IMG Credit: WWE

Royal Rumble 2007
Date: January 28, 2007
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 13,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Michael Cole, Joey Styles, John Bradshaw Layfield

This show received the same amount of votes as 2001 and sounded intriguing so here’s a bonus redo. We’re back in Texas here with Undertaker and Shawn Michaels both in the Rumble, meaning good things should be happening. There’s also a well remembered John Cena vs. Umaga match, which should be a lot of fun. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is your standard look back at the history of the show, including what it means to win and go to Wrestlemania. Well that’s certainly a big deal. The rest of the card (not so big of a deal) is discussed as well, mainly focusing on Cena vs. Umaga.

We hear from all six announcers because WWE thinks we need to have six announcers. Just wait until there’s basically a press row.

MNM vs. Hardy Boyz

The Hardys had made a comeback late in 2006 and their main rivalry was with MNM. Joey Mercury is coming in with a shattered nose, meaning he’s got a face mask. MNM has Melina in their corner and just….wow. That’s really all that needs to be said. Matt comes in with a dislocated jaw and Jeff is Intercontinental Champion, showing you how balanced the team was. Nitro jumps Matt from behind to start and Mercury comes in to go after Matt’s injured face.

Matt takes over though and brings Jeff in, meaning it’s time for the WOOing from the crowd. It must be a North Carolina thing. Jeff’s atomic drop into the legdrop between the legs gets two and it’s back to Matt. Johnny sends him into the buckle though and we’re down to the beating. A good looking/hard kick to the head has Matt in trouble as MNM stays on the face for the sake of revenge. Makes sense actually and the kind of thing you wouldn’t see a lot of the time.

Melina hits the screeching because…that sound made me lose my train of thought so we’ll go to Matt being caught in a chinlock. Mercury misses a middle rope elbow though and it’s off to Jeff to speed things back up. A facebuster gets two on Johnny, followed by a Whisper in the Wind for the same with Mercury having to make a save. The Hardys hit their top rope legdrop/splash combination but Jeff is banged up and Nitro stays on the ribs.

We hit the waistlock for a bit until Jeff reverses into a rollup for two. Nitro grabs a bodyscissors as you certainly can’t fault their psychology so far. Jeff finally backdrops his way to freedom but, of course, the referee doesn’t see it so Matt stays in trouble. Double teaming doesn’t work so well though as Jeff sends MNM into each other, meaning it’s off to Matt so house can be cleaned.

The bulldog/clothesline combination gets two but Jeff has to break up the Snapshot (elevated DDT) as everything breaks down. Poetry in Motion is broken up and Nitro’s rollup gets two (and more screeching). The Twist of Fate into the Swanton (with Nitro rolling over so it can hit) gives Jeff the pin.

Rating: B. Good but not great match here as the Hardys were only going to be able to do so much at this point. I’m not sure what the point was in having MNM lose the matches like this when you need to build younger teams up but at least they were pushing the heck out of the Hardys while they could. Jeff would of course break free and go on to some huge things, but it was WAY too early to realize that yet.

Jonathan Coachman (Raw Executive Assistant) and Teddy Long (Smackdown General Manager) are holding the Rumble drawing (SWEET). After the standard bickering over who will win, Edge comes in to pick his number but first we look at Kelly Kelly (my goodness the WWE women were stunning back then).

Edge’s partner Randy Orton (Raw Tag Team Champions) comes in to draw his own number. Orton threatens to eliminate Edge and we get the standard “I’ll show you mine, you show me yours” exchange. King Booker comes in to say tell me you didn’t just say that. I miss these segments and I have no idea why they don’t exist anymore. You can get some nice character development in all of a few seconds with no effort put in. Probably not high concept enough for WWE or something.

We recap Test vs. Bobby Lashley. Test wanted a title shot and is on a roll so he gets to be the sacrificial lamb to the monster champion. It sounds good, but it’s Test in 2007.

ECW Title: Test vs. Bobby Lashley

Test is challenging while Lashley does the Brock Lesnar jump to the apron entrance, complete with the same pyro. They start a little slowly until Lashley spears Test down, sending the Canadian bailing to the ropes. Back up and Lashley avoids a charge and snaps off a great looking t-bone suplex. If he could have talked, he would have block Lesnar’s career out of the water.

With the wrestling not working at all, Test tries posting Lashley instead to actually take over. Back in and we hit the armbar for a very, very long time, because that’s exactly what you would expect in an ECW match (To be fair, people like Lashley and Test never would have been in ECW to begin with. And there’s the whole WWE aspect so maybe the armbar isn’t as big of an issue as it seems. Maybe that’s enough filler to get through this armbar and….oh sweet we’re on to something else.).

Test gets suplexed again but the shoulder gives out, allowing Test to get in the big boot for two. That’s his big shot so Test tries a TKO, only to get countered with a belly to belly. A clothesline puts Test on the floor….and that’s a countout. Egads this needs a rematch? For TEST? Someone thinks this is worthy of a second match?

Rating: F. Just no all around here, between a big power guy using an armbar for such a long stretch of the match, Test in general, the stupid ending and thinking that a pay per view as big as the Royal Rumble isn’t enough of a stage to end this nothing feud. Terrible match here and it didn’t even feel like a TV main event.

Lashley beats Test up again. Why in the world was this not a clean pin? Lashley pinned him in an even shorter match on the following episode of ECW TV, so what was the point here?

John Cena’s ribs are banged up but he’ll defend the title anyway. Vince comes in and mocks You Can’t See Me, saying he won’t be seeing Cena as WWE Champion after tonight. Funny enough line, but Vince vs. Cena doesn’t do anything for me.

We recap the Smackdown World Title match with Mr. Kennedy winning a Beat the Clock Challenge to earn the shot at Batista. Kennedy cheated Undertaker out of the shot so Undertaker went after him, only to hit Batista by mistake. That would be saved for Wrestlemania XXIII though, with Kennedy getting the shot and bragging about beating six World Champions leading up to lucky #7 tonight.

Smackdown World Title: Mr. Kennedy vs. Batista

Batista is defending and easily tosses Kennedy around with raw power. Back up and some right hands stagger Batista as JBL sings Kennedy’s praises. A suplex takes Kennedy down again though and it’s time to head outside. Kennedy gets in a shot to the leg to slow Batista a bit and it’s time to go to work back inside. We hit a reverse Figure Four of all things (I haven’t seen that in years) until Kennedy gets caught in the ropes. A running boot in the corner keeps Batista in trouble as this has been almost one sided so far.

Kennedy grabs a half crab to stay on the leg for a good while until letting go, allowing Batista to snap off a spinebuster. After some holding the knee, Batista starts the comeback with clotheslines and a backdrop, followed by a Kenton Bomb (Kennedy’s Regal Roll). The Batista Bomb is broken up though and a ref bump allows Kennedy to get in a low blow. Kennedy’s neckbreaker (finisher) gets no count but the fans are chanting for Kennedy. For some reason Kennedy goes to the middle rope but dives into a clothesline. The Batista Bomb retains the title.

Rating: D+. Not the worst match in the world here as they didn’t bother having Kennedy trying to do more than he could have done. Batista wasn’t exactly great against smaller guys so there was definitely a styles clash here. At least the match had a point and felt like a TV main event, which is all this should have been. The fans reacted to Batista’s win though and seemed to like Kennedy, even if this really didn’t rocket off the launch pad.

JBL is FURIOUS over the non-count off the neckbreaker.

Kevin Thorn and Ariel try to draw a number when Hornswoggle (nearly feral at this point) comes in to do the same. Coach makes a short joke and gets bitten and attacked. Great Khali comes in for the visual joke, followed by grabbing three balls. He leaves two, which Kelly Kelly picks up. You know the joke and you know what Ron Simmons comes in to say.

We recap John Cena vs. Umaga. Cena escaped with a fluke win at New Year’s Revolution but Umaga’s manager Armando Alejandro Estrada decided the rematch should be a Last Man Standing match. Umaga injured Cena’s ribs coming in for a pretty simple but perfectly acceptable story.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Umaga

Cena is defending, Umaga has manager Armando Alexjandro Estrada in his corner and it’s Last Man Standing. It’s almost weird to hear Cena get a pretty strong face reaction but it’s still in full force here. Cena tries to slug away and even hits a jawbreaker, only to have a single shot to the ribs put him on the floor. Umaga sends him into the steps and it’s time to knock Cena up the aisle.

For some reason Cena tries to send Umaga head first into the apron and is promptly beaten down for his efforts. Serves him right. Back in and Cena charges into a clothesline for an eight count. Umaga throws the steps in but Cena snaps Umaga’s neck over the top and throws the steps over the top and down onto Umaga’s face for another near win. It looked great if nothing else and that’s what they were going for there.

Back in and Umaga, whose head is hard enough to survive having steps thrown at them, grabs a bearhug into a belly to belly. Umaga puts the steps up in the corner but the running Umaga Attack only hits steel. Another steps to the head shot drops Umaga again but Cena’s high crossbody (Just….why?) is countered into a swinging Rock Bottom (Oh….that’s why.). A low blog gets Cena out of trouble and he hits the Throwback onto the steps. The entire finishing sequence is initiated onto the steps but Umaga is too heavy for the FU, sending Cena head first into the steps and busting him open in the process.

That’s only good for nine and the fans think Cena sucks (now that’s more like it). Cena somehow gets all fired up and tells Umaga to bring it, meaning a bunch of right hands and a Samoan drop to crush Cena all over again. So I guess that’s Umaga bringing it. Cena gets tied in the Tree of Woe but Umaga misses a running headbutt. A whip sends Umaga into the post, followed by a heck of a monitor shot to the head. I mean, it shouldn’t work on Umaga but that’s what they do around here.

For some reason Cena dives at him and gets driven back first into the post to change control again. You would think Cena would learn at some point. It’s time to load up the announcers’ tables and since there are three of them, Cena is laid on the third one for a running splash but Cena moves, likely clued in by the running Samoan charging at him. That’s only good for nine so Estrada unhooks a rope for the sake of setting up the finish. The turnbuckle is ripped off and Cena grabs an FU before choking Umaga out with the rope in the STF to retain at 23:10.

Rating: B+. There wasn’t exactly any subtlety in this one and there’s nothing wrong with that. Last Man Standing matches are designed to be wild brawls with both guys beating the heck out of each other which is exactly what we got here. Cena had to go to another place to retain the title here and that’s the kind of match he needed to boost him to another level. Really fun brawl here with Umaga playing his role perfectly as the monster that has to be stopped somehow.

Wrestlemania ad.

Sandman goes to pick his number but sprays beer everywhere instead. Ric Flair comes in and Kelly hits on him. The lights go out and the rest of Extreme Expose (Brooke Adams and Layla) come in to dance. Again: back in the day when there were jobs for sexy women whose job was nothing more than to be sexy and dance in tiny outfits. There is something to be said about the old days.

We look back at various famous Rumble moments and winners in a nice touch as this is the 20^th Rumble. That being said, how many times can we have THE MOST STAR STUDDED ROYAL RUMBLE IN HISTORY???

Royal Rumble

Ninety second intervals with Ric Flair in at #1 (That’s the second time he’s been #1. In five appearances he entered #3, #1, #5, #30 and #1 for some of the worst luck ever in this thing.) and Finlay in at #2 in what could be a very interesting midcard match if they were given some time. The promos alone could be interesting. Finlay easily wins a battle of the forearms and catches Flair with a backdrop. A rake to the eyes gets Flair out of trouble and it’s Kenny Dykstra (a twenty year old who has given Flair some issues before) in at #3.

Kenny knocks Flair down but has to save himself from Finlay. Some chops cut Kenny off and it’s Matt Hardy in at #4. Still not much going on aside from a bunch of right hands so it’s Edge in at #5 for some spears. Flair is knocked through the ropes to the floor and comes up with a pair of chairs. Matt cuts Edge off with a clothesline but Edge is still up to get rid of Flair without much effort. Edge tosses Dykstra as well and Tommy Dreamer is in at #6. Matt can’t get Edge out as the announcers joke about how Lawler survived for a long time by hiding underneath the ring. To be fair, it was a smart idea.

Sabu is in at #7 and sets up a table at ringside to fulfill general expectations. Dreamer clotheslines him out of the air though as Jerry impresses the commentators by remembering all of Sabu’s nicknames. Cruiserweight Champion (for a YEAR now) Gregory Helms is in at #8 as this isn’t exactly lighting the world up so far. More eliminations are teased but there’s just nothing going on at the moment and it’s really starting to show. Shelton Benjamin is in at #9 and nearly gets Matt out but can’t quite put him near the tables.

Matt can’t suplex Shelton out either and it’s Kane in at #10 (CLEAN THE RING OUT!), giving us a group of Finlay, Hardy, Edge, Dreamer, Sabu, Helms, Benjamin and Kane. House is cleaned in a hurry with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam to Helms and a chokeslam to Edge. Dreamer and Sabu, the latter via a chokeslam through the table, are tossed without much effort (good, as they were nothing more than filler anyway as no one took ECW seriously at this point). CM Punk, not yet a big star, is in at #11 and goes right for Edge which just feels right. We’re getting back into the same lull we were in earlier, just with some bigger names.

Finlay punches Punk down but can’t get him out (I’m as shocked as you are). King Booker is in at #12 and quickly eliminates Helms. Matt and Finlay can’t get rid of Kane so people keep running around and punch each other until Super Crazy (complete with lawnmower noises to start his entrance) is in at #13. More eliminations are teased with no eliminations so Jeff Hardy comes in at #14, hopefully firing things up a bit. We get some double teaming but NO ELIMINATIONS, even when they get in a fight with Kane.

The Sandman, coming through the crowd, is in at #15, cracks some people with the kendo stick, and is eliminated by Booker in about fifteen seconds. Jeff and Punk both manage to survive and it’s Randy Orton (with the sweet Burn in My Light theme) in at #16. Orton and Edge immediately get together to eliminate Crazy and both Hardys, thankfully clearing some of the ring out. US Champion Chris Benoit is in at #17 and slugs away at Booker before grabbing some German suplexes on various people. There’s very little to talk about between these entrances aside from kicking and the occasional suplex.

Rob Van Dam is in at #18 and starts firing off the kicks. Kane gets rid of Booker, who gets back in and dumps Kane like a royal jerk. The fight continues at ringside as Viscera, complete with smoking jacket, is in at #19. Rob hammers on Finlay as the announcers make a bunch of fat jokes about Viscera. Johnny Nitro is in at #20, giving us Finlay, Edge, Benjamin, Punk, Orton, Benoit, Van Dam, Viscera and Nitro. It also gives us another section of NOTHING HAPPENING until Benoit throws Shelton over the top but since that might be interesting, Benjamin gets back in.

Kevin Thorn is in at #21 giving us another meaningless body in there. A dropkick knocks Nitro into Viscera but some clotheslines can’t get rid of the big man. Hardcore Holly comes in at #22 and the crowd is just DONE. How boring of a match does it take to kill the freaking Royal Rumble crowd? Rob hangs on off a catapult to the apron as there are way too many people in the ring as we wait on someone to come in and clean house.

A bunch of people can’t get rid of Viscera so it’s hometown boy Shawn Michaels in at #23 and PLEASE HELP US!!! Shawn hits a Thesz press on Finlay (the only person not trying to get rid of Viscera) and dumps him without much effort. Viscera is finally dumped after a superkick from Shawn and everyone else getting together. Shawn gets rid of Shelton and somehow the ring is still overcrowded. Chris Masters is in at #24 and Benoit eliminates Nitro. Chavo Guerrero is in at #25 to really bring up the energy.

Benoit gets rid of Thorn as well and Rob can’t find someone to kick. MVP is in at #26 and dang I missed that clock entrance. Rob dropkicks Masters out as they’re doing a good job of keeping the total about the same at worst and going down when they can. Some right hands from Orton can’t get rid of Punk and it’s Carlito in at lucky #27. JBL insults Cole as is his custom while Shawn is put to the apron and BARELY hangs on in a spot that wakes the crowd up a bit. Great Khali is in at #28 and he has get rid of a bunch of people. Everyone gets chopped down with Holly being the only one eliminated.

Miz (JBL: “Don’t worry King, I hate him too.”) is in at #29 and Khali gets rid of him in short order. Van Dam, Punk, Carlito, Chavo and Benoit all go out at Khali’s hands and it’s a Punjabi Plunge to Shawn. There’s one name left and there’s the gong to give fans hope over Khali. Of course it’s Undertaker in at #30, giving us a final group of Edge, Orton, Shawn, MVP, Khali and Undertaker. The giant slugout is on with Undertaker getting the better of it and clotheslining Khali out to REALLY wake the fans up.

Old School hits MVP and we’re down to four in a hurry. MVP grabs a chair but Orton takes it away and caves in Undertaker’s head. Edge teases spearing Orton but Randy has to catch Shawn with an RKO, sending him underneath the ropes to the floor. A bloody Undertaker gets beaten down by Edge and Orton but of course comes back with right hands and running clotheslines in the corner. The double clothesline puts them down again and it’s Snake Eyes into the big boot on Edge.

A chokeslam on Orton is broken up with a spear and Edge blasts Undertaker with the chair. JBL points out the problem that knocking him down makes it even harder to throw him out, which is the only smart point he’s made all night. A Conchairto is loaded up but Shawn comes back in to get rid of Orton and Edge. Shawn collapses and it’s Undertaker sitting up, closely followed by Shawn’s nip up and you it’s on now.

Undertaker misses a charge in the corner and Shawn hammers away but gets whipped hard over the buckles. Shawn hangs on with one arm (like he did in 1995) and punches his way out as you can feel the energy here. Another Flair Flip in the corner puts Shawn on the apron but Undertaker misses a running boot and winds up on the apron. Shawn’s running forearm can’t get rid of him and a second attempt eats an elbow, allowing Undertaker to get back in.

Shawn grabs a swinging neckbreaker and both guys are down again. That means it’s time for the slugout as the fans are almost entirely behind Shawn. A big boot cuts Shawn down but he hangs on the apron again. Undertaker puts him on top and they slug it out with Shawn doing some of the best milking of the drama that you’ll ever see. Shawn FINALLY knocks him back to the mat and drops the top rope elbow.

Sweet Chin Music is blocked though and it’s a chokeslam to put Shawn down again. Somehow Shawn pops up with another superkick and they’re both down for what feels like the fifth time. Shawn tries another superkick with Undertaker against the ropes (how Shawn won in 1996) but gets backdropped out to the floor to give Undertaker the win, making him the first #30 entrant to ever win.

Rating: C-. Shawn and Undertaker just came as close as you can get to saving a really boring match with a ten minute segment. That was some of the best drama you’ll ever see and you could actually feel the drama at the level you almost never get in the Rumble, right up there with Hogan vs. Warrior back in 1990. Absolutely incredible finish there and they would have been crazy to not run that match at Wrestlemania at some point. It took two years but I’d say it worked well to put it mildly.

The rest of the Rumble though….egads. This was a wreck with WAY too many stretches of people laying around and doing almost nothing at all. You shouldn’t have more than eight or nine people in the match but for some reason they had over ten in there multiple times. There was almost nothing in there until Undertaker came in and that’s WAY too late to make this work. It doesn’t help that almost no big story for the first eighty percent of the match, which really makes the match a chore to sit through. Just check out the ending though because that stuff is incredible.

Shawn looks like he’s about to cry and Undertaker points at him. Undertaker soaks in the victory and does the pose at the Wrestlemania sign to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The ending of the Rumble helps this a lot and the Last Man Standing match is great but the rest of the show just wasn’t working at all. This wasn’t the best time for the company as they were trying to develop some midcard talent but it wasn’t quite there yet. It was still a good show but there was a lot to be desired, especially in the Rumble. Give the Rumble a better middle and this show goes way up. As it is though, it’s just pretty good.

Ratings Comparison

Hardy Boyz vs. MNM

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B

2018 Redo: B

Bobby Lashley vs. Test

Original: D-

2013 Redo: D

2018 Redo: F

Mr. Kennedy vs. Batista

Original: B-

2013 Redo: D+

2018 Redo: D+

John Cena vs. Umaga

Original: C

2013 Redo: B+

2018 Redo: B+

Royal Rumble

Original: B

2013 Redo: C+

2018 Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: B

2013 Redo: C+

2018 Redo: C+

My jaw kept falling lower and lower with each of those original ratings. The Rumble rating just shouldn’t have been that high either time though.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/26/royal-rumble-count-up-2007-the-best-spot-finally-wins/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/01/21/royal-rumble-count-up-2013-redo-2007-the-battle-of-texas/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Royal Rumble 2007
Date: January 28, 2007
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 13,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Joey Styles, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

We’re back in Texas here and the main question is which Texas guy is winning the Rumble. The main change from last year is that ECW is around now and get to have seven guys in the Rumble because their roster isn’t deep enough to support ten. Other than that we’ve got Cena vs. Umaga in a last man standing match and Batista vs. Kennedy because Kennedy gets a lot of title shots. Let’s get to it.

This is the 20^th Rumble so you know the theme of the opening video already. The other matches get a little hype as well but the Rumble dominates, as it should.

MNM vs. Hardys

Mercury had his face shattered at Armageddon in a ladder match and tonight is about revenge. Jeff is IC Champion here and Matt was given a Snapshot (MNM’s elevated DDT finisher) on the exposed concrete recently. Matt and Nitro start things off but it’s quickly off to Mercury. He goes for Matt’s dislocated jaw but lets Nitro back in for some shots to the ribs. Matt comes back with punches of his own to slow Mercury down in the corner.

Jeff comes in and speeds things up before hitting an atomic drop and legdrop to split the legs of Nitro. Back to Matt who is rubbing his face a lot. A neckbreaker gets two on Nitro but he comes back with a shot to Matt’s jaw to take him right back down. Mercury comes in and slugs away as Matt is playing Ricky Morton for a bit. Back to Nitro for some choking on the ropes and it’s already back to Joey.

Melina does that ear piercing scream of hers and Mercury goes after Matt’s jaw again. Off to a chinlock followed by a hair pull to send Matt to the mat again. Mercury goes to the middle rope but misses an elbow, allowing for the tags to Jeff and Nitro. The sitout gordbuster gets two as everything breaks down. A double suplex puts Nitro down and the Hardys go up for a legdrop from Matt and a splash from Jeff, but the latter hits knees on the way down.

Mercury comes in off the tag and gets two off a knee to the ribs. Nitro does exactly the same before sticking on the ribs for a bit more. Jeff grabs a quick rollup on the incoming Mercury but Joey goes right back to the ribs. Nitro comes in and does the same as MNM continues to keep tagging in and out very quickly. We hit a chinlock with a bodyscissors but Jeff fights out pretty quickly. He still can’t make the tag but finally backdrops Nitro down and makes the tag….which isn’t seen. I love that spot.

Jeff hits a mule kick to take Mercury down and FINALLY makes the hot tag to Matt. Things speed up a lot and Matt fires off elbows to everyone named M or N. A combination bulldog and clothesline takes MNM down for two followed by the yodeling elbow to the back of Nitro’s head. There’s Poetry in Motion to Mercury but one to Nitro misses, as Johnny grabs an Oklahoma Roll for two on Matt. The Side Effect puts Nitro down but Mercury spears Matt to the floor. As he went through the ropes though, Jeff made a blind tag and hits the Swanton on Nitro for the pin.

Rating: B. This took a long time to get going but it was building up to a nice finish. This was old school tag team stuff and that’s hard to screw up. MNM was getting a good rub off the Hardys who were as much of a nostalgia act as you could have at this point. Good stuff here and a hot opener, at least after the tag to Matt.

Coach and Teddy talk trash about brand dominance. Edge comes in to draw and runs into Kelly Kelly, who is an exhibitionist. Edge’s condescending talking to Kelly is hilarious stuff. Orton comes in to draw and threatens to throw his tag title partner out if need be. Edge: “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” Booker walks in and comedy ensues.

Wrestlemania promo. I liked that All Grown Up campaign.

ECW Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Test

Lashley won the title in December and Test is the warm body that he gets to crush in his first major defense. There’s a video package for this which is basically both guys beating up RVD to show how awesome they are. Test powers Lashley back into the corner so the champion comes out with a spear to take over again. Now Test tries to choke, so Lashley suplexes him down. Nice to see them sticking with the same formula. A delayed vertical suplex puts Test on the floor and the champion follows him.

Test sends Lashley into the barricade to take over and we head back in for a chinlock. He shifts into an armbar and hits a Stunner onto the arm for two. Lashley fights out of trouble and backdrops Test before hitting a three point stands shoulder in the corner. He tries a slam but the arm gives out, allowing Test to fire his one big weapon, the big boot, but it only gets two. Lashley pops up with a clothesline to send Test to the floor….and he walks out for the countout.

Rating: D. They needed to protect TEST? Seriously? Lashley doesn’t get to pin TEST clean? The match was dull stuff in the first place before a stupid ending like that. Lashley did what he could out there but Test was as much of a worthless musclehead as you could possibly ask for at this point.

Lashley pulls Test back in and beats him up, which makes you wonder WHY DID THEY NOT DO THIS BEFORE???

Cena gets his broken ribs looked at when Vince comes in to see if Cena wants to forfeit. Vince says he can’t see (get it?) Cena as champion after tonight….and that’s it. I don’t remember them having an issue at this point but whatever.

We recap Mr. Kennedy (Anderson) vs. Batista, which is just Kennedy winning a Beat the Clock challenge and having a great record against former world champions.

Smackdown World Title: Mr. Kennedy vs. Batista

Kennedy slaps Batista to start and takes over as he tries to tie Batista up. Batista slugs him down and gets two off a suplex and we head outside. Kennedy spears/shoves Batista into the steps, injuring Batista’s knee in the process. We get into a regular “hurt the big man’s knee” match which is the smartest thing they could do here. A reverse Figure Four has Batista in trouble but Kennedy gets caught holding the rope.

A running kick to Batista’s face in the corner has the champion in trouble again and a knee to the head gets two. Off to a half crab for a minute or so before Batista fights up and hits a spinebuster to put both guys down. Kennedy kicks him in the face but Batista Hulks Up. There’s a weak slam as the knee is giving out on the champion.

Batista hits a Regal Roll (Kennedy used that a lot) of all things but Kennedy hits the knee to break up the Batista Bomb. The referee gets bumped so there’s no one to count after Kennedy’s neckbreaker. A DDT gets two and JBL is LOSING IT. The fans chant for Kennedy as he goes to the middle rope, only to jump into a clothesline followed by a Batista Bomb to retain the title.

Rating: D+. The psychology was there from Kennedy but Batista didn’t really go along with it. I’m not saying he didn’t sell, but at the end of the day this was only eleven minutes long which isn’t enough time to tell the story they were going for. Also Kennedy didn’t have the Mic Check yet so he didn’t have anything to finish Batista with and everyone knew it. Not a bad match but they needed more than they had here.

Kevin Thorn draws his number. He and Ariel leave and Hornswoggle comes in to terrorize the tumbler. Apparently he’s in the Rumble too and attacks Coach for good measure. Khali comes in and scares Horny off. Kelly makes a stupid joke about holding balls, drawing in Ron Simmons for his usual line.

The Marine is on DVD.

Wrestlemania is coming and Saliva, the band that does the theme song, is in the front row.

We recap Cena vs. Umaga. Cena escaped the last PPV with the title and gave Umaga his first loss so tonight it’s last man standing. Cena is coming into this with bad ribs.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Umaga

Cena is defending and this is last man standing. Cena pounds away to start but Umaga barely moves. Umaga gets in a shot to the ribs and Cena falls to the outside, clutching his ribs. The champ gets sent into the steps and it’s all Umaga in the early going. They slug it out in the aisle and all of a sudden Cena’s punches work better. He tries to ram Umaga face first into the apron but Umaga screams and hits Cena in the ribs again.

Back in and Cena is in even more trouble with Umaga pounding on the ribs. A clothesline puts Cena down and Umaga brings in the steps. Cena knocks him off the apron though and throws the steps down onto Umaga’s (hands covering) head. It looked a lot better when Kane did it because you couldn’t see the hands but whatever. That draws a six count but more importantly it allows Cena to get a breather.

Umaga superkicks Cena down and it’s off to a bearhug. Since there are no submissions, Umaga lets Cena go and brings in some more steps. The steps are set up in the corner but Cena avoids the running hip attack (SEE??? IT WAS UMAGA AND NOT RIKISHI!!! SCREW YOU WWE ANNOUNCERS!!!) and blasts Umaga in the head with the steps. That only gets seven so Cena goes up and jumps into a spinning Rock Bottom, drawing some loud screams from the champ.

The Samoan cannonballs down onto Cena’s ribs but Cena finally knees him in the crotch to slow Umaga down. The Protobomb sends Umaga onto the steps but only gets about five as Cena hits the Shuffle to break the count. Cena tries the FU but Umaga’s weight causes Cena to fall face first into the steps. John is busted open so the fans tell him that he sucks. Ignore the fact that almost no one else could get a match this good out of Umaga I guess.

Cena gets up at eight and gets punched in the face some more, only to start Hulking Up. He pounds away on Umaga but walks into a Samoan Drop, driving the ribs and Cena’s shoulder into the mat. The Samoan Spike is blocked (for the life of me I do not get why they picked a thumb to the neck for Umaga’s finisher. The guy is a MONSTER and he pokes you in the neck?) so Umaga headbutts Cena down instead.

Umaga puts him in the Tree of Woe but Cena sits up in the corner to avoid a running headbutt. The top rope Fameasser takes Umaga down and Cena sends him shoulder first into the post. They head to the floor and Cena is covered in blood. With Umaga still laying over the ropes, Cena BLASTS HIM with a monitor to the head to put him down. Back to the floor but Umaga catches a diving Cena and drives him back first into the post.

Umaga puts Cena on the announce table and runs along the other tables, only to miss a splash and crash onto the ground. That gets nine and Cena has no idea what to do next. Estrada, Umaga’s manager, unhooks the top rope and tells Umaga to use the metal pole to blast Cena in the head. Cena catches a charging Umaga with the FU and hits him in the head with the pole. He hooks a kind of STF with the ring rope and Umaga is passing out. Umaga starts fighting up so Cena chokes him even more. FINALLY Umaga is out and Cena retains the title.

Rating: B+. This was a FIGHT which is what a last man standing match is supposed to do. I was digging the story they were telling here with Cena fighting a savage but having to become a savage himself to beat him. The fans didn’t like him at this point, but screw them as would you really rather have Umaga as champion? This was one of many awesome matches Cena had in this stretch, but OH NO kids like him so he must suck right? Give me a break.

Sandman draws his number and has a beer. Flair comes in to draw and gets hit on by Kelly. We get adult music and Extreme Expose comes in to dance with Flair, complete with club lighting. Not that I’m complaining about Layla, Brooke (Tessmacher) and Kelly dancing in barely there outfits, but WHY DID THAT HAPPEN???

Rumble video. Not much else to say here as I’m sure you get the idea by now. This is more of a history package than a hype video for this year. The theme of this year is how star studded it is. Seven guys are from ECW so I question this premise.

Royal Rumble

Flair is #1 (second time for that along with drawing #3 one year. He really doesn’t have a great record in these things) and Finlay is #2. Finlay drops Flair with a quick shoulder and we have ninety second intervals here. Flair chops away in the corner but gets backdropped down for his efforts. Kenny Dykstra of Spirit Squad fame and currently in a small feud with Flair is #3. Flair chops away at him in the corner and Finlay tries to dump Kenny.

Everyone hits everyone for awhile until Matt Hardy is #4. That’s a pretty diverse group of guys to start things off. The young and old guys pair off with Finlay and Kenny taking over. Matt takes over on Finlay and Edge is #5. Hardy avoids a spear and hits a Twist of Fate but gets taken down with a double clothesline with Kenny. Ric throws in a chair but Edge easily throws him out instead. Kenny tries to take credit despite doing nothing, so Edge throws him out too.

Tommy Dreamer is #6 and takes down Edge of all people before getting beaten up in the corner by Finlay. Sabu is #7 and actually doesn’t bring any weapons with him. Instead he finds a table under the ring and sets it up at ringside before going in to fight Dreamer. Nothing of note happens for now so here’s Gregory Helms at #8. Finlay is sent to the apron but he hangs onto the bottom rope.

The Irishman almost sends Sabu through the table but Sabu hangs on. Now Helms teases going through it but saves himself as well. Shelton Benjamin is #9 and goes for Hardy. Benjamin and Finlay both nearly go out but somehow both survive. They’ve teased that table being broken about five times already. Kane is #10 and immediately pounds away on everyone. There’s a chokeslam to Edge and an elimination for Dreamer and Sabu, the latter being chokeslammed through the table. Law of wrestling #1: you set up the table, you’re going through it.

CM Punk is #11 and is immediately called boring by JBL for not smoking and drinking. Finlay sends CM to the apron but can’t get him out. There’s the running knee to Edge’s head in the corner from Punk but again he can’t get an elimination. King Booker is #12 and dumps Helms pretty quickly. We’ve currently got Finlay, Hardy, Edge, Shelton, Kane, Booker and Punk.

Super Crazy is #13 and is knocked down by Kane before he can do much else. JBL mentions that Mil Mascaras owes him money, which he said on Raw a few months ago. I wonder if there’s something to that. Booker and Finlay go at it until Jeff Hardy is #14. The Hardys team up on Finlay (smart) before shifting over to Edge. Now they go after Kane for some reason and hit Poetry in Motion. Sandman is #15 and is gone in as many seconds thanks to Booker.

Jeff skins the cat to save himself and Orton is #16. Hopefully he and Edge (tag champions) can clear things out a bit. Yep there goes Super Crazy and Matt takes the backbreaker. Rated-RKO throws out both Hardys and things are a lot clearer now. Benoit is #17 and fires away chops at everyone. Finlay takes a German as Punk is teetering on the apron. Now Benjamin takes a German and RVD is #18.

Van Dam fires off kicks all around and Kane throws Booker out. Booker, ever the jerk, goes back in and throws out Kane. He beats on the Big Bald on the floor which didn’t set up a Mania match surprisingly enough. Viscera is #19 as things slow down a bit. We’ve got Finlay, Edge, Benjamin, Punk, Orton, Benoit, Van Dam and Viscera in there at the moment. Nitro is #20 and things are getting too full again.

Punk gets crushed in the corner by Viscera for awhile and Shelton hangs on by inches. That was impressive. Kevin Thorn is #21 and no one is really doing anything at the moment. Hardcore Holly is #22 and that’s not going to pick anything up. A bunch of guys go after Viscera and Shawn is #23. He’s in DX mode and you know he’s the hometown boy here. Shawn hits a Thesz Press on Finlay and clotheslines him out before superkicking Viscera, allowing a huge group of guys to dump him.

Shelton is gone at Shawn’s hands too. The ring is FINALLY cleared out a bit now until Masters is #24. Nitro goes up top like a schmuck and gets dumped by Benoit. Chavo Guerrero is #25 and Benoit dumps Thorn in the same fashion that he dumped Big Show in 04. Van Dam goes up, can’t find anyone to kick, and hops back down. MVP is #26 as Orton tries to dump Punk.

Nothing happens AGAIN until Carlito is #27. There are way too many people in the ring again. Shawn is sent to the apron but you know he’s not going out yet. Great Khali is #28 and swings his arms a lot on the way to the ring. The match stops as Khali gets in and he beats everyone down. Khali dumps Holly as Miz is #29. He lasts a good seven seconds and there’s only one man left. Van Dam is thrown out as are Punk and Carlito. Chavo gets dumped as well and Shawn gets chokebombed. Things look hopeless but heeeeeeeeeeere’s Taker at #30.

This gives us a final group of Edge, Orton, Michaels, MVP, Khali and Taker. Taker and Khali slug it out with everyone else down. The Dead Man finally puts Khali out with a clothesline and everyone else gets beaten down as well. MVP is eliminated and tries to get a chair but Orton takes it away and cracks Taker in the head with it. Edge tries to spear Orton down but gets scared off by the chair. Instead of going after Edge though, Orton hits the RKO on Shawn to send him down to the floor but not out.

Rated-RKO goes after Taker and we’re in a handicap match at this point. Taker fights back but can’t hit a double chokeslam. He can however hit a double clothesline while being busted open. Snake Eyes and the big boot drop Edge but as Taker goes to chokeslam Orton, Edge spears Taker down. A BIG chair shot to the head drops Taker again and it’s Conchairto time. Shawn comes back in and backdrops Orton out before superkicking Edge out to get us down to two.

The fans are WAY into this all of a sudden as Taker sits up. He looks over at Shawn and there’s the nipup. The showdown is on and Shawn pounds away in the corner to no avail. Shawn kicks the chair to the floor and gets launched into the corner so Taker can pound away even more. Shawn is knocked upside down in the corner but punches his way to safety. Shawn does a Flair Flip to the apron but Taker misses a big boot, sending HIM to the apron as well. Shawn charges into an elbow and both guys are back in.

A neckbreaker puts Taker down but Shawn can’t follow up. They slug it out and Taker kicks Shawn’s head off to take over again. Taker lifts him for a suplex and wisely puts him on the apron instead of down onto the mat. Shawn fights back and goes up, only to get crotched. Taker loads up a superplex but gets knocked down so Shawn can hit the flying elbow. Chin Music is caught and there’s a chokeslam but Taker can’t follow up. The tombstone is countered into a superkick and both guys are down again. Taker catches another superkick and dumps Shawn to the floor, nearly silencing the fans in the process.

Rating: C+. The ending stuff starting with Khali cleaning house until Taker dumps Shawn out is GREAT, but until then it’s pretty dull with way too much laying around and too many people in there. The ending here is pretty questionable too as Shawn is in his hometown and would wind up being in the actual main event of Mania anyway. Taker would beat Batista for the Smackdown Title, which makes you wonder why they didn’t have Shawn win for the big hometown win here, as the results literally would have been THE EXACT SAME THING. Not a great Rumble at all but the ending helps it a lot.

Overall Rating: C+. There are two long matches here and both of them are solid enough so I can’t complain much here. The stuff that is good is good and the stuff that is bad is bad, so while it’s not terrible, this definitely isn’t a must see show. Shawn and Taker are of course great together and would have some masterpieces at Mania in the coming years, but they couldn’t make this a great show on their own.

Ratings Comparison

Hardys vs. MNM

Original: B-

Redo: B

Bobby Lashley vs. Test

Original: D-

Redo: D

Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy

Original: B-

Redo: D+

John Cena vs. Umaga

Original: C

Redo: B+

Royal Rumble

Original: B

Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: C+

Man I REALLY liked that ending last time. I have no idea what I was thinking on the world title matches though.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/26/royal-rumble-count-up-2007-the-best-spot-finally-wins/

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Royal Rumble 2007
Date: January 28, 2007
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 13,500
Commentators: JBL, Michael Cole, Tazz, Jerry Lawler, Joey Styles, Jim Ross

Well, there are two main differences here. First off is ECW is back. They’re still complete and utter crap as they tried to be a legit place and not AAA, so take that for what it’s worth. The other thing is Angle is gone, having went to TNA where he still is today in a SHOCKER. That’s not hyperbole either as it legitimately was a stunning turn of events. This was the first real step for TNA to show that they were legit and it’s still an awesome moment to this day.

As for the people still on Vince’s payroll, we have Batista vs. Kennedy and Cena vs. Umaga in a last man standing match, both of which are of course for the titles. If nothing else these are perfect Rumble title matches so let’s get to this show. Also, something historic happens here which I’ll get to later on.

The intro is the standard thing about the title matches and the Rumble, with the main focus being on the Rumble and Cena. That’s fine. They do however mess up and say that the Road to Mania has been around for 20 years now. No it hasn’t, as the Mania tie in didn’t become official until 93. Look back at the first two shows: Duggan won, and wound up losing in the first round of the tournament.

In 89 Studd won and was a guest referee at Mania. This may be relatively common knowledge, but just in case someone here hasn’t noticed, Vince likes to rewrite history every now and then. This is being billed as the most star studded Rumble in history. I haven’t looked at the entrants but I’m guessing that’s not true given some of the shows I’ve seen. Oh and the ECW guys are Extremists here.

Hardys vs. MNM

Melina is amazing looking to say the least. I know I often say that there’s no real point to this feud, but in this case there really isn’t much of one. MNM had broken up as the Hardys had reunited but rather than as a team they’re more like two singles guys teaming, which I usually hate but the history together makes it ok.

The Hardys were on a Survivor Series team together so they restarted the team and for the awful December 2 Dismember show (we’ll get to that someday) they threw out an open challenge which MNM accepted. This was supposed to be a one night reunion so the next month when they teamed up again in a 4 team TLC match, Mercury took one of the sickest bumps ever which was completely by accident.

Paul London did the seesaw thing with a ladder where he jumped on one side to launch the other up and the corner slammed into Mercury’s face and completely shattered his nose and part of his eye. It looked awful and he’s still got a protective mask on. Jeff is the IC Champion here. Oh and they’re the Hardys, not the Hardy Boys. You can really see the strides Nitro (Morrison) has made here and it’s impressive. Apparently Matt has a dislocated jaw.

They actually bring up a decent point here as they say that since Matt has a bad jaw, he hasn’t been able to eat solid food and might not have his peak energy. For once, that works. Jeff’s pop is epic. The beauty of the way the Hardys fight is that even if they botch the heck out of most of what they do, it fits their style and it could be believable that they meant to do that. Melina is letting loose those screams which I actually like.

Ross says he hasn’t made a lot of women scream. I’ll leave that one up to you guys. Jeff is so spotty that it’s insane. I usually don’t notice it, but DANG he’s bad here. This match feels like they were told to go out there and have an epic tag match rather than just having one and that’s not a good thing. MNM is ok, but at the same time this match is just sloppy and that’s hurting it a lot.

The crowd is about half into this but at the same time they’re not into it if that makes sense. Ross mentions that this is a one fall match to open the show. Why don’t they have more 2/3 falls matches? Those can be fun when they’re done right but you never see them again.

Matt gets the hot tag to start completely dominating the match. The usual double finisher ends it which was really quite lackluster. Oh and apparently Matt is on Smackdown and Jeff is on Raw, completely going against the theory of the freaking brand split as it comes closer and closer to dying every year.

Rating: B-. This just wasn’t that good. I like that they were trying to have a big time tag match, but these teams just weren’t clicking. It was FAR better at December 2 Dismember, but I think here that they were trying to top that match which was just a bad idea. This match was all kinds of sloppy and the ending wasn’t anything special. This was ok at its best and too long at its worst.

We go to the back where Teddy Long and Coach are running the drawing and Kelly is there barely dressed. Edge shows up, leading to him calling Coach Coacher and Coach calling Edge Edger. Take me now. Kelly was still an exhibitionist at the time and loved to tell everyone that. Rated RKO were the tag champions here so Orton shows up. Let the gay jokes begin. King Booker shows up to make fun of them as this is just rather stupid and unfunny.

Ad for the All Grown Up Wrestlemania, which was a campaign I actually liked for a change.

Thanks to a band we’ve never heard of for a song that has no bearing on the show and won’t be heard again.

We recap Test vs. Lashley, which more or less consisted of Test “dominating” ECW and wanting a title match because of it. There was a triple threat with RVD in there somewhere too that meant nothing at all. Test is apparently an impact player.

ECW Title: Test vs. Bobby Lashley

Take a wild guess as to how this is going to go. Just take a guess. Test was a guy that Vince kept trying to push but it never worked. That might have had something to do with Test having all the momentum in the world and Vince pushing Big Show instead back in 99 when Austin left. Oh yeah Big Show is gone now too. Lashley was another guy that Vince was seemingly ready to pull the trigger on but never got to do so which kind of sucks.

Lashley does the Lesnar entrance where he jumps to the apron and the pyro goes off. That would be more impressive if X-Pac wasn’t the first guy to do it often. There’s no big match feeling here at all. This is as basic of a match as you could imagine. It’s like they were reading a book about how to have a power vs. power match.

Lashley dominates for awhile, Test sends him into the post, Lashley gets a short comeback, Test hits the big boot and Lashley kicks out, so Test walks out. Seriously, that’s the entire 8 minute match.

Rating: D-. What in the heck was the point of this? What was the point of ECW as a whole back then? When did we reach the point where ECW had a back then? Anyway, this was really weak as there was just no point to this whatsoever and the match completely failed. Lashley wasn’t that solid yet and Test didn’t help matters in the slightest. This didn’t go well at all and it showed badly here. Horrible match with a stupid finish.

Cena is in the back getting looked at by the doctor. Umaga injured his ribs the Monday before. Vince comes in and says that Cena won’t be able to forfeit as Cena can’t see him. I really hate Vince at times.

No Way Out promo. My goodness that was an AWFUL show.

We recap Kennedy vs. Batista. The idea here is that Kennedy has beaten 6 world champions in a year, so he’s getting a title shot here. Kennedy won a Beat the Clock Sprint to get the shot. I’ve always liked that idea, at least to an extent. I think Kennedy stole Norcal’s shirt.

Smackdown World Title: Batista vs. Mr. Kennedy

Kennedy cuts a promo before the match saying exactly what you would expect him to say. Kennedy had no official move yet so he’s unlikely to win. I think it was a neckbreaker or a DDT or something like that but he changed it every week. JBL keeps trying to offer analysis and keeps yelling at Cole for interrupting him which gets funny. At least it’s not Joey Styles because he would have a black eye from it.

Kennedy uses a weird looking leg lock. Imagine a figure four, but with the guy that’s in it on his stomach. It looked rather awesome. A knee to the leg causes JBL to declare that’s how you win a world title. I thought it was by getting a pin or a submission on a world champion in a title match but what do I know? This is mainly Kennedy working on the knee, which is smart but it’s the safe way to go.

With Kennedy being allegedly the future of the company, shouldn’t he do something that’s a bit more interesting or fresh? Batista makes his comeback, actually selling the knee (PAY ATTENTION TAKER!) and goes for the Bomb. It doesn’t work though as Kennedy shoves him into the referee.

He gets a low blow and the neckbreaker but we have no referee. There’s a very loud and very noticeable Kennedy chant, which thankfully was listened to this year as he would win MITB. However, due to about 1000 injuries nothing would come of it. Batista hits the Batista Bomb for the easy win. JBL freaking out over it is kind of funny.

Rating: B-. This was pretty good for what it was I thought. It wasn’t supposed to be a classic showdown but rather a token title defense for Batista so that he could manage to get something else under his belt and get Kennedy the title shot that he had earned. There’s nothing at all wrong with that and it worked. The match itself wasn’t that great, but the point here wasn’t to have a great match but to make Batista and Kennedy look good and that’s what happened.

Hornswoggle shows up to pick his number. He beats up Coach after getting one. Oh looks it’s Khali and Horny because that joke never gets old. He takes three of them and leaves two, allowing Kelly to make a balls joke and Ron Simmons to show up to validate his existence.

The Marine is on DVD.

Mania promo, set to Ladies and Gentlemen by Saliva. They actually mention that at their concerts. Saliva is in the crowd.

So Umaga had been an unbeatable monster that challenged Cena for the title at New Year’s Revolution but lost so naturally he gets another title match at the Rumble. The idea is that Cena could barely keep Umaga down for three so ten is impossible. Umaga crushed Cena with a splash through a table at Raw. You know, I wonder how you can have more than one last man standing match. Wouldn’t that mean there have been more than one last men standing, which is impossible?

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Umaga

The end of the video package sounded like Taker’s music for some reason. Ok I’m back now, as Lillian with her hair pulled back and more or less wearing a swimsuit as it’s a top that ties behind her neck and one of those nearly invisible skirts she wears. Lawler says that Umaga reminds him of King Kong. You know, the guy that lost in the end. The start is of course, Cena getting his teeth kicked in by Umaga because he’s injured and can’t breathe.

And you know, because Umaga is a monster and Cena is the second coming of Hogan so naturally he has to be beaten down to get us to the big comeback at the end of the match. This was around three months into Cena’s year long reign that made him the most hated man in wrestling. On a completely unrelated note, Lee, Ricky and I joined the forums about three weeks before this show. Umaga puts the steps into the ring but when Cena lifts them, it’s an amazing feat of strength.

He throws them at the Samoan, but here it looks awful as the camera shows perfectly the Umaga takes it on his hands. When Kane did the same spot a few months ago, it looked and sounded great. This looked like them trying to replicate it and failing miserably. We get a bearhug, which at least makes sense here. The fans want tables. I could go for a nice lawn chair actually.

The steps are put up in the corner and Umaga does the hip ramming but misses which would actually hurt. That and a step shot gets a 7. The announcers are completely pro Cena here and aren’t even trying to be diplomatic. The formula here is Cena gets beaten up, Umaga dominates, Cena hits a big move to draw even then Umaga puts him down again. The genius that is Cena figures that the Five Knuckle Shuffle is better than slamming Umaga on the steps.

He goes for an FU but in a SICK looking spot, Umaga falls forward and Cena’s head apparently slams into the steps being crushed by Umaga’s fatness. That’s just as painful looking. On a second look it might have landed on the part of the steps with nothing there but still it looked great. That gets 9 and also a LOUD Cena sucks chant. After taking another beating, Cena hulks up but takes a Samoan Drop to put him back down. I really hate the Spike.

It was just freaking stupid on so many levels that it’s unreal. Seriously, look at Umaga and the stuff he does, and then his finishing move is a thumb to the neck. That’s just freaking DUMB. Ross calls Umaga Youmaga, so maybe that’s where Regal got that from. He hits the post so Cena nails him with a monitor as Umaga decides to take a nap there I guess.

Cena is bleeding from the step crushing by the way. We hit the floor so Cena hits post. The no selling by Umaga is getting a bit annoying but it’s quite bearable. At least they have their stereotypes right here as nothing is hurting his head. With Cena draped over the announce tables, Umaga gets a running start and runs down the tables to go for a splash on Cena which of course misses.

I’m glad as if Cena had gotten up from that it would have been completely ridiculous. That gets a LONG 9 which the fans boo the heck out of. For some reason Lawler thinks you have to be in the ring to answer the ten, which is just stupid but it’s Lawler so it’s expected. Estrada gets some metal thing and takes the ring apart to hand Umaga the turnbuckle, as in the part that hooks up to the post. Of course Cena ducks and hits an FU.

Thankfully he’s up before the referee starts counting as it would have been ridiculous if he stayed down. However it gets dumber as after a metal shot puts him down, Cena puts the STFU on Umaga using the ropes to choke him out.

For some reason Umaga completely no sells the first attempt and is up almost immediately after Cena lets go but Cena does it again to keep him down for ten in what I would assume was miscommunication. That’s your lesson for the day kids: it’s ok to take a rope and tie it around a guy’s neck for about 20 seconds until he stops moving and breathing, as long as you keep your title!

Rating: C. This was about as much of a textbook example of a last man standing match as you could have asked for. What I mean by that is that it was about as safe of one as you were going to get. I don’t think anyone bought that Umaga was a legit threat to the belt so take that for what it’s worth.

The match is certainly ok, but it’s little more than that, which I guess is to be expected in something like this. It ended this rivalry though and gave Cena another successful title defense so that makes up for some stuff I suppose. Not bad, but not great at all.

Commercial for Mania.

Flair draws his number.

Royal Rumble

Lillian is amazing, period. Flair is first, continuing his horrific run of luck for Rumble draws as this is the 3rd time that I can think of where he draws in the first 3 spots. Finlay is number two which is certainly an odd pairing. History is altered again as Flair has now not made it an hour in 1992, despite according to Monsoon making it about 70 minutes that year. We have 90 second intervals here in case you were wondering.

Cole makes it sound like this is for the title. It’s not, which is why it’s a bad idea. Kenny Dykstra, who allegedly was a great talent which I never saw, is 3rd. He and Flair were feuding I think. He was a year old when the first Rumble happened. That’s just scary as Flair was like a 5 time world champion back then. Finlay is heel here in case you were wondering. Matt Hardy is 4th. Lawler, JBL and Cole are doing the commentary here.

Since there’s no JR they can actually get words in edgewise. JBL says this is the closest thing in wrestling to an endurance contest. Other than you know, the iron man match which is an endurance contest. Edge is 5th. The first five have been Raw Smackdown Raw Smackdown Raw. That’s rather odd. Flair goes through the ropes and goes to get a chair. He and Edge have been feuding for awhile too. Does no one like Flair?

Flair goes out and then Dykstra follows him as Dreamer is 6th. You know what the chant is already. Finlay knocks everyone down and oddly enough is dominating. JBL says Lawler hid for 30 minutes in 1996 because he thought there was a young woman under the ring. That actually made me laugh. Sabu of all people is 7th. Naturally he gets a table which Cole says he’s made a career out of.

That’s either a thinly veiled insult or a general observation. Given that it’s Cole, I’d say it’s the later as I don’t think he’s intelligent enough to know how to thinly veil something. He makes up for it by knowing all of Sabu’s attributes which is actually impressive. Helms is Gregory Helms, still the Cruiserweight Champion that he became last year. We have Finlay, Hardy, Edge, Dreamer, Sabu and Helms at the moment.

We get our second Sabu chant in less than three minutes which makes me shake my head very hard. Helms has been wanting to stop being a cruiserweight at the time. In other words he wants to have a career. Shelton is 9th. They tease about 4 people going through the table but no one goes through it. Lawler points out that if used right it could save someone, which is actually true.

Kane gets us to double digits and of course we hear about all of his records, including most consecutive rumbles and 11 guys thrown out. And yet he can’t get a 4 week world title reign. Dreamer and Sabu are tossed easily, with Sabu being chokeslammed through the table. Well at least they made it quick. CM PUNK is 11th. Good night I hate how far they’ve depushed him lately.

He was supposed to have a twenty minute war with Lashley to end the Elimination Chamber at December 2 Dismember so that both guys would be made at once. Heyman thought that up. Punk was also supposed to make Show tap out in that match in about 5 minutes. Show, who was losing the title to Lashley anyway, had no problem with that and since he would be leaving in two days anyway had no problem putting Punk over really strong on his way out.

Vince of course HATED this and had RVD pin him first, leaving the likes of Test and Hardcore Holly, you know, REAL MAIN EVENT GUYS to battle it out instead. Naturally the fans HATED this as Punk was incredibly over and no one wanted to see Holly and Test in a main event. Vince of course blamed Heyman and he was fired as a result.

Punk would get the ECW Title in October and begin the biggest launch in company history, breaking the record for fastest time to win the Triple Crown, with the ECW title thrown in as a bonus. He has since tapped to Cena in 2 minutes at the Slammies and who knows what else as we’re 9 days from Christmas when this is being written and you’ll read it in about 5 weeks.

King Booker is 12th, about ten months before jumping to TNA. He puts Helms out in about 4 seconds. Super Crazy is 13th. Nothing happens. Jeff Hardy is 14th and hopefully something happens here. The Hardys of course work together and hook a move called the Spin Cycle on Crazy before fighting Kane which I like for some reason that I don’t understand.

Sandman, to a song that sounds nothing like Metallica is 15th. He gets a great cane shot to Jeff and a few others but Booker puts him out in about 15 seconds. Thanks for that. Orton is 16th. He and Edge, the tag champions, put out Crazy and the Hardys inside of a minute. In at 17 is Benoit, in his final Rumble. He’s US Champion here because that’s all he’s ever done. The announcers talk about Punk like he’s a jobber or something.

Oh I forgot he was on ECW at the time. RVD is 18th, just about to be gone from the company. He would be gone I think in June. Kane puts Booker out so he goes back in and puts Kane out. They fought at No Way Out and that was the end of it. They fight for awhile until Viscera comes out at 19th. He’s wearing white pajamas so there we are. Nitro is 20th. Nothing of note is going on here.

More or less it’s just a lot of guys making sure that they get close to being thrown out without actually doing so. Kevin Thorn, the guy that just never got pushed is 21st. Shelton gets insanely close and keeps off the floor which is indeed impressive. Oh for the love of heck Hardcore Holly is 22nd. Still, nothing of note is happening with far too many people in the ring at the moment.

Shawn Michaels, still of DX, is 23rd to blow the roof off the place. With EVERYONE else trying to get Viscera out, Shawn puts Finlay out. A superkick to Viscera allows everyone else to put him out. He puts Shelton out too. They actually imply that Holly could win as Masters is 24th. I’ve actually liked his face turn recently, and not just because I find him attractive. Nitro is out thanks to Benoit.

Oh yeah HHH is out with an injury again and wouldn’t be back until Summerslam. Chavo is 25th as this is somehow only his 3rd Rumble ever. Benoit puts Thorn out. I’ve spelled his name wrong both times I’ve mentioned him in here. MVP is 26th and he’s not quite a medium sized deal yet. He and Kennedy had been feuding with Kane and Taker. Masters is out. Every time Van Dam has been in the Rumble, he’s made the final 6. That’s not bad at all.

Carlito is 27th which is where 4 men have won from which is rather impressive. Shawn hangs on like someone that hangs on rather impressively. Khali is 28th and he’ll likely get rid of a bunch of people. Yep, there goes Benoit and Holly. He would win the world title in July once Edge got hurt…again. He chops the tar out of everyone and Miz is 29th. Good night did he ever come a LONG way since then. He has the same music too. Yeah he’s gone in 5 seconds.

Van Dam is out. Punk is the 5th in a row for him. Carlito is number 6. Chavo makes 7. They say that no one can beat Khali as Shawn beats on him to no avail. I think it’s about as obvious as possible who 30th is here, but it’s going to be awesome no matter what. Cole: “no one can stop Khali.” JBL: “we have our Wrestlemania main event.” Lawler: “if I were number 30 I’d have second thoughts. GONG! All three: “OH YES!” Taker power walks to the ring and it’s on.

Final group: Khali, Taker, Shawn, Orton, Edge, MVP.They slug it out and after a bad clothesline, Khali is out. Somehow Taker looks small next to him, and that’s just scary. Since Khali wiped everyone out, we have 5 people left: MVP, never mind he’s gone so the final four are Shawn, Taker, Edge and Orton. They really are getting good at this final four thing.

Orton pops Taker with a chair and Rated RKO double team him. Edge of course goes for the double cross and this somehow allows Shawn to take an RKO. Taker is bleeding. We get a mini handicap match with quite a few chair shots in there. Ok it’s more like two but whatever. They go for a conchairto but Shawn comes in for the save and the double elimination to set up the old school explosion.

Both guys are down though, and you know what’s coming. Taker sits up, and then Shawn nips up a few seconds later. Lawler says he isn’t sure if this has ever happened before. Oh I give up. We get my favorite Taker spot as he throws Shawn into the corner. The fans are way into this. This turns into of course a great one on one match. They fight on the apron with Taker showing off by barely hanging on much like Shawn would do.

They go back and forth with some great stuff as neither guy can keep the advantage. Shawn gets ahead for awhile but Chine Music is blocked to set up a chokeslam. Tombstone doesn’t work though and Taker gets kicked in the face. He goes for a second one, but Taker moves and puts Shawn out, to become the first guy from the 30th spot to win the thing.

That’s not great odds for the luckiest spot in the match. Taker poses for a LONG time to end the show, which is fine. The fans are uh, not thrilled with Taker putting out Shawn when he was that close to winning, and Shawn was in the main event of Mania anyway so it makes even less sense.

Rating: B. The ending makes this whole thing as they let the old guys go out there and prove that old school is better than the young guys. Having the two mini matches at the end was a nice little touch. There were far too many dead spots in there though which screwed things up.

The lineup ws good though and it was nice to see the ECW guys not really do much as they didn’t need to, other than Punk. This was fine though and the ending was great so that helps a lot. It could have been better, but I liked it.

Overall Rating: B. While nothing here is great, there’s only one bad match in the ECW Title match which at least is short. This kind of sums up the company as a whole around this time: not bad at all but nothing that jumps off the page that’s great. Taker would go on to win his second world title at Mania, ending the run there against Evolution by beating Batista.

When you think about it, you realize how freaking insane the Streak really is. Anyway, this was a pretty good show but not great. If you like the modern WWE you’ll like it and vice versa, so there you go.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: January 9, 2020
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Mickie James

It’s time to start setting up the Royal Rumble and that could go a few different ways. The big story this time around is having Brock Lesnar enter at #1, which could make for a few cool moments in the early going, plus a big deal when someone throws him out. I’m not sure what we’ll be seeing in the way of highlights but it’s nice to get a refresher. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Mojo Rawley vs. Curt Hawkins

Zack Ryder is here with Hawkins. Rawley chills in the corner to start before clotheslining Hawkins down and talking a lot of trash. Hawkins manages to knock him down and go up, only to have Mojo bail to the floor. That means a neck snap across the top rope and the chinlock is on. It’s broken up in a hurry though as Hawkins jawbreaks his way to freedom. Some dropkicks put Rawley in the corner and the top rope elbow gets two. Rawley runs him over though and it’s a fireman’s carry faceplant to put Hawkins away at 4:39.

Rating: D+. I know his career barely exists at this point but it’s great to see Hawkins trying so hard every time he’s out there. It means a lot to see someone working like that and it makes these matches a lot more fun. He likely won’t ever get anywhere significant, but he’s doing something and it’s better than just sitting around doing nothing for months at a time.

From Raw.

Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman for a chat. Heyman talks about Brock wondering who will be facing him at the Royal Rumble but realizing that no one from Raw, Smackdown or NXT is worthy. That’s why Brock is going to do something unprecedented, which is what he does. Brock promised to beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania and then he did it. So what is his next unprecedented move? Brock is entering the Royal Rumble at #1 so he can fight twenty nine people at once. Heyman promises Lesnar will throw everyone out and win the whole thing and yes, that is a spoiler. No word on if the title will be on the line.

I saw someone suggest this same idea somewhere else and it’s an interesting idea. I’d prefer this over having Lesnar face and destroy someone else like he’d done over the last few years, though I’m almost scared to imagine who we might get as the person who throws Lesnar out. Still though, interesting idea.

We look at Daniel Bryan becoming #1 contender to challenge the Fiend at Royal Rumble.

From Smackdown.

Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan vs. King Corbin/Dolph Ziggler

Corbin jumps Reigns at the bell and gets punched in the face for his efforts. It’s off to Ziggler, whose neckbreaker is easily broken up so Reigns can hit a big boot. Bryan comes in and kicks away….but we have the Fiend laughing and lights flickering. Back from a break with Reigns kicking Corbin in the face but running into Deep Six for two. Corbin sends him into the steps and Ziggler begs Reigns to do something.

The Superman Punch finally gets Reigns out of trouble and it’s back to Bryan to pick up the pace. Bryan elbows Ziggler down and hits the YES Kicks, only to miss the big one. Ziggler’s rollup is reversed into the LeBell Lock with Corbin making the save. Reigns spears Corbin and Bryan knees Ziggler….as the lights go out. The Fiend is here so Bryan hits him with a suicide dive.

Fiend gets posted but is right back with the Mandible Claw to send Bryan through the barricade. The Claw goes on again and there go the lights, meaning the Fiend is gone. Ziggler and Corbin jump Reigns as he goes to check on Bryan, meaning it’s time for the handcuffs and dog food. Cue the returning Usos for the save though, which is pretty long overdue. We’ll say the match ended at about 10:00.

Rating: C-. This was all just a means to get to the end of the match and that’s fine as it didn’t exactly overstay its welcome. That being said, this didn’t help hide the fact that Ziggler and Corbin aren’t exactly as interesting as a lot of the other people on the show, including the three other people involved in the match. Not a bad match or anything, but a means to an end more than anything on its own.

Royal Rumble rundown.

Natalya vs. Chelsea Green

They go to the mat and trade headscissors until Chelsea is up with a wristlock. Natalya goes for more grappling though and Green dives over for the ropes in a smart move. A hammerlock doesn’t do much to Natalya and Green has to go to the ropes again. Green shoulders her down but gets sent into the corner, only to have to escape the Sharpshooter attempt. A cheap shot puts Natalya down though and we take a break.

Back with Green choking in the corner but getting rolled up for two. The chinlock goes on to keep Natalya down, followed by some choking on the rope for a similar effect. It’s another chinlock, as Green certainly likes working that neck. Natalya powers out and hits her slingshot belly to back drop for two. A hard clothesline sets up the Sharpshooter to make Green tap at 10:24.

Rating: D+. Green isn’t exactly thrilling in the ring but she has charisma and makes you pay attention, which is more than a lot of women on the main roster can say. The match was nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s nice to see someone fresh getting a chance for once. Granted she’s already back in NXT, though at least she got her feet wet on the main roster for a bit.

Video on Bobby Lashley and Lana’s wedding, with Liv Morgan interrupting.

From Raw.

Here are Lashley and Lana with the minister from last week in the ring (apparently the minister was the fan, which would be some major miscommunication). Lana is furious about last week and wants things made right so they get married in a hurry, because the minister can officiate weddings in multiple states.

Lana kicks the minister out for being boring but still doesn’t seem happy. It’s because of all these people here who don’t want to see this ring on her finger. Last week a bunch of exes came out to interrupt the wedding over and over again because so many people are so jealous of their love. Lashley says Rusev is the sorriest of them all but here’s Rusev on the screen, standing in front of a superimposed island.

Since Lana and Lashley didn’t have a honeymoon, he’s taking it for them. But first, he needs to give them their wedding gift: a wedding album, with pictures from last week’s fiasco. Lana rants about how much she hates Rusev….and Lashley tells her to shut up. Lashley says Rusev used to be a man but they need to fight one more time. Rusev agrees to fight him next week and the Bulgarian Brute will be back. There was no reference to or mention of Liv Morgan.

From Raw.

Seth Rollins/AOP vs. Samoa Joe/Kevin Owens/???

Rollins is officially dubbed the Monday Night Messiah and says he knows what is best for everyone. The mystery partner is….the Big Show, who hasn’t wrestled in over a year due to hip surgery. Show cleans house to start and hits a big chop on Rollins to send us to a break. Back with Rollins still in trouble as Owens hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Rezar gets in a cheap shot though and sends Owens into the barricade, as the fans want Big Show.

Back in and we hit the neck crank on Owens to slow things down so Show starts playing cheerleader (the veterans are always good at that). The side slam/middle rope stomp combination gets two on Owens and it’s off to Rollins for a chinlock of his own. Owens fights up and hits an enziguri on Akam, so Rezar comes in to knock Joe off the apron. That earns him a superkick from Owens and the hot tag brings Show back in. Joe gets sent into the steps, leaving Show to pull Rollins out of the air. The double chokeslam to AOP is broken up with a chair shot from Rollins for the DQ at 10:15.

Rating: C-. I know the fans were chanting for him a bit during the match, but Big Show? I don’t think he’s going to be a big feature attraction but I don’t exactly see this as being the impactful move that WWE thinks it might be. It has been a long time and I was surprised to hear that music again, though the excitement died down in a hurry as you knew the DQ or countout was coming. It’s a nice surprise in the short term but long term, they’re going to need something else.

Post match the beatdown is on but Show punches Rollins out to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This show did the same thing that so many bad episodes of Main Event have done over the last year or two: showed just how uninteresting Raw and Smackdown can be. The full shows have some different perks that you don’t see on here, but the shortened versions aren’t exactly making me want to watch more of the main shows in the future.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

As wrestling fans, we like to think that we know everything that is going to happen in the sport. It’s a nice sentiment but at the same time, it really isn’t all that accurate. A lot of the time we’re just guessing about what we think might happen and then get surprised when it does. Those surprises are some of the best parts though and that’s what we’re looking at here.

Kofi Wins

We’ll get one of the biggest out of the way first because it was such an awesome moment. I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground when I say how many people loved this. It was the kind of thing that you only see once every few years and it was one of the best moments that WWE has put together in a long time. The build was great, the match was great…and then they actually did it.

In the weeks building up to Wrestlemania, there was a glimmer of hope that WWE could actually pull the trigger on this but it was hard to believe that they would really go through with it. That’s what made the moment so special: they actually did it, which made the pop that much louder. It’s a great moment and I wish I was there for it, as this one felt special.

Firefly Fun House

You’re probably sick of hearing about this one but sweet goodness it was incredible stuff. This one isn’t so much about one individual edition but more about what the whole thing wound up being. It started back in April and by the end of the summer, it was the hottest thing in WWE and saw Bray Wyatt becoming something new and interesting. Then he wound up winning the World Title and not dropping it almost immediately. Who even knew that was possible?

What worked so well about this was how WWE actually tried something new. They ran with it for a change instead of having it die off almost immediately and that’s a great thing to see. I can’t shake the feeling that this is all setting up another Roman Reigns coronation at Wrestlemania, but at least we had something great over the course of 2019 to show us that this kind of stuff can still be done.

Bayley Turns Heel

Are they allowed to do that? I mean,…..as the introduction says, it’s BAYLEY. How in the world do you turn her heel? I know her heel run hasn’t exactly gone well due to the haircut, being stuck with Sasha Banks (again) and the general mess that is the Smackdown women’s division, but they got us with a great moment of shock when the heel turn actually went down.

The moment that made this was slashing the Bayley Buddies. It’s the symbolism of the whole thing and that’s why it worked. Bayley was one of the most innocent and fun characters you could have and she literally destroyed a big part of what made her who she was. It was great stuff and that’s the kind of thing she needed. Now she needs better execution, but you can’t expect WWE to be able to do something like that.

Dakota Kai Turns Heel

You can’t really separate these two as they’re rather similar in a lot of way, though Kai’s might have been a bit better. What mattered here was they set up a perfectly logical reason for Kai to turn but then they actually did it. That’s the case a lot of the time with some big heel turn: you can have the setup done all the time but it’s the big step of actually going through with it. They did it here and Kai sold it to perfection.

The reason that it clicked for me was how aggressive Kai was. She DESTROYED Tegan Nox at Takeover and it was a really well done turn, even if you probably knew what was coming in the first place. The turn worked very well and Kai sold it to perfection, which is all you can ask for in something like this. What makes it a little better than Bayley’s though is how much better the aftermath has gone. That says a lot as Kai’s hasn’t been anything outstanding, but it’s better than Bayley’s.

Finn Balor Returns To NXT

I thought about putting NXT going to USA but the idea of WWE putting something on TV is hardly new. What is new is WWE actually putting in this kind of effort for NXT. Balor is someone who has main roster credibility but is an absolute NXT legend. That makes him all the more valuable to the new NXT because they’re going to need some star power to go up against Dynamite.

Again though, it’s a case of them actually doing it. We’ve talked about big stars moving down to NXT for a long time now and this time it really happened. Balor is someone who fits perfectly in there and has been a hit since his return. Above all else though it gives you the question of who else might be showing up, which makes you want to keep watching. That’s kind of the point, and it worked.

But then, they did this.

NXT Wins At Survivor Series

I was there in person for this one and I’m still not sure I believed it happened. I know WWE loves this whole Brand Supremacy thing and it really doesn’t mean much in the long run, but this was the symbolic moment that WWE had to pull at some point. Whether WWE wants to admit it or not, NXT is now equal to the main roster shows, but they went a step beyond that and actually gave NXT the win.

I would have put money on Smackdown winning the whole thing as it is the biggest show of the week due to the FOX contract. You could see them getting the win or maybe Raw just because of their history. But NXT? They really did that? I couldn’t believe it when I saw it and I’m still not sure it really happened two months later. It was a great moment and genuinely got me, so well done on the Surprise of the Year.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

This one is usually pretty fun and will likely include some familiar faces. There are a lot of names that come up who drive fans crazy and really, I can’t say I blame them. Some of these people just leave you in awe of how horrendous they can be, either just in the ring or when it comes to putting you to sleep from boredom. This is going to be a combination of that as being uninteresting is a heck of a lot worse than not being able to do a bunch of moves.

Michael Nakazawa

Why does this guy exist? Other than being Omega’s friend, what is the point in having this guy on the roster? He wrestled a handful of times and either got destroyed most of the time, had a nightmarishly bad match at Fyter Fest and then was the damsel in distress over and over again for the sake of Pac tormenting Omega. That’s someone they need to keep around?

My bigger issue here though is how worthless he was in the ring. The baby oil deal got annoying in a hurry and it didn’t help when Nakazawa seemed to be there for little more than comedy/because Omega wants him there. He didn’t do anything important all year and was a glorified prop. When you add in that Fyter Fest match, he deserves at least a mention.

Dolph Ziggler

You’ll see Ziggler’s name come up on lists like this a lot of the time and while I get it, I can’t say he’s the absolute worst. Ziggler can still wrestle a very good match, but he has a lot more going against him than his in-ring work. My issue with Ziggler is that you know exactly what you’re going to get. I can’t remember the last time he changed things up a bit and it feels like everything you see from him is the same thing that you’ve seen from him for years.

The bigger problem though is Ziggler being someone you get thrown in because he has to be there more than anyone that someone might actually want to see. I don’t need to see Ziggler most of the time but he’s ALWAYS there. Maybe it’s more frustration than anything else but whenever Ziggler comes running out, it’s “here we go again” because Ziggler gets thrown into various feuds and stories when it could be a bunch of others getting a shot. Ziggler is certainly good in the ring. The problem is there’s a lot more to it than that.

Dana Brooke

This is a situation where it’s not on the wrestler, at least for the most part. I’m not going to make any suggestion that Brooke is some great in-ring performer or character or anything like that. She isn’t very good in the ring and clearly needs A LOT more training to get to the point where she’s on Raw every week. That being said, I can give her a lot of sympathy for being put in a bad situation.

The problem for Brooke is that she was not ready for this level when she was called up and WWE left her hanging out there to dry. She belongs down in NXT where she can learn a lot more, but instead she’s stuck out there on Raw, losing to everyone in sight and slowly getting better (which she is doing). What matters is she is trying, but it’s a long road to get where she needs to be and she wasn’t given a proper chance.

Baron Corbin

I have said it before and I’ll say it again: Corbin is not that bad. When you put him in the midcard and don’t put him any higher than that, Corbin is perfectly serviceable. The problem is WWE doesn’t know how to hold themselves back with him and he gets one main event run after another, no matter how tired people are of seeing him. They push him to the moon and he winds up all over the show, which kills it every single time.

The King gimmick has helped him out a lot and he was fine beating people up in the midcard. Then it all fell apart because we got to the dog food feud. I can’t stand Corbin most of the time but it’s another case where he doesn’t belong in the spot he’s in. There is a place for Corbin, but WWE doesn’t know what it is and keep pushing him WAY higher than he belongs.

It’s time for an old favorite.

Shane McMahon

Yeah I can’t stand him either. Much like Corbin, it was a case of putting someone in a place where he didn’t belong, but the problem here is Shane has no business being in a ring most of the time. Between the embarrassing punches and some of the reddest faces I’ve ever seen on a wrestler, I don’t want to imagine what would happen if he kept going.

The bigger problem with Shane is how much he won. There was a stretch where he did not lose a match for months, all while beating several former World Champions. We reached the point where he should have been the #1 contender to the World Title and it just never stopped. Kevin Owens FINALLY got rid of him but it took far too long to get there. Shane was all over the shows far too often and it was a disaster far more often than not, putting him on the top of this list.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

This is what causes a lot of the big stuff to take shape and that’s where things get more interesting. You can have all of your great one off matches, but what about something designed to keep things going? Sometimes you get great matches and a hot angle combined together into a feud and that’s when things get special. So what was the most special this year?

Shayna Baszler vs. Rhea Ripley

Shayna is a lot of things but one of them was the bane of my predictions for big shows. Every single time she defended the title I was SURE that she was going to lose it and then she just never did. That was the case for several months as Baszler’s reign just kept going. Someone had to stop her sooner or later and it was pretty clear that Rhea Ripley was going to be an option.

That’s exactly what happened on the last regular NXT of the year in a great moment. Ripley FINALLY won the title after chasing it for a few months, including facing off with Baszler’s team in WarGames. It was a big moment, it had been built up for months, and the Ripley finally paid it off in a great match. This was a huge deal and came at the right time, making it a great piece of business for several months.

British Strong Style vs. Imperium

There is something about a stable war that always works. Well as long as the people involved in it are worth seeing. And they have a good reason for feuding. And it doesn’t go on too long. Ok so it doesn’t always work but when they work well, they’re awesome. That was the case with this one from NXT UK and it only meant good things for everyone involved.

British Strong Style are the most popular guys in NXT UK and it isn’t even close. They are the bedrock of the promotion and when you throw in a scary team like Imperium, there is almost no way that the whole thing isn’t going to work very well. Couple that with some outstanding matches (including the Match Of The Year) and there was no way this wasn’t going to be outstanding.

Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

It was a big year but there were only two options for the top of this list. This was all about Kofi’s chances to win the title, but I wasn’t wild on what it took to get him there. Vince changing the setup time after time got rather annoying and it took too long to get to the point. Everything was fine once we got to the execution, but dang it took a long time to get there.

Then there’s the whole Wrestlemania Moment and one of the best title wins of all time things. This was a case where they couldn’t have stuck the landing better if they had tried and the big payoff was one of the best in years (probably since Bryan won five years earlier). It was the coronation that Kofi fans, including myself, had wanted for a long time and this worked so well. Not the best build, but the title change made up for all of that and more.

You know where this is going.

Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano

There are some criticisms against this feud and I can understand those very easily. The matches went WAY beyond the point of believeability at times and they were all marathons that could have been trimmed down. That being said, the matches were all exciting and gave us some of the best moments of the year, namely Gargano winning the NXT Title for the first time.

What made this work was how it was such a perfect balance of storytelling and wrestling. You don’t get that every day and the whole thing felt epic the entire time. The storytelling aspect with Cole invading Gargano’s world, including going after Gargano’s father, made it all the better. It’s the feud of the year, though I can get why some people wouldn’t like it as much.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 15, 2005
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

It’s the go home show for Summerslam and that means we need one final push to get everywhere we need to go. This includes a dream match between Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan, which wasn’t much of a dream when they did it in 2002 but maybe it’s better three years later. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Shawn Michaels to get things going and the fans have not forgotten why they hate him around here. Therefore, Shawn is willing to try and smooth things over a bit by belting out his own version of O Canada, with lyrics about how much he hates this place. With that out of the way, Shawn starts talking about memories of Survivor Series 1997 and the fans get even worse. On that day, he handed Bret Hart his most miserable defeat so we get a WE WANT BRET chant. Shawn: “You’re not getting Bret because I screwed Bret!”

Shawn says if Bret had any guts and walked down that ramp tonight, he’d screw Bret again because Bret…..and then Bret’s music plays and Shawn panics. The fans go coconuts as the music keeps playing, only to be cut off with Shawn saying he got their hopes up just a little bit. Now that’s some high quality trolling because the fans bought the possibility of the huge return. Shawn talks about how he is everything the fans wish they could be. He uses his live microphone to do whatever he wants to do.

That’s what Hulk Hogan doesn’t like about him either: he’s unlike anyone Hogan has ever faced. Now it’s Hogan’s music playing and Shawn freaks out again, this time taking off his jacket and dropping to his knees. Then he keels over in laughter, talking about how funny it was to torture the fans like this when he had the production team ready to play the songs. Sure it would be great for one of them to come out here and give him what for. See, Hogan isn’t even here yet because his limo doesn’t get him here until late.

That triggers the Goodbye Song so Shawn has a seat in the ring until the chants die down. Shawn says the people know who runs the show now so he can continue. He can’t wait for Summerslam so he can prove he’s the better man because what he says is real while Hogan doesn’t have a sincere bone in his body. The fans tell him to shut the f*** up so Shawn asks if they teach their kids to speak that way. Hogan can try his one move on Sunday but he’ll find out what happens. Just ask Bret Hart.

This was AMAZING as Shawn took a crowd that didn’t like him and made them want to kill him several times over. Then he made Bret and Hogan look like fools to really hammer things home. It was a perfect example of how to torture the fans and take them wherever you wanted to go while building up more heat for yourself than any writer could ever put together. Incredible stuff here and some of the best heat I’ve seen from a heel promo in years.

Big Show vs. Heart Throbs

I don’t think this will have the same amount of heat. Show shoves them down to start and laughs off their efforts. Both Throbs are shoved around again and their various forearms don’t do much. Some loud chops put both of them down but a gorilla press is cut off with a chop block. The attacks in the corner don’t work either and Show splashes both of them. A double backdrop and a double chokeslam give Show the win.

Rating: D. They did something to get Show back on track but I’m not sure what is next for him. It’s the same trouble that he always has: you know what you’re going to get with him and there is very little that can be done to really heat him up past a certain point. There was nothing to the match of course, but that’s kind of the point.

Here are Eugene and Christy Hemme with Eugene struggling through some French. He issues the Gold Medal challenge and here we go.

Eugene vs. Rene Dupree

Kurt Angle runs in for the DQ at about ten seconds.

Post match Angle destroys Eugene and rants about how much he’s going to do to him to take back the medal on Sunday.

We look back at Carlito and Chris Jericho beating up referee Chad Patton last week until John Cena made the save.

It’s time for part one (!) of the Diva Search finale. We hear about their paths to the final and it’s Elizabeth being eliminated to get us down to Ashley vs. Leyla.

Long video on Matt Hardy vs. Edge. It’s a heck of a story and the match should be intense, but I’m worried about living up to the expectations.

Carlito and Chris Jericho are looking forward to their handicap match with John Cena. Eric Bischoff has an idea to take away Cena’s fan support though: tonight, the three of them are all going to be Canadians. Jericho seems rather confused but tells Carlito to call himself Carlito Canadian Cool. They wrap the Maple Leaf around themselves and it’s all smiles. Carlito: “That’s cool eh?”

Carlito/Chris Jericho vs. John Cena

Bischoff is here as the Canadian flag bearer. Jericho starts for the team but tags out before anything happens. Carlito comes in and gets headlocked for his efforts, followed by a headbutt to the afro. Jericho offers a distraction though and Carlito gets in a few cheap shots, only to walk into the flying shoulder. This time Jericho comes in without a tag so Cena cleans house and puts them both on the floor.

We take a break and come back with Cena in trouble as Jericho kicks him in the ribs. Some right hands from Jericho and some left hands from Carlito keep Cena down but he gets in a suplex for a breather. JR is LOSING IT over the unfairness here, saying that if he loses clean on Sunday then Boomer Sooner to Jericho. Carlito hits a neckbreaker for two and we hit the chinlock.

A spinebuster gets two on Cena and Jericho’s missile dropkick makes it even worse. The apple is spat into Cena’s face and Carlito DDTs him for two. Jericho chokes away in the corner and Carlito wipes himself with the flag, which seems to be enough to fire Cena up again. An enziguri into the Walls have Cena in trouble but he kicks Jericho into Carlito, which apparently counts as a tag. The real comeback is on as Bischoff is nearly breaking the flag at ringside. Cena sends Jericho to the apron and hits the FU on Carlito for the pin because the Intercontinental Champion needs to lose AGAIN.

Rating: C. The wrestling wasn’t great here but the storytelling makes Cena look very strong going into Summerslam. It might have been a better idea to have Cena lose (via cheating of course), because it’s a little hard to get behind Jericho beating Cena on his own when he couldn’t with the help of the Intercontinental Champion. The match was good enough, but I’m not wild on the booking.

Post match Jericho chairs Cena in the face in a scary shot.

It’s time to wrap up the Diva Search. First though, we need a long video on how they got here, because they need to try and make it more important. And Ashley wins, meaning she shouts about how great the fans are.

Edge vs. Val Venis

Lita is here with Edge in the battle of Canadians, meaning Val gets the strongest reaction he’s had in years. Edge pounds him into the corner to start but Val is back with running clotheslines and the knees to the ribs. The gyrating is on for a bit and Val knocks him up the aisle for a bonus. Edge drives him back first into the apron though and Edge puts on a bow and arrow to crank on it even more. Val gets in the comeback until an Edge-O-Matic cuts him right back down. The spear sets up the Edgecator to make Venis tap.

Rating: D. This was just a step above a squash but Venis is always someone who has worked hard in the ring, which was the case this time as well. I guess the submission is to throw a curve at Matt, though the feud has cooled off pretty badly since Matt was officially rehired. It might be good in a way, but it’s nothing compared to what it could have been.

Hurricane and Rob Conway argue over Stacy Keibler.

Hurricane vs. Rob Conway

At what point is your career worse because you’re a Tag Team Champion? Conway suplexes him down into a quickly broken chinlock so he knees Hurricane outside. Back in and a running neckbreaker gets two but Hurricane fights out of a neck crank. It’s too early for the Shining Wizard though and Conway grabs the Ego Trip. The top rope elbow finishes Hurricane.

Rating: D. Conway is trying to do something with this and it is far from a failure of any kind. It wasn’t a good place for this match to take place though as it came after an Edge match and right before Hogan wrestles. It wouldn’t matter what Conway did here because the fans would have forgotten the whole thing. You know, because Hurricane losing is memorable.

Summerslam rundown. I’ve seen better and I’ve seen worse.

Kurt Angle vs. Hulk Hogan

The posing goes on for a long time before the bell and Hogan even catches Angle’s attempted cheap shot. For a bonus, Hogan puts the bandanna and glasses on Angle before punching him again. They head outside with Angle being sent into various steel objects but he’s back with the stomping as they get back inside. The chinlock goes on to keep Hogan in trouble and we get two arm drops for the classic Hogan spot. Angle knees him in the back and hits the Angle Slam, only to trigger the Hulk up. The big boot looks to set up the legdrop but Shawn runs in for the quick DQ.

Rating: D. What else were you expecting here? Hogan can barely move and hasn’t been a regular wrestler in a long time so Angle wasn’t about to suplex him all over the place. The ending was a good touch to things as well as they found a way out without having either of them take a fall. Just….get a bit better wrestling.

Post match Shawn loads up Sweet Chin Music but instead puts on the Sharpshooter to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Shawn’s classic promo did what it could here but they were running with an anchor. The problem feels like you have the haves and the have nots at the moment, as anyone who isn’t on Summerslam has nothing to do. It doesn’t help that the Intercontinental Champion is just a helper in the boss’ feud with the World Champion and that the Diva Search winner is treated as a bigger star than the Tag Team Champions. It’s going to be nice to get past Summerslam, but I’m worried about what’s next for them.

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:

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: January 15, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

We’re coming up on Worlds Collide, which is actually looking like a pretty good show in lieu of a traditional Takeover. I’m not sure what to expect from this one, but we will be getting the rest of the first round of the Dusty Classic, plus probably the start of the build to the next Takeover. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory of Rocky Johnson.

Opening recap, including the Undisputed Era invading at Takeover: Blackpool II to attack Imperium.

Here’s Keith Lee for an opening chat. Last week he unlocked an achievement and now he is the #1 contender for the North American Title. The Undisputed Era now have all of the titles and the end of their 2019 was better than anyone….except maybe his. They have reached their limit but he is limitless. Next week he’ll win the title, but here’s the Undisputed Era for the beatdown. Lee gets taken down and Strong Pillmanizes the ankle. Tommaso Ciampa makes a late save to chase everyone off.

Tegan Nox is ready to face Dakota Kai in tonight’s battle royal. Candice LeRae runs up and hugs her.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Broserweights vs. Flash Morgan Webster/Mark Andrews

That would be Pete Dunne/Matt Riddle. Dunne and Andrews start but it’s a very early standoff to send us to a break. Back with Webster flipping out of Dunne’s German suplex but getting caught in a quick X Plex. Webster fights out of the corner, flips over Dunne and crawls underneath Riddle to get over to Andrews. The pace picks up with Andrews doing the double knee slide and backflipping into a double Pele.

Andrews and Webster hit the stereo flip dives, followed by the assisted 450 for two on Dunne back inside. Dunne punches Webster out of the air but Andres is there to break up….well there wouldn’t have been a tag anyway as Riddle was pulling himself back to the apron. A double stomp to the hands allows Riddle to come in and stereo kicks to the head get two on Andrews.

Riddle German suplexes Andrews for two and Dunne grabs an ankle lock to mix things up a bit. Andrews rolls out and hits a double stomp as we take another break. Back with Webster dropkicking Dunne to the floor, setting up the big flip dive onto both of them. Andrews hits a reverse hurricanrana for two on Riddle with Dunne having to shove Webster into the cover for the save. A tornado DDT plants Dunne on the floor but Riddle spears Webster down.

Riddle’s suplex is countered into a small package for two so Riddle throws him into a kick from Dunne for a closer near fall. Andrews grabs a hurricanrana for two on Riddle with Dunne punching Webster into the cover for another save. The Bitter End is blocked and the X Plex is countered into a Stundog Millionaire. Riddle has had it with these two and gives Webster Bro Derek on the floor. Dunne loads up the Bitter End on Andrews, dropping him onto Riddle’s knee to the face for the pin at 18:20.

Rating: B+. This was an interesting one with the regular team being able to hang in there against the two individual stars. Then Riddle took it to a level where they just couldn’t hang and Riddle looked like the star that he is. Dunne looked rather good as well, but Riddle was the monster at the end and it was cool to see.

We look at the Undisputed Era jumping Imperium again.

After the attack, Imperium ranted quite a bit.

There is no update on Lee’s leg.

Here’s Tommaso Ciampa for a chat. He lists off some people that the Undisputed Era have attacked, which shows how they have a hit list. That’s good, because Ciampa has one as well and Adam Cole is on top of it. When Cole took Goldie he took Ciampa’s life and it’s time to take it back. Cue the Era to beat Ciampa down but Johnny Gargano runs in for the save. Gargano and Ciampa even hit Meet In The Middle on Bobby Fish as the DIY chants are on full blast. They seem to want to shake hands but can’t do it.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Alex Shelley/Kushida vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

This is Shelley’s NXT debut. Gibson takes Shelley into the corner to start so it’s Drake quickly coming in, only to get chopped several times. The Veterans are sent outside for stereo dives and we settle down to Gibson trying to send Shelley into the ropes but Kushida comes in off a blind tag and kicks Gibson down. A double running suplex gets two on Gibson and we take a break.

Back with Gibson taking over on Shelley, including a belly to back suplex getting two. The chinlock goes on for all of a few seconds, allowing Shelley to fight up and bring Kushida back in to clean house. The hiptoss into a cross armbreaker has Drake in trouble but Gibson makes the save.

A neckbreaker gets two on Kushida but he’s right back up with a headscissors. Shelley comes back in for a top rope splash with Kushida adding a standing moonsault for two. Kushida’s basement dropkick hits Gibson but Drake shoves him off the top. Sliced Bread is broken up as well and Ticket To Mayhem sends the Veterans to the semifinals at 11:54.

Rating: B. It wasn’t quite as good as the first match but the Veterans winning is certainly fine. The Time Splitters can either keep going or they are just fine with being used as a way to get the Veterans over. Either way, it was cool to hear that they are coming back and it could be interesting to see where they go from here.

Post match the Veterans walk away from the offer of respect. Gibson rants about how they didn’t come here to shake hands in front of a crowd that doesn’t know who Shelley and Kushida are. Shelley and Kushida are a great team but the Veterans are soon to be crowned as the tournament champions.

Here are the updated brackets:

Grizzled Young Veterans

Undisputed Era

Imperium

Matt Riddle/Pete Dunne

I could go for the Era vs. Imperium at When Worlds Collide.

Robert Stone has pulled Chelsea Green from the battle royal because she is too good for the battle royal.

Finn Balor sees a lot of himself in Ilja Dragunov.

Tyler Breeze vs. Isaiah Scott vs. Lio Rush

Angel Garza is on commentary and the winner gets a spot in the four way Cruiserweight Title match at When Worlds Collide. They stare at each other until Breeze kicks Rush and suplexes him down for two. Scott gets armdragged down but is right back with a bunch of strikes to put Rush down. Rush is sent to the apron so Scott charges, setting up his flip onto the floor, with Rush backflipping outside at the same time.

Back from a break with Rush coming back in but getting suplexed from the apron by Scott, with is German suplexed by Breeze at the same time. Breeze starts firing off dropkicks but Scott is right back with a pair of dives for a double knockdown. Back in and Rush plants Scott with a Spanish Fly for two but Breeze kicks them both down for two more. Rush kicks Breeze through the ropes and hits a reverse hurricanrana to plant Scott.

The Final Hour gets two with Breeze making the save to put everyone down. It’s a three way slugout with Scott getting the better of things off a series of kicks, only to walk into a superkick from Breeze. Rush kicks Breeze down as well and hits the Final Hour, only to have Scott try to steal the pin. You don’t do that to Rush though, who hits the springboard Stunner to drop Scott again. The Beauty Shot hits Rush but Scott is back with the JML Driver to pin Breeze at 13:35.

Rating: B-. I can always go for more Scott, who is one of the best untapped talents around a place full of untapped talents. It was quite the relief that it wasn’t the one person hits a finisher and someone else steals the finish do at least they didn’t get on my nerves. This was all action throughout and the four way could tear down a lot of the house.

Rhea Ripley is ready to beat Toni Storm at When Worlds Collide and then face anyone at Takeover.

Johnny Gargano is outside when Tommaso Ciampa comes up to say thank you. Ciampa is about to leave but Gargano has an idea: one more at When Worlds Collide against Moustache Mountain. The Undisputed Era comes up for the fight but Keith Lee Pounces someone into a bush. Another guard is sent into a windshield and Lee promises that the prophecy ends next week.

Battle Royal

Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, Bianca Belair, Kacy Catanzaro , Mercedes Martinez, Shotzi Blackheart, Vanessa Borne, Kayden Carter, Santana Garrett, Io Shirai, Tegan Nox, Indi Hartwell, Shayna Baszler, Catalina, Vanessa Borne. Deonna Purrazzo, Jesse Kamea, MJ Jenkins, Xia Li

Hey Kacy is back. This is Martinez’s first official match as part of the NXT roster and Baszler is a surprise entrant. Everyone stares at Shayna to start but it turns into a regular battle royal instead of a group beatdown. We get a bunch of elimination teases with no one really getting close to going out. Jenkins is sent to the apron but grabs the rope, only to have Shayna wrench the fingers back for the first elimination.

Kamea is sent out and it’s Catalina hitting a hurricane on Shayna. A second attempt doesn’t work so well though and Baszler throws Catalina out. Carter tries to walk the ropes but gets forearmed to the apron. Kacy does the Silly String ala Private Party and Shayna knocks Carter out. Back from a break with Shayna knocking out Santana. Protect Yo Neck gets rid of Borne and Shotzi gets rid of Purrazzo a few seconds later.

Purrazzo pulls Shotzi underneath the bottom rope (not an elimination) and knocks her down with a bicycle kick to let off some steam. Li starts firing off some kicks but gets tossed by Baszler (yes again). Catanzaro’s springboard is broken up and Shirai dropkicks her out. Belair sends Candice to the apron and then into the post to get us down even further. Yim gets backdropped to the floor and it’s Baszler slugging it out with Martinez.

The Kirifuda Clutch has Martinez in trouble and Baszler tosses her without much effort. We’re down to Shirai, Nox, Baszler and Belair with Shotzi on the floor. Nox starts hitting reverse Cannonballs before chokeslamming Shirai onto Baszler. The Shiniest Wizard hits Belair and Nox goes up, only to have Dakota Kai run in and pull her out. Baszler grabs the Clutch on Shirai but here’s Blackheart to surprise Shayna with the elimination.

The argument breaks out and Belair tosses Blackheart so it’s Belair vs. Shirai. Belair can’t toss her out so Shirai hits a 619 to the ribs. A dive is countered into a fall away slam though and Shirai is sat on top. Shirai manages a kick to the head and it’s Belair on the apron but she pulls Shirai out with her.

They slug it out on the apron with Shirai standing on Belair’s head, meaning we need a hair pull legsweep for a unique move. Back in and they slug it out from their knees and then their feet until Belair spears her down. Shirai is right back to German suplex Belair into the corner. The running knees connect but Shirai’s double underhook is countered into the KOD over the top to give Belair the win at 23:01.

Rating: B-. Battle royals are some of the trickiest matches you can run as there are so many people who are just there to fill in spots. By getting rid of them and maybe even setting up some things down the line, they managed to make the match feel a lot more interesting. Belair is a good first Takeover victim for Ripley, though they can build her up rather well in the meantime. This was a long match but they did things the right way and it worked well enough.

Belair celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a bit of a strange show as the wrestling was all good and the storyline developments set up stuff both for Takeover and When Worlds Collide. I didn’t feel quite the connection to it this time though as it wasn’t so much about anything tonight but rather everything was about setting things up for later. That can happen with tournament shows and that was what happened here. It was a very good show though and When Worlds Collide has gone from a show that exists to what sounds like an awesome one so big well done in that area.

Results

Broserweights b. Flash Morgan Webster/Mark Andrews – Bitter End into a knee to the face to Andrews

Grizzled Young Veterans b. Kushida/Alex Shelley – Ticket To Mayhem to Shelley

Isaiah Scott b. Tyler Breeze and Lio Rush – JML Driver to Breeze

Bianca Belair won a battle royal last eliminating Shirai

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:

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: January 15, 2020
Location: Watsco Center, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s the first half of Bash At The Beach, with the second half coming next week from a boat (yes a boat). The big story this week is the fallout from last week with Jon Moxley turning down Chris Jericho’s offer of a spot in the Inner Circle with a champagne bottle. That all but guarantees a title match at Revolution so it’s time to built things up. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory of Rocky Johnson, though JR makes sure to mention La Parka, Kendo Nagasaki and Pampero Firpo passing away recently as well.

The set has a beach theme, complete with a lifeguard in a swimsuit.

Kenny Omega/Hangman Page vs. Santana/Ortiz vs. Young Bucks vs. Best Friends

They don’t waste time on this show. One fall to a finish for the #1 contendership. Trent shoulders Nick down to start but Nick is back up to miss a kick to the face, giving us a standoff. Page comes in to knock Chuck down so it’s off to Matt vs. Kenny, who shake hands before we’re ready to go. Santana tags himself in and everything breaks down for a bit, with the Bucks taking over again.

It’s Trent getting caught in the Bucks’ corner with Matt hitting the rolling northern lights suplexes. Matt tries one too many though and gets caught with a tornado DDT. It’s Chuck coming in to take over, including a standing Sliced Bread and a sitout powerbomb for two on Matt. Santana breaks up the big hug though and it’s a double belly to back flip to plant Matt. The big flips have Santana and Ortiz in even more in control and it’s the passing delayed vertical suplex to Matt.

Ortiz even throws in the Eddie Guerrero dance for a nice moment. Matt hits the flip Stunner out of the corner but since Nick isn’t on the apron, he tags Omega in instead of Page. Omega cleans house with Snapdragons all around and everything breaks down again. Page moonsaults onto Ortiz and Chuck but Omega’s dive is broken up. Santana hits a springboard flip dive onto Page and Omega, followed by Chuck and Nick hitting stereo flip dives.

Trent one ups them all thoug by superplexing Matt onto the huge pile at ringside to put everyone down. We get the huge group suplex with the Bucks, Omega and Page being suplexes at the same time, with Orange Cassidy coming in for the deciding help. That means a big hug and JR is dying of laughter.

The Best Friends hit stereo piledrivers on Omega and Page and there’s Strong Zero to Omega, with the Bucks having to make the save. The Bucks clean house with superkicks and Page runs into a knee from Chuck. Santana and Ortiz get superkicked to the floor, leaving Trent to have to save Chuck from the Meltzer Driver. Page tags himself in though and low bridges Trent to the floor, leaving Chuck to take the Buckshot Lariat/V Trigger combination to give Page the pin at 16:34.

Rating: A-. This was a blast with almost all action for the better part of seventeen minutes. I know it might not be the best in terms of psychology or build but that’s not the point here. It was a crazy, fast paced match and even managed to advance Page’s issues with the rest of the Elite. Great stuff, set up a title match and had storytelling as well.

Post match the Bucks aren’t happy with Page.

Here’s Cody, looking very Miami Viceish, to address MJF’s conditions for a match. We look at the stipulations (Cody can’t touch him until Revolution, Cody has to take ten lashes on live TV and Cody has to face Wardlow in a cage match) and Cody gets it. He understands what it’s like to have someone steal your thunder so maybe MJF understands that once Wardlow debuts, people will think MJF should be carrying his bags. He’s willing to take the lashes, but the easy one is not touching MJF until Revolution.

Cody is already living rent free inside MJF’s head and everyone knows MJF is stalling. MJF has wanted to be famous his entire life and he’s living off the old school wrestling people saying he’s a real villain. Cody accepts the stipulations and is willing to take the lashes because at Revolution, he’ll give MJF his own scar. More good stuff from Cody here, who feels like a star. That’s impressive in a white suit.

Joey Janela talks about looking forward to a new year but got hit low by Penelope Ford. Now Ford is with Kip Sabian, so Sabian can bring it on. Joey is ready to face Fenix next week and get the year on track in a good way.

Mel/Brandi Rhodes vs. Hikaru Shida/Kris Stadtlander

Luther is here with Mel and Brandi, as commentary tries to explain that we should know who Luther is. Stadtlander goes after Brandi but Mel blocks her, leaving Luther to stop Shida in the aisle. Shida isn’t having that and beats him down with a kendo stick to get inside and save Stadtlander.

Mel gets sent outside to start so Stadtlander kicks her from the apron (clearly missed) and then moonsaults from the apron to the floor for….kind of a slap to the back at best. Shida grabs the chair for the step up knee to Mel’s face as Luther has the referee by mistake. We settle down to Mel choking Shida, followed by Brandi getting in some choking of her own. Stadtlander tries to come in for the save so Brandi and Mel do the switch without making a tag.

JR isn’t sure why you wouldn’t just make a tag when you’re in control and we take a break. Back with Stadtlander coming in and hitting a spinning slam for two on Brandi. Mel makes the save so Shida comes in with a missile dropkick which grazed Mel at best. Brandi spears Stadtlander down for two and Mel plants her down for the same. Shida is back up with a superplex to Mel so Stadtlander can hit a running knee for two. Brandi gets knocked off the apron and it’s a kneeling Tombstone to finish Mel at 11:15.

Rating: D. This thing dragged really badly and felt a lot longer than it actually was. There were a lot of noticeable botches as well with several shots just completely missing. Brandi and Mel didn’t work in the ring here whatsoever while Stadtlander and Shida deserve a lot better than what they got here. This didn’t work in the slightest and was just bad on a lot of levels.

A member of the Dark Order talks to the supreme leader about some cases they’re working on. They want Michael Nakazawa, Brandon Cutler and Hangman Page, all of whom have already been interested in the team or are prime targets. See, now this works, mainly because Evil Uno isn’t involved.

Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara

Moxley drives the expensive car into the arena to show off. Sammy hits a running dropkick in the corner to start but Moxley sends him into another corner and hits a clothesline. A springboard cutter plants Moxley to send him outside though setting up the big running flip dive so Sammy can pose a bit. Moxley is right back up but can’t hit the Paradigm Shift on the apron. Instead Sammy hits a middle rope double stomp to the apron and then poses in the ring for a bonus.

We take a break and come back with Sammy hitting a running shooting star press for two. Moxley’s headlock driver gets two and he goes up top, only to get caught with a super Spanish Fly. A jumping knee to the head sets up a torture rack flipped into another knee to the face for two on Moxley and Sammy can’t believe the kickout. Sammy tries a moonsault press but Moxley pulls him straight into a rear naked choke for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B. This was Sammy’s big match here as he looked awesome and put up more of a fight than he has in any match he’s had to date. He was hanging in there with Moxley until the surprise ending, which offers another direction for Moxley. I liked this one a lot more than I would have bet on and it wasn’t the glorified squash I was expecting.

Post match Chris Jericho’s music hits and the lights to out. They come back to reveal the Inner Circle so the big beatdown is on in a hurry. Everyone gets in a shot and Jericho pulls a spike off of his jacket. It goes into Moxley’s eye, which is finally enough to bring out the referees.

Post break, Jericho says that was all on Moxley because they offered him the keys to the kingdom and he smashed a champagne bottle on Jericho’s head. They’ll beat up the Jurassic Express next week when Jericho wipes the deck with Jungle Boy’s hair. Oh and they’ll see Moxley next week, even if he can’t see them. Sammy hits on the interviewer before leaving, which fits him perfectly.

Butcher and the Blade/Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Diamond Dallas Page/QT Marshall/Dustin Rhodes

MJF is wearing an “I BANGED DALLAS’ DAUGHTER” shirt, complete with the Diamond sign. Page, who is actually wrestling without a shirt, and MJF start but it’s already off to the Butcher before anything happens. Marshall comes in to face Butcher so it’s already back to MJF as we’re doing that thing. A cartwheel gets on MJF’s nerves and his offer of a handshake just earns him a middle finger.

Dustin comes in and cleans house but Wardlow slips in the diamond ring for a cheap shot. Bunny and Wardlow both get in their cheap shots and we take a break. Back with “Michael” Jacob Friedman dropping down onto Rhodes’ back and striking a few poses. He drops down onto some raised knees as well to crotch himself (an old Arn Anderson spot) and Dustin sends him outside, allowing the hot tag to Page.

House is cleaned with discus lariats all around and a Diamond Cutter drops Butcher. Another Cutter to Page is blocked so Dustin hits a middle rope Canadian Destroyer instead. Now the Cutter connects to send MJF to the floor and Dustin Cannonballs off the apron onto Butcher and Blade. Page DIVES OFF THE TOP ONTO EVERYONE and we spend so much time looking at replays that we miss MJF rolling up Marshall with trunks for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: C. Butcher and Blade look more and more useless every single week and that’s not going to help them. It doesn’t help when Bunny is getting every bit of the attention and that isn’t going to stop anytime soon. MJF getting the pin was the only logical option to pick here but Page was the star of this match and looked like he did 20 years ago (when he was in his 40s, because he’s that much of a freak).

A drunk Hangman Page interrupts SCU’s interview but Omega breaks it up. Omega shows respect and everything is cool, mainly because he gets Page out of there.

Darby Allin vs. Pac

The winner faces Moxley next week for the #1 contendership. Darby starts flipping a lot and dropkicks Pac down, only to walk into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. A shotgun dropkick puts Pac on the floor but he’s fine enough to counter a hurricanrana into a swing into the steps. Back from a break with Allin being sent into the barricade and a missile dropkick connecting back inside. Allin reverses a super Samoan drop into a super crucifix bomb and the adrenaline is flowing.

A Coffin Drop to the floor drops Pack again and a Code Red gets two on Pac back inside. Pac cuts off a baseball slide by tying Allin in the ring skirt and a hard clothesline gives Pac two. We get a quick pinfall reversal sequence and we have five minutes of TV time remaining. Pac grabs a sitout powerbomb for two, with Tony freaking out on the kickout. Allin gets headbutted off the top though and the Black Arrow to the back finishes Allin at 11:46.

Rating: B-. This was a good example of how to pick someone apart as Pac destroyed Allin’s back the entire match. Pac vs. Moxley should be a heck of a fight and the cool atmosphere should make it even better. Allin continues to wrestle very hard every single week and he has become a star by doing it. Nice match here and Pac looks like a killer.

Post match Pac declares himself #1 contender because Moxley can’t go next week. Pac is coming for Jericho and the title but Tony cuts him off. We see Moxley, with his eye bandaged, being loaded into an ambulance but he gets out and comes to the ring. Moxley says he’ll wrestle blind if he has to and promises to go on to Revolution because it’s his title shot.

Overall Rating: B+. They were this close to having a classic show but the women’s tag and the six man didn’t do them any favors. What worked here worked very well though with the great opener and some awesome angle advancement throughout. It was a heck of a show with everyone working hard and Revolution really starting to take shape. I liked this one a lot and if you fix the glaring problems, it’s their best show ever by a mile.

Results

Kenny Omega/Hangman Page b. Santana and Ortiz, Best Friends and Young Bucks – V Trigger/Buckshot Lariat combination to Taylor

Kris Stadtlander/Hikaru Shida b. Mel/Brandi Rhodes – Kneeling Tombstone to Mel

Jon Moxley b. Sammy Guevara – Rear naked choke

Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Butcher and the Blade b. QT Marshall/Diamond Dallas Page/Dustin Rhodes – Rollup with trunks to Marshall

Pac b. Darby Allin – Black Arrow

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:

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