Smackdown – April 19, 2024: The Show Setting Up The Show After The Show Before The Show

Smackdown
Date: April 19, 2024
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Corey Graves, Wade Barrett

We have just a few weeks before Backlash and that means it is time to crown a new #1 contender. That gets covered this week, as LA Knight meets AJ Styles in a Wrestlemania rematch for the shot against Cody Rhodes at Backlash. Other than that, we very well may be in for some new Tag Team Title belts. Let’s get to it.

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

We run down the card.

AJ Styles vs. LA Knight

For the World Title shot against Cody Rhodes at Backlash. Knight grabs a headlock to start and puts the brakes on before Styles can hit the dropkick. They head outside with Knight ramming him into the announcers’ table, as is Knight’s custom. A running dropkick through the ropes puts Styles down again and we take a break.

Back with Knight slugging away but stereo crossbodies leave them both down. They slug it out with Knight getting the better of things and taking Styles up top. The top rope superplex gives Knight two but Styles is back with the Pele. It’s too early for the Phenomenal Forearm so Knight slams him down, setting up the jumping elbow. Styles heads to the apron and manages a quick poke to the eye, setting up the Phenomenal Forearm to go to Backlash at 11:04.

Rating: C+. Styles makes good sense as Cody’s first challenger as Knight would be too popular. Cody vs. Styles will be at least a perfectly acceptable match between two talented stars and Cody should look good as a result. I’m not wild on Knight losing so soon after Wrestlemania, but at least he got his big win there, which is better than nothing at all.

We look back at Tama Tonga debuting and wiping Jimmy Uso out of the Bloodline.

Earlier today, Solo Sikoa, in a very nice suit, meets Paul Heyman in the back and introduces Tama Tonga as the newest member of the Bloodline. Heyman doesn’t seem sure about this but Sikoa cuts him off and wants to know if Kevin Owens is here.

Here is Nick Aldis in the ring to introduce HHH for an announcement. HHH talks about the amazing future that Nick Aldis (and Adam Pearce) are leading us into, so we need Grayson Waller and Austin Theory out here. They get right to the point: the team will now be known as the WWE Tag Team Champions, complete with new belts, which look like the old WWF World Tag Team Titles. Since we have new champions, we need new challengers so let’s do this.

Well also after Naomi says she isn’t letting her friendship with Bayley get in the way of winning the Women’s Title tonight.

Street Profits vs. New Catch Republic vs. Legado del Fantasma vs. AOP

Austin Theory and Grayson Waller are on commentary. Ford headlocks Bate to start but Bate technicals him down without much effort. It’s quickly off to Berto to get in a cheap shot on Ford, setting up a running knee from Angel. The AOP aren’t having this and come in to wreck people as we take a break.

Back with Akam hitting Ford in the face and grabbing an over the shoulder backbreaker. Ford manages to slip out and get over to Bate for a tag as everything breaks down. As the champs can’t focus because of their beautiful new titles, a Tower of Doom (or most of one) leaves some people down, with Bate being double gorilla pressed off the top to make it worse. An assisted powerbomb gets two on Bate but the Republic is back with stereo ankle locks to Legado. Those are broken up and we take another break.

Back again with Rezar powerbombing Dawkins and Bate getting planted as well. The Republic escape the Super Collider and knock the AOP outside as everything breaks down again. Berto’s springboard spinning kick to the face gets two on Dawkins but Dawkins is right back up for the Doomsday Blockbuster. Bate snaps Dawkins’ fingers before the Republic and Ford all hit flip dives to the floor. Back in and Berto clotheslines Bate, setting up Angel’s Lionsault. Ford frog splashes in for the save and the Revelation gives Dawkins the pin on Angel at 17:14.

Rating: B-. This got more time than I was expecting and it worked pretty well. The biggest story here is getting the first challengers set up for the new champs and the Profits are great choices. They’re the kind of team who could conceivably give the new champs a run for their money or even win the titles, but they could also be a good set of first victims. Nice match here, with the time flying by.

We look at Rhea Ripley vacating the Women’s Title due to her shoulder injury.

Bayley is a bit shaken up by what she saw Rhea Ripley do on Raw but she’s not losing tonight.

Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa keep looking for Kevin Owens but Heyman tells him that he (as in Solo) isn’t allowed to make these decisions yet. Sikoa: “Are you done yet?” They come into the arena and, after a break, Heyman talks about being one of the better backstage politickers in WWE. We pause for a WE WANT ROMAN chant, which has Heyman a bit broken up, but Solo takes the mic.

Sikoa says he had to lose a brother last week to gain a new member of the Bloodline in Tama Tonga. Cue Tonga, who is beating Kevin Owens down the aisle. Referees help Owens to the back as Sikoa and Tonga pose, but (the very bloody) Owens comes back, only to get beaten down by the Bloodline again. Nick Aldis eventually comes in and the Bloodline leaves. Heyman is selling the heck out of this stuff, as the fear he is showing makes me want to know what happens when Reigns, or someone else, shows up again.

Post break Nick Aldis drags Paul Heyman to the parking lot where Tama Tonga’s car has rammed into Kevin Owens’. Heyman is aghast but Aldis threatens him with repercussions if he doesn’t get this under control.

Santos Escobar vs. Carlito

Elektra Lopez and Zelina Vega are here too. Carlito hammers away to start and sends him outside, setting up a dropkick through the ropes. Vega poses on Carlito’s shoulders and we take a break. Back with Escobar snapping off a super hurricanrana as Vega is looking terrified. The armbar goes on but Carlito fights up to make the clothesline comeback. The women get into a brawl on the floor and the distraction lets Escobar hit the Phantom Driver for the pin at 7:37.

Rating: C. Not much to this one, which has been the case for almost everything Carlito has done in recent months. They seem to be pointing towards Carlito being revealed as the guy who took out Dragon Lee, but it almost feels too obvious. At the same time, a heel turn could do Carlito some good, as he doesn’t have anything going on at the moment.

Damage CTRL is in a sky box…but Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair pop up next to them to watch the main event.

Cody Rhodes, currently in England on the UK tour, praises AJ Styles and says he’s looking forward to the title match at Backlash.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Naomi

Naomi is challenging and they fight over wrist control to start. Bayley takes her down into an armbar but Naomi fights up with a springboard bulldog. The Rear View gives Naomi two and we take a break. Back with Naomi hitting a high crossbody for two but Bayley knocks her down for a change. The top rope elbow only hits raised knees though and Naomi grabs a slingshot X Factor.

Naomi’s split legged moonsault hits raised knees and now the top rope elbow connects for two. It’s too early for the Rose Plant and Naomi pulls her into the reverse Rings Of Saturn. Bayley gets to the rope so it’s time to slug it out/yell at each other. Both of them crash out to the floor, where Bayley hits a Bayley onto the announcers’ table…and cue Tiffany Stratton to jump Bayley for the DQ at 11:17.

Rating: C+. There’s a good chance that this is setting up a triple threat for the title at Backlash and that isn’t a bad way to go. Stratton interfering here makes sense but they waited long enough that her interference still felt like a surprise instead of waiting around for her to come in. Naomi has some complaining to do here and we should be in for a showdown when she gets another chance.

Stratton sends them inside for the double Prettiest Moonsault Ever to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. They were in a weird spot with this show as they had to set some things up for Backlash, but with the biggest story being “Roman Reigns isn’t here and the Bloodline is going nuts” and the Draft next week, it wasn’t the most important feeling of a show. What matters is they had a good enough show with some nice action, but everything is changing next week and they knew it.

Results
AJ Styles b. LA Knight – Phenomenal Forearm
Street Profits b. Legado del Fantasma, New Catch Republic and AOP – Revelation to Angel
Santos Escobar b. Carlito – Phantom Driver
Bayley b. Naomi via DQ when Tiffany Stratton interfered

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

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AND

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Monday Night Raw – April 15, 2024: Back To The Good Normal

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 15, 2024
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We’re getting back to normal this week as Wrestlemania is now getting more firmly in the rear view mirror. Last week saw Jey Uso become the new #1 contender to Damian Priest so odds are we’ll be hearing more from them this time. The main event is a big one though as hometown boy Sami Zayn will be defending the Intercontinental Title against Chad Gable. Let’s get to it.

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

Earlier today, people who work here came to work.

Here is Rhea Ripley to get things going and her arm is in a sling. She looks very upset and gets right to the point: she’s out for a few months and has to vacate the Women’s World Title. Ripley blames the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour and promises to come back and have to be put in jail to avoid killing Morgan. Cue Morgan, with security having to hold them apart. Ripley beats up one of the guards.

Post break the Judgment Day gives Ripley a hug and tell her to come back and make Morgan regret it.

Sheamus vs. Ivar

Sheamus, complete with his old theme music, is in shorts now instead of his regular gear. Hitting Ivar doesn’t get very far so they go up top, with Sheamus muscling him up for a super White Noise. We take a break and come back with Sheamus hitting a powerslam, setting up the ten forearms. Ivar kicks Sheamus in the head and hits the top rope splash for two but Sheamus fights out of the corner. A running knee sets up the Brogue Kick to finish Ivar at 8:18.

Rating: C+. Sheamus is back at what he does best by hitting people really hard until the match is over. He’s the definition of a simple character and that is not a bad thing. That’s what he did here against someone who can slug right back with him. If nothing else, having the old theme back freshens things up a bit, which is long overdue.

Video on Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn.

Here is HHH for a chat, with Pat McAfee making a Terry Ryzing reference. HHH talks about how hot the crowd is tonight before talking about how many changes happened at Wrestlemania. This included the Tag Team Titles changing hands so let’s bring out Awesome Truth. We get a long bit of praise for the champs before HHH (with Adam Pearce) unveils the new World Tag Team Titles.

R-Truth thinks HHH is a magician because those titles just appeared! He doesn’t trust magicians after Little Jimmy…..so he knows that’s really Tommaso Ciampa! Miz calms things down a bit and talks about being in Montreal, thinking the fans want Sami Zayn. Miz explains the idea to R-Truth in French….and that just works. HHH: “Can I just go please?” He swaps the titles, shakes their hands, and wishes Pearce luck before leaving. Pearce isn’t pleased but let’s get to the triple threat #1 contenders match.

I like the new titles (they’re gold, but for some reason they look like WWE themed pizzas) but this felt like a segment designed to have R-Truth out there doing his wacky stuff. That is still entertaining, though it came off a bit forced here. Either way, the new titles are definitely an improvement over the rather dated previous versions.

New Day vs. Creed Brothers vs. DIY

During New Day’s entrance (complete with Xavier Woods doing Buff Bagwell’s strut and pose), we get a weird graphic to interrupt the signal but it isn’t acknowledged. Brutus powers Woods and Ciampa around to start, setting up a double clothesline. We hear about Brutus ripping the handles off microwaves when he was in school as the Creeds’ stereo suplexes are broken up. The Creeds cut off DIY’s dives so New Day hit dives of their own as we take a break.

Back with Julius and Ciampa slugging it out, with Julius getting the better of things. Trouble In Paradise is blocked as everything breaks down again. Project Ciampa gets two on Kofi but the Fairy Tale Ending is broken up. Woods comes in with a tornado DDT and the Honor Roll before having to drop Brutus. The Creeds are back up to clean house, including a pair of double suplexes for a double near fall. Back up and the Brutus Ball is broken up, leaving Woods to hit a top rope elbow on Julius. That takes too long though and DIY hits Meet In The Middle on Woods for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: C+. That was certainly a triple threat tag match for a future title shot and I’m not sure what else they were expecting. There’s not much to see here outside of the normal, expected stuff. DIY getting the shot is fine as they have a connection to the champs and are just enough of a threat to possibly take the belts.

We look at Jey Uso becoming the #1 contender last week.

Drew McIntyre won’t say anything about it but seems livid.

Ivy Nile/Maxxine Dupri vs. Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell

Nile takes Hartwell down to start and hands it off to Dupri for a high crossbody. A fisherman’s suplex gives Dupri two but she stops to yell at LeRae, allowing Hartwell to get in a clothesline. LeRae comes in to stomp away but Hartwell offers a distraction, with Dupri grabbing a DDT. Hartwell offers a distraction though and the referee doesn’t see the tag. That means Hartwell can come in with a big boot to give LeRae the pin at 3:36.

Rating: C-. This story has been going for a few weeks now and while it has been progressing, it isn’t very interesting. Hartwell and LeRae feel like the bottom rung of the division and trying to make them into more of a thing isn’t exactly working. Dupri still needs so much ring time to get better and having her in these short matches on Raw isn’t doing her much good.

Video on Damian Priest’s rise to the top of WWE.

Priest tells the Judgment Day to keep focused even if Rhea Ripley is hurt. Tonight, JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio need to deal with Andrade while Finn Balor needs to take out Jey Uso.

Earlier today, Chad Gable was training with the Creed Brothers in the ring. He’s trained Sami Zayn, but that means he knows Zayn’s weaknesses too.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Andrade

JD McDonagh is here with Mysterio. Andrade starts fast with the corner chops into a crossbody but Dominik is fine enough to reverse the third Amigo. McDonagh offers a distraction though and Dominik gets in a cheap shot as we take a break. Back with Andrade hitting the running knees in the corner, only to miss the moonsault. They head to the apron with Dominik hitting a Canadian (or “this country” according to McAfee) Destroyer for two, only for Andrade to come back with the Message for the pin at 8:40.

Rating: C. They lost me a good bit near the end, with a Canadian Destroyer on the apron being such a nothing part of the match. That really should be a bigger deal but the match was over about thirty seconds later. Other than that, Andrade just isn’t clicking for whatever reason. Maybe he needs someone to talk for him, but there’s a piece missing and it’s holding him back.

Post match McDonagh comes in for the beatdown on Andrade with Ricochet making the save.

We look at Tama Tonga joining the Bloodline and taking out Jimmy Uso.

Jey Uso isn’t sure what’s going on but he told Jimmy to come with him. Enough of that though, as he has Finn Balor tonight.

Piper Niven/Chelsea Green vs. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter

Niven runs both of them over to start so it’s off to Green. Carter has some better luck and works on the arm before putting Green in a fireman’s carry. Chance comes off the top, jumps off Green’s back and…is pulled out of the air by Niven. A fall away slam sends Chance flying and a basement crossbody crushes Carter to give Green the pin at 2:11.

We look back at the opening segment.

Liv Morgan says this is karma for Rhea Ripley injuring her and says this is just the beginning of her Revenge Tour. The ending will be her winning the Women’s World Title.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. He’s glad to be on Raw despite being a Smackdown guy (don’t worry because he’s not going anywhere) but we can’t talk about Wrestlemania forever. We are on our way to Backlash where this title will be on the line, but he does want to thank Seth Rollins for being his shield at Wrestlemania. The Rock had something to say yesterday when he talked about the training he did, with Cody knowing that Rock has more in him. That brings him to the Bloodline, and here is someone who knows them very well.

Cue Jey Uso, with Cole being amazed at how much McAfee gets into the dance. Cody welcomes Jey and says he’d love to have Jey’s back like Jey had his. Jey appreciates the offer but wants to do this on his own, which Cody understands. Cody: “Until we yeet again.”

Nia Jax doesn’t care about Rhea Ripley and is ready to win the Women’s World Title.

Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor

Balor runs in from behind to jump Jey before the bell and we start fast. The loud chop in the corner has Jey wincing around the ring before Balor sends him to the apron. Some right hands knock Jey outside and we take an early break. Back with Jey hitting an enziguri to leave both of them down, followed by the dancing right hands. The Samoan drop gives Jey two but Balor rakes the eyes to take over again. The Sling Blade looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Jey rolls away, setting up the spear. Jey drops the Superfly Splash for the clean pin at 9:12.

Rating: B-. This was the “here’s a win for Jey to get him ready for the World Title match”. While Jey isn’t likely to win, he’s just close enough that you could buy a fluke win and that’s not a bad thing. Jey has been in enough big matches on his own that something could come of this, though the Bloodline is going to be looming. For now though, a win over Balor means a lot for him, especially when it’s completely clean.

Post match Damian Priest comes out for the staredown but here are Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh to run in for the beatdown on Jey. They head outside and Jey manages to whip two of them together and escape through the crowd. We follow Jey through the concourse (where he shoves a fan away for trying to get in front of him for a video).

Jey runs into Sami Zayn, who is looking up at the building. This is where he saw his first show, and now he’s headlining. We follow Zayn into the arena and he comes through the crowd with a Canadian flag wrapped around his shoulders. Jey leaving until Zayn came into the arena was one long tracking shot and my goodness that was great.

Chad Gable is coming to the ring but runs into Bronson Reed, who is waiting for the winner.

Intercontinental Title: Chad Gable vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn is defending and gets the hometown reception during the Big Match Intros. Gable easily wrestles him down to the mat to start but Zayn takes it to the floor. Zayn’s tease of a dive lets him bounce back into the middle as we take a break. Back with Zayn trying to run the corner but Gable drops him down, with Zayn favoring his knee. The top rope headbutt gives Gable two and Gable works on the knee.

That’s broken up and Zayn hits a middle rope elbow to the head as McAfee keeps trying to speak French. Zayn knocks him to the floor and hits an Arabian moonsault as we take another break. Back again with Gable hitting a super Angle Slam and they’re both down. Gable is up with some rolling German suplexes, only to have Zayn reverse into his own string of German suplexes.

They trade standing switches until Zayn puts him down again for another double breather. Gable charges into the corner but gets caught with the exploder, only to have the Helluva Kick countered into the ankle lock. Zayn tries to reverse into a Sharpshooter (of course) but the ankle gives out before he can pull it on. The ankle lock goes on again, only to have Zayn roll out. The Helluva Kick (limping version) retains the title at 17:24.

Rating: B. Good main event here with Zayn getting the clean win to help make up for some of his loss to Roman Reigns here last year. In theory this should wrap things up with Gable and move Zayn on to Bronson Reed, though it makes me wonder what is next for Gable. It’s a shame to see him drop back down after doing some rather good stuff in recent weeks, but that’s pretty normal for him around here.

Post match Zayn celebrates…and Gable jumps him from behind. Gable puts on an ankle lock in the corner and Zayn is in agony to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. They shifted back towards a much more normal Raw this week, though the Draft coming up in two weeks is going to change everything again. What mattered here was starting to set things up for Backlash and we have one match set with some more looking likely. You can’t keep up the Wrestlemania season energy all year but they did enough here to keep the show interesting, which is all you can do after such a big time ends. Nice enough show this week.

Results
Sheamus b. Ivar – Brogue Kick
DIY b. New Day and Creed Brothers – Meet In The Middle to Woods
Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae b. Maxxine Dupri/Ivy Nile – Big boot to Dupri
Andrade b. Dominik Mysterio – Message
Piper Niven/Chelsea Green b. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter – Basement crossbody to Carter
Jey Uso b. Finn Balor – Superfly Splash
Sami Zayn b. Chad Gable – Helluva Kick

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

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

AND

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Monday Night Raw – April 8, 2024: The Finale

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 8, 2024
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the last show of Wrestlemania Weekend and we’ve got a lot of fallout to deal with this week. The biggest story is of course Cody Rhodes defeating Roman Reigns to end the three and a half year WWE Universal Title reign and finishing the story. Now we got to see where things go from here and it should be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Here is Wrestlemania Night One and Night Two if you need a recap.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the corner of the arena with the entrance on my upper left.

Here is HHH to get things going and the fans are rather thankful for him. Ironically, he was coming out here to thank them! Looking at all of the numbers, we just got done with the biggest and greatest Wrestlemania of all time. On Saturday, he welcomed us to a new era, and here is the man leading us into that new era.

Cue Cody Rhodes to quite the hero’s welcome. Before HHH leaves, he congratulates Rhodes for ending one of the greatest title runs of all time at the greatest Wrestlemania of all time. On his first night as champion, Rhodes is responsible for a record gate of over 20,000 people. In addition, on his first night as champion, some people in the production office have made a little something for him. There’s no Titantron, so Rhodes has to watch a musical tribute to him on a portable monitor (with HHH making a joke about it).

After some tears are shed, HHH leaves and Cody asks what the fans want to talk about. First, he has Samantha Irvin announce him as the new champion one more time. Two years ago, Cody returned to WWE and announced his dreams, but now those dreams are reality. He and the fans are on top of the mountain and the previous man on top of that mountain has to be acknowledged as well.

That gives us a THANK YOU ROMAN chant before Cody shows us a clip of his daughter telling him to finish the story. Cody wanted his daughter to know that when her daddy goes to work, he’s going to work as champion. He was once undesirable, then he was undeniable, and now he is undisputed.

Cue the Rock and the fans know this is about to get serious. The fans won’t let him talk, with an UNDERTAKER (McAfee: “TOO SOON!”) chant, followed by SHUT THE F*** UP. Rock says he is a lot of things but “sucks” is not one of them. Rock finally gets some words in by saying he is here to deliver flowers to Cody Rhodes but there is another announcement to make: Philadelphia has set the record for the largest gathering of trailer part trash in history. Rock tells the fans they can keep going with their “SHUT THE F*** UP” chants (muted on TV, not in the arena, which is bizarre to hear in WWE).

Rock gets a bit more quiet and talks about their history, including how happy Mama Rhodes was last night. You know who else was smiling? Dusty Rhodes up in Heaven. Dusty was Rock’s hero and their dads ran the roads together. Maybe Rock’s daddy wasn’t happy with what Rock did to Cody….but he doesn’t care.

Rock talks about Cody’s belt and says the People’s Title he has is real too. But maybe….could he hold Cody’s title? He’s held every title, except for that one. Cody says Rock can hold his if Cody can hold Rock’s, so they switch off for a bit. Rock puts the title on his shoulder (fans: “THIS IS AWKWARD!”) and says it feels right before they switch back.

As Cody knows, the Rock has got to go away for a little while, but he loves wrestling and the two of them made it cool again. The fans sing the Goodbye Song but Rock says he’ll be back for Cody one day. While Cody might have beaten Roman Reigns, Rock beat Cody the night before.

Cody talks about Rock being the Boss, but he’s the champion. He’s the people’s champion and the Rock’s champion. Rock agrees and says he has something for Cody. He reaches into his pocket and hands it to Cody without us seeing it. Rock says don’t you ever break his heart again, if you smell what he’s cooking. Rock leaves and we still don’t know what he handed Cody.

And with that, we’re 45 minutes into the show. This was a weird segment as they went on for a long time but didn’t actually say much. It was basically “Wrestlemania was great, thank you fans, Cody is great, Cody talks about how he did it, Rock comes out, says he’s leaving, awkward exchange, Rock gives him something. That was about a fourth of the show and they more or less just teased Rock vs. Cody for later.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ilja Dragunov

Dragunov’s NXT Title is not on the line and we seemingly have our first cameo. Nakamura kicks him in the face at the bell and knocks him down again a few times. Dragunov is back up with a jumping kick to the head into a middle rope dropkick. A German suplex into the Constantine Special (a whip into the ropes reversed into a 619 to set up a clothesline) drops Nakamura again but he’s back up with a kick to the head.

Kinshasa is reversed into another German suplex but Nakamura hits a running knee into the back of the head for two. Dragunov knees him in the face and hits a powerbomb, followed by the H Bomb (a big dropping fist to the face). Torpedo Moscow (a running headbutt to the standing Nakamura) finishes for Dragunov at 4:13.

Rating: C+. Nakamura got in some offense to start but Dragunov fought back and took over before winning with all of his power offense. That’s where Dragunov tends to shine and he made it work here. He could survive on the main roster and it wouldn’t shock me to see him get just that chance.

We look at Drew McIntyre winning the World Heavyweight Championship, only to talk too much trash to CM Punk. As a result, Punk took him out, allowing Damian Priest to cash in Money In The Bank to win the title about five minutes after McIntyre won it in the first place.

Partial Wrestlemania recap.

Here is most of Judgment Day to brag about the team’s success at Wrestlemania. Cue Rhea Ripley (the fans seem to like her) to brag about retaining her title. With Ripley’s topness confirmed, here is Damian Priest for the big celebration. Fans: “YOU DESERVE IT!” Priest: “You d*** right I do.” The team poses with their titles but R-Truth pops up behind them. He brought the Tag Team Titles back to the team and thinks it’s time to induct Miz.

Cue Miz, who doesn’t want to be in the Judgment Day. He knows R-Truth doesn’t want to be in the team either (Priest: “He’s not in the Judgment Day!” R-Truth: “I am in the Judgment Day!”) and introduces Awesome Truth as the new champs. Finn Balor wants a title shot right now but R-Truth says there are three of them. The challenge is thrown out for a six man, with R-Truth saying they can team with “the guy you can’t see”. Works for Judgment Day, who don’t come off as very bright here.

Judgment Day vs. Awesome Truth/???

Awesome Truth is jumped and sent to the floor as we take an early break. Back with the match (billed as a handicap match) joined in progress and McDonagh kicking away at Truth. The chinlock doesn’t last long as R-Truth is up to avoid a splash in the corner. Miz comes in and kicks away, including a double DDT to Mysterio and McDonagh. The Skull Crushing Finale is broken up and Miz scores with a clothesline to take over.

We take another break and come back with Miz kicking McDonagh away but Mysterio pulls R-Truth off the apron. And here’s John Cena, which somehow only Judgment Day and commentary didn’t figure out. Cena gets the tag almost immediately and house is cleaned, setting up triple Shuffles and triple AA’s for the triple pin on Judgment Day at 10:05.

Rating: C. Oh this was fine with the match being nothing of note until Cena came out there for one of the most obvious reveals in a long time. That being said, this is what Cena is perfect for these days: he can be put in there as a hot tag guy and pop the crowd with his usual stuff. It’s nothing but a cameo but on this kind of a show, he’s the exact right option and didn’t hurt anything whatsoever.

We look at Bronson Reed winning the Andre The Giant Battle Royal.

Reed promises to break people in the ring. Tonight, he’s in a four way for a show at Damian Priest’s World Heavyweight Championship.

Rhea Ripley tells Dominik Mysterio to go deal with Andrade. Dominik goes off to talk to Adam Pearce…and Liv Morgan throws a chair at Ripley’s head, kicking off a beatdown.

Indi Hartwell vs. Roxanne Perez

Perez’s NXT Women’s Title isn’t on the line and Hartwell has Candice LeRae in her corner. Perez offers a handshake but slaps her in the face instead. Some forearms to the back let Perez shout at Hartwell a lot before she starts in on the leg. Hartwell makes the clothesline comeback but LeRae trips her up. Hartwell doesn’t like that so the referee goes to yell at LeRae. That leaves Perez to rake the eyes and grab Pop Rox (Code Red) for the pin at 2:44.

We look at more from Wrestlemania.

Sami Zayn and Jey Uso celebrate Zayn’s Intercontinental Title win.

Roxanne Perez runs into Natalya and a match for NXT is teased.

Here is Sami Zayn for a chat, though first we need the YOU DESERVE IT chants. He’s done some historic things in recent years at Wrestlemania and he wanted to do it again this year. Zayn thinks he did, but the real historic champion is Gunther, who is the best Intercontinental Champion of all time. Zayn: “But guess what? I BEAT HIM!”

Zayn thanks the fans for their help, along with his family and Kevin Owens. There is one more person who helped him…and here is Imperium before he can say anyone’s name. Ludwig Kaiser talks about how sickening it is to see Zayn holding that title so they are ready to do something about it. Cue Chad Gable and I think you know where this is going.

Sheamus is coming back. Yeah that’s where I thought the previous segment was going too.

Chad Gable/Sami Zayn vs. Imperium

Gable rolls Vinci up to start and armdrags him into an armbar. Kaiser comes in to send Zayn into the buckle but Zayn fights out of the corner. Imperium is sent outside and Gable takes them both down with a big dive. A high crossbody gets two in Vinci back inside but Imperium comes back with the Tree of Woe stereo dropkicks.

We take a break and come back with Zayn Blue Thunder Bombing his way to freedom, allowing the tag to Gable. The top rope headbutt gets two on Vinci but a kick to the head cuts Gable off. The Imperium Bomb gets two with Zayn making the save, only to be sent outside. Gable has to break up another Imperium Bomb and suplexes Kaiser out of the air. Stereo German suplexes have Imperium down and Zayn grabs an ankle lock of all things. That’s broken up so Zayn hits an exploder to send Vinci into the corner. The Helluva Kick sets up Rolling Chaos Theory to give Gable the pin at 12:24.

Rating: C+. This felt like a way to set up a Gable vs. Zayn title match down the line and that’s all it should be. That’s the story that has been established and now all we need to do is see where things go from here. Getting Zayn out there is a good idea and Gable getting the pin was a nice little perk for him. Nothing remarkable as a match but it will likely do what it needs to do.

Jey Uso is ready to give the other three a YEET down.

Andrade meets with the three General Managers but quickly leaves. They talk about the Draft and how great Wrestlemania went but Chelsea Green interrupts. She’s not happy with missing Wrestlemania and yes the bosses got her messages. Pearce has something planned for her and she can head to the ring right now, though she’ll have to escort herself.

We hear about the recent attendance success. That’s worth bragging about.

Chelsea Green vs. ???

It’s Jade Cargill, who finishes with Jaded at 31 seconds. That’s all it needed to be, though commentary did get in some escort jokes of their own.

Wrestlemania XL Night One: It Got Cold. Really Cold.

Wrestlemania XL Night One
Date: April 6, 2024
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Corey Graves, Michael Cole
National Anthem: Coco Jones

We have arrived. It’s time for the biggest show of the year and in this case, the main event of night one is going to have an impact on that of night two. We have Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins teaming up with the Bloodline, with the winners determining the stipulations for Rhodes’ title shot against Roman Reigns. Other than that, Rhea Ripley defends the Raw Women’s Title against Becky Lynch. Let’s get to it.

Note that I was in the stadium for this show, sitting in the upper deck with the stage on my right.

There is a new Then, Now and Forever video, which is rather awesome looking and has a lot of blue.

Coco Jones sings the National Anthem, which is a big change from decades of America the Beautiful.

Michael Cole welcomes us to the show and talks about the main event.

The opening video talks about the greatness of Philadelphia before moving on to the greatness that is Wrestlemania. Alas no Sylvester Stallone, but we’ll have to settle for Meek Mill.

Here is HHH (er sorry: Paul “Triple H” Levesque) for the big opening. He loves this stuff and welcomes us to the show. End of appearance.

We recap Becky Lynch challenging Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women’s Title. Lynch was the biggest star in the world and needs to prove that she still has it against Ripley, who is the best in the world right now. I’ve heard worse ideas.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch

Ripley is defending and is played to the ring by Motionless In White. Lynch counters this by….having strep throat. Ouch. Ripley shoves her into the corner to start but Lynch snaps the arm over the ropes to go after the previously injured wrist. They head outside for a bit, with Ripley firing off shoulders in the corner back inside. A suplex gives Ripley two and she stomps Lynch down, setting up an Eddie frog splash.

The dance takes too long though, allowing Lynch to grab a top rope armdrag. A tornado DDT plants Ripley and Lynch drapes her over the ropes for the middle rope legdrop to the back. Back in and Ripley faceplants Lynch to take over and a knee to the face gets two. Riptide is blocked though and Lynch goes for the cross armbreaker, which is….eventually broken up with three straight powerbombs.

The arm is ok enough for Ripley to kick Lynch in the face for two, setting up the exchange of strikes. Ripley misses a charge into the post and Lynch grabs the Disarm-Her in the corner. That’s reversed into the Prism Trap with a bodyscissors but Lynch stacks her up for two instead. Riptide is reversed into a release Manhandle Slam for two and Lynch is getting frustrated. Another Disarm-Her attempt is countered into the Riptide for two and now it’s Ripley’s turn to be stunned.

They go up top where Lynch grabs a superplex and floats over into the Disarm-Her. That’s countered into an electric chair and they fall over the top to the floor without breaking it up. The electric chair drop onto the floor has Lynch crashing down hard, followed by a frog splash for two back inside. Back up and they head to the top again, where Lynch’s super Manhandle Slam is blocked. Instead it’s a Riptide onto the buckle (that’s a new one) into the regular Riptide to retain the title at 17:08.

Rating: B. This felt like both a rather good match as well as an official passing of the torch. While Ripley had been the biggest star in the women’s division for a good while, she needed to beat the biggest women’s star ever to cement her status. It was a heck of a fight and Lynch certainly made it interesting, but this was about Ripley getting her big title defense and it worked well. Heck of an opener here.

Pretty Deadly preview the six team ladder match, complete with impressions of the teams. These two are always hilarious because they lean into the cheese that hard.

Tag Team Titles: Judgment Day vs. Awesome Truth vs. DIY vs. New Day vs. Austin Theory/Grayson Waller vs. New Catch Republic

Judgment Day is defending in a ladder match, with the two sets of titles hanging up in different places (that sounds splitty to me). They’re going rapid fire with the entrances for obvious reasons, but they go so fast that the Awesome Truth’s graphics are still up for New Catch Republic, with commentary mocking the production team as a result. Xavier Woods is in Consequences Creed gear, which is rather appropriate here.

It’s a big brawl to start (of course) and a bunch of people go after Priest, leaving Theory and Waller to climb a ladder each. That’s broken up as well with a bunch of people going up in a less than successful attempt. The champs come back in and wreck people until Bate torture racks Balor and a ladder for an upside down airplane spin. You know, because he can do that. The Republic goes up top on the ladder at ringside and moonsault down onto a pile of people each.

Back in and Bate goes up so Priest Razor’s Edges Dunne into the ladder for a big double crash down. Miz gets double teamed so Truth….stands on the apron and begs for the tag. Naturally Miz gets away and makes the diving tag, allowing Truth to use initiate John Cena’s finishing sequence on Balor.

The crowd counts the pin off the AA so Truth thinks he won but DIY is back in. Truth has Johnny Gargano tune up the band (because Truth thinks he’s Shawn Michaels) and it’s a superkick to Priest, setting up Ciampa’s Fairy Tale Ending. DIY and Awesome Truth decide to go after a title each but Theory and Waller make the save…and win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles at 7:31.

New Day cuts off Theory from going for the other belts before the Republic throws Waller off a ladder and through another one at ringside (Waller held onto his belt of course). DIY clean house and load up some tables at ringside (oh dear), with Truth setting up another one on another side. New Day is back in and set Ciampa on another bridged ladder, with Woods hitting the Limit Break.

Kofi goes up and Trust Falls onto a bunch of people on the floor but Theory cuts off Woods’ climb. The Republic breaks that up and the Birminghammer drops Theory again. A slingshot DDT through a table takes out Gargano and Dunne, leaving Ciampa to hit an Air Raid Crash off the ladder to plant Bate.

Truth goes up but cue JD McDonagh to pull him down and help Balor climb up. New Day isn’t having that and chairs Balor down, setting up a toss to send McDonagh through the tables. Priest comes back in to wreck New Day until Miz cuts him off. Priest chokeslams Miz down as the ladder is breaking underneath them. A fresh ladder is brought in, with Truth AA’ing Priest to the floor, leaving Truth to climb the ladder and get the belts for the win at 17:32.

Rating: C+. It was a six way tag team ladder match with twelve people involved, plus McDonagh interfering. There is only so much you’re going to be able to get out of a mess like this and they did about as well as possible. It’s a fun match with some big crashes, but the titles being split is what matters most here. I’m not sure they needed to be, but I’ll take this over two people with so many belts at once.

Olympic gold medal winning wrestler Jordan Burroughs is here.

We recap Rey Mysterio/Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio/Santos Escobar. Rey and Escobar have been feuding since Escobar turned on him in November but Dominik got involved to teach his father a lesson again. Both of them have partners so let’s have a tag match.

Rey Mysterio/Andrade vs. Santos Escobar/Dominik Mysterio

The LWO and Legado del Fantasma are here too. Rey snaps off a headscissors to Escobar to start and it’s quickly off to Dominik. Everything breaks down in a hurry with the villains being sent outside. Andrade goes up so Rey sits on his shoulders and they dive onto the floor for a double crossbody while still being attached. Back in and Dominik breaks up the 619 before sending Rey outside again.

Escobar takes over on the floor and it’s a slingshot hilo to give Dominik two back inside. Dominik elbows him down for two more and a double basement dropkick gives Escobar the same. The seated abdominal stretch goes on as commentary talks about Carlito being unhappy with not being Andrade’s partner here. Rey Code Reds his way to freedom and the tag brings in Andrade to clean house.

Andrade’s running knees hit Dominik in the corner but he neckbreakers his way out of trouble. Rey comes in to beat up on the now legal Escobar as everything breaks down. Some Legado interference lets Escobar hit a super hurricanrana. Everyone else gets in a fight at ringside, including Wilde’s insane slingshot dive to the floor. Dominik grabs a chair but two rather large men in masks grab both the chair and Dominik, who is sent inside. Andrade takes out Dominik, leaving Rey to hit a top rope splash to pin Escobar at 11:00.

Rating: C+. I’m a little surprised that Rey beat Dominik (albeit indirectly this time) for the second year in a row but at least Andrade seems to be getting a push. Carlito might not be happy with it though and that opens up a door. If nothing else, this might be the end of Rey vs. Escobar, which is kind of a shame as Escobar felt like he had potential.

The masked men are former Philadelphia Eagles Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.

We recap Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso. It’s a battle of the twins, with the two of them being so close for so long until Jimmy decided to side with the Bloodline against Jey. This included Jimmy costing Jey the World Title at Summerslam….and now the match is taking place eight months later.

Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso

Jey is rapped to the ring by Lil Wayne and then dives onto Jimmy to start the brawl before the bell. They get back inside for the bell and Jey hits the big dive to drop him again. Back in and a high crossbody gives Jey two but Jimmy grabs something close to a pop up Samoan drop (it doesn’t quite land). Jimmy slowly kicks him down, then does it again a few more times. The Superfly Splash misses so Jey hits a superkick of his own.

They slug it out (YEET/NO YEET) before trading jumping enziguris. An exchange of superkicks goes to Jey, with Jimmy being knocked into the corner. Jey kicks him down and loads up another big one but Jimmy begs off. Jimmy apologizes and Jey (eventually) accepts it, earning the cheap superkick from Jimmy in the process. The Superfly Splash gives Jimmy two but Jey hits a spear into his own Superfly Splash for the pin at 11:09

Rating: D. Oh yeah that didn’t work. Its a mixture of a few problems, starting with the fact that they wrestle such similar styles. You can only get so much out of that many kicks to the face and then a lame fake apology. The other problem is there was zero reason to believe Jimmy was going to win. In the time since Summerslam, Jey has turned into a solid midcard star who can be taken seriously. On the other hand, Jimmy is little more than a comedy goof most of the time.

This is a match that made sense on paper, but it needed to be a much more physical brawl and it needed to come about seven months earlier. As it is, it was a match that should have been a good brawl but instead it felt like “ok they’re having their match so they can say they did it at Wrestlemania.” This was a really bad miss and that’s a shame.

Ad for WWE Experience in Saudi Arabia. This was LOUDLY booed in the stadium.

We recap the Kabuki Warriors vs. Naomi/Bianca Belair/Jade Cargill, which is pretty much “these three women are amazing together” and Damage CTRL are little more than designated victims.

Naomi/Bianca Belair/Jade Cargill vs. Damage CTRL

Damage CTRL have a bunch of Japanese women dancing before their entrance, while the other three all step off a scissor lift for individual entrances. This includes Cargill, who has hacked off a lot of her hair. Naomi sends Asuka into the corner to start but gets caught by Sane, who sends her outside. The top rope elbow to the floor hits a standing Naomi and it’s back inside so Asuka can hit Naomi in the face a few times.

Naomi kicks her way to freedom and hands it off to Belair as they’re saving Cargill for the big moment. Belair grabs a vertical suplex while marching around the ring, because of course she can do that. A handspring moonsault hits all three villains for two but Kai cuts off the tag to Cargill.

The running knee gives Asuka two on Belair but she’s right back up to hand it off to Cargill for the big reaction. House is quickly cleaned and an over the shoulder piledriver plants Sane. Everything breaks down and Belair hits the hair whip on Asuka (you could hear that crack at the top of the stadium and my goodness it’s amazing). The KOD drops Asuka and Jaded finishes Kai at 8:05.

Rating: C+. The match was never in doubt and they did this exactly as they should have. This was 100% about Jade getting the big tag at the end and cleaning house to win, which they nailed to perfection. They didn’t risk her doing anything dumb or having the chance to get exposed, making this about as well done as it could have been. Perfect presentation, good enough match.

Post match the winners get the big hero pose and that is something WWE is going to want to push for a good while.

We recap Gunther vs. Sami Zayn for the former’s Intercontinental Title. Gunther is pretty much the most dominant champion of all time and Zayn isn’t sure if he still has it. Chad Gable has given him a heck of a pep talk and training to help him believe in himself, as Zayn is still worried about failing again. Now Zayn is fired up and that’s a threat to Gunther and the title.

Zayn is in the back with his wife and son, the latter of whom believes he can do it. His family leaves and Chad Gable comes in to say he believes in Zayn too, but Zayn is on his own tonight. Oh and he owes Gable a favor later. Zayn does the long walk towards the ring and runs into Kevin Owens, who gives him a big hug. Just play the Rocky theme already. Or one of the catchiest themes in wrestling history.

Intercontinental Title: Sami Zayn vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending and Zayn’s wife is in the front row. Commentary is all over with the Rocky references, even saying that Zayn fights great but Gunther is a great fighter. Zayn ducks an early chop and strikes away but gets caught with a German suplex. A big boot drops Zayn again and Gunther lays him on top for the boot choke. Back up and Gunther fires off the chops but Zayn unloads with rights and lefts.

A half and half suplex drops Gunther but he’s back up with a big clothesline. It’s to early for the powerbomb though and Zayn grabs the tornado DDT. The Blue Thunder Bomb is countered and Gunther pulls him into the sleeper in the middle of the ring. With Zayn getting close to the ropes, Gunther drops him with a German suplex. Zayn manages the exploder into the corner but Gunther dropkicks him into the corner.

The powerbomb gives Gunther two and now he’s looking frustrated. Gunther clotheslines him hard again and hits two more powerbombs for two, meaning it’s time to yell at Zayn’s wife. Another powerbomb puts Zayn down and it’s a top rope splash to make it worse. Gunther does it again and still won’t cover, instead yelling at Zayn’s wife again. That’s somehow enough to wake Zayn up so Gunther goes up top again, allowing Zayn to hit a Helluva Kick. The brainbuster onto the buckle sets up a pair of Helluva Kicks to give Zayn the pin and the title in the big upset at 15:05.

Rating: A-. Maybe it’s that I’m a big Rocky fan but they nailed every bit of this. Gunther had been the unstoppable monster for so long and Zayn is about as perfect of an underdog as you can get in today’s wrestling. It was a great story, a heck of a match and an incredible moment when Zayn FINALLY beat Gunther. After such a long reign, Gunther is going to be just fine as he moves up to the main event scene. This was about as perfect as it could have been and I loved it quite a bit.

Here’s a four minute video on how great Wrestlemania really is. I kept waiting for this to go somewhere and it just didn’t.

Pat McAfee recaps the ending of the Rey Mysterio match earlier, complete with telestrator.

Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis thank the fans for the attendance of 72,543.

Celebrities are here.

Wrestlemania Sunday rundown.

We recap the Rock/Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins. Rock has returned and joined forces with Reigns as we have something of a Rhodes vs. Anoa’i Family war, plus the combined efforts to dethrone Reigns at any cost. Rock has made it very personal with Cody, even bringing Cody’s mother into things. The deal here is that while Cody has a shot against Reigns set, the stipulations will be set in the tag match. If the Bloodline wins, it’s anything goes tomorrow, but if Cody/Rollins win, it will be a normal match with the Bloodline barred from ringside.

The Rock/Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins

The entrances are incredibly long, with Rollins wearing something that could be described as clothes and Rock having a theme of reaching his final form and walking through a flaming Brahma Bull logo (while carrying the People’s Title which was given to him at the Hall Of Fame). From the start of the recaps to the opening bell (including Big Match Intros): about 25 minutes.

The bell rings and the four of them stare at each other for about a minute and a half until Reigns and Rollins start things off, with the first contact coming over two and a half minutes in. Reigns powers him down without much trouble but Rollins kicks him in the ribs. Cody comes in for some jabs which don’t get him very far. Rollins tags himself back in and NOW Rock wants in. The slow, dramatic tag does in fact bring him in and the fans are rather pleased with Rock.

Rollins gets shoved down again and hammers away, setting up the running clothesline out of the corner. It’s off to Cody and the fans are behind Rock again. They fight over a lockup and don’t get very far until Rhodes takes him into the corner and strikes away. Some double teaming has Rock in trouble as commentary talks about whether or not the Rock needed to save WWE.

All four get in for another showdown and now it’s time to go outside for a brawl. Rock tells the referee that he’s fired if he counts while they’re on the floor before brawling with Rollins in the crowd. Cody and Reigns fight up to the stage where a suplex drops Reigns again. Rock spits some water in Rollins’ face and Cody is thrown off the ramp (not that far mind you) for a crash. Rollins sends Rock back inside but Reigns takes out Rollins’ knee to turn things around.

Back in and Rock starts going after the bad knee before it’s Reigns coming in to kick at the knee as well. A half crab stays on the knee, followed by a whip into the steps on the floor. They go back inside where Rollins is whipped hard into the buckle, allowing Reigns to fire off the hard clotheslines. The Superman Punch is countered into a neckbreaker but Rock isn’t about to let the tag go through that quickly.

A low blow hits Rollins, with the referee having to apologize to Cody for not being able to do anything about it. Rollins fights back again and sends Reigns outside…where Reigns can cut off the diving tag attempt. Rock grabs the eternally awful Sharpshooter so Cody comes in with the big slap for the break. Rollins hits a superkick and a Stomp but can’t follow up because of the knee.

The tag brings in Cody a few seconds later and house is quickly cleaned. There’s the powerslam into the Disaster Kick to put Reigns down and the Cody Cutter gets two. Another Disaster Kick is countered with the Superman Punch and Reigns is not happy about his nose being cut. The spear misses and a top rope Cody Cutter…is more like a top rope elbow to the jaw instead.

Either way it puts Reigns down for a frog splash to give Rollins two. Rollins’ stomp is countered with a powerbomb for two but Cody is back in for the superkick party. The Stomp into Cross Rhodes gets two with Rock pulling the referee out. A low blow into the spear gives Reigns two on Cody and Rock is ticked. Reigns grabs the guillotine and Rock even holds Cody’s legs down until Rollins is back in with a stomp for the save.

Rock sends Rollins outside and gets the tag (because we need tags again) before bringing out the MAMA RHODES belt. Said Mama Rhodes (at ringside) yells at Rock but Cody knocks the belt away. The Bionic Elbow connects with Rock, who is right back with the spinebuster. The People’s Elbow is countered with the Cody Cutter, only to have Reigns break up Cross Rhodes.

Back up and Reigns’ spear hits Rock by mistake, setting up stereo Pedigrees for two. Rollins dives onto Reigns outside and the other two load up the announcers’ table. Rock gets the better of things and loads up a Rock Bottom but Rollins grabs Cody’s leg, meaning Cody can hit a Rock Bottom through the table. Reigns spears Rollins through the barricade and everyone is down.

It’s Reigns back up with the apron boot to Cody but Cody slugs his way to Cross Rhodes. Another Cross Rhodes connects but Rock hits him in the back with the weightlifting belt. A spear from Reigns sets up the Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow to give Rock the pin at 44:33(!). Cole: “Cody is screwed.”

Rating: C+. The match was good but e pluribus gads they went way too long. This is a match where you could cut out probably close to twenty minutes without missing much. The first twenty minutes barely had anything going on and then they went into the long heat segment on Rollins. Things picked way up near the end though and they did the right ending, but after a long show with the cold, this match felt WAY longer than it needed to be. What matters though is setting up Cody’s darkest hour as he is up against the wall and might need to assemble the Avengers (perhaps with some outside help) to FINALLY beat Reigns.

The winners celebrate and Cody/Rollins know they’re in trouble.

The big highlight package takes us out.

Overall Rating: B-. This is going to be a show where the experience of watching it live is going to be very different than watching it at home. The cold weather was a major factor in this as I spent most of the show trying to stay warm and that makes the show a lot less fun to watch. As for the show itself, you had a good opener, a heck of an Intercontinental Title match and the big epic main event but the rest of the show was lacking in quality. Only the Usos match was bad (and a lot of that was due to how we got here) but it certainly wasn’t a top level Wrestlemania. Overall, pretty good with some great high points, though it wasn’t able to get over the hump.

Results
Rhea Ripley b. Becky Lynch – Riptide
Austin Theory/Grayson Waller and Awesome Truth won the six way tag team ladder match
Rey Mysterio/Andrade b. Dominik Mysterio/Santos Escobar – Frog splash to Escobar
Jey Uso b. Jimmy Uso – Superfly Splash
Jade Cargill/Bianca Belair/Naomi b. Damage CTRL – Jaded to Kai
Sami Zayn b. Gunther – Helluva Kick
The Rock/Roman Reigns b. Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins – People’s Elbow to Rhodes

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Wrestlemania XXII (2020 Redo): My Usual Confused Thoughts

Wrestlemania XXII
Date: April 2, 2006
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 17,159
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross

It’s time for the biggest night of the year and this time around it has been rather fun. The Raw side has been a heck of a build while the Smackdown side has been hit and miss at best. This is one of the more forgotten Wrestlemanias (given that the image on the poster was of John Cena vs. Booker T., a match which hadn’t taken place in over a year at this point, you can kind of tell that they aren’t caring all that much) and it’s also the last one to date in a regular arena. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

Eugene, Viscera, Goldust, Snitsky, Rob Conway, Tyson Tomko, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, Matt Striker, Super Crazy, Psicosis, Funaki, Steven Richards, Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro, Animal, William Regal, Simon Dean

Half from Raw and half from Smackdown, so yes they are wearing the designated shirts. Dean tries to do his intro and gets kicked in the face for the immediate elimination. Richards gets rid of Conway and Funaki goes out as well. There goes Cade, followed by Goldust getting rid of Richards. Striker is out too and there go Crazy and Goldust as the ring is cleared out in a hurry. Snitsky gets rid of Regal and MNM dumps Eugene after a Snapshot.

We get the Raw vs. Smackdown showdown and Murdoch and Psicosis go out back to back. We’re down to Viscera, MNM, Snitsky, Tomko and Animal with Viscera and Animal being the targets for the other four. Viscera misses a charge in the corner but beats up MNM without much trouble. That means a double Visagra (Cole: “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand!” What in the world could that possibly mean in this context?) and Melina is nearly sick. It gets even worse as Viscera tosses MNM to get us down to four.

Snitsky kicks Tomko out by mistake and the LOD chants start back up. A big boot to Animal lets Viscera get rid of him, much to the crowd’s annoyance. Snitsky misses a running big boot though and Viscera wins without touching Snitsky at all. Cole: “I was hoping that would go on for another 15-20 minutes!” Tazz: “One of the best battle royals I’ve ever been a part of!” They’re bringing the Wrestlemania level snark this year.

Rating: D. Yeah this was horrible but the whole point was to get the undercard on the roster. I’m not sure on the logic of having the Chicago guy get all the way to the final three and then have him lose for the sake of Viscera, but I guess they don’t want a heel winning to open the show. Not that it would have mattered as it would have been one of the pops of the night, but it’s not worth getting annoyed about in the first place as it was a six minute battle royal before the feature presentation begins.

Post match Viscera kisses Lilian, who doesn’t seem thrilled.

Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child sings America the Beautiful. You know they’re getting in those American visuals every year and this is no exception.

The opening video looks at some great Wrestlemania moments over I Dare You by Shinedown. I like the song so this is a pretty good combination. They switch over to another song and the matches for this year’s show. That’s a nice mix that they tend to do well most years.

The posters of wrestlers around the top of the arena are a nice touch.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Carlito/Chris Masters vs. Big Show/Kane

Show/Kane are defending and we get the always awesome visual of the city set being on fire during Kane’s entrance. Masters shoulders Kane down to start as JR says this is the first tradition two on two tag match for these titles since Wrestlemania XV. How do you go that long without doing the normal version? Kane is back up with a leapfrog into a dropkick and it’s off to Show for the loud chops in the corner. A poke to the eye allows the tag off to Carlito, who gets a HECK of a reception (one of the loudest reactions I’ve ever seen for him), though Show throws both he and Masters around with ease.

Carlito gets gorilla pressed over the top onto Masters (seemingly elbowing him in the face on the way down) and Kane hits the top rope clothesline onto both of them. Back in and a double flapjack actually gets two on Show, with the replay showing a ram into an exposed buckle had something to do with it. Kane gets the tag so Show has to break up the Masterlock. Everything breaks down and Masters saves Carlito from the chokeslam. Masters hits Carlito by mistake when trying to save him again, meaning Kane can boot Masters to the floor. Not the chokeslam can hit Carlito to retain the titles.

Rating: C-. It was basically a more energetic Raw match and that works well enough for a Wrestlemania opener. I tend to like something like this more than some white hot match to open the show as it means you can go up from here. Carlito and Masters hadn’t been treated as threats to the title coming into the show so it makes sense for them to be little more than an annoyance here.

Post match, Carlito and Masters argue, with the fans being entirely behind Carlito. No violence ensues though.

Shawn Michaels, with a bandage on his head, says he doesn’t regret saying that Vince McMahon needed to grow up. Last year he and Kurt Angle tore the house down and the year before that, he did the same thing with Chris Benoit and HHH. Tonight, Shawn is going to be a different version of himself. Tonight, Vince McMahon needs to bow down and pray because Shawn is taking him to his own personal h***.

Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Rob Van Dam

Money in the Bank, allowing Cole to get in his first (to be fair in this case, minor) slip up of the night by saying Edge cashed in after John Cena’s Armageddon match. It’s a big brawl to start and the fans are behind Van Dam early on. Hardy goes for the first ladder but Van Dam takes him down with a slingshot dive onto the ladder onto Hardy for the crash. A ladder is bridged against the ropes so Shelton gets a running start for a huge flip dive to take down all of the young people.

Flair and Finlay fight in the ring (go on) but Matt comes in for the save with a superplex to bring Flair off the ladder (egads man). So Flair screams a lot and gets the X treatment (thanks to his knee), meaning we’re going to be down a person after about two and a half minutes. Lashley goes up top but Shelton grabs a sunset bomb. He can’t get Lashley down though so Finlay and Hardy go into the hurt business to bring Lashley crashing to the mat. Hardy crushes Finlay with the ladder in the corner until Finlay throws it back at him.

Finlay loads up the ladder but here’s Flair (after about three minutes away) to cut him off. Chops abound and Flair goes up again until Finlay makes the save with the Shillelagh, making Flair take another bump he shouldn’t be taking. The briefcase is swinging back and forth so Finlay can’t pull it down, allowing Shelton to go up as well. Lashley breaks that up and hits the Dominator on Benjamin, so Van Dam has to dropkick a chair into Lashley for the save.

Matt’s screaming legdrop from the ladder hits Lashley but he has to Side Effect Finlay off the ladder. Finlay gets knocked down as well though and Rob hits a splash off the very top of the ladder for the big crash. Van Dam goes up so Shelton does the always insane springboard onto the top of the ladder (because he can just do that) and hammers away. Matt brings in another ladder and climbs up to slug away at Shelton, who steps over to the other ladder. Rob shoves them both over for the big crash to the floor (always looks great) though and pulls down the briefcase to win.

Rating: B. This was good but not quite up to the standard that the big ladder matches have. It wasn’t all that long either and they didn’t have time to build much up. Shelton got in the big, impressive spots but there were enough high level bumps to go around. Van Dam and Flair were the only realistic winners here too so they picked one of the best options. Not as good as the others, but it still did what it was supposed to do.

New Hall of Famer Gene Okerlund is interrupted by Randy Orton, who doesn’t think much of someone who held a microphone for thirty five years. He promises to win the Smackdown World Title tonight but here’s Batista to say whoever leaves as champion is just holding it for him. Next year, he’s going to be champion at Wrestlemania XXIII.

It’s time for the Hall of Fame class, minus Bret Hart, who was not comfortable with appearing.

Gene Okerlund (No one did it better.)

Sensational Sherri (How was she not in already?)

Tony Atlas (He always seems happy to be around.)

Verne Gagne (Doesn’t mean anything directly to WWE, but you don’t have a wrestling Hall of Fame without him.)

William Perry (Sure, but he couldn’t get a suit? Or a tie? Or a shirt that tucked in?)

The Blackjacks (Again, how were they not in already?)

Eddie Guerrero (Yep.)

Vickie Guerrero looks rather overcome by the reception in a touching moment.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

JBL, with Jillian Hall, is challenging and the ramp raises up so the limo can drive in. After commentary can manage to stop talking about Jillian’s cowgirl look, they bring up JBL wanting to prove that he can beat another great technical wrestler after Eddie Guerrero. They go straight to the slugout to start until Benoit drop toeholds him to try the Crossface. JBL is able to block it so Benoit headbutts him in the back of the head, which is a rather intense next step.

Some forearms to the neck keep JBL in trouble and a chop takes him down again. It’s too early for the Sharpshooter though and JBL bails to the floor to hide behind Jillian. Back in and JBL hammers him down in the corner until he misses a charge, allowing Benoit to roll the German suplexes. JBL crotches him on top though and hits the Eddie dance for some good mocking. The superplex brings Benoit down in a crash, allowing JBL to dance some more. He even hits two Amigos before having to boot Benoit in the face to cut off the comeback.

We hit the chinlock but Benoit fights up with more suplexes. The Swan Dive gets a close two but JBL blocks another Crossface attempt. He also blocks a German suplex with a grab of the rope and the referee, allowing him to….actually not cheat. Instead the Clothesline From JBL is countered into the Crossface, which is countered into a cradle (with a grab of the rope) to give JBL the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. This has always been a bit of a weird one for me as JBL wasn’t exactly a hot challenger coming in but he did pick up the title, which reheated him in a hurry. He wasn’t going to make it back to the World Title anytime soon (or ever, as he didn’t need it), but he needed to win something instead of losing over and over again. This was good enough though and it’s hardly a stretch to see JBL win a match over Benoit.

We recap Edge vs. Mick Foley. Edge accused Foley of costing him the Raw World Title and wanted to beat him down, so Foley agreed to a fight. Foley wanted that one Wrestlemania moment and Edge is starting to realize that he might be in over his head.

Edge vs. Mick Foley

Hardcore match, Joey Styles joins commentary, Lita is here with Edge and Foley’s flannel shirt is buttoned up for a change. Edge has a bat to start but the early swings miss and Edge drops it to the floor. Foley slugs away in the corner and puts Edge in the Tree of Woe for the running elbow to the face. Lita throws in a metal sign though and it goes upside Foley’s head over and over. The spear hits early….and Edge is in a lot of pain, as Foley opens up the shirt to reveal a band of barbed wire wrapped around his stomach.

Foley cuts himself free and ties Edge in the ropes, meaning it’s time to grab the barbed wire bat. Lita tries for the save so it’s the Cactus Clothesline to Edge, sending all three outside in the process. Foley is certainly bringing it early on. A neckbreaker on the floor drops Edge and Foley pounds him down but his charge is hiptossed into the steps for a REALLY painful looking crash. There go Foley’s knees into the steps and it’s time for a chair. Edge loads up a table on the floor but Foley rolls off before Edge can come off the top.

Instead Edge slams him head first into the steel ramp (for a SICK thud)….and it’s time for the lighter fluid. Edge covers Foley in the fluid but gets piledriven for two. Foley grabs the chair but a Lita distraction lets Edge hit a DDT. Foley is busted and the barbed wire bat to the head makes it even worse. It’s time for the thumbtacks but Foley slams Edge (with no shirt) down onto them for the really big reaction.

A barbed wire Mandible Claw goes on and now it’s Edge being hit with the barbed wire bat over and over. Now it’s time for Foley to spray the table with lighter fluid but Lita hits Foley in the knee with the barbed wire bat. The table is set on fire and Edge hits the spear through the ropes and through the fire for the pin.

Rating: A. What is there to say about this? They massacred each other and Foley bled all over the place before taking a huge bump to end the match. This was a different side of Edge and it’s the side that needed to be shown to make him feel like more than a flash in the pan. This felt like two people wanting to hurt each other and then getting to do so, as Foley continues to know how to make someone into a much bigger star than almost anyone else.

Edge and Lita looking like they’re in physical shock after the match makes it a lot better.

With that out of the way, it’s time for Booker T. and Sharmell to be scared of the Boogeyman. Booker insists that he isn’t a freak magnet and runs into Paul Burchill, Ted DiBiase not letting Eugene dribble a basketball to win money, Snitsky doing…something to Mae Young’s foot as Moolah watches, and Goldust dressed as Oprah. Goldust says they’re all freaks and the only way to beat the Boogeyman is to put the worms in his…and it’s whispered in Booker’s ear. A ticked off Booker leaves with Sharmell.

Some fans won tickets to the show from Snickers.

Booker T./Sharmell vs. Boogeyman

Booker makes Sharmell start, jumps Boogeyman from behind, and then comes in to hammer on Boogeyman. The comeback doesn’t take long and Booker is sent into the post. Boogeyman eats some worms and stares at Sharmell for trying a staff shot to the back. Sharmell gets kissed with the worms and runs off, leaving Boogeyman to chokebomb Booker for the pin.

Rating: F. Of course this is a failure as there isn’t anything to be praised here. It was the three of them doing a short, bad match and the big deal was Sharmell getting a mouth full of worms. There isn’t much else to it than that and the fact that this aired at Wrestlemania at any point after about 1991 tells you why it’s a failure.

We recap Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James for the Women’s Title. Mickie is a psycho who was obsessed with Trish (they never said the word lesbian but that’s what they were going for) but Trish wasn’t interested. Once Mickie was flat out turned down, she completely snapped and decided to take the Women’s Title instead. This feels like a big fight and that’s a good thing around here.

Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus

Trish is defending. They fight over a lockup to start as JR tries to diagnose Mickie’s mental state. The Thesz press (JR: “Maybe the Louise Thesz press.”) puts Mickie down but she comes back with a kick, only to be thrown into the splits. A baseball slide puts Mickie on the floor but Trish kicks the post by mistake. Mickie wraps the leg around the post in a smart move and there’s a dropkick to the knee to make it worse.

The fans get behind Mickie and she wraps the leg around the ropes. The half crab goes on before it’s time to stomp on the leg in the corner. Mickie stops to soak in the cheers and bends the leg some more. This time Trish reverses into the spinning anklescissors but the fans aren’t happy with the comeback. The Stratusphere is countered with another slam of the leg to the mat as Lawler notices that Mickie’s skirt isn’t the most functional in a match.

Trish comes back with a Stratusfaction attempt but Mickie grabs her between the legs (on the Network) and licks her own hand (not on the Network) as JR loses it. Mickie tries the Stratusfaction but she either leaves it short or Trish can’t hold her on the knee, meaning they botch it horribly (also not on the Network). Mickie settles for the Chick Kick for the pin and the title. JR: “THE NUT JOB HAS WON THE TITLE!”

Rating: B-. This was getting really good near the end but then the botch happened and it stopped everything cold. The leg stuff was good and while it would have made more sense to have Trish’s knee give out when she was trying the Stratusfaction, it worked for a story in the match as Mickie knew how to break the thing down. More importantly though, Mickie FINALLY ends Trish’s year long plus reign and becomes the new star, which is long overdue. They needed to have the title change here as Trish had run out of gas a long time ago but it wasn’t like she had anyone good enough to drop it to.

Vince McMahons has the rest of the family drop to their knees in prayer before his match with Shawn. Vince: “God, let’s face it. I don’t like you, and you don’t like me.” Vince praises his own physique and promises to end Shawn.

Mark Henry vs. Undertaker

Casket match and the druids take their time wheeling the casket to ringside. Undertaker does the full entrance and Henry manages to keep glaring at him before jumping him to start things off. Some running clotheslines don’t do much to Henry so he runs Undertaker over with a single shot. They head outside with both guys going head first into the steps. The fans are in am ore traditional role here with the Undertaker cheers, which are cut off when Henry blocks Old School.

A low blow saves Undertaker from going into the casket and now it’s time to go after the arm. Old School connects this time but he still can’t get Henry down. Henry runs him over again but misses the running crotch attack and gets dropped into the casket. Undertaker follows him in and the lid closes before opening up with Undertaker’s hand around Henry’ throat.

They get back inside with Henry hitting the World’s Strongest Slam and covering because he isn’t that bright. Speaking of not that bright, Henry hammers away in the corner but gets planted with the Last Ride. Undertaker throws him onto and over the casket, setting up the Taker Dive (which barely clears the casket). Back in and a pretty impressive Tombstone lets Undertaker put him in the casket for the win.

Rating: D. Another one which didn’t work so well, mainly because there was no drama. Who was believing that Mark Henry was going to be the one to break the Streak? The Taker Dive and Tombstone both looked great but there isn’t much of a way around the fact that it was Mark Henry trying to break the Streak. It had no drama and wasn’t even that long, leaving this near the bottom end of the Streak (at least once it became a big deal).

We recap Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon. Shawn told Vince that it was time to get over the Montreal Screwjob and grow up so Vince decided to destroy Shawn once and for all. He has done a great job of making Shawn miserable and now it is time for Shawn to FINALLY get his hands on Vince in a no holds barred match.

Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon

No Holds Barred and there is a big framed copy of Vince’s Muscle and Fitness Magazine at ringside. Shawn jumps him to start and sends him into JR as the WE WANT BRET chants begin. The framed magazine goes around Vince’s head and Shawn is all ticked off. Cue the Spirit Squad to beat Shawn down though and hit the five man toss into the air. JR: “Someone get the hook!” Shawn gets their megaphone (which is smoking/powdery for some reason) and beats them down though, which sends them off for some reason.

Vince, now bleeding above the eye, gets in a clothesline to take over and it’s time to choke in the corner. The leather belt rips Shawn’s back up and it’s time to choke. Vince actually tunes up the band but Shawn blocks the kick (which had height but was nowhere near the right form) and hammers away. JR: “How are your stock dividends now???” The top rope elbow connects but here’s Shane with a kendo stick to take Shawn down. Always one to rub it in, Vince drops his pants but Shawn puts Shane’s face into it instead, followed by a low blow to Vince.

A clothesline puts Shane on the floor but that’s not enough, as Shawn handcuffs Shane to the rope. The Shane dance sets up a bunch of kendo stick shots to Shane and there’s a heck of a chair shot to Vince’s head. Lawler: “CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!” Vince is busted open and Shawn tunes up the band….before stopping cold. Instead he goes outside and grabs a ladder, which goes straight into Vince’s forehead.

Shawn still won’t cover as he grabs some trashcans and a table instead, even shoving Shane away to get to them. The trashcan to the head drops Vince again and Shawn goes up the ladder. Then he climbs back down and pulls out the BIG ladder. Shawn climbs again, does the suck it sign, and elbows Vince through the table for the huge crash. Medics bring a stretcher out but Shawn scares them off, stands Vince up, yells a lot, and finishes with the superkick.

Rating: C+. Of course it’s junk as an actual match, but this was exactly what they set it up to be. There is no reason to believe that Vince can hang with Shawn in a regular match so he didn’t really come close. Vince brought in a bunch of people, Shawn beat them up and then the beating began. Shawn destroyed him completely (or at least until the next night on Raw, or maybe a week later if they’re feeling generous) and it made sense. Might have gone a little long, but it was the logical way to go.

Post match Vince is taken out on a stretcher and still flips Shawn off. Cole talks about how Shawn promised to never go back to his old self but did it here. Not exactly, as it was just Shawn being violent and aggressive, which isn’t quite what they were talking about on the way here.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle for the Smackdown World Title. Rey won the Royal Rumble to earn the title shot but Orton talked enough trash to get him to put the shot on the line at No Way Out. Orton cheated to win, but Teddy Long put Rey in the match too, making it a triple threat.

Smackdown World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle

Angle is defending and POD plays Rey, in an Aztec warrior costume this year, to the ring. Orton jumps Angle with the belt before the bell to start but Angle is right back in with a German suplex to Orton, plus a double German to both of them at once (with Rey flying through the air). An overhead belly to belly takes Orton over as well but Rey sends Angle face first into Orton’s crotch.

Angle is fine enough to send Rey up for a super hurricanrana to Orton before throwing Rey outside. Rey breaks up the ankle lock attempt and kicks Angle in the head for two as the fans are split between Rey and Kurt. The 619 is countered into the ankle lock and Rey taps (less than four minutes in) but the referee is with Orton. The German suplexes take down both challengers and an Angle Slam to the floor drops Rey in a heap. That means an ankle lock to Orton but this time Rey grabs the referee so he can’t see a tap.

Rey Drops the Dime on Angle but gets knocked outside again. The RKO connects for a delayed two on Angle and Randy goes up top, earning himself the running belly to belly superplex. Rey is back in with the springboard seated senton for two more on Angle and Orton is back in to kick Angle to the floor. The powerbomb neckbreaker gets two on Rey but the RKO takes too long, allowing Angle to come back in with the Angle Slam on Orton. Rey slips out of the Angle Slam and armdrags Angle to the floor. That leaves Orton to be dropkicked into the ropes for the 619 into the West Coast Pop for the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. This is still one of the more perplexing big matches in Wrestlemania history as it had no real structure other than them doing moves to each other. Nothing was built up, nothing set up the finish and Rey just pinned Orton to win. It was fine as it was, but I was expecting a lot more, including more time as it didn’t even last ten minutes.

Post match the Guerreros come out to celebrate with Rey.

JR and the King talk about HHH and John Cena being ready for tonight. They needed two minutes for this instead of the other World Title match? Ah right: they needed to put a bed and pillows in the ring. Great way to use the Wrestlemania time.

Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle

It’s the annual Playboy match pillow fight so JR talks about Frank Gotch gate records in Chicago during the entrances. They to to the bed to start and then hit the catfighting. Torrie turns the bed over on her and then puts her dog on Candice’s face. Candice loses her dress and then puts on a headscissors over the ropes while bending backwards over the ropes. A middle rope elbow hits Torrie on the bed and it’s time to cut Torrie out of her dress. Candice pulls out her Playboy but gets rolled up for the pin.

Rating: D-. Yeah this happened and that’s about all there is to say about it. They were there to promote Playboy and it worked well enough, even though the Playboy Diva is usually a face and someone who wins but not quite this time around. It wasn’t exactly a match of course, but why would you expect anything else?

We see clips of the Wrestlemania press conference, with HHH saying the match against John Cena will be easy and Cena saying not so fast. HHH won a tournament to get the shot so there isn’t much of a story.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. John Cena

Cena is defending and HHH, sitting on a throne in a Thor/Conan motif (the announcers say Conan but he had a big hammer), rises out from the stage. Cena on the other hand comes out after a gangster video and following an old car, complete with CM Punk as a machine gun toting gangster in one of the more well known Before They Were Famous cameos. Still as close as he ever got to the Wrestlemania main event. We get an old school weapons check as JR puts over the idea of the grunt vs. the seasons, trained professional to give us a good story to the match.

They fight over the arm control to start and Cena is sent into the corner for some frustration. The fans are almost entirely behind HHH here, or at least the loud ones are. The FU doesn’t work and they stare each other down again. Cena is sent outside for a big cheer but he comes back in to slug away. A backdrop gives Cena two and the fisherman’s suplex gets the same.

We’re already into the chinlock as the fans tell Cena that he can’t wrestle. There’s the big whip over the corner to send HHH to the floor and another backdrop puts him on the ramp. Back in and HHH hits the jumping knee for a positive reaction as commentary keeps talking about the crowd reactions. HHH whips him hard into the steps and the fans even pop for him breaking the count.

Back in again and the facebuster into a running clothesline gets two on Cena, with JR calling it a slobberknocker. A pair of neckbreakers gets two more and we hit the neck crank. HHH switches to a sleeper and then a chinlock as JR gets the World Title wrong and has to apologize to Rey Mysterio. Cena fights up and hits his own clothesline before winning the slugout. There’s a powerslam and Cena initiates the finishing sequence but the Shuffle is countered with a spinebuster for two more. Another sleeper is countered into a belly to back suplex and it’s the Shuffle into the STFU.

HHH finally makes the rope and escapes the FU before sending Cena into the referee in the corner. That means a low blow to both of them, meaning HHH can give us the crotch chop. It’s sledgehammer time and Cena is knocked silly for a delayed two. The FU gets the same and the fans are popping hard on these near falls. Cena misses a high crossbody so HHH tries the Pedigree but Cena pulls him into the STFU, even trapping the arm so HHH can’t make the rope. It takes some time but HHH finally taps and Cena retains.

Rating: A-. That’s the ultimate achievement on Raw and the win that Cena really needed to become THE guy. He had been champion for almost a year straight but still felt somewhat like someone who hadn’t made it all the way to the top yet. Cena had been the guy, but he wasn’t THE guy until this one and that’s a big change.

The match itself was great as you would expect from these two on the big stage. They played up the idea that Cena was in over his head but ground out another win as he tends to do. Cena was getting better at the big matches around this point and of course that would become one of his calling cards down the line. This worked well and felt like a Wrestlemania main event as the company is now Cena’s, which is what matters most.

The celebration and five minute highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B-. Just like it did in the buildup, Raw annihilated Smackdown here with the two matches that made the show and a lot of other good stuff in between (plus winning Money in the Bank). Edge vs. Foley and the main event certainly deliver, but the rest of the show isn’t anything great. There are some really bad parts on here but the rest is good enough. That may sound good, but I’d like a little more than “good enough” for Wrestlemania.

The biggest problem here is that there really aren’t many blow away moments. Cena winning was more of a long term deal, Rey winning the title felt more like Eddie’s big farewell, Money in the Bank is all about the future and Trish finally losing is hardly top tier stuff. Shawn getting the win against Vince was nice to see, but that middle finger after the match doesn’t make it seem like a blowoff. The problem here is Smackdown, as there wasn’t much of note other than Rey’s title win. It was a one sided show between the two brands and when the show is built around both, it doesn’t work so well, Good, but forgettable.

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

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

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

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

Great American Bash 2008 (2024 Edition): See You Next Show

Great American Bash 2008
Date: July 20, 2008
Location: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Attendance: 12,454
Commentators: Jim Ross, Mick Foley, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Mike Adamle

We’re wrapping up the period before the Summerslam build here and the card is one sided to put it mildly. The Smackdown side is pretty much Edge challenging HHH for the Smackdown World Title, plus a four way Tag Team Title match. On the other side, Raw has John Cena vs. JBL in a parking lot fight, CM Punk defending the Raw World Title against Batista and Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho in a grudge match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at Vickie Guerrero and Edge’s wedding, plus HHH revealing that Edge cheated on her the night before to end Smackdown. The other big matches get some attention of their own.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Edgeheads vs. Miz/John Morrison vs. Finlay/Hornswoggle vs. Jesse and Festus

Miz and Morrison are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Festus clears the ring as tends to be his custom before Hornswoggle comes in for a stare…uh, up. Hornswoggle rolls up his sleeves but opts to dive onto Miz and Morrison instead. We settle down to Jesse monkey flipping Miz and knocking him down again for two. Festus beats on Miz as well before handing it off to Finlay. Morrison comes in and actually takes over on Finlay before bringing Miz back in for a chinlock.

It’s back to Morrison for his own chinlock as JR continues his Morrison to Rick Rude comparisons. Finlay fights up and double legs Miz down before doing the same thing to beat on Morrison. They collide in the corner so Ryder tags himself in to hammer Finlay down. The neck crank doesn’t last long on Finlay so Hawkins comes in to keep Finlay in trouble.

The Celtic Cross hits Hawkins and a shillelagh shot gets two, with Miz and Morrison making the save. Hawkins grabs a chinlock but Finlay is back up again, this time getting over to Hornswoggle to pick up the pace. Jesse tags himself in just as fast though and the fans are not pleased with the lack of Hornswoggle. Hawkins comes back in for a cheap shot on Hornswoggle but it’s back to Festus to really clean house. Miz and Morrison are sent outside and Hawkins breaks up the Rocket Launcher to pin Jesse and win the titles.

Rating: C+. It was a fast paced opener with a bunch of moving parts but they managed to keep the focus on just a few people at a time until the ending. Hawkins and Ryder winning the titles is the right way to go as Miz and Morrison have gotten everything they can out of them and La Familia is still the biggest thing on Smackdown. Give the team some more gold, as it’s not like Jesse and Festus or Hornswoggle/Finlay are worth anything.

US Title: Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin

Hardy is defending and is quickly taken to the mat to start. A small package gives Hardy two as well as a breather but Benjamin is right back with a headlock. That’s reversed into an armbar as they’re certainly starting slowly. Benjamin sends him to the apron for a ram into the post, setting up the armbar back inside. A gutbuster sets up the seated abdominal stretch as commentary talks about Benjamin’s aggression, despite there being nothing to suggest it exists here.

Hardy fights up and tries a Side Effect but gets planted with something like an STO. Back up and Hardy blocks Paydirt to start the comeback and hits the bulldog out of the corner. Hardy’s middle rope hurricanrana is countered into a heck of a buckle bomb and they’re both down. A Side Effect gives Hardy two but the moonsault…I think it was supposed to hit knees but Hardy overshot it anyway. Paydirt gives Benjamin the pin and the title.

Rating: C. The match was far from bad, but it wasn’t exactly thrilling, as it came off as more of a house show match. The ending didn’t help things either as commentary had to scramble to cover Hardy missing. It’s not like hardy was doing anything with the title anyway so switching it over to Benjamin works as well as anything else.

We see an interview from Monday, with CM Punk talking about how he’s always been the underdog. It’s not about your size or muscle and he’s in the business of proving everyone wrong, which is what he’s always done.

We look at HHH revealing that Edge cheated on Vickie Guerrero the day before their wedding.

ECW Title: Mark Henry vs. Tommy Dreamer

Henry is defending and has Tony Atlas in his corner while Dreamer has Colin Delaney. Dreamer charges at him and is quickly shoved into the corner, with Henry throwing him around again for a bonus. A hard clothesline puts Dreamer down again and Henry steps on his head as a few BORING chants start up.

Henry works on the arm (which is code for he leans over and grabs the wrist), Dreamer fights up, Henry takes him down and works on the arm again. The splash misses though and Dreamer hits the basement dropkick but has to escape the World’s Strongest Slam. The DDT puts Henry down and Dreamer goes up for no apparent reason, allowing Delaney to pull him down. Henry hits the World’s Strongest Slam to retain.

Rating: D+. This was a good example of everything that is wrong with ECW. First of all, there was no reason to believe Dreamer was going to take the title. He hasn’t been nearly that important for a long time now and it wasn’t going to change here. Second, the Delaney turn doesn’t mean much as he’s a loser who didn’t exactly become a star when he was with Dreamer. Third, the match was really boring, which is quite ECW in a lot of ways. Rather dull stuff here and by far the worst thing on the show.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels, and thank goodness as the show needs it. Jericho claimed Michaels is a hypocrite (and was kind of right) and then took out his eye. Now Michaels is back for revenge and to prove that no matter what Jericho does, Michaels will always be better.

Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

They lock up to start and thankfully drop that in all of two seconds to start hitting each other in the face. Shawn gets the better of things with some chops and knocks Jericho into the corner before going after the leg. The reverse Figure Four has Jericho in early trouble but he’s in the ropes pretty quickly. Shawn stays on the leg and the referee stops things for a second to check on Jericho in the corner.

Jericho is fine enough to send Shawn over the corner and out to the apron, with Shawn favoring his back. The knee is fine enough to hit a triangle dropkick out to the floor before Jericho takes him inside for a double arm crank. With that broken up, Jericho dives into an atomic drop and Shawn drops him with the flying forearm. Shawn nips up but Jericho pulls him straight into the Walls, which is counter you don’t see very often.

This time Shawn makes the rope so Jericho loads up the bulldog, only to get dropped with a clothesline for two. The top rope elbow is broken up but Shawn wins a fight on top and now the elbow connects. Cue Lance Cade to break up the superkick but Shawn blocks the Codebreaker. They slug it out again until Shawn hiptosses him out onto Cade for the big crash. Naturally Shawn is right there with a moonsault onto the two of them and everyone is down again.

Back in and Shawn’s bad eye is busted open, with commentary not being sure when it was cut. Naturally Jericho goes right after the eye and knocks him into the ropes, where Cade gets in the cheap shot. The very bloody Shawn manages to pull him into a crossface but Jericho pulls him into the buckle for the violent escape. The referee wants to stop it but Shawn begs him not to, meaning Jericho is right back on the eye. Shawn is COVERED in blood and does the “pull myself up on the other guy’s tights” spot, only to have Jericho punch him down again and hammer away….until the referee finally stops it.

Rating: B+. This took some time to get going but there is almost no one better than Shawn at making you think he was dying in front of your eyes. Shawn was trying to fight and was still in there until the injury flared up again, along with Cade offering the distraction. This felt like the big middle piece in a bigger story and they pulled me in with the emotion and hatred. Awesome match and we’re almost certainly not done yet.

We get the emotional exit for Shawn, who has to be helped out.

Edge is really not pleased with HHH for violating his privacy and taking away his personal life. All Edge has left is his professional life and tonight, he will be extra dangerous.

Divas Title: Michelle McCool vs. Natalya

For the inaugural title but commentary is to busy talking about Edge/Vickie Guerrero. They grapple to the mat to start as commentary compares McCool to softball star Jennie Finch. Natalya wheelbarrow drops her throat first over the top to take over and we hit the surfboard to stay on McCool’s….well various parts. McCool powers out so Natalya switches to the Sharpshooter. That’s broken up as well and this time McCool pulls her into the heel hook for the title.

Rating: C-. These two were in the death slot as there was almost no way they were going to be able to follow the previous match. It doesn’t help that the match was almost a Natalya squash until McCool got in her one hold for the win. It’s rather nice for the women on Smackdown to have something to do, but they could use some more blood in the division or it is going to turn old fast.

Post match here is Chris Jericho to interrupt, saying you need to save your ticket stubs because this is the night of Shawn Michaels’ last match. Shawn has a detached retina and that means his career is over. It shows that the good guys win and the wicked are punished and the worst has finally come for Shawn. Jericho was feeling the evil here and it worked.

We recap CM Punk defending the World Title against Batista. Punk won Money In The Bank and used it to become champion, meaning he needs to prove himself worthy. Batista doesn’t seem to be overly intimidated so Punk is extra motivated.

Raw World Title: Batista vs. CM Punk

Punk is defending and we go old school with a weapons check. Batista powers him around to start and Punk realizes he might need another plan. Some kicks to the legs slow Batista down but he elbows Punk in the face to cut him off. An enziguri knocks Batista outside and Punk follows him outside with a suicide dive.

Back in and Punk strikes away, only to be run over to give Batista two. The camel clutch goes on to keep Punk in trouble, which is broken up as camel clutches tend to be. Punk gets up a shot to the face in the corner and hits a high crossbody for two. The Batista Bomb is countered but a powerslam isn’t, meaning Punk has to counter the Bomb again.

Punk hits the running knee in the corner but can’t hit the GTS, instead settling for the springboard clothesline. The Anaconda Vice (been a minute since Punk used that) is broken up and Batista hits a heck of a clothesline. Batista’s charge hits the post and he falls outside, where he is able to catch a diving Punk with a spinebuster. Cue Kane to jump Batista for the DQ.

Rating: C+. They were starting to get somewhere but then just stopped for the DQ ending. This is either setting up a triple threat (erg) or Punk vs. Batista II, but Punk needs to win something on a big stage. It was bad enough that he got the title via Money In The Bank, but he’s lucky to crack the top five stars on Raw. This didn’t help things, though I guess Batista needed to be kept strong. Granted that makes me wonder why he was in the match in the first place, but I can picture Vince’s “oh it’s fine” face from here so we’ll move o.

Post match Kane lays out Punk, Batista, and a production worker. With Kane gone, Batista hits the Batista Bomb on Punk to make things even worse for the champ. Somehow this is a double DQ, despite Kane not touching Punk before the bell.

We recap John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield. With Vince McMahon gone, JBL has declared martial law but Cena isn’t having it. Now they’re going to fight in a parking lot.

John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

This is taking place in the parking lot in a circle of cars and JBL shows up in his limo, fighting in most of a suit. There’s no Cena to start so JBL gets on a hood, only to have Cena pop up in another car and ram into him. Cena chokes him with a cord and then slams a car hood onto JBL’s back. Some jumper cables to the crotch set up some electrocution and JBL screams a lot.

JBL is put on another hood and Cena throws a well placed keg, only to hit windshield. With JBL trying to drive away, Cena grabs him for some rams into the horn. JBL fights back to little avail but manages to whip Cena through a car door, knocking it off the hinges. Cena gets punched off a car for two and then sent through the windshield of another for the big crash.

A crowbar shot misses for JBL and Cena slugs away but JBL sends him through a window. With nothing else working, JBL goes to grab some gasoline (with his limo rolling away) and douses one of the cars (with Cena inside). The car is lit on fire and promptly extinguished, with an annoyed looking Cena getting out. JBL goes over to a forklift but Cena is there to send him into another car.

Now Cena gets in the forklift and gores said car, only to lift it up and carry it into the arena. Commentary kicks in as Cena knocks JBL around and plants him with the ProtoBomb onto the stage. Cena loads up the FU but walks JBL over to the edge of the stage, only to take too long as JBL slips off. JBL sends him off the stage and through a windshield for the upset win.

Rating: C-. This was quite the situation and I wasn’t wild on most of it. They had a bunch of slow brawling in the back with car stuff before coming to the arena for a few minutes. JBL had to get a win of some sort but egads this means we’re going to have to hear him talk even more, which is about as painful of a thought as I can imagine. Not exactly great here, but what are you expecting from JBL?

We recap Edge vs. HHH for the latter’s Smackdown World Title. Vickie Guerrero gave Edge the title shot before their wedding but then Edge cheated on her the day before said wedding, with HHH revealing Edge’s, uh, indiscretion. Now it’s about the title, though Edge is more than a bit distracted.

HHH has no regrets over what he did.

Smackdown World Title: HHH vs. Edge

HHH is defending and we get the Big Match Intros with a weapons check. Edge charges right at him and hammers away but gets sent outside. HHH sends him outside and grabs a neck snap across the top. A ram int the buckle has Edge on the floor again but he knocks a diving HHH out of the air. Back in and Edge hits the running shoulder in the corner before sending him outside for a whip into the steps.

A drop onto the announcers’ table keeps HHH’s ribs in trouble and Edge grabs a bodyscissors back inside. HHH fights up but gets dropkicked to the apron, where he sidesteps a spear to send Edge crashing to the floor. Back in and HHH slugs away before they go outside (again) with Edge going into the post. Edge is right back up though and grabs the Impaler on the floor, which means a rather delayed cover gets two.

HHH hits his own DDT for his own two but the Pedigree is countered into the Edge-O-Matic. The spear only hits buckle but Edge’s big boot only hits HHH’s jaw, leaving them both down again. Back up and the spear is countered into the spinebuster to give HHH a much needed breather. The Pedigree is countered again, this time with a ram into the corner. Edge takes him up top for a superplex but here is wedding planner Alicia Fox to send in the title. Cue Vickie Guerrero to take Alicia down and the catfight is on in the ring. The spear hits Vickie by mistake, allowing HHH to grab the Pedigree for the pin to retain.

Rating: B. It was good but they never came close to hitting that really high level. At the same time, it didn’t help that this was more about the Vickie/Edge stuff, with the title just kind of being there on the side. These two feel like they should have had their first big match on a more important show, but at least what they got to do here did work. It just could have been a pretty good bit better.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a perfectly fine show that should have been better than it was. There were some big matches on the card and those matches worked, but the lower card stuff is completely forgettable, even with three new champions being crowned. It’s a show where things happened, but it’s not a show that felt important. Instead, it came off like a “the big one is next time”, which doesn’t make for the most enjoyable event.

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Smackdown – July 18, 2008: Stiff Trapezoids

Smackdown
Date: July 18, 2008
Location: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Jim Ross, Mick Foley

It’s the go home show for the Great American Bash and we are getting ready for HHH vs. Edge, which feels something like a major match. On paper it certainly is, but in this case the main story is the continuing saga of Edge and Vickie Guerrero. Naturally things are going well again and now we are probably on the way back towards the wedding. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of Edge and Vickie Guerrero’s rocky relationship.

And now, the wedding, with Chavo Guerrero as best man and everything seems to go off without a hitch. The reception is tonight and that’s a bit of a twist on the usual formula.

The wedding party is introduced for the reception, with the rest of La Familia and Alicia Fox waiting on the stage. Chavo welcomes Edge to the family and thinks he’ll be perfect with some of that wild side. Edge isn’t THAT wild any more though, as he never even turns his phone off anymore so he won’t miss anything from Vickie. It’s Chavo’s honor to be the best man and he’ll be there when Edge wins the World Title on Sunday. Chavo even has a mock WWE Magazine with Edge as champion on the cover. Edge says Vickie loves her action so let’s get things started.

Finlay/Hornswoggle vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

This is a preview of the four way Tag Team Title match at the Bash, also involving Jesse and Festus and Miz/John Morrison. Before the match, Edge says he’s tired of seeing Finlay and Hornswoggle cheating every week, but Hawkins and Ryder are too smart for the water guns and such. So is Edge, who will be the guest referee.

Hawkins and Ryder (and Edge) are in wedding clothes and Edge throws the shillelagh out before the bell. Finlay takes Hawkins into the corner to start but Edge breaks it up, which JR doesn’t see as the best move. Edge’s distraction lets Hawkins hammer away and it’s off to Ryder for a neckbreaker. Finlay fights up and brings in Hornswoggle to clean house but Edge hits a spear on Finlay to give Ryder the fast pin.

Post match Edge heads back to the stage for the first dance with Vickie. Cue Big Show to cut in so Edge gives him a handicap match right now.

Big Show vs. Great Khali/MVP/Shelton Benjamin/Vladimir Kozlov

So how did Edge know those four would be ready to go if this was an impromptu match? Show shoves Benjamin down without much effort to start so MVP comes in. That involves nothing physical whatsoever before it’s off to Kozlov. Show shoves him into the corner without much trouble so Khali tags himself in. A quick clothesline drops Khali and everyone else comes in for the DQ.

Post match the beatdown is on, including the chokebomb from Khali.

Post break Vickie is in the ring (you might be noticing a theme here) to throw the bouquet, with a bunch of women at ringside. Michelle McCool and Natalya get in a fight, with Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder getting rid of McCool. Cherry catches the bouquet, which earns her a match against….Vickie. But only after her first match.

Cherry vs. Natalya

They’re both in dresses and Natalya wins in less than 45 seconds.

Vickie Guerrero vs. Cherry

Vickie pins her in five seconds.

Jimmy Wang Yang vs. The Brian Kendrick

This is the debut of the new Kendrick, complete with a monster named Ezekiel. Kendrick wants nothing to do with this handshake stuff so Yang takes him down with a headlock takeover. Back up and Yang hits a running clothesline to the floor but an Ezekiel distraction lets Kendrick get in a cheap shot. Kendrick starts in on the arm back inside but charges into an elbow in the corner. A missile dropkick gives Yang two so he goes up for the moonsault, only to have Ezekiel offer a distraction. Kendrick slams him down and hits Sliced Bread #2 for the win.

Rating: C+. This was a good enough debut for the new Kendrick, with Ezekiel playing into the finish like a monster enforcer should. Kendrick’s new attitude worked well and there is some potential for him to do something with this. Yang continues to be a solid hand in the ring and is the right choice to put in a spot like this one.

Edge gets a box of Slim Jim’s, saying he’ll show his spicy side later tonight.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Umaga

Kennedy strikes away to start but Umaga gets in a hard shoulder. An even harder clothesline has Kennedy in more trouble and he runs into an elbow in the corner. This lets Umaga get in his variety of stomping/stepping on Kennedy’s head before grabbing the nerve hold. Kennedy’s comeback is cut off by a knee to the ribs and things slow right back down. We hit the nerve hold again before Umaga drops him one more time as we take a break.

Back with Umaga putting on ANOTHER nerve hold as this match will not get going. Kennedy tries to fight up but his slam attempt falls down and we are off to the fourth nerve hold. With Kennedy daring to do something, Umaga uppercuts him right back down as the fans are dying with every boring second of this mess. Kennedy fights back again and actually gets somewhere with right hands and an enziguri for two. The Mic Check is blocked though and the Samoan Spike finishes for Umaga.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t so much a bad match as much as it was terribly dull. The match was less than fifteen minutes long and it included four different nerve holds. The match just wasn’t interesting and it felt like Umaga was doing less than phoning it in. Kennedy can’t do much when his comeback is cut off time after time so the beatdown can keep going. Really dull stuff here.

Edge is in a new Slim Jim commercial.

Miz/John Morrison vs. Jesse and Festus

Non-title. Festus chases Miz and Morrison outside to start as the champs already need a breather. Morrison gets suplexed to start and Festus slams Jesse onto him for two. Back up and Morrison knocks Jesse into the corner as JR compares Morrison to Rick Rude. Jesse gets out of said corner and brings Festus back in to clean house. A Rocket Launcher top rope forearm hits Miz with Morrison having to make a save. Everything breaks down and Miz grabs the Reality Check to pin Jesse.

Rating: C. They kept this one really short and it didn’t do much to get me excited for the four way Tag Team Title match at the Bash. The champs have already beaten one of the teams, so why would I want to see Jesse and Festus getting a title shot? I get not having the champs loses here as they just lost on ECW, but it’s not the best way to go for Sunday.

Raw Rebound.

Great American Bash rundown.

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

Non-title and they come to the ring at the same time, though only after hitting Chavo Guerrero with a cake. Respect is shown to start and Jeff goes after the arm. That’s reversed into an arm crank from Matt, who knocks Jeff down. Neither can hit a Twist of Fate so Jeff runs up the corner for the Whisper In The Wind to take over. The slingshot dropkick (that always looks good) gets two but he has to break out of the Side Effect. Jeff knocks him down again, only to miss the Swanton. Matt’s moonsault gets two but La Familia runs in for the DQ.

Rating: C+. This was a weird one as they didn’t want to fight each other and the fans weren’t sure what to do here. The smart move here is that they kept this short, as there was only so much you can get out of a match like this one. The action was good but the vibe was off, which was kind of the point of the whole thing anyway.

Post match the beatdown is on and Edge hits a spear to each Hardy.

Post break La Familia is in the ring so Edge can talk about how much he loves Vickie. He even has a special video package of their relationship, including their time in a park on a seesaw and in, uh, more intimate areas. With that out of the way, here is HHH to interrupt, complete with a big gift box. First though, let’s get this out of the way: no he isn’t secretly married to Vickie.

While he didn’t have the time to get a big special video together, he does have a video of his own. We see a video dated yesterday, showing Alicia Fox coming to see Edge with Vickie nowhere to be seen. Edge is worried about some wedding details so they go over some planning, including food options (uh, that should probably be decided earlier than the day before the wedding). HHH pauses the video and thinks Edge is a bit anxious, so let’s skip to the good part.

Back to the video, with Edge talking about how a white rose symbolizes his love for Vickie. He’s so attracted to scents, including whatever perfume Fox is wearing. She’s not wearing any perfume (cut to a VERY displeased Vickie in the arena) and Edge touches her arm, saying his trapezoid (Fox: “Your what?”) is locking up on him. A slightly nervous looking Fox rubs his neck (Edge: “I think it’s getting a little stiffer.”) but HHH pauses things again.

Edge explains that his neck was flaring up, with HHH saying lots of guys have women massage their necks when their wives aren’t there. An angry Edge sends the troops after HHH, who pulls out gift #2: a sledgehammer. HHH: “It’s one size fits all and there’s plenty for everyone!”

We go back to the video, which now sees Edge rubbing Fox’s back. Edge suggests taking the bra off (Fox isn’t sure) and mentions he went lingerie shopping yesterday, but there was nothing in Vickie’s size. He was told to go to the store for “bigger people” and talks about how big Vickie’s underwear really is. HHH stops the tape again and says this is awkward. He says he didn’t watch this yet, but it kills gift #3: some rather large underwear. HHH: “I can always park my car under it.”

We go back to the video where Edge takes off Fox’s glasses and…she’s going to leave. Edge stops her and they kiss, with Fox certainly approving. Back in the arena, Vickie glares at Edge, Fox looks like she’s about to cry, and Bam Neely is talking to Chavo Guerrero about something. Vickie screams a lot as Edge leaves to end the show. I’m going to assume they ran out of things to air here, as this went nearly 20 minutes and they easily could have accomplished the same thing in half the time.

Overall Rating: C-. It would be an understatement to call this a one note show as the Edge/Vickie stuff went from start to finish, with the villains sitting on the stage almost throughout the night. The wrestling was nothing special with that Umaga vs. Kennedy match being especially dull. Other than the Tag Team Title match, there is nothing important but Edge vs. HHH at the pay per view on the Smackdown side. Pretty weak show this time, though the reaction to Edge kissing Fox (once they got there) was good.

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Elimination Chamber 2024: Mami’s World

Elimination Chamber 2024
Date: February 24, 2024
Location: Optus Stadium, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re going international with this show and that means we are likely in for a rather hot crowd. As you can probably guess, this show is going to be focused on the namesake matches, which will help get us to Wrestlemania. Other than that, we have Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes on the Grayson Waller Effect, which should be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors vs. Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae

Australia’s Hartwell and LeRae are challenging and Hartwell gets quite the reaction (and mini bio from Cole). Hartwell and Sane start things off with the fans already chanting for Indi. Sane gets powered into the corner as they’re starting fairly slowly. A headlock doesn’t want for Sane as Hartwell shoves her off and kicks her down. LeRae comes in and gets two off a splash before being sent into Asuka’s boots in the corner. LeRae unloads on Asuka in the corner and hits her step up backsplash for two.

A sliding knee cuts LeRae off though and Sane’s top rope forearm has her down again. Hartwell gets knocked off the apron but LeRae manages to kick Asuka away and get over to Hartwell for the needed tag. Hartwell gets to clean house, including something of a body block to send Asuka outside. LeRae is back in with a Lionsault for two on Asuka with Sane making the save. Asuka suplexes Hartwell, who grabs a rollup for two (to a big reaction) before being knocked outside. That leaves LeRae to get knocked off the top and caught in a reverse DDT/Insane Elbow combination for the pin to retain at 8:41.

Rating: C. I don’t think there was that much drama over the idea of a title change, but this was about getting an Australian wrestler out there to start the show. That went rather well, with Hartwell getting the fans’ attention and firing them up even more than before. The Warriors never quite felt in jeopardy here, but that wasn’t exactly the point of the match. Nice enough opener and they didn’t do anything ridiculous.

Post match Hartwell gets the big ovation.

Several people arrived earlier.

Opening video, mainly focusing on Rhea Ripley.

More people arrived.

Women’s Elimination Chamber

The winner gets Rhea Ripley or Nia Jax at Wrestlemania. There is no word on how long the intervals are other than them being “regularly scheduled”. Naomi is in at #1 and Becky Lynch is in at #2 and they take their time to start. They trade shoulders with neither being able to get very far and then trade rollups for two each. That means a standoff before they slap hands and catch each others’ kicks. Lynch tries for the Disarm-Her but gets rolled into a failed Starstruck attempt instead.

They head outside, where Naomi sends her face first into the cage and then takes it back inside. Stereo crossbodies leave both of them down and it’s Tiffany Stratton (quite the crowd favorite, which even she acknowledges) in at #3. The handspring elbows have Naomi in trouble in the corner but Becky goes for the Disarm-Her. That’s broken up by Naomi’s high crossbody for a double near fall and everyone is down.

Stratton tries a double fireman’s carry but can’t keep them up, instead taking Lynch down on her own. The Prettiest Moonsault Ever is broken up so Naomi hits the split legged moonsault on Lynch but Stratton steals the cover for two. With everyone down, Liv Morgan is in at #4 and she sends Stratton into the sides of the pods over and over.

Morgan starts firing off a bunch of elbows in the corner, followed by a middle rope Codebreaker for two on Lynch. Naomi and Stratton go outside with Naomi sending her into the cage wall. Lynch joins them and Bexploders Stratton into the wall. The Disarm-Her, with Stratton’s arm going through the cage, has Stratton in trouble but the fall doesn’t count out there. Back in and Naomi climbs a pod and Blockbusters Morgan off the top, only to have Stratton roll Naomi up for the pin at 13:27.

Raquel Rodriguez is in at #5 and starts throwing people around, including a fall away slam over the top to Lynch and swinging Stratton into the cage. That leaves Rodriguez vs. Morgan, with the middle rope Codebreaker being blocked. Lynch is back in with a double DDT to put Rodriguez down but Stratton gets in a shot of her own to leave everyone on the mat for a bit. Bianca Belair is in at #6 and puts Stratton back in a pod before cleaning house.

Stratton comes back in and gets spinebustered for her efforts. That gives us the Rodriguez vs. Belair showdown with Belair’s crossbody being pulled out of the air. Rodriguez slips out of the KOD attempt but misses a charge and gets sent outside. Belair is pulled out with her and manages to reverse a slingshot suplex into a tornado DDT onto the cage floor. Belair fireman’s carries Rodriguez but gets sent outside again by Stratton.

Rodriguez is laid over the middle rope but Morgan comes flying off the top with a seated senton. Lynch and Morgan are both on top of a pod with Stratton shoving her off and onto Rodriguez. Stratton says it’s Tiffy Time and hits a crazy Swanton from off the pod and onto the pile to leave everyone but Morgan down again. That means Stratton gets to face Morgan on her own but the Prettiest Moonsault Ever is broken up. Instead, Morgan hits a middle rope Downward Spiral to get rid of Stratton (the fans do not approve) at 22:55 overall.

Rodriguez is back up and gets to clean some house, including a chokeslam to Morgan. The middle rope corkscrew splash crushes Morgan but Lynch pulls Rodriguez into the Disarm-Her. That’s broken up as well so Rodriguez powerbombs Morgan and Lynch at the same time. Belair is right back in with the KOD (and she barely got it on) to eliminate Rodriguez at 25:05 overall.

That leaves us with three and Belair takes over on both of them rather quickly. A double handspring moonsault hits Morgan and Lynch for two before they all head outside. Morgan gets swung into the cage but she’s back with a kick to send Belair face first into a pod. Lynch is back up but Belair catches her in the corner to rain down right hands.

Morgan powerbombs Belair down and then superplexes Lynch, who is still able to get her knees up to block Belair’s 450. Back up and Morgan counters the KOD with a knee to Belair’s face, followed by a Codebreaker to Lynch. Another KO doesn’t work on Lynch so Morgan rolls Belair up for the pin at 32:07 overall, only for the Manhandle Slam to pin Morgan and send Lynch to Wrestlemania at 32:15.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but they didn’t just have Lynch run through everyone to get to the title match. In addition to Lynch, you had the good three way final, plus Stratton looking like a star. Stratton very well may have gotten the most out of this whole thing, as she had the fans behind her and more than lived up to the hype. The match might have gone a bit longer than it needed to, but this was Lynch’s coronation and it worked well.

Tag Team Titles: Judgment Day vs. New Catch Republic

The Republic (Graves: “Sounds like a place where my wife buys her clothes.”) is challenging and Dominik Mysterio is here with the champs. Bate and Dunne jump the champs before the bell, allowing Bate to hit a running shooting star press for an early two on Balor. Dunne comes in for a hard clothesline before cranking on Balor’s fingers. Bate adds a top rope flipping splash, only to have Priest come in and kick away.

Balor comes back in for a chinlock until Bate fights up but Dominik cuts that off. A backbreaker/legdrop combination hits Bate, but Balor manages to get over to Dunne anyway. House is quickly cleaned, including a middle rope moonsault to drop the champs on the floor. A clothesline/German suplex combination gets two on Balor but Bate can’t airplane spin Priest. Everything breaks down and now the spin (a long one at that) has Priest in trouble.

Dominik offers a distraction and that’s enough for an ejection. He won’t leave so Balor drops him, leaving Balor to Sling Blade Dunne. That doesn’t slow Dunne down that much though as he snaps Balor’s fingers, setting up the double Tyler Driver 97 for two, with Priest making the save. Dunne dives onto Priest, who plants him onto the apron. Back in and Balor hits 1916 for two on Bate but the Razor’s Edge is countered.

Bate rolls Priest up and it’s back to Dunne for some kicks to Priest’s head. Bop and Bang sets up the double Birminghammer for two on Priest, followed by some clubberin for good measure. Balor saves Priest from being slammed off the top and it’s a double chokeslam off the middle rope. The Coup de Grace to Dunne retains the titles at 17:26.

Rating: B-. The action was good but this went on longer than it needed to. I was waiting for this one to end more than once and then it just kept going longer and longer. A title change wasn’t completely out of the question here, but they needed to cut off about four minutes here to really make this work. Hopefully Bate and Dunne continue teaming, as the division could use them and they have done well in their time together.

It’s time for the Grayson Waller Effect, but first we have Austin Theory to insult Australian food. Waller comes out to not the strongest reaction but the fans do like him drinking beer out of shoes with a UFC fighter. After Waller plays up to the crowd a bit, he brings out his first guest in Seth Rollins. Then he brings out Cody Rhodes, with the entrances taking their sweet time.

With both of the guests sitting down, Waller pauses to acknowledge Roman Reigns. Waller gets right to the point: who does Rollins want to fight at Wrestlemania? Rollins instead offers a scoop: he is days away from being medically cleared to compete. Rollins talks about how he’s going to win and hits his catchphrases. Waller: “Cool story bro.” We move over to Cody, with Waller asking if Cody is selfish for not giving us Rock vs. Reigns at Wrestlemania.

Cody reiterates that he is a fan of the Rock before listing off the things that Rock would say if he was here. We confirm that there are in fact some Cody Crybabies in the crowd and then questions if the Rock is still the People’s Champion. Cody thinks that if Rollins made an announcement, he should too…and he challenges Rock to a singles match.

Rollins says he’ll be there with Cody when the match happens but Theory cuts them both off with an IT DOESN’T MATTER what you think to Cody. Theory loads up If Ya Smell but Rollins sends him through the set. Cody and Rollins drop the villains (Rollins even hits the Stomp) to wrap it up. This was really long to not say much, but Cody challenging Rock and Seth being physical again worked.

Video on the Men’s Elimination Chamber.

Men’s Elimination Chamber

For the shot against Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania, Logan Paul’s US Title isn’t on the line, and it’s Drew McIntyre in at #1 and LA Knight in at #2. McIntyre chops him into the corner and Knight is already staggering around. A running neckbreaker gets Knight out of trouble but McIntyre knocks him right back into the corner. The fans chant for CM Punk so McIntyre loads up a GTS, only to get reversed into a sunset flip backbreaker. Knight takes him outside for some rams into the pod and yes the fans are right there with the YEAH’s.

Audio goes out, presumably for some not nice crowd chants, but comes back for Knight to send McIntyre face first into another pod. Kevin Owens is in (less than five minutes, as opposed to more than six for the first pod in the women’s match) and hits a chokeslam, which is apparently at the request of a Make-A-Wish kid (that’s great). McIntyre fights up and puts Owens on the top and it goes as badly as it always does for anyone not named Owens.

Knight comes back up but gets slammed down, with Owens Codebreakering McIntyre and landing on Knight at the same time. Owens gets in front of Orton and mocks his post before kicking at Paul’s pod. Knight and Owens get together to try a double superplex on McIntyre, who high crossbodies both of them down.

Bobby Lashley is in at #4 and goes right after McIntyre, including ramming him into the cage. A suplex on the cage floor keeps McIntyre in trouble and Lashley’s spinebuster gets two. Owens is back up to knock Lashley down for two more and it’s Randy Orton in at #5 to drop Owens with the powerslam. The hanging DDT onto the cage floor knocks Owens silly but Orton can’t follow up. Lashley is back up with a spear to Knight, who rolls out to the cage floor. Knight drops McIntyre onto the pod as well but Orton suplexes Knight to leave both of them down.

Logan Paul is in at #6 (complete with messages he wrote onto his pod) but Owens jumps him to start and they are both shut into the pod to keep up the beating. They get out with Owens crotching Paul against a pod wall. Owens blasts Paul again but Lashley sends Owens through a pod. One heck of a spear drives Paul through another pod, only for Lashley to walk into McIntyre’s Claymore. Back in and another Claymore gives McIntyre the pin on Lashley at 21:28.

Knight stomps McIntyre down in the corner and then runs the corner to superplex McIntyre. BFT hits Orton and there’s another to McIntyre….but AJ Styles runs in through the open Chamber door to unload on Knight with a chair. The Styles Clash onto the chair lets McIntyre pin Knight at 24:25. Owens’ brainbuster onto the knee drops Paul and some cannonballs hit McIntyre and Orton.

The Swanton gives Owens two on Orton but McIntyre blocks another one with some raised knees. The Claymore is countered into a pop up powerbomb and there’s the Stunner to Paul. Orton is back up and gets superkicked, only to reverse the Stunner into the RKO to get rid of Owens at 28:00.

With Paul down, McIntyre and Orton have their big staredown but Orton wins a slugout. Paul sends Orton into the buckle, only to get crotched on top. McIntyre neckbreakers Orton but gets high crossbodied by Paul to leave everyone down. Paul is up first and whips out some brass knuckles but spends so long looking at them that Orton grabs the RKO for the elimination at 32:38.

We’re down to Orton vs. McIntyre, with the Futureshock and RKO both being blocked. The hanging DDT puts McIntyre down but he’s back with a spinebuster to cut off the RKO attempt. The Claymore is loaded up but Orton collapses before anything can launch. Orton is back up with an RKO….and here is Paul to knock him out with the brass knuckles. The mostly out cold McIntyre gets the pin at 36:56.

Rating: B. The star power helped here and made a rather long match feel important throughout. McIntyre felt like the right choice from the beginning but Orton winning wouldn’t have been crazy and Lashley is always worth a look. In addition to McIntyre vs. Rollins, this should set up Orton vs. Paul and Knight vs. Styles at Wrestlemania. That’s nice to see in one match.

Here is HHH to announce the attendance: 52,590.

We recap Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax. Ripley is the unstoppable home country champion and Jax is a monster. That’s about all you need to know here.

Raw Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is defending and yes she gets the incredible reaction that you knew she was going to receive. Jax shoves her back to start so Ripley strikes away, including a running dropkick into the corner. Another shove sends Ripley into the corner and we go old school with a Stinkface. A legdrop to the back has Ripley in trouble but she kicks up from the mat for some creative offense.

Jax goes with the Stretch Muffler into a half crab, followed by a torture rack to stay on the ribs/back. Ripley slips out and grabs a guillotine choke, which is quickly broken up. A pair of powerbombs drop Ripley and Jax drops a leg to the back of the head for two. The Annihilator is broken up though and Ripley’s missile dropkick gets two. Jax grabs a Samoan drop but Ripley is back with a basement dropkick.

Ripley goes up and is brought back down with a super Samoan drop for another near fall. Jax gets knocked off the ropes this time and that means an Eddie dance frog splash to give Ripley two more. Riptide is broken up so let’s load up the announcers’ tables instead. Jax Samoan drops her onto said table and then adds a splash through it because that’s the kind of thing Jax does. Back in and the Annihilator gets two, leaving Jax shocked. Another Annihilator is broken up and a superplex brings Jax back own. A kick to the head sets up Riptide to retain the title at 14:38.

Rating: C. The ending was great, but there is only so much I can get out of offense built around the idea of Jax being really big. It was a bunch of Samoan drops and Annihilator attempts, which don’t quite make for the most thrilling match. If nothing else, how awesome would it have been if Ripley had kicked out of the Annihilator at two, Hulked up, and beat the fire out of Jax to win? That might not let Jax look strong though and we can’t have that, but hopefully this gets rid of Jax for the time being.

The long celebration and highlight package wrap us up.

Overall Rating: B. This was a weird one as the wrestling was mostly good to very good, but there was little in the way of drama. Lynch and McIntyre felt like pretty strong candidates to win the Chambers and Jax wasn’t beating Ripley if WWE wanted to get out of Australia alive. That didn’t leave much in the way of wondering who was winning, though that isn’t a terrible thing. It was a strong show that was missing that big moment to get it to the next level, though Ripley did everything she could to make it happen in the main event.

Results
Kabuki Warriors b. Indi Hartwell/Candice LeRae – Reverse DDT/Insane Elbow combination to LeRae
Becky Lynch won the Women’s Elimination Chamber last eliminating Liv Morgan
Judgment Day b. New Catch Republic – Coup de Grace to Dunne
Drew McIntyre won the Men’s Elimination Chamber last eliminating Randy Orton
Rhea Ripley b. Nia Jax – Riptide

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Smackdown – February 9, 2024: And Then Everything Changed (For The Better)

Smackdown
Date: February 9, 2024
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Corey Graves

As has been the case multiple times this year, and then everything changed. This time it was at the Wrestlemania media event, as Cody Rhodes changed his mind and decided that he would he challenging Roman Reigns instead. This sounds simple enough, but there was a huge X factor in the Rock, who got into it with Rhodes and has joined forces with Reigns in a “my family is better than your family” feud. I think we might have some fallout tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of the press event.

Here is HHH for a chat, with Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce waiting in the ring. HHH talks about how we are on the Road To Wrestlemania but things took a hard turn yesterday. For now though, he needs to set the record straight. There are some people who don’t know their role but tried to assert their authority when they don’t have any. HHH doesn’t care where you sit because one thing is abundantly clear: the answers come one place and one place only and you are looking at him.

The main event of Wrestlemania XL will be Roman Reigns defending against Cody Rhodes. If there are some people who don’t like that, it doesn’t matter what you think. Aldis says it’s time to shift focus to Seth Rollins and the World Heavyweight Championship. The new #1 contender will be determined in the Elimination Chamber and qualifying matches begin tonight.

We see the twelve wrestlers who will be fighting for those shows: Randy Orton, Bronson Reed, Kevin Owens, Logan Paul, AJ Styles, Miz, Bobby Lashley, Ivar, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Dominik Mysterio and LA Knight (seemingly in no particular order). We’ll start right now with this qualifying match.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles

Before the match, McIntyre comes to the ring and mocks CM Punk’s injury (complete with the shirt) and no, Punk isn’t making a dime off of it! Hold on though as LA Knight joins commentary as McIntyre strikes away at Styles to start. A backbreaker sets up a rather harsh armbar to keep Styles down. They go outside with McIntyre sending him hard into the timekeeper’s area as we take a break.

Back with Styles fighting back and getting in his half of a double knockdown. McIntyre takes him up in the corner but Styles pulls him out with a sitout powerbomb for a near fall. A quick Futureshock plants Styles but he cuts the Claymore off. McIntyre cuts off the Phenomenal Forearm just as quickly though and they head outside. Styles almost gets into it with Knight, allowing McIntyre to shove Styles into Knight, who isn’t pleased. Knight gets on the apron to go after Styles, whose rollup to McIntyre is missed. The angry Styles decks Knight but walks into the Claymore for the pin at 11:15.

Rating: B-. One thing I like about qualifying matches is a situation where it seems that one person is the obvious winner but the other one isn’t a total non-factor. Styles getting into the Chamber wouldn’t have been an insane thought and that helps a lot. Odds are we’ll be seeing Styles again when Knight is trying to qualify and that makes things more interesting.

Sami Zayn is facing Randy Orton in his qualifying match and if that is his path to the title, so be it.

A NASCAR champion was here earlier.

Pretty Deadly is not happy with Wilson’s hand being hurt by Pete “Do-nay” and swear revenge.

We look back at Bayley leaving Damage CTRL and setting up her Wrestlemania title match.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Bianca Belair vs. Michin

Belair powers her around to start but Michin is back with some kicks to the head. A running kick to the chest gets two on Belair, who bails out to the floor for a breather. We take an early break and come back with Belair slugging away. Michin kicks her in the face to put Belair back down, only to miss a Cannonball. The handspring moonsault is almost countered with raised knees but Belair sticks the landing. A spinebuster gives Belair two but Michin is able to catch her on top with a superplex. Eat Defeat connects to send Belair outside but a Styles clash takes too long. Belair hits a KOD for the pin at 7:13.

Rating: C+. This gets some bonus points for Michin getting in a good bit of offense. Belair winning isn’t exactly a surprise but I would much rather they have a competitive match instead of letting Belair run her over. Michin is someone who doesn’t seem likely to become a major star, but she can be a good middle of the road hand for matches like this one.

Bron Breakker comes in to see HHH and isn’t sure if he should sign with Raw or Smackdown. Before HHH can say anything, Paul Heyman comes in to interrupt. Breakker leaves and Heyman says that is a heck of a talent from a wacky family. A serious HHH asks what Heyman wants so Heyman says he’ll be back next week….with Roman Reigns. And the Rock. HHH says he’s looking forward to it.

Here is Bayley for a chat. She seems relieved that the fans are happy to see her and talks about how much Damage CTRL meant to her. Bayley put everything into Damage CTRL and then they kept mocking her behind her back. That hurt her…and here is Dakota Kai to interrupt. Kai says she didn’t know anything about what the rest of the team was doing but Bayley doesn’t buy it.

Bayley says Kai was always there with the rest of them but Kai says she always believed in the team. Kai misses the original trio because she wouldn’t be here if not for Bayley. It looked like Bayley’s plan was working and she thought it was going well but then everything fell apart.

Bayley asks where she stands but here are Iyo Sky and the Kabuki Warriors to interrupt. The still injured Kai bails….and then comes back in with a chair. Bayley sees her coming but Kai swings at Sky and the Warriors instead. With the three of them gone, Kai drops the chair and Bayley is confused. Bayley and Kai stare at each other but nothing happens. Points for adding some intrigue here, because Bayley facing Damage CTRL 4-1 wasn’t exactly a realistic fight.

Randy Orton talks about how he was on the shelf for over a year and has learned to be patient. Inside the Chamber, the only constant is the RKO.

Bobby Lashley and company are ready for Wrestlemania season, including his Elimination Chamber qualifying match on Raw against Bronson Reed.

Pete Dunne/Tyler Bate vs. DIY

The winners get a Tag Team Title shot at Elimination Chamber. Gargano and Bate start things off with a pinfall reversal sequence, giving us a standoff. Dunne and Ciampa come in and go to the floor, where Dunne misses a moonsault. Ciampa knocks him onto the announcers’ table with the other two coming outside as well. Gargano knocks Bate down and we get some DIY clapping to send us to a break.

Back with everything breaking down and all four knocking each other down. Bate is up with a giant swing/airplane spin at the same time but Gargano breaks up the double Tyler Driver 97. Ciampa knees Bate in the face and hits Project Ciampa for two. Bate is back up to slug away at Ciampa, who kicks him in the face. The solo Tyler Driver 97 is blocked and Gargano superkicks Bate into the corner. That lets Dunne come back in for the Bitter End and the pin at 8:25.

Rating: B-. Dunne and Bate getting the shot is interesting as it sets up a completely fresh match. It’s also a nice sign for the future of the tag division as it shows what happens when you take two talented people with nothing going on and give them something to do. DIY will be fine, but at some point they need to win something that matters on the main roster.

Dominik Mysterio is ready to win the Elimination Chamber so he and Rhea Ripley can have matching titles. He doesn’t care who he faces, but here is Kevin Owens to promise Dominik a beating next week. Owens will even dedicate it to Rey Mysterio. Cue R-Truth, who thinks Owens is the Miz. Truth: “Don’t let Nick catch you!” Owens: “Nick Mysterio?” Truth: “Nick Aldis!” Fans: “WE WANT TRUTH!”

Logan Paul comes in to see the General Managers and has no idea why he’s in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. Those matches are for unqualified people and that’s not true for him. Next week he’s fighting in UTAH? IN UTAH??? He’ll do it, just because he’s going to Wrestlemania and leaving as a double champion. Nick Aldis makes Paul vs. Miz in a qualifying match next week. Paul is not pleased. No mention of Paul’s next US Title challenger being announced as was advertised.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Randy Orton vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn starts fast by sending him outside and teases the dive, only to flip back into the middle when Orton moves. Back in and Orton hammers away before heading outside again. This time Zayn drops him onto the announcers’ table as we take a break. Back with Orton hitting the top rope superplex, setting up the snap powerslam to put Zayn down again.

The hanging DDT is cut off with a backdrop though and Zayn hits the big suicide dive. Orton is fine enough to drop Zayn onto the announcers’ table, meaning the second hanging DDT attempt can connect. Zayn grabs a quick Blue Thunder Bomb for two but Orton is right back with the RKO for the pin at 10:47.

Rating: B-. I don’t think there’s any surprise that these two had a good match but again, it was nice to have a feeling that either could win. Zayn has seemingly been pushed as needing to win the World Title so giving him a chance to get into a big #1 contenders match wasn’t out of the question. Orton is the right choice to go forward though, as he’s still feeling like one of the biggest stars around at the moment.

Post match Drew McIntyre comes out for a staredown with Orton to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling was pretty run of the mill but what mattered here was the atmosphere. This show had a bunch of stuff that felt big as they have turned on Wrestlemania Mode. That is a feeling you can’t shake and it was in full force this week. The matches had consequences and it was a show where things were happening. In a word, it felt focused and that is a great thing to see at the right time.

Results
Drew McIntyre b. AJ Styles – Claymore
Bianca Belair b. Michin – KOD
Tyler Bate/Pete Dunne b. DIY – Bitter End to Gargano
Randy Orton b. Sami Zayn – RKO

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

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Smackdown – July 11, 2008: The Not So Wedding Show

Smackdown
Date: July 11, 2008
Location: River Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Mick Foley

It’s been a minute since I’ve done one of these and I’m barely remembering what we’re dealing with at the moment. HHH is ready to defend the Smackdown World Title against Edge at the Great American Bash, though Edge and Vickie Guerrero are having some troubles, to the point where their wedding is off. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Edge’s recent issues, from losing the World Title to CM Punk to his problems with Vickie Guerrero. Edge thinking that yelling at his boss/fiance was a good idea wasn’t his greatest moment.

Here is- Edge to get things going. He has had a week to think about what he said to Vickie Guerrero last week….and the wedding is STILL off. He’s happier without Vickie because he’s better than her. At the Great American Bash, he can prove everyone wrong by winning the World Title again.

He has won more titles than anyone else in this industry and he will prove how great he is again at the Great American Bash when he beats HHH. Cue Vickie Guerrero (Vickie: “Excuse me, baby.”) to say the wedding being canceled isn’t her loss. Vickie gives him a match tonight: a No DQ match against the Big Show. Edge says he isn’t afraid and promises to make Show a loser like her. Vickie has his mic cut off.

Video on Maria.

Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin

Non-title. Matt takes him into the corner to start and we actually get a clean break. Back up and Matt grabs a headlock for some careful grinding. Benjamin sends him into the corner and hits a neckbreaker for two. The neck crank goes on as Benjamin certainly has a target so far. That’s broken up and Benjamin misses the Stinger Splash, allowing Hardy to start the comeback.

It’s too early for the Twist of Fate so Hardy settles for a corner clothesline/bulldog. The top rope elbow to the back of the head gives Matt two but Benjamin is right back with the exploder for the same. Matt is back up to try the Twist of Fate but Benjamin grabs the rope and hits…well it was supposed to be Paydirt but Matt fell the wrong way, making it kind of a jumping clothesline. Either way, it gives Benjamin the upset pin.

Rating: C. The ending was a surprise and it was even a clean pin, which doesn’t make for the best future for Matt and the title. For now though, Benjamin getting a push isn’t a bad thing, but he couldn’t have put his feet on the ropes here? Nice job on the surprise pin, though I’m not wild on the way they got there.

The Edgeheads are in Vickie Guerrero’s office and say the three of them don’t deserve Edge’s abuse. Instead, they want to face Jesse and Festus, with Vickie making the match.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Domino

MVP is on commentary and gets a few jabs from Kennedy during the pre-match chat. Kennedy takes him down to start and hits a corner clothesline, with Domino bailing out to the floor. Back in and Domino manages a quick slam and legdrop but Kennedy fights up again. Some elbows to the face and a running boot in the corner have Domino in trouble, setting up the Mic Check to give Kennedy the pin.

Rating: C. They kept this short here and that is how it should have gone as the point was for MVP and Kennedy to be in the same place, likely with something happening after the match. Both of them could use this feud as they could both go or a boost. Domino does not seem long for this place, as he could not have been more of a jobber here.

Post match Umaga runs in and wrecks Kennedy.

Chavo Guerrero, with Bam Neely, gives Edge a pep talk and says he’s going to give Vickie Guerrero a piece of his mind.

Post break Chavo offers Vickie that piece of his mind….which is about how horrible Edge is and how the Guerreros have to stick together. Vickie doesn’t buy it (my goodness intelligence!) and gives Chavo a match with HHH instead.

Miz/John Morrison vs. Finlay/Hornswoggle

Non-title. Finlay and Morrison start things off as JR goes on a mini rant about Edge and Vickie’s drama. Miz’s cheap shot earns him a flip over the top so Finlay beats up both of them at once. Hornswoggle comes in for some Stunners (JR: “Next thing you know he’ll be drinking beer!”) but a double dropkick cuts him off. An enziguri hits a kneeling Morrison though and it’s Finlay coming in to clean house. The Celtic Cross connects but Miz makes the save. That earns him a shillelagh shot, followed by the Tadpole Splash to give Hornswoggle the pin.

Rating: C. Nothing is getting a ton of time this week and that doesn’t exactly make me interested in seeing the longer form rematch. This probably sets up a pay per view title match and at least there was some cheating to get us to the rematch. It’s still a bad night for the champs though and that isn’t the best thing to see.

Video on Jeff Hardy’s Mission: Impossible themed photo shoot as he chases the World Title.

HHH vs. Chavo Guerrero

Non-title and Bam Neely is here with Chavo. HHH fights out of a headlock to start and elbows him in the face, which does not sit well with Chavo early on. Chavo’s arm wringing gets him punched in the face and HHH starts in on the arm. Chavo comes back with some right hands and Neely’s cheap shot sets up a crossface chickenwing of all things. That’s broken up so HHH hits the running knee. The spinebuster cuts Chavo off again and, after decking Neely, HHH grabs the Pedigree for the pin.

Rating: C. Well at least the champion won for once, even if it was in another short match. Then again, it’s nice to have a showcase for the World Champion for a change as you don’t get to see that often enough. Chavo getting punished for trying to play Vickie and Edge at the same time was nice too and the match went well, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

Michelle McCool/Cherry vs. Natalya/Maryse

Michelle takes Maryse down to start as Foley explains how to pronounce Maryse. A dropkick gives Michelle two and it’s off to Cherry for a Hennig necksnap. Maryse runs over to bring in Natalya, who easily slams Cherry. Natalya gets in a kick to the leg and grabs the Sharpshooter for the fast pin. Did they suddenly get a go home cue or something?

Post match Natalya beats up Michelle and suplexes her on the floor.

Jesse & Festus vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Jesse slugs away at Hawkins to start and stomps him down in the corner. Ryder comes in but so does Festus with the latter getting to clean house. Festus clears the ring and Hawkins and Ryder just take the countout.

Post match the bell has turned Festus into a zombie again so Hawkins and Ryder beat down Jesse. They were being scientific….until Jesse rings the bell so Festus can wreck the villains.

Video on HHH.

Stevie Richards vs. Vladimir Kozlov

Kozlov has gained entrance music and runs him over with a shoulder to start. Some knees to the ribs and a fireman’s carry put Richards down and we hit the bodyscissors. Back up and Richards hammers away, only to get headbutted down for the pin.

Edge yells at Chavo Guerrero until the Edgeheads come in. The argument keeps going until Vickie Guerrero comes in. If anyone else tries to help Edge, or if Edge walks out on the match, they’re fired.

Raw Rebound.

Great American Bash rundown.

Edge vs. Big Show

No DQ and Vickie Guerrero is watching from the stage. Show starts fast and takes him to the floor for a ram into the barricade. The announcers’ table takes too long to load up though and Edge gets in a quick spear as we take an early break. Back with Show cutting off a kendo stick shot and throwing Edge into the steps and over the barricade without much effort. Edge comes back with a bulldog off of said barricade and they both get a breather.

A kendo stick to Show’s head lets them go back inside, where Edge’s choke manages to take Show down again. That’s broken up with a belly to back suplex but the chokeslam is countered into a DDT. Edge brings in a chair but charges a bit too hard, allowing Show to punch it into his face. For some reason that doesn’t know Edge silly and he’s back with a low blow. The Conchairto is loaded up but Show is up with a chokeslam. Show loads up his own Conchairto, only to have Vickie say stop the match. The bell rings and Vickie comes in to check on Edge.

Rating: C+. This felt like a house show street fight and that is probably something they have done more than once. The ending was more important though and that is going to lead to the next step in the rather long Edge/Vickie saga. Putting someone against Big Show is a pretty standard punishment, so everything here made sense, even if it wasn’t an instant classic.

Edge and Vickie reconcile to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The ending is the big story here as there wasn’t much else on the rest of the show. They did well enough with Edge and Vickie, but that’s about all there is on here, with even HHH not feeling that important. HHH vs. Edge/Vickie is a big time feud and having it take place at a mid level pay per view like the Great American Bash is certainly a weird choice. Smackdown needs another good story though as there just isn’t much going on 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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