Elimination Chamber 2024
Date: February 24, 2024
Location: Optus Stadium, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re going international with this show and that means we are likely in for a rather hot crowd. As you can probably guess, this show is going to be focused on the namesake matches, which will help get us to Wrestlemania. Other than that, we have Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes on the Grayson Waller Effect, which should be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors vs. Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae

Australia’s Hartwell and LeRae are challenging and Hartwell gets quite the reaction (and mini bio from Cole). Hartwell and Sane start things off with the fans already chanting for Indi. Sane gets powered into the corner as they’re starting fairly slowly. A headlock doesn’t want for Sane as Hartwell shoves her off and kicks her down. LeRae comes in and gets two off a splash before being sent into Asuka’s boots in the corner. LeRae unloads on Asuka in the corner and hits her step up backsplash for two.

A sliding knee cuts LeRae off though and Sane’s top rope forearm has her down again. Hartwell gets knocked off the apron but LeRae manages to kick Asuka away and get over to Hartwell for the needed tag. Hartwell gets to clean house, including something of a body block to send Asuka outside. LeRae is back in with a Lionsault for two on Asuka with Sane making the save. Asuka suplexes Hartwell, who grabs a rollup for two (to a big reaction) before being knocked outside. That leaves LeRae to get knocked off the top and caught in a reverse DDT/Insane Elbow combination for the pin to retain at 8:41.

Rating: C. I don’t think there was that much drama over the idea of a title change, but this was about getting an Australian wrestler out there to start the show. That went rather well, with Hartwell getting the fans’ attention and firing them up even more than before. The Warriors never quite felt in jeopardy here, but that wasn’t exactly the point of the match. Nice enough opener and they didn’t do anything ridiculous.

Post match Hartwell gets the big ovation.

Several people arrived earlier.

Opening video, mainly focusing on Rhea Ripley.

More people arrived.

Women’s Elimination Chamber

The winner gets Rhea Ripley or Nia Jax at Wrestlemania. There is no word on how long the intervals are other than them being “regularly scheduled”. Naomi is in at #1 and Becky Lynch is in at #2 and they take their time to start. They trade shoulders with neither being able to get very far and then trade rollups for two each. That means a standoff before they slap hands and catch each others’ kicks. Lynch tries for the Disarm-Her but gets rolled into a failed Starstruck attempt instead.

They head outside, where Naomi sends her face first into the cage and then takes it back inside. Stereo crossbodies leave both of them down and it’s Tiffany Stratton (quite the crowd favorite, which even she acknowledges) in at #3. The handspring elbows have Naomi in trouble in the corner but Becky goes for the Disarm-Her. That’s broken up by Naomi’s high crossbody for a double near fall and everyone is down.

Stratton tries a double fireman’s carry but can’t keep them up, instead taking Lynch down on her own. The Prettiest Moonsault Ever is broken up so Naomi hits the split legged moonsault on Lynch but Stratton steals the cover for two. With everyone down, Liv Morgan is in at #4 and she sends Stratton into the sides of the pods over and over.

Morgan starts firing off a bunch of elbows in the corner, followed by a middle rope Codebreaker for two on Lynch. Naomi and Stratton go outside with Naomi sending her into the cage wall. Lynch joins them and Bexploders Stratton into the wall. The Disarm-Her, with Stratton’s arm going through the cage, has Stratton in trouble but the fall doesn’t count out there. Back in and Naomi climbs a pod and Blockbusters Morgan off the top, only to have Stratton roll Naomi up for the pin at 13:27.

Raquel Rodriguez is in at #5 and starts throwing people around, including a fall away slam over the top to Lynch and swinging Stratton into the cage. That leaves Rodriguez vs. Morgan, with the middle rope Codebreaker being blocked. Lynch is back in with a double DDT to put Rodriguez down but Stratton gets in a shot of her own to leave everyone on the mat for a bit. Bianca Belair is in at #6 and puts Stratton back in a pod before cleaning house.

Stratton comes back in and gets spinebustered for her efforts. That gives us the Rodriguez vs. Belair showdown with Belair’s crossbody being pulled out of the air. Rodriguez slips out of the KOD attempt but misses a charge and gets sent outside. Belair is pulled out with her and manages to reverse a slingshot suplex into a tornado DDT onto the cage floor. Belair fireman’s carries Rodriguez but gets sent outside again by Stratton.

Rodriguez is laid over the middle rope but Morgan comes flying off the top with a seated senton. Lynch and Morgan are both on top of a pod with Stratton shoving her off and onto Rodriguez. Stratton says it’s Tiffy Time and hits a crazy Swanton from off the pod and onto the pile to leave everyone but Morgan down again. That means Stratton gets to face Morgan on her own but the Prettiest Moonsault Ever is broken up. Instead, Morgan hits a middle rope Downward Spiral to get rid of Stratton (the fans do not approve) at 22:55 overall.

Rodriguez is back up and gets to clean some house, including a chokeslam to Morgan. The middle rope corkscrew splash crushes Morgan but Lynch pulls Rodriguez into the Disarm-Her. That’s broken up as well so Rodriguez powerbombs Morgan and Lynch at the same time. Belair is right back in with the KOD (and she barely got it on) to eliminate Rodriguez at 25:05 overall.

That leaves us with three and Belair takes over on both of them rather quickly. A double handspring moonsault hits Morgan and Lynch for two before they all head outside. Morgan gets swung into the cage but she’s back with a kick to send Belair face first into a pod. Lynch is back up but Belair catches her in the corner to rain down right hands.

Morgan powerbombs Belair down and then superplexes Lynch, who is still able to get her knees up to block Belair’s 450. Back up and Morgan counters the KOD with a knee to Belair’s face, followed by a Codebreaker to Lynch. Another KO doesn’t work on Lynch so Morgan rolls Belair up for the pin at 32:07 overall, only for the Manhandle Slam to pin Morgan and send Lynch to Wrestlemania at 32:15.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but they didn’t just have Lynch run through everyone to get to the title match. In addition to Lynch, you had the good three way final, plus Stratton looking like a star. Stratton very well may have gotten the most out of this whole thing, as she had the fans behind her and more than lived up to the hype. The match might have gone a bit longer than it needed to, but this was Lynch’s coronation and it worked well.

Tag Team Titles: Judgment Day vs. New Catch Republic

The Republic (Graves: “Sounds like a place where my wife buys her clothes.”) is challenging and Dominik Mysterio is here with the champs. Bate and Dunne jump the champs before the bell, allowing Bate to hit a running shooting star press for an early two on Balor. Dunne comes in for a hard clothesline before cranking on Balor’s fingers. Bate adds a top rope flipping splash, only to have Priest come in and kick away.

Balor comes back in for a chinlock until Bate fights up but Dominik cuts that off. A backbreaker/legdrop combination hits Bate, but Balor manages to get over to Dunne anyway. House is quickly cleaned, including a middle rope moonsault to drop the champs on the floor. A clothesline/German suplex combination gets two on Balor but Bate can’t airplane spin Priest. Everything breaks down and now the spin (a long one at that) has Priest in trouble.

Dominik offers a distraction and that’s enough for an ejection. He won’t leave so Balor drops him, leaving Balor to Sling Blade Dunne. That doesn’t slow Dunne down that much though as he snaps Balor’s fingers, setting up the double Tyler Driver 97 for two, with Priest making the save. Dunne dives onto Priest, who plants him onto the apron. Back in and Balor hits 1916 for two on Bate but the Razor’s Edge is countered.

Bate rolls Priest up and it’s back to Dunne for some kicks to Priest’s head. Bop and Bang sets up the double Birminghammer for two on Priest, followed by some clubberin for good measure. Balor saves Priest from being slammed off the top and it’s a double chokeslam off the middle rope. The Coup de Grace to Dunne retains the titles at 17:26.

Rating: B-. The action was good but this went on longer than it needed to. I was waiting for this one to end more than once and then it just kept going longer and longer. A title change wasn’t completely out of the question here, but they needed to cut off about four minutes here to really make this work. Hopefully Bate and Dunne continue teaming, as the division could use them and they have done well in their time together.

It’s time for the Grayson Waller Effect, but first we have Austin Theory to insult Australian food. Waller comes out to not the strongest reaction but the fans do like him drinking beer out of shoes with a UFC fighter. After Waller plays up to the crowd a bit, he brings out his first guest in Seth Rollins. Then he brings out Cody Rhodes, with the entrances taking their sweet time.

With both of the guests sitting down, Waller pauses to acknowledge Roman Reigns. Waller gets right to the point: who does Rollins want to fight at Wrestlemania? Rollins instead offers a scoop: he is days away from being medically cleared to compete. Rollins talks about how he’s going to win and hits his catchphrases. Waller: “Cool story bro.” We move over to Cody, with Waller asking if Cody is selfish for not giving us Rock vs. Reigns at Wrestlemania.

Cody reiterates that he is a fan of the Rock before listing off the things that Rock would say if he was here. We confirm that there are in fact some Cody Crybabies in the crowd and then questions if the Rock is still the People’s Champion. Cody thinks that if Rollins made an announcement, he should too…and he challenges Rock to a singles match.

Rollins says he’ll be there with Cody when the match happens but Theory cuts them both off with an IT DOESN’T MATTER what you think to Cody. Theory loads up If Ya Smell but Rollins sends him through the set. Cody and Rollins drop the villains (Rollins even hits the Stomp) to wrap it up. This was really long to not say much, but Cody challenging Rock and Seth being physical again worked.

Video on the Men’s Elimination Chamber.

Men’s Elimination Chamber

For the shot against Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania, Logan Paul’s US Title isn’t on the line, and it’s Drew McIntyre in at #1 and LA Knight in at #2. McIntyre chops him into the corner and Knight is already staggering around. A running neckbreaker gets Knight out of trouble but McIntyre knocks him right back into the corner. The fans chant for CM Punk so McIntyre loads up a GTS, only to get reversed into a sunset flip backbreaker. Knight takes him outside for some rams into the pod and yes the fans are right there with the YEAH’s.

Audio goes out, presumably for some not nice crowd chants, but comes back for Knight to send McIntyre face first into another pod. Kevin Owens is in (less than five minutes, as opposed to more than six for the first pod in the women’s match) and hits a chokeslam, which is apparently at the request of a Make-A-Wish kid (that’s great). McIntyre fights up and puts Owens on the top and it goes as badly as it always does for anyone not named Owens.

Knight comes back up but gets slammed down, with Owens Codebreakering McIntyre and landing on Knight at the same time. Owens gets in front of Orton and mocks his post before kicking at Paul’s pod. Knight and Owens get together to try a double superplex on McIntyre, who high crossbodies both of them down.

Bobby Lashley is in at #4 and goes right after McIntyre, including ramming him into the cage. A suplex on the cage floor keeps McIntyre in trouble and Lashley’s spinebuster gets two. Owens is back up to knock Lashley down for two more and it’s Randy Orton in at #5 to drop Owens with the powerslam. The hanging DDT onto the cage floor knocks Owens silly but Orton can’t follow up. Lashley is back up with a spear to Knight, who rolls out to the cage floor. Knight drops McIntyre onto the pod as well but Orton suplexes Knight to leave both of them down.

Logan Paul is in at #6 (complete with messages he wrote onto his pod) but Owens jumps him to start and they are both shut into the pod to keep up the beating. They get out with Owens crotching Paul against a pod wall. Owens blasts Paul again but Lashley sends Owens through a pod. One heck of a spear drives Paul through another pod, only for Lashley to walk into McIntyre’s Claymore. Back in and another Claymore gives McIntyre the pin on Lashley at 21:28.

Knight stomps McIntyre down in the corner and then runs the corner to superplex McIntyre. BFT hits Orton and there’s another to McIntyre….but AJ Styles runs in through the open Chamber door to unload on Knight with a chair. The Styles Clash onto the chair lets McIntyre pin Knight at 24:25. Owens’ brainbuster onto the knee drops Paul and some cannonballs hit McIntyre and Orton.

The Swanton gives Owens two on Orton but McIntyre blocks another one with some raised knees. The Claymore is countered into a pop up powerbomb and there’s the Stunner to Paul. Orton is back up and gets superkicked, only to reverse the Stunner into the RKO to get rid of Owens at 28:00.

With Paul down, McIntyre and Orton have their big staredown but Orton wins a slugout. Paul sends Orton into the buckle, only to get crotched on top. McIntyre neckbreakers Orton but gets high crossbodied by Paul to leave everyone down. Paul is up first and whips out some brass knuckles but spends so long looking at them that Orton grabs the RKO for the elimination at 32:38.

We’re down to Orton vs. McIntyre, with the Futureshock and RKO both being blocked. The hanging DDT puts McIntyre down but he’s back with a spinebuster to cut off the RKO attempt. The Claymore is loaded up but Orton collapses before anything can launch. Orton is back up with an RKO….and here is Paul to knock him out with the brass knuckles. The mostly out cold McIntyre gets the pin at 36:56.

Rating: B. The star power helped here and made a rather long match feel important throughout. McIntyre felt like the right choice from the beginning but Orton winning wouldn’t have been crazy and Lashley is always worth a look. In addition to McIntyre vs. Rollins, this should set up Orton vs. Paul and Knight vs. Styles at Wrestlemania. That’s nice to see in one match.

Here is HHH to announce the attendance: 52,590.

We recap Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax. Ripley is the unstoppable home country champion and Jax is a monster. That’s about all you need to know here.

Raw Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is defending and yes she gets the incredible reaction that you knew she was going to receive. Jax shoves her back to start so Ripley strikes away, including a running dropkick into the corner. Another shove sends Ripley into the corner and we go old school with a Stinkface. A legdrop to the back has Ripley in trouble but she kicks up from the mat for some creative offense.

Jax goes with the Stretch Muffler into a half crab, followed by a torture rack to stay on the ribs/back. Ripley slips out and grabs a guillotine choke, which is quickly broken up. A pair of powerbombs drop Ripley and Jax drops a leg to the back of the head for two. The Annihilator is broken up though and Ripley’s missile dropkick gets two. Jax grabs a Samoan drop but Ripley is back with a basement dropkick.

Ripley goes up and is brought back down with a super Samoan drop for another near fall. Jax gets knocked off the ropes this time and that means an Eddie dance frog splash to give Ripley two more. Riptide is broken up so let’s load up the announcers’ tables instead. Jax Samoan drops her onto said table and then adds a splash through it because that’s the kind of thing Jax does. Back in and the Annihilator gets two, leaving Jax shocked. Another Annihilator is broken up and a superplex brings Jax back own. A kick to the head sets up Riptide to retain the title at 14:38.

Rating: C. The ending was great, but there is only so much I can get out of offense built around the idea of Jax being really big. It was a bunch of Samoan drops and Annihilator attempts, which don’t quite make for the most thrilling match. If nothing else, how awesome would it have been if Ripley had kicked out of the Annihilator at two, Hulked up, and beat the fire out of Jax to win? That might not let Jax look strong though and we can’t have that, but hopefully this gets rid of Jax for the time being.

The long celebration and highlight package wrap us up.

Overall Rating: B. This was a weird one as the wrestling was mostly good to very good, but there was little in the way of drama. Lynch and McIntyre felt like pretty strong candidates to win the Chambers and Jax wasn’t beating Ripley if WWE wanted to get out of Australia alive. That didn’t leave much in the way of wondering who was winning, though that isn’t a terrible thing. It was a strong show that was missing that big moment to get it to the next level, though Ripley did everything she could to make it happen in the main event.

Results
Kabuki Warriors b. Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae – Reverse DDT/Insane Elbow combination to LeRae
Becky Lynch won the Women’s Elimination Chamber last eliminating Liv Morgan
Judgment Day b. New Catch Republic – Coup de Grace to Dunne
Drew McIntyre won the Men’s Elimination Chamber last eliminating Randy Orton
Rhea Ripley b. Nia Jax – Riptide

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Smackdown
Date: February 23, 2024
Location: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Corey Graves

We’re taped from last week as we are nine hours away from Elimination Chamber. The show is pretty much set but there is always the chance of a last minute addition. Other than that, since they were around last week, there is the chance of getting something more from the Rock and Roman Reigns. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Video on the Women’s Elimination Chamber match.

Tiffany Stratton vs. Liv Morgan

Bianca Belair is at ringside. Morgan starts fast and forearms her out to the floor for a breather. Back in and Stratton takes over and hits a running corner splash. Morgan grabs a crucifix for two and we take a break. We come back with Morgan fighting out of a chinlock and an exchange of running shots to the face. Morgan sends her into the corner for a running knee as Belair is literally bouncing up and down.

Oblivion is countered into a spinebuster to give Stratton two but she misses the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. An Alabama Slam gives Stratton two but the moonsault is broken up again, this time with a powerbomb. Stratton sends her outside and into the announcers’ table, followed by a slap to Belair. That brings Belair to the apron, with Morgan being kicked into her, allowing Stratton to grab a rollup pin at 11:38.

Rating: C+. You can see the talent in Stratton and she is already feeling like she belongs on the main roster. There was little in the way of nervousness or looking like she was trying to figure things out. That is more than a lot of veterans can do and it gives me hope for Stratton’s future. At the same time, Stratton vs. Belair would be a rather interesting feud for both of them and a great sign for the start of Stratton’s future.

Drew McIntyre says if he loses in the Chamber, his WWE career will be as worthless as CM Punk’s Wrestlemania return. Bobby Lashley comes in to remind McIntyre of the time he beat McIntyre at Wrestlemania.

Ashante Thee Adonis and Cedric Alexander discuss possible matching ring gear but still can’t get on the same page.

We look at the Bloodline interfering on Raw to cost Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso matches, the latter of which was for the Intercontinental Title.

The Bloodline is excited over what they did, but Roman Reigns wants to know who sent Jimmy Uso to Raw. That would be Paul Heyman, but Reigns says it was his idea. Heyman interrupts though, saying Grayson Waller is here. Reigns is interested.

We see some wrestlers arriving and spending time in Australia before Elimination Chamber.

Bron Breakker vs. Dante Chen

This is Breakker’s debut as a full time member of Smackdown. Breakker wrestles him down to start and hits a running shoulder. A running clothesline (called a Steiner Line) connects but Chen gets in a neck snap over the top. Breakker slams him out of the air though and hits the spear for the dominant pin at 1:21. Destruction and Breakker looked great.

Judgment Day isn’t worried about Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne, especially not after tonight.

Elektra Lopez comes up to the LWO and says the team is dying because of bad choices. Then Legado del Fantasma jump them from behind.

Tyler Bate/Pete Dunne vs. Judgment Day

That would be JD McDonagh/Dominik Mysterio here. McDonagh shoulders Bate down to start but gets headscissored out to the floor for his efforts. Back in and a monkey flip sends McDonagh flying before Bate dives over Dunne for a middle rope Swanton. McDonagh manages to send Bate into the other corner so Dominik can come in but Bate fights out of trouble rather easily. Dunne comes back in to work on Dominik’s arm and then twist away at the ankle. Bate and Dunne stomp onto the arms at the same time but the villains send them both outside.

We take a break and come back with Dunne stomping on McDonagh’s fingers and kicking him in the head. Dominik breaks up a double suplex and gets pummeled down for his efforts. Bate airplane spins Dominik to the floor and McDonagh gets the same treatment. The rebound lariat/German suplex combination gets two on McDonagh with Dominik making the save. The standing Spanish Fly gives McDonagh two but his moonsault hits raised knees. A double Tyler Driver 97 finishes McDonagh at 13:16.

Rating: B-. This was almost literally a glorified warmup for Bate and Dunne, who feel like they could take the titles from Judgment Day proper tomorrow. The team doesn’t have much of a history so giving them a win over a team with some name power is a good step. That double Tyler Driver 97 is growing on me too so they’re doing something right so far.

Post match Damian Priest and Finn Balor come in for the brawl but are quickly dispatched.

Video on the men’s Elimination Chamber match.

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory are in the back with Logan Paul when Kevin Owens interrupts. Owens wants to punch Theory and Waller in the face again and walks off. Paul Heyman comes in and says Roman Reigns wants to speak to Waller.

Dakota Kai has been hurt again and is limping into the trainer’s room.

AOP vs. Street Profits

The rest of the Final Testament and B-Fab/Bobby Lashley are here too. Ford’s dropkicks don’t do much to Akam to start so Dawkins comes in to help take him down. A belly to back moonsault gets two on Akam and the AOP are sent outside. Dawkins hits the big flip dive and we take a break.

Back with Ford fighting out of Rezar’s chinlock but getting kneed in the chest by Akam. Ford fights up again and avoids a charge to send Rezar into the post. The tag brings in Dawkins to clean house but he misses a charge in the corner and gets booted in the face. The Final Chapter gets two with Ford making a save. A Doomsday Blockbuster hits Akam as the fans are doing Bray Wyatt’s Fireflies for some reason. Ford goes up but everyone gets in a fight on the floor, including Karrion Kross crushing Lashley’s arm with a chair. The suplex/sitout powerbomb finishes Ford at 11:21.

Rating: C+. This feud seems like it has a long way to go, even if it might not have the interest to get it very far. Other than chaos and violence, I’m still not sure what the point of the Final Testament is supposed to be. The AOP are still evil monsters who can do some damage though and putting them over the Profits will make them feel that much bigger.

Bayley comes in to check on Dakota Kai, who says Damage CTRL did this. Bayley swears vengeance and Kai promises to help make them pay.

We look at the Elimination Chamber press event.

Grayson Waller comes in to see the Bloodline, with Roman Reigns wanting to tell him something.

Elimination Chamber rundown.

Drew McIntyre checks on the injured Bobby Lashley and offers to pray for him.

LA Knight vs. Drew McIntyre

Hold on though as here is Logan Paul to join commentary. McIntyre punches his way out of the corner to start but gets sent into another corner so Knight can stomp away. The Glasgow Kiss cuts Knight but he backdrops McIntyre to the floor as Kevin Owens is here for commentary as well. McIntyre fights back and catapults Knight into the bottom of the ring as we take a break.

Back with McIntyre hitting the toss suplex but charging into a boot in the corner. A DDT gives Knight two as Owens and Paul continue to bicker. McIntyre gets in a shot of his own and goes up, only to have Knight jump to the top for the superkick. Knight gets dropped again but he’s fine enough to avoid the Claymore. They go outside where McIntyre is sent into the announcers’ table over and over. Knight and McIntyre get into it with Owens and Paul though, with Owens attacking McIntyre for the DQ at 11:49.

Rating: C+. They might as well have had a countdown until one of the people on commentary got involved for the DQ and in this case, that is a good thing. There is little reason to have one of them take a pinfall the day before Elimination Chamber so don’t waste the time. It’s still impressive to see Knight going toe to toe with the stars and shows you what kind of impact effort can have.

Post match the big fight is on, with Bobby Lashley coming in to spear various people. McIntyre Claymores him but walks into the RKO from a surprise Randy Orton to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was the big final push towards Elimination Chamber and it was enough of a success. It doesn’t help that almost everything was set for the pay per view coming into this, but they managed to put together a nice two hours. The show only mattered so much but they made it work, as tends to be the case in recent weeks.

Results
Tiffany Stratton b. Liv Morgan – Rollup
Bron Breakker b. Dante Chen – Spear
Tyler Bate/Pete Dunne b. Judgment Day – Double Tyler Driver 97 to McDonagh
AOP b. Street Profits – Sitout powerbomb/suplex combination to Ford
Drew McIntyre b. LA Knight via DQ when Kevin Owens interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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This is one of the shows that WWE runs every year but this one is different in a variety of ways. As usual it’s still part of the Road To WrestleMania, but at the same time, it’s going to be taking place in a stadium in Australia to make it feel that much bigger. In addition to the Chamber matches, Rhea Ripley is going to get the hero’s welcome as she defends against Nia Jax. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors(c) vs. Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell

This was added earlier this week at the press event and feels like it is there for the sole purpose of getting Hartwell on the card in her home country. That is not a bad thing as the fans are going to go nuts to seeing one of their own in the first match of the night. That will be quite the moment, though I’m not sure it is going to have quite the match to follow up on the start.

Despite there being the chance to blow the roof (assuming there is one) off the stadium, I don’t see any reason to change the titles here. Hartwell and LeRae have been treated as a lower level team for their entire time together so giving them a fluke title win would be a lot. It’s not impossible, but this feels destined to be LeRae taking the fall to retain the titles after Hartwell gets a special moment.

Tag Team Titles: Judgment Day(c) vs. Tyler Bate/Pete Dunne

It’s nice to see WWE’s tag division starting to come together, with the idea of putting some wrestlers without much to do into a team being a good way to start. That is what they have done with Bate and Dunne, who have enough of a history to be a logical team, with the talent making things that much better. At the same time, the champions only have so much going on right now so we could be in for a surprise here.

As much as I could see the titles changing hands here, I’ll say Judgment Day retains. While Judgment Day isn’t exactly on an all time run, it would feel a bit strange to have them drop the titles at one of the less important shows. Bate and Dunne could have a nice future as a team, but I just can’t imagine them taking the titles here. That still seems to be the Miz/R-Truth spot, so for now we’ll say the UK guys go down.

Women’s Elimination Chamber

As I tend to do with this kind of a match, there are only so many realistic options to win. In this case, we can eliminate Raquel Rodriguez, Naomi, Tiffany Stratton and probably Liv Morgan. Other than maybe a total dark horse run from Morgan, none of those four are going to go into WrestleMania for a title match. That leaves you with two viable options and only one of them seems to be likely to win.

The two options here are Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch, and based on the last few weeks, I cannot fathom a situation where Lynch doesn’t win. Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley has been hyped up for weeks now and feels like a viable WrestleMania match. While I’m scared of the possibility of a Morgan win, this feels like a place where Belair gets set up for something else and Lynch moves on so we’ll go with that.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley(c) vs. Nia Jax

I’m not convinced this isn’t going to headline the show and that would not be a bad idea. The show’s advertising has been almost entirely built around one person and that is Ripley. She is going to get the biggest reaction in her grand homecoming with a chance to slay a monster in Jax. That sounds like a main event level match to me, but it also sounds like quite the easy result to predict.

Let me put this simply: if Jax wins this match, WWE should be canceled and replaced with Hangin With Mr. Cooper reruns, because the WWE brain trust will have officially lost their eve loving minds. Ripley losing the title to Jax in her home country would be the dumbest possible outcome and there is almost no fathomable way that could happen. This is Ripley’s hero moment and having her celebrate as the Chamber winner stares at her to close the show would not be shocking.

Men’s Elimination Chamber

Now this one is harder to predict, as the lineup is absolutely stacked. There are six entrants in the match and they range from former multiple time World Champions to the best celebrity wrestler ever to one of the most popular stars in WWE today. That is the kind of lineup you do not see very often and we could be in for a heck of a fight with that much star power around.

We can eliminated Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley and (probably) LA Knight, leaving us with Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre. Orton doesn’t have much going on right now, but McIntyre has more or less said his career is worthless if he doesn’t win here. McIntyre has been set up to win this match and it is the most logical story, so we’ll go with what makes sense and say McIntyre goes over.

Overall Thoughts

This show is in a bit of a weird place, as it is all about setting the stage for Wrestlemania, but so much of Wrestlemania is already set. We’ll get two more title matches covered for the show here and then it is all about building those matches. The crowd should help carry this show, but those Chamber matches might have a hard time getting around what feel like somewhat obvious winners. For now though, I’m looking forward to the show, which has a lot of potential to feel special.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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No Surrender 2024
Date: February 23, 2024
Location: Alario Center, Westwego, Louisiana
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan

It’s a special event her and the last which will have been set up under Scott D’Amore’s watch. That means we should be in for a good night, with a main event of Moose defending the World Title against Alex Shelley in a No Surrender match. In addition, Mustafa Ali is making his in-ring debut to challenge Chris Sabin for the X-Division Title. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Trent Seven/Mike Bailey vs. Rascalz

They don’t waste time in getting started as everyone goes out to the floor with Seven and Bailey taking over. The stereo dives take the Rascalz down again as commentary runs down the pay per view card. We settle down to Wentz going after Bailey’s leg inside and it’s Miguel coming in for some alternating kicks to the chest. A double stomp to the back gives Wentz two but Bailey is able to get over to Seven. House is quickly cleaned, with Miguel being suplexed onto Wentz, followed by a spinning slam for two.

Wentz breaks up a superplex attempt but Bailey breaks up the breakup, meaning the superplex can go through. A picture perfect shooting star press gives Bailey two, followed by the Seven Star Lariat for the same. The Rascalz are back up with the top rope stomp into a backbreaker for two but Seven makes the save. Bailey kicks Miguel down but it bangs up his knee, allowing Steve Maclin to come in with a chop block. A kneebar makes Bailey tap at 8:31.

Rating: C+. Perfectly nice opener here with Bailey and Seven becoming something more than a makeshift team but not being good enough to take out a longtime established team like the Rascalz. The knee work, including Maclin’s interference, was a story throughout and that’s always nice to see. Throw in that gorgeous shooting star press and this was a good start to the night.

Pre-Show: System vs. Kushida/Kevin Knight

It’s a brawl to start with the villains being cleared out with dropkicks. Myers gets in a shot on Knight though and hands it off to Edwards, who is quickly armbarred for his efforts. Kushida comes in and gets taken out to the floor to start the beating. Back in and we hit the chinlock from Myers, followed by one from Eddie to continue the villains’ balanced offense.

Edwards lets go to drop Knight, meaning there is no one for an escaping Kushida to tag. The tag goes through a few seconds later though and Knight dives in to pick up the pace. A middle rope hurricanrana gets two on Myers as everything breaks down. Myers hits the implant DDT but Knight is back up to clean house. The backpack Stunner into a top rope elbow gets two on Knight but Kushida comes back in. Kushida takes the Roster Cut for Knight, leaving the Boston Knee Party to finish Knight at 8:47.

Rating: C+. This isn’t the best start to the night for the heroes and hopefully it gets better for them. They had another nice match here, with Knight being a crazy high flier who can make those things look so effortless. Kushida can work well with anyone and that makes for a good combination to give the System a boost. The team just kind of showed up one day so they need to do something like this to establish themselves.

The opening video talks about the importance of tonight and how the roster can overcome anything.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Eric Young

For the World Title shot at Sacrifice. The bell rings but we pause because Kazarian wants to be acknowledged as the King Of TNA. They go with the grappling to start, with Kazarian grabbing a front facelock. Back up and Young elbows him in the face before a double clothesline lets them go nose to nose. Kazarian is back with a shot to the face and a running Russian legsweep of all things for two.

A suplex sets up a slam but Kazarian misses the springboard spinning legdrop. Young hits some clotheslines into a Death Valley Driver for two but Kazarian catches him up top. The Flux Capacitor is blocked so Young drops the top rope elbow for two more and they need a breather. Kazarian hits his Fameasser over the ropes but it’s still too early for the chickenwing. A nice cutter gives Kazarian two and a Backstabber into Fade To Black gets two more. Kazarian goes to yell at the referee…and gets crucifixed for the pin at 9:28.

Rating: B-. I was surprised this was the opener as the #1 contenders match between two long established veterans isn’t what I would have expected to start the show. That being said, Young getting a title match is a fine way to go as he is a former multiple time World Champion, meaning there is always the chance that he could pull off an upset. At the same time though, the match was only so good as it was mainly Kazarian beating Young up until Young got a fluke rollup. That’s not great, but at least the match felt important.

Post match Kazarian yells at the referee and beats the fire out of him, with no one approving.

We run down the card, in case you forgot what you’re watching.

The Grizzled Young Veterans promise to beat ABC to win the Tag Team Titles.

Tag Team Titles; Grizzled Young Veterans vs. ABC

ABC is defending in the third match of a best of three series. Gibson and Austin start things off and we get a nice staredown. They go with the grappling until Austin gets him into the corner for some stomping. Everything quickly breaks down and ABC hits their rapid fire double kicks and Click Click Boom gets two. We settle down to Bey getting dropped onto the top, allowing Gibson to catapult him throat first into the rope.

Drake adds a top rope ax handle to the back as the pace stays slow early on. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Gibson comes in for a distraction, allowing Drake to choke away with the scarf. Gibson comes in for some trash talk and his own chinlock but Bey fights up for the hot tag. Austin gets to come in and clean house, including a heck of a big dive to the floor. Everything breaks down and the Veterans get stereo holds until Bey backflips into one of his own.

The Veterans are right back with a diving Doomsday Device to drop Austin. Bey tells the Veterans to bring it and hits a brainbuster on Gibson but the Art of Finesse is broken up. The Veterans quickly take over and it’s a hanging DDT in the corner, with Drake diving in with a missile dropkick to break everything up. Austin shoves Drake off the top though and chokes Gibson with the scarf for a bonus. A double Art Of Finesse sets up the Fold for the 1-2-Sweet to finish Drake and retain at 17:38.

Rating: B. I’ve liked this series since it started and this was another good reason why. These guys had a heck of a match and they continue to work well together. They had a match that could have gone either way and that is always going to make things more interesting. ABC retaining the titles means they are going to need new challengers and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it being the System. Then you have the Veterans, who could go in a few ways from here, which means it should be interesting to see where they go.

We look back at Steve Maclin costing Trent Seven and Mike Bailey a match on the pre-show.

Maclin and the Rascalz are happy with the win and say Nic Nemeth is done. Cue Bailey and Seven to yell at them a lot.

Kon vs. PCO

The fight starts in the aisle with PCO getting the better of things as the bell rings. Kon knocks PCO down but PCO is right back up to knock him to the floor. The big flip dive is knocked away though and PCO is sent into various things. PCO gets in a shot of his own back inside but a Cactus Clothesline leaves them back on the floor. The Deanimator misses though as PCO crashes down onto the apron. Kon grabs a chair and blasts him for the DQ at 4:00.

Rating: C. They didn’t waste time here and that is the right way to go. With a match that is designed to be little more than two monsters hitting each other over and over, there is no need to have it go long. Let them do their thing and set up something for later, as Kon’s unlikely push continues.

Post match Kon stays on him with chair shots before wrenching PCO’s neck on the stage.

We recap MK Ultra challenging Decay for the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Decay won the belts at Hart To Kill in an impromptu match and now we have something more scheduled.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Decay vs. MK Ultra

MK Ultra is challenging and the fight starts fast with Havok taking over on Slamovich in the corner. Some splashes set up an exploder suplex to give Rosemary two but some biting gets Slamovich out of trouble. Kelly comes in to hammer on Rosemary before slamming Slamovich onto her. Rosemary clotheslines her way to freedom and crawls onto Kelly, who shoves her back and screams in her face for a change.

They slug it out until Slamovich makes a save and a high/low puts Rosemary down. The kick to the chest gives Slamovich two but the Snow Plow is countered into something close to an Edge-O-Matic. Havok comes in to clean house, including a hip attack on both challengers. A Death Valley Driver gives Havok two and the chokebomb/hair slam connects. Slamovich makes the save and gets the tag though, allowing her to cut off Rosemary’s spear. Now the Snow Plow can connect to get the titles back at 7:21.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to have a title change to make an event seem important, even if it’s the least important title on the show. They’re at least setting something up with some more regular teams fighting over the belts though, with Dani Luna and Jody Threat making the save. Not a great match or anything, but the title change was a welcome addition.

Post match MK Ultra goes for the beating but Dani Luna and Jody Threat make the save.

The System gives Moose a pep talk before the main event. Moose seems ready.

We recap Josh Alexander vs. Simon Gotch. Alexander was on a roll when Gotch jumped the barricade and took him out. Gotch wanted revenge for Alexander getting a run to the top while Gotch was forgotten.

Simon Gotch vs. Josh Alexander

Gotch takes him to the mat to start before working away on the arm. Alexander reverses into a headlock takeover but Gotch rolls out of a headscissors. That doesn’t last long as Alexander pulls him right back into the chinlock. The threat of an ankle lock sends Gotch straight over to the ropes and it’s time to strike it out. Gotch gets the better of things and takes Alexander outside to drop him again.

Back in and Alexander manages to roll some German suplexes to really rock Gotch. A grab of the ropes gets Gotch a breather though and he kicks Alexander in the head. Gotch drops a backsplash but does not like Alexander rolling him up for two. They trade some rather hard shots until Alexander scores with a middle rope dropkick.

The slugout heads to the apron, where Alexander drops him with a big boot, only to have Gotch kick him in the leg. Gotch misses another backsplash and gets caught with the running crossbody to the back to leave them both on the floor. Both of them have to dive back in to beat the count and the slugout is on again. Alexander gets the better of things with time, including a running big boot.

An exploder suplex gives Alexander two but he can’t get the C4 Spike. Gotch tries to pull him into the bulldog choke and goes creative by using the headgear to get it locked in. That’s reversed into the ankle lock with Gotch needing some time before he rolls through. Alexander hits a backbreaker though and the C4 Spike finishes Gotch at 16:41.

Rating: B. Alexander continues to be one of those dependable hands that feels like a big deal and doesn’t need the title. He held the thing for so long that another reign is pretty unnecessary given his past success. Gotch did well here, even if it is going to be rather difficult to take him seriously given his previous style in WWE.

AJ Francis says even though he and Rich Swann are fighting on Impact, they can work together before then.

We recap Moose defending the World Title against Alex Shelley. Moose won the title at Hard To Kill but hasn’t been done with Shelley. This is the rematch and can only end when your corner man throws in the towel.

TNA World Title: Moose vs. Alex Shelley

Shelley (with Kushida/Kevin Knight) is challenging Moose (Eddie Edwards/Brian Myers) and you can only win when one of your seconds throws in the designated towel. It’s also No DQ, but interference from a corner man will end the match. Shelley goes right after him to start and the brawl starts fast with Shelley working on the arm. The Fujiwara armbar goes on but Moose manages to block a cross armbreaker.

They head outside where Moose hits a big boot and an apron powerbomb and Shelley is in trouble. He’s good enough to slip off of Moose’s shoulders though and a chop block takes Moose down. Shelley posts the shoulder for a bonus before tying Moose’s fingers in the turnbuckle. That’s not enough either though as Shelley whips out a wrench and REALLY cranks on the fingers.

Moose slips out and ties Shelley’s hand in the buckle instead, setting up some rather hard chair shots. Back in and Shelley grabs a dragon screw legwhip over the ropes before doing it again for a bonus. It’s time for some kendo stick shots to Moose’s bad leg and we hit the half crab, complete with said stick. Edwards pulls the stick out (doesn’t count as direct contact) and Moose manages a release Rock Bottom.

It’s time for a trashcan to keep Shelley down, but let’s put in a table as well. The System throws in some brass knuckles but Moose throws them away….and misses a spear through the table. Shelley whips out a chain and uses it for the Border City Stretch. Alisha Edwards offers a distraction to break it up though and Moose scores with a spear. Shelley is barely up so Moose wraps the chain around his shoulder and hits another spear. Kushida is ready to throw in the towel to save Shelley, who says don’t do it. Moose teases another spear with the chain and Kushida throws in the towel for Shelley’s protection at 20:01.

Rating: B. Good stuff here with Moose getting his second win over Shelley, who already had a big title reign. The stipulation was a good way to protect Shelley and he might not be happy with Kushida for throwing in the towel. I’m a bit surprised this wasn’t higher on the card but TNA doesn’t always follow the norm with this kind of thing. Hard hitting, violent match here and it was a nice change of pace with a unique stipulation.

Post match Moose spears him instead.

We recap Gisele Shaw challenging Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts Title. Shaw is cashing in her Ultimate X win and is fighting without her friends because it’s time for her to win. Grace is on a roll though and Shaw has had trouble winning the big one.

Ash By Elegance, with a full entrance, comes out to watch from ringside.

Knockouts Title: Jordynne Grace vs. Gisele Shaw

Shaw is challenging and runs away to start but Grace catches up with her for a hard toss. They get inside, where Shaw pulls the referee into the corner to prevent a splash and then starts in on Grace. Shaw gets caught in the corner though and some slams have her in trouble. Some shots to the face keep Grace staggered and they fight out to the apron. A powerbomb to the floor is countered though and Grace hits a backsplash on the apron for a big crash.

The Juggernaut Driver off the apron is blocked though and Shaw grabs a Spanish Fly onto the floor to leave them both laying. They barely beat the count back inside, where Grace reverses a running knee into a spinebuster for two. Back up and now Shawn’s knee can connect, with Grace having to grab a rope to escape. They trade rollups for two each until Grace slugs away and hits the Juggernaut Driver to retain at 10:34.

Rating: B-. I was thinking they were going to change the title here as Shaw needs to win something at some point. At the same time, Grace has already been such a dominant champion with that Royal Rumble appearance making her that much bigger. Then again that might make TNA want to keep the title on her, which does make sense. The match could have been better with some more time though and that made them rush a big as a result.

Post match Ash storms off.

We recap Mustafa Ali challenging Chris Sabin for the X-Division Title. Ali has been teasing taking the division in a new direction and Sabin is not taking it well.

X-Division Title: Chris Sabin vs. Mustafa Ali

Ali, with security, is challenging and they take their time to start. A test of strength goes to Ali, who uses his feet to take him down but Sabin rolls into a stalemate. Ali’s running shoulder doesn’t work and stereo dropkicks give us another standoff. Sabin seems frustrated that he can’t figure Ali out so he grabs a headlock takeover.

With that broken up, Sabin pulls him into a surfboard but Ali flips out of that as well, this time kicking some dirt onto Sabin. That’s not cool with the champ, who hammers away at Ali’s jaw and takes him to the apron. There’s the running headscissors to take Ali down again and we hit the chinlock. The fans are behind Ali, who jawbreaks his way to freedom. Ali goes up top and hits a 450 onto the arm to put Sabin in real trouble.

An STF and Border City Stretch stay on the arm and Ali cranks back on both. Sabin back and gets in a kick to the head, only to have Ali hit a similar kick and leave them both down. Sabin goes up top and, after shoving Ali down, hits a middle rope DDT for two and they both need a breather. Ali tries a crucifix but gets pulled into a crossface for his forts. The rope is finally grabbed but Sabin isn’t letting go immediately.

Sabin’s springboard is broken up and he falls outside, where Ali sends him back inside. The 450 misses but Ali takes a NASTY whip into the buckle and they’re both down. Back up and Sabin sends him to the floor, where the high crossbody hits the security instead. Sabin grabs Cradle Shock for two and the kickout has him stunned. A basement superkick lets Sabin take him up top but a super Cradle Shock is blocked. Instead Ali hits a sunset flip bomb into the 450 for the pin and the title at 20:28.

Rating: B+. Yeah this was really good and they nailed the big moment at the end. Ali has been built up as a huge deal and now he has FINALLY won something to make it feel validated. It helps that he beat the best X-Division Champion ever and the fans were behind Ali for most of the match. Rather awesome main event here with a feel good moment to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This started off a little weak and then got way better as it went along, with the main event being a highlight as Ali gets the clean title win. Nothing on here was bad, save for maybe PCO vs. Kon, which felt like it was there to set up something down the line. TNA is doing rather well with these In Your House style shows and this was no exception, though now we have to see what the new regime brings.

Results
Rascalz b. Trent Seven/Mike Bailey – Kneebar to Bailey
System b. Kevin Knight/Kushida – Boston Knee Party to Knight
Eric Young b. Frankie Kazarian – Crucifix
ABC b. Grizzled Young Veterans – 1-2-Sweet to Drake
PCO b. Kon via DQ when Kon used a chair
MK Ultra b. Decay – Snow Plow to Rosemary
Josh Alexander b. Simon Gotch – C4 Spike
Moose b. Alex Shelley when Kushida threw in the towel
Jordynne Grace b. Gisele Shaw – Juggernaut Driver
Mustafa Ali b. Chris Sabin – 450

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Make sure you check out some recent reviews:

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Dynamite
Date: February 21, 2024
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

We have about a week and a half to go before Revolution and there are still some spots left to add to the match. Odds are we will see some of those matches added tonight, along with some of the other matches getting some extra attention. That should make for a nice show so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. FTR

Moxley knees away at Wheeler to start so it’s off to Castagnoli for an exchange of uppercuts. A slam puts Wheeler down but it’s off to Harwood to suplex Moxley. Wheeler comes back in for an uppercut off before a Harwood distraction lets Wheeler come off the top with a double clothesline. FTR clears the ring before taking over on Moxley, with Harwood grabbing an abdominal stretch.

The cheating is detected though and Castagnoli comes in with a big boot to Harwood. Not that it matters as it’s right back to Wheeler for a basement dropkick. Moxley clotheslines his way out of the corner and falls into the tag to Castagnoli to clean house. Harwood gets spike piledriven on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Harwood fighting out of a chinlock and handing it back to Wheeler to clean house. A brainbuster gets two on Moxley but the Shatter Machine is broken up. The powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination gets two on Moxley as we have four minutes left in the time limit. The Swing puts Wheeler down and it’s Moxley grabbing the bulldog choke on Harwood. Wheeler drives Castagnoli onto the hold to break it up and they’re all down with two minutes left.

Harwood gets the Sharpshooter on Moxley, with Castagnoli’s boots to the head not breaking it. Castagnoli grabs the same thing on Wheeler and slaps it out with Harwood until Harwood piledrives Castagnoli, with Moxley grabbing a crucifix for two. The Shatter Machine is loaded up but time expires at 20:00.

Rating: B. Good, hard hitting match here, with the draw being better than the Club winning again. This is a weird feud as they are just started fighting one week and then had a big serious brawl, though odds are we’ll be seeing them fight again. I’m not sure where it’s going, but at least they had a good match to start it off.

Post match the brawl is on until a bunch of people have to break it up.

Orange Cassidy is rather tired from wrestling both here and in England but he’s medically cleared to compete.

FTR wants the Blackpool Combat Club again at Revolution. The Club comes in to shout a lot and in theory the match is set.

Orange Cassidy vs. Mike Bennett

Non-title and Matt Taven is here with Bennett. Cassidy jumps Taven to start and hammers away at Bennett, including the Stundog Millionaire. Cue Roderick Strong for a distraction though and Bennett gets in a low blow and piledriver for two as we take a break. Back with Bennett grabbing a headset to yell about Cassidy, who takes him down with a suicide dive.

Bennett spinebusters him against the apron but Cassidy gets in a shot of his own for a breather. A fight over a Beach Break/piledriver ends with Bennett hitting a Gotch Style piledriver (fourth piledriver and we’re 45 minutes into the show) for two. Bennett loads up another piledriver but gets Beach Broken (Beach Breaked?) for the pin at 9:38.

Rating: C. Not exactly a great match here as it was more about Bennett hitting a bunch of piledrivers (or at least trying to) as the Cassidy vs. Strong feud continues to limp along. The title match can’t get here soon enough, as hopefully Strong wins to let something fresh take place in the title picture. This second reign has felt like Cassidy has come way back down to earth and it’s time for something different with the title.

Post match the beatdown is on but Jake Hager of all people makes the save.

Angelo Parker and Ruby Soho go on a date, with a car coming up….that isn’t for them. In said car: Ric Flair.

Post break Flair gives a rather serious interview about how he should have been more involved over the last few weeks. Now he’s going to explore some options. Flair goes into the Young Bucks’ locker room for a chat.

Here is Daniel Garcia for a chat and we get right to the point: since Adam Copeland is out of action, Garcia is getting the TNT Title shot at Revolution. Garcia talks about how he felt he should be something great in wrestling and he finally won a match at the end of the Continental Classic. He was ready to make Copeland tap last week and now he’s going to make Cage do the same.

Cue the Patriarchy, with Cage saying he doesn’t think much of the idea of a match with Garcia at Revolution. Instead, Cage would rather talk about Garcia’s family, including his mother and….his dead father. Cage is willing to be his daddy, but that’s enough for Garcia to want to fight. The brawl is teased but Matt Menard runs in for the save. Garcia’s stuff was good enough but as usual, this was the Cage show as he is absolutely feeling it with everything he does. He almost has to get at least a mention in the World Title picture after he loses the TNT Title.

Hangman Page gives Rob Van Dam and Hook, his partners tonight, a pep talk about hurting Shane Strickland.

Toni Storm vs. Syndi Winnell

Winnell, the hometown girl, takes too long to soak in the crowd and gets decked by Storm. A Thesz press and right hands have Winnell in trouble and there’s a running bulldog to make it worse. The running hip attack sets up Storm Zero and Break A Leg….but Storm lets go. Instead it’s Deonna Purrazzo’s Venus de Milo for the tap at 1:48.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Madison Rayne

Purrazzo’s entrance interrupts Storm’s exit and we get a staredown. They go to the mat to start with Purrazzo taking her down into an early chinlock. Purrazzo sends her outside and hits a sliding dropkick as we take a break. Back with Rayne getting two off a sunset flip, setting up a kick to the…arm. A double clothesline leaves both of them down but Purrazzo is up with some clotheslines. A running knee cuts Rayne off and they slowly exchange weak forearms. Purrazzo grabs a Downward Spiral, which Rayne tries to take like a suplex, landing HARD on her head (Taz: “Check her!”). An ankle lock makes Rayne tap at 7:16.

Rating: D-. This very well may be in the running for worst match in AEW history. It was awkward, it felt like they were in different books (let alone pages) and that botch looked horrible. I’m not sure if this was just a horribly off night for both of them or if there was some kind of miscommunication or what, but they’re both capable of doing much better than this. Absolutely awful match and I have no idea how it could have gone this bad.

Post match Toni Storm runs in and grabs Break A Leg on Purrazzo. Then Storm lets go and applies an obsessive amount of lipstick.

Darby Allin talks about how different you are when your end is year. He and Sting (off camera) have been looking at some old photos, including Sting with his young sons. Sting steps into camera and talks about how his father passed away and it made him realize he’s not immortal. Everything he has left, he is bringing to Revolution so the Bucks are going to have a fight on their hands. This was VERY serious Sting and it came off as someone who has nothing left and is willing to do anything on his way out.

Here is a ticked off Wardlow for a chat. Two years ago he had thousands of people chanting his name but the rocket attached to his back was put on upside down. He should have been the champion a long time ago, but he never got a World Title shot. We hear about some of the men to hold that title, because he beat the Best In The World and that man’s body is still falling apart.

Then you had the one who was better than us, who Wardlow squashed like an insect. As for Samoa Joe, Wardlow does the custom suits with a title look better. He is better than you and the best in the world, so this is now war. Ok, cool. Now do something with him. None of that matters if he’s back doing the same stuff he’s done for years.

The Ban Bang Scissor Gang will team up again on Collision, but this time they’re mixing up the lineup a bit.

Will Ospreay will be in action at All In.

Wardlow will be in Meat Madness at Revolution. No word on what that is but it better involve some Bulgarian trumpets.

Don Callis is ready to get Will Ospreay to AEW. Also, Powerhouse Hobbs is in Meat Madness and Callis hasn’t forgotten about Sammy Guevara.

Brian Cage/Swerve Strickland/Samoa Joe vs. Hangman Page/Hook/Rob Van Dam

Hook actually knocks Joe down to start but Joe unloads in the corner to take over. Van Dam comes in to hammer on Cage, setting up the legsweep rollup for two. Page and Strickland come in for the brawl and have to be pulled apart as we take a break. Back with Hook in trouble but he reverses an F5 into a spinning DDT. That’s enough for a tag to Van Dam so house can be cleaned, including a variety of kicks. The Five Star gets two on Cage but Joe breaks it up and drops Van Dam.

We take another break and come back with Page cleaning house as everything breaks down. Page loads up the Buckshot Lariat to Cage but stops to glare at Strickland. Cage catches Page on top but Hook turns it into a German superplex to Cage, bringing Page down in the process. Hook gets Redrum on Strickland but it’s broken up and Swerve hits the House Call.

Page Buckshots Cage and we get the Page vs. Swerve vs. Joe showdown. The three of them fight to the floor where Page powerbombs Swerve through the announcers’ table. Back in and Page slips out of the MuscleBuster to hand it back to Van Dam. Hook suplexes Joe but Cage breaks up the Five Star. Joe chokes out Van Dam for the win at 21:35.

Rating: B. Solid six man here with Joe getting the win over the only person who was going to take the fall on his team to remind you that Joe is still awesome. Hook was doing well here and Swerve/Page did their thing, but Van Dam continues to be pretty much perfectly cast in his role. He’s the veteran who still feels special and can still go in the ring but isn’t likely to win a major match. That’s a good spot for someone to fill and Van Dam has done it rather well.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a rather odd show as the opener and main event were good, Purrazzo vs. Rayne was terrible, and the rest of the action was in the middle. The talking was good enough but mainly set things up for later, which is the right thing with a pay per view so close. At the same time though, stuff with Flair, Cassidy vs. Strong (your mileage may vary), the Don Callis Family and the Undisputed Kingdom isn’t quite inspiring material. In other words, the good was good but the bad was really dull, and that makes for quite the strange show.

Results
Blackpool Combat Club vs. FTR went to a time limit draw
Orange Cassidy b. Mike Bennett – Beach Break
Toni Storm b. Syndi Winnell – Venus de Milo
Deonna Purrazzo b. Madison Rayne – Ankle lock
Samoa Joe/Brian Cage/Swerve Strickland b. Rob Van Dam/Hook/Hangman Page – Koquina Clutch to Van Dam

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NXT
Date: February 20, 2024
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Vic Joseph

We’re taped this week and there is a guest star in the main event, with Smackdown’s Shotzi challenging Lyra Valkyria for the Women’s Title. Other than that, we have new Tag Team Champions in Baron Corbin and Smackdown’s Bron Breakker and they are going to need some challengers. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

North American Title: Oba Femi vs. Lexis King

Femi is defending and we’re starting fast with both of them in the ring without entrances. King avoids a charge in the corner and hits an elbow to the face, followed by some kicks to the chest. That just earns him a choke shove to the floor, where Femi misses a charge into the post. Back in and King cranks away on the arm as we see Mr. Stone leaving Von Wagner because he wants to watch in person. King stays on the arm until Stone comes to ringside, earning himself a hard shove. The distraction lets Femi get in a heck of a backdrop, setting up the pop up powerbomb to retain at 3:59.

Rating: C. They kept this short and to the point, which is what you should be doing with someone as inexperienced as Femi. He has pretty much no experience at this point so letting him do his basics and stay down while King works on his arm is a good move. The ending keeps King vs. Wagner/Stone going while giving Femi another win, which isn’t bad for a match that didn’t even last four minutes.

Thea Hail hasn’t heard from Riley Osborne since their Valentine’s Day date but Arianna Grace comes in to mock her for not letting Osborne do everything for her. Jacy Jayne doesn’t want to hear this and tells Grace to stay out of this.

Lyra Valkyria checks on Tatum Paxley, who offers to thank her for last week. She’ll even attack Shotzi with a baseball bat! Valkyria wants her to just stay here instead, with Paxley saying she can do that.

Here are Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker for their big celebration. Breakker can’t believe how far they’ve come since No Mercy, with Corbin bringing up beating Breakker back then. They seem to like the team name of Spear Of Days but here is Chase U (complete with Andre Chase having gotten a haircut) to interrupt. They want the titles back because this is a TEACHABLE MOMENT.

Chase U were promised a title shot from the previous champs but here are Nathan Frazer and Axiom to interrupt. Frazer says the previous agreement is gone but Duke Hudson doesn’t want to hear it. Corbin and Breakker tell the two teams to figure this out, which brings out Ava to make the #1 contenders match for later tonight. They kept this short and that is the right way to go.

Roxanne Perez is ready to beat up Wren Sinclair, who shouldn’t just be happy to be here. Perez continues to lean towards the evil side.

We get another weird vignette talking about how the person will be a mirror to truth.

Roxanne Perez vs. Wren Sinclair

Perez takes her up against the ropes to start and they fall out to the floor with Perez hammering away. Back in and Sinclair grabs a spinning belly to back suplex for two, only to get knocked outside again. Perez starts in on the arm and wrenches away back inside. The chinlock goes on until Sinclair rolls her way out and makes the clothesline comeback. Another arm crank cuts her off though and Pop Rox sets up a crossface to make Sinclair tap at 4:19.

Rating: C. Sinclair has been dropped into NXT and is already fitting in rather well. She is doing well enough in the ring and already seems to be involved in some stories. That is better than most newcomers do this quickly so she is off to a nice start. On the other hand you have Perez leaning towards being a heel and that is already doing well, which is kind of surprising given her smaller stature.

Meta Four is ready for tonight when the No Quarter Catch Crew interrupts. Noam Dar is willing to give them a title shot but wants to know who it is. That isn’t happening though because the Catch Clause says the challenger is announced in the ring next week.

Josh Briggs vs. Brooks Jensen

They trade shoulders to start until Briggs sends him into the corner to take over. Jensen is right back with clotheslines and chops in the corner but Briggs sends him outside. That’s fine with Jensen, who slugs away and takes it back inside for a running faceplant. They go back to the floor with Jensen sending him into the barricade and stomping away with quite the aggression.

We take a break and come back with Briggs hammering him down in the corner Briggs says he’s doing this for Jensen, who hits him in the face for a breather. Jensen scores with a superkick and a missile dropkick gets two. Back up and Briggs kicks him in the face, setting up a chokeslam for two of his own. They slug it out from their knees until Jensen hits a spinning heel kick to the face. Briggs has had it with this and hits a pair of hard running clotheslines for the pin at 11:01.

Rating: B. This is a good example of a match that worked well because of the story behind it. They were having a hard hitting match, but the important factor is there is a reason to care about them fighting. You don’t get that very often and it made things that much more interesting. Nice fight here and Briggs gets a hard fought win.

Post match Briggs says he did this for Jensen and he loves him.

Dijak comes to see Joe Gacy, who is in a straitjacket. Gacy says Dijak can’t stop him so Dijak offers some threats. Luca Crusifino comes in to say this is illegal but Dijak doesn’t care.

Carmelo Hayes goes to the barber shop and talks about how this is where it all started with Trick Williams. He didn’t get too big for his own boots and he wanted Williams to experience everything he could. But then Williams tried to become the #1 guy in NXT. Williams could have been #3, #5 or even #2 behind Hayes but then he went too far. Hayes knew it was coming so he attacked him first. So wherever Williams is, he should stay there, because he has nothing to talk about when it comes to the NXT Title. This heel turn continues to be as logical of a story as there is in wrestling right now.

Arianna Grace vs. Jacy Jayne

Jayne has Jazmyn Nyx and Thea Hail with her. They fight over arm control to start until Grace runs her over with a shoulder. Grace gets knocked to the floor for her efforts and Jayne hits a hard clothesline back inside. A backsplash gives Jayne two but Grace is back with a slam and elbow for two. The armbar goes on but Jayne is right back up to send Grace outside again. Nyx gets in a cheap shot and Jayne hits the big forearm for the pin at 3:19.

Rating: C. This was about getting Nyx involved as Jayne is still evil compared to Hail, who is still rather wholesome. That could lead to an interesting predicament for Hail, which very well could lead to her going back to the full Chase U style. Grace continues to be a pest, but at least she isn’t winning a bunch of matches.

Tony D’Angelo says the Family is going in a new direction and it’s time for him to really be the Don. That means the Tag Team Titles aren’t the focus right now.

We get a sitdown interview with Ridge Holland, who isn’t done with Gallus. Next week, he’ll be apologizing for what he did with a chair last week. Holland walks off.

Chase U vs. Axiom/Nathan Frazer

For the #1 contendership and the women of Chase U run into the men on the way in. Jacy Jayne doesn’t seem happy with Andre Chase and Riley Osborne gives Thea Hail a bit of a weird look. Chase and Axiom fight over arm control to start before grappling down to the mat. Stereo dropkick attempts give us a stalemate so it’s off to Hudson to work on Frazer’s arm. A hard shoulder drops Frazer again and it’s back to Axiom vs. Chase. Everything breaks down and Chase U is sent outside for the big dives as we take a break.

Back with Chase still in trouble until he catches Frazer with a Side Effect. Hudson comes in to clean house but his Razor’s Edge is broken up. Frazer hits a missile dropkick and Axiom’s top rope Spanish Fly gets two. Hudson is back up to clean house and Chase comes back in to get a rollup pin on Frazer at 11:27.

Rating: B-. I could go for Chase U being treated as something more serious and hopefully we are getting away from the rather insane gambling ordeal. I’m not sure I can imagine them getting the Tag Team Titles back but getting a clean win is a nice way to start. Axiom and Frazer are still capable of working well with just about anyone and that is a great thing to have.

Post match the OC of all people come in to wreck both teams. Well it’s better than yelling at AJ Styles about the old days. I think.

Ilja Dragunov is willing to give Carmelo Hayes an NXT Title shot at Roadblock, as long as Hayes will meet him face to face next week. Dragunov is coming for Hayes’ soul.

Thea Hail and Fallon Henley talk about how bad everything is going for them lately. Hail’s Valentine’s Day was awful and Henley talks about how bad hers was last year. They’re off for a chat.

Lash Legend vs. Kelani Jordan

Jakara Jackson is here too. Legend powers her up to start but gets cradled for a fast two. A kick to the chest knocks Jordan out of the air and a backbreaker makes things even worse. Something like a torture rack over the back has Jordan in more trouble but she gets the knees up to block a splash. Jordan flips out of a powerbomb attempt and there’s a dropkick to put Legend into the corner. Jackson offers a distraction though and Legend gets in a chokeslam for the pin at 4:24.

Rating: C. Legend has come a long, long way in recent months and a lot of that is due to the change in gear. She didn’t exactly have the best reputation for a long time so in addition to changing her style, she has a new look, which shakes away a lot of the bad memories. It’s one of those minor changes that makes a big difference, and Legend has gotten a lot better.

Post match Kiana James and Izzi Dame come out for the beatdown but Jordan escapes.

The OC are here to show that they’re different than anyone else. They’ll take the NXT Tag Team Titles too.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

NXT Women’s Title: Lyra Valkyria vs. Shotzi

Shotzi is challenging and we get the Big Match Intros. Valkyria fights out of a front facelock to start and takes Shotzi down with a headlock. An exchange of rollups gets two each before Shotzi drops her with a shoulder. A rope walk wristdrag has Valkyria in more trouble and Shotzi DDTs her onto the apron. We comes back and….the match has been stopped as Shotzi has blown out her knee. Cue Ava to announce that we have an open challenger for a title shot against Valkyria. I won’t rate the match we got as it was barely long enough to rate and then ended with the injury but it was going well enough.

NXT Women’s Title: Lyra Valkyria vs. Lash Legend

Valykria is defending and gets dropped with an early right hand. Legend’s chinlock doesn’t last long so she grabs a swinging backbreaker for two instead. A whip into the corner gives Valkyria two and we hit an over the shoulder backbreaker. Valkyria fights out as we see Roxanne Perez being furious over not getting the title shot. Legend’s chokeslam gets two and Valkyria’s high crossbody connects for the same. A pump kick gives Legend two more but Valkyria knocks her off the top and hits a splash to retain at 5:49.

Rating: C+. This is on a very lightened up scale as the match was barely anything but Legend was literally sent out there with no notice to have an impromptu title match. it might not have been great, but they did what they could under the circumstances. Good enough match here and nice touch by having Perez be made about not getting out there, but was she just not paying attention to a match for the title she wants more than anything?

Overall Rating: B-. This was absolutely feeling like a taped show to get us to the big shows down the line, but what matters is NXT continues to treat these things like they matter. Even if these were the lower level stories, they were treated as important and that is a very hard trick most of the time. It wasn’t the biggest NXT show, but it moved things forward and set some things up for later with completely good enough action. The big stuff can come later, but for now they’re doing well with the small stuff and that’s important as well.

Results
Oba Femi b. Lexis King – Pop up powerbomb
Roxanne Perez b. Wren Sinclair – Crossface
Josh Briggs b. Brooks Jensen – Clothesline
Jacy Jayne b. Arianna Grace – Forearm
Chase U b. Nathan Frazer/Axiom – Rollup to Frazer
Lash Legend b. Kelani Jordan – Chokeslam
Lyra Valkyria vs. Shotzi went to a no contest when Shotzi was injured
Lyra Valkyria b. Lash Legend – Top rope splash

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Monday Night Raw
Date: July 25, 1994
Location: Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,600
Commentators: Jim Ross, Randy Savage

We’ll wrap up the month/year here as the road to Summerslam continues. In this case we have a double main event coming up as the Undertaker will face the Undertaker and Bret Hart will defend the WWF Title against Owen Hart inside a cage. That’s at Summerslam though, whereas tonight is about Nikolai Volkoff. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week, with Tatanka accusing Ted DiBiase of buying Lex Luger, which DiBiase had already claimed to have done. Then on Superstars, DiBiase said he had purchased Luger, who came out to deny it, though Tatanka doesn’t believe Luger at all. Luger is still insisting otherwise though as the intrigue builds.

Opening sequence.

Tatanka vs. Nikolai Volkoff

Ted DiBiase is here with Volkoff and the winner gets $10,000. Tatanka goes after the arm to start so Volkoff headbutts him against the ropes. Volkoff hammers away in the corner and looks rather lumbering in doing so. Some ax handles to the back set up an awkward looking kick to the chest as this isn’t exactly breathtaking stuff.

Tatanka fights back with a clothesline and a dropkick to send Volkoff outside, where he needs a breather. DiBiase isn’t pleased with the delay so Volkoff goes back inside, where a ram into the buckle sends Tatanka into the war dance. The top rope chop to the head gets two but Volkoff gets in a big boot. A slam is loaded up but Tatanka small packages him for the pin at 6:14.

Rating: D+. I think you can get the problem here, as Volkoff just isn’t that interesting. All he had was a bunch of punching and kicking with a few slams thrown in. That stops working after about thirty seconds so Tatanka was left to carry things on his own. Volkoff wasn’t happy to be working for DiBiase, but it’s even worse having to watch him do these matches, which really aren’t working.

Post match Randy Savage gets in the ring to make sure DiBiase pays the debt. DiBiase gets the money out but says Tatanka could never do that to HIS Lex Luger. Tatanka gets paid and insists he can beat Luger, who comes out to interrupt. DiBiase steps back and Luger (who gives DiBiase a quick look) wants to make sure he heard Tatanka right. Tatanka says he can beat Luger anytime anywhere, so Luger is down. With Luger gone, DiBiase offers to make the match with HIS Luger whenever Tatanka is ready.

Headshrinkers vs. Barry Hardy/Joey Stallings

Non-title. The Headshrinkers jump them at the bell and we take a break one second in before coming back with Fatu dropping Stallings with a clothesline. Samu comes in for a spinning kick to the face and a middle rope DDT (that was cool) gets two. Stallings gets sent into the corner as Jim Ross says he hopes Jim Cornette and the Heavenly Bodies are watching in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. A double clothesline gives Fatu two and a double Stroke sets up Fatu’s top rope splash for the pin at 3:51.

Rating: C. This was enjoyable for the complete destruction of Stallings, who took one big move after another until the ending. Even JR was saying they needed to finish him off already but dang it was kind of fun to see. Total squash here and I don’t believe Hardy ever even tagged in.

Next week: Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels. That’s a big one.

Jim Neidhart vs. Jim Powers

Owen Hart is here with Neidhart. Powers, who is so muscular (completely natural I’m sure) slides between the legs to start but gets backdropped over the top for a 360 flip. Back in and Neidhart slowly hammers away before taking the straps down to choke on the ropes. A belly to back suplex gets two, with Neidhart pulling him up. Neidhart shrugs off some right hands and grabs a powerslam, setting up the camel clutch (with something close to a dragon sleeper instead of pulling back) for the win at 2:57. Another squash, but not the fun kind.

Post match Owen gives Neidhart some Bret Hart glasses.

Next week: Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano. Dang that’s a stacked show.

Here is Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze for a chat. Blayze is sick of Luna Vachon and now she has to face Bull Nakano next week. Cue Luna to say she’s the reason Nakano is getting the title shot. Of note: everyone keeps calling the challenger Bull “Knock-uh-no” as opposed to “Nuh-con-oh” as it is usually pronounced.

We get an ad for the New Generation featuring a mobster threatening a restaurant owner for not having a TV ready for them to watch Raw. These things were always odd.

Yokozuna vs. Adam Bomb

Mr. Fuji is here with Yokozuna and Bomb is freshly turned face. Yokozuna chops him against the ropes and cuts him off with an elbow to the face as the beating is on fast to start. Bomb comes back with right hands and clotheslines, followed by a big shoulder to put Yokozuna on the floor.

We take a break and come back with Yokozuna knocking him down again, including a hard clothesline. We hit the required nerve hold so Bomb can fight up, only to get blasted with another clothesline. The running splash in the corner misses though and Bomb manages a jumping DDT. A top rope clothesline puts Yokozuna down but cue Harvey Wippleman (Bomb’s former manager) and Kwang, the latter of whom trips Bomb. The fight goes to the floor and Bomb is counted out at 10:43.

Rating: C-. Bleh this was lame, with Bomb’s comeback being the only thing working. Yokozuna more or less demolished him for the most part and then Kwang caused the countout. That made for a rather dull match, which is a shame so soon after Bomb’s face turn. I always thought Bomb could have been a solid midcard star but you’re only getting so far with something like this.

Summerslam Report looks at the double main event.

Leslie Nielsen is officially on the case of the double Undertakers. Yes, this headlined Summerslam.

Duke Droese vs. Dwayne Gill

Jerry Lawler calls in to continue talking about attacking Droese five weeks ago. Droese throws Gill around to start and we hit the quickly broken chinlock. The bearhug doesn’t last long before Droese hits a hard clothesline. The Trash Compactor finishes at 2:32. as Lawler keeps talking about Bob Backlund. This was all so Lawler could talk throughout the match.

A quick preview of next week’s show wraps it up.

Overall Rating: D+. This didn’t work with one boring match after another. It was pretty clearly the last of a long taping and as a result, there was only so much left to put out there. The fact that this show featured names like Nikolai Volkoff and Duke Droese should tell you all you need to know, as that’s quite weak even for 1994. Throw in Yokozuna having a dull match and all you have is a Headshrinkers squash that was entertaining in how lopsided it was. How was this show supposed to be good?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: July 18, 1994
Location: Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,600
Commentators: Jim Ross, Randy Savage

After last week’s rather awesome Bret Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid WWF Title match, it’s time to look at another title, as Diesel defends the Intercontinental Title against Lex Luger. What makes things all the more confusing is the fact that Ted DiBiase claiming he has purchased Lex Luger (though the contract has yet to be signed). Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a clip from Superstars with Tatanka as a guest on the Heartbreak Hotel, being convinced that Lex Luger has sold out to Ted DiBiase. Even Shawn Michaels isn’t sure about that.

Opening sequence.

Intercontinental Title: Diesel vs. Lex Luger

Diesel, with Shawn Michaels, is defending and there’s no sign of DiBiase to start. They take their time to get going until it’s a fight over a lockup, with Luger being powered out to the floor. Back in and Luger grabs a sunset flip for two and Diesel isn’t happy. That means we settle down a bit with Diesel elbowing him in the back of the head, followed by some to the front of the head in the corner.

A powerslam gets Luger out of trouble (and a two) and now it’s time to punch Diesel to the floor, with the fans approving. Back in and the Jackknife attempt is countered with a backdrop but Luger misses a charge and crashes out to the floor. Diesel hits a clothesline and we see DiBiase watching from a box as we take a break. Back with Diesel getting two off Snake Eyes, followed by the running crotch attack to the back for a VERY delayed two.

We hit the chinlock with a knee in Luger’s back for a bit, followed by a jumping elbow for another near fall. Diesel grabs the sleeper for a good while but Luger finally suplexes his way to freedom. Luger strikes away and ducks a big boot, setting up a DDT for two. A middle rope clothesline gives Luger two more as this is picking way up. The referee gets crushed in the corner though and Luger grabs the Rack, only to have Shawn break it up. The referee wakes up to count two and here is Razor Ramon to get rid of Michaels, which is enough for the referee to throw it out at 18:05.

Rating: B-. This started slowly but they were rocking by the end, with the double DQ being the right way to go. You don’t want to change the title or have Luger take a pin so this was as good as it was going to be. Luger might not be the best all around but he knows how to make that kind of a comeback. At the same time, JR was on fire here and knew EXACTLY how to make this feel like the most epic showdown. Really good stuff here and if you cut off about two minutes at the start, it’s that much better.

Post match the beatdown is on with Ramon getting laid out but Luger breaks up a spike piledriver. Cue DiBiase to look at Luger.

Mabel vs. Austin Steele

Steele, who looks like a bad Buddy Landell impersonator, gets thrown around to start and there’s a Flair Flip in the corner. Mabel headbutts him out of the air and hits a really awkward looking suplex. A test of strength makes Steele scream (how familiar) as Mabel starts in on the arm, allowing commentary to talk about pop culture. Mabel splashes him in the corner and hits a Boss Man Slam for the pin at 2:15. That guy couldn’t have been more of a Flair knockoff is his life depended on it. Just minus the talent that is.

It’s the Summerslam Report and we talk about Leslie Nielsen being brought in to figure out the Undertaker ordeal. Also announced over the weekend: Bret Hart defending the WWF Title against Owen Hart inside a cage. One of those things is better than the other.

House show ads.

Owen Hart vs. Reno Riggins

Jim Neidhart is here with Owen. They go technical to start as the fans want Bret. Riggins manages an armbar with some hard wrenching but Owens slaps him in the face. Owen takes him down until Riggins hits him in the face as well. That earns Riggins a belly to belly into the Sharpshooter for the submission at 2:55. Riggins was slightly more competitive than I would have expected.

Owen takes his sweet time letting go.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Tatanka vs….Nikolai Volkoff. That might not be worth advertising.

Sparky Plugg vs. George South

South sends him into the corner to start but Plugg gets in a kick to the ribs. There’s a slam into a headlock as Plugg looks ridiculous in the lime green singlet. A headscissors takes South down as commentary talks about Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Pressley. South fights out of a headlock but charges into an elbow, setting up a high crossbody to finish for Plugg at 2:40.

We get a long recap of the Undertaker Is Missing, starting with him “ascending” at the Royal Rumble via casket cam. Then various people saw him around the country. Then Ted DiBiase claimed to have brought back the Undertaker but Paul Bearer didn’t buy it. We hear from Bearer, says the real Undertaker will be back at Summerslam. Then DiBiase says he has the real Undertaker. This story is stupid.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Gary Sabaugh

Sabaugh is better known as the Italian Stallion in the NWA, which explains the random “Italy” written on his trunks. Bigelow runs him own with a shoulder to start and a splash in the corner makes it worse. An elbow to the face gives Bigelow two and we hit the quickly broken chinlock. Sabaugh slugs and clotheslines away but walks into a powerslam. A Million Dollar Dream bulldog (it didn’t look great) finishes for Bigelow at 2:55.

Ted DiBiase says he has been talking to Lex Luger but the deal isn’t closed yet. He has a big announcement this weekend but here is Tatanka to yell at DiBiase about buying Luger. That earns Tatanka an offer of $10,000 if he can beat Nikolai Volkoff next week. Deal.

Overall Rating: C+. The opener was good and the rest of the matches were good enough to carry things. That being said, the idea of the Undertaker vs. Undertaker feud being one of the best things that the WWF had at the time is not a good sign. There are good things going on in the WWF but my goodness that feud is dea…..well it’s really bad.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 19, 2024
Location: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are about a month and a half away from Wrestlemania and the big story coming out of Smackdown is the Rock officially joining the Bloodline. That is the kind of change that could shake things up in a major way, but first we’re likely to get a rebuttal from Cody Rhodes and/or Seth Rollins. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Earlier today, various people arrived.

Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre

We actually get a quick hype video for this, which is a nice touch for a match this big. Cody’s headlock doesn’t work so McIntyre knocks him down, setting up an exchange of chops. McIntyre gets the better of things, only to get pulled into a quick Figure Four. That’s turned over in a hurry so Cody makes the rope and we take a break.

Back with McIntyre crushing Cody’s head against the post and chopping away until Cody grabs a bulldog. A powerslam into the Disaster Kick slow McIntyre down and the Cody Cutter gets two. Rhodes’ Cactus Clothesline leaves them both on the floor and we take another break.

Back again with McIntyre grabbing a spinebuster and sitout powerbomb for two each. Cody’s Pedigree doesn’t quite slow McIntyre down as he’s right back with the Futureshock for another near fall. For some reason McIntyre goes up, allowing Cody to hit a superplex. The top rope Cody Cutter gets two more but cue the Bloodline for a distraction/Samoan Spike. That’s enough for the Claymore to finish for McIntyre at 19:42.

Rating: B. This felt like a big time match and that’s exactly what it was supposed to be. Cody losing always feels like a major moment and it’s not like it hurts him to have a loss with the Bloodline interfering. Good opener here, with McIntyre building even more momentum on the way to Elimination Chamber, which he very well may win.

Video on Gunther vs. Jey Uso before tonight’s Intercontinental Title match.

Andrade talks about being from a wrestling family and being used to the pressure. His day is now beginning.

We look at the ending of Cody vs. Drew, complete with telestrator graphics.

Cody tells Adam Pearce he’s fine when Seth Rollins comes in for a knowing look.

Video on the Women’s Elimination Chamber match and the five qualifiers.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Battle Royal

Xia Li, Valhalla, Tegan Nox, Natalya, Indi Hartwell, Candice LeRae, Maxxine Dupri, Ivy Nile, Elektra Lopez, Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Michin, Zoey Stark, Zelina Vega, Shayna Baszler, Chelsea Green, Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn, Raquel Rodriguez, B-Fab

Rodriguez is making her return after an illness absence. It’s a brawl to start with Valhalla knocking out Maxxine but getting eliminated as well. Rodriguez knocks out Li and does the same thing to Dawn as we take a break. Back with Natalya turning on Nox to toss her out (in the opposite of the Royal Rumble) and B-Fan being eliminated as well. Lopez kicks Vega out but gets tossed by Michin.

Lopez and Michin brawl on the floor until Green gets rid of Candice and Baszler does the same to Hartwell. Baszler knees Chance out and Rodriguez eliminated Fyre, followed by Nile knocking Natalya out. Baszler and Stark get rid of Nile, leaving us with the two of them, Michin and Rodriguez. The villains toss Michin but Rodriguez gets rid of Baszler. Stark is kicked out and Rodriguez….eliminated Green, who was still in, to win at 12:01.

Rating: C+. They kept this mostly quick and Rodriguez is a good choice to send on to the Chamber. She isn’t likely going to win but she can be the power monster who can shake things up when she comes in. It was a nice return for Rodriguez and she went on to win, but more importantly the match didn’t get dull. That’s hard to do in a match like this, but there were actually multiple options to win to make it better.

Jey Uso is ready to win the Intercontinental Title.

We get a split screen interview between Nia Jax and Rhea Ripley. Rhea talks about wanting to go back home to prove that she is different but Nia doesn’t care and promises pain. Ripley promises to show that Jax isn’t good enough and walks off. As usual, Jax’s promo involves her saying “I’m big and I’ll beat you” and nothing more.

We get a special look at R-Truth’s history with the Judgment Day. He insists it was a special moment when they first met, like the first time John Cena tried on a pair of jean shorts. But then it went bad with Damian Priest attacking him, making R-Truth feel as sad as the finale of This Is Us. Now he has DX in his corner though, and then he just walks off. This was the usual wacky R-Truth and again as usual, it worked.

We talk about the UFC/WWE partnership involving this arena.

UFC fighter Michael Chandler calls out Conor McGregor. Nothing wrong with a mini cross promotion like that.

Chad Gable is ready for Ivar.

Ivar is ready for Chad Gable.

R-Truth/Miz/DIY vs. Judgment Day

It’s a huge brawl to start and Judgment Day is sent outside, leaving the other four to do the DX chop as we take a break. Back with Gargano caught in the wrong corner, with a slingshot stomp to the chest getting two. Gargano suplexes his way to freedom though and it’s off to R-Truth, who initiates the John Cena finishing sequence. That’s broken up by Priest, who sends R-Truth into the post as we take another break.

Back again with Ciampa coming back in to pick up the pace with the running corner clotheslines. Willow’s Bell plants McDonagh and Ciampa follows with a dive to the floor. Back in and a reverse DDT gets two on Dominik with McDonagh making the save. Balor and Ciampa collide though and they’re both down for a breather. R-Truth hits the ax kick on Priest and the Lie Detector gets two. Everything breaks down again and Priest escapes an AA, setting up South Of Heaven to pin R-Truth at 15:40.

Rating: B-. The fans were WAY into this one but you can’t have R-Truth pin someone who very well may be a World Champion by the middle of the summer. There is a good chance that this story is going to wrap up soon, assuming R-Truth doesn’t cost Judgment Day the Tag Team Titles at Elimination Chamber. For now though, Judgment Day gets a win to build their momentum back up, which they need at the moment.

We look back at the Rock officially joining the Bloodline.

Sami Zayn says he is hitting the pause button on Drew McIntyre because there is a path for him to Wrestlemania and he will be a champion.

Here is Becky Lynch for a chat. After asking if the fans like her hat (they do so it stays), she talks about how she is going to win the Elimination Chamber to earn the right to face Rhea Ripley (McAfee: “Or Nia Jax.”) at Wrestlemania. Ripley has been on the roll of a lifetime but now there is Lynch, who is the biggest threat to her title. Lynch says she is the best she has ever been but first there is Elimination Chamber. She talks about beating almost everyone in the Chamber but here is Liv Morgan to interrupt, saying she doesn’t like Lynch acting like no one is a threat in the Chamber.

Morgan talks about her history with Ripley, who put her on the shelf for a few months with a bad shoulder. Cue Raquel Rodriguez, Naomi, Tiffany Stratton and Bianca Belair to say they’ll win. Belair says she’ll keep up her undefeated streak in the Chamber but Tiffany doesn’t want to hear it. Cue Nia Jax to wreck everyone because that’s what she does.

Shinsuke Nakamura is ready to make Sami Zayn famous.

Chad Gable vs. Ivar

They start fast with Gable kicking him to the floor, only to get dropped onto the barricade as we take an early break. Back with Gable reversing a super World’s Strongest Slam into a middle rope small package for two. Gable goes after the leg but the ankle lock is broken up with a whip to the floor. Ivar sends him into the apron and takes it back inside for a top rope seated senton and a near fall. Gable gets in a suplex into the moonsault for two, followed by the ankle lock for the win at 8:25.

Rating: B-. This was more of the Gable that has seemed ready to break out for a long time now. He’s basically a slightly smaller Kurt Angle (in the ring at least) and having him go nuts to beat someone is a good way to go. It wasn’t quite a great match, but it made Gable look more like a star than he has in a long time.

Elimination Chamber rundown.

Drew McIntyre is ready to win the Elimination Chamber because he can beat everyone in it.

Intercontinental Title: Gunther vs. Jey Uso

Gunther is defending and we get the Big Match Intros. They start fast with Gunther chopping away and taking it to the floor as we take an early break. Back with Gunther twisting Jey’s neck and hitting a backbreaker before taking it outside. Jey ducks a clothesline and Samoan drops him onto the announcers’ table for a breather. Back in and Gunther drops him again but the powerbomb attempt is countered into a backdrop to the floor. The dive drops Gunther again and we take another break.

We come back with an exchange of chops until Jey has to escape another powerbomb attempt. The spear gives Jey two but Gunther knocks him down again, setting up the top rope splash for two. Jey hits another spear and Gunther is knocked outside, setting up another spear. The Superfly Splash connects….but Jimmy Uso rings the bell. Jey dives onto Jimmy and superkicks Gunther but the Superfly Splash hits raised knees, allowing Gunther to small package him and retain at 16:52.

Rating: B. They may have telegraphed the ending by having Jimmy show up earlier in the night but it was still a good moment with Jey seemingly having the title win. Gunther is so good at making you believe that he could lose the title every time he defends it, which makes his title defenses so much more interesting. Good main event here, and they nailed the big fight feeling of the whole thing.

Post match Jimmy comes in and drops Jey, setting up a pair of Superfly Splashes to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Multiple good matches, almost everything at Elimination Chamber getting a boost and some solid talking. Those things should add up to a strong show, but the energy and presentation (different camera angles, fresh ways of talking about things etc) made this feel so much better. It felt more modernized and like a sport than a wrestling show while still having what makes a wrestling show work. I had a really good time with this and it’s one of the better Raw’s I’ve seen in a long time. Nice job, but Saturday needs to be just as good.

Results
Drew McIntyre b. Cody Rhodes – Claymore
Raquel Rodriguez won a battle royal last eliminating Chelsea Green
Judgment Day b. R-Truth/Miz/DIY – South Of Heaven to R-Truth
Chad Gable b. Ivar – Ankle lock
Gunther b. Jey Uso – Small package

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.