IMG Credit: WWE

Hell in a Cell 2018
Date: September 16, 2018
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

Welcome to the first show of the three that WWE is currently building. In this case we have the show designed around carnage and that could mean a few things. The show hasn’t exactly blown me away on paper but maybe they’ll surprise me here. There are two matches inside the big red cage tonight so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Rusev Day vs. New Day

Rusev Day is defending after winning a tournament. There are enough empty seats visible that I feel like I’m watching 205 Live. Kofi wastes no time in double stomping English and it’s already off to Rusev. A fall away slam has Kofi in trouble and we go split screen to see an Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey ad. At least it’s on a commercial show instead of the regular TV shows.

Back with Kofi fighting out of a front facelock and hitting a tornado DDT for the tag off to Big E. Suplexes abound but Rusev tags himself in to kick Big E. in the head. English tags himself back in though, leaving Big E. to spear the illegal man to the floor with English nailing a dive. Back in and the reverse DDT gets two on Big E. but English takes too long going up, allowing New Day to hit a powerbomb/top rope double stomp (sweet finisher) for two (which doesn’t finish) in what could have been the ending.

Kofi gets Machka Kicked to the floor and Big E. gets DDT’ed on the apron. Back in and English tags himself in again, this time to Rusev’s annoyance. The annoyance gets even worse when misses a top rope headbutt. English’s top rope splash gets two and he grabs the Accolade of all things. Big E. gets Machka Kicked again but Kofi slips out. With Rusev missing a charge and sending himself outside, Trouble in Paradise retains the titles at 8:48.

Rating: B-. That’s about as perfect of a Kickoff Show match as you can get. They didn’t overstay their welcome, it was an exciting and entertaining match and they got a popular act out there to give the fans something to cheer about. That’s all you can ask for in something like this and it was a good idea.

The opening video talks about people being afraid of different things, which doesn’t have the most impact when it’s Brie Bella and Maryse. Tonight there is no turning back and you must surrender to evil.

The red Cell is lowered. It….really didn’t need the change. Was black not an option?

Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton

Inside the Cell. Orton is back to being the Legend Killer but this time it’s more the Hero Killer, with Hardy being his first target. Hardy goes right after him to start as Phillips says there are no rules other than the pinfall or submission has to take place in the ring. That sounds like a rule to me. Orton takes him outside and sends him into the cage but Hardy does the exact same thing. Well, to Orton instead of himself but you get the idea.

It’s already time for a table because THE CELL isn’t enough of a weapon. That’s not enough either so of course it’s ladder time. A ladder to the ribs slows Orton down even more but a chair to the back cuts Hardy off. An RKO on the floor is blocked and Hardy uses the chair as a launch pad for Poetry in Motion against the cage. They actually get back in for Hardiac Arrest but the Swanton is broken up and that means a superplex.

Jeff kicks him down again and let’s get a second ladder because why not. Hardy sets this one up upside down on the floor but gets front suplexed onto it instead. Some more chairs are brought inside with one of them bouncing off of Jeff. Orton hits him a few more times before stealing Hardy’s studded belt for a whip to the exposed back. To get a little creative, Orton puts Hardy inside of a ladder with Hardy’s head sticking between some rungs for a little stomping.

We hit the chinlock, which feels completely out of place in the Cell. Hardy is right back up with the legdrop between the legs and a basement dropkick but Orton powerslams him. With nothing else working, Orton goes outside and finds….a screwdriver. That goes THROUGH THE HOLE IN HARDY’S EAR, which Orton then TWISTS AROUND, giving us one of the best in pain looks I’ve ever seen from Jeff. A low blow lets Hardy take the screwdriver out of his ear (I didn’t think I’d be writing that one) and he unloads with a chair.

Orton is still fine enough to crotch Hardy on top and the hanging DDT (with Orton bleeding from the back) plants Hardy again. The RKO is countered into the Twist of Fate and a Swanton onto the chair gets two. And so much for Hardy’s chance of winning, though there was no way that was the ending anyway. Hardy finds another table (of course) but sets up the big ladder with the small ladder next to it.

Orton gets laid on the table and Hardy climbs up, only to grab the top of the Cell. A few swings back and forth set up the splash through the table, though it seemed that Orton was off the table before Jeff even let go. They raise the Cell with the referee screaming for medics and for the match to be stopped. Orton covers Hardy and demands a count as the referee loses his mind, though he’s fine enough to count the pin at 24:50.

Rating: C+. I get what they were going for here but egads this went longer than it needed to. They easily could have cut out ten minutes here and had pretty much the same TLC match inside the Cell. The emphasis her is on the last three words: this was inside the Cell, making the ending that much worse. Yeah Hardy is hurt “for real” but IT’S THE FREAKING CELL. We’ve seen Shane McMahon dive all the way off the top and the match wasn’t going to be stopped, but this one was? Come on already.

Post match we get the quiet voices and the lack of Orton’s music as I’d like to point out that he was inside the Cell instead of FLYING OFF THE THING LIKE SHANE DID LAST YEAR (and the year before that because Shane gets to do whatever he wants). Replays show that Orton was off the table a good two seconds before Jeff dropped. Really not a good angle to show there people.

HHH vs. Undertaker is still happening again.

AJ Styles wants to fight Samoa Joe because he’s sick of talking all the time.

We recap Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch. Charlotte was added to the Women’s Title match last month at Summerslam and Becky wasn’t happy at having her title shot stolen from her. Becky turned on her after the match but the fans cheered her on anyway, so tonight it’s about the title for her and revenge for Charlotte.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Charlotte is defending. They hit the mat to start but Becky kicks her away for a cautious standoff. It’s way too early for either finisher so Charlotte settles for a knee crusher and a leglock. Back up and Charlotte misses a shoulder into the corner so Becky hits a running forearm to the shoulder (nice) from the apron. A Pentagon arm snap gets two and it’s off to the armbar.

The Bexploder is blocked so Becky forearms her down for two instead. Back up and Charlotte sends her to the apron but bangs up her arm again. The bad arm goes shoulder first into the apron for two more so Charlotte gets smart by kicking her in the face. Becky avoids the moonsault though and the cross armbreaker goes on. Since she’s Charlotte, that’s reversed into the sitout powerbomb and they’re both down.

The fans cheer for Becky and seem pleased when she wins a slugout. A hammerlock slam gets two but Charlotte grabs a desperation Boston crab. The Disarm-Her goes on so Charlotte crawls underneath the ropes for the eventual break. Back up and the spear is reversed into a small package to give Becky the pin and the title at 13:52.

Rating: B. That’s the kind of physical match you would expect from these two and the ending was exactly what it should have been. Becky won the title completely clean because she was willing to do whatever it took and if that included destroying Charlotte’s arm, so be it. Charlotte felt like she was fighting from behind the entire time and never once felt like she could keep up with Becky, which is how the match should have felt. Very good stuff and the right call at the right time.

Post match Charlotte offers a handshake but Becky holds up the title and says this is her moment. As she should.

The Marine 6 is coming, featuring Miz, Becky Lynch and Shawn Michaels.

Connor’s Cure video.

Jeff Hardy has been taken to a local medical facility. Gee you think?

Kickoff Show recap.

New Day has their pancake butler come in to celebrate but Kofi pops up as his interviewer. They’re ready to defend their titles against the Bar in Australia but first, pancakes. It’s starting to feel like they’re forcing these things and that’s not good at all.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins

Ambrose and Rollins are challenging and the BURN IT DOWN is strong this time. Feeling out process to start between Ziggler and Rollins with Seth taking him down and handing it off to Ambrose for some running elbows. An early Stomp attempt sends Ziggler bailing to the floor so it’s off to McIntyre instead. He wants and receives Ambrose who goes nose to nose with Drew before dropkicking his knee out.

A Ziggler distraction lets McIntyre hit Ambrose from behind though and it’s off to Ziggler for a chinlock. That lasts as long as your average chinlock and Rollins is right back up with the Sling Blade. Another distraction lets Ziggler hit the running DDT for another two and McIntyre comes in for an armbar. Ziggler grabs the sleeper before it’s right back to McIntyre for a shoulder breaker. Rollins fights up and gets to the corner but the referee is distracted so the hot tag doesn’t count (still one of my favorites).

Ziggler puts Rollins up top but gets kicked away so McIntyre tries his luck. That’s not the best either as Rollins scores with a Blockbuster and the hot tag brings in Ambrose. He can’t suplex McIntyre but he can get two off a Jackknife rollup instead. Ziggler comes back in and takes Ambrose to the apron where McIntyre gets in a big boot. Everything breaks down and Ambrose gets suplexed hard into the corner for a crash.

McIntyre is back in again and gets dropped just as fast, allowing Rollins to hit the frog splash for an even nearer fall. A Tower of Doom is broken up and Rollins tries a dive onto Ziggler, only to crash hard to the floor. Since it’s Rollins he’s back up only a few seconds later to tags himself in for the running up the corner superplex. The Falcon Arrow is loaded up but McIntyre hits the Claymore to give Ziggler the pin to retain at 22:58.

Rating: A. Totally awesome tag match here with Ziggler and McIntyre getting the win that they’ve needed to look like serious threats. If nothing else it makes you realize how sad it was to watch the makeshift/comedy guys fighting over the belts for months now. All four were working hard here and the fans were into it the whole way. I know it’s not the last match or even one of the last matches in the feud, but at least we had something awesome to get started. Great match and one of the best things in the tag division in years.

Mick Foley comes in to tell Braun Strowman that his life will change in the Cell (no, it won’t) and Strowman needs to respect his authority. Strowman says count the three and hand him the title. Foley: “Good talk.”

All four teams are ready for the first episode of Mixed Match Challenge.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles. Joe has been messing with AJ’s mind and promises to send AJ home to his wife and kids, sound asleep. We get the full Samoa Joe bedtime story from Smackdown and it’s still incredibly awesome on an evil level.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is challenging. AJ goes right at him to start but Joe shrugs it off and starts hammering away. A dropkick works much better and a running knee to the head rocks Joe again. There’s a baseball slide to keep Joe down but he’s smart enough to roll away before the Phenomenal Forearm. AJ’s slingshot gets kicked out of the air though and Joe sends him knees first into the steps.

Joe doesn’t take well to a comeback bid and gets his knee taken out again. Another running knee in the corner has AJ reeling so Joe sends him outside for the suicide elbow. Back in and we hit the neck crank for a bit until AJ fights up. That just earns him an elbow that turns him inside out as it’s all Joe. The rather cocky (and deserved) Joe gets caught on top and pulled face first into the buckle though and AJ finally has a breather.

Somehow AJ is fine enough to hit the torture rack powerbomb for two and they’re both done. The springboard 450 gets two and Joe’s crazy hard clothesline gets the same. Neither finisher can connect so Joe goes with a loud kick to the head for a delayed two. AJ is right back up with the Phenomenal Forearm but Joe catches him in the Koquina Clutch, only to have AJ backflip into the pin at 19:01.

Rating: A-. This was a lot of fun with Joe having AJ beaten for most of the match and AJ having to survive the entire time. It shows that AJ is in trouble here and that Joe is likely getting the title soon. Like, say in October. In Australia. In a match that was already announced. This one was a heck of a fight though as Joe knows how to bring AJ to a level that few others can and he did it here too. Just let Joe win the title in Australia and everything will be fine.

Post match Joe celebrates before AJ is announced as the winner. Joe says that AJ tapped and Graves agrees. AJ kicks Joe down and holds up the title as the announcers argue. The replay shows that AJ did tap and it was before three so we’re almost guaranteed a rematch, which was announced weeks ago because WWE now works for the calendar instead of vice versa.

Miz and Maryse, in matching suits that make Miz look stupid but somehow works on Maryse, are ready to take care of Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella. Daniel and Brie are only relevant because of them and Miz wouldn’t be surprised if Brie is doing all this for the sake of reality show ratings.

We recap the mixed tag. Miz cheated to beat Bryan at Summerslam so now we’re having a mixed tag match to continue the feud without giving up the big rematch. Which is also taking place in Australia and has already been announced in advance. Oh and did I mention that Brie will be back on Total Divas this Wednesday?

Miz/Maryse vs. Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella

The women start (gulp) but thankfully it’s off to the men before anything happens. A distraction from Maryse lets Miz punch Bryan into the corner. Phillips: “Some people believe that Brie Bella has the hardest punch in WWE.” No Tom, they don’t. Graves: “No one believes that Phillips.” Yeah what he said. Bryan is back up with the moonsault over Miz into the running clothesline but Miz bails to the floor at the threat of a YES Lock.

The women come back in and once again tag back out before anything happens. Again: thank goodness. The fans chant COWARD at Miz as Bryan takes him down with a dragon screw legwhip and a top rope hurricanrana puts Miz in even more trouble. The running knee misses so Bryan settles for the YES Lock, drawing in Maryse for the save. Bryan is fine enough to hit the running dropkicks in the corner until Miz avoids the final charge and drops Bryan on his hip (better than his head/neck).

The Reality Check gives Miz two as Brie goes into cheerleader mode, which is really about as good of a role as she’s going to have. Miz fires off some kicks in the corner but Bryan breaks up the superplex. The Swan Dive (To quote Miz: Really?) misses so Bryan kicks Miz away and brings Brie in. Maryse won’t do the same so Brie punches Miz a few times and sends Maryse into the announcers’ table.

Everything breaks down and Brie gets two off a middle rope dropkick. Bryan gets back in and throws Miz down for touching his wife on the save and we hit the stereo YES Kicks. Of course the big ones both miss and the guys fight up the ramp, leaving Brie to hit the BRIE MODE knee. Miz gets back on the apron so Brie rams Maryse into him and grabs a rollup, only to have Maryse reverse into a hideous one of her own with a grab of the tights for the pin at 13:01.

Rating: D+. They tried as hard as they could here and keeping the women out of the ring was the best path they could have taken but they were running with an anchor here. I’m just not feeling this whole Miz vs. Bryan feud as it hasn’t reached that point where I need to see Bryan beat Miz. Maybe they’ll get there by the end, but for now it’s not really working. Getting it back to one on one might help, but please keep Brie out of the ring.

We look at the ending of the first Cell match again.

Hardy is now coughing up blood.

We recap Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss. Rousey was ticked off that Bliss cashed in Money in the Bank so she went nuts and wrecked Bliss for the title at Summerslam. Now we’re doing a rematch where Bliss has no chance so we can build towards Rousey vs. THE LEGEND Nikki Bella at Evolution.

Raw Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss

Rousey, with bad ribs, is defending and has Natalya with her while Bliss has Mickie James and Alicia Fox in her corner. An early headlock takes Bliss down and Rousey loads up what looks like a Stump Puller before rolling back into a cradle (that’s a new one). Bliss decides to shove her and gets punched in the face for her efforts. A kick to the ribs has little effect as Rousey monkey flips her down and hammers away, followed by the overhead throw.

James and Fox have to save Bliss from the armbar so Rousey throws Bliss onto both of them. Rousey: “Who needs enemies when you have friends like that?” Bliss finally trips her down and kicks away even more, setting up a seated abdominal stretch. Rousey fights up for the swinging Samoan drop but the ribs give out, allowing Bliss to hit the knees to the ribs into the moonsault. The champ gets up again and tries a superplex, only to get pulled down into the Tree of Woe for a dropkick to the ribs.

Rating: B. This was a lot better than I was expecting, even with a complete lack of drama. I know no one was buying Bliss as having a chance here but Rousey sold well and they had a good story throughout. There were even a few surprises in there and Rousey has to face a little adversity from time to time.

The announcers talk about the victims of Hurricane Florence. Nothing wrong with that.

We look at the ending of Styles vs. Joe again.

Joe yells at the referee and Paige, who tells Joe to calm down. The rematch with AJ is set for Australia and there will be no countouts or disqualifications.

Super Show-Down rundown. Egads get on with the main event already.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman. Reigns won the Raw World Title at Summerslam and it’s not like he had anyone else to face. Strowman cashed in Money in the Bank but Shield reformed to take him out. Ignoring that Reigns knew about the cash-in in advance and this was a complete heel move from Shield, Strowman is now the villain and cashing in his contract tonight, meaning we’re done with it WAY early this year, making me rather happy.

Raw World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Reigns is defending inside the Cell with Mick Foley as guest referee in a completely minor detail. Reigns slugs away at the bell but gets sent shoulder first into the post. A running shoulder sends Reigns off the apron and into the cage as Reigns is in early trouble. Reigns is right back with a show to the face but another shoulder sends him hard into the cage. Strowman grabs the steps but has them dropkicked back into his face.

That’s it for Reigns’ offense though as Reigns dives into a chokeslam onto the apron. Reigns is right back with some chair shots to the ribs, followed by a DDT onto the chair for two. A pair of Superman Punches rock Reigns but the third is countered into a chokeslam….for three, which Foley calls two. That was quite the botch and pretty clearly a three count. Another Superman Punch gets another two and it’s time for a table.

Reigns sees Strowman up and runs around the ring at him but doesn’t see Strowman puck up the steps, which bounce off Reigns’ head. Strowman: “WHY WON’T YOU STAY DOWN YOU FOOL???” There’s a steps shot to the ribs and Strowman LAUNCHES them over the top because he’s strong enough to do that. The running powerslam gets two so Strowman sets up the table in the corner. Of course that earns him a spear through the table, drawing out Ziggler, McIntyre, Rollins and Ambrose.

Since WWE can’t pay attention to multiple things at once, we watch the brawl on the floor with Rollins and Ziggler fighting up to the top of the Cell. McIntyre follows them up and saves Ziggler from a bad case of death. Cue Ambrose to the top with a kendo stick to clean house, setting up a bunch of punching back and forth. A double clothesline puts all four down as Reigns and Strowman still haven’t moved.

Ziggler climbs down but Rollins follows him, meaning it’s time to fight on the side of the Cell. We’re just waiting on the big fall now and indeed there they go, through a pair of announcers’ tables in the most contrived spot of the night. All six are down….and we have Brock Lesnar (looking weird in a plain black shirt).

Brock kicks the door off the hinges (good visual) and then climbs up said door to get inside. Paul Heyman maces Foley and Lesnar hits both guys with pieces of the table. Lesnar wrecks them some more and gives Reigns an F5 onto Strowman. With Lesnar leaving, another referee comes in and it’s a NO CONTEST IN THE CELL AT 23:48.

Rating: B-. I don’t even know where we are anymore. The most violent match in WWE history just ended because “the two of them can’t continue”. As in after THEY LAID THERE FOR THE BETTER PART OF TEN MINUTES??? This is just so freaking dumb because, again, the stupid calendar backed them into a corner. If this is just any regular wrestling match then fine, but we just HAD to wait for Summerslam to change the title to Reigns and then we just HAD to do the Cell match in September.

This was a way to make you think that you were getting something good when it was any given street fight plus a bunch of interference so the other guys can do something cool off the side of the Cell. Oh but then we get to the important stuff: setting up a likely triple threat in NOVEMBER AT SURVIVOR SERIES BECAUSE WE HAVE TO PROMOTE THREE SHOWS AT ONE FREAKING TIME ANYMORE! This is the most annoyed I’ve been at a match in a long time and it wasn’t even a bad one. The ending sucked the life out of me though and that’s a horrible way to cap off an otherwise good show.

The show goes off the air almost immediately, likely to avoid the BULL**** chants from making the Network.

Overall Rating: A-. I was tempted to drop this by a few notches for that ending but man alive this was a heck of a show. Aside from the mixed tag (which was held back by reasons outside of the actual wrestling), nothing was even close to bad and there are two back to back instant classics in the middle. There are a lot of flaws with the way some things are going in the future, but the actual wrestling is rather strong at the moment, which I can’t say I expected coming in. Very good show and one of the best main roster shows in a long time.

Results

Randy Orton b. Jeff Hardy – Hardy missed a splash through a table

Becky Lynch b. Charlotte – Small package

Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler b. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins – Claymore to Rollins

AJ Styles b. Samoa Joe – Rollup

Maryse/Miz b. Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella – Rollup with tights to Bella

Ronda Rousey b. Alexa Bliss – Armbar

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar went to a no contest when Brock Lesnar interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: World of Sport

World of Sport
Date: September 15, 2018
Location: Epic Studios, Norwich, England
Commentators: Stu Bennett, So Cal Val, Alex Shane

I’m not sure what to say about this show anymore as we have three episodes left and a grand total of nothing to be excited about. There’s very little life in this place and that hasn’t changed since the first show. It’s settled down to the point where you can tell who everyone is, but I still have no reason to care about these people. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap/preview.

Ayesha vs. Viper

#1 contenders match. They start with the required power lockup with Viper getting the better of things. Stereo shoulders don’t get anyone anywhere so Viper sends her face first into the buckle over and over. A cobra clutch has Ayesha in trouble and a backsplash gets two. The clutch goes back on (just to mix things up a bit) but Ayesha breaks free and runs her over. A fisherman’s suplex gets two on Viper but seems to tick her off, earning Ayesha a trip into the corner for the Cannonball (becoming way too common these days). The sitout powerslam is good for the pin on Ayesha at 6:49.

Rating: D. I’m not much of a fan of these power vs. power matches and when I still know NOTHING about either of them, it’s a little hard to really care. We’ve seen Kay Lee Ray beat Viper twice now and I have no idea why I should care about seeing it happen a third time. But hey, that’s never stopped them before and it’s not going to in the final few shows.

Post break, Viper promises to win the title.

Will Ospreay/Bea Priestly vs. Stevie Boy/Kay Lee Ray

The entire deal here: they’re couples in real life. Ignore continuity, heel/face alignments and the fact that, again, neither of the couples have actually interacted on TV up to this point. REAL LIFE you see. The men start with Ospreay running the ropes for a hurricanrana but Stevie pops back up for a standoff. The women come in with Ray getting two off a middle rope dropkick and grabbing the choke.

Priestly hits a running knee to the head….in theory at least as they cut away to the crowd before the impact. Wait. So we can have LADDER MATCHES but a knee to the head from one woman to another isn’t allowed? Then why would you book the women on the show in the first place? Anyway Ray is back with another dropkick (allowed to be seen) and it’s back to the men. Ospreay scores with an enziguri but a Falcon Arrow gives Stevie two. A slugout goes to Stevie and everything breaks down.

Rating: C. Well that was a thing that happened. The wrestling was fine but I need a lot more than “they’re dating” to make me want to watch a match. Ospreay is Ospreay but I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any of the other three, aside from Ray being Women’s Champion which means nothing here. This felt like the definition of filler and that’s always annoying.

Iestyn Rees vs. British Bulldog Jr.

Thankfully there’s no Grado with Smith so hopefully that team is already gone. They shove each other to start with Bulldog taking him down without much effort. The test of strength goes to Rees thanks to a kick to the ribs but he can’t get Bulldog all the way down. Back up and they hit some hard running shots to the chest until it’s a double knockdown. The non-delayed suplex gives Bulldog two but Rees sends him shoulder first into the post.

Rees starts working on the arm back inside and we hit an armbar as the fans are entirely behind Bulldog (well duh). A stomp to the arm warrants another cut so Bulldog rolls him over into a cross armbreaker. The armbar goes right back on and a neck snap across the top rope cuts off Bulldog’s comeback.

Rees gets caught on top though and a superplex gives Bulldog two. Some rolling German suplexes give Bulldog the same and a powerbomb with a jackknife cover gets the third straight near fall. Rees spears him for two of his own and can’t believe the kickout. Bulldog hits a quick powerslam for the pin at 11:04, by far the longest match of the series so far.

Rating: C+. Bulldog is better than most people on the roster in the first place so the match being better isn’t the biggest surprise. Iestyn is a decent talent but he needs a slightly better (and easier to pronounce) name to make things work a little better. You can almost pencil in Bulldog and someone else (please not Grado) winning the Tag Team Titles to end the series.

Crater vs. Robbie X

You win by taking off the opponent’s mask. Robbie kicks away to start but a handspring elbow is countered into a release Rock Bottom. A bearhug goes on so Robbie goes for the mask to escape. Crater manages a dropkick (not bad all things considered) and Robbie sells it like death, as he should. Robbie is fine enough to kick him to the floor for a moonsault but Crater runs him over again. A big splash misses though and Robbie hits a springboard cutter, allowing him to pull the mask off for the win at 5:11.

Rating: D. Robbie was fine but what is the point in building up Crater to have him lose in a handicap match and then a mask vs. mask match which is more humiliating than anything else? It still feels like whoever is booking these shows learned wrestling by reading a book instead of hands on experience and that’s not the best idea in the world. Nothing to see here, especially since Crater covered his face.

Post match Crater takes the mask back and puts it on again before leaving in shame.

Bennett has some….breaking news for us. Next week there will be a unique match involving the entire male roster with the winner getting a title shot the following week. Three things here.

1. Justin Sysum still won the #1 contenders match a few weeks back and still hasn’t received his title shot.

2. Bennett said that it’s a match involving the entire male roster for a show at Rampage. Shouldn’t that have been the entire male roster save for Rampage? I know that’s a little picky but with as much of a mess as this place has been, they don’t have much in the way of the benefit of the doubt.

3. The preview for next week shows that it’s pretty much a Royal Rumble. That’s not unique.

Overall Rating: C-. I know I’m not the target audience for this show but I’m really not sure what that audience is supposed to be. Are kids or adults supposed to care about who Ospreay is dating or about Viper getting a Women’s Title match? This show really feels like a rough draft where they threw whatever they thought of first into a series and hoped for the best. It’s certainly not terrible and I’ve seen FAR worse, but it’s a show that needs some more people working on it and a lot of kinks ironed out.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: Lucha Underground

Lucha Underground
Date: September 16, 2018
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Matt Striker, Vampiro

Last week was a packed show with King Cuerno returning to go after Lucha Underground Champion Pentagon Dark and Fenix returning from the dead to haunt everyone. There’s a very Pet Sematary vibe there and that could make for some interesting stories going forward. You know, in a company so devoid of ideas. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at King Cuerno attacking Pentagon Dark, the crazy fight between Catrina and Melissa Santos and the return of Fenix, albeit the zombie/evil version.

Gift of the Gods Title: Ivelisse vs. El Dragon Azteca Jr.

Dragon is defending and Ivelisse goes right at him with a springboard armdrag. That earns her a kick to the face for two as the fans are all behind Ivelisse. She’s fine enough to block a Boston crab attempt but gets caught in a Brian Kendrick Captain’s Hook. Back up (it’s still just a chinlock) and Ivelisse hits a few clotheslines, followed by a springboard tornado DDT. Dragon slams his way out of a Black Widow and a springboard armdrag sends Ivelisse out to the floor.

Back in and a quick Code Red (makes sense) gives Ivelisse two and a hard kick to the head gets the same. The fans aren’t happy when Ivelisse gets dropped again, though Dragon getting crotched makes them a little better. Dragon knocks her off the ropes though and it’s a middle rope legdrop (with the required Bobby Eaton reference) for the pin to retain at 7:12.

Rating: C. Nice match here and that’s all it needed to be. Having Dragon beat a bunch of people is going to turn him into a more viable champion, though he has to defend against some bigger names down the line. Ivelisse is popular though she hasn’t really done much in the last few seasons. Perfectly fine opener here and that’s all it needed to be.

Post match Ivelisse is upset so are XO Lishus and Joey Ryan to ask if she wants to be a Trios Champion. She’ll go with a sure on that.

King Cuerno vs. Mil Muertes

Hang on a second though as Antonio Cueto comes out to say we’ll make this a #1 contenders match. Muertes throws him into the corner for the ten clotheslines, followed by the snap powerslam to cut off a comeback. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker doesn’t do much to Muertes, who hits a heck of a superplex on Cuerno. The swinging chokeslam has Cuerno in more trouble but he knees Muertes out of the air. They slug it out from their knees and then out to the floor with the referee being thrown into the crowd for the double DQ at 5:08.

Rating: C-. I’m really not sure what the need was to put Muertes in here when they’re setting up the title match next week. Pentagon vs. Cuerno was pretty much ready but now it’s going to be a triple threat? Why? It’s not like Muertes and Pentagon have had any real issues, making this seem like a change for the sake of a change and that’s not the best idea in the world most of the time.

Post match the fight continues until Antonio comes out to make the triple threat title match for next week. Well that’s a shock. The guys keep fighting and Pentagon watches from the rafters.

Trios Titles: Fenix/Aerostar/Drago vs. Reptile Tribe

The Tribe is defending and Fenix takes a very long time to get to the ring with Melissa looking concerned. Hang on though as here’s Jake Strong to say he’ll win the Trios Titles himself if the titles without any partners because he’s a strong wrestler. Drago gets taken into the corner for an early beating, leaving Melissa looking rather sad.

Some heel miscommunication lets Drago hit them in the face a few times and a hurricanrana takes Jeremiah down for two. Fenix comes in for the rolling cutter but sits down instead of following up. The old Fenix snaps back to reality for a few seconds and kicks a bunch of people but doesn’t go for a cover. Instead he tries a superkick on Moon, who Matrixes back, leaving us with a kind of weird still shot. Moon bails to the floor and Fenix tags Aerostar in with a hard slap to the chest.

Another rolling cutter takes Jeremiah down as Striker goes into a weird conspiracy theory rant. A slingshot Codebreaker staggers Daga and it’s a doble knockdown. Drago comes back in to clean house as everything breaks down. There’s the big flip dive from Aerostar and Fenix (slowly) throws Drago onto the pile. Fenix loads up his own dive….and superkicks Aerostar down. A Muscle Buster lets Jeremiah hit the double underhook shoulder breaker to retain at 9:15.

Rating: C. This was all storyline and there’s nothing wrong with that. As tends to be the case around here, there are all kinds of ways for this storyline to go and that’s what makes it interesting. You can almost guarantee that Catarina will be involved again somehow and there’s a good chance that it’s going to be resolved at Ultima Lucha, which tends to happen a lot in this promotion. Match was fine, but that’s not the point and that’s ok.

Post match Melissa pleads with Fenix and gets shoved down. That’s the necessary move for a heel turn.

Marty the Moth Martinez comes in to see Antonio. A wad of exchanged money gets Marty a Gift of the Gods Title match for next week and another wad of money is for something else.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as the idea was go keep things moving forward but it felt rather low key. We’ve still got a few weeks before Ultima Lucha and that means the final stories are starting to be put together. I’m interested in where several of them go, though this season feels like it’s flown by and we should be at the halfway point, not nearing the end. That’s not good, though it’s about all you can expect with a shorter season.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Contrary to what you may have seen on Monday Night Raw this week, the next major show won’t be taking place in Australia and men will indeed be wrestling on the card. This Sunday will see Hell In A Cell, featuring two matches inside the Cell and a bunch of other stuff that won’t be heavily featured as there’s only so much that can take place when we have the other two shows to build towards. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: New Day (c) vs. Rusev Day

Rusev Day won a (yet another) tournament to earn the title shot in a bit of a surprise. The team was a hot act in the spring but since WWE has to WWE, we’re finally getting somewhere between the two of them in the middle of September. New Day has held the titles for about a month now and since the division basically consists of four teams, it’s not like they have a bunch of competition.

I’ll go with New Day to retain, likely as Rusev Day implodes for good because WWE doesn’t want them together for whatever reason. Other than that the match should be entertaining and will likely see a rematch this week on SmackDown Live. Rusev is in need of some kind of a success but given his track record in WWE, odds are we’re going to be waiting a very long time to actually see it happen.

Raw Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey(c) vs. Alexa Bliss

This one has me more confused with each step of the build. First of all, Rousey smashed her way through Bliss on the way to the title at Summerslam. You know, how she should have done because it’s RONDA ROUSEY vs. Alexa Bliss. The match was about five minutes long and Rousey was never in anything resembling trouble. Again, how it should have been. So how are we going to make a rematch work?

I’m really not sure, though Rousey of course retains, likely with more involvement from the Bella Twins because we need Nikki Bella vs. Rousey in our lives. Before I go on that rant, I’ll go with Rousey retaining in a match that isn’t as dominant as it should be. Rousey will likely sell the rib injuries from Monday, though that really shouldn’t be enough to keep her in trouble for very long.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte(c) vs. Becky Lynch

This is the first case of “well, we’re not having this Cell ready match in the Cell because….reasons”. Last month Charlotte won the title and Lynch snapped and turned on her, with the fans wanting to cheer Lynch but WWE dragged their feet and is going with more of a shades of gray feud because they don’t know how to listen to what the audience clearly wants.

As for the match itself, I’ll go with Lynch winning the title. I know WWE doesn’t exactly get the idea here a lot of the time, but this is as much of a layup as you can have. On top of that, is there anyone else who can possibly take the title off of Charlotte? The only way I could imagine it not happening is if Charlotte does a hard heel turn to make Lynch the super face that she needs to be. I could live with that, but that’s about the only way they could go other than Lynch flat out beating her.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins

Let’s not even pretend that this is going to be the big, final match between these teams. These four plus Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are going to fight for the next few months and there’s no way around that. The titles might change hands here but it’s far from likely to be the final title change between them. The wrestling should be good, but the storyline stuff isn’t exactly going to matter.

I’ll say the champions cheat to keep their titles, which will set up a rematch where the Shield boys want to use a variety of weapons. Say like tables, ladders and chairs. Along with Reigns. And Strowman. With all three belts above the ring at once. There’s not much else to say here and that’s a really bad sign given how many eggs WWE has put in the Shield’s basket.

Daniel Bryan/Brie Bella vs. The Miz/Maryse

When this match was first announced, I was a fan of the idea. It advances the story while preventing the overload of Miz vs. Bryan, which is almost guaranteed to keep going all the way into 2019. Then it became clear that this was going to be the Maryse/Bella show and that’s one of the scariest things you can have. We’ll have to hear about what a legend Bella is and how awesome she looks after having a baby a year ago, all while she botches everything she does and shouts BRIE MODE before doing some of Bryan’s stuff. Yay for us.

It doesn’t make sense to have Miz and Maryse win here so I’ll take Bella beating Maryse here in some form. Bella can’t do much properly in the ring but the YES Lock looks passable enough. Maryse doesn’t need to ever win anything again as she just has to put on one of her outfits, strike her model pose and insult the crowd in French to be right back where she was before. Bella and Bryan win in hopefully the last match from the women for a long time.

Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Here’s your Smackdown Cell match (even though the Cell is now red) because….why is this the Cell match actually? I know the logical answer would be so Hardy can dive off of the Cell like an idiot, but my guess is more that they didn’t want to do a Cell match on Smackdown but since WE MUST HAVE A CELL PAY PER VIEW, this is the default match instead. Just in case you need more proof that having a Cell pay per view is a really bad idea.

I’ll go with Orton winning as Hardy tries to do something stupid and winds up taking the RKO for his efforts. Orton has an interesting character if he goes from one short range feud to another where he destroys a variety of popular faces. Knowing WWE though, they’re going to do something stupid with it and waste a lot of potential because that’s all WWE is capable of doing at the moment.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Samoa Joe

On paper, this should be where Joe gets the title. He took Styles to the limit in their first match and has been even more physical since then. Logic on the street would suggest that he wins the title here by overwhelming the emotional Styles and choking him out so he can hold up the title and say OH WENDY, DADDY’S COMING HOME! That makes sense in theory, until you remember that WWE has already announced a third match between these guys in Australia at Super Show-Down.

That’s where I think the title change actually takes hand. I mean, it doesn’t really matter when Joe wins the title as long as he does, though Styles is rapidly approaching CM Punk’s 434 day reign with that very title. On top of that, he actually defends the thing and has great matches while making others look good. Hence why he’s likely about to drop the title. Styles isn’t a guy who does the same three moves over and over again when he wrestles four times a year. What value is there for that?

Raw World Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Braun Strowman

And then there’s this, which is one of the most oddly booked matches in a long time. They do have a long history between each other, but their last singles match was eleven months ago in October. That’s all well and good as the blowoff to a long running feud (Undertaker and Mankind hadn’t had a singles match in over a year when they had the Cell match), but does anyone believe that this is the last match between these two?

I’ll go with Reigns retaining as Strowman is sacrificed again in the name of getting him over. I still have no idea what the end game is supposed to be for Reigns, who is beating (arguably) his chief rival in his first feud as champion (the fourth time he’s been champion that is). Why is him beating Strowman in the Cell supposed to make me care? Is it just because he’s that awesome or something? I’m sure WWE could explain it to me, though I doubt it would still make sense.

Overall Thoughts

I know I talk about this a lot but it’s pretty amazing to see how much difference it makes to have one show focused on Sunday and another focused on everything else involved. There’s a lot of stuff that can be done to set up Sunday’s show and Smackdown has done that far better than it’s Monday counterpart. The pay per view will have its moments, but it really does feel like they’d like to get this show out of the way so they can focus on the other stuff instead.

Just look at the card. There’s a lot of big stuff on here and there is a grand total of one match (Styles vs. Joe) that I’m interested in seeing. That’s not acceptable on a card that features two Cell matches and a bunch of big title matches. How can you possibly have this kind of a card and have so little interest in the whole thing? WWE is ice cold right now and I don’t see that changing for a long time to come, which makes for a very rough end of the year.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Backlash 2004
Date: April 18, 2004
Location: Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Attendance: 13,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Remember last month at Wrestlemania XX when the main event was an instant classic? Well now we’re doing it again with Chris Benoit coming in as the World Heavyweight Champion. That’s not the worst idea in the world as the first match was so great that there’s almost no way this won’t be awesome too. Throw in Randy Orton going to the gallows to face Cactus Jack and we could be in for a very good night. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the original triple threat, with Shawn Michaels and HHH saying it won’t happen again. Benoit disagrees, as you might have guessed. No other match is mentioned.

Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin

Fallout from Benjamin beating HHH twice in a row. Flair makes the referee hold the ropes open for him, which is quite the Flair thing to do. Shelton easily takes him down to start and does it again with a fireman’s carry. That earns Shelton a shove so he slaps Flair in the face, meaning it’s time for the Flop. The Stinger Splash misses but Shelton just lands on the top rope, because of course he can.

A clothesline puts Flair on the floor as this is one sided so far. Back in and Shelton hits another clothesline but Flair goes for the knee, as you knew was coming. The leg gets wrapped around the rope and Flair stomps away, setting up a pretty early Figure Four. Shelton gets out so it’s chair time as JR wonders why Flair doesn’t just bring in a bazooka.

The chair doesn’t really matter as Shelton scores with an enziguri but can’t follow up because of the knee. The Dragon Whip keeps Flair down and Shelton whips him over the corner. Back in and Flair gets slammed off the top but finds some brass knuckles. The Stinger Splash makes him drop them right back though and the top rope clothesline gives Shelton the pin.

Rating: C. Totally fine match here with Flair making Shelton look good. This is the kind of win that Shelton needs to rack up to support the HHH wins. Flair may put a lot of people over but he’s not exactly one to lose stock or status as a result. Just keep talking about how he’s Ric Flair and let him do his signature stuff and he’ll be right back where he needed to be. Not many legends get that and few of them got it like Flair.

Randy Orton talks about how he’ll beat Cactus Jack just like every other legend. He sounds like he’s trying to convince himself. Orton is NOT scared, even after seeing everything Foley has done over the years. Tonight, Orton is going to show a new side of himself and Foley will never forget it. Foley is like an old, sad, toothless dog who needs to be put down. That’s the best promo Orton has given to date and you can see how much he’s grown out of this feud.

Tajiri vs. Jonathan Coachman

Coach actually armdrags him down to start and avoids an early spinning kick. Some more kicks hit the leg but the big one to the head misses. They head outside with Tajiri kicking the post, allowing Coach to wrap the leg around the post. There’s a shinbreaker as Coach must have been watching some Flair tapes. Tajiri escapes a second shinbreaker into a sunset flip but Coach is right back on the knee. Even the announcers are impressed by Coach, who grabs the rope like a veteran would do.

After a leglace, Coach goes up top but Tajiri kicks the rope to crotch him. Coach gets caught backwards in the Tree of Woe for some kicks to the back and a kick to the head gets two. Back up and Tajiri grabs the Tarantula, which is broken even faster than usual. Cue Garrison Cade with a right hand to drop Tajiri though and Coach rolls him up for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was surprisingly not terrible as Coach wrestled a perfectly watchable match. He’s perfectly fine for a low level heel and it’s not like Tajiri losing here hurts him very much. I can always go for something that sounded like filler turning into a match that isn’t half bad. Nice little surprise here.

Long recap of Chris Jericho vs. Christian/Trish Stratus. Jericho fell for Trish but it turned out that it was a bet between himself and Christian. Trish’s heart was broken but Christian beat Jericho up to try and give him some tough love. It turned out that Trish had gotten together with Christian and they’re out to ruin Jericho’s life.

Christian/Trish Stratus vs. Chris Jericho

Lawler drools over Trish again so JR goes on a rant, saying Lawler has no idea if she has feet because his eyes never go that low. Jericho is back to being from Winnipeg for the sake of crowd support. A slap takes Christian down to start and Trish bails straight to the floor so the chase is on. Jericho is smart enough to slow down and backdrop Christian as the fans chant a rather rude term at Trish. Well I think it’s Trish but I could be wrong.

Christian gets sent outside so Jericho hits the springboard dropkick as Trish is starting to panic. Back in and Jericho accidentally shoves Trish off the apron but the distraction lets Christian drape him over the top. Trish is able to come in for some slapping, which certainly seems to appeal to Lawler. Does that surprise anyone? One grab at Trish’s foot is enough to send her running to the corner for the tag so Christian rips as Jericho’s face. The Walls attempt is broken up but Jericho lands head first on Christian’s crotch.

The Flashback (which is almost never called such) gives Jericho two so Trish slaps Jericho again, this time allowing Christian to his a reverse DDT out of the corner. Jericho pops right back up and sends Christian outside, meaning it’s time for the expected spanking. That’s enough for Christian to come back in and deck Jericho, who clotheslines Trish before knocking Christian down as well.

The Lionsault hits knees as JR is sick of hearing about Lawler wanting to go check on Trish. A Texas Cloverleaf stays on Jericho’s ribs but he rolls out pretty quickly and slaps the Walls on the returning Trish. That’s broken up in a hurry as well, so Christian tries the Unprettier but gets catapulted into Trish in the corner. You knew that was coming. Jericho hits the enziguri for the pin.

Rating: C+. I still like this feud a lot and they had to let Jericho get a win back here to make up for Wrestlemania. Christian and Trish colliding like that was the most logical finish they could have used and Jericho gets to fight another day as you know this is continuing. Issues between the new couple would make sense here and it’s not like their relationship was the strongest in the first place.

Eugene comes in to the women’s locker room while Gail Kim is changing and asks for an autograph. Screaming ensues until William Regal makes the save, though not before taking a long look at Gail. Why exactly are they here anyway?

Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Lita

Lita is challenging after winning a joke of a battle royal. Lawler is drooling over Victoria’s gear (fair enough) and mistakes holes for polka dots. They hit the mat to start for some near falls and bridge up, though not into a backslide. A lockup sends them falling out to the floor with Victoria looking to take a bad looking bump. Back in (with Victoria limping a bit) and we hit another pinfall reversal sequence with Lawler being a big fan of the camera shots.

Victoria’s dancing moonsault gets two and cranks on Lita’s arms for a bit as JR has had it with Lawler’s comments (again). There’s a surfboard and you can see the images going through Lawler’s mind. Back up and Victoria tries the spinning side slam but Lita reverses into a nice headscissors to the crowd’s delight. Lita scores with a suplex and nips up, followed by a quick hurricanrana. A sleeper of all things puts Victoria down and you can hear the fans lose their energy.

Rating: D-. Pretty terrible match but the JR/Lawler banter was the most memorable thing here. There’s something hilarious about JR getting so annoyed and Lawler going full speed ahead with his shtick. Other than that though it was a bunch of bad spots (that moonsault was ridiculous) and a flat ending.

Post match Molly and Gail run in for the DQ, thereby validating their presence.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack. Last year, Orton went after Mick Foley, who wasn’t ready to face a young gun like Orton. Foley went away for a few months but came back to face him, eventually setting up a handicap match at Wrestlemania. Orton pinned Foley, but now Mick wants a one on one match under hardcore rules with Evolution banned from ringside. They actually agreed, but Foley realized that this needed something special. Like Cactus Jack, which has Orton scared. As it should.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack

Orton smashes him in the head with some trashcan shots so Jack kicks him in the face and shows him how it’s done. They get inside for the first time with Jack hitting a running knee lift and dropping a leg for two. A baseball slide sends Orton right to the floor but he gets out of the way before Jack can try the middle rope elbow. They head up the ramp with Orton belly to back suplexing him down for two. With the wrestling not working, Orton just slams him head first into the ramp to scramble some brain cells.

A ram into the steps scrambles some knee cells but Jack kicks him low to avoid the barbed wire going into his face. It’s Socko time, which really feels out of place in this match. Actually hang on as Jack does an informal poll, which tells him to use the bat. The first good shot to the head busts Orton open (there’s something so eerie about watching it stream down someone’s face) and Jack drives it into his face again. JR: “He could be on the cover of Disfigurement Weekly!” You can see the look in Jack’s eyes as he hammers Orton down in the corner and hits the running knee.

Orton whips him into the board in the corner (after a great reversal tease) and Jack’s arm is cut open. The RKO is loaded up but Orton gets thrown onto the tacks and MY GOODNESS he is covered in them. That’s the kind of visual you really don’t see in WWE and that is a great look. They fight up the ramp and Jack throws him off the stage, through some tables. Orton is still down (and remember, his back is full of tacks) so Jack dives off the stage with the big elbow for two. I bought that as the finish when I watched this live and I bought it again here.

Back in and the double arm DDT gives Jack two so he goes after the board again. That’s enough of a delay for Orton to get in some Barbie shots and Jack is bleeding from the face. One more shot knocks Jack down but he lands on Socko. The Mandible Claw goes on but Orton gets in a low blow. The RKO gets two and there’s that shocked look on Orton’s face again. Another RKO onto Barbie is enough to retain the title.

Rating: A. I’ve always loved this match and it’s one of Foley’s last great performances. The match was exactly what it was supposed to be as Orton shows that he has the guts to survive anything and was that match that ever top star has to have at some point in their career. This took Orton completely out of his comfort zone and that’s when you can see the greatness coming out. It’s the same story as the HHH match at the 2000 Royal Rumble, which is something that is always going to work. Outstanding match here with Foley playing the role to perfection and Orton getting everything he could have out of it.

Flair and Batista are immediately out to carry Orton to the back. HHH comes up to Orton in the back and says that’s what Evolution is all about. He even says he’s proud of Orton. With Orton carried away, HHH says he wouldn’t bet against himself tonight. Beating Shawn is always great but beating Chris Benoit in Canada is where the money is at.

La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosey

This was made on Heat and welcome to the death slot guys. There are so many empty seats opposite the hard camera that the camera is suddenly much tighter with the regular shots only popping up for a few seconds at a time. Hurricane works on Conway’s wrist to start before Rosey comes in to hiptoss his partner onto him. A powerslam gets Conway out of trouble and it’s Grenier coming in for a suplex as the announcers talk about Orton vs. Jack. Normally that gets on my nerves but what are you expecting here?

Grenier slaps on a bearhug and here’s Eugene as the already nothing match breaks down. Rosey comes in and cleans house as Eugene starts playing with the Quebec flag. The French guys get sent to the floor so Hurricane can dive onto the two of them, leaving Hurricane to get inside and run the ropes. Cue Regal for the save as a mask less Hurricane hits the Eye of the Hurricane for the pin.

Rating: D-. I don’t like to use this term but this was what it was and that’s all it was going to be. There was no chance that this match was going to be anything more than a five minute nacho break match and that’s what they did. I don’t blame them a bit for the match not being very good as it’s not like they had anything to work with here.

We recap Edge’s return, which hasn’t been the most thrilling thing in the world so far.

Edge vs. Kane

Edge’s hand is in a cast and he’s suspended if he uses it. Edge, who has been very aggressive since coming back, backs up into the corner to start before being planted with a two arm chokeslam. A middle rope clothesline gets Edge out of trouble and Kane bails to the floor before the spear can launch. For some reason Edge thinks it’s a good idea to follow him, allowing Kane to send the bad hand into the steps.

Back in and the hand work begins so the fans would rather shout about Earl Hebner screwing Bret and something that happens in the crowd. Edge scores with a spinwheel kick but charges into a big boot. The top rope clothesline misses and Edge hits the implant DDT. The threat of a spear sends the referee to the floor so Edge kicks Kane low, hits him with the cast, and nails the spear for the pin.

Rating: D. As I said in the previous match, what in the world were you expecting here? The big story of the match was Kane working on Edge’s hand and Edge not exactly looking as fired up as he’s been before. It was boring but they kept it short, which does make things a little better. Hopefully Edge can shake the rust off quickly.

We recap the main event. HHH, Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels had a masterpiece last month at Wrestlemania so let’s do it again. I’ve heard of worse ideas and there’s almost no question that this will be awesome. Both HHH and Shawn swear that lightning won’t strike twice and Benoit is ready to prove them wrong all over again.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit is defending and gets the hero’s welcome, which is always cool to see. They stare each other down to start until Benoit chops HHH with Shawn joining in. Benoit isn’t cool with someone stealing his chop fest though and chops the skin off Shawn’s chest. Shawn grabs a swinging neckbreaker but HHH is back in with the jumping knee to the face. It’s too early for the Pedigree but HHH and Shawn get together and knock Benoit to the floor.

That means it’s time for the champ to throw some German suplexes and Shawn gets whipped out to the floor. He’s right back up on the apron to break up an early Crossface and Benoit knocks him off the apron again. HHH catches him on top and Shawn comes back in to knock Benoit outside. The facebuster drops Shawn and there’s the Swan Dive from Benoit as they’re doing a good job of keeping things moving here instead of having it be one on one for long stretches at a time.

The referee gets bumped (kind of early for that) and Benoit gets the Sharpshooter on HHH. Shawn comes diving in for the save so Benoit Crossfaces him down. That’s broken up so here’s the required Shawn Sharpshooter in Canada as Earl Hebner runs in as the replacement referee. Now that we’re past the absolutely 10000% required Montreal reference because every city in Canada is the same, it’s time for the YOU SCREWED BRET chant.

Benoit gets the Crossface on Shawn until HHH makes the save. HHH stomps Benoit down in the corner but Shawn is back up. Benoit and HHH are knocked to the floor but Shawn’s big dive sends him crashing through the announcers’ table. Back in and HHH hammers on Benoit, which at least gives us some relief from YOU SCREWED BRET. Benoit goes shoulder first into the post and we hit a camel clutch.

The fans get behind Benoit again so HHH pounds in some right hands to the head. The facebuster only sends Benoit into the rolling German suplexes to put HHH in trouble again. A quick Pedigree connects though, drawing Shawn back in for another save. Everyone is down and Shawn nipping up doesn’t exactly please the fans. The top rope elbow hits HHH and Sweet Chin Music knocks Benoit off the apron. HHH is right back up with a low blow to Shawn for a close two but gets backdropped to the floor.

We’re late in the match and HHH is on the floor so it’s sledgehammer time. A shot to Shawn’s back (just like at Summerslam) has him writhing in agony but the fans would rather look at something in the crowd. Benoit breaks up a hammer shot to Shawn’s head and, after shrugging off a whip into the steps, catapults HHH into the steps. Back in and Sweet Chin Music is countered into the Sharpshooter with Benoit pulling him away from the ropes. HHH tries to come in for the save but Shawn finally taps to retain the title.

Rating: A. They wisely tried a different approach this time around than at Wrestlemania, which makes a lot of sense as there’s no point trying to equal or top something that was perfect in the first place. Benoit has now made both of them tap in the middle of the ring to finally prove that he’s the better man. That’s about as definitive of a push as you’re going to get and the match was another classic. They went with a slower pace and less violence here as there was more of a question about who might win here. Wrestlemania was clearly Benoit’s night and it was a smart move to switch things up here. Great match, all over again.

Overall Rating: B+. It’s an eight match card and the two important matches (the only two to break twelve minutes) were excellent. That’s really all you need for an awesome show and the bad stuff, while quite bad, was also quite short. The three awful matches (Women’s Title, La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosey and Edge vs. Kane) didn’t add up to the length of either big match so literally, either Orton vs. Foley or the main event outweighs the three bad ones time wise. They got as close to perfection as they could have with the two big matches here and that’s exactly what they should have gone for. Check those two matches out.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: April 15, 2004
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

Is it too much to ask to have more than one big story on the show? Last week saw JBL announced as the new #1 contender in a story that dominated the last two weeks. The second biggest story has been Booker T. vs. Rob Van Dam, which feels a long way down the ladder. That’s the main event tonight though so maybe it’s going to get a little better. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of last week’s big angle, partially set to Steve Blackman’s music for some reason.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Eddie Guerrero to open things up. He’s received about 27 phone calls this week from Kurt Angle (complete with an imitation, with Angle insisting that he DOES NOT suck), demanding an apology. JBL isn’t a great American because of his riches. See, JBL has been trying to pull one over on the fans by saying he’s from New York in his business suits. Eddie looks at him and sees a great American sellout.

JBL’s money doesn’t make him better or smarter than anyone else….and here’s an approved message from JBL on the screen. It’s a campaign style ad focusing on Eddie’s lying, cheating and stealing, which has a small vocal minority. Real Americans need to silence that voice and support a good man like JBL. Eddie says he’s tired of dealing with this same stuff since he became champion and he’s sick of it. Yeah he does all those things but he worked hard to get here. It took him seventeen years to get his first title shot and it wasn’t handed to him in a bogus award ceremony. Now JBL is #1 contender so let’s do it tonight.

Instead here’s Kurt Angle, who doesn’t appreciate any of this. Angle doesn’t appreciate him (how rude) so Eddie can have his title match tonight. Now it’s JBL in the limo to interrupt. He’d love to face Eddie tonight but after a week of shaking hands and kissing babies (and some baby mamas), he’s a little tired so the match can’t take place tonight. Angel agrees and lets JBL have his title match at Judgment Day. Tonight, it’s Eddie vs. Big Show. Eddie is stunned, as am I over this somehow taking nearly eighteen minutes.

Post break Show comes in to see Angle and JBL. He wants to know if he has a WWE Championship match tonight, but that’s a big negative. Show yells at both of them and isn’t happy with being their enforcer. If he can’t beat Eddie tonight, he quits.

John Cena vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Non-title and there are a lot of Cena signs in the crowd. We have two champions in the ring so the opening commentary is all about Big Show vs. Eddie Guerrero. Cena doesn’t respond well to being slapped in the face and slaps Chavo even harder as the announcers actually notice a match going on.

A headlock and a clothesline keep Chavo in trouble and it’s off to the second headlock on the mat. Chavo sends him outside and Chavo Sr. gets in a cowboy boot to the back of the head. Back in and we hit a camel clutch (continuing the family tradition) for all of five seconds before Cena powers out. A dropkick gives Chavo two but Cena is right back with the running shoulder. The Throwback, followed by taking Sr. out, sets up the FU for the pin.

Rating: D+. You would kind of expect something a little better from two champions, but I can’t say I’m surprised that the Cruiserweight Champion was beaten clean in such short order. I could have gone for a botched interference from Sr. or something but it’s not like the Cruiserweight Champion is on the US Champion’s level in the first place.

Video on Booker’s initial complaints about being on Smackdown. It looks like we’ll be going over the whole history to set up the main event. All two weeks of it.

Rene Dupree is having a new romantic dinner with Fifi (a different dog this week) and announces his new interview segment starting next week: Cafe de Rene.

Charlie Haas is warming up when Jamie Noble comes in. Jamie tells him to not worry about amateur wrestling when he faces Rico. It might as well be an intergender match. Charlie isn’t worried so Jamie talks about all the things Rico might do. The final advice: don’t let Rico get you from behind. Nunzio comes in and wishes Haas good luck too.

Rico vs. Charlie Haas

Jobber entrance for Charlie. Rico and Jackie Gayda pose on a mini stage on the way to the ring. We start with some prancing and Charlie is disgusted by an early lockup. Charlie takes him down and shouts about Rico being sick so Rico reverses and starts groping. Rico gets behind him and Charlie bails to the ropes as this is firmly in bad comedy territory.

A sunset flip lets Rico pull the trunks down, meaning more humor. Charlie forearms him in the face and chokes away as the announcers find this hilarious. Rico slips out of a suplex and kisses Haas, who bails to the floor. That’s enough to send Haas bailing to the floor for some water, but Rico pulls up his thong to scare Haas off for the countout.

Rating: F. Hey, did you know that wrestlers who may be gay are “sick” and apparently disgusting? They also seem to be completely incapable of not molesting their opponents, which seems to be the case with every WWE wrestler using the same gimmick. This is always so dumb and I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse.

Post match Haas vomits. Fair enough.

JBL promises Show a pizza if he wins but Show says he’s doing this for himself.

A man in a white beard is surrounded by candles and reads a bunch of Bible verses. His name is Mordecai and he’s here to be the right hand of the destroyer. Oh dear indeed. Cool vignette though.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Big Show

Non-title with Show’s career on the line. Show wastes no time in hammering away and a headbutt puts Eddie down. Some tosses send Eddie from corner to corner and there’s a choke for good measure. Eddie gets smart by stomping on the foot but another headbutt keeps him in trouble. Show makes it even worse with the loud chops but a low bridge takes him to the floor.

Eddie dropkicks him down again and we take a break. Back with Show choking on the mat before starting in on the arm. He even gets smart by wrapping Eddie’s arm around the rope. That doesn’t suit Show very well so let’s try a bearhug instead, followed by a big boot. It’s right back to the arm, which really doesn’t seem right coming from Show. Eddie’s comeback is cut off by a clothesline and Show walks around the ring a bit. Now that suits him very well.

Eddie gets knocked outside and finds a wrench under the ring, which he loads into the back of Show’s boot. The referee catches Show pulling it out and the distraction lets Eddie hammer away. Is there a reason why he didn’t distract the referee and hit Show with the wrench? A middle rope tornado DDT puts Show down but the kickout sends Eddie into the referee. With no one looking, Eddie gets in a low blow and another DDT, setting up the frog splash for the pin.

Rating: D. Well this didn’t need to be fifteen minutes long to put it mildly. To be fair though, Show was in need of knee surgery (hence him leaving) so he probably wasn’t moving nearly as well as he would have otherwise. Eddie won just as he should have and he did what he could, but there’s a limit to what a hampered Show can pull off.

Post match Eddie leads the fans in an extended Goodbye Song, which seems to hurt Show’s feelings.

Clip of Van Dam winning his first match on Smackdown and Booker being miserable.

Show is leaving and runs into Torrie laughing with the makeup lady. That must be about him so Show gets in her face and leaves. Torrie is terrified and leaves because she doesn’t have a match tonight.

Teddy Long introduces Mark Jindrak, who has the perfect body and the looks of Adonis. Mark looks at himself in a mirror and Teddy calls him the Reflection of Perfection over and over.

Mark Jindrak vs. Spike Dudley

Jindrak throws him into the corner to start and starts talking trash, followed by a pretty impressive dropkick to knock Spike off the top. A delayed one arm vertical suplex keeps Spike down and the belly to back suplex into a side slam finishes him in a hurry. Total squash.

Video of Booker walking out on Van Dam tonight. Do they really need to stretch out a show this much?

Raw ReBound looks at just about everything on the show.

Torrie goes to leave but Show comes up (from the direction that Torrie was looking, though she’s still surprised) and yells at her for laughing. He kicks in the windows of her car as Torrie begs him to calm down. Show breaks more windows and then turns the car over. Torrie runs away screaming and Show very slowly walks after her. Somehow this took nearly five minutes.

In case we didn’t spend enough time on it already, here are two replays of the car being flipped.

Booker T. vs. Rob Van Dam

It’s the rare serious Van Dam this week. Rob stomps him down in the corner to start and gets two off a standing moonsault. They head outside with Booker in even more trouble, this time off some kicks to the ribs. The spinning kick to the back knocks Booker off the barricade and we take a break.

Back with Booker hot shotting him for what sounds like his first real offense. Booker hits a neckbreaker and Tazz thinks he’s going after the neck. Even Cole mocks him for making such an obvious observation and Booker drops a knee for two. We hit the chinlock for a few seconds before Van Dam is back up, only to be kicked right back down.

The Book End is blocked and Van Dam hits his step over spinning kick to the face. Rob’s springboard kick to the face gets two and the split legged moonsault gets the same. Booker rolls away from the Five Star though and Booker superkicks him into the ropes with Rob’s arms getting tied up. A bunch of right hands actually get Booker disqualified at the five count. You don’t see that every day.

Rating: C-. It was far from great or even very good but at this point I’ll take anything I can get. The feud isn’t quite as big of a deal as WWE seems to think it is, though there’s a story to it that doesn’t revolve around the idea of Rico kissing someone or a cowboy hat, which puts it ahead of a lot of the stuff on this show.

Post match Booker beats on him a little more and does a Spinarooni.

Show has somehow caught Torrie (who was running while he slowly walked) and has her above a conveniently placed ledge. He threatens to throw her off the ledge until Angle shows up. Angle says he’s the one who gets in trouble if something happens to Torrie and violence is threatened. Torrie is allowed to leave so Angle goes after Show, who chokeslams him off the ledge, setting up a loud THUD. We look down and Kurt is unconscious with blood flowing from the back of his head and his leg bent at a rather nasty angle. So that’s it for Show and Angle seems to be close to dead. I guess that’s at least half of a happy ending?

Overall Rating: D-. Another horrible show, this time with the completely stupid Rico match, Torrie running away like the girl in a slasher movie and Angle being nearly murdered. Eddie and Big Show had a horrible match and now we’re gearing up for JBL vs. Eddie in over a month. If Van Dam vs. Booker is as good of a secondary story as they have, it’s going to be a very, very long year.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: September 11, 2018
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

We continue to build towards the Cruiserweight Title match between Champion Cedric Alexander and Buddy Murphy, though there’s also Drew Gulak running around, which could mean a few things. There’s a chance we’ll see another title match between now and the Australia show and that might be a little more interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening card rundown.

Opening sequence.

There are still a lot of empty seats but it’s a far better situation than last week.

Buddy Murphy vs. Gran Metalik

They trade some very early and non-near falls to start and we have a standoff. Metalik knocks him to the floor but Murphy ducks the baseball slide and punches him in the face. That goes nowhere and Metalik hits a moonsault off the top to take Murphy down again. Back in and Murphy sends him face first into the post to set up the chinlock.

That doesn’t do much so Murphy puts him on the top, earning himself a sunset bomb for a big crash as Murphy is in trouble. A reverse Sling Blade (more of a bulldog than a clothesline) sets up a springboard back elbow for two but the Metalik Driver isn’t happening. Murphy crotches him on top and hits a double powerbomb for two of his own.

An exchange of kicks to the face sets up the Metalik Driver for two and they’re both in trouble. Metalik tweaks his knee on a backflip though and Murphy knees him in the head. Wouldn’t it make more sense to knee him in the knee? Either way it sets up Murphy’s Law for the pin at 10:45.

Rating: C. I’m pretty much over watching any combination of Murphy/Tony Nese fighting with the Lucha House Party but who else is Murphy supposed to beat up before he gets his title shot in Melbourne? The match was perfectly watchable but they were stuck underneath a firm ceiling and that was obvious here.

Post match Murphy says that’s one step closer to the title at Super Show-Down.

Mustafa Ali has been medically cleared to return to the ring.

We look back at Ali’s medical issues, which have put him somewhat at odds with Drake Maverick.

Cedric Alexander comes in to see Ali. After pleasantries are exchanged, Alexander mentions that he’s teaming with Akira Tozawa tonight. Tozawa is rather intimidating.

Mustafa Ali vs. Michael Thompson

Before the match, here’s Hideo Itami to interrupt and speak some Japanese to Ali. Actually he missed Ali and hopes that he’s feeling better. Ali chops away to start and hits the rolling X Factor. Looking up at Itami doesn’t matter much as it’s the tornado DDT into the 054 for the pin at 1:45. Well Ali is back.

Drew Gulak and Jack Gallagher come in to see Maverick before their main event tag match tonight. Other than a threat of having the AOP destroy them if they talk about the AOP again, there’s nothing to see here.

Noam Dar makes fun of how Lio Rush talks.

Rush tells Dar to keep his name out of his mouth.

Rush vs. Dar next week.

Cedric Alexander/Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak/Jack Gallagher

Gulak and Alexander start things off but the threat of an early Lumbar Check sends Gulak into the corner. Gallagher comes in and starts on Alexander’s wrist but Tozawa comes in to fire off some chops. We settle down to Tozawa getting something like an Octopus Hold on Gulak until Gallagher comes in for a double slam to take over.

An uppercut stops Tozawa’s comeback cold and Gallagher is smart enough to draw Cedric in, allowing more clubberin. A kick to the ribs allows the hot tag off to Alexander a few seconds later though, setting up the Neuralizer for two on Gallagher. Everything breaks down and Gulak gets kicked to the floor, leaving Gallagher to hit the running corner dropkick for two on Alexander.

Gulak is back in for a running clothesline/leg kick combination for the same near fall. Cedric avoids a double suplex though and Tozawa tags himself in to clean house with the kicks. The top rope backsplash misses though and Gallagher’s headbutt sets up the Gulock for the tap at 12:32.

Post match Maverick says Gulak gets his title shot next week.

Overall Rating: C. This show really does go by the strength of its Cruiserweight Title matches. Therefore, this week’s show wasn’t all that great, mainly due to there not being much of note. The end of the show announcement did help though and that’s going to make next week’s show a little more interesting. There’s a chance that they’ll have Gulak take the title via cheating as a transitional champion to Murphy, which could keep Cedric strong for later. Or they’ll just have Gulak lose again because the Australia show is more important than the week to week show. You never can tell around here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: September 12, 2018
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Mauro Ranallo

We’re still in the hunt for Aleister Black’s attacker and that can make for some interesting television. Other than that though, the big story seems to be Johnny Gargano finally cracking and not being able to keep going as Johnny Wrestling due to losing everything that matters to him, including the fans’ support. Let’s get to it.

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

Tommaso Ciampa arrived earlier and had nothing to say.

Opening sequence.

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Cezar Bononi/Adrian Jaoude

This is Lorcan’s first match back after suffering a broken orbital bone in June. Burch and Bononi start things off with Danny headbutting him into the corner for an uppercut. It’s already off to Lorcan for a double suplex but Bononi uses some trunks to pull Burch into the wrong corner. Jaoude cranks on both arms before tossing Burch down and handing it back to Bononi. That’s not enough to keep Burch away from Lorcan though and it’s time to clean house, including some hard shots to the face. Burch comes back in as Lorcan lifts Jaoude up for a hanging DDT and the pin at 3:41.

Rating: C-. There is nothing wrong with a solid face tag team who hit people in the face really hard. Burch and Lorcan aren’t likely to ever get the Tag Team Titles but they’re a great middle of the road team who can give you a very good match under the right circumstances. Not bad at all here and Lorcan looked good in his return.

Here’s Ciampa, now with music and a cool heart monitor sound during his entrance. You can also hear some pops for him, which you had to know were coming. Ciampa says that music is his personal way of telling the fans to shut up. He’s seen everyone pointing their finger at him for attacking Black, but what is that based on? Ciampa doesn’t play make believe and bases his opinions on facts. If he wants to confront someone, he comes out here and does it to their face.

The thing is, Black would have lost even if he had made it to Brooklyn because Black loses, Gargano loses, Ciampa wins. The title tells Ciampa that it felt really good to be back in the main event of Takeover and Ciampa is the greatest success story in the history of NXT. He is YOUR NXT Champion and to be a winner, follow his lead. Oh that sounds like it’s going somewhere.

Shayna Baszler vs. Violet Payne

Baszler wastes no time in taking her down and hammering away as this isn’t likely to last long. A kick to the chest sets up the arm cranking and egads that’s painful to watch. The stomp on the bent elbow into the Kirifuda Clutch makes Payne tap at 1:27. That was a massacre.

Post match Baszler comes back to the ring and chokes her out two more times.

Heavy Machinery thinks Ciampa attacked Black when Ciampa walks up to yell at them. Dozovic calls Ciampa dumplin and challenges him to a fight but William Regal comes in to demand Ciampa come to his office.

The Undisputed Era isn’t worried about the War Raiders because Roderick Strong always beats his son at hide and seek. The viking helmets are so seventh century and Kyle O’Reilly can’t go out and get groceries because he’s too famous. Adam Cole wants to talk about next week’s champion vs. champion match because the winner gets to lose to win. No one is on their level and that is undisputed.

Lars Sullivan vs. Raul Mendoza

That silhouette of Sullivan is a great visual. As for Mendoza, it might be time for him to get a new accolade besides being in the Cruiserweight Classic. Mendoza’s kicks to the leg have no effect but a Disaster kick works a bit better. That’s about it for the good though as Sullivan picks him up and tosses him from one corner to the other without much effort. The neck crank goes on, which isn’t a move you see in a squash, meaning they seem to see something in Mendoza (as they should).

Mendoza jawbreakers his way to freedom and avoids a charge to send Sullivan into the post. Another enziguri sets up a springboard missile dropkick but Sullivan catches him with a pop up powerslam. Some crossface shots to the face set up the Freak Accident for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: C. This wasn’t quite a squash and that’s a good sign for Mendoza. He might not do anything spectacularly but he’s got something to him and I could see him becoming a nice fixture in the midcard. Sullivan is going to be a big deal around here for a while though as pushing a monster like that is about as much of a layup as you can get.

We look back at Ricochet taking out Pete Dunne by mistake in their tag match two weeks ago.

Dunne is worried about his champion vs. champion match next week because he’ll have to figure out how to put two titles on his mantle.

Ricochet likes that Dunne doesn’t think he can handle these high pressure situations. He’s been in high pressure situations far longer than he’s been in NXT and next week, Dunne is just another hurdle to leap over. Ricochet might not be the best talker but he has the charisma to make whatever he says work.

Video on the Forgotten Sons, playing up the whole forgotten aspect for the first time. Now that is something I could get behind.

Last week, Aaliyah and Dakota Kai were arguing when Lacey Evans and Deonna Purrazzo came up to join the respective sides. Tag match next week.

Kairi Sane is investigated for the Black attack and seems to be cleared. Kassius Ohno (in a Cesaro/Kidd shirt) replaces her but Regal doesn’t need to talk to him. Sane just gave him an alibi but Ohno still isn’t happy. Maybe he needs to sit in the crowd at Takeover to get noticed. When Regal’s shiny new toy gets here, Ohno will take care of him. Bro.

Bianca Belair vs. Nikki Cross

Cross sits in the corner but Belair shoves her down. That seems to make Cross happy, so she waves and shouts HI BIANCA. A monkey flip puts Belair down and it’s off to a sleeper, with Belair reversing into a backbreaker in short in order. Belair puts on a bearhug and a gorilla press makes things even worse.

Cross avoids a splash though and it’s a Thesz press into the right hands. That’s enough to send Belair outside so Cross ties her up in the ring skirt and unloads with forearms to the chest. The hair whip to the ribs puts Nikki down but she chokes Belair onto the ramp. Bianca drops her down for the big crash though and it’s a double countout (or no contest as the ring announcer says) at 5:17.

Rating: C-. This was more of a “come back next time” match and that’s fine. You can only have Belair run through everyone before she runs into a different kind of animal in Cross. Belair is almost guaranteed to win the rematch but at least they gave her a little bit of a sweat. It’s still clear that she’s one of the big prospects in the division though and that’s going to be the case for a long time.

Post match the fans want to see them fight so Cross chases her into the crowd. A high crossbody off the announcers’ table leaves Belair laying and Cross smiling to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. There’s nothing wrong with a show designed to st things up for later and that’s what we had here. You can see some things being set up for later and that can make for some good television going forward. NXT has a great track record with stuff like this and they’re more than capable of taking all these things in some good directions.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Ring of Honor
Date: September 12, 2018
Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, Caprice Coleman

We have to be about done with Atlanta as we’re only two and a half weeks away from Death Before Dishonor, meaning Ring of Honor will only have one more week to waste time before starting its nothing push to the show. Tonight is a thirty minute Iron Man match for the World Title with Jay Lethal defending against Jonathan Gresham. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mark Briscoe vs. Frankie Kazarian

We’re joined in progress with the fight already going hard as Kazarian hits a nice hiptoss neckbreaker. The slingshot Fameasser sets up the slingshot hurricanrana to put Mark down on the floor. Mark is right back with a Blockbuster off the apron but he stops to throw a barricade. Back in and Mark hammers away in the corner, only to get caught in a Backstabber. Kazarian’s slingshot dropkick in the corner has Briscoe in trouble and we take a break. We come back with Jay Briscoe at ringside and distracting Kazarian for a shot to the back. The Froggy Bow misses and Kazarian grabs a quick crucifix for the pin at 7:58.

Rating: D+. Just not enough time here and there’s no way around something like that. The feud has some legs and the Addiction vs. the Briscoes is fine for a pay per view Tag Team Title match. The Briscoes need competition and they’re as good of an option as anyone else. It’s not like there are many other options.

Post match the beatdown is on until Scorpio Sky runs in. Punishment Martinez comes in as well though and So Cal Uncensored is beaten down.

Clips of some recent attacks, which feels quite a bit like filler.

Here are some clips of a brawl between Cheeseburger and the Dawgs after a match, with Ian saying they’re keeping this short to make sure the Iron Man match gets its full time. You mean they don’t have the whole show structured down to the minute? I can’t grasp this. Cheeseburger gets beaten down but spits at Will Ferrara, who palm strikes him down.

Video on Bully Ray and Silas Young’s issues. After Ray turned on him last week, Young yelled at him in the back.

ROH World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham

Lethal is defending and it’s a thirty minute Iron Man match. Feeling out process to start, as you might have expected. Gresham gets taken into the corner but shoves Lethal away as they still haven’t really gotten going yet. Lethal works on a wristlock but gets taken down by the leg, which Gresham rolls into a headlock exchange. That leads to a standoff as they’re certainly taking their time here, as they should.

Gresham gets taken into the corner again and we take a break. Back with things getting a bit more heated with Gresham throwing a punch and getting chopped into the corner. A belly to back suplex gives Jay two and another suplex gets two more. We hit the sleeper for a few moments before another chop exchange goes to Jay. The announcer says fifteen minutes gone by, though I’ve got it closer to eleven. Gresham gets more intense and kicks the arm out, followed by a tilt-a-whirl armbar into a faceplant.

Back from another break with Gresham dropping the arm onto the apron. They get back in and it’s an armtrap headlock as Gresham is certainly focused. Gresham wraps both arms around his leg and cranks back as we hit twenty minutes (not quite seventeen by my clock). Back up and they chop it out again with Lethal getting the better of it, eventually enziguring Gresham as we take another break.

We come back again with Gresham being knocked down but slipping out of the Figure Four. Instead it’s the Lethal Combination for a close two. At twenty five minutes down, Gresham gets two off a bridging German suplex. A cross armbreaker is countered into a countered Figure Four attempt and Gresham slaps on the Octopus Hold for a tap at 22:58, though the clock is still all over the place. Gresham is stunned and Lethal goes right at him with three minutes remaining on the official clock. The Figure Four goes on and Gresham is in big trouble. After over a minute and a half in the hold, Gresham taps out at 25:23 to tie things up.

We’re told there’s a minute left so Gresham tries a bunch of rollups for two each until time expires at 26:41. Hang on though as Gresham wants five more minutes of sudden death and Lethal says start the clock. They strike it out with Gresham’s enziguri rocking Lethal. La majistral gives Gresham two as we’re a minute into overtime.

Lethal is right back with a torture rack and the top rope elbow for two with three minutes left. It takes some time to get back up until a pinfall reversal sequence takes us to two minutes left. Lethal knocks him down again though and the Lethal Injection retains the title at 33:25 (counting the break between regulation and the start of sudden death).

Rating: B-. Bad timing issues aside, this wasn’t all that great of a match and didn’t need to be under Iron Man rules. They did a good job of setting the match up well over the last few weeks but at the end of the day, it didn’t feel epic and was nowhere near as great as they tried to make it out to be. Lethal never felt like he was in danger and the overtime was pretty obvious given how much time was left in the show. It’s good, but really nothing that hasn’t been done better before.

Overall Rating: C+. They tried for something different here and it worked about as well as it was going to. The main event was good and is somewhat worth seeing, but it’s nothing that you can’t see done better elsewhere. Again though: the next pay per view is in less than three weeks and you would barely know it from this show. Why is that so hard to figure out around here?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Two more will have started by the time you get done reading this.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-tournament-palooza/