Monday Night Raw
Date: April 12, 2021
Location: Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Adnan Virk, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the unofficial season premiere of Raw after the fairly awesome two night Wrestlemania. We’re in the new Thunderdome this week and that shouldn’t make much of a difference compared to the other ones. In theory this should be the big show with all kinds of things going on, but you never can tell these days. Let’s get to it.

Here are Wrestlemania Night One and Night Two if you need a recap

Bobby Lashley arrived earlier and Riddle immediately challenged him. Lashley doesn’t think so because Riddle lost to Sheamus last night. Riddle talks about wearing a tin foil hats because of aliens but Lashley turns him down again. That earns Lashley some quotes about how anyone can have a shot, so Lashley shoves him down and calls him a loser. The match seems to be on.

Bobby Lashley vs. Riddle

Non-title and MVP is here with Lashley. Riddle scooters to the ring so Lashley jumps him before the bell and the beatdown is on outside. Lashley posts him and rams him into various things before taking it inside. For some reason Riddle says let’s go and gets sent into the corner for the shoulder to the ribs. The delayed vertical suplex drops Riddle again and Lashley tosses the scooter to make things….well as serious as they can be when they are involving a scooter. Riddle gets in a few shots but gets knocked down again as we take a break.

Back with Lashley working on a neck crank and hitting the Downward Spiral to drop Riddle again. Lashley throws him around again and starts on the arm. Riddle manages to get in a kick to the head and some kicks rock Lashley, followed by the jumping knee. The Floating Bro misses though and the Hurt Lock finishes Riddle at 10:30.

Rating: C. Total squash for the most part here and that’s how it should have gone. Lashley gets to dominate and now we should be on the way to finding out his next challenger. I’m not sure what this is going to mean for Riddle, but it is likely not the best sign with back to back losses. Granted if it means less of his promos backstage, it might be an improvement for everyone.

We look at Rhea Ripley winning the Women’s Title at Wrestlemania.

Ripley says it is time to continue her confidence and welcomes us to the Brutality World Order. And there goes her chances at being the next big thing, as WWE has managed to turn her into a catchphrase machine right out of the box.

Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin vs. Viking Raiders

This is Ivar’s return after seven months off due to neck surgery. Ivar throws Alexander into the corner and hammers away with the forearms. Erik slams Ivar onto Alexander and it’s off to Benjamin in a hurry. Cedric takes Erik’s knee out and Shelton gets two off a knee to the face. Shelton suplexes Erik for the same and Alexander pounds away with forearms. There’s a suplex to give Shelton two but Erik knocks him away and hands it off to Ivar to clean house. Some shoulders set up the cartwheel and double clothesline as everything breaks down. The Viking Experience finishes Alexander at 5:37.

Rating: C-. Just a return match for Ivar and that’s great to see. He had a rather serious injury and it is awesome to have him back. Throw in the fact that the tag team division has been desperate for some fresh blood and this should be a nice upgrade. The team looked fine here and you wouldn’t have realized Ivar had been gone for seven months.

Asuka promises to get the title back.

Here is the returning Charlotte (with Virk seeming rather impressed) for a chat. She isn’t happy with not being on Wrestlemania because she is a franchise player and she wasn’t on the show due to reasons that are not her fault. It wasn’t her fault that Asuka needed a partner or that her dad acted like a fool at Raw Legends or that Asuka didn’t answer her challenge. Asuka accepted Rhea Ripley’s challenge though and now she is the new Women’s Champion.

Charlotte knows that everyone was thrilled that she wasn’t on Wrestlemania because it meant that everyone else had a chance. Now Asuka has another chance at the title but remember that karma is a b**** and Charlotte is that b****. This is the new Charlotte and she isn’t apologizing for being that good anymore. She has given everything to this business and what has she gotten in return? Enjoy your title match that she should be in, and there’s the mic drop.

Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Rhea Ripley

Asuka is challenging and jumps Ripley to start but gets shoved away. The threat of a cross armbreaker sends Ripley into the ropes for the break. Ripley sends her outside and we take an early break. Back with Ripley sending her hard into the corner but Asuka comes back with a middle rope dropkick. Some strikes to the face, including a running basement kick to the face, get two on Ripley.

A few shots put Asuka down again and the Prism Trap goes on. With that broken up in a hurry, Ripley pulls her into an electric chair. That’s broken up as well and we hit the Fujiwara armbar, with Asuka switching into the Asuka Lock. Ripley gets her into another electric chair and drops her face first for another break. They head to the apron with Asuka ramming her into the turnbuckle….and here is Charlotte to jump both of them for the double DQ at 11:50.

Rating: C. They telegraphed the ending with the Charlotte promo and I’m not sure how many people were buying the chance of a second title change in two days. Ripley needed to look more dominant, but something looked a bit off with Asuka. She seemed a lot more sloppy than usual and hopefully that isn’t because something is wrong.

Post match the beatdown is on and Charlotte is rather pleased.

Miz and John Morrison are annoyed at last night but Maryse is here to make Miz smile again.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler laugh at Mandy Rose falling at Wrestlemania. Rose and Dana Brooke come up and take Jax down as Baszler just isn’t there.

It’s time for Alexa’s Playground, with Alexa Bliss talking about how there was once a scared little girl who needs to be saved. Then the darkness came along and saved her, but one day she realized she didn’t need to be saved anymore.

The girl realized she didn’t need the darkness anymore and did what she could do to get rid of the darkness on her own. Now the girl is going to have her own fun. We also meet Lily, a rather disturbing Alexa Bliss doll….who comes to live and bites at the camera. The doll was creepy and then it went into exactly what you would have expected.

It’s time for MizTV with Maryse and John Morrison. They plug their media skills and plug Miz and Mrs., which is back tonight. Morrison thinks he should be added to the cast, but Miz reminds him that he is in tonight’s episode. After a plug for Maryse’s new moisturizer, we move on to Bad Bunny and Wrestlemania, with Miz bragging about making Bunny a bigger star. Cue Damian Priest to say he doesn’t want to hear it. The challenge is thrown out for a handicap match right now, even though Miz and Morrison are in suits.

Damian Priest vs. John Morrison/The Miz

Miz and Morrison are in street clothes and manage to take Morrison down for a slingshot into a forearm. A slingshot elbow gets two on Priest and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Priest kicks Morrison into the corner, setting up the running elbows in the corner. The Broken Elbow plants Morrison and the series of strikes drop Miz. The chokeslam connects but Morrison breaks up the cover, earning himself a clothesline.

Priest dives onto the two of them on the floor and a top rope spinwheel kick drops Morrison for two. Hit the Lights takes out Morrison but Maryse saves Miz from taking the same thing. Then Priest pulls off Miz’s pants, revealing….pretty much trunks, and another Maryse distraction lets Miz grab a rollup with feet on the ropes for the pin at 5:35.

Rating: D. We just spent two and a half months watching WWE try to give Priest a rub from Bad Bunny and the first thing they do once he is gone is have him lose to Miz and Morrison, in street clothes, thanks to a cameo from Maryse? Hooray for promoting the reality show, but was there no one else who could have been in Priest’s place? Of course there is, but we can’t have creative being creative and spending ten seconds coming up with a reason for someone to interrupt so just have Priest lose here instead.

Nia Jax says Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke orchestrated a cowardly attack on her backstage to distract from Mandy’s Wrestlemania mishap. That’s such a horribly scripted line that no one would ever possibly say in real life that I’m going to sigh and move on.

Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler vs. Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose

Non-title. Nia goes after Brooke to start and sends her into the ropes to begin the beating. We hit the neck crank for a bit as Brooke isn’t exactly able to do much here (her mind might still be blown by that backstage promo). Brooke finally gets away and hands it off to Rose, who takes over on Baszler in a hurry. Rose manages to send her outside and Jax is tossed as well. Jax starts coming back in but slips on the apron….so Dana and Mandy bail for the countout at 5:35, saying it’s not worth it.

Rating: F. Oh sweet goodness why? We really need to turn Mandy slipping on a wet ramp into an angle where Nia Jax falls down on the apron? This was the latest example of WWE having something inconsequential happening and turning it into a thing, probably because Vince McMahon found it funny. Mandy and Dana aren’t good but there is a place for them. This was a great way to kill off anything they had going for them.

Dana and Mandy’s music plays because none of this matters.

Here is MVP to talk about how Drew McIntyre went out like a gladiator. There is nothing wrong with being second best but he lost to Bobby Lashley on Saturday. No one can handle the pressure of the Hurt Lock, including McIntyre. So who can handle it? Cue Drew McIntyre, who MVP says should be feeling humble. McIntyre says Wrestlemania came down to the Claymore, the Hurt Lock, and whoever made the first mistake. He made that first mistake and yes the Hurt Lock is going to end anyone.

McIntyre gets in the ring to suggest he wants another title shot but MVP says everything has to be earned. Cue Braun Strowman, with MVP starting to get a bit nervous. Strowman says McIntyre needs to go tot he back of the line but here’s Randy Orton (MVP: “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE???”) to say say that the Fiend is gone so it’s time for him to go after the title again. Adam Pearce, triple threat, tonight.

Post break, McIntyre runs into Strowman in the back and says it’s a Claymore tonight. Strowman thinks McIntyre is insulting his intelligence and promises to win.

We recap Charlotte’s promo and interference earlier tonight.

Here are Jaxson Ryker and Elias to dedicate a song to Shane McMahon. Elias starts playing but we hear a trombone instead. After Elias manages to be dumb enough to not understand what is going on (there are so many possible reasons for a trombone to be heard around here), cue New Day to say that Elias and Ryker have shamed the tag team division. It is time to restore honor right now.

New Day vs. Jaxson Ryker/Elias

New Day clears the ring in a hurry and hit stereo dives to the floor as we take an early break. Back with Woods in trouble and Elias grabbing a chinlock as we go split screen for an ad for the movie Nobody. Back to full screen with Ryker coming in to throw Woods around but an enziguri knocks Ryker silly. The hot tag brings in Kofi to pick up the pace with a dropkick and one footed stomp to the standing Elias. Everything breaks down and the Daybreak finishes Elias at 9:35.

Rating: C-. New Day gets back on track and it isn’t like Elias and Ryker have any value in the first place. New Day is going to be around for as long as they want to be as they are as over as you can get in the tag division and still put on pretty good matches. This was one of the better things on the show, mainly because it was just ok, which is a huge improvement tonight.

Randy Orton is ready to get back in the title hunt because the Fiend and Alexa Bliss are behind him.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House where everyone seems rather happy to be here. This includes Bray Wyatt, who is so glad to be back. Abby the Witch isn’t happy, which Bray says means witches be lyin. Ramblin Rabbit is glad that she, likely meaning Alexa Bliss, is gone. Bray throws him away and says they still have each other. This could be a new start for all of them and a new season for all of them. Maybe even a brand new him, because he could be reborn. Everything will be fine because HE will return and the Fun House will be strong. Bray nearly broke into song on that last part, complete with a rather up tempo beat behind him.

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman

The winner gets a shot at Bobby Lashley at Wrestlemania: Backlash. Strowman goes after McIntyre to start but Orton helps make the save with a double suplex. Everyone is knocked to the floor but the Strowman Express is cut off by the steps to the face. Orton drops McIntyre onto the announcers’ table and we take a break.

Back with Orton knocking McIntyre down and stomping at the ankle. They head outside with Orton sending him face first into the announcers’ table over and over. Strowman is back up to run them both over but Orton gets in a shot of his own to slow Strowman down. Back in and the RKO hits Strowman but Orton takes forever to get the pin, allowing McIntyre to Claymore Orton in the face for the pin at 11:12.

Rating: C. Completely run of the mill triple threat with almost nothing that I’m going to remember in about five minutes. McIntyre winning isn’t a surprise as Lashley vs. Strowman or Orton is not exactly an interesting match. Maybe they can improve on their Wrestlemania match, but this wasn’t much of an improvement over anything.

Post match here is MVP on the stage and McIntyre waits for Lashley. Instead, T-Bar and Mace run in from behind to lay McIntyre out with a double chokeslam. They stand on the floor with MVP watching on, though they don’t acknowledge each other.

Overall Rating: F. And that’s being as nice as I can. This was HORRIBLE with one dumb idea after another and a grand total of maybe two and a half surprises (I’m not sure if Charlotte really counts). Ivar being back is very nice to see and I’m intrigued by the T-Bar/Mace deal, but other than that, you would have no idea that this was a special show because WWE has managed to suck the fun out of this as well.

Between “HAHA MANDY SLIPPED”, Priest losing to promote a reality show, Charlotte being back in the title picture less than twenty four hours after Ripley won the title and Alexa Bliss’ doll trying to eat us, this was one of the most depressing shows I can remember. It’s like they put all of the effort into Wrestlemania and then just decided that they had had enough of this work and trying stuff and started doing their old nonsense again. But at least now we can get a Wrestlemania rematch out of it so we don’t have to come up with anything new.

WWE is fresh off of their first show in thirteen months with fans and they did pretty well over the weekend. That gives them their first momentum in forever and THIS is what they give us? One of the most boring, cookie cutter by the book shows in months? WWE thought so much of this night that they put out a three hour DVD on the thing, but now this is what we’re given instead?

A women’s match headlines Wrestlemania and what do we get here: Charlotte back in the title picture and HAHA MANDY ROSE FELL DOWN! You have a women’s tag team division so dead that Tamina and Natalya get two Wrestlemania matches but you need to give one of the few regular teams you have a joke match that puts MORE attention on Nia Jax? We don’t get a Ripley squash or Mandy and Dana becoming #1 contenders, but rather the focus being on Charlotte and someone slipping on a wet ramp.

So that’s their follow up to Wrestlemania. We get a show that seems to care more about promoting Miz and Mrs. than the guy who just got a rub from the biggest celebrity willing to do something with WWE and a flashback to last week when Drew McIntyre was chasing Bobby Lashley. No NXT debuts, no major returns and no Bray Wyatt with a response of “maybe this is a good thing” to losing at Wrestlemania. Well done WWE, as you have now managed to cut the legs off another one of the best things that you have available.

Results

Bobby Lashley b. Riddle – Hurt Lock

Viking Raiders b. Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin – Viking Experience to Alexander

Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka went to a double DQ when Charlotte interfered

Miz/John Morrison b. Damian Priest – Rollup with feet on the ropes

New Day b. Jaxson Ryker/Elias – Daybreak to Elias

Drew McIntyre b. Randy Orton and Braun Strowman – Claymore to Orton

 

 

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Wrestlemania XXXVII Night One
Date: April 10, 2021
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton
America the Beautiful: Bebe Rexha

We’re finally back with fans for the first time in over a year. That’s hard to fathom but for the first time in forever it feels like a WWE show. The card is stacked, but really what matters most is being back to normal, because it has taken a long time to get here. I know it is just for the weekend, but after such a long wait, I’ll take whatever I can get. Let’s get to it.

Vince McMahon welcomes us to the show and, with the roster behind him, thanks the fans for sticking with them throughout the pandemic. For tonight though, WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA!

The set is awesome, with the pirate ship decorated in WWE flags and sails. I’m a big pirate fan so that’s very cool to see.

Bebe Rexha, with a woman playing guitar, sings America the Beautiful.

The opening video is actually a sequel to last year’s, as we have the traditional opening statement about it being the start of a great voyage but the Jack Sparrow impersonator takes over to talk about how we need to correct course after last year. He also thanks the fans for coming out and we get a more traditional finish for the big grand finale. The original narrator approves.

We go to the stadium, which looks great….and there is a weather delay due to lightning. The commentary team says it is just going to be a little bit longer and recaps Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley.

Shane McMahon is ready to finish things with Braun Strowman and is ready to be back in front of fans.

MVP talks about how ready Bobby Lashley is and promises to end Drew McIntyre tonight. Drew McIntyre comes in and tells MVP to do it to his face. McIntyre says Mother Nature can’t save him and we’ll do it right here if we have to. Agents and referees break it up. MVP and Lashley leave and McIntyre talks about how he can’t wait to finally get his hands on Lashley after such a long wait.

The Kickoff Show hosts talk about McIntyre vs. Lashley.

New Day is ready for AJ Styles and Omos and are glad they registered as a new team. Big E. comes in and talks about how blessed we are to see these two do work.

Commentary dubs the show Wrestlerainia.

Braun Strowman says he is going to beat up Shane McMahon for everyone who has ever been called stupid.

The Kickoff Show panel talks about Vince McMahon opening the show.

Kevin Owens talks about meeting Sami Zayn in 2002. They did not know anyone more passionate about wrestling than the two of them and have wrestled each other around the world, from Canada to America to Peru to German and everywhere else. Throughout those twenty years, no two people were talked down to like they were. Tomorrow night (we get a weird buzzing sound over the audio here), they are going to get to do this on the biggest stage of them all, but it is not the Sami Zayn Owens has known for years.

Cole and Samoa Joe are in ponchos and say we are five minutes away. Byron Saxton is off to get another microphone after his died.

Bianca Belair is ready and knows that this is the biggest night of her life.

Seth Rollins, who thinks Kevin Patrick is named Mike, is ready for “Zazzaro” and promises the performance of a lifetime when he gets to trounce him once and for all.

Miz and John Morrison are ready for Bad Bunny and Damian Priest because they will never be as wet as Johnny Drip Drip.

Long video on Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre. Lashley won the WWE Title from the Miz, who cashed in Money in the Bank on McIntyre following a Lashley beatdown at Elimination Chamber. McIntyre is now getting his one on one rematch for the title. Commentary was bleeding over during the video.

Here are Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan to welcome us to the show, and to O’Neil’s city. They hype up the show, with Hogan talking about how amazing the Hurt Lock and Claymore are. You can see the rain dripping off of Titus as they hit the catchphrases to wrap it up.

WWE Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley is defending and has MVP with him. Cole says to be a legend of Hall of Famer, you have to have held the title. We’ll ignore how ridiculous that is as they lock up to no avail. A hard shoulder puts McIntyre down but he’s right back up with the belly to belly. Lashley drives him up against the rope but McIntyre clotheslines him to the floor. They fight outside with Lashley sending him into the barricade as you can see all the water on the mats.

Back in and Lashley grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two but the running shoulder only hits post (that is WAY too popular of a spot these days). A cross armbreaker doesn’t work very well for McIntyre but a clothesline and elbow to the face do a bit better. There’s another belly to belly and a third sends Lashley flying again. A bridging northern lights suplex gives McIntyre two but Lashley plants him with the big spinebuster for the same.

McIntyre is right back with the reverse Alabama Slam out of the corner and it’s time to head up. Lashley crotches his way out of a superplex attempt so McIntyre grabs a quickly broken Kimura. Instead McIntyre does his situp out of the Tree of Woe to send Lashley flying again. Another spinebuster cuts McIntyre off again….and he pops right back up to stun Lashley. McIntyre channels his inner Scott Steiner with another belly to belly, followed by three straight Futureshocks for two.

The Claymore is loaded up but Lashley bails to the floor, only to have McIntyre bust out the big no hands flip dive to take out both Lashley and MVP. Back in and McIntyre misses coming off the top, meaning he gets caught in the Hurt Lock. That’s reversed with a ram into the corner and McIntyre grabs a Kimura. That’s broken up as well so McIntyre loads up the Claymore but MVP offers a distraction, allowing Lashley to grab the Hurt Lock. McIntyre tries to flip around but can’t even get out using the turnbuckle climb and Lashley retains at 18:24.

Rating: B-. This started slowly and then picked up a lot of steam near the end. Lashley retaining is absolutely the right call as there is no need for McIntyre to win the title again after most of a year of holding the thing. It would have been ridiculous to have Lashley lost the title after about five weeks so it was nice to see them do the right thing after a pretty hard hitting fight.

Bayley comes up to Hulk Hogan, Titus O’Neil and the NWO in the back but they aren’t interested in her offers of Too Sweet.

Tag Team Turmoil

Five teams and the winners get a Women’s Tag Team Title shot on night two. Naomi/Lana are in at #1 and Carmella/Billie Kay are in at #2 with Carmella hammering on Lana to start. Lana avoids a charge and gets over for the quick tag to Naomi to clean house. Everything breaks down and Billie gets a sunset flip on Naomi with an assist from Carmella for the pin.

The Riott Squad is in at #3 and Billie suplexes Morgan into a low superkick from Carmella for two. They try the same assisted sunset flip but this time Carmella gets caught (Carmella: “I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!!!”). A Codebreaker into a top rope backsplash finishes Kay but Carmella drops Riott after the fall.

Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke are in at #4 with Mandy falling down on the ramp. An early Blockbuster gets two on Riott, who has to fight out of the corner and brings in Morgan. A Codebreaker into the Riott Kick (which seemed to miss) gets two on Mandy with Brooke making the save. It’s off to Brooke for a Swanton and a small package but Liv reverses it into one of own for the pin. After the ring announcer says the wrong team name, Natalya and Tamina are in at #5 to complete the field.

The Sharpshooter attempt is countered into a small package to give Liv two so Natalya plants her with a powerbomb. Tamina comes in and gets sent into the corner with Riott sending Morgan into her ribs. Back up and Tamina superkicks the heck out of Morgan and the Hart Attack to Riott set up the Superfly Splash to give Natalya and Tamina the pin at 14:05.

Rating: D. Of course they won. Of course they won. I still have no idea what the heck WWE sees in Natalya and Tamina but I’m sure a goat and a lot of drugs are involved. Now we get to see them again tomorrow for reasons I don’t want to understand. The match itself was nothing due to how fast they had to go and then we have a terrible result. Happy Wrestlemania everyone.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro in the form of a political ad against Cesaro, as paid for by Friends of Seth Rollins. Basically Cesaro has never done anything and Rollins is the kind of a leader we need. Also Rollins is mad because Cesaro Swung him 22 times a few months ago.

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

Cesaro jumps him fast to start and hammers away. Rollins tries to get up top but is caught with an uppercut but a gutwrench superplex is countered into a buckle bomb for two. Cesaro is sent to the apron so he goes up (while shaking off his right arm) but gets superplexed into a Falcon Arrow for two more. The uppercuts send Rollins into the corner where more uppercutting ensues.

A clothesline turns Rollins inside out for two and the threat of a Swing sends him to the ropes. Rollins is back up with an enziguri but the Stomp is countered into the Swing, with the crowd counting along. Cesaro stops at nine to put on the Sharpshooter but Rollins is right next to the rope. The Sling Blade sets up a spinning frog splash for two and Rollins can’t believe the kickout.

Cesaro is back up with the Neutralizer for two but a second is countered into the Pedigree for the same. Rollins hits a running kick to the back of the neck but Cesaro counters the Stomp into an uppercut. The no hands torture rack spin sets up the Swing for twenty three swings (or however these people count). The Neutralizer finishes Rollins at 11:23.

Rating: C+. Good stuff here but above all else, the right result, which you never know about with some of these matches. Rollins absolutely did not need to win here while it is a huge moment for Cesaro. I’m not sure I believe that this is the start of a big push for him, but at least he won here and got the big moment for a change.

Cesaro is VERY happy with the win.

We recap Smackdown.

Bobby Roode and Robert Roode are very proud with their win on Smackdown.

Raw Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. AJ Styles/Omos

New Day is defending and has Big E. with them, at least for their entrance. Omos is about to start but New Day talks AJ into starting instead. Kofi gets a quick rollup for one and it’s time to hit that trombone solo. Woods comes in for a chinlock and explains that AJ is not a tag team wrestler because they are effectively cutting the ring in half. The Unicorn Stampede (not Stomp Cole) has Woods in trouble, followed by a headlock takeover from Woods.

A double bulldog gets two on Styles and Woods sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes. AJ tries to dive over for the tag but gets planted face first by Kofi for two instead. Woods goes up and AJ uses the delay to get over to Omos for the tag to a heck of a response. Kofi: “YOU GOT THIS WOODS!”

A dropkick has no effect on Omos and a crossbody bounces off of him. Kofi gets caught coming off the top and thrown down as New Day realizes they’re in big trouble. Some running elbows in the corner crush New Day and there’s a backbreaker to Woods, with Omos bending him over the knee. Kofi gets a backbreaker of his own and AJ hits a Phenomenal Forearm off of Omos’ shoulders to drop Woods. A release Sky High and the one foot on the chest finishes Kofi at 9:54.

Rating: C+. Yeah that worked. They didn’t try to do anything ridiculous here as Omos did all kinds of basic big man stuff, which mainly involved him standing still or moving minimally. The size and power are enough to make him look devastating and that’s all you need to do. It’s a classic formula and I liked it quite a bit. Good stuff here and it couldn’t have been put together much better.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman. Shane has called Strowman stupid time after time so Strowman wants to stand up for everyone who has been bullied over the years. McMahon also allowed Strowman to pick the stipulation for the match, with Strowman making it a cage match.

Jerry Lawler joins commentary.

Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon

Inside a cage but here are Elias and Jaxson Ryker to attack Strowman with a chair, including various shots to the leg. Shane gets the chair inside and unloads on Strowman even more but it is way too early to escape. Strowman catches Shane going up so Shane pulls off a piece of sheet metal to hammer him down again. That’s good for two so Strowman, with a mouse under his eye, gets up and crushes Shane against the cage.

The big forearm to the chest drops Shane again but the leg gives out on the running powerslam attempt. Shane sends him into the cage a few times and hits the floatover DDT. The Coast To Coast connects for a rather close two so here are Elias and Ryker on the cage. Strowman knocks them both down so he and Shane go up, with Shane finding a tool box to hit him in the head. Shane goes up and over but takes WAY too long, allowing Strowman to grab him.

With nothing else available, Strowman rips the cage wall apart and drags Shane back in (that’s a new one). They both wind up on top of the cage and Strowman tosses him back to the mat (Strowman: “WHO’S STUPID NOW???”). That’s enough for Strowman to climb down….but he climbs back inside instead and shouts about how this is for everyone who has ever been called stupid. The running powerslam finishes Shane at 11:26.

Rating: D. Well thank goodness the former World Champion and professional strong man beat up a 50+ year old executive who doesn’t wrestle more than 3-4 times a year. That’s how you step up to someone. This was the story that wasn’t going to be good no matter how they presented it because Shane has completely outlived his usefulness, especially in a role like this one. At least they kept it relatively short and Strowman won, so it could have been a lot worse.

Bayley interrupts the announcement of the Hall of Fame video package and throws us to the Hall of Fame video package.

Most of the Hall of Fame class is presented:

Titus O’Neil

JBL
NWO (Hogan/Hall/Nash/Waltman)

Bella Twins

Wrestlemania XXXVIII is in Dallas, with Steve Austin making the announcement.

Booker T. joins commentary.

And now, we have an army of bunnies, one of whom loses an ear. Cue Miz and John Morrison for a “live” performance of Hey Hey Hop Hop, which is an improvement over seeing the bunnies holding their heads on.

We recap Miz/John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny/Damian Priest. Bunny is a huge rap star and a die hard wrestling fan who showed up at the Royal Rumble to perform his song about Booker T. Miz and Morrison didn’t like him, so Bunny started hanging out with Priest. They tormented each other for weeks until a match between Bunny and Morrison was set up for Wrestlemania. Miz and Morrison then painted Bunny’s multi million dollar car, which drew in Morrison and Priest to make it a tag match.

Miz/John Morrison vs. Damian Priest/Bad Bunny

Bunny gets a huge entrance of his own, coming into the stadium on a semi truck. Miz and Priest start but Miz wants Bunny instead. That’s exactly what Miz gets and Bunny looks a bit nervous. Bunny drops him with a right hand so Morrison has to remind Miz that bunnies are lucky. Another right hand sends Miz into the ropes again so he takes Bunny into the corner for a change.

A kick to the ribs puts Bunny down but he’s right back with with La Majistral for two. Morrison freaks out, saying Miz needs to start thinking like one of the best of all time. Back up and Bunny slides through Miz’s legs and snaps off a fairly long headscissors. There’s a headbutt to Morrison but he catches Bunny with an elbow. Miz comes back in with a chinlock but Bunny is back up with more right hands. A sunset flip gets two so Miz kicks him in the face to cut off another comeback.

Miz knocks him into the corner again as the fans try to get behind Bunny again. Bunny manages to get a boot up in the corner though and a tornado DDT plants Miz. The diving tag brings in Priest to clean house in a hurry, including tossing Miz at Morrison. The South of Heaven chokeslam gets two on Miz and Bunny comes back in for stereo Broken Arrows for a double near fall.

Bunny goes up top and hits a big dive to take out Miz/Morrison (Saxton: “I knew bunnies could hop but I didn’t know they could fly!”). Miz is right back in for the Skull Crushing Finale for two on Priest with Bunny making the save. Bunny hits a Canadian Destroyer on Morrison on the floor and a high crossbody finishes Miz at 15:01.

Rating: C. Yeah Bunny got in a lot of stuff here, but are you going to tell the biggest star willing to do something with WWE that he can’t do something? Bunny probably got in more offense than any other celebrity in recent memory and he looked fine enough doing it. Miz and Morrison have been treated as clueless putzes for years now so it isn’t that much of a stretch to see them lose here. Priest got in some points by association here so this went about as well as it could have, with Bunny being FAR better than I would have bet on.

Here’s the Sunday rundown.

We recap Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Belair won the Royal Rumble and is ready to claim her destiny but Banks doesn’t want to give up the spot. Yeah it isn’t much of a story but that’s what you get when you have two pay per view matches going for the Women’s Tag Team Titles.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair

Banks is defending and they both look to be near tears to start. Feeling out process to start with Banks having to slip out of something close to a torture rack but getting caught in a double chickenwing. Banks manages to send her outside but the suicide dive is caught, allowing Belair to gorilla press her and walk up the steps for a toss over the top. Back in and Belair picks her up, does some squats, and slams her but Banks nails a running knee to take over.

The double arm crank goes on but Belair gets up and powers her into the corner. Banks is sent to the floor where she tries to pull Belair’s braid. That’s fine with Belair, who uses it to pull Banks into the post. Banks misses running double knees into the barricade and the both beat the count. Back in again and Belair muscles her up for a suplex, bounces her off the top, leans Banks forward, and then drops her back for two.

Belair shoulders her down again and then drives in some shoulders in the corner. The 450 hits knees though and Banks tries a hurricanrana, which is countered into back to back powerbombs. Banks sends her into the corner though and it’s a kick to Belair’s face, setting up a double springboard tornado DDT for two. With Belair down, Banks goes up and starts with the Meteora but changes into a splash halfway down.

Belair tries to get up so Banks uses the braid to pull her down into the Bank Statement for a rather clever setup. That’s broken up with a roll into the ropes so Banks hammers away in said ropes. Banks goes up so Belair tries a running hurricanrana, only to get tied in the Tree of Woe.

The top rope double stomp misses and so do the running knees, which go into the buckle. Now the 450 connects for two and Belair screams a lot on the kickout. The KOD is countered and Banks grabs the braid, which is used for a heck of a whip. Now the KOD can connect for the pin and the title at 17:20. Cole shouts about a kickout before switching to Belair winning.

Rating: B. I saw someone give the perfect description of this as brains vs. brawn, which is exactly what it was. Belair is an athletic freak and someone who can do almost everything you ask of her in the ring while Banks is the seasoned veteran who knows how to take on anyone. Banks couldn’t hang with Belair physically so she had to fight smart, but eventually you just can’t get around that kind of power and athleticism. Very good match and an awesome story to wrap things up.

There is a HUGE welt on Banks’ side from the hair whip. Belair celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. All things considered, including the rain, this was a pretty good show with only the cage match being bad. It wasn’t a classic, but after being away from everything for a year, I’ll certainly take what I can get. Above all else it felt like a Wrestlemania and that is what you need after such a long absence. The action was mostly good and they went with the right choices in the winners, so there wasn’t much to complain about here. Good show, and dang is it nice to have Wrestlemania, or at least the fans and the atmosphere, back.

Results

Bobby Lashley b. Drew McIntyre – Hurt Lock

Natalya/Tamina won Tag Team Turmoil last eliminating

Cesaro b. Seth Rollins – Neutralizer

AJ Styles/Omos b. New Day – Release Sky High to Kingston

Braun Strowman b. Shane McMahon – Running powerslam

Damian Priest/Bad Bunny b. Miz/John Morrison – High crossbody to Miz

Bianca Belair b. Sasha Banks – KOD

 

 

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Wrestlemania XXXVI Night Two
Date: April 5, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re back for more of the same and that might not be the worst thing in the world. Last night’s part one wasn’t half bad but they are going to have a hard time surpassing that main event. There are eight more matches, plus the required Kickoff Show match, tonight so hopefully they can have another good one. Let’s get to it.

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

Kickoff Show: Liv Morgan vs. Natalya

Morgan rolls her up for two to start so Natalya does the same for a standoff. Some more rollups get some more near falls until Morgan sends her into the corner. A running hip attack hits Natalya but she’s right back with her basement dropkick for two more. Natalya clotheslines her to the floor, followed by the surfboard back inside. Natalya: “ASK HER!!!!” That’s broken up and Liv’s Codebreaker gets two. The sitout wheelbarrow faceplant gives Natalya the same and they pinfall reversal sequence with Liv getting the pin at 6:33.

Rating: D+. Imagine that: a Natalya match being technically fine but completely emotionless. That’s been the definition of her career for years now and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Liv getting a win is fine but there is no way that she is getting anywhere near the top of the division, leaving this as little more than a way to fill time.

Stephanie McMahon welcomes us to the show in a new message.

Same opening video as last night.

Rob Gronkowski welcomes us to the show and throws us to the first match.

NXT Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is defending. The feel each other out to start with Charlotte going straight to the leg. That doesn’t work so Rhea gets in her face, earning some chops into the corner. Ripley is right back with Riptide for two and it’s time for a quick breather. They fight to the floor with Charlotte hitting a double chop but Rhea sends her into the steps. Back in and Rhea hits a dropkick before kicking away at the ribs.

A bodyscissors keeps Charlotte down but Rhea misses a running big boot and hurts her leg on the rope. Charlotte works on the leg, shrugs off a shot to the head, and bends the leg around on the mat. Rhea won’t quit so Charlotte works on the leg again. Back up and Rhea nails a basement dropkick, followed by some shouting at her own knee. The leg is fine enough for an electric chair faceplant for two, followed by a missile dropkick for the same, albeit after a delay because of the knee.

Charlotte chop blocks the knee though and Rhea is down again. The Figure Four doesn’t work again and Rhea reverses into the standing Cloverleaf. That’s broken up as well and Charlott knocks her down with another hard shot. The Figure Four is broken up again so Charlotte goes with a Boston crab instead.

Ripley gets out again and hits a quick big boot (thanks to some editing) for the double knockdown. Rhea takes her up top but gets slammed back down, though she’s able to raise her boots to block the moonsault. A horrible looking spear gives Charlotte two but the Figure Four finally goes on. The Figure Eight makes Ripley tap at 20:26.

Rating: C+. CHARLOTTE! WINS!! AGAIN!!! I have no idea why they needed to have her beat Rhea clean in their first match but I’m sure it has something to do with some kind of tribute to Ric Flair, who hasn’t had one in a while. I’m sick of seeing Charlotte with a title and it almost scares me to imagine how many titles she’s going to wind up with in the end.

We recap last night.

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Lana is here with Lashley. Black gets tossed around to start and Lashley hammers away, only to get low bridged to the floor. A running big boot puts Lashley on the floor but Black misses the moonsault. Lashley snaps off the overhead belly to belly but can’t get a suplex back inside. Instead Black kicks him in the chest, only to walk into a snap powerslam for two. Another suplex gets another two and Lashley loads up the Dominator, but Lana tells him to do the spear. That earns him Black Mass for the sudden pin at 7:14.

Rating: D+. This was a way to get Black on the show, and by that I mean a way for him to get beaten up until Lana and Lana alone cost Lashley the match. I’m glad Black won but if you want him to look good, just have him kick Lashley’s head off and win. It’s not like Lashley has anything going on at the moment, but now I’m sure we can get the big fallout with Lana now, because we need another part to that story.

Bayley complains about the elimination match and knows Sasha Banks won’t turn on her. With Bayley gone, Sasha is asked how much she wants to win the title. You’ll have to watch and see.

Money in the Bank ad.

Gronk would like to win the 24/7 Title.

We recap Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler. Otis was going to go on a Valentine’s Day date with Mandy Rose but Ziggler crashed it when Otis was late. Mandy wanted nothing else to do with Otis after that but it turns out that Sonya Deville stole Mandy’s phone and told Otis she would be late (and deleted the texts) so it would fall apart.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis

Sonya Deville is here with Ziggler. Otis misses a charge to start and gets superkicked outside in a hurry. That gets one back inside so Ziggler grabs a neckbreaker into the jumping elbow for two. The chinlock goes on but Otis is back up with a catapult. A hard whip sends Ziggler into the corner and a pop up World’s Strongest Slam plants him again. Sonya gets on the apron for a distraction though and Ziggler gets in a low blow. Cue Mandy to take out Sonya and hit Ziggler low, setting up the Caterpillar for the pin at 8:23.

Rating: D+. I was wrong on this one as I didn’t think they would let Otis pin Dolph. I’m rather please by the result and even though it wasn’t much of a match, at least they pulled the trigger on something. You can pencil in the mixed tag coming up and that’s all well and good, though I’m not sure where they can go after that.

Post match Otis picks Mandy up and they get the first kiss.

We recap Edge vs. Randy Orton. Edge came back at the Royal Rumble but Orton attacked him the next night and put him back on the shelf. Orton said Edge was an adrenaline junkie and he attacked him so Edge wouldn’t ruin his life like Orton did. To make it worse, Orton RKOed Edge’s wife (who is a Hall of Famer who wrestled earlier this year so we needed to act like he shot her). Now it’s a Last Man Standing match as this is very personal.

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Last Man Standing. Edge comes out first and glares at the stage for Orton….who is disguised as a cameraman and runs in for an RKO before the bell. The bell rings and it’s another RKO but Edge falls to the floor at nine. They fight back backstage with Orton knocking Edge through some doors. It goes onto the gym with Orton knocking him down again, setting up some choking with a rope on a machine.

Edge gets out and hits a dropkick through some machines before choking away at Orton. Some forearms put Orton in a chair and Edge pulls himself up on a bar for a seated senton of all things. Back up and they slug it out into another room with a red light. Both guys are sent face first into a garage door and it’s back into the arena. Orton shoves him off a platform and into the barricade before they stumble backstage again.

Edge’s head gets bounced off of another wall for a six count and it’s time to go into the office area. This time it’s Orton being sent into a wall but Edge kicks him in the ribs at nine. Orton gets thrown onto the big table so Edge pulls himself up onto part of the ceiling to drop an elbow. The cameraman gets knocked down but another one catches them up in the big storage facility in the back.

Both of them bounce off of various things until Orton knocks him onto a storage crate. Edge gets sent into some steps and Orton starts looking around. That’s good for another nine so they wind up in what looks like the promo area. Edge throws something at Orton’s leg to take him down and some more shots to the face do it again. Orton is placed on a table and drops a huge elbow.

They go to a truck with a cover on the bed and Orton hits the hanging DDT for nine. Edge climbs onto some crates and then on top of an NXT semi truck. Orton and the referee follow them up and it’s a spear to drop Orton. That’s good for nine but another spear is countered into an RKO.

Edge is up at nine as well but Orton has dropped down to the floor next to the biggest ladder I’ve ever seen in WWE (it’s on the floor and is WAY higher than the top of the semi truck). Instead Orton takes some chairs up to the top of the truck to load up the Conchairto. Edge grabs a head and arm choke though and Orton is out. Hold on though as Edge waves off the count so he can hit the Conchairto. Orton is finally done at 36:39.

Rating: B. This one is going to be divisive and I can understand that. If my math is right, this was the longest non-Iron Man match in Wrestlemania history, though it didn’t feel that long. It felt like two guys who wanted to hurt each other and were doing whatever they could to accomplish that. I liked the unique atmosphere and some of the spot, with the Conchairto making for a good finish.

After a quick breather, here’s Mojo Rawley with the Mob chasing him. Gronk shows up and dives off a platform to take out the pile, allowing him to pin Rawley for the title.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Austin Theory/Angel Garza

The Profits are defending. Dawkins shoulders Theory down to start and the champs start working on the arm. That’s fine with Theory, who sends Dawkins to the floor, allowing Theory to mock the dancing. Garza gets in a superkick on the floor, TAKES OFF HIS PANTS, and misses a clothesline so Dawkins can tag Ford in.

A DDT gets two on Ford and Garza hits the moonsault onto both champs on the floor. The Lionsault gets two more on Ford back inside but Ford pops up with an enziguri. Dawkins comes in and runs Garza over, only to get caught in Theory’s TKO. Ford frog splashes his way in for the save though and Dawkins gets the cover to retain at 6:23.

Rating: D+. If ever there was a match to cut for the sake of time. This was a weird one as there was no reason to believe the title change was taking place and then the finish felt like something the heels would do to win. There are no teams to challenge the Profits at the moment and I don’t see Theory and Garza changing that anytime soon.

Post match Garza and Theory stay on Ford but Bianca Belair runs in for the save. That means a KOD on Zelina.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Bayley is defending and this is under elimination rules. Tamina shrugs off the gang attack to start so Lacey chop blocks her down. The other four slug it out with Bayley and Sasha double teaming Lacey. Naomi makes a quick save as a mini tag match breaks out. Tamina comes back in to run everyone over and we actually get a Team Bad reunion. That lasts for all of three seconds as everyone goes after Tamina, including something off the top each. A dog pile pin gets rid of Tamina at 6:23.

Naomi dives onto Sasha but Lacey misses a dive onto Bayley, earning a ram into the steps. A sunset flip gives Naomi two on Bayley and Sasha at the same time, followed by a sliding slip to both. The Rear View hits Sasha and a Bubba Bomb into the reverse Rings of Saturn….is broken up by Bayley. The Bank Statement gets rid of Naomi (Bayley: “DANCE TO THE BACK!”) at 10:36 and we’re down to three.

Bayley shouts about Lacey’s daughter though, allowing Lacey to avoid the running knee. Sasha is knocked silly instead so Lacey small packages Bayley for two. Back in and Sasha yells at Bayley, who shoves Sasha out of the way of the Woman’s Right. Lacey hits the second attempt though and Banks is done at 13:23.

After a replay where you can hear Cole shouting commentary, Bayley mocks Lacey with a salute and shoves her face against the rope. Lacey gets posted for two so Bayley ties her arm to the corner with the tag rope. Since that’s kind of a stupid plan, Lacey kicks her way out and hits the slingshot Bronco Busters in the corner. After a slow motion salute, Lacey’s double jump moonsault gets two. Cue Sasha with a Backstabber to Lacey though and Bayley’s weird bulldog driver retains at 19:15.

Rating: D. Well that was long and served little purpose. Bayley has held the title since last May (save for a four day Charlotte reign) and I’m not sure what else there is for her to do. Unless they do Bayley vs. Becky (unlikely), what is the point in keeping it on her much longer? I’m sure we’ll get to Bayley vs. Banks again eventually, but dang that sounds as appealing as watching this match all over again.

Titus O’Neil takes Gronk’s place as host.

Wrestlemania XXXVII is in Los Angeles.

We recap The Fiend vs. John Cena in the Firefly Fun House. After Cena said that he didn’t want to wrestle at this year’s show, Fiend popped up to challenge him. Cena accepted, and then Bray Wyatt went on to say that he blamed Cena for the rise of the Fiend. See, Cena beat him at Wrestlemania XXX and messed with Bray’s mind, leading to the creation of the Fiend. Therefore, tonight Cena goes to the Fun House.

John Cena vs. The Fiend

Cena makes his entrance but the Firefly Fun House pops up, with Bray saying that Cena is about to face himself. Then Cena is teleported to the Fun House (apparently the same way Seth Rollins got there back in October), where Ramblin Rabbit sends him through a door after the Fiend. Cena follows and finds the Vince puppet, asking if Cena has the ruthless aggression to make it in this company.

We see Wyatt copying the Kurt Angle promo to challenge Cena from 2002 and here’s 2020 Cena in 2002 Cena attire. Cena keeps saying RUTHLESS AGGRESSION but misses a bunch of shots. Bray: “You can look but you can’t touch!” And now it’s the Saturday Night’s Main Event opening, with Bray standing behind a cage and imitating Hulk Hogan. Cena (Johnny Largemeat) comes up and starts rapidly lifting weights, apparently destroying his arms in the process.

Vince and the Mercy the Buzzard are on commentary as Bray asks what happens when Cena realizes that Ego Mania has been running wild on him. Bray sends him off camera to the Smackdown Fist where Cena is the Dr. of Thugnomics, with Bray dancing to Basic Thuganomics. They’re back in the ring and Cena finds out that he can only speak in rhymes, including a Husky Harris reference.

Bray calls Cena a bully and a horrible person who takes the weaknesses of others and turns them into jokes. With that, Bray gives him the floor so Cena throws him Deez Nuts. Cena, in the Babe Ruth jersey from last year, misses a charge and gets knocked out by a chain. Now it’s Bray back in the Wyatt Family gear and sitting in the rocking chair as we see clips of Wrestlemania XXX.

The fans wanted and needed him that night and now it’s time to rewrite his own story. They’re back in the ring now with Bray dancing with the unconscious Cena and loading up Sister Abigail. He lets Cena go though and drops down, handing Cena a chair in a recreation of Wrestlemania XXX. Bray tells Cena to fix his mistake from last year but Bray disappears away from Cena’s swing.

And now it’s…..NWO MONDAY NITRO??? Bray is Eric Bischoff (with the jacket and a Wolfpac shirt) and introduces Cena as Hollywood Hogan. Cena takes Bray down and unloads as we see clips of Cena’s past. He wakes up as himself and sees that he’s beating up Huskus the Pig. The Fiend appears behind him and gives him the Mandible Claw to knock Cena out. We hear Cena’s promo about ending the most overrated overhyped superstar ever and the Claw goes back on with Bray counting the pin. Cena teleports away and the Fiend stands alone.

No rating as this wasn’t a match but I got into this. It’s a rather interesting character study of Cena and you can get what they’re going with in Fiend making him face his fears. Back in the day, CM Punk said that Cena had become the New York Yankees: the big bad who held people down and used money to get what he wants (or going from the Real American Hogan to Hollywood Hogan as they used here).

That’s what Fiend is showing Cena here and it scared Cena that he had changed so much and become what he fought against for so many years. Now granted, if you haven’t been glued to WWE for the last….oh eight years or so, this made no sense, but the effort and thought was ALL there and I got most of what they were going for, plus some of the complete insanity that went along with it. Not a match, but kind of a fascinating weird look into the WWE psyche.

We cut to Titus O’Neil. Titus: “I don’t know what I just saw.”

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre. Lesnar is World Champion but Drew eliminated him from the Royal Rumble and then won the whole thing, earning him this spot. Drew has kicked his head off a few times since then to show he can hang with Brock.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and gets Claymored for two after about ten seconds. Another Claymore misses and it’s time to go to Suplex City. The F5 gets one and Brock isn’t happy. Another F5 gets two and there’s the third for another two. Another F5 is countered and McIntyre hits two more Claymores. A fourth gives Drew the pin and the title at 4:28.

Rating: D. I’m happy that McIntyre won but GOOD GRIEF STOP DOING THAT SAME MATCH OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER! It’s a cool idea one time and then don’t do it again for years. This is all Lesnar does anymore and now it’s creeping over into other main events too. It loses its impact when they keep doing it again and again and now you’ve grown to expect it every time. Anyway, great moment to end the show and McIntyre as champion is awesome, assuming they don’t have Lesnar win it back in two months again.

Overall Rating: C-. I didn’t like this one as much as last night’s but it still wasn’t terrible. This one definitely felt like the bigger show and had the more intriguing matches (for the most part). I’m not wild on some of the booking decisions but it felt more like a Wrestlemania and that’s what matters. The crowd being gone didn’t bother me as much either, but the wrestling itself just wasn’t as good. Overall, not bad but last night’s felt tighter and more enjoyable.

Overall Overall Rating: C. With something like this, it’s almost impossible to give the thing a fair rating. When you factor in the day in between and the weird atmosphere, the show was pretty much just ok. There were some very good matches but some that made me wonder why I was wasting my time. Overall it’s an enjoyable one off, but I’m still not behind the idea of a two night Wrestlemania going forward. Until WWE can cut these things WAY down and trim off so much of the unnecessary stuff, it needs to be one night and one night only, just for the sake of sanity if nothing else.

Results

Charlotte b. Rhea Ripley – Figure Eight

Aleister Black b. Bobby Lashley – Black Mass

Otis b. Dolph Ziggler – Caterpillar

Edge b. Randy Orton when Orton couldn’t answer the ten count

Street Profits b. Angel Garza/Austin Theory – Frog splash to Theory

Bayley b. Sasha Banks, Naomi, Tamina and Lacey Evans – Bulldog driver to Evans

Drew McIntyre b. Brock Lesnar – Claymore

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

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Smackdown
Date: November 10, 2006
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

We’re done with Cyber Sunday and that means it is time to get on the road to Survivor Series. The big story coming out of the pay per view is King Booker not only keeping the World Heavyweight Title but also becoming the Champion of Champions. That means he needs a new challenger and odds are we find that out tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Cyber Sunday if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Booker retaining the title thanks to Kevin Federline.

Here are King Booker and Queen Sharmell for a chat. Booker talks about how he kept the title but alas, like Alexander the Great, he has no worlds left to conquer. He lists off some names he has beaten but here is Teddy Long to interrupt. Long brings a bunch of photographers for some photos of Booker because we need to celebrate his victory.

Booker agrees that he defeated everyone when his back was against the wall, but last week there was someone protecting him. That would be Batista, and Long owes him a big favor. As a result, Batista is getting a title shot at Survivor Series, but it might not be against Booker, because he is defending the title right now. Booker: “I’LL SUE YOU!”

Smackdown World Title: King Booker vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley is challenging and drives Booker into the corner for the shoulders to the ribs. The Fujiwara armbar goes on to keep Booker in trouble but he fights to his feet. That earns him a clothesline to the floor and we take a break. Back with Booker firing off knees in the corner as we hear about Lashley being on Team Cena at Survivor Series against Team Big Show.

Lashley comes back with the delayed vertical suplex (with JBL saying it reminded him of Rick Rude) but Booker avoids a charge to send Lashley’s shoulder into the post. Booker crotches him against the post for a bonus and a superkick gets two. The armbar stays on the bad arm but Lashley is up in a hurry, meaning Booker has to kick him in the face. Now it’s a shinbreaker to keep Lashley down again and we hit the spinning toehold of all things.

A small package gives Lashley two so Booker clotheslines him right back down. Back up and Booker’s leapfrog is powerslammed out of the air for a heck of a crash and a near fall. Sharmell offers a distraction though and Booker gets in a thumb to the eye. Lashley shrugs that off too but another Sharmell distraction lets Booker roll him up with trunks to retain.

Rating: C+. This was a bit rushed but they did their thing well enough. Booker cheating to win makes sense but it isn’t like Lashley was going to get the title so soon after Booker had his big win on Sunday anyway. I had fun with it and Booker did everything he could to make Lashley’s offense look great. That’s how you make someone look better in defeat and it is what happened here.

Post match Booker goes for the ax kick but Lashley clotheslines him down instead.

We get the first (of likely many) videos on the history of Batista vs. Finlay.

Here’s what John Cena has done to promote the Marine.

MVP comes in to Teddy Long’s office to complain about last week, but Long is about to watch the DVD of See No Evil (with DELETED SCENES). That isn’t cool with MVP, who mentions being from the streets. That’s cool with Teddy, who gives him a street fight with Kane next week.

Chris Benoit comes up to Chavo Guerrero and Vickie Guerrero and asks what happened to them. He asks if this is about Eddie’s estate but Vickie tells him to worry about something more important. Like Chavo taking the US Title at Survivor Series.

Jimmy Wang Yang/Matt Hardy vs. Sylvan/Gregory Helms

I feel like I’m watching a Lethal Lottery show. Helms chokes Yang as JBL rants about how much he can’t stand Yang at all. A backbreaker sets up a chinlock but Hardy comes in for the save, allowing Yang to be double teamed. Sylvan comes in for some knees to the chest and Helms whips Yang hard into the corner. A dropkick into a belly to back slam gets two on Yang, who spinwheel kicks Sylvan out of the air. The hot tag brings in Hardy to hammer on Helms and plant him with a Side Effect. Everything breaks down and Sylvan is sent outside, allowing Hardy to hit the Twist of Fate from the top to finish Helms.

Rating: C-. Perfectly fine enough match here, even with Hardy vs. Helms seemingly continuing for eternity. Hardy’s comeback worked well and he carried a lot more of the match than Yang, but it wasn’t like he could bring it up to another level. This felt like four people being put on the show for something to do instead of for a particular reason and that is rarely a good idea.

More on Batista vs. Finlay.

Here is Mr. Kennedy for Undertaker’s answer to a Survivor Series challenge. He talks about how Undertaker debuted sixteen years ago at Survivor Series and has made an amazing legacy for himself. That’s good, but look at what Kennedy has done in so little time. He has beaten all kinds of World Champions and is ready to move to Raw or ECW and show what else he can do, but Undertaker is standing in his way. Kennedy wants Undertaker out here right now because he is ending Undertaker’s career at Survivor Series. More taunting ensues and the gong goes off.

Undertaker does the full entrance and even takes his hat off, allowing Kennedy to hit him low. The beatdown is on with Kennedy hammering him in the head with the microphone. Undertaker is busted open and more microphone shots put him down. Kennedy gets in his face and says his own name before leaving, with Undertaker sitting up but not being able to get very far. This was a good segment for Kennedy, who set this up and then beat Undertaker down. He’ll get wrecked at Survivor Series, but it worked for him here.

Chris Benoit vs. KC James

Non-title and James has Michelle McCool with him. JBL sings McCool’s praises, saying he likes women, even if Cole doesn’t. Benoit hammers away in the corner and a knee to the ribs sends James outside. Back in and James elbows him down and grabs the chinlock with a knee in the back to keep Benoit in trouble. Benoit suplexes his way to freedom and it’s time to roll the German suplexes. The Swan Dive sets up the Crossface for the tap.

Rating: D+. No time to do much here but it was a nice way to show that Benoit is on a roll. It’s also smart to use low level tag guys like James here, because he isn’t going to be hurt by a loss to Benoit. They did things exactly as they should have here and no one was hurt, so what else can you ask them to do?

Batista is going to be on Smallville.

Boogeyman vs. TJ Dalton

Boogeyman throws him inside, catches a kick, eats some worms and finishes with the chokebomb in a hurry.

Post match, Dalton gets wormed.

Another Batista vs. Finlay video.

Kristal yells at Miz for not getting rid of Boogeyman. Worry not though as Miz will beat Boogeyman in a match next week.

One last Batista vs. Finlay video.

Batista vs. Finlay

Batista shoulders him down to start and then hits him again for a bonus. Finlay goes to the ropes so Batista pulls him back to hammer away some more. They head outside with Batista blocking a posting and hitting a clothesline. We take a break and come back with Batista holding a kneeling bearhug. More forearms in the corner have Finlay in trouble and a backdrop makes it worse.

There’s a backbreaker to keep Finlay down as this has been one sided so far. It’s back to the floor for a big boot to Finlay but the Leprechaun hits Batista in the leg with the Shillelagh. Finlay gets in a kick of his own and it’s time to work on Batista’s knee. The cranking and stomping on the knee ensues with Finlay putting on a standing leglock. Back up and Finlay misses a charge into the post and Batista hits some shoulders to the ribs.

Something like a Muscle Buster of all things drops Finlay but the knee is too banged up. Some clotheslines set up a powerslam to plant Finlay but he goes to the knee to slow Batista down again. That lasts for all of two seconds as Batista hits another clothesline for two. Cue Booker for a distraction but Batista sends Finlay into him, setting up the spinebuster for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was surprisingly one sided for a good chunk of the match as Batista dominated most of it. The knee thing didn’t mean much and Finlay never felt like a threat to win. I know Batista is on his way to the World Title shot at Survivor Series and it’s hardly bad to have him look dominant but you would expect something a little more competitive here.

Overall Rating: C. It’s nice to have Cyber Sunday out of the way so things can have a fresh focus, but there wasn’t anything important here. They mostly played it safe and didn’t try anything out of the ordinary, so we’ll call it a nice and easy first step towards the pay per view. Batista vs. Booker is the only way they could go and I’m sure the Survivor Series matches will get some nice build going forward. There’s nothing wrong with taking it nice and safe and that’s how they went here.

 

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Somehow this is opening.

I’m not sure what to think about this as they are really pushing this as a big match. I just don’t know if they have done enough to make it work. It’s a match we have seen before and McIntyre is already a two time World Champion. Lashley needs to keep the title for a bit and as nice as it would be for McIntyre to have his moment in front of people, we have already seen him as the top guy for a year. Let someone else do it already.

In something I’ll likely regret, I’ll go with Lashley as the winner here, though I would be surprised if McIntyre didn’t get the title back soon. Lashley has waited for a long time to get this title run and I would love for it to go longer than about five weeks. McIntyre has had his day and is basically a made man at the moment, so don’t mess up something that needs a chance. I wouldn’t hate McIntyre winning, but he really shouldn’t/doesn’t need to.

Wrestlemania XXXV
Date: April 7, 2019
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 82,265
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips
America the Beautiful: Yolanda Adams

We’re back to this show after a year away and I’m not sure what to think about this one. I wasn’t in the stadium for this one and for once that is making me remember the show a little bit better. This whole thing is centered around a few matches, as Wrestlemania always tends to be. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese

Murphy is defending and this is during Nese’s (who won a tournament to get here) not so great face run. First good thing: there are a bunch of people in their seats already so the place doesn’t look ridiculous. Murphy misses a running knee at the bell so Nese hammers away in the corner and tells the fans that this is his Wrestlemania moment. A cartwheel off the apron lets Nese hit him in the jaw but Murphy grabs a fireman’s carry drop onto the corner (Colt Cabana’s Chicago Skyline) as we take a break.

Back with Murphy holding a chinlock but getting suplexed into the corner to cut things off. Some running elbows to the face rock Murphy and the Lionsault, with Murphy hanging in the ropes, gets two. Nese catches him on the ropes with a palm strike, only to get pulled into a Cheeky Nandos kick. A powerbomb into a spinning faceplant gives Murphy two as we get the “still filing in line” from commentary. Murphy’s Law is countered and Nese hits a reverse hurricanrana to put them both down again.

Murphy wins a strike off but Nese is right back with a sunset driver for his own near fall as the fans are finally getting into this. The running Nese doesn’t get to launch so Nese hits the Fosbury Flop instead. Back in and the 450 gets two in a surprising near fall. The jumping knee connects out of nowhere and Murphy’s Law gets two as Nese gets a foot on the rope. Ever the villain, Murphy tries his own running Nese, which is cut off by a superkick. The real running Nese finishes Murphy at 10:44.

Rating: C. The 205 Live guys had several matches that would blow this one away but at least they had a nice moment in the end with the fans getting into things. Nese as a face didn’t exactly click but beating Murphy felt like a bit deal. It’s a nice mini feel good moment to start what is going to be a long night.

Kickoff Show: Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal

Zelina Vega, Kairi Sane, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Ruby Riott, Mandy Rose, Carmella, Maria Kanellis, Asuka, Sonya Deville, Candice LeRae, Naomi, Nikki Cross, Lana, Dana Brooke, Mickie James

Only Naomi and Asuka get entrances. Nikki goes nuts to start and it’s a big brawl, as a battle royal should be. Maria is out in a hurry and Asuka knocks out Candice and Nikki back to back. Ember and Naomi trade hurricanranas until the former hits a quick springboard Eclipse on Lana. Another Eclipse gets rid of Naomi and there’s the real version to Mandy. Ember goes up again but Lana (the one in the designated Captain Marvel attire) shoves her out.

Sane hits an Alabama Slam on Lana and goes up like a schnook, only to get shoved to the apron by Logan. Even the bigger schnook, Logan doesn’t eliminate her but rather joins the rest of the Riott Squad to go after Lana. The elimination doesn’t take long but Sane drops Logan. The Insane Elbow connects, only t have the Squad get together and eliminate Sane without much trouble. An assisted flipping Stunner rocks Vega but AGAIN Logan doesn’t get the elimination.

Instead the Squad goes after Asuka and again they don’t eliminate her. Brooke gets to fight off all three of them and manages a slow motion Thesz press on Morgan. Riott goes after Brooke and gets tossed, with Morgan following her out. Brooke’s handspring elbow hits Vega’s knees though and the running knees in the corner make it worse. Rose and Deville get rid of Vega and Brooke, meaning we can get a big hug.

We’re down to Rose, Deville, Asuka, James, Logan and Carmella, the latter of whom seems to be on the floor because that’s something you have to have in battle royals these days. James hurricanranas Rose to the apron and superkicks her out, only to get dropped by Deville. Asuka beats up Logan and Deville at once but she manages to toss Deville. Logan gets rid of Asuka but, say it with me, Carmella is still in and superkicks Logan out for the win at 10:33.

Rating: D. Holy sweet goodness I can’t stand that finish and yet we seem to get it in every few battle royals (including last year’s women’s battle royal). I know Carmella getting the win is for the sake of the New York fans but egads this feels like a waste of a match, which tends to be the case with so many of these pre-show battle royals. In other words: more of the same stuff that wasn’t good in the first place.

Kickoff Show: Raw Tag Team Titles: Revival vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Revival is defending and picked the match because they thought it would be an easy win. See, Hawkins hasn’t won a match in two and a half years so of course he gets a Wrestlemania title shot (you have to keep the New York crowd happy you see). Dawson shoves Hawkins down to start and then pats him on the cheek in the corner. We get a recap of the Edgeheads as Dawson headlocks Hawkins down.

Ryder comes in as we hear about how the show in “the shadow of New York”, which is acknowledged as New Jersey, likely for one of the only times tonight. A middle rope missile dropkick puts Wilder down but Dawson low bridges him out to the floor. Something close to a top rope Demolition Decapitator gets two and the armbar goes on. Dawson comes back in and rips at the face before working on his own armbar.

That’s enough of that so Wilder grabs another armbar (he’s up 2-1 on Dawson) to keep Ryder down. Ryder fights up again but neckbreakers his way out of a double suplex. With Hawkins being distracted, the champs cheat to set up a hard clothesline for two more. The assisted legdrop gives Wilder two and we hit the chinlock as this keeps going. Ryder finally suplexes his way to freedom and there’s the hot tag to Hawkins.

House is cleaned until it’s a double clothesline to put Hawkins and Dawson down at the same time. The middle rope Rough Ryder hits Dawson but Ryder and Wilder crash out to the floor. Wilder saves Dawson at two and tornado DDTs Ryder on the floor. A brainbuster drops Hawkins outside as well and they’re all down for a bit. Back in and Hawkins is dead but manages a small package for the pin and the titles at 13:20. Hawkins slowly realizing that not only is the match over but that they won is kind of awesome.

Rating: D+. This went on too long but the ending was fine after setting everything up for so long with the losing streak. Hawkins and Ryder are a likable team so it’s not like them winning the titles is a bad idea. Besides, WWE has already taken away anything that the Revival could offer (and yet it would still get worse) so the loss doesn’t do a ton of damage to them anyway.

Kickoff Show: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Otis, Karl Anderson, Andrade, Gran Metalik, Chad Gable, Heath Slater, Bo Dallas, Colin Jost Jeff Hardy, No Way Jose, Lince Dorado, Bobby Roode, Konnor, Tyler Breeze, Viktor, Luke Harper, Ali, Apollo Crews, Michael Che, Titus O’Neil, Tucker, Braun Strowman, Shelton Benjamin, Jinder Mahal, Matt Hardy, Curtis Axel, Rhyno, Luke Gallows, EC3, Kalisto

So the big deal here is Jost and Che are from Saturday Night Live and Strowman doesn’t like them. The two of them bail to the floor and hide under the ring as Axel is out in about ten seconds. Dorado takes a SCARY bump to the floor with Breeze, EC3 and Benjamin following him out. There goes Dallas as well but it’s time for a staredown with Strowman and Harper.

That’s broken up in a hurry and Titus gets rid of Slater. As expected, Titus is out a few seconds later off a missed charge and Ali gets rid of Jose. Ascension sends Strowman shoulder first into the post for a crash to the floor (through the ropes so no elimination). Anderson isn’t so lucky as he gets tossed and the Hardys do the same to Rhyno. Roode and Metalik are out next as the ring is starting to empty a bit.

Andrade tosses Kalisto onto Metalik but Gable rolls Andrade with German suplexes. Since it’s Gable though, Andrade throws him out in a hurry, leaving Otis to hit a double Caterpillar on the Ascension. They’re both out as well but Strowman is back in to get rid of Gallows, Tucker and Otis in a row. There goes Mahal as Harper tries to suplex Ali over the top. With Ali hanging upside down, Strowman kicks Harper out, nearly dropping Ali on his head in a very near miss.

We’re down to Strowman, Andrade, Matt, Jeff and Crews in the ring with Che and Jost still underneath the ring. Andrade and Crews go to the apron and Andrade tries a hurricanrana for no intelligent reason in a double elimination. Strowman puts the Hardys on the apron in the battle of North Carolina as Che and Jost get back inside. They can’t get rid of Strowman, who dumps the Hardys and is ready for the destruction.

Jost grabs a mic though and says this doesn’t need to end in violence. He presents his personal therapist, whose breathing exercises earn him a chokeslam. Che tries to eliminate himself but Strowman punches himself out instead. Strowman misses a charge and almost gets eliminated but powers through it and tosses Jost for the win at 10:27.

Rating: D+. Yeah it’s stupid and the SNL guys added nothing to the whole thing but Strowman won in the end and there were some nice spots (granted they went with some scary ones) throughout. It isn’t anything better or worse than your usual “get them all in there” battle royal and it could have been worse. That’s high praise for something like this anymore.

And with that Smackdown length Kickoff Show out of the way, we can get on with the real show. Isn’t modern WWE great?

Yolanda Adams sings America the Beautiful and we get the big helicopter flyover.

The opening video, complete with a WWE Presents, features the wrestlers talking about how Shakespeare said all the world’s a stage. Tonight, this is their stage and they are the players. We get the classic moments of course because this show is built around history. They do a good job of starting this slowly and then building it up into a big feeling. As usual, WWE’s promo videos are nothing short of incredible and somehow they manage to get better a lot of the time. That being said, wrestlers calling themselves storytellers doesn’t sound right.

Maybe it’s how many times I’ve heard the song on highlight packages since then, but that Love Runs Out theme song is really catchy.

Here’s Alexa Bliss, the host for the evening, to open things up. Bliss talks about how this show needs a goddess and if she snaps her fingers, she can make a Wrestlemania moment. A snap of her fingers produces Hulk Hogan, who is happy to be back here in the Silverdome. That gets a chuckle so then he calls it the MetLife Center in a joke that doesn’t go over as well. Hogan and Bliss pose together in a cute moment.

Hold on though as Paul Heyman storms out and says we’re doing the Universal Title match RIGHT NOW. The faster Lesnar wins, the faster he can go to Las Vegas where he is ULTIMATELY appreciated.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is defending after winning the Royal Rumble and gets a big BEAST SLAYER intro. At least BURN IT DOWN gets a big reaction so they’re doing something right. Lesnar jumps him before the bell and knees Rollins off the apron. An F5 plants Rollins on the floor and a hard whip into the barricade makes it even worse. Rollins gets tossed over the announcers’ table as the beating is on in a big way. That’s not enough for Lesnar so he throws Rollins over another table before throwing Rollins inside.

Heyman and Lesnar talk the angry trash but it’s back to the floor before the opening bell. Cole: “Seth Rollins never had a chance!” And there’s your usual WWE line that gives away the ending. Brock throws Rollins over the announcers’ table for a third time and then through the cover of the announcers’ table. They go back in for the opening bell and there’s the first German suplex. Lesnar: “SUPLEX CITY B******!” Give him his t-shirt money.

The second suplex sends him flying again as Cole brings up the Wrestlemania XXXI cash-in. The F5 is countered though and Rollins gets in a low blow. That means a low superkick and three straight Stomps make Rollins champion at 2:30. It was an exciting start and the whole thing from Lesnar’s first attack ran about 7:00. They had to get the title onto Rollins here (though more importantly off of Lesnar) and this was certainly a memorable way to do it. Certainly more so than when they did it again in a longer form four and a half months later.

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

This is your “here are two big names without much else to do” match. Orton eliminated him from the Elimination Chamber and they got in an argument about who built Smackdown. Orton’s big CGI snakes really don’t look great but those things are hit and miss for everyone. AJ headlocks him to start and is promptly driven into the corner. A very early threat of an RKO sends AJ bailing to the corner and it’s another standoff.

Orton pokes him in the eye and hits a dropkick to take over, including a boot across the eye to make it even worse. AJ gets in his own dropkick though as they’re pretty even in the early minutes. With Orton taking a breather on the floor, AJ scores with the slingshot forearm, only to get knocked off the apron and hard into the barricade. Back in and the chinlock goes on as the fans start chanting something I can’t understand.

That’s broken up so AJ hits the sliding forearm, setting up the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. An early Styles Clash attempt is countered into a powerslam to give Orton his own near fall as the slow pace continues. The Calf Crusher attempt is countered without much trouble but the second attempt is slapped on in the middle of the ring. Not that the fans are exactly interested but AJ did get it on. That’s broken up in a hurry so AJ heads to the apron for the Phenomenal Forearm.

Orton jumps up to RKO him out of the air (as he had done last week) but AJ holds back, leaving Orton to crash. The springboard 450 gets two but Orton is right back with the backbreaker. Orton’s rather good looking top rope superplex has AJ crashing down for two and an uppercut gets a crazy loud pop (that had to be for something else). The hanging DDT gets no reaction but Orton walking around does, as I’m almost scared to imagine what had the fans’ attention.

AJ hits an enziguri to block the RKO, only to walk into it on the second attempt. That’s only good for two as well and Orton is shocked. With nothing else working, Orton loads up a super RKO, which is escaped without a lot of effort. A Pele sends Orton to the floor and the Phenomenal Forearm knock him even sillier. Back in and Orton still can’t hit the RKO, meaning it’s another Phenomenal Forearm to give AJ the pin at 16:12.

Rating: C-. Things got a bit better by the end but it never got going at any intense level. These two are capable of a lot but it was rather slow paced for the most part and when the match is going that long, it can get pretty tiresome in a hurry. It’s not bad in any sense but it wasn’t exciting and you know these two could do a lot better. That makes it more frustrating than anything else, as I kept waiting for them to get going and they never really did.

Here’s Lacey Evans to continue doing her thing of walking around, smiling, and then walking back.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Rusev/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bar vs. Ricochet/Aleister Black

The Usos are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. There is something so awesome about seeing the look on Ricochet’s face as he walks onto the stage. You can see what it means to him and there is no faking that kind of a feeling. This also marks Ricochet and Black’s third shot at different titles this week, after Raw and NXT title shots earlier in the week. Jimmy and Black start things off with a feeling out process until Sheamus tags himself in to face Black.

The armbar doesn’t last long as Rusev tags Sheamus and runs Black over. Nakamura comes in for a kick to the back but the rapid fire tags continue, with Jimmy coming in to Samoa drop Black. Nakamura kicks Jimmy into a tag to Ricochet, who does a very spinny headscissors on Cesaro. Since it’s just a headscissors though, Cesaro uppercuts Ricochet down and starts swinging him, as Sheamus forearms everyone else.

After a nearly 40 second swing (geez), the Sharpshooter goes on in the middle of the ring. Black makes the save and strikes away, setting up a springboard moonsault for two on Rusev. Nakamura is back in with some running knees to Black, meaning Ricochet has to make a save of his own. That earns him a swinging Rock Bottom from Rusev and it’s time for the nine man Tower of Doom. Just to show off, Ricochet flips out and lands safely in the corner, setting up the 630 for two on Sheamus. We hit the parade of kicks to the face with the Usos superkicking Sheamus down. The Double Us retains the titles at 10:05.

Rating: B. This was almost all action from bell to bell and that’s all you can do with a match like this one. Let them do whatever they want and get in spot after spot for a little while. They didn’t overstay their welcome either, as this match got in the right amount of time. Good stuff here and one of the more entertaining things all night so far.

Hall of Fame recap. Thankfully Bret being attacked isn’t mentioned whatsoever.

Here’s the class being presented in the stadium:

Honky Tonk Man (How was he not in yet?)

Harlem Heat (Perfectly fine.)

Torrie Wilson (The new low benchmark.)

Brutus Beefcake (Again, how was he not in yet?)

Hart Foundation (Should have been earlier so Neidhart could be there but long overdue as well.)

Sue Aitchison (Warrior Award.)

D-Generation X (I’m sure they had to twist their arms to get here. Deserved of course.)

We recap Miz vs. Shane McMahon. Somehow Shane won the World Cup despite not being in the tournament and Miz, the man he replaced in the finals, was jealous. Miz’s dad thought they should team together so they won the Tag Team Titles. The reign didn’t last long though and they split up, with Shane turning on Miz. Tonight, it’s Falls Count Anywhere. This was in the middle of Shane’s RIDICULOUS run near the top of Smackdown where he was all over the show and beating main eventers, including that Tag Team Title win. Of course he gets a big Wrestlemania match, because that’s what makes sense for such a star.

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

Falls Count Anywhere, but hang on as Shane needs to hear his introduction three times in a row. With that out of the way, Shane bails to the floor at the bell so the chase is on, with Shane hitting his horrible punches. In a smart move, Shane grabs Miz’s dad (in the front row) and again, the chase goes badly for Miz as Shane hammers away. They head outside again with Shane loading up the announcers’ table.

A monitor shot to the head puts Miz on the table but Miz’s dad blocks the big elbow. Shane gets down so Miz’s dad gets inside for the showdown, with Miz’s dad doing the pose that launched a subplot on the upcoming season of Miz and Mrs. Shane takes him into the corner and stomps away, drawing Miz back in for the beating. They fight to to the floor with Shane falling over the barricade but hold on as Miz wants someone to check on his dad.

With the medics doing their job, Miz dives over the barricade to take Shane down again. They fight over towards one of the big pillars that holds up the canopy over the ring but Shane fights out of the Skull Crushing Finale. Instead Shane grabs a DDT for two but Miz kicks him down off the stage. Shane is sent knee first into a barricade and Miz beats on him with a chair to blow off some more steam.

They wreck announcers’ row with Miz throwing him over every chair he can find, plus throwing some chairs around. Shane gets sent through a table for two, followed by a monitor shot to knock him over a barricade and onto the top of a well placed golf cart. That gives Miz a delayed two so he punches Shane up towards a production tower. A Skull Crushing Finale onto the platform gets two, because he’s Shane and Miz is just a former World Champion.

Shane fights back (of course) and climbs up to the top of the tower. Miz pursues so Shane begs off, even dropping to one knee. That earns him some left hands to the head and Miz superplexes him all the way down (after asking if Shane is ready) onto a crash pad. Worry not though as Shane lands on top for the pin at 15:25.

Rating: D-. I knew the ending was coming here and I still shake my head at the ending. Shane is the boss’ son but my goodness how hard can you push him? The worst part is that it is only going to get worse as the summer goes on, but this was a punch to the gut as Shane wins AGAIN, meaning he isn’t going away anytime soon. The superplex was a nice idea but showing the landing on the pad (which just happened to be there) took away all of the impact that it had. That is, whatever was left before Shane won of course.

Paige joins commentary.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: IIconics vs. Beth Phoenix/Natalya vs. Nia Jax/Tamina vs. Sasha Banks/Bayley

Banks and Bayley are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Bret Hart is here with Beth and Natalya (who really feel like fill ins for Trish Stratus/Lita), though he doesn’t go beyond the stage. Tamina shoves Bayley down to start and superkicks Natalya for a bonus. Everything breaks down in a hurry with Nia being sent outside for a ram into the steps. Back in and Peyton rolls Sasha up for two and it’s a double kick to put drop Sasha again.

The Hardys’ Spin Cycle gets two on Banks but she’s right back with a backslide for the same. It’s back to Bayley for a sliding clothesline for two on Beth but Billie tags herself in. The IIconics take over on Beth, who is right back with a suplex to both of them at once. Natalya comes in for two but Bayley makes a fast save. The champs get in a fight with Beth and Natalya and it’s a Bank Statement to Phoenix. That’s broken up but the Glam Slam is countered into a rollup into the corner.

Natalya drops Sasha onto Bayley and they get the always fairly dumb looking double Sharpshooter treatment. This time it’s Tamina making the save and Nia comes back in to wreck everyone else. The IIconics get crushed with stereo Samoan drops but Beth shoves Nia off the top to break up a splash. Sasha takes Beth down as well and Bayley drops the top rope elbow, followed by Banks’ frog splash. The Tower of Doom is broken up so Beth hits a super Glam Slam on Bayley, with Kay making a blind tag. With Beth sent outside, Kay steals the pin and the titles at 10:47.

Rating: D. This went on too long and wasn’t all that interesting in the first place. The titles were brand new at this point and they already seemed pretty worthless, which would be proven over the next year. The fallout here is more interesting than the match itself, as you Nia would go away for about a year with double ACL surgery and Sasha (allegedly) threw a fit over losing and took the summer off.

The pilots from the Kickoff Show flyover are in the crowd. That’s always cool.

We recap Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan for the Smackdown World Title. Kofi replaced the injured Ali in the Elimination Chamber and got down to the final two. That set up one of the most dramatic things that WWE has ever done, as Kofi got inches away from winning the title and the fans ate it up. It was clear that Kofi had to get the title at Wrestlemania or he never would, which sent Kofi and New Day into a crusade to finally get the title shot that had eluded him for eleven years.

After jumping through all kinds of hoops set by Vince McMahon, it took New Day winning a gauntlet match to get the shot, with their longtime rivals the Usos stepping aside in a great show of respect for Kofi. At the same time, Bryan said that Kofi was a B+ player in an awesome role reversal from his legendary run five years earlier.

The match was finally set and it was a heck of a story, as Kofi had put in so many years of building credibility to get here and was finally cashing in. This wasn’t JBL jumping up to the main event scene, as Kofi had pretty much won every title other than the World Title. That’s not a big jump, but it was hard to believe that they would actually pull the trigger here. In other words, this was EXCELLENT and would have headlined any other year.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

Kofi is challenging and has New Day in his corner, while Bryan has Rowan. Big E. has a gift for Kofi and promises it for after the match. I had forgotten how nice of a touch Bryan’s eco-friendly belt really was. They stare each other down to start and the fans are behind Kofi, which is almost hard to fathom until you realize that Bryan might be a better heel than face. Kofi’s headlock doesn’t get anywhere so they fight over a backslide. Bryan monkey flips him so Kofi lands on his feet, setting up a dropkick to the floor.

The big dive takes Bryan down again and the roster is behind Kofi in the back. Things slow down a bit as Bryan needs a breather with Rowan. Back in and Bryan uppercuts him a few times to set up the surfboard, which always looks awesome. That’s broken up in a hurry as usual, allowing Kofi to kick away in the corner. Bryan’s moonsault into the running clothesline is countered into something resembling the standing double stomp (almost a Thesz press as Kofi can’t hit it properly) for two.

Kofi’s jumping clothesline works a bit better and the Boom Drop connects. Bryan heads outside again so Kofi tries a springboard dive, which lands ribs first on the announcers’ table. You don’t have to ask Bryan twice to go after the ribs like that so he drops Kofi ribs first across the top rope. The ribs get sent into the corner and it’s off to a waistlock, which works a lot better this time around. Kofi fights up and elbows in the corner but a very quick Trouble in Paradise is countered into a Boston crab.

Bryan’s belly to back superplex is broken up with elbows to the face and Kofi hits a top rope splash to the back for two. They slug it out but Trouble in Paradise is countered again, only to countered into a small package to give Kofi two more. Kofi’s crossbody is rolled through though and Bryan pulls him into a failed LeBell Lock attempt so they’re both down for a second. The running knee is countered into the SOS but Bryan reverses into the LeBell Lock, with Bryan letting go for some more elbows to the ribs.

Kofi finally gets his foot on the rope and you can hear the sigh of relief. Bryan YES Kicks at the ribs even more but Kofi fires up and tells Bryan to kick him even harder. As Bryan backs away, Kofi throws his own kicks and busts out a reverse suplex for two. They head outside again so Rowan can go after New Day, earning himself Trouble in Paradise. The Midnight Hour on the floor takes care of Rowan and Kofi blocks Bryan’s suicide dive.

Back in and Bryan hits the running knee…..for two and a big pop on the kickout. Bryan has had it and unloads with stomps to the head to set up the LeBell Lock. Kofi breaks out again and blasts Bryan with forearms to the face with more aggression than you usually see from him. Bryan won’t let go of the wrist so Kofi stomps him right back, knocking Bryan silly. Trouble in Paradise gives Kofi the clean pin and the title at 23:45.

Rating: A. That is the definition of the Wrestlemania moment and it holds up to perfection a year later. The fans completely bought into the idea of Kofi fighting through everything and winning the title in the end and that’s all it should have been. Kofi is the kind of guy who has been around forever and built up so much good will that when he finally went after the title, everyone was on his side. That made for a special moment and it was amazing throughout as it’s something that I never thought I would see, but here it is. That’s a great thing to see as rare as it can be.

On top of that, this was an awesome match with both guys giving it everything they had. The story here was perfect with Kofi not being the wrestler Bryan was but knowing that this was his one shot and giving everything he had to achieve his dream when he could. The fans believed in him and there was no way he could lose in this spot. Outstanding stuff and if not for the historic main event, this would have headlined in a landslide. Watch this again and smile a lot.

Post match Woods and Big E. pull out the classic WWE Championship and hand it to Kofi for the first time (Kofi kneeling in the ring and waiting to have it presented to him is a great visual). The pyro goes off and Kofi’s sons get in the ring to celebrate with him and one of them holds up the title, which is almost bigger than he is. We’re not done yet though as Big E. brings in the present from earlier. It’s the first New Day shirt featuring Kofi as champion and his kids get to hold them up for a perfect visual. Woods: “THEY SAID WE COULDN’T MAKE IT! WE MADE IT TO THE TOP!” Outstanding.

Che and Jost are banged up so Bliss introduces them to Dr. Scott Hall and Dr. Kevin Nash. Ok then.

Booker T. is the next guest commentator.

US Title: Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is challenging and this year’s comic gear is…..well Mysterio appropriately enough. Now how did he never do that one before? Joe kicks him in the face but Rey is right back with the springboard hurricanrana. The 619 connects but Joe pulls him out of the air into the Koquina Clutch and Rey is out at 1:00, which may have something to do with Rey injuring his ankle on Monday. Booker being annoyed at wasting all the time on prep work is good for a chuckle.

Sneak peak of Batista’s new movie Stuber.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre. Reigns returned from leukemia after a four month absence and he needs a first victim. Drew has run through the rest of the Shield as a bonus. This is your likely layup result of the show and that’s fine.

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew gets played to the ring by the New York Bagpipe Band. They trade shots to the face to start so Reigns snaps off a Samoan drop for an early two. McIntyre is right back with a spinebuster into a jackknife cover for two of his own. The Glasgow Kiss knocks Reigns down again and McIntyre throws him into the corner for two. The chinlock/armbar goes on until Reigns powers out and knocks him to the floor. Reigns’ running kick to the face is blocked though and McIntyre suplexes him down.

Back in and the reverse Alabama slam gives McIntyre two so he takes Reigns up top. That earns him a crotching, only to have Drew pull himself up from the Tree of Woe to send Reigns flying with a belly to belly superplex. Reasons of general heelishness cause McIntyre to slap him in the face, meaning the comeback is on. McIntyre gets knocked outside again for the Samoan drop on the floor, followed by the Superman Punch back inside. The spear finishes McIntyre at 10:06.

Rating: D. The fans didn’t care and why should they have? As usual, it was clear that Reigns was going to win and that happens far too often at Wrestlemania. It’s amazing that Reigns got to come back here but it’s Reigns, who almost always wins, winning again in a match where the ending was obvious throughout. Nothing to see here, and the fans were silent throughout.

Post match Reigns gets to pose in a rather emotional moment.

Here’s Elias for his self described greatest performance ever. He’s on screen playing drums, with a second Elias joining him on piano and the real thing in the ring playing guitar. They jam for a bit and guitar Elias says the other two deserve a standing ovation. Elias teases more members of the band and gets in his catchphrase before loading up the song….but here’s a SPECIAL BULLETIN on Babe Ruth calling his shot in the 1932 World Series.

Cue John Cena in Dr. of Thuganomics gear and the fans seem rather pleased. Cena raps about how he’s about to turn heel and how bad his own movies are. WWE doesn’t stand for Walk With Elias because it really means Wasted Wrestling Experiment. We get a nuts joke, followed by the FU to leave Elias laying. They have history together so this was as good as you were going to get. This was funny for a change if nothing else and that’s a cool Wrestlemania feeling.

We recap Batista vs. HHH. Back at Smackdown 1000, Batista had mentioned that HHH never beat him but laughed it off. Then in February, Ric Flair was having a 70^th birthday celebration but Batista attacked him, while asking HHH if he had his attention. This set up the match, with Batista demanding that HHH give him what he wanted (over and over and over). HHH has put up his career just in case the ending was in the slightest bit of doubt.

Shawn Michaels is guest commentator.

Batista vs. HHH

No holds barred with HHH’s career on the line. Batista goes out to glare at Shawn but here’s HHH, riding in a Mad Max style cart because of course he is. Batista drives him straight into the corner to start so HHH is back with some right hands to the face. A backdrop sends Batista outside but he throws HHH over the announcers’ table in a crash. HHH is right back up with a ram into the barricade and busts out a chain to whip Batista over the back.

The chain is pulled into Batista’s mouth (Shawn: “That’s not going to help his movie career.”) and HHH whips him into the steps. To ramp up the pain, HHH busts out some pliers to bend Batista’s fingers around a bit. HHH isn’t done with the toolbox so he grabs some needle nose pliers and ribs Batista’s nose ring out. To be fair, that thing looked horrible. Cole: “HHH just ripped a nose ring out of the nose of Batista.” So the nose ring in his ear is still intact.

Batista’s nose is good enough to drop HHH onto the announcers’ table and then he does it again onto a different one. A chair to the back sets up the shoulders in the corner for two as things have slowed way down. Batista slams him down for two more and let’s go outside again. The steps are set on the table and another table is cleared off as this is taking quite a long time for one big spot.

The huge Batista Bomb through the table is countered with a backdrop onto (not through) the other table and they’re both down again. HHH gets up, spinebusters him through the table, and we get another breather. HHH pulls out the sledgehammer but it’s a spear to cut him down for two. This time it’s HHH knocking the sledgehammer away from Batista, earning himself a spinebuster in the process. The Batista Bomb, which makes HHH drop the sledgehammer again, connects for two.

With nothing else working, Batista brings in the steps but goes up top for some reason. That reason would be so HHH can powerbomb him onto the steps, setting up a Pedigree for two (Because this MUST KEEP GOING!). They’re both down again so here’s Flair to slip HHH the sledgehammer. HHH gets up and uses the steps as a launchpad to hammer Batista in the head. Since that’s not enough to pin him (or KILL HIM as it probably should have), Batista pops up to take the Pedigree for the pin at 25:45.

Rating: D. Why does HHH do this? They could have had the same match with at least ten minutes chopped off but for some reason we needed to get HHH’s latest big epic match, no matter how much people aren’t interested in seeing it. This was terrible with Batista looking like a shell of his glory days (fair enough) and the match going WAY longer than it should have. Horrible match, and did you expect anything else given this style of match’s history?

The B Team model Daniel Bryan WWE Champion shirts but here’s Ron Simmons for the joke.

JBL is your next guest commentator.

Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle

This is Angle’s retirement match as he can barely get in the ring without injuring himself these days and needs to limp away for good. Corbin is here because we all did something horrible in a past life. Angle goes after him to start but gets knocked into the corner to put him in early trouble. Corbin takes it to the corner and pounds away before mocking Angle’s family a bit. A missed middle rope ax handle sends Corbin throat first into the rope so Angle snaps off some suplexes for two.

Angle walks into a big boot but is fine enough to grab a quickly broken ankle lock. Deep Six gives Corbin two more but he misses a charge, allowing the Angle Slam to connect for two. The straps come down and the ankle lock goes on until Corbin rolls him into the corner for the break. Corbin throws in a You Can’t See Me so Angle punches him into more rolling German suplexes. The moonsault misses though and the End of Days finishes Kurt’s career at 5:59.

Rating: D. Angle does seem fine with putting Corbin over on the way out but this was another step in the seemingly eternal nonsense that was/is the Corbin push. It’s a lot to take and while I can live with Angle going out on his back, it’s a lot to take because Corbin really is going way above his pay grade every time he’s in a match like this.

Post match Angle thanks the fans and asks for one more YOU SUCK chant for the road.

Intercontinental Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor

Lashley, with Lio Rush, is defending and they’ve traded the title, so tonight it’s the Demon to make the match feel big. Balor gets a special entrance by coming down off a raised platform, though it’s not as creepy as his NXT entrances. Lashley has very bright green contacts in for some reason. Some early dropkicks put Lashley on the floor and Balor takes him out with a dive for a bonus.

A hard drive into the apron cuts Balor off though and there’s a suplex to make it worse. Lashley clotheslines him hard to the floor but a Sling Blade gets Balor out of trouble. Rush’s distraction lets Lashley hit a HARD spear through the ropes though and a regular one gets two back inside. Balor fights out of a powerbomb and hits one of his own, setting up the Coup de Grace for the pin and the title at 4:01.

Rating: C. The match was entertaining enough for something that was going so fast but at the same time, the booking still doesn’t make a ton of sense. Balor has already shown that he can beat Lashley so now he needs to bring up the powers to win? And the extraordinary thing was just a powerbomb? I’m glad to see the Demon again but this wasn’t exactly the most logical thing in the world.

Here’s Alexa Bliss to announce the attendance record of 82,265. Cue R-Truth and Carmella for the Wrestlemania Dance Break (Remember those?).

We recap the main event of Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte defending against Becky Lynch in a winner take all match. Rousey is the unstoppable force, Charlotte is Charlotte and Becky is here because she’s the hottest name in wrestling at the moment and won the Royal Rumble. Tonight the winner leaves with both titles and it’s the biggest women’s match in history.

Raw Women’s Title/Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is challenging both. In a nod to her father and the Four Horsemen, Charlotte lance in a helicopter outside and walks into the stadium. Already inside, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts play Rousey to the ring. There is something so cool about watching Becky walk down the ramp in a wide shot as Cole talks about how she has started a movement. I’m not sure if that is the right term but it looked awesome. The bell rings and even a year later I still can’t believe this happened. The women’s division was a joke just a few years ago and now it’s the biggest match of the year. That’s hard to believe and it’s very cool.

They stare at each other for a good bit to start until Becky goes after Rousey’s arm. Rousey kicks her to the floor without much trouble and that means a Samoan drop into the barricade. Charlotte follows and takes Piper’s Pit but pops right back up for a fall away slam to send Rousey into the barricade for a change. That sets up the required Charlotte vs. Becky fight with Becky getting the better of things but can’t get the Figure Four, allowing Rousey to come and hammer away.

Charlotte breaks up an armbar attempt but gets pulled into a triangle choke over the ropes. Becky hits a running dropkick though and Rousey falls HARD onto the floor in a nasty crash. That leaves Charlotte to knee Becky in the head as the fans get behind Becky in a big way. Charlotte’s moonsault hits knees and Becky gets the Disarm-Her but Rousey make the save in a hurry. A double Natural Selection gives Charlotte two each and it’s Becky going outside this time.

For some reason Charlotte tries to slug it out with Rousey, earning herself a knee to the head. Charlotte pulls her into a Boston crab, drawing Becky in for her own save. Becky and Charlotte slug it out again until Charlotte is sent to the apron. Charlotte gets caught up top with a super Bexploder for two but Rousey drops both of them with a high crossbody for a double near fall. The double armbar goes on so Becky and Charlotte powerbomb her for the break. It took three attempts but they finally got out.

Everyone is down for a bit until Becky hits a Rock Bottom for two on Charlotte. Rousey goes after Becky and gets pulled straight into the Disarm-Her so she uses the ropes to power up in the corner. That’s fine with Becky, who puts it on again in the corner until Charlotte boots her in the face. Charlotte’s super Spanish Fly gets two but she might have banged up her knee. Rousey’s knee is banged up as well so Charlotte stomps away and grabs the Figure Four around the post.

After sending Becky into the barricade, Charlotte grabs the Figure Eight but Becky dives in off the top for another save. Just because, let’s bring in a table but Charlotte decks Becky for taking too long to set it up. Rousey shoves Charlotte off the top and turns the table over because she doesn’t need it. A double spear takes down Becky and Rousey so Charlotte sets up the table in the corner.

Charlotte sends Rousey face first into the table and spears Becky for two more. Back up and Charlotte gets hiptossed through the table, leaving Becky and Rousey to have the slugout we’ve been waiting for. They throw some serious hands but Piper’s Pit is countered into a crucifix (with Rousey’s shoulder a good six inches off the mat in a bad botch) to give Becky both titles at 21:28.

Rating: B. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t watch it in one sitting this time around but I liked the match a good bit better on a second viewing. These three beat each other up and while Becky winning was the presumed finish, it wasn’t entirely a lock given who she was in there against. It was a heck of a fight and the three of them all came out looking great. This is much more historic than good, but it’s really rather good and that’s always a positive way to go out.

Rousey is ticked as Becky celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The positives are better than the negatives but not by much. There are some flat out bad matches on here but they are overcome by some great feelings with the faces winning all of the big matches for a change. That felt like an old school style as for the first time in what felt like forever, they didn’t cut the fans off for the sake of dragging things out until later. For once it felt like a season finale and that’s what Wrestlemania should be when it gets the chance. Good show, but it could have been a lot better.

How you ask? CUT THE SHOW DOWN! Look at how long this show is and tell me that it’s well put together. There is no need for a sixteen match card, especially with some of the matches that feel tacked on. All three Tag Team Title matches feel like they’re here for the sake of being here and some of the matches just need to be shortened. Either that or find a way to get people to the ring faster. I know it seems simple but how much of these shows are spent on ring entrances alone? Just find a way to shorten things, please.

Overall there are more good things than bad, but this isn’t a show that you need to watch in one sitting. As soon as you get to the point where the show is five hours plus an episode of Smackdown before it starts (and a Smackdown with more wrestling than usual at that), you’re hitting a firm ceiling of how much you can enjoy this. I know you can’t cut out big chunks, but find a way to get this under six hours. Do that and it’s a lot better, but that has been the case for years now and it keeps getting longer. Either way, at least we had enough nice stuff on here, but don’t watch it all at once.

Ratings Comparison

Tony Nese vs. Buddy Murphy

Original: C+

Redo: C

Women’s Battle Royal

Original: D

Redo: D

Revival vs. Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins

Original: C

Redo: D+

Men’s Battle Royal

Original: D

Redo: D+

Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

Redo: C-

Usos vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Rusev vs. The Bar vs. Aleister Black/Ricochet

Original: C+

Redo: B

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

Original: C-

Redo: D-

Boss N Hug Connection vs. Natalya/Beth Phoenix vs. IIconics vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Original: D

Redo: D

Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: A-

Redo: A

Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns

Original: C-

Redo: D

Batista vs. HHH

Original: D+

Redo: D

Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle

Original: F

Redo: D

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: C

Redo: C

Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: C+

About the same all around, but some of those earlier ones are a good bit off. Still though, too long, despite some of the very good parts.

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

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/04/08/wrestlemania-xxxv-so-much-for-no-happy-endings/

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

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

AND

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

Wrestlemania XXXV
Date: April 7, 2019
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips
America the Beautiful: Yolanda Adams

As long as this show is going to be, there’s something special about getting to see it every year. This year’s show is built around the three major matches and the question of how many happy endings we can have. You know it’s not going to be all three, but which of the three doesn’t go through. Those matches consist of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins, Smackdown World Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston and the winner take all match for both Women’s titles as Ronda Rousey faces Charlotte and Becky Lynch in a genuinely historic main event. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Tony Nese vs. Buddy Murphy

Nese is challenging after winning a tournament and wastes no time in trying a jumping knee. Murphy gets sent outside but is fine enough to drop Nese ribs first onto the turnbuckle as we go split screen for an ad. Well at least they didn’t do this during the TV build. Back to full with Nese fighting out of a chinlock and suplexing the champ into the corner. Murphy gets tied in the ropes for a Lionsault but catches Nese with a superkick. A spinning faceplant gets two and some knees to the face have Nese in more trouble.

Nese is fine enough to hit a reverse hurricanrana and they trade a series of strikes to the face. Nese’s kneeling over the back piledriver gets two, followed by the 450 for the same. Murphy is right back up with Murphy’s Law but Nese gets a foot on the rope. With nothing else working, Murphy tries Nese’s running knee in the corner but walks into a superkick. A German suplex into the corner sets up the real running knee to give Nese the pin and the title at 10:43.

Rating: C+. Pretty good stuff here, even if I can’t imagine Nese holding the title very long. He’s the New York guy so it makes sense to have him win the title for a feel good moment. It wasn’t the most surprising thing in the world but it’s a good idea to open the night with a mostly short but effective match. Not bad at all, though Nese is a short term champion at best.

Kickoff Show: Women’s Battle Royal

Naomi, Lana, Nikki Cross, Asuka, Mickie James, Kairi Sane, Ember Moon, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega, Dana Brooke, Eve Torres, Mandy Rose, Candice LeRae, Maria Kanellis, Sonya Deville, Carmella

It’s a wild brawl to start with Nikki Cross chasing Maria in a circle and getting rid of her. Asuka sends Nikki out and LeRae is out as well. Ember Eclipses Lana (as Captain Marvel) and knocks out Naomi, followed by another Eclipse to Mandy. Lana manages to get rid of Ember and insists that she’s #1 before kicking Sane in the face. Sane goes up and gets shoved to the apron, leaving us with a Lana vs. Logan staredown.

The Riott Squad gets together and dumps Lana but Sane is back in with the Insane Elbow on Logan. The Squad gets rid of Sane though and Logan lifts Morgan up for a flipping Stunner on Vega. Now it’s Asuka taking the triple teaming but she slides back in from the apron. Dana of all people fights back against the Squad and gets rid of Ruby. Logan is out as well but Vega blocks a cartwheel elbow.

Mandy and Sonya get rid of Vega and Brooke as we’re down to Logan, Rose, Deville, James and Asuka. James superkicks Mandy out but gets eliminated by Sonya to get us to three. Asuka sends Deville to the apron but Logan dumps both of them out….as Carmella slides back in, JUST LIKE LAST YEAR. Carmella knocks Logan over but Logan keeps her feet above the floor. A superkick gets rid of Logan to give Carmella the win at 10:30.

Rating: D. Hey, remember last year when someone snuck back in at the end and won the Women’s Battle Royal in a big surprise despite doing nothing coming into the match where someone could have gotten something out of it? No particular reason for asking of course. The match was your usual deal of everyone standing around until it was time for them to be eliminated until the ending. It was shorter than last year’s though and that’s an improvement. Oh and so much for Lacey Evans winning the thing as a surprise.

Kickoff Show: Raw Tag Team Titles: Revival vs. Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins

The Revival is defending and this wasn’t announced on the Kickoff Show. Dawson takes Hawkins into the corner to start and gets two off a rollup. It’s off to Ryder vs. Wilder, the latter of whom gets the loudest cheer of his career after he decked the guy who jumped Bret last night. An armbar keeps Ryder down and Dawson comes back in to rip at Ryder’s face. Ryder gets in a suplex and tosses Wilder into the corner but Dawson knocks Hawkins off the apron.

We hit the chinlock on Ryder for a bit until he backdrops his way to freedom, allowing the hot tag to Hawkins. A backslide gets two on Dawson and Wilder gets knocked off the apron. The double clothesline gives us a double knockdown and it’s back to Ryder. The middle rope Rough Ryder hits Dawson and Ryder suplex suplexes Wilder to the floor for a scary crash. Hawkins throws Ryder back in for the tag but Wilder breaks up the cover.

Wilder DDTs Ryder on the floor and Hawkins takes a brainbuster to put all four down on the floor. Back in Dawson is rather cocky about beating Hawkins, who seems to be a bit dead. You never want to be too cocky in wrestling though and it’s a small package to pin Dawson for the titles at 13:21.

Rating: C. Ignoring Hawkins losing 269 matches in a row and not having a win since November 2016, Ryder not winning a non-Main Event match on TV since December 2016 and the team not winning a match together since 2008, this makes perfect sense. The love for the New York fans is strong tonight, which makes me wonder what kind of horrible things they have in mind for the main card. Just let the Revival go sit at home until their contracts are up though because I’d rather they go out with just this humiliation rather than seeing what else WWE could think of for them.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Colin Jost, Michael Che, Braun Strowman, Otis, Tucker, Kalisto, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Ali, Titus O’Neil, Konnor, Viktor, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Andrade, Jinder Mahal, Harper, Bo Dallas, Bobby Roode, Apollo Crews, Bo Dallas, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, No Way Jose, Tyler Breeze, Chad Gable, Heath Slater, Rhyno, Shelton Benjamin, EC3

Hey Harper is back. The SNL guys bail to the floor as Breeze and EC3 are both out. Shelton and Dorado are eliminated as well with Strowman throwing everyone he comes near. Harper vs. Strowman gets a big reaction but everyone piles onto them to break it up. Titus misses a charge and gets eliminated, followed by Ali tornado DDTing Jose and tossing him. Strowman gets sent into the post and goes through the ropes to the floor as Anderson is tossed.

Rhyno is out as well and the Hardys get into a mini match with Roode/Gable, with Roode being eliminated. Metalik gets thrown out by Mahal and Andrade monkey flips Kalisto out. There goes Gable as the ring is clearing out in a hurry. Tucker runs the Ascension over and there’s a double Caterpillar to both of them. The Ascension is thrown out but Strowman tosses Heavy Machinery.

Mahal is out next as Harper tries to suplex Ali, only to have Strowman kick them both out at the same time. We’re down to Strowman, Che, Jost, Matt, Jeff, Apollo and Andrade. Apollo and Andrade go to the apron and Andrade snaps off a hurricanrana to eliminate both of them in a dumb move. The Hardys try to pull Strowman out but the SNL guys come in and fail to throw them out.

Strowman shrugs them off and dumps the Hardys, leaving him alone with Jost and Che. One of them grabs a mic and says this doesn’t have to end in violence, so here’s his therapist to talk Strowman through this. Strowman beats him up and gives him a chokeslam (good thing the therapist knows how to take a flat back bump) before slapping Che out. A running boot in the corner misses and Jost goes for the elimination but gets shoved away. Strowman throws him out for the win at 10:24.

Rating: D. Yeah it was stupid and the SNL guys were annoying, but it was on the Kickoff Show and the right person won so I can’t complain all that much. Strowman should have won something bigger than this but at least he comes away with something instead of just being tossed out like anyone else. You know, like they did with Asuka in the first match.

Yolanda Adams sings America the Beautiful.

Helicopters fly over the stadium instead of the usual planes.

The opening video features wrestlers talking about this being the biggest stage and them being the players and storytellers. We see stills of famous Wrestlemania moments as the wrestlers talk about having the chance to live forever. They switch into a regular video of everyone involved with Lynch saying that they are the storytellers. This is a great idea, but not exactly practical when you consider that this is Wrestlemania GET EVERYONE ON THE CARD.

Here’s Wrestlemania host Alexa Bliss to say that Wrestlemania needs a goddess. She snaps her fingers…..and here’s Hulk Hogan. Well that works. Hogan: “It’s great to be back here in the Silverdome brother!” Ok that was funny. Hogan: “Ok it’s great to be back here in the MetLife Center!” He hits the catchphrase and poses with Bliss as Paul Heyman of all people storms out between the two of them. Heyman goes to the ring and says if they’re not closing the show, they’re not hanging around. They’re getting their business done and going to Las Vegas where Lesnar is ULTIMATELY appreciated.

Universal Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Lesnar is defending. Rollins has a new BEAST SLAYER graphic but Brock knees him off the apron and it’s an F5 on the floor before the bell rings. Lesnar throws him into various things at ringside and then over the announcers’ table a few times. They get inside but the referee won’t start the match because Rollins isn’t ready. Lesnar tosses him outside again for another whip over the announcers’ table and through the top piece of the table.

They go back inside and Rollins is mostly dead but gets to his feet for the opening bell. Three straight German suplexes let Lesnar bounce as Rollins’ back is all kinds of pretty colors. The F5 is escaped and the ref is bumped, allowing Rollins to hit the low row. Rollins hits the low superkick and the Stomp connects. A second and third Stomp give Rollins the title at 2:30.

Jerry Lawler joins commentary.

Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles

The CGI graphics are back with Orton’s being a HUGE snake that made me jump. Battle over respect between the two of them as Orton has asked why it took AJ so long to get here. An early RKO attempt is blocked so Orton goes with a thumb to the eye and the Orton Stomp. AJ gets back up with the dropkick and the slingshot forearm to the floor drops Orton again. Orton is thrown back in and knocks AJ into the barricade. The chinlock doesn’t last long as AJ fights up with the Phenomenal Blitz and a basement forearm.

The Styles Clash is blocked and Orton tries the hanging DDT, which is reversed into the Calf Crusher. Once the rope is grabbed AJ goes to the apron and loads up the Phenomenal Forearm but drops back down as Orton jumps for the RKO and crashes, allowing AJ to hit the springboard 450 for two. Orton is back up with the top rope superplex as the fans are interested in something else.

The hanging DDT plants AJ and Orton plays to the crowd to get their attention back. The RKO is countered with an enziguri but the second attempt connects for two. It feels like it’s been awhile since anyone kicked out of that. With the regular version not working, Orton loads up a super RKO but gets kicked out to the floor. That means a Phenomenal Forearm to the outside and the regular one finishes Orton at 16:17.

Rating: B-. This was about what you would have expected with good action between two talented veterans. AJ knowing that the RKO counter was coming was fine and the ending was as decisive as you could get with AJ surviving the RKO and winning clean. It’s a perfectly good match and it’s not like the two of them have anything else to do at the moment. Expect a rematch next month.

Lacey Evans cameo, though this time she stops to sneer at the crowd.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Ricochet/Aleister Black vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Rusev vs. The Bar

The Usos are defending. Jey and Black start things off but Sheamus tags himself in and low bridges Jey to the floor. Black gets taken down and it’s Rusev coming in to hold Black up for a kick from Rusev. It’s off to Ricochet with the springboard clothesline for two on Nakamura before spinning around Cesaro multiple times for a headscissors.

That just earns him a shot to the face and it’s time to swing Ricochet while Sheamus beats on Rusev’s chest. Nakamura tries to make a save so Sheamus beats on him as well, followed by the same to Jey and Black, all while Ricochet is swinging Ricochet for well over a minute. The Sharpshooter goes on with Jey making the save, earning himself a trip to the floor with his brother.

We settle down (kind of) to Black bringing in Ricochet, who gets caught by Rusev in a swinging release Rock Bottom. Everyone goes to the corner for the required Tower of Doom, with Ricochet rolling through because he’s Ricochet and more awesome than you. Black knees Sheamus down and Ricochet hits the 630 for two with a bunch of people diving in for the save. We get a parade of kicks to the face with Sheamus taking the double superkick. The Double Us retains the Usos’ titles at 10:05.

Rating: C+. The big spots helped a lot here and it felt like an amped up Smackdown match, which is one of the best things that you can have in this situation. There’s no other way you can go with no story and the match being thrown together on Smackdown. Just have them do the spots and do the best they can, like Ricochet sticking the landing and that insane swing.

Recap of the Hall of Fame.

Honky Tonk Man (Long overdue)

Harlem Heat (More than deserved)

Torrie Wilson (The bar has been lowered)

Brutus Beefcake (Sure why not)

Hart Foundation (Yep, and may I add yep)

Sue Aitchison, with John Cena’s 600^th Make-A-Wish (Nothing wrong with that)

D-Generation X (Fine, though they feel weak for headliners)

We recap Shane McMahon vs. The Miz in the feud that WWE cares about and thinks we do too. Miz’s dad is a horrible person and only cared about his son when Miz started teaming with Shane, who didn’t like having to fix Miz’s daddy issues. Tonight it’s Falls Count Anywhere to blow it off.

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

Falls Count Anywhere. Shane makes Greg Hamilton do his entrance three times, with the third being held out extra long. Miz’s dad is in the front row so Shane goes straight to the floor to choke him. The chase is on but Shane gets in a monitor shot to the head. The big elbow through the announcers’ table is loaded up so Miz’s dad gets in the way. Still doesn’t help the fact that he’s a horrible father.

Dad gets in the ring and puts up his fists so Shane jumps him. The beating brings Miz back into the ring to take Shane apart and send him into the barricade before checking on his dad. With the medics taking care of Papa Miz, Miz tackles Shane over the barricade and they head into the crowd, eventually going to the tech arena near one of the towers that holds up the structure above the ring. They go into an open area of the crowd with Miz hitting Shane in the foot with a chair.

Another shot to the back lets Miz knock Shane over to the international commentators station where tables are overturned. A chokeslam puts Shane through the table for two and a monitor shot knocks Shane over a barricade and down into the shadows (cool visual). Miz follows and gets a delayed two as replays show Shane landing on top of a golf cart.

They fight up a camera tower ala HHH vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania XVII with Miz hitting a Skull Crushing Finale onto a metal platform for two. Shane gets in a shot to the face and climbs to the top of the tower as this isn’t going to go well. Miz follows him up and gets rather stalkerish as he stares Shane down to one knee. Shane begs off so Miz hammers away and suplexes him off the tower onto a crashpad….with Shane landing on top for the pin at 15:38.

Rating: C-. Why not. Why not. WHY THE #$**#%%!!@# NOT! Why shouldn’t we spend five months building this up and giving Shane McMahon a title before having him win at Wrestlemania? I’m sure this will continue, because going from November until April isn’t long enough for a Shane McMahon story. That’s just great.

The match itself was your usual walking around the stadium fight with Miz dominating through most of it until the end. The deal with Miz’s dad was a cool moment but they should have brought him out later on in the match instead of so close to the beginning. Not bad overall, but the ending was stupid.

Paige joins commentary.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Boss N Hug Connection vs. Natalya/Beth Phoenix vs. IIconics vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Bayley and Sasha Banks are defending. The IIconics are a devil (Billie) and a black winged angel (Peyton). Natalya and Beth are in matching pink and black so here’s Bret Hart to stand with them on the stage and then go to the back. It’s a brawl to start with Nia being sent into the steps. We settle down to Peyton getting beaten up but Billie helps her out, allowing them to hit their superhero pose.

Beth gets bulldogged onto Billie’s knee with the kickout making Peyton scream. Natalya comes in for a Hart Attack for two on Billie with Bayley making the save. It’s off to Sasha, who is taken down without too much effort. Natalya and Beth lift Sasha into the air so Bayley makes the save and throws Bayley at Beth for the Bank Statement but Beth powers out as you probably expected.

Natalya puts Bayley and Sasha in the Sharpshooter at the same time until Tamina breaks it up with a superkick. Nia gets back in and starts crushing people, setting up Nia and Tamina going up top at the same time. Beth saves Banks from death by shoving Nia off and Sasha drops the frog splash for two on Natalya. Beth is back up and takes Bayley to the top for a super Glam Slam….but Billie comes in and steals the pin and the title at 10:46.

Rating: D. Some of the spots were good but at the same time, there were too many people running around and it hurt things a lot. I do like the IIconics coming in and stealing the belts as it certainly fits their style better (Do they even have a regular finisher?). But yeah, just too much going on when it didn’t need to be the case. Drop Beth and Natalya and it would have fit better, but I guess the Beth Phoenix fan club needed one more moment?

The helicopter pilots from earlier are here.

We recap Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan. Kingston has basically done everything there is to do in the company outside of winning the World Title. He got close in the Elimination Chamber but couldn’t quite pull it off. Vince McMahon then decided to throw one challenge after another at him with Kofi coming up just short every time until Big E. and Xavier Woods won a tag team gauntlet match to get him the title shot. If Kofi doesn’t win here, I don’t know if he ever will.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

Kofi is challenging with New Day in his corner while Bryan has Rowan. Big E. has a present for Kofi, but only after he wins. They go to the mat to start with Kofi sticking the landing off a monkey flip to send Bryan outside. That means the big dive over the top as the roster is watching in the locker room again, where there is a total of one single monitor showing the match. Back in and Kofi tries to jump a little too much, allowing Bryan to pull him down into a surfboard.

Some forearms to the back of the head seem to wake Kofi up and it’s a clothesline into the Boom Drop. Bryan bails outside and Kofi dives after, only to crash onto the announcers’ table ribs first. Back in and we hit the waistlock for a good while as Bryan stays on the ribs. He switches over to the Boston crab, eventually stepping to the side to make it half Liontamer. With that broken, Bryan loads up a belly to back superplex but gets elbowed down three times in a row.

Kofi drops a top rope splash to the back for two but the ribs are banged up again in the process. Trouble in Paradise misses and they go to some rollups for near falls until Kofi kicks him in the head. Bryan stops him with a stomp out of the corner and busts out the YES pose for a nice callback. The running knee is countered into a rollup and SOS gets two but Bryan reverses into the LeBell Lock in the middle of the ring.

The long crawl gets Kofi’s leg on the rope and Bryan is starting to get mad. The kicks to the ribs have Kofi in trouble but he fires back kicks of his own, capped off by a reverse suplex (ok then) for a close two. Rowan goes after New Day but Kofi hits him with Trouble in Paradise, followed by the Midnight Hour on the floor. Bryan’s suicide dive is countered by a right hand but Trouble in Paradise misses, allowing Bryan to hit the running knee for two, causing the fans to build a roof on the stadium and then blow it off.

Bryan has had it and starts stomping the head as Woods and Big E. watch on. The LeBell Lock goes on and the referee checks the arm….which stays up. Bryan hits him in the face and pulls again but Kofi rolls out and hammers away at Bryan, who won’t let go of Kofi’s hand. That lets Kofi stomp away for a change and Bryan is done, setting up Trouble in Paradise to give Kofi the pin and the title at 23:41.

Rating: A-. I mean….they could have gone out there and demonstrated how to make a pimento loaf and it wouldn’t have mattered as long as they had that ending. That was a genuine Wrestlemania moment and you could feel what it meant to everyone. This was incredible and one of the best moments they could have had. Eleven years ago, Kofi had the worst debut match I’ve ever seen and now he’s WWE Champion at Wrestlemania. Not too shabby.

Post match Woods pulls off the cover and unveils the non-wooden title so Kofi can pose with the right design, already complete with custom side plates. Kofi’s kids come in to celebrate and now it’s time to open the present. It’s a new New Day shirt with Kofi holding the title.

We recap the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

Bliss, now in a different outfit, goes in to see Jost and Che as they’re checked for injuries. She says don’t worry because they’re in good hands….because Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are the doctors? And giving them prostate exams? Am I missing a joke here?

Booker T. joins commentary.

US Title: Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is challenging and I believe he’s dressed as Mysterio from Spider-Man. Joe goes straight at him and Rey hits a 619 in less than a minute. Rey’s wheelbarrow bulldog is countered into the Koquina Clutch….and Rey is out at 1:00. So I’m thinking he’s still a bit injured? Booker: “I DID ALL MY PREP WORK FOR THAT???”

Trailer for Batista’s new movie.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre. Reigns is back from leukemia and needed a first singles match. Drew took out both Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins and is promising to do the same to Reigns tonight.

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre is played to the ring by the New York Police Department Bagpipe Band. Reigns lowers his head to start and gets kicked in the face but what looked to be a powerslam is escaped. That means a legdrop to the back of the head over the middle rope but Drew is right back with the Glasgow Kiss. The chinlock has Reigns in more trouble until Drew takes him outside for a suplex, thereby upping the total amount of trouble.

The reverse Alabama Slam gives Drew two and he tells Reigns he should have said no. A flipping slam off the top has Reigns down again as Drew tells him that he broke the Shield. The Future Shock (Drew: “THIS ONE IS FOR AMBROSE!”) is broken up so Drew slaps him in the face. A big boot sends Drew outside and it’s a Samoan drop on the floor. Back in and the jumping clothesline puts Drew down, followed by the Superman Punch to do it again. The spear finishes Drew at 10:10.

Rating: C-. Totally standard Raw main event with Drew trying but not having a prayer of winning. There’s only so much you can do when everything is against you like this and Drew tried as hard as he can. Just getting this spot is Drew’s big win of the night and that’s not the worst place to be. He’ll be back and do just fine because he’s that good.

Here’s Elias to play some drums rather well. Now he’s at a piano (teleporting from one to the other) and does quite splendidly there too. Now he’s in the middle of the ring with his guitar. Elias the drummer and Elias the piano player play him in and he continues to have chops. Piano and Drum take a bow and now guitar Elias is on his own. The fans sing a little OH WALK WITH ELIAS and Elias promises more versions of himself, including a harpsichord player. As he starts his song, a SPECIAL BULLETIN appears on screen showing….the 1932 World Series?

Babe Ruth calls his shot (yes he did) and hits a home run….and here’s John Cena to Basic Thuganomics. Well you know the Yankees gear is making his skin crawl. Cena says Elias got the worst deal because John Cena is about to turn heel. He feels like he’s watching one of his movies because this whole thing sucks.

Cena isn’t feeling it because this is a wasted wrestling experiment. Cena: “They call me the golden shovel so I’m about to bury your push.” He throws him some nuts and says there’s no AA today, but here’s an FU. Cena lays him out with the knuckles and plants him with the FU. This worked well as Cena is often at his best when he’s making fun of himself.

We recap Batista vs. HHH. Batista wanted one more match with HHH to end their careers on his terms so he beat up Ric Flair to get HHH’s attention. The match is on and it’s No Holds Barred.

Shawn Michaels is on commentary.

Batista vs. HHH

No Holds Barred with HHH’s career on the line. Batista slips through the ropes on the way into the ring before heading outside to glare at Shawn. He even walks around the ring and does his entrance again, this time without the slipping. HHH’s entrance video seems to be inspired by Mad Max and shows a road race. The stage opens up and the car drives out with HHH on the back. I’ve seen worse.

Batista drives him into the corner to start but gets elbowed out to the floor. They fight to the floor with HHH going over the announcers’ table but managing to pull out a tool box to hit Batista in the head. Now it’s a chain to whip Batista in the back and choke a bit before going for some pliers. Batista’s finger gets bent back and HHH stomps on the pliers to make it even worse. Now it’s time for some needle nose pliers, but first he sits in a chair on Batista’s throat. HHH: “THAT’S A NICE NOSE RING!” And then he rips it out with the pliers!

Graves: “Batista won’t be able to be a guardian of the house like this! This guy is my boss!” Batista heads to the floor (Shawn: “His nose is bleeding!” Graves: “YOU THINK???”) and drops HHH onto the announcers’ table three times in a row without breaking the thing. Some chairs to the back keep HHH in trouble and they head back inside with Batista busting out a White Noise of all things.

Back to the floor with Batista putting the steps onto an announcers’ table and clearing off a second one, complete with a point to Shawn. The Batista Bomb off the steps is countered with a backdrop and the table STILL doesn’t break. Good grief where have those tables been all these years? HHH gets up, throws a crotch chop, and spears Batista through the German table. They slowly get back inside and HHH (eventually) finds a sledgehammer.

That just earns him a spear for two but a charge with the hammer is cut off by HHH’s raised boot. The spinebuster connects and it’s time for the Batista Bomb, with HHH dropping the hammer on his way down. That gets two and Batista brings the steps inside. He takes too long punching in the corner (right in front of the steps because wrestlers never learn) and gets powerbombed down onto the steps.

The Pedigree….only gets two as this keeps going. Batista gets in a DDT onto the steps and things stop again but here’s Ric Flair (I was waiting on him) to hand HHH a sledgehammer. HE COULDN’T DO THIS TEN MINUTES AGO??? HHH uses the steps to launch into a sledgehammer shot to the head but Batista pops back up so he can eat the Pedigree for the pin at 24:49. You know, because a JUMPING HAMMER TO THE HEAD isn’t enough to pin someone.

Rating: D+. The first ten minutes of this was very good but, as tends to be the case for almost any HHH match anymore, it went on too long because there was way too much laying around between moves. The ending looked ridiculous as well but that’s another situation. What they did early on was entertaining and brutal (that pliers thing was nuts) but I was looking at the clock near the end, which happens way too often.

Alexa Bliss (outfit #3) has the B Team model AND STILL CHAMPION Daniel Bryan shirts. Ron Simmons comes in for the cameo.

JBL joins commentary.

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin

Rating: F. The idea of Kurt Angle losing to Baron Corbin in his last match is a failure. Not because it’s Angle last match. Not because the match wasn’t good. Not because WHY? But because we now have to deal with more Baron Corbin on Raw as more fans’ heads explode as we try to figure out what WWE sees in him. I’m sure this was Angle’s decision and while I can respect that, someone named McMahon should have overridden him.

Post match Angle wants his music played one last time so we can get in one more YOU SUCK. That’s exactly what he gets, as he should.

Intercontinental Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor

Lashley, with special contacts in, is defending and Balor is the Demon, making its Wrestlemania debut. Balor hits a spinwheel kick and ax kick to the back, followed by a dropkick to put him on the floor. There’s the big flip dive but Lashley catches him with a spinebuster back inside. Lashley hits a heck of a spear through the ropes to drive Balor to the floor, followed by a regular one for two back inside. Balor gets back up and powerbombs Lashley (good one too) and the Coup de Grace gives Balor the title back at 4:04.

Rating: C. The spots were good (that spear was awesome) and the powerbomb looked awesome, but the problem is they didn’t need to do the Demon here. I get why they did it and it makes sense to do it at Wrestlemania, but at the same time what’s the point in having him do it if he can already beat Lashley and Lio Rush? It’s a good enough match, but this story was them trading the title and then the Demon doing what regular Balor could do.

Alexa (#4) announces the new WWE attendance record of 82,265. She thinks we need a break though so here are R-Truth and Carmella for the world’s largest dance break.

Wrestlemania XXXVI is in Tampa Bay on April 5, 2020.

We recap the women’s triple threat match. Becky Lynch has become the people’s champion, Charlotte is the Smackdown Women’s Champion and the corporate pick and Ronda Rousey is the Raw Women Champion and the unstoppable force. Tonight is winner take all for both belts, but it’s much more about the history because the match is actually headlining the show.

Raw Women’s Title/Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Ronda is Raw Women’s Champion and Charlotte is Smackdown Women’s Champion….and she comes in via helicopter and lands in the parking lot, where a red carpet is rolled out for her in a Horseman homage. Since she has to walk a good ways into the stadium, here are Joan Jett and the Blackhearts to play Ronda to the ring. The bell rings at 12:01am and Becky goes straight for the Disarm-Her on Ronda but gets shoved away so they can all head outside.

That means a Piper’s Pit for both of them and Ronda starts the trash talk. Charlotte gets up and sends Rousey into the barricade, setting up a showdown with Charlotte inside. The Disarm-Her to Becky is broken up and it’s Ronda coming back in to kick Becky in the face. A double powerbomb over the top is countered into a double armbar on Becky and Charlotte. Becky escapes and dropkicks Ronda to the floor for a NASTY crash on her back. Charlotte Downward Spirals Becky into the buckle for two as we look at Rousey landing square on her back again.

Becky is right back with the Disarm-Her but Ronda comes back to life and makes the save. A running knee breaks up the armbar on Becky and Charlotte hits a double Natural Selection for two each. Becky gets sent outside so Charlotte chops Ronda, who tells her to bring it. That’s just what Charlotte does with a backhand to the face so Ronda hits a jumping knee, which is countered into a Liontamer. Becky breaks it up with a bulldog and hits a double DDT for two each.

A super Bexploder gets two on Charlotte, setting up a double high crossbody from Rousey. The double armbar is countered with a double powerbomb Ronda is done for the moment. Becky calls Charlotte to her and avoids a charge, letting Becky kick her to the floor. The Disarm-Her goes on and Rousey uses the ropes to stand up for the break. A missed charge lets Becky get the Disarm-Her in the corner until Charlotte’s big boot breaks it up.

Charlotte starts in on Rousey’s knee and gets the Figure Four but Becky comes off the top with a legdrop for the save. And now, a table because that’s what this match was calling for. Rousey breaks up a powerbomb through the table and turns the table over, saying tables are for b****** (at least the third time she’s used that word so far). Charlotte comes back in for a double spear as Cole’s voice is almost gone.

The table is set up in the corner and Charlotte gets two off a spear to Becky. Rousey gets back up and helps Becky drive Charlotte somewhat through the table to knock her outside. The fight is on and Rousey goes with a Shining Wizard and tries Piper’s Pit….but gets reversed into a crucifix to give Becky the pin and the titles at 22:27!

Rating: B. The ending was straight out of Angle vs. Benoit at Wrestlemania XVII with the submission attempts all match until the quick pinfall. What matters here is Becky defeated Rousey to win the titles as she should have. That was how this show needed to end and it did, even if the ending could have been a bit smoother. Charlotte will be fine and I’m curious to see who goes after Becky as the first victim.

Replays show Rousey’s shoulders were WAY up so there’s your story going forward (if Rousey sticks around). Cole: “Tonight will forever be known as WrestleMANia!” Oh just stop dude. Pyro and posing takes us out.

Overall Rating: B-. Let’s get the things I got wrong out of the way first. First: this was WAY better than I was expecting after last year’s near nightmare of a show. Second: they actually did give us three happy endings, which I said several times would not happen. I’m very glad to be wrong on that, but I certainly was wrong. Third: yeah HHH vs. Batista went on too long and it brought things down. I had high hopes and they didn’t come through.

Now for the good stuff: the right people won (mostly) and the big matches all went to the right people. For the first time in way too long, we had something to cheer about. If that’s it for Lesnar at the moment, thank goodness because he needs to go away for a long time and leave the title here. Rollins will be fine as champion for the summer before someone wins Money in the Bank and takes it from him (It’s going to be Corbin isn’t it?). Becky winning was the right way to go also, even if the ending was a little rushed. There’s one big one left though.

Kofi Kingston is WWE Champion. That was one of the best moments I’ve seen WWE put on in years and might pass Bryan in New Orleans. It felt special and you don’t get that often enough, mainly because there was serious doubt if they could actually pull the trigger. I loved that moment and was happier than I’ve been at something in a long time. I’d have loved to see it close the show, but I get why they couldn’t go there. Incredible moment though.

Overall, the pacing was FAR better than what they’ve had in recent years and while there was a lot of stuff they needed to trim down (despite having multiple matches go less than five minutes), it didn’t drag nearly as bad as it has before. It still needs to be shorter by about an hour (at least) and not everyone needs to be on the show, but for what we got, it was one of the better shows in recent memory and we got a genuine Wrestlemania moment. Well done, and it was close to being great.

Results

Seth Rollins b. Brock Lesnar – Stomp

AJ Styles b. Randy Orton – Phenomenal Forearm

Usos b. The Bar, Aleister Black/Ricochet and Shinsuke Nakamura/Rusev – Double Us to Sheamus

Shane McMahon b. The Miz – McMahon pinned Shane after a superplex off a camera tower

IIconics b. Boss N Hug Connection, Nia Jax/Tamina and Beth Phoenix/Natalya – Super Glam Slam to Bayley

Kofi Kingston b. Daniel Bryan – Trouble in Paradise

Samoa Joe b. Rey Mysterio – Koquina Clutch

Roman Reigns b. Drew McIntyre – Spear

HHH b. Batista – Pedigree

Baron Corbin b. Kurt Angle – End of Days

Finn Balor b. Bobby Lashley – Coup de Grace

Becky Lynch b. Ronda Rousey and Charlotte – Crucifix to Rousey

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

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Main Event
Date: April 8, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Wrestlemania so it’s time for the really important recap videos. I don’t expect anything new in the way of wrestling but there is no reason to think otherwise around here. This kind of show is about as perfect as you can get for Wrestlemania week, but they still need to do it right. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mansoor vs. Drew Gulak

They go technical to start with Mansoor grabbing a headlock and hitting a hard shoulder. Gulak pops back up and that means it’s an early standoff. Mansoor works on a wristlock and Gulak can’t even slam his way to freedom, instead being pulled into an armbar. Gulak switches into a short armscissors, sending Mansoor over to the rope. The arm cranking continues with Mansoor doing his best to spin out into a front facelock. A sunset flip gives Mansoor two but it’s too early for the slingshot neckbreaker. Gulak headlocks him down but Mansoor spins him around into a cradle for the pin at 5:17.

Rating: C. This was a technical exchange for the most part and I’m not sure what else you were going to expect. Mansoor is growing on me more and more every time I see him and this was another good showcase. Granted it helps being in there with Gulak, who can make anyone look solid. Now do something with Mansoor already.

Back at Fastlane, Edge cost Daniel Bryan the Universal Title, though not before Bryan made Roman Reigns tap. This set up the triple threat match for the title at Wrestlemania.

From Smackdown.

Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso

Street fight with Edge on commentary. It’s a brawl to start with Bryan knocking him out to the floor. Uso grabs a chair and the suicide dive is cut off by a shot to the head. The chair is wrapped around Bryan’s leg but he avoids a splash Pillmanization. Bryan cracks him over the back with the chair but here are Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman to watch from the stage as we take a break.

Back with Bryan in trouble and Edge looking very pleased as Jey sends him into a chair wedged in the corner. A chain shot sets up the Superfly Splash for two, followed by a hard whip into the steps. Bryan manages a suplex from the steps to the floor and the chair crushes Uso this time. Back in and Bryan hits a missile dropkick to set up the YES Kicks. The YES Lock makes Uso tap at 13:06.

Rating: C+. Good brawl, but these two have fought each other so many times now that it is almost impossible to get excited about it again. Bryan was more aggressive here though and that is the idea they were trying to get over, so they certainly accomplished the goal. Uso’s main event run seems to be over, but he’s fine as the gatekeeper for Reigns.

Post match Bryan hits the running knee on Edge and sends him into the post for a bonus. Bryan goes up the ramp, ducks Reigns’ chair toss, and hits a running knee on him as well. The YES Lock goes on until referees break it up, leaving Bryan to pose to end the show.

We look at Miz and John Morrison painting Bad Bunny’s $3 car.

From Raw.

Here are Damien Priest and Bad Bunny to address what Miz and Morrison did earlier. Priest says it’s easy to jump Bunny 2-1 so let’s make this a tag match at Wrestlemania. Bunny talks about how he has been a huge fan for a long time and watched wrestling with his dad. He is only here to do his job and perform his song about Booker T., but now he has to deal with these two.

After switching to Spanish for a bit, Bunny says he doesn’t respect Miz anymore and at Wrestlemania it is time to give him a whipping. Miz and Morrison pop up on screen to mockingly applaud everything Bunny and Priest said. The tag match is on and they ride off.

We run down the Wrestlemania card.

Angel Garza/Akira Tozawa vs. Lucha House Party

Garza and Metalik trade dives to start until Metalik nails a superkick. We take a break and come back with Garza kicking Metalik out of the air. It’s time to crank on the leg a bit, followed by some strikes from Tozawa. Garza adds a running knee in the corner and it’s time to work on the arm a bit.

Metalik gets in an enziguri but gets crotched on top. That doesn’t seem to matter as he snaps off a super hurricanrana and the hot tag brings in Dorado to pick up the pace. A high crossbody gets two on Tozawa with Garza making the save. Garza slides to the floor and Metalik is right there with the Asai moonsault (that was great timing). Back in and Dorado hits the shooting star press to finish Tozawa at 9:49.

Rating: C. This was fine for what it was, meaning a short match which didn’t have the chance to go anywhere. What matters is they flew through everything because you don’t want to bother wasting time with something like this. Normally it would be the kind of a match to pop a crowd, which is why you have these things before Raw. You know, when there are fans there.

Long video on Randy Orton vs. the Fiend, setting up their Wrestlemania match.

From Raw.

Here is Drew McIntyre for an opening chat. We see a clip of King Corbin and Bobby Lashley taking him out last week and, after the fire goes off, McIntyre talks about how we have five days until Wrestlemania. Things have changed so much in the last year and now McIntyre is ready for he and Lashley to tear each other to shreds.

Drew talks about how much he wanted to be WWE Champion, even when his mother was getting leukemia treatment. He wanted to go home so badly but his mom threatened to beat him up herself if he gave up. It took his this many years to get to the top of the mountain….and here are Lashley and MVP to cut him off.

Lashley says it took Drew sixteen years to get to the top but it took Lashley seventeen so he knows the feeling. Now he is on top of the mountain and everyone wants to take his title. Last week he felt Drew quiver and shake in the Hurt Lock, which Drew agrees is no joke. Drew is ready to fight right now but MVP says they’re waiting for Saturday. MVP promises Drew loses so Drew says maybe he can go be an Amazon driver instead. Or he can say screw that and come win the title back at Wrestlemania. King Corbin comes out to promise to beat up Drew tonight.

From Raw.

Drew McIntyre vs. King Corbin

Before the match, Bobby Lashley promises to put McIntyre to sleep at Wrestlemania. MVP is on commentary as they shove each other around to start. Drew grinds away on a headlock for a bit before running Corbin over for two. Corbin manages the slide underneath the corner into a clothesline for two of his own, followed by a hard whip into the corner to drop McIntyre again. A belly to back slam gives Corbin two more and they head outside.

This time Corbin is whipped into the steps though and McIntyre smiles as we take a break. Back with McIntyre getting two off of a bridging northern lights suplex and then hammering away. Corbin sends him to the apron and then into the post though, which has MVP rather pleased. Back in and Corbin gets two of his own off a suplex of his own before crucifixing the arms and elbowing McIntyre in the head.

Corbin cuts off a comeback attempt with a chokeslam for two. Another under the ropes clothesline is cut off with a spinebuster for a jackknife cover into a near fall. McIntyre grabs the Futureshock for two because THIS MATCH NEEDS TO KEEP GOING. Corbin catches him on top and gets two more off a superplex, followed by Deep Six for the same. That’s enough for MVP, who says that this is about taking out McIntyre, meaning it’s time to send in the cane. Of course it takes too long and McIntyre hits a (very leg slappy) Claymore for the pin at 18:00.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness they split up the Hurt Business because otherwise we could have had McIntyre fighting the two of them here instead of Corbin vs. McIntyre for the better part of twenty minutes. Gotta get that Corbin in there though, as he doesn’t have anything to do at Wrestlemania and it wouldn’t be right to not have him do the same power moves that he has done since he debuted. Throw in the “oh dang we need to wrap this up” finish and this was entertaining, but really frustrating at the same time.

Lashley comes out for the big showdown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was all it needed to be, with a focus on the big things coming at Wrestlemania. The big draw of the show is going to be the main event matches so why bother going with anything else? As usual, there was nothing here in the way of original wrestling, as you would have had no idea it was the go home show for Wrestlemania. The other stuff was more important though, and that is what we got here, as we should have.

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: April 5, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Wrestlemania and unfortunately about half of the show will be destroyed by the NCAA Championship game. Therefore you might expect a lot crammed into the first hour and a half or so, but we are going to be lucky enough to have the main event of Drew McIntyre vs. King Corbin, because you always need more Corbin. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Drew McIntyre for an opening chat. We see a clip of King Corbin and Bobby Lashley taking him out last week and, after the fire goes off, McIntyre talks about how we have five days until Wrestlemania. Things have changed so much in the last year and now McIntyre is ready for he and Lashley to tear each other to shreds.

Drew talks about how much he wanted to be WWE Champion, even when his mother was getting leukemia treatment. He wanted to go home so badly but his mom threatened to beat him up herself if he gave up. It took his this many years to get to the top of the mountain….and here are Lashley and MVP to cut him off.

Lashley says it took Drew sixteen years to get to the top but it took Lashley seventeen so he knows the feeling. Now he is on top of the mountain and everyone wants to take his title. Last week he felt Drew quiver and shake in the Hurt Lock, which Drew agrees is no joke. Drew is ready to fight right now but MVP says they’re waiting for Saturday. MVP promises Drew loses so Drew says maybe he can go be an Amazon driver instead. Or he can say screw that and come win the title back at Wrestlemania. King Corbin comes out to promise to beat up Drew tonight.

Riddle and New Day make jokes about Omos getting Kofi pretty high last week. Kofi Kingston hopes no one gets that high over the weekend but knows they’ll win. Oh and Riddle is ready for Sheamus, even though he smells bad.

AJ Styles vs. Xavier Woods

AJ has the Calf Crusher on in less than a minute so Kofi throws the microphone at Omos for a distraction. That makes AJ let go of the hold and Woods grabs a small package for the pin at 1:18. This has been your first example of “get them out of the ring before they can get hurt during Wrestlemania week”.

New Day goes into the stands to celebrate with the titles.

Bad Bunny and Damien Priest show up in a $3 million Bugatti.

Video on Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon, including the announcement of their cage match at Wrestlemania.

Here is Braun Strowman in a cage for a chat. Strowman is sick of being tired of being called stupid, even with Shane having his fake report card last week. At Wrestlemania, Strowman is fighting for everyone who has ever been called stupid. At Wrestlemania, it isn’t going to be here comes the money, but here comes the body bag. Cue Shane McMahon to say the decision to have a cage match is not that stupid. Shane promises to beat Strowman at Wrestlemania and that is going to make him feel stupid. This is still a horrible feud, but at least this was coherent and not something that made me want to lash out irrationally.

Braun Strowman vs. Elias/Jaxson Ryker

The double teaming puts Strowman down to start and Ryker hits a top rope headbutt. Elias hits a top rope splash called an elbow, but Strowman kicks both of them off at once. That makes Shane take off his jacket to come to the ring but Strowman knocks Elias and Ryker away, sending Shane backtracking. Strowman clubs them down and hits back to back powerslams for the pin at 2:36.

Miz and John Morrison have buckets of paint….and use it on the Bugatti, complete with HEY HEY, signatures and a painting of a bunny. Good thing it’s a white car.

Post break Bunny finds his car and panics a good bit, only to have Miz and Morrison jump him from behind. Agents and Priest make the save as Bunny seems more surprised than hurt.

We recap the contract signing between Rhea Ripley and Asuka from last week. It turned violent and led to a tag match this week.

Rhea Ripley says she and Asuka have to work together tonight or they’ll get destroyed. Asuka can wait for vengeance.

There will be a four team Tag Team Turmoil on Saturday, with the winners getting a Women’s Tag Team Title match on Sunday.

Asuka/Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler

Non-title. Shayna and Asuka shove each other around to start with Asuka taking her down and stepping on her face. Ripley comes in and throws Baszler around so it’s off to Jax for the power showdown. Jax picks her up but Ripley slips out and….tags Asuka right in. Jax runs Asuka over for two but she is right back with a Codebreaker.

It’s back to Ripley, who is distracted by Reginald and sent into the apron as we take a break. Back with Jax dropping an elbow on Ripley to keep her in trouble. That’s broken up in a hurry and the hot tag brings in Asuka to clean some house. A knee to Baszler gets two but Ripley turns on Asuka, allowing Baszler to hit a running knee for the pin at 12:01.

Rating: C-. Makes as much sense as anything else, as it isn’t like there was any reason for Ripley and Asuka to work together. Ignoring that this is the fourth time in a month and a half that we have had people feuding for a title facing the Tag Team Champions between Raw/Smackdown/NXT, the match at least made a bit of sense this time around.

We look back at the Hurt Business splitting up last week.

Cedric Alexander, with Shelton Benjamin by his side, grabs MVP by the jacket and says Lashley is nothing without the two of them backing him up. Violence is teased but Cedric and Shelton let him go and leave. MVP says he isn’t worried about Lashley vs. Cedric tonight. He talks about how many great things he did for the two of them when Lashley comes up to ask what happened. Lashley promises pain for Cedric tonight.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are happy with their win when the women in the Tag Team Turmoil match on Saturday (for the shot at the Women’s Tag Team Titles on Sunday) and Billie Kay come in to say they’ll win. Jax’s “YOU DON’T EVEN GO HERE” to Natalya/Tamina was funny. Not as funny as when Bianca Belair said it in NXT last year, but still funny.

Video on Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre.

Cedric Alexander vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title. Hold on though as Shelton Benjamin comes in to help Cedric jump Lashley before the bell. Lashley knocks them away and we officially get going with Lashley sending Cedric into the corner. A neckbreaker gives Lashley two and they head outside with the beating continues. Cedric’s forearms to the back have no effect so Lashley sends him into the corner for the running shoulder to the ribs. Outside again with Alexander being sent ribs first into the post as we take a break.

Back with Alexander hammering away but being sent outside. Benjamin saves Alexander from going into the post again so it’s the Neuralizer to stagger Lashley back inside. A missile dropkick gives Alexander two but Lashley plants him with a spinebuster. The spinning Big Ending sets up a powerbomb/spinebuster (Lashley got him so high that it could have been either) and the Hurt Lock finishes Alexander at 10:20.

Rating: C. This was longer than I would have expected and it was nice to see Alexander get in some offense before going down as he should have. As stupid as it is to split up the Hurt Business before they could really become great, Lashley running through them has been effective. Granted he could have run through some other talented people to get here but leave it to WWE to mess up something good.

Post match Lashley won’t let go so Shelton comes in for the save, earning himself a beating of his own.

Video on Fiend vs. Randy Orton.

Here are Damien Priest and Bad Bunny to address what Miz and Morrison did earlier. Priest says it’s easy to jump Bunny 2-1 so let’s make this a tag match at Wrestlemania. Bunny talks about how he has been a huge fan for a long time and watched wrestling with his dad. He is only here to do his job and perform his song about Booker T., but now he has to deal with these two.

After switching to Spanish for a bit, Bunny says he doesn’t respect Miz anymore and at Wrestlemania it is time to give him a whipping. Miz and Morrison pop up on screen to mockingly applaud everything Bunny and Priest said. The tag match is on and they ride off in their limo.

Mustafa Ali talks to Sheamus about how Riddle cost him the US Title. Tonight, he’s taking care of Riddle, but that’s not cool with Sheamus. He’s rather serious about this but Riddle splits them up with his scooter.

Mustafa Ali vs. Riddle

Non-title….and a bunch of colorful birds come flying at the screen when Riddle jumps up to kick off his shoes. I know it happened last week and it’s still bizarre. Riddle takes him down for the early triangle choke attempt but Ali is out in a hurry. Ali gets in a chinlock of his own but Riddle breaks that up just as fast and sends him outside for a kick to the chest. A Sheamus distraction (thanks to the hat) lets Ali drop Riddle on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Ali hammering away in the corner and grabbing a bodyscissors to work on the ribs. Riddle gets him up and drops back for the break, meaning it’s time for some breathing. They get back up with Riddle hitting the running forearms in the face, only to have Ali go back to the ribs. A few kicks get two and Ali grabs a guillotine choke but Riddle isn’t having any more of this. The choke is quickly reversed into a Bro Derek for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: C. This is another match that could have been something interesting if it meant anything other than softening Riddle up for Sheamus. That being said, I can go for Riddle activating Beast Mode and destroying someone, though I do wish it wasn’t Ali. They did what they needed to do here, even if it wasn’t something I wanted to see.

Drew McIntyre is ready to run through King Corbin and move on to the title match. He isn’t sure why Corbin thinks this is a good idea, but it’s a Claymore and the pin.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Drew McIntyre vs. King Corbin

Before the match, Bobby Lashley promises to put McIntyre to sleep at Wrestlemania. MVP is on commentary as they shove each other around to start. Drew grinds away on a headlock for a bit before running Corbin over for two. Corbin manages the slide underneath the corner into a clothesline for two of his own, followed by a hard whip into the corner to drop McIntyre again. A belly to back slam gives Corbin two more and they head outside.

This time Corbin is whipped into the steps though and McIntyre smiles as we take a break. Back with McIntyre getting two off of a bridging northern lights suplex and then hammering away. Corbin sends him to the apron and then into the post though, which has MVP rather pleased. Back in and Corbin gets two of his own off a suplex of his own before crucifixing the arms and elbowing McIntyre in the head.

Corbin cuts off a comeback attempt with a chokeslam for two. Another under the ropes clothesline is cut off with a spinebuster for a jackknife cover into a near fall. McIntyre grabs the Futureshock for two because THIS MATCH NEEDS TO KEEP GOING. Corbin catches him on top and gets two more off a superplex, followed by Deep Six for the same. That’s enough for MVP, who says that this is about taking out McIntyre, meaning it’s time to send in the cane. Of course it takes too long and McIntyre hits a (very leg slappy) Claymore for the pin at 18:00.

Rating: C+. Well thank goodness they split up the Hurt Business because otherwise we could have had McIntyre fighting the two of them here instead of Corbin vs. McIntyre for the better part of twenty minutes. Gotta get that Corbin in there though, as he doesn’t have anything to do at Wrestlemania and it wouldn’t be right to not have him do the same power moves that he has done since he debuted. Throw in the “oh dang we need to wrap this up” finish and this was entertaining, but really frustrating at the same time.

Lashley comes out for the big showdown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This show served one purpose and one purpose only: to get you fired up for Wrestlemania. What we got was good enough in that regard, but watching an eighteen minute Corbin match might not exactly light you up all that much. The rest of the show had some moments, but you could feel every minute of this three hour commercial, with only a few parts being noteworthy. It isn’t like there were expectations coming into this one, though I’m not sure how much more it made me want to see the shows.

Results

Xavier Woods b. AJ Styles – Small package

Braun Strowman b. Elias/Jaxson Ryker – Powerslam

Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax b. Asuka/Rhea Ripley – Running knee to Asuka

Bobby Lashley b. Cedric Alexander – Hurt Lock

Riddle b. Mustafa Ali – Bro Derek

Drew McIntyre b. King Corbin – Claymore

 

 

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

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AND

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Smackdown
Date: November 3, 2006
Location: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the go home show for Cyber Sunday and that means it is time for one more final push towards the Champion of Champions match. I’m not sure what that is going to entail this week, but it’s not like Smackdown has very much to do with the pay per view in the first place. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here is Rey Mysterio, on a crutch, to open things up. Rey talks about how he lost the I Quit match two weeks ago, with a clip of Chavo Guerrero smashing his knee making him a bit more emotional. He has never quit on the fans because they have never quit on him. The fans made him believe that anything is possible when he won the Royal Rumble and the World Heavyweight Title…and here are Chavo and Vickie Guerrero to interrupt.

Vickie even brings the chair into the ring (I love the idea of them carrying a chair around for two weeks). Chavo wants Rey to quit again but would also like him to autograph the chair. Rey doesn’t think so but Chavo turning the chair around to reveal the words I QUIT on the back makes it worse. Chavo beats Rey down and hits him in the knee but Chris Benoit runs in to stop Vickie from getting in his own shot. This is a good story, though having it focus on Chavo Guerrero makes it a little difficult.

KC James/Idol Stevens vs. Brian Kendrick/Paul London

Non-title and Michelle McCool/Ashley are here as the thirds. London and Kendrick clean house to start with London hitting a dive to take out James on the floor. Back in and Kendrick gets punched down, with James hitting a backbreaker for two. A backdrop gets Kendrick out of trouble though and it’s off to London to clean house. Everything breaks down and Kendrick has to dive back in for a save. London is right back with a step up shooting star press for the pin on James.

Rating: C. London and Kendrick are one of the better tag teams in a long time around here but there is only so much that can be done when they have faced and beaten the same teams over and over now. The division really needs some fresh blood, but that has been the case with both tag team divisions for a long time now.

Teddy Long wants to protect King Booker and Queen Sharmell just in case Booker gets to defend the World Title at Cyber Sunday. He even has a special room ready for the two of them, plus a special guard at the door: Batista. Booker doesn’t seem to think much of him so Batista pins him against the wall. Batista wants to get his hands on Finlay so tonight, no one is getting to Booker.

The Marine is STILL a thing.

MVP and Mr. Kennedy get in an argument before their tag match against the Brothers of Destruction.

Clips from the Cyber Sunday press conference.

MVP/Mr. Kennedy vs. Brothers of Destruction

We get the long form entrances and Kennedy seems to understand he is in some trouble here. Kane starts for the team so Kennedy tags out before anything happens (save for some sneering). The big right hands and uppercuts rock MVP in the corner but Kane charges into an elbow in the corner. Kennedy comes in and gets kicked in the face, allowing Undertaker to come in for a change. It’s back to MVP who hits a right hand, allowing him to run back to Kennedy.

Everything breaks down and the Brothers clean house in a hurry, which is enough for MVP and Kennedy to take the countout. Cue Teddy Long to say we’re restarting this with no countouts. Back from a break with the Brothers taking turns slamming MVP until Kane hits a powerslam for two. Undertaker slugs away and there’s Old School to take MVP down again. There’s the side slam from Kane into the top rope clothesline. Kennedy distracts Undertaker and the chase is on, including a low blow to Kane for the DQ.

Long comes out to restart it again, this time with no countout or DQ. The big brawl is on with MVP and Kennedy being beaten up all over again. The Brothers drop them onto the announcers’ table and we go back inside for some running corner clotheslines. JBL loses his mind as the Brothers are trying to one up each other, which is quite the visual. Kennedy gets in an ax handle to Kane and MVP hammers away as we get back to something close to a normal match.

A dropkick sends Kane into the corner but a quick powerslam allows the hot tag off to Undertaker. Snake Eyes into the big boot gives us a bit of Brotherly miscommunication and a shrug from Kane in a funny bit. Everything breaks down again and Undertaker is knocked down, leaving Kane to take a double DDT. That means a double sit up into a double chokeslam into a Tombstone to finish Kennedy.

Rating: C. This felt like a Welcome To Smackdown match for Kennedy and MVP, though it isn’t like losing to the Brothers is going to hurt them long term. This was a rather nice beatdown with MVP and Kennedy getting in their shots where they could. Odds are these guys aren’t done, but putting MVP and Kennedy in there with these two is going to give them a nice rub.

King Booker goes to get a drink but Batista says not so fast. Apparently people from ECW are waiting for Booker so he sticks around.

Gregory Helms vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

Non-title and Amy from the Diva Search is here in the tied off shirt and Daisy Dukes. Yang shoulders Helms down as JBL makes jokes about how Yang should be a cook in a noodle house. Helms is back with a suplex into a chinlock but Yang makes the clothesline comeback. There’s a spinwheel kick to Helms but here’s Sylvan to distract the referee, allowing Helms to grab a rollup for the pin.

Rating: D+. Hey did you know that Helms has been the champ for the better part of ever and Yang is a redneck? Not that these things are going to have much to do with each other because the title is worthless, but it seemed worthy of a mention. That would be about as much as the title means in WWE’s eyes at least.

Post match here’s Matt Hardy to go after Helms, with the heroes standing tall. You can’t say they aren’t throwing things at the wall here.

Sharmell needs to use the restroom but doesn’t want Batista to hear her. Booker doesn’t get the idea but don’t worry because she can just cross her legs.

Even more on the Marine.

Miz/Kristal vs. Vito/Layla

Vito was in a Playgirl photo shoot this week, sending JBL into another panic over Cole knowing and the shoot. Miz hides in the corner to start but comes back with some left hands. A backdrop puts Miz down and lets Vito put the dress over his head. The women come in and Kristal gets a quick rollup to pin Ashley.

Post match here’s Boogeyman and Kristal gets the worms treatments. Cue the screaming as Miz runs off.

Sharmell tries to calm Booker down but Batista leaves to go take care of the ECW guys. We see Batista faking a fight in the hallway and then coming back in to see Booker while sipping at some water.

Controversy Creates Cash is still around.

Bobby Lashley vs. Jamie Noble

Before the match, here’s Tatanka with a new look to watch on. Lashley throws Noble around to start, hits a belly to belly, and finishes with the running powerslam in just over a minute.

Post match Tatanka says he and his people are owed an explanation. He has been cheated over the last few years, just like his people. The spirits of his forefathers have given him a new warrior spirit and if Lashley wants to fight, he will be at war with a nation of warriors.

Batista takes Booker and Sharmell to the limo, where some ECW guys do actually attack. House is cleaned in a hurry though and the limo gets away. Batista says it’s time to deal with something personal.

Post break here’s Batista to call out Finlay. The brawl is on in the aisle until referees break it up to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Not exactly a strong show, but they were in a weird spot with two matches to build towards and little more. It was cool seeing Undertaker and Kane together once again as that always feels like a treat, but it isn’t like there was anything overly great here. It isn’t quite a throwaway show, but there is nothing worth going out of your way to see.

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

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AND

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