Backlash 2007
Date: April 29, 2007
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 14,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Taz, John Bradshaw Layfield, Joey Styles

It’s the Wrestlemania followup show and the company is still on something of a hot streak. We have a big double main event as Batista challenges Undertaker for the Smackdown World Title in a Last Man Standing match and John Cena defends against Edge, Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton. That’s enough star power, plus Vince McMahon going for a title of his own. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at how this is the Wrestlemania sequel, with a focus on the three top matches. Rather simple and to the point, but it works well.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch

The Hardys are defending. Matt and Cade get things going with the latter driving him into the corner. That’s broken up so Cade goes with a running shoulder but Matt slugs his way out of trouble. A headlock takeover puts Cade down but it’s off to Murdoch, who walks into a slam. Jeff comes in with a slingshot dropkick and the elbow/flipping splash combination keeps Murdoch in trouble.

The Whisper in the Wind is more of a flipping Blockbuster but it lets the Hardys clear the ring. Jeff’s big Poetry In Motion to the floor has Cade and Murdoch down again and the champs are in control. Back in and Matt drops a middle rope elbow for two on Murdoch, who sends him into the corner for a breather. It’s back to Jeff, who gets pulled out to the floor for the crash to put him in trouble. The sitout spinebuster plants Jeff for two and Murdoch grabs the chinlock.

Back up and a neckbreaker and clothesline give Murdoch two each, followed by a big boot for the same. Cade comes back in for a chinlock of his own and it’s already back to Murdoch for a belly to back suplex. Jeff’s dropkick isn’t enough for the hot tag but kicking Murdoch out of the corner is, as Matt gets to come back in. Everything breaks down and Jeff is sent hard into the corner, leaving Cade to come off the top and hit Matt in the back. Murdoch’s Code Red gets two but Matt is back up with the Twist of Fate. With Matt cutting off Cade, Jeff Swantons Murdoch so Matt can get the retaining pin.

Rating: C+. It was a little long at over fifteen minutes but the Hardys winning a hard fought tag match is almost always a good idea. Cade and Murdoch are a good old fashioned roughneck brawling team and this was a fine way to use them. It felt like a pay per view title match, though trimming off a minute or two might have helped.

Vince and Shane McMahon are confident that they can beat Bobby Lashley, especially with Umaga around. How does this sound: ECW World Champion Vince McMahon?

Women’s Title: Melina vs. Mickie James

Mickie is challenging and wastes no time armdragging her down into an armbar. The grappling on the mat gives us a quick standoff until Mickie headscissors her back down. That’s broken up as Melina is sent into the corner, where she seems to be favoring her eye. Tis but a ruse though as she charges at Mickie, who hammers away to keep the champ in trouble. Mickie takes too long going up top though and gets shoved off into a heap on the floor.

Back in and Melina grabs a full nelson with her legs and even puts her hand on the rope for leverage (It’s interesting that just putting your hand there wouldn’t do much. The thing is though that fans understand it’s cheating so it can go a long way with almost no effort. Learn that kind of thing.). A choke in the corner has Mickie in more trouble and a middle rope Thesz press drops her again.

The chinlock doesn’t last long as Mickie drops down into the splits….and pulls Melina down into them with her. They slug it out from there until Mickie kicks her away. Some clotheslines and a hair toss have Melina in more trouble, with a high crossbody getting two. That’s enough for Melina, who goes to the eyes and drops her with a reverse DDT to retain.

Rating: C. They were working hard here but there is only so much that you can do when they are in the lowest level match on the card and the ending comes out of nowhere. Melina needs to be built up with wins like this so they did things as well as they could have. Not a terrible match, but it could have been on any given Raw.

Edge is ready to win the WWE Championship. Maria pulls out a fan question, asking how he won his first World Title. That would be Money in the Bank, so here is Mr. Kennedy with the briefcase to hint at a cash-in at the end of the night. Eh, not with that kind of telegraphing.

The Condemned hype comes to pay per view.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. MVP

MVP is challenging and drives him into the corner a few times to start. A leg dive doesn’t work for MVP and it’s time for the exchange of front facelocks. Benoit tries the Crossface but MVP is right over to the rope, as he should be. Back up and a headlock takeover slows Benoit down a bit until he reverses into a headscissors and then bridges up into a backslide for two. Benoit takes him down and gets the Sharpshooter, sending MVP back to the ropes.

Back up again and MVP hits a running boot to the back of the head to take over. The cravate goes on to stay on Benoit’s neck and MVP tosses him with a suplex for two more. MVP grabs a chinlock and the LET’S GO POWER RANGER chant gets on his nerves a bit. Benoit fights up and rolls the German suplexes but MVP is smart enough to grab the foot to prevent the Swan Dive.

A hot shot gives MVP a series of two counts but Benoit is right back with the Crossface, sending MVP back to the ropes. MVP is back with something like an armbar while cranking on the neck at the same time. The big boot misses though and Benoit rolls more German suplexes. The Swan Dive is loaded up but hits raised knees, allowing MVP to grab a half crab. That’s broken up so MVP tries a suplex, which is quickly reversed into a small package so Benoit can retain.

Rating: B-. The ending surprised me and that’s a good thing, at least in theory. At the end of the day, I’m not sure how smart it is to have Benoit retain the title as MVP needs to win something rather soon. Getting pinned by Benoit is hardly some terrible result, but how many times can MVP lose before it stops mattering anymore?

John Cena is asked about how title defense tonight but here is Randy Orton to interrupt. Orton talks about how similar they are, including being handsome. An alliance is tossed out, but Cena would rather talk about the handsome part. It turns into a series of gay jokes, though it isn’t Cena’s thing. Orton says tonight is ending with Cena on his back and Orton on top, drawing in Ron Simmons for the catchphrase.

We recap the McMahons and Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley for Lashley’s ECW World Title. Lashley beat Umaga at Wrestlemania to force Vince McMahon to get his head shaved, so now it is time for revenge. Vince has put Lashley in a handicap match and Lashley….well he got as fired up as he could at least.

ECW World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga/Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon

Lashley is defending but unfortunately Vince has traded the snazzy hat for a bandanna. Shane starts for the team and gets taken down for an early pummeling. There’s the spinebuster and Shane is on the floor in a hurry. Back in and Shane hands it off to Umaga, which is just fine with Lashley. Umaga takes him down but Lashley avoids a charge in the corner and hits some running clotheslines.

A clothesline puts Umaga on the floor and Shane goes with him, leaving Vince alone with Lashley. Umaga comes back in to save the boss and Shane low bridges Lashley to the floor. There’s a legdrop to keep Lashley in trouble and a hard whip into the corner makes it worse. Shane starts working on the arm and cranks away, with Lashley just kind of laying there cringing. The hold stays on for a good while, including a bodyscissors to make it worse. Lashley powerbombs his way to freedom but Umaga is right back with in with the save.

Umaga grabs the bearhug and then a Samoan drop gets two. It’s back to Shane for a camel clutch but Lashley fights up with some suplexes. A torture rack into a backbreaker gets two with Vince finally making the save. Umaga and Shane have to save Vince from the running powerslam and it’s a belt shot to the head. Vince comes in to count two but Lashley is done. Umaga adds the top rope splash and now Vince can get the pin to become ECW World Champion.

Rating: C. The match itself wasn’t great, but this was ALL about the title change, as Vince winning the ECW World Title is the ultimate slap in the face of ECW. In other words, it’s absolutely perfect and makes Umaga look like a star as well as he was the one who put Lashley down. It’s a great way to make ECW fans mad and hope that someone takes it back, even if it’s Lashley. Not much of a match, but a nice piece of business.

Shane runs around holding the title in a hilarious visual. Vince is awarded the title and orders that the ring announcer name him the new champion again.

Post commercial, Vince McMahon runs into the ECW Originals and mocks all of them, saying things are looking up for Sabu and stealing Sandman’s kendo stick. Vince and Shane: “EC DUB! EC DUB! EC DUB!”

We recap Batista vs. Undertaker in a Last Man Standing match for Undertaker’s Smackdown World Title. Undertaker took it from him at Wrestlemania and now it’s time for the much more violent rematch. Neither trusts each other, but there does seem to be some respect between then.

Smackdown World Title: Batista vs. Undertaker

Undertaker is defending and it’s Last Man Standing. Batista has a heavily taped up thigh and Undertaker sends him into the corner to start hammer away. It’s too early for a chokeslam so Undertaker scores with the jumping clothesline instead. Old School connects early but Batista is back with the running powerslam. They fight outside with Undertaker kicking him up against the apron and then going after the big target on the leg.

The apron legdrop gives Undertaker a five but Batista whips him knees first into the steps. Back in and Undertaker catches him on top for a superplex (that’s a rare one for Undertaker) for the big double knockdown. They slug it out until Batista hits a running clothesline and slams him down for a legdrop. Undertaker kicks him right back to the floor and loads up the announcers’ table, which can’t possibly go well. Instead, Undertaker hits him with the steps for seven and NOW it’s time for the bloody Batista to be put on the announcers’ table.

A heck of a jumping legdrop off the barricade crushes Batista for a nine. Back in and the spear gives Batista seven and the spinebuster puts Undertaker right back down. Two more spinebusters give Batista a nine but Undertaker comes right back with a chokeslam. That’s enough for a nine so Undertaker hammers away in the corner (that’s not smart), only to get pulled into the Batista Bomb for a very close nine.

A frustrated Batista grabs a chair and blasts him in the head but the Batista Bomb is countered with a backdrop onto the chair. The Tombstone is good for nine so Undertaker kicks him outside again. They fight up to the stage and the Tombstone is countered again, so Batista spears him off the stage. That sets off the sparks and part of the set falls down, which is enough for the double ten count and a draw.

Rating: B. They beat each other up for a long time and the legdrop spot looked good, but going to a draw in a Last Man Standing match is rarely going to get anything but an eye roll. The ending did look good and felt big, but it makes this match feel like it didn’t matter. You don’t want that kind of a feeling, though the third match should be good as well.

Both guys take their time getting up but leave on their own.

The Condemned is still a thing.

There was a fan poll on who will win the main event:

John Cena – 50%
Shawn Michaels – 34%
Randy Orton – 10%
Edge – 6%

We recap the four way for the Raw World Title. John Cena retained against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania but Shawn wanted one more shot. That was cool with Cena, but Edge and Randy Orton wanted in as well. The match was made, and then Shawn beat Cena clean in a nearly hour long classic this week on Raw.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels

Cena is defending and this is one fall to a finish. They stare each other down at the bell and it seems that we are in for a mini tag match. We don’t get any contact until a minute in, when Edge and Orton are knocked to the floor. Shawn turns to chop Cena, who grabs a release fisherman’s suplex for two. Back in and Orton dropkicks Edge outside and all four wind up on the floor. Edge whips Orton into the steps but Shawn is back up to plant Edge with a slam. Shawn isn’t done as he moonsaults off the top onto all three of them.

Back in and Cena hits a double top rope Fameasser onto Edge and Michaels for the triple knockdown. Orton comes back in and sends Shawn and Edge outside, leaving Cena to get caught with the backbreaker for two. Cena gets sent into the post but Shawn is back in to slug away on Orton. Edge comes back in with a spinwheel kick on Shawn, meaning it’s time for a mini Rated-RKO reunion. A Cena comeback attempt gets shoved off the apron and onto the announcers’ table and there’s a double backdrop to Shawn.

That sets up a double half crab (which somehow equals Boston instead of one) until Cena comes in for the real save. The Shuffle hits Edge but Shawn is up to send Cena and Orton face first into the post. Shawn loads up a piledriver through the announcers’ table but Edge makes the save with a chair. Another chair shot drops Orton, leaving Cena to pull Edge into the STFU. The rope is grabbed so Cena puts Orton in the same hold. Shawn makes the save and cleans house, including sending Orton and Edge outside.

The top rope elbow hits Cena and there’s one to Edge. Shawn loads up another to Orton but Cena breaks it up and we get the big Tower of Doom to leave everyone laying. Back up and Cena and Edge trade finisher attempts until Cena throws Edge and Shawn up onto his shoulders at the same time. Shawn slips off and tries the superkick but Orton hits an RKO out of nowhere. Cena breaks that up before one but walks into the Edgecution. Orton and Cena trade finisher attempts until Edge spears Orton down. The FU hits Edge but Cena walks into the superkick to leave everyone down….and Cena lands on Orton for the pin to retain.

Rating: B+. The match took some time to get going, but ultimately it was the last few minutes that took this to another level. The last four or five minutes were absolute fire with one big spot after another. I love the ending too as Shawn knocks Cena silly and would have had him beat but Cena got lucky with the landing. You can go a few directions from that, and I’m sure we’ll see some fallout at the next pay per view.

Shawn is livid and yells at Cena, who looks confused.

Overall Rating: A-. You had a six match card and the two longest were very good while getting by far the most time. Throw in Benoit vs. MVP in a good match and the worst thing being Mickie vs. Melina in a watchable match and this was a heck of a show. I liked this more than I would have bet on as WWE continues having their very strong stretch over the last few months.

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Backlash 2016
Date: September 11, 2016
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Mauro Ranallo, David Otunga

For some reason someone wanted me to look at this again and I’m really not sure why. I don’t often get requests for modern shows and while I can remember the show, I’m not sure what to expect here. It isn’t quite a major card but for the main event does have some meaning. This is also the first Smackdown pay per view after the Brand Split so there are some inaugural champions to be decided. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin

Both of them have only been on the main roster for about five and a half months at this point and this is WAY before Corbin became a thing. Corbin shoves him around to start and then does it again for a bonus. An exchange of shoulders goes to Corbin so Crews goes to the apron. One heck of a right hand puts Crews on the floor and we take a break. Back with Crews kicking away and hitting his jumping clothesline. The Stinger Splash connects but Corbin hits the under the rope clothesline to take Crews down.

One heck of a clothesline gives Corbin two but Crews is right back with a dropkick. The standing moonsault gets two and an Angle Slam gets the same to put them both down again. Deep Six catches Crews for another near fall as they’re going back and forth here. They head outside with Corbin crashing hard into the steps and Crews hammers away back inside. Corbin shoves him off the ropes though and the End of Days is good for the pin at 9:55.

Rating: C+. I’m really not big on Corbin but these two had a heck of a nice match here, which I wouldn’t have expected from these two in this spot. They were going back and forth for just under ten minutes and both guys looked rather nice in the process. I can see why Corbin went somewhere, but it went in such a completely wrong direction that the whole thing fell apart. Crews…..yeah I still can’t explain the whole thing.

The opening video is a text crawl talking about the September 11 attacks from fifteen years earlier. It couldn’t be anything else.

The regular opening video talks about how Smackdown is crowning two inaugural champions here, plus looking at the bigger matches. All as usual in other words.

Here’s Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon to get things going because that’s how you open a pay per view. General Manager Daniel Bryan (erg the days of two bosses per show) comes out to join him and it’s time to welcome the fans to the show. Shane talks about all of their ratings success and Bryan runs down the card, in case you just strolled into a pay per view.

Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Carmella vs. Nikki Bella

This is an elimination match for the inaugural title. Becky gets a big pop and Carmella has been attacking Nikki coming into this. It’s a big brawl to start until Becky and Naomi are left alone in the ring. Becky’s armbars don’t get her very far so Naomi does her dancing kicks, which still aren’t the best idea in the world. A big kick to Becky’s head works a bit better but she’s fine enough to backdrop Naomi outside. Carmella catches Becky on top though and a Stratusphere gets two.

Natalya and Alexa break up the Nikki vs. Carmella standoff so Nikki hits the spinning kick to Alexa for two more. Bliss sends Nikki outside so Natalya runs Bliss over but Becky is back in. Naomi comes back for a Bubba Bomb into Cattle Mutilation on Natalya but that’s broken up as well. Carmella gives Nikki a Downward Spiral into the Cone of Silence to stay on the bad neck. That’s broken up and Nikki takes her up top, only to have Natalya turn it into the Tower of Doom.

Bliss clears the ring until Becky comes back in to go after her arm. Now it’s Nikki cleaning house but Carmella breaks up her big dive. Instead Naomi hits a springboard dive onto everyone, leaving Nikki to frantically adjust her gear. Back in and Natalya loads up Bliss in a powerbomb with Naomi adding a Blockbuster for the first elimination at 9:39.

Naomi headscissors Natalya out to the floor but Nikki punches her out to the air. Natalya sends Nikki outside and the Sharpshooter makes Naomi tap at 10:46. That leaves Natalya and Carmella to team up against Nikki, who fights them both off and hits the Rack Attack 2.0 to finish Natalya at 11:53. Carmella immediately rolls Nikki up for the pin at 12:00, leaving us with Carmella vs. Becky for the title.

Hold on though as Nikki slaps Carmella first, leaving the fans to cheer for Becky even more. Carmella spends a lot of time shouting so Becky comes back with the suplexes to take over. A shot to the face drops Becky but she easily pulls Carmella into the Disarm-Her for the tap and the title at 14:15.

Rating: C+. The match was kind of all over the place at first and focused way too much on Carmella vs. Nikki (I’m as shocked as you are) instead of almost anyone else involved. They did well enough once things started clearing out a bit, but the rest of this fell into the trap of two do stuff and then the others take their place with rather limited transition. Becky winning was the only choice given her competition so at least they got the ending right.

Post match Becky thanks the fans for everything and says this is what Becky Balboa is all about.

Bray Wyatt has attacked Randy Orton and injured his knee. They face each other later tonight.

Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Usos vs. Hype Bros

This is a second chance challenge match for the right to fight for the titles……or a semifinal match for all you normal people out there. American Alpha was supposed to be in the finals but the Usos attacked Chad Gable’s knee and put him on the shelf to force this match. Mojo drops into a three point stance in front of Jey and scores with an early backdrop. Back in and Mojo slams Jey down, setting up a slingshot splash to give Ryder two. Ryder hammers away in the corner but Jimmy breaks up the Broski Boot.

That’s fine with Ryder, who hits a dropkick off the apron and Mojo runs Jimmy over for a bonus. Jey sends Ryder into the buckle back inside though and it’s time for the evil Usos to take over. A backbreaker/running knee combination gets two and we hit the chinlock for a bit. The running Umaga Attack (with Mauro actually getting the name right) connects for two and the chinlock goes on again.

Ryder counters a suplex into a neckbreaker for two but Jey kicks Mojo in the head like a smart villain. As usual, that’s about it for the beatdown though as Ryder clears the ring and makes the hot tag off to Rawley to clean house. Ryder gets two off a super hurricanrana but Rawley gets sent into the barricade. That leaves the Usos to take out Ryder’s knee and the Tequila Sunrise makes Ryder tap at 10:06.

Rating: C+. I wouldn’t have expected the Hype Bros to do this well but it helps when you’re in there with the Usos. The Usos have to be in a match to crown some new champions for the sake of credibility, so it wasn’t like this was the biggest shock. It was quite the surprise that the match worked out this well, but the Hype Bros could rise up to another level when they had the chance.

Rhyno and Heath Slater are ready for the Tag Team Title match but Heath’s stomach is a bit messed up because of bad crab meat. Rhyno: “We’re still live.” Heath: “You’ve been SWERVED!”

Connor’s Cure video.

We recap the Miz defending the Intercontinental Title against Dolph Ziggler. This comes off of the near legendary Daniel Bryan “you wrestle like a coward” promo on Talking Smack, which somehow set up Ziggler getting a shot. See, Ziggler needed to prove himself (again) because being a multiple time World Champion didn’t count because….uh, reasons.

In the back, Miz tells Daniel Bryan that he wants to renegotiate his contract and that’s going to get even worse after he retains the title.

Intercontinental Title: The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

Miz, with Maryse is defending. Ziggler spinebusters him down to start and hammers away, sending Miz bailing to the floor early on. Back in and Ziggler easily wrestles him down for some near falls so Miz wisely goes to the ropes. A slam plants Ziggler and Miz stomps away as the pace slows a bit. Ziggler isn’t having that and snaps off some dropkicks but Miz is back with a catapult to send him throat first into the bottom rope. The bow and arrow works on Ziggler’s back before Miz catapults him out to the floor.

Miz drops him onto the barricade for two back inside as things slow down for real this time. The chinlock goes on and the comeback attempt earns Ziggler a face first toss into the corner. Miz grabs the surfboard ala Daniel Bryan and then stomps down onto Ziggler’s knees, also ala Bryan. We’ll keep up the Bryan tribute with the running corner dropkicks and YES pose, followed by the running corner clothesline.

The Skull Crushing Finale is countered though and Ziggler nails a dropkick. The clothesline comeback is on and it’s a spinebuster into right hands on Miz. Ziggler gets two off a sunset flip and sends him shoulder first into the post. Miz is right back with a sitout powerbomb before starting in on Ziggler’s knee. The Figure Four is broken up though and Ziggler grabs the sleeper as the submissions continue their trip back to 1982.

Miz slips out so Ziggler grabs the jumping DDT for two more. The superkick is countered into Miz’s short DDT and now the Figure Four can go on. Ziggler gets to the rope so Miz kicks him in the head, earning himself a superkick for a VERY close two. Miz has to be thrown back inside, allowing Maryse to get in some hairspray to the face. That’s enough to set up the Skull Crushing Finale to retain Miz’s title at 18:20.

Rating: B+. Yeah they were using a lot of basic stuff here, but they were using it in a way that made you want to see how it was going to go. Miz worked on Ziggler’s leg and Ziggler tried to set him up for the superkick. It became a bit of a chess match as they were trying to get to that final moment and that’s how you build to a climax. Heck of a match here, as Miz is still able to have this kind of a match under the right circumstances.

The Kickoff Show panel recaps the Kickoff Show in a panel discussion.

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton

I forgot how much I missed Broken Out In Love. Actually hang on as Orton has a bad knee and can’t win, so after the ten count, Bray wins by forfeit.

Hold on though as we have a replacement for a No Holds Barred match.

Kane vs. Bray Wyatt

No Holds Barred. It’s a slugout to start with Kane taking him to the floor for a clothesline. Bray gets sent into the timekeeper’s area but comes out with a bell shot to the head. Back in and Bray hammers away before getting in a hard shot to the knee to cut Kane off. Some chair shots put Kane down again and then some chair shots put Kane down again. Kane comes back with a DDT onto the chair but it’s way too early for the chokeslam.

They head outside where another chokeslam is broken up, this time with a right hand to the face. The announcers’ table is loaded up and there’s a running backsplash to send Kane through it for the big crash. Back in and Sister Abigail is countered into a quick chokeslam for two. Bray manages a release Rock Bottom onto the chair but here’s Randy Orton for the RKO. Kane adds a chokeslam for the pin at 10:57.

Rating: C. Not much to see here but the point was to have Orton get one over on Bray and that worked out well enough. Kane is fine for a fill in spot like this and him beating Wyatt isn’t the biggest stretch in the world. If nothing else, it’s weird to see Wyatt in this old deal after his crazy transformation just a few weeks later.

AJ Styles talks to a few young guys and knows it by looking at them: they are destined for failure, but at least they got to meet him!

We look back at the Usos winning earlier.

Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Heath Slater/Rhino

For the inaugural titles and Slater/Rhino are the wacky thrown together team. The fans are behind Slater as he forearms Jey down to start. Rhino and Jimmy come in for the ECW chants and Jimmy gets knocked down with a knee to the ribs. Slater comes back in and is quickly knocked out to the floor in a heap.

We hit a….sliding chinlock (ok then) back inside but Slater it out even faster. That earns him something like a top rope Demolition Decapitator and we hit the chinlock. Slater gets driven into the corner and a legdrop makes it worse. A clothesline gets Slater out of trouble and it’s back to Rhino for the hot tag so house can be cleaned. The Gore only hits the buckle so Slater tags himself back in to DDT Jey. Jimmy makes the save but walks into the Gore, allowing Slater to get the pin and the titles at 9:56.

Rating: C-. This was just a TV match and nothing more, which isn’t exactly the most thrilling thing to see on a pay per view. Slater and Rhino winning is the right way to go as you can only get so far with the Usos winning. They’re the established team, so why waste your time with having them get another title win here? Not a bad match, but I won’t remember it in half an hour.

Post match Slater is rather pleased at getting the title (and a contract on Smackdown) because this is the biggest moment of his life. Slater: “Aside from a couple of my kids being born.” What matters most though: HE’S GETTING A DOUBLE WIDE!!!

And now, a KFC ad featuring Dolph Ziggler as Colonel Sanders beating up Miz in a chicken suit.

We recap AJ Styles challenging Dean Ambrose for the World Title. Styles beat John Cena at Summerslam and wants the World Title, though Ambrose isn’t exactly taking this seriously. He keeps telling AJ that he isn’t getting a trophy for being second best, but Styles wants the WWE Title.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose

Ambrose is defending and is taken down in short order. Some rollups give Styles two each and it’s another early standoff. Styles wrestles him down and tells Ambrose that he owns him so Ambrose is back up with armdrags. A slam sends AJ bailing to the floor as things stop for a breather. AJ gets Ambrose to chase him though and the stomping is on, only to have Ambrose knock him outside again.

Ambrose’s suicide dive is cut off with a trip and it’s time to work on the neck. The drop down into the dropkick gets a nice reaction from the crowd, along with a two count. The jumping knee gets the same and AJ knees him in the face a few more times. Ambrose fights back but charges shoulder first into the post to cut that off in a hurry. AJ misses his own charge though and Dean hits a top rope belly to back superplex, with AJ flipping onto his face to make it worse.

A swinging Rock Bottom backbreaker gives Ambrose two and the top rope standing elbow (I’ve missed that one) hits AJ on the floor. Back in and a double chickenwing facebuster gets two more but Styles suplexes him into the corner. It’s way too early for either finisher so AJ crushes the knee in the corner to take over again. The leg cranking is on so Ambrose uses the good leg to kick his way to freedom.

Not that it matters as AJ is right back with the Calf Crusher, with Ambrose having to make the crawl to the rope. The hold goes on again so this time Ambrose bounces his head off the mat for the break. Ambrose has to climb the ropes to escape the Styles Clash so they head to the apron, where a heck of a catapult sends AJ into the heck of a hard post. Back in and Ambrose gets two off la majistral, only to get caught in the fireman’s carry backbreaker.

AJ: “Let’s see if he gets up from this one.” The springboard 450 connects and we do see Ambrose get up from this one. Ambrose slugs away and hits a running dropkick to put AJ on the floor again. Now the big dive can connect and AJ is thrown over the barricade. The running dive from the announcers’ tables over the barricade drops AJ and the rebound lariat does it again back inside. Dirty Deeds is broken up and the referee gets bumped, allowing AJ to hit a low blow into the Styles Clash for the pin and the title at 24:57.

Rating: A-. I really liked this one as they built up the story of Ambrose being a wild brawler and AJ slowly reeling him in for the catch because Styles is that much better. The leg work was good, though Ambrose kind of dropped it near the end. Styles had to get the title here and WWE was smart enough to not do something crazy like try to stretch it out. This was the right call with the right choice and the match was pretty great.

AJ looks very pleased that he won and poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a rather good show here and Smackdown gets off to a nice start. They did the historical stuff with the title changes and there was nothing bad throughout the card. I wasn’t expecting much out of this show and I barely remembered the thing in the first place so this was a heck of a nice surprise. Very good show here and the main event is worth seeing for some nice storytelling.

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IMG Credit: WWE

Backlash 2006
Date: April 30, 2006
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Attendance: 14,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

This is a very special show for me as I was in the audience live. It was the first pay per view I ever got to attend live and the only one I would see in person for about fourteen years. We have a two match show here with John Cena defending the World Title against HHH and Edge in a triple threat, plus Shawn Michaels/God vs. Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon in a match that can’t possibly take place without a lot of cringing. Let’s get to it.

For a bonus, here’s the pre-show match from Sunday Night Heat.

Rob Conway vs. Goldust

Goldust does his crouch to start and the fans certainly seem to approve. A knee to the ribs sets up a running hip attack, which commentary finds hilarious. Conway’s clothesline gets two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and simultaneous crossbodies put both guys down for a bit and it’s time to slug it out. A neckbreaker gives Conway two but Goldust is back with some right hands. The chest rub right hands in the corner have Conway in more trouble and it’s the scoop powerslam to give Goldust the pin.

Rating: C-. The action wasn’t the point here and there is nothing wrong with that. They did what they were supposed to do by getting the crowd warmed up with some people they would have recognized (Conway was an OVW legend and the TV show aired in Lexington). Throw in Conway’s completely obnoxious music and it was easy to cheer for Goldust to beat him.

The opening video focuses on Vince McMahon’s war against Shawn Michaels, including the always awesome visual of Vince’s bloody smile from ringside at Wrestlemania XIX. The triple threat gets some attention as well, as they are the only two matches that matter.

At least they aren’t using the still wrong line of Rupp Arena being on the campus of the University of Kentucky.

Carlito vs. Chris Masters

Carlito slaps him in the face to start and gets choked with his own shirt as a result. A basement dropkick into a running faceplant gives Carlito two but Masters is back with a backdrop. Carlito slips out of a gorilla press and tries his own full nelson, which is broken up in a hurry. They head outside with Carlito hitting a dive and then hammering away back inside. That earns him a buckle bomb as the fans think that Masters suck, allowing JR to get in some always well deserved jabs at the University of Louisville.

We hit the neck crank for a bit, followed by an elbow to Carlito’s jaw and then into another neck crank. The comeback is cut off by a clothesline but Carlito slips out of the Masterlock attempt. A springboard elbow drops Masters and Carlito throws an apple at him for a distraction. Masters sends him into the corner again but the belly to back superplex is broken up. Carlito’s moonsault press gets two and he sends Masters into the corner. The Backstabber finishes Masters.

Rating: C+. Pretty much an above average Raw match here and that’s not the worst way to open a B pay per view. Masters even had a logical offense by softening up the neck while Carlito used the high flying to fight against the power game. It’s a good enough match and that’s all it needed to be in this spot.

Maria throws us to some fans giving their predictions earlier today. Lita comes in and says no one cares what Roscoe P. Coltrane thinks about the match (because Kentucky is full of country bumpk….carry on) and she is tired of keeping her mouth shut. Maria has heard otherwise about Lita’s mouth, so Lita offers to knock her out. Edge is winning tonight and they’ll have a private celebration because unlike these people, she actually gets some.

Ric Flair vs. Umaga

Armando Alejandro Estrada handles Umaga’s introduction. Flair jumps Umaga on the floor to start but gets taken into the corner for the right hands. A quick referee distraction lets Flair get in a low blow and then does it again for a bonus. Umaga doesn’t seem to mind and hits him in the throat for a knockdown.

Flair rolls to the floor and hits some rather hard chops before avoiding a charge into the post. Back in and Flair starts taking out the knee but it’s way too early for the Figure Four. The Tree of Woe headbutt sets up the running hip attack in the corner and Flair is in big trouble. Umaga’s middle rope headbutt sets up the Samoan Spike for the fast pin.

Rating: C-. This was almost a squash and that’s all it needed to be. The important thing here about Flair is that he knew he could pop right back up like it was nothing because he had been a made man for about fifteen years. That means he can put someone like Umaga over and have no real damage whatsoever, which is a rather valuable lesson to know.

Vince McMahon is flexing in the back when Shane McMahon comes in to say it isn’t a handicap match tonight. Shane needs to leave God to Vince because Vince can do anything God can. To demonstrate, Vince pours water on the floor and walks on it, then pulls out a fish and some bread. He doesn’t quite know the story but he looks to the ceiling and someone off screen throws in a bunch of fish. Vince sees this as a sign because it’s HOLY MACKEREL. Vince leaves and Shane drinks some water, which now looks a lot more purple. Shane: “Uh, dad?”

We recap Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James for Mickie’s Women’s Title. Mickie was obsessed with Trish and stalked her for months before winning the Women’s Title at Wrestlemania. Trish responded by dressing like Mickie and playing her own minds games. It’s time for the big rematch.

Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus

Mickie is challenging and they’re dressed as themselves. Trish shrugs off a wristlock to start and busts out the Matrish into a headscissors. A kick to the head sends Mickie outside for the Thesz press off the apron into some right hands. Back in and Mickie hammers away in the corner but Trish gets sent over the top and out to the floor… and that’s a dislocated shoulder. Back in and Mickie hammers away, followed by some choking for the VERY sudden DQ. I’m not going to rate it as they had barely gotten started when the shoulder went out but it was looking good early on. Trish would be out for nearly two months.

Shawn Michaels says God is with him as he always is. Tonight is a handicap match though and the McMahons are being brought down to their knees again.

Intercontinental Title/Money In The Bank Briefcase: Shelton Benjamin vs. Rob Van Dam

Shelton’s title and Rob’s briefcase are both on the line and it’s winner take all. Commentary starts talking about the missing Mama Benjamin plus the time where Vince McMahon performed surgery on JR. Ross: “What great programming that was.” Shelton bounces around and armdrags Rob over, leaving Rob with a “so that’s how it is” look on his face. Rob’s rollup sets up his own armdrags and the threat of a spinning kick to the face sends Shelton bailing to the corner.

The fans want Mama (I was disappointed too) as Rob knocks him outside but Shelton comes back in with a knee to the face. Rob hits a spinwheel kick into some clotheslines so Shelton goes outside again. That means a slingshot dive but Shelton catches him on the way back in. A big running sunset bomb to the floor (THUD) drops Rob hard and we hit the chinlock back inside. Shelton grabs a backbreaker into another chinlock, followed by the reverse chinlock to mix it up a bit.

Some slams stay on the back and there’s another chinlock. It’s too early for the exploder, but Shelton reverses Rolling Thunder into a Samoan drop for two. The Five Star is broken up so it’s off to another chinlock (I think we get the point). Rob fights up with some kicks to the face and now Rolling Thunder connects for two more. There’s a split legged moonsault for another near fall but the Five Star misses as well.

Shelton hits a hard DDT for his own two so he grabs the briefcase, which draws Rob outside. A kick to the head cuts Rob off but he’s right back in with a hurricanrana. Rob gets shoved into the referee so Shelton grabs the briefcase. Van Dam takes it away though and it’s a Van Daminator into the Five Star to give Rob the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. The chinlocks got a bit annoying here but the result worked well. I liked the winner takes all deal as I couldn’t imagine Van Dam losing the briefcase so adding the potential that he could win the title helped boost things up a bit. Van Dam is getting some momentum built up at the moment and if they have him cash in a little faster than Edge, it could make for a heck of a title showdown.

We recap Kane vs. Big Show. They had been dominant Tag Team Champions but then lost them to the Spirit Squad. Soon thereafter, Kane became obsessed with anyone mentioning May 19 and eventually snapped when Big Show said it. Kane went for Show’s eye and drew a lot of blood, setting up this match so Show can try to beat some sense into him.

Big Show talks about how May 19 is the release date of Kane’s movie. So Kane has problems. So what? Big Show was in Waterboy but you didn’t see him running around beating people up. Show doesn’t know if Kane’s goldfish died or what, but tonight it’s eye for an eye.

Kane vs. Big Show

Kane jumps him at the bell so Show shoves him down to take over. They head outside for a second with Kane knocking him into the post on the way back in. A running corner clothesline rocks Show again and a regular version gets two. The armbar goes on for a bit and Kane hits him in the arm to break up a chokeslam attempt. Kane goes up for the top rope clothesline but gets caught in a fall away slam. The chokeslam is loaded up but Kane reverses into a pretty messy DDT (the camera work didn’t help things) for two.

Show knocks him down again and drops the leg for two as JR mentions that this hasn’t been the prettiest match. Show powerslams him down for two more but Kane big boots him to the floor. Then we get the red lights and Kane’s voice comes over the loudspeaker. He keeps saying May 19 and taunts Kane about not being able to control it. Kane keeps grabbing his head as the voice talks about how he knows what happened. Show grabs a chair and hits him in the head so he can walk away for the no contest.

Rating: D. It was a bad match until the ending and then it got even worse. This was a lot of the same plodding match you’ve seen these two have a dozen times before and it wasn’t any better this time around. Kane going insane to promote his movie wasn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff. It was entertaining breaking stuff though and that’s a pretty bad way to end a pay per view match, especially after such a blatant advertising campaign to promote the match.

Post match the lights are normal and the voice stops as Kane sits up and smiles.

Candice Michelle is coughing in Vince’s office because she has a chest cold. She wants Vince to give her a healing touch so he winds up on top of her and she screams a lot until Shane comes to get him. And we move on.

We recap Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels/God in a video we’ve seen in one version or another multiple times lately. Shawn told Vince to get over Montreal and grow up already so Vince declared war on him. Then Shawn beat him at Wrestlemania, so Vince said Shawn cheated by having God help him. Hence the tag match.

Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels/God

This is going to hurt. Vince introduces the Hipster From Heaven and we get some harp music to go with a spotlight. Hold on though as Vince says that isn’t a WWE entrance so he wants God to get jiggy with it. The dance music is on but Vince tells the referee to check God for weapons. Vince doesn’t care if he has any weapons because it’s going to be a no holds barred match. Thankfully Shawn comes out before this gets even worse (to be fair, I had expected a guy with a big white beard so this could have been worse….maybe).

Before the match, Vince tells Shawn where he and God are going tonight so Shawn hits him in the face to start fast. Shawn sends Shane to the floor for the slingshot dive and beats him up the ramp to make it one on one. Shane slugs away on the ramp but gets backdropped onto the stage. Vince joins them but Shane gets sent into the big set. A crossbody drives Vince off the stage and through a table for the big crash. Shawn goes up the steps but gets blasted in the face by a Shane chair shot.

That’s enough to draw some blood, with JR proving he doesn’t understand the word literally by saying it’s “literally ear to ear”. They head back to ringside with Shawn going into the post and then the barricade, followed by a spinning DDT back inside. Now Vince is willing to make a tag, even though Vince needing a tag in a No Holds Barred match doesn’t make much sense for him. Shane throws Vince a trashcan for a shot to the head and it’s time for Vince to grab a mic.

Vince wants to know why God is walking out on the match, even declaring that God has left the building. Vince: “God has left the building!” In one of those visuals that is hard to fathom, Vince tries his own superkick but Shawn knocks it away and hits the running forearm. There’s the nip up and Shane accidentally caves Vince’s head in with a chair. Shawn knocks Shane down and hits the top rope elbow and JR is knocking the nicknames and monikers out as fast as he can.

There’s the superkick to Shane but Shawn would rather grab a pair of tables. Both McMahons are put on the tables and the fans want ladders. Shawn gives them what they want with the huge ladder but here’s the Spirit Squad so he has to dive on them instead. The Squad gets back up and jumps Shawn though, meaning the beatdown is on in a hurry. They move the tables and take the ladder down, meaning it’s a big Uppsa Daisy through the table to give the rather evil looking Vince the pin. JR: “That’s bull****!” Lawler: “It’s the father, the son and the holy Spirit Squad.” Eh point for a good line.

Rating: B-. This was about as logical as you could get, especially if they insist on keeping the feud going. At the end of the day, Shawn was probably on equal footing here at best after he beat the fire out of Vince at Wrestlemania, so stacking the deck was the only way to give it some drama. Shawn is going to need some help though and those crotch chops should give you a hint of where it’s going. This also flew by, which shows you how well they could play the smoke and mirrors given the almost twenty minutes that they had. The God stuff is going to offend some people (fair) but Vince being over the top is always worth a look.

Post match the Squad carries Vince and Shane out on their shoulders.

John Cena talks about how controversial he is and how there are different groups who want to see the three of them all come out as WWE Champion. There will be one voice at the end of the match though and that will be….Lilian Garcia, who will announce that Cena is still WWE Champion.

Here’s Matt Striker for Striker’s Classroom. Striker says he was not originally scheduled to be here (I wonder if he is filling in time after Trish got hut) but now we are seeing a miracle: an educated man in Kentucky! He lists off some things Kentucky is famous for, which does not include being well educated. Striker is here to be your teacher though and is here with one of the most educated people in the history of Kentucky.

Cue Eugene, which Striker says is proof that you shouldn’t marry your cousin. Striker hands Eugene some chalk and asks him to write his name on the chalk board. The camera goes onto Striker and we come back with a message on the board declaring Striker’s love for a bodily excrement. Striker complains about how the sentence is written as Eugene picks his nose. After ordering Eugene not to eat it, Striker gets Eugene’s nasal contents shoved into his mouth. There’s a Stunner to Striker to wrap things up.

We recap the Raw World Title match. Edge beat John Cena for the title at New Year’s Revolution but then lost it back at the Royal Rumble. Cena went on to defeat HHH at Wrestlemania, where Edge also stole the show against Mick Foley. Both Edge and Foley want title shots so let’s have a triple threat.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Edge vs. HHH

Cena is defending and Lita is here with Edge. With Edge heading outside to start, Cena and HHH slug it out with Cena getting the better of things. The release fisherman’s suplex gets two on HHH with Edge making the save and bailing straight back to the floor. HHH hits the jumping knee to the face for two and the slugout (with BOO/YAY crowd reactions) is back on. Edge gets up on the apron so the two of them bring him back in to keep the beating up. They all head outside when HHH and Cena compete to see who can ram Edge’s head into the announcers’ table harder.

HHH jumps Cena and takes Edge back inside, only to miss a charge in the corner. Cena pulls HHH off the apron though and goes up top for a splash onto Edge for two (that’s a new one). The Shuffle is loaded up but Lita low bridges Cena to the floor. HHH is back in with a facebuster and clothesline to Edge and the spinebuster gets two. Edge is right back with the Edge O Matic for his own near fall but HHH grabs the sleeper. Cena comes back to lift both of them up for the FU at the same time.

Edge slips out and spears Cena down, making him Samoan drop HHH in the process. HHH and Edge head outside with HHH being busted open off a posting. The Edgecution onto the announcers’ table knocks HHH silly, leaving Edge to hit a missile dropkick for two on Cena. Edge gets pulled into the STFU though and it’s HHH grabbing the hand to block the tap. A mic shot to the head knocks Cena silly to break thing sup and HHH CRACKS Edge with a chair to the head.

Back in and Cena grabs the STFU on HHH (note the booing) for two arm drops. HHH grabs the rope but gets pulled right back into the STFU. Edge goes up top so Cena lets go to break it up, with the ref getting bumped in the process. HHH breaks up the super FU with a powerbomb and everyone is down. That means it’s time for Lita to bring in a chair but HHH breaks it up with a spinebuster. The sledgehammer is whipped out but Edge cuts HHH down wit the spear. HHH hits Cena low to break up the FU, only to have Cena counter the Pedigree into a jackknife rollup to pin HHH and retain.

Rating: A. Oh yeah this was great and one of the more action packed main events you’ll see from around this time. They were all fired up and hitting on every level, with Cena getting the surprise win to wrap it up. It’s also WAY better on the broadcast than it was live, as you couldn’t get a good feeling for the level of blood and carnage. Great stuff here and worth seeing for sure.

Post match HHH sledgehammers both of them down and holds up the sledgehammer. One more crotch chop ends the show.

Overall Rating: B+. There might be some nostalgia on this one but dang it was a fun show to watch back. Of course there were bad moments but it was a two match show and the two matches delivered. I’m not sure what else you could ask for out of a B pay per view and they threw in a pretty good opener and a better Intercontinental Title match. This worked really well, but there was one problem.

Kentucky is one of those states with a rather ridiculous athletic commission (partially because of the deathmatch nonsense out of IWA-MS and it’s horrible boss who caused a lot of trouble) which REALLY didn’t like the blood, meaning WWE got about $50,000 in fines for the show (including things like Cena and Edge (yes Cena and Edge) not stopping the match when HHH bladed). Throw in that, depending on which reports you believe, HHH actually bled onto the commission’s representative and it should be no surprise that WWE was banned from holding televised events (if not events in general) in Kentucky for three years.

The commission has since been toned WAY down and now WWE is here at least once or twice a year for TV, but it was a rather long wait because of this show. Other than that though, it was a pretty good night all around and quite a nice memory for me that I’m never going to forget.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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IMG Credit: WWE

Backlash 2020
Date: June 14, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

It’s back to pay per view again and this time it’s not a themed show. The main event certainly has a theme though, as Edge and Randy Orton are supposed to have the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. I’m not sure if anyone actually sees that as being a realistic possibility, but it’s a heck of a tagline. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: United States Title: Andrade vs. Apollo Crews

Andrade is challenging and has Zelina Vega and Angel Garza with him. Hold on though as here’s Kevin Owens (with a tie) to join commentary. Crews misses the dropkick to start and gets caught in a headlock as Owens accuses Garza of not being so angelic. Andrade chokes on the rope and they head outside where Crews backdrops him onto the ramp. The apron moonsault connects and Andrade is rocked early on.

Back in and the release Falcon Arrow gives Crews two but Andrade drop toeholds him face first into the middle buckle. The Alberto double stomp misses and Crews grabs an overhead belly to belly into the corner. Crews suplexes him to the apron and Andrade gets in a slingshot DDT for two. Back up and Crews hits the gorilla press into the standing moonsault. Owens cuts off Garza and the toss powerbomb retains the title at 7:23.

Rating: C-. Totally run of the mill Raw match here though Owens as a potential challenger is interesting. He’s needed something to do since Wrestlemania (and yes the injury slowed him down) so a US Title run could be interesting. Just do something of note with him for the sake of not having him float around. Crews doesn’t seem like a long term champion, but at least he didn’t lose the title immediately.

The opening video is all about Edge vs. Orton, complete with clips of other great matches. The two World Title matches apparently aren’t important enough to warrant even a clip.

Bayley and Sasha Banks are ready to defend the Women’s Tag Team Titles. After dubbing herself Bayley Dos Straps (I didn’t know you could use that word), Bayley says nothing is stopping her friendship with Sasha. If Kayla has another stupid question like that, get Charly Caruso to ask it. Burn…..maybe?

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Bayley/Sasha Banks vs. IIconics vs. Nikki Cross/Alexa Bliss

Bayley and Banks are defending and Cole makes it clear that you can only tag your own partner. Nikki slugs away at Billie and Bayley to start but the double teaming slows her down. Everyone tags out and it’s a six way staredown for a second. An exchange of rollups gets a bunch of near falls and then more rollups get more near falls to change things up. Everyone comes in again until Bliss sends Peyton into Banks in the corner.

Peyton spinwheel kicks Cross down and Banks brings in Bayley as Cole lists off all of the titles that Bayley has won over the years. Bayley grabs Billie in a wheelbarrow so Banks can hit a running knee for two with Nikki making a save. Nikki sends Bayley into Billie and it’s back to Bliss to clean house. Everything breaks down and Royce crossbodies Bliss and Banks off the apron onto everyone else. Back in and Twisted Bliss hits Peyton but Banks steals the rollup on Bliss to retain at 8:49.

Rating: C. The match was non-stop action for the most part but it was so fast paced that it got messy by the end. That’s almost always going to be the case with this many people flying around the match at once and that’s not always the best idea. They’ve done a nice job of rebuilding the division in a hurry though and it’s because of a really simple idea: have people fight over the titles. I have no idea if this is going to last (it probably won’t) but it has been a nice few weeks for the belts. Or straps as Bayley now calls them.

Braun Strowman came to work earlier today.

Extreme Rules is on July 19.

We recap Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus. Hardy is back after a knee injury and Sheamus doesn’t like him for having so many personal demons. Sheamus may have framed him for a drunk driving crash that took out Elias but Hardy swears he was framed. Then there was some stuff with bodily fluids to bring things down a good bit.

Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus

Hardy grabs a headlock to start as his artistic way of expressing his anger at someone who almost cost him everything. The slingshot dropkick in the corner connects but Sheamus comes straight back with the running shot to the face. They head outside with Hardy diving off the steps to take him down and, after a painful obvious spot call, sends Sheamus back inside. Hardy teases using the steps but Sheamus catches him on the way back in and drives the elbows into the back of the neck.

Sheamus drops Hardy onto the top and the knee hits the post for a nasty crash. A middle rope knee gives Sheamus two and, after calling the fans enablers, he plants Hardy with some Irish Curses for the same. Sheamus hits a nasty running knee to the face and the chinlock goes on, complete with some rakes to the eyes. Hardy fights up with a belly to back suplex but Sheamus cuts him down with a clothesline.

The top rope clothesline misses though and Hardy hits the Whisper in the Wind for two of his own. The legdrop between the legs into the basement dropkick gets two and Hardy adds a mule kick. Hardy’s Sling Blade lets him go up top but Sheamus meets him on the rope. That’s broken up but Sheamus blocks the dive and hits White Noise for two. Hardy’s knee is banged up so Sheamus slaps on the Texas Cloverleaf.

Hardy makes the rope so Sheamus starts kicking at the knee and adds the forearms to the chest. Sheamus goes shoulder first into the post though and the Swanton connects for two with Sheamus getting his foot on the rope. They head outside with Hardy trying the run off the barricade but Sheamus Brogue Kicks him out of the air. Back in and another Brogue Kick connects to give Sheamus the pin 16:45.

Rating: B-. Pretty good power vs. speed match here but it’s pretty clear that they are heading for a gimmick rematch at Extreme Rules. I’m almost scared to imagine what that is going to be given how they have set things up so far, but hopefully we can get something as lame as a tables match or something instead. Hardy being knocked backwards and then overcoming the odds will be fine. It’s not like losing to Sheamus is some big upset.

Miz and Morrison aren’t happy with hearing that if they beat Braun Strowman, the winner will be the sole Universal Champion. Otis comes in to say they might not be champion that long. Mandy Rose clarifies that Otis means they might not be champion that long.

We recap Asuka vs. Nia Jax. Asuka won Money in the Bank to become champion and Nia is being her usual jerk of a self. Title match ensues.

Raw Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs. Asuka

Asuka is defending and goes for the sleeper early. That’s broken up and Nia hits a headbutt, only to have Asuka grab an Octopus in the middle of the ring. Nia powers out without much trouble and, after shrugging off a Fujiwara armbar attempt, runs Asuka over with straight power. The spinebuster sets up a cobra clutch but Asuka is back with a guillotine.

Nia powers out with a Jackhammer for two but Asuka scores with the Shining Wizard for the same. A middle rope dropkick gets two and there’s the running hip attack for two more. Jax grabs a sitout powerbomb for two of her own and Asuka goes for the armbar. That sends them outside where Asuka grabs the armbar again. The hold takes some time though and Asuka kicks her in the head, only for both of them to get counted out at 8:25.

Rating: C. It was a fun match while it lasted with Asuka trying to take down the monster, but it’s a little hard to get invested in the feud when the monster has been slayed so many times before. It feels like we’ve seen the same Jax story over and over and that can get old in a hurry. Not a bad match at all, but I’m not really wanting to see them fight again, especially if they manage to get Charlotte involved.

MVP is getting Bobby Lashley’s celebration ready when Lana comes in. Lana asks why MVP has banned her from ringside for Lashley’s matches, but MVP says he didn’t do it. Go ask Lashley why, unless she’s scared of the answer.

We recap Braun Strowman vs. Miz/Morrison for the Universal Title. Strowman beat both of them and then agreed to face them both at once, so they started “pranking” him, meaning destroying the windshield of his expensive car and failing to slime him. Strowman wrecked a van and is ready to destroy.

Smackdown World Title: Miz/John Morrison vs. Braun Strowman

Miz and Morrison are challenging and before the match, they show us their new music video for Hey Hey Ho Ho. Morrison is knocked into the corner without much trouble so it’s off to the terrified Miz for a kick to the face. That just annoys Strowman, who kicks Miz outside. The freight train around the ring is cut off by a dive from Morrison and the champ is in trouble for a change.

The chinlock keeps Strowman down and Miz comes in for the YES Kicks. He wants some singalong time, but the delay lets Strowman get in a chop. A charge goes into the post though and Morrison adds the Flying Chuck. The Skull Crushing Finale with a stomp from Morrison connects but they fight over who gets the pin. Miz finally lets Morrison cover but Strowman kicks him out to the floor. The chokeslam plants Miz and the running powerslam to Strowman retains the title at 8:23.

Rating: D+. So that’s about exactly what was expected and all it should have been. This was a pretty big waste of a pay per view title match (put Nakamura in there for a one off challenger if nothing else) as we’ve seen Strowman beat both of them before. Did we really need to see him beat both of them on pay per view?

We look at AJ Styles winning the Intercontinental Title over Daniel Bryan on Smackdown.

Styles promises a big title presentation on Friday and wants Bryan there. Bryan is great, but he isn’t phenomenal and has a lot to learn.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley. MVP has gotten in Lashley’s ear and made him a lot more aggressive, plus getting him his first title match in thirteen years. McIntyre knows what a threat Lashley is but is ready to fight as usual.

Raw World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is defending and MVP is here with Lashley. Before the bell, Lashley grabs the full nelson with a bodyscissors and a bunch of referees have to pull it off. McIntyre says ring the bell anyway so Lashley throws him down for two. We see Lana watching in the back as McIntyre can’t even get his gear off. Lashley hits a knee to the head and chokes on the rope (MVP: “How you feeling champ? Feeling like a loser yet? Don’t worry. It’s coming.”).

McIntyre manages to knock Lashley outside and drives him back first into the Plexiglas. A glare at MVP takes too long though and Lashley gets in a hard shot. MVP: “One, two, you hear the clock ticking.” Lashley sends McIntyre into the post but he charges into a suplex into the barricade. McIntyre muscles him up for a suplex and hits the top rope shot to the head back inside.

The spinebuster gets two but Lashley hits his own for one. Lashley grabs a lifting Downward Spiral for one more so MVP tells him to hit something McIntyre can’t kick out of. The full nelson doesn’t work so Lashley climbs to the middle rope, only to get countered with the reverse Alabama Slam for two. Lashley is right back with a Crossface but McIntyre powers up. A Tombstone is teased but Lashley slips out and grabs the ankle lock.

That’s broken up and McIntyre grabs a Kimura of all things. Lashley grabs the rope so McIntyre takes him to the top for a superplex and a big crash. The Claymore is countered with the spear for two and both MVP and Lashley are shocked. Cue Lana to get on the apron though, with McIntyre hitting the Glasgow Kiss to knock Lashley into her. The Claymore finishes Lashley at 13:15.

Rating: B. This was the match I was looking forward to in the buildup and they delivered with a good, hard hitting fight. They made this two big, strong guys beating each other up, but the Lana interference was annoying. Odds are we have a Last Man Standing match or a cage match next month, as the rematch is certainly warranted. Plus a lot of Lashley yelling at Lana of course. Oh and a lot of credit for MVP here too. I was never a fan of his back in the day but he has been pure gold in this role with Lashley.

The announcers talk about the Raw Tag Team Title match and we cut to the back where the teams are fighting near Strowman’s car. Erik is slammed through the windshield so they run off and fight into the building. We enter cinematic mode with the Profits pulling out golf clubs but the Raiders counter with shields, an axe and a bowling ball. Profits: “NO!” The chase is on again and they go into a tunnel where they agree to put their weapons down.

The Profits hits them in the face to take over, leaving Ivar with his bowling ball. Ivar flashes back to the bowling match, then rolls the ball down the tunnel between Ford’s legs. Ivar heads outside to find Erik down but Dawkins spears Ivar through a glass door. That means another flashback to bowling where they pulled a turkey leg out of the ball return. With that out of the way, Ivar wants to head outside, where they already are.

Cue a seven person motorcycle gang, as led by Akira Tozawa. He says anything you can do, we can do better, and throws his helmet at Ivar. The Raiders and the Profits huddle up (with a camera looking up at them), to say those are ninjas on bikes. They have to do this together, so a bunch of lightning strikes and they pull out red solo cups and turkey legs.

With a Viking Profits graphic coming up, they want the smoke and start beating up the ninjas with the cups and turkey legs. The ninjas are dispatched and the Viking Profits throw their fists together for a pose. Tozawa gets up to shout a lot and waves a huge ninja (as in over 7’) over. Ivar summons a turkey leg ala Captain America and the hammer in Avengers so the ninja pulls out a sword.

They climb onto the top of the production truck with Ivar not being able to keep up. Then they argue over who beat up the ninjas and start fighting again, with Dawkins diving off the truck with a bulldog to send Erik into a trashcan. Ivar throws Ford in, shouts AIR IVAR, and Swantons in after them. That means another flashback to all of the women finding Ivar cute but not so much with Erik. Cue referee Jessika Carr to say their match is next and that Ivar is cute, but not so much with Erik. Then what looks like an alligator tail appears in the trashcan and they all scramble to escape.

That was such a waste of time that I don’t know where to start. The only thing I can say is this: just wrestle. Have the two talented teams who have torn the house down before tear it down again. This match was announced earlier today and we get this stupid thing to flash back to the month long series of jokes that have left everyone involved looking goofy. The Raw Tag Team Titles haven’t been defended in over two months, but we’ve had bowling and basketball between the teams that had a non-title match before the whole thing started. Just have a freaking match already. Is that too much to ask on the wrestling show?

And no, the match isn’t taking place, because they set up the match about eight hours ago just to not do it on the pay per view.

Commentary announces that they will be offering an enhanced viewing and audio experience for the next match.

We recap Edge vs. Randy Orton. Edge won in a Last Man Standing match at Wrestlemania and now it’s a wrestling match, which will be the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever because that’s what they billed it as and that’s what it’s going to be.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

They pipe in the fake crowd noise on the entrances, just in case you were wondering what you were getting here. We get a voiceover from Howard Finkel and the old MSG microphone for the entrances as Charles Robinson is wearing the 1980s WWF referee uniform. After referee instructions, Tom instantly declares this the greatest wrestling match ever. Edge snaps off some armdrags but the third misses as Orton puts on the brakes. Orton grabs a headscissors with Edge powering out in a hurry.

They trade leapfrogs until Orton sends him outside. Edge suckers him in for a big boot though and they press play on the “crowd cheers” audio file. Back in and Edge armdrags him into an armbar (they’re playing up the history of injuries, with Edge’s neck and Orton’s shoulder), with Edge wrapping the legs around Orton’s arm. It’s off to a headlock but Orton gets up to take him into the corner and kick at the leg.

A headscissors sends Orton outside and Edge goes up, only to have Orton pop up top to meet him. Edge headbutts him down and Orton is busted open, prompting some far louder than possible THIS IS AWESOME chants from the crowd. Back in and Orton misses the RKO so Edge can grab the head and arm choke, sending Orton over to the ropes. They fight to the floor with Orton sending him into various things and then drops him onto the announcers’ table.

Back in and Orton goes with the Garvin Stomp, followed by the chinlock. That’s broken up so Orton looks up and hits two out of Three Amigos. Edge blocks the third and hits his own Three Amigos to put them both down. They head outside again with Edge being sent chest first into the post, setting up a top rope superplex back inside. Joe: “EDGE IS NOT GOOD RIGHT NOW!”

That gets two and they get back up for stereo crossbodies and another knockdown. Edge drapes him over the top and hits the Edgecution for two, followed by a knee to the face. A sliding forearm to the chest (Joe: “Stee-rike!”) gets two on Orton and a high crossbody is good for the same. Edge gets the Crossface on the shoulder he hasn’t been working on but Orton switches into a rollup for two instead. Orton snaps off an Angle Slam for two and the frustration is setting in.

Back up and Edge can’t hit an Unprettier but manages to counter the RKO into the Edge-O-Matic for two. Now the Unprettier connects for two, followed by Orton hitting a Pedigree for the same. Edge busts out a Rock Bottom for his own near fall and they’re both down again. The Edgecator is blocked and Orton hits the RKO for the closest near fall yet. Orton can’t believe it so Edge spears him down and hits a second for two, meaning it’s time for him to be stunned as well. Edge goes back to the head and arm choke but Orton goes low and hits the Punt for the win at 44:49.

Rating: B. This was a great example of a lot of the problems with WWE in a nutshell. They have some outstanding talents and wrestlers, but they can’t just let them do their thing. Instead it was over hyped, overproduced and overly long (this easily could have been trimmed down by twenty minutes) and now we’re going to hear about how great it was for the next few days. Why can’t it just stand on its own as a big match between two of the best ever?

It was a heck of a match too, with both guys working on their opponent’s weak spots and playing off the history. I could have gone without bringing in the legends’ finishers, but it tied in a bit to the legends being brought in for predictions. The problem wasn’t the wrestlers or what they did, but all of the additional weight that was put on them, which may have been a nice marketing idea on paper, but didn’t do anyone involved any favors.

Post match Orton whispers something in Edge’s ear (sounded something like telling Edge’s daughters Uncle Randy says hi but I couldn’t make it out) and Edge is helped up after a long while to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I’m not sure what to think of this show as the wrestling was pretty good for the most part, but between the back to back cinematic matches and the feeling that it was a dress rehearsal for Extreme Rules, it was a little hard to care. It did exceed my expectations, but sweet goodness can we cool it on the cinematic matches already? It feels like we’re getting at least one per show now and that’s a good bit too much.

Results

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. IIconics and Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross – Rollup to Bliss

Sheamus b. Jeff Hardy – Brogue Kick

Asuka vs. Nia Jax went to a double countout

Braun Strowman b. Miz/John Morrison – Running powerslam to Morrison

Drew McIntyre b. Bobby Lashley – Claymore

Randy Orton b. Edge – Punt

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

For the first time in several months, we have a show that doesn’t have a gimmick or theme to the whole thing. That can be either a blessing or a curse, as there is nothing to lean on but it also leaves WWE relying entirely on the wrestling, which might not be the best thing. I’m not entirely sure what to expect from it, but there is one major focal point to the show, which could get them in a bit of trouble. Let’s get to it.

Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus

We’ll start with one of the more discussed matches on the show, as Hardy’s substance abuse issues have been turned into a story. I can get why a lot of people aren’t comfortable with this (I’m not entirely) but it’s what we’re getting, including bodily fluid jokes on SmackDown. These two have been feuding for a bit now and there is a good chance that they’ll continue after this.

I’ll take Sheamus to cheat to win here, as Hardy has already beaten him once and they need a reason to keep the feud going. There is still the question of who was actually driving the car that took Elias out, so we could be moving towards something else in the future. For now though, Sheamus needs something to brag about and Hardy can still get the big win in the end, even if it’s not over Sheamus.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka(c) vs. Nia Jax

This match has kind of been forgotten as everything regarding the women has turned into the Charlotte Show. WWE isn’t hiding the fact that whomever wins here will probably face (and likely lose to) Charlotte, making this a little less interesting than it should be. Jax has been her usual condescending giant self throughout this feud and that is going to be the case going forward no matter what.

In this case it’s going to be after a loss as Asuka retains. Jax has such a history of choking in these big matches and even though Charlotte vs. Jax would actually be a fresh match for a change, we’re getting another instance of Charlotte vs. Asuka. They’ll need to build Asuka up before then though and she’ll get a win here to do just that.

SmackDown World Title: Braun Strowman vs. Miz/John Morrison

Then there’s this, which might be the worst pay per view World Title match in recent memory. Strowman pinned Miz and Morrison in back to back weeks so now the solution is to have him beat up both of them at once. The build has included a variety of pranks, which have wound up damaging a car and a van. Why that is supposed to make me think Miz and Morrison have a chance is beyond me, but that’s where we are.

Of course Strowman retains, because much like Asuka vs. Charlotte (you have to mention her in at least one extra match you see), this is all about killing time until the Fiend is back to take the title from Strowman. It says a lot about SmackDown that the best thing they can do with their World Champion is have him beat up a tag team but here we are, with absolutely nothing else possible for him. You might want to work on that a bit.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Bayley/Sasha Banks(c) vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. IIconics

For the first time since the Tag Team Titles have been around, WWE is actually making them seem important for a change. These three teams have fought over the titles for a bit now (plus Charlotte and Asuka, who beat them the IIconics and Bayley/Banks on Monday in a match that doesn’t seem to count but needed to exist to give Charlotte another win) and that makes the titles seem valuable.

For the sake of sanity, I’ll go with Banks and Bayley retaining here, as the revolving door of champions needs to slow down for a bit. Hopefully they can continue this in the future though as it has turned the titles from nothing into something in just a few weeks. It really isn’t that complicated but WWE took almost a year and a half to figure out the concept. Bayley and Banks retain here, but it really could be any of the three.

US Title: Apollo Crews(c) vs. Andrade

Now this one has become a lot more interesting in the last few days as Paul Heyman, Crews’ biggest supporter, was fired as Executive Director of Raw. Crews didn’t seem to be on the strongest footing as champion in the first place and it wouldn’t shock me to see the title change back here for the sake of getting rid of a Heyman guy in the first place. Then again you would think they might come up with someone more interesting that Andrade, whose first title reign didn’t exactly set the title on fire.

I’ll go with Crews retaining here in a pick likely to go wrong, but he isn’t going to hold the title much longer. Crews has all of the physical attributes that you could want but he still isn’t exactly an interesting character. Unfortunately Andrade hasn’t been interesting at all as champion, though I have a feeling he or someone else just as uninteresting will get the title back. The problem isn’t the wrestler though, but rather what they do with the title. WWE has shown that they’re fine with Andrade just sitting on the thing, and I think that’s what we get again, though not just yet.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Bobby Lashley

This is the one match on the show that I’m especially looking forward to as they have done a great job of making me care about these two fighting. McIntyre is a successful champion so far but needs to slay a few dragons. That’s where Lashley could come into play but WWE has done a rather nice job of making you think that the title change is a possibility. It isn’t easy to make that work so points to them for a successful build.

McIntyre retains here, but I have a bad feeling that we’re on the inevitable path towards another Brock Lesnar title reign. The ratings for Monday Night Raw haven’t been great (to put it mildly) as of late and if there is one thing WWE likes to do, it is shifting back to Lesnar because why try something new when you can try something that hasn’t fixed the ratings issue? McIntyre keeps the title, but Lesnar is getting closer every day.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

There’s almost no way this doesn’t headline as WWE needs to do something else to set these guys up to fail. The problem here is simple: they are going to have a rather good if not great match, but billing it was the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever has put them so far behind the eight ball that it doesn’t matter. Couple that with the instant classic from SmackDown two days earlier and what in the world are they supposed to do?

I’ll take Orton to even things up, as there is a good chance this is going for a third match at Summerslam. That isn’t the best idea as Edge doesn’t have a ton of matches left in him and using two if not three of them on Orton isn’t exactly brilliant, but there are bigger problems here. The story here is going to be the build, plus listening to commentary tonight and tomorrow as they talk about how this might be the best match ever. It won’t be, but it should be pretty good.

Overall Thoughts

Man this card doesn’t seem like much, but there are a few bright spots in there. You can probably pencil in Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro (either of whom would have been a better challenger for Strowman) vs. New Day to flesh the card out a bit, but this is all going to be about the Raw World Title and Edge vs. Orton. That might be enough to carry it, though the card doesn’t look great overall.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

It’s a bad marketing campaign run amuck.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-thats-not-fair/

IMG Credit: WWE

Backlash 2005
Date: May 1, 2005
Location: Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire
Attendance: 14,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the follow up to Wrestlemania and that means we’re in for a rematch for the Raw World Title with HHH challenging Batista for the title. Other than that, we have the ultimate teaming of Shawn Michaels/Hulk Hogan vs. Muhammad Hassan/Daivari because we need a way to get to what is likely going to be Shawn vs. Hogan at a big show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a history of Hulk Hogan’s career, complete with fans shouting ONE MORE MATCH. Then Shawn needed his help and it’s time for the big tag match. The World Title gets some attention as well and thankfully it comes off as a double main event rather than one big match and the World Title as a secondary option. HHH thinks he can win if he hits the Pedigree, which is some mix of insightful and obvious.

Intercontinental Title: Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin

Benjamin is defending in a long form rematch after he took the title from Jericho in October. Shelton wastes no time in armdragging him into an armbar and a second one annoys Jericho even more. Back up and Jericho slaps him in the face, earning himself some right hands to the jaw. A suplex attempt puts Jericho on the apron so Shelton tries a sunset bomb, which is countered into a hurricanrana to the floor in a nice sequence.

They head back inside for the chinlock but Shelton breaks out in just a few seconds. The Stinger Splash to the back in the corner sets up a belly to back to give Shelton a breather but it’s Jericho back up first. The Lionsault misses so Jericho goes up top, only to have Shelton jump to the top for a superplex, because of course he can do something like that. Both guys get back up before a double clothesline puts them right back down.

It’s Jericho up first with a forearm and shoulder, followed by the running enziguri for two. Jericho tries to throw him over the top but Shelton springboards back in with a bulldog for his own two. A quick Walls attempt is blocked so Jericho catapults him into the corner, with Shelton landing on the middle rope.

The exploder gets two as Jericho has to get his foot on the rope and Shelton isn’t sure what to do. Shelton goes for another exploder but gets pulled into the Walls, meaning it’s his turn to grab the rope. The Lionsault almost hits raised knees but Jericho lands on his feet and tries the Walls, only to get cradled for the pin to retain Shelton’s title.

Rating: B. This was as good as you would have expected it to be with Jericho doing everything that he could do and helping make Shelton look like a star. At the same time, Shelton is on fire right now and showing off the freaky athleticism that made him one of the hottest things in wrestling. Very good opener here and it wouldn’t shock me if this was the best thing on the show.

Post match Jericho is frustrated and has nothing to say. Granted that might be because it was Todd Grisham asking.

Edge is ready to beat Chris Benoit tonight, just like he did in Money in the Bank. Tonight, he’ll be the Last Man Standing.

Tag Team Titles: Tag Team Turmoil

William Regal and Tajiri are defending in a bonus match. There are five teams and it’s the Heart Throbs in first and Regal and Tajiri in second. Romeo shoulders Regal down to start and it’s a cartwheel to frustrate him even more. Antonio comes in to work on the arm but you don’t do that to a British wrestler, as Regal flips out and brings in Tajiri for the kicks.

Tajiri grabs a double underhook and rolls Romeo around a bit before getting two off a butterfly suplex. Antonio comes back in but runs into a sunset flip out of the corner for the first elimination. Maven and Simon Dean are in third and the fight is on in a hurry with Simon dropping a leg on Tajiri (after some exercising of course). It’s off to Maven for some forearms, followed by the generic cheating in the corner. Simon grabs a front facelock as we talk about JR in a Speedo.

Thankfully we move on to anything else as Tajiri gets up and hits a spinwheel kick, allowing the hot tag off to Regal. Everything breaks down and the knee trembler finishes Simon. La Resistance is in fourth and JR has to try and figure out the USA chant given that the only American in the match is Rob Conway.

We settle down to Tajiri spinwheel kicking Grenier and Regal coming back in for some forearms. It’s already back to Tajiri, who looks winded less than eight minutes into a tag match. Regal comes back in for some knees as Lawler praises his stamina. Well to be fair we’re almost at nine minutes now. Everything breaks down and Tajiri can’t get the Tarantula, allowing Conway to roll Regal up and grab the trunks for the pin.

Hurricane and Rosey come in fifth and it’s a title match against La Resistance. Hurricane wastes no time in hitting a high crossbody for two on Grenier, followed by the Blockbuster for the same. A toss over the top rope gives us a nasty crash with Hurricane’s leg hitting the top of the post, though thankfully he’s fine enough to come right back in. The chinlock goes on for a few seconds but Grenier misses a middle rope elbow (which didn’t look good).

Rosey comes in to a rather nice reaction and it’s time to clean house again. A World’s Strongest Slam gets two but La Resistance is back up for a double spinebuster. Rosey shrugs that off and sends them together before climbing to the bottom rope. Hurricane climbs onto his shoulders and nails a huge splash for the pin and the titles.

Rating: D-. I’ve never been a fan of this kind of match as the longest fall was the final, which barely broke four minutes. There were four falls in just over thirteen minutes and Hurricane/Rosey win the titles after beating a cheating team who had already wrestled a fall. This is the best they can do for a Tag Team Title match? The division has never been a focal point but egads this is one of the low points.

We recap Edge vs. Chris Benoit. Edge damaged Benoit’s arm rather badly during Money in the Bank and Benoit hasn’t been happy since. They’ve had some rather hard hitting fights and now it’s Last Man Standing. It’s always cool to see them get a story out of a big cluster of a match, which is one of the major perks of such a match.

Edge vs. Chris Benoit

Last Man Standing. The fight is on at the bell (makes sense) and so are the YOU SCREWED MATT chants. Benoit chops him down in the corner but gets whipped chest first into the other corner so Edge can choke to his heart’s content. The spear is countered with a drop toehold onto the mat as Benoit might have thought Edge was a little closer to the corner. Edge kicks him in the face and they fight to the floor with Edge going for some trashcans.

That doesn’t work just yet and it’s time to head into the crowd for a lot more punching. Back in and Benoit grabs the Sharpshooter, which makes a lot of sense here. With that not working, Benoit rolls some German suplexes and a shaken up Edge bails for a bit. A running forearm knocks Edge off the apron to start the count again. The fans want tables but settle for Benoit’s dive through the ropes hitting a raised trashcan lid for a nasty crash.

Thankfully the fans seem appreciative as Edge pauses for a breather while Benoit remembers what planet he’s on. That’s good for an eight so they head back inside with Edge superplexing him onto a trashcan. Benoit is (mostly) up at nine so it’s time for Edge to destroy him with the trashcan lid. And now, just because of who is in here (and how Edge first hurt Benoit’s arm), we get a ladder set up in the corner.

Edge goes up and gets German suplexed right back off of said ladder for the big double knockdown. With Edge down, Benoit climbs the ladder but misses the Swan Dive to knock himself out again. Edge can’t follow up so Benoit grabs the Crossface to make him tap a second time.

More rolling German suplexes have Edge rocked but he manages to block one more and hit the Edgecution onto the Money in the Bank briefcase. That doesn’t work either so Edge spears him down, only for nine. Edge can’t believe it so he hits another spear for another nine. With that not working, Edge goes to the briefcase and pulls out a brick (ala Money Inc. at Wrestlemania IX) to knock Benoit cold for the win.

Rating: B. These guys beat the heck out of each other and Edge having the big weapon just in case he needed it was a good ending. Edge is someone who is going to have a last backup plan and that’s what he did here. Benoit tried to come in on his own and came close, whereas Edge was ready to do whatever it took to win. It’s a good way way to show the difference between the two and how much smarter Edge can be, which makes sense in this match.

Benoit has to be helped up and gets a strong ovation. Ignore the large section of empty seats on the shot of the cheering crowd.

In the back, Lita looks on approvingly in a subtle nod to real life. Kane comes in and Lita is ready to see him take out Trish Stratus and Viscera. Actually Lita thinks it would be funny to see Trish have to sleep with Viscera. Lita: “Can you imagine him naked?” She goes into detail of the whole act between the two and Kane dubs it disturbing. Kissing ensues.

And now, on a pay per view, Jerry Lawler gets to bring out some of the Divas to talk about the new Diva Swimsuit Issue. We see each of their favorite photos from the magazine and now it’s time for some questions. Before we can get to those, it’s Chris Masters interrupting and I’m not sure which is the better choice.

It’s time for a $3000 Masterlock Challenge as Lawler is back on commentary to complain about Masters interrupting his questions. Masters picks a muscular woman, which seems to surprise him as he thought it was a man. I guess he thought it was a man who REALLY liked chest day. Her name is Melissa Coates, who has wrestled in the indies for years. Masters puts her in the Masterlock and knocks her out in a hurry. This was a horrible waste of pay per view time, which you have to expect on a six match card.

Viscera is waiting outside Trish’s locker room so they can get to the ring and get it on like a steaming pot of neckbone. Trish: “Neckbone?” Viscera: “It’s a black thing. You’ll get used to it.” He has lingerie for her and a room booked for them, at a bed and breakfast for two of his favorite things. Trish says he still has to beat Kane.

Kane vs. Viscera

Lita and Trish are here too. Kane bounces off of him to start and gets dropped with a single clothesline. A missed charge in the corner lets Kane hit a running splash from behind as JR makes it clear that this won’t go long. Viscera gets sent outside for a top rope clothesline as the fans want Matt. Back in and some elbows keep Viscera in trouble as Lawler makes jokes about Viscera rising to the occasion later.

Viscera gets in a knee to the ribs, setting up the pelvic thrusting at Trish. The women get in an argument so Kane grabs Trish, allowing Viscera to crush him in the corner. A Samoan drop gets two and a Boss Man Slam is good for the same as the slow yet high impact offense continues. Kane gets in a DDT to set up the top rope clothesline and it’s Viscera’s turn to lay down for a bit.

The chokeslam is broken up and the head outside with Viscera splashing the post by mistake. Trish’s chair shot is broken up by Lita’s crutch and we get a rather effective evil smile from Lita. Back in and Viscera gets two off a sitout chokebomb but he stops to go after Lita. Tongue is extended so Kane kicks him in the….I’m not sure where but we’ll call it blubber. A chokeslam (well protected by some camera cuts) puts Viscera away.

Rating: D. You know, this could have been a lot worse. They didn’t try to do anything more than the high impact stuff and while it should have been about two minutes shorter, it was far from some disaster that will haunt fans for years to come. If nothing else the chokebomb and Lita’s evil smile worked well. I’ll call this a rather surprising result, even if it wasn’t very good.

Post match Trish yells at Viscera and says she never would have lowered herself to sleeping with him anyway. He’s a chicken eating loser you see. She’s going to find a man to take Viscera out and that man will get a lot of loving. Viscera bearhugs her down and hits a splash, setting up the hip thrusts to a rather big face pop. I don’t see this going anywhere positive. Trish does a stretcher job to fill in more time.

We recap Muhammad Hassan/Khosrow Daivari vs. Hulk Hogan/Shawn Michaels. Hassan and Daivari don’t like how America has treated them so they beat up Shawn Michaels. That meant Shawn needed a Real American and there just happened to be one who the fans had been begging for one more match. It’s a big deal for Hassan and Daivari, even though they have as much chance to win as I do of winning Ms. Nevada 1978.

Hulk Hogan/Shawn Michaels vs. Muhammad Hassan/Khosrow Daivari

The fans waste no time in starting the HOGAN chants as soon as Shawn’s entrance is done and the legendary hero pop blows the roof off of the place as soon as the music hits. We stall for a good bit for the sake of more cheering before Hogan and Hassan get things going. Hogan draws a line for him to cross and then shoves Hassan into the corner, meaning we hit the posing. The shoulder has Hassan sprawling into the corner and it’s a wristlock so Hogan can get in his grunting.

After a quick double teaming in the corner, Hogan beats them both up and drops Hassan with a clothesline. A poke to the eye allows Shawn to come in and there’s a double big boot to keep this one sided. Daivari gets in a few chops but Shawn shows him how to do them properly as the beating continues. Hogan comes back in and sends Daivari into the barricade and post for good measure. Back in and the greatest hits continue with some elbow drops and the boot rake.

More Shawn chops keep up the control and the top rope elbow means it’s already time to tune up the band. Hogan goes after Hassan though and the distraction lets Hassan get in a pipe shot to Shawn’s back. That’s good for two because Hassan and Daivari have no chance of winning here. Hassan drops some elbows on the back and Daivari pulls on both arms at once. With the match going nowhere, Lawler lists off some countries getting to watch the show live.

Shawn’s sleeper is countered with a quick backbreaker and it’s off to the worst camel clutch I can remember in a long time. Shawn powers up into an electric chair for the break and the hot tag brings in Hogan. The double noggin knocker sets up a big boot to Daivari but since the legdrop isn’t available (due to hip replacement), Hassan hits Hogan in the back with a pipe. That’s good for two, but more importantly it triggers the Hulk Up with the big boot hitting Daivari. Hogan gets rid of Hassan and Sweet Chin Music is good for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was a case where it depends on what you were looking for. The match wasn’t about having something competitive or really anything close to it. This was about getting Hogan out there and having him in a dream team with Shawn. It might not do much for Hassan and Daivari, but it’s not like the team is really working in the first place. It’s not like you can have Hassan and Daivari as a serious threat to these two anyway, so this was as good as it was getting.

Post match, a lot of posing ensues and they bring in a fan with a huge Hogan tattoo over his back. Yeah he’s rather out of shape but there’s something awesome about a mega fan like that getting the moment of a lifetime.

HHH promises to win the title with the Pedigree tonight.

Here are Christian and Tyson Tomko for a chat. Christian might be heading to Smackdown in the upcoming Draft, so this could be his last Raw pay per view. Therefore, he would like to address his fellow main eventers….in rap form. Batista has muscles to spare, but he has charisma like Tomko has hair, HHH and Flair have 26 titles between them and the world’s biggest nose and JBL has money but he’s boring.

That leaves us with John Cena, who talks like Snoop Dogg but looks like Corey Haim. That one even gets Tomko and Lawler is asking if JR got it. After the Draft, whether it’s Raw or Smackdown with JR or Michael Cole, Christian will be champion, because that’s how he rolls. This was funny stuff and Christian’s mega push seems imminent. The fans are certainly buying into him and that’s what matters most.

We recap Batista vs. HHH. Batista won the title at Wrestlemania and HHH wants it back because he never hit the Pedigree and knows that’s enough to put Batista away. It’s not much of a story but it’s all they have here.

Raw World Title: Batista vs. HHH

HHH is challenging and Ric Flair, who gets his own entrance, handles the introduction. They circle each other for a good while until Flair offers a distraction so HHH can hammer away. It’s too early for the Pedigree as Batista slips out, with HHH showing him how close it was. Some right hands in the corner have HHH in trouble but it’s also too early for the Batista Bomb.

A backdrop works just fine and a second gets Batista out of a second Pedigree attempt. They head to the floor instead with HHH driving him back first into the barricade for a flip over into the crowd. Back in and HHH’s chops have no effect so he turns Batista around and drives shoulders to the back for a painful looking shot. A hard whip into the corner hurts Batista’s back again and Flair gets in a few shots to earn his keep.

The spinebuster cuts off the comeback for two but one heck of a clothesline drops HHH. Batista knocks him to the floor without much effort and there’s the hard whip into the steps. Back in and the powerslam plants HHH again, meaning it’s time to shake the ropes. Flair offers a distraction though and HHH gets in a belt shot to counter the Batista Bomb ala the Last Ride and the sledgehammer at Wrestlemania XVII. The big clothesline hits the referee and the Pedigree connects immediately thereafter because of course it does.

Cue another referee (putting his shirt on as he runs down the ramp) as Batista hits the spinebuster for two. Some running clotheslines in the corner have HHH rocked but he kicks the referee low. Flair has to be dealt with again and the Pedigree is countered with a catapult into the buckle. That’s shrugged off for a low blow so HHH can hammer away in the corner, only to get Batista Bombed out for the pin (again, just like Wrestlemania XVII).

Rating: C-. There was a lot in this one and a good chunk of it was a bunch of stuff that felt like the finish. I’m not sure why they were going with so many big spots from a four year old Undertaker match but at least it’s being taken from a good match. The other problem was how much this felt like a HHH match/story instead of Batista’s. Heaven forbid we don’t go a month without a HHH moment, but the match itself wasn’t that bad.

Post match Batista poses as HHH shoves Flair and Pedigrees the referee. Just in case you had lost focus on what really matters you see.

Overall Rating: C. It came, it went, it was a show. This was one of those pay per views that felt like it was only there because a pay per view was scheduled. The Hogan match felt big and really, that’s about it. The main event came off like a long form house show match and nothing has really changed. That’s not to say it’s a bad show, as the opener and the Last Man Standing match are both good, but it’s a show that doesn’t feel important in any way. It’s time for something fresh and the fallout from Wrestlemania doesn’t quality. Perfectly watchable show, but nothing interesting or memorable aside from Hogan.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin

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

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

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

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

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

Tajiri vs. Jonathan Coachman

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

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

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

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

Christian/Trish Stratus vs. Chris Jericho

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

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

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

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

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

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

Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Lita

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

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

Victoria makes the rope and now the side slam connects. The moonsault…I don’t know if you can say hits or misses. Lita was supposed to roll away but she doesn’t roll fast enough, meaning Victoria “missed” but landed on her nearly perfectly anyway. The reverse Twist of Fate gives Lita two so it’s time for the snap DDT, only to have Victoria reverse into a small package to retain.

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

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

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

Intercontinental Title: Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack

Foley is challenging (and looking slim here) and it’s hardcore. Orton comes out with a garbage can full of toys, including a barbed wire 2×4 with the wire moving around. Oh dear you really have to go with quality in this case. Jack of course brings out Barbie and uses it to knock a trashcan out of Orton’s (wrestling in his shirt to start) hands. More big swings miss and Orton does the smart thing by running for his life. A drop toehold sends Jack into the steps and Orton gets Barbie (JR: “I can see Orton playing with Barbie.”) so Jack punches him in the face. You don’t touch a man’s barbed wire baseball bat.

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

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

Orton loses his shirt and Jack legdrops Barbie between Orton’s legs. Jack goes over to Orton’s weapons and throws the 2×4 down in disgust. Instead, let’s go with gasoline and a lighter. He pours the gas onto Barbie but here’s Eric Bischoff to say the show will be shut down if he lights that up. That’s enough to bring Jack to his senses as Orton looks to be near shock. Instead of the fire…here’s a board covered in barbed wire. The fans know this is about to get really nasty but Orton pulls out some powder to save his life and slams Jack onto the wire.

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

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

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

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

La Resistance vs. Hurricane/Rosey

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

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

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

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

Edge vs. Kane

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When a D- is too generous.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-reviewing-review-backlash-2018/

IMG Credit: WWE

Backlash 2018
Date: May 6, 2018
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Jonathan Coachman, Tom Phillips

Yes it’s another big show as we’re closing in on the end of the longest month in WWE history. This is the third part of the Wrestlemania and Greatest Royal Rumble trilogy, meaning it’s time to redeem Roman Reigns. Again. Other than that we have AJ Styles defending the Smackdown World Title against Shinsuke Nakamura for the third time this month. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Ruby Riott vs. Bayley

The Riott Squad is in Ruby’s corner and there’s no Sasha Banks, despite Bayley asking her to be here. They fight over a headlock to start but Bayley takes him down, only to miss an elbow. A Sarah Logan distraction lets Ruby get in an STO and we take a break. Back with Ruby dropping a knee and grabbing a chinlock. Logan offers another distraction to cut off a comeback, followed by Riott sending Bayley face first into the middle buckle.

It’s off to a cravate for a bit until Bayley manages a double springboard crossbody (which only kind of hits) for two. Bayley slides outside for a hurricanrana on Logan and snaps Ruby’s throat across the ropes. The top rope elbow gets two but Liv Morgan gets on the apron, allowing Ruby to hit the Riott Kick for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C-. This was a story advancing match and that’s fine for what they had here. They basically had a Raw match and made it clear that Bayley needs Sasha around to help win this fight, even if they don’t get along. That was accomplished in about ten minutes and the crowd is warmed up rather than doing two battle royals and a title match over the course of an hour and a half. See how much better that is?

The opening video asks what Backlash is, which transitions into a discussion about how everything changes tonight with the shows being co-branded. You know, unlike Wrestlemania and Greatest Royal Rumble, which totally weren’t co-branded.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz

Miz is challenging and this is Raw vs. Smackdown. Cole already makes me scratch my head by saying the last person to switch brands with the title was Rob Van Dam in 2002. By what I can find, there have been about five such instances in between, including Dean Ambrose last year and MIZ the year before that. They fight over a wristlock to start with Rollins getting the better of it but getting kicked off the top to the floor.

Miz sends him face first into the announcers’ table and it’s chinlock time. A knee to the ribs sets up a DDT for two on Seth and it’s almost all Miz early on. Miz hits a running crotch attack to the back but Rollins sends him into the corner. A suicide dive has Miz in even more trouble and a rollup gets two. The Blockbuster gets the same and Rollins is rolling until Miz pulls him face first into the apron.

Not that it matters as Rollins kicks him down and scores with the frog splash for two. Another suicide dive is broken up with a forearm so it’s time for a slugout on the apron. The ripcord knee hits the post though (sick thud) and Miz grabs the Figure Four. With the announcers guaranteeing a new champion, Rollins turns it over for a bit but is turned back over, sending him straight to the ropes for the break. The Skull Crushing Finale is broken up and Rollins nails the enziguri.

Rollins tweaks the knee though and now the Finale connects for a close two. The corner clothesline connects but Rollins is able to hit the superplex. The knee gives out on the Falcon Arrow attempt though and a second Skull Crushing Finale gets…two in a nice surprise. Of course that’s canceled out as the Finale now looks rather lame but how else are you supposed to make someone look tough other than having them kick out of finishers? A super Stomp misses but Rollins escapes the Finale, setting up the Stomp for a delayed pin to retain the title at 20:34.

Rating: B-. They were going for the big epic match here and that went flying out the window as soon as the Skull Crushing Finale didn’t work. At that point you knew Rollins wasn’t losing here (you could argue that was the case as soon as this was announced as brand vs. brand) and the rest was just Rollins limping between doing all of his usual stuff while WWE talked about how amazing he was. It was still good enough but nowhere near what WWE is going to present it as being.

We recap Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss. Nia won the title at Wrestlemania after dealing with Alexa bullying her for months. This turned into Bliss saying that Nia was the real bully, including some hilarious PSA style vignettes of Bliss talking about Nia being a horrible person. Tonight is the rematch with Bliss trying to get the title back.

Raw Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax

Nia is defending. Bliss goes straight for the knee (she must have been watching the previous match) and tries a quickly broken sleeper. Nia bends the arm back and throws Bliss around but a kick to the head puts the champ down. A little trash talk gets Bliss in trouble as Nia puts her on her shoulders (and calls a ton of spots) until Bliss rakes the eyes.

Nia is still able to toss her off the top and then throws her from corner to corner three straight times. Egads at least don’t look like you’re stalling. Bliss shoves her off the top to break up a Vader Bomb though and a DDT on the steps knocks the champ silly. Back in and Nia tries the super Samoan drop but gets kicked in the leg to give Alexa two more. Twisted Bliss takes too long though and the Samoan drop retains Nia’s title at 10:37.

Rating: D. I get that they have to fill in time but my goodness they couldn’t miss the point with this feud any more if they tried. The two matches have combined to be about twenty minutes and they should have been about a tenth of that. Bliss shouldn’t be any sort of a physical threat to Nia but they had her get close to beating Nia multiple times, which is as dumb as you could get. The fans weren’t into this and I can’t blame them a bit as I wasn’t either. Nia isn’t an interesting champion but we’ll stick with her holding the title for now because….something about bullying.

Post match Nia says that was for everyone who has been bullied. So the solution to bullying is to grow to twice the bully’s size and beat them up?

We look at Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in the cage match at Greatest Royal Rumble.

Samoa Joe says he’ll beat Reigns tonight.

US Title: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Orton is challenging after winning a triple threat match a few weeks back. Jeff gets elbowed in the face to start and a shoulder puts him down for an early two. Back up and Jeff sends him outside for the clothesline from the apron, only to get dropkicked for two back inside. Orton sends him into the Tree of Woe and stomps away as the “methodical” pace continues. They head outside with Jeff hitting Poetry In Motion off the steps and there goes the shirt.

Back in and Orton dropkicks him outside again, setting up three straight drops onto the barricade. Inside again and this time Orton drops him onto the top rope to change the pace a bit. We hit the chinlock and the announcers bring up Orton losing the Smackdown World Title to Jinder Mahal at this show last year. In case the match wasn’t dull enough you see. The RUSEV DAY chants begin so I’m guessing you can pencil him in to lose in two minutes on Tuesday.

Jeff finally fights up and hits a basement dropkick to set up Whisper in the Wind (with Orton standing there and staring at him even as Jeff was climbing the ropes). The Twist of Fate and RKO are both countered so Orton settles for two off the powerslam. Jeff misses the slingshot dropkick in the corner (the Hardiac Arrest, which I kind of like) and Orton gets to stand there a bit longer. The hanging DDT connects but the RKO is countered into a Twist of Fate. Jeff drops the Swanton to retain at 12:02.

Rating: D. Nope. I’ve seen Orton put in more effort at a house show. This was a match I’d send back to the cook and ask him to actually try this time. It was clear that they weren’t even trying here and that makes for a very long match when there’s not much of a story in the first place. And yet, somehow this was better than the original idea of Orton vs. Mahal.

Here’s Elias for a song. Before he starts though, he talks about being friends with Bruce Springsteen, who calls him the boss and regrets being from New Jersey. Elias told Bruce to tune in tonight because Bruce is going to like his song. The fans keep applauding to prevent Elias from singing. He gets up and teases leaving over and over to draw some BOO/YAY chants until New Day cuts him off with Big E. carrying a marching band drum.

Elias: “You guys want some autographs or something?” New Day wants to walk with Elias but that means a solo performance. Elias tells Jojo to introduce him again but here’s Aiden English to cut them off with a song about how New Day needs to stick with the merchandise and Elias plays a nice guitar but today is Rusev Day.

Rusev says this isn’t about the bootleg Bob Dylan but Elias says this is his night and tells Jojo to introduce him again. Now it’s No Way Jose interrupting with a conga line, including Titus Worldwide and Breezango. Elias looks like he wants to shoot himself (I feel for you buddy) and even Graves is feeling sorry for him. Elias says cut the music and Jojo does her intro for the fourth time. This time Bobby Roode interrupts with a Glorious DDT and everyone leaves in the conga line. Well except English who Rusev cuts off.

By the way, it’s about 9:30pm EST and we have five matches left. This show is on the east coast so yes, they’re really expected to just be in the arena until after midnight on a Sunday night.

We recap Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass. Bryan is back in the ring and Cass came over to Smackdown in the Superstar Shakeup. Cass is a bully to someone Bryan’s size and wants to show him how a superstar should be. For reasons unclear, Cass isn’t Miz’s new bodyguard yet.

Big Cass vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan kicks at the knee to start (this is the second match of four tonight to focus on bullying and the third of four to include someone working on the knee) and tries the YES Kicks until Cass spinebusts him. Due to reasons of being rather horrible people with no taste in wrestling (or life in general), the fans want Enzo.

Cass stops to pose before hitting a loud chop up against the ropes. Bryan slips out of an over the shoulder powerbomb and kicks away in the corner but gets sent up into the air for a big crash. A running clothesline turns Bryan inside out for two but Cass misses the big boot. That’s enough to set up the big kick to the head and Bryan takes him down, hammers at the side of the head, and grabs the YES Lock for the very fast tap at 7:57.

Rating: D+. Yes that’s really it for Bryan’s single return on pay per view: a TV match with Bryan pretty easily dispatching of someone he should have pretty easily dispatched of. I’m as shocked as you are, but remember that they had to come up with something to make up for the time that was spent on the HILARIOUS segment that came between the matches.

Post match Cass beats Bryan up even more and hits the big boot.

We recap the Smackdown Women’s Title match. Carmella cashed in Money in the Bank to take the title from Charlotte on the Smackdown after Wrestlemania and Charlotte is trying to win the title back from the less talented champion. The Iconics have been running around tormenting Charlotte as well.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Carmella vs. Charlotte

Carmella is defending and they trade struts to start. Charlotte misses a big boot so badly that I had to rewind to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. That sends Carmella to the floor (presumably with the wind knocking her down) and she tries to leave with the title, only to be sent back inside. Charlotte sends her outside but gets caught with a superkick for two. We hit the chinlock with Carmella telling the referee to ask her. She’s not Canadian enough for that.

A lot of screeching ensues, followed by Carmella cranking on both arms at once. Charlotte kicks her away but gets slammed head first onto the apron to cut her off again. Back in and Carmella tries the Staten Island Shuffle but gets speared in half. Carmella is right back with the Code of Silence (the leg Crossface) but Charlotte powers out. Charlotte goes up top for the moonsault, tweaks her knee, gets kicked in said knee, and gets rolled up for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: D. That would be four out of five matches involving a knee injury. Carmella winning clean helps a bit but every day she has the title is another day that someone like Becky Lynch doesn’t, which is rather irritating. She’s a very good character, but I’m over the “this person could be beaten at anytime” champion. The match was as tolerable as it was going to be, and that’s about as much praise as I can give the thing.

We recap the Smackdown World Title. AJ Styles beat Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the title at Wrestlemania but Nakamura turned heel and has abused Styles’ groin ever since. Tonight is No DQ with Styles wanting revenge.

And yes, this means Reigns is headlining. Again.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Styles is defending, there are no disqualifications, and this is the third time they’ve had a big match in four weeks, making it a recurring dream match. Nakamura channels his inner Kevin Owens and bails to the floor at the bell. AJ will have none of that and sends him into the barricade, followed by kicks to the back inside. They fight to the floor again with Styles sending him face and ribs first into the barricade.

Nakamura comes back by GOING AFTER THE KNEE (take a freaking shot) and hits some running knees to the head as the fans are split again. The pace slows and Nakamura gets two off a knee drop. A hard kick to the head drops AJ again and it’s off to a front facelock. The No DQ rule has only been a factor for a little bit so far and hasn’t meant anything since they’ve been back inside. The hold is let go and Nakamura kicks him to the floor. AJ starts a comeback until another shot to the knee cuts him off, followed by a dragon sleeper back inside.

That’s escaped as well and Nakamura hits a running knee in the corner. The jumping middle rope knee gets two on AJ and it’s time for a chair. AJ knocks it away but gets kicked in the head for his efforts. The reverse exploder onto the chair gets two but AJ chucks the chair at Nakamura’s knee (with the chair bouncing back into AJ’s face, drawing blood from his knee). The Calf Crusher goes on but Nakamura reverses into a triangle choke.

AJ powers up and hits a running forearm to the back of Nakamura’s head for two. There’s the low blow but AJ hits one of his own to even things out. They fight to their feet and stereo low blows take both guys down. The referee gets to ten and that’s a double knockout, meaning AJ retains at 21:12.

Rating: B-. This is where the Greatest Royal Rumble hurts things. That finish would be fine in the second match of a feud but it’s the second draw in nine days. There was zero reason to not give Nakamura the title here and now we probably have to wait for Money in the Bank for the big blowoff. The No DQ thing wasn’t much of a factor here, but that’s to be expected in something like this. I enjoyed what I saw but egads stop stretching things for the sake of stretching things.

Bobby Lashley/Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens

Fallout from some recent tag matches, including the first match between these teams a few weeks ago on Raw. Sami hides from Lashley to start before headlocking him for little success. Owens comes in, gets suplexed, and hands it back to Sami who gets sent into the announcers’ table. A dropkick knocks Lashley off the apron and the beating begins, including Sami’s chinlock. Lashley comes back with a Downward Spiral but Owens breaks up a hot tag attempt.

The actual hot tag comes in a few seconds later and it’s Strowman coming in to clean house. The chase is on with Strowman running Owens over, catching Sami to throw him into the barricade, and then running Owens over again to continue the rather running (ahem) gag. Sami loads up a Helluva Kick but opts to walk out instead. Owens talks him back into staying, but Sami throws Owens back in to face Strowman. Sami tries his luck and bails again, leaving Owens to take a spinebuster from Lashley. The delayed vertical suplex pins (the illegal) Owens at 8:20.

Rating: D. Yes, this got time on pay per view, and yes a former World Champion just got pinned by a vertical suplex. Somehow this felt even less interesting than I was expecting it to, even if it was about the same thing they did on Raw a few weeks ago. That’s this show in a nutshell though: we’ve seen it before and it’s not as interesting this time around.

Post match Sami yells as Owens takes a running powerslam.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe. In short, Roman is all sad because he can’t beat Brock Lesnar so Joe is going to choke him out of his misery.

Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns

Joe jumps him before the bell, drawing even stronger cheers than he had earlier. They fight to the floor and Joe Rock Bottoms him through the table before the match actually starts. Reigns gets thrown over two announcers’ tables but makes it into the ring, saying he can go. The bell rings and Joe hammers away in the corner, followed by a knee drop. Cole’s analysis: Reigns doesn’t want to lose tonight. We hit the neck crank with Joe saying Reigns just has to go away. So Joe is the new voice of the voiceless.

Reigns fights up but eats an enziguri in the corner for two. It’s off to another chinlock as the BORING chants start up. Joe sends him outside for the suicide elbow and we hit the armbar because this hasn’t felt long enough already. The fans try a THIS IS BORING chant before just going with the booing. Reigns fights up and hits a big boot, followed by the apron dropkick. Some clotheslines (running and corner variety) have Joe in trouble but he knocks Reigns down and gets two off the backsplash. Fans: “PLEASE DO SOMETHING!”

A spinebuster gives Reigns two but a second apron dropkick is countered into a choke. That’s broken up as well and Reigns gets two off the Superman Punch. The Rusev Day chants are cut off as Joe cuts off a spear with a kick to the head. The spear hits a few seconds later with Joe getting his foot on the ropes for two.

Another spear is blocked with another spear and the Koquina Clutch goes on. Reigns stacks him up into a rollup for two but an O’Connor Roll is countered into another Clutch. Reigns is almost out but fights up, which is enough to make Joe let the hold go for whatever reason. Back up and the spear ends Joe at 18:08.

Rating: D-. Reigns wins. Why? Because F*** YOU that’s why! This was a wreck with a huge chunk of the match being spent laying around in holds, possibly for the sake of being able to blame the bad match on Joe (Would that really shock you?) and then HAHA SPEAR FOR THE PIN. Reigns gets his win to make himself feel better while Joe loses again because who cares about Joe (or so says WWE). Totally terrible main event with the wrong ending in the wrong spot on the card in front of a crowd that did not care at all.

Overall Rating: D-. I wanted to call this a failure but the Intercontinental Title and Smackdown World Title matches just barely keep it afloat. The problem here wasn’t about the wrestling, which while bad, has been done far worse before. This was a combination of nothing happening (no title changes, little angle advancement, and AJ vs. Nakamura is continuing) and feeling like the company putting it together had never done a major show. There was never a point where I was excited or interested in what was going on here and the show felt like it was never going to be over.

Nine days ago, the Greatest Royal Rumble ran over five hours but this show felt longer. It really was so uneventful and so boring that I was trying desperately to find anything to care about by the end. I don’t know if creative is out of ideas (REALLY bad sign this close to Wrestlemania) or if the wrestlers are just spent but we’re right back where we were before Greatest Royal Rumble started. Other than Matt and Wyatt being Tag Team Champions, what has changed since then? We really are just going in a circle at this point and I’m not sure why Money in the Bank is going to make things any better.

This show was far from the worst thing I’ve ever seen but it was one of the biggest wrecks I’ve ever seen. There’s no flow to the show, there’s little logic in the booking, there’s very little that interests me, and now we’ll have to wait for Reigns to get his smile back or whatever it is that he’s doing while waiting on Lesnar’s next title match to be set up. There are some nice moments on here, but my goodness these people look like they just need a vacation soon. Let us have a nice break or change something up, because I haven’t seen them running on empty like this in a LONG time.

Results

Seth Rollins b. The Miz – Stomp

Nia Jax b. Alexa Bliss – Samoan drop

Jeff Hardy b. Randy Orton – Swanton Bomb

Daniel Bryan b. Big Cass – YES Lock

Carmella b. Charlotte – Kick to the leg

AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura went to a double knockout

Braun Strowman/Bobby Lashley b. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn – Suplex to Owens

Roman Reigns b. Samoa Joe – Spear

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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