Summerslam Count-Up – 1998 (Original): The Big One

IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 1998
Date: August 30, 1998
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 21,588
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

If there has ever been a Summerslam that could be put on par with Wrestlemania as far as build up and importance goes, this is it. The Attitude Era of 1998 was going full speed ahead with nothing in sight stop it as Austin vs. McMahon was dominating the wrestling world. The idea is that there was a conspiracy led by Vince to get the title off of Austin. The reason you had to see every show was no one knew who else was in on it.

That’s just downright creepy if you can ignore the fact that it’s professional wrestling. The main enemy of Austin was Undertaker, so guess what tonight’s main event is? This show was the crescendo of the summer and is exactly what a Summerslam is supposed to be like in my eyes. Every storyline was heavily built up, the showdowns were worth drooling over, and it’s in Madison freaking Square Garden.

Also, this show has some historical significance, as it was on this night that HHH and Rock launched themselves into the highest level of the company. For the better part of a year DX and the Nation had been feuding. However this was really just window dressing for Rock vs. HHH, and tonight was the final match in the feud: Rock defending the IC title against HHH in a ladder match. I’ve been looking forward to this match since I started this review as it’s one of my favorite matches ever. I’m going to call this the Milenko Special for something that comes in the second match. I’m actually looking forward to this, so let’s do it.

The buildup is perfect now and it just looks awesome. Excellent work here and it makes it look like a big time show.That wasn’t the intro, so we get this one. Basically Taker and Kane are together and Austin isn’t surprised, but he’s not afraid. What kind of a face would he be if he was? Vince says that Taker has to have Kane there with him to make sure he wins. Remember that line. The video cuts off really abruptly for some reason and it doesn’t go well. This is the home video so AC DC is edited out. Ross and Lawler are here and run down the card of course.

European Title: Val Venis vs. D’Lo Brown

Apparently Austin broke a hearse that either of the Brothers could have been in. The name graphic for Val is placed perfectly as it covers his crotch as he’s gyrating and taking off the towel. He says he’s in the big apple and does his came, saw, came again line. As he’s doing this they cut to a gorgeous woman in the front row that is jaw dropping. Brown is billed from Helsinki after having been from Lisbon on Raw.

The announcer’s voice when he reads Helsinki is great as if he sounds like he’s thinking what in the world is wrong with my eyes? They keep talking about the hearse. This was back when Heat meant something. They need to bring it back as a preshow. At the time Brown was using the chest protector like Orton used the cast. He got injured about two months before but it’s a slow healing injury I guess. We go to a random shot of the crowd but the camera zooms in on someone.

It’s some guy in an open shirt and sunglasses with long blonde hair. His name is cliff or rock or something. Oh Edge, yeah that’s it. I’m sure he’ll never amount to anything. Back to the next big things, Val Venis and D’Lo Brown. Oh I forgot to mention the entrance. It’s the kind where when you look at the ring the entrance is straight ahead and it’s designed to look like gates.

Again, that’s just awesome looking as this show is being treated like a mega show and it’s paying off. Brown busts out a Texas Cloverleaf which oddly doesn’t get a bad Europe joke. A lot of the sound bites here are used in one of the Smackdown video games. Val goes up for…something and gets caught in the Sky High which is awesome but unnamed at this point. This is a good match so far which isn’t something you’d expect out of these two.

We have some solid chemistry here actually. Val really was good in the ring, at least better than he’s given credit for. He keeps going up top but it’s never in the right position for the splash. He finally gets one off but Brown gets the knees up. Crowd is marking hard for Brown actually. Correction they think he sucks. Could we possibly have dueling chants? We have more sex jokes from Lawler that are really under the radar if you don’t know what to listen for.

SWEET looking Low Down from Brown but it misses. Eventually Val steals the chest protector and goes for the splash but the referee tries to stop him and he gets crotched. Brown gets it back but Venis beats him up before putting it on again. Referee tries to stop him but he gets fired across the ring for the stupid DQ finish. Post match, the referee gets beaten on.

Rating: B. Very good match here, but the ending is just weak to me. I get that they didn’t want to do the title change but wanted Val to look strong, but they couldn’t do a count out or something? The referee thing was just stupid and it didn’t work for me. Either way, this was a great opener and it worked very well. Sometimes you find guys like these two that just work well together. When you find something like that, it’s a bonus.

Cole is in the back with the hearse as we find out that Kane and Taker weren’t in the hearse, but Mankind isn’t happy. He brought it apparently, and now it’s only good for giving the Brisco Brothers Body Shop some work. He also has a sledgehammer, which I guess HHH stole from him.

Oddities vs. Kai En Tai

This is a handicap match, because I guess three giants against four tiny men isn’t fair? Anyway, ICP plays the Oddities to the ring which actually gets a very nice reaction. They get all the fans waving their hands, including one scantily clad woman that needs to be dancing more. Apparently the Japanese team doesn’t like the Oddities for no apparent reason.

The Oddities are the Giant Silva who is taller than Khali and less talented, Kurrgan who was an interesting character until they turned him face, and Golga who is Earthquake in a mask and obsessed with Cartman from South Park. Ross says he likes ICP which stuns Lawler. This is mostly a comedy match, as no one on the planet thought the Oddities would lose. They were actually an interesting concept, but you need more odd characters than just three big guys.

In a funny spot, Kurrgan gets on his knees to fight Funaki, which sadly makes them about the same size. We get a tug of war between Kurrgan and the other team over Kai En Tai’s manager, Yamaguchi San. He may be the most annoying manager ever, even surpassing Slick, who had a cool song to make up for his annoyance. As the crowd somehow gets even quieter, all four small guys run in and attack Silva, which also doesn’t work.

Ross tries to compare him to Andre as I glare at my screen. Anyway, eventually Tenta, or Golga I guess, the most talented guy in this match is tagged in and gets beaten down surprisingly. The four man team actually is fun to watch as they work really well together. He comes back with a quadruple clothesline as this is going on WAY too long.

A double, double chokeslam followed by a huge splash finally ends this as ICP tries to bring the crowd back to life. I will give the Oddities this: the dancing was pretty funny.

Rating: C-. This was fairly funny, but it just went on way too long. It’s almost a ten minute comedy match, which is about twice as long as it needs to be. The gimmick was fine, but we get it: Kai En Tai couldn’t do crap here. You don’t need to make us see that over and over again.

Jeff Jarrett vs. X-Pac

This is hair vs. hair. Jarrett has Southern Justice with him as we continue to try to validate the Godwinns being employed. On Heat, the trio shaved Fink’s hair. I don’t remember him having much to begin with but ok. Debra desperately needs to get here. Fink is apparently an honorary DX member for tonight only. Sarge sends Southern Justice to the back. Fink doing the crotch chop is one of the greatest things of all time.

He also says suck it as part of my soul dies. Jarrett is the perfect size for someone like X Pac to fight. Like I’ve said, when Pac is fighting someone closer to his size he’s far less annoying and can be enjoyable. They’re working a fast paced match here and it’s working better. They keep going for awhile as this is turning into a good match. Fink gets up on the apron and Jarrett condemns himself to eternal torment by hitting him. This leads to an X Factor but Southern Justice comes out again.

They miss with the guitar and Pac drills Jarrett with it for the pin. The army of people that Jarrett has given haircuts to plus the Outlaws run out to help with the haircut. He’s not shaved, but he gets his short haircut that he had for years.

Rating: B. This was a solid match. Both guys can work a faster pace and in this case it was the right way to go. Both are far better when they don’t try to move up and fight like heavyweights. It was hard hitting and fast paced, which made this a very good little match.

Doc is looking at the Lion’s Den, which was a pretty cool concept. That’s up later on.

Cole is with the Rock, who attacked HHH earlier and hurt his knee. He rips into Cole as only he can do, which is always funny. He also says he’ll win.

Marc Mero/Jackie vs. Sable/Mystery Partner

Mero is doing the boxer thing at this time. There’s no clue who Sable’s partner is here. This is mainly over Sable vs. Mero, which was an interesting concept but it just didn’t work in the end. They tried so hard to make Sable a big deal as a wrestler and it just never worked that well. The partner is…..EDGE! Edge was still a rookie at this point so it’s really get how big he was going to become.

Anyway, this is more or less all about Sable, so it’s naturally not going to be that interesting. I swear that woman had a bigger ego than Hogan at times. She comes in and beats on Jackie for a bit because heaven forbid that Edge, the young guy who has a lot to prove still gets significant ring time. Eventually Edge does and immediately throws a great suicide dive over the top rope onto Mero before spanking Jackie to a big pop.

See what happens when you let someone with that little thing called real talent into the match? It gets a lot better and the crowd is more into it. The problem with Sable was simple: only horny men cared about her. Other than that, she was pretty much worthless. This is really just getting bad at this point. Not the in ring stuff, but how this is all about Sable.

Edge beats Mero up, then Sable comes in and gets a hurricanrana out of it, despite the rules earlier being men vs. men and women vs. women. Jackie helps out with the worst looking spot I’ve ever seen. Somehow Mero is too far from the corner for the falling headbutt spot, so Jackie steps forward and THEN collapses onto Mero’s crotch. Edge knocks him out even more, just so Sable can have Edge lift her up for a splash to get the win.

Ross of course screams SHE did it, after which Lawler (thank goodness) says THEY did it. I knew I always liked Jerry better. The referee raises Sable’s hand first, then goes back and raises their hands together. Ok now I’m just being picky. Post match, it’s all about what Sable did as this is just stupid now. Edge just kind of leaves as Sable celebrates. Commentary: Oh yeah Edge was good too.

Rating: F. Not for the match, which was ok, but for Sable. This match was a love letter from Sable to Sable and it was just bad to say the least. It was all about her and Edge, Jackie and Mero were just along for the ride. Edge did 90% of the work and was an afterthought.

Sable did two moves on her own, one of which was sloppy at best, yet the whole thing was about her. Even at the end of the match when JR said she did it, you knew this was all about her. That’s just flat out stupid no matter who it is. This really was stupid to me and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

We now get what to me was one of the funniest interviews I’ve seen in a long time. Mankind is panicking because he can’t find his sledgehammer (which he had like 30 minutes ago and we haven’t seen him do anything since then but whatever) and he doesn’t have a partner against the Outlaws. He and Kane are the tag champions at this point and it’s a hardcore match (billed as falls count anywhere and no holds barred but you get the idea).

He says that Cole should be his partner in getting their heads kicked in and he hands him a belt. This is something that should never be done again. Anyway, Vince comes up and we see the brilliance of these two characters. Foley is putty in Vince’s hands and you can see him just manipulating Mankind with a few short and simple words. It really is well done here. He promises Mick that if he wins, he’ll get him in the MSG hall of fame.

He brings Foley some weapons, which inspire Foley. Foley says that he thinks he has 13 words for the Outlaws: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? This is as bizarre as it sounds and maybe it’s the Foley mark in me, but I loved it.

Recap of the Owen/Shamrock feud, which was an ok idea, but it didn’t need Severn involved. Short version: Owen hates Shamrock for no apparent reason, so he got Dan Severn to train him and they’re having a match in a small octagon called the Lion’s Den, which is named after Shamrock’s training facility.

Lion’s Den Match: Owen Hart vs. Ken Shamrock

This match is taking place in a theater adjacent to MSG. I know that because Ross said that this match is taking place in a theater adjacent to MSG. So this is the WWF version of the UFC cage but they’re wrestling a WWF style match in there, which is about what you’d expect I guess, as it’s pretty clear Shamrock wouldn’t have much trouble in a real MMA fight with Owen.

Hart would hang on for awhile, but it’s not likely he would have much of a chance in the long run. The cage offers some different effects, but it’s nothing earth shattering. It’s better than a normal match would have been though, as it suits Shamrock very well. Speaking of that, he hits a sweet move as he gets a running start and plants his foot on the cage to jump backwards and catch Owen with I think either a back elbow or a dropkick.

Either way it looks very good and he nailed him with it. The cage isn’t really offering a lot of differences, but the main one is on whips. With no ropes, you’re just hitting cage, which has to hurt pretty badly. Hart gets the sharpshooter, which Ross says no one does better. Remind me never to leave WWF.

This is likely the coolest spot of the match as Shamrock crawls to the cage and climbs it while in the Sharpshooter, forcing the hold to be broken. The problem is they just brush over it, despite it being brilliant. Owen gets a choke on him but Shamrock runs up the cage to backflip out of it and gets the real ankle lock, not the Angle lock, to get the win.

Rating: B-. This was a weird concept and I guess it worked. It didn’t really fail, but it just wasn’t the best thing in the world. Overall the in cage stuff was fine, but it just wasn’t to my liking and I’m glad it only happened like three times.

Austin says he’ll do whatever it takes to keep the title.

Tag Titles: Mankind vs. New Age Outlaws

Like I said, there’s no Kane so this is virtually a hardcore handicap match. The announcer calls it a no holds barred pinfalls match count anywhere, so I wonder what he did during that long break they had for the Lion’s Den match. Both of the Outlaws are rocking South Park shirts, and remember this is back when that was a brand new show. There’s a dumpster at ringside. The Outlaws do a conchairto with cookie sheets.

I’ve always wondered why there were cookie sheets at ringside. Apparently the Outlaws should tag. Why? What are they going to do, get disqualified? This is really short and you can probably guess how it ends. Dang it I just realized I didn’t put up any matches from this show. You’ll live I suppose for this one.

Anyway, WZ is down right now so it’s not like I have anything else to do with my time. Anyway, the Outlaws win after a spike pile driver in the general area of the title belt. Now they’re going to put him in the dumpster. Post match, Kane is in the dumpster and drills Foley’s unseen body with the sledgehammer.

Rating: D+. This was really short and wasn’t that good. For a match like this, it can work but it needs a lot more than 6 minutes. Granted, I don’t think they were looking for a classic in this. It was just too short to get going and it felt like it was over just after it started.

Recap of DX vs. Nation, including the DX imitation of the Nation, which I’m sure you’ve all seen a million times. We also see D’Lo Brown pinning HHH for the European Title. It’s amusing that this is supposed to be DX vs. the Nation, yet all we see is HHH and Rock for about 95% of this. Oh yeah and that REALLY dumb time limit draw in a 2/3 falls match. All of that leads us to this. HHH’s promo before Summerslam from Raw: At Summerslam, you’re gonna bow to me! That’s all he said and that was perfect.

Ladder Match: IC Title: HHH vs. Rock

This is going to be good. The DX Band plays HHH to the ring, which is really cool actually. I think HHH is being followed by a nuclear power plant. Oh never mind. That’s just Chyna’s neon green outfit, not nuclear fallout. HHH picks Chris Warren, the singer, up and carries him around the ring while he’s still singing, which looks a bit stupid. I’ve never gotten the point in destroying the band’s equipment after a performance.

Oh yeah and at the time there was a bad storyline with Chyna and Mark Henry that ended with Henry almost sleeping with a transvestite. Yeah it was worse than it sounds. They start out with just standard stuff, but are out by the ladder inside of three minutes. In a bit of a surprising move, they don’t touch it yet. I like that. Save it for a solid buildup and then go for it. That being said, it’s in the ring less than 2 minutes later.

In a painful looking spot, Rock goes up the ladder but HHH comes off the top rope to stop him. He gets that done, but the ladder falls on him. He didn’t know it was coming, or he’s the greatest seller I’ve ever seen, and I’m leaning towards the former. Here we have a great example of why theatrical moves like the People’s Elbow are stupid. Rock has the ladder set up and drops an elbow off the apron down onto HHH who is laying on it.

How is that different than the People’s Elbow? In short, it isn’t, yet the People’s Elbow can win world titles. Explain to me how that makes any sense at all. Anyway, HHH’s knee gives out soon after this, as he has to put all his weight on it to stay up. Now that’s the focus of the match, which is something I really like. Now, instead of just big spot followed by big spot, we have a reason to pay attention to what’s not involved with the ladder.

That’s putting psychology in as well, as JR puts it: one legged men don’t win kicking contests, and they don’t climb ladders either. We get a Home Improvement reference to really date the show a bit. It’s rare to see two heavyweight guys in a match like this, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be bad. Here you have two guys where it’s more about the feud rather than the prop and the gimmick, which is more or less a guaranteed way to make the match better.

Oh yeah the ladder is big and yellow for no apparent reason. We get an extra ladder to make things a bit more interesting. Henry and Chyna get into it on the floor as HHH stops Rock from winning. Soon thereafter Rock is busted open but HHH can’t climb the ladder because of his knee. Rock makes the save as HHH has to climb like a turtle. See, that’s nice for a change.

Instead of having the guy climb all slow for no reason other than to fill time and give the other guy a chance to catch him, we have a real reason. See how much better and more intelligent that seems? HHH’s knee is hurt, so he can’t climb. Behold the wonders of psychology, even in gimmick matches. Rock is down, so HHH gets a chair and just wears him out with it.

Since it’s a gimmick match though, Rock is back up inside of 20 seconds and land a People’s Elbow on the ladder. They fight over the ladder but HHH gets up it a bit. However, he jumps off onto Rock and lands right in the Rock Bottom. HHH catches him though because the ladder is almost broken. He pulls him down with one hand since he’s the Game and lands the Pedigree as both guys are pretty much dead, with good reasoning.

They’ve beaten the living tar out of each other and it’s a tossup at this point. Ross is losing his mind at this point. With both guys down, Henry throws powder into his eyes and since the ref didn’t see it, it’s ok. It’s a ladder match. What could he do anyway? Even blinded, HHH climbs the ladder perfectly. Rock goes after him but Chyna low blows him. HHH gets up the rest of the ladder and grabs the belt to blow the roof off the place as DX runs out to celebrate.

Rating: A+. This right here is what WWE needs so desperately to do today: give two young guns nearly half an hour and let them go steal the show. This match worked for many reasons, but the biggest was it wasn’t about the ladder and big spots. It was about the two guys trying to get the win, with the spots being something that helped them accomplish that goal.

The knee injury was great as well, with HHH barely being able to walk for a large part of the match. The crowd was WAY into this as the pop for HHH winning the title and ending the feud was great. This is an absolute classic and to me could rival Shawn and Razor.

We go to “exclusive home video footage” of Rock heading to his locker room. Hearing the people say they need to get Taker ready isn’t something that should air. More or less, Rock says he’s still the people’s champ, no matter what.

This is the culmination of the entire summer, which was the theme being the ending of the road being here at Summerslam. That’s actually really smart. Apparently Taker says no Kane. Ross says this should be a classic. That’s just funny. No video package or recap or anything. That’s VERY rare.

WWF Title: Undertaker vs. Steve Austin

I’m sure you know the story, but just in case: basically, Taker is accused of being the main guy in a giant conspiracy against Steve Austin, which Vince denies every time. All the signs are there though, so Austin believes that it’s Taker who is the mastermind. Now, this would result in one of my all time favorite angles, and the ONLY time when a Vince Russo angle got to where it was supposed to go and got him labeled a genius.

Eventually, Taker and Kane took the title from Austin in a “triple threat”, which was really a handicap. However, Taker started turning crazy as Rock won the title. Eventually, Taker formed the Ministry to fight Vince and struck out on his own to take over the company. Vince and Shane, who was new as a big time character, formed the Corporation to fight Taker, but Shane kicked Vince out.

This is where the angle got intense, as Taker started being very satanic in nature, burning crosses, sacrificing people, and more or less bringing in religion to the shows. This leads to the big one, which is Taker kidnapping Stephanie at the end of Backlash. In perhaps my all time favorite segment, he was attempting to marry Stephanie, but Austin comes out and single handedly takes out the Ministry.

A few weeks later, Taker has the belt and says that the Higher Power is coming soon. It turns out that the higher power is Vince. Vince destroyed his family, tortured his daughter, and nearly ended his whole company, all to get the WWF Title off of Steve Austin. Holy goodness was this cool at the time. It all culminated in Austin being named CEO, which after a few other things, led to Austin beating Taker for the title on Raw, which if my memory is right is still the highest rated single match in wrestling history.

WOW I went off on a tangent there. Sorry about that but I love this stuff. As Taker is coming out, you can hear someone that sounds like Lawler shout GET OUT EARL. You can see Earl slide out, just as pyro goes off in the ring. That was insanely close. They do the real glass for the shatter here which is always cool looking. Austin is rocking the Smoking Skull belt here.

There’s a moment in this match that changes the whole thing. It’s said that these two simply couldn’t have a good match together. I disagree. At In Your House 15, they had a very good one. However, like I said, there’s a moment in here where things change drastically, which I’ll mention when we get to it. This starts off very weird, with them battling over control of each other’s arm.

Austin even uses a drop toe hold into a fujiwara armbar. Now, a lot of you may be thinking, how is this different than Hogan and Sting sucking the life out of Starrcade 1997? Well, the answer is kind of unclear. I think the main thing is that they keep the pace going fast. While it’s mat based at first, they never stay in the same place twice. They keep the energy high, which is smart.

Not everything has to be punching and kicking to make it work, so they threw in something different. Now I’m not saying that it worked as the crowd is clearly a lot more silent now, but they’re far from dead. I think what they’re going for is a slow build to a big finish, and there’s not a thing wrong with that. What there is a thing wrong with is what happens next.

Taker whips him in and ducks. Austin, naturally, kicks him in the face. That’s a very standard move and it makes good sense. However, due to Taker’s height, his head slams into Austin’s chin, breaking his jaw. For the rest of the match, Austin is clearly off balance, and it makes them look bad. While Austin is clearly the bigger face, Taker isn’t really a full heel here, but he’s leaning more towards that way.

The announcers point out that Austin is hurt and just doesn’t look right. Dang something about Summerslam just doesn’t agree with him for some reason. We get some standard Taker beatdown stuff, but Old School is countered with an….no that had to be an error. I couldn’t have seen that. Austin couldn’t have used….an arm drag, could he? I…I think he might have. Ok this joke is stupid he used an arm drag.

As this happens, Kane comes out but Taker sends him back, which is odd indeed. Not sure if that was really needed actually. Austin works the knee, which makes a lot of sense. Psychology isn’t something you see that often from Austin, but he’s certainly an intelligent wrestler. He gets a bad reputation as nothing but a brawler, and that’s just not fair. They go to the crowd which is always fun.

The crowd is coming to life and dying again and again, but I think it’s more alive than dead. Austin goes for a stunner and the people go nuts, just for him grabbing at Taker’s head. That’s saying a lot. Austin is taking a freaking beating here. I’m not sure if I like this match or not. It’s certainly not terrible, but it’s nothing great. I think it’s another case of a match having insane hype and there’s just no way they can live up to that.

Taker keeps choking him to buy him more and more time to clear his head, so you at least have to give him points for that. Austin is on the Spanish announce table, as Taker goes up to the top. In a SICK looking spot, Taker hits Austin with a diving leg drop. Now for the problem: the table doesn’t give. The momentum just sends them sliding off of it, but the table is still standing.

That just can’t be a good idea and must hurt horribly. Think about that: Taker is billed at 325 so we’ll say 290, and that slams onto Austin who is on a table. DANG. He kicks out of this in the ring, which stuns JR. Ha, that wasn’t even meant to be a pun, but I laughed. Laugh people. We get the double clothesline, which even gets a pop. You have to love New York crowds. They’ll get excited about ANYTHING.

Alright, now we get to the end. We start (laugh again) with Austin’s comeback, which is standard stuff: punches and the double bird elbow. You can REALLY tell that Austin just isn’t all there. It’s showing really badly. Taker reverses to send Austin chest first into the corner, but he hits something that looks like a bad stunner. Even the announcers say that wasn’t a stunner.

Taker kicks out and hits a pretty bad chokeslam, then goes for the tombstone. Instead though, for some reason he can’t get Austin up so he crotches him on the top rope. They look like rookies out there. The rest of the match I thought was pretty good up until now. Lawler keeps trying to convince us that they went through the table, which is a lie. The ending is very weird and comes out of nowhere.

Taker is dominating, and goes for Old School again. He jumps, but Austin gets his arm up to low blow Taker. Kick, stunner, pinfall…really? Even the referee looks a bit confused for this one. Taker remains a semi-face by handing the belt to Austin after the match. Austin can barely get to the corner ropes right so he’s way out of it. Kane comes out to watch Austin right next to Taker. They leave together as Austin celebrates.

Rating: B-. This is a hard one to grade. Given the injuries to both, this was good. Factoring those out, this was bad. However, I’ll certainly make exceptions as both were hurt while trying to make something happen in the course of a match. It certainly wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t that far from it.

I see why people criticize it, but like I said earlier I think this suffers a lot from its hype. This match was built up as huge, and there was no way it could match that. Overall, I liked it though. Austin won clean, which needed to happen. It built him into an even bigger star, and Taker didn’t exactly lose everything because of it. I liked it, but I could see people hating it.

Overall Rating: B. I thought this was a very solid show, with the only bad match being the Oddities, but what do you expect from a comedy match with only a small bit of talent to go around? I still hate the Sable thing. It was just flat out overkill and wasn’t needed, since it only happened to build up her massive ego even more.

You have a flat out classic in the ladder match and what I thought was a good main event. It’s a solid show and definitely the biggest and best built Summerslam I’ve seen so far and maybe the best ever. This was a Wrestlemania like atmosphere and it definitely paid off. A very solid recommendation here, but not the highest.

 

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:

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Monday Night Raw – August 9, 1999: It Took Long Enough

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 9, 1999
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 13,713
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

The date should look familiar to you because this show is a pretty famous one. Well at least it has a pretty famous moment, as the Countdown to the Millennium comes to a close. I know we are coming up on Summerslam, but there are some times where one moment overshadows everything and that’s what we are getting here. Let’s get to it.

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

The countdown is on.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Rock to get things going but first we see Undertaker telling Big Show to wait and hear what Rock has to say. Rock, who was attacked by Show and Undertaker last night on Heat, makes fun of Show’s music and says he knows the millions all head to the bathroom when Show is coming out. Then Show steps over the top rope and raises his hand in the air, like that is supposed to impress someone. Cue Undertaker and Big Show and the fight is on. X-Pac and Road Dogg come in for the failed save so here’s Kane to clear the other monsters out.

Here’s what else is coming on the show.

Commissioner Shawn Michaels arrives.

X-Pac and Kane demand a Tag Team Title shot against the Acolytes tonight.

Christian vs. Gangrel

Gangrel knocks him down in the corner to start as you can hear fire extinguishers putting out the ring of fire. Christian dropkicks him to the floor but the dive hits the barricade. Back in and Christian hits the reverse DDT before loading up the yet to be named Unprettier. Cue the Hardy Boyz for a distraction though, earning themselves a dive from Christian. Back in and Gangrel sprays blood into Christian’s eyes to cut off a dive, setting up the Impaler for the pin.

Post match the Hardys beat down Christian, drawing out Edge for the failed save attempt. Michael Hayes, the Hardys’ manager, comes in to ask what’s going on and gets beaten down as well.

The Acolytes say the title match is on.

Here’s Rock’s Getting Cheffy With It Chef Boyardee commercial. Ok so the song is catchy.

Jerry Lawler brings out Jesse Ventura for a chat. He talks about being a former wrestler and a former Navy SEAL. We get some thinly veiled shots at Hulk Hogan for not being in the military and only playing a SEAL in badly made television movies. Ventura knows the SEAL’s and now is the power in Minnesota. That’s why he was brought in to be the guest referee and at Summerslam we are going to find out who the best wrestler is. Cue HHH and Chyna, who Ventura tells to work on their wrestling move.

HHH says Ventura only talks about how things used to be but this is his ring. Jesse: “This is my country, which is bigger than his ring.” Ventura was standing with the President of the United States this week but HHH says he’ll take Ventura down today. Cue Shawn Michaels to say he brought HHH into this world, so get the glare out of your stare.

HHH shoves Michaels and the jacket comes off, with Ventura having to separate them. Ventura whispers something to Shawn and says HHH can get physical tonight in a triple threat match with Undertaker and Steve Austin. Shawn: “HIT MY MUSIC!” This was a long version of “Jesse is back” and the rest was kind of window dressing.

Some new show called Smackdown is coming later this month.

D’Lo Brown is training Mark Henry, who needs to stop for some relief. During the break, Jeff Jarrett ran out of a car and jumped Brown from behind, sending him into a tree. How did Jeff know where Brown was without being seen?

Jeff Jarrett vs. Val Venis

Jarrett jumps him during the pre-match shtick but we need to talk about something that took place in a stairwell. Venis fights back but gets distracted by Debra. Not that it matters as Venis grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb for the quick pin.

Post match Jarrett yells at Debra so Venis makes the save and the two leave together.

Austin is out cold in the stairwell with a broken cinder block near his head. Post break Austin is taken away in an ambulance so here’s HHH to ask what happened.

Here’s Shawn again to say HHH did it and call him out here right now. HHH and Chyna come out after a little bit but Shawn doesn’t want to hear it. Tonight, it’s HHH vs. Undertaker, Falls Count Anywhere and anything goes. Oh and the #1 contendership is on the line as well. HHH says Shawn can’t do that so Shawn makes himself guest referee. We’re not done yet though as Shawn wants it to be a triple threat match so we’ll add Chyna in as a bonus. HHH says this is no place for a woman but Chyna accepts, much to HHH’s annoyance. I remember watching this live and my head snapped up at the Chyna announcement.

Post break Chyna and HHH argue a lot.

Tag Team Titles: X-Pac/Kane vs. Acolytes

The Acolytes are defending and Lawler has no idea what is with this mashup of Kane and X-Pac’s themes. Bradshaw and Kane fight in the ring as Faarooq beats up X-Pac on the floor. We settle down to Kane getting taken into the corner for the double teaming until a big boot takes Faarooq down.

X-Pac comes in and gets planted just as fast to put the champs in control again. A backbreaker gives Faarooq two and Bradshaw grabs the bearhug. That’s broken up so X-Pac hits an enziguri, allowing the hot tag to Kane. Everything breaks down and Bradshaw breaks up the Bronco Buster, only to walk into the X Factor to give us new champions.

Rating: D+. Nothing to the match of course, but that is to be expected in a situation like this. I never cared for X-Pac and Kane as champions as it turned into way too much of the underdog in the land of giants story. They didn’t have a chance to do much here and while it could have been worse, it still wasn’t exactly thrilling stuff.

Post match Road Dogg runs in to celebrate and Kane says SUCK IT without the voicebox. Cue Big Show and Undertaker to beat down the good guys though, likely setting up Summerslam.

GTV gives us a clip of Billy Gunn being given a massage with some special herbs.

Joey Abs/Steve Blackman vs. Test/Ken Shamrock

This seems a little unfair, even with Shane McMahon on commentary. It’s a brawl to start with Shane getting in a cheap shot to little avail. Test runs Joey over but gets suplexed down for two. Blackman whips out a kendo stick but gets sent over the announcers’ table. That doesn’t mean much though as Test powerbombs Joey and hits the pumphandle powerslam for the fast pin.

Post match Test Pillmanizes Joey’s ankle twice in a row. That gets rid of the Posse and there is only Shane left for Test.

Billy Gunn’s namesake is rather, uh, red. It seems that those herbs may have been poison ivy.

Test is all fired up after getting rid of the Posse and can’t wait to get his hands on Shane.

Blackman wants Shamrock in something called the Lion’s Den, which sounds like a cage lined with weapons. Works for me.

Here’s the Rock for a chat. He wants Big Show tonight and issues the official challenge, but then history is made as the COUNTDOWN TO THE MILLENNIUM clock appears on screen and time is winding down. The clock hits zero and the lights go out, with pyro coming on. A video pops up on screen and it’s CHRIS JERICHO making his debut, with the crowd going from interested to erupting as soon as the name appears.

Jericho: “Welcome to RAW IS JERICHO!” He introduces himself as the new leader and the most charismatic man on your television show. For those of you who don’t know him, be glad to meet your Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla. This show has become so boring that it needs someone to save it and Rock is so impressed that he is silent. For the first time, these people have someone who can make them jump up and shout GO JERICHO GO.

Now that the Y 2 Jericho Problem is here, this place will never e-e-e-e-ver be the same again. Rock tells him to shut his mouth and asks for an introduction, but it doesn’t matter what his name is. Jericho can talk about the Y 2 J plan but Rock has the Y 2 Jelly plan, which involves his boot being turned sideways, if you smell what the Rock….is cooking.

There is a reason that this one is still considered to be the best debut of all time. The pop for Jericho is outstanding but more importantly, look who they put him out there against. Rock got in his catchphrases, but only after Jericho said everything he needed to say. Jericho feels important, comes off like a self obsessed madman (in a good way) and has more charisma than he knows what to do with. This is still outstanding and the pop when Jericho’s name comes on screen is one to remember.

Hardcore Holly is looking for Big Show.

Post break, Hardcore Holly is looking for Big Show.

Big Boss Man vs. Road Dogg

Hardcore rules but not for Boss Man’s Hardcore Title. Dogg hits him with a trashcan lid and loads up a table but Boss Man gets in a shot of his own. Cue Al Snow to hit Boss Man with a pet carrier to give Dogg the fast pin.

The Rock vs. Big Show

Rock slips out of a slam early on and hits a Russian legsweep for an early two. Show sends him into the corner for the big chop and there’s a big right hand to take Rock down again. A big boot sets up the bearhug and a side slam gives Show two. Cue Hardcore Holly for a distraction and it’s a low blow into the Rock Bottom. The People’s Elbow is loaded up but here’s Chris Jericho to jump Rock from behind for the DQ.

Rating: C-. There wasn’t much else they could do here and Rock vs. Show feels like a mini feud for Rock before we get get to the important feud in….Rock vs. Billy Gunn. Yeah 1999 wasn’t kind to Rock at times and this was a big part of it. That being said, well done on making Jericho look like a big deal so soon. It’s a great first impression and I think he’s going to be fine.

Post match Billy Gunn runs in for a Jackhammer to Rock. And some scratching of course because COMEDY!

Chyna vs. HHH vs. Undertaker

For the Summerslam title shot, anything goes, falls count anywhere, Jesse Ventura is on commentary and Shawn Michaels is guest referee. And yes, this is during the Vince Russo era in case you didn’t get that three stipulations in. Undertaker, with Paul Bearer, shoves Chyna down to start and slugs it out with HHH. Chyna is rather smart to sit down and let the other two slug it out until she goes after Undertaker. That earns her a right hand to the face and all three head outside.

HHH posts Undertaker and hits the facebuster for two as Jesse talks about how important this is because it’s about a shot at the title. Now why is that so complicated? Back in and Chyna breaks up a chokeslam attempt and Jesse promises Chyna won’t be a factor. Lawler: “She could be the #1 contender.” Jesse: “I forgot about that.” He’s certainly honest. Chyna hits HHH low but walks into a chokeslam.

HHH is back up with the jumping knee to send Undertaker into the ropes and he….just drops down to the mat. That was kind of weird and Shawn runs over to him to say something so they were out of sync in there somewhere. Undertaker elbows HHH down for two as Jesse and Lawler talk about a match they had in Memphis. Chyna gets knocked off the apron and HHH gets clotheslined outside. Cue Austin to chair HHH and Chyna steals the pin and the title shot.

Rating: C-. The match was the usual wild brawl until the storyline advancement ending but Jesse was so amazingly refreshing on commentary. He wasn’t overly emotional and sounded like someone who knew what they were talking about doing commentary. Above all else though he put over the title being what mattered most, which is sorely lacking in so much commentary. Yes there are other things going on, but the core of the whole thing should be the title (most of the time at least). Chyna winning was a surprise, but given how things go around here, how likely is it to last until….oh let’s say next week?

Overall Rating: C+. This era is always hard to grade because there is so much stuff going on at the same time and it gets a little jumbled up. That being said, this one had Ventura sounding like the most important commentator ever, Chyna winning the main event in a surprise, and Chris Jericho coming off as a total star on his first night in the company. Well done for the most part, though don’t expect much in the way of wrestling.

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




Monday Night Raw – August 2, 1999: Tick Tock

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 2, 1999
Location: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

So after a year plus of navigating my way through some other shows on my way too long list, we’re back to 1999 and still on the way to Summerslam. I’m not sure what that is going to mean, as you never know what you are going to get on any given night around this time. I’ll take a guess and expect some Austin, Vince and Undertaker shenanigans. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The Acolytes, the Tag Team Champions, are standing on the stage during the pyro and want Undertaker and Big Show coming out here right now after a fight last night on Heat. Instead it’s Hardcore Holly, who is here as the leader of super heavyweights. He wants to fight both of them so here we go. That earns him a quick double spinebuster and the Dominator from Faarooq. Back to back double powerbombs leave Holly laying after some general stupidity.

We look at Gangrel costing Edge the Intercontinental Title and then aligning himself with Christian.

Edge is angry about what happened because Christian is his brother. He’ll have to live with it.

Edge vs. Gangrel

Bloodbath match, meaning you have to cover your opponent with the bucket of blood at ringside. If nothing else, I can always go for more of Gangrel’s rocking theme. There is no Christian to be seen and they stare each other down after a break but not after a bell. Gangrel starts fast with a faceplant, which JR says is Gangrel Going Gothic. Gangrel cuts him off from going for the blood, earning himself a Russian legsweep. There’s a powerslam but the Downward Spiral is blocked.

Gangrel snaps Edge throat first across the top and then drops him onto the rope for a crash to the floor. Back in and Edge gets a boot up in the corner, setting up a tornado DDT. They both head outside this time with Edge being sent into the steps but coming back with an electric chair faceplant back inside. Edge gets crotched on top though, allowing Gangrel to grab a chair….which is kicked into his face. The spear hits chair in a big crash and the Impaler plants Edge again. Gangrel goes for the blood but here’s Christian to pour it onto him to give Edge the win.

Rating: C-. The match was pretty decent aside from the rather needless stipulation. Gangrel was an interesting case as he was great with the visuals and making you think there was something off about him, but his stuff in the ring was just ok. Edge was the future of course, but I’m not sure how many people could have guessed that at this point.

Post match Edge and Christian hug, because they needed to swerve Gangrel for all of a week, and all it cost them was the Intercontinental Title!

Here’s Shawn McMahon to address missing Vince McMahon’s farewell address last week. A lot of people have been asking where he was and he was at home while someone as awesome as Vince was saying goodbye after all these years. Vince lived up to his guarantee of walking off of his own show. The farewell should have been bigger than Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan but they got a modified Goodbye Song instead.

Shane doesn’t seem happy with Jim Ross because Vince built this place into the most recognized brand in entertainment. It is better known than Walt Disney or Bugs Bunny and without Vince, there would be no pay per view, Steve Austin, the Rock, Undertaker, D-Generation X or even WCW.

So what happens now? Well HHH is going to beat Steve Austin at Summerslam to become the new WWF Champion, which he has guaranteed. As for the Corporate Ministry, they are now free to do whatever they want to whomever they want, starting with Test. Shane wants Test to stay away from Stephanie but here is Test, who says Shane and the fat Gap employees are his problem. Tonight it’s Test vs. Rodney as he is on the path to Shane, so Stephanie can become an only child.

Countdown to the Millennium! And it seems to end next week!

Al Snow and Pepper can’t flush Head down a toilet.

Big Show/Undertaker vs. Road Dogg/Kane

Paul Bearer is here with Show and Undertaker and Dogg is stepping in for an injured X-Pac. It’s a brawl to start with Dogg being knocked outside without much trouble. Kane DDTs Undertaker and avoids an elbow from Show, leaving Dogg to punch away at Undertaker. A standing choke is broken up by Kane but Dogg gets knocked into the corner. It’s off to Show for a backbreaker and a reverse chinlock to keep Dogg in trouble.

The powerslam is broken up and Dogg hits him low, with the referee making sure to look away after it connects. Kane comes in to clean house to a VERY loud reaction as he beats up Undertaker. The big boot puts Undertaker down and there’s a chokeslam as Show punches a chair into Dogg’s head. Show snaps Kane’s throat across the top and Undertaker hits the Tombstone for the pin.

Rating: D+. The Kane/X-Pac vs. Big Show/Undertaker feud was one of the worst things I can remember from this era so this was a slight upgrade. They aren’t hiding the fact that Show and Undertaker aren’t going to get along long term but they’re a pretty awesome unstoppable force for the time being.

Post match Show splashes Kane, drawing out the Acolytes to go after the monsters. Cue Hardcore Holly with a club to take the Acolytes down though, leaving Show rather confused.

Rock has a guy carry his bag and throws six hundreds of dollars at him.

Rock threw out the first pitch at a Pittsburgh Pirates game yesterday.

We look at HHH beating Rock at Fully Loaded to become #1 contender thanks to Billy Gunn.

Here are Billy Gunn and Chyna (in a hat) for a chat. Gunn talks about coming for the People’s A** at Summerslam and compares his own a** to Rock’s. Earlier today, Gunn took a picture of Rock getting out of the shower so here is a shot of a rather large person, because that’s what is supposed to be funny here.

Rock pops up on screen to say that was Gunn’s mama. He threatens to stick various things in various places and promises to end Gunn at Summerslam. Rock can either punch him and kill him, or miss and have the wind give Gunn pneumonia. All that matters is that Gunn knows that Rock is all of his catchphrases. Rock is becoming a bigger and bigger star every day but what is he supposed to do with Billy Gunn and his one note promos?

Earlier today, D’Lo Brown gave Mark Henry a plate of vegetables to work on his weight and blood pressure. Henry: “Can a brother get some sauce?”

Intercontinental Title/European Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. D’Lo Brown

Title for title and Debra is here with Jarrett. They slug it out until Jarrett hits a clothesline, only to have a leapfrog countered into a powerbomb for two. A running powerslam gives Brown two more so Jarrett has a breather on the floor. That’s fine with Brown, who drops him face first onto the steps.

Back in and Jeff dropkicks him out of the air as Lawler whistles for Debra to come closer to them. The sleeper has Brown in trouble but the chinlock lasts all of a second and a half. Back up and Brown hits a leg lariat into the snap legdrop for his own two. There’s the required ref bump though and Brown hits the Sky High for no count. Debra comes in with both titles and opens her jacket….but Brown hits Jarrett with one of the titles anyway and gets the pin for both belts.

Rating: C. I’ve always liked Brown and it’s cool to see him get to do something like this, especially with his game plan being don’t look at Debra. The match was decent enough as both guys can put in a solid effort against anyone. I don’t think there’s any secret to the title reign not lasting long, but at least Brown got a cool moment.

During the break, Jarrett blamed Debra and demanded his rematch at Summerslam.

Here’s Steve Austin to a monster pop for a chat. The only thing he has been hearing is HHH talk trash about having Austin’s number and that’s a bunch of nonsense. HHH can show up to Summerslam with a PHD about Austin and it won’t stop him from taking his beating. Cue Big Show and Undertaker with the latter saying Austin has one minute to give him his rematch for the title. The beatdown is on in about five seconds and Austin is left laying, especially thanks to some hard shots to the ribs. JR: “This is pestilence!” Work on your metaphors man.

Hardcore Title: Big Boss Man vs. Viscera

Boss Man is defending and Viscera jumps him on the way into the ring. A belly to belly suplex sets up a running splash in the corner and they head right back to the floor. Viscera sends him into the steps but misses a charge to send him over the barricade. They fight into the crowd and then up towards the stage with Viscera getting in a spray with a fire extinguisher. Viscera misses a splash through a table though and a running nightstick shot tot he face retains the title.

Rating: D. This was back when the title was still somewhat serious, mainly because the 24/7 Title had not been introduced yet. That was a fine enough idea, but when you have weapons or at least cheating in almost every match, the hardcore aspect only has so much impact. Boss Man was a good choice for something like this though and that’s what you need so early in the title’s history.

A very angry Austin agrees to give Undertaker a title shot and says Big Show can come along for a beating of his own.

Test vs. Rodney

Rodney and Joey Abs jump Test from behind to start and send him hard into the post before the bell. They get inside and Test blasts Rodney with a clothesline so they can head right back to the floor. That doesn’t last long as Test takes it back inside to start working on the arm. Not that it matters much to JR, who announces that Undertaker vs. Austin is no holds barred. Test’s top rope elbow sets up a flying hammerlock of all things for the submission.

Post match Test Pillmanizes the arm for good measure. Abs teases running back in but gets scared off by the threat of a chair. Test uses said chair to crush the arm against the post for a bonus.

HHH grabs Michael Cole for suggesting that it’s Undertaker’s time.

COUNTDOWN TO THE MILLENNIUM!

Steve Blackman vs. Val Venis

Before the match, Blackman shows us a clip of him running over Ken Shamrock with his car last week. That was just an accident though, because Blackman doesn’t need a car to take Shamrock out. Venis compares himself to the internet, because they’re both easy to get on but he won’t give you any viruses.

Blackman jumps him to start but gets taken down into something like an Octopus hold on the mat. That’s broken up and Blackman strikes away in the corner before grabbing a bridging northern lights suplex for two. Venis’ fisherman’s suplex gets the same so Blackman kicks him down. Cue Shamrock with a chain though and the chase is on for the no contest/DQ/whatever the rules say this week.

Shamrock chases Blackman into the back and hammers away until security breaks it up, allowing Blackman to crawl away.

We look at Austin’s beadown again.

WWF Title: Steve Austin vs. Undertaker

Undertaker, with Big Show and Paul Bearer, is challenging and it’s No Holds Barred. Austin’s music hits but here’s HHH to say this isn’t happening. Austin comes to the stage and looks confused before coming to the ring to brawl with HHH. The fight is on with the Acolytes running in, followed by Kane, the Road Dogg, Hardcore Holly, Billy Gunn and the Rock. HHH Pedigrees Dogg and Austin Stuns Gunn to end the show. No match of course.

Overall Rating: C. The one thing that I can give these shows is they do not drag whatsoever. They also do a nice job of bringing people back into the show later instead of having their segment and then never being seen again. At the same time though, there is something to be said about not having people like Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and Hardcore Holly involved in the big time angles. Some of the things do not fit and leave you tilting your head, though at least this was one of the more coherent shows. When the era is good it works, but when it’s bad, it can get terrible in a hurry. Not bad here, but next week is huge.

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




Summerslam Count-Up – 1997 (2013 Redo): That’s A Bad Shawn

IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 1997
Date: August 3, 1997
Location: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 20,213
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon, Jim Ross

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind

Chyna comes inside and tries to drag HHH out as Mankind climbs over the top. He gets down to the apron and takes off his mask but climbs back up. The fans chant SUPERFLY as Mankind goes up, rips open his shirt to reveal a Dude Love heart, and drops an elbow off the top of the cage. Mankind climbs out and reaches the floor just before Chyna can drag HHH out to the floor.

Rating: A-. This was great stuff with Mankind overcoming everything HHH and Chyna could throw at him before hitting the huge spot to win it. There was a very good story built up between these two which would finally be blown off in a street fight at the first Raw in MSG. Great opener here and the fans were WAY into it. You could see the future in these two and it was awesome.

Call the Hotline!

Todd Pettingill (he still had a job at this point?) brings out the governor along with Gorilla Monsoon and the Headbangers for some reason. She got rid of some entertainment tax on wrestling shows to allow the first show in New Jersey since the 80s. Gorilla gives her a WWF Championship belt as a thank you present.

Video on the local festivities leading up to Summerslam.

Goldust vs. Brian Pillman

Goldust is a face by this point. Pillman jumps him to start but Goldust hits a jumping back elbow out of the corner. He pounds on Brian in the corner and kisses him to the floor but Pillman is ticked off. Brian drops Goldust with a clothesline and goes after Malena, only to be headed off by Goldie with an uppercut. Back in and Pillman takes him down with a snap suplex but Goldust crotches him off the top.

Godwinns vs. Legion of Doom

The LOD are actually referred to as Road Warriors here which is rare for the WWF. LOD cleans house to start, sending the Godwinns to the floor with Hawk hitting a clothesline off the apron. We get started with Phineas vs. Animal with the latter missing a charge into the corner, allowing the hog dudes to double team him. Animal comes back with a double clothesline of his own to send the Godwinns to the floor.

Rating: D+. This was supposed to be about revenge but the match never acted like that at all. The Godwinns were horrible as heels and this was a very dull match as a result. LOD still had a little bit in the tank here but they were going to explode in the next few months but almost no one cared.

We recap British Bulldog vs. Ken Shamrock which is another spinoff from the Border War. Bulldog was about to lose an arm wrestling match on Monday so he laid Shamrock out with a chair and shoved dog food down his throat.

European Title: Ken Shamrock vs. British Bulldog

Post match Shamrock chokes Bulldog out for a VERY long time, to the point where Bulldog would be dead. The referees get suplexes.

Los Boricuas vs. Disciples of Apocalypse

Jesus hits a Fameasser on Skull to set up another four on one beatdown. We hit a chinlock but 8 Ball breaks it up to prevent further boredom. Skull finally gets over for the tag and everything breaks down. Chainz is sent to the floor and punches Ahmed who responds with a sitout powerbomb on the concrete, giving Miguel an easy pin in the ring.

A 12 man brawl follows.

Intercontinental Title: Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart

Owen takes him down by the knee and wraps it around the ring post right after the bell. Back in and Austin fires off right hands and hits the Thesz press before hitting the HARD whip into the corner ala Bret. Austin pulls him around by the hair and stomps the stomach for two. Back up and Austin works the arm with a wristlock as the fans chant USA. Owen does his spinning nip up to counter but Steve casually pokes him in the eye.

WWF World Title: Undertaker vs. Bret Hart

Bret brings a chair into the ring and lays out Undertaker with no Michaels to see it. Shawn limps back into the ring but the count only gets two. Bret erupts on Shawn and flips him off before pounding away in the corner again. Shawn picks up the chair and is spat on by Bret. Shawn swings the chair but knocks Undertaker out cold, giving Bret the pin and the title.

Rating: B+. This took a lot of time to get going but with thirty minutes to use they had more than enough time to waste. Hart winning was definitely the right move after he spent all summer on top of the company. This opened up a lot more options than Taker was providing, which is what a champion is supposed to do.

Post match Undertaker is FURIOUS and goes after Shawn. The Hart Foundation celebrates to end the show.

Ratings Comparison

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind

Original: A

Redo: A-

Brian Pillman vs. Goldust

Original: D

Redo: D

Legion of Doom vs. Godwinns

Original: C-

Redo: D

British Bulldog vs. Ken Shamrock

Original: D-

Redo: D

Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas

Original: D

Redo: D-

Owen Hart vs. Steve Austin

Original: B

Redo: B

Undertaker vs. Bret Hart

Original: A

Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: C+

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/31/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1997-shawn-vs-taker-begins/

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




Summerslam Count-Up – 1997 (Original): Hart And Soul And Neck Injuries

IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 1997
Date: August 3, 1997
Location: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 20,213
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon, Jim Ross

Well, it’s another year but this time we’ve had some solid changes. Actually, no we haven’t come to think of it. Austin is still his usual self, but in this case he’s going after the IC Title from Owen. Yes, this is the infamous piledriver match. Other than that, it’s the time just barely before the Attitude Era. We’re not quite there yet but we can see it staring us right in the face.

Montreal was three months away and Taker vs. Shawn would be established at the end of the show. This would of course lead to the first ever HIAC match. Other than that, there’s a lot of the same stuff from last year s we’ve only kind of slightly evolved since Summerslam 1996. This is more of a transitional show, but it still had its moments. Let’s get to it.

We get a great opening video about how life isn’t fair for Bret, Taker and Shawn, all of whom are involved in the main event tonight with Bret vs. Taker and Shawn as referee. The tagline of the show is Hart and Soul, which is kind of cool I think. This is all fallout from the EPIC Canada vs. USA war that happened over the summer. This would wind up causing Montreal, which I’m sure you know the story of.

HHH vs. Mankind

In a cage. This is the blowoff for a feud that’s been going on for months. They met in the KOTR finals with HHH winning but they kept feuding forever. HHH is using Ode To Joy which is one of my all time favorite heel themes. This match is just after Canadian Stampede where they brawled all over the arena. It’s escape only which means it’s much better than matches where you can win by pinfall, which I’ve always thought was a cheap way out.

For some reason the governor will be there later. Yeah I don’t care either. How odd is it to have a cage match as the opening to a show? I like it though as it prevents the mind numbing delay of having to put the stupid thing up which is about ten minutes in its own right. Mankind dominates the early part but Chyna keeps interfering, mainly by reaching through and choking Mankind.

Oh and at this time, Austin and Dude Love are tag champions, but Mankind isn’t. That’s what’s great about this character. It’s not three different gimmicks. It’s one guy playing three different gimmicks if that makes sense. They never hid that Foley was all three guys. They wallowed in it. That’s something you simply don’t see and in this case I think it certainly worked. It made him see even more insane than he already was, if that’s possible.

JR says that it’s a no DQ cage match. In the words of Jack Nicholson from A Few Good Men, is there any other kind? The only noticeable spot for the opening part of the match is a suplex from the top of the cage that’s not hyped up enough by the announcers and wasn’t nearly as good as Hogan and Bossman from 89. They’re going old school here with the big blue bars that need to come back.

Chyna keeps choking and cheating like there’s no tomorrow which is what she’s supposed to do I guess. It’s weird seeing these two as midcarders. We get a Dominic Denucci shoutout. How can you top that? Kowalski would have beaten him though, so that’s not really fair. This is a really physical match as they are just beating the living tar out of each other with some sweet as well as sick shots. Both guys climb the ropes but HHH gets caught in them.

For some reason Mankind goes for the door and in an absolutely sick shot, Chyna slams the door on his head. Foley said this was one of the most painful spots he ever did in his career, and when it’s Mick freaking Foley that says it, that’s a painful spot. Chyna beats up the referee and since it’s no DQ, what can really be done? Chyna finally gets nailed to a HUGE pop from the crowd.

We then get the ending as Foley hits a double arm DDT onto the chair to knock HHH out. He climbs out and is a step away from winning as Chyna is trying to drag HHH out. However, the fans are losing it so Foley pulls the mask off and climbs back up. Chyna, for no apparent reason, stops pulling him and goes to the floor. In the truly famous spot of the match, Foley pulls his shirt open to reveal the Dude Love heard and dives off with the elbow.

Now as he’s climbing again, Chyna starts pulling HHH out but Mankind gets to the floor first to blow the roof off the place in a cool moment. He collapses on the floor but soon his foot starts to tap. Then the music kicks on. He starts dancing. Dude Love has returned, despite holding a title at the moment. This was a cool moment and another example of why the idea behind Foley was so genius it’s hard to comprehend.

Rating: A. This is an awesome old school 80s style cage match and it was great. With the manager trying to cheat every 3 minutes, the face ultimately triumphing, the big spot at the end and the fans response, this was awesome. Al kinds of sick shots in there but it never went far enough that it wasn’t believable, which is what makes a match like this great. Foley should have won and he did, which makes it even better. Excellent match here and I loved every bit of it.

Todd is with the governor of New Jersey. This doesn’t go well, like, at all.

Tiger Ali Singh is here. This was a gimmick that just sucked. Imagine Khali plus Million Dollar Man plus Hassan, then add in a lot more suck. You get Singh.

Brian Pillman vs. Goldust

This is a weird feud to put it mildly. The basic idea is this: Goldust doesn’t like Pillman because he’s implying that he and Marlena had a relationship prior to her meeting Dustin and perhaps after she met him. For no reason at all, if Pillman loses, he has to wear a dress until he wins something. This is standard pre-Attitude Era stuff.

There’s really not a lot to say here. BAD botch on a sunset flip by Goldust. He more or less crawls over Brian’s back instead of clearing it. The commentary is all about the Pillman/Terri angle, which was fine but kind of generic. The sad thing is Pillman would be gone just months after this so we never got to the end of the angle. Eventually Terri blasts him with the loaded purse to get the pin.

Rating: D. This was just boring, plain and simple. The botch didn’t help things either. It was predictable and fairly stupid, so how can I grade it highly?

Legion of Doom vs. Godwinns

This is stemming from a botched Doomsday Device where Hawk nearly broke Henry’s neck. Godwin just slammed head first into the mat and cranked his neck nearly in half. It was one of the sickest things I’ve ever seen. Anyway, WWF of course decided to play it up in a real feud, because a near death experience is good for one thing: making money off of it, naturally. Anyway, this is a standard late 90s LOD tag match: not very good.

This is another case of a team (the Godwinns) just completely failing as heels. They’re supposed to be fun characters but as heels they’re not menacing, but creepy. Anyway, this is even more standard stuff than the last match. I think that’s the issue that LOD had: they had no substance at all in the latter half of their career. This match is a prime example. They don’t really do anything other than just look intimidating.

Another major issue for them was their lack of involvement in the tag title picture. They were used more to put young teams over, which is fine, but the hype is a bit too much for me, although I could see how some would think it works. LOD wins with a spike piledriver, and after about 10 minutes, I’m just bored pretty badly.

Rating: C-. Again, just a bunch of meh here. It’s bland and dull for the second match in a row and nothing makes me think this should have been on PPV. LOD and the Godwinns were too similar to make this work. Nothing at all here and it was just barely watchable.

For some reason, we have a million dollar giveaway or something like that. It’s really not clear what the point of this is, other than to have Sable and Sunny looking GREAT. This is a lot like million dollar mania, yet more stupid as the first 3 callers don’t answer.

The people pick a number from 1-100 for a key to open a coffin with a million dollars inside. This takes up 8 freaking minutes, which could have been used for, oh I don’t know, A FREAKING WRESTLING MATCH??? Is there a point to having it in a coffin that I’m just missing?

European Title: British Bulldog vs. Ken Shamrock

For some reason that I just don’t get, if Bulldog loses the match he not only loses the title but has to eat dog food. This is even more fallout from America vs. Canada. We hear about a show called One Night Only which was a British PPV where the ending just ticked me off as Shawn took the Title from Bulldog and proceeded to do absolutely nothing with it before handing it to HHH, all because he just didn’t want Bulldog to have it anymore.

Big brawl to start as Shamrock is all kinds of ticked off due to being force fed dog food on Raw. Ankle lock goes on almost immediately but rope is grabbed. This starts off with mainly all Shamrock but a boot in the corner gets the Englishman in control. This is a rather ugly match to put it mildly.

Bulldog takes over while we get a long chinlock. Instead though we see about 15 seconds of the crowd and random people which serve no point at all. Shamrock grabs something off the announcers’ table and blasts Bulldog in the head with it for the DQ.

Rating: D-. It wasn’t the worst match I’ve ever seen but it couldn’t have been much worse. Shamrock and Bulldog had this horrible clash of styles going on here and it made for a very uninteresting match here. At least it was short though at about seven minutes.

The post match insanity is by far more important here as it makes Shamrock look like a freaking psycho, which is what he needed to be all along. He half kills a ton of referees, making him look like a monster. He got the push that he needed because of stuff like this. Oh and he choked Bulldog out.

Los Boricuas vs. Disciples of Apocalypse

Oh great why did I put up the Euro match? This is the gang wars period of the WWF, which NO ONE wanted to see. The original idea was to have three groups: the Nation, the Boricuas and the DOA and have them randomly fight each other. While that sounds ok in theory, the Boricuas had one guy anyone had ever heard of in Savio Vega. Go check their wiki pages and see what I mean. The other three have one major career accomplishment: being in Los Boricuas.

As for the DOA, they were ok as well, but they were just a generic biker team fighting a bunch of tiny guys and always losing. The Nation you already know. The problem here was simple: there was no story. Why are these teams fighting? We’re never told. They’re just feuding, but we don’t know why or over what. There were never any promos or anything like that.

It’s just fighting for the sake of fighting which NEVER WORKS. This is an 8 man tag, so at least we don’t have to worry about multiple matches. At first the Nation was in this feud too, but they eventually dropped out when they realized they had actual careers. The biggest issue with this feud though: the DOA NEVER WON. It was always an upset for the Boricuas, which makes even les sense as if they’re dominating, how can it be an upset?

What are you expecting here though? It’s an eight minute match followed by a run in from the Nation which is accompanied by Ahmed who botches the Plunge on Chainz on the floor, leading to him getting pinned. I forgot Ahmed’s horrible heel turn that lasted all of five minutes. He joined the Nation and of course was injured within a month. He was even supposed to get the title shot at Canadian Stampede but that didn’t happen, as he couldn’t stay healthy for more than 10 minutes.

Rating: D. My goodness what was the point to this feud? It made no sense, no one liked it, and it was boring beyond belief. Just a waste of time for guys like Crush and Brian Lee that were good workers, stuck with this stupid gimmick.

We get the recap for the showdown between Austin and Owen. This is based off one thing: Owen pinned Austin (which was a big deal) at Canadian Stampede. Hart was the IC Champion, yet him getting a pin was a big deal. That either makes no sense, or shows you how big Austin was. I think it’s a bit of both.

Since Hart beat Austin, naturally it means Austin should get a title match. Umm, right? Oh if Austin loses he has to kiss up to Owen, literally. Well let’s get to it, as this is far more famous for one spot than for anything else, as you likely already know.

Intercontinental Title: Owen Hart vs. Steve Austin

On the way to the ring, Michael Cole, a newcomer at this point, tries to talk to Austin by calling him Mr. Stone Cold. It’s what you’d expect, but Cole is always a tool, now and forevermore. The pop for Austin is huge, as you can see he is the undisputed future. Owen goes for the knee while Austin is up on the ropes and the start is very fast. The crowd being white hot helps a lot here, as this is a heated feud already and they’re both looking great early.

Austin works the arm here and actually does it really well. It’s weird seeing him use technical stuff, but he’s doing it quite well here. Before the neck injury he was a completely different worker, but after it he found something that worked perfectly for him, so while obviously it’s not good that he hurt his neck, it turned out as well as possible for him. I know I’m doing more play by play for this one, but this is followed by a pair of spots that I really like.

Owen comes up from a wrist lock and does that series of flips that he’s always used to counter it, which I’ve never understood. At the end of that all he does is grab the other guy’s wrist. Does he need the flips or an I missing something here? Anyway, he does all those, and Austin just pokes him in the eye to get control back. It’s one motion, almost like what Piper would do.

After that he goes to a hammerlock and Owen grabs his head and jumps into the air to try to flip Austin over. Steve just stands there and lets Owen slam into the mat. I love those as they’re so simple yet so effective, which is a lot of what Austin’s offense was based on if you think about it. His main offense was kick, punch, jump on people (Thesz Press) and Stunner, which is grab them and sit down. That’s really not a lot when you think about it.

Anyway, moving on. Owen works on the fingers and hand, which against a guy whose main offense is throwing punches makes a ton of sense. Austin even busts out a powerbomb for a counter, which isn’t something that I’ve ever seen him use. It’s always fun to see guys throw new stuff like that from nowhere. It keeps things exciting. Owen hits a neckbreaker which is frightening foreshadowing.

I think he’s selling the move, but I think it’s more legit than work here, which explains a lot about the upcoming move. German suplex and Austin’s neck is hurt even more. My guess is he initially got hurt in one of these moves but of course the big one was the piledriver of course. Vince tries to figure out why he’s one of the most popular wrestlers today but he just doesn’t get it. That amuses me for some reason, as they lay the ground just slightly for Austin vs. McMahon.

And there it is. Austin is dropped on his head, changing his career forever. This really was scary as it was entirely possible that he never could wrestle again from that injury. That’s a very scary thought to say the least. Completely apart from his health issues, this meant a ton as far as the WWF went.

Austin’s injury and Vince not allowing him to work because of it was one of the earliest issues that the pair had, as Austin and the fans wanted to see him get in the ring but Vince said for the safety of Austin, he couldn’t allow that to happen. This is a case where real life and wrestling mix, which usually makes for better angles and promos. It’s easy to convey an emotion in front of a camera when that’s how you really do feel.

As for the match itself, I have to give credit to Owen here as he handles this as well as he can. You can see him setting for a cover and I guess Austin says that he’s hurt to him or something, as Owen looks down at him for a second and then gets up and plays to the crowd to buy Austin some time. There was no way Austin could have kicked out there and you certainly couldn’t fault him if he got pinned.

About thirty seconds later Vince gets that something is wrong after clearly being upset at first. After that he calms down and says that Austin must be hurt. JR I think handles it better by not really ignoring the injury but taking the focus off of it and talking about the Canadian and American fans chanting at each other.

I could see this going either way but I’d rather use Ross’ method here, as it keeps the story going on the chance that Austin is able to fix himself and that it was just temporary, which there’s no way to tell the extent of the injury this quickly.

Either way, it was handled well I think. We then get the worst roll up of all time as Owen sells like a god to try to make it look like he’s in trouble, but Austin is more or less just laying there with Owen’s legs in the air as it was the absolute best he could do at the time. The referee fast counts as well as he can to give Austin the title as he just collapses afterwards.

This is one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen as he can’t even walk on his own. The referees have to carry him out, but not before he throws the belt over his head and gets another massive pop. You can tell just by the look on his face that he’s completely gone.

Rating: B. The match itself was actually really good I thought. They went back and forth and due to the finish they had, it’s obvious that Austin was going to get the title in what I’m assuming would have been just a standard Austin finish which would have worked just fine.

I’m certainly not going to hold the ending against them as there was nothing they could have done about it. These two had great chemistry together and it showed here. Excellent match that could have bordered on classic and been famous rather than infamous.

We get a recap of Bret vs. Taker, which more or less is Canada vs. America again. Shawn is referee as you know.

WWF Title: Bret Hart vs. Undertaker

Bret wants the Canadian National Anthem to be played. His heel stuff was just masterful to say the least. Shawn’s pop is big to say the least as he is the referee like I’ve said many times now. He and Bret are forever linked together and that’s obvious even now, which is saying a lot considering their biggest moment would be about three months later. Oh yeah Taker is here too.

Another massive pop for the WWF Champion as the crowd is red hot tonight, despite the show kind of sucking. The explosion when the lights come on draws one of the loudest short pops I’ve ever heard. Apparently there’s a ton of stipulations here, with the main one being if Bret doesn’t win the title he can’t wrestle in America again, so the ending is pretty clear. There’s also one on Shawn, but it’s not made clear.

Bret jumps Taker and hits him with his own belt before the match starts, because he’s a real Canadian. For the most part, the opening here is just a brawl. That’s fine as both guys can certainly fight, and this is no exception. Shawn is trying to call it fair, but you know something is coming later on. This is a long match though as there’s 30 minutes to go and we’re just started.

We get a report that Austin has no feeling in his hands and has been taken to a hospital. As you may know, it wasn’t a good diagnosis. For the most part, Taker is dominating. Of course, just as I type that Bret starts his comeback as Taker is called a redwood for the second time in about 5 minutes. Ross’ line of Bret having visions of sharpshooters dancing in his head made me laugh.

Bret gets a figure four as we touch on Taker never losing by submission. As this hold is on, Paul Bearer comes out. Apparently he’s been saying Taker’s brother is still alive. Yeah nothing is ever going to come from that angle. After escaping, Taker goes outside and drills Bearer but Bret takes over again because of it. We get the Heartbreaker, which is the figure four on the post.

I still don’t get how that’s really a big additional help but whatever. Owen and Pillman hit ringside for no apparent reason other than being nefarious. “They’re not offering moral support. They don’t have any morals.” That was kind of clever and kind of crap. After a good long time HBK gets rid of them, but in doing so he misses the cover following a chokeslam.

Somehow of course Hart pops back up and gets the second rope elbow, just after a double bird to the fans. I love how a heel turn can make whatever you preached for a year mean nothing at all. Always loved that quick legdrop that Bret uses from time to time. Bret goes for the sharpshooter as Shawn looks in very close. I guess he’s taking notes on how to put it on properly for later on or something.

Oh come on I had to make one joke. Taker with a sweet over the top rope from the apron chokeslam. This has been a very solid match, but I’d have preferred no Shawn. He’s not hurting things as he’s been consistent and he had to be there for the ending, but I’d have preferred a standard match here. Ross says that we’re seeing Vintage Hart. Oddly enough, Cole was a relative rookie at this point. I guess he also took good notes.

Finally we get the sharpshooter, and after it’s been on for a little while, Taker just launches Bret with nothing leg strength. Isn’t it amazing how after one person (Austin) broke the unbreakable hold, it happens more and more? That always makes me chuckle for some reason. Bret counters a tombstone and puts the Sharpshooter on again, but this time he uses the post. However, the post isn’t even touching Taker’s leg or back, making the use of the post, say it with me, COMPLETELY POINTLESS!

Seriously, it’s not even touching him and because it’s there, Bret can’t put any torque on the hold. Isn’t the point of the hold to raise up the legs while the torso stays still to put pressure on the knees and back? With this it’s like Taker is just lying on his stomach with his legs crossed like he’s in Terms of Endearment. Now how’s that for a bad image? To get out of it, Taker kicks him off with ease, since there’s NO PRESSURE ON HIS LEGS.

Of course Bret lands on HBK, and Michaels assumes that Bret just jumped on him, since of course Bret would just jump on him and let go of a hold. Bret slams Taker with a chair as Shawn is trying to get his knee to work, and since it’s Shawn’s knee, you know that’s nothing but legit. I mean it’s not like he’d fake a knee injury for a match involving Hart. That would be just a waste of everyone’s time and effort, so why would Shawn fake a knee injury in an angle involving him and Bret Hart?

Such a thing would obviously be impossible. Anyway, Shawn comes back in and asks Bret about the chair. As this is happening, Taker gets up and is standing behind Bret. Shawn is standing there arguing with Bret and pulls back the chair. Now let’s pause for a second here. Shawn is looking at Bret. Bret and Shawn are arguing. Bret is considered to be one of the smartest wrestlers of all time. Shawn pulls back the chair.

Was Shawn supposed to think that Bret was just going to stand there and get hit in the head with a chair? Oh and don’t worry about the big demon behind Bret. He’ll just move. You get the point don’t you? Yeah, that ends Taker’s title reign as Shawn is completely disgusted that he had to do that, since obviously there was nothing more intelligent that he could have done in this case.

The fans are going nuts as Bret is pelted with garbage while Taker leaves to go get him a piece of HBK. Insert your own Becca joke here. For no apparent reason, this is the upset of the year or something. Why? Bret is a former what, 3-4 time champion? Is it that far out of the realm of possibility that he could beat the Undertaker for the belt? We go to replays as Bret is joined by the Hart Foundation and the party is on.

They’re still talking about how this is shocking. WHY IS IT SHOCKING??? Pillman runs up and kisses the belt as we go off the air, which is sad as he would be dead in two months or so.

Rating: A. VERY good match. They hammered each other the whole time, and as I’ve said countless times, the key to a great match is not knowing who the winner would be. While it was clear given the stipulation about Bret that he would win, I actually forgot about that. That’s the sign of a good match in my eyes. Absolutely great match here and something that you should go out of your way to see.

Overall Rating: B. This was a very hard grade for me to come up with. The show could be called good but some could call it awful. As you can see, I liked it more than I didn’t like it. This is very hit or miss. The best summary I can give you: the parts that are good are good and the parts that are bad are bad. The cage match is excellent and to me the best match on the card, but I’m a fan of the older style.

The main event is solid as these two have great chemistry together and brought it hard here. I’m fine with the ending as it set up one of the great blood feuds of all time. The rest of the card is at least ok. The IC match is more infamous than famous but it certainly holds up. To sum up in one word, Summerslam 97 is passable.

It’s got enough good here to make it above average, but not by much. Too much filler in a row and the million dollar thing was just a waste of time. Overall, it’s certainly not bad, but it could have been better.

 

 

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Monday Night Raw – February 20, 2006: It Was Inevitable

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 20, 2006
Location: Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, New Jersey
Attendance: 5,500
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

Smackdown is done with its pay per view and that means there is nothing left on the way to Wrestlemania. We need a Raw World Title challenger and that will be taken care of tonight as HHH faces Rob Van Dam and Big Show in a HHH Coronation Special. Other than that, Shelton Benjamin gets an Intercontinental Title shot at Ric Flair. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at the end of last week’s show with Edge blaming guest referee Mick Foley for costing him the World Title match against John Cena and beating him down as a result.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, Ashley, Maria, Victoria, Mickie James

The winner gets a shot at Trish Stratus at some point in the future, so Trish comes out to watch from the stage. It’s a brawl to start with multiple catfights breaking out and Lawler wanting a wardrobe malfunction. Candice turns on Torrie and dumps her, much to Victoria’s annoyance. Ashley and Maria get rid of Candice and Mickie throws Maria out. Mickie tries a hurricanrana on Victoria but Candice dumps both of them for the win.

Rating: D. This was your fast paced nothing battle royal and that’s all it needed to be. Candice winning is fine for now, as it’s pretty clear what Trish is going to be doing at Wrestlemania anyway. They didn’t waste time with this one, but Lawler managed to make me cringe at least twice anyway. That takes talent.

Post match Candice brags about her accomplishments and does the GoDaddy dance while promising to win the title. Cue Edge and Lita to tell Candice (“Toots”) to get out of here because Edge is the one who should be champion. Edge is furious over what happened last week and says that’s what happens to Foley when he messes with the Rated R Superstar. Foley likes doing Jim Duggan impressions about Lita, so Edge wants a match…..with Duggan, which he’ll be getting tonight. Lita wants Duggan out here right now and Duggan isn’t making her wait.

Jim Duggan vs. Edge

Joined in progress. Duggan clotheslines away to put Edge on the floor but Edge snaps him throat first across the top. Now it’s Duggan being sent outside for a whip into the steps, followed by a dropkick back inside. Duggan slugs away and hits the ten right hands in the corner, plus the spinning slam. Lita grabs the foot though and the spear gives Edge the pin.

Rating: D+. In theory that should wrap up the Duggan stuff, which was funny once or twice but got a little annoying over time. Edge getting so frustrated over everything is a good way to go and setting up up against Foley is a promising thing, so hopefully we can get some of the amazing promos the two of them can do.

Post match, Edge asks if Foley saw that. Foley cost Edge his dream so he’ll make it simple because Foley only has one ear: Edge wants Foley at Wrestlemania and Foley has one week to make up his mind. If not, Edge is coming to Long Island.

Big Show talks about how important it is to go to Wrestlemania. He was in the main event of Wrestlemania 2000 and he knows what it takes to get there. Tonight, it’s a chokeslam to Rob Van Dam and HHH to stop HHH from having a chance to be WWE Champion again.

This date in WWE history: Bob Backlund beats Billy Graham to become World Champion.

Video on John Cena going to India. For some reason this isn’t on the Network version.

Kane vs. Chris Masters

They lock up to start and Kane wins a quick slugout. That’s enough to send Masters outside, where he pulls Kane into the post to take over. Back in and Masters grabs a quickly broken chinlock and Kane breaks up what looked to be a belly to back superplex. The top rope clothesline and a side slam drop Masters but he blocks a big boot and tries the Masterlock. That doesn’t work either and Kane tries his own, which is broken up with elbows to the face. The big boot finishes Masters out of nowhere.

Rating: D+. The streak of not so great wrestling continues tonight and I can’t say I’m exactly surprised. What were you expecting from these two? Kane and Big Show continue to forget that they’re Tag Team Champions, which isn’t exactly surprised given how nothing the tag division has been around here for, uh, well almost ever now.

Post match Masters grabs the Masterlock to send Kane outside.

Rob Van Dam wants to go to Wrestlemania. Serious Van Dam is always weird to see.

We look back at last week’s Shawn Michaels’ retirement ceremony.

Vince McMahon is in his office when the Spirit Squad comes in. He’s glad to see them because four of them are going to face Shawn tonight. The one left out tells the others to do it for him. These guys are growing on me in a weird way.

Intercontinental Title: Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin

Benjamin is challenging and has Mama with him. Speaking of Mama, we cut to the back where she is on oxygen and Shelton dedicates the win to her. Flair hiptosses him into the corner to start and that’s a WOO. Back up and Flair hits a running shoulder, followed by some chops to the floor as we take a break. We come back with the Figure Four attempt being broken up with a kick out to the floor. Shelton follows and drives him into the apron, setting up a suplex over the top for two back inside.

A kick to the neck gets two and Shelton’s frustration is setting in. Flair charges into a boot in the corner and a top rope clothesline gives Shelton two more. Shelton tries his own Figure Four but gets kicked to the apron. A springboard back in is chopped out of the air though and now the Figure Four goes on. Benjamin makes the rope and gets outside, where Mama is having another heart attack. With the medics running out, Shelton gets in a pair of oxygen tank shots into the exploder suplex for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. That’s your match of the night so far as Mama continues to get more attention than Shelton, even as he wins a title. Flair wasn’t exactly doing anything as champion so Shelton is a better fit, even if he has fallen off the face of the planet since Mama showed up. Granted he was almost all the way down before she showed up so maybe it wasn’t the worst thing imaginable.

Post match Mama dances with the title and Flair is all upset.

Video on Stacy Keibler on Dancing With The Stars.

Shawn Michaels vs. Spirit Squad

It’s a four on one handicap match with Kenny hitting a hiptoss into a dropkick to put Shawn in some mild trouble. Johnny comes in but Mikey gets in a cheap shot from the apron, allowing Johnny to kick Shawn in the face. Nicky grabs a chinlock for a bit, followed by Kenny low bridging Shawn to the floor.

The trampoline is set up on the floor and Kenny bounces off of it with a clothesline. Back in and Johnny’s assisted moonsault gets two but Shawn is back with a swinging neckbreaker. Kenny comes back in and misses his top rope legdrop, with Shawn nailing the running forearm. The top rope elbow hits Mikey and Shawn nails the superkick, drawing in the rest of the team to lay Shawn out for the DQ.

Rating: D+. The wrestling hasn’t exactly been hot tonight but this was angle advancement rather than the match itself. The Squad is fine enough in the ring, but it isn’t a good sign when your big draw is having a numbers advantage. If nothing else, it’s kind of a shame after watching these guys do so well in OVW and then get turned into a comedy heel act.

Post match the beatdown is on but Marty Jannetty of all people runs in for the save.

Carlito vs. Nick Burke

Carlito takes the mic from Lilian Garcia and punches Burke down while doing his own commentary. He talks about how he has an idea for Wrestlemania, hits the Backstabber and Rolls the Dice for the pin, then says it’s going to be Money in the Bank.

During the commercial, Matt Striker plugged his profile in GQ Magazine.

Eddie Guerrero is going into the Hall of Fame as well. Yeah that’s as much of a layup as you’re getting.

Here is Vince, who thinks Marty Jannetty should be rewarded for what happened. That’s why next week, Marty is getting a full time contract….if he’ll join Vince’s special club.

HHH talks about how important it is to go to Wrestlemania. He’s that big of a star and deserves to go to the biggest stage.

Wrestlemania Big Time Moment: “This is the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling.”

Road to Wrestlemania Tournament Finals: HHH vs. Big Show vs. Rob Van Dam

Show jumps HHH from behind to start and gorilla presses him without much effort. Rob breaks up the cover so Show chops him away. The beating continues with HHH being knocked outside and chopped into the crowd. Rob is right back with a kick to Show but he catches the spinning kick from the apron. HHH gets knocked down again and we take a break.

Back with Show shoving them both into the corner but Rob kicks Show in the head. The alliance forms to try and knock Show down and they finally put him on his knees. Show pops up with a double chokeslam though and they’re all down. A powerslam plants HHH and Rob is sent outside. Rob comes right back in with a top rope kick to Show’s face to put him on the floor for a change. That leaves HHH to get kicked in the face and the split legged moonsault gets two.

The stepover kick puts HHH down again and the Five Star connects but Show is back in. Rob kicks Show down again but HHH knocks him outside. A heck of a chair shot to Show’s head sets up the Pedigree for two, with Van Dam’s save getting a huge reaction. The Five Star connects on Show but HHH grabs the referee. The Pedigree finishes Van Dam to send HHH to Wrestlemania.

Rating: C+. The ending was inevitable as even Show talked about how it was more important to stop HHH from going to Wrestlemania. They didn’t exactly hide what was going on here but Cena vs. HHH does feel like a Wrestlemania main event. Cena is a star, but HHH is always hanging over the whole thing. Not a bad match, even with the obvious ending.

Post match Cena comes out for the big staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was a rough sit as there wasn’t much to see until the main event. What matters here though is setting things up for Wrestlemania and you can see a good chunk of the Raw side from here. That’s what matters more than anything else, but it would have been nice to have some better wrestling at the same time.

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




Monday Night Raw – February 13, 2006: Last Stop

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 13, 2006
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Attendance: 8,000
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jonathan Coachman, Jerry Lawler

We’re on the Road to Wrestlemania and it’s tournament time. We’ll probably be finding out the finalists in the tournament to crown a new #1 contender, which could make for some interesting moments tonight. The bigger story is the Raw World Title though, as John Cena defends against Edge with Mick Foley as guest referee. Let’s get to it.

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

Road To Wrestlemania Tournament Semifinals: HHH vs. Big Show

They’re not wasting time tonight. Show headbutts him down to start and fires off the chops in the corner, followed by the big gorilla press. A stomp to HHH’s hand draws some screaming before Show lifts him up by the wrist. More shots in the corner keep HHH in trouble and he falls face first for a good visual. The big whip over the corner puts HHH down on the floor but a quick pull sends Show into the post. Blood is drawn and we take a break.

Back with the bloody Show hitting an atomic drop and snapping off some headbutts to drop HHH again. HHH slips out of a slam though and hits a quick Pedigree for two. That means some shock from HHH so he tries another Pedigree, which is countered into White Noise. A poke to the eye breaks up the chokeslam attempt but the second attempt works just fine for two more. They fight outside with Show chopping him against the barricade and hitting a hard whip into the steps. HHH gets in his own whip to the steps but gets grabbed by the throat, meaning it’s a double countout.

Rating: C. Show was looking more crisp than usual here and that’s not something you expect to see from him. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t have to do much in the ring and can get by with it due to his size alone so seeing the motivated version is all the better. The ending is annoying, but I think you know what’s coming.

Post match the fight keeps going and Show loads up the announcers’ table. HHH gets in a low blow to save himself and grabs a chair, only to get speared through the barricade in the visual that always works.

Since Shawn Michaels is retiring tonight, here’s the Lost My Smile speech.

Vince is asked about the tournament and announces that HHH and Big Show will face the winner of Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Masters in a triple threat match for the Wrestlemania title shot. Mama and Shelton Benjamin come in with Mama crying about how her son needs to be the new #1 contender to the Intercontinental Title. Vince says if Shelton wins tonight against Eugene, he can have a title shot. Vince: “Shelton, now please get your Mama out of here.”

Lita hits on Mick Foley but Edge has to save her from not knowing anything about Scooter. Foley expresses his love for Jim Duggan but Edge threatens violence if Foley doesn’t call it fair tonight.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Eugene

Mama is here with Shelton of course. Shelton kicks Eugene in the face for trying to bring Mama some Valentine’s Day chocolates but Eugene Hulks Up in the corner. The airplane spin makes Eugene dizzy but he’s fine enough to grab a northern lights suplex for two. Shelton shrugs it off and hits the exploder for the pin.

Post match Shelton promises to win the title next week.

Your next Shawn highlight: the Curtain Call being shown on Raw.

Ashley vs. Torrie Wilson

Candice Michelle is here with Torrie and Lawler says this match is rated PG for Puppies Are Good. Torrie swings Ashley around by the pigtails to start and then puts her dog in Ashley’s face. A high paw to the dog and some spankings have Ashley in trouble but she grabs a rollup for the fast win.

Post match, Candice says don’t worry….because she’s going to be in Playboy this March. Some stripping ensues.

Another classic Shawn moment: Vince yelling at him in December for suggesting that it was time to let Montreal go.

Here is Vince McMahon to make Shawn Michaels retire. Shawn comes out, apparently for the last time, and Vince has a special present: the best music video anyone has ever seen! Actually scratch that as he has the entire roster here to shake Shawn’s hand. Scratch that also as Shawn’s family has been flown up from San Antonio. That isn’t happening either, but Vince does have the Spirit Squad here for a special Shawn cheer. Apparently it’s time for Shawn to kiss a certain part of Vince and then go to the unemployment line.

Shawn doesn’t seem convinced and Vince can’t believe he feels this way. Not that it matters as Shawn just needs to sign the papers and get it over with already. Shawn says this isn’t what he wants but Vince orders the microphone cut off. That isn’t happening either because walking away just isn’t an option. Shawn loves this job and it’s walking away from the fans. Vince says he’s doing this because Shawn has that inner peace that he can’t have.

All Vince knows is that he has an insatiable appetite for life and he wants more. There is all kind of pressure on Vince and Shawn can’t fathom what it’s like to be him. Shawn can make it all better by signing those papers though because Vince hates people like him. The papers are put in front of Shawn but he tears them up in Vince’s face. Vince slaps Shawn and the tables are turned over but Vince walks away, saying Shawn has just opened up his own personal h***.

And now, the historic announcement: Bret Hart is going into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1. He’s one of those names you need in the Hall of Fame so this is a nice thing to see. Shocking, but also nice.

Road To Wrestlemania Tournament Semifinals: Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Masters

Masters knocks him down to start but gets kicked in the knee to put him in trouble. Rob’s slingshot legdrop to the apron gets two but a monkey flip is countered with a powerslam for two. A running shoulder knocks Van Dam off the apron and over the barricade for another near fall back inside.

The torture rack (I still wonder why no one has ever used that as a regular finisher as it’s not like Lex Luger has wrestled in about twenty years) goes on but Rob reverses into a sunset flip for two. Rob’s springboard kick to the face gets two more and there’s another kick to the face. Rolling Thunder connects but the Five Star is broken up with a crotching. Rob breaks up a superplex attempt though and hits the Five Star for the pin to advance.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here but it’s not like anyone was giving Masters a serious chance of making the finals when Rob was the other option. I’m not wild on the idea of having a triple threat match for the tournament final but that’s WWE for you. At least Rob seems to be back to normal after his incredibly long recovery time.

Jack (Trish Stratus’ date from a few weeks ago) has some flowers for Trish, but finds Mickie James in a Trish outfit and wig instead. Mickie pins him against the wall but he turns down her advances. She then screams for help and Jack is taken away, with Mickie smiling evilly.

Post break Trish comes in to console the screaming Mickie.

Long video on the history between Edge and John Cena.

Raw World Title: Edge vs. John Cena

Edge, with Lita, is challenging and Mick Foley is guest referee. They fight over a lockup to start with Cena taking him down for an early two. Edge bails to the floor and we take a break. Back with Edge hitting a clothesline but Cena grabs the release fisherman’s suplex for two more. The chinlock goes on but Foley yells at Cena for some reason, allowing Edge to get in a cheap shot.

Edge kicks Cena in the ribs and hits a running forearm to stagger the champ again. Cena gets knocked off the top and Edge sends him into the corner, allowing Lita to remove a turnbuckle pad. Foley catches her though and that means an ejection as we take a break (complete with Goodbye Song). Back with Edge baseball sliding him onto the ramp for a crash, followed by the sleeper, with bodyscissors, back inside. Cena powers up and drops him down for the save but Edge gets up top.

That’s countered into an attempted super FU but Edge reverses into a powerbomb for two with Foley catching the feet on the ropes. Edge’s Impaler gets two more and frustration is setting in. Edge sends Cena into Foley by mistake and the STFU goes on for the unseen tap. Cue Lita, with the distraction letting Edge get in a cheap shot. The belt to the head connects but Foley has to be thrown back in so it’s just two again. That means Edge goes up top for a high crossbody but Cena catches him and rolls through into the FU for the pin to retain.

Rating: B-. Edge and Cena are always worth a look but it’s not like this was going to be matter much in the end. The point of this was to set up Edge vs. Foley and you can guess that Edge isn’t going to be happy with how things went down here. Edge needs something for Wrestlemania and the big showcase match against Foley should work just fine. Cena can get a lot out of Edge, but it’s time for him to move on.

Post match Cena leaves so Lita can hit Foley low, followed by a spear from Edge. A lot of shouting ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show flew by and you can tell that it’s time to start gearing up for Wrestlemania season. That’s a good thing too as there are only so many things you can do with the lower level stuff before it stops having any semblance of importance. It was a good effort this week with important matches and a high level segment, but starting next week things move up to another level with the Wrestlemania build officially beginning.

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




Monday Night Raw – September 17, 2007: Cena Is Magically Delicious

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 17, 2007
Location: Sommet Center, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Another request for reasons I’m not clear on. It’s the night after Unforgiven and John Cena is still Raw World Champion, believe it or not. We’re on the way to No Mercy and Randy Orton isn’t likely to leave Cena alone. I’m not sure what to expect from this and that’s often a nice feeling to have. Let’s get to it.

The opening recap looks at Orton attacking Cena’s father, including giving him the Punt. That caused Cena Sr. to Punt Orton last night, setting up another Cena vs. Orton showdown, this time in a Last Man Standing match.

Here’s Cena to get things going with….an apology. It’s true that he has been having some pent up aggression lately, but tonight he feels FABULOUS! Last night he lost to Randy Orton, which just kind of rolls off the tongue. He needs to thank his dad for being so brave and showing up like a great dad would. Orton is stupid enough to think that Cena was stupid enough to get disqualified last night, just to set up a rematch.

That brings him to Jonathan Coachman, who has given Orton just what he wants: a Last Man Standing match at No Mercy. That means no rules, no pinfalls and no disqualifications. What he did to Orton last night will be perfectly legal so he’s going through Orton like a hot knife through butter. Cue Coach to say he isn’t happy with Cena, so tonight it’s Orton vs. Cena…..Sr. JR: “This cannot be right!”

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin

Jeff is defending and is banged up after being taken out by Great Khali last week. Hardy starts fast with the legdrop between the legs for two and we hit the armbar. Shelton reverses into one of his own but gets put on the apron and kicked out to the floor. A dive to the floor hits Shelton and we take a break. Back with Shelton holding a seated abdominal stretch and then grabbing a hot shot for two.

A running knee to the face sets up a neckbreaker for two more on Hardy and we hit the chinlock. That doesn’t last long as Hardy pops up for a double clothesline to put them both down again. Back up and the Whisper in the Wind connects but the Twist of Fate is countered into a backbreaker. Hardy’s suplex is countered into a reverse DDT for two so Shelton takes him up top. This time the superplex attempt is blocked though and the Swanton retains the title.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here, as was commonplace for Hardy around this time. He was rapidly becoming a bigger and bigger star as the title did so much for him. It wasn’t surprising to see him move up to the World Title scene shortly after this, and it was certainly a big hit when he moved up to the next level.

The Diva Search girls played beach volleyball. Oh and had a limbo contest on WWE.com. At least they kept it short.

Coach comes to see Vince McMahon in his limo because the boss isn’t happy about his illegitimate son Hornswoggle, who is restrained in a car seat and eating his Lucky Charms. It’s because he’s a child you see, with Coach carrying him away.

Cena Sr. insists he is wrestling tonight.

Vince and Coach hear Irish music in his office, and there are several boxes of Lucky Charms, green and white balloons, and more music playing. Hornswoggle pops out of a pile of coins, shouts HI DAD, and throws them at Coach before running away. Vince meets a donkey with a horn strapped to its head.

Daivari vs. Jim Duggan

Flag match, with the flags hanging above the ring and the winner being the first to pull it down. Daivari gets slammed off the top for daring to go after the flag but Duggan gets stopped as well. They fight to the top with Duggan sending him into the flag pole, which sends Daivari crashing to the floor so Duggan can win.

Cody Rhodes volunteers to face Orton in Cena Sr.’s place. Coach says no but Cena Jr. says he won’t be responsible if that match isn’t called off. Actually Coach isn’t done yet, and puts him in a match with an opponent of Coach’s choosing. If Cena wins, his dad is out of the match. Otherwise, the match goes on.

Here’s Vince to discuss his son Hornswoggle, who comes out for some dancing. Vince doesn’t like that, but Hornswoggle does seem to like the idea of inheriting some of Vince’s fortune. The point that Vince wants to make is that money doesn’t buy happiness…..so a nice couple is adopting Hornswoggle!

Cue Ed and Alice Koskey, with their attorney of course, but Hornswoggle says don’t do it. Ed is quickly pantsed and choked (JR: “HE’S HAD TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE!”), followed by a bite to Alice. The Koskeys leave and Vince tells Hornswoggle to get out of his life. Cue HHH to a big ovation, so Vince tells the fans to shut up. HHH takes credit for decorating Vince’s office (HHH: “Do you know how hard it is to find a unicorn in Nashville, Tennessee?”) and says he knew Vince liked trolls, but not fairies and hobgoblins.

Vince: “I’ve never slept with fairies!” HHH: “That’s not what I read on the internet.” HHH makes various short jokes so Vince asks if he’s finished. HHH: “That’s the same thing Hornswoggle’s mom asked you the night you slipped her the shillelagh?” Various jokes about the night with Hornswoggle’s mom ensue so Vince makes a handicap match for right now.

HHH vs. Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch

Cade and Murdoch’s Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line. Joined in progress with HHH shoving Murdoch out to the floor but Carlito comes out for a distraction so Cade can hit a running neckbreaker. Murdoch grabs a Blockbuster for two as the fans are all over Carlito. The chinlock doesn’t last long and the comeback is on with HHH cleaning house. Murdoch is sent outside and it’s the spinebuster to finish Cade in a hurry.

Rating: D+. That’s how you treat your Tag Team Champions of course, but that’s almost the kind of thing you’re guaranteed to see from WWE. They haven’t thought much of the titles for a long time and while HHH is far from some fluke win, it’s very rarely a good sign to see the champs lose clean in a short match.

Post match Carlito comes in to go after HHH but Paul London and Brian Kendrick run out for the save. HHH beats up everyone, including London and Kendrick.

Melina/Jillian Hall vs. Candice Michelle/Mickie James

Candice is Women’s Champion and Beth Phoenix, who she beat last night, is at ringside. Mickie kicks Melina in the ribs to start but Jillian shoves her off the top so Melina can take over. Some shots to the head allow Mickie to get over for the hot tag to Candice. House is cleaned until Jillian gets in a cheap shot from behind. That’s about it though as Candice grabs the Candy Wrapper (Unprettier) to finish Jillian in a hurry.

Post match, Beth hands Candice the title and gives her a threatening glare.

We look at the Condemned, starring Steve Austin.

Coach says he has disposed of Hornswoggle and Vince is a proud papa. Vince goes to leave….and Hornswoggle is in the trunk.

John Cena vs. ???

It’s non-title and Coach’s pick for an opponent is….Santino Marella? Cena wastes no time and hits the Shuffle in less than thirty seconds but here’s Orton to jump Cena for the DQ in less than a minute.

Post match Orton and Santino (there’s an oddball tag team) beat Cena down and handcuff Cena to the ropes. Cue Coach to say that Cena didn’t quite get the idea: he had to win by PINFALL, so Orton vs. Cena Sr. is still on.

Randy Orton vs. John Cena Sr.

For some reason, Orton walks to the back for the commercial and then comes back for the regular entrance. Cena Jr. is still handcuffed to the rope as Orton knees his dad in the ribs. The beatdown is on until Cody Rhodes runs in for the DQ.

Post match Orton sends Cody into the steps and RKO’s Cena Sr. but Jr. unhooks the bottom rope to escape. Orton is chased off and Cena checks on his dad to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. There wasn’t much in the way of wrestling tonight but I was intrigued by the story they were telling throughout most of the show. The Cena stuff is a good story and makes me want to see Cena tear Orton apart. The problem is that other than the Cena story and Hardy vs. Benjamin, this was a pretty horrible show from a time that isn’t very fondly remembered. Good enough show for the two parts, but that’s all they had here. Oh and HHH’s leprechaun jokes to Vince were funny too, but I have a soft spot for how horribly stupid that whole story was.

 

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




Monday Night Raw – February 6, 2006: My Favorite Kind Of Show

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 6, 2006
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman, Joey Styles

We’re on the Road to Wrestlemania and now it’s time to start getting ready, as there is no Raw pay per view for February. That could mean more than a few different ways to go, but with the title back on John Cena, we need a new challenger and that process can start sooner or later. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video gets straight to the point: tonight we start a #1 contenders tournament for the Wrestlemania title shot. Makes as much sense as anything else.

Opening sequence.

Maria brings out Edge and Lita for a chat but Edge tells her to shut up. Edge announces that he is facing Cena again next week, because he beat Cena last week. See, Lita did hit him with the title, but no it wasn’t due to her having some feelings for Cena. Edge is smarter than that and promises to go to Wrestlemania as the WWE Champion again. He doesn’t like Maria calling him the former WWE Champion and Lita insists that Maria make it the FUTURE WWE Champion.

Road To Wrestlemania Tournament Quarterfinals: Kane vs. Chris Masters

Kane sends him into the corner to start and drops Masters with a right hand. The big elbow misses and Masters grabs a swinging neckbreaker, sending Kane into the situp. Back up and Kane kicks him in the face for Masters daring to tease the Masterlock. The chokeslam is broken up with a rake to the eyes so Kane kicks him in the head again. Instead, Masters grabs a rollup with the ropes for the cheating pin.

Rating: D+. This was too short to mean anything but they did something nice with Masters only trying the Masterlock. I’m not sure what it means that he has such a one note offense but it makes sense for him here. It was a punch and kick match otherwise but would you want these two to try anything else?

We get some tournament brackets:

Chris Masters

Rob Van Dam

Carlito

Ric Flair

HHH

Shawn Michaels

Big Show

Edge and Lita try to talk Vince McMahon into letting Lita be guest referee. Lita offers various favors, which Vince finds admirable because it means Edge will do anything to be champion. Tonight it’s a mixed tag, with Cena/Maria vs. Edge/Lita and the winning team gets to pick the referee.

Mickie James vs. Ashley

Trish Stratus is guest referee. Mickie runs Ashley over to start but a hurricanrana out of the corner is cut off. Some forearms stagger Mickie but she accidentally runs Trish over. Ashley grabs a rollup for the pin.

During the break, the Spirit Squad gave us a cheer on Raw Unlimited.

Mickie begged Trish’s forgiveness and says she loves her, but Trish’s date, Jack comes in. The glaring is STRONG.

Shelton Benjamin explains to his Mama that he’ll be beating Ric Flair for the Intercontinental Title. He needs to go get his phone, but she is worried about another freak coming in to mess with her. Shelton leaves anyway so here’s Eugene with an action figure to make Big Mama’s House jokes.

Wrestlemania Big Time Moment: Kane beats up Pete Rose. For the first time.

Road To Wrestlemania Tournament Quarterfinals: HHH vs. Ric Flair

Non-title. Flair starts fast with some hair checking and a WOO before hiptossing HHH down. The headlock doesn’t last long for Flair so he unloads in the corner instead. The Pedigree attempt is countered into a backdrop over the top and we take a break. Back with HHH hitting a spinebuster, followed by the Flair style knee drop. Right hands in the corner set up the Flair Flop so HHH hits a delayed suplex. A swinging neckbreaker cuts off Flair’s comeback attempt and there’s the Flair strut.

Flair grabs a rollup and starts chopping away again but charges into an elbow to the face. HHH charges into a boot in the corner and Flair starts going after the leg. The top rope forearm to the head gets two but the Figure Four sends HHH straight to the rope. The ref gets thumbed in the eye by mistake so Flair gets in a low blow (as only he can)….but the Pedigree finishes out of absolutely nowhere. I had to rewind the video to make sure I didn’t miss anything because it really was that sudden.

Rating: C. I’m trying to get my head around that ending because it was one of the most sudden that I can remember in a long time. It’s annoying enough to have the champ get pinned clean but to have HHH just shrug off a low blow and the Figure Four that quickly to win made it even worse. Did they just lose track of time and have to go home instantly or something?

Maria is in John Cena’s locker room and completely panicking so Cena kisses her calm. A quick slap to the back of her tights and a “see you out there” leave Maria looking rather pleased.

We get the full, uncensored GoDaddy Super Bowl commercial featuring Candice Michelle. This is edited off the Network of course, but the advertisement for it at the beginning isn’t.

Road To Wrestlemania Tournament Quarterfinals: Shawn Michaels vs. Big Show

Hold on though as here’s Vince McMahon to say it’s Shawn’s lucky day because Shane McMahon is gone tonight. Last week Shawn said he wasn’t going to walk out on his contract, but that’s what Vince wants. Next week, Shawn can have his retirement ceremony where he signs a contract and walk away with no threat of a lawsuit. That’s going to be mandatory, so he’s out of this match tonight and we have a replacement.

Road To Wrestlemania Tournament Quarterfinals: Shelton Benjamin vs. Big Show

Mama Benjamin is here with Shelton and we’re joined in progress with Show chopping away in the corner. Shelton tries a spinning dive off the top but gets pulled out of the air and sat on top again. That means another set of chops but this time he manages to drop Show throat first across the top. The Dragon Whip doesn’t even put Show down so Shelton goes with a springboard bulldog for two instead.

A neckbreaker gets the same but the kickout sends Shelton flying. Show powerslams him down and hits a running shoulder to send Shelton into the referee. Mama offers a distraction so Shelton kicks him in the head to the floor. Another charges goes badly for Shelton so Mama yells some more and it’s time to tease the heart attack. Show doesn’t matter and hits the chokeslam for the pin.

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t much to see but there is only so much that you can do with someone who wrestles like Shelton against Big Show. They did the best thing they could have done here by having Shelton bounce off of him but Mama was getting the focus here, as she tended to do in most of Shelton’s matches. Not terrible, but it just came and went, as it should have.

Post break, Mama seems to have had a heart attack. Oh well, time to move on.

Carlito rants in Spanish about Rob Van Dam.

Smackdown Rebound.

Road To Wrestlemania Tournament Quarterfinals: Carlito vs. Rob Van Dam

Rob is still mad over Carlito making his already injured knee even worse last week so the fight is on before the bell. Some shots to the head rock Carlito as the bell rings, followed by the spinning kick to the back on the barricade. We take a break and come back with Carlito knocking Van Dam for two and we hit the chinlock. Rob fights up for a kick to the face and hits the Rolling Thunder splash, followed by the regular Rolling Thunder.

The split legged moonsault hits knees but Rob is right back with a rollup for two. Carlito’s double springboard flip dive takes Rob down and the Backstabber gets a very delayed near fall. Frustration is setting in so Carlito grabs the chair, only to get caught with the Van Daminator. The Five Star gives Rob the pin.

Rating: C. This was a nice two fold match with Rob getting his revenge and moving on in the tournament. Rob is the kind of guy you can drop into a tournament like this and have him make a nice run without having much of a chance of winning the whole thing. Carlito….well he’s a person who is around here too. Yeah it’s still not working for me and I don’t see that changing.

Here are the updated brackets:

Chris Masters

Rob Van Dam

Big Show

HHH

Edge/Lita vs. John Cena/Maria

The winning team gets to pick the guest referee for next week’s title match. Edge jumps Cena from behind to start and sends him into the post before forcing Cena to tag Maria. With Maria panicking, Edge sends Cena into the steps for a crash. Lita pulls Maria in and doesn’t seem all that threatened as she kicks Maria around and knees her in the ribs. Cena comes back in and starts the shoulders to Edge but Lita breaks up the Shuffle. The Litacanrana hits Edge by mistake so she flashes Cena, only to get speared down by Edge. Maria comes in and steals the pin.

Rating: D+. This was little more than an angle to set up the guest referee and there’s nothing wrong with that. They weren’t even in there for five minutes so it’s not like it had much time to do any real damage. Edge vs. Cena III with a guest referee is fine enough and they got there with Maria and Lita involved. Not too bad all around, even in a not so great match.

Post match Cena says he ran into the perfect guest referee earlier today so here he is: Mick Foley! Edge panics to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I’m always a fan of these streamlined, “here’s the one big thing we’re pushing tonight plus a little something extra” shows and that’s what we got here. This was almost all about the tournament as the sights move over to Wrestlemania in a hurry. That’s how this should go, as there isn’t anything left to take care of on the way to Chicago. Give us the biggest build possible to get there, which they started tonight. Not a great show, but certainly an efficient one.

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




Monday Night Raw – January 30, 2006: The First Step On The Road

IMG Credit: WWE

 

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 30, 2006
Location: TD Waterhouse Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jonathan Coachman, Jerry Lawler

We’re officially on the Road to Wrestlemania and Raw needs to get some stuff done after last night. Smackdown’s Rey Mysterio won the Royal Rumble so we are going to need a #1 contender for the Raw World Title, which John Cena won back last night from Edge. That sounds like the call of a tournament so let’s get to it.

Here is the Royal Rumble if you need a recap.

Edge isn’t waiting for Wrestlemania or Saturday Night’s Main Event because he wants his rematch tonight. He will NOT be a transitional champion. I wouldn’t worry about that, because winning the title from someone and then losing it back to them isn’t being a transitional champion.

Opening sequence.

Here’s a cocky Vince McMahon, who guaranteed that Shawn Michaels’ luck would run out at the Royal Rumble. We look at Shane McMahon eliminating Shawn last night, with Vince wanting some praise for his son. Sure he abused his power a little bit but what’s the point of having power if you don’t abuse it?

Cue Shawn to say maybe he could do the good Christian thing and just quit, but that would mean Vince suing him for breach of contract. Since that isn’t the case, Shawn can just be the old drinking, pill popping Shawn of days past. That isn’t happening either, so Vince thinks Shawn is screwed worse than Bret Hart.

Vince isn’t going to fire him because that’s not good business, so Shawn wants to appeal to the businessman. Shawn offers a match against Vince, but the boss isn’t sure. There’s no chance of that happening, and Shawn has ticked Vince off. That’s why tonight, Shawn can commit career suicide by hitting him. Vince takes off his jacket and begs Shawn to hit him but here’s Shane to chair Shawn in the back.

During the break, Shane says he did this to teach Shawn respect, like Bret Hart had to learn. The McMahons leave.

Rob Van Dam vs. Snitsky

Van Dam avoids a charge to start and kicks at the knee but Snitsky punches him down in the corner. The middle rope kick to the face slips (Van Dam: “S***!”) and Snitsky clotheslines him out of the air. We hit the chinlock before Snitsky chokes on the rope, followed by the bearhug. A powerslam gives Snitsky two and a hard running clothesline in the corner drops Rob again. Van Dam finally comes back with the stepover kick and a spinwheel kick, setting up Rolling Thunder for two. A big boot misses for Snitsky and Van Dam kicks him down again. The Five Star is good for the pin.

Rating: C-. Actually not terrible here as Snitsky looked better than usual with all of the power stuff. There’s no need to do anything more than keep it simple with power vs. high flying/speed as the point of this was to show that Rob could still go in the ring. It wasn’t anything memorable, but Van Dam being back is certainly a good thing.

Mama Benjamin yells at Shelton for not winning the Royal Rumble. Mama: “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE OTHER TWENTY NINE BOYS!” She tells him to go win and then come back and rub his shoulders. Shelton leaves so here’s Goldust to rub her shoulders instead. Mama: “WHAT ARE YOU?” Goldust mentions loving golden showers and we’re leaving this one in a hurry.

HHH is annoyed at Maria for bringing up Rey Mysterio eliminating him after an hour in the Royal Rumble. That doesn’t go well because HHH faced 28 other men head on and then got blindsided. He can’t take that out on Eddie Guerrero or Rey Mysterio, but he has another idea.

HHH vs. Chavo Guerrero

Chavo doesn’t even get an entrance. HHH pounds him into the corner to start but Chavo gets in a dropkick for a trip to the floor. Back in and Chavo starts in on the armbar, setting up a flying forearm to put HHH outside again. They switch places and HHH backdrops him over the top for a big crash and it’s off to a break.

We come back with HHH in control and hitting a pair of backbreakers for two. There’s a hard whip into the corner to make things even worse for Chavo and HHH mocks the Eddie dance. The sleeper is countered with a ram into the corner and Chavo hits another dropkick. A spinning DDT gives Chavo two and there are Three Amigos. The frog splash misses though and there’s the Pedigree to give HHH the pin.

Rating: D+. What were you expecting here? It’s not like anyone believed HHH was losing to Chavo and the Eddie stuff has made a comeback out of nowhere. We’re less than three months removed from his death and it is already seeming to be one of if not the biggest story in the company. That isn’t exactly easy to sit through, let alone being the most entertaining.

Chris Masters isn’t happy with Carlito for eliminating him last night and slaps him as a receipt. Now they’re cool to go after the Tag Team Titles.

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

Show and Kane are defending. The champs jump them to start and it’s a big chop in the corner to Carlito. Kane gets annoyed at Carlito but misses a charge, allowing Masters to send him into the steps. Back in and Carlito hits a Backstabber on Kane, followed by the Masterlock. Show makes an eventual save and cleans house until Carlito low bridges him outside. Another Masterlock to Kane has to be broken up and it’s a double chokeslam to retain the titles.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure who is seeing all of the potential in a Carlito/Masters combination but I guess it’s better than watching the two of them be out there on their own in two different segments. Kane and Big Show are nearly unstoppable at this point though and these two schmucks aren’t going to take the titles from them. It was nice to see a little drama, but it’s still Carlito and Masters. That’s not going to get very far.

During the break, Carlito yelled at the referee but Rob Van Dam made the save. Granted we don’t see this, but Lawler tells us what happened on WWE.com.

Mickie James is ready to celebrate Trish Stratus. Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth II and Angelina Jolie have been celebrated and they’re “dime store hookers compared to Trish.” Mickie knows Trish loves her too.

We look at Edge winning the World Title at New Year’s Revolution and then losing it last night.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Goldust

Mama is in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank. They start fast and it’s Goldust catapulting him to the floor. An uppercut keeps Shelton in trouble and they head back inside with Shelton taking him down. Some right hands to the head draw the MAMA’S BOY chants and Goldust starts his quick comeback. Shattered Dreams connects but Goldust goes to hit on Mama, allowing Shelton to kick him in the head. The exploder gives Shelton the pin.

Rating: D. Now Mama has props. I get the point of the comedy but it makes the Shelton fan in me very, very sad. How this is the best thing that WWE could think of for someone as good as Benjamin is beyond me but that has never stopped them before. Not a good match either, which is kind of a trend this week.

Post break, Shelton wheels Mama to the women’s room and then goes over to tell Ric Flair he’s coming for the Intercontinental Title. Flair laughs it off as a threat from a mama’s boy.

Here’s how Candice Michelle made her GoDaddy.com Super Bowl commercial.

Here’s Mickie James to explain how much she loves Trish. We see a clip of Trish reluctantly counting the three count last night and here’s Trish. Balloons and confetti fall as Trish isn’t sure what is going on here. Mickie has another present to show her appreciation: the Spirit Squad! Their cheer explains the Mickie loves her and it’s time for Trish to say the same.

Before Trish can say anything, here’s Ashley to interrupt. Ashley makes it clear that Trish thinks Mickie is a psycho, sending Mickie into tears. Trish can’t really deny it so Mickie jumps Ashley to trigger the catfight. A save attempt from Trish lets Mickie kick Ashley in the face, which Mickie thinks means Trish loves her too.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Edge

Edge is challenging and has Lita with him. They stare at each other to start with Cena grabbing an aggressive headlock takeover. Edge sends him outside though and starts brawling until Cena takes it inside again for another headlock. The release fisherman’s suplex gives Cena two and he grabs a front facelock. Cena switches to a chinlock but Edge fights up with a dropkick. Edge takes too much time going up though and is shoved face first into the announcers’ table.

Back from a break with Edge in control and mocking You Can’t See Me, because it worked so well for him last night. A guillotine of all things has Cena in trouble but he slips out after a decent amount of trouble. Cena wins the slugout and catches a diving Edge in a powerslam for two. There’s a spinebuster for the same and Cena crotches Edge on top, setting up a superplex.

Edge gets his own rollup out of the corner for two but walks into the ProtoBomb. There’s the Shuffle (with a kiss blown to Lita) but Edge sends Cena into the referee. Edge hits Cena low and there’s the spear for no count. Cena is back up and tries the FU, drawing in Lita to hit Edge (yes Edge) with the belt for the DQ.

Rating: B-. Slightly better match than last night and I like the ending, but there was no drama about who was winning. I know Edge did well with the title and shocked the world before, but they just aren’t going to have him in the World Title scene at Wrestlemania so soon after getting into the title picture. The ending was smart though and gives Edge an out, but it’s still not looking like his time until after Wrestlemania.

Overall Rating: D+. This was more about hitting the brakes a bit after the Rumble and they do have a long time before Wrestlemania. That being said, things aren’t looking great around here at the moment as there isn’t anything on the show that made me want to see where things are going. It wasn’t the worst show, but there was nothing overly good and it feels like we’re still waiting for something big to start around here.

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