Survivor Series 2000
Date: November 19, 2000
Location: Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 18,602
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Molly is about to fall out of her top and Jerry loses it.

Radicalz vs. Team Chyna

Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero

Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, K-Kwik, Chyna

Billy gets to fight Dean first with the Radicals taking over quickly. Benoit low bridges Billy but Saturn accidentally superkicks Benoit on the floor. Back in the ring Dean ducks his head and the Fameasser makes it 2-1. A Jackhammer gets two on Saturn with Benoit making the save. Benoit hits the Swan Dive for two is shocked on the kickout. Chris is sent to the apron and Gunn tries to suplex him back in, only for the Warrior/Rude ending with Saturn tripping Billy and holding his foot for the pin.

Kane vs. Chris Jericho

Kane pulls the buckle pad off but neither guy can get rammed into the exposed steel. Kane uppercuts Jericho down over and over but Jericho keeps popping back up. Back to the floor with Kane still in full control. Kane goes up but gets crotched to slow him down. Another attempt at the clothesline jumps into a dropkick to the ribs and things speed up a bit.

Terri tells the Radicals that HHH has a plan for later.

European Title: Hardcore Holly vs. William Regal

Rikishi vs. The Rock

Post match Rikishi destroys Rock and lays him out with a bunch of Banzai Drops to the bad chest.

Steven Richards (RTC leader) comes out so Lita throws Ivory to the floor and hits a big dive to take both of them out. A cross body gets two for Lita but the moonsault misses thanks to Steven. Ivory misses a belt shot and gets suplexed down. Lita takes her own top off but the moonsault hits knees. Apparently Ivory pulled the belt up and knocked Lita silly to retain.

Coach (geeky interviewer) has no updates on Rock.

Jericho jumps Kane and beats him up, setting up their rematch.

WWF World Title: Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle

A quick rollup with tights gets two for Kurt and a Russian legsweep gets the same for Undertaker. After a quick breather for Angle on the floor, he comes back in for a bad Figure Four on the challenger. Undertaker reverses and Angle gets the rope as is the custom for this sequence. A powerslam gets two on Angle but Kurt goes right back to the leg. Kurt throws the Figure Four on around the post but gets kicked away.

After some replays, Kurt runs from the arena to a waiting car to escape.

The XFL cheerleaders are here.

Team Dudley Boys vs. Team Edge and Christian

Dudley Boys, Hardy Boys

Edge and Christian, Bull Buchanan, Goodfather

Matt comes in to clean house as everything breaks down. The Hardys take off their shirts to reveal camoflauge shirts to match the Dudleys. In the melee, the Edge-O-Matic (a reverse X Factor) pins Matt. D-Von vs. Edge now with the former hitting a swinging neckbreaker for no cover. D-Von takes down both Canadians with a double clothesline but a Buchanan distraction lets Christian hit the Killswitch for the elimination to make it 4-2.

They botch something but Goodfather hooks a Death Valley Driver for the pin on Bubba. Jeff gets to start with Christian but knocks Goodfather off the apron first. Christian misses a charge and hits post. The Swanton eliminates Christian and about twenty seconds later Val Venis (also RTC) clotheslines Goodfather by mistake, giving Jeff the winning pin.

Jeff gets beaten up but the Dudleys and Matt make the save and put the RTC through tables.

Austin is walking.

HHH tells the Radicals they know what to do.

Steve Austin vs. HHH

No DQ remember. After a little staredown, Austin goes right at HHH and beats him around the ring. The initial beatdown goes on for a few minutes with Austin focusing on the back in a bit of a strange choice. HHH comes back with a facebuster but Austin immediately hits the Thesz Press to take him right back down.

They head to the floor with Austin still in full control. Austin picks up a big piece of metal but HHH knocks it away. They fight over to the production area and then to the back and then back to the arena in a few seconds. Back in the aisle, HHH counters a suplex into one of his own to put Austin in even more trouble. They fight back to ringside and Austin is thrown onto the announce table before fighting back, sending HHH into the steps.

This time they head to the production area and then through a curtain and into the back, the same place they went for a few seconds earlier. HHH rams Austin into an anvil case but Austin sends him into a soda machine. Here are the Radicalz to attack Austin and give HHH a breather.

After referees pull back the Radicalz, Austin chases HHH into the parking lot where HHH gets into a car. All of a sudden HHH is on a mic in a stupid moment but you have to go with it. Austin is nowhere to be seen until he drives in on a forklift, to lift up the car with HHH inside. HHH screams for mercy and is dropped down, destroying the car to end the show.

Ratings Comparison

Steve Blackman/Crash Holly/Molly Holly vs. T&A/Trish Stratus

Original: D+

Redo: C-

The Radicalz vs. Team Chyna

Original: B-

Redo: C

Kane vs. Chris Jericho

Original: B-

Redo: C-

William Regal vs. Hardcore Holly

Original: D-

Redo: D-

The Rock vs. Rikishi

Original: B

Redo: C+

Ivory vs. Lita

Original: D+

Redo: D

Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Team Dudley Boys vs. Team Edge and Christian

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Steve Austin vs. HHH

Original: D-

Redo: B-

Overall Rating:

Original: D+

Redo: C-

That main event is the big surprise as I HATED it the first time but I thought it was pretty good here. Odd indeed.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/24/survivor-series-2000-i-never-remember-this-show/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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

 

I don’t even know where we are at this point. This promotion has turned completely upside down with large chunks of the show being built around action from other promotions, often which had nothing to do with Impact Wrestling. Other than that, it’s been a lot of talk about mixed martial arts, because it’s really the same thing right? I’m not sure what we’ll be getting at “Bound For Glory 2017”, but it turns out there will be one less match than we were expecting. Let’s get to it.

X-Division Title: Trevor Lee(c) vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Garza Jr. vs. Matt Sydal vs. Petey Williams vs. Sonjay Dutt

If this sounds familiar to you, it’s certainly not because they ran the same thing on this week’s episode of “Impact Wrestling”. No see while that was a one fall six way match, this is a one fall six way match for the title. It’s totally different that way. That was won by Xavier, which in theory should eliminate him from contending for the title. However, that’s not the way things work around here.

I’ll go with Sydal winning the title here, as the company certainly seemed ready to do something with him but pulled the plug in a hurry. Xavier would make the most sends (and would actually make the Super X Cup mean anything whatsoever) while the rest are really just warm bodies. Well somewhat colder in Garza’s case because HE TAKES OFF HIS PANTS! Then again it’s not like the X-Division Title means anything but hopefully they can put on an entertaining match in the time they’re given.

Abyss vs. Grado

This story….I’m not sure what to think about it actually. It’s a pretty simple concept (I help you, you take advantage of me, I want revenge) and the immigration stuff is all just window dressing. The problem is I have no reason to care about Grado. I’ve never really found him funny and the reason he was wanted to stay in the country was to eat various American foods. That’s the best hero we can have?

I’ll take Grado to win here as getting rid of him wouldn’t make sense, though that’s never stopped this company before. Above all else, he needs to be around for the sake of filling in a spot on the roster. Abyss has lost a ton of these things before and it wouldn’t surprise me if he slipped on a banana peel and lost again here. Grado isn’t exactly entertaining but he has more potential than Abyss at the moment.

Team Impact vs. Team AAA

So here’s the invasion match, which feels like they just wrote “insert invasion angle here with whomever you have left” in the script and hoped for the best. There’s no reason to care about either team and none of them interest me whatsoever. This story has been lame from the start and there’s no real reason to assume that it’s going to get any better as we do the six man.

Team Impact should win here as it’s really the only logical way to go and I’ll take them to do so, though I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see Team AAA win so this partnership can keep going. I still have no idea why I’m supposed to care about a bunch of wrestlers that I know almost nothing about coming in to this company but the announcers have spent so much time telling me how awesome these three are that I would feel bad if I didn’t watch.

Knockouts Title: Sienna(c) vs. Gail Kim vs. Allie

I’m going to do this assuming that Rosemary, who is now out of a match, isn’t added to the match, though it would make perfect sense to put her in (four Canadians instead of three) with the Taya Valkyrie fight falling through. I’m not even going to waste much time here: this is going to be all about Gail Kim whether you like it or not, which is almost always the case around here.

Of course I’m going with Kim. This company has basically worshiped her (not saying it’s completely undeserved) and it wouldn’t shock me to see her give her a big, grand farewell, basically leaving the division looking like a bunch of losers in the process. Allie and Sienna are just details here and that’s all they’ve been the whole time. I wish there was another way of looking at this but it’s been the Kim show the entire time, as you knew it would be.

Tag Team Titles: OVE(c) vs. LAX

This is a 5150 street fight, which basically means a street fight with numbers in the title. In theory this means the entirety of LAX is allowed to fight, which is why OVE has brought in Sami Callihan to help them out. That should be enough to help the champs even the odds, as Konnan can’t do anything physical and Homicide is really just there for cheap shots.

OVE retains here of course, as we’re already past the point of LAX meaning much. Of course there’s also the issue of who in the world challenges the champs next. It’s not like there’s much of a division at the moment so it’s either build a new team from the roster or keep going with LAX. Either way, OVE retains here.

Impact Wrestling World Title: Eli Drake(c) vs Johnny Impact

Sure the World Title is on the line here but let’s not pretend for a minute that this is the real main event. Drake has been champion for a few months now and Impact is one of the biggest stars the company has at the moment. He’s also the AAA World Champion and you know how this promotion likes to cross-promote with the international promotions. That’s not a good sign for Drake, but stranger things have happened.

I’ll take Drake to retain the title here, possibly due to interference from the returning Alberto El Patron. I think the company would like the idea of having El Patron vs. Impact for some kind of real champion of Mexico match and we’d just be lucky enough to have it be treated as a bigger deal than the World Title feud. Of course don’t count out the idea of El Patron somehow walking out as champion either. Drake wins, but there’s a good chance that things aren’t over for him yet.

Bobby Lashley/King Mo vs. Moose/Stephan Bonnar

Let’s not pretend that this isn’t the main event. This match has gotten more development, airtime, promos and attention than anything else on the card by a mile. Impact Wrestling has had a very longstanding obsession with mixed martial arts and it’s no surprise that they’re putting it on the big stage like this. Really, you knew they wanted to do this as soon as they had a fighter like Lashley on the roster.

I’m going with Moose and Bonnar to win, even though this really should just be Lashley vs. Moose. It’s the same match and we wouldn’t have to wait around for King Mo and Bonnar, who have no business wrestling at this high of a level. You have to assume that Lashley is going to head to MMA sooner or later, so taking him off TV would make sense. This probably should close the show, though I’m fine with the World Title getting that spot, disparity in importance on TV aside.

Overall Thoughts

The crazy long taping cycle killed the build towards this show and there’s barely any way to recover from that. So much of the shows has been spent on matches from Canada, Mexico and Japan, almost none of which had anything to do with setting up the pay per view. That being said, this promotion has a history of being FAR better on pay per view than they are on TV, as it’s just the wrestlers wrestling instead of the nonsense with the creative department. The show could be good, but they desperately need (another) change of pace to fire up their TV, which has been dreadful lately.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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

Main Event
Date: November 2, 2017
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

Hopefully this version is better than the mess we had to sit through on Monday night. If nothing else we won’t have to sit through the full version of Kane destroying three former World Champions in less than ten minutes. We’ll be luckier here as it’ll be the clipped version of the same thing. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Jason Jordan vs. Curt Hawkins

Hawkins says that Jordan’s father may be a gold medalist but tonight, Hawkins is going to beat him like a gold medalist. Jordan takes him down with some amateur stuff to start before charging into a knee in the corner. We hit an early chinlock before a jumping elbow drop gives Hawkins two. A top rope version misses though and Jordan sends him into the corner a few times. The belly to belly suplex sets up a wheelbarrow neckbreaker to give Jordan the pin at 5:00.

Rating: D+. Just a basic match here and it worked perfectly well. Jordan looked good here as he shrugged off the offense and won with his finisher. The push hasn’t been great but they also aren’t pushing him too hard, which makes it easy to watch. Hawkins is able to put anyone over just fine as the entrance alone makes him worth checking out. However, how does someone with 127 consecutive losses keep a job? I’m not sure I get that.

Recap of the champion vs. champion matches at Survivor Series.

We look at Smackdown invading Raw last week.

From Raw.

Kurt Angle is in the ring and the Raw roster is on the stage. Last week was taking friendly competition too far and that was a slap in the face of the people who work here every week. He put them in harm’s way and that will never happen again. Cue the returning Stephanie McMahon to talk about how Monday Night Raw will be celebrating twenty five years on January 22. The show is still going strong and that’s where she and Kurt come in. Angle has lead by example and has even earned her respect.

Stephanie pauses for the YOU STILL GOT IT but blames Angle for last week’s siege. It took twenty seconds to ruin Raw’s history and that’s all because of Angle falling for Shane’s lies. Stephanie goes on a rant about how Angle RUINED, yes RUINED, Raw’s legacy last week in one incompetent moment. Therefore, Angle better hope that he still has it because he’s going to be team captain at Survivor Series. If things don’t go the way she wants, he’s out as General Manager.

From Raw again.

Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James

James is challenging and scores early with a running kick to the chest. The hurricanrana out of the corner has Bliss reeling and a dropkick puts her outside. Back from a break with Bliss working on a neck crank before switching to a chinlock (totally different you see). Something like an STO gets two and Bliss stands on Mickie’s hair for good measure.

That’s enough to fire Mickie up but Bliss slams her off the top to take over again. An enziguri off the top lets Mickie score with the Thesz press for two. Some rollups are good for some two counts but Bliss punches her in the face for the pin to retain at 11:25. Seriously it was just a right hand.

Rating: D. Well that happened. This was a lot of chinlocking and not much else, which doesn’t make for a strong main event. I was hoping for something like Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks here but instead I got little more than a bad women’s match. James isn’t the most interesting challenger and losing to a right hand is about as low as you can go.

Video on Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal.

Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese

Nese poses to start but Alexander throws him into the corner and counts his own abs. Back up and Alexander flips around a bit before grabbing a headscissors to send Nese flying. Nese catches him on the top though and Cedric is in trouble as we take a break. Back with Cedric hitting his springboard clothesline but getting caught in a release Michinoku Driver. Not that it matters as the Neuralizer sets up the Lumbar Check to end Nese at 8:10.

Rating: C-. Just a match here and that’s about all you can ask for out of the cruiserweights. Almost all of them have fought each other so many times that you can only get so much out of them in repeat showings and that’s what happened here. The match was fine enough, but the good cruiserweight winning is almost a free space on the Main Event Bingo card at this point.

And now, a montage from Raw.

Miz and the Miztourage are ready to celebrate and go into their locker room. They find a bag of trash, which Miz interprets as Braun Strowman coming back. Terror ensues.

Post break Miz runs into Braun and asks him for help with Strowman. Kane says he’s on his own.

Miz and the Miztourage go to leave and, after cutting back to Bliss celebrating, get in the car, where of course there is a camera waiting. They pull off and are immediately stopped by a waiting garbage truck. Braun comes out of the garbage as we keep cutting to Miz and company in the vein of a bad horror movie.

Strowman poses (in clean clothes despite BEING IN A GARBAGE TRUCK FOR EIGHT DAYS) and chases them out of the limo. They head into the arena, where Bliss is still posing, where Strowman throws Dallas onto the stage. The Miztourage save Miz from going through the table so Strowman takes them to the ring for FIVE running powerslams. Axel goes through the announcers’ table to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw really didn’t do anything for me and the condensed version didn’t help any of those problems. It wasn’t made any better by having the same basic wrestling matches that we always get around here. As usual, all that matters is whether or not you liked Raw and that wasn’t the case for me this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: June 5, 2003
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

This week is almost all about Kurt Angle, who is back from the rather ridiculous two months off after having another major neck injury. To be fair, he’s long been established as a crazy man anyway so it’s not like this is out of character. As for an actual match, Rey Mysterio is challenging Matt Hardy for the Cruiserweight Title. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Here are Roddy Piper and Sean O’Haire to get things going in Piper’s Pit. There’s a legend in the back named Zack Gowan, who has fought against all the odds to get here. Piper makes fun of Gowan by calling him special over and over again. Instead it’s Vince McMahon power walking to the ring. Vince has been blinded by his hatred for Mr. America and Hulk Hogan, which is why he wants to make things right. It’s time to congratulate a great American success story like Gowan. Therefore, Gowan will have the chance to earn a contract.

Cue Gowan, albeit flanked by Mr. America. Vince isn’t pleased again and accused Hogan of faking the lie detector test last week. As for Gowan, he has the chance to get his contract next week, in an arm wrestling contest against Vince. America insults Vince a bit more as this takes longer than it needs to. Vince shoves Gowan down and gloats a lot.

We get a great Kurt Angle moment in Milk-A-Mania. Eh yeah that worked.

Undertaker vs. Chuck Palumbo

Rating: D+. Palumbo got in some offense here but it wasn’t exactly a thrilling match. I’m still waiting on the FBI to go away though as they don’t have anything special for a gimmick and it’s not like there’s a star for the team. I have no idea why Undertaker is stuck with them, but at least WWE isn’t wasting any potential big stars on him.

Post match the FBI goes after Undertaker but is dispatched in short order.

Rey Mysterio’s family is in the front row for his title shot later tonight.

Quick look at Big Show laying out Brock Lesnar last week.

Show vs. Lesnar for the title next week. At least it’s not on pay per view.

We get a video tribute to Freddie Blassie, who passed away earlier in the week. This is edited off the Network version due to music issues, though an RIP graphic is there so it’s better than nothing.

Eddie Guerrero/Tajiri vs. Basham Brothers

Non-title. Tajiri takes him Doug down with some armdrags to start and Eddie chases him into the corner for the first tag. That’s fine with Eddie who rolls some suplexes but Doug breaks up the frog splash. Again, it doesn’t seem to bother Eddie who wristdrags Doug and headscissors Danny at the same time. We hear about Team Angle calling in sick tonight as Doug gets in a suplex of his own for two on Eddie.

Another suplex gets Eddie out of trouble and it’s off to Tajiri for a superkick. A DDT gives Tajiri two on Danny and we hit the Tarantula (with Tajiri crossing Danny’s legs instead of pulling back like a Boston crab). With the referee trying to break it up, Eddie adds a frog splash to Doug’s back, setting up the Buzzsaw Kick for the pin.

Rating: C+. The more I see of Eddie and Tajiri together, the more I like them. Tajiri is always smooth in the ring and that’s what makes them work so well. Eddie can do all the talking and technical stuff while Tajiri can come in and kick people really, really hard. That’s quite the combination. I’m not sure what the point is in having the Bashams come in and lose like this after a single win over the makeshift team of Rikishi and Spanky.

Another great Angle moment: singing songs with Austin while playing ukulele.

Here’s Angle, to quite the face reaction. He says it feels great to hear people tell him that he sucks so PLAY THAT MUSIC AGAIN! Angle is so overwhelmed that he lays on the mat listening to the chants. Things settle down a bit and Angle talks about wanting to be the World Champion again. As for his recovery though, there was one person who came to see him in the hospital and became a true friend. That person….will be named later as here’s Big Show to interrupt.

Show doesn’t care that Angle is back because Angle hasn’t earned his respect yet. Show gets right in Angle’s face and says if Angle wants to be champion again, he can come face Show after he wins the title next week. Angle better pray that doesn’t happen though because Angle won’t come out of the hospital again. Kurt pulls out some breaths strips and reminds Show that he took the title from him back in December. Oh and he won a gold medal with a broken freaking neck.

Angle does a quick fan poll on whether they want to see him beat Big Show up tonight, asking for a YOU SUCK. Cue Lesnar so Show bails, leaving Angle to say he could have handled that himself. Angle says Show has been getting the better of Lesnar as of late (Huh?) and thinks Brock is losing the title next week. Lesnar promises to keep the title and offers Angle a shot down the road. That sounds good to Kurt, but he’s glad Lesnar came out here. It was Brock who was visiting him in the hospital and being a friend. That means a big best friends hug and we have the latest version of the mega powers.

Ultimo Dragon is coming.

John Cena vs. Chris Benoit

Before the match, Cena rips on the cruiserweight division and thinks they don’t deserve any air time. We even get a Lord Littlebrook reference, making this even more awesome than usual. Benoit goes straight at him to start and drops Cena with a hard shoulder. Cena’s charge in the corner misses and Benoit easily takes him down into a failed Crossface attempt.

They head outside where Benoit gets posted and it’s off to a chinlock. Benoit pops back up and elbows Cena in the face before countering the FU into a DDT. The Swan Dive gets two but the ref gets bumped. That really doesn’t need to happen in a match that hasn’t run three minutes yet. Cena gets in a low blow but here’s Rhyno to take the chain away. Unfortunately he hits Benoit in the head by mistake, giving Cena the easy pin.

Rating: D+. Not enough time to do anything here but it was more about setting up the Benoit/Rhyno split anyway. That being said, it’s not like Rhyno and Benoit are guys in need of a big time split in the first place. It’s also not like the division is deep enough to be burning off teams, but why let that get in your way?

Jamie Noble/Nidia vs. Torrie Wilson/Rikishi

The guys take turns twirling their partners around before we’re ready to go. Nidia slaps Rikishi so he shoves her down, which Cole says she deserved. Torrie shows off her ability to do some not great armdrags before sending her into the corner. It’s off to Rikishi for a Stinkface attempt but Noble comes in instead.

Rikishi misses a sitdown splash but knocks Noble around without too much trouble. Nidia is brought back in to face Torrie, meaning the announcers get to talk about her outfit. Some bad clotheslines set up a high crossbody for two on Nidia but Noble trips Torrie. That earns Noble a superkick and Nidia a Stinkface as this is still all about Rikishi. Torrie finishes with a neckbreaker.

Rating: D-. Total filler here and mainly a way to look at Torrie for a few minutes. I’ve heard worse ideas but it’s getting annoying having to watch her horrible matches while acting like she’s something great. Throw in the WAY too strong support for Rikishi and it’s not my favorite time of the show.

Rey says he’s healthy and ready to take the title. Eddie comes in and gives him a pep talk.

We recap the opening segment.

Vince is in Stephanie’s office where she asks what’s up with him lately. She threatens to give Gowan a contract anyway, but Vince promises to fire her if that happens. Yet he didn’t do that for Mr. America? Why not make it one of those Iron Clad contracts then? Anyway, Vince brings in his new assistant: Sable, who has seemingly forgotten the whole Torrie angle.

Stephanie brings up Sable’s lawsuits against the company (which I don’t believe has been acknowledged before) and suggests that Vince is only looking at Sable’s body. After Stephanie’s Stating the Obvious Segment of the Week, Vince says she’s just jealous of Sable’s looks.

Cruiserweight Title: Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio

Matt, who is taller than Rey Mysterio and despises traffic, is defending with Crash and Shannon Moore in his corner. We get the staredown and my goodness it’s weird to see Matt towering over someone. Matt works on a wristlock to start as we hear about various people holding the title over the years. You mean like Mysterio?

Rey gets bent around the ropes but comes right back with a slingshot dropkick through said ropes. A springboard is broken up with a forearm though and the goons get in their shots. The referee finally wakes up and we have a double ejection, which should make things a little bit better. The disgruntled Matt gets taken down by a springboard seated senton and we take a break. Back with Rey escaping Splash Mountain but getting caught by a low blow. Eh it worked for Cena so it can work for Matt.

The champ starts in on the recently injured groin (well, hamstring in this case) as Rey’s family is starting to panic. We hit a half crab for a bit until Rey dives for the ropes. He can’t run for the 619 though and gets taken into the corner to continue the beating. The Tree of Woe goes badly for Matt as his charge hits the post, followed by a spinning DDT for two on the champ. Rey heads up top but gets pulled down with a super Side Effect, which isn’t as impressive of a crash as you would have expected.

Back up and Rey grabs a Twist of Fate of his own before hobbling into a 619. They fall out to the floor though with Matt slowly remember what planet he’s on. The referee checks on Matt though, allowing Shannon and Crash to run back in for a double reverse suplex drop. The top rope legdrop gives Matt a close two. Hardy is livid and it’s a quick rollup to give Rey the pin and the title.

Rating: B. Good enough here, but it certainly didn’t feel like a cruiserweight match. Instead this came off like a regular heavyweight match which happened to have Mysterio involved. Not that Mysterio and Hardy can’t work that style, but if they can wrestle the regular style, what’s the point in having then in the cruiserweight division? Oh right: there’s no midcard title.

Rey’s family comes in to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Better show than usual here, partially due to having the main event focused on ANYTHING other than the Mr. America nonsense. Mysterio winning the title felt like a big deal and Angle coming back was cool, though the bottom half of the card continues to feel completely unimportant. Good enough show though and miles better than anything Raw has produced in a very long time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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

205 Live
Date: October 31, 2017
Location: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for another night of cruiserweights, which really could go anywhere. We’re also on a rare holiday show, which should mean some Halloween style shenanigans. Of course that’s not how things work in WWE world, where they had the Halloween style match on Monday instead of Tuesday. As in the Tuesday that was HALLOWEEN. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Drew Gulak’s dreams of a Drewtopia being derailed by Akira Tozawa. This didn’t sit well with Drew, who attacked Tozawa, including hitting him in the throat with the NO CHANTS sign. We also look at Gulak defeating Gran Metalik and Tozawa saving Metalik from a knee injury.

Opening sequence.

Drew Gulak comes out for a match and asks where his ghouls are. We’re still not ready though, because Drew has some ideas for a better Halloween in the form of a POWERPOINT PRESENTATION! First up, no candy, as it gives us fat children. Second, no trick or treating because it sounds like chanting, which doesn’t need to exist. Slide #3 gets cut off though and it’s time for a match.

Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa

Tozawa wastes no time in kicking Gulak in the face, followed by another one to the chest for good measure. Some stomps in the corner look to set up a dive to the floor but Gulak moves before Tozawa can jump. Back in and Tozawa headfakes him into a right hand to the face. A charge only hits boot though and Gulak slowly stomps away.

It’s off to something like a camel clutch with a neck crank until some kicks get Tozawa out of trouble. Tozawa loads up the top rope dive but Gulak rolls outside, meaning it’s a suicide dive for two instead. The injured throat flares up though and Tozawa can’t capitalize. A shot to the throat gives Drew a near fall but a kick to the head puts him down again. Now the top rope backsplash gives Tozawa the pin at 6:00.

Rating: C. I can’t imagine this is the last match between the two, even though Tozawa won completely clean. Gulak has something with this gimmick but he needs a few more wins to go with the idea. There’s a long list of talent on the show but for some reason they’re not used as jobbers all that often. Try that for a change and maybe you’ll get some results.

We recap Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher telling Cedric Alexander to drop Rich Swann before they drop him for Cedric.

Swann and Cedric are ready for whatever Kendrick and Gallagher have for them. If they want a clown, that’s what Swann will give them. Swann has a clown nose and this can’t end well.

Mustafa Ali talks about Trick or Treating. It’s Halloween you see.

We look at Kalisto easily defeating Gulak last night, only to get beaten down by Enzo Amore.

Kalisto gets another Cruiserweight Title shot at Survivor Series.

Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann

And yes, Swann and Alexander are clowns, with Swann having a full on clown suit, the Doink music and a Doink Titantron video. How do I know this is going to be a long match? Swann dances a lot before easily taking Kendrick down and making him slap himself in the back of his head.

We get a big clown wig (to go with the big clown gloves, which are bigger than Swann’s head) but Kendrick knocks it off Swann’s head. A poke to the eye (How did it fit in with gloves that big?) has Kendrick in trouble as the fans don’t seem pleased. Kendrick finally manages to send him outside so Gallagher can get in some cheap shots. Back in and Kendrick gets two off a suplex as the crowd is rapidly dying.

Swann fights back with some clotheslines and a super hurricanrana for two. With the fans chanting what sounds like something about the Joker, Kendrick grabs a reverse suplex for two of his own. A butterfly superplex of all things gives Kendrick two more but the kickout barely gets a murmur from the crowd. That’s enough for Swann who scores with a dive, followed by a spinning kick to the head. The Phoenix Splash ends Kendrick at 9:33.

Rating: C+. The match was good enough but egads the crowd dying like that wasn’t a good sign. To be fair though, can you blame them? When Swann comes out like a clown, thereby completely leaving out the most popular part of his character, how are they supposed to react? Good match, but bad idea in general.

Gran Metalik is ready to win the main event.

Mustafa Ali vs. Gran Metalik vs. Ariya Daivari vs. Tony Nese

One fall to a finish with a bunch of Halloween decorations around the ring, much like Monday’s tag match. Before the match, Daivari sucks up to Enzo (not here) and runs down Norfolk. Ali counters by offering everyone candy, which Metalik raises his mask to eat. Nese slaps the candy out of Ali’s hands (makes sense) and we’re ready to go. Metalik launches Ali into a dropkick to put Nese down so the good guys go at it, making sure to not run over the pumpkins on the apron.

A handspring armdrag is reversed and it’s an early standoff for some applause. The villains return though and it’s time to head to the floor for some weaponry. Back in and Ali chucks a pumpkin at Nese’s face (McGuinness: “It’s complex carbs. He’s ok with that.”) before trying to force a piece of candy into Nese’s mouth. Daivari comes back in with a spinebuster for two on Ali as Metalik makes the save.

With Ali down, Daivari heads outside and throws some candy out of a bowl but finds a Gran Metalik mask. Daivari puts it on and does some flips, earning some slaps from Ali. The villains get together with a candy corn kendo stick and tie Ali in the Tree of Woe. Instead of the situp kicks though, Nese uses pumpkins like medicine balls and throws them at Ali’s ribs. Ok that was pretty clever.

Metalik’s save is knocked out of the air by a stick shot and an angry Daivari pours candy over Ali. The expected heel miscommunication sees both guys go down so it’s Metalik hitting a reverse powerbomb for two on Ali. A quick Tower of Doom puts Ali down, allowing Daivari to hit the frog splash for a very near fall. For some reason Daivari brings in a table, only to be laid on it in short order.

Nese blasts Metalik with the stick and pulls out a black bag. He pours the bag onto the table and finds….candy corn instead of tacks. Funny bit there. Metalik is ready with a sunset bomb through the table but Daivari breaks up the cover. Ali is right back with a pumpkin to Daivari’s face, followed by a guillotine legdrop (with a broom of course) for the pin at 12:56.

Rating: B-. For a completely goofy match, this was perfectly acceptable and even a lot of fun at times. They were working hard and that’s about all you can ask for in this kind of situation. Ali is someone they’ve protected for a few months on here and while he’s not going to get anywhere, he’s getting something out of it, which is more than most people can say.

Overall Rating: C+. This felt like a throwaway show but it was certainly entertaining. It’s about an hour with three good to quite good matches that don’t really mean anything but at least they made them quite fun. If nothing else it was nice to have a show without Enzo dominating everything, which is the case far more often than not anymore. Good show here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-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
Date: November 1, 2017
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni

It’s time to start getting ready for Final Battle next month and we really don’t know much about the card as of yet. There’s really no way of telling what is going to be on the card, but last week’s show saw Mark Briscoe become #1 contender to the TV Title. That is of course assuming his horribly dislocated elbow doesn’t prevent him from wrestling. Let’s get to it.

We look back at Christopher Daniels costing Jay Lethal the Honor Rumble a few weeks back.

Addiction is ready to give Lethal and Kushida a beating tonight. Daniels swears a lot and gets censored.

Opening sequence.

Cody comes out to do commentary.

TK O’Ryan vs. Jonathan Gresham

Before the match, O’Ryan promises to teach Gresham a lesson. Cody isn’t cool with TK running around with an ax but lets it go. O’Ryan takes him up against the ropes for some trash talking so Jonathan grabs a hammerlock to take over. That’s reversed into a hammerlock from TK but Jonathan calmly offers him the other arm for free. TK goes for it and is easily switched into another hammerlock for a cool sequence. A distraction with the ax lets TK get in a cheap shot and we take a break.

Back with Cody still going on about the ax, which is a completely fair point. Like seriously, IT’S AN AX. OK SO IT’S MORE LIKE A HATCHET BUT THE POINT STILL STANDS! A slap to the face only annoys Gresham and he BLASTS O’Ryan with a spinning right hand. Gresham gets knocked outside in a heap and comes up holding his knee.

Cue the Kingdom to surround him but the Motor City Machine Guns come out to even the odds. The Guns are ejected but the Kingdom gets to stay (Colt: “What is this? Bill Watts territory?”)….for all of a few seconds before being ejected as well. Gresham grabs a rather twisty rollup as the Kingdom is still at ringside. Vinny Marseglia even pulls the referee out at two and the Kingdom jumps Gresham for the DQ at 10:24.

Rating: C. It’s kind of amazing how much easier the Kingdom is to sit through when they’re not together. I still have next to no reason to care about them because the Six Man division is worthless but at least I only had to watch one of them at a time here. Gresham is a good technical guy, though injecting a personality could do him wonders.

Recap of Bully Ray’s concussion. I still completely believe that we’re heading towards Ray vs. Jay Briscoe at Final Battle but they’ve done an outstanding job of setting this up.

We look at Kenny King becoming TV Champion and Mark Briscoe earning a shot last week.

Cody climbs onto the announcers’ table and says he’s going to start righting some wrongs. A few weeks ago, the Addiction cost a rookie his chance. Therefore, we’ll make that up right now.

ROH World Title: Cody vs. Scorpio Sky

Sky, who is not a rookie by any means, is challenging. Cody makes him kiss the ring so Sky grabs a rollup at the bell. A super hurricanrana sends Cody flying and a big flip dive over the top has the champ in more trouble. Cody snaps his throat across the top though and it’s time to do some pushups.

Sky’s neckbreaker (Is it just me or does EVERYONE use a neckbreaker anymore?) gets two but Cody slaps on a LeBell Lock as the Daniel Bryan teases continue. The fans chant for Dalton Castle and Sky grabs a German suplex into the corner. Cody doesn’t seem to mind though as a poke to the eye sets up the American Deathlock for the tap at 4:39.

Rating: C. Sky isn’t the flashiest guy in the world but Ring of Honor could use a few guys who are less about showmanship. He has a good look and some experience which should be more than enough to keep him around, even in a limited role. Cody defending the title in quick matches like this is an interesting idea and I like the idea of having the champ out there every so often. Not a bad match either.

Kenny King is this week’s guest on Coleman’s Pulpit with Kenny talking about how important it is to get the title back. Coleman gets a quick jab at Jim Cornette (who can’t stand King) by saying he was going to get a tennis racket to hold the title. For some reason this turns into an analogy of Kenny being a one hit wonder record which then turned into a big hit. Coleman talks about King being on the Bachelor and that’s it. I have no idea what this was supposed to accomplish. It was basically “hey he’s the champ now”, which you would already know.

Addiction vs. Kushida/Jay Lethal

Before the match, Kazarian calls everyone here a stupid mark and brings up Daniels winning the ROH World Title in this building. We take a break and come back with Daniels still ripping on the fans (Colt: “It’s still going on.”) until Kushida finally cuts them off. Kushida and Kazarian get things going but let’s take a pause on the floor. Daniels grabs a mic and tells the fans they’re out because these people want to see them take a beating. Kushida isn’t having that and dives onto both guys, who are nice enough to stand there and wait on him.

Back in and some stereo dropkicks have the Addiction in trouble as we take a break. We come back with Daniels in trouble and Kushida dancing at Kazarian in a bit that is funnier than it should be. Daniels gets taken down and Kushida stands on his back for the Curry Man dance. Lethal finally gets driven back into the corner and the double teaming begins. The stomping in the corner has Jay in trouble as the announcers discuss Halloween costumes.

Jay slips out and makes the tag off to Kushida, who grabs a quick Hoverboard Lock on Daniels. Ropes are quickly reached so Kushida stays on the arm before forearming Daniels back a few times. Kazarian offers a trip from the floor though and Kushida is in trouble this time. Back from a second break with Kushida making the hot tag so Lethal can clean house. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker sets up Hail to the King for two on Daniels. Kazarian comes back in for the sitout powerbomb/neckbreaker combination but heel miscommunication takes Daniels down again.

It’s back to Kushida (a bit early) for a running DDT to Kazarian. Back to the Future is broken up and Kazarian grabs a mostly botched electric chair drop (he didn’t get Kushida up at all and it was more of a takedown than anything else). Jay comes back in for the Lethal Injection on Kazarian, only to walk into Angel’s Wings. Not that it matters as the Hoverboard Lock ends Daniels at 13:21.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here as Lethal and Kushida are actually a pretty solid team. The big thing here is the Addiction looking like horrible people and Lethal standing up for the promotion as only a handful of people could actually pull off. I’m not sure where this leaves most of them for Final Battle but there’s still time to set something like that up.

Overall Rating: C+. Nice show this week as I believe we wrap up a taping cycle and move on to the big one for the build towards Final Battle. You can probably guess most of the matches from here but it’s going to be nice to actually start building towards them for a change. If nothing else it would be nice to have Dalton Castle back to do anything with Cody. Good show this week, but it’s time to get to the important stuff.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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

Survivor Series 1998
Date: November 15, 1998
Location: Kiel Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 21,779
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

The opening video is of the people in the tournament talking about wanting to be champion.

Here are the tournament brackets:

Undertaker

BYE

Kane

BYE

Rock

HHH

Goldust

Ken Shamrock

Mankind

???

Jeff Jarrett

Al Snow

X-Pac

Steven Regal

Steve Austin

Big Boss Man

This is a tournament where you could have easily cut out the first round and made it an eight man tournament but I guess they needed to fill in the time.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Mankind vs. ???

Earlier tonight on Heat, Jacqueline jumped Sable. This gives us ANGRY Sable which is more funny than interesting or intimidating.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Jeff Jarrett vs. Al Snow

Jarrett is back in the WWF after a pretty horrible WCW run. His manager Debra is also making her PPV debut here. The first round matches only have ten minute time limits. Snow is now in his more familiar insane persona. Snow chases Debra around on the floor but hits a flip dive onto Jarrett off the stairs in a cool spot. We head inside and the bell finally rings. Jeff hotshots Al onto the top rope to take over but Snow is looking all psycho. Snow comes back and takes Jeff down before going up.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Steve Austin vs. Big Boss Man

Vince smiles at the ending as Austin gets beaten down by the stick some more. He says the night is young.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: X-Pac vs. Steven Regal

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: Goldust vs. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock is Intercontinental Champion coming in. Ken starts with a leg lariat and pounds away at Goldie. Goldust misses a lariat but a second attempt connects to shift the momentum. Shamrock clotheslines him out of the corner for two as this is starting very slowly so far. Off to a reverse chinlock followed by a Russian legsweep for two.

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: The Rock vs. HHH

WWF World Title Tournament First Round: The Rock vs. Big Boss Man

Rock literally rolls Boss Man up and wins in three seconds, setting a new WWF record.

Here are the updated brackets for the quarterfinals:

Undertaker

Kane

Rock

Ken Shamrock

Mankind

Al Snow

Steve Austin

BYE

WWF World Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Undertaker vs. Kane

Undertaker gets caught in the corner with a clothesline and the top rope clothesline follows it up for two. They slug it out some more and neither guy seems all that interested in selling anything. Undertaker tries a chokeslam but gets countered into one by Kane. Bearer distracts Kane on the apron though and Undertaker pops up with a tombstone to eliminate Kane.

WWF World Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Mankind vs. Al Snow

WWF World Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Ken Shamrock vs. The Rock

The final four are now set:

Undertaker

The Rock

Mankind

Steve Austin

Bearer says Undertaker will win.

WWF World Title Tournament Semifinals: Mankind vs. Steve Austin

WWF World Title Tournament Semifinals: The Rock vs. Undertaker

Undertaker and Kane brawl everywhere.

Mankind is ready to climb his last Rock.

We recap Austin getting cheated out of the finals.

WWF World Title: The Rock vs. Mankind

Vince and Shane are back and talking with Boss Man backstage. Feeling out process to start as Lawler makes fun of Halloween Havoc 1998 going off the air earlier a few weeks prior to this. Rock gets two off a clothesline and they head to the floor quickly where he gets rammed into the steps and Mankind takes over. Back inside for a chinlock as the McMahons come out. JR is very annoyed at various things and he vents a bit as they come to the ring. A suplex gets Rock out of the hold and Mankind is sent outside.

Ratings Comparison

Mankind vs. Duane Gill

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Al Snow vs. Jeff Jarrett

Original: B+

Redo: C+

Steve Austin vs. Big Boss Man

Original: D

Redo: C-

X-Pac vs. Steven Regal

Original: B

Redo: C-

Ken Shamrock vs. Goldust

Original: D+

Redo: D-

The Rock vs. Big Boss Man

Original: A (For Are you kidding me)

Redo: N/A

Undertaker vs. Kane

Original: C-

Redo: F+

Mankind vs. Al Snow

Original: D

Redo: D+

The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Sable vs. Jacqueline

Original: D

Redo: D-

Mankind vs. Steve Austin

Original: C+

Redo: C+

The Rock vs. Undertaker

Original: B-

Redo: D

New Age Outlaws vs. D’Lo Brown/Mark Henry vs. The Headbangers

Original: F

Redo: F

Mankind vs. The Rock

Original: B-

Redo: C-

Overall Rating:

Original: C+

Redo: D+

Man what was I thinking with some of those ratings? I had no idea what I was doing back then and it shows.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/07/history-of-survivor-series-count-up-1998-deadly-game-the-tournament-not-hhh/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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

 

Survivor Series 1997
Date: November 9, 1997
Location: Molson Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Attendance: 20,593
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Team New Age Outlaws vs. Team Headbangers

New Age Outlaws, Godwins

Headbangers, New Blackjacks

The Outlaws are of course Billy Gunn and the Road Dogg, the Headbangers (a hard to describe team that wore skirts and jumped into each other) are Mosh and Thrasher, and the Blackjacks are Barry Windham and Bradshaw. Windham (looking FAT here) starts with Phineas, the latter of which is immediately knocked to the floor with a shoulder block. This is when the Outlaws are a new team of jobbers who would soon shock the world and win the Tag Team Titles from the Legion of Doom.

Thrasher (who actually had a big hand in training Big Show) comes in and works on the arm but Phineas takes him down in return. This has been really dull so far. Thrasher goes up and hits the Stage Dive (top rope seated senton) for the pin to make it 2-2. Off to Bradshaw vs. Road Dogg with the former pounding away. A gutwrench powerbomb puts Dogg down but a Billy distraction lets Dogg get a school boy to pin Bradshaw.

Thrasher pounds on Dogg but walks into a pumphandle slam. He counters into a cover on the Dogg but Billy comes off the top with a legdrop. Now when I say legdrop, I mean he literally is a foot away from Thrasher but gets the pin anyway. This looked so bad that even though I had seen it before, it still made my jaw drop. The Outlaws survive.

Rating: F-. The ending alone makes this a failure, but on top of that, the best worker in this match was Thrasher by far. Let that sink in for a minute. The Outlaws had only been the Outlaws for a month and a half or so at this point so no one cared about them, the Godwins are as interesting as corporate accounting, the Blackjacks are the Blackjacks, and the Headbangers are barely interesting at all. This was a horrible match and an even worse choice for an opener.

Truth Commission vs. Disciples of Apocalypse

Jackyl, Interrogator, Sniper, Recon

Crush, 8-Ball, Skull, Chainz

Jackyl drops a top rope knee which is immediately no sold. He chops away a bit but walks into a sidewalk slam from 8-Ball for the pin to make it 3-3. Sniper jumps 8-Ball and hits some elbows for two as Jackyl is on commentary now. Off to Crush, the leader of the team, who stomps away on Sniper a bit. Recon comes back in to face Skull and a collision sends Skull to the floor. 8-Ball comes in illegally and clotheslines Recon down for the pin.

Rating: F. In ten minutes, we had seven eliminations, four of which were by the SAME FREAKING MOVE. This was another match where just like the first, there was no one out there that could carry things to make the match work in any way. It makes Interrogator looks good, but it barely accomplished that because of how bad the match was.

Some fans are split over the main event.

Austin answers some questions from America Online.

We recap Team Canada vs. Team USA. Steve Blackman is in the match for the Americans now after running into the ring to save Vader on Monday so tonight is his debut.

Team USA vs. Team Canada

Team USA: Vader, Steve Blackman, Marc Mero, Goldust

Team Canada: British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas, Phillip Lafon

Kane vs. Mankind

Kane loads up a chokeslam on the floor but Mankind kicks him low (which only works on Kane on occasion) and DDTs him on the concrete. The elbow off the apron hits Kane again but Kane sits up and slams Mankind off the top to the floor. Back in and Mankind literally pulls himself up to his feet and is immediately tombstoned for the pin.

Rating: C+. When you have a new guy you want to put over, you call Mick Foley. This is a match you have to think about to get why it worked. First and foremost, Kane is supposed to be a monster who has very little experience in the ring. Think of him like Jason from Friday the 13^th who just wants carnage instead of wanting to wrestle. These two beat the tar out of each other and it made Kane look unstoppable. That would continue for about five and a half months until the Dead Man came back.

Vince says the main event will happen tonight.

Team Legion of Doom vs. Nation of Domination

Legion of Doom, Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson

Intercontinental Title: Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart

WWF World Title: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

Shawn comes back and slams Bret down but Bret rolls through a cross body off the top for two. Bret puts on the Hartbreaker, the figure four around the post for a bit before going after the knee in almost perfect Ric Flair fashion, down to the cannonballs down to the knee and a Figure Four.

Ratings Comparison

Team New Age Outlaws vs. Team Headbangers

Original: D+

Redo: F-

Truth Commission vs. Disciples of Apocalypse

Original: F

Redo: F

Team Canada vs. Team USA

Original: B+

Redo: C-

Kane vs. Mankind

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Team Legion of Doom vs. Nation of Domination

Original: B

Redo: C

Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart

Original: C

Redo: D+

Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart

Original: B+

Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: B+

Redo: D+

Now there’s a major change, likely the biggest so far.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/06/history-of-survivor-series-count-up-1997-what-a-screwy-show/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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

 

Impact Wrestling
Date: November 2, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jeremy Borash, Josh Matthews

It’s the go home show for this year’s Bound For Glory and that really could mean anything tonight. The big question is how much action will actually take place in this country, which has been up and down over the last few months. They need to set up some stuff for Sunday though and that needs to be done in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Video on Rosemary vs. Taya Valkyrie.

From Border City Wrestling in Canada.

Rosemary/Allie vs. KC Spinelli/Sienna

Well at least most of them are from GFW. The villains jump Rosemary and Allie to start and Allie gets choked in the corner. It’s quickly off to Rosemary for a crossbody and a kick to Sienna’s head. A cheap shot from behind puts Rosemary in trouble as the announcers talk about everything on Sunday.

Rosemary’s choke over the ropes has Sienna in trouble but she has to let it go and falls to the floor. The lights are so dark that she’s hard to see out there, suggesting that there are very few fans at the show. A double collision allows the hot tag to Allie so house can be cleaned. Everything breaks down and Sienna kicks Spinelli by mistake. A Codebreaker from Allie sends Sienna into a German suplex, allowing Allie to grab the pin at 6:20.

Rating: C. This was a noted improvement: three of the four people involved actually work for the company putting on this show. They tried to tie something in with Allie pinning Sienna but that title match is so entirely focused on Gail Kim that these two are really just details. Passable match, but I’m really hoping we get something else to hype up the title match.

Video on Lashley/King Mo vs. Moose/Stephan Bonnar.

Here are Lashley and American Top Team to yell about how fake wrestling is. The men they’re fighting on Sunday are athletes, but Moose isn’t a fighter and Bonnar is famous for losing. On Sunday, they’ll be exposed as fake fighters and everyone will know that wrestling isn’t legit. Then they’ll stop coming and wrestling is destroyed for good. Again: Lambert is a good heel, but he’s stuck in this story which is both really downplaying wrestling and is also the show’s main event. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Moose and Bonnar lose either, because TNA really is that dumb.

Recap of Grado vs. Joseph Park.

From Pro Wrestling Noah in Tokyo.

Moose/Yuji Okabayashi vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima/Masa Kitamiya

Yuji and Masa trade some shots to start before it’s off to Moose to clean house with a dropkick and bicycle kick. Kitamiya gets dropkicked off the top rope and out to the floor and a hesitation dropkick in the corner gives Moose two. Moose and Kitamiya get in a hoss fight until Moose sends him shoulder first into the post.

Josh says this is strong style you’re only going to see in Impact. Well, save for IN THE NOAH PROMOTION WHERE THIS IS TAKING PLACE BECAUSE GFW CAN’T EVEN GET TV RIGHT. Moose gets sent outside and a double bulldog gets two on Yuji. A spear gets two on Yuji but he pops up to slug it out with Kitamiya. Yuji takes him down and hits a top rope splash for the pin at 8:32.

Rating: D+. Same problem on a different show: this focused on the three Japanese guys, none of whom I’m supposed to be paying to see in a feature match on Sunday. The commentary was more about hyping up the GFW Network so you can see more of this kind of wrestling there. The match was fine enough with four big guys hitting each other hard, but it does nothing to set up the match that matters.

We run down the Bound For Glory card.

LAX is in their clubhouse when Eli Drake and Chris Adonis show up. They bring guacamole as a peace offering and an agreement is made for one night only. They’ll help take out each others’ opponents for Sunday in a six man tag tonight.

Video on OVE vs. LAX.

Video on the six people in the X-Division Title match on Sunday. What title match you ask? Eh don’t worry about it, as this is the first time it was mentioned.

Trevor Lee vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Petey Williams vs. Matt Sydal vs. Garza Jr.

Non-title and one fall to a finish. It’s a huge brawl to start (of course) with Williams dropkicking Garza in the back of the head. Stop though, because GARZA HAS TO TAKE OFF HIS PANTS! Sydal comes back in to drop Xavier and Garza at the same time, followed by a standing moonsault for two on Dezmond. It’s Lee coming in to take Sydal down and we take a break.

Back with Lee getting kicked in the face by Dutt as we hear about THE EXACT SAME MATCH taking place at Bound For Glory. Not an Ultimate X match, not an elimination match, not even a match with tags etc. No, it’s the same match and it happens to be for a title. In other words, they had two chances to come up with an idea other than “throw everyone in there at once” and couldn’t manage to do so.

Dutt dives onto a pile of people at ringside, leaving Garza to hit a powerbomb on Xavier and a World’s Strongest Slam on Williams at the same time. That’s only good for two though as Sydal comes back in, only to have Petey hit the Canadian Destroyer for two. A powerbomb gives Lee two on Petey but Xavier comes back in with his moonsault kick to put Lee away at 11:30.

Rating: C+. That’s all well and good but, as announced during this match, NONE OF THIS MATTERS EVEN A LITTLE BIT. Yeah quite literally, this match will be repeated on Sunday with the title on the line. Watching the match happen was supposed to make me want to pay to see the match happen again. That’s what I’m sitting through with this company people. It’s not easy on Thursday nights.

Long recap of Team Impact vs. Team AAA.

Video on Gail Kim and the other women in the title match with her.

Here’s Gail Kim to talk about what her journey has meant to her. She’s ready for both opponents and promises to take the title back where it belongs as she ends her career.

Global Forged video.

We run down the pay per view card. Again.

Video on Eli Drake vs. Johnny Impact.

LAX/Eli Drake vs. OVE/Johnny Impact

The tag teams start brawling in the aisle before Impact shows up. Drake waits for Impact at the entrance and gets in a belt shot from behind. The beating is on outside the ring with the villains in full control. Johnny is finally thrown in where he has to take care of Adonis before we get an opening bell. Impact hits a big corkscrew dive to take out all of the bad guys and we take a break.

We come back joined in progress with Johnny superkicking Ortiz into a double spinebuster for two, only to have him come back with a flapjack. Jake gets beaten down in the corner and Santana gets belly to back suplexed for two. Drake’s over the shoulder powerslam drop gets two more and it’s time to plug a movie on Pop! Jake fights up and makes the hot tag as everything breaks down. A big flip dive sends Jake crashing onto Ortiz as we hear about LAX going to Germany. Is that where we’re going next week? Johnny sunset flips Santana for the pin at 5:13.

Rating: C-. Not enough time to mean much here but we’ve got important stuff like Canadian tag team matches to air instead of the World Title feud. Johnny pinning a member of LAX makes the most sense and sends him into the pay per view with some momentum, but there’s no hiding how unimportant the World Title match really is going into Sunday.

Post match the villains beat the winners down with Johnny being sent back first into an exposed buckle. Drake and Adonis pull back the mat and expose the wood, setting up a Gravy Train to leave Impact laying to end the show….at 9:57, with another Bound For Glory ad ending the show.

Overall Rating: D-. I don’t know what they were going for here but it really didn’t work. This taping cycle, which has now gone on over several months, has completely ruined their biggest show of the year. The fact that they can’t even fill in a two hour show every week without bringing in nothing matches (like that Moose tag) to cover the rest of their time shows what a mess this place is in.

You can give whatever excuses you want (it’s cheaper this way, it’s showcasing other promotions etc) but there’s a simple fact: GFW looks like a joke right now and that’s been the case with whatever you want to call this promotion for a very long time. At this point I’m wondering how many of the outsider teams are going to win on Sunday as you can almost guarantee at least one screwup of that nature.

I’m almost completely fed up with this company (again) as they’ve managed to turn this show into a showcase for the rest of the world without giving us a reason to care. If they can’t run a two hour show on their own (and I’m curious to see how they’re going to do that without the GFW talent), just stop running the thing already. I don’t want to watch Noah, I don’t want to watch the Crash, I don’t want to watch Border City Wrestling and I don’t want to watch Global Forged. I want the wrestlers I watch the show to see featured rather than thrown into cards around the world.

This promotion has been bad before but now they’re being bad in other countries and making me not want to see them either. How many times are the fans expected to just stick with it for the sake of loyalty to this place? We’re coming up on what is likely to be another two month long taping cycle and it’s likely going to be even more of a mess this time around. I’m so thrilled.

As for the show itself, it wasn’t a terrible go home show but how much other stuff could be built up in exchange for the Japan and Canada matches? It’s certainly not the worst I’ve ever seen (I’m sure TNA has put on a worse one before) but it comes at the end of one of the most miserable set of taping I can remember, which showed off every deficiency this place has, which is covering A LOT of ground. The worst part: Sunday’s show will likely be fine as the wrestlers will be fresh and just wrestling instead of trying to keep going when the energy is all gone. At least it’s finally something fresh, but that might make things even worse.

Results

Rosemary/Allie b. KC Spinelli/Sienna – German suplex to Sienna

Moose/Yuji Okabayashi b. Katsuhiko Nakajima/Masa Kitamiya – Top rope splash to Kitamiya

Dezmond Xavier b. Trevor Lee, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Matt Sydal and Garza Jr. – Moonsault kick to Lee

Johnny Impact/OVE b. Eli Drake/LAX – Sunset flip to Santana

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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Monday Night Raw
Date: June 2, 2003
Location: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross

We’re less than two weeks away from Bad Blood and things are looking more and more dismal every single week. Things just aren’t interesting around here and there’s no reason to suggest that’s going to change. The big story continues to be Kevin Nash vs. HHH for the World Title and that’s what we’re stuck with no matter what. Let’s get to it.

Rock, here for the Highlight Reel, arrives and talks about being here for the people, turning himself face again. Since the fans never wanted to boo him in the first place, it’s not the most difficult turn in the world.

Opening sequence.

Trish Stratus/Ivory/Jacqueline vs. Jazz/Victoria/Molly Holly

Molly still has a job? It’s a good thing she does as the dark hair is quite the look for her. It’s a brawl to start with Victoria forearming Trish and choking her up against the rope. The Matrish causes Victoria to clothesline Molly by mistake and Ivory dives onto Molly and Victoria in a big crash.

The double chickenwing faceplant drops Trish again though and we hit a camel clutch/Boston crab combo for a heck of a visual. King: “That was arousing.” Trish grabs a neckbreaker on Jazz and brings Jackie in to no reaction at all. Ivory comes back in with a high crossbody for two on Jazz as everything breaks down. An X-Factor gives Ivory the pin on Jazz.

Rating: D+. They were trying here but they couldn’t get over the complete lack of interest from the crowd. Jackie and Ivory haven’t been interesting in the better part of ever and throwing them into the title hunt isn’t going to do anything. They need someone new in a hurry as Trish, Victoria and Jazz have been done to death at this point.

Goldberg arrives.

JR has a cookbook. It’s title: JR’s Cookbook. You can vote on WWE.com if you think it’s going to be a best seller or a flop.

Stacy Keibler finally dumps Test but they’re contractually obligated to stay together. Does anyone really buy Test saying “contractually obligated” in day to day talking?

Hurricane comes out for a match but Randy Orton jumps him from behind. Cue HHH and Ric Flair as Orton throws Hurricane through the entrance. Flair is honored that he was Shawn’s boyhood hero but Flair has seen hundreds of Shawn’s come and go. Flair takes off the jacket and rants about how Shawn hasn’t spent $30 million, made love to 3,000 women and wrestled 350 matches a year. To be the man you have to beat the man and HHH beat the man. Uh, didn’t HHH beat Shawn to win that title?

Anyway Flair lays down and prostrates himself in front of HHH before saying HHH makes women scream very loudly. After HHH beats Nash down, Flair is going to take care of Shawn (So HHH won’t be main eventing?) and they’re getting in a limousine full of women. Cue Shawn to say he owes a lot to Flair but he’s not the little boy sitting in front of the TV watching Flair every week.

Shawn has wrestled 300 nights a year (Flair said 350) and doesn’t need to brag about women. His wrestling does the talking and he took the torch from Flair. When Ric realized he couldn’t make it here, Shawn took the title and showed the world that he was the standard in wrestling.

There’s so much wrong with that timeline that I’m not even going to bother explaining it so we’ll move on to Shawn being awesome in the ring. Flair freaks out again as Shawn promises to take him to school at Bad Blood. HHH wants to fight right now but here’s Nash to even the odds a bit. Hurricane sneaks in and hits Orton with a chair so the good guys can stand tall. Flair and Shawn’s stuff was outstanding here and the other stuff was nowhere near bad enough to drag it down.

Scott Steiner vs. Steven Richards

Steiner has Stacy with him but Richards doesn’t have Victoria. Test comes out as well and the distraction lets Richards get in a cheap shot from behind. Scott slugs away in the corner and there’s a belly to belly. The Flatliner ends Richards in short order.

Post match Eric Bischoff comes out and makes Test vs. Steiner for Stacy’s managerial services at Bad Blood. So Bischoff’s rulings can override contracts? Why do I have a feeling that’s not going to be used again when Bischoff would benefit from it?

We get some breaking news that Freddie Blassie has passed away.

The bosses are in their office and Austin makes Evolution vs. Michaels/Nash/Hurricane for tonight’s main event. As for Bad Blood, they agree to a Redneck Triathlon.

Goldberg is in the back for an interview but we see Jericho throwing paint on the car. That’s on Goldberg for leaving it out in the open like that. Goldberg runs out, gets in the car (which was already running) and gives chase.

It’s time for the Highlight Reel with Christian guest hosting. Therefore, tonight is the Peep Show and the first guest is the Rock. We get the full entrance and Rock loads up FINALLY but Christian cuts him off and does it himself. Christian says he’s the new people’s champion and on fire. Rock: “YOU ARE ON CRACK!” Rock doesn’t want to hear that and says Christian’s daddy is a ho. Christian: “He’s a pediatrician!”

Christian talks about how awesome he is but Rock wants to talk directly to the people. He actually goes into the crowd, asks some fans who the real People’s Champ is and loads up the catchphrase but Jericho returns to cut him off. Jericho says he isn’t getting speared on Sunday so he asks Rock what it feels like.

Rock calls out some fans for saying he sucks, saying that he gets more pie in a day than they get in a lifetime. Well true probably. The spear hurts, which is all Jericho wanted to know from the pie boy. Christian jumps him from behind but it’s Booker making the save. House is cleaned in a hurry and we get a People’s Elbow from Booker. We’re not done yet though as Rock even busts out a Rockarooni. This was WAY longer than it needed to be, especially with only the Rock vs. Christian stuff being funny.

Post break, Christian and Jericho try to leave but Austin says they’re not going anywhere yet.

Kane vs. Rene Dupree

Kane slugs away in the corner as Lawler recaps recent events between France and the USA with JR running down the French military. Sylvan Grenier distracts Kane and Dupree gets in a kick to the face. That just earns him a side slam but Van Dam kicks Grenier down. Van Dam gets knocked down so Kane goes after Grenier instead, allowing Rene to hit a low blow for the rollup pin. This was pretty bad as Kane looked way off.

Post match here’s a ticked off Austin to tell Van Dam to head to the back. Austin wants to know what’s up with Kane as of late. He’s been watching the last few weeks and Kane is missing everything. Where’s the fire? Does Kane even want this anymore? That’s all it takes to beat him these days?

Austin was waiting on the big chokeslam but now he has to come out here and tick Kane off. He spins Kane around and smacks him in the face before even putting Kane’s hand around his throat. Kane backs away from the chokeslam though, sending Austin into a rant about the old Kane who beat him for the WWF World Title. Austin loads up another chokeslam on himself but Kane lets him go again.

A slap to the face seems to fire Kane up as he grabs Austin by the throat (Austin: “DO IT! DO IT!”) but Kane lets him go for a third time. That’s finally enough for Austin who lays Kane out with a Stunner. This is how one of the CHAMPIONS is treated on the show. I have no idea what they were going for here but unless Kane was in backstage trouble (which would be way out of character for him), this was a really bad idea and a big waste of time.

We get a Matrix style video as Gail Kim is coming. Works for me.

A smiling HHH leaves the referee’s locker room. Post break, HHH tells Evolution that he has a plan that could get him out of the Cell match.

Booker T./Goldust vs. Christian/Chris Jericho

Booker clotheslines Christian to start and gets two off a slam. We take a way too early break and come back with Jericho cranking on Booker’s arms. Christian comes in but let’s talk about Goldust wanting to get breast implants back in the day. Booker flapjacks his way to freedom and it’s off to Goldust to clean house with some right hands and an atomic drop.

Everything breaks down and Christian gets caught in the corner, only to have Jericho save him from Shattered Dreams. A blind tag brings in Booker for a side kick but Christian rolls him up for two despite grabbing the rope. Canadian miscommunication sets up the ax kick though, giving Booker the pin on Christian.

Rating: D+. This was little more than a way to set up Booker vs. Christian at the pay per view and there’s nothing wrong with that. It might not have been a great match or anything but after Austin berating Kane and the way too long Rock segment, I’ll take whatever I can get at this point.

Post match Jericho hits Booker with the Intercontinental Title but Goldberg runs out, only to spear the referee by mistake.

The referees come to see Austin and Bischoff, saying they won’t referee the Cell match because it’s too dangerous. Austin has an idea because he knows someone crazy enough to referee the match. Fans: “FOLEY! FOLEY! FOLEY!”

Evolution vs. Shawn Michaels/The Hurricane/Kevin Nash

Orton and Shawn (in a hat and shirt for some reason) start things off with Shawn headlocking him down and taking off the extra gear. Hurricane comes in and does Shawn’s pose as the arena is rather full of pyro smoke. A clothesline gives Hurricane two but he gets caught by Orton’s still sweet dropkick. HHH, in purple this week, comes in and beats on Hurricane as the announcers praise Nash.

It’s off to Shawn to start on HHH’s arm but Flair sneaks in a chop block to take over. Orton stays on the leg as things slow down. Unfortunately the crowd doesn’t die down, as they’re already eerily silent. The villains take turns on the leg, including Flair’s shinbreaker into the Figure Four. Nash makes the save though and Shawn gets in an enziguri for the real break. It’s off to Orton vs. Nash (which actually doesn’t sound like the worst match in the world) but Kevin gets his hands on HHH a few seconds later. Flair is busted open (From what????) and Nash takes down the strap, only to have Flair save HHH from a Jackknife.

Rating: D. I’m still trying to figure out that ending. Hurricane was obviously just there to take the fall and could have been almost any given midcarder. Losing to the World Champion in a six man tag is hardly career death though and it’s not that big of a deal. What is a big deal though is Nash main eventing the upcoming pay per view, which is somehow losing the non-interest it already had.

To calm the fans down, Nash Jackknifes HHH to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. And that’s ONLY passing because Rock/Christian and Shawn/Flair had some outstanding promos. Other than that, this show was nothing short of a mess as HHH vs. Nash continues to burst into flames as it bounces on the rocks beneath the cliff it flew off of last month. Between that and Austin Stunning Kane for whatever reason, I’m trying to figure out why I kept watching this show back in the day. Another terrible show here as their priorities get more and more out of whack every week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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