So starting this Saturday, I’m going to be doing a weekly Ask KB column over at Wrestlingrumors.net.  I’ll be taking a variety of questions and writing out some longer form answers with more historical context etc.  Therefore, I need some stuff to answer and as luck would have it, I have an awesome audience who knows what kinds of things to ask.  Therefore, I’m looking for some combination of the following:

Trivia

How I would book things/where I see things going

General questions about wrestling

Anything else you guys would like me to answer about wrestling

As usual, any era or company is fair game.  I’ll post a link to the column once it’s completed and posted this coming Saturday.  Ask your questions in the comments.

KB

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: January 1, 2004
Location: Laredo Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas
Attendance: 5,100
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

This year has to be better right? Smackdown was the better of the two shows but it’s not like 2003 was very good either way. We’ve got three shows left before the Royal Rumble and aside from Hardcore Holly vs. Brock Lesnar for the Smackdown World Title, there’s very little set up. Let’s get to it.

Here are the results from two weeks ago if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of two weeks ago where Holly became # 1 contender thanks to A-Train screwing up again. That certainly seems to be a trend with him.

Opening sequence.

Cruiserweight Title: Tajiri vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is challenging. They grapple to start with neither being able to get anywhere and it’s a standoff. Tajiri takes him down by the leg but gets reversed into a rollup for two. A chest first whip into the corner takes Rey down but the handspring elbow is countered with a dropkick to the back.

That means a big flip dive to really put Tajiri down as we go to a break. Not a bad way to get us going in the new year. Back with Sakoda breaking up the 619 so Tajiri can start back in on the knee. A dropkick to the knee in the Tree of Woe gets two but the bad knee is fine enough for a middle rope hurricanrana to get Rey out of trouble. The springboard seated senton is countered into a half crab though and Mysterio is right back in trouble again.

Rey makes the rope and, since the match has been going on for a while now, it’s time for a ref bump. He’s back up in time for a two off Tajiri’s sitout powerbomb and we keep going. Another springboard bangs the knee up though (you knew that had to happen eventually) and Tajiri kicks him in the face. The green mist hits Sakoda by mistake though and a standing hurricanrana gives Rey the pin and the title.

Rating: B. Tajiri had held the title for a nice, long (by this title’s standards) reign and putting it back on Mysterio made sense. Changing the title to open the year was a good idea and the fact that it was a longer match made things that much better. Rey can drop it to a hot heel down the line and he’s still the biggest name in the division by a mile and a half.

Post match Rey thanks the fans and says he’ll be champion around the world. Cue Big Show to say that’s nice but it’s time to shill the new Big Show t-shirt. Rey takes it away and threatens to make it a souvenir for a fan despite Big Show telling him not to. He does it anyway of course and gets beaten down, because this is what you do with a new champion. Hardcore Holly comes in for the save.

Some soldiers say Happy New Year.

Post break Big Show breaks a bunch of stuff so Paul Heyman gives him Holly later tonight.

Bradshaw vs. Rhyno

The rubber match. Bradshaw knees him in the corner and gets two off a shoulder. A DDT gives Rhyno the same but Bradshaw hits the Last Call followed by a big boot. The Clothesline puts Rhyno away in short order. And that’s the feud.

Earlier today, Los Guerreros were at a low rider parade.

The announcers talk about Tribute to the Troops.

Video on Tribute to the Troops.

John Cena comes up to Heyman in the back and asks where Heyman was last week in Baghdad. Heyman wasn’t there and Cena thinks he’s a coward. That’s too far for Heyman, who says he’s a leader of men. Therefore, let’s see what kind of an idea Heyman can come up with regarding say, the Royal Rumble. Cena isn’t currently included (no one is) but if he wins tonight, he can be included. All he has to do is find a partner to face all three members of the FBI. Oh and if Cena and his partner lose, neither are in the Rumble. That match is next by the way, so HAPPY NEW YEAR.

John Cena/Chris Benoit vs. FBI

And Cena/Benoit are supposed to be underdogs here? Cena’s pre-match rap says the FBI is stupid while Benoit actually rhymes an acceptance (Benoit: “I’m sick and tired of Heyman’s crap, I’ll be your partner tonight and make these b****** tap. Word life.”). The numbers game has the good guys in trouble to start but Cena easily takes over on Stamboli, mainly because it’s John Cena vs. Johnny Stamboli. The FBI gets Cena into the corner for the rotating stomps and Palumbo adds a good suplex.

The vocal Benoit starts a Cena chant, which is cut off by a big right hand from Palumbo. We hit the chinlock from Stamboli for a bit until Cena finally dives over and brings Benoit in for a long series of suplexes. A double clothesline takes Benoit down for two, with Stamboli looking over for Cena to make the save twice in a row. Palumbo’s superkick to Benoit breaks up the Sharpshooter and gets another near fall but the Crossface makes Stamboli tap a few seconds later.

Rating: C. Not bad at all here as it turned into a hot finish but who in the world thought Cena and Benoit couldn’t beat these schmucks? Benoit and Cena are going to be big players in the Rumble and since WWE has taken their sweet time getting here, they can only build up a story in very short order.

Clips of troops in a very long line for autographs in Baghdad.

Here’s the returning Kurt Angle for a chat. Angle has been away on a break but last week, those troops inspired him to come back to the ring. He was over there a few weeks ago and got to meet a lot of the soldiers as well. It made him proud to be an American and he met one soldier in particular. This guy had been over there for a year and when he left, his wife was eight months pregnant. All he wanted was to get back to see his new baby girl. Angle has a daughter of his own and he wants to make her proud of him too. Therefore, he’s entering the Royal Rumble and he’s winning for the troops.

Big Show vs. Hardcore Holly

Non-title as we’re still waiting on Big Show to defend the thing two and a half months after he won it. Holly punches away to start but Show clotheslines him down with authority. I’m not sure whose authority but it certainly worked. A big headbutt puts Holly down and the Hog Log gets two. Show drives an elbow into the neck so Holly goes after the knee to take him down.

A top rope clothesline gets two but Holly walks into a side slam to put him down again. It’s almost like Holly doesn’t have anywhere near the level of offense to be a realistic threat against Big Show. It’s back to the neck with a full nelson, drawing in Mysterio with a chair. Show knocks him down too so Holly goes low for the DQ.

Rating: F. So what was the point here? To make the #1 contender look like he can’t beat the US Champion? To make the US Champion look like a big monster, which you can kind of tell just by looking at him? The ending makes things that much worse as not only does Holly lose but it’s just a cheap way to make him look even more worthless than he has since he came back.

Holly beats him down with the chair.

Billy Gunn is back at the Rumble. I know the brand split made the rosters thin but between this and Hardcore Holly as a World Title challenger, they’re in real trouble on Thursdays.

Benoit comes in to see Heyman, who calls Benoit a working stiff like him. Heyman is management though and that’s what’s going to stop him at the Rumble. His solution: Benoit is going to be #1 (with Heyman almost screaming as he rants about how Benoit is done at the Rumble). Benoit grabs Heyman’s finger and bends it back before going into his own rant about how he’s fighting for his family and everything he has sacrificed to get here. This show has seen Benoit do more intense/emotional talking than I’ve seen him do in years.

Various low level guys congratulate Mysterio on winning the title until Eddie comes in to celebrate in Spanish. Chavo looks on in disgust as Eddie enters the Royal Rumble. He takes Eddie aside to talk about how they need to win the Tag Team Titles. Chavo isn’t exactly thrilled with Eddie at the moment and you can feel the tension.

Ad saying watch Smackdown. Glad to see I did my job already.

Los Guerreros vs. World’s Greatest Tag Team

The Eddie chants get on Chavo’s nerves again as Eddie takes Haas into the corner to start. It’s off to Chavo, who is taken into the wrong corner and caught with an overhead t-bone suplex. Chavo stops a charge in the corner with a raised boot but won’t tag, instead walking into a powerslam. Haas gets knocked down again and Chavo is right next to Eddie but goes back into the fight again. A double knockdown puts both Chavo and Haas down so Eddie distracts the referee, allowing him to pull Chavo to the corner.

This time Eddie cuts out the middle man and tags himself in so the pace can pick up. Three Amigos have Haas down but Chavo tags himself in to really further the issues. The distraction lets Eddie get knocked to the floor and Chavo’s frog splash hits knees. Shelton superkicks the heck out of Chavo and Haas gets the pin.

Rating: D+. This was much more of an angle than a match and that’s fine. They’ve been teasing this split for so long now that they almost have to do it here before the thing gets stale. Chavo’s reasoning for the heel turn makes sense but he’s coming off like a jerk, which is exactly the kind of thing that should lead to such a split. The match was bad, but that’s not the point of something like this.

Post Chavo blames Eddie for the loss because he’s sick of not hearing his name cheered. Eddie immediately tries to start a CHAVO chant but just gets cheered even louder. Chavo is sick of Eddie and slaps him in the face. Eddie looks ready to snap but here’s Angle to break things up.

Post break, Angle tells Eddie he’s doing this for the troops but Eddie is being selfish for doing this to his flesh and blood. Angle talks about this being traditional family values (Eddie: “FAMILY VALUES???”) and wants Eddie to look in the mirror.

The announcers talk about what just happened….and that’s how the show ends.

Overall Rating: C-. This show went off a cliff after the halfway point and that ending was really weird. I’ll give them some points for hitting the ground running with the Rumble build though as they went from no one to four big names being in the match in one night. That’s what they had to do and it worked well. What didn’t work well was most of the wrestling here, which took a hard backseat to the angle advancement. That’s more important, but it was a rocky way to get there.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: 2001

Again, this is a very old review so I apologize for the lower quality.

Insurrextion 2001
Date: May 5, 2001
Location: Earls Court, London, England
Attendance: 15,784
Commentators: Michael Cole, Paul Heyman

So it’s a month after Mania X7 here and we’re back in England. This is a double request in a way as I was asked to do British PPVs as well as this show in particular so there you are. We’re in the two man power trip era here as the main event is HHH and Austin vs. Undertaker for the title which is more complicated than it should be.  There’s also the Queen’s Cup which is a fictitious title for this show only. This is 2001 WWF. Do you need more explanation than that? The Alliance hasn’t started yet so this should be good. Let’s get to it.

We open with Commissioner Regal saying the whole card has been changed. Vince comes in and says that Regal is doing stuff he’s not allowed to do. Regal says he didn’t do that. Vince says he didn’t do that. Apparently Linda did all this stuff. Linda of course pops up behind Vince as he’s ranting about everything. This segment goes on way too long. After five minutes, we’re ready to open the show.

What an odd commentary team.

Grandmaster Sexay vs. Eddie Guerrero

This is Grandmaster’s final appearance with the company for reasons of suck I guess. Eddie lost the European Title to Matt Hardy of all people. It’s not like being European meant anything with only Regal and Bulldog being European. Eddie would be gone soon for drugs anyway so there we are. This is a very hot crowd with one Phoenix being in attendance. Yeah he was the other request.

Eddie doing the Sexay dance is hilarious to say the least. I think Eddie was supposed to be champion here as he lost it like a week earlier. Grandmaster, how do you suck so much? Your dad is a legend and you’re just a freaking joke. And that’s being nice. He’s like an annoying indy gimmick that isn’t sure what his gimmick is.

The crowd is ALL OVER Eddie. That’s not bad. Grandmaster misses a…something and gets rolled up with Eddie using the ropes to win from nowhere. That was really abrupt.

Rating: D+. Uh what the heck was that? Seriously it felt like it was 3 minutes short or something. Also, why were these two in a singles match?  It’s very random but that’s what you get on these shows.  Not the worst, but an odd choice.

HHH is with Stephanie. She cannot act. They’re tag champions here too. He talks about the main event. Yeah that’s it.

Dean Malenko/Terri/Perry Saturn vs. Hardcore Holly/Crash Holly/Molly Holly

Uh…yeah. See what I mean when I say these cards had a tendency to feel thrown together? Terri is someone I rarely get the appeal of. Outside of her looks, what’s the point?  Ah ok Terri isn’t going to wrestle. Got it. Yeah I don’t care either. The Hollies get a pop.  Molly of course beats up Terri for a bit to a big pop.

Ok so it’s Hardcore and Saturn to start. Paul calls Saturn the Bald Bombshell. I like it. Dear lord help me I like it. Cole’s voice sounds a bit horse. Dang it what is the deal with the air horns over there? They’re freaking annoying! Saturn is fun to watch but he’s a bit nuts.

For the second time in the match we’re told he’s a machine. Ok good to know. Molly is on the apron even though she’s not in this match that I know of. Crash is freaking OVER. What the heck??? Terri breaks up a pin and we get a catfight. Saturn hits the Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza on Crash to get the pin. Only in wrestling would that make sense.

Rating: D. Again, what in the heck was this? It’s just a random match that made no sense and was just there. It’s not particularly good but it’s a good bit bad. This was just a waste of time but I guess they had to pad the two hour and twenty minute show somehow.

Regal is REALLY popular in London. This is just weird to see.

Regal is next to the Queen’s Cup, which would be Edge’s King of the Ring Cup.

Test is injured so he can’t fight tonight. Show says he’s a coward. It’s weird seeing Show with hair. This was during Show’s one piece swimsuit era. I don’t know what they were thinking during this time period but whatever. Test comes out and gets his head handed to him in a non-match. Dang his music was awesome.

I will stand by what I said when I said Test should have gotten a very short title reign in 1999 but it went to Big Show instead. Show kind of does an open challenge and then leaves before anyone can answer it. He looks way more intimidating with hair. And here’s Bradshaw to fight him.

Bradshaw vs. Big Show

Odd again. All of these European shows have a bad case of strangeness to them. How weird is it to think that Bradshaw would be a more important world champion than Show? Those chops Show did were freaking insane. EMTs come out to take care of Test. A flying shoulder just looks cool. There goes the referee.

Show goes after Test when he’s trying to leave which of course doesn’t work. A big boot into a steel chair and the Clothesline ends this with Bradshaw winning it for NO explainable reason. Dude it’s 2001 and Bradshaw beat Big Show. What sense does that make?

Rating: C-. Not bad for a big man fight. The booking is bearable I guess as it’s a show no one is going to see or hear about for months. This was just your standard battle of the big men which usually works pretty well. This was fine for what it was I guess but REALLY short.

Austin says Taker is stupid and the Decade of Destruction ends tonight. Amazingly, this is the halfway point of Taker’s WWE run. That’s insane.

Edge/Christian vs. Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz vs. X-Factor

For those of you that have no freaking clue who X-Factor is, there’s likely a pair of reasons for that. One is that half of the team is Justin Credible and the other is that the second half of the team is X-Pac. They were a blink and you’ll miss it stable that also included Albert. Their music was AWESOME though, even if they never won anything.

The Dudleys are of course WAY over. None of these guys are champions here and it’s elimination rules. That’s fun if nothing else. Seriously, why is X-Factor in this? DANG the Hardys got a nice pop.

This was just after the Hardys had their mini feud with Austin and HHH which transitioned to the Brothers of Destruction vs. Two Man Power Trip which is one of my favorite moments ever. If you ever want to see me get fired up, give me a scene where a face comes in from nowhere to save the day. I live for stuff like that. Ok not really but I really like them.

Justin and Bubba start. It’s a low ECW ratio tonight with only 3/8 being in the original organization. How in the world can people say that company meant nothing at all? Seriously, they’re stupid if they refuse to admit the truth about how influential it was. Justin and Bubba start us off. You can tell Heyman loves this. And now we shift to Christian and Matt, both future ECW Champions. That’s freaking amazing. Ok not really but it’s 230 AM and I’m tired so it’s more interesting than it should be.

Jeff gets a POP from the girls in the crowd. X-Pac comes in and is said to have youth and experience. In TMNT 2 that would make him a Keno/Splinter hybrid. Wow that would be epic. A women’s battle royal is mentioned which I don’t think is coming during a Bronco Buster. I hate that move. I truly do.

Jeff comes in again and again gets a big pop. Sweet goodness this was 9 years ago. That’s hard to believe. Everything breaks down and the Hardys double team special and a missed Albert splash ends X Factor. Less than ten seconds later an Unprettier puts Jeff out.

So it’s Edge and Christian vs. the Dudleys. Again, why did we need to have X Factor in there? This turns into your standard tag match with D-Von being the face in trouble, or playing Ricky Morton for those old school fans. This is one of those pairings that it’s just hard to mess up. Ah there’s your tag and Christian is LAUNCHED up on a back body drop.

Cole, the idiot that he is, says that What’s Up is being said in a universal language. Cole, IT’S THE SAME IN ENGLAND AND IN AMERICA. WOW I cannot stand that idiot at times. Table is attempted but doesn’t work. 3D is avoided, perhaps because they shout 3D just before it. With them on the floor, Rhyno hits the ring and gores Bubba so Edge can get the pin. Rhyno sets up a table but here’s Spike. Rhyno takes 3D through the table.

Rating: B-. Match number 3837 in their more or less never ending series. The key here though is they had known each other so well that the matches were almost always good. This was no exception. X-Factor had no point being there but whatever. The Edge/Dudleys and 4 team parts were fine so it passes with a decent grade.

We get highlights of a charity dinner from the previous night. Stephanie in a dress is a good thing. This is always cool and anytime something is being done for charity, even just showing up and saying some prewritten thing that you don’t mean, means a lot as you’re donating your time to something good, in this case being Make-A-Wish. Nothing wrong with this as charity is always cool.

Angle is ready for his 2/3 falls match and wants his medals that Benoit stole back. He would eventually get them back in a hilarious segment where Benoit had them down his tights and Angle grabbed them out and kissed them.

Steven Richards and Ivory, still in RTC, are here. Seriously, they picked this guy to substitute for Big Show in No Mercy? Why wasn’t he in the game in the first place? That never made any sense. We hear about Page Three and the models thing which is just amusing and really does show the cultural issues.

We saw one for like a second on Super Bowl Sunday and ever since then the halftime show has been acts my dad enjoys. Apparently the women’s battle royal is cancelled. This of course gets booed. The girls are going to come out and show how their ways are changed. First is Jackie. How about changing her to fired? Freshly face Trish is next and of course looks good.

Third is Lita. Sweet goodness she was a huge deal. She had the looks, the sex appeal, the look and the abilities. Note that there is a difference between looks and look. So wait was this a four Diva battle royal? What the heck? Ivory makes fun of them all and you figure the rest out.

Trish is really bad in the ring at this point and there goes Ivory’s clothes. RTC was a great gimmick if nothing else. Trish hits on him. This is rather amusing. He gets a low blow of course and there go his pants. Lita takes her top off and we get her cool theme song if nothing else following the moonsault. Harmless fun.

We see a clip from the Ultimate Submission match at Backlash with Benoit and Angle. They were tied up with 4 seconds to go and Benoit held it out but tapped like 2 seconds after. Benoit then won in overtime. He stole the medals on Raw, leading to this.

Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle

2/3 falls of Benoit and Angle? OH YEAH!!! Angle wants his medals and Benoit says they’re in a warm place. Apparently this is a week after Backlash. Should be noted that this is one of the combinations that I start the grading out at a B instead of a C given who is in the ring. Heyman says there’s a 6 pound weight difference between the two with Benoit at 229 and Angle at 236. Now how could a man with that kind of education have accounting issues?

The mat work that these two could do was amazing to say the least. It’s art out there. How often do you get to say that? Both go for their submissions and neither can get it this early of course. Dang Angle could throw a suplex. Then again so can Benoit. Benoit just goes nuts with the suplexes of various geographic designs. After about 9 of them a diving headbutt gives Benoit a completely clean pin.

That’s a bit odd but I guess you could argue that Angle knew he didn’t have to win the first fall. Angle pulls a Bret Hart and pretends to be hurt after the first fall. He hits a belly to belly from the top that is just a thing of beauty. It’s so crisp and it looks perfect the entire way. It goes to show you how good things could be if you just go with the basics and a wrestling based style.

I love how basic they keep things and at the same time how effective it can be. Then you get something out of nowhere like a DDT from Benoit. When has either of these guys used a DDT? Angle Slam is countered and it’s German time again.

The headbutt misses this time though so we get a bit of psychology there. It’s minor but it’s there. Both submissions are reversed but Benoit reverses Angle’s reversal into a rollup for the second straight fall. Post match Benoit pulls the medals out of his tights. This is great stuff and it’s so simple.

Rating: B+. Solid stuff here but did you expect something else? With only 15 minutes for two falls, how great can they make stuff though? They always had great matches and it’s pretty clear I love watching them. The wrestling was crisp and it came off great of course. The two straight falls were a bit of a surprise though so that’s a bit odd but still, solid stuff all around.

Austin complains about life in general. And the three treat Debra like crap. Good. She looks like it too. Stephanie looks great so there you go.

We get the exact same video package from Mania about Jericho vs. Regal. Well to be fair, how much new material is there and how much new stuff new stuff is there? Ah ok they did add some new stuff. That’s good. The start was the same though. We recap the Duchess of Queensbury match from Backlash which had a bunch of weird rules where more or less only Regal could win. Jericho beat Regal up on Raw. See, THIS is what we need at these shows: a reason to freaking care.

The Queen’s Cup is presented. Yeah it means nothing.

Queen’s Cup: William Regal vs. Chris Jericho

Regal gets a nice pop. Why are British wrestlers listed in stones in America and pounds in England? Regal looks a good bit less fat here for some reason. Jericho gets a much better pop which doesn’t surprise me. Dang Jericho was awesome at this time. Again: Jericho and Edge need face title runs. So does Orton. I have issues calling the month long transitional reign he had in 04 a real reign.

This should be sweet. Jericho busts out a high cross body. Where did that come from? They do the bad shoulder for Jericho as they did at Mania. Sweet goodness these two are fun to watch. Back to back good matches on a European show? What the heck is going on? This is a fun match. Regal is getting to show off quite a bit. DaNG Regal’s thigh is all blue and purple. Apparently he has a thigh bruise. That’s an understatement if nothing else.

Regal hooks a cobra clutch to go I guess retro on us. Regal is controlling here in case you were confused. Jericho is tied in the ropes which is a spot we need to see more often. An enziguri gets Jericho out of trouble and both guys are down.

No Jericho didn’t hit an enziguri while tied in the ropes. He’s great but not that great. I love that missile dropkick off the middle rope. It’s a cool spot while not being as high risk. Lionsault is blocked. Regal uses the spinout slam that Cena uses now. Wow Cena was just a year away at this point. And all of a sudden the Walls are on and we’re done. That came from a good bit of nowhere. Post match Regal breaks the cup over Jericho.

Rating: B+. This is a weird grade for me. While I liked it better than the Benoit/Angle match, it’s getting the same grade. They’re different kinds of matches. This was more of a popcorn match while Benoit and Angle were more of a performance. Both were very good, but at the same time they were completely different kinds of matches if that makes sense. It’s better than their very good Mania match, which is saying something I think.

We recap the Brothers of Destruction vs. The Two Man Power Trip which had three men of course. The Brothers lost the tag titles to them at Backlash in the all titles are on the line match. HHH is IC Champion and Austin is WWF Champion. Kane had a bad elbow and it cost them the tag titles, so Austin and HHH have all the main titles.

They injured Kane so Taker is on his own tonight in a handicap match for the world title. Kane would win the IC Title at Judgment Day and I think the next night HHH would tear his quad so we never got to the end of the angle, which of course would have been Austin vs. HHH, likely at Summerslam. Not sure if the Alliance would have happened then or not but I’d think not.

WWF Title: Undertaker vs. HHH/Steve Austin

Keep in mind, it’s announced that Taker only wins the title if he pins Austin. In other words, there is no point in going after HHH and no point in Austin ever wanting to tag in. I never liked Austin’s music at this time. He gets a pop even though he’s a heel which he needs to be at the time as his face status wasn’t going to work. Yet he was still getting pops. The problem was that he wasn’t going to be able to stay over with Rock as the epic face that he was so they had to turn Austin heel.

That and they had done Austin vs. everyone else already. But then again I think I’m the only person to like Austin’s heel turn. Taker uses his brain and grabs a chair to hold both guys off. Austin’s leg braces are partially gold. That just looks odd. What I liked about Austin as a heel was he was still the same badass. He just worked with Vince.

That was the problem with Austin though: he had so many heel tendencies already that it was hard to truly turn him without killing him completely. Corporate Austin wouldn’t have worked, at least not in my eyes. No one would have bought it after all the years he had fighting authority. They fight in the aisle as I’m assuming we have DQs here. Why in the world would you try a piledriver on the floor? Has that EVER worked? Well yeah but not in a main event match.

Taker COMPLETELY misses an elbow smash and HHH sells it anyway. That was just awful looking. Again, one ECW guy in there. Did anyone not go there at some point? Well I guess HHH and Taker didn’t so there. Austin is down…somewhere so it’s HHH vs. Taker. That works for me. Something is just looking awkward with these two tonight. It’s rather weird. Ah ok there are tags here. That’s where Austin is.

The announcers say Austin has bought into the team player idea so he’ll tag in. I’ll buy that I guess. Thesz Press gets a pop of course. That’s the problem with this and the problem with AJ as a heel: their offenses are designed to be faces and to get face pops. The character is heel, but the in ring stuff is face. That’s a big problem. Austin gets a chair shot in thanks to Stephanie distracting the referee. The kickout gets a REACTION.

I got tired of saying pop but that’s what it was. The tagging is a great help here as it makes this something close to believable. We hit a sleeper which goes on for way too long but I guess it’s ok. No idea why but it’s made me too sleepy to argue. This is mainly HHH vs. Taker of course. So now Austin hits a sleeper and Taker switches to a sleeper.

Boy that WWF is making sure to switch things up aren’t they? HHH goes to the top (WTF???) and does that really annoying spot where he jumps straight down and lands on Taker’s up foot. WHAT IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING??? Taker makes a comeback and HHH goes through the table via (armbar) chokeslam. Cole is LOSING IT over this. CHokeslam hits on Austin. Taker is busted open from something.

Might have been from the sleepiness from earlier. Here’s Vince for no apparent reason. He of course gets chokeslammed and HHH gets hits with that and a chair for the pin. No title change though. I think I like that ending actually. That blood looks really bad. Oh dang it’s on the side of his head. It being legit helps a lot.

Rating: B. Not bad at all here. They managed to make this something close to believable, which is more than I would have expected of them. While it’s kind of ridiculous to think Taker beat both of them at once, the way they did it kind of worked so I was buying into it. It’s your standard main event though so that’s fine. This was good stuff I thought and a fine way to close the show.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this a lot actually. It’s by far and away the best of these shows and while it’s far from perfect, it’s certainly a good show. The first 50 minutes or so are pretty weak but after that it takes off and it takes off very well. There’s nothing great here and nothing worth going out of your way to see, but this is a good show and worth being a PPV for a change. WWF was hot at this point and this is no exception. Good show and worth checking out if you for some reason run across it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

This was requested a few weeks back, though it’s an old version (over eight years) so the quality isn’t great.  I apologize in advance.

Insurrextion 2000
Date: May 6, 2000
Location: Earls Court, London, England
Attendance: 17,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Back to England as we haven’t been here in awhile. This is another of the English shows that is made to look like a PPV despite being a big house show. It’s about a week after Backlash where Rock won the title from HHH and the main event is Rock vs. HHH vs. Shane which I’m sure will be riveting. Other than that there isn’t much here at all. Let’s get to it so we can get it over with.

The opening video is painfully generic with HHH, Shane and Rock saying exactly what you would expect them to say. This was fairly pointless and doesn’t make me think much of the show tonight.

That pyro is loud!

Too Cool vs. Perry Saturn/Dean Malenko

The Radicalz are still new here having been around less than three and a half months to this point. Dean is Light Heavyweight Champions here which means absolutely nothing. Dean beat Scotty for the title so there’s your reasoning behind the match which is more than you would usually get here. I never got the appeal of Too Cool. They’re just not interesting to me in the slightest.

And what would a British show be without an air horn? Crowd is white hot too which is always a good sign. It’s weird seeing the old school barricades too. Saturn and Malenko are annoyed with each other apparently because Saturn hasn’t won a title yet. Saturn and Grandmaster get the mostly hot tags and the faces dominate.

I hate the Worm and any moves like it. If a bulldog keeps a guy down for like 10 seconds like that, why not cover them? If after ten seconds they can’t get out of the way of a chop, couldn’t they get pinned off a cover just after the bulldog? Anyway the top rope legdrop from Grandmaster to Saturn ends it. Saturn and Malenko fight afterwards.

Rating: D+. Eh not bad for an opener but at the same time this just didn’t have anything special about it at all. I’m not sure I get the logic of having the Radicalz lose either, but the match wasn’t that horrible. The fans were reacting well to it though so that’s a good sign I guess.

Mae gives Kat a pep talk.

And Vince is here! He says if HHH had gotten a fair match at Backlash he would have kept the title. Austin had run in during the match and hit HHH with a Stunner. Vince is awesome at what he does.

He has this confidence about himself and it works really well. Vince says Rock’s plan is that if he loses the title in England not a lot of people are going to know about it. You know, other than the people that watch Raw and see him without the belt. Vince says a relative of his will win the title. I’m not sure if there was a point to this or not.

Bull Buchanan vs. Kane

A month ago Buchanan and Boss Man broke Kane’s hand, hence the match. I love the organ music of Kane. It’s just sweet sounding. The pyro on the other hand will stop your heart. He has Bearer with him here too. We’re appearing to be in a squash match here as Kane completely dominates and then no sells a DDT. Yep Buchanan is dead in the water.

Buchanan hits his signature move where he runs up the corner and turns for a clothesline. Kane is of course up before Bull is. It’s ALL Kane here as even the stuff Bull hits has nothing as far as effect goes. A middle rope axe handle is caught in a chokeslam to end this in like 3 minutes.

Rating: C-. I like Kane so this was very fun. Buchanan was never really worth a thing so this kind of summed up his career: the best he’s got just got smacked right back in his face. This was one of the most one sided matches I’ve ever seen that didn’t involve a jobber, which is likely giving Buchanan too much credit but whatever. The rating is pure bias mind you.

Stephanie implies that Vince doesn’t like HHH which ticks him off.

Bradshaw vs. Road Dogg

Tori is freaking hot. She just is. And I always liked the King of Rock theme for DX. Also great to see these epic storylines getting closure on PPV like this. Farrooq does commentary here. The APA are total heels here and they go after Tori and the beatdown is on Road Dogg. Farrooq gets thrown out. Well you can’t say the first minute was boring.

Bradshaw works on the ribs a lot which makes sense. Not really but it felt right to say that. Ignore this and the previous sentence. This match is just boring. It feels like a house show match and that’s just not a good sign at all. Road Dogg has his ribs worked on for four minutes or so and then is just fine to get his two moves in where he dances. Why does that not surprise me?

The Clothesline isn’t quite a finisher yet but is a signature move at this point. And then a pumphandle slam ends it. Well that was riveting. I almost stopped watching that documentary on earwax.

Rating: F+. This was just bad. There’s no other way to put it. There was nothing of note here and Tori looking good was the only thing it had going for it whatsoever. It wasn’t interesting at all and there was no apparent reason for it happening. At least it’s over though.

Terri is ready.

The Kat vs. Terri

This is arm wrestling mind you. Kat has Mae Young and Terri has Moolah who are involved here for no explained reasons at all. Moolah’s legs are still nice looking actually. This feud went on forever and never wound up going anywhere but this is all about looks as neither of them could do a thing in the ring.

If you’ve seen any arm wrestling thin in wrestling ever, you know the next three minutes so I’ll be quiet for the most part. Terri and Mae both cheat and Kat wins. Terri pulls Kat’s top off and Kat is like screw it and shows them off. Naturally we don’t get to see a thing. Well it’s over at least. This was a waste of five minutes.

Rikishi is coming to the ring.

Crash is hiding.

Rock is JUST GETTING HERE.

Dudley Boys vs. Big Show/Rikishi

It’s Showkishi here which is funny if nothing else. It’s not as good as Shogan but it’s still good. We get a clip of Trish being put through a table at Backlash for no apparent reason. D-Von and the thong wearing Show start us off. The Dudleys are still awesome here but what are you really expecting here?

Show was world champion four months ago and Rikishi was one of the most popular guys on the roster at this point. Lawler makes jokes and my head begins to hurt. They beat up Rikishi for a bit and we’re just killing time so far. I want to break whoever it is that has that stupid airhorn. What’s Up on Rikishi.

Show comes in and clears house and it’s a double Stinkface. Bubba gets a table and the place freaking POPS. I’m sorry for this review being so lackluster but this show is just not interesting at all. And here are Edge and Christian to beat up the Dudleys. A chokeslam on Bubba ends it.

Rating: D. Another boring match here. Nothing of note happened at all and it was a glorified comedy act. Rikishi was popular though and they loved the table appearing even though nothing actually happened with it. This was just a waste of time, but it sets up this.

Too Cool comes out and they trade glasses with the Dudleys. All six of them dance. Ok, I know I think it’s stupid, but the place freaking ERUPTED for this and with the amount of flashbulbs going off you would think it was Austin vs. Rock.

Bubba goes insane and moves faster than he’s ever moved in his career. This is fun so it did its job. Also this is on a European PPV so it’s not like many people are going to see it anyway, at least not by comparison.

We see Angle going around London seeing the sights. He’s the cocky guy that is happy go lucky here and is just freaking great.

Angle cost Benoit the IC Title and tonight it’s Angle vs. Benoit.

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

Angle gets one heck of a pop. He criticizes the English spoken in London and I’m loving this. Benoit gets nowhere near the reaction of Angle which is odd. His eye is about as swollen as Trish’s chest. And here’s Crash Holly. Ok then. He’s looking for an Englishman to fight and there’s no one willing to apparently. His voice is great actually. Do I need to tell you that this match is going to be good?

This is more about Crash than anything else though as we have almost no commentary about Benoit or Angle but it’s ALL about Crash. Is there a point to this at all? I could watch Angle suplex people all day. Once Crash finally shuts up we get back in time to see Benoit hit the Rolling Germans. He uses a bridge on the last one for two which is different for him. And then Crash takes things over again.

Angle grabs the referee’s hand and jabs Benoit’s eye with it. I’ll ignore how completely contrived that is but whatever. Benoit misses the headbutt and the Angle Slam ends it. This was MAYBE 6 minutes long. What was that?

Rating: C+. And that’s with the elevated ratings for these two. This was likely the worst of their matches I’ve ever seen as it felt like there was no motivation at all or anything like that. They were totally going through the motions out there and I have NO idea what the deal was with Crash out there. If there has ever been a WTF moment involving these two, this was it.

A blonde Michael Cole asks Shane who Vince was talking about and Shane says he meant Shane.

British Bulldog comes running to the ring with a referee (Teddy Long) for a Hardcore Title match vs. Crash. Ok then.

Hardcore Title: British Bulldog vs. Crash Holly

To say the crowd erupted is an understatement. Crash chokes him to insane booing. This is by far the biggest reaction that Crash has ever gotten. Bulldog is just destroying him here as you would expect. Crash has a kendo stick broken over his back. The Powerslam gets the title. This was REALLY short.

Rating: N/A. This was for the live crowd and there’s not a thing wrong with that. Bulldog would never be on PPV again and would lose the title back in less than a week. He would have one or two more televised matches ever I think.

Edge and Christian sign a fan an autograph and get 5 pounds from a kid for it. They take a picture for another fan but get in front of him so it’s just of them. That costs ten pounds.

Tag Titles: Hardy Boys vs. Edge and Christian

The Canadians are champions here but does it really matter? Like Benoit vs. Angle, do I need to tell you that this is going to be good? Lawler calls Edge and Christian the beautiful people. JR says what’s next for Edge and Christian: shampoo commercials? Anyone that has watched Mania 18 knows why that’s funny.

How weird is it to think that this is 10 years ago and they’re one of the featured matches? Lawler seems to have a man crush on Edge and Christian. There’s nothing incredibly unique here but they know how to work well together and excite a crowd. That’s all you need to do sometimes and considering that this is a crowd that doesn’t often get live wrestling, even the most basic stuff they do is going to seem more impressive than usual.

Christian hits a nice powerslam on Jeff. Oh great now I’m typing to the beat that those airhorns are being blown at. Simple heel tactics really do work well. Edge kept Jeff from making the hot tag and got booed for it. Simple but effective. What more can you ask for? We follow that up with the classic referee missing the tag which is heavily booed. I love basics. Matt gets the tag which for some reason gets a very limited reaction.

And now it’s all breaking down. The double finisher hits Christian but Edge breaks it up with the bell for the DQ. Did you really expect anything else? The Dudleys come out and 3D Christian and put Edge through a table. Wait…they’re faces here??? What the heck?

Rating: B-. Solid stuff here, but they’ve had far more interesting and better matches before. They used a very basic formula here and it worked well. They beat the tar out Jeff and he sold it like a master. This was good for what it was supposed to be though, weak ending aside.

We recap Eddie vs. Jericho which is mainly over Chyna leaving Jericho for Eddie.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho

Eddie is European Champion here and Jericho is IC Champion. There’s a coin toss to determine which belt is on the line. Eddie doesn’t like Europe. Chyna speaks Spanish and I understand her. Jericho gets a big old pop. It’s weird to think that these two had been in the company less than a year combined.

He was completely gold on the mic at this point as you could see how much fun he was having just being out of WCW and being the midcard champion less than 8 months in. Eddie loses and the European Title is on the line. Jericho dominates early and Eddie tries to run but his woman won’t let him. That’s kind of amusing for some reason. I love the incredible cockiness of Jericho. It’s just an awesome character trait that makes him work.

Things like the posing pin and shouting ASK HIM to the referee. I love those kind of things and they’re so simple. Eddie takes over and snaps off a perfect hurricanrana. There’s a Gory Special that neither announcer recognizes as his father’s hold, so they call it a modified abdominal stretch.

Then he hooks an inverted one. Where is Mike Tenay or even Matt Striker when you need them? You can tell there’s a lot of improvising here and it’s working quite well. Well what did you expect from two of the best ever? Both guys go over the top and Eddie may have hurt his back. Chyna hits Jericho with a DDT for two. Jericho gets the double powerbomb which is just awesome. And there’s the belt shot to Jericho to end it.

Rating: B. Solid stuff here but then again what did you expect? Jericho had a fire in him at this point and it was very clear he was having a great time out there. Jericho would drop the belt to Benoit in two days so it’s not like this went on long anyway. This was a good match though and by far the best of the night. The ending was predictable but what else did you really expect?

Shane and HHH argue about who gets to win the title and over who Vince wanted to win. Stephanie says it doesn’t matter.

We recap this whole thing as Shane wouldn’t count the pin at Backlash when Rock had the title won. Linda and the fired Earl Hebner came in and counted the three anyway so that Rock could be champion.

Rock says he’ll overcome the odds.

WWF Title: The Rock vs. Shane McMahon vs. HHH

Hmm I wonder what’s going to happen. Shane hides to start and I can’t blame him for it. It’s smart if nothing else. Rock destroys them both to start us off. He even puts the crown on the head of Shane and then punches him, freaking Lawler out. This show needs to end. In a funny bit, HHH does Shane’s foot shuffle and looks like he’s about to destroy every muscle in his legs.

Rock of course dances as well to make it a threesome. Oh dear. I love JR freaking out over so many little things and saying how much they’re cheating. There just isn’t much to say about this match as there is no drama at all, which is the universal problem that comes up in all of the European shows.

Nothing major ever happens at them and this is no exception. JR says HHH needs to calm down or he’ll get thrown out of the match and then saves himself by saying that would be the referee’s discretion. HHH hooks a long chinlock as we’re killing time like it’s a colony of ants at a picnic. JR: I would say Vince is here for moral support but that would be inaccurate. Yeah I know. That’s why you just said it. Little mistakes like that crack me up.

The other two finally fight it out as we go into the old and traditional formula for these matches. Why mess with what works? Stephanie distracts the referee so Rock’s pin isn’t seen off a DDT to Shane. The referee proves to be a complete idiot by seeing Rock try to counter Shane’s Pedigree, seeing Rock counter Shane’s Pedigree, seeing Rock setting for a slingshot, seeing the slingshot being executed, and STILL managing to get crushed by it. You fail at like Chioda. You just do.

HHH pops Rock with the belt and there’s no referee. Gerald Brisco comes out as the second referee but only gets two. I think that’s what happened at least. The insurmountable odds are piling up way too high. Shane pops HHH with a chair by accident and that brings in Vince.

Rock kicks out of a Pedigree and down goes Brisco. There’s the second Pedigree. ROCK IS DONE RIGHT? It’s EARL HEBNER for the save. Let’s see that’s I believe four interferences and two weapons so far. This is perfectly reasonable right? Vince takes the Rock Bottom and Shane takes the spinebuster and elbow for the pin.

Rating: B-. Fun but WAY overbooked. This just got insane towards the end and it was nearly impossible to keep track of what was going on. I get that there has to be some interference or whatever, but DANG man do you think you did enough? Brisco could have been left out and it would have helped a lot. It was entertaining though and that’s really all that mattered. Decent enough though, but a less cluttered match would have helped a lot.

Overall Rating: D+. There have been worse European shows but this wasn’t very good at all. The main event is fun and Eddie vs. Jericho is good, but other than that there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done 1000x better on more important shows. That’s what these always come down to: it’s been done and it’s been done better. This isn’t terrible though, but there’s nothing here worth sitting down and watching.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

So I’ve been doing more of the 1999 Raw’s and EGADS the talent that came through around that time.I know we always talk about the Class of 2002 with Cena, Orton, Lesnar, Mysterio and Batista.  That’s very good, but consider who WWE brought in from February 1999-January 2000:

Big Show

Chris Jericho

Kurt Angle

Dudley Boyz

Chris Benoit

Eddie Guerrero

Five World Champions and the most decorated tag team of all time.  It might not have the marquee value of 2002, but this is one of the best years for talent acquisitions of all time and has to beat anything else for second place.

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: May 31, 2018
Location: The Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

Another week, another focus on Money in the Bank. There isn’t much else to focus on this week as both Raw and Smackdown ended with a focus on the qualifying matches. Hopefully that doesn’t dominate this week’s show, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me as WWE has a tendency to get hooked on a single concept. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Akira Tozawa vs. Tony Nese

As usual, hang on because Nese needs to show off the abs. Tozawa just shouts at him and hits the surprise right hand. Nese misses a moonsault press but nips up to avoid a clothesline and kicks Tozawa in the ribs. A kick to Nese’s face looks to set up the backsplash but it’s way too early so Nese rolls away. Nese is right back up and puts him in the Tree of Woe for the crunch kicks to the ribs.

They’re going back and forth a bit too much here. A reverse torture rack (with Tozawa facing down instead of up) stays on the ribs but Nese drops him, only to get caught with a Shining Wizard. The required suicide dive (I’m sick of that move from everyone) sets up a missile dropkick for two. A pinfall reversal sequence leads to Tozawa kicking him in the head but getting crotched on top. The running Nese is good for the pin at 5:46.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as no one really got control for very long and it didn’t let either of them get much of a flow going. It’s not like the match was bad and Nese winning is quite the surprise, even if it’s never going to mean anything for him in the short or long run. Just not a very well laid out match.

Quick look at Jinder Mahal attacking Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns last week.

From Raw.

Here’s Elias for a song. He insists on how everything needs to be nice and calm but first, he needs the lights brought down closer because he can’t stand looking at this ugly crowd. Elias makes sure the sound levels are right and we take a break. Back with Elias still in the ring and threatening to leave again. Cue Seth Rollins for his title defense and he throws Elias’ stool out. Rollins vs. Elias sounds very appealing.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal

Rollins is defending and wastes no time hammering away in the corner. A Sunil Singh distraction lets Mahal knock him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Mahal working on the ribs and grabbing an abdominal stretch. Rollins sends him into the corner and then outside for the required suicide dive. Back in and a fireman’s carry gutbuster (Darren Young’s old Gut Check) gets two but the Khallas is countered. The Stomp misses as well and Rollins rolls him up for tow.

The low superkick into the Falcon Arrow gets two as well and dang it they’re doing the crowd reaction shots again. Sunil offers another distraction and gets ejected but it allows Mahal to chair Rollins in the ribs for two. The ejected Singh is back five seconds later so Rollins buckle bombs him into Mahal. That’s enough for Seth and he chairs Mahal for the DQ at 12:21. Please tell me they’re not going to do this match again next week.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t that bad and Rollins is still something close to a miracle worker but the ending has me worried that we’re seeing more of Mahal getting title shots. If they’re not continuing the feud though, I have no idea why Mahal didn’t take the Stomp for the pin. Then again I’m not sure why Mahal is still here anyway.

Post match Rollins chases Mahal off with a chair but gets guitared down by Elias.

Post break, Rollins is being put on a stretcher but gets up and walks to the back on his own as two fans sing Happy Birthday.

Quick look at the Women’s Title matches at Money in the Bank.

From Raw.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Gauntlet Match

Before the match, Bayley says numbers don’t add up and she’s going to Money in the Bank. Bayley is in at #1 and Liv Morgan is in at #2 with the Bayley to Belly getting rid of Morgan in ten seconds. Sarah Logan is in at #3 and blocks the suplex, only to fall victim to a rollup for the pin at 1:50. Logan and Morgan double team Bayley before leaving and it’s Ruby Riott in at #4.

Back from a break with Riott having survived and sending Bayley into the corner. The Riott Kick gets rid of Bayley at 7:01 and it’s Dana Brooke in at #5. Brooke gets sent into the corner and the Riott Kick is good for the pin at 8:44. Hometown girl Mickie James is in at # 6 and sends Riott into the post for an early two. A dropkick gets two and we take a break. Back with Mickie getting two off the middle rope knees, only to get rolled up with trunks for the pin at 15:32.

Sasha Banks is in at #7 (the last entrant) and starts fast with some rollups. The Bank Statement doesn’t work and Ruby gets two off a faceplant. Riott starts the trash talk so Sasha hits her in the face. Another faceplant gives Ruby two and Sasha’s top rope double knees get the same. The Bank Statement is broken up again so Ruby tries a monkey flip, only to bounce off the ropes into a tornado DDT for two. One heck of a powerbomb out of the corner gives Sasha two and here’s the Riott Squad for the distraction. Sasha fights them off with ease and the Bank Statement makes Ruby tap at 20:50.

Rating: D. Well that was terrible. I can’t stand gauntlets where the falls take such little time more often than not. If you can win a fall this fast, why do regular matches take ten minutes? They would have been better off just doing Riott vs. Banks and let them have a good match but, as usual, quantity means quality. I’ll take it over another meaningless singles match though.

Mojo Rawley vs. No Way Jose

Main Event gets its first conga line. Mojo jumps him during the entrance and charges him at the bell to put Jose in even more trouble. A clothesline and some right hands give Jose his first offense and he pounds Rawley down in the corner to even things up a bit. We get some Steve Austin inspired offense with a Thesz press into the right hands and Rawley bails to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Jose getting chop blocked and more stomping in the corner. Rawley scores with a splash in the corner and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Mojo misses a splash, allowing Jose to grab him by the head for a jumping neckbreaker. Jose loads up the pop up right hand but gets sent into the corner for Rawley’s running right hand and the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. I know Rawley isn’t going anywhere with this stuff as it’s not like they have room for someone fresh in the midcard on Raw (not when you can keep using the same people over and over again). Still though, it’s good to see him getting some ring time and some wins, even though he lost a few weeks back to make this momentum seem like a more recent decision.

And from Smackdown.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Samoa Joe vs. Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan

Cass gets stomped down in the corner as we get a rare Joe/Bryan alliance. With Cass on the floor, Bryan can’t moonsault over Joe so Joe suicide elbows Cass instead. Bryan dives onto both of them and we take a break. Back with Bryan getting kicked in the head and Joe’s backsplash getting two. Cass drops Joe and sends Bryan outside for a toss over the announcers’ table and it’s back to one on one.

Back in and Cass puts Joe on top but here’s Bryan to take Cass down and snap off a super hurricanrana on Joe. Cass takes Bryan’s head off with a hard clothesline for two and pounds away with some hard intensity as we take a break. Back again with Cass chopping Joe in the corner followed by the Empire Elbow for two.

The East River Crossing gets two on Bryan with Joe making the save. Bryan starts in on Cass’ knee but has to slip out of the Koquina Clutch. Joe gets sent outside but breaks up the YES Lock on Cass. There’s a flying knee from the apron to drop Joe and a missile dropkick to Cass back inside. The running knee hits Cass but Joe comes in and chokes Bryan out for the win at 21:11.

Rating: C+. The important thing here is they got the ending right. Joe was the right call to send to the ladder match and while I didn’t need to see Cass in the match, it was the right ending and that’s what matters most. I’m sure we’ll get Cass vs. Bryan again at Money in the Bank and hopefully that should finish things up. Decent enough match.

Overall Rating: C-. I still don’t care for Money in the Bank but maybe we can move on to anything else now that the qualifying matches are all set. However, there’s also the chance of more meaningless matches under the name of “building momentum”. If we’re really lucky, they’ll show it over and over again on Main Event too, because that’s all that matters at the moment. Run of the mill show here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: May 31, 2018
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

It’s a big night tonight with the Under Pressure special, headlined by Austin Aries challenging Pentagon Jr. for the Impact Wrestling World Title. Pentagon won the title last month at Redemption in a three way but Aries is getting his rematch in a singles match. Other than that, Allie is defending the Knockouts Title against Su Yung in a casket match. Let’s get to it.

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

Earlier today, Sonjay Dutt held a talent meeting (because Sonjay is a boss around here) about the X attacks. The locker room says they have to stick together.

We get a rapid fire series of hype videos about the entire card.

Opening sequence.

Eli Drake vs. Scott Steiner

They were Tag Team Champions and fell apart due to colliding egos. Drake talks trash to start and gets shouldered down, followed by the overhead belly to belly. A slingshot shoulder drops Steiner but the Push Up Elbow gives Steiner two. They head outside with Steiner driving him into the barricade but getting posted to cut him off again. Back in and Drake misses a Lionsault, only to put Steiner up in an electric chair for a throat first drop drop across the top rope. Steiner shoves the referee away so Drake sneaks in a chair shot for the pin at 6:13.

Rating: D. That needs to be it for Steiner as he’s not exactly doing anything in the ring or on the microphone, the latter of which being the only thing he’s good for anymore. Drake didn’t get much of a rub off the win but it was short and he got a quick Tag Team Title run out of it so now he can move on.

Callis and Matthews talk about the rest of the show.

We recap Tessa Blanchard vs. Madison Rayne. Tessa debuted a few weeks ago and talked about how she was that much better than everyone else. Madison didn’t like it and the match was set up as a result.

Madison Rayne vs. Tessa Blanchard

Feeling out process to start with Tessa scoring off a quick tilt-a-whirl slam. A kick to the face gets two on Madison and Tessa dropkicks her in the back, allowing more cockiness and trash talk. Tessa grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two and we hit the chinlock. Madison fights back up with a northern lights suplex but a hanging Downward Spiral cuts her right back off and gives Tessa two. Some swearing at the referee looks to set up the hammerlock DDT but Madison reversed into a rollup for the surprise pin at 6:09.

Rating: D+. I’m sorry what? I would really hope that this is leading somewhere else as Madison hasn’t done anything in forever and Tessa is as complete of a package as they’ve had in a long time. They did seem to be suggesting that Madison won on a fluke because Tessa was too cocky, but I’m really not sure about having Tessa lose in any way so soon after she debuts.

LAX is in the clubhouse and Kingston has some rather fetching women for the guys, plus a match with the Cult of Lee next week.

Video on Brian Cage wrecking people around the world.

Dezmond Xavier vs. Brian Cage

Dezmond gets shoved around by raw power to start but manages a dropkick to send Cage outside. A running splash and some kicks have very little effect so Cage throws him back in. Xavier’s DDT is thrown away with a butterfly suplex and we hit that Terminator clap. Dezmond is smart enough to hit and move, including another kick to send Cage to the floor for a Space Flying Tiger Drop (I love wacky Japanese names for moves). Back in and the Final Flash gets one and that’s about it for Dezmond’s already limited chances here. The Drill Claw gives Cage the pin at 5:40.

Rating: D. Dezmond got in a lot here but the ending was never in doubt. I can appreciate a good monster, especially one with such a great look, and it’s nice to have the designated victim getting in some offense. Cage is just more important than the lower card of the X-Division and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Cage as a World Title contender by the end of the year.

Austin Aries says he’s the man who makes the belts matter because that’s how it works around here. Back in the day he breathed some life into this place and that’s what he’s going to do tonight. This time it’s one on one and we get to find out what Pentagon Jr. has. He may have no fear, but after tonight he’ll have no title. Good promo.

We recap Allie vs. Su Yung. Allie is terrified of Yung, who made it even worse when she got rid of Allie’s freaky friend Rosemary. Now Allie seems ready to tap into the dark side to defeat Yung once and for all.

The undead bridesmaids bring out the casket.

Knockouts Title: Allie vs. Su Yung

Allie is defending and comes out with the Rosemary face paint, which actually works very well for her. The champ wastes no time with some clotheslines and a suplex into the corner as Yung seems freaked out by the paint. Yung takes her down into a bodyscissors and calls for the casket to be opened, forcing Allie to look at it. Back up and Allie misses a charge into the corner but fights out of the casket. A running clothesline off the casket drops Yung and we take a break.

Back with Allie missing another charge and getting kicked in the face, knocking her backwards with her legs underneath. Yung’s chair is kicked away with Allie using it for a Codebreaker instead in a smart counter. A superkick knocks Yung into the casket but she gets her leg out for the save. That means the Mandible Claw to knock Allie out, giving Yung the title at 11:48.

Rating: C-. Nothing much here but Allie losing makes sense. Rosemary is going to be gone for a long time and there’s a story to be told with Allie maturing and eventually fighting back against the evil Yung could work. The division is very stacked with heels right now though and I’m not sure who else could take the title from Yung.

From Destination X, the Last Rites match between Sting and Abyss. This would be the one where the fans chanted FIRE RUSSO.

Pentagon has no fear and knows that Aries is great, but he’s not great enough.

Diamante thinks there’s something up with LAX and Kingston.

Petey Williams, who was the most vocal in the talent meeting, is found standing over Sonjay with the X symbol over him.

We recap Sami Callihan vs. Eddie Edwards.

Eddie is ready to go murder Sami in the woods (his words) and tells Alisha to stay here.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Austin Aries vs. Pentagon Jr.

Aries is challenging and his Grand Championship isn’t on the line. Pentagon takes his time on the floor and Aries takes him down with a suicide dive to start fast. The champ puts him up against the post and chops away, hitting the post on the second attempt. They get inside for the opening bell and Aries has the Last Chancery in short order. With the hold broken in short order, Aries ties the string from the mask to the ropes.

You do NOT do that to a luchador and Pentagon gets fired up, only to eat a missile dropkick. Aries sends him face first into the middle buckle and the middle rope elbow to the back gets two. They slug it out with Pentagon kicking him outside and we take a break. Back with Pentagon chopping even more and hitting the back to back Sling Blades.

The Fear Factor is broken up with a shinbreaker and Aries goes up, where he has to break up a super Fear Factor. Instead it’s another Last Chancery which breaks down in short order again. Pentagon’s Backstabber gets two and the Pentagon Driver gets the same with a boot on the ropes. Aries bails to the floor and counters a hurricanrana into a third Last Chancery…for a double countout at 17:04.

Hang on though as Aries gets back in and swears a lot, saying this needs to restart. Pentagon is game and gets forearmed into a Death Valley Driver onto the apron. Since it’s a World Title match, Pentagon pops up and hits the Fear Factor on the apron. That means another double countout at 18:40 but, of course, we start it again at Pentagon’s insistence. Aries tells the referee to ring the bell, kicks Pentagon low, and hits the brainbuster to regain the title at 20:21.

Rating: B. This felt very much like an Impact main event: long (in a good way) and doing its job, but nothing that is going to be remembered in a few hours. These matches just don’t have the best staying power and that’s part of why Impact has issues getting anywhere: Aries turning heel is smart, but am I supposed to be upset that Pentagon got screwed? I don’t know much about Pentagon other than a catchphrase. In other words, build up the characters and this will be better.

Overall Rating: C+. These special episodes work rather well for Impact as they take their time and get through everything that they’re supposed to. The matches might not have been good and at least one booking decision was questionable, but the storytelling was fine for the most part and that’s what they need to get down. The X attacker continues to interest me, but egads they could blow that horribly. Overall not a great show, but the good storytelling made it work well enough for a big night.

Results

Eli Drake b. Scott Steiner – Chair to the head

Madison Rayne b. Tessa Blanchard – Rollup

Brian Cage b. Dezmond Xavier – Drill Claw

Su Yung b. Allie – Yung put Allie in the casket

Austin Aries b. Pentagon Jr. – Brainbuster

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Wrestling Society X
Date: January 30, 2006
Location: WSX Bunker, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Bret Ernst, Kris Kloss

Thanks a lot people. This is what I get for agreeing to do almost any show ever. Wrestling Society X was a short lived (as in ten half hour episodes) concept of an underground wrestling organization that wrestled in a bunker (kind of a forerunner to Lucha Underground) but also tied in musical acts. The gimmicks were insane to the point where the show was taken off the air for being too insane. This is a one off as I have no desire to ever do more than a single episode. Let’s get to it.

The announcers welcome us to the show and hype up the WSX Rumble for the right to fight of the WSX Title next week.

Matt Sydal vs. Jack Evans

Yeah you see some big names in here. The ring announcer is one of those guys who feels the need to shout EVERY SINGLE WORD. Sydal has Lizzy Valentine (an indy wrestler) in his corner. Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde is on commentary to tie into the music concept. Sydal kicks him away to start as the announcers explain how wrestling works. Wylde panics over the idea of someone being sent to the floor and a big flip dive drops Evans again.

We get the required discussion of how hot Lizzie is and Sydal kicks him in the face for two. A Gory Stretch with Sydal leaning Evans down and pulling on his head for good measure looks rather impressive but Jack slips out and kicks him down. The cartwheel into a flip dive drops Sydal again so Sydal comes back with a pumphandle driver (inverted powerbomb according tot he annoying announcers) for two. Lizzy grabs the foot and gets dragged inside, allowing Evans to hit a tornado DDT into the 630 for the pin at 3:21.

Rating: C. Nice high flying match here (typical indy style but not bad) but the commentary was rather annoying. Wylde was losing it for every move and didn’t exactly come off as anything but a guy watching wrestling for the first time. If you don’t hype up what he does, what’s the point in tying him in to a wrestling show? But yeah, Sydal looked good here, as you would expect.

Video on some tag teams coming to WSX:

Doin It For Her (Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black, the latter of whom is better known as Seth Rollins)

Trailer Park Boyz (Nate Webb and Josh Evans)

And that’s it. Ok then.

Justin Credible is ready to have his night.

New Jack promises to beat Hamrick up.

Teddy Hart is the past, present and future of wrestling.

Kaos (nobody) and Aguliera are focused.

We go over the rules for the Rumble, which has 45 second intervals, over the top eliminations, and tables, live electrical wires and an EXPLODING STEEL CAGE at ringside. Oh and despite there being over the top rope eliminations, you have to pull down contracts above the ring to win, with the two winners facing off for the title next week.

Ring announcers: “AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLEEEEEEETY DIFFERENT!”

WSX Rumble

Justin Credible is in at #1 (of ten) and Teddy Hart is in at #2. Hart throws a bottle at him and scores with a dropkick to start. That earns him a superkick and a crotch chop as the announcers hype up the explosives. A springboard moonsault takes Credible down and it’s Kaos in at #3. Hart and Credible double team him, which Wylde doesn’t understand. A shooting star press/backbreaker combination drops Kaos again and here’s Vampiro (billed as a WCW Champion, which is true but misleading as he was a one time Tag Team Champion) in at #4 to clean house.

Back from a break with Puma (the future TJP) having come in at #5 and been eliminated almost immediately, plus Alkatrazz in at #6. That goes nowhere so 6-Pac (X-Pac of course) is in at #7. X-Factors abound as Sydal calls 6-Pac a gentleman and it’s Hamrick (a southern guy) is in at #8, wearing street clothes because New Jack is chasing him around. New Jack comes in (I believe at #9 but he might just be here) and knocks Hamrick through a table for the elimination.

New Jack is eliminated for some reason so he comes back in with the guitar and breaks it over the referee’s head, freaking Wylde out even more. Vampiro powerslams Kaos as New Jack beats Hamrick up a bit more. Cue Luke Hawx to suplex Kaos into the wire for an elimination, right before New Jack dives onto Hamrick to put him through a table. Youth Suicide completes the field at #10 in his first professional match. Hart is tossed out and we have ladders now, though I’m not sure if eliminations are still a possibility.

We’re down to Credible, Vampiro, 6-Pac and Youth Suicide as Alkatrazz was eliminated somewhere around the explosion. Suicide goes up but gets powerbombed onto some tacks so 6-Pac gets the first contract. Wylde goes to ringside as Suicide goes up, only to have Credible shove him into the exploding cage. Credible and Vampiro go up with Vampiro winning a really lame slugout and pulling down the other contract for the win at 12:17.

Rating: F. WOW. I actually sat there for a second with my jaw hanging open at how horrible this was. This was the same nonsense where someone looked at ECW without realizing what made it work (as much as it did work) in the first place and thinking they could do any of this stuff. Just complete garbage here going for shock value instead of any kind of skill, which isn’t exactly surprising given the concept of the show.

The show is off the air less than three seconds after the match ends.

Overall Rating: F. This show ran 19:18 and I feel like I’ve wasted that much of my time. The opener was watchable at best but this was terrible overall, with the “names” not exactly putting in effort and a main event concept there for shock value rather than anything worthwhile. It’s not surprising that the show got canceled so fast and that’s best for everyone. There is talent on the roster, but everything else is such a mess that it doesn’t matter whatsoever. This wasn’t wrestling, at least for the most part.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 14, 1999
Location: Centrum, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

So everything has changed (again) with Vince McMahon being revealed as the Higher Power. Yes believe it or not, Vince is the big bad all over again and he’s fighting against CEO Steve Austin, who is right there to balance him out. We’re also coming up on King of the Ring and that means things could get even nuttier than usual in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

I’ve already covered the June 7 show (it’s a big one) and you can check it out right here.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/03/03/monday-night-raw-june-7-1999-the-higher-power-revealed/

We open with a recap of last week’s events, followed by a look at what Vince put his family (mainly Stephanie, even back then) through to stick it to Austin.

Austin has officially taken over Vince’s corporate parking spot.

Opening sequence.

Earlier today, Austin went to the corporate headquarters. After telling a bunch of people with wheelbarrows to hang on a second, he goes in to talk to his secretary. He’s not happy with how she answers the phone and wants it to be “who the h*** is this and what the h*** do you want?” Austin shows her how it’s done and tells whoever it is that he’s fired Vince. She can barely keep from laughing and likes the new direction.

Here’s the Corporate Ministry (with its more than ten members) for a chat. Vince couldn’t believe that there could be anything worse than Steve Austin as the WWF Champion but now he’s the WWF CEO. Last week was supposed to be the culmination of three months of the greatest plan in the history of the company, but sometimes plans go awry (ignore the fact that the plan was to get the title off of Austin and have Vince in control, WHICH WAS ALREADY THE CASE THREE MONTHS AGO).

There are some who think the Corporate Ministry is going to dissolve but that’s not happening tonight. They’re setting their sights on the future, starting at the King of the Ring. Austin has challenged Vince and Shane to a handicap match so the McMahons accept, albeit with a stipulation. They’ve been debating various things and Vince likes a Dog Pound match. What’s a Dog Pound match? Well that would be a dog collar match and we’ll see one tonight between Road Dogg and Billy Gunn.

Shane thinks King of the Ring is like David vs. Goliath, so let’s have a David vs. Goliath match tonight with X-Pac vs. Big Show. As for the handicap idea, let’s have the Acolytes vs. Kane. Vince has one more idea for the Austin match: a Blind Date match, which means a blindfold match tonight between Test (blindfolded) vs. Big Boss Man, who will be able to see clearly. Or maybe King of the Ring should be a straitjacket match. We can preview that with Ken Shamrock in the straitjacket against Jeff Jarrett.

This brings out Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco with Pat asking why Vince is going so nuts over Stephanie (Patterson’s goddaughter) dating Test. Pat says Vince and Shane can go to h*** and Brisco tells them to get their own coffee on the way. Vince puts them in a match against Mideon and Viscera. My goodness this is the Russoiest opening segment Russo ever put together. How many gimmick matches were just thrown together by the evil heel stable who were in cahoots the whole time?

Debut of the Rock’s Chef Boyardee ad.

Back at the office, Austin meets Vince’s aides but has them all bring him beer. One tells him that there’s a board meeting in five minutes but he doesn’t like board games.

Road Dogg vs. Billy Gunn

Dog pound match, which is a dog collar match under a different name because it makes Russo think he’s smart. Dogg is ready to fight but here’s Gunn in a neck brace, which JR says he didn’t see earlier today. The threat of Kane coming out scares Gunn enough to reveal that he was faking (that would be a ten second angle) so Gunn decks Dogg in the face with the chain and chokes him over the rope.

Another chain to the head gets two despite the bell never ringing. Dogg, the only one with the collar on, punches away and gets in a chain shot of his own, but here’s for the save. A chain to Dogg’s crotch is enough to set up the Fameasser for the pin. Gimmick with a different name, fake injury, not adhering to the rules, interference, low blow for the win. Why yes it is 1999.

Post match Chyna chokes with the chain and leaves Dogg laying. Oh and Gunn pulls down his pants to reveal the thong because it’s funny I guess.

Shamrock arrives and is told that he’ll be chaperoned by cops.

We look back at last week’s Rock vs. HHH cast match with Undertaker running in and beating Rock down.

Here’s Rock (it’s so strange to hear something other than IF YOU SMELL at the start of his song) for a chat. Rock talks about Undertaker coming out here and rolling his eyes back in his head. Is that supposed to impress Rock? What would really impress him is a title match with Undertaker at King of the Ring.

Rock tells Undertaker what he can do with his head and eyes but here’s Undertaker (with Paul Bearer holding the mic for him) to say that sing-a-long time is over. The match is on and the rhyme time is over. Since that’s too easy, here are Vince and Shane to say hang on a minute. Vince thinks the only electrifying things about Rock are his shirts so Rock has to win a non-title match tonight to earn the shot. What in the world was scheduled for this show coming in? That’s what, five matches announced tonight?

We’re STILL not done yet though as Shane says there will be a stipulation for the match…which we’ll find out five minutes before it starts. In other words, they probably don’t know what it was yet and Russo needs to invent something BRILLIANT BRO to really make it great.

Jeff Jarrett and Debra are walking through the back when someone runs by carrying a chain. This seems to have nothing to do with anything else.

Women’s Title: Ivory vs. Debra

Debra is defending with Jarrett at ringside. They waste no time in starting the catfight and JR admits that it won’t be any good. Cue Nicole Bass less than ten seconds in and Ivory chokes with his scarf. Debra does it as well so Jarrett gets on the apron for no logical reason, allowing Bass to chokeslam Debra, giving Ivory the pin and the title.

Back at headquarters, Austin throws out copies of a magazine about himself and beer. He fires a vice president for looking stupid and replaces him with a mail room clerk. His new job: having a beer ready for Austin on demand. Austin meets his computer guy but we’re going to have a beer drinking contest, straight out of Austin’s briefcase full of beer. He’s going to leave now, and if you’re still standing when he gets back, you still have a job.

During the break, Patterson tried to leave but Brisco told him to stay and fight.

Test vs. Big Boss Man

Test is blindfolded and Boss Man isn’t. You get the idea: Boss Man hits him, Test can’t see, a tackle takes Boss Man down, a nightstick shot disqualifies Boss Man less than a minute in.

Post match Stephanie comes in to call Boss Man off and he relents.

Austin went in to Human Resources and found a guy in an Austin tie. He sends one of the specialists off to get him beer and tells the guy to read the magazine (an orientation manual) because he might come back for a quiz. Maybe a question like what does Austin 3:16 means. The guy knows what it means so Austin gives him some charisma lessons and they go off for further adventures.

X-Pac vs. Big Show

Believe it or not, there’s no stipulation. Hang on though as Big Show says this isn’t happening. X-Pac says yes it is because he’s a man who fights for a living. A single kick earns X-Pac a trip to the floor and here’s Kane less than ten seconds in. Kane takes X-Pac’s place but X-Pac wants to do it. That earns him a right hand from Kane but X-Pac kicks him down as well. Kane knocks Show outside so Show walks away as this was a segment instead of a match.

Shamrock gets put in the straitjacket and promises to beat up everyone who put him in.

Recap of the Austin shenanigans.

Recap of the opening segment.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Ken Shamrock

Non-title with Shamrock in a straitjacket. Shamrock is wearing pants and wrestling boots with the jacket for a very weird visual. A knee bar and triangle choke with the legs only have Jarrett in trouble and Shamrock takes him down with something like the ankle lock in a rather impressive display. A shoulder block sets up a choke with the legs to make Jarrett tap clean. So yeah, Shamrock just made the Intercontinental Champion tap clean while wearing a straitjacket.

Post match Vince comes in and steals the key for the straitjacket.

On GTV, Billy Gunn is getting a certain area shaved but there’s a blemish. No one can know about this. I’m sure someone found this hilarious.

Pat Patterson/Gerald Brisco vs. Mideon/Viscera

The Stooges coming out to Real American gets me every time. They both grab chairs but here’s the Mean Street Posse to lay them out. Mideon and Viscera come in for the big beatdown.

Austin goes to accounting and wants to see some numbers. There are some losses, mainly due to things Austin has done over the years. Some of Vince’s salary is going to Mick Foley for medical bills and Shane’s salary is now the beer budget.

Tag Team Titles: Kane vs. Acolytes

Kane is challenging on his own. The fight starts on the floor with Kane sending Faarooq inside where Bradshaw has to make a save. Bradshaw comes in and takes a side slam followed by the top rope clothesline. They head outside with Kane being sent into various things before pummeling him inside. Faarooq gets caught by the throat but Bradshaw gets in some chair shots, setting up a belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination for the pin.

Rating: D. How bad is it that this was the best match of the night? They didn’t have much time but they had more than a minute and a half and there was no stupid gimmick to make the whole thing a waste of time. At least they didn’t have the champs lose clean either, which is more than Jarrett can say.

Post match X-Pac comes in to save Kane from a worse beating.

Austin has manure brought into Vince’s office to improve the smell.

Here are Vince and Shane to take issue with the manure and announce the stipulation. At King of the Ring, we’re going to take the combined power from all three of them and hang it above the ring for a ladder match. As for tonight, Rock’s stipulation…will have to wait as here’s a free Shamrock to suplex Shane and send Vince running.

During the break, Vince left the arena.

Undertaker vs. The Rock

Hang on though as we have a stipulation.

Undertaker vs. HHH vs. The Rock

Non-title. They waste no time with the double teaming with Rock being sent outside

and over the announcers’ table. Back in and Undertaker punches away for two as we’re waiting on the issues or the interference. Rock’s right hands don’t get him very far and the jumping knee to the face cuts him off again. They fight up the ramp with Rock punching away to a little avail but Undertaker uppercuts him down.

It’s back to ringside as Rock gets double teamed even more, this time with some stomps from HHH. Back in and more right hands set up Old School but HHH accidentally crotches Undertaker (because STAND OVER THERE is too complicated) and gets catapulted into the corner. Naturally that’s a ref bump (in a No DQ match) but Undertaker is back in with a chokeslam.

Rock pops up and sends them into each other though, setting up a Rock Bottom and the People’s Elbow (knocking HHH off the apron in the process) for no count. Another referee comes in for two with Chyna making the save. The first referee counts two with HHH making another save but Chyna trips Undertaker by mistake. Undertaker goes after Chyna so HHH makes the save, earning a Stunner over the ropes. The Rock Bottom gives Rock the pin and the title shot.

Rating: D+. It was just a brawl for the most part and that’s not enough to really make something like this work. You knew that Rock was going to win here but I’m not sure if I like the lack of interference or general screwiness or not. While it’s nice to see something actually go a little bit calmer, it was expected the whole way and then never went down. That’s a little disappointing.

Post match Undertaker yells at Chyna so HHH steps in and a fight ends the show.

Overall Rating: D-. The Russo Train is still rolling along with a series of gimmick matches to set up another gimmick match at King of the Ring. Of course very little was actually done for King of the Ring but this time was always about the TV. However, the TV was pretty terrible with nothing worthwhile in the ring and only some moderately amusing bits with Austin. In other words, it may have been fun at the time when you never knew where things were going but it really, really doesn’t hold up.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

By AB Morales

It feels like it was a long time ago, but just less than 4 years ago, women on Raw and Smackdown were not exactly treated the way they are today. Nowaways, they are a normal part of the program. Treated like a full division of talent. Better handled than the tag team & Cruiserweight divisions. But problems do arise. While the Women since the start of the fabled “Women’s Revolution” have grown to the point of headlining Pay-Per-Views and having special matches for them (Money In The Bank, Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber) but we are starting to run into a bit of a pickle lately.

The Women are no longer just a division on each brand. Let me explain. In wrestling, you have your regular roster of people. You have your tag team division, your Jr. Heavyweights or Cruiserweights and then Women and others. But the women on Raw and Smackdown have grown a bit too much. You now have layers to that one division. It becomes very evident when WWE doesn Money In The Bank or Elimination Chamber for women. They aren’t all exactly on a steady level. You’ll have clear top starts like Asuka, Charlotte & Becky Lynch, but then to fill out the ranks you get clearly out of place women like Lana, Dana Brooke or Peyton Royce. To draw a parallel, you now have main event women, midcards and lowercarders but because of the brand split, WWE still has to mix them together.

The women have been established to the point that it gets pretty ridiculous when the likes of Nia Jax & Carmella win the titles and there’s a vast assortment of women that are far more fit for the role. It feels like they take a step back with these as Champions rather than a step forward.

Rumors of Tag Team titles have been circulating for months but then you run into another problem. While the women’s divisions are bigger than ever, they are still pretty short in number and one set of tag team titles requires another in these brand split days. If the rosters were not split a secondary Women’s title would help greatly as it would help ease the gap between the female midcard and main event field. We see glimpses of that nowadays with the Raw & SDL Women’s titles but because of the roster divide, both titles need to be treated as equal rather than one above the other and that results in things like trying to sell us on Asuka vs Carmella as a viable main program for a PPV.

At the rate the women continue to grow in WWE, in a matter of two years, the rosters would probably be very big and you could theoretically solve the issue of needing women to fill spots like in the Royal Rumble, but that still does not fix the widening gap between the top and bottom of the female talent food chain. The division has grown too much to have another Naomi vs Lana scenario like last year did this time around and Asuka vs Carmella is quite close to it.

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Thank you for reading. My name is AB Morales, Puertorican Dirt Sheet writer, a friend of KB for years. You can find and follow me here:

Facebook | Where I have my own personal blog with daily wrestling updates and even cover anime and videogames once in a while.
Twitch | Where I stream videogames and do occasional art streams.
Twitter | Where I do….., well it’s Twitter.
Impacto Estelar | My own little Spanish Dirt Sheet site.