Evolve 125: It Took Some Time

IMG Credit: World Wrestling Network

Evolve 125
Date: April 4, 2019
Location: La Boom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Rob Niemi

This is another one of the shows that I was hoping to see last year but for one reason or another it never happened. That’s where a free month of Club WWN (plus the company putting the show up for free on YouTube) can be handy and that’s why I’m here today. This show seemed to be pretty well received so hopefully it holds up. Let’s get to it.

As usual, I have no idea what is coming or what is going on here so bare with me if I miss a plot point.

The commentators/hosts are in the ring to welcome us to the show. They run down the card, just in case someone wandered in here off the street thinking it was a store that sold farmer’s almanacs. Cue Adrian Jaoude (also of NXT) to interrupt, saying he’s here to fight.

Harlem Bravado vs. Adrian Jaoude

Jaoude takes him down with ease to start and Bravado bails to the rope in a hurry. Bravado stomps away instead and hits a leg trap suplex for two. The chinlock keeps Jaoude down and it’s a Death Valley Driver to give Bravado two more. Bravado starts talking trash though and gets his fingers snapped back. The hand gets slammed down onto the mat and a hard German suplex drops Bravado. A spinning kick to the face makes it even worse, followed by a quick kneebar to make Bravado tap at 5:00.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match to get things going and Jaoude looked good as the monster who can take you apart with the martial arts skills. I’ve liked his stuff in NXT and while Bravado looked fine, they made a big deal out of his start and stop success. That seems to be part of a long running story for him and if so, this would seem to play into it well enough.

Kazusada Higuchi vs. Curt Stallion

Higuchi seems to be a big time guest star. They take turns stretching to start and the much smaller Stallion makes himself scream a bit. Higuchi powers him into the corner for a friendly pat to the chest and it’s time to work on Stallion’s arm. The wristlock into the hammerlock has Stallion screaming even more, so he fails at a shoulder block instead. Higuchi’s shoulder sends Stallion bailing to the floor for a breather.

That means Higuchi gets to follow and chop away, followed by a shot to block Stallion’s suicide dive. It’s been one sided so far as Stallion can’t get around the size and power. Back in and more chops keep Stallion down but he pops back up with an abdominal stretch to to slow Highcuhi for the first time. Actually make it an Octopus Hold but Higuchi is in the ropes in a hurry.

A German suplex takes care of Stallion again (Fan: “STAY DOWN!”) but he’s right back up with his own bridging German suplex for two. Stallion hits a running dropkick in the corner and a DDT gets two more. For some reason Stallion is willing to chop it out again, which goes as well as you might have expected. He even asks Higuchi to chop him and that’s actually makes things worse.

This time though Stallion comes back with a knee to the chest, only to get chopped down again. A running powerslam gives Higuchi two more but Stallion grabs White Noise onto the knee for his own near fall. Stallion’s headbutt connects for another two but he misses a top rope splash. Higuchi grabs a Doctor Bomb for the pin at 11:21.

Rating: C. The fact that Higuchi had a WWN Title match the next day should have told you everything you needed to know about this one. It’s not a great match or anything but it was kind of entertaining to see Higuchi destroy the much smaller Stallion. Higuchi wasn’t flashy but he was intimidating and looked powerful so there was something to him. He would have a better match the next day too.

Post match Stallion gets an ovation. It wasn’t that good of a match.

We look at Josh Briggs beating AR Fox but hurting himself in the process. He was taken out on a stretcher and wound up with a dislocated hip.

Here’s Briggs, on crutches, for a chat. A few weeks ago, he wasn’t sure if he was going to walk again, let alone wrestle, but the fans made him believe that the doctor’s words didn’t matter. They weren’t sure how they were going to get out of the building but then the fans parted like the Red Sea and let him get out for medical treatment. Briggs appreciates the fans more than they will ever know but he promises to win the Evolve Title when (yes when) he comes back.

Cue Evolve Champion Austin Theory to mock Briggs for coming back, just so he can hear the fans chant his name. Theory kicks the crutch out and mocks Briggs’ limping…but Briggs stands up. Theory turns around and walks right into a chokeslam to end a good segment. Well lucky for Briggs as he didn’t know Theory would come out but still good enough.

John Silver/Alex Reynolds vs. AR Fox/Leon Ruff

Silver and Reynolds are now in the Dark Order in AEW so this company probably had a lot to do with getting them jobs there. Hold on though as Fox and Ruff have to dance with the entourage before we’re ready to go. Reynolds works on Fox’s arm to start but Fox flips over and dances some more. Back up and they both miss a bunch of clotheslines but Fox gets one off a backslide.

Fox blocks an RKO attempt and grabs a Codebreaker, allowing Ruff to slingshot in for an elbow to the back. Silver comes in and flips into a choke on Ruff, who slips out for a screaming headlock. A one armed gorilla press has Ruff in trouble but he armdrags his way out without much trouble. Ruff’s multiple springboards armdrag sends Silver outside for a top rope flip dive, with Ruff sticking the landing of course.

Reynolds breaks up a suicide dive though and it’s Ruff in trouble for a change, including a snap suplex to give Reynolds two. A double flipping faceplant gets two on Ruff and it’s back to Silver for some crossface shots to the face into the reverse chinlock. Ruff fights up and manages a hurricanrana to send Silver into Reynolds, meaning it’s off to Fox to clean house.

A Thesz press lets Fox hammer away on Silver and there’s a rolling cutter to drop him again. Fox hits a big no hands dive onto Reynolds and Coast to Coast….well it grazes Silver for two at least. Reynolds gets a blind tag though and superkicks Fox for two. Silver and Reynolds hit a powerbomb/Rough Ryder combination for two with Ruff having to make the save.

Fox grabs a double cutter on Silver and Reynolds but they’re right back with a series of kicks to the head. Everyone winds up in the same corner and it’s Fox superplexing Silver, followed by Lo Mein Pain (springboard Spanish Fly). Ruff’s Swanton sets up For’s 450 to finish Reynolds at 15:48.

Rating: B-. Solid back and forth match here with everyone getting a chance to show off a bit. Fox looks like the established star and comes off like one of the legends around here (appropriate, as that is the case) and Ruff isn’t bad either. Silver and Reynolds got to showcase themselves as well and I can understand how AEW saw something in them, even in limited rolls.

Post match, Fox, Ruff and company dance some more.

Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry

Priscilla Kelly is with Allin and there must be a winner. Henry’s face is half painted ala Darby’s (albeit the other side for a change of pace), making me think they had mixed up the graphics for a bit. The fans are WAY behind Allin here and Henry bails straight to the floor to start. You don’t do that to Allin, who hits a suicide dive into the barricade. Back in and the Coffin Drop is blocked but Allin flips out of a German suplex and armdrags Henry to the floor. Now the suicide dive can connect so it’s time to fight into the crowd.

Henry drops him ribs first onto the barricade and adds a running double stomp to the back. They get back in with Allin grabbing a brainbuster for a quick double down. Back up and they slug it out with Henry hitting a TKO across the top rope. Allin is back in for a pinfall reversal sequence but he can’t get the Last Supper. A TKO Stunner plants Allin so a Jackknife cover can get two. Henry talks a lot of trash though and gets caught with the flipping Stunner. That’s fine with Henry, who kicks him in the head and stomps away at the head for the referee stoppage at 7:22.

Rating: B-. You really can see the star power in Allin, though the fans kind of died on the finish there. Allin comes off as a star and I’m not sure why you would have him lose here. This felt like the ending to a big feud and with Allin being advertised for a match tomorrow, it’s a rather confusing ending. At least they beat each other up rather well and it felt like a violent match, which is what it should have been given the story they built up.

Post match Henry leaves but here’s Brandi Lauren to jump Kelly to set up their mixed tag match tomorrow.

Referees help Allin stagger to the back.

Angelo Dawkins vs. Colby Corino

Corino is part of the Unwanted and the Street Profits get a huge reaction (NXT and Evolve have a working relationship in case you’re REALLY confused right now). Montez Ford cracks up at the idea that he’s fighting someone as small as Corino and promises to take care of the rest of the Unwanted if they show up.

Corino’s slap is swatted away so Dawkins hits a release gutwrench suplex. Dawkins isn’t done and picks him up for a big swing before the second toss. A kick to the head out of the corner staggers Dawkins and a Meteora puts him down. Some running forearms in the corner don’t do Corino much good though as he gets suplexed again for his efforts. A toss spinebuster finishes Corino at 2:26, as it should have.

Post match Dawkins asks if that’s all there is. If anyone from the Unwanted wants a shot, come get him. Cue WWN Champion JD Drake (not part of the Unwanted) to say the Unwanted isn’t coming out when someone is waiting on them. Drake is here to fight though so let’s have a title match right now.

WWN Title: Angelo Dawkins vs. JD Drake

Drake is defending. They shake hands to start but Drake hits a chop, with Dawkins being glad to reciprocate. Dawkins hits a dropkick and some running elbows in the corner put Drake on the floor early on. Another chop off goes to Drake and he runs Dawkins over to impress the fans. More chops have Dawkins in more trouble, including even more to knock him down. A headbutt gives Drake two and a sliding lariat is good for the same as the pace has slowed a bit.

Dawkins fights back up with some hard shoulders, setting up the spinning splash in the corner. A bulldog gets two and a spear is good for the same but Dawkins can’t follow up. Back up and Drake manages a German suplex but Dawkins pops up and shouts. That earns him a Drill Bit for two, so Drake asks why Dawkins won’t die. Drake puts him on top but gets pulled down with a super spinebuster for two more. Dawkins’ chops just annoy Drake and he cuts Dawkins off with a knee. A Stunner sets up a Cannonball and Drake’s moonsault retains the title at 10:30.

Rating: B-. Not too bad here for an impromptu face vs. face match. They beat each other up well enough here and it’s not like a tag wrestler losing in a singles match is going to do any real damage to him. Drake gets an impressive looking win and you can tell that he means a lot to the fans here. The Street Profits had a nice run in Evolve and it helped turn them into a better team. Now imagine that: getting out and learning from someone else can help young talent get better.

Respect is shown post match.

Video on the Ten Year Anniversary show, which was pretty good.

Cue Stokely Hathaway (legendary manager, now known as Malcolm Bivens in NXT) to say he hasn’t been released. No he isn’t back tonight because the only way he could have come back was to be put into the main event tonight. That was shot down so instead he’s here to say goodbye. Last year he went to Axxess and now he has been signed by NXT and it would not have happened if not for Evolve. Since he’ll be gone soon, he wanted to say goodbye and thank you. Nice moment here and you can tell Hathaway has a deep history around here.

Montez Ford vs. Shane Strickland

Strickland is also Unwanted and is now known as Isaiah Scott. Ford is more serious here and charges at Strickland in the corner to knock him outside. That means choking and forearms against the barricade but Strickland gets in a few chops. That’s not cool with Ford who blocks a big chop and pounds Strickland down again. A sip of the red cup fires Ford up enough to hit the big flip dive and the fans are pleased.

Cue Colby Corino for a distraction though and Strickland pulls him into a modified Rings of Saturn. He even ties Ford’s arms back with his legs and the fans chant GOLDBERG. Even commentary has to explain that by mentioning some pyro going off by mistake. Lenny: “If we’re being honest, it probably would have been Gillberg.” Back up and Strickland hits a running dropkick to the knee in the corner and it’s off to more double arm cranking.

That’s broken up as well so Strickland chops away but Ford gets in a few kicks and a standing moonsault is good for two. Strickland is fine enough to hit a 619 around the post and a hard powerbomb drops Ford again. Ford pops back up and blasts Strickland with a clothesline but snaps off a dropkick before the double knockdown. It’s Strickland up first and slugging away, including taping up his fist.

Ford falls down though and the referee makes Strickland remove the tape. Strickland’s hands are fine enough for a hard German suplex and the Swerve Stomp gets two. The comeback is on but Ford gets knocked hard off the top and down onto the apron. Back up and Ford hits a top rope Fameasser with Strickland in the ropes. That and the huge frog splash is enough to give Ford the pin at 12:44.

Rating: C+. I like both of these guys (Strickland a lot) and again, it shows how much value there is to have these guys in a different promotion to learn something different. That isn’t something that happens very often and I’m really not sure why. How many wrestling promotions would love to feature some NXT talent? Anyway, this was a hard hitting match but it never hit that next gear, leaving it as just pretty good instead of very good.

Tag Team Titles: Unwanted vs. Konosuke Takeshita/Mao Inoue

The Unwanted (Eddie Kingston/Joe Gacy) is defending and the challengers are from DDT. Takeshita (the DDT Champion) starts with Kingston and they go to the mat early on. That means an early standoff so Takeshita hits a forearm to send Kingston outside. Back in and a leg lariat sends Kingston into the corner so it’s off to Mao vs. Gacy. An exchange of shoulders goes to the much bigger Gacy, who blocks a drop toehold without much effort.

Mao sends him outside and it’s back in for both challengers to hammer away. That brings Kingston back in though and Mao gets double teamed for a change, including a big clothesline for two. The chinlock goes on for a bit and it’s time to stomp away but Mao is back up with a running dropkick. A running leg lariat gets Mao out of trouble and it’s the hot(tish) tag off to Takeshita. Kingston comes in as well and is quickly DDTed to the floor, where he pulls Takeshita with him.

Mao dives onto all three and frog splashes Kingston for two back inside. A split legged moonsault gets two more and there’s a German suplex for the same with Gacy throwing Takeshita into the cover for the save. Kingston suplexes Takeshita but it’s a pair of boots in the corner to take Kingston down. Mao adds the 450 for two but walks into a heck of a spinning kick from Gacy.

That just earns him a Blue Thunder Bomb to give Mao two but Gacy blasts Mao with a clothesline for the same. Mao Stuns Gacy, who is right back up with a discus forearm for two more. A nasty looking powerbomb/neckbreaker combination gets two as everything stays broken down. Mao slugs away at both champions at once but it’s a backdrop driver to give Gacy the retaining pin at 13:57.

Rating: B. I liked this one way more than I expected to as the DDT guys looked awesome at times. They played well against the hard hitting champions and I liked the whole thing rather well. The Unwanted has impressed me in the limited amount of time I’ve seen them and this was no exception. Good stuff here and probably the best match of the night so far.

Evolve Title: Austin Theory vs. Kyle O’Reilly

O’Reilly is challenging and yes he does play the air guitar on a belt without actually having a belt. Hold on though as both guys make sure to tell the ring announcer their various nicknames for the Big Match Intros. This includes Kyle dubbing himself the Sleazy Air Guitar Superstar, which of course gets a chant. Feeling out process to start with O’Reilly taking him down but Theory runs away from the threat of a big kick to the head.

Back up and O’Reilly grabs the leg again but can’t get very far with it. A headlock takeover works better for O’Reilly and he does it again because he’s from NXT and likes Takeovers. Theory can’t suplex his way out of the headlock so he powers up, only to get taken down all over again. O’Reilly’s mind games of just outmaneuvering Theory at every step is good stuff. The cross armbreaker sends Theory outside and that’s good for a SLEAZY KYLE chant.

Back in and O’Reilly strikes him down without much trouble as Theory just can’t get anything going so far. A kneebar sends Theory to the rope but he finally scores with a clothesline to get a breather. Theory’s standing moonsault gets two and it’s off to an arm trap chinlock. That doesn’t last long though and Theory chops the heck out of him in the corner. A suplex gets two on O’Reilly and it’s off to a different armbar.

O’Reilly fights up and rolls some butterfly DDTs to put them both down for a bit. The ankle lock doesn’t last long so O’Reilly suplexes him for two more. Theory is back with a buckle bomb but they trade kicks to the face. A kneebar slows Theory down and O’Reilly kicks him in the chest so hard that he sends himself outside. They slug it out again and, after staggering a bit, Theory rocks him enough for Three Seconds Around The World (spinning torture rack bomb).

2K1 (leg trap brainbuster) gets two more on O’Reilly but he takes the knee again. Theory dives for the rope and needs a little walk around the ring. This includes picking up the title and walking away but O’Reilly pulls him back inside. The brainbuster gives O’Reilly two and we hit the ankle lock. Theory gets out again and hits a DDT onto the belt for two, followed Attaksia for the pin to retain at 20:15.

Rating: B. I had a good time with this one and there were times where you believed that the title could change hands. That’s not something you get in showdown matches like this so well done with both guys. What matters here though is giving Theory another line on his resume. It means something to have beaten a big name from NXT so it’s a positive deal for everyone here, as O’Reilly gets a good match and can go right back to NXT’s tag division while pointing to the DDT on the belt. Good main event here and it felt like a bit deal.

Post match Theory jumps O’Reilly but Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong run in for the save. Fish talks about how he and O’Reilly started Evolve (in the first main event) and they will step in when needed. O’Reilly liked that Theory (which he pronounces as Tuh-hear-e) used the title and promises that the Undisputed Era will be back.

Overall Rating: B. This was a fun and entertaining show which never dragged in the slightest. The more I watch of Evolve the more I think I could get into it. You can tell that there are intricate stories throughout the company and a lot of history between the people. It wasn’t exactly on display here, but they did enough to make me interested in seeing more. Well done here and a show worth checking out if you get the time (it’s available for free on their YouTube page).

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Major League Wrestling Fusion – April 4, 2020: Farewell

IMG Credit: Major League Wrestling

Fusion #104
Date: April 4, 2020
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: AJ Kirsch, Rich Bocchini

This is the last show on American soil for the time being and I’m not sure what that is going to mean going forward. They have a few shows taped from Mexico but you never know how much they can draw from that one event. Hopefully this one works but this company can be all over the place. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Douglas James vs. Septimo Dragon

Feeling out process to start with Dragon flipping out of a toss attempt. That’s fine with James, who knees him in the face to send things outside. The suicide dive drops Dragon again but he’s back up with a kick to the face. A moonsault sets up a suicide dive to drop James this time around and they head back inside. Dragon hits some LOUD shots to the face and a springboard hurricanrana keeps James in trouble. James catches him in the corner though and a Codebreaker gets two. A suplex gets the same and James faceplants him into the Crossface.

Dragon slips out so it’s a hard clothesline to drop him again. Back up and they slug it out, with Dragon shouting “COME ON F*****!”. A superkick battle goes to Dragon but they kick each other in the head at the same time for a double knockdown. The fans are rather appreciative, even as the double count begins. Back up and Dragon kicks him in the face for two, followed by the Septimo Driver (almost a Dominator into a piledriver) for two. James pops back up with a Death Valley Driver into the corner and the guillotine choke finishes Dragon at 7:29.

Rating: C+. There was no reason for them to work this hard in a match and yet they pulled it off pretty well here. I wouldn’t have bet on something like this but it was nice to see two people putting in the effort and having a good match as a result. James is kind of plain but Dragon could be fine for the local luchador, which will always have a place in wrestling.

Richard Holliday is going to interfere in the empty arena match between Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Mance Warner but gets a phone call from Gino Medina. Logan Creed has done something and attention is needed.

Pagano is still coming.

In case he has to leave, here’s Mance Warner’s debut. I still like him a lot.

Warner is ready to fight and might have some friends of his own. It might be better that some people might not be there because he doesn’t want them seeing that violence. When asked his plans for dealing with the Dynasty: “F*** em.”

We look at Injustice beating down Brian Pillman Jr. last week, including the Stomp onto a cinder block.

Injustice have been fined and suspended.

The AAA/MLW Super Series is coming next week.

LA Park and his sons want Psycho Clown to find two partners for a six man tag.

The Dynasty doesn’t like an interview taking place outside of their dressing room. They get rid of the interviewer before they lose the rarefied air.

Here’s MJF’s MLW debut.

Here’s MJF winning the Middleweight Title.

Savio Vega thinks the empty arena match is dangerous but he’s picking Mance.

Here’s the Top 10:

10. Low Ki

9. King Mo

8. Mance Warner

7. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

6. Richard Holliday

5. Brian Pillman Jr.

4. Tom Lawlor

3. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

2. Myron Reed

1. Alexander Hammerstone

Switch these things to once a month as they barely ever change and a lot of these people aren’t even featured every week.

We look at Team Filthy and American Top Team cheating to beat Low Ki last week.

The Dynasty goes after Mance Warner but Savio Vega comes in to even the numbers and the fight is on.

Here’s Mance beating Jimmy Havoc in the barbed wire match.

Post break, Mance and Savio stand tall.

The Von Erichs talk about turning adversity into positives. Like with the Coronavirus, or Team Filthy cheating last week. That’s quite the jump in levels of severity no?

MJF talks about Warner not knowing much about him. When MJF was a kid, a bunch of people threw quarters at him. That was in third grade, so he went to the gym every day and on the last day of high school, he knocked the main guy out. MJF starts shouting about how he can f*** someone up so he can get nuts too. This went from zero to sixty in no time.

Killer Kross is hurt and out of action for six months. He wanted to fight in MLW again but his “Stamford employer” will not allow it.

Brian Pillman Jr. has a broken jaw and might sue Injustice.

Mance Warner vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

In an empty arena and loser leaves town. MJF spits gum in Warner’s face so they’re on the floor in a hurry. It’s actually MJF getting the better of it and choking with a rope. Warner has to knock the bolt cutters out of his hands and a headbutt sends MJF staggering away. MJF sends him flying through some chairs for one and they fight up the empty bleachers. Some right hands have MJF in trouble and he can’t throw Warner over the balcony. Instead, Warner throws him down the bleachers (Referee: “Max are you ok?”) for two.

MJF finds a broom to choke him up against the wall but stops to punch out a cameraman. A stolen cigarette is burned on Warner’s head but hold on as MJF steals a phone to….call a taxi? Warner is back up with a chair shot for two before bending the wrist around part of the metal structure. They get back in the ring with MJF slugging away, capped off by the Bionic Elbow. A headbutt sets up the lariat to get rid of MJF at 7:47.

Rating: B. I liked this more than I expected to even though I like both guys quite a bit. Warner beat the heck out of him but MJF was showing a lot of fire. It says a lot that he was willing to put in this kind of effort in a match that was really for his secondary job rather than something in AEW. He really is that good and I’m glad to see him move up that far so fast. Warner is going to get there someday too but for now he can be a star in MLW.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling was quite good but there were a few too many recaps and filler segments. At the same time, the show was even shorter than usual so maybe they edited it differently or something here. We got a good show though and a big time main event. I have no idea how the Mexico shows will go, but at least they had a solid effort this time around.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

205 Live – April 3, 2020: Plain And Simple

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: April 3, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jon Quasto, Aiden English

It’s the very final show before Wrestlemania and that means a grand total of nothing this time around as 205 Live has no presence on the show. All that matters here is having a few decent matches between people who aren’t going to be getting any time on any of the major shows. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Kushida vs. Danny Burch

They go technical to start with several switches out of some armbar attempts. Kushida takes it to the mat but Burch grabs the leg to get out. The fight over arm control sets up another standoff as things reset a bit. Kushida takes him down by the leg and cranks on the arm a bit, implying that it wasn’t very hard. Burch’s headlock works a bit better for him until Kushida reverses into a front facelock to continue the frustration.

Burch manages to send him to the apron but Kushida switches places and kicks him outside. Back in and Burch punches him out of the air for two and it’s time to stomp Kushida down. The chinlock goes on for a bit but Kushida knocks him outside for a running knee from the apron. The springboard DDT is broken up though and Kushida pulls him into a Crossface. Believe it or not, Kushida escapes that as well and dropkicks the knee out. The Sakuraba Lock finishes Burch at 10:06.

Rating: C. This was almost a long form cat and mouse game as Kushida never felt like he was in any real danger and kept pulling Burch back in every chance. It wasn’t a terrible match or anything and Burch was working hard, but he was overmatched here and it was a matter of time until Kushida finally caught him. Good story though.

Tyler Breeze vs. Jack Gallagher

Gallagher runs him over to start but walks into a dropkick for his efforts. Breeze’s headlock doesn’t work very well so he clotheslines Gallagher for two instead. Now the headlock on the mat works a bit better but Gallagher reverses into one of his own. Some right hands keep Breeze down and a few uppercuts put him in the corner. We hit the armbar for a bit but Breeze is back up with a sunset flip attempt.

Gallagher sits down on him for two (how he beat Breeze in the elimination match) but the Supermodel kick gets the same. Breeze heads up top but gets his arm pulled down onto the top rope. A few cranks on the arm make it worse and the Fujiwara armbar has Breeze crawling over to the rope. Back up and they slug it out until Breeze knees him to the floor. Back in and Gallagher hits a discus elbow for the fast pin at 10:00.

Rating: C-. Not as good as the first match but still decent enough. They’ve nailed the look to make Gallagher remind you of Conor McGregor and it’s one of the best transformations I can remember in a long time. That being said, he isn’t exactly in a place to move that far up the ladder. At least he has something that makes him stand out though and that’s more than a lot of the cruiserweights can say.

Overall Rating: C. I really don’t know what to say about these shows anymore. What we had was decent enough but there is no story in sight and the wrestling is only decent enough. It’s the first show that the company should be dropping but there is no indication that they are going to. The show has been stripped down to the bare basics and it’s just really not all that interesting. Not bad, but nothing I’ll remember by next week.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Main Event – April 2, 2020: They Have The Talents

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: April 2, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

We’re back in time a bit here as it’s the last Main Event before Wrestlemania. I have no idea what that is going to mean this time around but that’s something I say every week on this show. Things have at least been a little different lately and maybe we can get a better show here again. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Good Brothers vs. Ever Rise

That would be Chase Parker/Matt Martel (better known as 3.0) and yes they still sound like a battery. Parker slugs away at Gallows to start with as much success as you would expect. Anderson comes in and gets his wrist cranked a bit and it’s off to Martel for a slingshot elbow to the back.

Gallows offers a distraction though and Anderson hammers away to take over on Parker. A fall away slam sends Parker flying and we hit the chinlock. Gallows misses the big boot in the corner though and it’s back to Parker to pick up the pace. That goes as well as you would expect so it’s a big boot to Martel and the Magic Killer to finish Parker at 5:09.

Rating: D+. Ever Rise continues to be a team who just kind of exists but for the sake of something like this, they’re a pretty acceptable choice. It wasn’t a competitive match or anything but it’s good to see the Brothers getting to beat someone up for a change. They had a bit more energy than most of the empty arena matches too so well done.

From Smackdown.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House but the lantern seems to get in Bray’s head. Bray says that it already failed against John Cena but He won’t. See, Bray has a way to win so let’s go to the blender. Take some self loathing, rage, disappointment, hot sauce (for flavor) and a carrot (so he can see John Cena)…..plus Ramblin Rabbit (for some completely unnecessary opinions) and throw them all in a blender and mix them together. Bray says He wants Cena to join Cena in the world of insanity in a Firefly Fun House match at Wrestlemania. No word on that means, but Bray wants to be let in.

From Raw.

Here’s Becky for a chat. She beat two champions last year at Wrestlemania and walked out with two titles. Ever since then she has walked a razor blade lifestyle and now who she is if she loses the title. She knows she’s getting in Shayna’s head too though. Shayna has always wanted to be out of Ronda’s shadow and if she wins at Wrestlemania, she can get out of that shadow forever. If she loses though, she’s right back in there for good. Cue Shayna to choke Becky out and then swing her hard into the announcers’ table.

Video on Edge vs. Randy Orton.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Cedric Alexander vs. Fabian Aichner

The unique Main Event main events continue with Aichner headlocking him to start. Alexander slips out and strikes away but a springboard is broken up. We take a break and come back with Aichner kicking away in the corner and putting on the chinlock. Back up and Aichner misses a running knee in the corner.

A dragon screw legwhip has Aichner in trouble but the Lumbar Check is blocked. Instead Aichner catches him coming off the top and counters into a suplex for two. That doesn’t matter much though as Alexander is right back up with the Neuralizer to finish Aichner off at 10:16.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t great but again, it’s so nice to have a fresh match for a change. They didn’t have a great match or anything but I’ll take this over a boring match that I’ve seen a dozen times any day. Hopefully Alexander can bounce back though as he stopped meaning anything in the fall and never got better. Main Event isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing.

Video on Undertaker vs. AJ Styles.

From Raw.

Undertaker says that Allen Jones’ (AJ Styles’ real name) mouth is writing checks he can’t cash. AJ has been a big fish in a small pond for most of his career and now he’s saying that fifteen years ago, he wouldn’t have done this. Undertaker lists off a lot of legends from around that time and thinks it was smart of Allen to wait for them to be gone, except for him.

He gets what AJ is doing, but mentioning Michelle McCool is crossing the line. Is it because the Faithbreaker is better than the Styles Clash? Undertaker: “She got it over.” They’ll be in the bone yard and AJ should try him because Undertaker will make him famous. Anderson and Gallows can come too because they can all get hurt and rest in peace. The camera pans back to show an AJ tombstone. Good promo, with Undertaker showing some fire.

From Raw.

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar are in the ring for a chat. Heyman talks about how this is the go home segment on the go home Raw for Wrestlemania. For the better part of twenty years, it has been Brock Lesnar int his spot and that is because he is the beast to slay. This year, Drew McIntyre has stepped up and compared to most people, he is special. Compared to most wrestlers in that locker room, Drew McIntyre is special. So were the Rock, Hulk Hogan, Shane Carwin, Randy Couture and the Undertaker and they all went from special to Brock’s b****.

The Claymore Kick is good but so were the Rock Bottom, the legdrop, the Tombstone and the Attitude Adjustment, because none of them mattered against Brock when it mattered. At Wrestlemania, Brock will survive the Claymore Kick and then next year, Brock will be standing here with the title again because Drew is the latest great story to tell. This year, Drew walks in special and then walks out just like everyone else.

Overall Rating: C. Just a show here which did a decent enough job of making me want to see Wrestlemania. The show isn’t going to be like any version before and it needed a strong build to make people care. That only worked to an extent here, but it could have been a lot worse. Now just keep things going well after Wrestlemania and we might be somewhere.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Ring of Honor TV – April 1, 2020 (Best Of Briscoes): What Made This Company Work

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: April 1, 2020

Things have changed up all over again as Ring of Honor is out of new material to show for weekly television. However, being around for over eighteen years means you have a long video library to draw from and that’s what they’re doing here. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to have some special biography episodes on various stars, starting with the Briscoes tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We start in Delaware with Jay and Mark Briscoes showing us where they ran their trampoline wrestling federation in their backyard. Jay talks about a variety of memories wrestling back here, most of which involve a variety of injuries. Mark pulls out some barbed wire from underneath the porch. It used to be tied to a board but the board is rather rotten.

Jay’s barbed wire bat is still in the garage though and he talks about getting it at a minor league baseball game. The matches took place all over the property and you can tell this means a lot to them. Now it’s off to the chicken house, where they had to go around and pick up all of the dead birds every day. It was a two person job and they did it together.

From Driven on June 23, 2007 in Chicago.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen/El Generico

The Briscoes are defending and that would of course be Kevin Owens and NOT Sami Zayn (Completely different people entirely. Not even close you see.). Jay drives Generico into the corner to start and it’s almost scary to see how young the Briscoes look here. A headscissors keeps Generico down and seems to rough up the mask a little bit (you never rough up the mask). We take a break and come back with a double tag to Jay and Steen (who looks crazy young as well).

A springboard elbow drops Steen but he gets in some chops to slow things down. Steen runs him over with an elbow but Mark pops back up for some (yet to be named) Red Neck Kung Fu. Jay comes back in and everything breaks down with Steen taking some running kicks to the face in the corner. Steen gets in a knee to Jay’s ribs and it’s back to Generico as the double teaming begins. There’s a drop toehold to set up a flipping legdrop to the back of Jay’s neck for two as the champs are in trouble for a change.

Steen chokes Jay on the rope but stops to knock Mark off the apron in a smart move. Jay gets in an atomic drop though and Mark comes in with a big boot for two. A knee drop gets two on Generico and we take another break. Back again with Jay hitting a middle rope Fameasser for two on Generico and we hit a chinlock. Mark’s Samoan drop gets two more and he knocks Steen off the apron as a receipt from earlier. You don’t do that to Steen, who comes back in sans tag and hits a big flip dive onto Jay.

Mark gets sent to the apron so he flip dives onto Steen. Jay gets back in for a Cactus Clothesline on Generico to put everyone outside. A moonsault off the apron hits Steen and Generico gets LAUNCHED over the barricade onto a bunch of chairs in a scary looking bump. Steen powerbombs Mark over the barricade as well and everyone is down. Jay gets back inside and walks into a Pop Up sitout Powerbomb for two.

Generico takes Mark outside and hits a springboard moonsault, setting up the yet to be named Helluva Kick on Jay. Steen’s Swanton gets two in a rather hot near fall. Generico hits his corner walk tornado DDT to plant Mark but he’s right back up for a slingshot double stomp over the top to put Steen through a table. That leaves Jay to hit a gorilla press Death Valley Driver (dang) for a very close two on Generico. A spike Jay Driller ends Generico at 19:38.

Rating: A-. This was awesome and I can see why the tag team division had the reputation that it built up over the years. Steenerico was an awesome team but the Briscoes were the best team in the world for a long time. This was great stuff and I got way into the whole thing as it was a heck of a match.

The Briscoes talk about fighting as kids. Jay: “I’m a year older and a year more handsome.” Mark: “That means he’s gonna be dead a year earlier than me.” They’ve been wrestling for years but have been fighting even longer. Jay was in the first ROH match ever and lost, with Mark saying he let the family down.

Mark couldn’t wrestle in Pennsylvania but he could in Boston, and Mark beat him for the only time in his career. Then Jay won the rematch but they went to a draw in their third. Mark won in Philadelphia, making me wonder if he knows what it means by “the only time ever”. They’ve won a lot of titles and Jay rubs it in that Mark has never won a singles title.

From Best in the World 2013.

ROH World Title: Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe

Jay is defending. The fans are WAY into this as they fight over a lockup to start. Jay gets taken down off of the lockup and we take an early break. Back with the camera bouncing back and forth between the MARK/JAY chants for a cool shot. Mark gets backed into the corner as they’re waiting to really get going here. Jay isn’t about to be taken down and they stare at each other again.

They go to the mat for a split second before Mark scores with a spinwheel kick as commentary talks about the family not being sure what to do. Another handshake and the pace picks up a bit with Mark rolling underneath a kick and….I think dancing like a chicken? This time Mark won’t shake hands as it’s getting a little more serious. Mark knocks him to the floor for a chop off around (the very spacious) ringside. Jay gets dropped on the floor and we take another break as they get back inside.

Back with the fans chanting about chickens (oddly appropriate here) and Mark kicking him in the face. Jay scores with a superkick and a discus forearm, followed by a Downward Spiral into the middle buckle. Mark gets in an enziguri and Jay is knocked outside for a breather. For some reason Mark goes outside and sets up a table, followed by a Too Sweet and a slugout. Neither can get a superplex through the table so Jay throws Mark off the top to the floor for a big crash instead.

Back in and Jay hits a neckbreaker as we take another break. We come back again with Mark hitting an exploder and dropkicking Jay into the corner. An Iconoclasm gets two more and Mark sends him to the floor for a slingshot dive. Jay is laid on the table and the Froggy Bow drives him through for the huge crash.

Another Froggy Bow gets two back inside and something close to a Burning Hammer connects for the same. Jay fights back up and hits the Jay Driller, followed by a heck of a clothesline. Another Jay Driller only gets one and the fans are back into it. For some reason we look at the fans while Jay throws superkicks, setting up another Jay Driller to retain at 24:44.

Rating: A. There’s something interesting about watching two people who care about each other slugging it out and beating the heck out of each other like this. These two of course have great chemistry together and the story is set up just because of who they are. The fact that they beat the heck out of each other made it even better and they had an awesome match that lived up to the pay per view main event level.

Overall Rating: A+. I’m almost scared to imagine how long of a DVD you could make showcasing the best of the Briscoes. These two work together so well as you can’t recreate these characters no matter what. The Briscoes are as genuine of a team as you can get and it turns out that they’re both awesome at what they do. Awesome show here and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with more of them in the future.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

TNA Special: What Could Have Been

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

TNA Special
Date: March 31, 2020
Location: Coca Cola Roxy, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: David Penzer, Scott D’Amore

Now this is interesting as the idea is to help get things ready for the There’s No Place Like Home special. However, the show, which was scheduled to air over Wrestlemania weekend, has been canceled. Therefore we have this as a stand alone show, which could go a bunch of ways. Let’s get to it.

We get the old TNA Cross The Line opening.

Here’s a video of TNA highlights, featuring the awesome voiceover guy they always had. There was a ton of talent around here and they had some good moments, which show you just how sad it is that they wound up being such a disappointment.

We get a quick welcome from commentary and the old TNA World Title is in front of them. I’ve picked that thing up before and it took me two hands to hold it.

Hernandez vs. Chase Stevens

Hernandez runs him over to start but it’s too early for the Boarder Toss. Instead Stevens snaps off a German suplex as commentary hypes up Friday’s pay per view. Stevens manages a hurricanrana for two, only to get caught in the Boarder Toss for the fast pin at 2:06.

Pay per view hype/show rundown.

Video on the Knockouts. They really were treated as a big deal way before any other major women’s division so well done there.

Gail Kim is excited about the show.

Video Ultimate X, which was going to return at the pay per view. Unlike King of the Mountain, this one didn’t seem far more complicated than it needed to be and felt like a great signature match.

Ace Austin is ready to defend the X-Division Title in an Ultimate X match. Austin risked it all in Ultimate X before but it was before he hit his stride. Now there’s nothing he won’t do to retain his title. He knows a thing or two about nonstop action you see.

Johnny Swinger/Kid Kash vs. Suicide/Manik

Kash and Swinger hammer away to start but it’s a double dropkick from Manik (who is clearly TJP) taking over. Poetry In Motion hits Swinger and we take an early break. Back with Manik snapping Swinger’s arm but it’s off to Kash to take over in the corner. Swinger’s elbow to the face gets two and a double shoulder drops Manik again.

Kash forearms him in the face over and over for two more but Manik finally rolls over for the hot tag to Suicide. That means superkicks can abound and an enziguri gets two on Swinger. Everything breaks down and it’s Manik and Suicide doing the stereo Andrade posing in the ropes. A pair of dives take out Kash and Swinger again, setting up a high crossbody to Kash. Suicide’s Swanton finishes at 10:24.

Rating: C-. This went a bit longer than it needed to but it was fine as a callback to some of the previous generations. That being said, of all the people they could do something with, they picked Manik? It’s not like he was anything significant in the company but it wasn’t a bad match or anything.

A bunch of wrestlers are asked about the King of the Mountain match and no one knows the rules. Willie Mack got it but Tessa Blanchard thought it was a giant rib (fair enough). Eh kind of funny, mainly because it’s true.

Here’s Scott Steiner for an uncensored promo. He’s the reason why T&A shows up for TNA because he’s not part of the PC culture. Steiner is going to be in a four way tag match with Petey Williams as his partner so let’s hit that math promo. Cue Joey Ryan to interrupt and say he won’t talk about T&A. He can do the math though and knows they add up to something inappropriate. The reality is that Steiner should have been canceled a long time ago, just like TNA. We need to get rid of Big Papa Pump and get Big Proper Pump. Ryan is shoved to the floor.

Raven talks about the Clockwork Orange House of Fun match and how it is only funny when someone gets hurt. Wouldn’t Monster’s Ball make a lot more sense here?

Rhino vs. Mad Man Fulton

This is a regular match before they have the Clockwork Orange match at the pay per view. They fight to the floor early on with Fulton getting the better of things. Back in and Fulton chokes a bit, followed by the chinlock, allowing commentary to plug Impact Plus. Fulton misses a top rope headbutt and the comeback is on, including the belly to belly. The Gore is loaded up but OVE runs in for the DQ at 3:52.

Rating: D+. Just a match here and it’s kind of weird to build up a hardcore match with a regular match, even if Sabu was going to be involved on Friday. The match wasn’t terrible, but these two not having weapons as a crutch hurt things a lot. Not the worst, but I’ve seen something similar far too many times now.

Post match the beatdown is on but Tommy Dreamer runs in for the save. Yes, Dreamer, who was mainly part of TNA as part of a nostalgia run for ECW, is now part of the entire company’s nostalgia run. Does this surprise anyone? Anyway the lights go out and it’s Raven making the save. At least that’s someone who was a big success in TNA. Raven takes Dreamer out for old times’ sake. Raven leaves so here is almost everyone else on the show so far with Kash hitting a big flip dive. Hernandez hits an even bigger dive to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. What a weird little show. The idea here was to hype up Friday and they did that to a degree, but it was also kind of a look back at everything great that TNA did. While you can argue over how smart it is to have a nostalgia show for something that was such a mess at times, there is definitely a history there. This show didn’t really make me care about Friday’s show, but it did make me miss TNA a little so….well done? Maybe?

Results

Hernandez b. Chase Stevens – Boarder Toss

Manik/Suicide b. Kid Kash/Johnny Swinger – Swanton to Kash

Rhino b. Mad Man Fulton via DQ when OVE interfered

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Impact Wrestling – March 31, 2020: It’s A Running Joke

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 31, 2020
Location: Coca Cola Roxy, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Madison Rayne, Josh Matthews

The company is running out of tapings but what makes this more interesting at this point is having to get ready for the TNA There’s No Place Like Home show. That’s kind of a problem as the show is not taking place, but we still need to get ready for it. I’m not sure what we are going to be seeing, but they don’t have many weeks left. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap, focusing on last week’s battle in the Undead Realm.

Opening sequence.

Josh Alexander vs. Eddie Edwards

Ethan Page is here with Alexander. They strike it out to start with Alexander getting the better of things and choking on the rope. That earns him an overhead belly to belly from Eddie but Alexander forearms him in the face a few more times. It’s time to head outside with Eddie nailing a clothesline but a Page distraction lets Alexander score with a big boot. Back in and the Eddie chants start up as Madison keeps talking about her past successes.

A clothesline gets Eddie out of trouble and he sends Alexander to the floor for the suicide dive. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two back inside but the Backpack Stunner is countered into a spinning torture rack slam. Both guys tear their shirts open to chop it out with Eddie getting the better of things. A tiger bomb gets two on Alexander but a Page distraction lets him roll Eddie up for the pin at 9:35.

Rating: C+. Alexander continues to be one of the best people involved in the company right now and that makes him getting to do something like this a fun sight. Both of these guys are talented and they’re capable of doing a lot of things in the ring. Good little match here and the ending sets up a rematch, possibly with Eddie getting a partner to go after the titles.

Post match the North beats Eddie down but Tessa Blanchard runs in for the save.

Video on tonight’s TNA special. I still can’t get my head around this one.

The North doesn’t like Tessa getting involved and Page wants her tonight.

Kylie Rae vs. Cassandra Golden

This is Rae’s singles debut. Golden jumps her from behind to start and the stomping is on in the corner. A missed charge lets Rae hammer away though and a small package gets two. Rae’s low superkick gets the same so she Russian legsweeps her into an STF for the tap at 3:24.

Rating: C-. They were moving well enough out there but what matters most here is getting some fresh blood into the Knockouts division. With so many women leaving, bringing in people like Rae (or Golden) is a good idea. That’s the kind of thing that can do a lot of good for the future and hopefully they bring in a few more to help things out.

Post break, Rae is very happy to be here in her new home. She has officially signed a contract with Impact.

Classic TNA Moment: the full Steiner Math promo. I remember hearing Samoa Joe talking about watching this live and doing everything he had not to break out laughing because he knew this could never be recreated.

Here’s Moose to brag about how awesome he is but Kid Kash of all people interrupts to say Moose wouldn’t make it in the original TNA.

Moose vs. Kid Kash

Kash sends him outside early on but it’s No Jackhammer Needed back inside for the win at 1:03.

XXXL (Larry David and Acey Romero) are ready to crush people. TJP and Fallah Bahh come in with some Filipino food as a welcome gift. A match is teased.

We get a satellite interview with Rich Swann. He injured himself a few months ago and recovery has been very hard. As for Willie Mack, Swann is excited for his chances at Rebellion but here’s X-Division Champion Ace Austin to interrupt. Ace says it was Mack’s fault that the team never took off. If the tables were turned, Swann would be there by Mack’s side, but where is Mack? Swann blows it off because Mack is coming for the X-Division Title. There’s a knock at Swann’s door and it’s Reno Scum, apparently for a beatdown.

Post break, Mack has to be held back from killing Austin.

Here’s Sami Callihan for a chat and he sees everything. He’s done some soul searching after losing the World Title to Tessa Blanchard, but now people have a question for him: why did he throw a fireball at Ken Shamrock? See, his issues are with the entire wrestling world. In, ahem, OTHER, wrestling companies, legends come in and get pushed down your throats. If Shamrock wants a push, he can go through Sami first. Shamrock can break ankles but Sami hits them with baseball bats and sets them on fire.

Cue Tommy Dreamer and I think you know where this is going. Sami: “Whoopdedoo, Tommy Dreamer is offended again.” Sami says it’s no surprise that Dreamer is here because he always shows up when anyone gets something going. He offers to pose with Dreamer for a picture so people can tag it with “Hardcore Legend” so Dreamer can feel important again. Dreamer rants about all of the legends that Sami is disrespecting and the fight is on. Let’s just make it Old School Rules too.

Sami Callihan vs. Tommy Dreamer

Anything goes. Dreamer posts him to start and it’s already time to throw some chairs inside. Sami picks one of them up and unloads on him with the chair, followed by a plunger to the face because Sami is out there. A cookie sheet to the head slows Sami down so he low blows Dreamer in a hurry. The Bionic Elbow lets Dreamer go to the back to find a garbage can for a running shot to the head. Sami busts out the staple gun so Dreamer grabs an INDUSTRIAL staple gun as we take a break.

Back with the two of them sitting in chairs and stapling each other. Josh: “Madison has anyone ever stapled you?” Madison: “No. I’m a human being.” Dreamer gets the better of it until a drop toehold sends him into a chair. A cutter gives Dreamer two but neither can send the other through two open chairs. Sami sends him into the corner though and now the Death Valley Driver through the chairs knocks Dreamer silly. The Cactus Special gives Sami the pin at 13:14.

Rating: D+. I had a good laugh out of Sami mocking Dreamer for showing up anytime someone gets something going because it’s completely true. But hey, he was around in ECW and has been everywhere since so he’s a legend or something. Anyway, heating Sami up for Shamrock is good, but I have a bad feeling nothing is getting this kind of time all night.

Post match the beatdown stays on so here’s Rhino for the save. OVE comes in to go after him but the lights go out and Sami is gone.

Rosemary is still at the bar and offers drinks all around, last mortal standing gets to keep their soul. Rosemary talks to someone about how loving Allie made her weak and now it’s time to make things better. The man turns around and he’s….no one. She’ll take his soul anyway.

Video on Susie/Su Yung.

Susie is in the back and runs into the Deaners. She liked being Susie, but Su is who she is.

Joey Ryan vs. Cody Deaner

Kind of a weird cameo for Cody with Susie when he’s in this unrelated match. Ryan takes him into the corner to start as Madison is confused by the concept of toxic masculinity. A right hand in the corner doesn’t do much to Cody, who hammers away instead. Hold on though as Cody needs a beer, allowing Joey to rake the eyes. A knee drop gets two and Joey hits Cody with Cody’s hat. That brings Cody back to life and we get the hillbilly Hulk Up. The Deaner DDT is escaped but Jake makes Joey drink beer, setting up the DDT for the pin at 4:00.

Rating: D. What was the point here? They set up Cancel Culture as something important and then one of the Deaners beats Joey? I’m really not sure I get that and it probably isn’t the first time that is going to be the case. The match was nothing but some comedy spots strung together, though that might be better than watching Joey try to have a good match.

Eddie Edwards offers to have Tessa’s back tonight but she’s got this on her own.

Michael Elgin is ready to win the World Title at Rebellion.

Here’s what we get next week.

Ethan Page vs. Tessa Blanchard

Non-title and Josh Alexander is here with Page. Tessa doesn’t like being patted on the head to start and Page makes it worse by pulling her off the top. Page takes her down into the corner but Tessa slugs away, only to charge into a boot. Some knees to the back and a stomp to the stomach keep Tessa down and a delayed suplex does the same.

Tessa can’t fight out of a backbreaker but she can hit a standing Sliced Bread #2. The suicide dives to the floor hit Page and a tornado DDT gets two. Page kicks her in the face for two more but Tessa gets up top. Alexander tries to offer a distraction but here’s Eddie to cut him off. Magnum finishes Page at 9:19.

Rating: C. I was getting into this one by the end and you can pencil Eddie and Tessa in for a Tag Team Title shot next week. They’re doing a good job of making me want to see the three way for the World Title at Rebellion and I’m sure we’ll get to see it at some point in the future. It’s a shame that it might take some time, but at least it had a good build.

Post match here’s Michael Elgin to go after Tessa and Eddie but the knock him to the floor. A triple staredown ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is a situation where they were doing a good job of building the big stuff for Rebellion but at the same time I’m not sure how much good the rest of the show did. The main event should be a heck of a fight though and Mack vs. Austin sounds interesting. I’m not sure about the rest of the show, but maybe the big stuff would have been enough to carry it. The lack of Rebellion is going to hurt, but maybe we can get to something better down the road.

Results

Josh Alexander b. Eddie Edwards – Rollup

Kylie Rae b. Cassandra Golden – STF

Moose b. Kid Kash – No Jackhammer Needed

Sami Callihan b. Tommy Dreamer – Cactus Special

Cody Deaner b. Joey Ryan – Deaner DDT

Tessa Blanchard b. Ethan Page – Magnum

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Monday Night Raw – April 6, 2020: The Yokozuna Treatment

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 6, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

We’re finally past Wrestlemania XXXVI and that means it’s time to start getting ready for presumably Money in the Bank, assuming they actually get to run the show. I’m not sure what they’re going to be able to do long term but they got through Wrestlemania and that’s what matters. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Wrestlemania if you need a recap (Part Two)

We open with a look at Drew McIntyre defeating Brock Lesnar to win the Raw World Title.

Opening sequence.

Asuka vs. Liv Morgan

Asuka kicks her in the ribs to start and scores with the hip attack for a bonus. Liv manages to knock her to the floor and snaps off a hurricanrana as we take a break. Back with Asuka stomping away and hitting a running knee for two. Liv gets in some clotheslines and a faceplant to stagger Asuka, with a double stomp out of the corner getting two. Asuka is right back with the cross armbreaker but Liv backflips into a cradle for two. That’s fine with Asuka, who pulls her into the Asuka Lock for the tap at 10:06.

Rating: C-. And that seems to end or at least downgrade the Morgan experiment for the time being. I’m sure she’ll come back in the near future but at least she got the Wrestlemania moment. By beating Natalya. On the Kickoff Show. That counts for something, right?

We look at Becky Lynch retaining over Shayna Baszler.

Becky is proud of her year long reign and thinks Shayna underestimated her. She’s ready for anyone.

Baszler talks about the agony of defeat and isn’t done with Becky.

Tag Team Titles: Austin Theory/Angel Garza vs. Street Profits

The Profits are defending and Zelina Vega is here with the challengers. Garza bails from Dawkins to start so it’s off to Theory, who gets dropkicked down. A double flapjack puts Garza onto Theory and we take a break. Back with Theory hitting his rolling dropkick on Dawkins and cranking on the arm. Some stomping keeps Dawkins down and the armbar goes on. It’s off to Garza to work on the legs to mix things up a bit but Dawkins manages to suplex Theory. The hot tag brings in Ford and everything breaks down, with Vega getting involved for the DQ at 10:04.

Rating: C-. If that’s where they’re going, I’m not sure if they needed the first Wrestlemania title match. The match felt tacked on in the first place and now there’s this, which felt like your usual Raw match with the angle at the end to set up something else. The tag division is nothing right now and I’m not sure who the Profits are supposed to face going forward.

Post match the brawl continues with Bianca Belair running in and going after Vega. The ring is cleared so Belair challenges Vega for right now.

Zelina Vega vs. Bianca Belair

Belair powers her down to start and flips forward, only to have Vega get in a slap to the face. That’s too far for Belair, who throws her down by the head. A missed charge goes into the post though and Vega ties her up in the ropes with something like a crucifix chinlock. Belair powers out of a dragon sleeper and Ford grabs the camera in celebration. Theory blocks a moonsault attempt though and the guys get in a fight. Everyone gets inside and the match is thrown out at 4:26.

Rating: D+. They’re going all the way with this trio of matches tonight aren’t they? Belair being out there was a good way to introduce her, though you might think she would just get a clean pin here instead of being used to set up something else. You can do that, but do you really need to let the match be thrown out?

Post match, six person challenge.

Street Profits/Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega/Austin Theory/Angel Garza

Dawkins throws Theory around to start and it’s Ford coming in, only to spend too much time trash talking. That earns him a forearm to the back to send Ford outside and it’s a cheap shot from Garza for a bonus. The chinlock into a front facelock keep Ford in trouble and Theory sends him outside. Back in and Ford powers out of a sleeper so Theory knocks Dawkins off the apron. Ford enziguris Theory down though and it’s off to Belair to ragdoll Zelina with a backbreaker. The handspring moonsault connects as everyone else fights on the floor. The KOD ends Vega at 5:26.

Rating: C-. Well at least they got to the right ending. The Profits are long established so having the focus on Belair here makes sense. She’s come a long way in NXT and it would be nice to see her getting a push around here. The women’s division certainly needs the boost and maybe she can do it.

We look at Lana costing Bobby Lashley the match against Aleister Black.

Lashley isn’t happy with Lana and walks away from her.

Aleister Black vs. Apollo Crews

Crews has been signed over from Smackdown. Black front facelocks him to start but Crews powers out into a headlock. Crews shoulders him down but Black flips over him and has a seat, sending Crews bailing to the floor. Back from a break with Black grabbing an armbar but Crews knocks him outside. A belly to back suplex keeps Black in trouble on the floor but he’s right back in with a kick to the chest for two. Crews backdrops him to the floor and scores with a moonsault as we take another break (In this match?).

Back again with Crews hitting a clothesline for two and the chinlock goes on. Black fights up and kicks away until a powerslam gives Crews two. A shot to the leg doesn’t do much to Crews, who hits an enziguri into the toss powerbomb for two more. Crews clotheslines him down and goes up top, only to miss the splash.

A kneebar has Crews in more trouble but he makes the rope. They trade kicks and Black is sent outside as we take a third break. Back again with Black kicking him in the face for two more but Crews hits a dropkick. Crews catches him on top and hits a superplex for a delayed two.

The knee gives out on a gorilla press attempt so Crews gets in a sitout powerbomb for two more. Now the gorilla press sets up the standing moonsault. The standing shooting star press gets the same and they’re both down again. Crews dives into the jumping knee to the face though and Black Mass finishes at 27:26.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I saw these two being paired together but surprises can be fun too. Crews continues to have all of the athletic abilities in the world but not much in terms of success. Black got in some good stuff here but Black Mass is something that can make him a star for as long as he wants.

Video on Edge beating Randy Orton in the Last Man Standing match.

Cedric Alexander/Ricochet vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch

Lorcan takes Alexander down into a front facelock and it’s quickly off to Burch for a chinlock. Alexander fights up and brings in Ricochet but has to fight off Burch and Lorcan at the same time. A triangle dropkick puts Burch on the floor and it’s back to Cedric for an enziguri into a front suplex. Ricochet’s standing shooting star and it’s the Neuralizer into the Benadryller for the pin on Lorcan at 3:37.

Rating: C. They packed some action into this one and that’s a good thing to see. Alexander and Ricochet are two guys with nothing else to do and the tag division certainly could use a boost. Then again I don’t know how much of a future they have as the tag division never goes anywhere for very long, but the nod is better than nothing.

Video on Kevin Owens beating Seth Rollins.

Owens has spent several months asking himself if it is worth it to spend this much time facing Rollins. Then he dove off the sign at Wrestlemania and pinned Rollins, which made it all worth it. Now he needs to find something new to do, so maybe we need to find out who needs the next Stunner.

Seth Rollins vs. Denzel Dejournette

Denzel is from NXT and gets sent outside early on. A whip into the barricade sets up the Stomp to give Rollins the pin at 1:23.

Nia Jax vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Jax says fight her and blasts Purrazzo with a clothesline. She does it again for a bonus and it’s the Samoan drop into a fisherman’s DDT to finish Purrazzo at 1:36.

Video on the Boneyard match.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Brendan Vink

Carrillo starts fast with the springboard armdrag to put Vink on the floor but he forearms his way out of a suicide dive. Back in and Vink hiptosses Carrillo down so we can hit the chinlock. Carrillo fights up with a dropkick into a moonsault though, setting up a missile dropkick. A kick to the face into the top rope moonsault finishes Vink at 3:23.

Rating: D+. Just a match here and not much of an entertaining one. I get why WWE wants to push Carrillo but he just isn’t clicking. He can do all of the in-ring stuff just fine but there is a connection issue that needs to be fixed. That isn’t something you can just turn off and on though and I think WWE might be realizing it with him. Maybe this gets better, but it hasn’t shown any signs of doing so yet.

Video on Charlotte winning the NXT Women’s Title.

Charlotte talks about everything she has accomplished and how she has done everything. Rhea Ripley is great and now she has bowed down to the Queen.

Video on Drew McIntyre winning the WWE Championship.

We get some post Wrestlemania footage of McIntyre coming back into the arena wearing the title for an interview. Drew talks about how he can’t believe that he got here and it hasn’t sunk in yet. He thanks everyone who has gotten him here, including Paul Heyman. During the match with Brock Lesnar, Heyman said keep giving Drew the F5 because he can’t keep getting back up.

That made Drew think about all the times he has had to get back up so the F5’s just angered him over and over again. Now he’s WWE Champion….and here’s the Big Show with a referee. Show congratulates him and wants a match right now, not even for the title. Drew says he just beat Brock Lesnar so that’s not happening right now. Show thinks that’s fear but Drew knows what’s going on. That earns him a slap so Drew is ready to go.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show

McIntyre is defending. Show starts fast and slams him down to bang up the ribs a bit. A headbutt cuts the champ off and a Vader Bomb gets two. There’s another slam to work on the ribs even more and Show chokes on the ropes while asking what Drew is made of. The big chop misses and Drew swings away, setting up a slam for two in a good looking spot. Drew goes up top and dives into a chokeslam for two. The KO Punch misses though and it’s the Claymore to retain at 6:57.

Rating: D+. A competitive match here is fine but my goodness they had me worried that they would actually do something this bad. The match was the usual slow and plodding Big Show deal but at least they didn’t pull the trigger for the sake of promoting Big Show’s Netflix series. Points for the drama, but negative points for making me think about the possibility.

Overall Rating: C. Well they did something different and that’s what mattered here. This show didn’t feel boring and was as good of a post Wrestlemania show as they could have had in this situation. They kept the show moving and we had a good enough night as a result. I don’t know if we should expect it going forward, but this was a step up from the recent Performance Center TV shows. I’ll take what I can get at this point so well enough done.

Results

Asuka b. Liv Morgan – Asuka Lock

Street Profits b. Austin Theory/Angel Garza via DQ when Zelina Vega interfered

Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega went to a no contest

Street Profits/Bianca Belair b. Zelina Vega/Austin Theory/Angel Garza – KOD to Vega

Aleister Black b. Apollo Crews – Black Mass

Cedric Alexander/Ricochet b. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch – Benadryller to Lorcan

Seth Rollins b. Denzel Dejournette – Stomp

Nia Jax b. Deonna Purrazzo – Fisherman’s DDT

Humberto Carrillo b. Brendan Vink – Moonsault

Drew McIntyre b. Big Show – Claymore

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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Wrestlemania XXXVI Night Two: The WWE Psyche

IMG Credit: WWE

Wrestlemania XXXVI Night Two
Date: April 5, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re back for more of the same and that might not be the worst thing in the world. Last night’s part one wasn’t half bad but they are going to have a hard time surpassing that main event. There are eight more matches, plus the required Kickoff Show match, tonight so hopefully they can have another good one. Let’s get to it.

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

Kickoff Show: Liv Morgan vs. Natalya

Morgan rolls her up for two to start so Natalya does the same for a standoff. Some more rollups get some more near falls until Morgan sends her into the corner. A running hip attack hits Natalya but she’s right back with her basement dropkick for two more. Natalya clotheslines her to the floor, followed by the surfboard back inside. Natalya: “ASK HER!!!!” That’s broken up and Liv’s Codebreaker gets two. The sitout wheelbarrow faceplant gives Natalya the same and they pinfall reversal sequence with Liv getting the pin at 6:33.

Rating: D+. Imagine that: a Natalya match being technically fine but completely emotionless. That’s been the definition of her career for years now and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Liv getting a win is fine but there is no way that she is getting anywhere near the top of the division, leaving this as little more than a way to fill time.

Stephanie McMahon welcomes us to the show in a new message.

Same opening video as last night.

Rob Gronkowski welcomes us to the show and throws us to the first match.

NXT Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is defending. The feel each other out to start with Charlotte going straight to the leg. That doesn’t work so Rhea gets in her face, earning some chops into the corner. Ripley is right back with Riptide for two and it’s time for a quick breather. They fight to the floor with Charlotte hitting a double chop but Rhea sends her into the steps. Back in and Rhea hits a dropkick before kicking away at the ribs.

A bodyscissors keeps Charlotte down but Rhea misses a running big boot and hurts her leg on the rope. Charlotte works on the leg, shrugs off a shot to the head, and bends the leg around on the mat. Rhea won’t quit so Charlotte works on the leg again. Back up and Rhea nails a basement dropkick, followed by some shouting at her own knee. The leg is fine enough for an electric chair faceplant for two, followed by a missile dropkick for the same, albeit after a delay because of the knee.

Charlotte chop blocks the knee though and Rhea is down again. The Figure Four doesn’t work again and Rhea reverses into the standing Cloverleaf. That’s broken up as well and Charlott knocks her down with another hard shot. The Figure Four is broken up again so Charlotte goes with a Boston crab instead.

Ripley gets out again and hits a quick big boot (thanks to some editing) for the double knockdown. Rhea takes her up top but gets slammed back down, though she’s able to raise her boots to block the moonsault. A horrible looking spear gives Charlotte two but the Figure Four finally goes on. The Figure Eight makes Ripley tap at 20:26.

Rating: C+. CHARLOTTE! WINS!! AGAIN!!! I have no idea why they needed to have her beat Rhea clean in their first match but I’m sure it has something to do with some kind of tribute to Ric Flair, who hasn’t had one in a while. I’m sick of seeing Charlotte with a title and it almost scares me to imagine how many titles she’s going to wind up with in the end.

We recap last night.

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Lana is here with Lashley. Black gets tossed around to start and Lashley hammers away, only to get low bridged to the floor. A running big boot puts Lashley on the floor but Black misses the moonsault. Lashley snaps off the overhead belly to belly but can’t get a suplex back inside. Instead Black kicks him in the chest, only to walk into a snap powerslam for two. Another suplex gets another two and Lashley loads up the Dominator, but Lana tells him to do the spear. That earns him Black Mass for the sudden pin at 7:14.

Rating: D+. This was a way to get Black on the show, and by that I mean a way for him to get beaten up until Lana and Lana alone cost Lashley the match. I’m glad Black won but if you want him to look good, just have him kick Lashley’s head off and win. It’s not like Lashley has anything going on at the moment, but now I’m sure we can get the big fallout with Lana now, because we need another part to that story.

Bayley complains about the elimination match and knows Sasha Banks won’t turn on her. With Bayley gone, Sasha is asked how much she wants to win the title. You’ll have to watch and see.

Money in the Bank ad.

Gronk would like to win the 24/7 Title.

We recap Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler. Otis was going to go on a Valentine’s Day date with Mandy Rose but Ziggler crashed it when Otis was late. Mandy wanted nothing else to do with Otis after that but it turns out that Sonya Deville stole Mandy’s phone and told Otis she would be late (and deleted the texts) so it would fall apart.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis

Sonya Deville is here with Ziggler. Otis misses a charge to start and gets superkicked outside in a hurry. That gets one back inside so Ziggler grabs a neckbreaker into the jumping elbow for two. The chinlock goes on but Otis is back up with a catapult. A hard whip sends Ziggler into the corner and a pop up World’s Strongest Slam plants him again. Sonya gets on the apron for a distraction though and Ziggler gets in a low blow. Cue Mandy to take out Sonya and hit Ziggler low, setting up the Caterpillar for the pin at 8:23.

Rating: D+. I was wrong on this one as I didn’t think they would let Otis pin Dolph. I’m rather please by the result and even though it wasn’t much of a match, at least they pulled the trigger on something. You can pencil in the mixed tag coming up and that’s all well and good, though I’m not sure where they can go after that.

Post match Otis picks Mandy up and they get the first kiss.

We recap Edge vs. Randy Orton. Edge came back at the Royal Rumble but Orton attacked him the next night and put him back on the shelf. Orton said Edge was an adrenaline junkie and he attacked him so Edge wouldn’t ruin his life like Orton did. To make it worse, Orton RKOed Edge’s wife (who is a Hall of Famer who wrestled earlier this year so we needed to act like he shot her). Now it’s a Last Man Standing match as this is very personal.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Last Man Standing. Edge comes out first and glares at the stage for Orton….who is disguised as a cameraman and runs in for an RKO before the bell. The bell rings and it’s another RKO but Edge falls to the floor at nine. They fight back backstage with Orton knocking Edge through some doors. It goes onto the gym with Orton knocking him down again, setting up some choking with a rope on a machine.

Edge gets out and hits a dropkick through some machines before choking away at Orton. Some forearms put Orton in a chair and Edge pulls himself up on a bar for a seated senton of all things. Back up and they slug it out into another room with a red light. Both guys are sent face first into a garage door and it’s back into the arena. Orton shoves him off a platform and into the barricade before they stumble backstage again.

Edge’s head gets bounced off of another wall for a six count and it’s time to go into the office area. This time it’s Orton being sent into a wall but Edge kicks him in the ribs at nine. Orton gets thrown onto the big table so Edge pulls himself up onto part of the ceiling to drop an elbow. The cameraman gets knocked down but another one catches them up in the big storage facility in the back.

Both of them bounce off of various things until Orton knocks him onto a storage crate. Edge gets sent into some steps and Orton starts looking around. That’s good for another nine so they wind up in what looks like the promo area. Edge throws something at Orton’s leg to take him down and some more shots to the face do it again. Orton is placed on a table and drops a huge elbow.

They go to a truck with a cover on the bed and Orton hits the hanging DDT for nine. Edge climbs onto some crates and then on top of an NXT semi truck. Orton and the referee follow them up and it’s a spear to drop Orton. That’s good for nine but another spear is countered into an RKO.

Edge is up at nine as well but Orton has dropped down to the floor next to the biggest ladder I’ve ever seen in WWE (it’s on the floor and is WAY higher than the top of the semi truck). Instead Orton takes some chairs up to the top of the truck to load up the Conchairto. Edge grabs a head and arm choke though and Orton is out. Hold on though as Edge waves off the count so he can hit the Conchairto. Orton is finally done at 36:39.

Rating: B. This one is going to be divisive and I can understand that. If my math is right, this was the longest non-Iron Man match in Wrestlemania history, though it didn’t feel that long. It felt like two guys who wanted to hurt each other and were doing whatever they could to accomplish that. I liked the unique atmosphere and some of the spot, with the Conchairto making for a good finish.

After a quick breather, here’s Mojo Rawley with the Mob chasing him. Gronk shows up and dives off a platform to take out the pile, allowing him to pin Rawley for the title.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Austin Theory/Angel Garza

The Profits are defending. Dawkins shoulders Theory down to start and the champs start working on the arm. That’s fine with Theory, who sends Dawkins to the floor, allowing Theory to mock the dancing. Garza gets in a superkick on the floor, TAKES OFF HIS PANTS, and misses a clothesline so Dawkins can tag Ford in.

A DDT gets two on Ford and Garza hits the moonsault onto both champs on the floor. The Lionsault gets two more on Ford back inside but Ford pops up with an enziguri. Dawkins comes in and runs Garza over, only to get caught in Theory’s TKO. Ford frog splashes his way in for the save though and Dawkins gets the cover to retain at 6:23.

Rating: D+. If ever there was a match to cut for the sake of time. This was a weird one as there was no reason to believe the title change was taking place and then the finish felt like something the heels would do to win. There are no teams to challenge the Profits at the moment and I don’t see Theory and Garza changing that anytime soon.

Post match Garza and Theory stay on Ford but Bianca Belair runs in for the save. That means a KOD on Zelina.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Bayley is defending and this is under elimination rules. Tamina shrugs off the gang attack to start so Lacey chop blocks her down. The other four slug it out with Bayley and Sasha double teaming Lacey. Naomi makes a quick save as a mini tag match breaks out. Tamina comes back in to run everyone over and we actually get a Team Bad reunion. That lasts for all of three seconds as everyone goes after Tamina, including something off the top each. A dog pile pin gets rid of Tamina at 6:23.

Naomi dives onto Sasha but Lacey misses a dive onto Bayley, earning a ram into the steps. A sunset flip gives Naomi two on Bayley and Sasha at the same time, followed by a sliding slip to both. The Rear View hits Sasha and a Bubba Bomb into the reverse Rings of Saturn….is broken up by Bayley. The Bank Statement gets rid of Naomi (Bayley: “DANCE TO THE BACK!”) at 10:36 and we’re down to three.

Bayley shouts about Lacey’s daughter though, allowing Lacey to avoid the running knee. Sasha is knocked silly instead so Lacey small packages Bayley for two. Back in and Sasha yells at Bayley, who shoves Sasha out of the way of the Woman’s Right. Lacey hits the second attempt though and Banks is done at 13:23.

After a replay where you can hear Cole shouting commentary, Bayley mocks Lacey with a salute and shoves her face against the rope. Lacey gets posted for two so Bayley ties her arm to the corner with the tag rope. Since that’s kind of a stupid plan, Lacey kicks her way out and hits the slingshot Bronco Busters in the corner. After a slow motion salute, Lacey’s double jump moonsault gets two. Cue Sasha with a Backstabber to Lacey though and Bayley’s weird bulldog driver retains at 19:15.

Rating: D. Well that was long and served little purpose. Bayley has held the title since last May (save for a four day Charlotte reign) and I’m not sure what else there is for her to do. Unless they do Bayley vs. Becky (unlikely), what is the point in keeping it on her much longer? I’m sure we’ll get to Bayley vs. Banks again eventually, but dang that sounds as appealing as watching this match all over again.

Titus O’Neil takes Gronk’s place as host.

Wrestlemania XXXVII is in Los Angeles.

We recap The Fiend vs. John Cena in the Firefly Fun House. After Cena said that he didn’t want to wrestle at this year’s show, Fiend popped up to challenge him. Cena accepted, and then Bray Wyatt went on to say that he blamed Cena for the rise of the Fiend. See, Cena beat him at Wrestlemania XXX and messed with Bray’s mind, leading to the creation of the Fiend. Therefore, tonight Cena goes to the Fun House.

John Cena vs. The Fiend

Cena makes his entrance but the Firefly Fun House pops up, with Bray saying that Cena is about to face himself. Then Cena is teleported to the Fun House (apparently the same way Seth Rollins got there back in October), where Ramblin Rabbit sends him through a door after the Fiend. Cena follows and finds the Vince puppet, asking if Cena has the ruthless aggression to make it in this company.

We see Wyatt copying the Kurt Angle promo to challenge Cena from 2002 and here’s 2020 Cena in 2002 Cena attire. Cena keeps saying RUTHLESS AGGRESSION but misses a bunch of shots. Bray: “You can look but you can’t touch!” And now it’s the Saturday Night’s Main Event opening, with Bray standing behind a cage and imitating Hulk Hogan. Cena (Johnny Largemeat) comes up and starts rapidly lifting weights, apparently destroying his arms in the process.

Vince and the Mercy the Buzzard are on commentary as Bray asks what happens when Cena realizes that Ego Mania has been running wild on him. Bray sends him off camera to the Smackdown Fist where Cena is the Dr. of Thugnomics, with Bray dancing to Basic Thuganomics. They’re back in the ring and Cena finds out that he can only speak in rhymes, including a Husky Harris reference.

Bray calls Cena a bully and a horrible person who takes the weaknesses of others and turns them into jokes. With that, Bray gives him the floor so Cena throws him Deez Nuts. Cena, in the Babe Ruth jersey from last year, misses a charge and gets knocked out by a chain. Now it’s Bray back in the Wyatt Family gear and sitting in the rocking chair as we see clips of Wrestlemania XXX.

The fans wanted and needed him that night and now it’s time to rewrite his own story. They’re back in the ring now with Bray dancing with the unconscious Cena and loading up Sister Abigail. He lets Cena go though and drops down, handing Cena a chair in a recreation of Wrestlemania XXX. Bray tells Cena to fix his mistake from last year but Bray disappears away from Cena’s swing.

And now it’s…..NWO MONDAY NITRO??? Bray is Eric Bischoff (with the jacket and a Wolfpac shirt) and introduces Cena as Hollywood Hogan. Cena takes Bray down and unloads as we see clips of Cena’s past. He wakes up as himself and sees that he’s beating up Huskus the Pig. The Fiend appears behind him and gives him the Mandible Claw to knock Cena out. We hear Cena’s promo about ending the most overrated overhyped superstar ever and the Claw goes back on with Bray counting the pin. Cena teleports away and the Fiend stands alone.

No rating as this wasn’t a match but I got into this. It’s a rather interesting character study of Cena and you can get what they’re going with in Fiend making him face his fears. Back in the day, CM Punk said that Cena had become the New York Yankees: the big bad who held people down and used money to get what he wants (or going from the Real American Hogan to Hollywood Hogan as they used here).

That’s what Fiend is showing Cena here and it scared Cena that he had changed so much and become what he fought against for so many years. Now granted, if you haven’t been glued to WWE for the last….oh eight years or so, this made no sense, but the effort and thought was ALL there and I got most of what they were going for, plus some of the complete insanity that went along with it. Not a match, but kind of a fascinating weird look into the WWE psyche.

We cut to Titus O’Neil. Titus: “I don’t know what I just saw.”

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre. Lesnar is World Champion but Drew eliminated him from the Royal Rumble and then won the whole thing, earning him this spot. Drew has kicked his head off a few times since then to show he can hang with Brock.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and gets Claymored for two after about ten seconds. Another Claymore misses and it’s time to go to Suplex City. The F5 gets one and Brock isn’t happy. Another F5 gets two and there’s the third for another two. Another F5 is countered and McIntyre hits two more Claymores. A fourth gives Drew the pin and the title at 4:28.

Rating: D. I’m happy that McIntyre won but GOOD GRIEF STOP DOING THAT SAME MATCH OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER! It’s a cool idea one time and then don’t do it again for years. This is all Lesnar does anymore and now it’s creeping over into other main events too. It loses its impact when they keep doing it again and again and now you’ve grown to expect it every time. Anyway, great moment to end the show and McIntyre as champion is awesome, assuming they don’t have Lesnar win it back in two months again.

Overall Rating: C-. I didn’t like this one as much as last night’s but it still wasn’t terrible. This one definitely felt like the bigger show and had the more intriguing matches (for the most part). I’m not wild on some of the booking decisions but it felt more like a Wrestlemania and that’s what matters. The crowd being gone didn’t bother me as much either, but the wrestling itself just wasn’t as good. Overall, not bad but last night’s felt tighter and more enjoyable.

Overall Overall Rating: C. With something like this, it’s almost impossible to give the thing a fair rating. When you factor in the day in between and the weird atmosphere, the show was pretty much just ok. There were some very good matches but some that made me wonder why I was wasting my time. Overall it’s an enjoyable one off, but I’m still not behind the idea of a two night Wrestlemania going forward. Until WWE can cut these things WAY down and trim off so much of the unnecessary stuff, it needs to be one night and one night only, just for the sake of sanity if nothing else.

Results

Charlotte b. Rhea Ripley – Figure Eight

Aleister Black b. Bobby Lashley – Black Mass

Otis b. Dolph Ziggler – Caterpillar

Edge b. Randy Orton when Orton couldn’t answer the ten count

Street Profits b. Angel Garza/Austin Theory – Frog splash to Theory

Bayley b. Sasha Banks, Naomi, Tamina and Lacey Evans – Bulldog driver to Evans

Drew McIntyre b. Brock Lesnar – Claymore

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestlemania XXXVI Night One: Broken Undertaker

IMG Credit: WWE

Wrestlemania XXXVI Part 1
Date: April 4, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentator: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Host: Rob Gronkowski

Sweet goodness that does not feel right. I’m not sure what to expect tonight because WWE didn’t feel the need to tell us what was going to be taking place on either night. This show is going to have about a hundred asterisks in the history books and that’s perfectly fine, but it doesn’t make things any less disappointing (not that it’s WWE’s fault). Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Cesaro vs. Drew Gulak

Gulak takes him down by the arm to start but Cesaro powers up with a backbreaker to get out of trouble. That earns him a LeBell Lock (which Cole calls a Crossface, missing the point of the move almost entirely) to send Cesaro outside so Gulak dives on him for a bonus. Back in and Cesaro’s arm gets snapped across the top rope and a clothesline puts him on the floor again. Cesaro gets sent into the steps but he’s able to uppercut Gulak out of the air back inside for two. The Neutralizer can’t work but Cesaro uses the left arm uppercut and goes with a (no hands) spinning torture rack slam for the pin at 4:05.

Rating: C. Just a match here and it did well enough with the warmup stuff, though my goodness it’s going to be a rough couple of nights. The lack of crowd reaction is going to hurt things a lot but that was always going to be the case. They were a little more energized than usual, but Cole on his own and nothing else as far as noise is going to make for some tough going.

Stephanie McMahon welcomes us to the show to explain that we are on a closed set with no audience. Tonight, they are going to be making people happy, because this is Wrestlemania. There’s your first WWE pat on the back of the night.

Instead of an original version of America the Beautiful, we get a montage of versions of the song played at previous Wrestlemanias. That’s a good one at least.

The opening video goes into the full pirate theme but the narrator says hang on a second because this is too cliched. Instead, he walks us through everything included, such as shots of heroes and catchphrases. It turns into a regular trailer, complete with the same narrator telling us to forget everything we know coming into tonight. Fate leads the way and fate has a funny way of surprising us. We go into For Those About To Rock for a better intro. I love pirate movies so this worked well for me.

Rob Gronkowski welcomes us to the show and says he’s the right man for the job because he knows how to start a thirty hour party. Mojo Rawley comes in to take some chops and it’s time to go to the ring.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross

The Warriors are defending for the first time since mid December. Asuka laughs at Bliss to start and it’s off to Sane before anything happens. Kairi knocks Bliss down and messes with her bow so it’s a slap to the face, allowing Bliss to mess with Kairi’s hair for a change. It’s off to Cross for a running basement dropkick but Sane powers her into the corner. Asuka comes in and gets forearmed in the chest as everything breaks down.

Nikki dives off the apron to take out Sane, meaning it’s time for a hug back inside. Back in and Nikki sends Sane to the floor, only to have her dropkick through the ropes cut off. Cross gets taken into the corner but manages a sunset flip for two, setting up the tag to Bliss. That’s fine for Sane, who hits an Alberto top rope double stomp for her own two. Asuka works on an armbar but her bulldog is broken up.

Not that it matters as a kick to the face drops Bliss for two more. Bliss gets up and avoids a charge, allowing the hot tag to Cross to pick up the pace. Sane rakes her eyes but Asuka walks into the Purge. The Insane Elbow breaks up the cover though and they’re both down again. Cross goes for a rollup but gets pulled into the Asuka Lock.

That’s broken up with Twisted Bliss but Sane Intercepts Bliss to put everyone down. Cross catches Sane on top but gets caught in a powerbomb/top rope forearm combination for a rather near fall. Back up and Cross hits the Purge to drop Sane, setting up Twisted Bliss for the pin and the titles at 15:03.

Rating: C. This could have been worse but it went on a good bit too long. The title change was supposed to be a feel good moment but when the titles have never meant anything beyond their first few weeks, the impact isn’t really there. Cross was pushed as the star of the match and it was fine enough, though I have no faith in the futures of the titles.

The Artist Collective have a plan for Daniel Bryan.

Elias vs. King Corbin

Hold on though as Corbin shows us a clip of his attempted murder of Elias last week so Corbin demands a forfeit. Cue Elias to break the guitar over Corbin’s back and a good posting so we can get started. Elias elbows him down for one and a swinging neckbreaker gets the same. Corbin gets in a toss to the floor though and Elias is sent shoulder first into the post. Some elbows to the shoulder keep Elias down as Cole tries to make this story sound intense.

Corbin shouts at commentary a lot and then sends Elias shoulder first into the post again. Elias manages to reverse a whip to send Corbin’s shoulder into the post though and it’s time for a breather. Some clubberin in the corner puts Corbin down but he grabs Deep Six for two. Elias knees him in the face for two more but Corbin rolls away before the top rope elbow launches. An uppercut lets Corbin put his feet on the ropes for two so Elias grabs a rollup with tights for the pin at 8:53.

Rating: D. Raw style match here and that’s not the best thing in the world. It was fine for a revenge match as Elias was aggressive but pinning Corbin is more damaging to him than pin. That being said, Elias being launched off a ten foot high balcony is just an eight day injury now? Come on already.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler. Lynch has been Raw Women’s Champion for a year now and has beaten everyone there is to beat but Baszler won a triple threat match, also including Bayley, at Survivor Series. Baszler was unstoppable in NXT and bit Becky’s neck to draw a lot of blood. Then she ran through the Elimination Chamber to earn the title shot in the most obvious result in years. Becky has been trying to play mind games but Baszler is such a killer that she doesn’t seem too bothered.

Raw Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler

Becky is defending and drives her semi truck to the arena for her big entrance. Baszler wastes no time in going for the Kirifuda Clutch but Becky is outside in a hurry. Baszler follows but Becky sends her into the steps a few times and Baszler is banged up early. Back in and Becky hits her missile dropkick, setting up a beating in the corner. It’s too early for the Disarm-Her though and Becky has to get out of the Kirifuda Clutch.

A spinebuster into a double underhook spinning faceplant gets two and Becky is sent to the apron. They slug it out until a Rock Bottom onto the apron plants Baszler. A powerbomb into the cross armbreaker has Becky in trouble until she stacks Baszler up for two. That’s reversed into the Disarm-Her on Becky, followed by a knee to the face for another near fall.

Becky goes to the apron and gets in a Stunner over the ropes, setting up a quickly broken Disarm-Her over the ropes. Baszler reverses that into an even more quickly broken Kirifuda Clutch to send Becky outside. This time Baszler follows her out and swings Becky head first into the announcers’ table like she did on Raw. Back in and the standing version of the Clutch goes on but Becky flips backwards into a cradle to retain at 8:42.

Rating: B-. Uh….ok then. I have no idea why they need to keep the title on Becky at the moment as she has literally held the title for a year and is getting close to the modern record. I’m not sure what the point is in keeping it on her here as the only thing left is a submission match with Baszler or a one on one match with Rousey, which doesn’t seem likely. Good match, but pretty confusing result.

Undertaker is getting a limited series on the WWE Network. Makes sense given the upcoming 30 year mark.

Intercontinental Title: Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan

Zayn is defending with Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura and Drew Gulak all at ringside. Sami hits the very long pause button to start and Bryan finally gives chase, allowing Cesaro to cut Bryan off. They do the same thing again but this time it’s Nakamura playing Cesaro’s role. Gulak and Cesaro get into a fight on the floor until Gulak sends Nakamura over the barricade. Gulak nearly gets in a fight with Sami for the DQ but Bryan finally chases Sami down on the ramp.

Bryan starts in on the leg as Sami loudly begs off, only to be sent outside. That means a heck of a suicide dive, followed by a running dropkick in the corner for a bonus. Some knees to the face have Sami rocked but he scores with some forearms to slow Bryan down. Bryan fights back up but Cesaro and Nakamura jump Gulak. That earns them a double suicide dive, allowing Sami to kick Bryan out of the air for the surprise pin at 9:20.

Rating: C+. Nice match here with another surprising finish. Sami is a rather good choice for the cocky champion who keeps surviving and after everything he’s done over the years, I like the idea of letting him have the title for a bit. Throw in the issue of Bryan possibly self quarantining and there was little reason to switch the title here. Well other than the idea of Bryan facing a challenger of the week in one great match after another.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Jimmy Uso vs. Kofi Kingston vs. John Morrison

Morrison is defending for his team in a ladder match. Some monkey flips don’t work to start so everyone goes to the floor to grab a ladder each. Jimmy gets knocked down first and comes up holding his leg. Morrison stomps both of them down on the mat but has to fight off the SOS onto the ladder. Trouble in Paradise misses as well and it’s Kofi vs. Jimmy slugging it out on top.

That goes nowhere so Morrison takes Kofi’s place, leaving Kofi to springboard through the ladder…and then get caught and dumped to the floor. Morrison puts a ladder over the middle rope and climbs to the top of the post for a corkscrew Swanton onto Jimmy onto the ladder. The climb takes too long though and it’s Kofi springboarding in for a hurricanrana to take Morrison down in a unique spot.

A running dive over the top takes down Morrison and the ladder and they’re all down on the floor. Back in and Morrison hits the super Spanish Fly on Kofi, followed by the Superfly Splash from Jimmy. Kofi headbutts Morrison off the top of the ladder before diving off the top with the double stomp to Morrison’s chest. Jimmy slides in another ladder and wedges it inside the standing ladder.

A HARD whip sends Kofi face first into the bridged ladder and Morrison gets superkicked out of the air. Jimmy goes up but Morrison shoves the ladder over, sending Jimmy down for the big crash (it was such a drop that he changed directions after landing). Kofi catches Morrison on top for the slugout but here’s Jimmy with another ladder to put all three up at once. They all pull the title hook down at once and it’s a triple headbutt to knock Morrison down with the titles to retain at 18:36.

Rating: B. This felt like a good ladder match that would have made it into a great one had it been in front of a crowd. What we got was good enough though and the dives and landings were rather awesome. I liked this more than almost anything else but my goodness it’s hard to watch them land like this with no one being there to watch. Good match, but sad in its way.

We recap Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins. Seth has turned into the Monday Night Messiah but Owens doesn’t think much of him. They both had teams built up but the AOP is sidelined due to Rezar’s injury and Samoa Joe is suspended. Therefore, it’s one on one with the idea that Owens has never had a Wrestlemania moment. That’s not quite how history works, but it’s what we’re getting.

Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Rollins is in white but the glove has been some king of Tiger King referenced. Owens slugs away to start and hits a backsplash to put Rollins on the floor in a hurry. A backdrop onto the apron has Owens in trouble and a Falcon Arrow onto the apron makes it even worse. The suicide dive is broken up with a right hand but Rollins is fine enough to hit the Sling Blade.

Owens hits a DDT to get a breather and the Swanton connects for two. The Pop Up Powerbomb misses and so does the Stunner, allowing Rollins to hit an enziguri. Owens blasts him with a clothesline though and it’s a double knockdown. Rollins is up first and hits some superkicks to set up the Stomp, only to get reversed into the Pop Up sitout Powerbomb for two. They head outside with Rollins hitting him with the bell….and that’s a DQ at 10:09.

Hold on though as Owens says Rollins isn’t much of a god if that’s the best he can do. Owens wants to continue it No DQ so Rollins is back in to knee him in the head as the bell rings. Rollins throws him to the floor and the steps bounce off of Owens’ head, followed by a chair to the back. Owens bells him in the head a few times (it rings even if you hit someone with the board underneath it) and then climbs the sign for a huge backsplash to send Rollins through the announcers’ table. They stagger back inside for the Stunner to finish Rollins at 17:26 (counting the break in the middle).

Rating: C. I wasn’t big on this match in the first place and the whole Owens has never had a Wrestlemania Moment deal is still stupid but at least they didn’t stick with the DQ. This feud has lost almost all of the steam that it had in the first place so hopefully it’s done here. Granted when you don’t have much of a TV show to lord over, you’re not going to be the best messiah in the world.

Mojo and Gronk talk about how great the show is when R-Truth comes up to complain about how hard everything is. Gronk knocks him down and Mojo gets the title back. Notice the completely fine announcers’ table in the background.

Paul Heyman scares Charly Caruso but says Drew McIntyre is the one who should be afraid. In 24 hours, McIntyre is being exposed as a fraud and he can crawl out of the ring, victimized and conquered.

We preview tomorrow’s matches.

Smackdown World Title: Braun Strowman vs. Goldberg

Goldberg is defending. Strowman can’t get the powerslam and it’s a pair of spears to drop him in the first minute. Make it three straight for two and then a fourth cuts Strowman down again. Strowman counters the Jackhammer into the powerslam and then another one and then a third and then a big running fourth for the pin and the title at 2:13. You could have gone either way but it’s better to have someone actually active instead of Goldberg. Strowman as champion is about two years overdue, but I can’t imagine this lasts very long.

Wrestlemania XXXVII is in Los Angels.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Undertaker, which is all about AJ not being impressed by the modern Undertaker. He has called out Undertaker’s real life family and Undertaker has been acting more like BikerTaker than the Deadman as they head into a Boneyard match.

Undertaker vs. AJ Styles

They are in a graveyard for this one and there goes the gong as a hearse pulls up to the gate. The casket is pulled out by some druids and it’s AJ inside for a good surprise. Undertaker rides in on the motorcycle to Metallica and AJ talks about Michelle McCool digging the grave. Undertaker goes after him so AJ grabs a rock, only to get sent into an open casket. Undertaker punches through a window and cuts his arm open but throws AJ on top of the hearse anyway.

Some right hands knock him off the hearse and Undertaker has a seat while asking if AJ wants more. After Undertaker quotes Clubber Lang (“You want some more? I got a lot more.”), AJ throws some leaves in his face and gets in a low blow. Undertaker stands up after some right hands and knocks AJ down again, this time into a grave. Cue the OC as this has turned into a western.

A bunch of light comes out of a building and the walls come down to reveal a bunch of masked men. They surround Undertaker and do the eternally brilliant thing of attacking him one at a time. With that taken care of, Anderson and Gallows jump Undertaker but he isn’t about to be hit with a shovel. Instead Undertaker takes it back and beats them down, allowing AJ to break a tombstone over his back.

AJ hammers away and calls him an old man but breaks his fingers on Undertaker’s head. They fight through a wall and both lay on the ground sound like they’re dead. AJ says Undertaker is nothing but Undertaker flips him off and says come on. A shovel over the back puts Undertaker down in a grave and AJ goes to the machine with a barrel of dirt. Then a light shows up behind him and Undertaker pops up to beat on him some more. AJ climbs up a well placed ladder to get on the roof of the barn, so Undertaker makes flames come up to keep him in place.

Anderson and Gallows are up there too, with Gallows being thrown off. Anderson gets Tombstoned onto the metal roof and Undertaker chokeslams AJ off the roof. Undertaker climbs down and asks AJ what his wife’s name is now. They’re just getting started as Undertaker carries him over to the grave. AJ apologizes so Undertaker picks him up and says AJ put up a great fight. Undertaker hugs him and says most people wouldn’t have given him that kind of a fight. Undertaker turns to leave….and then knocks AJ into the grave. Undertaker gets in the machine and pours the dirt on AJ for the win at about 18:30.

Rating: A+. I don’t know what else you could have wanted from this match. This went so far beyond anything resembling sane or rational and went into complete insanity territory, making it one of the most entertaining things I can remember WWE doing in a LONG time. Of course it’s not good but that’s the point. This was entertaining, and that’s a lot more than you are going to get out of most Undertaker matches these days. Watch this and be prepared to laugh quite a bit, because it’s like Final Deletion but with production value.

AJ’s hand sticks out of the dirt as Undertaker gets on his bike. He throws up the fist so more fire comes up on the building and the Undertaker symbol lights up to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I’m really not sure how to grade this one but I liked some parts of it well enough. The problem really is in the atmosphere, as the show feels so weak that there isn’t much that can be praised. The people were working hard and I feel so bad for them to not get their big Wrestlemania stadium experience. What we got was fun at points, but the lack of crowd energy or big show feeling made it more of a chore to watch at times. It definitely has its moments though, and I didn’t hate it by any means. Check out the main event for sure though, probably with some friends to watch with you, and have a good time.

Results

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross b. Kabuki Warriors – Twisted Bliss to Sane

Elias b. King Corbin – Rollup with tights

Becky Lynch b. Shayna Baszler – Rollup

Sami Zayn b. Daniel Bryan – Helluva Kick

John Morrison b. Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso – Morrison pulled down the titles

Kevin Owens b. Seth Rollins – Stunner

Braun Strowman b. Goldberg – Running powerslam

Undertaker b. AJ Styles – Undertaker buried Styles

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