Main Event – December 5, 2019: The Winter Blues (But More Reds)

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: December 5, 2019
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Mickie James

We’re on the way to TLC and things are starting to get tight as far as setting up the actual card. WWE doesn’t exactly seem interested in building up the show or setting matches for the thing, but to be fair it’s not like the show is going to mean anything in the first place. I’m sure this one will be thrilling too. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Natalya vs. Sarah Logan

So Natalya is the new Dana Brooke? Logan takes her down to start and we’re in the chinlock in the first minute. That’s broken up so Natalya claps a lot before they fight over the leg. The grappling on the mat nearly sets up the Sharpshooter so Logan bails to the floor. Back in and Natalya unloads in the corner, setting up a snap suplex to put Logan outside again. Logan gets in a neck snap though and the chinlock goes on again. Natalya’s belly to back faceplant gets two so Logan sends her into the corner. Not that it matters as Natalya grabs a small package for the pin at 4:55.

Rating: D. This was short and not very good but what worries me even more is the idea of them having another long term feud on here. You never can tell what they’re going to do as far as continuing with the same matches over and over but it can get really annoying. Logan isn’t the best in the world but she deserves better than doing the same stuff week after week.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens with the AOP interfering to attack Owens but not Rollins.

From Raw.

Here’s Seth Rollins to apologize for last week. Rollins talks about how everyone in the back is his family and as the head of the family, it is his job to get the best out of everyone here on Raw. Maybe he went a bit too far with that last week though and he needs to apologize. Lawler does not approve of this and it’s even worse when Rollins asks Owens to come out here and accept his apology man to man.

Owens comes out and says he thinks the only family Rollins has is the AOP. Rollins denies it, but Owens calls (uncensored) BS. Cue the AOP to make the offer of a tag match. Rollins says he’s in but Owens says he sees three scenarios, all of which end in him getting beaten down three on one. Therefore, let’s get it over with now. Rollins walks out and the AOP lets him go, but Owens offers to fight them one at a time. For some reason the AOP leaves so Owens issues an open challenge.

Cue Lana to handle Bobby Lashley’s introductions and shows off her rather revealing outfit as Owens facepalms in the ring. Owens: “NO ONE CARES! I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE NOT DONE TALKING! I AM VOMITING IN MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW!” Lana isn’t done and makes it clear that Rusev isn’t here tonight because the restraining order is on again. Owens says she is repulsive on the inside so Lana calls him a “basic pizza eater”. She threatens to have Lashley come out here and finish him. Owens: “LET’S GET TO IT!!!” Owens as the voice of the fans here is hilarious because he’s absolutely right, but I doubt WWE gets the point.

Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens

There is security on the floor waiting for Rusev. Lashley knocks him to the floor to start but Owens gets in a shot of his own, setting up the frog splash off the apron. Back from a break with Lashley hammering away until a superkick gets Owens out of trouble. The spinning Big Ending gives Lashley two but the full nelson is blocked. Owens hits the Pop Up Powerbomb but here’s the TOP to beat up Owens for the DQ at 8:49.

Rating: C-. Well they didn’t have Rusev interfere, which is actually a bit of a surprise. I’m still not sure what is going on here with the AOP as they could have Rollins as the boss or go in the other direction with a surprise leader. The AOP still aren’t the kind of people you have as the big bads so the leader is necessary. Getting the right one can make it work, but how much confidence should I have in WWE to pull it off?

Post match AOP beats Owens down and drags him off.

Post break Lana and Lashley talk about how tired they are of dealing with Rusev, which has caused Lana to have to hire security. Cue Rusev through the crowd to superkick Lashley and beat him down as Lana screams for the guards to come in. They take their sweet time getting up onto the apron as Rusev bails. They never even got in the ring so Lashley goes outside to yell at them, but since they’re detectives, Lashley gets arrested for getting physical. Lana slaps one of them and is going to jail too.

From Raw again.

The Kabuki Warriors rant in Japanese before their match. They promise to beat Charlotte tonight.

Charlotte vs. Kabuki Warriors

The Warriors now have their own single theme instead of the pretty bad mashup. They jump Charlotte before the bell and the beatdown is on, with the referee giving Charlotte a breather before starting it off. Sane chokes Charlotte in the corner but she fights back, only to get caught by Asuka to keep her in trouble.

Charlotte knocks both of them outside but gets rammed into the barricade to cut her off again. With Sane being sent into the barricade, Asuka kicks Charlotte down to put her right back down. The hip attack hits Sane though and Charlotte kicks Asuka in the face. Back from a break with Sane pounding away but getting kicked out of the air.

The moonsault hits double knees though as Charlotte can’t keep anything going. Sane gets caught in the Boston crab until Asuka kicks Charlotte in the head for the break. Asuka kicks away and grabs the armbreaker, which is reversed into the sitout powerbomb for two with Sane making the save.

Charlotte takes both of them to the top but a double superplex is broken up because it would probably kill everyone involved. Sane hits some top rope knees to the back to give Asuka two but Charlotte is right back with the double spear. The Figure Eight has Asuka in -big trouble until the Insane Elbow (to Charlotte’s bridged ribs) breaks it up for the pin at 16:00.

Rating: C+. Charlotte got too much in here but at least she lost clean in the end, which is how this should have gone. The fact that it was a possibility to see Charlotte get a win over both champions at once though is a bit disturbing, but at least they got it right in the end. Just find some challengers for the champs instead of Becky and Charlotte.

The champs celebrate in the ring until Asuka tries to leave, only to get pointed back in by a production guy’s hand. Nothing happens after that, but they needed to fill in some time.

We look at Roman Reigns destroying Robert Roode on Smackdown.

Cedric Alexander vs. Mojo Rawley

Rawley chills in the corner to start before sending Alexander into another one. A hard whip has Alexander in more trouble and we take a break. Back with Alexander getting two off a crucifix, followed by the Neuralizer for the same. The springboard is countered into an Alabama Slam though and Alexander is done at 6:14. Not enough shown to rate but it wasn’t anything that hasn’t been done before.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Daniel Bryan to talk about everything going on with Bray Wyatt tonight. Earlier today the Miz talked about how the Fiend will change him. Back at Survivor Series, Bryan felt the change from the people. For the last year, Bryan has talked about how the YES Movement is done, but now something has changed. So does he accept Bray’s challenge? YES he does! Cue the Firefly Fun House and Bray is very excited to get to play again but if Bryan does it again, we will see his true form. Bryan helped Bray change in the first place and the Fiend remembers that.

Oh he almost forgot: Bray promised a new face tonight and he is a man of his word. The lights go out in the arena and it’s the Fiend popping up through the ring. Bryan fights him away but gets Mandible Clawed down into the hole. Fiend pulls his hands out of the hole and has a bunch of hair in his hands. He does it again with a bunch of hair being left on the mat and the laughter ends the show. So he’s a Brutus Beefcake fan now?

We look at the setup for Raw’s six man main event.

From Raw.

OC vs. Humberto Carrillo/Rey Mysterio/Ricochet

Carrillo takes over on Anderson’s arm to start and it’s Ricochet coming in with an ax handle to stay on it. AJ comes in and gets taken down by Humberto’s springboard crossbody. They head outside with Carrillo being sent into the barricade and it’s Gallows coming in for an elbow to the back of the head. Joe drops a Red Neck Kung Fu reference as Gallows takes Carrillo down for elbows to the chest.

Carrillo flips over the back and scores with an enziguri. The hot tag brings in Mysterio to pick up the pace and it’s Anderson and Gallows being sent outside. The 619 to AJ is broken up by Anderson and we take a break. Back with Gallows suplexing Mysterio, which is a lot better than having Mysterio fighting out of another chinlock. Anderson comes in for the trash talk into the chinlock but Mysterio sends him into the corner for the break.

Ricochet gets the hot tag to pick up the pace, meaning it’s a bunch of kicks to a bunch of heads. The springboard clothesline into the standing shooting star press gets two on AJ. Styles is right back with the belly to back faceplant for his own two as everything breaks down. The 619 hits Anderson but Gallows superkicks Mysterio down. Ricochet counters the Styles Clash with a hurricanrana for two so Ricochet loads up a super hurricanrana. AJ isn’t about to let that happen though and it’s reversed into a super Styles Clash for the pin at 14:38.

Rating: C+. Pretty standard main event tag here, which worked well enough but was nothing that is going to be remembered beyond….oh I’m thinking tomorrow morning. AJ vs. Orton could be interesting with McIntyre as a nice bonus. I’m not sure about Carrillo being thrown in, but Ricochet will be fine against the OC with the right partner.

Post match AJ poses and gets caught with the RKO to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. I had forgotten how uninteresting so much of the previous week had been. This was a show that didn’t do much and was little more than a show that filled in its requirements. That is the case with Main Event more often than not and it can become a lot to sit through, despite it not being anything in the first place. Bad show here, as the winter funk is strong at the moment.

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

NXT UK – December 12, 2019: I Could Go For More Of That

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: December 12, 2019
Location: Bonus Arena, Hull, England
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness

The roll towards Blackpool continues as we are getting ready for one of the biggest shows that NXT UK has ever had. The show is going to be built around Gallus vs. Imperium in what should be a rather hard hitting feud. That feud will be continuing this week with Gallus defending the Tag Team Titles against Imperium in a main event set up last week. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Isla Dawn vs. Kay Lee Ray

Non-title. The fans seem split but the pro-Dawn chants are a bit louder. Dawn gets in a quick crossbody for two and la majistral is good for the same. It’s way too early for the Gory Bomb from Ray as Dawn reverses into a sunset flip for two instead. Ray blocks a rollup attempt and a faceplant giver her two of her own. Dawn’s leg is wrapped around the middle rope but Ray misses a charge into the corner. A running knee in the corner corner hits Ray but bangs up the knee again. Back in and a Meteora gives Dawn two, only to have the knee go out again. Some superkicks set up the Gory Bomb to finish Dawn at 4:27.

Rating: C. Just a match here as Ray had to sweat a little bit before winning in the end. The fans responded well to Dawn and maybe a face run for her could go somewhere. You don’t exactly expect that out of someone called the White Witch but stranger things have worked. Ray is becoming a bigger deal though and winning like this will get her higher up the all time ranks.

Post match Ray says she doesn’t care who she faces next and mentions both Toni Storm and Piper Niven. Cue Piper with a shake of her head but Storm charges past her to go after Ray. The fight is on but Storm is knocked into Piper, who isn’t happy at being dropped. They argue as Ray leaves, only to have Sid Scala come out and announce a triple threat for the title at Takeover.

Jordan Devlin is here to show some highlights of the rest of the NXT UK roster. We start with the Grizzled Young Veterans defeating Moustache Mountain to become the first Tag Team Champions. Then Tyler Bate got beaten up at the Download Festival. Finally, Bate lost to Walter at Takeover: Cardiff while Devlin was sat on the sidelines. Shame really. Good stuff from Devlin here.

Joe Coffey says Takeover is the biggest night of his career. Last time they were in Blackpool, Walter kicked him in the face so this time it’s time to show that Gallus is the best.

Michael May vs. Trent Seven

Or not as Eddie Dennis comes out and jumps May, telling Seven that it was a gift. No match of course.

Noam Dar wants to fight at Takeover but Johnny Saint gives him a match with Tyler Bate next week instead.

Ridge Holland vs. Jack Starz

Holland throws him around like a toy to start, including a hard head and arms suplex. A knee to the ribs cuts off the comeback cold and there’s a double underhook overhead belly to belly. Starz avoids a charge in the corner and grabs a headlock, which I don’t see going well. Holland pounce the heck out of him though and finishes with Northern Grit at 2:39. Another dominant and impressive performance.

Post match Holland is nice enough to give Starz a tip of the cap.

A healthy Amir Jordan surprises Kenny Williams at the gym. They’re teaming, and dancing, again next week.

Tag Team Titles: Gallus vs. Imperium

Gallus is defending against Marcel Barthel/Fabian Aichner. They start fighting before the Big Match Intros are done and it’s Mark forearming Aichner to start. A headlock takeover puts Coffey down so it’s off to Barthel for an armbar. Aichner slaps on one of his own but Coffey pops up with a jumping shoulder. It’s off to Wolfgang, with Phillips trying to compare him to British Strong Style as the fathers of NXT UK. Other than being in the same place, I’m not exactly seeing the resemblance.

Everything breaks down for a bit and Barthel gets flipped into the corner. He rakes the eyes to get out of a fireman’s carry and some stereo dropkicks in the corner have Coffey in trouble. Barthel gets rather cocky and yells in the corner as a trainer comes out to check on Coffey. He’s fine enough to slap Barthel in the face so it’s more stomping in the corner. Aichner hits a hard clothesline but gets backdropped over the top to give Coffey an opening.

Another backdrop allows the tag off to Wolfgang so house can be cleaned. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Aichner and it’s back to Coffey in a hurry. Now the catapult into the Samoan drop can connect for two and everything breaks down again. With Coffey down on the floor, an assisted spinebuster gets two on Wolfgang.

Coffey is back up to block the European Bomb and it’s time for the slugout. Coffey wins a slugout with Aichner and forearms Barthel out of the air. Aichner drops Coffey but walks into a spear from Wolfgang to put everyone down. Cue the Grizzled Young Veterans to steal the titles but Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster cut them off. They all get in and the match is thrown out at 11:58.

Rating: B. This was getting good by the end but the interference was necessary to get us to the match that really matters. Gallus vs. Imperium could go on for a long time now and if this is the kind of match that we are going to get, we should be just fine for the next several weeks. Or we can just have a big mess of a match at Takeover, which should be fine too.

Post match the big brawl is on until Johnny Saint and Sid Scala come out to announce a four team ladder match for the titles at Takeover. That seems like quite the harsh decision, unfair to the champs and rather overly fair to the Veterans.

Overall Rating: C+. Pretty nice show overall with Takeover coming together (albeit in matches that weren’t really surprising, which isn’t a bad thing) and a solid main event. Things are starting to look good around here and with the shadow of Walter lurking, we could be in for a lot of good stuff for the near and even somewhat far future.

Results

Kay Lee Ray b. Isla Dawn – Gory Bomb

Ridge Holland b. Jack Starz – Northern Grit

Gallus vs. Imperium went to a no contest when the Grizzled Young Veterans, Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster interfered

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

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

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

Final Battle 2019 Preview

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

And yes, this is the big one. I don’t think there is any secret to the fact that Ring Of Honor is not in the best place at the moment. The company has felt beyond ice cold for a long time now and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Maybe their biggest show of the year could make it a little bit better, but they still had a long way to go to make things better. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Joe Hendry/Dalton Castle vs. Josh Woods/Silas Young

So what we have here is a team of wacky partners who didn’t like each other but then did against a team that could be challenging for the Tag Team Titles in the future. In other words, this should go one way to set up a feud between a team, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them switch it up and go with the surprising result.

I’ll take Woods and Young to win as Castle and Hendry can’t get along. It isn’t an interesting feud, but their combined charismas alone should be enough to get them somewhere. That being said, it’s hardly enough to be all that interesting of a feud and this could only make it on the pre-show. Woods and Young could be fine for some short term #1 contenders, but they’re the best of a bad group of competitors and little more.

Pre-Show: Kenny King vs. Rhett Titus

We have a battle of former tag team partners here, albeit from a team that hasn’t been together in years. King has seemed like someone Ring of Honor has wanted to push for years while Titus is….well he used to be in a good team and that’s about all he has going for him. His deal is that he has a great physique and wins some lower card matches, so naturally we need this match on the show.

For the sake of sanity, I’ll take King to win here as there is zero reason to push Titus. King at least has a resume around Ring of Honor and has more charisma than he knows what to do with and that is enough to give him the nod here. This is a match that should have taken place years ago and now it feels more like they’re doing it because it was written down as a note years ago and they found it under a box.

Jeff Cobb vs. Dan Maff

You might not be familiar with Maff as he is someone from way back in the day for the company. He’s back now though and we have a hoss battle on her hands, with the big Cobb facing the even bigger Maff. Sometimes it’s ok to have a match where two big guys hit each other really hard and throw each other around, which is what we’re going to be getting here.

Cobb takes this of course because Ring of Honor hasn’t gone completely insane yet. Maff is there for the limited legendary status he can offer to the company and Cobb is someone who they could consider giving the World Title in the near future. This one should be the biggest layup on the card and it could be a rather entertaining fight if they keep it short enough.

Angelina Love vs. Maria Manic

This is a case where it isn’t clear what to expect because of one major factor. Over the last few weeks, there have been a series of messages and emails released showing just how bad things have gotten backstage. Manic has been the subject of some of those messages, with Ring of Honor management suggesting that they don’t see much value in her and that she is leaving soon. So what does that mean for this?

I’m still going with Manic, as there is no logical reason to go with Love and I doubt those in charge of the company care enough to beat her on the way out. At the same time though, it wouldn’t shock me if they threw the Women of Honor Title on the line here and gave it back to Love, as the division really is bad enough that the Beautiful People is the best idea that they can come up with at this point. I think Manic wins, though I’m not exactly convinced that she will.

Mark Haskins vs. Bully Ray

This is the latest (out of FAR too many) instance of Ray being a jerk to some young, up and coming wrestler while shouting about being a legend and a Hall of Famer. Then the young guy feuds with Ray for months before going on to defeat him in the blowoff match. That’s the situation we’re in again here as Ray is the booker and therefore gets to do what he wants.

Hopefully I’m not insane by going with Ray to get even more comeuppance by losing to Haskins again here. Haskins is someone that Ring of Honor seems to like and given how their roster has been looking as of late, it would make a lot of sense for them to push someone new. I don’t know if Haskins is the right call to get the big push, but they have to go with someone so why not him?

Bandido/Flamita vs. Villain Enterprises

We may be seeing an out with the young and in with the new here as Marty Scurll seems ready to leave the promotion for AEW and Flamita is there to be a star. I’m not sure how this is going to go as a result, but the match should be entertaining due to Scurll’s talents and Flip Gordon being able to fly with just about anyone.

That being said, I don’t think he can fly with Bandido and Flamita, who are two of the best in the world at the moment. This should be their big debut on the grand stage and that means we could be in for one heck of a spectacle. It wouldn’t surprise me if this is it for Scurll and that is one of the worst things that could happen to Ring of Honor at the moment. Flamita is awesome though, and seeing him fly around with Bandido for the time being should be great.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoes(c) vs. Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham

Lethal is one of the most successful wrestlers in the history of Ring of Honor but somehow he has never won the Tag Team Titles. He also just turned heel for the first time in years after getting frustrated with losing. Gresham is the one who drew him over to the side of evil so I think you know where this is going.

Of course I’m going with the Briscoes dropping the titles here because there isn’t anything else for them to do at the moment. Gresham and Lethal are at least a fresh pair to hold the titles as there is only so much that can be done when the Briscoes have dominated the Tag Team Titles for so long. It might be time to see what they can do as solo acts again because the lack of star power is really hurting things. Let Lethal and Gresham see what they can do with the titles, because the Briscoes need a break.

Matt Taven vs. Vincent

This is a feud that started a few weeks ago but we only just heard about it on television recently. Vincent is the former Vinny Marseglia, who helped make Taven World Champion. The act was beyond tired though and it was time to try something new, though I’m not sure how interesting Marseglia is going to be on his own. That being said, Taven’s title reign is partially why the company is such a mess so this could go either way.

I’ll take Vincent to win here, likely through some shenanigans, as otherwise the feud is done here. Taven is a much bigger star and a win over him would mean something, but I’m not sure how high of a ceiling Vincent is going to have on his own. Hopefully we get a good, intense brawl here as the card is going to need something like that. But yeah, Vincent wins here for the sake of keeping things moving forward.

TV Title: Shane Taylor(c) vs. Dragon Lee

Taylor is someone who has turned into a dominant champion but having him be the champion for hire isn’t exactly thrilling. He’s been turned into the dragon for someone to slay and…well…he’s facing someone named Dragon so it kinds of balances out. Couple that with Taylor also being rumored to be gone from the company and I think you know how this is going to go.

Give me Lee to become the new champion, which is probably best for everyone. He’s a very fast paced guy and someone who could be a great focal point going forward. The fact that his brother is coming into the show as the World Champion helps quite a bit. There isn’t much of a point to keeping the title on Taylor other than for the sake of a surprise, so go with Lee as the new champion instead.

Ring of Honor World Title: Rush(c) vs. PCO

So here we are, with one of their biggest matches of the year and it’s going to be Rush, a total star, against a Cinderella/nostalgia/freak show challenger in the form of PCO. I really don’t know how much they can drag out of PCO but that’s what we’re getting here. His run back to Ring of Honor was quite the accomplishment, but going this far? That’s their best option?

For the sake of sanity, I’ll go with Rush retaining here, though it would shock me if he is around the company all that much longer. Rush is someone who could be a top star in a major company for a long time to come and that means I can’t imagine him being in Ring of Honor that much longer. He’ll retain here, but I have no idea who they’re going to find to put the title on next. PCO getting here is so far beyond what anyone could have predicted for him and he can take a ton of pride in getting this far given everything about him. I’m not expecting much of a match, but Rush retains.

Overall Thoughts

I don’t even know how we got here but things are just such a mess around Ring Of Honor these days. Nothing sounds interesting, the television is a waste of time and there is little reason to believe things will get better. That being said, their big shows do tend to be good bell to bell and really, that’s all you can hope for from this company at the moment. The wrestling could carry things for a night, and that’s as much of a positive as you can realistically expect from them these days.

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

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

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

Ring Of Honor TV – December 4, 2019: They Seem Happier This Way

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor
Date: December 4, 2019
Location: Express Live!, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay

It’s time for the final push towards Final Battle but around here it would be nice to have things actually get going on the build towards the show. I’m still not sure why Ring of Honor isn’t interested in promoting their biggest show of the year with any kind of intensity but that is the case aside from one or two matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We open with a look back at Jay Lethal turning heel, setting up the Lethal/Jonathan Gresham vs. Briscoes at Final Battle.

Ian and Quinn hype up the show, including an exclusive match.

Josh Woods tells Silas Young to hang on a second as he’s getting ready. Young doesn’t want to hear it.

Silas Young/Josh Woods vs. Soldiers of Savagery vs. Coast to Coast vs. Bouncers

Woods runs LSG over to start and gets two off a crucifix. LSG headlocks him to little avail so it’s Young coming in to work on the arm. That’s fine with LSG, who brings in Ali for some headlock takeovers. Milonas tags himself in though and sends Ali into the corner for a splash from Bruiser. A spinebuster gets two on Ali as commentary points out the lack of the Soldiers being in so far.

Bruiser is falsely accused of biting to NO reaction and we take a break. Back with the Sons working over the Bruiser in the corner but Moses’ Vader Bomb hits knees. Khan comes back in but misses a charge, allowing the hot tag minus the heat to Milonas. House is cleaned in a hurry using the power of weight moving somewhat fast, including a Samoan drop to Khan. The backwards splash gets two but it’s Coast to Coast coming in for the Complete Shot for two on Bruiser.

Woods’ running knee to the face gets two on LSG and it’s Woods having to fight off the Soldiers on his own. MNM’s old Snapshot hits Woods for two more but it’s Milonas diving off the apron to take out a bunch of people on the floor. LSG is back up and offers a head fake so Ali can flip dive onto the Solders and Milonas. A big dive from LSG takes even more people down but Woods superplexes Bruiser onto everyone else.

Back in and Woods hits Rolling Chaos Theory for two on Khan but Ali comes back in with a lifting Downward Spiral. Bruiser’s swinging DDT hits Moses but LSG is back in with a springboard spinning forearm. The Soldiers plant Bruiser with a double spinebuster but it’s Milonas cleaning house. Back up and Coast to Coast wrecks things, only to have LSG get sent into Woods’ jumping knee for the pin at 15:12.

Rating: C. It was fine but much longer than it needed to be. There were too many people involved here and the spots got no reaction. That’s part of the problem with having the Briscoes as such dominant champions: none of these four are going to be a threat to them, making this nothing more than filler. Woods and Young have a match at Final Battle, even if it wasn’t mentioned here. That being said, they needed to get a third of this show because….well what else were they going to do?

Wrestlers say Happy Thanksgiving.

Shane Taylor is ready to continue being the most dominant champion in Ring of Honor history. He’ll beat Dragon Lee at Final Battle so Lee and his brother Rush aren’t going to be champions at the same time.

Buy merch!

Video on Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry, who are doing better. They have a match at Final Battle, though their opponents (Woods and Young) aren’t important enough to mention.

Video on Rush.

Clips of the Allure beating Jenny Rose/Sumie Sakai in a No DQ match at Unauthorized. Post match Angelina Love bragged about winning (in a Hulk Hogan impression for some reason) when Maria Manic came in to say she was going to end Love at Final Battle.

Kenny King vs. Ultimo Guerrero vs. PJ Black vs. Eli Isom

King goes after Isom’s leg to start and it’s time for a wacky four man submission as we take an early break. Back with Guerrero running Isom over as the other two are down on the floor for a breather. King takes Isom’s place for a chop off and you just don’t do that to an older wrestler.

Isom is back in with a springboard missile dropkick to Isom before joining forces with Black on a double backdrop to Guerrero. Black and Isom hit the stereo suicide dives before they both miss kick to each others’ heads. Stereo crossbodies put them both down so King comes back in to stomp away. A spinning enziguri drops Black and it’s a reverse suplex into a Stunner (cool) to give King two on Isom. Guerrero gets his chance to clean some house before it’s Isom doing the same, including a middle rope moonsault to the floor.

We take a break and come back with King hitting a big dive off the stage and over the barricade to take everyone else down. Back in and Amy Rose breaks up Black’s superplex so he sits up to German superplex King and Isom at the same time. Guerrero runs King over but walks into the Air Raid Crash to give Isom two. Black breaks that up as well and hits a middle rope moonsault into a dropkick to the side of the head (cool) to finish Isom at 11:10.

Rating: C. Remember earlier when we had a four way tag match with a bunch of insanity? Well cut it in half here. Black winning is as good as anyone but King winning, as King is the only one with a match on the pay per view. The others could have been any warm bodies and that isn’t exactly inspiring stuff.

A bunch of Final Battle graphics wrap us up. It’s better than nothing.

Overall Rating: D. Another week and another bit of evidence that this company has no idea what they’re doing these days. Final Battle is being treated about the same as some Honor Club event in July and I don’t think they really care. When your highlight is a PJ Black match, it’s almost all the proof you need of how bad things have gotten around here. The show wasn’t horrible, but it was a big, big waste of time.

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

NXT – December 11, 2019: I Don’t Like This Feeling

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: December 11, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

It’s the next to last show of the year with one more show to go after this in 2019. That show is going to need a main event and we’ll be setting that up tonight with a triple threat match for the #1 contendership to the NXT Title. In other words, it’s Keith Lee vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Finn Balor, which should tell you everything you need to know. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at the triple threat but Adam Cole cuts things off to say this is a waste of time. Whoever wins tonight is just cashing a ticket to a beating from the best NXT Champion of all time. That is undisputed.

Cruiserweight Title: Angel Garza vs. Lio Rush

Rush is defending and we get the Big Match Intros, as we certainly should for something like this. Rush jumps him before the bell though and it’s a brawl to start until Garza spears the champ through the ropes. A tackle into the steps has Garza down but he drops Rush face first onto the apron to take over. Garza can’t TAKE OFF HIS PANTS though as Rush tackles him down and starts the rapid movements. He gets caught in the corner though and a superkick gives Garza two more.

Garza sends him outside though and we take a break. Back with Rush getting in a shot to the face to put Garza on the floor as well. That means a moonsault to the floor as the pace slows a bit. A slingshot reverse suplex is reversed into a crossbody for two on Garza but he catches Rush with an enziguri on top. That means the super Spanish Fly for a very close two, followed by an exchange of superkicks for the double knockdown.

It’s Rush up first with a Wing Clipper of his own for a near fall of his own but Garza puts him in an electric chair. For some reason Garza drops him onto the ropes so Rush bounces right back with the Stunner. The Final Hour connects but Garza crawls to the floor…..AND RUSH TAKES OFF GARZA’S PANTS! Another Final Hour to the floor only hits knees though and the Wing Clipper gives Garza….two. In a smart move, Garza grabs the underhook again and pulls back for the tap and the title at 15:17.

Rating: B. This was an intense, back and forth match with Rush trying as hard as he could but ultimately being beaten by the better man. That being said though, it isn’t exactly an interesting feud and while Garza has been impressive, he just feels like the next guy to hold the title. It’s way better than whatever they would do on 205 Live, but the title still doesn’t serve much of a purpose other than filling in time on these now double length shows.

Clip from a special on Shayna Baszler vs. Rhea Ripley to set up their title match next week. That is feeling special.

Finn Balor doesn’t like Tommaso Ciampa because he calls the NXT Title Goldie. He’s coming for the title.

During the break, Garza brought his girlfriend into the ring and proposed to her. She said yes, as you might have expected.

Last night, Cameron Grimes attacked Kushida at the Performance Center.

Cameron Grimes vs. Raul Mendoza

Grimes jumps him in the corner to start and sends him outside for a big flip dive. Cue Kushida for a distraction though and Mendoza snaps off a hurricanrana for the pin at 1:14.

Kushida steals the hat, just to be evil.

Mia Yim is furious at Dakota Kai and promises to put her in an ambulance tonight.

Video on Travis Banks, who is in action tonight.

Travis Banks vs. Jaxson Ryker

When Worlds Collide preview. Banks starts fast by kicking him to the floor and hitting a suicide dive. Back in and Ryker chops away in the corner before throwing Banks down with ease. Banks dropkicks the knee out to send Ryker into the corner though and there’s a Cannonball to the back. The top rope double stomp misses so Ryker ax handles him in the chest. A missile dropkick sets up the Slice of Heaven to pin Ryker at 2:46. Remember when Ryker was an unstoppable monster who survived a bunch of ladder shots earlier this year at Takeover? NXT doesn’t either. Or Banks is just that awesome.

Dakota Kai vs. Mia Yim

Yim dropkicks her into the corner to start but Kai forearms away. That just earns her a toss into the corner and a basement dropkick to the head gives Yim two. Kai is back with some kicks to the back but a missed charge puts Kai on the floor. That means a Cannonball against the steps as we take a break.

Back with Yim working on the leg but getting sent face first into the buckle. The circling kick to the face gets two on Yim but she scores with some kicks to the ribs. A belly to belly sends Kai down for two more, followed by Code Blue for the same. Kai grabs a sitout powerbomb out of the corner for two but a one kneed Codebreaker puts her on the floor. Back in and Yim charges into a boot to the face, allowing Kai to pull off a turnbuckle pad. A bounce off the exposed buckle gives Kai the pin at 10:00.

Rating: B-. Yim is a lot better when she’s motivated like this and we got a good match out of it. I’m also rather surprised by how well Kai has done with the heel run. She seems like the most natural face ever and yet here she is cheating and making me want to see someone stop her. Well done indeed and a good match too.

Post match Yim goes after Kai again and takes her onto the tech platform. The belly to back superplex onto some tables destroys Kai as Yim is up pretty quickly. Kai may be hurt as the referees are checking on her for a good bit.

Keith Lee says all he needed was an opportunity and now it’s going to take a lot to stop him. He’s the only one who can make the other two bask in his glory.

Breezango vs. Singh Brothers

One: Breezango are doctors this week. Two: I ALREADY WATCH 205 LIVE SO WHY DO I HAVE TO WATCH THESE STUPID SCHMUCKS HERE TOO????? A jumping knee to the face rocks Sunil to start and a Backstabber puts him down again. It’s off to Fandango, who avoids a charge in the corner to get two on Samir.

A dropkick lets Sunil get a breather and he sends Breeze outside for a few seconds. Back in and the Bollywood Blast gets two on Breeze and we hit the chinlock. Breeze enziguris his way out of trouble and it’s back to Fandango for a top rope kick to the face. Everything breaks down and Samir gets powerbomb onto the apron. Back in and the Last Dance gives Fandango the pin at 4:17.

Rating: D. Well that certainly existed. I’m not sure what the appeal or even point here was supposed to be but it did fill in some time. Having Fandango in a costume of the week (or month at this rate) is missing the point, but it’s not like it’s going to matter all that much either way. At least they got on TV, but

We get another part of the Baszler vs. Ripley video, this time focusing on Ripley’s rise to the top of NXT UK.

Kayden Carter vs. Bianca Belair

Belair charges at her in the corner to start but Carter is right back with a springboard kick to the face. A backbreaker into a gutbuster puts Carter right back down and it’s off to an Argentine backbreaker. That’s broken up so Belair drops down onto Carter’s back a few times. Carter comes back with a forearm to the ribs but the tornado DDT is blocked. Carter gets knees up to block a moonsault and Belair misses a charge to the floor. Back in and Belair spears her down, setting up the KOD for the pin at 4:55.

Rating: C. Carter is someone who has impressed me multiple times so far and she got in some offense against a much bigger star here. Belair is fine in moments like this but she keeps falling short at the finish line. It wasn’t a squash though and that’s a good sign for Carter’s future.

Adam Cole comes out to watch the main event.

Video on Tommaso Ciampa, who is back to claim what is his.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Keith Lee vs. Finn Balor

During his entrance, Ciampa dedicates this to Goldie. Ciampa starts on Balor to start with Finn being sent outside. That means a stalking from Lee, who drops Balor onto the apron. Lee sends him back inside for a slingshot dive onto both of them for the big knockdown. Back from a break with Lee crushing both of them with corner splashes until Ciampa kicks him in the face. A Cactus Clothesline leaves Balor alone in the ring but it’s Ciampa back inside in a hurry.

Ciampa’s running knees to the face has Balor in trouble and there’s a double hanging DDT to both Lee and Balor. Ciampa pats himself on the back (as he does) and starts slugging away at Lee for a change. Lee runs him over but the splash hits knees in a hurry. The Fairy Tale Ending is broken up though and it’s Balor coming back in for a double stomp to Lee’s chest. With everyone back in, Lee starts crushing the other two in the corner.

That gets the fans going all over again and a double backdrop makes it even worse. Lee goes up but gets double super Russian legsweeped back down. We take another break and come back again Ciampa trying the super Air Raid Crash….so Lee puts them both on his shoulders for a double electric chair. Lee misses a middle rope moonsault but he’s fine enough to hit the Limit Breaker on Ciampa. Balor reverses another attempt into a small package for two but Lee is fine enough to block the Sling Blade.

The Spirit Bomb is countered into a double stomp. Ciampa is sent outside and Balor hits a big flip dive onto Lee. Balor sends Ciampa into the barricade to knock down some fan but it’s time for Lee to start running people over back inside. Ciampa goes after Lee’s knee and somehow hits the Air Raid Crash for two. Back up and Lee plants him with a spinebuster, setting up the middle rope moonsault for two of his own. The Spirit Bomb hits Ciampa but Balor comes in off the top with the Coup de Grace to Lee (that was some great timing) for the pin and the title shot at 18:10.

Rating: B+. The ending alone made this one that much better as Balor came in out of nowhere and got the pin, including after hitting his finisher instead of stealing someone else’s win. This is a match where no one looks bad and the action was awesome throughout so what more can you ask for? Other than Lee winning, but he seems safe for now.

Cole stares Balor down and the Undisputed Era comes out to join him to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I’m not sued to saying this but for the first time in a long time, it felt like this show dragged in parts. There were matches (Belair and Breezango in particular) which felt like they were there for nothing other than filler to get us to the two hour run time. That being said, you had the Cruiserweight Title match, the main event and Grimes vs. Kushida continuing so we should be fine going forward. It just makes me miss the hour long format because this could have been a classic show had they not had to stretch to fill in the time.

Results

Angel Garza b. Lio Rush – Double underhook pull

Raul Mendoza b. Cameron Grimes – Hurricanrana

Travis Banks b. Jaxson Ryker – Slice of Heaven

Dakota Kai b. Mia Yim – Ram into an exposed turnbuckle

Breezango b. Singh Brothers – Last Dance to Sunil

Bianca Belair b. Kayden Carter – KOD

Finn Balor b. Keith Lee and Tommaso Ciampa – Coup de Grace to Lee

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

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

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

Monday Night Raw – July 11, 2005: SURPRISE!

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 11, 2005
Location: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 9,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re a week removed from the earth shattering split of Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan, whose friendship dated back all of two months (with about six weeks off in the middle). Tonight we start the build towards what is almost guaranteed to be a big time Summerslam match, but there is one more important thing to deal with: one of the interchangeable women in the Diva Search is going home! Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Shawn superkicking Hogan last week. It may not be the best angle but that really is a dream match and a battle of the generations.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Carlito to start things off with Carlito’s Cabana. Everyone is talking about Carlito and his show and last week, his guest was Hulk Hogan himself. Carlito knows that the fans want answers so here is his guest this week: Shawn Michaels. Well that would be the case if Shawn had turned Canadian, started wearing sunglasses and become Chris Jericho. Carlito isn’t sure what is going on but offers to let Jericho sit back and have an apple.

Jericho isn’t having that because he’s on a roll right now and therefore should be running this show. It’s time to clear things up a bit, meaning Jericho wants the Jeritron 5000 down here so it can be the Highlight Reel. Jericho tries to bring out Shawn instead, but Carlito cuts it off and says Jericho is too fat to be the host of this show. Love handles are NOT cool you see. Jericho calls him gordo and dubs himself Chris Canadian Cool. He refers to Carlito as Sideshow Bob and knows Shawn doesn’t want to be on an amateur talk show like this one. Shawn would want to be on Johnny Carson’s show, not Carson Daly’s.

Jericho tells Shawn to get out here right now but it’s RODDY PIPER instead. Roddy takes us further into the past by calling Carlito Buckwheat before saying that tonight, Shawn is in Piper’s Pit. So we just spent nearly fifteen minutes arguing which talk show someone is going to be on. Shouldn’t the bigger issue be why we have so many talk shows?

Video on the Asian tour.

Chris Masters vs. Tajiri

Fallout from Tajiri misting him two weeks ago. Masters jumps him at the bell to start and the beating is on in a hurry. Tajiri kicks his way out of trouble and the handspring kick to the face puts Masters on the floor. The ECW chants start up as Tajiri kicks him down for two more. A tornado DDT is blocked so Tajiri kicks him in the head for another two instead. The Tarantula is countered into a faceplant and the Masterlock finishes Tajiri.

Rating: D+. Tajiri’s kicks are always worth a look/listen but what else were you looking for here? Masters is just so boring and there is no way around it. It isn’t helping that he has been around here for months now and his big win is over Tajiri. They haven’t done him any favors and it’s getting less interesting every week.

Gene Snitsky comes in to see Edge and Lita as they are watching their wedding video. After a few highlights, Edge asks Snitsky some help with Kane tonight. In exchange, Snitsky can have Lita’s…..feet. He tries to suck her toes as a preview but that’s too far for Edge and Lita. Snitsky has to complete his mission first and then they’re all his. I REALLY don’t want to know who came up with this but I do want whoever it was to stay far away from the writing room.

We see HHH being taken out of the Cell two weeks ago.

Intercontinental Title: Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito

Carlito is defending after having beaten Shelton in back to back title matches. Shelton punches him down to start and a suplex gets two. The dropkick is good for the same but Carlito is back with his own dropkick. Shelton is right back up though, meaning it’s time for Carlito to take a breather.

Back from a break with Shelton fighting out of a chinlock so Carlito sends him outside in a heap. The LET’S GO SHELTON chants get on Carlito’s nerves so he stomps away and grabs another chinlock. With that broken up, Carlito chokes away on the ropes for a good bit instead. The third chinlock goes on, which really shouldn’t be the case in a match that has been going for ten minutes.

Shelton finally gets up so Carlito DDTs him right back down for two. A suplex is reversed into a neckbreaker for two on Carlito and Shelton’s backbreaker gets the same. Carlito grabs a rollup with trunks for two, followed by a superplex for the same. That kickout is a bit too much for Carlito so he grabs the title, only to get caught with a Samoan drop. Shelton grabs him by the hair and they fight over a suplex to the floor. A kick to the head sends Carlito outside again…and he’ll just take the countout to retain.

Rating: D+. Too many chinlocks in a short match can hut things a good bit, as can just walking out to retain the title. That being said, it does fit Carlito so it doesn’t come out of nowhere. I’m not sure how this warranted a trilogy either, but odds are we’re going to see it again soon and that isn’t exactly appealing.

John Cena and Eric Bischoff are arguing in the back.

Here is Cena for a chat so we’ll start with the sucking up to the crowd. He’s glad to be here but hang on because we need some cheer soaking. Now though, Cena needs to worry about Y2 Cheap, who was talking about beating Cena up last week. That’s not how Cena remembers it though because Jericho believes he can take the title anytime.

Cue Bischoff, who doesn’t seem happy about….well anything really. Bischoff shrugs off the fans and says Cena will defend the title whenever Bischoff says so. Cena really doesn’t like that tone and thinks he’s being provoked but here’s Jericho to interrupt. Bischoff calms things down in a hurry and gives Jericho the Summerslam title shot. As you might expect, Jericho is rather pleased and calls Cena a thug.

That’s too far for Cena, as tends to be the case for him. Jericho cuts him off and says that he’ll be the biggest star in WWE and sell EVEN MORE RECORDS. Cena knows Jericho is looking forward to living off the cheap sauce in cheap land but he’d rather fight right now. That’s a no, but Jericho does promise to win the title. With Jericho gone, Cena gives Bischoff the AA to blow off some steam (Bischoff holding the mic and begging until he hit the ground was great). It was a good exchange, though Jericho doesn’t exactly come off like a major challenge to the title here.

It’s time for the first Diva Search elimination. That would be Alexis, who is actually a pretty blonde if you can believe that. With that out of the way, it’s time for a talent competition and egads take me now.

Ashley has been training to wrestle so she monkey flips Christy Hemme.

Leyla has to wait for the referee who prevented her wardrobe malfunction last week because she wants to dance for him. As expected, it ends in a low blow.

Summer backflips into the splits, and then does it again because it took about five seconds out of sixty.

Krystal, who is dressed as a French painter, including a mustache, pulls off her clothes to reveal a swimsuit and then pours paint over herself so she can roll around on some paper.

Elizabeth dances, albeit with a police theme so she handcuffs Christy to the ropes and spanks her.

Simona pulls out a sword and gyrates in front of Coach.

Cameron gives Christy a lap dance. Christy: “I think she’s done that a few times.” Coach: “Christy I think you’ve done that a few times.”

Every time I think that they’ve hit the all time low point of wasting time, we get something like this. Sweet goodness this was AWFUL as they continue to manage to make good looking women in little clothing feel worthless.

Here’s Kurt Angle for the debut of the Kurt Angle Invitational on Raw. He explains the rules (three minute time limit, the opponent only has to survive to win the gold medal) and brings out this week’s opponent: Matt Striker, a former teacher who called in sick to be able to go wrestle. Angle has already beaten him once in Philadelphia (in February), though Striker says he’s from New York here. Angle: “Man you lie a lot!”

Kurt Angle vs. Matt Striker

Feeling out process to start until Angle takes him down into a Fujiwara armbar. Angle uppercuts him in the corner and hits a hard belly to back suplex as we hit the halfway point. Striker gets in some right hands but walks into an overhead belly to belly. The straps come down but Striker sends him shoulder first into the post with less than a minute to go. Angle gets back in with about twenty seconds left so Striker hammers away in the corner. A low blow has Angle in trouble but he picks the ankle and makes Striker tap with a second left. I knew the ending and they had me wondering how they were going to pull it off. That takes talent.

Kane laughs at the idea of getting to face Edge.

Edge and Lita are on the way to the ring when MATT HARDY runs in from behind him and gets in a few shots. The fans take a second to realize who it is but then go nuts when they figure it out. Lita screams at Matt, who stares back at her but then runs out the door when security shows up. This was a heck of an angle and one of the best bits of shock value I’ve seen from them in months.

The Boogeyman is coming as the generation’s cast continues to grow.

Kane vs. Edge

The fans start chanting for Hardy as Kane hammers away in the corner. Edge manages to send him outside for some forearms to the back but Kane gets in an uppercut. The fans are still gung ho for Matt, even as Kane hits the good looking side slam. There’s the top rope clothesline but Kane goes after Lita, drawing in Snitsky for the DQ.

Kane and Snitsky brawl into the crowd and it’s Matt running in from the other side to go after Edge. They brawl a bit until referees break it up with Matt heading to the floor. Matt calls Edge a b****** and Lita a w**** before saying something about Ring of Honor until security takes him down. I’m not sure I would have done both segments in one night but DANG this worked and felt like the first must see angle in a long time.

We look at Shawn turning on Hogan again.

Here’s Roddy Piper for Piper’s Pit to wrap things up. He doesn’t waste any time with wacky references before bringing Shawn out for the explanation. Piper asks why Shawn did it last week and hands him the mic for the explanation (alas without a congratulation because turning on Hogan would be a very Piper thing). Shawn talks about spending twenty years trying to give the fans something to remember. No one has left them with more Wrestlemania memories than him or had a bigger impact on the direction of this industry than he has.

Back at the Hall of Fame, Shawn heard the ONE MORE MATCH chants so he knew what he had to do. Shawn sacrificed himself to give the fans what they want. Now he knows Hogan will have one more match and…..pause for the HOGAN chants….that Hogan will be immortal, but Shawn sees it differently. In this instance, perception is not reality because at Summerslam, it’s Shawn vs. Hogan. At Summerslam, Shawn will prove that immortality has a price.

Piper still wants to know WHY though because Shawn can’t fool him. It was the fans who made him a four time World Champion. Piper remembers Shawn asking him for advice when he was coming up and Piper told him how to make the main event because Shawn was worth it.

Now though, Piper is ashamed of him and wants to know why Shawn threw everything away. Shawn says he’s given his answer and is ready to go but Piper says get back in here. Piper says Shawn is a coward so there’s the superkick, allowing Shawn to go into serious mode. The slow walk up the ramp ends the show. This didn’t give a very detailed explanation but I’ll take something like this over “I don’t owe you a thing” every day.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a show where the angles carried things but there was only so much they could do to get around Snitsky’s foot fetish, the Diva Search thing and a bunch of matches that felt like nothing more than filler material. The angles kept things going well enough, but they need to fix up the rest of the show if they really want things to work. The Hardy thing was outstanding though and exactly what they were looking for, as well as something the show needed.

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

Dynamite – December 11, 2019: Appetizers Can Be Tasty

IMG Credit: AEW Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: December 11, 2019
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re down in Texas for one of the last two shows of the year. This time around the focus is going to be on a Texas Street Fight between the Young Bucks and Santana and Ortiz, which should be a heck of a battle if they’re allowed to be themselves. Other than that it’s time to get ready for next week’s World Title match between champion Chris Jericho and Jungle Boy. Let’s get to it.

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

Jon Moxley vs. Alex Reynolds

Paradigm Shift finishes Reynolds at 8 seconds.

Post match Reynolds’ partner John Silver takes the Paradigm Shift as well. Cue the Inner Circle to surround the ring though, with Chris Jericho getting into the ring to praise Moxley for his success. They have a history together, with Moxley having asked him for advice ten years ago. Then they became adversaries and beat each other up, with Jericho gaining his respect. Now they’re here in AEW and Jericho wants him to join the Inner Circle. Jericho gives him until after the holidays and leaves him with the shirt.

Video on the Young Bucks vs. Santana and Ortiz, with Excalibur talking about how the street fight rules favor the Bucks.

The announcers preview the show.

Butcher and the Blade vs. QT Marshall/Cody

The Bunny is with the Butcher and the Blade. During Cody’s entrance, MJF mocks Cody’s misfortunes over the last few weeks and is looking forward to this one. Cody tags himself in to start and hammers on the Blade to start. The snap powerslam puts him down so it’s off to Butcher. Marshall comes in but the Bunny offers a distraction so Butcher can take over as we go to a break.

Back with Marshall jawbreaking his way out of trouble but getting pulled down again. An enziguri off the ropes gets Marshall a breather though and the Blade misses a charge in the corner, allowing the hot tag to Cody. The Disaster Kick hits the Butcher and a high crossbody gets two.

A double springboard cutter gets two more but the Figure Four is broken up, allowing Bunny to get in a rake to the eyes. Marshall tags himself in and hits a handspring tumble over the top to take both of them down. Back in and Marshall hits Cross Rhodes on the Blade and a twisting Swanton gets two. Butcher takes Cody down though and it’s a Stunner for Marshall. The suplex onto the double knees finishes Marshall at 11:04.

Rating: C. This was angle advancement more than anything else but the act works well for the Butcher and the Blade. That being said, the Bunny is going to be the star of the team no matter what they do as they aren’t the most interesting team on their own. That being said, putting someone like the Bunny out there is going to get attention and that’s what they got here.

Post match Darby Allin comes out to help Cody up and seemingly offer his friendship.

Here are MJF and Wardlow for a chat. First though, MJF says one of the grips was laughing last week when Cody made fun of his Cross Rhodes. Therefore MJF has him get in the ring and kiss the ring. With that out of the way, it’s Cross Rhodes for the grip anyway. That brings MJF back to Cody, who is a great wrestler and incredible on the microphone, but one man is better.

Last week MJF liked Cody’s business proposal, but MJF already has as much money as he needs. What he wants is for Cody to suffer. Last week Cody called him a knockoff Chris Jericho, which may have been because of the scarf. The fans think it’s fake, which is what MJF thinks of when he hears Cody’s name. You have the fake hair and the fake teeth, plus Cody’s fake feelings about the fans.

MJF brings up the lisp and says he knows Cody wants to get his hands on him more than anything else. The people want to see it too so Cody is on….with a catch. We won’t be hearing those stipulations in a hick place like Texas though, which is why we’ll hear them in Jacksonville on January 1. What matters is that MJF is in control because he’s better than Cody and Cody knows it. MJF is just great on these kinds of promos and can command the microphone like few others.

Alex Reynolds is in his hotel room when the Dark Order commercial comes on. The TV talks to him, saying they know he’s sick of losing and there is strength in numbers. John Silver comes in and asks what Reynolds is listening to.

Big Swole vs. Emi Sakura

Hikaru Shida is watching from the crowd, including as Sakura makes sure to keep her mustache on. We get a test of strength to start with Swole getting the better of it. Tony: “I love a Greco Roman knuckle lock.” JR: “Yeah with beans…” Swole spinwheel kicks her down for two and doesn’t take kindly to Sakura touching her hair.

A drop toehold lets Sakura rake the back, with Excalibur saying it’s like a Freddie Mercury cat. Sakura pulls her back into a surfboard and we take a break. Back with Sakura throwing her down and starting the clapping to the tune of We Will Rock You. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker plants Swole but hang on because we need the mic stand.

The abdominal stretch with the mic stand included is….quickly broken up because the referee takes it away. JR isn’t impressed but seems to like it better when Swole takes it away for some James Brown. Sakura spins her into a backbreaker and gets two off a spinning Vader Bomb. The moonsault misses though and Swole kicks her in the face for two. Dirty Dancing (discus forearm) finishes Sakura at 10:38.

Rating: D+. Yeah forgive me for not getting interested in a match that turned into Freddie Mercury vs. James Brown for the sake of unfunny comedy. I don’t know what the appeal is of the Mercury stuff but it’s about as dumb of a thing this company does aside from the Librarians. Swole is growing on me though and they seem interested in pushing her so maybe they can make something.

Pac wants his rubber match with Kenny Omega or he can’t be responsible for his actions.

Kip Sabian/Shawn Spears vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page

Penelope Ford is here with Sabian but there’s no Tully Blanchard. We do get an insert promo from Tully though, talking about how you have to find the partner who meshes with him. Maybe Sabian can be that for Spears. Page sends Sabian into the ropes to start and it’s time to run a bit. A kick to the chest puts Sabian down and it’s off to Omega for the chop. Kenny hits a running hip attack in the corner but gets knocked outside, leaving Page to fight both of them off as we take a break.

Back with Omega fighting back against both of them and dropkicking both legs out at once. A running jumping Fameasser/bulldog puts both of them down again but a Ford distraction lets Sabian get in a Backstabber. The springboard missile dropkick gets two and there’s a hurricanrana to keep Omega rocked. The fans want cowboy s*** but settle for Ford’s hurricanrana off the apron as they keep getting in all of the spots from the Dark match between Sabian and Omega.

Ford comes in again and hits a handspring elbow in the corner, setting up Sabian’s fisherman’s suplex for two. Omega slips out of the Deathly Hallows though and it’s the V Trigger to put Sabian down. The lights go out and it’s…..Tully Blanchard tied up on the stage with Joey Janela waiting on Spears.

They fight on the stage with Spears saving Tully (who looked like he was tied up ala a bad gangster movie) and then head to the back. Back inside and Kenny hits the snapdragon on Sabian, setting up the V Trigger to the back of the head. Page tags himself in though and hits the Buckshot lariat for the pin at 11:32. Kenny isn’t sure but then takes the win for being a win.

Rating: C+. The unintentionally funny scene of Tully looking like the damsel in distress on the train tracks aside, this was a nice tag match with page showing some issues of needing a win. Omega vs. Page could be interesting, though Sabian didn’t get any favors here because Ford looks like a far bigger star.

Brandi Rhodes talks about how AEW is nothing without her. Riho is gone for weeks at a time and Britt Baker keeps talking about her boyfriend. Kris Stadtlander’s offer still stands as the family is waiting on the alien to come home. There is someone else, with a shaved head, whose back is to the camera but Brandi won’t let us see their face. This continues to be a thing that does not need to exist.

Luchasaurus vs. Sammy Guevara

Jericho and Jake Hager replace Schiavone and Excalibur on commentary. Sammy is here alone but Luchasaurus has the rest of the Jurassic Express with him. A running dropkick into the corner has Luchasaurus in very limited trouble so it’s a big boot to put Sammy on the floor. Sammy gets dropped onto the apron and we take a break. Back with Sammy kicking away, with Jericho saying Sammy is kicking the tar out of him. Jericho: “Yeah tar! It’s what killed the dinosaurs!” The moonsault misses though and Luchasaurus hits the reverse powerbomb for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: C. This is a step up for Luchasaurus and it’s a very good sign that he is getting these bigger matches. The idea of eventually pushing him to the top of the card certainly sounds interesting and it wouldn’t shock me to see it happen one day. Yes he’s a gimmick, but with that size, power and talking ability, they can find a way around it.

Post match Jericho and Hager go after Luchasaurus so Stunt and Jungle Boy come in for the save. Boy hits a quick hurricanrana on Jericho with Stunt counting the pin.

Revolution is coming to Chicago on February 29.

The announcers talk about next week’s Dynamite when Jericho comes up to shout that IT DIDN’T COUNT.

Young Bucks vs. Santana and Ortiz

Anything goes and this is officially sanctioned with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot next week. Santana and Ortiz, plus Sammy Guevara, jump the Bucks during the entrance. The beatdown is on with Brandon Cutler’s save earning himself a powerbomb through the stage. The Bucks fight back though and it’s an Indytaker to plant Sammy on the stage as well.

A Swanton off the entrance puts Ortiz through a table for two despite the lack of a bell. Matt launches Nick for a dropkick to Santana but hang on as Matt needs to point at SCU in the front row. They get inside for the first time with Santana getting in some shots with the rolled up sock. Nick is put in a chair and beaten up with various weapons, only to have Nick come back with a Dallas Cowboys helmet to avoid a lot of the pain.

A double spear takes Santana and Ortiz down but Santana gets in a shot to the ribs and steals the helmet. He then SPITS ONT HE HELMET, because he just wasn’t evil enough yet. Santana and Matt are sent through tables at ringside so Ortiz hits the Cannonball to put Nick through another table as we take a break. Back with Nick hitting a 450 onto a trashcan onto Ortiz for two, with Hager making the save.

Nick kicks the referee in the face by mistake as Dustin Rhodes comes out to deal with Hager. More Bang For Your Buck hits Ortiz but there is no referee. Cue Aubrey Edwards to count two but Nick gets knocked off the apron and through another table. The Street Sweeper onto a trashcan gets two with Nick making another save. Another Street Sweeper onto some chairs is broken up and Nick bulldogs Ortiz onto said chairs. The Meltzer Driver onto a chair finishes Ortiz at 14:30.

Rating: B. They got the wild stuff in and the interference made sense in this case. Sometimes you need to have the wild brawl which actually counts and the Bucks vs. SCU is enough of a dream match. A title change wouldn’t surprise me either as AEW has made no secret of the Bucks being the top team in the promotion. Just give them the titles already so they can get on with it already. Good match here though as the teams have chemistry together.

Post match SCU comes in to hold up the titles to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked more of this than I didn’t and other than the stupid battle of the musicians deal in the women’s match, it was a mostly solid show. Next week is the big one though and AEW isn’t really hiding that. We could be in for a rather nice evening if we can have the big matches deliver. Nice effort this week, but it was just setting the table for the major show.

Results

Jon Moxley b. Alex Reynolds – Paradigm Shift

Butcher and the Blade b. QT Marshall/Cody – Suplex onto double knees to Marshall

Big Swole b. Emi Sakura – Dirty Dancing

Kenny Omega/Hangman Page b. Kip Sabian/Shawn Spears – Buckshot lariat to Sabian

Luchasaurus b. Sammy Guevara – Reverse powerbomb

Young Bucks b. Santana and Ortiz – Meltzer Driver to Ortiz onto a chair

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

New Column: What A Way To Go

It’s a fun way to close out the decade, even if it seems a little familiar:

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-way-go/

Dark – December 10, 2019: Figure Things Out

IMG Credit: AEW Wrestling

Dark
Date: December 10, 2019
Location: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Commentators: Excalibur, Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy
Hosts: Dasha Gonzalez, Tony Schiavone

It’s another week as we get closer to the end of the year. The card is going to be your usual mystery bag as the show is likely to get even longer. Rather than just being a collection of dark matches (which aren’t dark as they are being filmed and aired but that isn’t the point). Instead it’s just a toned down Dynamite, which doesn’t work as well when it’s the day before next week’s show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

The announcers run down the card.

Scorpio Sky vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Peter Avalon

Havoc goes straight for the weapons to start so Sky knocks him down before the staple gun can be brought in. That lets Sky hit a spinning crossbody for two on Avalon as Havoc gets inside again. Havoc sends Sky into the corner and hits a sitout implant DDT on Avalon. Sky fights back but Avalon knocks him down as well, meaning it’s time for the double teaming.

That’s fine with Sky, who suplexes Avalon onto Havoc and then dives onto both of them again. With Avalon down on the floor, Havoc hits a Landslide for two on Sky. It’s staple gun time but Avalon knocks it out of Havoc’s hand and gets his own two. Sky throws Havoc outside though and TKOs Avalon for the pin at 6:30.

Rating: C-. Just a match here and a way to get Sky back on the winning track, even though the title should be more than enough to do just that. Avalon taking the fall was of course the right way to go as Havoc has a lot more value than an average wrestler with a bad gimmick. This would have been fine as a dark match, but instead it’s on TV as something completely forgettable, much like a lot of this show.

Dark Order initiation video.

From Dynamite.

Here’s Chris Jericho, flanked by Jake Hager, for a chat. After shilling A Little Bit Of The Bubbly, Jericho pulls out a list….and the fans cheer. Actually they need to get out of 2016 because this is THE LEXICON OF LE CHAMPION! Anyway he has to wrestle one more time in two weeks to wrap up the year but he has some people he won’t wrestle:

Jon Moxley, Cody (“Because he can’t.”), the Young Bucks, Papa Buck, Uncle Buck, Buck Owens, Moxley, Hangman Page, Diamond Dallas Page, Paige, Moxley, Scorpio Sky, 2 Cold Scorpio, Any member of the Scorpions, Moxley, Michael Nakazawa, Kenny Omega, Kenny Ortega, Kenny Shields, Kenny Chesney, Kenny from South Park, Moxley, the chubby guy with the popcorn in the fifth row, the ugly guy with the dumb glasses in the third row, Moxley, Darby Allin, Rick Allen, Alan Jones (AJ Styles), Moxley, Evil Uno, Angry Dos, Hateful Tres, Moxley, Marty…..and here’s the Jurassic Express to interrupt.

Jericho says he wasn’t finished because dinosaurs and little children were up next. Luchasaurus roars at him and then speaks normally, bringing up that he can talk and has a degree in Medieval History. It’s no surprise that dinosaurs are on the list because they’ve been marginalized for 65 million years. Yes Marko is small, but he’s more of a man than Jericho will ever be. That leaves Jungle Boy, who Jericho dubs “a piece of s***”. Jericho doesn’t think Boy could last ten minutes with him, so Boy takes the mic and says he’ll take Jericho out. The fight is on with Hager and Jericho bailing.

Jurassic Express vs. John Silver/Alex Reynolds

Marko Stunt and Luchasaurus for the Express here. Luchasaurus growls Reynolds into the corner so it’s off to Silver, whose chop is swatted away. The monster starts kicking away so it’s off to Stunt to miss a charge in the corner. A running knee gets two on Silver but Reynolds breaks up the dive. Silver’s superkick gets two and Reynolds stands on Stunt’s hair as it is rather cathartic to see Stunt get hurt.

A gorilla press into a cutter gets two on Stunt but he’s fine enough to small package Reynolds for the same. Stunt can’t kick him away so it’s a wheelbarrow roll to get over to Luchasaurus instead. House is cleaned in a hurry (as expected) and there’s the double chokeslam. A powerbomb/top rope flip neckbreaker combination finishes Reynolds at 6:18.

Rating: C. Just a step above a squash here and there is some quality Stunt damage in there as well. Sometimes you just need to see a smaller guy get beaten up to entertain you a bit. That’s what we got here, plus the awesome Luchasaurus getting to wreck people. It’s a fine enough match, but just get back to Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy already.

We look at the current state of/recent events in the women’s division, including Nyla Rose being suspended for attacking a referee.

From Dynamite.

Post match here are Awesome Kong and Brandi Rhodes to dub themselves the Nightmare Collective, saying that they do the jobs no one wants to do. Kris is all up in her business and that may give Kris an opportunity. Brandi tells Kris to pledge herself to the Nightmare Collective right now but before there’s a yes, Kong gets in Kris’ face. A female fan at ringside offers to pledge and security lets her come to ringside. She lets Kong cut off her hair and that’s that. No answer from Kris, as she doesn’t seem interested in joining the newest cult/faction.

We get a profile on Big Swole, whose name means a big personality. She had emergency surgery in 2008 and actually died but had to be brought back to life. Then she had a daughter and has taught her that she needs to live every day because you never know when it might end.

Here are the women’s rankings:

5. Kris Stadtlander

4. Britt Baker

3. Emi Sakura

2. Nyla Rose

1. Hikaru Shida

Christopher Daniels was banged up and is furious at hurting himself. He came out early and got beaten up by Pentagon Jr. Daniels isn’t done with him.

We get the explanation from the Bunny of why the Butcher and the Bunny attacked Cody.

From Dynamite.

Here’s Cody for a chat. He talks about how he isn’t allowed to challenge for the World Title again but everything his gone nuts around here. His brother and the Young Bucks are in a blood feud with Santana and Ortiz, his wife has joined forces with a monster who steals women’s hair and then there’s the Butcher and the Blade. If they wanted a match with him, all they had to do was ask and they can even choose his partner.

That brings him to Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who had no business to throw in the towel at Full Gear. There are a lot of things people can criticize about MJF. He’s short, he might wear a fake scarf, and he does the worst Cross Rhodes in wrestling. Cody: “At least they’re botching it on two channels now.” Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s an NWO low rent Chris Jericho. But MJF won’t fight him, so Cody is willing to sweeten the pot.

Cody offers the keys to his Ford Black Ops (Google says it costs about $88,500), his watch from Tony Khan, and his Louis Vuitton shoes. If that’s not MJF’s speed, Cody brings out a briefcase with about $50,000 cash. To prove it’s real, he gives a kid in the front row $100 and the kid looks….confused? Anyway, come play ball with him and name your price. Cody is a great promo, NXT/WWE shot aside.

We get MJF’s response, where he announces that he hired the Butcher and the Blade to jump Cody, which somehow didn’t make Dynamite.

Video on the six man tag opener from Dynamite.

Here’s where Dynamite is coming.

Buy a Little Bit Of The Bubbly!

Kenny Omega vs. Kip Sabian

Sabian has Penelope Ford in his corner. They fight on the mat to start with Omega tripping him a few times to take over. Omega misses a big chop so they run the ropes, with Kenny plowing through him for two. A head fake lets Omega chop away in the corner and some more knock Sabian off the top to the floor. Ford offers a distraction though, allowing Sabian to hurricanrana him to the floor.

Ford’s hurricanrana makes it worse and Sabian keeps it up with a hard whip into the corner. A hanging swinging neckbreaker gets two on Omega but he Hulks Up for the slugout. Omega clotheslines him down and You Can’t Escape gets two. Sabian is right back with a springboard tornado DDT for two and Omega is sent to the apron. Ford grabs the leg but Omega is back with a powerbomb.

The running knee to the back of the head rocks Sabian again but he pulls Aubrey Edwards in the way of the V Trigger. Omega pulls up, allowing Ford to come in for a Stunner so Sabian can get two off a kick to the chest. The V Trigger into the snapdragon so Ford comes in again, only to get thrown into Sabian. A Tiger Driver 98 gets two on Sabian and it’s another running knee to the back of the head, setting up the One Winged Angel for the pin at 14:21.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of win that Omega needs: where he has to sweat a bit but is never in any real danger. At the end of the day, he is going to be the big deal going forward, as he should be, and it makes sense to build him up with wins like this. Ford continues to have more star power than she knows what to do with but she almost never gets to do anything significant. Anyway, fine match here for a Dark main event.

Overall Rating: C. This show hasn’t been around very long but it has already started to evolve. Instead of just a collection of matches, the show is also a recap/backstage show. That makes it a bit longer than it needs to be though, as it is now regularly over an hour, and in this case over an hour and fifteen minutes. AEW isn’t at the point where they need to have that much TV time yet and it might be better to cut this by about fifteen to twenty minutes. The fans who are watching this show are already watching Dynamite so why show them the same things again? It’s still good, but tighten things up a bit.

Results

Scorpio Sky b. Jimmy Havoc and Peter Avalon – TKO to Avalon

Jurassic Express b. John Silver/Alex Reynolds – Powerbomb/top rope flip neckbreaker combination to Reynolds

Kenny Omega b. Kip Sabian – One Winged Angel

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

Desert Pro Wrestling – September 29, 2019: I Saw A Nice Show

IMG Credit: Desert Pro Wrestling

Desert Pro Wrestling
Date: September 29, 2019
Location: Brawley Lions Center, Brawley, California
Commentator: Unknown

It’s back to the indies as I know a woman involved in the training school of this promotion (and happens to be filming the show here). I have absolutely no idea what to expect with this show but it does include former X-Division Champion Extreme Tiger in the main event. This is a completely random show for me so hopefully it can beat some of the other indies. Let’s get to it.

So this seems to have a few cuts in it, at least during the intros, so I’m assuming this is the entire show rather than just some matches from the show.

Archimedes vs. Honest John

They’re former tag partners and Archimedes (makes me think I’m watching Sword in the Stone again) is in a mask. Maybe it’s the camera angle but the ring looks huge. John hiptosses him over and follows up with an armdrag, allowing him to soak up some praise. Back up and Archimedes gets in his own armdrag and drops an elbow for two. The fans seem to like him at least so there’s something there.

A running boot in the corner connects so Archimedes tries it again, only to be sent face first into the middle buckle. The cocky stomping is on and a running elbow gives John two. The choking goes on in the corner as John would be fine with hearing some cheers. A gutbuster gets two more but Archimedes is up with the clothesline based comeback. That just earns him a Backstabber as they’re going with the idea that John, his former partner, knows Archimedes too well.

A near People’s Elbow hits Archimedes and we hit the dragon sleeper (not a sequence you see too often). John goes with a reverse DDT instead and gets a rather delayed two. An Orton backbreaker gets the same so John yells at the referee, allowing Archimedes to roll him up for a quick two of his own. Archimedes hammers away with uppercuts and a Samoan drop for two more. He charges into a hot shot though and it’s a double underhook DDT to finish Archimedes at 9:56.

Rating: C. Yeah it’s on a bit of an adjusted scale but what mattered here was I got the story they were going for. You could get the idea based on commentary and what they were doing and that’s as good of a combination as you can get with these resources available. The ending came out of nowhere and could have used a better spark but John had tried for the same move before so it was built up to an extent.

Jacob Tarasso vs. Romeo Cruz

I believe Tarasso was introduced as the Sea Urchin. There is a camera cut at the beginning of the match but it doesn’t seem like anything is missing. They fight over a wristlock to start with Cruz taking him down by the arm. That’s enough to send Tarasso over to the ropes and he clings to them ala the Road Dogg in the Royal Rumble. Back up and Cruz wrestles him down again, meaning it’s time for another rope clutch.

This time Tarasso takes it a step further and has a seat in the crowd with some water as a bonus. Tarasso gets back in and takes a dropkick to the face before Cruz snaps off a hurricanrana. That means another breather on the floor and Tarasso bails from the threat of a dive. Cruz beats him up on the floor for a bit but gets his leg kicked out as he goes to the top.

Tarasso snaps the arm over the top and starts in on it, including a kick to said arm to cut off the comeback. The armbar goes on with Cruz slapping the mat, though it’s not a tap for no explained reason. Back up and Cruz gets in a knee to the face in the corner, plus a superkick for two. Cruz tries to jump over him in the corner but lands on boots which looked rather low.

We hit the hammerlock (better than a chinlock and I can always appreciate that kind of thinking) but Cruz fights up with the good arm. A running flip dive connects on Tarasso and a superkick gives Cruz two more. Tarasso pulls him down by the arm and grabs something like the Anaconda Vice, only to have Cruz get over to the rope. The Vice goes on again so Cruz rolls his way out and scores with an enziguri. A very quick TKO gives Cruz and even quicker pin at 10:04.

Rating: C. Another perfectly watchable match here with Cruz fighting through the injury and making the comeback for the win. There’s nothing wrong with basic stories that are done well enough and that’s what we’ve been getting so far. It’s a low degree of difficulty but a pretty decent degree of execution, which is the much better combination.

Calavera/Luminoso vs. Last Warrior/Wizard X

That second team might have the most indyish names I’ve ever heard. They’re in masks as well, with Wizard looking like Fro Zone from the Incredibles. Calavera has someone named La Muerte with him. The much bigger Luminoso throws Wizard down to start and slaps him around a bit as I think we have a bully. Just to hammer in the point, Luminoso drops to his knees so Calavera can get in a cheap shot from the apron.

The still unnamed commentator says Last Warrior can do nothing during the double teaming, as we enforce one of those weird unwritten rules of wrestling: the good guys must be schmucks. Wizard’s crossbody is caught in the air so Warrior dropkicks him in the back to take the bigger guys down. Stereo sunset flips gives the tecnicos two and we settle down to Luminoso vs. Wizard again.

Warrior isn’t having that and comes in off the top with an armdrag and the rudos are out on the floor. We’re clipped to Wizard chasing Luminoso to the floor, allowing Calavera to get in a cheap shot. Everything breaks down and the rudos hammer away, including crotching Warrior against the post. That leaves Wizard to take an assisted wheelbarrow slam and Warrior’s save attempt….is completely ineffective.

A hurricanrana out of the corner puts Luminoso down and it’s time to go outside again, with the fans seemingly into Warrior and Wizard (sounds rather geeky in a good way). We’re clipped (seemed to be rather quick) to Warrior finding Luminoso trying to hide in the crowd for a funny bit. Luminoso does it again and this time it actually works for a bit, only to have Luminoso get right back up on the apron. Well it was a clever idea at least.

We settle down to Luminoso vs. Warrior with a headscissors putting Luminoso right back on the floor. That leaves Wizard to kick at Calavera’s leg and slap on a Figure Four. That’s broken up in a hurry as well so Warrior ankle locks Calavera, which is saved just as quickly. Back up and stereo victory rolls give Warrior and Wizard the pins at 10:20 shown.

Rating: C+. This was a case where you didn’t need the commentary, other than to say who was who. You can look at these guys and get the story immediately, with two smaller guys against two bigger guys who cheat. Power vs. speed is the quintessential wrestling story and it was on display here in a nice little match.

Andy Brown vs. Fidel Bravo

The fans seem to approve of Bravo. Quick note: well done by commentary as he points out which is in trunks and which is in pants. Simple, yet effective. Bravo wastes no time in sending Brown to the floor as we hear about Bravo being on NXT and 205 Live. Good thing to point out. Back in and Brown’s headlock takeover is quickly countered into a headscissors so Brown has to flip up.

Brown hits a heck of a chop so Bravo sweeps the leg to put him down again. A running forearm into a neckbreaker gives Bravo two and it’s time for another breather on the floor. The baseball slide doesn’t work well for Bravo here as he gets caught in the ring skirt and pummeled in an old Fit Finlay move. They fight over a suplex on the floor until Brown drives him hard into the apron. Back in and Brown takes a bow before getting a running start into a…..chinlock. So he likes Finlay and Kevin Owens for some good taste.

That’s broken up even faster than usual and Brown hits a hard clothesline for a rather delayed two. Brown spends too much time yapping and gyrating though, only to dive into the raised boot (still can’t stand that spot). Bravo is up with a one kneed Codebreaker for two and we’re clipped to Bravo hitting a tornado DDT for two more. It’s clipped again to the referee shoving Brown down so it’s clipped again to Brown grabbing a chair. The referee takes it away (good job) and it’s a Michinoku Driver to finish Brown at 8:36 shown.

Rating: C. Another perfectly watchable match with the cheating Brown falling to the popular Bravo. This continued the theme of having a bunch of very simple and easy to follow stories, which is what you should be doing on a show like this one. Bravo got to show off a bit here and I can see why WWE would use him in a small role here and there.

Extreme Tiger/Genio Del Aire vs. D. Luxe/Estudiante Jr.

Tiger is by far the biggest star around here and you can feel the higher star power. They go with the wackiness to start as Tiger comes in, chases Estudiante off, and then runs from Luxe as he comes in as well. Repeat about three times. Luxe and Genio take turns sweeping the leg for two each and that means a standoff. Genio reverses a wheelbarrow into a victory roll for two and we hit the pinning combination sequence.

Luxe sends Genio into Tiger’s corner so the back slap tag is on in a hurry. The high crossbody hits Luxe for two but la majistral is broken up. The much bigger Estudiante comes in and gorilla presses Tiger onto Luxe’s knee. Tiger gets over to Genio for the hot tag and a few rooms of the house are cleaned until a running knee to the head drops Genio.

That’s enough for Tiger to get stomped down in the corner and a running knee to the head gives Estudiante two. An assisted splash gets the same so Tiger goes with the enziguri to bring Genio back in. A double handspring elbow takes both villains down and it’s a multiple springboard armdrag to Estudiante.

We settle back down to Luxe and Tiger chopping it out and the fans getting behind Tiger again for getting the better of it. Hold on though as Luxe and Estudiante need to have a meeting in the corner, with Tiger being nice enough to let them. With action resuming, Tiger kicks Luxe’s leg out a few times but gets stomped down by Estudiante.

A neckbreaker gets two with Genio making the save, plus throwing in a Lethal Injection for a bonus. The lifting release Pedigree plants Genio so it’s Tiger making a save this time. Tiger gets up top for a legdrop between the legs, leaving Genio to moonsault to the floor onto Luxe. Tiger hits his own dive onto everyone and we’re clipped to a series of kicks to send Estudiante into a Backstabber. A Code Red gives Tiger the pin at 13:08

Rating: C+. Tiger really does bring another level of star power to the show and you can see that he’s a bigger deal than anyone else on the show. Having a bigger name like that around is going to bring some extra eyes to the promotion and as Tiger was the only name that I immediately recognized, they seem to be on the right track.

Overall Rating: B-. This is what something like this promotion should be doing. They kept things simple here and the good guys won up and down the card, save for the opener. In other words, they gave the fans a reason to want to come back and that’s how you build an audience. Nothing on it was bad and I could go for seeing some more of these guys. It was completely acceptable and given the circumstances here, I’ll call it a pleasant surprise.

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