Mixed Match Challenge – March 13, 2018: Proper WOOing Technique

IMG Credit: WWE

Mixed Match Challenge
Date: March 13, 2018
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Beth Phoenix

We’re getting deep into this thing as tonight will determine the third semifinalists. This week’s show features Bobby Roode/Charlotte vs. Rusev/Lana, in what could be a rather entertaining match. Roode and Charlotte could easily be the favorites to win the whole thing and that should be a good sign for them tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s show if you need a recap.

Here’s your demonstration of whether or not you want to display comments. Odds are they’re fine with them as long as they’re not about Fabulous Moolah.

Both teams promise to win.

Quarterfinals: Charlotte/Bobby Roode vs. Lana/Rusev

Charlotte even does a little dance to Roode’s entrance. Before the bell, Rusev sings the Lana Song and even the power of WOOing can’t overcome it. Slaps and chops are exchanged with Rusev and Lana bailing out to the floor. The women get things started and Lana is instantly in over her head off a quick armdrag.

A test of strength goes slightly better thanks to a kick to the ribs but Charlotte calmly tosses her into the corner. An X Factor gives Lana two, only to have Charlotte send her flying with a fall away slam. The guys come in with Roode’s Glorious DDT attempt being countered with a Machka Kick. We hit the chinlock so it’s off to a shot of Natalya and Shinsuke Nakamura chatting with fans.

Back up and Roode gets superkicked in the shoulder but Rusev takes WAY too much time on a middle rope splash. It’s back to the women with Charlotte kicking her in the face and Rusev having to drag Lana out of trouble. Charlotte chops Rusev in an act of bravery to almost no effect. The distraction lets Roode sneak in with a Glorious DDT and the (illegal) pin at 11:00.

Rating: C-. The Charlotte/Rusev stuff worked but this was a little less interesting than most of the matches they’ve done. That chinlock hurt things a lot but above all else it was the lack of drama. Even if you say Rusev and Roode cancel each other out (and that’s a stretch), Lana isn’t a threat to Charlotte and everyone knows it. Lana was trying here but there’s no way around Charlotte. On a more positive note: they seem to be teasing a romance between Charlotte and Roode, which makes me wonder how they haven’t done that on this series yet.

Alexa Bliss/Braun Strowman and The Miz/Asuka are ready to win next week.

Overall Rating: D+. I don’t know if the show is wearing on me or what but this one wasn’t as much fun as I’ve had with the previous episodes. It’s not a bad show or anything but it’s still nothing that I’m going to remember in a day or two. The wrestling wasn’t much, but it needs something a little more interesting to keep the fans drawn in. That being said, there are only three episodes left so it’s not like this is a long term problem.

Remember to check out my new forums at steelcageforums.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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




205 Live – March 13, 2018: The Sign of a Great Tournament

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: March 13, 2018
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time to send someone to Wrestlemania. With four weeks left before the big show, we have two semifinal matches to get through before we know the finals of the Cruiserweight Title tournament. Tonight we have Cedric Alexander vs. Roderick Strong, which has the potential to be a heck of a showdown. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s episode if you need a recap.

The opening recap gives us a recap to open up, including a preview of tonight’s semifinal.

Opening sequence.

Hideo Itami/Akira Tozawa vs. Lince Dorado/Gran Metalik

The build towards the Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles continues. Dorado and Tozawa start things off and they actually go technical early on. It’s too early for Tozawa to hit the big kick so Dorado shoulders him down and dances a bit. Stereo dropkicks give us a standoff until Dorado’s second attempt works a bit better. Metalik comes in and gets caught in a hurricanrana before it’s off to Itami for some missed kicks.

Dorado actually gets the better of a strike off with Itami until Hideo takes his head off with a kick to the face. It’s time to get even more aggressive as Itami takes down his knee pad, only to do his reverse kick to the face of a downed Dorado. That’s such an arrogant looking move and it works so well. Tozawa’s missile dropkick gets two but he and Dorado kick each other in the face for a double knockout.

The hot tag brings in Metalik to clean house, including a reverse Sling Blade to drop Itami. With Metalik on the apron and leaning through the ropes, Dorado hits a great looking springboard to the floor. Metalik’s springboard bangs up his knee though and Itami grabs his Twisting Stunner for the pin at 8:08.

Rating: C+. I’m still not sure on having a tag division but it could be an option if they build up some actual teams. Lucha House Party and the resident Japanese team are a good start but you need more than two or three teams to fight over titles. This was good enough with some of the dives looking awesome, but nothing that hasn’t been done before.

Post match Itami and Dorado nearly get in a fight but Kalisto and Tozawa break things up.

Video on Roderick Strong, featuring a lot of the same clips from his introduction videos in NXT. He’s ready to face anyone of any style.

Jack Gallagher vs. Murphy Myers

Drake Maverick is on commentary. Jack actually lets him go up against the ropes to start before calmly snapping into Murphy’s arm. A few forearms and an enziguri actually stagger Gallagher but he catches Myers in the ring skirt and hammers away. The headbutt ends Murphy at 2:38.

Video on Cedric Alexander, who has earned the right to be here after coming up short in a chase for the title before. He can do anything and nothing will stop him.

Mustafa Ali is in a dark hallway with a shadow approaching from behind. He talks about Drew Gulak attacking Mark Andrews after the match was over but Ali isn’t scared of the bully. The shadow reaches him and the interview cuts off. These things have certainly been different and in this case they’ve made him stand out very well.

Cruiserweight Title Tournament Semifinals: Roderick Strong vs. Cedric Alexander

Neither can maintain a front facelock to start and they roll into a standoff. Strong gets two off a dropkick as Ali is watching in the back. A backdrop nearly sends Strong onto his feet but he’s fine enough to break up a springboard to send Cedric face first into the turnbuckle. Cedric seems to come up favoring his ribs so Strong grabs a seated abdominal stretch.

Back up and Cedric tries the handspring enziguri but Strong is waiting on him with a dropkick for a sweet counter. It’s off to a chinlock with Strong shouting that no one wants Cedric to be champion. Now that’s just cruel, yet also good trash talk at the same time. Cedric gets back up and hits a kick to the face, followed by a springboard cutter to send Strong outside. The springboard clothesline gets two more and something like a Michinoku Driver is good for the same.

Another springboard is countered into a backbreaker attempt but Cedric counters that into a crucifix for two. Strong isn’t going to be denied though and gets the first backbreaker to take over again. Back up and a quick Neuralizer sets up the Lumbar Check…..for two as Strong gets to the ropes. I don’t recall anyone ever surviving that, which makes the escape so much better. Why doesn’t WWE get that concept elsewhere?

They head to the apron with Strong slapping on a Torture Rack but throwing Cedric BACK FIRST ONTO THE BUCKLE in a scary looking crash. That’s not enough for a countout so Strong grabs a top rope superplex, giving Cedric that great lost look on the impact. That’s still not enough for the win so Strong knees him in the face and grabs End of Heartache for two with Cedric getting a boot on the ropes.

One heck of an elbow to the face drops Strong but Cedric can’t follow up. It’s time for the slugout but Strong can’t get the Stronghold. He can get another jumping knee to the face, only to get small packaged go send Cedric to Wrestlemania at 14:57. The shocked look on Cedric’s face is a great plus.

Rating: B+. These two were beating the heck out of each other and you bought the idea that they were both willing to do anything they could to get the win. I had a blast with this and Cedric is more than worthy of going to Wrestlemania. That’s the mark of a great tournament: you could see anyone winning, and that’s been the case with the final four. Great match here and one of the best ever on 205 Live.

They look at each other in a sign of respect. Strong leaves and Cedric says he earned this. Every morning he wakes up with his four year old daughter telling him he’s a champion. At Wrestlemania, that becomes reality. More good stuff on the mic here as I want to see Cedric win the title. That’s hard to do, especially with how low level the title really is. Well done indeed.

Overall Rating: B. That main event is more than enough to carry the show but you can also see some stories being added to the show. You can only go so far on the tournament alone so having something new, including the possibility of Gallagher vs. Maverick, gives me some hope for the future. Good show here, as 205 Live continues to rock.

Remember to check out my new forum at steelcageforums.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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




Impact Wrestling – March 15, 2018: Beware the Impact of March

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling
Date: March 15, 2018
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Sonjay Dutt

Things are entering a new phase here as we’re done with Crossroads, meaning it’s time to get ready for the next big show. While that hasn’t been announced yet, there is at least a hint of the upcoming World Title feud with Alberto El Patron staring down Austin Aries last week. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s episode if you need a recap.

Jeremy Borash (flashback time) is with everyone involved in Feast or Fired. The point of this: they’re all in Feast or Fired.

Recap of Crossroads. That really was a good show.

Opening sequence.

Sami Callihan vs. Fallah Bahh

Sami bounces off the huge Bahh and gets knocked into the corner by the power of the belly. The third knockdown has Sami bailing to the floor for a meeting with OVE. Their advice: shout a lot. Back in and Bahh takes him down to put a toe in Sami’s mouth. What’s the massive appeal of this guy again? Granted that could be said of Sami as well.

Callihan finally pulls him down by the head for a breather and some stomping keeps Bahh down for all of two seconds. A belly to belly plants Sami for two as the announcers plug the WrestleCon show. The Samoan drop connects but Sami is back up with a low blow and a Death Valley Driver (not bad) ends Bahh at 5:48.

Rating: D. Standard Yokozuna formula match here and that’s all you can do with someone Bahh’s size. I’m still not big on Callihan so keeping him short here was the right call. At least he didn’t horribly maim anyone this time around so things are looking up. As long as they keep Callihan around this level, everything will be fine. I’m worried that he’ll be moving up soon though and that’s just not a good idea.

Post match OVE loads up the chair and the bat on Bahh but Eddie Edwards runs in for the save with a pipe.

Matt Sydal is ready to unveil his spirit guide.

The hosts talk about the big stories with Josh dressing a little beneath the professional standard.

Classic Moment: Feast or Fired 2008.

Austin Aries has a sitdown interview and talks about having a pretty cool month. He plugs his new book and being vegan but here’s Alberto who needs to talk to Aries right now. Alberto welcomes him to the promotion (or back to it) before shifting to never losing the World Title. He brings in some wine and what looks like a steak but Aries will stick with the banana.

Alberto is offended and Aries tells him to chew with his mouth closed. They have a chew off until Aries stands up and Alberto backs off. He even hands Alberto a free book because he’s making a champion’s money now. Aries: “You remember what that feels like?” Alberto leaves and Aries has some wine.

Kiera Hogan comes up to congratulate Allie on her win and giggling ensues. Braxton Sutter comes in and wants to talk to Allie but she isn’t interested.

Here are Kongo Kong and Jimmy Jacobs for a chat. Jimmy says he loves to hear himself talk because words have power. If you think he and Kong have done a lot to get Abyss back, you haven’t seen anything yet. Cue James Mitchell of all people, who says that he sees a lot of himself in Jacobs. They’re both evil geniuses and Kong is an impressive monster, though James has one of his own. He sold his soul to make Abyss World Champion but eventually the note came due.

Abyss was pushed so far that his personality split into Joseph Park. Mitchell doesn’t like what he’s been seeing done to the Park family (Wait, is Park a real person or a made up personality? How can he have family if the personality isn’t real?) but Jacobs doesn’t want to hear the lecture. Actually, James is here to thank him for bringing the monster back. Cue Abyss and the brawl is on with Kong being knocked to the floor. Next week: Monster’s Ball. Nice segment, but the idea of where Kong is going after the feud with Abyss scares me.

Video on Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary and their fight to be the queen of the Knockouts. Of course this is different than being Knockouts Champion but that goes without saying.

Rosemary vs. Taya Valkyrie

Rosemary wastes no time with a spear and right hands to send Taya outside. That’s fine with Rosemary who spears her off the apron and hits a high crossbody back inside. A charge hits post though and Taya kicks her hard in the ribs to take over. Rosemary snaps back up with a German suplex before biting Taya’s leg.

That earns her a double stomp though and Taya rams the painted face into the corner. Taya makes fun of the ROSEMARY chants and hits a hard faceplant. The Road to Valhalla is broken up but a curb stomp knocks Rosemary silly. A moonsault misses though and Rosemary hits a Cactus Clothesline to send them both outside. They keep slugging it out and that’s a double countout at 7:33.

Rating: C-. I like that ending a lot as there’s no need to have the feud end already or to have one of them get a clean fall. This is the kind of thing that could be done far more often as there’s no definitive winner and the feud should continue. They also have chemistry together and a big, violent gimmick match could be a lot of fun.

Post match Taya gives her another Road to Valhalla on the stage.

An anxious Eli Drake is on the phone and Chris Adonis (never shown) isn’t going to be here tonight. Drake fires him from whatever official role he had. I’m actually surprised that they’re acknowledging Adonis walking out on the company and it’s very nice for a change of pace. All it took was a thirty second segment and Adonis is wrapped up for good.

Ethan Carter III talks about it being his destiny to get the right briefcase and become World Heavyweight Champion again.

Aries vs. El Patron is confirmed for the Redemption pay per view on April 22.

Next week: Allie defends the Knockouts Title against Sienna and Monster’s Ball.

Earlier today, Brian Cage was in the empty Impact Zone when Bobby Lashley came in. Lashley didn’t need the help but if Cage wants a fight, all he has to do is ask. Cage walks away.

LAX is watching Feast or Fired to find out who is up next.

Here’s Matt Sydal to announce his spiritual guide: Josh Matthews. Dutt loses his mind as Josh comes to the ring to talk about how he’s enlightened. He’s spent months trying to enlighten the fans and now wants us to put our hands together and center ourselves. Josh presents him with something like a cat mask, which Sydal calls his spirit animal. Matt says if he’s a champion, so is Josh, and he hands him the Grand Championship. Dutt: “That’s it I quit.” I like the idea of Josh as a heel but….this is a bit out there no?

Feast or Fired

Eli Drake, Tyrus, Petey Williams, KM, Moose, Caleb Konley, Trevor Lee, Ethan Carter III, Rohit Raju, Taiji Ishimori

Dutt is now on commentary by himself. There’s a briefcase above each corner with three title shots (World, X-Division and Tag Team) plus a pink slip. Four people will get cases and the rest get nothing. It’s a brawl to start (as it will likely be all match) until we’re down to Drake and Moose alone in the ring. That’s a bit too much in the ring though as they fight outside, only to be replaced by Raju and Ishimori.

Petey comes back in with some dropkicks as this is firmly in the revolving door period. The Cult of Lee comes in and beats the X-Division guys down for a bit but are dropkicked outside as well. Naturally Ishimori dives onto the floor instead of going up, leaving Petey to hit a Canadian Destroyer on Lee. Petey gets Case #2 and we take a break. Back with Dutt telling us no one got a case during the break (thank you) and Moose cleaning house.

Carter cuts him off with an elbow but Moose makes a save and gets Case #4. Josh rejoins commentary as Ishimori takes his shirt off. The Cult of Lee gets beaten down by Raju but here’s the angry Tyrus to start tossing the suplexes. Carter cuts him off with a low blow though and Case #3 is collected. He even knocks Tyrus silly with a case shot for good measure. Ishimori is alone on top but decides to crossbody Drake instead. A few Gravy Trains and a run up the ropes for a release German superplex allow Drake to pull down Case #1 at 17:50.

Rating: D+. This is one of those matches where it’s really hard to give it a grade. The action was nothing to see and since most of the people involved aren’t hurt by their outcome, it makes for a weird match. It wasn’t one of the more interesting Feast of Fired matches, but then again these are hard to make interesting by definition.

Overall Rating: D+. It’s never a good sign when I can barely remember what happened on the show just after it ended. The wrestling wasn’t the point here but you can see a lot of where they’re going for Redemption. At least they started setting stuff up here as they don’t have a ton of pay per views in the first place. Use the time you have and set something up. Not a terrible show here at all, but the lack of people to fill out the card due to the main event hurt things.

Results

Sami Callihan b. Fallah Bahh – Death Valley Driver

Rosemary vs. Taya Valkyrie went to a double countout

Petey Williams, Moose, Ethan Carter III and Eli Drake won Feast or Fired

Remember to check out my new forum at steelcageforums.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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




Main Event – March 15, 2018: All Aboard

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: March 15, 2018
Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

We can finally start focusing on the build to Wrestlemania with Fastlane out of the way. That means another week of recaps, likely with Curt Hawkins losing again and a cruiserweight match thrown in. That’s not a bad thing though as this whole week is about building to the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s show if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Goldust vs. Curt Hawkins

Hawkins promises to win so he can have one more win than the Red Wings have had this week. Goldust punches him in the jaw so Curt wants to box, which goes just as badly for him as well. An early Golden Cross attempt is broken up and Hawkins gets two off a suplex. We hit the chinlock but Hawkins poses for too long, allowing Goldust to score with a spinebuster. Ten right hands in the corner set up the snap powerslam for two but the Golden Cross is broken up again. Now it’s Curt getting his own two off his own spinebuster, only to walk into the Golden Cross for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: D+. I know we’ve seen this one a time or five now but both guys are trying out there. Hawkins losing over and over is getting entertaining and I hope they have some way to pay this off. Goldust is still a great hand in the ring and can put on entertaining matches with just about anyone. I’m still holding out hope that he makes it to 2020 so he can be around for five decades. That’s just not normal and it’s also not out of the question.

Stills of Sunday’s Six Pack Challenge.

From Raw.

Here’s John Cena to address his loss last night. Cena has found his path to Wrestlemania and some people might not like that. He’s tried as hard as he can but he’s lost every chance. The fans chant for Undertaker and Cena says he hopes the people backstage are listening. He won’t be contributing to Wrestlemania this year (I’m guessing he misspoke when he said he had found his path.).

That doesn’t mean that he’s quitting or walking away because he’ll be there on the same road to Wrestlemania as the fans. He’s going as a fan this year and he’ll be having a blast. Cena may be sitting next to us and goes into the crowd to steal a sip of beer. He starts a THIS IS AWESOME chant before switching to a LET’S GO ROMAN which doesn’t work so well.

Back in the ring, Cena says we need to get one chant out of our system: LET’S GO CENA! You know what comes from there and Cena says the only way that’s going to happen is if he does something he’s not supposed to do. Actually, what does he have to lose if he does it? Cena: “Well screw it. I challenge the Undertaker to a match at Wrestlemania.” He’s been told that’s impossible but he doesn’t quite get why.

Cena says the challenge a few more times and since his mic is still working, it’s clearly not WWE that doesn’t want it to happen. That leaves just Undertaker, who needs to, and I quote, get over his own ego. Undertaker is hiding behind his loss and needs to take his head out of the sand. He’s not too old and he’s not broken down. If he was, he wouldn’t be posting workout videos on his wife’s Instagram. Undertaker is hiding and needs to come try and Tombstone Cena in front of 75,000 people. If Cena was Undertaker, he’d want one more match.

So, to recap, this match is going to have, at most, three weeks of official build (assuming Undertaker doesn’t Tweet a response) because we needed Cena in a six way match at Fastlane. I don’t want to see this match and while it could have a good feeling to it, I would really just prefer that Undertaker goes away after last year’s great moment. The Cena vs. Undertaker match could have been awesome, but unless that hip surgery completely changed Undertaker, last year was a really bad sign.

From Raw again.

Cue Roman Reigns to say what just happened was Brock didn’t show up for work today. For anyone else, there would be a fine, a suspension, or being fired, but that’s not happening to Vince’s boy. Reigns says if Angle didn’t show up, he’d be fired and not be able to feed his kids. Reigns passed Vince McMahon in the back and Vince didn’t have the courtesy to apologize. Roman isn’t going to have Vince disrespect him so he leaves the ring and goes to the gorilla position, where Vince and Shane are producing the show. Vince gets up and says they’ll talk in his office.

Reigns leaves Vince’s office and has nothing to say. Vince comes out a second later and says he had to tell Reigns to know his role and shut his mouth. Brock has certain privileges and may not like anyone but he respects competition. Vince says Brock will be at Wrestlemania and will defend his title but he also promises that Brock will be here next week. As for Reigns, he’s been temporarily suspended.

And now to Smackdown.

Here’s Shane for his big announcement. He recaps the entire story between himself, Owens and Zayn before saying that he’s taking a leave of absence as Commissioner. Before he goes though, Shane makes Owens vs. Zayn for Wrestlemania. This brings out Owens with his head shaking. Before he can say much though, here’s Sami to interrupt. Sami doesn’t like Shane listening to the fans but doesn’t seem pleased that Shane is leaving.

Shane doesn’t understand this as he just gave them what they wanted. Owens does appreciate it, but thinks Shane will appreciate this too. The double beatdown is on and Owens hits a Pop Up Powerbomb and it’s time for a chair. They wrap it around Shane’s neck and ram it into the post before dragging him to the back. Shane gets powerbombed onto a big metal box and sounds like he can barely breathe. A stretcher is brought in to end the show. I’m sure Shane will be perfectly fine enough for Bryan to add him to the match and make it a triple threat.

Stills of Asuka coming to Fastlane and challenging Charlotte for Wrestlemania.

Hideo Itami/Akira Tozawa vs. Jack Gallagher/TJP

Dang we’ve got the big name Cruiserweights tonight. Gallagher and Tozawa get things going and Jack actually gives him a clean break. Tozawa, while screaming, kicks him in the chest and gets two off the backsplash. Hideo and TJP come in with the latter taking it to the mat and hammering away at the back of the head. Itami knees him down though and we take an abrupt break. Back with Itami getting two off a fisherman’s suplex as everything breaks down. Itami’s running corner dropkick sets up the top rope backsplash to give Tozawa the pin at 6:27. Not enough shown to rate but it was quick fun.

Video on the Ultimate Deletion.

We see the last minute and a half of the tag team battle royal.

Overall Rating: C. It’s kind of awesome to see the Wrestlemania hype train leaving the station as it’s long overdue. There was a bunch of big time stuff going on this week and it was nice to have things feel important again. The wrestling here obviously wasn’t the point but they did a great job of filling in the gaps between what really mattered.

Remember to check out my new forum at steelcageforums.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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




2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards: I For One Welcome Our Returning Japanese Overlords

They’re back! So what if it’s mid-March? That’s totally fine in announcing the annual New Japan is Better Than You Awards and that’s what we have here. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards are back and I already have a bad feeling about them. As usual I’ll be listing the winners and giving a quick comment about each. I won’t list the top five for each unless something stands out to me.

1. Wrestler of the Year – Kazuchika Okada

Yep. Aside from AJ Styles, there’s no one in the same universe right now.

2. Most Outstanding Wrestler – Kazuchika Okada

I say it every year and I have it explained to me every year but I still have no idea why these first two both need to exist.

3. Tag Team of the Year – The Young Bucks

Maybe the Usos can win next year if they name a move after Meltzer.

4. Best on Interviews – Conor McGregor

Oh here we go. Again: it certainly must help when you only have to talk when you’re getting ready for a fight and have no restrictions. I have no idea why this is considered a fair comparison but maybe I’m just too much of a wrestling fan to understand these things.

5. Promotion of the Year – New Japan

Makes sense. WWE had a good but not great year and New Japan is almost always quality.

6. Best Weekly TV Show – New Japan on AXS

Being a highlight/Best Of show certainly must help. Being the Elite was fourth and Raw was NINTH. It’s really not that bad people.

7. Match of the Year – Okada vs. Omega – Wrestle Kingdom

No WWE match in the top five, Okada with four of the top five. You knew this was getting the top spot and nothing else was going to come close, but that’s to be expected.

8. Feud of the Year – Okada vs. Omega

I didn’t even have to look at the results. UFC had two of the top five spots.

9. Most Charismatic – Tetsuya Naito

Fair enough. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him.

10. Best Technical Wrestler Zach Sabre Jr.

That guy does stuff that I can’t even describe and makes it look like the most natural thing in the world. It’s rare that I consider someone a treat to watch but that’s the case with him.

11. Best Brawler – Tomohiro Ishii

Not my style but I get it.

12. Best Flying Wrestler – Will Ospreay

Yep. Well maybe Ricochet, who came in second.

13. Most Overrated – Jinder Mahal

WWE got four of the top six (with five being a tie). Braun Strowman was ninth. Seriously.

14. Most Underrated – Rusev

I usually scratch my head at this one but there’s very little argument here.

15. Rookie of the Year – Ketsuya Kitamura

I’ve heard good things so sure.

16. Best Non-Wrestler – Daniel Bryan

This is a sentimental pick as Zelina Vega ran away with this thing (and finished second).

17. Best TV Announcer – Mauro Ranallo

You knew that was getting the pick and I can’t argue with it.

18. Worst TV Announcer – Booker T.

I’d have gone with Watson, who took second. At least Booker has a resume while Watson is just a person you might remember if you like stupid gimmicks and bad wrestling.

19. Best Major Wrestling Show – Wrestle Kingdom XI

I’d have gone with Takeover: Chicago but this is more than acceptable.

20. Worst Major Wrestling Show – Battleground

It had the Punjabi Prison match.

21. Best Wrestling Move – One Winged Angel

You know, that move that he hits over and over and barely ever wins with the thing.

22. Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic – WWE Promoting Jimmy Snuka As A Hero

Yeah that’s kind of hard to argue.

23. Worst TV Show – Raw

OH SCREW OFF! This award should be named after Impact but it’s WWE so we must run it into the ground. Good grief no.

24. Worst Match of the Year – Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton – Wrestlemania XXXIII

The title that Bruno, Hogan and Austin wore was involved in a match containing roaches and maggots. Moving on.

25. Worst Feud of the Year – Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton

It was either this or Mahal vs. Orton.

26. Worst Promotion – TNA

But remember: they had a better weekly TV show and not as bad of a pay per view!

27. Best Booker – Gedo

Again, didn’t need to look.

28. Promoter of the Year – Takaai Kidani – New Japan

Same duh as before.

29. Best Gimmick – Los Ingobernables de Japon

Velveteen Dream got second.

30. Worst Gimmick – Bray Wyatt and Sister Abigail

I’d go with Mahal for longevity as Abigail was only a few weeks long.

31. Best Pro-Wrestling Book – Crazy Like a Fox: The Brian Pillman Story

I need to get that as I’ve heard good things.

32. Best Documentary – Ric Flair: 30 For 30

Like it was going to be anything else.




Wrestlemania Count-Up – Wrestlemania VII (2015 Redo): Ok So I’m Crying

IMG Credit: WWE

Wrestlemania VII
Date: March 24, 1991
Location: Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 16,158
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan

In addition to the double main event, we have a match that is going to change wrestling going forward but no one knew it yet. This is a time of change for the company but it was still a very dark period at the moment. We’ll see a lot of the changes on this show, many of which will be better than others. Let’s get to it.

Unfortunately Jesse Ventura is gone from the company. Heenan is great but you can’t replace Jesse and Gorilla.

The opening video is just a quick look at Hogan vs. Slaughter.

Willie Nelson, complete with a replica WWF World Title belt, sings America the Beautiful.

Gorilla brings out Jim Duggan to do commentary on the first match. You know Duggan is happy to be on a show with a theme of Stars and Stripes.

The Rockers are ready for the opening match and aren’t worried about Bobby Heenan at ringside.

Rockers vs. Barbarian/Haku

So much for Heenan finding new members of the Family. Barbarian now has fur trunks, a fur cape and antlers, only one of which he wears during the match. I’ll let you figure out which of them that is. Shawn and Haku get things going with Shawn’s speed not working very well to start. Instead it’s a flying shoulder for two on Haku in a rare display of power from Shawn. Marty comes in to try some tandem offense but Barbarian runs them over with a double clothesline.

The Rockers come back with some dropkicks though and Heenan takes a break for a meeting. Back in and Barbarian uses the power to take over on Marty but Shawn helps his partner with a hurricanrana to take over. They try the same thing on Haku but this time the referee holds Shawn out, allowing Barbarian to come in and snap Marty’s throat across the top.

After another quick beating, Marty gets in a quick cross body for a breather. Barbarian breaks up the tag attempt though and it’s time for the bearhug. Marty fights out but dives off the middle rope and right into an awesome powerslam. He’s still able to roll away from a top rope headbutt though and there’s the tag to Shawn. Everything breaks down and a Marty missile dropkick sets up a Shawn high cross body to put Haku away at 10:33.

Rating: B. This is a perfect opening match as they were in and out of there fast enough but got in almost everything that they needed to do. The Rockers were awesome at this point and Haku/Barbarian were great foils for them with the power vs. speed dynamic. It holds up well and is still one of the better opening matches, especially considering it really doesn’t mean anything but still got the crowd fired up.

It’s already celebrity time as Gene is backstage with Regis Philbin, Alex Trebek and Marla Maples (Donald Trump’s girlfriend at the time). Regis talks about meeting some wrestlers for his talk show and he likes being a guest for a change. Earthquake scares him though. Gene: “Regis, you’re beautiful.” Marla doesn’t have anything of note to say and Alex makes the Jeopardy jokes you would expect him to make.

Texas Tornado vs. Dino Bravo

Tornado, also known as Kerry Von Erich, is a huge star from Dallas who had more drug problems than should be humanly possible. He’s reaching the end of his very short shelf life already so this isn’t likely to work well. Bravo clotheslines Tornado to the floor before he can even get his robe off but Tornado comes back with a failed claw (his finishing hold) attempt. Tornado ducks some clotheslines but walks into the side suplex for two. A bad looking middle rope chop to the back has Tornado in more trouble but he catches Bravo in the claw, followed by the Tornado Punch (exactly what it sounds like) for the pin at 3:11.

Rating: D-. Not a good match here in the slightest with both guys looking sluggish and not really excited to be out there. This is another filler match, though these are starting to get fewer and further between, at least compared to a few years ago. In your depressing moment of the show, both of these two will be dead in less than two years.

Slick says his Warlord (now bald and without facepaint, making him look far more intimidating) is ready to fix the British Bulldog. The idea is that the Bulldog can’t escape the full nelson.

British Bulldog says he can powerslam the Warlord and his mascot Winston (a dog) says there’s no bull in this Bulldog. So Bulldog can speak canine. That’s quite the low level superpower.

British Bulldog vs. Warlord

This is the solo version of the Bulldog who is even bigger and stronger than he was before. Bulldog starts fast with some hard shoulders to send Warlord outside. Back in and Warlord drops backwards to break up the crucifix attempt as Heenan is already getting on Gorilla’s nerves.

We hit the required bearhug before Warlord opts to just pound Bulldog in the back with heavy forearms. A nice belly to belly nice dropkick to the chest (since when could he jump like that?) followed by a sunset flip for two. Warlord comes back with the full nelson but he can’t get the fingers locked. Just like Billy Jack Haynes four years ago, Bulldog breaks the incomplete hold, followed by a quick powerslam to pin Warlord at 8:11.

Rating: C-. Not terrible here as Warlord was fine as a dragon for Bulldog to slay. This is a good example of a match where they went step by step in a very basic idea but the execution was good enough to make what should have been a disaster into something totally watchable.

Jimmy Hart has his Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) ready to win the Tag Team Titles. The Nasty Boys were a hot act in WCW in late 1989 so of course the company didn’t bother to sign them to contracts and they were in the WWF in January.

The Hart Foundation say the Nasty Boys are already at the bottom and they’re going even lower.

Macaulay Culkin is here.

Tag Team Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Nasty Boys

The Harts are defending. Jimmy Hart is wearing a helmet for reasons that aren’t clear though it might be to protect himself from injury. Jerry and Bret start things off with Hart nailing a Thesz press and some right hands. So that’s where Austin learned it. It’s off to Knobbs vs. Neidhart with Jim going off with forearms to the chest in the corner. We hit the armbar for a bit before it’s off to Bret for right hands to Jerry’s head.

The Russian legsweep (not a neckbreaker Gorilla) sets up the middle rope elbow for two but Knobbs gets in a cheap shot from behind to take over. A hard whip sends Bret into the corner as the announcers debate the main event. Off to a reverse chinlock from Sags before Knobbs comes in for the same hold. Jerry comes in for another one as they’re switching in and out very quickly. Brian hooks his second version but Bret gets up and drops Knobbs onto his back for the break.

The referee doesn’t see the tag though and Bret’s punishment continues. Knobbs hits Sags by mistake though and NOW the tag counts. A quick powerslam gets two on Knobbs and everything breaks down. The Nasty Boys collide again and there’s the Hart Attack to Knobbs but Jimmy throws in the helmet, allowing Sags to knock cold, giving Knobbs the pin at 12:10.

Rating: C+. Simple idea here and a good way to get the titles on the Nasty Boys. They may not have been as polished as the Harts but they’re entertaining brawlers who can put on a good enough match to validate holding the titles. This was it for the Harts as they would amicably split (a rare thing in wrestling) and Bret would be in the singles ranks by the end of the summer.

We recap Rick Martel vs. Jake Roberts. Last year, Martel had sprayed the snake bag with cologne but hit Jake in the eye as well, blinding him for several months. Jake was still blind until the new year but he kept going after Martel. Tonight it’s a blindfold match with both guys wrestling under a hood.

Jake says a man has five senses but a snake has six: they always do it better in the dark. That’s a sense?

Rick Martel vs. Jake Roberts

As the hoods are being put on, Jake sticks his hand underneath his, allowing us to clearly see the hole allowing them to see. So much for the gimmick working here. They can’t find each other for the first minute but Martel trips over Jake. Some stuff on the mat goes nowhere so Martel loads up a backdrop, only to have Jake step to the side. There’s your proof that they can see in case the big hole in the hood wasn’t enough for you.

More “blind” searching ensues and they miss charges. Martel finds him for a slam but misses an elbow drop. We’re almost four minutes into this and there’s been about fifteen seconds of contact. The referee gets cornered in the corner but Martel realizes he’s got a shirt in his hands. Jake starts clapping his hands to get Martel’s attention before circling around to catch him. This gives us another ten seconds of contact as the fans want a DDT. I’d settle for a right hand at this point.

Martel finds the snake bag and backs away right into Jake….who still can’t get his hands on him. The bored Gorilla and Heenan do a not very funny bit where Heenan keeps repeating him until a shoulder knocks Jake to the floor. Heenan: “Excuse me for a second. MARTEL! HE’S ON THE FLOOR!” Rick gets a chair but hits the post by mistake while Jake is sitting in the ring. Roberts pulls him back in but Martel hits a quick backbreaker to set up the Boston crab. That goes nowhere so Jake grabs him for the DDT and the pin at 8:33.

Rating: F-. This is one of the worst matches in wrestling history, let alone just Wrestlemania. They stumbled around for eight minutes and had less than a minute of “action” in the whole thing. Martel never even cheated. There’s a dozen ways to make this work for a heel but they just did it straight (well as straight as you can do when you see Jake’s hand inside the match at the start) and wasted everyone’s time. Awful “match”.

Post match Jake destroys the cologne atomizer and puts Damien on Rick.

Maples is in Jimmy Hart’s team’s locker room for the Nasty Boys’ celebration. Calamity ensues so she throws it back to Gene, meaning Gorilla.

Jimmy Snuka vs. Undertaker

Here we go. Undertaker is completely different than anything else in the company at this point and probably ever as he plays the character perfectly, walking stoically to the ring while Paul Bearer has this disturbing look on his face. Snuka, now with a mustache and goatee, turns his back on Undertaker and gets beaten down, followed by Undertaker just ripping at his face. Jimmy goes to the apron but gets suplexed back inside. The fans are openly cheering for Undertaker here as Snuka’s offense has almost no effect. The tombstone makes Snuka victim #1 at 4:19.

Rating: D. The match was nothing to see and no one had any idea of what this would lead to. Undertaker was clearly a star from the second he walked through the curtain last year at Survivor Series though and he’s still going twenty five years later. Snuka was the designated victim here, which is the role he had been playing for years.

Notice what Heenan said when Undertaker won: “THAT’S JIMMY SUPERFLY SNUKA!” Yes, the same Snuka who has been living on his reputation for years now. That’s one of the most valuable things you can have on a roster. Snuka never has to win another match and his reputation makes beating him mean something. It’s job security for Snuka and a great way to put over someone young and new. Bad match, good booking.

We recap Savage vs. Warrior, which started over the WWF World Title and is now career vs. career.

Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

Before we get going, Heenan spots Elizabeth in the crowd. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. Bobby is drooling over Queen Sherri and Savage looks fired up. Warrior actually walks to the ring to really sell how serious this is for everyone. Warrior’s trunks have a picture of the WWF World Title on the back with the words “means more than this” wrapped around it. That’s a nice touch.

Savage gets thrown around to start and it’s time to chill on the floor for a second. Back in and Warrior lifts him up by the throat but he’s still keeping things slow paced. Sherri’s attempt at interference fails and Savage gets tied up in the ropes to continue the beating. Savage finally gets in some offense with a running clothesline as Gorilla compares their careers.

Warrior catches a high cross body in midair but just sets Savage down and slaps him in the face. With nothing else working, Savage throws in a chair but even that doesn’t work as Warrior throws him down again. More stomping has Savage in trouble as we cut to a concerned Elizabeth in the crowd. They’re still in first or second gear and this has been almost all Warrior so far. Savage finally gets smart by avoiding a charge in the corner, sending Warrior crashing down to the floor.

Sherri rakes his back so Warrior casually shoves her down but Savage sends him into the post. A backslide gets two for Savage and he freaks out even more than usual. Warrior runs the ropes and tries a flying shoulder…..while Savage is down on his hands and knees. He deserves to crash and burn as well as the sleeper from Randy. Back up and it’s a double clothesline. This has been a chess match so far and the fans are staying with them every second to make the atmosphere even better.

Sherri’s distraction keeps the referee from seeing a small package and Savage kicks out. Warrior’s shoulder hits the referee by mistake but Sherri comes off the top with a shoe to Savage’s face by mistake. Savage guillotines him across the top rope and drops the top rope elbow. That’s not enough as he goes up top for another one. Savage isn’t done yet as he drops THREE MORE ELBOWS….for two.

Warrior fights up again and hits three straight clotheslines followed by the gorilla press and splash…..for two. Warrior starts talking to his hands and asking if this is his destiny. Savage decks him from behind but his top rope ax handle sends him crashing into the barricade. Randy is out of it so Warrior (“NOW I KNOW!”) throws him back inside for a flying shoulder block, sending him out to the floor again. He does it two more times and Savage is DONE, allowing Warrior to put his foot on the chest for the pin at 20:50.

Rating: A. This was a war and Warrior’s best match by a thousand miles. The crowd hung with them every step of the way here and the drama was amazing. It’s a rare case where words don’t do a match justice and you just need to see it for yourselves. The action is great but it’s the atmosphere that carries the whole thing. This is more than worth seeing if you haven’t caught it before.

Post match Warrior leaves and Sherri explodes on Savage, blaming him for the loss and kicking him when he’s down. Elizabeth jumps the barricade and throws Sherri to the floor as Savage gets up. Savage gets up and turns around…..and is stunned. The referee tells Savage that Sherri was the one beating on him and he has no idea what to do.

Elizabeth opens her arms and Savage hugs her, finally reuniting with his true love who still loved him after he lost everything he had. Savage puts her on his shoulder like he would do in the old days as we see fans crying everywhere. Elizabeth holds the ropes open but he says not this time and holds them open for her for the first time ever, showing that he’s a changed man.

Savage takes one last bow before leaving with the only thing that matters to him. This is one of the most perfect moments to cap off one of the best long term stories the company has ever put together. Also of note: this wasn’t his full on face turn. Savage would do commentary for a few months and was still a heel for a long stretch.

It’s intermission so let’s go to……a debate on instant replay? This is a reference to the NFL debating the issue recently and I have no idea why this is here. Vince moderates the discussion between George Steinbrenner (New York Yankees owner) and Paul Maguire (NFL analyst) over Randy Savage interfering at the Royal Rumble.

Steinbrenner wants the referees fired if they take too much time to make a call and Maguire wants the guys to wrestle. Maguire insults Steinbrenner under his breath and we go to the replay to see if he really did it. The referee are the Bushwhackers (who else?) but they say it’s inconclusive and therefore the play stands. This really, really wasn’t funny and Heenan’s face in his hands sums up the whole thing.

After that, we have a five minute intermission, meaning we just sit around waiting for five minutes. Well it’s better than lame “comedy”.

Gorilla and Heenan preview the rest of the show.

Undertaker measures Regis for a coffin. Regis: “We’re dying out here.”

Demolition, now just Smash and Crush (replacement for Ax) and heels, tells Alex Trebek that only Mr. Fuji (their manager again) has all the answers.

Regis is with Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao, who don’t speak English. He tries Toyota but they think he’s Kathy Lee Gifford.

Jake and Damien freak Trebek out. Damien will have to settle for the home version of Jeopardy. Heenan takes credit for setting the whole thing up.

Demolition vs. Tenryu/Kitao

This is part of a cross promotional deal with Tenryu’s SWS promotion. It’s a brawl to start with Smash and Crush pounding Kitao down to start. Crush drops a top rope ax handle to the ribs as the crowd really isn’t into this as they have no idea who the newcomers are. Heenan thinks Kitao’s first name is Fred as he clotheslines Smash down and makes the tag to Tenryu. Smash rolls away from a backwards top rope elbow and everything breaks down. Kitao breaks up the Decapitator and Tenryu powerbombs Smash for the pin at 4:16.

Rating: D-. The crowd was silent here and it’s really not had to see why. Demolition was WAY past their expiration date and this would be their last match as a team before it was off to the singles ranks. This didn’t work as a match though and the Japanese guys would be gone right after this, never to be seen again save for some one off Royal Rumble appearances for Tenryu.

Heenan leaves to manage Mr. Perfect in the next match and will be replaced by Lord Alfred Hayes.

Big Boss Man is ready to take the Intercontinental Title to complete his revenge on Heenan for insulting Boss Man’s mama. Can you blame him for being mad in that case? Boss Man has run through the entire Heenan Family and only Perfect is left. Again: simple, yet effective. Side note: it really is amazing to see how much weight Boss Man has lost in the last two years. He’s probably down 100lbs.

Heenan and Perfect call Boss Man Barney Fife and reference the Rodney King beatings, which had taken place just three weeks earlier.

Intercontinental Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man is challenging and knocks Perfect over the top rope with a single right hand. Back in and he swings Perfect around BY THE HAIR. Freaking ow man! Perfect avoids a charge in the corner but gets whipped so hard that he flips forward in a crash. Boss Man whips him with a belt (the referee is fine with this of course) but Perfect wraps the belt around his fist for a shot to the ribs.

We hit an abdominal stretch on the challenger and Heenan tells the timekeeper to ring the bell. The PerfectPlex is countered into a small package for two but a reverse Hennig neck snap (kind of a running Blockbuster) gets two. Perfect is nice enough to go up top for the dive into the raised boot that was clearly designed as a way for him to dive into a raised boot.

Boss Man crotches him against the post but Perfect whips him hard into the steps to take over again. Heenan gets in some cheap shots….and here’s Andre, who is moving better than he has in years. In the distraction, Perfect takes the turnbuckle pad off but Andre hits him in the head with the title belt. Boss Man makes a slow cover but here are Barbarian and Haku for the DQ at 10:14.

Rating: C+. To this day I have no idea why they didn’t change the title here. Boss Man running through the Heenan Family and winning the title should have written itself but they went with the DQ finish instead for some reason. Andre wouldn’t be back after this but it was nice to see him get to do something fun one last time.

Andre helps Boss Man clean house. Boss Man grabs Andre’s shoulders from behind and Andre looks like he wants to kill him.

Donald Trump, Chuck Norris, Lou Ferrigno (the reason Hulk Hogan got his name. They were on a talk show once and Hogan was said to be bigger than the actor who played the Incredible Hulk) and Henry Winkler (who once played a wrestler) are all here. Fonzie just made the show.

Earthquake vs. Greg Valentine

Valentine did a really quick face turn to set this up, despite no one really wanting to see it in the first place. A quick powerslam puts Hammer down but he comes back with some chops in the corner. Heenan, back on commentary, is wondering how Andre could have been here. An elbow to the head staggers Earthquake and a middle rope chop actually puts him down. The Figure Four doesn’t work and it’s the Earthquake Splash for the pin at 3:17.

Rating: D. This is another match that could have been cut out to get the time down a little bit. Valentine is an old standard at Wrestlemania but that doesn’t mean he needs to be getting a match this late in the show in 1991. Earthquake has fallen down the card a bit but he’s still fine for a midcard act.

The Legion of Doom (I’m going to assume you’ve heard of them) blames Power and Glory for their lack of Tag Team Titles. After tonight, they’re going to be sour and gory.

Legion of Doom vs. Power and Glory

Power and Glory is Hercules and Paul Roma. Hawk clotheslines them down to start and Roma dives into a powerslam. The Doomsday Device puts Roma away in 59 seconds. Well that worked.

We recap Virgil vs. Ted DiBiase. Virgil FINALLY had enough of DiBiase treating him like garbage at the Royal Rumble. Roddy Piper, recently injured in a motorcycle accident, has been mentoring and coaching Virgil for the match.

Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil

Virgil dances around like a boxer to start and punches DiBiase to the floor. Back in and a clothesline puts DiBiase on the floor again but Virgil sends him back inside. They get in again and Virgil takes him to the mat as this is still in first gear. Gorilla and Heenan talk about this being the largest pay per view audience in history (right) as DiBiase chops away in the corner. A piledriver gets two for Ted and a pair of suplexes gets the same. DiBiase remembers that he used to be really evil and shoves Piper down but Piper uses the crutch to low bridge him to the floor to give Virgil a countout win at 7:37.

Rating: D+. This was more of a feel good moment than anything else but it fell really flat with the countout (DiBiase’s third match in a row to end in a countout) instead of DiBiase getting rolled up for a pin. Virgil would pretty much max out here as after this he didn’t have any character and just kind of floated around.

DiBiase beats Virgil down post match and Queen Sherri runs in to become Ted’s new manager. They do a number on Piper’s bad knee but Virgil gets the crutch to make the save. Virgil tells Piper to be a man and get up, just like Piper told him to do multiple times. It’s more bad execution of a good idea.

We look at Sgt. Slaughter and his boss General Adnan (longtime heel manager Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie) burning a Hogan shirt.

Slaughter and Adnan say Hogan is playing by their rules. We look at Slaughter beating up Hogan and Jim Duggan with a chair as part of these new rules. He might just get himself counted out or disqualified to keep the title. They’ve been teasing this idea all night.

The Mountie vs. Tito Santana

Mountie is an evil Canadian mounted policeman played by Jacques Rougeau and managed by Jimmy Hart. Tito scores with an early atomic drop and a right hand but a Jimmy distraction lets Mountie get in his shock stick to Tito’s ribs for the pin at 1:20. Nothing but filler. Gorilla: “That will go in the record books as a victory for the Mountie but not for anyone who viewed it.”

Hogan says he has secret weapons to deal with Slaughter’s ground warfare. He isn’t pleased with Slaughter for beating him down and putting him in the camel clutch. Hogan isn’t the same man he was just a week ago but he’s doing it for AMERICA tonight.

Trebek is guest ring announcer, Maples is guest timekeeper and Regis is on commentary.

WWF World Title: Sgt. Slaughter vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan is challenging and naturally comes out with the American flag. The champ stalls to start and is content to do so for the first minute and a half. A lockup takes them into the corner and neither can get an advantage. Hulk eventually shoves him down before grabbing a headlock. A shoulder sends Slaughter into the ropes for some of his great selling.

Adnan offers a distraction so Slaughter hits Hogan in the back with a chair for an attempt at a DQ. The referee is fine with the chair but Hogan doesn’t sell it anyway. Slaughter’s thumb to the eye works a bit better but he misses an elbow drop. A forearm to the head gets two for Hulk (how rare is it for him to get a near fall?) and he sends Slaughter chest first into the buckle. Hulk slingshots him into the post and it’s time for some right hands in the corner. This has been almost all Hogan so far.

Hogan actually goes to the middle rope but Slaughter punches him out of the air. That goes nowhere either so Hogan goes all the way to the top (!), only to get slammed right back down. Another chair shot is ignored by the referee so Slaughter chokes with a camera cable. Back in and Slaughter starts in on the back to set up the camel clutch.

First up though is a Boston crab but Hogan is all of three inches away from the ropes. A top rope stomp to the back (that looked dangerous) looks to pin Hogan but Adnan is on the apron for absolutely no logical reason. Try domestic help next time Sarge. There’s a chair to the head and Hulk is busted open, a rare thing at this point. The camel clutch goes on but Slaughter would rather cover him with the Iraqi flag. Of course you know this means war and it’s Hulk Up time. The legdrop gives Hulk the title back at 20:23, making him the first three time WWF World Champion.

Rating: C+. Aside from being the most obvious ending in the world, this was a fine Wrestlemania main event. Hogan winning made sense, even if the Gulf War had been over for about a month at this point. Slaughter was fine for a one off title reign as the turncoat worked well enough. Not a classic or anything but it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

A lot of posing and flag waving take us out.

Overall Rating: B-. If you cut out about forty five minutes of filler, this becomes a minor classic. The wrestling is actually quite good here with a fun opener, good title matches and a classic in the middle. There’s still too much filler though and it really drags down what is still a fun show. It also has a much more feel good tone to it and the show felt a lot lighter than the previous years. The wrestling helps carry this one and it’s actually a hidden semi-gem.

Ratings Comparison

Rockers vs. Haku/Barbarian

Original: B

2013 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B

Texas Tornado vs. Dino Bravo

Original: F

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: D-

British Bulldog vs. Warlord

Original: B-

2013 Redo: C+

2015 Redo: C-

Nasty Boys vs. Hart Foundation

Original: C-

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: C+

Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel

Original: F

2013 Redo: F

2015 Redo: F-

Undertaker vs. Jimmy Snuka

Original: D+

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D

Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

Original: A+

2013 Redo: A

2015 Redo: A

Genichiro Tenryu/Koji Kitao vs. Demolition

Original: W (For What were they thinking)

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D-

Big Boss Man vs. Mr. Perfect

Original: C-

2013 Redo: C

2015 Redo: C+

Earthquake vs. Greg Valentine

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: F+

2015 Redo: D

Legion of Doom vs. Power and Glory

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: N/A

2015 Redo: N/A

Virgil vs. Ted DiBiase

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: D+

The Mountie vs. Tito Santana

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: N/A

2015 Redo: N/A

Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter

Original: C+

2013 Redo: C

2015 Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: C

2013 Redo: B-

Overall Rating: B-

I’ve always had a soft spot for this show.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/03/14/history-of-wrestlemania-with-kb-wrestlemania-7-wrestlemania-goes-patriotic/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/03/16/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-vii-no-that-isnt-a-tear-in-my-eye/

Remember to check out my new forum at steelcageforums.com follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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




Ring of Honor TV – March 14, 2018: Three Times In A Row

IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: March 14, 2018
Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

This is one of those weird weeks where a pay per view has come and gone but we’re not to the next taping cycle yet. Therefore, tonight is probably going to be a standalone show, which have very mixed results around here. There aren’t likely to be any results from the Anniversary Show, which works well as I haven’t seen it yet. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s show if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Chuckie T., Barretta, Shane Taylor, Josh Woods, Will Ferrara, Leo St. Giovanni, Flip Gordon, QT Marshall, Caprice Coleman, Shaheem Ali, Kid USA, F.R. Josie

I think I got everyone in there. They waste no time with this as the sequence ends and the bell rings with everyone sliding into the ring. The final two in the ring will face off in a regular match for a shot at the TV Title at a date to be announced. Chuckie and Barretta are thrown out by Shane at the bell, followed by Josie and Ferrara being tossed out soon thereafter.

Kid USA gets knocked off the top and Coast to Coast can’t get rid of Taylor. Coleman shoves St. Giovanni out by breaking up a springboard with Ali and Woods being thrown out a few seconds later. We’re down to Marshall, Taylor, Coleman and Gordon with QT offering to pay the others off.

We take a break less than five minutes into the show and come back with all four still going. Coleman kicks Gordon in the face but gets cut off with a springboard spinning spear. Marshall hits Taylor by mistake and that’s it for QT. Gordon has to springboard back in from the apron and takes Coleman down with a clothesline. Taylor throws Coleman out and it’s Gordon and Taylor moving on at 8:55.

Rating: D. Well, it was certainly short. The problem here was they didn’t have the time or the star power to really make things work. They made it clear that these are people who have never held the title, which doesn’t exactly give you a lot of star power. Taylor and Gordon could make for a good singles match, but the battle royal wasn’t the best way to get there.

The Kingdom is sick of hearing about the Bullet Club when the Kingdom is on fire. So Cal Uncensored comes in to say they’ve been conspired against for years. An alliance is suggested and the Kingdom seems intrigued. Post break, TK O’Ryan doesn’t like the idea but Matt Taven says it’s worth it. Vinny Marseglia just wants violence against the Bullet Club.

Stacy Shadows is a good sized woman who wants to go through everyone to make history.

Tenille Dashwood is tired of being overlooked. She’s beaten Shadows before in a non-televised ROH match so this might not be the biggest surprise. I mean, the winner gets Brandi Rhodes in a match that already aired on the PPV pre-show so it’s kind of spoiled in advance.

Women of Honor Title Tournament First Round: Stacy Shadows vs. Tenille Dashwood

Dashwood is better known as Emma and Deonna Purrazzo is on commentary. The much bigger Shadows blocks an armdrag attempt and drives Dashwood into the corner. Some kicks to Stacy’s legs set up a hurricanrana into a Russian legsweep for one. The running corner crossbody is shrugged off and Shadows scores with a spinebuster as we take a break.

Back with Stacy still in control and the announcers taking about the dangers of Dashwood’s Spotlight kick. A Vader Bomb misses though and Tenille grabs the Tarantula. Dashwood gets two off a high crossbody and the Spotlight Kick (a running kick to the side of the head) is good for the pin on Shadows at 8:41.

Rating: D+. Shadows was every bigger woman you’ll see and there was no reason to believe that Dashwood was losing here. This is a good example of a match that would have been better suited in a shorter form as it came off like they were stretching things out for the sake of stretching things out.

The Bullet Club is in the back and Cody seems worried about the Kingdom and So Cal Uncensored teaming up. Cody is tired of being told that he’s the bad guy and the team isn’t going anywhere. Can we just name this the Bullet Club Hour already?

Beer City Bruiser/Brian Milonas vs. Ryan Nova/Eli Isom

I think you get the idea here. Bruiser forearms Nova down to start and Nova’s kick to the ribs has as much effect as you would expect. A crossbody crushes Nova (Colt: “IS HE STILL ALIVE???”) and Milonas does his reverse splash. Nova gets crushed between the two big guys and it’s actually off to Isom to keep things going. That means a hard right hand to knock him silly, followed by a superplex into a frog splash to give Bruiser the pin at 3:48.

Rating: D. They’re certainly hammering you over the head with the idea behind Milonas and Bruiser, but that makes sense in this case as it’s not like they have anything else to do. Bruiser is at least decent but Milonas….my goodness no. This was a long squash but at least they got the idea down.

Shane Taylor vs. Flip Gordon

Bully Ray is on commentary and the winner gets a future TV Title shot. Gordon strikes away at the monster and the chops actually have an effect. A superkick does a bit more damage but Taylor pulls Gordon HARD out of the air with a spinebuster for two. Taylor goes with the heavy forearms to rock Gordon even more as the pace slows quite a bit. One heck of a legdrop gets two and we take a break.

Back with Taylor blasting him in the face for two more with Bully being stunned on the kickout. He’s so stunned that we cut to the announcers for a chat about Supercard of Honor. Taylor even hits a Bubba Bomb and Bully is now full on behind Flip. An enziguri rocks Taylor and there’s a second to stagger him…..until a hard clothesline takes Flip’s head off for two. The middle rope splash misses though and the Star Spangled Stunner into the 450 gives Flip the pin at 9:31.

Rating: C+. This was another story that didn’t need much laying out, though I’m not sure how smart it is to do very similar matches three times in a row. Gordon has some good charisma and all of the flipping does him some serious favors. If that’s how he keeps going, he’s going to be fine for a long time to come.

Post match Scorpio Sky runs in for the beatdown on Gordon but the Young Bucks make the save. They seem to be interested in Gordon but he doesn’t quite know what to do.

Cody wants to know where the rest of the Club is but he can do this himself because he knows all of their parts. Bullet Club is fine as they head into a ten man tag, presumably next week.

Overall Rating: C-. For a standalone episode, I’m not sure how well this one worked. Setting up a future TV Title shot is a good idea but having a first round match after the winner already had her quarterfinal match? Really? Other than that, having three big vs. little matches in a row felt like a really weak presentation, but maybe it was all they could put together. Not a bad show, but the Bullet Club stuff is getting old.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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New Column: Know Your Audience

IMG Credit: WWE

If you like this, you can check out all of my columns here.

This is what happens when a Thought of the Day gets out of hand.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-know-audience/




Monday Night Raw – October 13, 2003: Like A House Show With A Budget

IMG Credit: WWE

 

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 13, 2003
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s all about HHH at the moment, despite him not actually being on the show. The big story is a $100,000 bounty that HHH has placed on Goldberg’s head, giving us great villains such as Mark Henry and La Resistance trying to collect. I’m sure we’ll hit the thrilling part soon enough. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s show if you need a recap.

Randy Orton, with the bounty money in a briefcase and Ric Flair, on crutches, are in the back with Flair saying the right person to claim the bounty hasn’t come around yet. Flair is too injured to wrestle Maven tonight but here’s Shawn Michaels to get their attention. Ric says he’s called Shawn and HHH the greatest of all time and last week he had to see Shawn beaten up by Mark Henry.

The fire is still burning in Shawn so he needs to go show everyone that he still has it. Blow the roof off the place and be HBK all over again by taking out Goldberg. If that’s not enough incentive, there’s $100,000 to be won. Shawn walks away without saying anything. Heck of a promo from Flair, who knows how to do this better than almost anyone else.

Opening sequence.

We open with a recap of Kane being destroyed last week but Chris Jericho, in the ring with Christian, says cut it off. Jericho calls this proof that Steve Austin needs to be removed from his position. This never happened under Eric Bischoff and now everyone in the back is following Austin, including Shane McMahon. Then on Friday, Shane broke Test’s foot at a match in Louisville, Kentucky. How long do people have to suffer because of these two maniacs?

This brings out Shane to say that Austin wasn’t responsible for what happened last week and breaking Test’s foot. Maybe Jericho and Christian will need an ambulance of their own this week. Cue La Resistance of all people to say this is a typical American response. The four on one beatdown is on but here are the Dudleys for the save. The villains refuse to fight and I’m assuming we have a main event.

Goldberg arrives and has to avoid being run over. That’s twice in less than a year.

Intercontinental Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Scott Steiner

Scott is challenging as his horrible misfortune continues after losing to Test. Seriously, how can he handle being in a title match? Steiner has Stacy Keibler sit in a chair at ringside and takes Rob into the corner for an early beating. More chops keep Rob in trouble until he gets a boot up in the corner. The split legged moonsault connects but Steiner is back with a suplex. Now he wants Stacy’s chair but gets turned down, allowing Rob to hit a spinning kick to the face. Rolling Thunder sends Scott outside where he grabs the chair himself for a stupid DQ.

Rating: D. Well at least it was short. Steiner is little more than a pretty weak midcard villain who can only get anywhere when he yells at Stacy. The match didn’t have a chance to go anywhere but that’s the right call here as Steiner continues to get more and more useless by the week.

Post match Steiner loads up the chair to hit Stacy but here’s Austin to interrupt. Austin tells Steiner to hit him instead and Scott actually does so, meaning the beatdown is on. Scott finally shoves Stacy into him to escape so it’s time to drink beer. Stacy doesn’t like it though, earning herself a Stunner. That’s probably not the best use of Austin in the world.

Maven vs. Rico

Flair is on commentary. Right wastes no time in kneeing Maven in the ribs as Lawler drools over Miss Jackie. A kick to the face gives Rico two but he misses a second, allowing Maven to hit an atomic drop. For some reason we don’t get the over the top selling from Rico so Maven hits a spinwheel kick instead. Maven’s spinning bulldog gets the pin.

Post match Flair is fine and runs down to hit Maven with the crutch. Gee I’m stunned.

Rosey, in civilian photographer attire, runs into Lance Storm who is reading Lita’s book. Storm agrees to have his picture taken when Hurricane comes in. There has been an accident at the Pittsburgh orphanage: someone has put caffeine in the babies’ milk and superheroes are needed! Rosey goes into a phone booth to change. Comedy ensues.

We look at the limo incident again.

The Dudleys come in to see Shane and tonight it’s an eight man tables match with the three of them and someone else against La Resistance/Jericho/Christian.

Goldberg tells….I’m guessing the parking lot attendant to look for the Cadillac that tried to run him over. Someone shoves a bunch of stuff off a high shelf but misses Goldberg.

Here’s Goldberg in the arena to say if someone wants the bounty, come get it. This brings out Shawn, who says the money isn’t a factor for him. Goldberg has forgotten the spear to Shawn last week and that’s not cool. Shawn: “When I make mistakes Goldberg, I own up to them.” Uh….yeah.

As you laugh at that statement, Goldberg and Shawn go nose to nose but here’s Tommy Dreamer with a kendo stick to….well to do very little as it’s a spear to cut him down. Shawn picks up the stick and Flair comes out, ranting and raving for Shawn to hit Goldberg. Now it’s Teddy Long and Mark Henry coming out saying they want the bounty. Bischoff shows up and makes Goldberg/Shawn vs. Flair/Orton/Henry for tonight.

Chris Jericho/Christian/La Resistance vs. Shane McMahon/Dudley Boyz/???

Tables match with one fall to a finish. The mystery partner is….the returning Booker T. Christian bails from Booker to start so we’ll go with Jericho instead. A kick to the face and a chop to the chest have Jericho in trouble before Bubba comes in for the big right hands. It’s off to Dupree who gets beaten up by both Dudleys. Jericho smacks D-Von in the back of the head though and the pace slows quite a bit.

We get into the standard alternating heel beatdowns as we’re still waiting on anything resembling to a tables match. Jericho scares the partners away but gets caught with a flying forearm. It’s off to Bubba to hammer away but Shane has to catch Jericho and Christian from walking up the ramp. You know, because they can’t beat up SHANE MCMAHON even when they’re up two to one.

Back in and ring and Shane punches away at Jericho, which of course works just fine. La Resistance crotches Shane against the post as this is already running longer than it needs. Thankfully the first table is set up at ringside but Booker scares the French guys off. Back from a break (WHY?) with Shane avoiding a charge to crotch Jericho on the ropes.

Conway is right there to keep Shane in trouble with a whip into Dupree’s elbow. The sleeper drop keeps Shane down and we hit the chinlock as I sit in awe of this show’s efforts to make Shane look like a big deal. Shane scores with a DDT for the hot tag off to Booker as everything breaks down.

Christian gets in a low blow to cut Booker down so Bubba hits the Bubba Bomb. Things finally start to pick up as Bubba brings in a trashcan to knock Bubba silly. D-Von makes the save this time though and Shane hits Coast to Coast. Well that escalated quickly. It’s table time but Jericho breaks it up with the Canadian flag. Cue Spike Dudley to go after Jericho, leaving Christian to take the 3D. Booker puts Conway through the table for the win.

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t even that bad but this was nearly twenty minutes long with most of it being pretty basic tag wrestling before everything went nuts in the last few minutes. Shane wasn’t exactly pushed down your throat here but he was the featured performer in the match. Do we really need to push him this hard? His match with Kane is obvious and someone else could get a rub here. It wasn’t bad but it could have been cut in half, which isn’t a good sign.

Video on the recent house shows. You don’t see that outside of an international tour very often.

Rosey still can’t get out of the phone booth.

Back in the arena, the winning team is putting on a Spinarooni exhibition when Jonathan Coachman interrupts. He shows us the limo incident again but Shane takes the mic away. The Dudleys and Booker get rid of Coach so we can go live to Kane’s hospital via satellite. The doctor says Kane has been in and out of consciousness all week. Shane challenges him to one more match and Kane’s heart rate monitor picks WAY up. He heard Kane crying and that’s enough to wake Kane up so he can attack the doctors.

Lita/Trish Stratus/Ivory vs. Victoria/Gail Kim/Molly Holly

It’s a brawl to start with Ivory flapjacking Gail and getting two off a bulldog. Lita comes in and gets taken down by Molly as Jerry compliments Victoria’s gear. For some reason this turns into a discussion of JR wearing a backwards leather thong. Molly gets crotched on top though and it’s quickly off to Trish. The Stratusphere brings Molly back down and Lita adds a Twist of Fate. Steven Richards takes Lita out but Trish gets a sunset flip for the pin on Victoria.

Rating: D. Adding Victoria and Ivory helped a little bit but there’s only so much you can do in a six person tag with four minutes and interference. The main story of the division seems to be Trish vs. Victoria, which isn’t the best idea in the world when you have the title just sitting on Molly and going nowhere. I’ll take a story over no story though and this is already better than a lot of the other stretches we’ve seen from the women’s division over the years.

Post match Stevie and Victoria go after Trish but Chris Jericho of all people makes the save and checks on her. That’s quite the sudden change of pace but I’m rather pleased.

We recap Austin beating up Steiner and Stunning Stacy earlier.

Jericho comes up to Austin in the back and calls him a disgrace. Chris leaves and Jon Heidenreich comes in with a highlight tape put together by Little Johnny. Austin actually agrees to watch it but Heidenreich panics when Austin asks who Little Johnny is. Now, Austin goes to find a bar but runs into Rosey in the phone booth. Austin decides to forgo the bar because he needs to drink now.

Flair and Orton are ready for the tag match when Henry and Long come in. They’ll go after Goldberg but they’re doing it to his face.

Goldberg/Shawn Michaels vs. Mark Henry/Randy Orton/Ric Flair

Orton and Shawn get things going but Michaels bails to the floor to slug away at Henry. Back in and Shawn takes out both Orton and Flair with the latter wanting Goldberg. Ric gets what he wants, has no luck on offense, and gets to face Michaels again. Orton has some better luck until he tries a forward dropkick which I don’t think was supposed to connect. Shawn didn’t look ready for it and Orton sold it like he crashed off a miss.

Anyway it’s off to Henry to throw Shawn around before Flair comes in for the chop off. A double clothesline allows the hot tag to Goldberg, who slams Henry with ease. The top rope elbow and a dive over the top leave Goldberg alone to spear Henry in half. A really sloppy looking Jackhammer (understandable) is enough for the pin on Mark.

Rating: D. Well at least this one was shorter. Between the Orton dropkick and Goldberg not being able to hit the Jackhammer properly (again, not the biggest criticism), the match was kind of a mess. At least Goldberg got to pin Henry and get us out of that story though and now we can move on to more serious threats. Like Shawn maybe.

Post match Shawn superkicks Goldberg and here’s Bischoff to make Goldberg vs. Shawn for next week.

Overall Rating: D. I think the lack of a pay per view is getting to this show in a hurry. With HHH out, there’s not much for most of these people to do, save for setting up Shane McMahon of all people as the second biggest face on the show. Then there’s Austin attacking Scott Steiner almost out of nowhere and I’m really not sure what the goal is right now, other than getting to Survivor Series. Some of the stuff is ok but so much of it feels like they’re just throwing stuff at the wall to fill in time. It’s certainly not the worst but a lot of this felt like a house show with a budget.

Remember to check out my new forum at steelcageforums.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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




NXT – March 14, 2018: I’m Pi-Ning for Takeover

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: March 14, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

It’s another big night as we have four weeks left before Takeover: New Orleans. That means knocking out more matches in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, but on top of that we have some build towards a title match. This week NXT Champion Andrade Cien Almas and Aleister Black will sign the contract for Takeover: New Orleans which could be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s show if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Sanity vs. Riddick Moss/Tino Sabbatelli

Sabbatelli and Moss seem to be having some issues coming into the match. Moss knees Wolfe in the ribs to start and hits a release Hot Shot to really take over. It’s off to Sabbatelli and the fans aren’t exactly thrilled to see him. A good looking dropkick (Mauro: “That dropkick certainly didn’t suck!”) keeps Wolfe in trouble and Tito begrudgingly brings Moss back in.

Some stomps in the corner look to set up a running forearm but Moss hits Sabbatelli by mistake (telegraphed by a mile and still exactly the right move) and it’s off to Young. House is quickly cleaned and Young gets two off the top rope elbow. Moss pulls Young to the floor but Nikki Cross dives off the apron with a crossbody. The belly to back suplex into a neckbreaker is enough to pin Sabbatelli at 3:45.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what Moss and Sabbatelli are supposed to do if they split up. They’re not the best team in the world in the first place and having them go their separate ways might be it for both of them. Sanity winning makes the most sense as they’re not going to win but the team that beats them will get a nice rub.

Here’s Tommaso Ciampa with another microphone but again, the Johnny Gargano signs and chants leave him unable to speak. The fans send him off with the Goodbye Song.

Dakota Kai vs. Lacey Evans

Dakota has a taped up shoulder. Evans goes right for the arm by taking her down and dropping a knee, followed by an armbar. Not that it matters as Kai rolls her up for a very fast pin at 55 seconds.

Post match here’s Shayna Baszler to go after Kai but Ember Moon makes the save. The fight is on and Kai breaks up an armbar, allowing Moon to hit the Eclipse. They needed to do something like this as Moon hasn’t gotten to do much of anything since the title match.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: Heavy Machinery vs. Street Profits

Dozovic and Ford start things off with Ford getting run down by a shoulder. With the wrestling not working, Ford tries to offer him the cup. Otis seems to like it but clotheslines Ford’s head off instead. A double slam gets two on Ford and it’s off to Knight for a bearhug. Ford finally gets over for the hot tag to Dawkins. The big man starts firing away but Otis hits a heavy Thesz press. The Compactor is broken up though and Dawkins gets in a DDT. Ford adds the frog splash for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: C. This was almost a squash until the hot tag to Dawkins. The Profits are a better act than Heavy Machinery, who lost most of their steam as soon as they lost their first match. I’m digging the Profits more and more each time and it’s a good idea to let them get a win in the tournament. Not much of a match here but at least the right team won.

United Kingdom Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Cole is challenging and we get the big match intros. Dunne has to go after the Undisputed Era before coming back in for a forearm to Cole. That means it’s time to crank on the fingers and the jumping stomp to the arm. Dunne takes him to the apron and stomps down on the arm again as this is completely one sided. An Undisputed Era distraction lets Cole tie him up on the ropes though and Dunne comes up holding his knee.

Back from a break with Dunne hitting an X Plex and winning a slugout as the knee seems fine. There’s an enziguri in the corner and a Batista Bomb gets two. The Bitter End is reversed into a Backstabber and they’re both down again. It’s off to the standing armbar but Cole comes right back with the Last Shot (a fireman’s carry backbreaker here rather than the brainbuster) for two.

Another slugout goes to Dunne, with one forearm knocking Cole from the middle of the ring into the corner. Dunne tries a moonsault out of the corner but Cole superkicks him out of the air (with Dunne upside down) for a very near fall. Dunne goes after the Era again and the distraction lets Cole hit the Last Shot (now the brainbuster version). That’s still not enough though as Dunne snaps the fingers and loads up the Bitter End, drawing in O’Reilly for the DQ at 11:57.

Rating: B. Dunne continues to be a treat to watch and he’s pretty much been turned face just through his great performances. This was another example of those skills, but at some point Cole needs to win something. I know he has a great presence and can talk quite well but he hasn’t won a big match in a long time now and it’s getting noticeable.

Post match the Era beats Dunne down until Roderick Strong makes the save. Strong gets taken down as well but Dunne gets up and helps chase them off.

General Manager William Regal is here for the contract signing between Andrade Cien Almas and Aleister Black. Aleister comes out but there’s no Almas with Zelina Vega taking his place. Vega moves the table and we have a staredown but Almas has a seat in front of her. Black: “Well at least now we’re on the same level.” Vega promises to make him reap what he sows and gives him a slap. Black signs the contract and says he didn’t come alone. Cue Candice LeRae to go after Vega. Candice knocks her onto the announcers’ table and lays Vega out with a bulldog to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. A good match and they moved towards New Orleans. You can put together most of the pieces from here (save for the tournament maybe) and that’s a good thing given how few weeks they have left. Vega vs. LeRae needs to take place at some point and if they let them go nuts, it could be a lot of fun. I don’t know about having it at Takeover but it needs to take place at some point. Solid show here with good wrestling and angle advancement, which is a nice combination.

Results

Sanity b. Tino Sabbatelli/Riddick Moss – Belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination to Sabbatelli

Dakota Kai b. Lacey Evans – Rollup

Street Profits b. Heavy Machinery – Frog splash to Dozovic

Pete Dunne b. Adam Cole via DQ when Kyle O’Reilly interfered

Remember to check out my new forum at steelcageforums.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/


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


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