Monday Night Raw
Date: March 17, 2025
Location: Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re still in Europe and that means the show is airing live around the world on Netflix. That makes for an interesting setup but there is something a bit more interesting than that on top. The big story this week is John Cena returning and hopefully explaining his attack on Cody Rhodes. The fact that Rhodes is here too should help so let’s get to it.

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

Commentary hypes up the card and says we should give John Cena the chance to explain himself.

We look back at Cena’s heel turn with Cody Rhodes’ promo from last week narrating.

Here is Cena to get things going and the fans are not pleased with him. Cena has the regular gear on and holds up the Last Time Is Now towel but is much more stoic than usual with far less energy. The dueling chants begin and Cena takes the microphone, which he drops and teases leaving but stops. Cena finally gives a quote about how you shouldn’t have to look outside yourself for approval.

The fans keep booing and Cena says this is making it so easy for him. Cena says that for twenty five years, he has been in an abusive relationship. The people have spent all these years bullying him into being his puppet and expecting him to do it with a smile on his face. The fans are not pleased with this and let him know (the censoring takes a second to catch up), which Cena calls “so very classy”. Cena: “I am not a babyface. I am not a heel. I’m a human being.”

Everyone has been awful to him and it has been the same noise for twenty five years (eh more like twenty but close enough). The fans have let him know that he wasn’t worthy of his attention so he changed himself, but it wasn’t enough. Then he worked hard like he always did and he did nothing but win and they still didn’t like him. Cena says the only thing he can do is leave, which is something that has never been done before, which gets some cheers.

One last time, Cena tries to do something nice for them and YOU RUIN IT JUST LIKE YOU RUIN EVERYTHING. Just like tonight, it’s two seconds of being great but that’s never enough! The fans sing the Goodbye Song and Cena goes into a rant about how everything has always been about what the fans get. No one ever asked how he was feeling so they get what they deserve, which is NOTHING. The fans don’t get a new look or new music because the look is his, just like the voice on his theme song.

The only thing you get is a long look in the mirror to see how bad people have been to him for twenty five years. Cena mocks the WE WANT CODY chant before pointing out some LET’S GO CENA chanters. Those people are the worst of them all because they have done nothing but steal from him. You steal his moments and times and made him the punchline of a stupid invisible joke for FIFTEEN YEARS AND IT IS NOT FUNNY!

These people wear words like hustle, loyalty and respect but he lives them every day. You think you can buy the idea of “never give up”? He is the embodiment of the idea and these people use him as an excuse for their pathetic failures of a life. Each of them, including the kid in Cena gear in the front row, is part of a TOXIC RELATIONSHIP. Cena: “I’m breaking up with you. I’m done. I’m breaking up with every single person. You’re dumped. I don’t care about you and you don’t matter to me.”

Cue Cody Rhodes to an absolute roar, leaving Cena just shaking his head. Rhodes says everyone, including himself, was willing to hear Cena out. Cena said everyone gave him their worst but they have also given him their best for twenty five years. They did that because Cena could do that and carry it. Cena: “Listen kid…” Rhodes: “ENOUGH! It certainly isn’t kid. It’s WWE Champion.”

Rhodes was looking forward to going toe to toe to Cena week to week but this version better not show up at Wrestlemania. He already took Cena’s best shot so he’ll send Cena to retirement early. At Wrestlemania, he wants the real Cena, not this whiny b****. Rhodes leaves (no music) and poses on the stage with the title before leaving. Cena drops the mic and goes to leave, earning a reprise of the Goodbye Song. He goes up the aisle, teases a pose, and then walks away.

This went on for the better part of half an hour and it didn’t feel real. After so many years of the same kind of stuff from Cena, it was so strange to see him just unleashing all of this venom. It worked very well and told Cena’s story, with Cena intentionally talking down to everyone watching. That’s what it should have been and while it’s going to take some time to process, my goodness did it work well, with the fans being furious with him the whole time. Rhodes’ stuff was fine, but this was ALL about Cena, as fans have been waiting a very long time for this.

Michael Cole goes on a rant about what Cena just said and credits the fans for everything that Cena has. Cole: “Cena is an irrational p***k.” Corey Graves says we don’t have to like it but there’s going to be a fight at Wrestlemania.

The main event is for the Intercontinental Title so we look at some classic Wrestlemania matches, including Savage vs. Steamboat. Yeah that still holds up.

Penta vs. Ludwig Kaiser

No DQ and they slug it out to start until Penta knocks him to the floor. A missed charge sends Penta into the timekeeper’s area but Penta walks the barricade for a hurricanrana into the apron (thankfully Kaiser stood there while Penta was coming at him). Penta hits a big running flip dive over the top and they strike it out on the announcers’ table. Kaiser goes to the eyes and hits a Death Valley Driver onto the table as we take a break.

Back with Penta hitting a high crossbody and a Backstabber to put Kaiser down. Kaiser gets in another Death Valley Driver and they go outside, where Penta backdrops him onto the announcers’ table. Back in and they strike it out until Kaiser gets two off a neckbreaker. Kaiser demands that Penta fear him and hits a loud chair shot to the back. He demands that Penta say he’s scared but Penta reverses into the Sacrifice.

Penta grabs a chair so Kaiser backs off and says Penta wins. Then Kaiser rakes the eyes and takes the chair, only to get it superkicked into his face. Penta does it again and hits a middle rope Canadian Destroyer onto the chair (ignore that Penta landed on it instead of him), setting up the Penta Driver for the pin at 13:53.

Rating: B. The thing that catches my attention here is how few weapons they used here. Other than the announcers’ table, the chair was the only thing involved. Rather than using a bunch of weapons, they told a story with Kaiser becoming obsessed with breaking Penta but not being able to do it. Penta gets a big win and can move on, possibly into a title feud.

Post match Penta thanks the fans and says he’s coming for the Intercontinental Title. There you go.

Dakota Kai comes to the ring. Of note: Karrion Kross could be seen talking to Dominik Mysterio.

We go to the Judgment Day clubhouse where the team wishes each other luck when Dominik comes in. Balor thanks him for getting an Intercontinental Title shot tonight. Dominik has an idea of adding someone new to the team (Liv Morgan doesn’t think this is the right time) like say, Penta. Balor is NOT pleased and calls Dominik a snake. With Balor gone, Dominik says he didn’t know Penta wanted the Intercontinental Title. Carlito: “You don’t watch the show do you?” Points for a funny line.

Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile

Chad Gable and the rest of American Made are here too. Kai knocks her into the corner to start but what looks like an RKO is shoved away. Nile hammers away but charges into some shots to the face. Kai fights back with a boot in the corner and another out to the floor, only for Gable to offer a distraction. Back up and Nile hits something like a swinging Rock Bottom for two but here is the LWO to go after the Creeds. Gable is chased out of the arena and the running boot in the corner into the GTK finishes for Kai at 2:49.

Adam Pearce is here to emcee the contract signing between Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair. Sky says she won’t be disrespected again because she is the Women’s World Champion. She signs to get us halfway done. Belair says if Sky thought that was disrespectful, Sky doesn’t know her at all. Belair signs as well…and here is Rhea Ripley to interrupt.

Ripley gets in Belair’s face but says she’s just here to watch. Ripley isn’t pleased and gets shoved by Bianca, only for Ripley to put Belair on the table. A powerbomb sends Sky onto Belair….and Ripley signs the contract as well before taking it with her. This continues the wrestling tradition of THIS ISN’T HOW CONTRACTS WORK.

Jey Uso is ready to face Gunther….and then he runs into Gunther. Arguing and shoving ensues but security breaks it up.

Jey Uso vs. Austin Theory

Grayson Waller is here with Theory, who gets speared for the pin at 30 seconds.

Post match Uso tries a dive onto the villains but doesn’t quite clear the rope, thankfully being ok as he lands on the apron. Gunther comes in for the sleeper but Uso fights out and the brawl is on. Uso takes the title off of Gunther, who gets it back and bails. Yeeting ensues. Gunther continues to feel secondary to a lot of things around here and that’s not a great sign.

Video on Bron Breakker vs. Finn Balor.

Adam Pearce yells at Rhea Ripley about the contract, saying it’s like talking to a child. Ripley gives the contract back and wants in the match but here is Bianca Belair to jump her. Iyo Sky joins in and all three of them fight each other. Pearce and a single referee come in to break it up, which seems inefficient.

Creed Brothers vs. LWO

Brutus is knocked to the floor to start as Graves suggests that last week’s masked luchador could have been Del Wilkes or Tom Brandi. Julius comes in with a hard clothesline and we take a break. Back with Mysterio coming in to clean house but Julius gets in a backbreaker. Mysterio hits a DDT and Lee takes out Brutus, leaving Mysterio to hit a 619 into the springboard splash for the pin at 5:47. Not enough shown to rate but it was about getting Mysterio in the ring, which is fine.

Post match the masked luchador comes in to jump the LWO, including some German suplexes. Security chases him off.

We look back at last week’s main event with Roman Reigns attacking Seth Rollins, costing CM Punk a match. Reigns then took Punk out as well, mainly due to Paul Heyman checking on Punk.

Here is Rollins (in far more normal attire) for a chat. We get a VERY extended WHOA period from the crowd, Rollins hits his catchphrase and praises the people. The fans chant for CM Punk and then Roman Reigns but Rollins finds it impressive that Reigns still can’t come up with a plan without his Wise Man. Reigns had everything figured out but he forgot one more detail, with the fans against chanting for Punk.

Rollins says this is like the good old days, as he has to clean up Reigns’ mess. This Friday, they’ll be in the same place on Smackdown and he’ll get in between the two of them. That’s for a few days from now though, so how about the fans sing his song one more time before the main event? And they do. Rollins didn’t say much here but it was mainly about saying “we’ll do something that actually matters on Friday”.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

AJ Styles doesn’t think Logan Paul belongs around here but here are Karrion Kross and Scarlett to interrupt. Kross thinks Styles might be mad at himself so Styles goes to leave. Kross gets him to stay and asks how long Styles took to get to WWE. It didn’t take Paul 17 years to get to WWE, but Styles says this isn’t working. Kross, after Styles leaves: “I think it’s working.”

Bron Breakker stares down Penta in the back but nothing is said/done.

HHH Hall Of Fame video.

Intercontinental Title: Finn Balor vs. Bron Breakker

Breakker is defending. Balor’s headlock doesn’t get him very far to start as Breakker powers things into the corner without much trouble. They go to the floor with Breakker doing his big run around the ropes, only to get caught with the Sling Blade. We take a break and come back with Balor spinning into a Russian legsweep for two. Some trash talk gets Breakker mad and he snaps off a suplex. The suplex powerslam connects but here is the Judgment Day for a distraction.

Balor plants him for two but Breakker is right back up to knock him outside. The clothesline from the apron onto the announcers’ table crushes Balor, with Breakker staying down too. Back in and a Sling Blade drops Breakker again, with a dropkick into the corner, only to miss the Coup de Grace. The Super Spear hits the buckle but Breakker hits the gorilla press powerslam for two. Balor goes up top but gets crotched, only for the Judgment Day to offer a distraction. That’s broken up and it’s the super Frankensteiner into the Super Spear to retain the title at 12:32.

Rating: B. Balor not winning isn’t the biggest surprise as he just doesn’t do that in big matches. What matters the most here is that Breakker gets a nice win on his way to a potential Wrestlemania showdown with Penta. The Judgment Day’s woes continue and now we get to see where this goes as things keep falling apart. For now though, we have a Breakker vs. Penta match coming and that has me interested.

Post match Judgment Day goes after Breakker but Penta runs in for the save. Penta holds up the title but hands it to Breakker for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a rather unique show, with the one big thing dominating the rest, though most of the rest was good enough. That being said, this was ALL about the Cena segment, which fans have been waiting on and it certainly delivered (albeit going a bit long). The fans were invested though and that should make for a great Road To Wrestlemania on the way to the huge showdown. Cena sounded like a star and I want to see where it goes, which suggests that they’re doing something right.

Other than that, you have the rest of the show, with Penta of all people feeling like the biggest story. That’s a good sign, as Penta has not even been around for three months and is already in a prominent role. There is a good chance that he’ll get a title match either at or just before Wrestlemania, which opens up some interesting possibilities. The Women’s Title match is likely all but set as well, along with Jey Uso doing his thing. Naturally Cena was the big story here, but the rest held up well enough. Couple that with another red hot crowd and this was a rather nice show.

Results
Penta b. Ludwig Kaiser – Penta Driver
Dakota Kai b. Ivy Nile – GTK
Jey Uso b. Austin Theory – Spear
LWO b. Creed Brothers – Springboard splash to Julius
Bron Breakker b. Finn Balor – Super Spear

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

 

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 10, 2025
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

They’re back home this week as the show is in the Garden with a couple of major matches. First up, and likely in the main event, it’s Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk inside a steel cage. Other than that, it’s time to get even more ready for Wrestlemania and that should make for some interesting situations. Let’s get to it.

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

Jey Uso vs. Grayson Waller

Austin Theory is in Waller’s corner. Waller kicks the leg out to start and sends Uso into the post, only to get kicked in the head for his efforts. A clothesline puts Waller on the floor but Theory gets in a cheap shot, allowing Waller to drop Uso for a change. We take a break and come back with Waller’s middle rope elbow connecting for two. Uso fights up and hits the superkick (which might not have connected), only for the dive to be cut off by a Stunner over the ropes. The rolling Downward Spiral gives Waller two but Uso hits him in the face. The spear gives Uso the pin at 9:10.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t about Uso being in danger of losing but rather him having to overcome some odds before getting a win. Uso is being built up as a singles star and while Waller is beneath him, it’s a nice way to boost him on the way to the biggest match of his career at Wrestlemania. It’s nothing great, but it did what it needed to, albeit without being the most thrilling match.

Post match Theory comes in for the beatdown but gets dropped for a Superfly Splash. Cue Gunther to choke Uso out. Gunther feels like an afterthought on this show and while annoying, it’s not surprising given how many other stars there are around here.

Long video on CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, focusing on the hatred that has built up for over a year.

The Alpha Academy checks on Seth Rollins in the trainer’s room.

Here is Logan Paul, who rips off a fan’s shirt on the way to the ring. The fans are NOT happy to see Paul, who tries to talk about AJ Styles but eggs on the booing as he tends to do. Paul talks about how there are some names which transcend wrestling, which is why it surprised him that Cody Rhodes turned down the Rock. It took John Cena twenty years to realize that nice guys finish last.

Paul has known that for twenty years so consider his soul for sale. He’s the one in the ring while the regular people are watching from the crowd. Paul talks to comedian Andrew Schultz in the crowd who must be here to see him, but Schultz says he’s here for the cage match. No one is here for Paul but Schultz wants to see AJ Styles. Paul pulls him over the barricade and loads up a suplex but Styles makes the save. The Phenomenal Forearm lays Paul out and Styles calls Paul out, only for Paul to leave instead. This likely sets up a Wrestlemania match but it felt like it was more to promote Schultz.

We look back at Iyo Sky beating Rhea Ripley for the Women’s Title last week.

TKO is launching a boxing promotion.

We look at a cage match from the 70s with Bruno Sammartino defeating Ivan Koloff in the first televised cage match from the Garden.

New Day vs. LWO

Tornado tag match. The LWO wastes no time in cleaning house and knock New Day to the floor. Woods fights back on Mysterio and teases loading up a table, only to shove it back underneath the ring. An assisted seated senton takes Kofi Kingston down as Woods is whipped into the barricade (right in front of NXT Champion Oba Femi). New Day fights up and plants Lee on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Lee hitting a top rope double stomp to Kofi, setting up a hurricanrana to send Woods onto the table (which only kind of breaks, leaving Woods to have to hit it for the break). Back in and Mysterio’s springboard spinning crossbody gets two on Kingston and the 619 connects. The frog splash hits knees though and Kingston rolls him up for two of his own with Lee making the save.

Lee flip dives onto Kingston….and here’s a guy in a mask to take Lee out with a hurricanrana. Mysterio gets caught with a delayed German suplex by the masked man, who is in no way Chad Gable (ignore the AMERICAN MADE on his mask and him doing Gable’s pose). Security goes after the masked man, who sprints through the crowd. The top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination finishes Mysterio at 11:16.

Rating: C+. I’m liking the Lucha Gable stuff and I can absolutely see him making it (whatever it is going to be) work, but I’m not so sure on the New Day. They’re still hated by the crowd and the heel turn has made them more interesting than they have been in years, but who are they supposed to face? Other than getting the Tag Team Titles from the War Raiders or Big E. bringing in someone to fight them, they feel like they’re just kind of there, which is a weird way to go for someone who had so much heat.

We look at Bron Breakker going after Judgment Day last week.

Finn Balor is annoyed at Bron Breakker but Carlito doesn’t seem to listen because he’s staring at the apple. The rest of the team comes in and Dominik Mysterio has gotten Balor an Intercontinental Title shot next week. Balor gives him quite the hug and is proud of Mysterio for making this happen. Liv Morgan isn’t convinced but Mysterio thinks Balor has this.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat after a break. Rhodes is here because this is the cathedral of entertainment but John Cena isn’t here tonight. Cena and his inner circle aren’t here but they’ll be in Brussels, Belgium next week. That doesn’t work for Rhodes as Cena has quite the history in MSG. It was an easy decision, just like swinging someone after you have kicked them low and have backup.

Rhodes doesn’t begrudge Cena for calling his shot or having a part time schedule because part time Cena is better than most people full time. We get the dueling Cena chants and Rhodes says let’s let Cena hear it. Rhodes didn’t like Cena saying he had the discipline to do what needed to be done even if no one wanted it.

Rhodes talks about that mentor that you want to yell at and at this point he wants to tell Cena to shut up you “moron” (you could hear the audio cut out for a second as it seems they thought he was going to say something else that started with “mo”). Rhodes is looking forward to beating his mentor one more time because he is the captain now. He thanks the fans and that’s it. This was setting things up as a passing of the torch, which is an interesting way to go. Rhodes has been carrying this since the turn, but things could get cranked way up again next week when Cena is back.

We look at Jimmy Snuka’s cage dive on Don Muraco, with approximately 384 wrestlers in the crowd.

Various celebrities are here.

Bayley vs. Raquel Rodriguez

For a shot at the Women’s Intercontinental Title and Dominik Mysterio/Liv Morgan are here with Rodriguez. Bayley gets sent to the apron to start and her Stunner over the ropes is broken up. Back in and Rodriguez misses a charge into the corner, allowing Bayley to grab a middle rope armdrag. Rodriguez gives her a swinging front facelock but gets sent into the corner for a quick Bronco Buster.

Bayley knocks her down again and we take a break. Back with Rodriguez missing a legdrop on the apron and getting caught with a middle rope Stunner. A knee to the head rocks Rodriguez again and the top rope elbow gives Bayley two. Rodriguez is sent outside and gets posted so Morgan and Mysterio offer distractions. That’s enough for Rodriguez to plant Bayley on the announcers’ table and Bayley has to beat the count. The Tejana Bomb gives Rodriguez the pin at 10:05.

Rating: B-. What matters here is that we’re getting someone else involved in the title picture. Lyra Valkyria is in a weird place as she’s the new champion and doesn’t have anything to do other than have one off title matches. Rodriguez can be the next challenger, though you would think that Bayley beating Valkyria in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match a few weeks ago would be enough to get her a title shot.

Chad Gable denies being the masked man earlier. Gable doesn’t know who that fan was, but he should have been dragged out a lot earlier. We see the masked man being taken away by security and Gable gives Cathy Kelly an “I told you so” look. I’m intrigued.

We look at Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase in a cage in 1988.

More celebrities are here.

Michael Cole is in the ring to talk to Iyo Sky. The fans tell Sky that she deserves it and she says it is a dream to be here as champion. She is over the moon to be going to Wrestlemania as champion but here is Bianca Belair for the big staredown. Cole asks her about the Rhea Ripley situation from last week but Belair wasn’t out there to cost Ripley. Cue Ripley to interrupt, wanting to know why Belair was out here last week. Belair said she explained it already but Ripley doesn’t buy it.

Maybe Belair should have handled her business with Naomi and Jade Cargill. Belair says Ripley is made because Belair clapped for both of them last week. The reality is Ripley can’t beat Sky and she’s blaming Belair. They go face to face and shove Sky away for trying to break it up. Sky slaps Ripley and Belair and points at the sign, suggesting a triple threat at Wrestlemania. That’s an upgrade over Sky vs. Belair, as Ripley is a bigger star than both of them and needs something to do.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk

In a cage with pinfall, submission or escape to win. Rollins jumps him fast to start but Punk slugs away in the corner. They trade shots in the middle with Punk getting the better of things but Rollins is back with a powerbomb against the cage as we take a break. Back with Punk still in trouble and Rollins opening the door, seemingly offering to let Punk leave. Punk flips him off (and the camera cuts out) before countering another buckle bomb with a hurricanrana into the cage.

The GTS connects with Rollins but Punk sits and stares at him instead of trying to leave. Rollins flips him off as well to bring Punk back to the middle, where a neckbreaker puts Rollins down again. Punk hits the top rope elbow and then does it two more times for a near fall. With nothing else working, Punk goes to the top of the cage but Rollins rolls to the corner before Punk can dive.

They fight on top of the cage (with a drone camera shot for a really unique visual) until Rollins superplexes him down for two. Punk is back with a GTS for two of his own but Rollins pulls him into an STF. That’s reversed into the Anaconda Vice, which is escaped so Rollins can hit a Stomp for two. A third GTS gives Punk two so he hits his own Stomp for two. Rollins shouts that Punk wants his house and then grabs his own GTS into another Stomp for another near fall. A super Stomp knocks Punk cold (Rollins: “Come on motherf*****”)…..but here is Roman Reigns to pull Rollins through the door for the win at 19:29.

Rating: B. This was about telling an interesting story, as neither tried to escape for the most part. That makes sense as it wasn’t about winning as much as it was about beating the other person. Hence all of the covers and kickouts, which granted did get to be a bit much at times. Reigns interfering is going to set up something at Wrestlemania and helps protect Punk in defeat, as Rollins didn’t pin him and interference cost Punk the match (which he won’t like either).

Post match Reigns wrecks Rollins and gives him a spear into a Stomp on the floor. Reigns isn’t done and loads up a Stomp on the steps but Adam Pearce and company break it up. We look tin the ring….where Paul Heyman is helping Punk up. That is NOT cool with Reigns, who wrecks Punk as Heyman looks on to end the show.

WWE has built up these three people (plus Heyman) to the point where ANYTHING they do is interesting because it makes you wonder where they’re going next. Heyman helped out an old friend (who had done nothing to Reigns) and the place went coconuts. It sets up a Wrestlemania triple threat and was done by the simple act of Heyman kneeling next to Punk.

This is how wrestling is supposed to work and it still does if it’s done properly.

Overall Rating: B-. The show started off a bit weak but then it got a lot better in the last hour or so. The important part of the show was setting up a bunch of Wrestlemania matches, which needs to be done as we are just over a month away from the big weekend. They did a good job of bringing that show together, though there is still a lot more to do. The first hour and a half or so was a bit weak without much of note, but the Sky/Ripley/Belair segment and main event stuff picked it up a lot. This show was an important step towards Wrestlemania and that’s what it needed to be.

Results
Jey Uso b. Grayson Waller – Spear
New Day b. LWO – Top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination to Mysterio
Raquel Rodriguez b. Bayley – Tejana Bomb
Seth Rollins b. CM Punk – Rollins escaped the cage

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

 

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 3, 2025
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the show after Elimination Chamber and that means there are no more major roadblocks on the Road To Wrestlemania. Tonight we have a Women’s Title match as Rhea Ripley defends against Iyo Sky, with the winner to defend against Bianca Belair at Wrestlemania. Oh and John Cena is now a villain. Let’s get to it.

Here is Elimination Chamber if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of Elimination Chamber, which really was an eventful show. Naturally the Cena moment gets the most attention.

Commentary makes it simple: Cena sold his soul to get one more World Title.

We run down the card.

A ticked off CM Punk arrives and storms the arena, even knocking down the Prime station. He stands on the announcers’ table and rants about how he might get us kicked off of Netflix. Allow him to address his enemies and since his name is CM Punk, that means everyone. Who is the first target tonight? Punk asks the fans to give him a name and Punk picks the Rock, getting right in the camera to call him a bald fraud. If Rock thinks he’s immune from criticism because he’s on the Board Of Directors, he has no idea who he’s dealing with here.

Mr. Midlife Crisis decides to come in whenever he feels like it but he hasn’t graced us with his presence tonight to do his bulls*** about having goosebumps. Punk has never been so desperate to wear a fake title and declare himself the people’s champion because he earns that right. He has never been so desperate to sell his soul, and that brings him to John Cena (the fans are interested). Now everyone can see right through Cena and Punk gave him the benefit of the doubt when Cena didn’t have to quality.

Twenty plus years of hustle, loyalty and respect and now Punk has been proven fight about everything Cena has been saying. Punk didn’t quit in the Elimination Chamber because Cena gave us on all of those kids. He’ll get his hands on Cena down the road and Cena will make a wish that it never happened. As for the person who has all of Punk’s attention, let’s talk about Seth Rollins. Becky Lynch better come get her man before Punk puts him in a wheelchair…and here is Rollins to interrupt.

They don’t waste time talking as Punk charges up the aisle and the brawl is on with agents and referees breaking it up. That doesn’t last long as they get at each other a few more times, including in the ring with about twenty people trying to hold them apart. It still doesn’t work as Rollins dives over the announcers’ table to stay on him. They’re FINALLY separated and we take a break after a red hot opening. Punk was bringing the fire with that promo and it felt like he was genuinely angry with everything he was saying, which is a great sign.

During the break, Punk and Rollins got into it again in the crowd. This was broken up quickly, but well done on making things feel more real.

We look back at Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles last week.

Judgment Day is happy with the title win, with Raquel Rodriguez teasing going after the Women’s Intercontinental Title. Finn Balor isn’t thrilled and brings up Liv Morgan losing in the Elimination Chamber, plus the team’s other losses. Dominik Mysterio again brings up adding another member, but Balor thinks the solution is he (as in Balor) beats up Bron Breakker tonight. With Balor gone, Morgan and Rodriguez say they still don’t know what happened with Jade Cargill in the Chamber.

Otis vs. Gunther

Non-title and the rest of the Alpha Academy is here too. Before the match, Gunther says he knows Otis is as strong as an ox but to Gunther, he’s just a freak. Otis is in the same category as Jey Uso, meaning he does not belong in Gunther’s ring. The reality is Gunther wears the World Heavyweight Title as a prize while Otis can’t find a belt that fits. Therefore, it’s time to teach him a lesson, just like he’ll do to Uso at Wrestlemania.

Gunther hits him before the bell and we start fast. Otis fights up and hammers away in the corner, only to get kicked in the leg. Some boots to the face put Otis on the floor but some slaps to the head wake him up. A fall away slam on the floor sends Gunther flying as commentary is impressed.

We take a break and come back with Gunther holding a crossface. Another boot to the face cuts off another Otis comeback attempt but Otis grabs a belly to back suplex for a needed breather. Back up and the chops wake Otis up so he chops right back until Otis drops him with a clothesline. Gunther charges into a slam and the Caterpillar gets two. Gunther’s dropkick puts Otis down but he’s right back up with another suplex. Some hard clotheslines put Otis down for two and Gunther is looking frustrated. The powerbomb puts Otis away at 9:41.

Rating: B. These guys had a hoss fight and that’s what it needed to be. Gunther was never going to be in serious damage against Otis, but Otis gave him a heck of a fight and struck away with everything he had. It was an entertaining fight and the two of them did about as well as could be expected here. Sometimes you need the champion to break a sweat in a match where he isn’t in much danger and Otis did just that.

Post match Gunther grabs a sleeper so Akira Tozawa comes in for a failed save attempt. Jey Uso (ROAR) makes the real save. With Gunther gone, A-Town Down Under runs in to jump Uso, who fights them off without much trouble. Then Gunther comes back in to choke Uso out. That was a lot and it made sense.

Video on Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky before their title match tonight.

There is a new Raw Recap show starting on Youtube tomorrow.

We see more reactions to Cena’s turn at Elimination Chamber, with promises of another look to come. We’ve already looked at it about four times.

AJ Styles is asked about what Cena did and says “wow”. He didn’t see it coming and here is Karrion Kross to put his arms around Cena and saying it makes sense. Styles cuts him off and says he isn’t Cena. Maybe the WWE Universe needs a reminder of who Styles is, so next week, he’ll call out Logan Paul in Madison Square Garden. He’s not interested in Kross’ help either, but after Styles leaves, Kross says “that was easy”.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile

Valkyria is defending and drives her into the corner to start. A hiptoss gives Valkyria one so Nile drops her with a clothesline. Valkyria dropkicks her to the floor but Nile is right back with a dragon screw legwhip out of the corner as we take a break. Back with Nile still working on the leg before she pulls a high crossbody out of the air.

A gutwrench powerbomb puts Nile down but Valkyria’s leg gives out. Nile gets caught with an enziguri but is fine enough to counter a tornado DDT into a suplex. Valkyria gets in a quick swinging neckbreaker, only for the leg to give out again. Nile’s sitout powerbomb gets two and she grabs the ankle lock. Valkyria avoids a boot in the corner and hits a backbreaker, setting up Nightwing to retain at 9:32.

Rating: B-. This was a good example of a match where they did everything right and told a nice story but the match just wasn’t very interesting. There wasn’t much of a spark here as they were just doing stuff until Valkyria retained. The title is still new, but it needs a hotter feud than this to get the interest going.

We look back at the Seth Rollins/CM Punk brawl earlier tonight.

Rollins tries to leave the building and gets into it with Punk again. Adam Pearce runs in as Punk says he’ll kill Rollins.

Post break Rollins and Pearce yell at each other, with Rollins promising to take Punk out if Pearce doesn’t do something about this. Pearce is fine with that and makes a cage match for next week at Madison Square Garden. Works for Rollins, who is told to get on his bus, with security tasked with keeping him on it.

Here is Ludwig Kaiser for a chat. After demanding the fans’ appreciation, Kaiser talks about taking back the attention from Penta last week. The reality is he is a future World Champion and he is ready to take out Penta. While Penta may say he doesn’t know fear, Kaiser will teach him what it means. Cue Penta to interrupt for the brawl and Kaiser is knocked out to the floor for the running flip dive.

Bianca Belair is asked about Jade Cargill’s return to attack Naomi at Elimination Chamber. Out of respect to both of them, she won’t talk about it but she’s just as proud to go to Wrestlemania. Tonight, she finds out who she is going to be face. Natalya and Maxxine Dupri could be seen talking in the background in something that might not matter much.

We look at Cena’s heel turn again, with the commentary from different languages for an international flavor.

Chad Gable appears to be in Mexico and is asking people if they know someone whose picture he is carrying. Eventually he goes to a mystery man with a beard, who is apparently going to help him beat the luchadors. The man says Gable has to become lucha and gives him a box (in exchange for a good deal of money). Whatever is in the box (which we can’t see) will give him power beyond understanding. This is either going to be amazing or really stupid.

Raw Tag Team Titles: War Raiders vs. Creed Brothers

The Raiders are defending. Erik powers Julius back into the corner to start before Julius does it the same, with Brutus hammering away. Ivar comes in for the clotheslines, setting up a handspring double elbow. Erik slams Ivar onto Brutus, only for Julius to dropkick Ivar off the top and outside. A ram into the steps has Ivar in more trouble as we take a break.

Back with a double suplex getting two on Ivar but he gets in a sitdown splash out of the corner. It’s back to Erik who gets two clean house as the fans demand WAR. The pop up powerslam plants Julius but he gets in a knee to Erik. Ivar is sent into the post and Brutus adds a not so smooth 450 for two on Erik. Ivar tags himself back in and Erik gets superplexed down, only to avoid a moonsault. Brutus avoids Ivar’s moonsault and Julius hits a shooting star press for two of his own. The Brutus Ball misses Erik and the War Machine to Brutus retains the titles at 11:42.

Rating: B-. It was nice to see the Creeds getting to show what they could do for a change, but like the women’s match earlier, there was only so much fire in what they were doing. The Raiders were better, but I was only getting into this one so far. It’s nice to have the titles being defended though, as the Raiders are getting established as more of a dominant team for the time being.

We look at Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn wrecking each other at Elimination Chamber with Owens ending him with quite the beating. Then Randy Orton returned to go after Owens, which should be setting up a Wrestlemania fight.

The LWO isn’t happy with the New Day for beating them last week but you can never take their heart. Rey Mysterio returns and says New Day should have finished what they started. Next week, it’s a tornado tag match. You don’t get Mysterio being this serious very often and it worked fairly well.

We come back from a break with Finn Balor in the ring and arguing with Bron Breakker, who is in the crowd with Jackie Redmond. Breakker says he embarrassed the entire Judgment Day last week but Balor is ready to take the Intercontinental Title from him at anytime. That’s enough for Breakker, who comes to the ring, but has to take out Carlito and Dominik Mysterio. Balor gets in a Sling Blade, only for Breakker to take him down again. The super spear is loaded up but Judgment Day pulls Balor outside in time. Carlito gets speared down instead.

We get the long look at John Cena’s turn at Elimination Chamber.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

The Alpha Academy thanks Jey Uso for helping them earlier. With the team gone, Uso says he’s a bit thrown off by getting taken out by Gunther earlier. This is the wrong time to be shaken up though because every week he is told HE CAN’T DO IT. He feels like his back is against the wall and he can’t breathe but when Gunther put him to sleep, he woke up a sleeping beast. Uso is feeling these promos lately and I’m getting a lot more interested in the match.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky

Ripley is defending and Bianca Belair is at ringside. We do the Big Match Intros and Ripley gets one heck of a response. Ripley powers her around to start before hitting a running dropkick for one. A rollup gives Sky one and Ripley hits her in the face as a result. Sky gets smarter by kicking Ripley in the head but she misses the 619. They go outside for some swings into the apron before Ripley muscles her up for a nice suplex.

We take a break and come back with Ripley getting two off a missile dropkick but Sky grabs a Backstabber (not a Codebreaker Cole). Sky hits a running basement dropkick and then a missile dropkick to send Ripley into the corner. Back up and Ripley fires off some clotheslines but gets rolled into a double stomp (Belair approves) for two. They forearm it out until Ripley has to block a rollup, with a faceplant giving Ripley two more.

The Prism Trap is blocked and Sky snaps the arm down onto the apron, only to get booted in the face (with a good sell from Sky) for another near fall. Riptide is countered into a DDT though and Sky hits a running boot in the corner. The top rope elbow connects for two (with back to back Damage CTRL moves from Sky in a nice touch) and the Asuka Lock goes on to complete the team menu. Sky hits some running knees in the corner, only to get caught on top. A belly to back superplex gives Ripley two and it’s time to looked stunned.

Now the Prism Trap goes on, with Sky managing to send her into the post. Ripley gets back up and gets sunset bombed into the barricade to keep her in trouble. Over The Moonsault to the back gives Sky two, with Ripley getting a boot on the ropes. Ripley bails to the floor and gets taken out by a suicide dive but she cuts off what looked like a Lionsault.

Sky gets dropped face first onto various things, with Belair cheering both of them on as they get back inside. Ripley goes outside to yell at Belair (who has been completely neutral) and shoves her down. Belair shoves her back so the referee has to break it up. Back in and Ripley takes her up top, but stops to yell at Belair. That’s enough for Sky to grab a super hurricanrana and Over The Moonsault finishes Ripley for the title at 18:39.

Rating: B+. I was scared that they were going to have a lame DQ ending but instead they went with something interesting as Ripley’s own ego got in the way and cost her the title. Sky was bringing it to Ripley throughout here and it made for a heck of a fight, with the two of them feeling equal throughout. At some point you have to bring someone up to that main event level in the women’s division and this might have been Sky’s ticket there. Great match with an excellent story throughout.

Sky is shocked at the win while Belair’s face says “well ok then”. Ripley is furious to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The opening segment brought the emotion and the main event was one of the better Raw matches in a good while. The rest of the show set up some things going forward and next week’s Raw is looking like a big one. Finally you have the focus on the Cena situation, which is going to lead to some of the biggest reactions you’ll see in a long time. Good show here, with the main event being more than worth a look.

Results
Gunther b. Otis – Powerbomb
Lyra Valkyria b. Ivy Nile – Nightwing
War Raiders b. Creed Brothers – War Machine to Brutus
Iyo Sky b. Rhea Ripley – Over The Moonsault

 

 

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Slammiversary 2010
Date: June 13, 2010
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Mike Tenay

This is something I don’t get very often, as someone wanted me to look at an old TNA show. In this case it’s still fairly early in the Hogan/Bischoff regime and the main event is Sting challenging Rob Van Dam for the World Title. Other than that, Abyss is being rather violent with Desmond Wolfe so we have Monster’s Ball. Let’s get to it.

Sidenote: it’s Slammiversary VIII, which is of course the sixth Slammiversary. I get what they’re going for, but it doesn’t sound great.

The opening video looks at the company’s history, which really has been quite strong over the years. That being said, the “modern” stuff with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff bring it back down.

Kurt Angle vs. Kazarian

Angle is annoyed that Kazarian made a recent top ten so it’s time to beat him up. Kazarian gets taken down by the arm to start and cranking ensues. That’s reverses into Kazarian’s own wristlock but Angle snaps off a German suplex. A low blow cuts Angle down though and a slingshot legdrop gives Kazarian two.

Back up and another release German suplex drops Kazarian, followed by an overhead belly to belly for the same. Angle mixes it up a bit with a powerbomb into the ankle lock but Kazarian rolls out in a hurry. For some reason Kazarian thinks going to the top against Angle is a good idea, earning himself the belly to belly superplex back down.

The rolling German suplexes let Angle take the straps down but Kazarian is up with the Fade To Black (Hangman Page’s Deadeye) for two of his own. A quick Angle Slam gives Angle two but he gets powerbombed out of the corner for the same. Angle pulls him into the ankle lock and grapevines him for the tap at 14:16.

Rating: B. This was getting going and Kazarian was able to hang with Angle pretty well. Granted that might be due to Angle’s pretty rapid descent around this time. You could see the personal issues starting to take their toll and it would only get worse going forward. He could still do well enough here, though dang it’s weird seeing him in a spot like this rather than the main event scene.

Commentary praises the various commentators over the years.

X-Division Title: Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick is challenging after having beaten Williams, who hates high fliers, in a non-title match. Feeling out process to start with Kendrick pulling him into an armbar, sending Williams over to the ropes. Williams’ front facelock is broken up as well as they’re certainly going technical to start.

Williams gets logical by going after the leg before they head outside, where Kendrick misses a charge into the barricade. Back in and we hit a camel clutch, followed by a pop up Samoan drop for two on Kendrick. We go European with a cravate on Kendrick, who fights out and hits a missile dropkick. Williams gets in a hard kick to the ribs and a rollup gets two, followed by a gutwrench suplex. Rolling Chaos Theory is broken up but Williams is right back with the tornado DDT to retain at 9:36.

Rating: C+. This was a fine way to go as Williams gets to keep the title. The X-Division has been such a major focal point of the company’s history that it had to be featured on a show like this, though you might have expected the title to change hands for the feel good moment. Williams was a talented star and the “mat wrestler who hates high flying” is a classic story, but the match was only pretty good.

Eric Bischoff, with assistant Miss Tessmacher, is looking forward to the main event and wants Rob Van Dam to get rid of Sting for awhile.

Knockouts Title: Roxxi vs. Madison Rayne

Rayne is defending after, just like the previous match, the champ got beat in a non-title match. Hold on though as Rayne asks how the Beautiful People have been so dominant but Roxxi gets to pop in and out whenever she likes. What is she putting on the line tonight? We should make it a title vs. career match, with Roxxi agreeing, and then getting hit in the face with the microphone to start fast.

Roxxi is busted open but comes back with a clothesline and ax handle for two, only to be sent outside. Back in and Rayne sends her into the corner before cranking on the arm, which feels a bit out of place when Roxxi is pouring blood. Roxxi fights up with a boot to the face and a Voodoo Drop gets two. Back up and Rayne hits a quick Rayne Drop to end Roxxi’s career at 4:16.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure if they went home early because of the blood or if this was the plan, but either way, this was far from something interesting, as it was more or less a basic TV match. I would expect something more out of both a pay per view title match, as well as the end of Roxxi’s career. Nothing much to see here and that’s a disappointment.

We recap Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neal, which is due to Ray thinking Neal (his former student) is disrespectful. Naturally this is what we get rather than a match between their respective teams, because that might make too much sense.

Brother Ray vs. Jesse Neal

Hold on though as Ray asks both partners (D-Von and Shannon Moore) to come out here, with Ray offering an apology. Ray calls Neal a hero for his time in the Navy and yes he (Ray) made a mistake. Team 3D goes to leave and yes of course Ray jumps Neal on the ramp and throws him inside to start fast. D-Von is ticked off but leaves, allowing Ray to hammer away on the mostly helpless Neal.

Neal gets tied in the Tree of Woe and knocked back out, allowing Ray to hit some rather hard chops. The comeback is actually on with a crossbody into a belly to belly but the Bully Bomb cuts him off. Cue Tommy Dreamer (who wound up being a surprise that Dixie Carter had teased, because of course) for a distraction, causing Ray to miss a middle rope backsplash. A spear gives Neal the pin at 5:56.

Rating: C-. Oh come on. This warranted a spot on the pay per view? They really needed to bring in Tommy Dreamer that badly? Other than that, the match was another weak one as well, with Ray basically toying with him and shrugging off Neal’s offense. This easily could have been on regular TV and had no real business being on this show.

Hernandez is ready to fight his former partner Matt Morgan.

We recap Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan. They were partner and champions until Morgan turned on him and put Hernandez on the shelf. It’s time for revenge.

Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez

Hold on though (again) as Morgan comes out in a neck brace. He blames Hernandez for hurting him and he has a doctor’s note saying he can’t wrestle. Cue Hernandez to throw Morgan back inside and we’re ready to fight. Hernandez hammers away in the corner and puts the referee on the top, allowing Morgan to send Hernandez outside. Back in and Hernandez is sent into the post a few times before firing off the elbows in the corner. Hernandez fights out and chokes on the ropes a few times, followed by a shove of the referee for the DQ at 5:17.

Rating: D+. I repeat my “Oh come on” as this was absolutely a TV angle rather than a match. I have no idea why they’re doing with this with the pay per view as this is the third straight match (out of five) that could have easily been on Impact. If you want these two to have a fight then let them have a fight. Don’t just tease something and then make you wait after asking us to pay this time. Again.

Post match Hernandez beats up the referee again so more referees come out to check on him. This is the focal point after a former team brawled on pay per view.

Hulk Hogan is looking forward to the main event.

Abyss vs. Desmond Wolfe

Monster’s Ball and Chelsea is here with Wolfe (who is better known as Nigel McGuinness), who tries to swing the kendo stick to start. This doesn’t prove to be a good idea against Abyss, who slams him down and grabs a barbed wire board. That’s broken up (the momentum, not the board) and Wolfe gets in a shot of his own. A barbed wire teddy bear (How did Mick Foley never have one of those?) is brought in by Abyss knocks him down and busts out the bag of broken glass.

We’ll save that for later though as Wolfe takes him up to the stage, where Abyss hits a chokeslam through part of the set. That’s not enough for even a cover though as Abyss takes him back to the ring, where Wolfe hits a sunset bomb onto the barbed wire board. The kendo stick sends Abyss, now bleeding from the arm, into the glass for two and Wolfe is stunned. Wolfe tells Chelsea to throw him the brass knuckles but she intentionally throws them to Abyss instead. A right hand with said knuckles and the Black Hole Slam finish Wolfe at 11:45.

Rating: B-. It was the usual hardcore, weapons based brawl that we’ve seen from TNA for years. That’s probably the point, but they didn’t exactly give us much of a reason for these two to be fighting. I’m sure there was a reason, but it would be nice to get a quick recap of what set this up. If Ray vs. Neal can get one, you might think this could too. Anyway, the Chelsea turn was the point here, and that was an effective enough way to wrap up a decent hardcore match.

Rob Van Dam is going to keep the World Title so Sting can’t get it and bring the company into dark days. TNA? Dark days? Like that could ever happen (over and over and over).

We recap Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles. Ric Flair is mentoring Styles and trying to turn him into the new Nature Boy (and yes it was bad) but is mad at him for losing to Lethal, who had embarrassed him with an impression. Now Flair wants Styles to get revenge.

Jay Lethal vs. AJ Styles

Ric Flair is here with Styles, who comes out in a feathered Flair robe, because of course AJ STYLES needed this kind of thing. They fight over a lockup to start and Styles takes him into the corner for a slap to the face. Styles’ headlock is broken up so he goes after the knee and chops away.

A snap suplex gives Lethal and he grabs a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for the same. Styles is back up and knocks him to the floor but gets tripped onto the apron. Back in and Styles kicks him in the face for two, setting up a knee drop for the same. Lethal’s own kick gets his own two but Styles plants him with a belly to back suplex. Flair gets in a few cheap shots of his own and we hit the chinlock to keep things slow.

That’s broken up as well and Styles strikes away, with a crossbody getting two. Lethal goes up top but gets caught in a backbreaker, only to grab his pop up neckbreaker (always looked good) for two more. Styles gets evil by poking him in the eye and slapping on the Figure Four, with Lethal making the ropes. Lethal is back with a nasty German suplex for two, followed by his own Figure Four which has Flair freaking out (again). That’s broken up so Lethal hits another backbreaker but Styles gets in a Pele. Styles goes up and dives right into a northern lights suplex to give Lethal the big upset win at 16:33.

Rating: B. This is the kind of win you do not see very often but it can go a long way in making someone a star. Lethal was still getting established as a singles wrestler around this point and beating a legend like Styles clean is only going to help that. I’m still not sure who thought it was a good idea to turn Styles, who was LONG established at this point, into a new Nature Boy but TNA has to TNA.

Post match Flair yells at Styles so Frankie Kazarian comes out to calm things down.

Sting says he’s going to take the World Title from Rob Van Dam as part of his war with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. The bosses being more important than the title is certainly a choice.

We recap Beer Money vs. Jeff Hardy/Mr. Anderson. Beer Money is a seasoned team and Hardy and Anderson don’t get along. The feud has been building for weeks and…that’s the extent of what we’re told. WHY they’re fighting isn’t exactly explained, which is kind of a big thing to miss.

Hardy and Anderson dub themselves the Extreme Enigmatic A*******.

Mr. Anderson/Jeff Hardy vs. Beer Money

Roode and Anderson start things off with Roode taking him into the corner for an early break. It’s off to Hardy, who gets dropped with a shoulder and then Storm knocks him down as well. Everything breaks down and Beer Money gets cleared out until Roode low bridges Anderson to the floor. Back in and Roode gets two off a knee drop as we settle down into the heat segment.

Anderson finally gets in a clothesline for a breather and it’s back to Hardy to clean house. Roode slows him up though and Storm grabs a DDT for two but Anderson breaks up the Last Call, allowing Hardy to Swanton Roode. Storm pulls the referee out at two so Hardy hammers on Storm, only to get caught in a wheelbarrow Codebreaker. A hanging DDT plants Hardy for two more as things slow down again.

The villains shout their names and it’s back to Roode for a front facelock. That’s broken up but Hardy misses Whisper In The Wind, only to come back with a quick DDT. Anderson comes back in to clean house but walks into Roode’s spinebuster, with Hardy making the save. The Eye Of The Storm drops Hardy and everything breaks down again. Hardy sends Storm outside, saves Anderson (busted open) from a suplex, and lets Anderson Mic Check Roode for the pin at 13:54.

Rating: B-. This was a perfectly good tag match with Hardy and Anderson working together well enough against a full time team. Commentary still didn’t do much to explain why the teams were fighting but the match being good enough helps a lot. It’s not exactly a classic, but it went well enough.

Post match the winners congratulate each other.

We recap Sting vs. Rob Van Dam for the World Title. Sting has been going a lot more violent and possibly evil, but he swears there is more to it. He’s trying to help protect the company by protecting the title, but Van Dam isn’t cool with that.

TNA World Title: Sting vs. Rob Van Dam

Van Dam is defending and Sting is in his really lame t-shirt look. Sting takes him outside to start and they go into the crowd, where Van Dam kicks him away. They get back to ringside where Sting backdrops him right back over the barricade. Van Dam gets whipped into a wall before some rams into the barricade keeps him in trouble.

We actually bother to get inside, where a Stinger Splash gets two and we hit the chinlock. Van Dam fights up and starts kicking away, including the middle rope kick to the face for two. The referee gets bumped though and Sting gets in some baseball bat shots. Cue Jeff Jarrett to use the bat on Sting, allowing Van Dam to hit Rolling Thunder for two. The Stinger Splash misses though and Van Dam hits the Five Star to retain at 10:56.

Rating: C-. Sting’s time in TNA saw him have a lot of lame finishes to his matches and that was kind of the case again here. The biggest problem is this in no way felt like a pay per view main event but rather something that you could see on any given Impact. They brawled outside for almost half of the match and then the referee got bumped. Sting and Van Dam are more than capable of having a good match but they weren’t given the chance to do it here. Not good, and it felt like a fairly meaningless way to wrap up a major show.

Van Dam celebrates and we’re out.

Overall Rating: C. There are good parts to this show but the section in the middle, from the Knockouts Title match to Hernandez vs. Morgan and then the main event were just not worth your time. It also doesn’t help that there was pretty much nothing big, especially not for an anniversary show, to make it stand out. The show just came and went and while there were some good parts, it just didn’t stand out overall. Things would get more interesting in TNA in the coming months, though the quality would certainly be…uh, yeah.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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NWA TNA Weekly PPV #7
Date: July 31, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

While there are some interesting parts to this show, there are far more things where I either don’t know what is going on or even worse, I don’t care. Since security has given up around here, Ricky Steamboat of all people is going to be in charge this week. I’m sure he’ll set everyone right. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

X-Division Title: AJ Styles vs. Elix Skipper

Styles is defending and Jerry Lynn is on commentary. Skipper jumps him to start but Styles fights up with some right hands in the corner. A legdrop gets two on Skipper and a leg lariat puts him down again. Skipper is back up with a running forearm and a belly to back suplex cuts off Styles’ kicks to the ribs. A hard slam gives Skipper two and he knocks Styles down rather hard again.

Skipper kicks him in the back of the head and we hit a front facelock. That’s broken up and Styles tries a hurricanrana, which is countered into a powerbomb for two. Back up and Skipper tries a northern lights suplex but gets reversed into a guillotine for a smart counter. Styles leverages him out to the floor but Skipper switches places and hits a slingshot dive. Back in and Styles breaks up a springboard, setting up the Spiral Tap to retain at 12:40.

Rating: B-. This was a way for Styles to get a title defense against someone the fans are going to know. That’s the point of using people from WCW, as they are useful to boost up the new stars. Styles isn’t overly well known six weeks into the company’s history, but now they know he can beat a star from WCW. Build Styles up that way and let him go from here.

Ricky Steamboat has returned the NWA World Title to Ken Shamrock and lifted Jeff Jarrett’s suspension so Jarrett can face Scott Hall tonight. I mean, we don’t get to SEE these things but apparently they happened. And Malice stealing the title is just leading to….nothing? Sure.

As Elix Skipper is leaving, Monty Brown runs out to beat him up as payback from last week. The Alpha Bomb leaves Skipper laying. What a hero.

Here is Jeff Jarrett, carrying a big burlap sack over his shoulder, which appears to contain a person. Jarrett has to start from the bottom and work his way up to the top so he’ll start against….this kidnapped midget. Jarrett calls out anyone for a fight and gets Puppet, who pulls out a GUN. Security distracts him though, allowing Jarrett to drop Puppet with a chair. Cue Ricky Steamboat, with a Harris Twin and Bob Armstrong. Jarrett challenges Steamboat for a fight but Scott Hall sneaks in to chase Jarrett off before anything happens.

Sonny Siaki is fine with wrestling on his own tonight. And stop staring at his a**.

Slash vs. Sonny Siaki

James Mitchell is on commentary as Slash sends Siaki out to the apron. That earns Slash a hurricanrana to the floor but he sends Siaki into the barricade. Back in and an Eye Of The Storm plants Siaki again and Slash grabs the cobra clutch. They both go up and wind up crotching each other for a double down. Siaki fights up with some shots to the face and a pumphandle suplex gets two. Mitchell gets up on the apron for a distraction though and Slash puts a hood over Siaki, setting up a neckbreaker for the pin at 7:41.

Rating: C. It needed more Elvises. The match wasn’t much more than Siaki acting too much like Elvis as played by the Rock. Slash is just kind of a generic heel as well so there wasn’t much to be seen here. The New Church feels like a situation of “we need a weird heel stable” and that was the extent of the thinking behind it, which isn’t exactly inspiring.

Post match Slash ties him up in the ropes and Mitchell rubs blood on Siaki’s head. Don Harris, the head of security, comes in for the save.

Ricky Steamboat is here to lay down the law and he is not Bill Behrens.

Ron Killings comes out to complain about one of the cage dancers being exploited as a Black woman. She might claim to be a dancer, but she is nothing but a “$2 ho.” Violence is teased but Monty Brown comes in for the save, only to get hit in the head with something made of wood.

Cue Ricky Steamboat to say Killings has his attention, so have the guts to come say it to his face. Killings gets in his face but Steamboat doesn’t get his problem. Killings brings up Steamboat’s time in the WWF and says he was a fan. Steamboat was the Intercontinental Champion, but then it stopped. Why was that? It’s because the Intercontinental Title was always for second class citizens, which is just what is happening to him today. Steamboat actually agrees and gives Killings a World Title shot next week. Killings raps a bit. So did Steamboat just accuse the WWF of racism and side with the heel? Did I get that right?

Apollo vs. Malice

James Mitchell is here with Malice. Apollo jumps him to start but gets knocked into the corner without much effort. Something like a top rope leg lariat gives Apollo two and he knocks Malice outside to hammer away. They trade whips into the barricade until Malice takes him back inside for a powerbomb. A superplex gives Malice two and a middle rope legdrop connects for the same. Apollo was busted open somewhere in there but comes back with a DDT into a superkick for the pin at 6:34.

Rating: C+. This was mainly a brawl on the floor but that worked as you had two bigger guys here. Malice is a fairly generic monster but that’s the kind of thing you need to have on a show. On the other hand you have Apollo, who still feels like someone who could be something, with his look alone being a nice appeal.

Post match Malice chokeslams a referee so Don Harris runs in for the save. Slash comes in and helps tie up Don, who gets the blood treatment as well.

Don West brings out Taylor Vaughn for a chat about being Miss TNA but Bruce interrupts. Bruce wants a match for the Miss TNA title and gets kicked low, with the referee coming in.

Miss TNA: Taylor Vaughn vs. Bruce

A suplex gives Vaughn two but Bruce runs her over. The abdominal stretch has Vaughn in trouble and a spinning faceplant gives Bruce the win at 2:06. This is, in fact, stupid.

Post match Bruce cries after being given the tiara and sash.

Low Ki is ready to prove himself in the ring.

Low Ki vs. Jerry Lynn

AJ Styles is on commentary. Ki grabs a hammerlock to start but gets reversed into a headscissors. The grappling on the mat goes to a standoff so they fight over wrist control. Ki takes him down by the leg but gets reversed into an armbar and kicked in the head. Lynn’s tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two but Ki kicks him in the face for two.

It’s too early for the Ki Krusher 99 so Ki goes with a dragon sleeper in the ropes instead. Back in and Lynn gets in a facebuster but the cradle piledriver is countered into a triangle choke. That’s broken up (Styles approves) and Lynn hammers away. Ki’s dropkick into a jackknife rollup gets two and a springboard kick to the face knocks Lynn silly.

Another kick to the head gets two but Lynn catches him with a helicopter bomb for two. The dragon sleeper is countered into a tornado DDT to give Lynn two more but Ki kicks him in the head. Ki loads up the Ki Krusher 99, only for Styles to kick Lynn in the back for the DQ at 14:11.

Rating: B. These guys were rolling by the end and then it fell down a few pegs because of the lame ending. Other than that it was good stuff with both of them working hard and trying to steal the show, which they pretty much did again. Styles getting involved might make sense, but dang it would be nice to see a match end without something screwy happening.

Post match Ki plants Lynn as the match is a no contest, because a DQ apparently means something very different around here.

Don Harris wants a first blood match with Malice.

And now, it’s Jive Talkin, with Disco teasing that he’s going to replace Oprah Winfrey. He’s tired of the lack of skin around here so he introduces a “dumb b****” who is going to take her top off. The guest is Goldilocks and we talk about her music career a bit before he tells her to take off her shirt. That’s not happening so she slaps him and gets in a low blow but a woman from Tough Enough comes in to choke Goldilocks out. This show continues to go 100mph and it’s all about bringing in anyone who might have been around wrestling in any way.

Don West gives his usual overly hyped preview for next week and it’s awesome.

Scott Hall vs. Jeff Jarrett

Stretcher match. Hall brawls with Jarrett on the ramp to start and drops him face first onto the announcers’ table. They go up the ramp and into the back, almost going outside in the process. Hall uses various things to knock him back into the arena and Jarrett staggers into the crowd.

The stretcher (which is the kind that folds up rather than the traditional wrestling version) is pulled out and Jarrett hits him in the ribs but Hall whips him into it a few times. Hall drops him throat first onto the stretcher and then hits the Razor’s Edge…for two, as that’s what happens in a stretcher match. Anyway Ron Killings runs in for the save and gives Hall an ax kick so Jarrett can get two.

Monty Brown goes after Killings and Jerry Lynn goes after Jarrett so AJ Styles (who has pretty much NOTHING to do with ANY of this) comes in, only to get cut off by Don Harris. The Disciples Of The New Church take out Harris and we need a double count, with both of them getting up. They slug it out and Jarrett grabs a chair but Ricky Steamboat (the ninth person to get involved in the match) comes out to take it away. Steamboat takes it from Hall as well, but Jarrett hits the Stroke on Hall onto the chair for the win at 12:05.

Rating: D-. When you have enough people to present a decent battle royal involved in a singles match, you’re doing something wrong. Throw in the stretcher thing not making a ton of sense (at least not by the traditional definition) and this was, as usual, a Russo mess. Oh hey and Jarrett gets to stand tall again, because of course he does.

Hall is laid on the stretcher to end the show. Not moved, but just laid on it.

Overall Rating: D+. This is a show where the good parts are few and far between, because everything in between is so terrible and it kills the rest of the show. This show was built around Ricky Steamboat being in charge and we didn’t even get to see most of what he did. Other than that, you had Jeff Jarrett being brought back after a suspension (where he was threatened with another suspension, which doesn’t have much of a threat) and the rest of the dumb stuff filling it in.

This show is a mixture of some good action, which usually involves wrestlers who are able to avoid the storylines, and the worst of Vince Russo, who is getting to be his over the top worst here with no one to call him off. And odds are it’s only going to get worst as he loses whatever is left of his mind.

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 17, 2025
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

We’re closing in on Elimination Chamber and tonight will see the final spot in the men’s match determined as Seth Rollins faces Finn Balor. Other than that, we should be seeing more in the bigger stories taking place, including Jey Uso challenging Gunther for the Raw World Title at Wrestlemania, plus Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens. Let’s get to it.

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

After seeing a bunch of people come to work today (including AJ Styles, who came in via the Daytona 500 winner’s car), we get a recap of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens’ most recent issues.

Here is Zayn for a chat, starting with a thank you for the warm reception. He’s been thinking about his history with Owens, starting in pool halls in Montreal, working their way through the ranks and then headlining Wrestlemania together. A story that long has a lot of betrayals involved and this time, Zayn won’t forgive and forget. Owens tried to end Zayn’s career but he didn’t get the job done. His neck isn’t good but he’s ready to fight Owens again.

Cue Adam Pearce to say Zayn isn’t medically cleared to compete so the match cannot be made. Pearce goes to leave but Zayn says Pearce knows him better than that. Zayn wants the fight, with Pearce agreeing that it’s unsanctioned, meaning Owens can do anything he wants, including all the piledrivers he wants. It could mean the last match of Zayn’s career.

With the fans chanting LET THEM FIGHT, Zayn goes up the aisle to go face to face with Pearce to say he can do everything Pearce suggested Owens could do to Zayn himself. After thinking a bit, Pearce makes the match, which will be unsanctioned. Zayn vs. Owens is one of those pairings that will always work and having them beat each other up for fifteen minutes should be a good addition to the show.

Pat McAfee is very excited about the match being made.

We look at a clip from Smackdown, where Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were shown near Jade Cargill’s attack. Naomi and Bianca Belair are here to deal with it.

Dominik Mysterio is worried about Morgan, who isn’t worried about anything else. Mysterio is also a bit tired of Finn Balor getting on his case. Cue Balor, who says after tonight, there will be three members of the Judgment Day at Elimination Chamber. Assuming Raquel Rodriguez wins that is. They both agree to handle their business, with Balor insisting that there are no new members to the team. Then Carlito seems to forget to go to the ring.

We look at Bron Breakker spearing IShowSpeed at the Royal Rumble, leaving Speed rather banged up.

AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio

Styles works on a headlock to start before pulling him over with a German suplex. Mysterio’s kicks to the face just earn him a dropkick, which McAfee refers to as a TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION dropkick. Carlito low bridges Styles out to the floor though and we take a break. Back with Mysterio getting two off a slingshot hilo and a 619 connects. The frog splash misses and Styles strikes away, setting up the Styles Clash for the pin at 8:52.

Rating: C+. This was just a way for Styles to get his feet wet and that worked out well. Mysterio continues to be one of the easiest people in all of WWE to want to see get beaten up and he was doing it again here. Styles seems set for a showdown with Bron Breakker in the near future and that has some potential, as Styles looked good again here.

Post match Bron Breakker runs in and tries a spear but hits Mysterio instead. Breakker is sent outside and throws his shirt inside, where Styles easily catches it.

We look at the Creed Brothers getting disqualified last week against the War Raiders.

Ivy Nile is ready to get some gold but Dakota Kai comes in. Kai doesn’t want to hear about Nile’s plans and will see her in the ring.

Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile

For a future title shot against Lyra Valkyria, who is at ringside. Feeling out process to start until Nile takes her into the corner. Kai gets tied in the Tree Of Woe for a running kick to the knee in the corner, followed by a quickly broken ankle lock. That’s broken up and a quick Kairopractor gives Kai two but Nile powerbombs her out of the corner. The ankle lock, this time with a grapevine, goes on again but Kai gets out again. A swinging Rock Bottom gives Nile two and she grabs a German suplex. Another ankle lock is broken up and the GTK finishes Nile off at 6:45.

Rating: C. They were trying here and I like Kai but it wasn’t clicking for some reason. Nile isn’t overly interesting in the ring most of the time and Kai is only able to get her that much higher up the ladder. Valkyria needs someone to challenge her and I’m not sure a rematch with Kai is going to be the best choice.

We get a quick look at the upcoming Evolve series.

We look at Jey Uso challenging Gunther for Wrestlemania last week.

Gunther is in the concourse ala Jey Uso and walks into the arena. Gunther does a bit of the YEET Dance before saying that he gets why the fans like Jey so much. Gunther performing for the wrestlers is like reading Shakespeare to a dog. He is tired of stepping into the ring with people who can’t lace his boots.

The problem is that the match at Wrestlemania will take place in the ring. Gunther gets to ringside and wants a professional opinion about what to expect at Wrestlemania. He asks commentary for their “supposed professional opinion” and throws a mic to McAfee, who drops it. Does McAfee think Uso can beat Gunther? Yeah, he hopes Uso can.

Cole doesn’t think that was a good idea and Gunther takes his jacket off but here is Uso to interrupt. With McAfee on the announcers’ table for the YEET Dance, Uso breaks through security and goes after Gunther, who gets the sleeper. That’s broken up and Gunther is cleared out so YEETing can ensue. This was a solid promo from Gunther as it laid out the story perfectly well. You can see the two of them coming from different sides of the situation and that is how you set up a showdown for the title at Wrestlemania.

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez don’t like being accused of attacking Jade Cargill but know that Rodriguez is ready for her Elimination Chamber qualifying match tonight. They don’t actually deny attacking Cargill.

We look back at the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens match being set.

Pete Dunne vs. Penta

Penta grabs a headlock to start before grabbing a running hurricanrana. Dunne is back up with a dropkick though before taking off Penta’s glove to bend the fingers. Back up and Dunne hits a running corner clothesline but Penta Backstabs him out of the corner. Another snap of the fingers slows Penta down though and Dunne grabs a slingshot plant onto the apron. Cue Ludwig Kaiser at ringside and we take a break.

Back with Penta hitting a spinning Death Valley Driver for a breather. Dunne powerbombs him out of the corner, only to get caught with a Canadian Destroyer to send Dunne outside. Kaiser offers a distraction but Dunne can only get two. Penta sends them into each other and finishes with the Penta Driver at 10:05.

Rating: C+. Penta comes in, he looks cool, he has solid matches, he doesn’t lose matches, he gets over. This isn’t a complicated idea and yet for some reason it doesn’t happen very often. He hasn’t even been around for six weeks yet and he’s one of the hottest stars in all of WWE. That’s a nice way to go and I’m wanting to see what is next for him in the coming weeks.

Post match the beatdown is on but Penta knocks them both outside and hits a big running flip dive.

Jey Uso is tired of being told he can’t do it and he’s ready to prove everyone wrong. He is nailing these promos lately and while it’s hard to imagine him winning the title, I’m starting to believe it might happen.

We look at Bayley in the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game.

Video on Roxanne Perez.

The War Raiders want another shot at the Creed Brothers.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Roxanne Perez vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Liv Morgan is here with Rodriguez. The much smaller Perez gets thrown down to start so Perez slaps her in the face and throws in a bit of a bow. That earns her a shot to the face and Rodriguez throws her into the corner for a crash. A fireman’s carry faceplant drops Perez again but she slips out of a powerslam. That just earns her a swinging front facelock as it’s all Rodriguez to start.

The buckle bomb is countered with a hurricanrana and a rollup gets two. The fall away slam sends Perez flying and the Vader Bomb elbow connects for another near fall. Rodriguez misses a charge into the post though and Perez grabs a spinning DDT. A double springboard moonsault gets two but Rodriguez boots her in the face for the same….and here are Naomi and Bianca Belair. They take out Morgan and a springboard Pop Rox finishes for Perez at 7:32.

Rating: B-. The ending was all about Naomi and Belair (who were so mad that they got matching cheerleader outfits made) but they were having a pretty good match on the way there. Perez was fighting against the bigger star and making it work, with Rodriguez using her power to throw Perez around. I could have gone for more from them, as Perez is already fitting in well on the main roster.

Post match Rodriguez has to save Morgan from Belair and Naomi.

Seth Rollins is ready to win tonight and go on to Wrestlemania.

Karrion Kross is glad to see Sami Zayn coming to reality but if he thinks he can beat Kevin Owens, he’s insane.

Iyo Sky is underwater and talks about how she is going to take the Women’s Title from Rhea Ripley and go on to Wrestlemania. We see Sky beating Ripley in NXT as she promises to do it again in two weeks. Good promo here, with the water stuff being…I think cool?

Here is New Day for a chat. Well in theory at least as the fans are booing them out of the building. They don’t understand why people are made at them for attacking Rey Mysterio. Is Mysterio supposed to be some legend because of what he’s done? Kingston has won more titles and has been here longer than Mysterio because he has never left. If anyone should be the locker room leader, it should be Kingston.

Last week they smashed Mysterio’s ankle with a chair but it could have been worse. The fans really should be more grateful that they didn’t give him the Old Yeller treatment. Cue the LWO to interrupt so Dragon Lee can throw out some insults in Spanish. He makes it clear that NEW DAY SUCKS and the brawl is on. New Day bails before Lee can hit the big dive. New Day has great heat, but do something with it already.

Bianca Belair and Naomi are ready to defend the Women’s Tag Team Titles against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez next week.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor

Balor jumps him before the bell but Rollins says ring the bell anyway. Rollins can’t hit a Pedigree early on as Balor reverses into a double stomp and hits his own Pedigree for two. It’s too early for the Coup de Grace so Balor manages a clothesline instead. Rollins comes back with a boot to the face and a backbreaker sets up a missed Lionsault. Balor gets knocked outside for a suicide dive and a springboard knee to the face catches him back inside.

The Stomp misses and Balor is back with the Sling Blade, only to have his leg kicked out. Rollins stays on said leg but Balor gets in a shot to the ribs to bang him up as well. A kick to said ribs is countered into a knee first toss onto the announcers’ table and we slow down a bit. The Stomp onto the steps misses and Balor sends him into the post as we take a break.

Back with Balor hammering away in the corner before they trade shots to the head. The fans have their phones out in a mini Fireflies moment for some reason as Rollins knees him in the head and gets two off a Lionsault. The frog splash hits raised knees though and Balor gets a rollup for two.

Balor’s shotgun dropkick is countered into the Sharpshooter before Rollins hits a Pedigree for…well it seemed to be three as Balor kicked out VERY late and the referee had to pull back on the count. Balor knocks him off the top and hits the Coup de Grace before grabbing a crossface. That’s broken up as well and Rollins hits the Stomp for the pin at 18:52.

Rating: B+. These guys work well together and it’s a match that works pretty much every time they’re out there together. It helps that Balor is just a big enough name that you could imagine him going into the Chamber as well so there was a bit of drama here. Rollins going forward makes sense though as he has multiple stories waiting for him in the Chamber.

Overall Rating: B-. This show had a very good main event but it was more about setting things up for the future. We have two title matches set up for next week and the final two entrants for the Elimination Chamber matches. I liked the show, and while it could have used some more solid action, it did what it needed to do with the big show still being a little ways off.

Results
AJ Styles b. Dominik Mysterio – Styles Clash
Dakota Kai b. Ivy Nile – GTK
Penta b. Pete Dunne – Penta Driver
Roxanne Perez b. Raquel Rodriguez – Springboard Pop Rox
Seth Rollins b. Finn Balor – Stomp

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 10, 2025
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We are closing in on the Elimination Chamber and that means we are getting some more qualifying matches this week. Those can make for some interesting situations, but there is also the question of which champion Charlotte and Jey Uso will be selecting for their Wrestlemania title shots. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Jey Uso through the crowd for the Yeet Dance and as usual, he gets a request for an encore. Jey gets on the table but here is Gunther from behind to trip him down and start the beating. A big bot and powerbomb lay Uso out, with Gunther shouting “DON’T DO IT!”. Agents and referees get Gunther off but Uso officially makes the challenge for Wrestlemania. Then he dives on Gunther to keep up the fight. This was very to the point but it worked. I’m not sure I can see Jey winning, but he almost has to at this point.

We look at Raquel Rodriguez attacking Rhea Ripley last week.

Ripley thinks Charlotte is stalling as she tries to stay relevant. Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai come in, with Sky saying she’s coming for Ripley for costing her Wrestlemania. That doesn’t seem to bother Ripley, who says she’s looking forward to it.

Video on the War Raiders vs. the Creed Brothers.

Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez vs. Damage CTRL

Sky slaps Rodriguez to start and gets powered into the corner to start. Some stereo dropkicks put Rodriguez down for two but she throws Kai away without much effort. Morgan comes in and Sky flips away, only to get dropped by Rodriguez. That’s broken up and Kai comes in for the running boot in the corner. Rodriguez posts Kai hard though and we take a break.

Back with Kai fighting out of a chinlock and handing it off to Sky to clean house. Over The Moonsault almost hits raised boots but Sky sticks the landing and hits a butterfly backbreaker for two on Morgan. Something like a middle rope Shatter Machine gets two on Sky (again: if you’re going to debut that big of a move, don’t have someone kick out).

The Kairopractor gets two on Morgan but she’s back up with Oblivion for two, with Sky making the save to a big reaction. Morgan is busted open but she’s fine enough to hit a Codebreaker on Kai. Sky’s rollup gets two but she gets enziguried, only to block Oblivion. A double stomp puts Morgan down and Sky kicks her in the head (thankfully not the bleeding side), setting up Over The Moonsault for the pin at 15:01.

Rating: B. Where the heck did this come from? These four had a pretty sweet match, which is a lot more than I was expecting. Morgan was working hard here and Rodriguez was doing the power stuff rather well. It’s nice to have Kai back and she was doing her part as well. Good match here and I liked this one quite a bit.

We look at Kevin Owens attacking Sami Zayn last week, with Owens blaming Zayn not helping him at the Royal Rumble.

We look at Gunther not being pleased with a rookie on WWE LFG.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria

Non-title. Before the match, Bayley glares at NXT’s Roxanne Perez, who is in the crowd. They fight over a test of strength to start with Bayley taking her down, only to get headlocked. Bayley can’t hit the Stunner over the ropes but can elbow Valkyria down. Valkyria blocks the sliding basement elbow into a backslide for two (that was cool). Valkyria blocks the Rose Plant and grabs a rollup for two before sending her outside as we take a break.

Back with Valkyria hitting a spinning kick to the head for two but Bayley sunset bombs her into the corner. Bayley’s big elbow hits raised knees but she’s back up with the Bayley To Belly for two. They forearm it out until Bayley hits a swinging side slam for two before they go outside again. Valkyria grabs a tornado DDT into a fisherman’s suplex on the floor, followed by another for two inside. They go up top with Valkyria knocking her onto the ropes, setting up a top rope Fameasser. Nightwing is blocked so Valkyria rolls her up for two. A rollup sends Valkyria into the ropes and Bayley rolls her up again for the pin at 9:16.

Rating: B-. They were starting to rock here and it was one of Valkyria’s best matches on the main roster. I’m not wild on having her lose clean though, even to someone as successful as Bayley. Have her lose by interference or countout or something, but don’t have a new champion lose like this. Other than that though, heck of a match here and Bayley looked better than usual out there.

Video on Penta.

Ludwig Kaiser isn’t impressed with Penta but Pee Dunne comes in to suggest they take out Penta. Dunne is going to take Penta out next week, with Kaiser saying Dunne is all his. With Dunne gone, AJ Styles comes up for a walk to the ring.

The Alpha Academy console Lyra Valkyria when American Made come in to mock her. Valkyria isn’t having it and yells back.

Here is AJ Styles for a chat. Styles talks about having flashbacks here because four months ago, he came back to this building and then got injured his first match back. He thought his career was over that night but the next morning he knew he had more to prove. There are things he wants to do, but here are Carlito and Dominik Mysterio to interrupt.

As usual, Dominik can barely get a word out without being booed off the mic. He finally manages to tell Styles that thins have changed around here, but Styles says he doesn’t see Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley or Finn Balor. Instead, all he sees is a guy in purpose skinny jeans and Dominik, who no one likes. Styles does like Dominik’s work ethic, but Dominik will always be Rey Mysterio’s punk a** kid. The fight is on and Styles clears the ring. Styles getting to wreck Dominik in a singles match should work well.

Jey Uso vs. Gunther is officially set for Wrestlemania. They’re pulling the trigger so well done on trying something.

Here is Seth Rollins on the platform for a chat. Jackie Redmond asks about the Elimination Chamber and Rollins is fired up to get his chance. We are on the Road To Wrestlemania and he lists off his nicknames before being interrupted by Finn Balor (Rollins’ opponent in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match). He’s not impressed by Rollins, as he thinks Rollins is overlooking him. Rollins says he has unfinished business with CM Punk and he’d like to tie up some loose ends with Cody Rhodes. Balor is standing in his way, but soon he won’t be standing at all.

AJ Styles gets a match with Dominik Mysterio next week. Then he runs into Bron Breakker for an intense staredown.

Tag Team Titles: Creed Brothers vs. War Raiders

The Creeds, with Ivy Nile, are challenging and Brutus gets elbowed into the corner to start. Julius comes in and hammers away, only to get sent into the corner. Erik slams Ivar onto Julius and Brutus gets crushed against the ring skirt for a big knockdown. Back in and a nasty sitout powerbomb gets two on Julius as we take a break.

We come back with Erik being sent hard into the post and the chinlock goes on. Brutus gets slammed onto Erik for two but Erik fights up and brings in Ivar. The seated senton crushes Brutus out of the corner and Ivar crushes him in the same corner. A sitout powerbomb gives Ivar two but Brutus is back with an Angle Slam for two. Ivar goes up but Nile offers a distraction, allowing Julius to jump to the top for a superplex. Brutus’ moonsault gets two but Erik is smart enough to pull Ivar back to the corner for the tag. Then Julius hits Ivar with the title for the DQ at 12:24.

Rating: B. Again, they were getting going here and then a not so great ending cut it off. That is all but guaranteed to set up a rematch in the near future, but I could have gone for something better than “and then Julius hits him with the belt.” It did at least get a reaction, which is a lot better than what the Creeds have been getting in recent months.

Post match another belt shot leaves the champs laying.

Finn Balor isn’t impressed with the Judgment Day but Dominik Mysterio says things could get better. Dominik suggests adding a new member but Balor isn’t having it, saying he’s going to win next week and move on to Wrestlemania.

Rhea Ripley tells Iyo Sky she’s getting a title match on the Raw after Elimination Chamber because Ripley wants it. Works for Sky.

Here is CM Punk for a chat. Punk talks about how Jey Uso is already set for the World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania so that leaves the Elimination Chamber. He’s already in it, but there is one person in it who didn’t have to qualify. At some point in the Elimination Chamber, Punk and Cena are going to see each other and Punk is going to beat him down.

The other person to qualify for the match is Drew McIntyre, who knows what it’s like to be in a big cage with Punk. He’s ready for either Finn Balor or Seth Rollins, but all that matters is he is going to Wrestlemania. Cue Logan Paul for his qualifying match, saying he gets why they call him Punk.

Paul could come up with a bunch of better names but he can’t say them on TV. Throwing Punk out of the Royal Rumble was a great fifteen minutes of fame for Punk and tonight, Rey Mysterio will get his as well. Punk: “The way they’re booing you, you would think you’re Dominik Mysterio.” Punk says he didn’t mention Paul because he had forgotten he was even in a match, but tonight, Paul’s number is 619. Punk’s lines here were great, with saying he forgot Paul had match being rather funny.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul

Mysterio slaps him into the corner to start fast and stomps away. Back up and Paul jumps over him before hammering Mysterio down in the corner. More punching has Mysterio in trouble but he spins around into a crossbody for a needed breather. Paul gets knocked outside for a twisting dive but catches Mysterio on top. A tabletop superplex plants Mysterio and we take a break.

Back with Mysterio being sent outside and asking Paul to come fight him. Mysterio hammers away and sends him into the steps to take over. Back in and a seated senton into a Lionsault gets two on Paul, who knocks Mysterio right back down. Paul’s Lionsault gets two and he boots Mysterio in the face to cut off a comeback bid.

Mysterio hits a sitout powerbomb out of the corner for two (with Paul forgetting to put his shoulders down at first). The 619 connects but Paul hits him with the big right hand. A belly to back flipped into a DDT (the Paulverizer, which is a new one and looked great) finishes Mysterio at 17:15.

Rating: B. More good stuff here, with Paul getting better and better in the ring by working with stars like Mysterio. It is great to see him evolving in the ring and Mysterio is the perfect choice to help make something like this work. Throw in a rather snazzy looking finisher (though I’m not sure how many people Paul can use that on) and this worked well.

Post match Paul leaves and New Day jumps Mysterio to end the show. That was rather abrupt.

Overall Rating: B+. They were in and out in about two and a half hours after four good to rather good matches and some solid promo work. This was a show that didn’t really do anything big but it kept things moving and was never dull. I had a good time with this one and Elimination Chamber is starting to look that much better. Keep this up and Raw will be on a roll in a hurry.

Results
Damage CTRL b. Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez – Over The Moonsault to Morgan
Bayley b. Lyra Valkyria – Rollup
War Raiders b. Creed Brothers via DQ when Julius used the title belt
Logan Paul b. Rey Mysterio – Paulverizer

 

 

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 13,271
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

This year’s show is all about the Battle For Brand Supremacy, but NXT is involved as well and the invasions have been red hot for a change. They have set up a pretty awesome looking show, even with the amount of triple threat matches, including triple threat elimination matches. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the end zone straight across from the Titantron in the upper deck.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

Raw: OC, Street Profits, Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Smackdown: Revival, Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler, Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery

NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium

When one member is out, the team is out. Where to begin? First of all, there are no graphics to tell you which brand the teams are on. I get expecting people to know that at the time, but WWE knows that they have the Draft every year and that the Network is a thing here. Throw up a show graphic.

Second, a year later and five of these teams are gone, with four of them out of the company. Third, Hawkins and Ryder are “glad to still be here.” These people were the Tag Team Champions at Wrestlemania seven months and a half months earlier. That’s a heck of a fall. Oh and I had forgotten about that Tag Team World Cup deal the OC had from Crown Jewel. I’ve heard worse ideas.

It’s a brawl to start (shocking I know) with Jaxson Ryker saving Gran Metalik for no reason. General stupidity maybe? The Sons are out in a hurry as I try to get over Dolph Ziggler wearing a Smackdown hat in the match. Yeah they need graphics on their name but it’s Ziggler so by definition it’s a stupid thing to do. Angelo Dawkins throws out Gran Metalik to get rid of the Lucha House Party as Ziggler (now minus the hat) is thrown to the apron for his traditional save fest.

Hawkins is sent through the middle rope but Ryder is thrown over the top and onto him for the elimination. Barthel catapults Ziggler over the top for the skinning of the cat and Roode gets rid of Aichner to eliminate Imperium and save Ziggler (again). Otis falls trying the Caterpillar and gets dumped by OC/Revival. Breezango is out thanks to Revival and that’s it for NXT.

We’re down to Revival, OC, Roode/Ziggler and the Profits, with the Profits dropkicking Revival out in a hurry. Ziggler saves Roode from the Magic Killer and superkicks Gallows out to get us down to two. The brawl is on with Roode busting Dawkins’ spine but Ziggler superkicks Roode through the ropes by mistake. The Sky High looks to set up the frog splash but Roode saves Ziggler (that man needs a lot of saving). Ford hits the frog splash on Ziggler instead, only to be thrown out by Roode for the win at 8:19.

Rating: D+. It’s a battle royal and a tag team one at that, with the teams barely being identifiable outside of commentary throwing out a brand here and there. It will get better later on and since this was a bonus match, it’s hard to get that upset. What impresses me the most is how much the tag team division changes so quickly, as this feels like it could have been four or five years ago. That probably shouldn’t be happening and yet it doesn’t seem out of place.

Smackdown – 1

Raw – 0

NXT – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Kalisto (Smackdown) vs. Lio Rush (NXT)

Rush is defending and gets double teamed to start but Tozawa and Kalisto waste no time in turning on each other. That means it’s time for Rush to start his bobbing and weaving, which always looked awesome. Kalisto pulls Rush to the floor and cuts off Tozawa’s dive before walking the rope to kick Rush in the face.

A spinning wristdrag takes Tozawa down but Tozawa shoves Kalisto into Rush’s raised boot. Rush hits a double handspring elbow to take both of them down but Tozawa punches him in the face. Kalisto gets kicked to the floor and Tozawa’s sliding boot gets two on Rush. Tozawa and Kalisto take Rush to the top but he double armdrags both of them down for a huge crash.

A circle chop off is capped off by Tozawa German suplexing Rush but Kalisto dives in to roll Rush up for two. Tozawa is back up with a Shining Wizard to send Kalisto outside and the top rope backsplash hits Rush. Kalisto dives in for the save and the slugout is on, with Kalisto hitting the Salida del Sol on Tozawa. That’s fine with Rush, who comes in with the Final Hour to pin Tozawa and retain at 8:20.

Rating: C. It’s a match that has been done before but what we got worked out just fine with the three of them flying around and doing their high flying stuff. That’s something that is always going to work because it is a style that never gets old and Rush retaining is a fine way to get NXT on the board. I know he might have some issues, but dang Rush can do the flying thing.

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT) vs. Viking Raiders (Raw)

Non-title (with all three as respective champions) and it’s Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, fresh off WarGames the previous night, for the Era. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off, which may be a little harder to keep track of but it makes a lot more sense than having two people in there at once instead. O’Reilly is taken down in a hurry so it’s Fish coming in, earning himself a beating of his own from Ivar. Both parts of the Era come in and get dropped by Ivar and Big E. before they turn on each over.

They take turns flipping away from each other until Big E. runs Ivar over in the power display. O’Reilly comes back in for the rapid fire knees to Big E. but the Raiders knee O’Reilly down without much effort. It’s back to Fish, who gets Ivar slammed onto him to make it even worse. Kingston comes in to slug away on Erik and it’s New Day double teaming O’Reilly down for two.

The Era is sent outside and it’s the New Day/Raiders showdown. The slugout goes on until Kofi is left alone, meaning it’s time for the Era to come back in and take over on Kingston’s leg in the corner. Ivar dives in with a splash to break up a kneebar so O’Reilly and Kingston slug it out on the apron instead. Big E. misses his spear through the ropes so Kofi and the Era join him, meaning Erik can slam Ivar onto the other four.

Back in and Fish starts taking over on Erik’s knee before handing it off to O’Reilly for the same. Erik manages to suplex O’Reilly into the corner to take Fish down, allowing the hot tag to Ivar. House is cleaned and O’Reilly kicks Fish in the corner by mistake. Big E. gets kicked in the face as well and Erik hits the shotgun dropkick on Fish. Ivar’s Bronco Buster misses though, meaning Kofi can come in with a standing double stomp to Erik.

Big E. suplexes the Era and it’s a powerbomb/top rope double stomp to crush Erik. Kofi’s big dive over the top takes out Ivar and the Era, with Big E. hitting the spear to take Erik down as well. Everyone gets back up and Erik knees Big E. in the face, setting up the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination (always cool), sending Big E. outside again.

Kofi takes the High/Low on the floor meaning it’s the Era vs. the Vikings for a change. Erik is knocked outside so the Era kicks Ivar…who doesn’t seem to mind. The handspring double elbow (second in two matches) connects for Ivar and it’s the Viking Experience to drive O’Reilly into Fish to give Ivar the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B. This was the kind of all action match that they should have been having and it got enough time to make it work really well. New Day is a team who can be put in there at any time to make other teams look good and the Era can work with anyone. The Raiders needed the win most and it worked out well all around. Good stuff here and a nice way to wrap up the Kickoff Show.

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

The opening video looks at how this is usually Raw vs. Smackdown but then NXT jumped in to make it a lot more interesting in a hurry. There are some other matches thrown in but this is ALL about the three way brand fight, which did have a heck of a build.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Raw – Charlotte, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Natalya, Sarah Logan

Smackdown – Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans

NXT – Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai, Toni Storm

The NXT team was announced after last night’s Takeover and some of them are coming off of WarGames so they’re a little banged up. Storm, Evans and Logan start things off with Lacey taking over early on. That earns her a double flip out to the floor and it’s Cross tagging herself in to take her place. Logan hits a cartwheel knee to Storm’s back for….well nothing actually as she talks trash until Cross jumps on her back for the choking.

They’re both a bit odd so that fits well. Back up and Storm German suplexes both of them at once so it’s off to Sane, Carmella and Shirai. The fans get rather excited about two of these people and I’ll let you guess who they are. Carmella hands it off to Brooke, who is fine with just standing in the corner while the other two trade headscissors and clotheslines. Shirai hits a running basement dropkick to Sane’s face but Brooke sends them both into the corner for a double handspring elbow.

The Swanton hits both of them for two on Shirai so Evans comes in for a double hiptoss instead. Candice gets the tag and strikes away at Evans as Asuka comes in as well. A quick snapmare drops Asuka so Candice can hit a step up backsplash and there’s a middle rope faceplant for two on Evans. It’s off to Ripley, who gets caught in Asuka’s armbreaker so Belair makes the save, triggering the parade of secondary finishers. Banks is left alone in the ring with everyone else down…including Shirai and LeRae need medical attention.

Everything pauses as Raw and Smackdown wave goodbye to them instead of, I don’t know, trying to eliminate each other. We settle down to Banks vs. Ripley vs. Charlotte, which does sound like a heck of a match. Ripley doesn’t seem to be very impressed and since this feels big, it’s off to Belair, Logan and Cross instead. Cross hits a neckbreaker on Logan but gets sent to the apron for her efforts. A dive to the floor takes Ripley down and Cross hammers away on Storm against the apron.

Ripley picks Cross up though and puts her on the apron, allowing Belair to grab a rollup (with Ripley holding the feet) for the elimination at 9:39. Carmella comes in with a big headscissors to Belair and a superkick to Logan, only to walk into Belair’s KOD. That sends her into the ropes but Logan sends both of them out to the floor. Running knees takes Carmella and Belair down again with Natalya having to make a save back inside. Belair punches Logan down though and hits the 450 to get rid of her at 12:10.

That puts us at Raw and Smackdown with four each and NXT with three as Charlotte comes in to face Belair and doesn’t seem impressed. Belair gets clotheslined but Carmella comes back in to kick Charlotte down. The big boot drops Belair again but Carmella breaks up the moonsault that will never hit no matter what anyway. Charlotte pulls Carmella up for a powerbomb, which is countered into a hurricanrana onto Belair to give Carmella a pair of two’s each on both.

Carmella grabs Belair by the ponytail but takes too long, allowing Charlotte to hit Natural Selection on Carmella for the elimination at 15:38. Sane, Storm and Banks come in with Storm kicking Banks in the face. Storm Zero to Shirai is broken up though and the Insane Elbow connects, with Sasha breaking up the pin and….then pinning Sane herself at 16:48. Asuka gets so frustrated that she comes in and wrecks the place, including kicking the now legal Brooke in the face to get rid of her at 17:25.

We’re down to Ripley/Belair/LeRae/Shirai (with the latter two backstage) for NXT vs. Evans/Banks for Smackdown vs. Charlotte/Asuka/Natalya for Raw. Charlotte tags herself in and gets into a shoving match with Asuka as a result, eventually slamming Asuka down by the hair. Lacey tries to jump Charlotte but Asuka is back with the green mist (BIG pop for that) to blind Charlotte before walking out. The Woman’s Right gets rid of Charlotte at 19:09 and Raw is down to just Natalya. I’ll take that over Asuka taking another loss and Charlotte is going to be the focal point of everything she does so a tainted loss doesn’t mean a thing.

Since Natalya is the only one left for Raw, she comes in with the discus lariat to Storm and then rolls Evans up for a fast elimination at 19:51. That leaves us with Storm/Belair/Ripley for NXT, Banks for Smackdown and Natalya for Raw and Ripley is rather pleased. Banks and Natalya get smart and take Storm down for a Sharpshooter/Banks Statement combination for the tap at 20:47.

Belair comes in and Natalya tries to talk trash before going with the smarter move of playing Jim to Banks’ Bret on the Hart Attack for the pin at 21:16. So it’s down to Banks vs. Natalya vs. Ripley….or at least it is until Banks decks Natalya for the pin at 21:57, eliminating Raw completely.

The fans REALLY like the idea of Banks vs. Ripley though and it’s Ripley hammering away and getting two off a dropkick. Back up and Banks can’t hit a tornado DDT so it’s a sleeper to limited avail instead. Banks hits the running knees in the corner and the middle rope Meteora gets two. More knees to the back of the head send Ripley into the corner again but this time she superkicks the Meteora out of the air.

The Prism Trap (dang that looks awesome) is on but Banks rolls into the Bank Statement instead. Ripley is in trouble so here are LeRae and Shirai, who were never officially eliminated, to pull Ripley to safety. That earns them a dropkick through the ropes each and they head back in, where Banks has to slip out of Riptide. Shirai hits her with a springboard missile dropkick though and now Riptide can give Ripley the final pin at 27:53.

Rating: B-. They got some time here and the important thing is NXT wins a major match. That’s an awesome thing to see and it’s really cool that it actually happened on a big stage. You want to set things up well for the rest of the night and having an NXT all star team lose to teams involving Logan, Brooke and Carmella wasn’t going to work. Above all else, Ripley looked like a total star here, eclipsing almost everyone else in the match and the fans treated her like one. I wouldn’t have had Shirai and LeRae save her at the end, but Ripley pinning Banks for the win is all that matters.

NXT – 2

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

We look at the closing moments of WarGames last night when Kevin Owens became the final member of Team Ciampa and helped them win.

Seth Rollins, Raw Team Captain, comes up to Owens to ask where his loyalties lie. Owens says last night was just to get back at the Undisputed Era so tonight, he’s Team Raw. He also finds it funny that SETH ROLLINS is questioning loyalty. A mock Shield pose takes us out.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT) vs. AJ Styles (Raw)

Battle of the midcard champions and Sami Zayn is in Nakamura’s corner. Nakamura strikes away at both of them to start but AJ gets them into the corners for some running elbows. Strong’s backbreaker gets him out of trouble but AJ knocks him to the floor and hits a shot to the face. Back in and Nakamura breaks up AJ’s springboard and kicks Strong to the floor for a bonus. A knee gets two on Styles and there’s the running knee in the corner.

The gutbuster fireman’s carry gives Strong two on Nakamura but AJ comes back in with a sleeper to give Nakamura a breather. Strong fights back up and runs them both over a few times, including the alternating running forearms to AJ in the ropes. AJ fights up and gets in a few shots, only to be monkey flipped into a shot to the face from Nakamura. A slugout puts Strong down in a hurry and Nakamura hits the sliding knee for two.

The Styles Clash to Nakamura is broken up and Sami pulls Nakamura outside for a break. Strong unloads on Styles in the corner but gets caught in an Electric Chair, with Nakamura coming in off the top with a kick to the chest. AJ breaks that up as well but Sami pulls him outside, leaving Strong to hit a jumping knee for two on Nakamura. Back in and AJ cuts off Kinshasa, setting up the circle of strikes to the face.

Nakamura drops AJ and hits a reverse exploder on Strong (whose knee got very close to AJ’s face), setting up Kinshasa….for two as AJ makes another save. AJ and Nakamura slug it out so Nigel can talk about their Japanese rivalry. The Landslide gets two on AJ but Kinshasa is countered with a shot to the face. AJ hits the Phenomenal Forearm but Strong comes in to get rid of AJ and steal the pin at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was the action packed match that you would have expected and the cool thing is that it made Strong look like he was on their level. Strong isn’t someone who has been proven on the big stage before and seeing him win here, especially by outsmarting the other two, is great to see. Again: it’s not like Nakamura or Styles are going to be hurt by the loss, especially to another champion. Throw in the fast paced action and having commentary boosting it that much more than this was a great time.

NXT – 3

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

Miz comes up to Daniel Bryan in the back and says they’re both family men. That’s why Miz wants Bryan to stop the Fiend once and for all, because he is an evil that must be stopped. Bryan doesn’t want to hear it from Miz.

NXT Title: Adam Cole vs. Pete Dunne

Cole is defending, but the interesting thing here is the lack of Mauro Ranallo, who apparently blew his voice out last night at Takeover. This would be code for “did not like Corey Graves calling him out for making too many Chicago rap music references and not letting Phoenix and McGuinness talk enough. He would be gone for a little while before returning, but it was clear that something wasn’t quite right. Cole has bad ribs and Dunne has a bad knee coming in.

The wristlocking doesn’t work well on Cole as Dunne flips out before going straight after the bad ribs. Dunne starts in on the hand before taking it outside to stomp the elbow in the steps. Back in and Cole kicks him down to stomp away before a dropkick cuts off Dunne’s knee. Dunne grabs the X Plex for a breather and Cole lands hard on the ribs again. There’s an enziguri into the corner to set up a release German suplex.

A sitout powerbomb gets two on Cole and he heads outside, with Dunne hitting a middle rope moonsault to the floor. Back in and Dunne’s moonsault hits knees, setting up the Last Shot to give Cole two. The Panama Sunrise misses so they take turns hitting each other in the face. The brainbuster onto the knee gives Cole two but another Last Shot misses and Dunne grabs the Bitter End for a close two. They slug it out again and Dunne unloads with chops but Cole superkicks his moonsault out of the air.

That’s good for two as well, as is Dunne’s sitout X Plex. They fight to the apron (because of course they do) and Cole busts out the Panama Sunrise to put them both down on the floor. Back in and Cole kicks him in the head and the kickout has Cole panicking. Dunne talks trash as they get up and snaps the finger but the Bitter End is countered into a Panama Sunrise (that looked great). The Last Shot retains the title at 14:09.

Rating: B+. Now that’s what you were hoping to see from these two and it was an awesome match throughout. Dunne is an absolute star and Cole looks like someone who should be the future whenever he is in the ring. This is one of those matches that makes you drool when you hear it announced and then they delivered on top of it. Great stuff here and worth seeing for that NXT style that works so well.

Team Smackdown argues over who should be the captain.

We recap the Fiend taking the Smackdown World Title from Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel. Then Miz questioned if Daniel Bryan was the same person he used to be, which got the Fiend involved as well. Bryan finally said YES again and that’s just what Fiend wanted as Bryan brought back the YES Movement.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Fiend is defending and there is something so creepy about watching him in person. The red lights are on and Bryan hits the running dropkick into the corner. A running clothesline cuts him off though and they head outside with Bryan being sent into the post. Back in and Fiend hits the release Rock Bottom and there’s the toss suplex to drop Bryan again. We hit the neck crank as Fiend laughs a lot.

They head outside again with Bryan hitting a running knee from the apron. A top rope dive takes Fiend down again and there’s a missile dropkick back inside. Bryan nips up and the YES chants set up the YES Kicks. The big kick to the head just makes Fiend laugh but another one keeps him down for a change. The running knee connects for two but Fiend grabs the Mandible Claw. Bryan manages to reverse into an armbar but another Mandible Claw finishes Bryan at 10:01.

Rating: C+. The point here was to have Fiend get over as a monster in his first title defense and that’s what he did. They made Fiend feel like a movie monster and that’s the kind of thing you want to do in this situation. Bryan not being able to win, even with the most successful stuff he has, is a good way to go and it told they story they wanted. Fiend is an unstoppable monster and that’s how it should be.

Rey Mysterio says it has been fifteen years since he first faced Brock Lesnar. A few months ago, he was ready to hang up his mask but his son Dominik made him keep going. Tonight, Rey is swinging his lead pipe for Lesnar’s knees and hopes his son is watching when he becomes WWE Champion.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton

Smackdown: Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Mustafa Ali, Shorty G., Braun Strowman

NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Walter, Keith Lee, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle

The NXT team was announced on the Kickoff Show again. The fans are way into Walter, more or less sealing his fate. Strowman, Ciampa and Rollins start things off and Strowman dropkicks both of them down. Walter and McIntyre come in and Walter is all over a three way battle of the big men. The double teaming works on Strowman this time before slugging it out themselves. A big boot into the running seated senton hits McIntyre and there’s a German suplex to drop him again.

Walter chops Strowman to make him mad, tells him to bring it, and hits a dropkick into the corner. McIntyre hits the Claymore to finish Walter at 2:59 and the fans are MAD, as they should be in that spot. Priest comes in to strike away at McIntyre and Strowman. Shorty comes in to moonsault Priest and it’s Ricochet coming in as well. That earns him a Chaos Theory from Shorty and it’s off to Riddle for the grapple off. Both ankle locks miss and neither can hit a spinning kick so we’ll go with the standoff. Ciampa comes in so Ricochet kicks both he and Shorty down at once. Owens frog splashes Shorty for the pin at 6:27.

Reigns and Corbin both come in with Corbin hitting him in the face like the horrible teammate that he is. Owens heads outside to superkick Corbin and hit the Cannonball on Reigns against the barricade. Back in and….Ciampa grabs Willow’s Bell to get rid of Owens at 7:42. Orton slides in behind Ciampa and the fans really like this one. The RKO is blocked and Ciampa clotheslines him outside but Willow’s Bell is blocked as well. Orton drops him onto the apron and it’s time for the circle stomp back inside. Priest gets a blind tag as Orton RKOs Ciampa, so it’s an RKO to get rid of Priest at 10:16.

Riddle comes in and rolls Orton up for the fast pin at 10:30. Riddle is SHOCKED at the win….until Orton hits him with an RKO so Corbin can steal the pin at 10:56. We’re down to Rollins/McIntyre/Ricochet for Raw, Reigns/Corbin/Ali/Strowman for Smackdown and Ciampa/Lee for NXT. Lee comes in to face Corbin but Strowman tags himself in as the fans are recommending that we BASK IN HIS GLORY.

Strowman runs Lee over and starts cleaning house, including the freight train around the ring. He does it again but this time Lee Pounces him, followed by a Claymore from McIntyre for the countout at 13:14. Ricochet comes in to kick Corbin down and the big flip dive drops Reigns on the floor. That just earns him the End of Days from Corbin for the pin at 14:30. Ali, the hometown boy, comes in to clean house and soak in some cheers. The wicked tornado DDT plants Rollins and Ali hits a suicide dive…but Corbin yells at him, allowing Rollins to hit the Stomp on Ali for the elimination at 16:10.

Reigns and Corbin get into it on the floor as a quick CM PUNK chant starts and stops just as fast. Back in and McIntyre hits the reverse Alabama Slam on Ciampa. Reigns spears McIntyre down for the pin at 17:39 though, leaving us with Rollins vs. Reigns/Corbin vs. Ciampa/Lee. Rollins rolls Reigns up for two but gets kicked in the face. Willow’s Bell drops Reigns but the Fairy Tale Ending is blocked. Corbin cuts off Lee and drags Reigns over for the tag, only to have Reigns spear Corbin. Ciampa will take that pin at 19:54 and Smackdown is down to Reigns.

Rollins and Reigns go after Ciampa, who is fine with these odds. Rollins throws Ciampa outside though…and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table. Lee breaks up the DoubleBomb though and Ciampa hits Project Ciampa for a close two on Rollins back inside. The Fairy Tale Ending is countered so Ciampa hits a running knee, only to eat the Superman Punch from Reigns. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:01 and we’re down to one man each.

Lee comes back in to throw Rollins around and he crossbodies both of them at the same time. Rollins is back with an enziguri into a low superkick and the frog splash gets two, with Lee LAUNCHING him off the kickout. Rollins is all fired up but walks into the Big Bang Catastrophe to give Lee the pin and get rid of Raw at 26:36. Lee smiles down at Reigns, who hits back to back Superman Punches for a VERY close two. The spear is countered into the Spirit Bomb for a nearer fall but the moonsault misses. Reigns hits the spear for the final pin at 29:18.

Rating: A-. I came to Survivor Series wanting to see one of the classic elimination matches and that’s what I got here, with one elimination after another and some crazy drama near the end. Lee looked like a STAR here and pinning Rollins clean is as big of a moment as he was going to get. There is no shame in being pinned by Reigns and what we got here was great stuff. I loved this match, save for the way Walter was put out, and it’s all I could have asked for.

NXT – 3

Smackdown – 2

NXT – 1

Becky Lynch is ready for Shayna Baszler and there is no one who can keep her down tonight. She has been traveling the world and every day out means one day out of the gym. Becky sees something of herself in Bayley, so tonight she is going to show both of them what she is.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio for Brock’s Raw World Title. Brock came after Rey and his family so Rey brought in Cain Velasquez. That didn’t go so well as Brock destroyed him, leaving no one to protect Rey. That’s why Rey grabbed a lead pipe and started swinging, setting up this No Holds Barred title match.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio

Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, is defending and it’s No Holds Barred. Rey is the Joker here for no apparent reason. Heyman says Lesnar weighs about two and a half Rey Mysterios. Rey grabs a pipe to start so Lesnar drops to the floor. He comes right back in though and blasts Rey with a clothesline. Rey is thrown over the announcers’ table and an overhead belly to belly sends him into the announcers’ table covering.

Brock posts him but Rey does the same to him, meaning it’s pipe time. Back in and Brock suplexes him onto the pipe and then adds another suplex. Cue Dominik to try to throw in the towel but Rey uses the distraction to hit a low blow. Some pipe shots from Rey and a chair shot from Dominik set up stereo 619s. Back to back frog splashes into a double cover gets two on Lesnar, who is back up with a suplex on Dominik. The F5 retains the title at 6:53.

Rating: C+. The whole point here was that one moment of drama and it worked a lot better than I was expecting. I don’t think anyone was realistically expecting Rey to win here but they managed to get in that little bit of drama and that was a great surprise. Lesnar was running out of opponents so having him wreck Mysterio was as good of a move as they had here, with Rey knowing how to sell this perfectly.

We recap the Women’s Champions triple threat. Becky Lynch said being the champ was all that mattered but Shayna Baszler just wanted to snap a limb. Bayley wanted to know why she was an afterthought and now it’s match time.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title again. They stare each other down to start and Bayley shoves Baszler into Becky. The brawling continues to the floor so Becky dives onto both of them. Back in and Bayley avoids the running spinning legdrop but Becky kicks her in the head. Baszler is back in as well and starts cleaning house until Bayley knocks her outside. Bayley stomps on Becky but charges into an elbow in the corner. With Baszler being dropped to the floor again, Bayley drops onto Becky’s back for two.

All three are back in with Becky kicking Baszler down and starting the Bexploders. A DDT gets two on Bayley and the top rope legdrop is good for the same with Baszler making the save. Becky gets sent outside so Bayley can hit a running knee for two on Baszler. Back up and Baszler sends Bayley outside, meaning it’s time for the big showdown with Becky. Bayley crossbodies both of them at once though and Becky is back outside. Bayley has to elbow her way out of a gutwrench superkicks but Becky breaks up the Kirifuda Clutch.

A powerbomb out of the corner gives Becky two on Baszler, who knocks Bayley off the apron. That means the Disarm-Her on Baszler but Bayley makes a save. They all head outside again with Becky tweaking her knee, allowing Baszler to drop her onto the announcers’ table. Becky gets dropped onto the table again but Bayley runs Baszler over. Back in and Bayley hits the top rope elbow, only to get pulled into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 18:05.

Rating: C. Another viewing helped this a lot but it was longer than it needed to be and the action was only so good. Bayley was obviously there to take the fall and there is nothing wrong with that. If nothing else this should set up Becky vs. Baszler in a mega showdown later as Becky is unstoppable and Becky looks that way. Not overly great, but it did its job, albeit in the very long form.

Final Standings:

NXT – 4

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Overall Rating: B+. The two last matches drag this down a bit but otherwise it’s a heck of a show with nothing bad and some good drama/shock as NXT runs away with things. What matters most here is they took some chances (some good some bad) and gave us a special moment with NXT. The wrestling was good throughout and it felt like the Survivor Series I had wanted to see for such a long time. Awesome show here and proof of what NXT can offer when they get the chance (and win the trophy).

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal:

Original: D

Redo: D+

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+

Redo: C

New Day vs. Viking Raiders vs. Undisputed Era

Original: B

Redo: B

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles

Original: B

Redo: B

Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Original: A-

Redo: B+

The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: B

Redo: C+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: D+

Redo: C

Overall Rating:

Original: B+

Redo: B+

Other than the main event, the memories seem strong with this one.

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

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/12/01/survivor-series-2019-they-really-did-that/

 

 

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NWA TNA Weekly PPV #6
Date: July 24, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

I would say things are picking up around here but that isn’t exactly accurate. There are some things going on but a good may of them aren’t good. With a focus on the weird Puppet stuff, whatever the Dupps are doing and Jeff Jarrett as a focal point, the show isn’t exactly thrilling content. Hopefully it improves here though so let’s get to it.

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

We open with Jeff Jarrett smashing a bunch of people with chairs (as he did to end last week’s show). He says the NWA World Title is his and he wants Ken Shamrock out here right now. Shamrock is in the back and yells at Bob Armstrong, saying he’s going to the ring. After heading towards the ring, Shamrock locks a door and has a rather muscular man stand guard. Bill Behrens comes to the ring instead and suspends Jarrett, who chairs him in the head. Now Shamrock gets in for the brawl but some wrestlers come out to break it up, allowing Jarrett to chair Shamrock in the head.

Commentary previews the show.

Amazing Red vs. Low Ki

Red snaps off some armdrags to start and then kicks Ki outside. Back in and a middle rope clothesline drops Ki but he’s right back with a hard kick for two of his own. A butterfly suplex into a double underhook crank has Red in trouble but he fights right back out. Red goes up top, where Ki pulls him into a hanging dragon sleeper for some rather painful cranking.

They trade kicks to the head until Red’s hat flies off, which has him so annoyed that he hits a quick standing shooting star press for two. The Code Red gets two more but Ki strikes away, only to get dropped with a spinwheel kick. Red’s corkscrew moonsault misses though and the Ki Krusher 99 finishes for Ki at 7:29.

Rating: B. This is how you make someone into a bigger deal as Red was in there hanging with someone who almost won the X-Division Title last week. The perk of a promotion still being this new is that people can still make an impact in a hurry. That’s what Red did here and it was a heck of a match as the show kicks off fast.

Jeff Jarrett tries to get back stage but is blocked by the rather muscular man.

Hot Shots vs. Chris Harris/James Storm

Earlier today, Harris told Storm that the cowboy stuff was stupid and he better not fire those cap guns. The fight starts on the floor and we settle down to Storm headscissoring Stevens. Harris comes in with a spear and a belly to belly, but O’Reilly sends him outside. A drop onto the barricade has Harris in trouble for a change though and a dropkick gives O’Reilly two back inside.

Stevens hits a handspring elbow for two of his own, only for O’Reilly to miss (meaning hits, but only because Harris didn’t roll away face enough) a moonsault. It’s back to Harris as everything breaks down, with Storm hitting a reverse tornado DDT. Harris’ northern lights suplex is enough for the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. This was the latest win for Harris and Storm, who are rising up the ranks rather quickly. Well as many ranks as you can have so soon in a company’s history. You can tell there is a chemistry there and that is something that can take them a rather long way. The match was nothing of note though, as the Hot Shots just didn’t have much going on.

Post match the Hot Shots jump them from behind for the beatdown.

Ken Shamrock wants Jeff Jarrett.

Apolo vs. Brian Lawler

Thankfully Lawler doesn’t get to talk before he slams Apolo go start. Apolo is back up with a slam of his own and Lawler is not pleased. A Sky High gives Apollo two so Lawler goes back to the Memphis playbook with a foreign object. Some choking on the ropes keeps Apolo in trouble and a middle rope dropkick makes it worse. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Apolo is back up with a running shoulder. The legdrop gives Apolo two but the TKO is countered into a reverse DDT. Lawler, with his mouth bleeding, stops to dance…and is promptly rolled up for the pin at 7:06.

Rating: C. Again, Lawler just isn’t much in the ring and that hasn’t changed no matter what he’s been doing. That kind of style works in a place like the old Memphis territory and there is nothing wrong with it, but it’s not working here. Throw in the fact that he was just Grandmaster Sexay about a year ago and still acts the same way and it’s not exactly clicking. At least he wasn’t ranting about Jerry Lawler for once, as that isn’t working in the slightest.

Post match Lawler beats up Don West because that’s what a villain should do. There is still no security but Lawler lets him go anyway.

Here is K-Krush and we get a montage of him hanging…well actually just Norman Smiley and Scott Hall. Back in the arena, Krush talks about how he doesn’t want to go by this name because THEY gave it to him. He is being held down by THEY in the back before talking about Allen Iverson (he’s wearing an Iverson jersey) and says that like Iverson, he’s the TRUTH.

After talking about Mike Tyson and OJ Simpson, Money Brown (to what would become Abyss’ music) interrupts to brag about his own football career. Krush can blame everyone he wants, but maybe he’s just not all that. The challenge is issued but Truth (seems to be his official name) isn’t interested. The brawl is on and Brown easily clears him out.

We recap the issues between AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn. They hate each other but work well together, which is why they’re still Tag Team Champions. A lot of brawling has ensued.

We get a sitdown interview between Styles and Lynn from earlier today and, after the video doesn’t work the first time, they talk about how they still don’t get along. Tonight, they have to get together to retain the Tag Team Titles.

Tag Team Titles: AJ Styles/Jerry Lynn vs. Flying Elvises

The Elvises are challenging and Sonny Siaki is on commentary. Lynn and Estrada trade arm control to start until until Lynn elbows him in the face and grabs a running headscissors. Styles adds a running knee to the face and a legdrop gets two. An elbow to the jaw gives Styles two more but Estrada gets in a slam, allowing the rather necessary tag off to Yang.

Lynn comes back in to knock Yang into the corner, setting up a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. What looks like a top rope cutter from Styles…just kind of crashes down and Yang sends him outside for a heck of a clothesline. Back in and a Koji Clutch keeps Styles in trouble, setting up Estrada’s knee to the ribs for two. The banged up ribs are dropped over the top rope for two and a Lionsault connects for the same.

Another rather slow motion knee drop into a slingshot hilo gets two next two, followed by the logical abdominal stretch. Styles tries to fight back but Lynn gets knocked off the apron so the beating can continue. A kick to the face gets Styles out of trouble though and it’s back to Lynn to clean house. Lynn dives onto Estrada but Styles accidentally takes Lynn out with a dive of his own. Lynn is VERY busted open but he’s fine enough to come back with the slingshot Fameasser over the ropes. That’s enough to pin Estrada, even as Styles is on top for the Spiral Tap, and retain at 15:24.

Rating: B. Well hokey smoke, a wrestling match broke out on this show. It really shouldn’t be any surprise that Styles and Lynn work this well together as they’re incredibly talented but at the same time the Elvises are right there with him to make their side work. This was a rather good match and one of the better things the promotion has produced so far.

And now, Glenn Gilbertti has a talk show. After referencing Joey Maggs, Gilbertti talks about how much success he has had, all while commentary WILL NOT SHUT UP about how Gilbertti isn’t a star, continuing to completely undermine the entire joke. Anyway, Gilbertti is help AJ Styles be more athletic, show Ken Shamrock how to be charismatic, and Tennessee how to be smart. Next week, it’s the debut of Jive Talkin. Just in case we didn’t have enough comedy acts.

Ken Shamrock and the muscular guy….are cut off by a camera cut.

Simon Diamond/Johnny Swinger vs. Monty Brown/Elix Skipper

Skipper kicks away at Diamond to start and it’s off to brown for a Flip, Flop And Fly of all things. Swinger gets a clothesline from the apron to take over on Skipper and some rolling suplexes into a gordbuster gets two. Skipper gets in a shot to the face though and it’s Brown coming in to clean house. Diamond drops Brown from behind but a quick Alpha Bomb gives Brown the pin at 5:34.

Rating: C. Yeah I think they know what they have here with Brown, as he’s such a ball of charisma and an athletic freak on top of that. You don’t get someone like that very often and TNA would be smart to push him even harder. Other than that, Diamond and Swinger are good choices to put out there as designated victims as they work well together.

Post match The Truth comes in to jump Brown and choke him out.

The Dupps don’t have a match tonight but intentionally bump into Goldilocks, which is supposed to set up a match. Instead Bo goes after the muscular guy and a match is made.

Bo Dupp vs. Ian Harrison

Stan Dupp is on commentary as the rather big Harrison powers Bo into the corner. A suplex gives Bo a breather but Harrison easily slams him down. Some forearms just annoy Harrison, who comes back with a powerslam for the pin….despite the referee looking confused, at 2:59. Or was it a DQ when Stan ran in? Not that it matters as the Dupps are done for the night and that’s a good thing.

Post match the Dupps go after Harrison, who clears them out with ease. Harrison was every generic monster power wrestler you can imagine. Great physique, but nothing that is going to seem interesting.

With Harrison in the ring, Ken Shamrock and Jeff Jarrett can finally brawl. It’s broken up just as fast.

We get a pretty long recap of Sabu beating Malice in a ladder match to become the new #1 contender.

NWA World Title: Ken Shamrock vs. Sabu

Shamrock is defending and hits him in the face to start. Commentary explains that to even this out, it is Ladder vs. Submission, which means Shamrock has to win by submission and Sabu has to win by climbing a ladder to get the belt (because of course they have to make this more complicated). Sabu grabs a kneebar, suggesting that he can win by submission as well, only for Shamrock to fight out and kick him in the head.

Shamrock is back with a kneebar of his own as we’re told that Ricky Steamboat will be in charge next week. Sabu’s armbar is reversed into a kneebar, with Sabu getting to the ropes. Sabu gets knocked outside where he grabs a ladder, which is kicked into his face. They fight up to the stage for a few seconds before Shamrock is sent through the barricade.

Shamrock is laid onto a table but Sabu takes too long setting up a dive, meaning he only hits table. Now Shamrock gets to go up (as Ladder vs. Submission is already getting confusing) and grabs the belt…but the lights go out. Cue Malice to chokeslam Shamrock off the ladder and grab the belt, which makes the bell ring at 9:31.

Rating: D. They had some hard hitting stuff in there, but when commentary can’t explain the rules, it might be proof that they don’t nee to be there. The idea of ladder vs. submission only makes so much sense in the first place, as there was no reason to change it from being anything other than a regular match. And then the ending is someone pulling the title down because…I have no idea what is going on in this whole thing.

Overall Rating: C+. Things might be inching in the right direction here as there was enough focus on the better, more interesting things. At the same time, there are still enough bad things (submission vs. ladder, the Dupps, Gilbertti’s talk show, anything with Lawler and more) to hold it down. I’m certainly not optimistic, but things could be a lot worse.

 

 

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NWA TNA Weekly PPV #5
Date: July 17, 2002
Location: Nashville Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Ed Ferrara, Don West

We’re back for another batch of these things and the promotion is not in good shape. Save for the X-Division, the shows are just not very good and there isn’t much of a way around it. Ken Shamrock isn’t an interesting World Champion and Brian Christopher is still getting a lot of attention for whatever reason. Then there’s Jeff Jarrett, and I mean a lot of Jeff Jarrett, on top of everything else. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Jeff Jarrett going all nuts and attacking Ken Shamrock with a chair last week.

Shamrock doesn’t have any comment but he’s ready to show how mad he is.

Opening sequence.

Scott Hall and Jeff Jarrett, the latter of whom is ready to be in a ladder match for the #1 contendership to the World Title, brawl in the back and fight outside. The fight is broken up and executive Bill Behrens says Jarrett has forfeited his spot in the match.

Here is Malice (Jarrett’s scheduled opponent) with Father James Mitchell, so it’s open challenge time for the #1 contenders ladder match. The lights go out and….let’s get this over with as fast as we can.

Malice vs. Sabu

Ladder match for the #1 contenders match and Sabu starts fast with a tornado DDT. Malice isn’t having that and chokes him down before grabbing a chair. A backbreaker plants Sabu again and Malice sends him face first into a chair in the corner. It’s time to get the ladder, which Sabu dropkicks into Malice’s face. The triple jump dive to the floor drops Malice again before bridging the ladder between the apron and the barricade.

That takes way too long though and Malice drops him onto the ladder, followed by a World’s Strongest Slam onto it as well. Naturally Sabu is right back up with a springboard leg lariat into the ladder into Malice for another knockdown. It’s way too early to get the contract though as Malice powerbombs him down, followed by a nasty overhead belly to belly into the ladder.

Malice goes up but Sabu dropkicks the ladder out and chairs him in the head. Sabu kind of bulldogs the ladder down onto Malice, who is right back with a spinebuster. Malice’s climb up the ladder is cut off with a shove through a table, allowing Sabu to pull down the contract and win at 13:29.

Rating: C+. This could have been worse, as Sabu could still move and fits in far better with this kind of carnage than a regular match. If nothing else it adds a bit of a spark, as Sabu is a big enough name to be slotted into the World Title scene, even if it is for the short term. Besides, Malice’s time in the title scene has already been wrapped up so it is time to see someone new get a shot.

Post match the Disciples of the New Church come in to beat on Sabu and a super chokeslam puts him through a table.

Jeff Jarrett and Scott Hall are still being held apart and Jarrett is ejected.

Here’s AJ Styles for an unscheduled chat. Styles calls out Jerry Lynn, who storms to the ring and says Styles must want to know why Lynn jumped him last week. Lynn says he’s been wrestling for fourteen years and done more in this business than Styles has done in his lifetime.

Styles hasn’t done anything or even had to sleep in his car eating peanut butter sandwiches. Lynn gave him a chance when they teamed up and he isn’t going to stand for the disrespect. Styles lays him out and hits the Styles Clash. This was fine and to the point, but commentary responding to EVERYTHING either of them said took away a lot of the impact.

We look back at Jasmin St. Clair stripping for Jeremy Borash and Ed Ferrara making sure it happened in a funny bit.

Francine jumps St. Clair in the back and throws her in the shower.

K-Krush vs. Norman Smiley

Before the match, Krush brags about star power (he even SMELLS like a star). Why did the NWA put him in the ring with a NASCAR driver? They were afraid he was going to become something they couldn’t control and then they would have to sell his t-shirts. He’s been treated as a second class citizen despite being better than everyone. It’s because he’s a Black man, and he’s the truth.

With that out of the way, Krush knocks Smiley down into the corner but Smiley is back with the swinging slam. The Big Wiggle into a faceplant plants Krush again but he hits a spinning forearm to cut that off. Back up and a Russian legsweep gets Smiley out of trouble but Krush plants him with a sitout gordbuster for the win at 3:25.

Rating: C-. This really didn’t work, mainly because they went from a rather serious promo from Krush into something totally goofy, which is all Smiley did at this point. Smiley did have some status, but you probably shouldn’t be having the Big Wiggle after someone went on a rant about how he was being held back because of his face. Krush should have squashed him, but maybe don’t let Smiley get in that much goofy stuff.

Post match Krush takes off his belt and whips Smiley before hanging him over the top. Smiley’s wife comes out for the save and gets choked as well. This isn’t going to go well and it wasn’t exactly comfortable stuff anyway.

Puppet is in a trashcan and all annoyed about his match with Meatball. It’s implied that he is, uh, doing something rather personal with his hand.

The Dupps are all weird and make inappropriate comments about Goldilocks.

Flying Elvises vs. Christopher Daniels/Elix Skipper

Estrada is sent outside to start and Skipper hits a quick dive. Back in and Siaki takes over on Skipper before it’s back to Estrada for a butterfly suplex. Siaki joins commentary for a second to brag about how awesome he is before stomping away back inside. Estrada comes in with a double springboard moonsault but Skipper gets over for the tag to Daniels.

A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Estrada but Siaki’s cheap shot from the floor lets Estrada get in a quick knockdown. Skipper comes back in as everything breaks down, with Estrada hitting a springboard moonsault. Daniels hits a much less springboardy but far better moonsault for two of his own. Siaki and Daniels fight to the floor, meaning there’s no count off Skipper’s Play Of The Day. Instead Siaki comes back in for a rolling cutter to finish Skipper at 9:50.

Rating: C+. This was a fast paced tag match with the Elvises stealing the win over the rather talented Daniels/Skipper team. The tag division is still coming together and it is kind of hard to make that work. Putting teams together work though and this is the kind of match you have to use to make that work.

Post match the Dupps run in to take out the Elvises.

Scott Hall jumps K-Krush and leaves him laying without much trouble.

Meatball vs. Puppet

Hardcore match and Puppet jumps him to start, setting up a ram into a trashcan. Meatball knocks him to the floor though and it’s an ax handle from the apron. The fight heads up towards the entrance, where Meatball pulls some food from a shopping cart to mess Puppet up a bit. A dropkick sends a chair into Meatball’s face and a DDT gives Puppet two. Puppet hits a middle rope Fameasser onto a chair and a Vader Bomb onto a chair onto Meatball is good for the pin at 6:16.

Rating: D-. Oh come on. This was stupid, it wasn’t funny, the whole thing went on too long and this whole deal feels like such a waste of time. I’m sure someone gets a kick out of this but it’s just not working, with the gag of Puppet being a hardcore wrestler having lost the charm which barely existed in the first place. Just find something else to fill in the time.

Here is a damaged Jasmin St. Clair to call out Francine.

Francine vs. Jasmin St. Clair

It’s a brawl to start, they both lose clothes, Blue Meanie comes in to DDT Francine for the DQ at 1:25. This was all about the clothes and nothing more.

Meanie carries St. Clair off and Francine is taken out on a stretcher.

We look at some of Low Ki’s and AJ Styles’ signature moves.

X-Division Title: AJ Styles vs. Low Ki

Ki is challenging and they wrestle to the mat to start. Back up and they chop it out to a standoff until Ki takes him down. Ki strikes away as fans look at someone holding a sign, with security seemingly going after him. Styles gets in a slam and a flipping splash but Ki knees him to the apron.

Ki misses an Asai moonsault but he’s able to kick Styles in the face to cut off a dive. They slug it out on the apron until Ki gets a dragon sleeper in the ropes. Styles uses said ropes to escape and grabs a brainbuster for two. The Spiral Tap misses but Styles reverses a fireman’s carry into a Death Valley Driver for a needed breather. It’s Ki going up but he dives into the Styles Clash to retain Styles’ title at 10:36.

Rating: B-. These two work well together and that shouldn’t be a surprise given how well they have done in previous matches. It wasn’t exactly an epic showdown or a classic match, but they were working hard and it didn’t feel like two old rejects from WCW. Styles continues to be the breakout star around here and that is likely to continue if he’s going to keep doing this well.

Post match Jerry Lynn spears Styles down and gives him he piledriver. A ladder is brought in and Lynn suplexes him into it for the nasty crash.

Scott Hall vs. Brian Lawler

Before the match, Lawler rants about how stupid people have to be to be Jerry Lawler fans. The challenge is issued again and Brian throws in some Jim Ross insults for a bonus. Hall sneaks up behind him and after even more ranting from Brian, Hall finally punches him down to get going. Some right hands send Brian outside and even more knock him off th announcers’ table.

The beating goes around ringside until Brian gets in a shot of his own to take over. Back in and Brian hammers away as there are an awful lot of empty seats on camera. A suplex gives Brian two and, after insulting the fans some more, he goes up but gets slammed off the top. Hall’s belly to back superplex connects and, after taking out K-Krush, the Outsider’s Edge finishes Brian at 8:43.

Rating: C-. At the end of the day, these matches just aren’t very good. They’re a bunch of punching, a few other moves, and then the finish. It doesn’t help when Brian is doing basic heel stuff straight out of the Memphis playbook, but that is only going to do so much to get him around the fact that he’s Brian Lawler and won’t shut up about his dad. Hall didn’t do much more than his signature stuff, which is only so good at this point.

Post match Brian and Krush beat Hall down and hang him over the ropes.  Hall goes out on a stretcher but Jeff Jarrett runs in with a chair and wrecks Hall and pretty much everyone not named Lawler or Krush.

Overall Rating: C. There is some passable stuff on here but the bad is dragging it all the way down. Other than that, the good stuff, which is mainly centered around the less goofy people, is watchable enough. In other words, as has been the case, there is a decent show here if you get rid of the terrible parts. The problem is there is quite a bit of terrible and a lot of it is getting the focus. Fix that and this goes up in value, but it isn’t looking likely anytime soon. Ultimately, the biggest issue is that I have no idea what the biggest story is supposed to be around here and I don’t think the company does either.

 

 

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