring. JBL is talking about the Loch Ness Monster and other conspiracy theories for some reason. Layla grabs a quick rollup for two followed by a headlock. You can see the fans walking to the back during the match. A low dropkick takes Eve down and they shake hands, only for Eve to get a cheap shot to take over. Eve hooks a headscissors choke as the fans chant OLE. Layla makes a comeback but misses her bouncing cross body. The rolling neckbreaker gives us a new champion at 6:35.

Rating: D+. The match was technically fine but my goodness the crowd being silent brings it down. Eve being champion makes sense but it’s not like the title changes anything with her. She’s FAR better in the ring than some of the girls on the roster so I can’t complain much there, but they’ve treated the title like nothing for so long that this doesn’t mean anything at all.

Some cancer survivors are here and at least they’re not booed.

Now we get a video about breast cancer.

Bryan is shouting about being the tag team champions and runs into AJ who is just standing around with her hips cocked to the side in a short skirt. She doesn’t say anything so Bryan keeps walking and runs into Dr. Shelby. Kane shows up and shouts that he’s the tag champions (I’m not messing up with grammar. That’s what they’re saying).

They get in another fight and AJ snaps and tells them to calm down. Shelby makes Bryan congratulate Kane but Kane won’t say anything. Bryan yells that he’s the tag team champions but Kane pops up and pours Gatorade over Bryan. Kane: “I’M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!” Stop the shot. Just cut it now. This isn’t going to be topped. Kane can be heard running off shouting that he’s the tag team champions and AJ loses it with laughter.

The look on JBL’s face somehow makes it even better. “I came back for THIS???”

After that hilarious moment, we bring it way down with a recap of Del Rio vs. Sheamus. In short, they had a match, Sheamus beat Del Rio, they had another match, Sheamus beat Del Rio again, Del Rio complained, now they’re having another match and Sheamus can’t use the Brogue Kick.

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus

Sheamus is in mostly white attire here which isn’t a great look for him. We get the big match intros which is a nice touch. Before the bell here’s Booker T. He’s concluded his investigation into the Brogue Kick and the move is legal, thereby making the last two weeks TOTALLY POINTLESS. Sheamus fires a quick Brogue Kick but takes out Otunga instead. Referees come out to take Otunga to the back.

JBL defends his own loss to Mysterio in 23 seconds as Sheamus pounds away in the corner. A neckbreaker gets two for Sheamus and we head to the floor where Sheamus hits the shoulder from the apron. Del Rio throws him off the steps into the announce table to take over. Back in the ring and Del Rio cranks on the arm followed by a kick to the ribs. Del Rio uses Seth Rollins’ Blackout for two. Cole is talking about the history of the title and thankfully they say it only goes back ten years.

Sheamus’ shoulder gets sent into the post and a double ax off the top to the arm gets two for Alberto. Del Rio goes up again but Sheamus knocks him off, only to have Alberto grab an armbreaker over the ropes. An attempt at another ax handle is countered by an ax handle from Sheamus. Sheamus fires off more running ax handles and rams Alberto face first into the post.

There are the ten forearms in the corner and Alberto is in trouble. White Noise is countered into a Backstabber for two. The fans want Ziggler. The Cross Armbreaker is countered into White Noise and the fans still want Ziggler. The Brogue Kick misses and there’s the enziguri in the corner for a very close two. Another Brogue Kick misses but Sheamus escapes the Armbreaker but he can’t hook the Cloverleaf.

Sheamus charges at Del Rio but gets low bridged and his arm is trapped in the ropes. Del Rio fires away kicks and Sheamus is in trouble. There’s the Armbreaker but Sheamus rolls on top of Del Rio and powerbombs him down to break the hold. Brogue Kick misses and there’s the Armbreaker AGAIN. Sheamus almost taps but makes the ropes with his feet instead. The corner enziguri misses for Del Rio and the Brogue Kick finishes clean at 14:27.

Rating: B. These matches are fine but there are three problems with the feud. First and foremost, the story is incredibly boring. I mean, they’re REALLY boring. Second, Sheamus is not going to tap out to the Armbreaker. It’s flat out not going to happen, just like 99.99% of all heel submission holds in world title matches. It just does not happen in the WWE. Third, Sheamus has beaten him twice coming into this so what was the point of a third match? This feud needs to be over now, just like it needed to be over a month ago. Still though, pretty good match.

Video on the National Guard which has some members here tonight.

We recap Punk vs. Cena. Punk has been champion for about ten months but he thinks he can’t get respect because of Cena. Tonight he gets to define his reign, whatever that is supposed to mean.

Heyman is in the ring and praises Punk, saying that Punk has described himself as a Paul Heyman Guy.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. CM Punk

Punk has the old school hoodie on and comes out first. Cena has a new shirt. Punk’s trunks are Yankees colors. My goodness they’re pushing the tar out of this heel turn. After the big match intros we’re ready to go. Punk is getting booed but it’s not 100%. He holds up the title for like a minute before the match starts. It’s a pose off and Cena throws his shirt to the crowd where his dad catches it.

Cena takes him to the mat and Punk’s trunks even have pinstripes on them. Cena gets a quick headlock but it’s released quickly. Cole and JBL keep rattling off stats and histories which is much better than Cole laughing at stuff. A quick release fisherman’s suplex puts Punk down but Punk elbows Cena in the face to escape. Punk takes over with a headlock takeover and the dueling Cena chants begin.

Cena misses a charge in the corner and Punk dropkicks him in the face for two. They’re still in first gear. Punk walks over Cena’s body to get to the corner for some posing. That was awesome and he escapes the AA attempt on top of that. A DDT gets two for Punk and he fires some elbows to Cena’s chest. Off to a chinlock followed by a bridging Indian Deathlock and Heyman has those evil eyes going on.

They head to the floor as Cena tries to get a breather but Punk sends him right back inside. Cena baseball slides him to the floor and throws Punk into the crowd. A suplex on the floor takes Punk down and we head back inside. The AA is countered into a high kick and it’s off to a camel clutch. Back up and Punk fires off some jabs for two. The GTS is escaped and Cena starts his finishing sequence, only to counter the spinning slam into a cross body for two.

Cena avoids the neckbreaker and takes Punk’s head off with a clothesline for two. The Shuffle is blocked and Punk gets two off a neckbreaker. Punk goes up for a cross body but Cena rolls through into an AA attempt but Punk grabs the rope to block. Cena busts out a suicide dive to take Punk out. Not bad at all. Back in and Punk slaps on a very quick Anaconda Vice but Cena gets on top of Punk and puts on the STF. Punk rolls out of that into a Crossface but Cena stands up with it and slams Punk down to escape.

They slug it out with Cena taking over but he walks into a leg lariat. The knee in the corner sets up a clothesline followed by the Macho Elbow for two. Cena counters the GTS into the STF and JBL (I feel like I’m on Sesame Street) freaks out. Punk gets to the rope and the GTS hits clean for two. A kick to the head gets two and Punk slaps him in the face. GTS and AA are escaped but Cena hits the spinning slam and Shuffle followed by the AA for a VERY close two. Heyman looks like he’s 13 and finding a Playboy.

Cena goes up but misses the top rope Fameasser and there’s the high kick for ANOTHER close two. They’re in the main event slugout mode now and it’s great stuff. Punk hits some shots to the face and a spinning backfist. A knee to the head gets two and Punk goes up, only to miss a moonsault. It wouldn’t have hit even if Cena had stayed in the same place. AA is countered and a not so great GTS gets two.

Punk tries a Rock Bottom for two. Cena hits an AA out of nowhere for two. Cena puts him on the middle rope and tries a belly to back superplex but Punk knocks him off. John runs right back up and hits a middle rope German for the pin and the title at 26:54. Both of their shoulders were down and I think you know where this is going.

Yep the referee is saying not so fast (my friend) and it’s a draw.

Rating: A-. While it’s not as good as MITB (that’s an unfair expectation though) and a bit below Summerslam if I remember that match right, this was still top shelf stuff. The ending sets up another match in the Cell where it belongs and I’d certainly like to see another match between these two. I’m not wild on the ending but it makes perfect sense. Great match too.

Punk clocks Cena with the belt.

Overall Rating: A-. This was an excellent show with nothing bad on it at all. The worst match was probably the Divas and that was pretty much fine. Most importantly of all though: they treated the belts like something that mattered tonight and it made a noticeable difference. JBL on commentary was great and Bryan/Kane are still great. You had two really good matches and a bunch of other solid ones. Very good show here and probably their best PPV since Wrestlemania.

Results

The Miz b. Sin Cara, Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes – Miz pinned Rhodes after a Skull Crushing Finale

Kane/Daniel Bryan b. Kofi Kingston/R-Truth – Kane pinned Kingston after a top rope splash

Antonio Cesaro b. Zack Ryder – Neutralizer

Randy Orton b. Dolph Ziggler – RKO

Eve Torres b. Layla – Spinning Neckbreaker

Sheamus b. Alberto Del Rio – Brogue Kick

John Cena vs. CM Punk went to a draw

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 7, 1998
Location: New Haven Coliseum, New Haven, Connecticut
Attendance: 9,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Rock Bottom and the card is mostly set. If nothing else the two main events are set and when you have Rock vs. Mankind and Austin vs. Undertaker, you really don’t need much else besides that. We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year and it’s only taken me about two years to finish it. Let’s get to it.

Cole is on commentary instead of JR who I think is out with Bell’s Palsy.

Here’s DX to open the show minus the Outlaws. HHH needs to talk about the Outlaws. If they’ve made a business decision then that’s cool, but have the balls to tell him to his face. Here are the Outlaws in suits with bottles of water. Road Dogg does the Corporate version of his schtick and the fans aren’t pleased. The Outlaws get Shawn to come out here and it’s time for the showdown of the DX bosses.

Shawn says he invented DX and says that HHH is infringing on his gimmick. He says HHH rode his coattails for years and that Shawn made HHH into a somebody from a nobody. HHH says he carried Shawn when Shawn had no business as champion anymore. HHH says that once Shawn got hurt, he picked up the ball. Direct quote from Shawn: “I’ve had balls you’ll never get to have.” Shawn says he can break HHH so HHH tells him to suck it. Tonight it’s HHH/Pac vs. Boss Man and Shamrock, anything goes. Shawn says the Outlaws are allowed to get involved. Be careful Shawn. You’re coming up on a pretty sharp swerve.

Tonight it’s Austin/Mankind vs. Rock/Undertaker. Nothing wrong with combining a few feuds like that.

Post break HHH and Pac are asking Chyna to watch their backs.

Jeff Jarrett vs. D’Lo Brown

Jarrett gets Goldust in a striptease match on Sunday. If Jarrett wins, Goldust loses his clothes and if Jarrett loses, Debra does it instead. Did I mention Russo is booking? Jarrett jumps Brown to start but Brown comes back with a clothesline and a middle rope shoulder block. Debra distracts the referee for no apparent reason and Henry gets a shot in on Jeff. Apparently JR isn’t here because his mom died. That’s always rough.

A swinging neckbreaker puts Brown down and a top rope cross body gets two for Jeff. A Russian legsweep gets the same but Brown hits a kind of Liger Bomb out of nowhere. Here’s Goldust in a trenchcoat to flash Debra. The distraction let’s Brown roll up Jeff for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was all here for the ending and that’s ok….usually. When the payoff to a match is Goldust stripping, there’s not much ok about that at all. I’ve always been a D’Lo fan though so seeing him get a win is always a good thing. Not a terrible match here but the whole stripping thing never was exactly interesting.

Austin doesn’t like the main event.

Vince gave a speech at Oxford University last week.

Headbangers vs. Edge/Gangrel

Mosh and Gangrel get us going here as we’re told the ICP is gone. Thank goodness. Gangrel takes over quickly and it’s off to Edge who gets a quick two off a double middle rope DDT. Double teaming gives the Bangers the advantage and Edge is in trouble off a flapjack which gets two. Here’s Luna to jump Thrasher for the DQ.

For no apparent reason, Tiger Ali Singh and Babu come out to try to calm Luna down but the Oddities come out and clean house.

Mankind is talking to some chairs in the back.

The Corporation is talking to Bearer about getting Undertaker to function with Rock.

Owen Hart vs. Goldust

Owen came out of retirement last night on Heat. Hart takes his time to start due to ring rust. The idea here is that Owen looks WAY too polished to have been out of action for so many months. A suplex gets two on Goldie but he grabs a small package for the same. Owen hits his enziguri for another two and a middle rope elbow for a third two. Goldust gets in a shot but here are Jarrett and Debra with the latter in a trenchcoat. She flashes Goldust but Owen is caught in the stare too, giving Goldust the rollup win.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have a chance to get going at all and the idea was to have Goldust get paid back for earlier, but it got a twist. Not a bad match or anything, but this was more about building an angle than a match. The problem at the end of the day is that you couldn’t actually pay off the idea of nudity (unless you’re the Kat for some reason) so people kind of got tired of waiting.

Austin is walking around.

D’Lo Brown was in Europe recently.

The rest of the company was in Europe too.

Val Venis/Godfather vs. Acolytes

I don’t know if it was ever made official but I’ve heard the name for Godfather and Venis was going to be Supply and Demand. That would have been great if they ever went with it. Godfather offers a fan one of his ho’s but he’s rather short and fat. The guy gets both of them for free because apparently he doesn’t have any experience with them. The Acolytes finally come out and it’s too much of a brawl to even be called a match. It didn’t even last a minute.

Here’s Austin to the arena. Austin talks about surviving everything that Vince and the Undertaker have thrown at him and he’ll have no mercy on Undertaker on Sunday. Cue Undertaker’s music and the Undertaker cross symbol on the stage. Taker’s voice comes through the arena who says Austin is helpless against the Ministry and Taker can take Austin’s soul. The symbol lights on fire.

Mankind has a bag and is talking about Austin.

Steve Blackman vs. Tiget Ali Singh

Singh jumps him to start but Blackman comes back with his kicks to the ribs and a bad dropkick. Total squash after that as Blackman wins with the bicycle kick. This would be Tiger’s last match on Raw for about two years and I don’t think anyone knew he was gone.

Post match the Blue Blazer (falling on his way to the ring) and Owen Hart run out to beat up Blackman.

Mankind is still looking around in the back and finds Austin’s dressing room.

Mark Henry vs. Droz

Is this the night of the filler matches? Henry takes Droz’s head off with a clothesline and a BIG forearm to the chest. A charge misses and Hery goes to the floor where Droz pounds on him a bit more. Droz sends him into the steps and here’s Chyna after the guys have been on the floor for like a minute and a half. Back in and a shoulder block takes Henry down before Chyna gets on the apron. Droz holds Henry for her to hit Henry, but Chyna hits Droz instead. A powerslam and a splash give Henry the pin.

Rating: D. You can barely call this a match as it was there for the surprise ending. Chyna and Henry is a story that was fun back in the day and it still kind of is here. The match seemed to run longer than it was supposed to so maybe Chyna was late coming out. They seemed to be on the floor forever.

Post match Henry is happy.

The Outlaws meet with the Corporation again.

HHH/X-Pac vs. Big Bossman/Ken Shamrock

Anything goes here. Boss Man has the nightstick in his hand to start but throws it down to face X-Pac. Pac takes Boss Man’s head off with a spin kick and it’s off to HHH in his first match back from a knee injury. They head to the floor and Boss Man is sent into the steps as everything breaks down. Shamrock and HHH head up the ramp with HHH hitting a suplex to take over.

The match breaks down as it should given the rules or lack thereof. Back inside there’s a Bronco Buster to Boss Man as we get back to a regular tag match. Boss Man powerbombs Pac for two and it’s off to a chinlock as the Outlaws are here. Off to Shamrock who kicks Pac down for no cover. Off to a front facelock on Pac as the Outlaws may or may not be cheering for his to make a comeback.

X-Pac hits a flipping clothesline to take Ken down and the ankle lock is countered by an enziguri. There’s the hot tag to HHH who cleans house. The facebuster gets two on Shamrock and everything breaks down. Shawn throws a chair to Shamrock but Billy wants to do the honors. He clocks Shamrock with it and the Outlaws are DX. The match is thrown out even though it’s anything goes because…..well just because.

Rating: D+. For a match where anything goes, not much went. The ending wasn’t really shocking or anything if you’re paying attention, but back when I was ten years old this was a big surprise. It’s good that they didn’t do the turn for the Outlaws here as it would have made the Corporation way too strong. The ending makes no sense but I think they were hoping no one noticed. Or maybe the writers didn’t notice.

Mankind leaves Austin’s locker room.

DX celebrates in the back.

Austin goes into his locker room and finds a bag with a note. He finds a beer and the note says that Mankind is going after Rock.

The Rock/The Undertaker vs. Steve Austin/Mankind

Mankind tries to fight them both at once which goes about as well as you would expect it to. Austin comes out soon after and it’s a big brawl on the ramp. Rock and Austin pair off which is always worth a look. All four brawl over to the announce table before Austin goes after Taker. Scratch that as they’re back to the original pairings again. They haven’t all been in the ring yet and we’re a few minutes into this.

Taker and Mankind head into the ring as the other two fight into the crowd. There’s a chokeslam to Mankind but Austin distracts the referee so there’s no count. Mankind takes a beating from both guys for awhile, which is smart as he’s a master at selling like few others are. Austin finally says screw this apron thing and goes after Rock on the floor.

Back in the ring Mankind drops Taker with a swinging neckbreaker but Rock gets tagged in before there’s a hot tag. A spinebuster sets up the Corporate Elbow for two followed by the Rock Bottom but Austin makes the save. Everything breaks down and Shamrock and Boss Man come in for the DQ.

Rating: C-. Star power alone carries this but I’m getting tired of these matches that don’t go anywhere because people run in before we can have a finish. The match was much more of a brawl than a match which is understandable and the ending makes sense as you don’t want anyone to lose. Well you could have Rock get pinned by Mankind to establish that the title is in jeopardy, but why do that when you can have ANOTHER run-in?

Post match the brawl continues and Mankind is cuffed to the post. Austin gets hit with the ring bell and Taker carries him on his shoulder up to the stage towards the symbol. We’ve got druids and Austin is “sacrificed”/crucified to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This show depends on the view you look at it from. From one view, they did a great job at setting up the PPV as almost every match got at least a little time. On the other hand, there were practically no good matches and some of the stuff was insane, especially the ending with the crucifixion which I’ve never been comfortable with. It’s not an awful show, but it’s certainly frustrating as Russo can’t just let a match have an ending.

Here’s Rock Bottom if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/09/15/in-your-house-26-rock-bottom-how-can-a-card-this-stacked-be-a-throwaway-show/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

The show is tomorrow and it feels like we could spend another month building it up.Starting with the preshow and the match that it sets up, there’s no way to know what’s going on.  The obvious answer is it depends on who wins the battle royal, and since we don’t know who’s in the battle royal, there’s no way to know who is getting the shot and therefore if I think they’ll win.  My guess is that it’ll be Kidd or Brodus and I can’t see Kidd getting the title.  Brodus……I can’t quite see that either but the match would be a tossup.  Other options would be Christian or Big Show but I can’t see it being the Canadian.  If it’s Show…..yeah they’d likely give him the belt.

Kane and Bryan winning the tag titles is the only logical ending to the tag title match.  There is zero reason to have Kofi and Truth keep the titles while Kane and Bryan are doing the most entertaining stuff in the company by miles and miles.  If there’s anything that should be a layup for the bookers, it’s this.

As for the IC Title, the usual way of thinking would say Miz retains the title because he sneaks in and steals the pin, but for some reason I don’t see that happening. Cody winning the title and setting up a mask vs. title match against either Rey or Cara would work fine, or either masked guy could take the title.  It would possibly give the fans a reason to care about Cara, but I don’t think it would do much good.  Rey has no need for the thing other than to feud with Cody more, but I think if it’s going to change it goes to Cody.  Odds are it’ll stay with Miz though and that’s probably the right idea.  One other thing: I love the combination of the title and the established feud.  That’s an old school booking move and the current product could use more of those techniques.

Kaitlyn vs. Layla.  The coin came up heads so we’ll say Layla retains.

Ziggler vs. Orton.  This is one of those matches I’m not sure where they’re going.  Orton is leaving to film the movie so he doesn’t need the win, but at the same time Ziggler is Mr. MITB which means he’s hardly ever allowed to win a major match.  My instinct would be that Ziggler wins andtakes Orton out somehow so Orton can go film the movie and then perhaps Ziggler wins the title in the meantime, setting up a rematch later on for the title.

I’ve been watching wrestling for a very long time and honestly I can’t think of a world title feud that interests me less than Sheamus vs. Del Rio.  Sheamus is one of my favorite guys but sweet goodness this feud isn’t doing anything for anyone.  Del Rio is such a boring and uninteresting character and he’s lost clean(ish) to Sheamus every single time.  What in the world is the point in seeing this AGAIN?  Yeah Sheamus can’t use the Brogue Kick, but he has like 3 other finishers so it doesn’t mean much at all.  Sheamus to retain and PLEASE let that be the final time these two fight ever again.
That leaves the main event with Punk vs. Cena and they really could go either way with this.  At the end of the day, Punk is living in Cena’s shadow and it’s driving him crazy.  ALl roads lead to January and the Rumble match with Rock, which likely sets up the rematch with Cena at Mania 29.  Based on that, I’ll go with Punk to retain here, but I don’t know if he’ll survive all the way until January.  Either way the reign isn’t lasting until my birthday in February.  Punk to retain but not by much.

Overall, this is a show that has the potential to be good on paper but the build for it hasn’t quite worked.  The whole company is running at half speed at the moment and they need a shot in the arm.  The stories aren’t bad but they’re not doing a good job of making people care.  It’s like they’re running with an anchor and they need something good to light a fire under them.  Maybe that’s this show.

It occurred to me that the All Reviews page was insanely long and I thought it was getting hard to navigate. I’ve installed a new thing on the right hand side where you can click on whatever category you like and you’ll go to the same kind of list but only for the category you’re looking for, such as WWE or TNA or whatever. You won’t have to go through the big long list of them and it looks a lot neater. The regular All Reviews page is there still too if you prefer it.

KB

It’s come to my attention that the template for my site keeps me from being able to do a lot of the things I’d like to so I’m going to change a few things. It’ll be all of the same content but just a different look. I’ll be in full control of it and things will still be like they are now and not like they were over the summer.

In Your House 26: Rock Bottom
Date: December 13, 1998
Location: General Motors Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Attendance: 17,577
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

We close out 1998 with Rock Bottom. A month ago we had a one night tournament at Survivor Series called the Deadly Game tournament. The problem with that show was there were two matches that weren’t tournament matches on the whole card, one of which was a women’s title match.

Rock won the tournament as he turned heel and we got an homage to Montreal as Vince rang the bell without Mankind tapping to a Sharpshooter. Rock became the Corporate Champion (somehow I didn’t go to Raw the next night 10 minutes from my house where Shawn returned.)

Austin was screwed out of the finals by the Corporation. Mankind was screwed in the finals and demanded his rematch here which he got. A week before this there was a British PPV called Capital Carnage where literally nothing happened. Rock defended against X-Pac of all people so what does that tell you? Your other big match here is the blowoff for Taker and Austin who are in the real main event in a Buried Alive match.

After a brief chat about the Buried Alive match, The Rock, carrying the absolute best looking world title of all time, the big eagle belt, introduces us to HIS PPV, Rock Bottom. He talks about how from now on they’re all his shows with various rock related titles. Considering there were only two more after this, that’s rather amusing. Standard intro now with Taker talking about how he’s going to kill Austin.

Allegedly the tombstone weighs 3000lbs. Why do I doubt that very much?

Val Venis/Godfather vs. Mark Henry/D’Lo Brown

For some reason that I can’t think of there is no JR tonight. The face intro takes WAY too long with both guys having to do a promo before the match starts. At this point, I have no idea who they’re even facing. This can’t be a good sign already. Godfather gives the Hoes Val for the entire night as a Christmas gift. Oh it’s the two members of the Nation that went solo. They have Terri and Jackie with them so you know this is the a-list part of the show.

Apparently two middle aged and not attractive ladies are better than having four barely 20 year olds. Henry is officially Sexual Chocolate. The name Rock Bottom is getting more and more appropriate by the minute. As you can probably expect, there’s not a lot to go on here. It’s a decent little opener with a somewhat established team and a pair of popular faces that were thrown together because of their similar gimmicks.

If you’re expecting much here then that’s your own fault for being an idiot. Of course the ladies get involved in the end in a catfight and Jackie’s interference allows Henry to splash Val for the pin.

Rating: C. It was supposed to get the crowd interested and little more. I suppose it did its job in that regard but this was just a basic tag match. I’ve never been a big fan of Papa Father (dang did he have some daddy issues) or Mark Henry so this was pretty much just interesting for Val and Brown. It’s nothing great but it’s not awful either which is what makes it a passable opener I suppose.

Recap of Rock being injured by Mankind earlier. We see Rock live with the McMahons saying he has to wrestle tonight.

Headbangers vs. Oddities

The Oddities are a gimmick that for some reason got over huge. They were just weird people apparently which just means they were tall or Earthquake in a mask. They were over with the crowd simply because they had the crowd wave their hands. This happened because the Bangers shaved Luna’s hair. Oh joy indeed. It’s Golga and Kurrgan for the Oddities with Giant Silva outside. It’s a comedy match and not a particularly good one.

The crowd chants boring as no one cared about the Bangers and the Oddities are only a good idea in theory rather than in practicality. In a nice move at the end the Bangers do a blind tag which they then screw up as one jumps onto Golga then covers him. He just jumps on him. It’s not a shoulder or a clothesline or a seated senton or anything would make sense. He just kind of hits him and it looks very bad.

Rating: D+. Oy I’m beginning to really hate the Attitude Era. This is so painfully bad because NO ONE CARED. Why can’t the company get this through their heads? The match sucked except for one good idea. Other than that: crap.

Steve Blackmanvs. Owen Hart

Apparently Owen retired but because of Blackman he came out of retirement. The Blue Blazer has been helping Owen recently which has led to some ok comedy. I’m really starting to think that the Attitude Era’s midcard absolutely sucked. They were great at main events and big angles but their midcard and filler was just absolutely awful. Seriously, Hart and Blackman? This match is pretty good I guess actually.

It’s far better than what I was expecting. I get that Blackman is supposed to be serious all the time but dang man. Lance Storm did it and was entertaining. Blackman is just freaking annoying. The match is at least fast paced which is what Owen was best at. It’s scary to think he’d be dead in just over 5 months. Since we’re in Canada he’s ungodly over as Blackman is booed out of the building every few seconds.

Hard hitting match here as these two had a pretty intense feud that no one really remembered. That doesn’t mean it was bad though, just not remembered. Anyway, they fight onto the floor and Owen just allows himself to get counted out for the loss as the fans lose it.

Rating: B-. Far better than it sounded on paper but that’s not really saying much at all. It’s an ok match and a breath of air after what we’ve had to see so far. Their feud would end soon with the Blazer character getting more and more prominent which would ultimately lead to Owen’s death.

Vince is looking around and finds Mankind in a closet.

It’s the Attitude Era, meaning it’s time for a tag match.

JOB Squadvs. The Brood

MAN there were a lot of tags back then. JOB Squad is a failed gimmick of literally nothing but jobbers teaming together. Their shirts say Pin Me Pay Me on the back. Snow was getting popular so they gave him this and no one cared of course. Instead of doing what he got over doing and being insane, WWF turns him into a generic guy with little to no gimmick. That’s the smart thing to do right?

Take someone that is actually getting over with no real input from creative and turn him into something generic. We can’t have anyone getting popular that we don’t hand pick can we? I mean dang, the thought of unexpected revenue from t-shirt sales and merchandise and people watching his segments when they would usually change the channel is just such an awful concept don’t you think?

The Brood is a lot like the Undertaker: just flat out cool. JR isn’t there because his mother died apparently. Michael Cole is perhaps the worst color commentator of all time. He is just so uninterested and boring that it’s awful. This is a pretty standard 6 man tag with everyone fighting everyone. Of course Snow and Edge are your highlights with Holly being as dull as ever and Scorpio only being good at high flying.

It goes back and forth with everyone fighting everyone and only Snow being able to get any real offense in. It eventually goes outside but Snow hits Christian with Head in the ring. After some interference Christian hits “That Move” (Unprettier) on Scorpio to win it.

Rating: B-. This was pretty good I think. While not the best in the world it was ok. Edge clearly was a star in the making while Christian was ok. Gangrel and Holly were just awful but Scorpio was ok. Snow was the best out there at the time and I really don’t like how badly he was treated over the years. He was on TV a lot but he never got the push he could have gotten.

Vince and Mankind are still chatting in the boiler room closet.

Goldust vs. Jeff Jarrett

If Jarrett wins, Goldust has to strip. If Goldust wins, Debra has to strip. King is totally pro Goldust here which Cole doesn’t get for some reason. Lawler keeps implying that Cole is gay. It’s just a one on one match with a stipulation. They’re trying to make it seem like it’s more than it really is and it’s just not working. At the end of the day it’s AE Goldust vs. AE Jarrett What’s the intrigue in that?

It’s a T & A match to push Debra as the replacement for Sable and that’s rarely a good thing. Anyway, it’s a basic one on one match with no one really pulling ahead at all. Goldust gets an advantage but the guitar from Debra leads to the Stroke and me being surprised as I didn’t know he was using that yet to end this. Goldust has to strip so the fans erupt with booing. Shawn comes out to DQ Jeff for the guitar shot and says strip.

Debra really didn’t look that good at all. Shawn slips her a $100. She’s about to take the bra off and Blazer and Jarrett run out to the loudest booing I’ve heard in years.

Rating: C. This was ALL about Debra and it just didn’t work well at all for me. I was never a fan of hers and this is why. She was supposed to be the hottest thing in the world and it really didn’t work. When the rest of her looks ok, they’d look ok too. However, that was rarely if ever the case. Shawn of course is the entertaining one so that helps a lot.

Vince leaves the boiler room and smiles.

Tag Titles: New Age Outlaws vs. Shamrock/Big Bossman

Shawn is with the heels here for no apparent reason. Oh ok he’s turned heel and joined the Corporation. This match actually gets some time and the Outlaws are by far the better team here. I think they don’t’ get the respect they deserve out there for their in ring abilities which were actually good at times. On the other hand, the heels are just two heels thrown together with little to no chemistry.

The whole commentary is about Shawn being a sell out and how the Outlaws swerved the Corporation on Monday. Alright, I get it already. You don’t have to talk about it for 15 minutes. Cole is seriously killing this match as on what’s supposed to be a big kickout or moment he sounds like he’s ordering dinner. It’s just really bad with how bland he sounds. It sounds like he’s ordering dinner or something.

Near the end we have the big spot of Billy hitting Shamrock with the Fameasser but Shawn pulls the referee out. Billy takes a nightstick to the head but kicks out. Here’s your commentary. “One, two and a kickout from Billy Gunn.” Seriously it sounds awful. Anyway, Shawn cheats again as he messes up a suplex attempt that causes Billy to be covered, but Billy rolls through for the pin to keep the titles.

Rating: B. As much as Cole tried to kill this thing, I really liked this match. It was given time which was the big thing. That can often make or break a match and with 17 minutes given to them, they put on a decent match. That’s the sign of at least one good team: they took nothing and made it something. HBK being in the heel’s corner made this match for them as well with him being the only interesting thing out there. Solid tag match, but man how many of them are there tonight?

Another recaps of the Rock/Mankind airs but this is by far and away the best one as it’s actually showing how Rock got to his heel turn.

WWF Title: Rock vs. Mankind

Vince and co. are out first and Mankind has something to say. Apparently there’s no contact yet as Mankind hasn’t signed it yet. He talks about the Survivor Series last month where he didn’t tap or get pinned. Cole calls it the biggest screwjob in WWF history. That’s got to be intentional as not even Michael Cole can be that stupid. Foley calls Vince dad for some reason. Foley insists Vince get on his knees and say that Mankind never said he quit.

As Vince backtracks, Rock jumps Mankind to start the match officially. McMahon gets on the mic and says that if Foley does anything wrong to DQ him which lets Rock take over. This is I think the second main event match that these two have had so their chemistry was still growing. They’re also only given 13 minutes or so here so this isn’t the best match in the world. However it’s certainly passable though.

They go back and forth for awhile but it’s mainly Mankind in control. The idea of the match is that all Foley has to do is get the claw on once to win. Low and behold, that’s exactly what happens. Rock gets caught in the claw and is out cold. The bell rings and we have a new WWF Champion!

OR DO WE???

Vince says that while Mankind wins the match a title can only change hands on a pinfall or a submission. Mankind loses it as he beats up both McMahons and the Stooges but gets beaten down by Rock, Shamrock and Bossman.

Rating: B. While not one of their better matches, this was kept pretty short for a world title match as they weren’t sure what they were going to get here. The ending was a screwjob but that would all be fixed in a few weeks as Mankind would get the title on Raw in one of the best finishes I’ve ever seen on the night of the Fingerpoke of Doom as well as the night that Tony Schivone told everyone the ending of Raw and all the people jumped over.

Recap of Taker vs. Austin. During this angel Austin got “sacrificed”, which was just freaky looking.

Buried Alive: Steve Austin vs. Undertaker

I really hate Taker’s heel music. Austin brawling in the vest looks awesome for some reason. This is a freaking fight and it shouldn’t be anything else. They’re hammering each other all over the arena and near the grave. They’re nowhere near the ring yet but the fans are hot so it’s all good. I think part of that was based on the not so great in ring stuff at Summerslam.

This is a brawl instead of a match which I really this is what they’re better suited for. It’s not going to end in the ring so why go there? Literally we’re at 10 minutes and they haven’t been in the ring yet. They are however fighting in the aisle though and OH MY GOD they’re in the ring! And they’re out of it 18 seconds later. Wow indeed that’s a good sign for the main event of a wrestling show.

Anyway this is all about getting the other person beaten down enough to put them into the grave, likely through one of their finishing moves. Each counters the other on many occasions. They go back to the ring for a much more extended amount of time: a full minute and 9 seconds. That is the only amount of time that they’re in the ring together in a 21 minute match: a minute and 27 seconds. That’s saying a lot.

They brawl back to the grave and after more hitting each other with things Austin gets the stunner. Austin stars to pour dirt on but Bearer hits him so Austin chases him to the back. Taker sits up and comes out of the grave before grabbing a shovel and hiding behind a mound of dirt. An explosion rocks the grave and Kane climbs out of it. That’s completely absurd and ridiculous but it’s amusing because it’s completely absurd and ridiculous.

They brawl for awhile until Kane hits a tombstone and drops Taker into the grave. Austin then comes out in a backhoe to completely bury Taker. Celebration is on as we have beer and more burying. Austin drinks a beer on the grave and then pours one on it to end the show.

Rating: B. This was a wild brawl and that’s what it should have been. When you’re trying to bury someone alive, why would you be using something like a hammerlock? That’s smart work from both guys as this should have been a fight and that’s all it was. The ring was just another place for fighting. Very solid match but not great. These guys had good fights but few good wrestling matches.

Overall Rating: C+. This is a tale of two shows as the first half is just flat out boring. There is almost nothing at all appealing about the first 3 or 4 matches. However starting with a good tag match and then the double main event we get a good string of matches that makes you forget how boring the openers were.

That’s what the Attitude Era was best at: making a big splash that caused you to forget something else. It’s a decent show overall but I’d just stick with the main events and the tag if you’re bored. Avoid the openers though as they’re nothing special at all.

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 30, 1998
Location: 1^st Mariner Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 11,006
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re getting closer and closer to Rock Bottom and we have some of the card set already. We have Austin vs. Undertaker as the real main event but I don’t think there’s a world title contender yet. Other than that I think we have the Corporation running wild on Raw with Austin and Mankind basically being the only people standing against them. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Austin vs. Taker so far. Undertaker and Paul Bearer arrive as well.

Here are the ICP and the Headbangers who are apparently allies now. We quickly cut to the back to see Austin arriving with a shovel. He comes to the ring and beats up the Clowns and the Headbangers in probably the high points of their careers. Austin says he’s going to hit Taker with that shovel tonight and that’s it. Literally that’s it. He talked for ten seconds.

Mark Henry has his date with Chyna tonight.

Austin is hunting for Taker.

New Age Outlaws vs. Edge/Gangrel

Non-title here I think. The Corporation has been recruiting the Outlaws to join the evil side recently so we may be nearing a heel turn. The Outlaws jump Gangrel to start so he spits his liquid in Dogg’s face to take over. Those two start things off officially but it’s quickly off to the future multiple time world champion. Christian offers a little external help and Edge hits a top rope rana to Road Dogg but an attempt at one for Billy results in a powerbomb. The Corporation pops up on stage as Roadie hits a shaky knee for two on Edge. Everything breaks down and Billy loads up a piledriver, but Christian hits him with a belt for the DQ.

The Corporation runs in to save the Outlaws and destroys the Brood. The Outlaws leave with the Corporation but they never shook hands or anything like that.

Austin is still looking for Undertaker, searching in a freezer this time. Taker pops up from behind him and locks him in the freezer.

D’Lo gets Henry ready for his date. Mark wants D’Lo to go with them for moral support.

Here’s Undertaker with something to say. Taker calls out Kane because tonight they have a common enemy. Tonight, one of them will face the future and the other faces eternal darkness. There go the lights and here comes Kane. Apparently they’re not friends as the fight is on. Here come some guys with straightjackets but Kane bails before they can catch him.

Brown and Henry go to their limo and Brown gets a jacket, sunglasses, and a chauffeur’s hat.

Post break Henry picks up Chyna at her hotel.

Here’s X-Pac to talk about the Outlaws possibly joining the Corporation. Actually never mind as he says if you want to know about them then ask them. Instead he wants a piece of Shawn Michaels and here’s the new Commissioner. Shawn comes out and says that if Pac wants to fight him, Shawn will kick his teeth down his throat. Pac still wants to go but Shawn says if Pac touches him, he’ll be heading down to Atlanta. Tonight Pac is facing Shamrock but only X-Pac’s title is on the line.

Henry and Chyna get to the restaurant and Chyna gets some flowers that cost $1.99.

Austin is out of the freezer.

Henry tries to order expensive water and plays some Marvin Gaye music.

Goldust vs. Jeff Jarrett

Owen Hart is on commentary here. Goldust jumps Jarrett to start but Jeff hits a kind of DDT on the arm to take over. Goldust comes back by sending Jarrett into the corner and hitting the Curtain Call, but Debra puts Jeff’s foot on the ropes. Jeff hits a swinging neckbreaker to take over and a clothesline gets two. Goldie comes back with a bulldog for two and it’s time for Shattered Dreams. Debra offers some skin as a distraction but before Goldust can react, Owen jumps him for the DQ.

Rating: D. These two never quite mixed at all. Not much of a match here but the whole point of it was for the ending. That being said, the wrestling in it didn’t work at all as it never got interesting. At least it wouldn’t last much longer as Jarrett and Owen would team up and get the tag titles in a few months.

Post match the Blue Blazer comes out to help Owen but winds up jumping him. It’s Steve Blackman.

Austin and Taker are still looking for each other.

Hardcore Title: Big Bossman vs. Mankind

Ladder match. Shawn comes out with Boss Man and climbs the ladder for old times’ sake. Boss Man knocks Mankind into the ladder as Shawn ejects the JOB Squad who came with Mankind. Shawn jumps in on commentary as Boss Man is sent into the steps. Mankind throws the ladder at Bossman’s head as Shawn is giving scores to every move Mankind does. Foley drops the ladder on Boss Man and they head inside.

Boss Man gets crushed between the ladder and an elbow drop onto the ladder onto Boss Man onto the ladder crushes him even more. Mankind vs. Rock for the title at Rock Bottom is confirmed. Boss Man keeps Mankind from getting the belt but walks into a double arm DDT. Another climb is countered and Boss Man slams Mankind down (getting a ten from Shawn) and they fight on top of the ladder. Socko goes into Boss Man’s mouth but here’s Rock to shove the ladder and Mankind over. Mankind gets back up and hits Rock low but gets knocked off the ladder again. The Rock Bottom allows Boss Man to win the title.

Rating: D. This is in the time of Russo and there’s one of your first instances of the title being a prop in a feud. Now to be fair it’s not like the Hardcore Title was ever meant to mean anything, but it clearly is being treated like nothing at all here other than a way to enhance Rock and Mankind’s feud. The match only had six minutes to work with too so it didn’t get anywhere.

Kane jumps Taker in the back but Taker comes back with a chair shot. Bearer pulls back a body bag and Taker tells him to go find the orderlies. After Bearer leaves, Austin pops up from behind and breaks the shovel over Taker’s face.

Duane Gill vs. Marc Mero

Gill is a hometown guy and he comes out with a local youth football team. That’s kind of cool. Mero says if he can’t win, he’ll leave the company. Mero dominates to start, hitting a running knee lift and sending Gill into the corner. The TKO hits but here’s the JOB Squad for a distraction. Mero goes up but the Blue Meanie pops in and shoves Mero off the top to give Gill the pin. Mero would never appear in a WWF match again.

Bearer sends the orderlies after Kane again.

Henry reads Chyna a poem.

European Title: X-Pac vs. Ken Shamrock

Even though both are champions, for the sake of simplicity I’ll only refer to X-Pac as a champion here. Shamrock takes him into the corner to start and elbows him down. A slam puts Pac down but the champ comes back with a clothesline. The Outlaws are being recruited in the back some more. Shamrock hooks a front facelock followed by a leg lariat to take Pac down. Back to the facelock but Pac comes back with a spinwheel kick for two. The champ hits some kicks in the corner and the Bronco Buster followed by the X-Factor but Shawn has the referee. Boss Man lays out Pac but HHH runs in for the DQ.

Rating: C-. As is often the case with matches in this era, this didn’t have time to get going. Not a bad match or anything here but again it was about the angle instead of the wrestling. That would get WAY out of hand in the next year or so and it was only beginning here. Shawn being another evil boss doesn’t really need to be happening but at least people care about him unlike Slaughter.

Bearer and the orderlies go to the body bag and take it away on a stretcher.

Henry is dancing but Chyna doesn’t want to join in. She eventually does and it lasts all of ten seconds. Henry leaves to go to the restroom and some guys come up to hit on Chyna. She’s not interested and some insults are used. Chyna blasts him in the face and Henry makes the save. Chyna leaves arm and arm with Mark.

Val Venis vs. Tiger Ali Singh

Venis comes out with Godfather and some women. Val beats on him to start but walks into a DDT for two. A belly to belly overhead suplex puts Val down as Godfather sends the ho’s after Babu. Val comes back and here are Jackie and Terri to get on my nerves. Terri hits Val low for our fourth DQ in six matches.

The Acolytes come out and beat up Singh and Babu for no apparent reason.

Bearer sees the ambulance leave. Austin and Kane are in the back watching Bearer on a monitor.

Here’s Shane to explain how Vince has made Sable what she is today. He asks Sable to come out here and she models the WWF perfume. This was a real thing.

The Rock vs. Al Snow

Non-title of course. Rock’s R&B remix doesn’t work at all. Snow gets in some fast offense to start and a shoulder block gets two. Rock shrugs it off and takes over, but they head to the floor and Snow rams him into the table. Back in and Rock fires off some clotheslines before the referee gets bumped. The Rock Bottom lays out Snow and Head gets the Corporate Elbow. Snow gets up and hits Rock with Head but there’s no referee. Boss Man and Shamrock come out but before they get in, another Rock Bottom gets the pin.

Rating: D+. Energetic match here but as always it didn’t have the time to go anywhere. Snow was a guy who was always on the brink of meaning something in the midcard but he was too silly to really get there. It’s so strange to see matches like this anymore as this would be something like Punk vs. Bateman today.

Post match Mankind comes out and gets beaten down. The JOB Squad makes the save and actually beats up the Corporation for a bit until Boss Man beats them down with the stick. Mankind jumps Rock and they brawl to the back.

Bearer gets caught by Austin and Kane and after a break they’re in the ring. Austin goes over the ridiculousness of last week’s events but stops for a beer. Austin tells Kane to get him but first of all he wants a gas can. That’s not good enough either as Austin has some scissors. Bearer has apparently passed out. Austin cuts Bearer’s shirt open as well as the tie. Austin gets ready to stab Bearer but stops because he has a better idea. They head outside with Bearer and drop him down a manhole to end the show. Well that’s different.

Overall Rating: C+. While not a good show from a quality standpoint, this show was fast paced enough to avoid being boring. The constant DQ’s got annoying and putting Bearer in the sewer didn’t really work, but the buildup was good enough. This is an interesting time for the company as they’re letting Austin do something other than feud with Vince and it’s letting some other guys grow into the top role. That’s a good idea and it’s working here with Mankind looking like a bigger star.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

Smackdown
Date: September 14, 2012
Location: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Josh Matthews

We’re at the final show before Night fo Champions and here on Smackdown, there isn’t much to get excited about. Sheamus vs. Del Rio is happening again and I don’t think many people were interested in it at first, let alone a second match. Now that we’re at the third match, it’s beyond scraping the bottom of the barrel. Other than that we still need an IC Title opponent for Miz. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video on how barbaric the Brogue Kick is, followed by clips from the deposition on Monday. Some of the Jewish humor is left out here. Also, Sheamus kicked Otunga’s head off on Monday.

Otunga, Ricardo and Del Rio are in the ring with the first two wearing neck braces. Del Rio is glad the Brogue Kick has been banned and Ricardo thanks his mom and cries. Otunga says that he’s an officer of the court while Sheamus is a hooligan, but he’ll recover from the kick on Monday. Del Rio says we have someone else who is a victim of the kick and we get a clip from last year with Christian getting kicked at Night of Champions.

Christian pops up on screen with his arm in a sling. Allegedly he just had shoulder surgery which I haven’t heard of before this. Otunga talks about how Christian was a victim but Christian cuts him off. Christian doesn’t like Del Rio or Otunga and he isn’t doing this for himself or Del Rio, but for the boys in the back. He was a two time world champion last year and the Brogue Kick derailed him. The Brogue Kick should stay banned according to Christian.

This brings out Daniel Bryan who is still having issues with not getting angry at the fans. Bryan is here to thank Del Rio but the fans chant goat face at him. That sets him off and he says he looks like this because Sheamus has kicked him in the face so many times. Booker has granted him a Wrestlemania rematch tonight so that Bryan can right the wrongs of that night.

Bryan goes on another rant against the fans when the champ comes out. Somehow he ties this into finding out that his aunt was actually his uncle and says that it wasn’t the Brogue Kick that beat Bryan but rather Sheamus himself. Sheamus gets on the apron and guillotines Otunga on the top rope, pulling off the neck brace in the process.

Sin Cara vs. The Miz

Non-title here. Cara just slides into the ring now instead of any kind of dive at all. The lights are all colored again. Miz suplexes him down but Cara sends him to the floor a few seconds later. Cara tries to charge at him but runs into a forearm to take him down as we take a break. Back with Miz holding a chinlock as the fans give what sounds like a golf clap to Cara. Miz pounds away on the mat and in the corner, followed by the corner clothesline and the double ax off the top for two.

Back to the chinlock but the following corner clothesline misses. Cara starts firing off some kicks and the fans do not react at all. Miz misses a big boot and Cara headscissors Miz down. An enziguri from the apron takes Miz down but Cara takes too long and gets caught in the Finale, only to reverse into a Magistral (I know I misspelled that) cradle for the pin on Miz at 4:44 shown of 8:24.

Rating: C. They really needed a break in an eight and a half minute match? Anyway this likely sets up a multi-man match for the PPV as Rey and Cara have both beaten Miz and Cody attacked the champ on Monday as well. There’s nothing wrong with combining a few feuds like that and getting those three involved in a title match, assuming that’s the way they go with it.

Miz talks to Striker in the back with Striker wondering how Miz likes facing an unknown opponent. Cody comes up and Miz wants to know why he was jumped on Monday. Cody says he wants his Intercontinental Title back. Mysterio pops up and says he deserves a shot at the title too. Sin Cara comes up too and points at the belt. Teddy Long pops up and makes the fourway.

We recap the Anger Management stuff leading up to Bryan/Kane becoming number one contenders to the tag titles. Part of this is set to a song that sounds like it’s called Smiley Face World.

We go to Kane in the back, holding a small red ball. The Doctor is with them when Bryan comes in. Bryan yells at Kane for attacking him on Monday and they say they both want to be tag champions. The Doctor says they both have balls (they do) and various jokes are made. Kane: “Mine’s bigger than yours.” Bryan isn’t sure.

Kane vs. Kofi Kingston

Kofi fires off kicks to start and dropkicks Kane into the ropes, only to get his head taken off by an uppercut. The low dropkick gets two for Kane but his powerslam is countered into a DDT. Trouble in Paradise is caught in a chokeslam but Kofi escapes and goes to the top, only to jump into the chokeslam for the pin at 2:10.

Kane goes to chokeslam him again but Dr. Shelby comes out and Kane hugs Kofi instead.

Orton isn’t worried about facing Tensai tonight or facing Ziggler on Sunday.

Randy Orton vs. Tensai

Orton takes Tensai down quickly and drops a few knees. Tensai comes back with an uppercut and we’re in a slug out. Orton punches away in the corner but gets run over by a shoulder block. There isn’t much variety in the offense so far in this one. Orton is knocked to the floor but he gets in behind Tensai and puts him in the same position that Sheamus uses for the ten forearms. Instead though, Orton hits some uppercuts to the back and a dropkick to send Tensai to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Tensai splashing Orton in the corner. Cole seems way too excited about the size of Tensai here. Off to a nerve hold but Orton fights up pretty quickly with a headbutt. The powerslam puts Tensai down as does the Elevated DDT. Orton does his stomp but the RKO is countered into the Baldo Bomb. The backsplash misses though and the RKO gets the pin at 5:13 shown of 8:43.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do it for me for the most part. It wasn’t a terrible match but it felt like one of those old 1980s punch and kick matches. Tensai is better in the role of the midcard jobber and I can’t picture him lasting much longer. The guy just isn’t interesting at all and wins over him don’t mean much. This wasn’t much of a win for Orton before the PPV though.

Vickie comes out and says that after Sunday, Orton won’t be a world champion again. In a good bit, Orton says that Vickie standing there can only mean one thing. Orton spins around into the RKO position and Ziggler stops right before he tries to charge in from behind.

Here are Cesaro and Aksana to explain (in five languages) the outrage Cesaro feels over defending the title against the winner of a battle royal. Tyson Kidd comes out and speaks Canadian, saying that after Sunday, Cesaro will be a former US Champion, eh. Cesaro dispatches him so here’s serious Brodus but Cesaro doesn’t seem interested in fighting him. Kidd dropkicks Cesaro into a headbutt from Clay and there’s a splash for the champ. I have no idea who is winning the battle royal on Sunday but as long as it’s not Santino I’m fine.

Wade Barrett comes out and explains what it means when he says he’s open for business. Next week someone gets to sample the product and then business will be booming. Ok then.

Kaitlyn vs. Beth Phoenix

The announcers talk about how Kaitlyn could match strength with Beth. Cole says that Kaitlyn could do that with a little more experience. What does experience have to do with how strong you are? Anyway a sunset flip gets two for Kaitlyn as does a rollup. Layla is watching in the back. Beth slams Kaitlyn face first into the mat and chokes away a bit more. The Glam Slam is countered into a reverse DDT for the pin by Kaitlyn at 2:51. Yep, Beth just lost clean to Kaitlyn in under three minutes.

We get a graphic saying Get Well Jerry. This is the first mention of Lawler tonight. I’m watching the international version and I’ve heard they edited out all of the mentions of Lawler on commentary on the Raw international versions, so maybe that’s what’s going on here.

Raw ReBound airs the entire ending segment with Cena/Punk/Hart. That was pretty good stuff.

Let’s run down the PPV card.

Eve is watching in the back and talks to Booker who looks like he’s on the crack high to end all crack highs. Eve sucks up to him a bit and Teddy does the same. Booker leaves with Eve but there wasn’t any animosity with Teddy.

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Non-title again. Sheamus powers him down to start as Del Rio, Otunga and Ricardo are watching in the back. Bryan has to stop to center himself for a bit and Sheamus stands there and lets him. Bryan tries a leapfrog but gets caught in the Regal Roll (fireman’s carry slam) for two. A clothesline puts Bryan on the floor but Bryan trips Sheamus onto the apron as the champ comes to the floor.

A running dropkick keeps Sheamus down and they head back into the ring. Bryan goes after the arm and snaps it across his shoulder. A charge in the corner misses and there’s the top rope shoulder from Sheamus. I’ve always like that move. A running knee sets up a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker which Cole calls the Irish Curse for no apparent reason. Bryan blocks the Cloverleaf as the fans chant Goat Face. Sheamus ties Bryan up in the ropes for the forearms (Bryan: NOOOOOO! Sheamus: YEEEEESSSSSS!) which get two.

Bryan avoids a charge in the corner and hits the kick to the head for two. Bryan throws on his guillotine choke which doesn’t last long. The NO Lock doesn’t work and there’s the real Irish Curse. The Cloverleaf goes on and the submission master is in trouble. After a lot of shouting NO, Bryan shouts YES and gives up at 9:06. No break in the main event? That’s a rare thing anymore.

Rating: C+. Not a great match but this one wasn’t in nearly as much doubt as their PPV matches were back in the day. Come to think of it, I don’t think Bryan has ever gotten a pin or a submission on Sheamus. This worked fine for a TV main event though and Sheamus gets to show off the Cloverleaf again. It almost seems like they’re making the ending of the PPV match too obvious, but maybe that’s the point.

Overall Rating: C+. This was fine for a show before the PPV, although I wouldn’t have minded seeing Ryback or Sandow out there. I’m hoping Ryback wins the battle royal on Sunday and wins the title so that he has something to do. I know I’m in the minority but I’d love to see him get hot shotted to the world title. The guy is getting the reactions and he’s been untouchable so far so why not? It would bring some fresh blood to the show if nothing else. Anyway, not a bad show but there was really nothing to see here. When you have the PPV set for the most part already, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Results

Sin Cara b. The Miz – Magistral Cradle

Kane b. Kofi Kingston – Chokeslam

Tensai b. Randy Orton – RKO

Kaitlyn b. Beth Phoenix – Reverse DDT

Sheamus b. Daniel Bryan – Cloverleaf

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