Double Or Nothing 2022
Date: May 29, 2022
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

AEW is back on pay per view and that should mean good things. The main event will feature CM Punk challenging Hangman Page for the World Title, but the question is around MJF. While he is scheduled to face Wardlow in a match a long time in the making, he has had some issues with AEW and there is a chance he won’t show up. That wouldn’t exactly be great to see so let’s get to it.

Buy In Show: Tony Nese/Mark Sterling vs. Hookhausen

Hook and Nese start things off with Hook taking him down without much trouble. Danhausen comes in and is allowed to grab a headlock before Nese runs him over. The curse is loaded up but Danhausen goes with the middle rope hurricanrana instead. Nese drops Danhausen again and it’s Sterling coming in to stomp away in the corner. Sterling misses a legdrop though and Danhausen suplexes his way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Hook. Suplexes abound and Danhausen gets to come in for the posing pin on Sterling at 5:22.

Rating: C. This is all you needed it to be and I had fun with the thing. Let Danhausen come in and pick up the scraps left by Hook, who gets to dominate over a manager and someone who is somehow in the top five. They didn’t bother trying to do anything out of the ordinary and the fans got to cheer for Danhausen’s wacky antics. It was exactly what you expected and that’s what it should have been.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Wardlow

If Wardlow wins, he is free of MJF but if he loses, he is pretty much done. MJF is indeed here so hopefully things are ok, at least for tonight. Wardlow is led out of a cell in the back where rowdy fans are kept to give this a Goldberg style vibe. The handcuffs (two pairs) are taken off so MJF bails to the floor before the bell. The bell rings and we get a HE SHOWED UP chant.

Wardlow wastes no time in trying the powerbomb so MJF bails to the floor again. Back in and MJF has to bite his way out of a powerbomb attempt before a cradle gets two. Hold on though as MJF is holding his leg and even the commentators are calling him out for making it up. The delay lets MJF load up the ring but the referee catches it this time, leaving MJF to beg off into the corner.

MJF: “I’LL DOUBLE YOUR PAY!” He ups it to quadruple and Wardlow shakes his hand….but doesn’t let go. MJF knows he’s done and the powerbomb connects. That’s part one of a ten movement Powerbomb Symphony, including at least one to each side of the ring and a tease of a cover in the middle, which finishes MJF at 7:25. Of note, during the Symphony was Excalibur: “I think I’ve figured out MJF’s strategy: he’s trying to take it to a time limit draw.”

Rating: B. This is a case where the match wasn’t the point but rather the complete and total destruction of MJF and it worked very well. Wardlow was never in trouble and absolutely demolished MJF, who couldn’t even get the chance to cheat. The fans had been wanting to see this and they got what they wanted, so well done on giving them that catharsis.

Post match MJF gets stretchered out and Wardlow is officially All Elite.

We recap the Hardys vs. the Young Bucks, which is presented as a dream match. The Bucks have gone after the Hardys, who have been accused of being Hardy cosplayers. The best you can hope for here is that the Hardys make it through the match without some kind of terrible injury.

Hardys vs. Young Bucks

Caprice Coleman is on commentary. The Matts start things off but Matt Jackson hands it off to Nick, who gets shouldered down by Jeff. That lets Nick get taken into the corner so Matt Hardy can come back in, meaning Nick bails to the floor. Matt Jackson comes back in and gets caught in a Razor’s Edge out of the corner but Nick breaks it up with a superkick. It’s Jeff coming back in and getting beaten down, with Nick getting to pose a lot.

Jeff finally gets over for the hot tag to Matt Hardy, who sends Nick into the buckle over and over. Brandon Cutler gets knocked off the apron and the hot tag brings in Matt as everything breaks down. They all wind up on the floor, where superkicks and dives drop the Hardys. Back in and Nick pounds on Matt Hardy before a running knee sets up Risky Business for two.

Nick accidentally kicks his brother and then does it to Cutler as well, allowing Jeff to hit a running clothesline off the apron. A Side Effect on the apron drops Matt Jackson and they’re all down on the floor again. Back in and Poetry In Motion hits Matt Jackson but he breaks up the Twist of Fate/Swanton combination. Jeff has to jawbreak his way to freedom on top, even if it means crotching himself.

The Swanton misses though and the Bucks hit their own Twist of Fate into a Swanton for two. A bunch of superkicks drop the Hardys but they’re back up and demanding more kicks. The Bucks oblige for a double two so it’s time to load up the steps. That takes long enough that Matt Hardy can Razor’s Edge bomb Nick, leaving Matt Jackson to be loaded up on the steps, which have been turned on their side. The Swanton connects to Matt Jackson and it’s a Twist of Fate for two on Nick back inside. Another Twist of Fate plants Nick and the Swanton finishes for Jeff at 19:16.

Rating: B-. The Hardys winning here is certainly a choice, as that would suggest the feud is continuing because of reasons. They didn’t have a disaster or even a bad match, but I don’t think this quite lived up to a dream match level. What matters most is that the Hardys didn’t get seriously injured, which might as well be a win for them these days.

Post match, Jeff teases going through the crowd but then comes back to the ring.

The Acclaimed and the Gunn Club promise to tear Las Vegas up. The next day, Billy Gunn finds them all out cold, calls his sons disappointments, and tucks in the Acclaimed.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill vs. Anna Jay

Jay is challenging and comes up through an elevator in the stage, while Cargill has a bunch of showgirls with her. An early Queenslayer attempt doesn’t work for Jay and Cargill throws her down without much effort. A snap suplex and a clothesline lets Cargill go up top but Jay superplexes her back down. Back up and a running forearm staggers Cargill and a running Blockbuster sends her outside. Cargill is sent back inside but Jay has to take out the Baddies with a double DDT. Back in and Cargill kicks her in the face but Jaded is reversed into a cradle for two.

Cue Smart Mark Sterling to throw in the crutch, which Jay grabs for a Russian legsweep and a near fall. Cue John Silver to brainbuster Sterling on the floor, leaving Cargill to hit the Eye of the Storm for two. Jaded is countered into the Queenslayer but Cargill gets up and sends her into the corner. They both go up and here is Stokely Hathaway (fifth person to come out during the match) for a distraction so a super Jaded can finish Jay at 7:23.

Rating: B-. This was a good bit better than I was expecting as Cargill’s matches continue to be structured to fit her strengths rather well. I didn’t buy Jay having a chance whatsoever, but that is the case with just about every Cargill challenger. Hathaway would be an upgrade over Sterling if that is where they are going, and he certainly has the skills to make Cargill feel that much more important. Good stuff here, even if it could have been done on Dynamite.

Post match the beatdown is loaded up but Kris Statlander comes in to go after Red Velvet. The staredown is on but Athena comes in for the debut and the big six way staredown. The Baddies bail and the fans seem rather happy to see Athena.

Forbidden Door is coming on June 26.

House Of Black vs. Death Triangle

Death Triangle has a young boy, who I’m assuming is one of their sons, with them during the entrance. Fenix flips out of Black’s suplex to start but they both miss spinning kicks to the head, meaning it’s time for the cross legged sitdown staredown. Matthews comes in and gets superkicked by Penta so it’s off to the floor, only to have Penta waiting on him with an evil glare.

King comes in and kicks down Fenix’s springboard, setting up the six way staredown. The brawl is on with everyone getting to knock someone else down until Pac poisonranas Matthews to leave everyone down. King is back up with a Boss Man Slam to Pac and Matthews adds a slingshot hilo for two. Matthews misses a charge in the corner though and the hot tag brings in Fenix to clean house. Stereo superkicks clear the ring and there are the double dives from the Bros.

Back in and Fenix hits a step up kick to the head on King but Matthews suplexes him on the floor. That sets up the series of dives until King hits a dive, albeit with a crash onto the apron on the way down. Fenix gets triple teamed inside, including Dante’s Inferno for two, with Pac driving Black into the cover for the save. Triple brainbusters are broken up and Death Triangle gets to kick them in the face in the corner.

A springboard Canadian Destroyer plants Matthews on the floor and a top rope double stomp/hanging DDT combination drops King next to him. That leaves Black to get kicked in the face a lot but he kicks his way out of trouble. Pac kicks Black down and throws Matthews onto King on the floor. An Alex Abrahantes distraction lets Pac kick Black low….and the lights go out again (JR is NOT happy). Cue Julia Hart to mist Pac, allowing Black to kick Pac in the head for the pin at 15:19.

Rating: A-. This was pure insanity for the most part, which also includes a rather nutty ending as Hart wasn’t evil a few weeks ago but she is now. Anyway, the match was the hard hitting, fast paced match that everyone had been hoping. I’m not sure it was worth all of the delays, but House of Black FINALLY getting a big win is good to see. Now just move on from this feud for all time.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole in the Owen Hart Foundation finals, which is more about Owen than either of them.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Final: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole

Non-title. Joe powers him into the corner to start but Cole slips out and wants a test of strength. That goes to Joe as well, who sends him into the corner for the jumping enziguri. An elbow sends Cole to the floor, where he manages to post Joe’s bad shoulder to take over. Back in and Cole chokes on the ropes before wrapping the arm around said rope. The Panama Sunrise is blocked though and Joe hits the Rock Bottom out of the corner.

Joe’s powerbomb is countered into a jumping enziguri and Cole grabs a Crossface. Joe cranks on both arms but Cole is in the ropes as well. Cue Bobby Fish to snap Joe’s arm across the top but the Boom misses. Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch, which has to be let go so Joe can take out Fish. Cole kicks him down and fires off more kicks, setting up the Boom for the pin at 13:15.

Rating: B-. Another good match here, though having even more interference had me rolling my eyes. Cole winning isn’t exactly a surprise and it is good to have him win something around here. It’s a fine enough way to go, even if it doesn’t have any kind of a connection to Owen whatsoever.

Forbidden Door is still coming on June 26. Nothing has changed in the last 40 minutes.

We recap the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, which is a rematch from Grand Slam, where Britt Baker beat Ruby Soho.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho

Baker gets played to the ring by Fozzy’s guitarist while Rancid plays Soho to the ring. We’ll call that advantage Soho. Baker takes her down by the arm to start but Soho is back up with a wristlock of her own. Some kicks don’t do much to Soho, who knees Baker out to the floor. Soho’s shotgun dropkick off the apron has Baker rocked but Soho is holding her ribs. Baker is smart enough to pull the ribs into the post before stretching her out back inside.

Some elbows to the ribs give Baker two but she takes too long going up top. A superplex brings her back down as JR talks about Soho owning a farm in Indiana. They forearm it out until it’s another double knockdown. No Future is blocked but Baker misses the Stomp. Soho is back up with a Saito suplex and a top rope backsplash gets two.

Baker is back with the Stomp and the Lockjaw is loaded up but Soho powers away. No Future connects and the Sharpshooter (with Soho dropping to a knee) goes on, with Baker finally making the rope for the save. With that Owen finisher not working, Soho loads up a victory roll, only to have Baker reverse into a cradle for the pin at 14:15.

Rating: C+. So Baker gets to win, meaning it’s a power couple winning both of them. The match itself was fine, as expected, though that Sharpshooter left a lot to be desired. I could have gone with Soho winning here but it would have been a bit weird to have Cole and Soho at the trophy presentation. Baker very well may be on her way to a face turn and that could be a good thing for her, as we have kind of covered everything she can do otherwise.

Respect is shown post match.

Post match Tony Schiavone has the trophy presentation (with Adam Cole coming out to glare at Tony for hugging Britt). Martha Hart gets an entrance, accompanied by Tony Khan, and gets to give a speech about how important this whole thing is. She thanks everyone from Khan to Chris Jericho to Dark Side of the Ring and her legal team. Cole and Baker are congratulated, with Martha even making fun of her own fairly ridiculous looking hat to wrap it up. Both are presented with a special belt and it’s a rather nice moment.

Sammy Guevara/Frankie Kazarian/Tay Conti vs. Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant

If the Men Of The Year/VanZant win, Guevara and Kazarian can never challenge for the TNT Title again. Kazarian and Sky start things off but Guevara tags himself in and gets to face Ethan. The slugout goes to Page so it’s back to Kazarian vs. Sky, with Kazarian taking him into the corner. Guevara comes back in and Conti gets in a rake to Sky’s back from the apron. VanZant is drawn in so Sammy and Conti can hit a double suplex. Kazarian grabs a front facelock on Sky, who fights out and hits a Downward Spiral.

Conti runs in to deck VanZant and then dives onto Sammy for some spinning around. That has Kazarian yelling at them before grabbing the chickenwing but Sammy tags himself in. Tony: “What kind of dumba** strategy is that?” The double tag brings in the women, with JR saying VanZant is going to be green. VanZant grabs a suplex on Conti and a handspring elbow hits Conti in the face.

A TKO is broken up by Sammy, who stops to kiss Conti and gets caught with a tornado DDT. Conti uses the distraction to strike away at VanZant and some pump kicks to the face get two. A spinning belly to back faceplant (JR: “What the h*** was that?”) plants VanZant but we pause for more kissing. The staredown is on but Kazarian is having none of this and walks out….before coming back in with a slingshot DDT to Sky. Kazarian clears the ring but Conti yells at him, only to have Sammy accidentally knock her down. Sky TKO’s Kazarian for the pin at 12:01.

Rating: C+. This was fun with Conti and Guevara totally embracing the hate, but what matters most is that this should mean the end of the feud. It has gone on far longer than it needed to and this really needs to be the blowoff. VanZant was fine enough in her pay per view debut but she clearly has a long way to go to feel natural in the ring. Good enough, but the show is running very long and this is something that could have been moved to another show.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin

Allin goes straight for the legs and gets kneed in the face to cut him off. O’Reilly starts working on the arm and cranking away as Allin’s face is busted open from that knee. Back up and Allin gets in a few shots of his own to knock O’Reilly outside, setting up a suicide dive which nearly goes horribly wrong. Thankfully Allin is back up so he tries it again, only to get pulled into a guillotine choke.

Back in and the Last Supper gives Allin two and a small package is good for the same. A brainbuster plants Allin but he is able to fight off a cross armbreaker attempt. The ankle lock goes on but Allin ties up the legs and reverses into a Scorpion (again, not a great one). O’Reilly makes the rope so Allin goes up and hits a Coffin Drop onto O’Reilly in the ropes before crashing out to the floor.

Back in and O’Reilly goes for the arm again but gets stacked up for two more. They strike it out with O’Reilly getting the better of things and wrapping Allin’s chain around his mouth. Excalibur: “The unbreakable chain!” Then it breaks immediately. Some penalty kicks set up the top rope knee to finish Allin at 10:33.

Rating: B. Hard hitting fight here and that is a heck of a big win for O’Reilly as beating Allin clean on pay per view is an impressive feat. It doesn’t say much for Allin to lose in his match for his mentor’s honor, but I can go for O’Reilly getting this kind of a push. Good stuff here, though I hope it gets any kind of memory on a show with so much else.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb for the Women’s Title. Both want to be the best so they’re having a title match.

Women’s Title: Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa is defending. They fight over a lockup to start and go to the mat with neither being able to get anywhere. Back up and Deeb starts going for the limbs but that isn’t going to work for Rosa. They go back to the mat with Rosa grabbing the pendulum to rock Deeb around a bit. A backslide gives Rosa two but Deeb blocks a second one, allowing Rosa to hit an uppercut.

Rosa knocks her to the floor but misses a baseball slide, allowing Deeb to snap her across the top rope. A neckbreaker over the ropes puts Rosa back on the floor until Deeb takes it back inside. Deeb ties her up in the corner and cranks away, setting up an abdominal stretch to stay on the ribs. Rosa fights out and hits a running corner clothesline, followed by knees in the corner. A northern lights suplex gets two but Deeb catches her in the corner and hits Diamond Dust for two.

Deebtox is broken up though and Rosa slams Deeb’s knee into the mat for a change. Deeb gets in a shot to knock her away but Rosa is back with the Death Valley Driver for two. A chop block cuts Rosa down and we hit the Figure Four, with the two of them slapping each other in the face at the same time. They roll out to the floor but it’s Deeb grabbing a dragon screw legwhip in the ropes back inside.

Deebtox gets two and the Serenity Lock goes on, though Deeb lets it go to hit a powerbomb. The Texas Cloverleaf goes on but Rosa makes the rope, setting up a kick to the head. Deep knocks her down again and goes up, only to get superplexed down. Rosa isn’t done and rolls her up into the Fire Thunder Driver to retain at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a fight with the technical master vs. the fighter, but they were in a near death spot this late in a show with a long match. I could go with another look at this in a vacuum as Rosa was bringing it and Deeb was her usual awesome self. It’s a good example of a match where they overcame a really bad build and had a heck of a match. Just in the wrong spot.

We recap Anarchy in the Arena, which is Sports Entertainers vs. Wrestlers.

Justin Roberts: “Ladies and gentlemen…..s***’s about to hit the fan.”

Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston

Anything goes and the Society is all in white, making them look like a painting crew. It’s a brawl to start with Wild Thing still playing, which seems like it is going to go throughout the match. Everyone brawls around the arena and we keep cutting from fight to fight, including Moxley stabbing someone in the head with a fork. Kingston is already busted open as Jericho and Moxley get on some kind of a cart.

Minard’s face is COVERED in blood as Jericho gets in a shot to Moxley with….something. We actually go to the ring where Santana and Ortiz suplex Hager. Jericho goes over to the sound board and hits Moxley to FINALLY kill the song. Some people fight to the back as Santana and Ortiz Street Sweep Hager through two tables at ringside. Moxley hits Jericho with a boom camera as Minard and Kingston fight over mustard at the concession stand. Garcia piledrives Ortiz on the steps and I think Minard takes Kingston down with a t-shirt stand.

Parker hits Danielson with a ring bell and Jericho suplexes Moxley onto a row of chairs. Back up and Moxley chucks a cooler at Jericho’s head as Tony dubs this as better than Stadium Stampede. Garcia chokes Kingston in the concourse and drags him around the floor as Jericho gets the Walls on Moxley on the announcers’ table….which breaks. Back up and Moxley hits a suicide dive to take Jericho down as a turnbuckle is unhooked.

Some unhooked turnbuckle shots slow Jericho down as I think Kingston and Garcia brawl in a freight elevator. Moxley hits a running knee to knock Jericho out of a chair as Santana and Ortiz set up a ladder over on the other side of the arena. They hit big splashes to drive Minard and Parker through tables as Jericho fire extinguishers Moxley. Jericho and Moxley pull themselves back into the ring, where Hager and Danielson are pulling themselves up. The four of them slug it out with Moxley and Danielson hitting the hammer and anvil elbows.

Stereo holds go on….and here is Kingston with a can of gasoline. Kingston pours gas onto Jericho (which breaks up the LeBell Lock) but Danielson goes after Kingston for general hatred. Moxley is sent onto a barbed wire board at ringside and a turnbuckle shot to the head gives Jericho two on Danielson. A bunch of kicks rock Hager and Jericho, including the YES Kicks to the latter. Danielson promises to kick his f****** head in but Hager makes the save with a baseball bat to the knee. A half crab to Danielson, with Hager choking with a rope (Tony: “HANG IN THERE!”) gives Jericho the win at 22:31.

Rating: B. I have no idea what to say about this and that’s about all you can get out of it. They were all over the place with one crazy spot after another and there was nothing close to a way to keep track of the whole thing. I’m not sure why the Society won, but maybe Jericho used some wizard magic to convince AEW it was a good idea.

We go to Andrade El Idolo, who brings in his new business partner: Rush.

Scorpio Sky/Ethan Page/Dan Lambert are really happy to be done with Sammy Guevara and company. Sky wants a new challenger and here is Dante Martin to issue the challenge. Game on.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. Team Taz vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland

Jurassic Express, with Christian Cage, is defending. It’s a brawl to start and the fight heads to the floor before the Express hits a top rope elbow/side slam combination for two on Starks. We settle down to Hobbs blasting Strickland with a clothesline. Lee comes in and staggers Hobbs with a shoulder, setting up Strickland’s jumping knee. It’s off to Jungle Boy for some suicide dives but Lee pulls the big flip dive out of the air.

Back in and Hobbs hits a suplex slam on Jungle Boy and Starks grabs a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Starks tries to run the corner and walk the ropes but stops to dance, allowing Jungle Boy to crotch him (JR’s disdain at the start followed by happiness in Starks getting hurt is hilarious). Everything breaks down and Starks gets tossed out to the floor for a nasty landing, setting up Strickland’s moonsault (off of Lee’s chest) onto the pile.

Back in and Strickland hits the running kick to the head for two on Hobbs and it’s Luchasaurus coming in to clean house. Hobbs gets kicked into the corner where Lee tags himself in, giving us Luchasaurus vs. Lee. A double chokeslam puts Luchasaurus down, leaving Lee to suplex Hobbs over the top. Lee hits the big no hands flip dive to show off a bit but Luchasaurus is back up with a fireman’s carry slam for two.

Starks is back in to take Jungle Boy down for two but Christian makes the save. The spear gets two more on Jungle Boy and a slingshot Roshambo gets the same. Luchasaurus comes back in but Hobbs cleans house, allowing Starks to grab the FTW Title. Christian breaks that up and it’s the Throwassic Express for the pin at 17:18.

Rating: B. Another good match here with a surprising ending as I would not have bet on the champs retaining here. What matters is that the tag division remains hot, but there is only so much that you can get when your champs are barely in the top five teams in the company. I was hoping for a title change here as Jurassic Express have held the belts for awhile, but it’s not like this is a horrible decision.

We recap Hangman Page vs. CM Punk for the AEW World Title. Punk sees it as a title shot and Page wants to stop Punk from destroying AEW….somehow.

AEW World Title: CM Punk vs. Hangman Page

Page is defending. They start fast with Punk taking him into the corner and giving him a break, albeit with a rake of the eyes. They strike it out with Punk getting the better of things but they go to the mat to exchange some near falls. Back up and Punk starts the string of slams, setting up the high crossbody. Page rolls through though and hits a fall away slam into a nip up. With Punk on the floor, Page hits a slingshot crossbody to take him down again.

Back in and Punk slugs away, only to get elbowed in the face to knock him silly. A running clothesline out of the corner looks to set up the Buckshot but it’s way too early for that, as Punk knocks him to the floor. That’s fine with Page, who gets in a powerbomb onto the apron to drop Punk again. Back in and a top rope clothesline gives Page two and Punk is tossed outside again.

What looks to be the moonsault is broken up and Punk superplexes him back down. They take their time getting back up for the slugout, setting up Punk’s leg lariat. There’s the running knee in the corner into the bulldog into the springboard clothesline and Punk is fired up. Page slips out of the GTS and Punk grabs a neckbreaker for two more. Punk goes up but gets knocked down, setting up the moonsault to the floor. Back in and the Buckshot Lariat is countered into a Sharpshooter, sending Page over to the ropes.

Both guys have to counter their own finisher until Punk is kicked to the apron. Punk kicks him in the head and hits a Buckshot Lariat but the knee gives out on the way. Both guys miss the GTS and Punk’s running knee in the corner is countered into the Last Ride. Page rolls him into the Deadeye for two more before calling for the GTS. Punk kicks him in the head and tries the GTS but Page escapes and hits one of his own.

They slug it out until Page kicks him in the face but they fall out to the floor. Page throws him over the announcers’ table and grabs the belt, which he emphasizes is HIS. Back in and the Buckshot Lariat is loaded up but gets countered into the GTS. Punk swings him around to kick the referee, meaning Page’s escape into the Buckshot Lariat gets no cover. Page looks at the belt and teases the shot but second guesses himself. Another Buckshot Lariat is countered into the GTS to give Punk the pin and the title at 25:58.

Rating: B+. There’s your controversial ending that is going to get people talking. Punk winning is the right call as you can only get so much out of Page as champion when there are so many bigger stars around him. The will he/won’t he was good and while it might lead to a heel turn down the line, it’s the right way to go here. Heck of a match too, which didn’t feel close to the length it went.

Punk celebrates for a good while to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The action was very good to great, but egads I was done with this show with about an hour left. I’ll spare you the long, drawn out version and say a lot of this could have been left for Dynamite/Rampage and move on to the praise the show deserves. There was some awesome action here and I like a lot of the choices for the winners, though the tournaments still don’t feel important (save for Martha Hart looking so happy out there, which was great). Definitely check this out, but cut it off for a bit in the middle for the sake of a sandwich or something as you’re going to need to refuel.

Results
Wardlow b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Powerbomb Symphony
Hardys b. Young Bucks – Swanton to Nick
Jade Cargill b. Anna Jay – Super Jaded
House Of Black b. Death Triangle – Spinning kick to Fenix
Adam Cole b. Samoa Joe – Boom
Britt Baker b. Ruby Soho – Rollup
Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant b. Sammy Guevara/Frankie Kazarian/Tay Conti – TKO to Guevara
Kyle O’Reilly b. Darby Allin – Top rope knee to the back
Thunder Rosa b. Serena Deeb – Fire Thunder Driver
Jericho Appreciation Society b. Blackpool Combat Club/Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz – Half crab to Danielson
Jurassic Express b. Team Taz and Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee – Throwassic Express to Starks
CM Punk b. Hangman Page – GTS

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It’s time for another AEW pay per view and most of the time, that has been some very good news. AEW has a heck of a track record with pay per views, though things have been a bit weaker than usual in recent months. I don’t entirely know what that is going to mean for this show, but the card is absolutely huge with a staggering thirteen matches. Maybe they can make it work though so let’s get to it.

Buy-In Show: Hookhausen vs. Mark Sterling/Tony Nese

They aren’t starting with anything serious here as Hook and Danhausen are the latest comedy guys around here. There is a short form possibility to the two of them working together but I’d like to believe that Hook could mean a lot more than he is being given so far. Danhausen is one of the most unique guys around, and now he and Hook can do their thing here.

That thing here would be winning, as Hookhausen has no reason to lose whatsoever. Hook can be the muscle for Danhausen as he does his wacky deal. That is all you need in something like this as the fans are going to go nuts over anything Hookhausen does. Keep it short, let Danhausen pin the manager, and we get to move on to the important stuff. That’s a good opener and they have the right idea with this on the Buy-In.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho

This is a match that has some history to it and now the question becomes can Soho finally get a big win around here. Soho is someone with as unique of a look as you can find and the intangibles to back it up, but she hasn’t actually won anything just yet. Beating Baker would even their series up and that is a way they can go. At the same time though, it is hard to buy the idea of Baker losing her second big match in a row.

I’m in a total coin flip here but I’ll go with Baker winning here as Soho loses again for the sake of getting Baker back on track. This could be leading to a heck of a showdown between Baker and Jade Cargill, assuming they don’t do a rubber match with Thunder Rosa. Either way, I don’t see Soho winning here, and I’m really not sure where that leaves her going forward.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe

I like this one more than the previous match and we could be in for a heck of a showdown here. Cole is someone who is still waiting for his own big win around here, while Joe has the Ring Of Honor TV Title, meaning that he too is waiting for his first big win in AEW. This is at least an interesting match and that puts it above a lot of what we have been seeing in the tournament so far.

I’ll go with Cole winning again here, as AEW not only likes pushing the heck out of him, but the idea of Cole and Baker as the winners of the tournaments is likely something AEW likes. The match should be a good, pay per view level fight as Joe knows how to make the big fight feel. Cole wins here though, possibly even with some help from Jay Lethal and pals to take out Joe.

Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston

This is the Anarchy In The Arena match, which seems to be the latest insane brawl that the company loves to run. The problem this time though is the lineups aren’t exactly even, as it’s hard to imagine the Combat Club and Kingston would have trouble against the entire Appreciation Society. Then again there is a good chance that the villains can take out a member to uneven things and make it a bit more even.

That being said, there isn’t much in the way of doubt here, as this should be a one sided victory for Kingston and company. Unfortunately I don’t think that is going to happen, as I could see AEW running with the Jericho Wizard/fireball stuff. Therefore, I’ll take the Appreciation Society winning here, even if that makes so little sense and will just mean more of the not so great act.

Hardys vs. Young Bucks

Now we have the Dream Match, which might have been the case about ten years ago but now, I’m not entirely convinced. To put it mildly, the Hardys are in their mid 40s and wrestle like they’re about ten years older than that each. Jeff looks close to terrible and you know what you’re going to get from Matt. I’m far from a Bucks fan, but they can run circles around the Hardys at the moment and this is going to be a mess as a result.

I’ll take the Bucks winning here, as there is no reason whatsoever to put the Hardys over anyone ever (unless you’re Darby Allin because reasons). I’m not exactly interested in seeing this one but maybe they can pull off something decent. All I know is I don’t need to see the Hardys trying to recreate their glory days again and odds are that is exactly what we are going to be getting here.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Wardlow

This now needs an asterisk as there have been a few issues involving MJF, but we’ll assume that the match is going to take place. This is a story that has been built up for years and is a more physical version of Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil from back in the day. The good thing is that Wardlow is almost on Virgil’s level and might even be able to get something out of this if they do it right.

Of course I’ll go with Wardlow here, as he should powerbomb MJF into oblivion here. Now that being said, MJF should not get squashed and will likely get in some offense off the back of Shawn Spears and some well timed cheating, but at the end of the day, this is Wardlow’s breaking out moment and I could go with seeing him wreck MJF as the fans get more and more into each powerbomb. Assuming the match takes place that is.

Women’s Title: Thunder Rosa(c) vs. Serena Deeb

The more I watch from Rosa, the less I think she is cut out to be champion. There are some people who are more interesting as the challenger rather than the champion and that is what we might have with her. The promo from this week was good, but I really can’t bring myself to get into this match. Granted it doesn’t help that Cargill feels like a much bigger star, but this is the next showdown.

I’ll take Rosa to retain here, as she deserves a longer title reign than a few months after FINALLY getting the belt. We might be up for a rematch with Baker, but at the moment the best thing that they can do is have Rosa keep going as champion to set up a showdown with someone. Rosa is still a star and I could go for seeing more of her with the title, but they need to find a better way to present her.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express(c) vs. Team Taz vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland

One thing that is interesting here is that AEW rarely runs triple threat. The company loves itself some gimmick matches but that isn’t the case with triple threat, which is certainly a nice bonus. Anyway, this has been set up as the two challenging teams have been set up as potential threats to take the titles. Granted it helps that Jurassic Express have been kind of there as champions for a lot of their reigns, so it is kind of somewhere in the middle.

As much as I’d like to see Lee and Strickland get somewhere, I have a feeling Team Taz wins here. At some point you have to give Taz and company some (official) titles and I think they do it here. Ricky Starks has been moving up higher and higher in recent weeks and Powerhouse Hobbs is one of the better potential stars around. They should have a good match here, but it’s time for the title change with the belts going to Team Taz.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin

This is a grudge match which was added to the show on Rampage, even if it is one of the first matches that could be moved to Dynamite for the sake of cutting down the pay per view rundown. Allin is mad at O’Reilly for injuring Sting, meaning it is time to fight. Thankfully this seems to be a regular match, which is quite the change for Allin and his obsession with hardcore stuff.

I’ll go with Allin winning here, as he is still shaking off some of his funk, especially after that pretty ridiculous loss to Jeff Hardy a few weeks ago. O’Reilly could use a win too and it wouldn’t shock me if he won here, but Allin needs it more and is someone the fans are already behind. Seeing O’Reilly get a push of his own would be nice, but it’s Allin winning here in a match that should be pretty awesome.

House Of Black vs. Death Triangle

Yes, finally. After what feels like 37 years, this match is FINALLY going to take place, even though I can’t imagine it is going to live up to the hype that has been presented around it. Both teams are actually healthy for once and since it was on the books at some point back in the day, AEW had to get it in instead of cutting their losses and just moving on like anyone sane would do.

It’s one that could go either way, but I’ll take the House Of Black to win here. Death Triangle is a team that has a tendency to not be around very often for one reason or another so the House Of Black seems to be a better option at the moment. Odds are it will be a heck of a fight and Death Triangle will look great in defeat, but the House Of Black wins here to finally give them something.

Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant vs. Frankie Kazarian/Sammy Guevara/Tay Conti

Speaking of feuds that won’t go away, we have this mess that must continue no matter how many people are waiting in line for the TNT Title. This week seemed to show Guevara and company as the good ones, even if that involved invading the American Top Team facility and stealing stuff. I don’t think AEW knows what they are doing with this feud anymore, but even worse I don’t think many people care about it either. Granted, why let that get in the way of what AEW has decided to do?

Since the feud must continue and Guevara/Kazarian get no more shots if they lose, I’ll go with Guevara and company winning to keep their hopes alive. I’m not sure why that is something we need to continue, but this feud is probably heading for one big final blowoff to the whole thing. Maybe we could even get a ladder involved! For now, though Guevara and company win, because it must continue.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Anna Jay

AEW has a bit of a weird situation on their hands with Cargill. While they have done a great job of building her up, there is no reason to believe that she is going to lose anytime soon. That makes this feel like nothing more than a requirement as she gets to add another win over someone who was thrown into a title match. I don’t particularly care about this match and it would have been fine on Dynamite, but maybe Cargill can get in her catchphrase for the 485th time.

Of course I’ll take Cargill, as Jay gets to be the latest sacrificial lamb. They REALLY need someone who is going to give Cargill a challenge and Jay, who hasn’t wrestled a singles match since March (or a TV match since January, when Cargill beat her) isn’t it. This is a match that probably doesn’t need to be on the pay per view but we are getting it for the sake of Cargill appearing, which does make sense.

AEW World Title: Hangman Page(c) vs. CM Punk

And then there’s this, which has been hit and miss so far. This has not been anywhere close to a disaster, but I’m not sure I buy Page as someone on Punk’s level. Punk had to get to the World Title shot at some point though, which comes after the end of the great Friedman feud. Hopefully they can go beyond the hype, which hasn’t quite hit the levels they seem to have been shooting for with the build.

I’ve been going back and forth on this for weeks now but I think I have Page retaining. If you want to elevate him, beating Punk and Danielson is about as perfect of a way as you can do so. Punk is going to be fine no matter what he does, but in this case it makes more sense to have him lose and give Page the next biggest rub of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Punk win the title, but Page needs this a lot more than Punk. I think. Maybe. Perhaps.

Overall Thoughts

I’m expecting the show to be good, as almost every AEW pay per view tends to be, but my goodness there is way too much on here. There is no need for the show to have every one of these matches but for some reason that is what we’re getting. Hopefully they move something up to the Buy-In show, as having a twelve minute pay per view card is not going to leave them with much breathing room. The show has a lot of potential, but I’m worried about giving the matches the time that they need. Make something fast, or at least shuffle it up a bit, just to make it better. Either way, we should be fine, as is AEW’s custom.

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ECW On Sci Fi
Date: November 20, 2007
Location: St. Pete’s Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

It’s Thanksgiving week and CM Punk is still ECW World Champion, having retained the title at Survivor Series over Miz and John Morrison. That means he needs a fresh challenger, and Miz getting a singles shot might be about as good as they can do. It might not be fresh, but I’ll take that over Big Daddy V. Let’s get to it.

Here is Survivor Series if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

There is a big Thanksgiving spread around ringside so things can be a bit more festive.

CM Punk vs. Kenny Dykstra

Non-title. Punk goes after the arm to start and takes him down for a running legdrop. The tiger bomb backbreaker gives Punk two but it’s too early for the GTS. Instead, Dykstra takes his head off with a clothesline and we hit the chinlock with a knee in Punk’s back. Punk jawbreaks his way to freedom but Dykstra knocks him right back down. Punk fights up again and knocks Dykstra off the top, setting up a high crossbody for two. The springboard clothesline gets the same but Dykstra manages to send him into the post to cut him off again. That’s too much for Punk, who kicks him in the leg and hits the GTS for the pin.

Rating: C. Just a quick match here as Punk picks up a win over someone who shouldn’t be giving him that much of a challenge. Bringing in more and more names is one of the best things that ECW can do, if nothing else to see who might stick. Punk is still kind of floating around without a major opponent at the moment, so sending him out there for a one off match is fine.

We recap Kane beating up Matt Striker last week.

Here is Elijah Burke in the ring for a chat and he has the newest debuting ECW star.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Tommy Dreamer

That’s a surprise, though the gold hair is still awful. Benjamin takes him down and hammers away, setting up the catapult to send Dreamer throat first into the bottom rope. Dreamer fights out of a cravate but gets knocked down into the corner. The cravate goes on again and it’s a backbreaker for two on Dreamer. Back up and a bulldog plants Benjamin, who is fine enough to pull him off the middle rope. The jumping Downward Spiral finishes for Benjamin.

Rating: D+. Benjamin getting a renewed singles push is a good thing but that gold hair is going to be the end of any value he has. There are things that just do not work and that is what seems likely with suddenly having a big yellow blob on his head. Benjamin is an athletic marvel and that should be enough without the hair being the focus.

Jesse/Festus vs. Deuce N Domino

Miz and John Morrison are on commentary and Cherry is here with Deuce N Domino. The bell rings and Festus snaps as Jesse takes Deuce down. Domino comes in and gets armdragged so it’s right back to Deuce for a double arm crank. Commentary seems to approve of Cherry as Jesse punches Domino out of the air. The hot tag brings in Festus as Miz and Morrison desperately look for a weakness. House is cleaned and it’s a rocket launcher clothesline to finish Deuce.

Rating: C. I could go for more of the tag division starting to pick up and if ECW and Smackdown are sharing one set of titles, it could work out well. ECW might be able to put together a team here and there and if you can put some Smackdown teams on ECW for the sake of some flavor, good for them.

Miz and Morrison aren’t worried.

Matt Striker and Big Daddy V are ready to eat Kane.

Kevin Thorn vs. Nunzio

Thorn has new gear and short, slightly spiked hair for a rather bad look. Nunzio gets taken down and pummeled in the head to start, only to get caught in an over the shoulder backbreaker. Thorn dropping down to his knees makes Nunzio bounce hard, setting up the Original Sin for the fast pin. Total squash.

Kelly Kelly and Layla got in an argument after last week’s ECW. It turned into a food fight.

Here is Layla for a chat. She is thankful for a few things, like being so much better than Kelly Kelly. Cue Kelly to pie Layla and a bigger food fight, courtesy of the Thanksgiving table, ensues.

Raw Rebound.

Kane vs. Matt Striker/Big Daddy V

The double clubbering is on to start because there are no tags. V belly to belly slams him down and there’s the mounting so Striker can talk trash. Striker drops an elbow but Kane pops up with the uppercuts. With that not working, a double clothesline staggers V and the top rope clothesline really staggers him. A big boot puts V on the floor and the chokeslam finishes Striker.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here again, as it wasn’t a long match and they didn’t do much other than have Kane beat up Big Daddy V and then pin the lame manager. That makes Kane look good and he would be fine for a future title shot against Punk, though I don’t think they go that route at the moment. At least the Big Daddy V push seems to be over, at least for the time being.

Post match V comes in to beat Kane down again to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Totally skippable show this week and nothing that you need to see. ECW isn’t terrible these days, but it is often kind of an uninteresting show where you would be better off just reading the results. Other than Kane and Punk, there isn’t anyone who feels like a star around here and you absolutely know what you’re getting with Kane almost every week. ECW feels like the third rate show and WWE isn’t doing anything to make that feeling go away. They certainly didn’t this week, as this was 45 minutes of very little.

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Dynamite
Date: May 25, 2022
Location: Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s Double Or Nothing weekend and that means it is time to get in the last Dynamite before the pay per view. Therefore, we nee to find out who will be in the finals of the Men’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament, which should make for some interesting action both tonight and on Sunday. It’s also the third anniversary of the first AEW show so this should be good. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Wardlow vs. Shawn Spears

In a cage with MJF as the referee and Wardlow has to win here to get MJF on Sunday. Wardlow is still handcuffed to start so Spears gets in a few shots, allowing MJF to stomp away in the corner. The double teaming is on, including sending Wardlow into the steps. MJF stops to talk too much trash though and gets hit in the face, which means Wardlow can drop Spears.

The Swanton connects but MJF won’t count, allowing Spears to get up. One heck of a chair shot hits MJF by mistake and Spears knows what he’s done. Wardlow pops up and it’s a four movement Powerbomb Symphony with another referee coming in to count the pin on the done Spears at 6:58.

Rating: C. This was more of an angle than a match and they did it very well. The last few weeks have done a great job of having Wardlow slowly reel MJF in and the big massacre can take place on Sunday. At this point, they can have MJF get in some cheap shots and cheat to take over, but then it is time for the Powerbomb Symphony that everyone has been waiting on.

Post match Wardlow goes for MJF but security runs in so MJF can escape.

JR and commentary offers condolences on the Texas shooters and say this has to stop.

The Jericho Appreciation Society attack a backstage worker with a fireball for wearing a Jon Moxley shirt.

Tony Schiavone brings CM Punk and Hangman Page for a face to face meeting. Tony goes over the stealing finishers and Punk says he’s ready to take the title. Page says there is nothing Punk can do to take the title from him. That makes Punk think Page is taking this personally. There are a lot of people backstage who want their shot and for Punk, this is just business.

Page wants to light a pipe bomb and roll it right up to Punk’s feet, where the Pipe Bomb promo was dropped in the first place. After pausing for the CM PUNK chants, Page says he can’t do it because he respects Page. The thing is Page doesn’t think Punk knows what it means to be a champion, because it is about more than being in this ring.

It’s also about what you do when no one else is watching, which isn’t what Punk has been about since he got here. On Sunday, Page is defending AEW from Punk, which gets a big reaction. Punk says Page is going to have to do something about it, because Punk paved the road here. Page built the house with trees that Punk chopped down and he gave Punk the blueprint. Page will shake his hand on Sunday, and he’ll do it right now too. It’s a right hand instead and that looked like it made some nice contact.

Video on Anna Jay vs. Jade Cargill for the TBS Title.

Eddie Kingston/Jon Moxley vs. Private Party

William Regal and Chris Jericho are on commentary, with Jericho demanding that the crowd be quiet because they don’t have the rights to sing his song. It’s a brawl to start with Quen hitting a moonsault press for two on Moxley. Kingston comes in and beats on Quen but does stop to yell at Moxley. Said Moxley comes back in to plant Kassidy and we take a break

Back with Private Party taking over and knocking Moxley and Kingston to the floor. Quen’s shooting star press gets two on Moxley, who pops up and starts hammering away. The hammer and anvil elbows crush Quen as Kingston makes Kassidy tap to the eastern stretch. The Paradigm Shift finishes Quen at 7:25.

Rating: C. I’m not sure why Private Party, who has done nothing in weeks, was getting in this much offense on Kingston and Moxley but at least the ending had the two stars look dominant. Not quite as squashish as it should have been but they got the finish right. Kingston needs to switch back to his regular gear though, as the basketball shorts look wasn’t working so well.

Post match the Jericho Appreciation Society rushes the ring but referees break it up.

Video on Owen Hart, with wrestlers talking about what the tournaments would have meant to him. The people still involved in the tournament are ready to win.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Title Roppongi Vice vs. FTR

FTR is defending and Caprice Coleman is on commentary. Romero shoulders Wheeler down a few times to start and the threat of a cross armbreaker sends Wheeler over to the ropes. Back in and Dax gets chopped by Trent, only to reverse him to show the proper technique. Wheeler comes back in and gets half and half suplexes for two as we take a break.

We come back with Wheeler diving over for the tag off to Harwood to punch away. Some rolling German suplexes get two on Trent with Romero making the save. Double knees drop Harwood again but Strong Zero is broken up. A small package and victory roll give Trent two each but Vice is right back with Strong Zero for two with Wheeler finally making the save…..and New Japan’s Jeff Cobb and Great O’Khan running in for the double DQ at 10:21.

Rating: C+. This was turning into a heck of a match until the Forbidden Door ending took it away. Vice isn’t one of my favorite teams but they were hanging in there with the best team in the world. I do like that FTR survived Strong Zero before the interference, which keeps the champs looking a bit stronger. Run this back in the future perhaps.

House is cleaned, though O’Khan’s running cutter doesn’t exactly connect clean. Both teams are laid out and Trent/Wheeler are sent through tables. Cobb and O’Khan hold up the titles.

The Hardys talk about how they have a lot of similarities to the Young Bucks. They came from religious families and didn’t drink of smoke. That’s what the stories end though because the Hardys fought up to become one of the most revolutionary tag teams ever. The Bucks are talented, but they are seen as Hardy cosplayers. Now they’re approaching GOAT status, with Jeff making goat noises. They’re beyond their prime but they’ll still never be better than the Hardys. The Bucks weren’t even better babies than them! The saying is never meet your heroes, but in this case, the Bucks will never beat their heroes.

Ricky Starks vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Jungle Boy

Non-title. Starks bails to the floor to start but runs back in for the early exchange of rollups. With Starks being sent outside, Jungle Boy gets tripped to the floor with Swerve joining them. Starks takes them both down and we go to a break. Back with Jungle Boy hitting a running hurricanrana off the apron for two back inside, with Starks making the save. Swerve clears Starks out and sends Jungle Boy into the corner.

They go up top with Swerve being poisonranaed off….and landing on his feet, much to Jungle Boy’s shock. Starks kicks Swerve in the face and takes Jungle Boy down for two, with the kickout leaving him shocked. Roshambo to Swerve is blocked so Starks goes to the eyes and hits the Roshambo, only to get Snare Trapped. A long crawl gets Starks to the ropes so Jungle Boy pulls him back to the middle and puts it on again. Swerve breaks that up and hits the Swerve Stomp to finish Starks at 9:38.

Rating: B. This was the kind of action packed match that you should have expected from these three and I can always go with Swerve winning. What matters here is they gave you a reason to believe that we might see new champions while also giving us a good match this time. The triple threat match on Sunday should be good and the preview has me more invested in it than I was coming in.

Post match Powerhouse Hobbs comes in for the beatdown on Swerve but here is Luchasaurus, who can’t overpower Hobbs. This brings out Keith Lee so the brawl can be on, with Lee clearing the ring and hitting a slingshot corkscrew dive, which he can just do.

Dan Lambert laughs off Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara breaking up the TNT Title. Since American Top Team has won every belt there is, he has the belt makers on standby, so the new title will be unveiled on Friday. Lambert is relieved because it means Conti and Guevara can’t do anything with it.

Here is Thunder Rosa for a chat and for once she doesn’t have face paint on. This is the real her and she wanted people to see what a champion looked like. That’s what Serena Deeb will never look like, even though Rosa used to look up to her. On Sunday, the war paint is coming on and Rosa will make Deeb pay for the disrespect. Then theme music plays her off, even after a pretty good speech with the serious stuff working well.

Red Velvet mentions Ruby Soho, who happens to be walking by. Velvet hands her a notebook to know how to take out Kris Statlander, who might be banged up but Soho is ready without it.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Semifinals: Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm

The fans are split as it’s an exchange of wristlocks to start. Storm gets a headscissors on the mat but Baker switches into a neck crank, sending Storm to the ropes. A basement dropkick sends Storm outside, where she posts Baker hard. They head outside with Storm posting Baker, who sends her into the steps as we take a break. Back with Storm hitting a middle ropes DDT and a running hip attack.

Storm Zero is countered into an Air Raid Crash for two, which draws out Jamie Hater. Baker doesn’t want that so Storm grabs a rollup into a release German suplex to send Baker outside. A tornado DDT off the apron plants Baker on the floor as Storm’s nose might be broken. Hayter is knocked off the apron, leaving Baker to have to break up Storm Zero again. This time it’s a rollup with Baker…kind of grazing the rope as there is no Hayter to grab her hands, for the pin at 9:22.

Rating: C+. The ending hurt this one a bit, though the likely match of Soho vs. Baker should be a good final. Baker is still one of the bigger names in the division and a win over her still means something, so go with what works and set up something big. At the same time, dang I could go for Storm winning something, just for the sake of giving her a small something more important to do.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Semifinals: Samoa Joe vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Non-title and Joe pounds away against the ropes to start. Joe chops him down and then beats on O’Reilly again for daring to try a comeback. O’Reilly manages to knock him down and starts in on the arm, which was banged up by Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh. The cross armbreaker can’t quite go on as we take a break.

Back with Joe slugging O’Reilly down and hitting a backsplash, setting up some kicks to the face. A hard clothesline gives Joe two but the MuscleBuster is countered into a Fujiwara armbar. Joe makes the rope and strikes away to rock O’Reilly but the Rock Bottom out of the corner is broken up. That doesn’t matter for Joe, who pulls him into the Koquina Clutch to knock O’Reilly out at 12:38.

Rating: B. This is what you were probably expecting when you heard Samoa Joe vs. Kyle O’Reilly being added to the card. Joe knows how to do this submission/striking match as well as anyone and O’Reilly is either right there with him or slightly better at the moment. Joe might not be what he used to be, but he can do this match with anyone.

Adam Cole comes out for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show a good bit as it made me more interested in Double Or Nothing. There wasn’t anything on here that was great, but it worked well as a show that made me want to see their followup on Sunday. That is a hard trick to pull off but more importantly, it gave us the best AEW show in a few weeks, meaning some issues went away. This is the show they needed and they delivered.

Results
Wardlow b. Shawn Spears – Powerbomb Symphony
Eddie Kingston/Jon Moxley b. Private Party – Paradigm Shift to Quen
FTR vs. Roppongi Vice went to a double DQ when Great O’Khan and Jeff Cobb interfered
Swerve Strickland b. Jungle Boy and Ricky Starks – Swerve Stomp to Starks
Britt Baker b. Toni Storm – Rollup with a grab of the ropes
Samoa Joe b. Kyle O’Reilly – Koquina Clutch

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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Mid American Wrestling
Date: September 1, 2002
Location: KP Classics, Big Bend, Wisconsin

This appears to be a rather small promotion but the thumbnail is CM Punk talking so there should be at least something decent here. I know a few names on the card, but there are some that probably didn’t make it much higher than this. You never know what you are getting from something like this though so let’s get to it.

Keep in mind that I have never seen any of this promotion before so I apologize for missing any storyline or character points. The lack of commentary isn’t going to help either.

Scott Marciano vs. CM Punk

Marciano has some guy and a tall blonde in a short dress with him, while Punk has Dave Prazak to even things out a bit. Before the bell, Punk says a bunch of stuff that I can’t pick up (keep in mind that this is an outdoor show so the audio isn’t great) before saying this will be like old times. Prazak gets the mic and joins Marciano’s Shoot World Order, which causes Punk to end their friendship. Punk says the blonde doesn’t know what this is about, meaning it’s time to explain the idea of straightedge meaning Punk is BETTER THAN YOU.

We get the bell as Punk takes him down into a chinlock, which is reversed into a headlock. Punk switches back into a headlock, followed by an STF. Marciano’s comeback doesn’t last long as Punk slams him down and grabs something like another STF. That’s broken up so they fight over a suplex, with Punk hitting the delayed variety for two.

Prazak is smart enough to low bridge Punk to the floor, where the other guy who came to the ring with Marciano gets in some cheap shots. Back in and they trade rollups before Punk suplexes his way to freedom for a double knockdown. Marciano starts kicking at the legs but Punk sweeps Marciano down. A running knee looks to set up the Pepsi Plunge but the other guy at ringside breaks it up. Instead Punk grabs a Texas Cloverleaf for the tap at 8:47.

Rating: C. Not much of a match here, but you can see the charisma dripping off of Punk, even if it is at a smaller show like this one. Having the angle tacked on at the beginning like this was a little weird, but Punk won pretty convincingly anyway. Marciano was fine enough here, though I didn’t see much in the way of shooting for someone who is part of the SHOOT World Order.

Colt Cabana vs. Ace Steel

For some reason the match order is wrong on the video’s listing but there didn’t seem to be a cut. Cabana would be 22 years old here (and he looks even younger) and is facing one of his trainers (not an uncommon practice). They take their time to start with Steel backing him into the ropes for a clean break. Steel sends him into the corner so Cabana has a breather on the apron.

Back in and Cabana grabs a full nelson of all things, only to get sent to the floor this time. With the holds not working, Cabana misses a running elbow and gets chopped into the corner…as a plane seems to drown out the limited sound for a bit. A knuckle lock doesn’t go well for Steel but he reverses into a headlock as the technical off continues. It’s off to an exchange of armbars but Cabana is back up with a springboard….something to drop Steel.

Cabana starts going after the knee, including a series of stomping and what looks like a kneebar. We’ll make that a spinning toehold but Steel is up again. This time Steel tries a jump over him out of the corner but gets caught in a half Billy Goat’s Curse (that’s a new one). Steel gets to the rope and grabs the arm to pull Cabana down into I guess you would say a reverse Koji Clutch. With that not working, Steel rolls him over for the cradle pin at 13:04.

Rating: C+. This was a much more technical match and you can tell that Cabana doesn’t exactly have the most experience at this point. You also didn’t get to see much of what would make Cabana famous, which is rather strange to see. That being said, what we had here was a nice match with two guys who were able to have a good technical exchange. Yeah Steel was probably walking him through it, but what else is a trainer for?

Post match Steel needs a chair to get out. Cabana says he has no shame in getting pinned by Steel and offers to buy the beers tonight. Not for him because he doesn’t drink, but sure for Steel.

The ring announcer brings out the Furies, who won the Tag Team Titles last night. The Furies (Mitch Blake and Rick Walsh) bring out a guy in an OLD SCHOOL shirt to yell at him, but here are two guys from behind to jump the champs and beat them down. Some shouting suggests that these two are the former champions, better know as the Old School Express (Jason Dukes/Skull Crusher). They wreck one of the champs’ knees and shout a lot before walking off.

Chuck E. Smooth vs. Jarrod The Jackal

Jackal, who cackles a lot, takes Smooth down without much effort and slams him for a bonus. Back up and Smooth elbows him down, setting up a nasty kick to the back of the head for two. Jackal sends him into the corner though and takes over, only to miss the top rope splash. That’s enough for Smooth to grab a quick rollup for the pin at 4:26.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t very good and didn’t have time to get better, though the only thing that stood out was Jackal’s cackling. It felt like there were out there to fill in time and that they kind of did, albeit not much as they weren’t given a ton of time to make it work. Granted neither exactly stood out here as they were both fairly small but didn’t wrestle much of a cruiserweight style.

ODB, with Dave Prazak, comes out for a match with a woman but says she wants to fight a man instead.

ODB vs. Ken Anderson

This is pre-WWE Anderson but you would know that hair anywhere. Anderson says he isn’t doing this but gets kicked in the gut (or maybe lower) and the bell rings. Back up and Anderson is able to kick her out to the floor, meaning frustration is setting in. ODB takes him down without much trouble but gets rolled up for two, which just annoys her more.

A gorilla press attempt is countered into a rollup to give ODB two but she is right back with a testicular claw. ODB’s falling top rope splash misses though and they’re both down for a bit. Anderson tries a powerbomb (with ODB’s trunks being pulled in various ways) but gets rolled up instead. The annoyed Anderson hammers away in the corner, though he has to alternate between Prazak and ODB). The Swanton Bomb is enough to finish ODB at 5:05.

Rating: C-. This was treated as a regular match without a ton of gimmicks so it could have been a lot worse. It’s bizarre to see Anderson as such a young guy without the confidence and character that would make him as famous as he was. ODB was far smaller here than she would become and while the other stood out more, this was a better fit for her as she looked more like Beth Phoenix than anyone else.

Intermission.

Adrian Serrano vs. Brad Bradley

Serrano is the other guy who was with Marciano (who is here, with the blonde and Dave Prazak) earlier. Bradley is better known as Jay Bradley, who has bounced around for a LONG time. Serrano gets thrown around a few times to start and wants a breather in the corner. The much bigger Bradley wants a test of strength and even drops to his knees to make it easier.

Serrano accepts and then Bradley accepts to take him down. A suplex gets Serrano out of trouble but Bradley boots him out to the floor. Serrano gets smart by going after the knee though and kicks Bradley down a few times. That doesn’t work for long on a big guy though, as he catches the kick and cranks on the leg a bit. That doesn’t work for long on a submission guy though, as he switches over to an ankle lock.

Something like an STF goes on but Bradley is up again. Prazak gets on the apron for a distraction, allowing Marciano to get in a shot from behind. Serrano grabs a choke in the corner, with Prazak on the apron so long that the fans are chanting BORING. With Bradley finally passing out, the referee turns around and calls it at 9:24.

Rating: C-. Bradley is a big monster and I can see why he has been around for so long. That being said, the ending was such a mess and the fans weren’t happy with what was going on, as they shouldn’t have been. It went so far beyond the point of being realistic that it was just stupid, which doesn’t make for a good ending. The SWO seems to be a big thing around here, but unless Punk is one of the top names, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to have what seems to be one of their top guys lose in the opener. Either way, not a terrible match here, but I wasn’t getting much from it.

Post match the SWO spray paint Bradley’s chest just to hammer the point home that much more.

Tag Team Titles: Old School Express vs. The Furies

The Furies are defending but one of them has a bad leg. Apparently the injury to (I think) Rick Walsh is so bad that Mitch Blake is going to go this alone. Blake is ORDERED to hand over the titles but he hits Jason Dukes in the head instead and starts fast. An armdrag into an armbar has Dukes down and we settle in a bit. Dukes gets out and heads up, only to get slammed back down.

Skull Crusher shoves down a slam attempt though and it’s Blake in trouble for the first time. The double teaming is on, with the bigger Skull Crusher slamming him down and grabbing a Boston crab. Dukes even shoves Crusher back onto him and they switch places to keep the crab fresh. Crusher drops a knee to make it even worse before grabbing a t-bone suplex. A backbreaker gives Dukes two but here is the limping Walsh to stand on the apron.

Dukes takes his own shirt off and starts slapping his chest, drawing one of the best reactions of the night. Blake fights up and slugs away but refuses to make the tag to the injured Walsh. That just earns Blake another beating but he fights back again, which this time is enough to warrant the tag.

Walsh manages to send them into each other but a shot to the knee brings him back down. The knee is wrapped around the post and the screaming is on, made worse by a spinning toehold from Dukes. Make that a Figure Four from Crusher, followed by another (and worse one) from Dukes to keep things moving. That’s finally enough for Blake, who submits for Walsh at 12:39.

Rating: C. The action wasn’t great, but they had some good storytelling here as Walsh fought through the knee injury as well as he could but his body ultimately gave out on him. That’s a classic story and it worked well here, even if it ends their title reign after one day. Crusher and Dukes are a weird team as it’s like Moose and the Blue Meanie teaming together, minus Meanie’s charisma. Still though, not too bad here.

Here is the Commissioner, whose name I can’t hear, but he is happy that the main event is anything goes and cannot be stopped due to blood. He is also happy that there are some nice people in IWA, including their champion, who is willing to come wrestle around here. This brings out IWA World Champion Chris Hero, who seems to be a good guy this time.

Chris Hero/Dysfunctional vs. Corporal Robinson/Ian Rotten

Anything goes and Dysfunctional’s (smoking) manager is happy that they are going to get to hurt Rotten. Hold on though as Rotten isn’t sure if he and Robinson are on the same page. Robinson swears a lot, which seems to be an affirmative. After Rotten says he’s looking forward to hero trying to get more bookings from him in the future, they go to a test of strength and headbutt each other, with Hero switching to a waistlock.

Rotten gets in a few shots but is knocked into the corner, allowing Hero to take him down into a seated abdominal stretch. That stays on for a bit until Hero starts working on the leg. With that broken up, Robinson comes in as this isn’t exactly insanity so far. Hero knocks Robinson down as well and there’s a kick to the back. It’s already back to Rotten, who pulls up Hero’s shirt and starts headbutting away as things pick up a bit.

A Stunner drops Hero and it’s back to Robinson, who gets taken down by the leg. Dysfunctional comes in for the first time and starts kicking at the leg but Robinson hands it back to Rotten for a (very delayed) Razor’s Edge toss. Some chops, to the chest and the back, followed by some shoulders to the ribs in the corner. Robinson distracts the referee, allowing Rotten to do….absolutely nothing illegal. A chair to the head rocks Dysfunctional and another one busts him open.

Rotten bites at the cut as this is painfully slow so far. We go back to the wrestling with an abdominal stretch, followed by a Banzai Drop for no cover. Robinson’s brainbuster gets two and it’s back to Rotten for right hands to the head. Note that there are minutes going on between anything big, as this is a ridiculously slow match as they’re just walking around between a lot of the moves. Then Robinson turns on Rotten as Hero is gone for some reason.

Robinson and Dysfunctional start double teaming Rotten….and now Hero beats up Dysfunctional. Everything breaks down and the partners are fighting each other on the floor. Back in the ring, Hero backsplashes Dysfunctional as Rotten clotheslines Robinson on the floor. Rotten starts chairing Robinson down before going inside to dropkick Dysfunctional. With Hero and Robinson on the floor, Rotten hits an elevated double underhook DDT for the pin on Dysfunctional at 21:50.

Rating: F. This is a failure in two parts, which is pretty hard to pull off. First of all, you have just how bad things were before we got to the wacky parts. The match was moving as slowly as anything I can remember for a VERY long time and that didn’t make me want to keep watching. Instead of doing anything good here, we got got two guys who don’t seem to have the most intricate arsenals doing bad looking stuff in slow motion for well over ten minutes.

Then the partners started beating each other up because of course they did. I’m going to assume that this is something that would be better explained if you were around more often, but that didn’t exactly help when I’m watching for the first time. Absolutely terrible match with people who didn’t know how to work a match this long, capped off by insanity that DESPERATELY needed some kind of explanation.

Post match the beatdown continues, with Dysfunctional and Robinson taking out Hero. Then they take Rotten over near some big platform and put him on a table, with Robinson diving off to put him through said table on the gravel. Robinson’s (I think?) manager pops up to say that Bull Pain is going to destroy Rotten at the next show. Then we spend a few minutes watching Rotten getting up as Robinson is helped off after doing something so stupid. Then Hero shows up with a chair to check on Rotten to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. Even taking into account the low level atmosphere, this show was a chore to sit through, especially after the awful main event. You get the feeling that they would take just about anyone and put them on the show, though that is kind of the point of a smaller company like this. The usual suspects stood out and you could see charisma in certain places, but there was a lot of fine tuning to go and it showed badly in places. Not a good show and I can see why this place wasn’t that well known.

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Dynamite
Date: May 18, 2022
Location: Fertitta Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s Wild Card Wednesday, meaning we find out the two Joker entrants in the Owen Hart Foundation tournaments. Other than that, we have two Dynamites left before Double Or Nothing and that means it is time to start hammering out a few more matches on the card. Most of the show is already set though and that can make things all the more interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Samoa Joe vs. ???

Non-title and the joker is….Johnny Elite (Nitro/Morrison/about eight other names). Feeling out process to start as Joe doesn’t seem overly impressed. Joe knocks him into the corner for some shots to the ribs, followed by an elbow to the face. Some shots to the face have Joe in a bit of trouble though and Elite knocks him to the floor, setting up the big twisting cannonball to take Joe down again.

We take a break and come back with Joe hitting a big boot and then chopping Elite down. The MuscleBuster is loaded up but Elite takes him down and goes up top. The 450 connects (with Elite’s knees hitting a good bit short) for two but Joe is right back with the MuscleBuster for the pin at 10:21.

Rating: C+. Yeah fine. Elite is about as perfect of a choice as you could get to have him come in, be a nice enough surprise, and be fed to Joe without ruining a debut. I don’t need Elite to stick around, but he had a pretty nice start to his time in AEW, even if this is it. Joe is likely making a deep run in this thing and him winning the whole tournament wouldn’t shock me.

Post match Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh come in to take Joe out with a pipe. The Best Friends make the save.

We look back at Jeff Hardy getting banged up last week against Darby Allin (egads).

The Young Bucks come up to see the Hardys, with Jeff being cleared to wrestle tonight. The Bucks have been praying for him all week but Jeff wants that “Christian AF BS” out of here. Jeff has a tournament to win and Matt threatens violence if the Bucks interfere. Matt calling the Bucks Hardys cosplayers was funny.

Hangman Page vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Non-title and CM Punk is on commentary. Page starts fast and knocks him to the floor but Takeshita is back in with some strikes of his own. They head to the apron with Page taking him down again as we take a break. Back with Takeshita hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb and a jumping knee for two each. They clothesline each other down but Page is back up with a release German suplex, setting up a Tombstone for two.

The buckshot lariat is countered into a jumping knee and a stalling German suplex plants Page again. They go up top with Takeshita hitting a heck of a forearm to knock Page to the mat. Page pops right up with a discus lariat and the Buckshot lariat….but doesn’t cover. Instead it’s the GTS (Punk: “I’ve got him right where I want him.”) for the pin at 12:12.

Rating: B-. I’ve liked Takeshita more than I would have expected as DDT Pro doesn’t have the best reputation for being serious. Takeshita has a good look and his work has gone well enough so I could go for more of him going forward. That being said, this was an extended workout for Page and that’s all it needed to be.

Fuego del Sol and the Dark Order are ready for the House of Black.

Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee vs. Workhorsemen

Lee gets the better of a chop off with Drake to start and hands it off to Strickland. A jumping kick to the face rocks Henry in the corner and it’s back to Lee to clean house. Lee loads up a sitout powerbomb and Strickland adds a top rope double stomp for the pin at 2:21. Nice use of the new power/speed team here.

Post match Lee says they are a top five team but here is Team Taz to interrupt. Ricky Starks calls Lee Rex from Toy Story but Strickland says Starks looks like a bar of soap with a pearl necklace on. Cue Jurassic Express with Christian Cage to interrupt. Christian says they are the best and the triple threat challenge is thrown out for Double Or Nothing. Deal. Oh and for a bonus: let’s do Jungle Boy vs. Ricky Starks vs. Swerve Strickland next week.

Red Velvet and Kris Statlander are ready to fight in the first round of the Owen Hart Tournament on Friday. Jade Cargill comes in for catchphrases/trash talk.

Here are MJF and Shawn Spears, with MJF nearly getting sick when saying he’s in Houston. He tells Wardlow to get out here right now so here is Wardlow, with his hands still cuffed. MJF spits in his face and slaps him but Wardlow maintains his composure. MJF gets in a few whips but Wardlow doesn’t flinch. Spears gets in a few whips of his own and those wake him up, but MJF gets in a low blow and unloads with the belt. The Dynamite Diamond ring knocks Wardlow cold and MJF is rather pleased with himself.

Roppongi Vice throws out the challenge to FTR for a Ring of Honor Tag Team Title shot.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix starts with the flips but loses a chop off to put him right back down. Back up and an armbar slows Fenix down but he knocks O’Reilly to the floor for a heck of a running flip dive. O’Reilly posts the arm though and we take a break. Back with Fenix kicking him down as O’Relly’s chest is very red. O’Reilly grabs the rolling butterfly suplexes but Fenix drives him into the corner for a springboard spinning kick to the head.

Another spinning kick rocks O’Reilly but he bounces off the ropes with a rebound lariat. O’Reilly is back with a choke, which is reversed for a jumping enziguri. Fenix isn’t done and knocks him to the floor for a rope walk flip dive. Back in and a rolling cutter is countered into a cross armbreaker for the tap at 11:16.

Rating: B. This was an interesting back and forth style, with O’Reilly being perfectly logical by going after the arm that was hurt not too long ago. O’Reilly is going to go after a limb no matter what and they gave him an extra target here. Joe vs. O’Reilly should be a good showdown next week and they have done a nice job getting us there, especially with Fenix getting in just enough flips etc. to not take it too far.

Here is the Blackpool Combat Club/Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz, as William Regal and Chris Jericho have their face to face chat (as Jericho tends to do). The Jericho Appreciation Society comes out, with the order to cut off the pyro and music. Jericho brings up the attack last week and says he thought Regal would be dead by now. Regal gets a chuckle out of that and talks about how Regal should have been one of the best of all time given all of his skills. Instead, he wound up being a world class addict.

Regal has been fired from every company he has ever worked for until he weaseled his way in here on the coattails of his proteges. Then you have Eddie Kingston, whose face was burned with a fireball. Then you have Bryan Danielson, and we pause for a YES chant. Danielson has never had a drink or taken a drug in his life, but stick with this gang long enough and Regal will have him needing the program just like Moxley. Jericho tells Regal to get out of the business or the Wizard will shoot a fireball in his face. Or relieve himself in Regal’s tea again.

The tea gets Regal talking, as the two of them have known each other since 1997. The only thing that are worse than Jericho’s voice are the screams from a burning orphanage so please be quiet. Jericho is right about Regal’s issues, but one thing has kept him going for the last 21 years. Whenever he has been on a show with Jericho, Regal would go to Jericho’s bag when Jericho was in the ring and….place Jericho’s toothbrush in a certain area. Daniel Garcia: “HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO SOMEONE???” Regal: “Actually flower, I did it to yours last week.”

Jericho loads up the Stadium Stampede challenge but Moxley says he “isn’t doing that s***.” Moxley isn’t doing that sports entertainment stuff so let’s make it anything goes with glorious violence until the Society is bleeding like stuck pigs. Call it whatever you want, including wrestling vs. sports entertainment.

Jericho seems down with that and brings up the other team’s history with each other, including Danielson calling Kingston “a judgmental prick.” Kingston to Danielson: “You are.” Kingston doesn’t care about buyrates or ratings though so let’s fight right now. Jericho and company leave instead, with Danielson and Kingston being ready to fight over giving chase. There were some great lines in there, but this wasn’t what I had in mind for Regal vs. Jericho: Face To Face, especially as Regal didn’t exactly get in any great lines in response to Jericho’s stuff.

Dante Martin and Matt Sydal want the Blackpool Combat Club on Friday.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Britt Baker vs. ???

The Joker is Maki Itoh, the singing wrestler who teamed with Baker last year at Revolution. Baker loads up the Fingerpoke of Doom but Itoh small packages her for two instead. Itoh steps on her foot and hits a headbutt, only to miss a falling headbutt. There’s a Sling Blade to Baker and we take a break.

Back with Baker sending Itoh face first into the buckle, but Itoh has a hard head so she does it to herself. A headbutt puts Baker down and Itoh adds a tornado DDT for two. Itoh finally hits her falling headbutt for two but Baker pulls her straight into the Lockjaw for the win at 6:45.

Rating: D+. The match itself was nothing and that isn’t the point here. Itoh is the definition of a gimmick and therefore having her pop up once every now and then is going to work. I don’t know how much anyone was wanting a payoff to Itoh and Baker teaming together at Revolution, but for something that lasted about eight minutes, there are far worse ways to go.

Post match Toni Storm comes out for the staredown with Baker, who doesn’t seem impressed.

Here is Tony Schiavone in the ring to hype up next week’s three year anniversary show but Serena Deeb cuts him off. She is sick of hearing Tony talk, especially last week when Tony said that she can’t beat Thunder Rosa. Dustin Rhodes has had a lot to say about Deeb having no chance against Rosa, so here is Dustin to interrupt.

Deeb calls him the poster boy of failure and says Jim Ross might be the only one with any brains around here. She says Dustin knows how hard it was to be a woman in her era and even got implants to satisfy old perverts. So why does Dustin think Deeb can’t beat Thunder Rosa? Dustin has nothing to say so she slaps him in the face, which draws out Rosa. Deeb takes the Women’s Title from her and gets in a good shot. I have no idea what they were going for here, but Deeb talking isn’t a good thing.

Owen Hart Tournament Semifinals: Adam Cole vs. Jeff Hardy

Cole jumps him in the aisle and the beating starts fast. Hardy is sent into the steps, setting up a Backstabber to drop Jeff again. We take a break and come back with the slugout in the middle (because of course) but Cole enziguris him down. The sitout gordbuster gives Jeff two but the Whisper in the Wind is…kind of superkicked out of the air (that didn’t look great). The Boom misses so Jeff hits the Twisting Stunner, only to miss the Swanton. Cole hits the Boom for the pin at 7:05.

Rating: C. This felt like a rush job due to time constraints, especially with Cole jumping him in the aisle. I can kind of get the idea of not wanting Allin to lose to Cole here, but if that is the case, don’t set up the brackets that way in the first place. Hardy was still banged up here so he has an out, but it wasn’t like there was much to the match in the first place.

Post match Cole stares at Jeff but Matt Hardy gets in to cut him off. The Young Bucks come in for the cheap shot but the Hardys stare them down. Cole jumps the Hardys and here are Sting and Darby Allin for the save. Cue ReDRagon to go after Sting and Allin though, including Sting’s ankle being Pillmanized to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. AEW continues their weird streak of a good show with that one weird thing in there. This time it was Deeb’s segment, as I’m not sure I get what they were trying to do. Other than that (and the Baker vs. Itoh match, which was meant to be glorified comedy), there wasn’t much to complain about here. Double Or Nothing had matches either added or enhanced so I can’t complain all that much. Not a home run show here, but it did what it needed to do and didn’t go nuts with the surprises. I had fun, so call it at least mostly a success.

Results
Samoa Joe b. Johnny Elite – MuscleBuster
Hangman Page b. Konosuke Takeshita – GTS
Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee b. Workhorsemen – Sitout powerbomb/top rope double stomp to Henry
Kyle O’Reilly b. Rey Fenix – Cross armbreaker
Britt Baker b. Maki Itoh – Lockjaw
Adam Cole b. Jeff Hardy – Boom

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Dynamite
Date: May 11, 2022
Location: UBS Arena, Belmont Park, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re back on Long Island this week and that means it’s going to be a bit of a Bizarro World situation. CM Punk is getting to face Long Island’s own John Silver, but the big story is MJF getting to name the stipulations for his match against Wardlow with Wardlow’s freedom on the line. If nothing else, it should be fun to hear MJF get that kind of a hero’s welcome. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Owen Hart Foundation First Round: Adam Cole vs. Dax Harwood

Harwood starts fast with some shots to the face but gets kneed in the ribs to cut him down. That means Cole can start to pose a bit as he stomps Harwood down even more. Harwood gets sent ribs first into the post and it’s time to go outside. Cole sends him into various other things, including HARD into the post as we take a break.

Back with Harwood getting sent chest first into the buckle. Harwood is fine enough to hang in a slugout and grab a slingshot powerbomb for two of his own. A rollup gives Harwood two but the kickout sends him into the corner, only to have him come out with a spinning crossbody out of the corner. Cole is back with a superkick but Harwood rolls him up for two more.

The Panama Sunrise is blocked so Cole goes with a kick to the face and another Panama Sunrise attempt is countered, setting up a piledriver for two. With that not working, Harwood grabs the Sharpshooter but Cole kicks him off and out to the floor. That’s good for a nine count so Cole grabs his own Sharpshooter back inside. Harwood tries to bridge out but finally collapses and taps at 15:34.

Rating: B. I don’t think there was any real doubt about the winner here and that is not a bad thing. Harwood made Cole work here but ultimately fell in the end. The last few months have been a great showcase of FTR and it is great to see Harwood getting a moment to shine here on his own. Cole is a much bigger singles star and a real threat to win the tournament so this was a very nice way to use Harwood, even if he had no real chance of winning.

Video on Darby Allin vs. Jeff Hardy. They know each other and Allin has asked Tony Khan to relax the rules so they can be insane like they want to be.

CM Punk vs. John Silver

Hangman Page is on commentary. Punk, in a New York Islanders jersey, has his music stopped so the fans can boo him even more. Feeling out process to start with Silver running him over with a shoulder. Punk’s hiptoss is countered into a backslide for two but he gets in a shot of his own and we take a break.

Back with Silver firing off some kicks, including a low superkick into a brainbuster for two. Silver slips a bit in the corner but still manages a tornado DDT for another near fall. A running leg lariat gives Punk a needed breather and he goes to the apron, but stops to stare at Page. Punk hits a not very good Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 8:06.

Rating: C+. This was a similar story as the first match and that is something that works well. Punk vs. Page is starting to feel bigger and while they are going to have their work cut out for them, it is something they can pull off. That being said, Punk might need to stick to the GTS as that lariat wasn’t exactly great to see.

Post match Page storms to the ring and gets in Punk’s face. Punk talks about how the title is just business to him and this isn’t personal. Every morning, Punk would wake up and ask if he was a good guy. Now he is waking up to ask if he is the champ and yeah he thinks he is. At Double Or Nothing, Punk is winning the title and Page is going to shake his hand whether he is conscious or unconscious. Punk extends his hand but gets flipped off as Page leaves.

Britt Baker doesn’t care about who she is facing in the Owen Hart Tournament but she knows that Jamie Hayter is going to win. Tonight, the Toni Storm is going to pass. Oh and Baker is cool with facing Hayter in the semifinals.

Danhausen vs. Tony Nese

Danhausen loads up the curse but Nese sends him into the corner and hits the Running Nese for the pin at 32 seconds. It makes sense. There is nothing to suggest Danhausen is anything more than a joke so treat him as such.

Post match Nese hits another running knee and loads up another but here is Hook for the save. Nese runs off so Danhausen extends a hand to Hook, who shakes it, much to Danhausen’s shock.

We get a promo for the next season of Dark Side Of The Ring, as narrated by Chris Jericho, about an upcoming episode on MJF vs. Wardlow. Hold on though as Jericho says he doesn’t want to narrate something from MJF….but then he finds out how much he is being paid. This turns into a video about their history, with Taz not wanting to talk about Wardlow and Barry Horowitz talking about how much of a jobber Wardlow really is. Awesome, as usual with this stuff.

It’s time for the contract signing between MJF and Wardlow, with Wardlow coming to the ring in handcuffs and MJF sporting an Islanders jersey, allowing him to soak in even more cheers. MJF goes on about the greatness that is Long Island and explains the story, even for the fans in the cheap seats (MJF: “You’re poor but you’re still beautiful.”). He also doesn’t want the fans to boo Wardlow (with some very massive winking going on) and oddly enough, Wardlow is booed out of the building.

With that out of the way, it’s time to talk about the conditions, because it is time for Wardlow to pay for everything he did to Cody Rhodes. MJF again hints that he’s leaving in 2024 before saying at Double Or Nothing, he is going to whip Wardlow not one, two, etc etc, nine or…..hey Shawn Spears, how many times is he going to whip Wardlow? Anyway, if Wardlow is going to get his match, he has to beat Spears in a cage.

Wardlow REALLY likes that idea, until MJF says he’ll be the special referee. If Wardlow survives there, he can get his match at Double Or Nothing, but if he loses there, he can NEVER sign with AEW. Wardlow tries to sign but can’t with the handcuffs….so MJF says take them off. Spears and Mark Sterling point out that this is a REALLY BAD IDEA but the cuffs come off anyway.

Wardlow signs but doesn’t want the cuffs put back on. Security is taken out (with MJF hiding behind Spears) and Spears is taken out, leaving Sterling to save MJF from the Powerbomb Symphony. Then Sterling is put through the table instead. Commentary says MJF vs. Wardlow is set for Double Or Nothing, and I think it’s the whipping, the cage match and MJF vs. Wardlow all at the pay per view. Or maybe not as it’s kind of unclear. It seems that Wardlow has to get through the other stages first and then gets MJF, but their wording could have been a lot better here.

Video on Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal/Sonjay Dutt/Satnam Singh.

FTW World Title: Ricky Starks vs. Jungle Boy

Starks is defending. They go a bit technical to start with neither being able to get anywhere until Jungle Boy blocks a right hand. Starks gets dropkicked out to the floor and we take a break. Back with Jungle Boy hitting a rebound lariat but Starks knocks him back as well. Roshambo is blocked and Jungle Boy hits a superkick for two.

As JR goes on some weird tangent about Taz having a special guest at Thanksgiving (apparently he means Danhausen, which had nothing to do with anything going on at the moment), Jungle Boy gets the Snare Trap but Starks is in the ropes. Starks tries to leave but here is Swerve Strickland to cut him off. That means the referee doesn’t see Jungle Boy roll Starks up. Once the referee is back though, the Roshambo can retain the title at 10:01.

Rating: C+. Jungle Boy gets protected in the loss but it’s still weird to see him get pinned. This would seem to set up something between Strickland/Keith Lee and the Jurassic Express, even though Team Taz is right there. That’s the calling card of a triple threat and in this case, it makes enough sense. Starks and Jungle Boy had the perfectly good match you would expect them to have too so this was completely watchable.

Post match Christian Cage and Luchasaurus come out to check on Jungle Boy and don’t look happy with Swerve. Cue Keith Lee and it’s a three way staredown, also involving Team Taz.

Here is the Jericho Appreciation Society for a victory speech, though commentary isn’t sure what victory they’re talking about. Matt Menard talks about how excited being on this team makes him before it’s off to Jericho, who says he was glad to get out of this dump. He’s the Wizard and throws fireballs in people’s faces, including Eddie Kingston.

Hold on though as Kingston needs to stay home because he needs to keep his wife happy. If Kingston can’t, call Jericho and he’ll take care of it. Daniel Garcia talks about how sports entertainers always beat wrestlers, and it’s Jon Moxley interrupting. Jericho tells him to go on another hiatus but here are Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta and William Regal.

That isn’t enough to even things up, so here are Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston to start the real brawl. House is cleaned and even Regal gets in a shot on Jericho. The villains flee, as I wonder when they installed the invisible wall that is keeping the good guys from going after Jericho and company. That’s quite the one sided match on paper, but I’ll take this over the BCC crushing more and more jobbers.

Video on Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter

They go to the mat to start and neither can get very far. Back up and Hayter wins a power off and sends Storm outside as we take an early break. We come back with Storm getting two off a high crossbody but getting caught in a Rock Bottom backbreaker (with Hayter just barely getting the knee in). The ripcord lariat is countered into a German suplex though and Storm gets a breather as Hayter rolls to the apron. They slug it out until Hayter grabs a superplex, only to get small packaged for two. Hayter rolls through a backslide but Storm is right there with Storm Zero to advance at 8:32.

Rating: C+. They kept this one moving and had a physical fight to get there. I like that Storm is getting rehabbed a bit as she came in and then cooled off rather quickly, but at least they’re doing a little something with her here. I’m not sure if she is getting past Britt Baker, but one win on TV is better than another loss.

Video on Kazarian vs. Scorpio Sky.

Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti warn Kazarian about Scorpio Sky but he doesn’t want to hear it. Guevara: “SCU later.” Kazarian: “Your vlog sucks.”

Here is what is coming up on various shows. They do clarify that Wardlow will get his ten lashes next week.

Owen Hart Foundation First Round: Darby Allin vs. Jeff Hardy

Anything goes and Sting/Matt Hardy are the seconds. Allin starts at the bell and dropkicks Hardy to the floor. A bunch of chairs are set up next to each other (eight, set up four by two) but Jeff sends him face first into the steps. Hardy hammers away and turns the steps on their side but the Twist of Fate is blocked. Instead, Hardy pulls out a ladder (as we’re less than three minutes into the match) and we take a break.

Back with Allin on top of the big ladder in the ring and, after doing Jeff’s pose, flip dives onto Hardy onto the eight chairs. With that horrifically stupid idea out of the way (and Allin thankfully still moving), Allin misses a Coffin Drop onto the apron, allowing Hardy to put him on the steps for the Twist of Fate. The Swanton only hits steps though and Allin takes him back in for the Coffin Drop….so Hardy rolls him up for the pin at 10:16.

Rating: D. I know that’s not going to go over well but I got angrier and angrier throughout this….well it wasn’t wrestling so I’m not sure what to call it. Within three minutes, they had eight chairs, the ring steps and a ladder in play. After a break they did a crazy spot, then they did a crazy spot, then Allin hit his finisher but Jeff pinned him anyway. As in Jeff hardy, who can barely move, pinned Darby Allin, who (assuming he isn’t in a wheelchair because no one with any authority will tell him to stop doing those dangerous spots) could be a top star around here. If you liked it then that’s cool, but this was absolutely not for me in any way.

Post match the Undisputed Elite comes out to stare down the Hardys to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a MUCH better show than last week so I think we can write that off as the kind of bad night that happens to everyone. Main event aside (and I’m likely to be pretty alone on that one), this was an entertaining show but more importantly, it moved things forward towards Double Or Nothing. A lot of the card is either already set or is pretty clear, so now they can spend the next few weeks hammering things down. That is the important part of this week, but they also had some good action throughout. Nice stuff this week, which tends to be the case around here.

Results
Adam Cole b. Dax Harwood – Sharpshooter
CM Punk b. John Silver – Buckshot lariat
Tony Nese b. Danhausen – Running Nese
Ricky Starks b. Jungle Boy – Roshambo
Toni Storm b. Jamie Hayter – Storm Zero
Jeff Hardy b. Darby Allin – Crucifix

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ECW On Sci Fi
Date: November 13, 2007
Location: Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

It’s the last show before Survivor Series and that means it is time to hammer home the build towards CM Punk defending the ECW World Title against the Miz and John Morrison in a triple threat match. Miz has come a long way in recent weeks and Morrison is the top heel around here (or close to it) so that is as logical of a title match as they have right now. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

MVP/Mr. Kennedy vs. Hardys

Yay for guest stars and the theoretical Brand Split. Matt and Kennedy start things off with the fans being WAY behind Hardy (no word on if they mean Matt or Jeff). Kennedy gets taken into the corner so Jeff can slingshot in with a dropkick for an early two. It’s off to MVP to take over on Jeff but the villains are sent to the floor so Jeff can take both of them down with a dive.

Back in and a double elbow drops Kennedy for two but he is fine enough to knock Jeff down. MVP kicks Jeff out to the floor but Matt cuts MVP (his partner) off from getting to Jeff (his partner) as we take a break. We come back with MVP pulling on both arms before Kennedy grabs a seated abdominal stretch.

Jeff fights up and gets over to Matt, allowing some of the house to be cleaned, including the Side Effect for two on Kennedy. It’s right back to Jeff to miss the Swanton though and MVP drops an elbow for two. The seated abdominal stretch goes on for a bit before Kennedy adds a legdrop for two. Jeff fights up and hits the sitout gordbuster on MVP but gets sent to the apron. Kennedy pulls Jeff down by the hair, with Jeff landing HARD on the floor. MVP throws Jeff back in for the really quick pin.

Rating: C+. The ending was rather scary but maybe MVP throwing him back inside for the easy pin was a good sign as I would hope he wouldn’t do that if Jeff was really hurt. There was an interesting dynamic here focused on Matt, as he was in the middle of two different partners. MVP/Matt has gone on for a long time now and I’m wondering how long they can keep it as good as they have so far.

Post match MVP and Matt argue but MVP cuts off Kennedy’s running chair shot. MVP and Kennedy leave, allowing Matt to help Jeff (thankfully awake) walk to the back.

We look back at CM Punk vs. Jamie Noble on Smackdown, which saw some interference that left Punk laying.

Survivor Series Classic: the first one in 1987. Classic seems to fit for that one.

Here is Matt Striker in the ring for a chat. He has some good news for us: Big Daddy V isn’t here tonight because he has a bad cold. That is a good reminder to get your flu shot because it can help everything. V will be at Survivor Series though and he will dominate everyone. Cue Kane so Striker starts backing off in a hurry. Kane doesn’t mind and beats Striker down without much effort.

Melina/Layla vs. Kelly Kelly/Michelle McCool

Melina works on Michelle’s arm to start but Kelly comes in for a pretty bad looking double suplex. Kelly pulls Melina out of the corner for the sole purpose of flipping over into a rollup for two. That isn’t working for Melina, who takes her into the corner and then pull her back out. Kelly breaks that up in a hurry and hands it off to Michelle to clean house. A big boot finishes Melina.

Rating: D+. This would be one of those “well what were you expecting” matches. Kelly and Layla ware there as eye candy, Michelle is getting better but is still a work in progress and Melina is the one slightly polished worker in the match. This was designed to have women on camera and that’s all it was going to be.

Survivor Series rundown.

SAVE US.

CM Punk vs. Jamie Noble

Non-title, Miz is on commentary and John Morrison comes out to join him before the bell. We take a break and come back joined in progress with a battle over arm control. Punk takes over with a front facelock as commentary talks about Miz’s hat. A backbreaker gives Punk two but Noble is back with a jumping knee to the arm.

The arm gets snapped back a few times and Noble cranks on it a bit to keep things on the mat. A comeback is cut off and Noble goes with something close to a keylock. That’s broken up with a Samoan drop into some Kawada kicks to give Punk a breather. Punk hits a powerslam but the springboard clothesline is pulled into a Fujiwara armbar. With that broken up, Noble tries the tiger driver but gets reversed into the GS for the pin.

Rating: C+. The focus on the commentary hurt this one a bit but other than that, they had a well put together match with a simple story of Noble going after the arm and Punk fighting through to catch him in the end. That’s an acceptable way to go with a TV main event, especially when the focal point was the people talking. Noble continues to be a valuable piece of any roster, as he is having one good performance after another.

Post match Miz and Morrison come in and beat Punk down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The important thing here is that this show felt energized. There was good enough action throughout and while that might be due to the guest stars, I wasn’t bored throughout the show. ECW’s biggest problem for a long time has been their lack of star power and that is starting to be solved, at least a bit, by having these Smackdown names come in. Keep that up and they might be on to something around here.

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Smackdown
Date: November 9, 2007
Location: Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

We are almost up to Survivor Series and the main event is set. Other than that, Smackdown doesn’t have much going on at the moment though and they need to come up with something in the next week or so. This week will see Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay, in what should be the blowoff to a pretty decent feud. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Jesse/Festus, Jimmy Wang Yang/Shannon Moore, Deuce N Domino, Major Brothers, Dave Taylor/Drew McIntyre

Only one member has to be eliminated and the winners get a Tag Team Title shot later tonight. It’s a brawl to start with almost everyone getting together to eliminate Festus, who has to be forced to the back because the bell didn’t ring to snap him back to normal. Yang and Moore hit a double dropkick on McIntyre as there isn’t exactly much going on here. We finally get something out of the norm as Yang takes his shirt off, only to get kneed off the top and out to the floor.

For some reason we take a break and come back with Taylor being clotheslined out, leaving us with the Majors vs. Deuce N Domino. Brett gets knocked down but he’s able to make a last second save for Brian. A suplex/high crossbody combination hits Brett but Crack Them In Da Mouth is broken up, allowing the Majors to dump both of them out for the surprise win.

Rating: D+. This was about as good as it was going to get, as there isn’t much that can be done with a five team battle royal. The best part is the fact that they mixed it up a bit, as Deuce N Domino are done as a team that really matters, at least for the time being. The Majors have cooled way off, but at least they’re something that feels a lot more fresh.

Torrie Wilson asks Michelle McCool what is up with Michelle and Chuck Palumbo. Michelle says they’re just friends but Torrie isn’t convinced. Kenny Dykstra and Victoria come up and the brawl sets up a match.

We look back at the history of the Great Khali vs. Undertaker, as they face off in a No Holds Barred match tonight.

Michelle McCool vs. Victoria

Chuck Palumbo and Kenny Dykstra are here too. McCool shoulders her down to start and cranks on a wristlock but Victoria manages to send her outside. Victoria gets in a ram into the barricade and takes her back inside for two. Back up and Michelle kicks her in the face, setting up a big boot. The guys get in a fight though and Victoria grabs a DDT for the fast pin.

Rey Mysterio isn’t worried about Finlay because Finlay doesn’t know him. After some Spanish, Rey declares himself a winner.

Jamie Noble interrupts Vickie Guerrero and CM Punk to thank Vickie for the Rey Mysterio DVD last week. He has a special….VHS with her, including the promise of, ahem, personal footage at the end. Punk likes the retro VHS but Noble goes into a rant about what Vickie has put him through. A match is made (after a discussion of pie). Noble: “Is this some kind of crazy fetish with you???” And give him back his tape! Noble continues to be absolutely hilarious in the last few weeks.

Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio

They start slowly and JBL is NOT pleased with the way the fans are chanting about Finlay. A hard clothesline drops Rey and it’s time to start the clubbing shots to the back. Rey hurricanranas him to the floor and adds a baseball slide into an Asai moonsault as we take a break. Back with Finlay getting in a shot of his own to take over again, with Rey getting rocked by a few kicks to the ribs.

Finlay sends him chest first into the buckle to break up a comeback and a buckle bomb has Rey in even more trouble. As commentary argues over whether the fans want competition or a fight, Finlay slams him legs first into the ropes and grabs a Boston crab. With that broken up, some knees to the back send Rey outside, where he is sent into the barricade. Back in and the Boston crab goes on again, with Rey getting out again.

A rollup out of the corner gives Rey two as a turnbuckle pad has been taken off somewhere in there. Rey hammers down some right hands but gets dropped face first onto the exposed buckle for two more. Another hard clothesline gives Finlay two but Rey slips out of a belly to back suplex. The 619 sets up the West Coast Pop, which is broken up with a knock off the ropes. Finlay hits the Celtic Cross for the completely clean pin.

Rating: B-. These guys work well together and they did so again here, with Finlay getting one of his bigger wins in recent months. It’s strange to see this one go down clean but Finlay beating Mysterio isn’t the biggest stretch. If nothing else, it is always fun to see Finlay pick someone apart like this and he did it well here.

Post match Finlay takes him outside for a laptop to the head and a ribs first ram into the post to leave Rey laying. Rey is so banged up that the mask comes off as the referee checks on him.

We look at Great Khali crushing Kane with the Vice Grip back in the day.

CM Punk vs. Jamie Noble

Non-title. Noble goes for the arm to start but gets kicked in the leg, setting up a triangle dropkick out to the floor. Back in and Noble manages a few kicks to the ribs, setting up a cobra clutch of all things. Some knees to the head seem to wake Punk up as he’s back with the running knee into/the bulldog out of the corner. Not that it matters as Miz runs in for the DQ.

Rating: C. They really can’t have Noble take a pin from a reigning champion? Noble has been beaten like a drum and keeps coming back but I guess they had to draw the line somewhere. Punk getting onto one of the bigger shows is a good thing too as he should be starting to move in that direction in the next few months.

Post match John Morrison joins Miz in the beatdown. Punk gets in a GTS on Morrison but Noble hits his fireman’s carry gutbuster to drop Punk again.

Video on the Cell.

Here is Batista for a chat, with JBL getting a prompt phone call to allow himself a hasty escape. Batista says he and Undertaker are not friends, but he is pulling for Great Khali tonight. He wants Undertaker at his best in the Cell because he wants to prove that he is the better man. Everything is on the line and he’s ready for Undertaker. This was short but VERY to the point and it worked.

Tag Team Titles: MVP/Matt Hardy vs. Major Brothers

The Brothers are challenging. Brian armdrags Matt into an early armbar but Matt punches his way out of trouble. The corner clothesline into the corner bulldog (might not want to do such a similar sequence in the match right after Punk) and it’s off to MVP for a suplex. MVP isn’t interested in bringing Matt back in so he grabs the Playmaker for the pin to retain. Not much more than a squash here.

Post match, the champs don’t seem to trust each other.

Remember how Khali uses the Vice Grip? Here’s even more proof of it.

Fabulous Moolah tribute video.

Survivor Series rundown.

Undertaker vs. Great Khali

No Holds Barred. Undertaker starts striking away early on and hits a chokeslam less than a minute in. We take an early break and come back with Khali taking over in the corner and getting two off a clothesline. The nerve hold goes on for a bit, only to have Undertaker fight up. That’s countered into the Vice Grip but Undertaker punches his way out and hits an all time bad chokeslam (as Khali got all of an inch into the air) for two. Khali is right back with the chokeslam but stops to pose, allowing Undertaker to sit up. The triangle choke (possibly making his debut) makes Khali tap.

Rating: D+. There wasn’t much to see here as Undertaker wasn’t about to lose to Khali, who has fallen off the planet in the last few months. Beating Khali will always mean something because he is so big but he’s a three move combo at best. That doesn’t make for the most thrilling match but Undertaker getting in a new finisher was a nice touch.

Undertaker motions that he wants the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. There were a few minor bright spots in here but again it didn’t feel like a show you needed to watch. They are focusing hard on the Cell match to carry the Smackdown side of the pay per view and that should work, but I’m not sure how much else there is going to be that is worth seeing. Maybe they add in something more next week, though I don’t know what else they have to add. Fix that up and they could be ok, but it isn’t looking like a strong show nine days out.

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ECW On Sci Fi
Date: November 6, 2007
Location: Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, California
Commentators: Joey Styles, Taz

It’s time for another title match as CM Punk defends against John Morrison (again). Mark Henry seems to be primed to become the next major force around here but you never can tell just how well that is going to go. Other than that, we don’t exactly have much going on around here and that continues to be a problem. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory of The Fabulous Moolah.

We open with a video on CM Punk vs. John Morrison, so at least they’re getting to the point tonight.

Opening sequence.

Mark Henry vs. Kane

Henry pounds away at the back to start and crushes Kane with a powerslam for two. Kane gets driven back first into the corner but comes out slugging. That’s cut off but Kane fights out of a bearhug attempt. The top rope clothesline connects but Henry knees him in the ribs to break up the chokeslam. Henry has had enough of this and grabs a chair, which is enough for the DQ.

Rating: C. They kept this one short and that is a good idea, as you can only get so far with these two doing their big man match. Henry continues to look like a monster and could become a monster of the next few months either around here or on Smackdown. It isn’t anything we haven’t see before, but at least they are trying something with him.

Post match Henry wrecks Kane, including the World’s Strongest Slam onto the chair.

Wrestlemania tickets are on sale. I’m still surprised that it took so long to get it to Florida.

Nunzio vs. Jamie Noble

They go with the grappling to start until Noble elbows him in the back of the head and takes him into the corner. A backbreaker gives Noble a pair of near falls and there’s a kick to the head to make it worse. The chinlock goes on for a bit, with Nunzio fighting up and hitting a quick Sicilian Slice. Noble has had it though and it’s a Rock Bottom backbreaker into a fireman’s carry gutbuster to finish Nunzio.

Rating: C+. This might not have the biggest connection to ECW but it is nice to see some fresh blood around here. Noble is the kind of person you can put in any spot and he’ll be fine through talent alone, so throwing him out there with one of the better ECW Originals is not a bad idea.

Video on John Morrison.

SAVE US, now saying “can you break the code” and “the answer is code”.

Kelly Kelly vs. Layla

Miz (without Brooke, who was released a few days ago) is on commentary. Layla kicks her down to start and we’re already to the mounted right hands. A slam finishes Kelly in less than a minute. Yeah a slam.

Post match Balls Mahoney runs in to check on Kelly but Miz would rather walk off than fight.

Video on CM Punk vs. John Morrison, including their history.

We get a clip from Rey Mysterio’s ECW debut to promote his new DVD.

Elijah Burke vs. Shannon Moore

Moore sends him into the corner to start and drops Burke for an early two. That’s too far for Burke, who punches him into the ropes for the running crotch attack. The Outer Limits elbow (good name) sets up the Elijah Express for the fast pin.

Fabulous Moolah tribute video.

Miz wishes John Morrison luck against CM Punk tonight, but Morrison doesn’t need it. All Miz can do is manage a bunch of girls and he can’t even do that well. Miz tells Morrison that his luck is running out soon.

We look at D-Generation X beating Randy Orton and Umaga last night on Raw.

Post Raw main event, William Regal makes a rule for Orton vs. Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series: if Shawn uses the superkick, he is disqualified and can never challenge Orton for the title again. In exchange, if Orton tries to get disqualified, Shawn is champion.

Survivor Series rundown.

ECW Title: CM Punk vs. John Morrison

Punk is defending and gets shouldered down early on. Back up and Punk starts with the kicks but Morrison blocks a middle rope sunset flip. The springboard kick to the face gives Morrison two and we’re already in a crossarm choke. Punk fights out of that as well and the springboard clothesline connects for two. A leg lariat sets up a powerslam and some Kawada kicks to keep Morrison in trouble. Cue Miz for a distraction though to break up the GTS though and Morrison grabs a rollup for two. With Punk down, Miz throws in his hat to distract Morrison, allowing Punk to grab the retaining rollup.

Rating: C+. I like the idea of bringing Miz up to the next level, as he has done well with what he has been given so far but still needs that extra boost to get him to the main event scene. If nothing else, putting him in there with Morrison in a bigger feud could be a good way to go as they have shown some nice chemistry when they are together.

Overall Rating: C+. The best thing here is they seemed to start to have an idea of how to use the Smackdown guys. I would rather have the lower level Smackdown stars filling out this show than the ECW Originals, most of whom had nothing going on and looked like losers most of the time. This show felt like it was getting closer to some stability and a more established norm and that has been needed for a long time around here.

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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