Summerslam 2022
Date: July 30, 2022
Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 48,449
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re still in the stadium for Summerslam and believe it or not, this time we have a main event of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar. The twist this time is that it’s Last Man Standing to add some spice, but there is only so much interest to be had. Other than that, we have Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair in a match a year in the making. Oh and Vince McMahon stepped down from WWE eight days before this show so we’re in a VERY new era. With a pair of rematches on top. Let’s get to it.

The opening video focuses on what a CRAZY TOWN Nashville is, with a look at all of the crazy people on the show.

Oh and there’s a pinball theme. A CRAZY pinball theme I’m sure.

Raw Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair

Lynch, currently in the Big Time Becks villain phase, is challenging after Belair took the title from her at Wrestlemania. Feeling out process to start with Belair powering her away without much trouble. Back up and Belair flips away from her, setting up a heck of a shoulder. Becky takes her down by the arm and cranks back on it though and Belair is in trouble for a change. The bad arm is kicked apart to make it even worse but Belair’s legs are fine enough to hit a dropkick.

They head outside where the KOD onto the announcers’ table is broken up and the arm is banged up again. They get back inside with Lynch snapping off a Bexploder and taking her down in the corner…but Lynch comes up holding her shoulder (uh oh). Lynch is fine enough to go for the leg and then kick Belair to the apron but the middle rope Fameasser is blocked.

They go outside again with Belair Glam Slamming her onto the apron before a posting sends Lynch’s shoulder into the steel. Back in and a handspring moonsault gives Belair two but Lynch is back with Diamond Dust of all things for two of her own. Belair’s powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana which is countered into a failed KOD attempt. They head outside with the KOD connecting this time, but Lynch just beats the count.

Back in and another KOD is countered but Belair spikes her anyway. Belair takes too long going up and gets Manhandle Slammed for two. With nothing else working, Lynch takes her up top for a super Manhandle Slam, which is reversed into a KOD to retain Belair’s title at 15:11 and win the feud.

Rating: B. Yeah these two fought a lot but they have the chemistry to make it work very well. This was another good back and forth showdown between two of the best women (or anything) that WWE has ever had. It came off like a huge battle and that is the kind of showdown that these two have managed to make possible. The arm work from Becky to take away the power made sense and the fact that she was banged up makes this even more impressive. Heck of a match here and a great opener.

Post match Becky, with her right arm non-functional, shakes Belair’s hand and seems to be good again. With Becky gone, Bayley makes her surprise return after over a year away with a horrible knee injury. Cue the returning Dakota Kai (she’s been gone for a bit), plus the newly named Iyo Sky (no longer Io Shirai). The trio gets in the ring to yell at Belair but Lynch evens things up a bit, sending the villains running off. That would be more or less it for Lynch for about four months, as she would be written off television the following night on Raw due to a shoulder injury and not be back until November.

We recap Miz vs. Logan Paul. They were a team at Wrestlemania and won, but then Miz turned on Paul for no apparent reason. Months later, Miz said that he destroyed Paul, who then announced that he had signed with the company. Now it’s time for Miz to show what he can do, while Paul is back with his first ever singles match.

Miz vs. Logan Paul

Miz has Maryse and Tommaso Ciampa (missing his first name here but just in case you confuse him with Gus Ciampa) with him. Inspired by Paul’s really rare Pokemon card (not here this time), Miz has a one of a kind Polaroid of he and Paul together around his neck. Feeling out process to start with Miz snapmaring him down and mocking Paul a bit, much to Maryse’s delight.

Back up and Paul grabs a waistlock into a fireman’s carry, allowing him to mockingly shove him away with a boot to the head. Miz is sent out side and an apron moonsault takes him down again as Paul is already shining rather well. Back in and Miz crotches him in the ropes, setting up a Codebreaker for two. Ciampa even gets in a cheap shot and we hit the chinlock.

Miz misses the charge in the corner though and Paul is right back with a Blockbuster. Back up and Paul gets two off a running powerslam, followed by the YES Kicks to send Corey Graves that much closer to madness. The Figure Four has Miz in trouble but a rather dramatic rope break gets him out. Paul hits a high crossbody and a standing moonsault for two but Miz kicks him in the face.

Ciampa teases another cheap shot and gets ejected (with the crowd throwing in a YES chant), but Ciampa just sits ringside in a chair. Cue AJ Styles to really chase Ciampa off, leaving Paul to hit a not so phenomenal Phenomenal Forearm. They head outside with Paul loading up the announcers’ table, setting up a heck of a top rope frog splash to drive Miz hard through it. Back in and Maryse distracts the referee but Miz almost runs into her. That’s enough of a distraction to let Paul hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 14:16.

Rating: B. This was up there for best celebrity matches ever and it’s barely even on a sliding scale. Paul was out there showing himself to be able to do all kinds of things in the ring, with that frog splash being a great bonus. It was entirely a showcase for Paul and Miz is the perfect choice to be out there taking the beating. What mattered here was Paul looking like a star and that is exactly what happened here. Heck of a match and WWE has to know what they have here with Paul.

US Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Theory

Theory, the reigning Mr. Money In The Bank, is challenging and jumps Lashley before the bell. Lashley says he can go and shrugs off Theory’s swarm to start. An elbow to the face into a spinebuster has Theory on the floor and he’s ready to walk. Lashley isn’t having that but Theory is right back with a rolling dropkick for two. For some reason Theory thinks it’s a good idea to slug it out with Lashley, earning himself a powerslam. The spear hits the post but Theory rolls into the Hurt Lock to retain the title at 4:44.

Rating: C-. This could have been on any given Raw and that isn’t good enough for a Summerslam title match. They seemed to be playing up the idea that Theory was saving himself for a potential cash-in later tonight but the Hurt Lock is the kind of move that could make him tap that fast as well. This is something that could have been cut from the show without missing much, though having Lashley on the show is often a good idea.

We recap the Mysterios vs. Judgment Day. The team isn’t happy with Rey Mysterio being a star and attacked him in front of his family. Now it’s time for revenge in a No DQ match.

Judgment Day vs. Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio

Rhea Ripley is here with Judgment Day (Finn Balor/Damian Priest) and this is No DQ. Judgment Day jumps them to start and the fight is on fast. Rey hurricanranas Balor though and Dominik dropkicks Priest, setting up the back to back dives to put the villains down. We settle down to a double Russian legsweep dropping Balor but Dominik gets sent into the wrong corner.

The chinlock goes on as the fans are starting to wake up a bit here. Priest adds the Broken Arrow into a slingshot stomp from Dominik but he’s back with a suplex. Rey comes in with a top rope seated senton to Priest. A bulldog plants Priest again so Balor slides in a chair, which Rey picks off without much trouble. Rey grabs the chair and slides down into a splash on Balor for a nasty looking crash.

Back in and Priest boots Rey down for two and Balor adds the shotgun dropkick in the corner. Dominik breaks up the Coup de Grace though and Rey snaps off a top rope hurricanrana, with Priest making the save this time. The double 619 is broken up by Ripley, who drops Dominik face first onto the apron. South Of Heaven hits Rey but Balor wants a chair. Instead he gets the returning Edge, who spears down Judgment Day, setting up Rey’s slingshot splash for the pin on Balor at 11:07.

Rating: C+. The match itself was good enough, but my goodness the fans did not care about what they were seeing here. Granted at this point Judgment Day was one of those things that just kept going and there wasn’t much to get excited about with them, but it shouldn’t take Edge to get the only strong reaction of the match. This was a good example of a match where the fans just didn’t are no matter what was happening, and that’s a bit disappointing.

We recap Happy Corbin vs. Pat McAfee. They’re old friends/roommates from the NFL and McAfee has mocked Corbin’s losing streak. Corbin has attacked McAfee a few times so now it’s time to fight.

Pat McAfee vs. Happy Corbin

McAfee has a choir here to sing about BUM A** CORBIN for a rather unique entrance. They talk a lot of trash to start, with McAfee leading the crowd in their singing. McAfee hits a superkick and a middle rope hurricanrana puts Corbin on the floor. A posting drops Corbin again and McAfee stomps away back inside.

Corbin is put on top but gets shoved down, only to have McAfee moonsault onto his feet. A dropkick (to the stomach) sends McAfee into the corner and Corbin gets to hammer away. The slow beating is on, with a ram into the barricade giving Corbin two. McAfee manages to send him to the floor and hit the slingshot dive, only to be thrown over the announcers’ table.

Back in and McAfee catches him on top, this time jumping (mostly) to the top for a top rope superplex. McAfee slugs away and avoids a charge to send Corbin shoulder first into the post. That lets McAfee go up top and, after getting his balance, hit a top rope flip dive to take Corbin down on the floor. Back in and McAfee knocks Corbin into the referee by mistake, setting up a low blow (payback for Corbin doing the same thing to him the previous night) and a Panama Sunrise to finish Corbin at 10:50.

Rating: B-. McAfee is another of the few celebrities who has figured out how to put together a rather good match. There were some close calls here as McAfee didn’t have everything polished but he made it work well enough. This was an entertaining match and the fans ate McAfee up as usual, while Corbin lost again, also as usual. It might not quite have been the Logan Paul stunt show, but McAfee is certainly worth a look whenever he is out there and has a star power all his own.

We look at Drew McIntyre defeating Sheamus to become #1 contender last night on Smackdown.

Here is McIntyre to talk about how much he loves Nashville, to the point where he lives here. He and Sheamus went to war last night but now it is time to go to to war with Roman Reigns. For now though, it is time for Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the first time ever! Uh, in Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Last man standing. McIntyre asks a an for his name (Colt). McIntyre: “IN FRONT OF COLT!” Nice save there and McIntyre raises his sword to set off some pyro and wrap up a quick cameo.

Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Street Profits

The Usos are defending in a rematch from Money In The Bank where a bad referee cost the Profits the titles. Therefore, Jeff Jarrett of all people is guest referee, just for the save of the country music connection. The Profits come out with the Tennessee Titans cheerleaders for a little bonus. Dawkins and Jimmy start things off with Jeff having t pull both of them out of the corner.

Jey comes in off a quick tag for a modified Demolition Decapitator for two. It’s already back to Jimmy for a chinlock as this isn’t the fastest pace to start. The running hip attack connects but a second one misses, allowing Dawkins to enziguri his way out of trouble. Ford and Jey come in to pick up things up a lot, with Ford’s high crossbody getting two. A rather loud chop only seems to wake Jey up though and it’s a pop up neckbreaker for two on Ford.

Back up and Ford slips over for the tag to Dawkins and house is rapidly cleaned, including a huge flip dive to the floor. Back in and the Anointment gives Dawkins two on Jimmy but Jey is back in to cut him off. A superkick into the Superfly Splash gives Jimmy two, setting up the double Superfly Splash with Ford having to make a save.

Jey almost superkicks Jarrett by mistake but walks into a spinebuster. Ford’s very high frog splash gets a delayed two, meaning it’s time to yell at Jarrett (who did nothing wrong, along with the nothing he has done for the rest of the match). A dive is cut off by a double superkick to the….some part of Ford’s body. Back in and more superkicks hit Dawkins, setting up the 1D to retain at 13:22.

Rating: B. I remember wondering what Jarrett was going to add coming into this and coming up with an answer of “nothing”. The fact that I didn’t remember him being involved in this match at all didn’t help things and there was nothing to having him here. At the same time, you had these teams with some great chemistry having a good, pay per view worthy match. The Usos were still doing some awesome stuff with the titles, even if they had to deal with such a lame choice for guest referee.

Matt Riddle (not medically cleared) runs in through the crowd and calls out Seth Rollins for a fight. Rollins comes out to meet him in the aisle, gets the better of it, and Stomps (how Riddle was hurt in the first place) Riddle down again.

We recap Liv Morgan challenging Ronda Rousey for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Morgan cashed in Money In The Bank on an injured Rousey to win the title so now it’s time for the match with Rousey ready coming in.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Liv Morgan

Morgan is defending and Rousey flips her over to start. A running knee rocks Morgan and another throw gets two. Morgan comes back with a Codebreaker but Oblivion is easily blocked. Rousey tries to get her down but is reversed into a double arm crank. That and a crucifix bomb get two on Rousey, who is right back with the armbar. Morgan tries to slip out but gets pulled into it again, this time making the rope for the break. Rousey gets the armbar again so Morgan stacks it up for the pin at 4:35…..despite tapping before the pin.

Rating: C-. Morgan was on a roll on the way to Money In The Bank and then just died once she got the title via the cash-in. This was Morgan mostly getting squashed before tapping out and retaining anyway. If WWE wanted Morgan to be a big star, they needed to actually put her over someone rather than these screwy finishes. It didn’t do Morgan any favors and Rousey hardly looked better either.

Post match Rousey protests and armbars Morgan…and the referee. Replays show that Morgan tapped way before the three count.

Here is Kane to announce the attendance: 48,449. I believe he has some questions about those numbers.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match for Reigns’ WWE Universal Title. In short, Randy Orton was supposed to get the shot but was too hurt so it’s time to break the Lesnar glass. Not the most thrilling match, but fair enough that they didn’t have a better option. The video also teases Austin Theory cashing in his briefcase.

WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Reigns, with Paul Heyman (but without the Usos, who he sends to the back), is defending in a Last Man Standing match. Lesnar starts walking to the ring but stops to put on a flannel shirt and cowboy hat….so he can drive a tractor to the ring. There is no way this can end well. As Lesnar stands in the loader of the tractor, he cuts off the introductions and does his own, before flipping the mic to Reigns…..who snatches it out of the air in one hand (not shown but find the clip as it’s rather awesome).

Lesnar then DIVES out of the tractor onto Reigns and a clothesline takes it to the floor. There’s the overhead belly to belly on the floor as Lesnar is starting very fast. Another suplex of the steps has Reigns rocked and they head into the crowd, where Lesnar suplexes him onto a platform. Reigns gets in a quick shot but is promptly suplexed back to ringside. The table is set up but a Heyman distraction lets Reigns put Lesnar through it instead.

Lesnar is back up so Reigns steps him in the face. Back in and Reigns hits a pair of Superman Punches, followed by the first (of probably many) spear. Another spear is blocked and Lesnar sends him outside in a crash. Lesnar slams him into part of a broken table before getting back in the tractor. After fiddling with it a bit, Lesnar gets out and hits Reigns with the steps instead.

A piece of a broken table to the head puts Reigns down again but he staggers to his feet. That doesn’t work for Lesnar, who puts him in the front loaded and drops him into the ring for a crash. With that not being enough, Lesnar snaps off some German suplexes and the F5 gets nine. Another F5 is countered into the guillotine but Lesnar reverses into one of his own. Lesnar lets him go and Reigns is up at nine again.

That doesn’t work for Lesnar….who uses the tractor to LIFT UP THE RING and send Reigns falling out to the floor. Reigns is up again (and so is the ring, which is still up on the tractor, meaning a big middle finger to fans on that side of the ring, who can’t see a thing right now) so cue the Usos to go after Lesnar. They’re wrecked in short order so Heyman hands Lesnar the titles in an attempt to get him off Reigns.

That earns Heyman an F5 through the announcers’ table (egads the impact), allowing Reigns to hit a spear. They’re both down so heeeeeeere’s Theory with the briefcase! Before the bell can ring, Lesnar F5’s him on the floor to cut that off in a hurry. The Usos are back up to superkick Lesnar, who gets up again.

Reigns hits another spear, followed by another spear. With that not working either, Reigns hits Theory with the briefcase and then unloads on Lesnar with the thing. That’s only good for nine, so Reigns belts him in the head but Lesnar is up AGAIN. Another belt shot connects so Reigns and the Usos bury Lesnar with everything they can find at ringside to finally keep him down and retain the title at 22:54.

Rating: B. This was the fight that you would expect from these guys under these circumstances and that’s exactly what it needed to be. Sometimes you need two people to beat the daylights out of each other with one big shot after another and that’s what you got here. Lesnar might not have been the biggest threat to win the title, but sometimes you need a match where the champion has to fight really hard to keep the title. Rather good main event and that’s as good as you could have gotten here.

Reigns poses as what used to be Heyman is carried out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. WWE had a rather strong show here with the bigger matches more than delivering. There’s nothing on here to make it a classic but it’s a three and a half hour show with some very good stuff throughout. The weaker points are kept short and I had a lot of fun throughout. This is what Summerslam tends to be like and they made a rather transitional time in the company’s history work out.

Results
Bianca Belair b. Becky Lynch – KOD
Logan Paul b. The Miz – Skull Crushing Finale
Bobby Lashley b. Theory – Hurt Lock
Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio b. Judgment Day – Slingshot splash to Balor
Pat McAfee b. Baron Corbin – Panama Sunrise
Usos b. Street Profits – 1D to Dawkins
Ronda Rousey b. Liv Morgan – Rollup
Roman Reigns b. Brock Lesnar when Lesnar could not answer the ten count

Ratings Comparison

Bianca Belair b. Becky Lynch

Original: B
2023 Redo: B

Logan Paul vs. The Miz

Original: C+
2023 Redo: B

Theory vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: C-
2023 Redo: C-

Judgment Day vs. Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio

Original: C
2023 Redo: C+

Baron Corbin vs. Pat McAfee

Original: C
2023 Redo: B-

Usos vs. Street Profits

Original: C+
2023 Redo: B

Ronda Rousey vs. Liv Morgan

Original: C-
2023 Redo: C-

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: B-
2023 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: C+
2023 Redo: B+

Dang I underrated some of those earlier matches, especially Miz vs. Logan Paul.

 

 

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Summerslam 1999
Date: August 22, 1999
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 17,130
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s been a bit since I’ve looked at this show so we might as well try it again. The main event is a triple threat match with HHH and Mankind challenging Steve Austin for the title with Governor Jesse Ventura as the guest referee. Other than that, The Rock is facing Billy Gunn for reasons I don’t quite understand. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of the main event, which has involved a bunch of guest referees over the years. Now Jesse Ventura is the ultimate guest referee, as he is the governor of Minnesota and the biggest power around. Makes sense, in a wrestling way at least.

Jesse Ventura tells HHH that he knows all of the cheating that can happen out there so don’t even bother. Chyna needs to set HHH straight.

Chris Jericho gets on “Harold” Finkel for being late, especially when Jericho is trying to save his job.

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

Jarrett, with Debra, is challenging for both titles. Actually hold on as Jarrett ejects Debra, much to Lawler’s chagrin. Actually hold on again as Debra runs into Brown in the back and offers to manage him instead. Brown, like a moron, actually agrees. Jarrett jumps him to start fast but Brown is back up with a flying forearm.

A powerslam gives Brown two and Jarrett jumps into a sitout spinebuster for the same. Brown tries a middle rope bulldog but gets pulled into a side slam for a pretty unique counter. Jarrett sends him outside for a baseball slide and a ram into the steps. That earns him a clothesline over the barricade so Jarrett comes right back with a posting to cut Brown off again.

Back in and Jarrett starts in on the arm, with a tornado DDT on said arm leaving Brown in a lot of trouble. Jarrett stops to yell at Debra though and it’s a running Liger Bomb to give Brown two. The head shaking legdrop and a suplex have Jarrett in trouble but Brown misses a random Swanton. Debra gets on the apron for a distraction so Jarrett grabs the guitar. Cue Mark Henry to take it away and clock Brown, giving Jarrett the pin and the titles at 7:29.

Rating: C+. So in an opener that runs about seven and a half minutes, we had a (seemingly fake) split, a new pairing, a guitar shot and another turn in the end. All in a match for a double championship. What makes this all the more annoying is Jarrett and Brown are more than capable of having a good wrestling match without all of the shenanigans. Let them do their thing and save this nonsense for people who actually need it.

And of course Debra was in on it all along.

Earlier today, Edge And Christian were ready to start the Tag Team Turmoil match. They want to be the #1 contenders and who better to start against than the Hardys?

Tag Team Turmoil

Six team gauntlet match for the #1 contendership with Edge And Christian in at #1 and the Hardys (the New Brood but the graphic has the other name and I’m going with it) in at #2. The Hardys jump them to start fast until we settle down to Edge Russian legsweeping Matt. Christian comes in for a spinwheel kick which clearly misses (fair enough as Matt popped back up) but Gangrel gets in a cheap shot.

That allows the Hardys to take their shirts off (high pitched pop still in development and Jeff’s springboard moonsault gets two. Christian is cut off again and it’s a suplex into a Swanton with Jeff having to make a save. A double reverse layout DDT gets Christian out of trouble though and it’s back to Edge to clean house.

Everything breaks down and Jeff tries to run the barricade, only to get speared out of the air by Edge. Gangrel gets in a cheap shot but Christian hits a big springboard dive, with Matt moonsaulting onto all three of them. Back in and Edge electric chair faceplants Jeff, setting up Christian’s top rope elbow for the pin at 5:02.

Viscera and Mideon are in at #3 with Viscera jumping Christian and giving him a Samoan drop. A double elbow lets Mideon choke away but he misses a middle rope elbow. Edge comes in and gets dropped by Viscera’s rather impressive spinwheel kick but Viscera splashes Mideon by mistake. A double shoulder puts Viscera on the floor and the spear finishes Mideon at 7:38 total

Prince Albert and Droz are in at #4 and commentary gets in an argument over whether college football careers matter at all. JR points out that Lawler doesn’t know a thing about Albert but Lawler points out that you can tell everything you need to know by looking at Albert. Well, yeah. Albert misses a charge in the corner and Christian takes Droz out on the floor. A chop block and the Downward Spiral finish Albert at 9:37 total and the Acolytes are in at #5.

Christian is taken outside and rammed into the post, leaving Edge to hammer on Bradshaw in the corner. This allows Lawler to mock JR’s football obsession but JR says Lawler hurt his feelings. A powerbomb out of the corner drops Edge and it’s off to Faarooq for more pummeling. Edge’s spinwheel kick (popular move this match) drops Faarooq but Bradshaw is right there to cut off the tag. Faarooq gets a rather cocky two and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and the Dominator is reversed into a DDT, allowing Edge to bring Christian in. The dropkicks abound and a tornado DDT gets two on Bradshaw. Cue the Hollys (apparently jumping the gun) as Bradshaw blasts Christian with the Clothesline From Bradshaw for the pin at 14:42 total.

So the Hollys complete the field at #6 and go after the Acolytes, who don’t seem impressed. The Dominator plants Crash but Holly makes the save. Naturally this results in the Hollys fighting over who gets to stomp Faarooq, earning Hardcore a double shoulder. A suplex gets Hardcore out of trouble so Crash tags himself in, only to get clotheslined. Lawler mocks JR for saying he doesn’t know which Holly is tougher, even as Bradshaw gets two off a swinging neckbreaker. Hardcore comes back in and get in a fight among themselves, leaving an annoyed Faarooq to spinebuster Hardcore for the pin at 17:36.

Rating: C+. Believe it or not, Edge And Christian and the Hardys tore the house down while they could and most of the rest of the teams were just there. That’s pretty much the story of the tag division until the Dudley Boyz showed up in a few months but for now, it was those teams and no one else. This was at least different, though dang I could have gone for the Hardys and Edge & Christian getting that much time instead.

Al Snow tries to calm down his dog, Pepper, about the Big Boss Man with advice about Judy Garland.

Here is the Road Dogg for a chat. He’s not happy with being out of the Hardcore Title match but wants to face the winner tomorrow on Raw. Cue Chris Jericho (who had only debuted a few weeks ago) to interrupt (JR: “It’s Jericho.” Lawler: “How do you know?”), saying he can’t believe that Summersham is worse than Raw Is Bore.

There are a lot of terrible performers on this show and the worst is in the ring right now. Jericho mocks Dogg’s lack of reaction, with Dogg smiling at the cheers he receives. The reality is that DX and Dogg suck so Dogg calls him a b**** to wrap this up. What a nothing segment but it was a way to get Jericho on the show.

Hardcore Title: Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man is defending and Snow leaves Pepper in a pet carrier in the back. Dogg is on commentary but jumps up with a mic to do roving commentary. Snow climbs onto the set and dives onto Boss Man during his entrance and they go backstage, where Boss Man is put through a table. Boss Man fights back and throws Pepper’s pet case, earning himself what looks like a chalkboard to the back.

A crutch shot drops Snow and Boss Man rams him into a Pepsi case. Boss Man shoves the case over but can’t crush Snow in the process so they go outside instead. The fight goes across the street and Snow kicks him down for two outside of a restaurant. Boss Man sends him through some outside tables and they go into a bar, where Boss Man hits him with the Yellow Pages.

Snow fights back, flirts with a woman, and gets punched further into the building. A broomstick is broken over Boss Man’s back and let’s go to the men’s room. They go back to the bar where Snow hits him with a beer and a chain (as all bars have), followed by a moonsault off the bar through a table. Now it’s time to go to the pool area, but Dogg hits Boss Man with his nightstick. Snow gets in a low blow with some pool balls to get the title back at 7:21.

Rating: B-. Why not? This was the kind of insanity that you could get with the hardcore stuff and it wound up being a lot more memorable. Leaving the arena is always cool and while I prefer the Friendly Tap, this was fun stuff and it was insane enough to make the whole thing work.

Post match Snow immediately runs back to check on Pepper, having to beat up Stevie Richards and the Blue Meanie, who might be trying to steal him.

Jesse Ventura gives Mankind the same kind of speech saying he’s not counting a fall off a chair shot or something like that. Mankind would rather talk about Geraldine Ferraro being underrated as a candidate but Ventura wasn’t a fan. That is exactly the kind of response I would have expected from Mick Foley.

Women’s Title: Ivory vs. Tori

Ivory is defending after using shoe polish to write some rather mean terms on Tori’s stomach and back. Tori runs in and grabs an early powerslam to send Ivory bailing to the floor. Back in and Tori knocks her down again, only to get choked on the ropes. We go old school with the giant swing but Tori comes back with a spear. An Alley Oop sets up a high crossbody but Tori’s sunset flip doesn’t even get one. They try it again and Ivory awkward sits down on Tori for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: D. Yeah this was terrible and there wasn’t much of a way around it. The Women’s Title situation was pretty much a disaster at this point and that would be the case for a few more years. Ivory was trying but Tori was only so good. They did the smart thing by keeping it short but there was only so much that could be done. Just not good.

Post match Ivory tries to rip off Tori’s top but Luna Vachon runs in for the save, much to Lawler’s ire.

The Rock interviews Michael Cole, mocks his tie, asks if he’s a bit….however you spell what Rock said, and then promises to beat up Billy Gunn in about 45 minutes.

Billy Gunn has someone under a tarp.

We recap Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman, which is basically over which one is tougher and more violent. Cars and condoms full of blood were involved so you know it’s serious.

Steve Blackman vs. Ken Shamrock

This is in the Lion’s Den, which is a small cage with weapons at the top next to the entrance. Blackman is in first and hides some nunchucks in his pants but the early shot is shrugged off. Shamrock goes for the leg and finds the nunchucks, only to have his leg swept out. Blackman chokes him with a stick so Shamrock grabs a cross armbreaker. With that broken up, Shamrock throws the nunchucks out and hammers away as things slow back down.

It’s time for the kendo stick but Blackman whips him into the cage to take over. Blackman uses the sticks to pound Shamrock down and a big shot drops Shamrock again. A belly to back suplex out of the corner gives Shamrock a breather and he snaps off a powerslam. Blackman is back up with the kendo stick to strike Shamrock down and a big shot to the head knocks Shamrock silly (Lawler approves). For some reason Blackman won’t just leave though as Shamrock is back with a belly to belly. Some kendo stick shots knock Blackman cold and the referee calls it at 8:58.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t really wrestling for the most part but it was the right way to present two guys like this. It felt like a fight between two people with some unique talents and it wound up working. The violence worked and they didn’t go on too long to the point where it got ridiculous. In other words, the whole thing was nuts, but it was well booked nuts.

Earlier tonight, Shane McMahon attacked Test and banged up his ribs.

Test vs. Shane McMahon

This is a street fight and it’s Love Her Or Leave Her, meaning if Shane wins, Test has to break up with Stephanie McMahon but if Test wins, Shane has to stay out of their relationship. You can feel the Russo soap opera writing all over this one and in this case it still works. Hold on though as here is the rather injured Mean Street Posse to sit in the front row, much to Shane’s, ahem, surprise (he has no idea why the couch and lamp are waiting on them).

Test jumps him to start but Shane spears him down to go after the ribs and hammer away. Back up and Test knocks him to the floor, with the fight quickly heading into the crowd. Shane goes after the ribs but dives into a powerslam onto the floor. Test goes over to shove the Posse but gets champagne to the face to slow things back down. He can see well enough to throw Shane at the Posse and beat them up, only to have the numbers game catch up to him.

Rodney slams him onto the platform and Shane hits him with a mailbox, followed by a Do Not Enter sign. A framed picture of the Posse and Shane is broken over Test’s head so they can go back inside. An elbow to the face sets up Shane’s Spiral Tap (!), which only hits mat. Test gets in a powerbomb but Rodney’s distraction means it’s only a delayed two. The referee gets bumped (of course) and a running clothesline puts Shane on the floor again.

The Posse goes after Test again though and put him on the announcers’ table, setting up the REALLY flying elbow to put Test through the table (JR sells the heck out of it to make things better). Now the referee is back up so Rodney distracts him while the rest of the Posse throws Test inside. Why they need to distract the referee is beyond me but Test kicks out anyway.

Pete Gas hits Shane with a sign by mistake and Test gets two, with Joey Abs pulling Shane out at the last second. Rodney’s cast shot gets a very delayed two so here are the Stooges to beat up the Posse (the fans love that one). Shane misses a charge into the post and the pumphandle powerslam plants him again. Test’s top rope elbow finishes Shane at 12:12.

Rating: B. It went longer than it needed to and the Posse got involved once or twice too often, but dang this was fun. The Stooges getting involved at the end was great as the fans’ reaction made it even better. The fans were all the way into this one and carried it that much higher. It’s pure insane drama but they beat the fire out of each other and you know Shane is going to leave everything out there if he gets the chance. Good stuff here.

Post match Stephanie McMahon runs out to hug Test in a rather over the top celebration.

We recap the Unholy Alliance (Big Show/Undertaker) challenging X-Pac/Kane for the Tag Team Titles. X-Pac and Kane are the unlikely duo with the titles and Show/Undertaker are the big evil monsters. Show/Undertaker want to hurt everyone, including the champs, because they just like to beat people up.

X-Pac says this is a mismatch on paper but this isn’t paper. Kane’s inverted black and red gear makes this that much better.

Tag Team Titles: X-Pac/Kane vs. Unholy Alliance

The Alliance is challenging and has Paul Bearer with them. It’s a brawl to start with Show being knocked outside and X-Pac’s high crossbody getting two on Undertaker. The kickout sends X-Pac flying though and it’s already time for the beating. X-Pac gets in some right hands and hands it off to Kane for more of the same. Undertaker isn’t having that and knocks X-Pac silly but Kane breaks up a chokeslam on the floor.

Back in and Undertaker gets in that running DDT of his, allowing Show to come in for the rather loud chops. With the chopping not getting him very far, Show goes with the chokes and knee drops. A powerslam drops Kane again and it’s back to Undertaker, meaning it’s a double clothesline to leave them both down. X-Pac comes back in for the spinwheel kick, earning himself a right hand to the face.

They go outside with Undertaker crotching X-Pac on the post, followed by a low headbutt from Show to really emphasize the point. The bearhug goes on so X-Pac bites the nose and goes low on both monsters (works for the referee, who even winces at it). Kane comes back in and everything breaks down, with Undertaker getting knocked to the floor. X-Pac posts him but walking to Show’s chokeslam back inside. Show’s cover with one foot gets two but it’s a ticked off Undertaker with a Tombstone for the titles at 12:10.

Rating: C+. This went too long and while I do love seeing 1999 X-Pac get pummeled, it lost its charm by the end. There was pretty much no conceivable way for the champs to retain here and it made sense for the monsters to just turn it on and win in the end. X-Pac and Kane have grown on me a bit over the years and they were good as the big man/little man team. At some point the little man has to lose though and that’s what happened in the end here.

Steve Austin has no time to listen to Jesse Ventura.

Billy Gunn vs. The Rock

The loser has to give the winner a kiss in a certain area but Gunn brings out a lady (you can guess what she looks like) for Rock to kiss instead. Gunn jumps him to start and gets knocked outside for his efforts. Rock drags him to the entrance for a right hand as the referee is again fine with all of this. They trade rams into the barricade until Gunn is sent into the Lion’s Den cage.

Back at ringside and Gunn sends him into the steps, followed by a bell shot as they actually go inside (after about five minutes on the floor). A neckbreaker cuts off Rock’s comeback and Gunn drops an elbow on the apron. Back in and Gunn’s bulldog gets a rather delayed two so Rock hits that running clothesline out of the corner. The Maivia Hurricane drops Gunn again and they’re both down.

Rock’s swinging neckbreaker gets two but Gunn is right back with a heck of a Fameasser. Instead of covering though, Gunn brings the woman in and she leans over in the corner. You know exactly where this is going and the disgusted Gunn is Rock Bottomed and People’s Elbowed for the pin at 10:12.

Rating: C. This was all about setting up one screwy ending and there was no reason to believe that the Rock was going to leave here. That’s not the most thrilling thing, but it’s better than trying to take a man named Mr. A** seriously. It’s not terrible, but this was more about the comedy and that made for a long ten minutes. Gunn is a talented wrestler. He just wasn’t going to be a big deal with this gimmick no matter how much he was pushed.

And then there’s no kiss after the match. What a ripoff.

We recap the WWF Title match and….yeah this was a lot. So WWF Champion Steve Austin was attacked and Chyna became #1 contender but then Mankind became the #1 contender but then HHH became the #1 contender as well thanks to two guest referees. It was so bad that Linda McMahon got involved to announce the triple threat title match. Got all that? Yeah it doesn’t really matter because it’s 1999 and a lot of stuff didn’t wind up mattering.

WWF Title: Steve Austin vs. Mankind vs. HHH

Austin is defending, Chyna is here with HHH and Jesse Ventura is guest referee. Before the match, Ventura grabs the mic and says that he has been criticized for doing this. He’s proud that he was a wrestler and he’s proud to be here tonight. Here here indeed. HHH jumps Austin on the way in but gets taken outside by Mankind. Austin gets in a clothesline on HHH as JR sounds surprised by Austin and Mankind having chemistry (a rare miss to not bring up them being former Tag Team Champions).

Back in and HHH gets double teamed some more with Mankind hitting the running knee lift…but hugging Austin. He earns the ensuing right hands from Austin but the Stunner is blocked, with Austin being sent into HHH. The two of them head outside with Austin dropping Mankind with a clothesline but getting jumped by HHH. A chair to the leg has Austin down and Ventura asks the crowd if HHH uses the chair. Chyna crotches Mankind against the post and that means an ejection, much to HHH and Chyna’s annoyance.

Austin is back up so HHH wraps the knee around the post and then gets in a chop block as Mankind is down in the other corner. Back up and Mankind actually helps HHH double stomp Austin in the corner, which has the fans confused. Austin sends Mankind outside but HHH wraps the knee around the post again to cut that off. HHH gets pulled into the post and they all fight into the crowd, with Austin taking over again. Back in and HHH is catapulted into Mankind, who gets dropped with the Stunner.

HHH makes the save with a chair and then chairs Mankind down but Ventura shakes his head no. Instead Ventura just soaks in some cheers and then says no again, making sure to motion HHH using a chair so the fans get the idea. Here is Shane McMahon to yell at Ventura but Austin is up to give Shane the Stunner.

Ventura throws Shane over the top and yells about how that’s for Shane’s old man (my goodness if there was a way to book a Vince vs. Jesse match, it could have been amazing in so many ways). Austin and HHH clothesline each other but Mankind is back up with a double Mandible Claw. HHH kicks him low and tries a pedigree, with Austin breaking it up. The Stunner hits HHH but Mankind makes a save of his own. HHH Pedigrees Austin but Mankind jumps HHH and grabs the double arm DDT to pin Austin for the title at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was a good match with Ventura being the real highlight, as he felt like he understood the assignment and lived up to the expectations. Austin losing the title isn’t a bad thing as his body was falling apart at this point and he needed the break, but points for him taking the fall in the middle of the ring. Ventura was the big deal here, but the other three worked hard and made it work, even with Austin being so banged up.

Post match Ventura and Mankind leave so HHH destroys Austin’s knee with a chair. Austin is done to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There are some rough spots in the middle but I liked this for the most part, with the main event and street fight both working. You could tell Russo was still doing a lot of stuff here, but the talent involved was good enough that it could overcome a lot of the insanity. It was a good enough show and if you get rid of some of the weaker midcard stuff, it could have been that much better.

Results
Jeff Jarrett b. D’Lo Brown – Guitar shot from Mark Henry
The Acolytes won Tag Team Turmoil last eliminating the Hollys
Al Snow b. Big Boss Man – Pool balls shot
Ivory b. Tori – Sitdown splash
Ken Shamrock b. Steve Blackman via knockout
Test b. Shane McMahon – Top rope elbow
Unholy Alliance b. X-Pac/Kane – Tombstone to X-Pac
The Rock b. Billy Gunn – People’s Elbow
Mankind b. HHH and Steve Austin – Double arm DDT to Austin

 

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

This is the Summerslam you guys requested that I do for the third time and I’m very glad that you picked a good one. 1998 was the year where the WWF really turned things around in the Monday Night Wars and Summerslam was the biggest show of the year, easily surpassing a two match show at Wrestlemania. The main event here is Undertaker vs. Austin for the title, but there are questions about Undertaker’s loyalties to Vince and Kane. Let’s get to it.

Unfortunately the opening video isn’t the one set to AC/DC but instead a well done video of Austin wondering if Undertaker and Kane are in cahoots (I love that word) against him. Vince has guaranteed that Undertaker will win the title with Kane helping him out tonight.

Before the first match, we get a quick announcement that Austin attacked a hearse that either Kane or Undertaker might have been inside. Thank goodness this is 1998 because today we’d get a series of videos from WWE.com and the YouTube channel showing how it happened and speculation over who was in it and words from 10 people on what it means. Instead just mention it here and move on because there’s other stuff to get to than a million recaps.

The entrance is a black gate over a red background with smoke in the aisle, directly opposite the hard camera. That’s such a cool visual and it works really well here.

European Title: D’Lo Brown vs. Val Venis

Brown is defending in a match that doesn’t have any real backstory, but it does have a sixth minute time limit. I love the name graphic covering Val’s gyrating crotch. Val’s pre-match speech is about coming, seeing and coming again. Brown is billed from Helsinki because he’s a real European.

Venis tries to chop the champ but hurts his arm on the chest protector, because of a very slow healing injury. A Russian legsweep works a bit better and Brown bails to the floor. That means it’s time to gyrate and the high pitched screams suggest it worked well. Back in and a spinebuster gets two on Brown as we see the mysterious rookie Edge watching from the crowd.

Venis misses a splash and since JR is JR, he points out that the splash would have hurt Val even more because of the chest protector. Brown gets in his first big move with an (appropriately) Irish whip into the corner to put Venis down. Back up and an overhead t-bone suplex of all things gives Val a breather, only to have the champ slam him down and drop a leg for two. JR gives us a great stat: Brown is 27 and Venis is 26. It’s a really good idea to bring up how young these guys are, especially when they’re doing well like this.

Another slam stays on Val’s back and Brown is smart enough to slap on a Texas cloverleaf for some psychology. D’Lo slams him again with Lawler saying “here comes some more!”, which I think was a soundbyte in WWF Attitude, a Nintendo 64 game. Val goes up but dives into a modified Sky High for no cover as Brown took himself out too. A DDT plants Val (really good one too) for a near fall and the New York fans are appreciating this match.

Brown goes up but opts for the second rope, allowing Venis to catch him in a powerslam for another near fall. Val drops him with a butterfly suplex but the Money Shot hits knees. You would think hitting the chest protector would have hurt just as much but close enough at least. Brown can’t get him up for a powerbomb and almost drops Val on the back of his head in a scary spot.

The second attempt gives us a Liger Bomb, allowing the referee to make sure Val doesn’t have a broken neck. The champ misses the Low Down (Lawler: “How does Val Venis continue to rise up like that?) and they slug it out from their knees. Val finally wakes up and takes off the chest protector, only to put it on himself. The referee isn’t pleased and accidentally crotches Venis on top, causing Val to shove him down for the DQ.

Rating: B. This is one of the biggest “WHERE DID THAT COME FROM” moments in wrestling history as both guys had the match of their lives here but never got close to it again. They were just beating the tar out of each other out there and working as hard as I’ve ever seen them go, making for one heck of an opener and a borderline classic. Give this an ending and it’s even higher.

Venis beats up the referee and gives him the Money Shot post match.

Mankind laments the destruction of the hearse and plugs the Brisco Brothers Body Shop. Maybe he can use his sledgehammer after all.

Kai En Tai vs. Oddities

This is a 4-3 handicap match but more importantly, the Insane Clown Posse play the Oddities to the ring and blow the roof off the place. As usual, Kurrgan dancing badly is one of my favorite things in wrestling due to how serious his face looks. Golga (the 6’8, 450lb Earthquake) starts with Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku and all four Kai En Tai members are destroyed in about eight seconds.

Golga steals Yamaguchi-San’s (Kai En Tai’s manager) shoes and almost falls down from the smell. Kurrgan comes in to face Funaki and is nice enough to get on his knees so they can be the same height. I always appreciate a polite dancing monster. Kurrgan throws all four of them around just as easily as Golga did as this isn’t going well for the Japanese contingent. Off to Giant Silva, who is about 4 inches taller than Kurrgan, who could look down at Undertaker.

All four try Silva at the same time and the Oddities go 3-3 in their dominance. Silva puts all four of them in the corner before his partners come in to help whip everyone across the ring. Now it’s Taka being launched over the top onto the other three. This is getting hilarious with how one sided it is. Funaki and Men’s Teioh come in and double dropkick Golga before actually slamming him down.

Four straight top rope splashes keep Golga in trouble and four straight legdrops get no cover. The referee is fine with letting all four of them in there but can you blame him at this point? Golga clotheslines all four of them at once (that looked cool) and all three Oddities come in, leaving Yamaguchi-San to get beaten up by Luna Vachon. A triple quadruple chokeslam lets Golga pin all four men at once for the win.

Rating: C+. I know they’re not very good and they were never going anywhere, but I’ll always have a soft spot for the Oddities. They’re a total guilty pleasure for me but I have such a good time watching them. It’s an act where you know what you should be getting and that’s exactly what you got. Total comedy match here but I had fun.

Jeff Jarrett vs. X-Pac

This is hair vs. hair with Howard Finkel in X-Pac’s corner due to Jarrett and his cronies Southern Justice (the heel Godwinns, in an even worse gimmick) shaved his hair earlier in the night. We even get Howard doing the crotch chop to really pop the crowd. Jarrett is told to suck it and goes after X-Pac to start, only to get kicked in the face to send him outside, followed by a nice middle rope plancha.

Jeff tries a sunset flip back inside but X-Pac just steps to the side. I don’t remember seeing that anywhere else but it’s a very smart counter. X-Pac is very talented in the ring, all of his outside the ring shenanigans aside. Things get a bit too quick though and X-Pac gets crotched against the post to stop his momentum cold.

Back in and a powerslam gets two for Jeff as they’re keeping this quick enough to not bore the New York crowd with Jarrett’s Memphis style. We hit the sleeper on X-Pac and it’s so strange to hear Fink’s familiar voice as a cheerleader. X-Pac does the same sequence to counter the sleeper that has happened in every Jeff Jarrett match ever but Jeff puts him on the top instead of suplexing him down.

The middle rope cross body misses, just like the spinwheel kick and Jarrett is in trouble. Like any good southern villain with his opponent on the mat, Jeff slaps on a figure four, despite not touching X-Pac’s legs so far. A rope is quickly grabbed and now the belly to back puts Jarrett down but X-Pac can’t follow up.

Jarrett gets two off a high cross body but his leapfrog is countered into a sitout powerbomb for the same. A Bronco Buster attempt hits a raised boot but Finkel distracts the referee (Fink: “HE KICKED HIM IN THE BALLS!”), allowing X-Pac to hit a quick X Factor for no cover. Instead here’s Southern Justice to slide in a guitar but the distraction lets X-Pac take it away from Jeff and knock him silly for the pin.

Rating: C+. It’s another match where both guys were working hard to get a pretty uninteresting match over and that’s exactly what they did. Jarrett is in his element here as a bully midcarder who gets his comeuppance at the hands of a popular act. Read as: NOT A MAIN EVENT WORLD TITLE CONTENDER.

The New Age Outlaws, Droz and the Headbangers come out to make sure Jarrett gets his hair shaved. Jeff arguing with the referee about the guitar as he’s held in the chair is great stuff.

Doc Hendrix previews the Lion’s Den, a UFC knockoff.

Rock is pleased by attacking HHH’s knee on Sunday Night Heat earlier in the night. We get a guarantee that Rock is retaining the title tonight, if you smell what he’s cooking. Kevin Kelly: “Well there you ha….” Rock: “Shut up.”

Sable/??? vs. Jacqueline/Marc Mero

Sable needs a mystery partner to help her out here after Mero dumped her for Jacqueline. This led to some contests between the two with Jacqueline getting the upper hand most of the time due to a combination of Mero and, you know, being a wrestler. Sable comes to the ring alone but introduces her partner as…..Edge. The guys get things going with Mero stomping away in the corner until Edge comes back with some Japanese armdrags.

Lawler isn’t sure if this is Edge or The Edge. Jacqueline comes in so Sable demands a tag, sending Jacqueline scurrying off to the floor. It’s back to the guys but Jacqueline grabs Edge’s leg to let Mero take over again. Edge escapes the TKO and takes Mero down with a DDT to give himself a breather. The double tag brings in the women and it’s catfight time. A chase sends Jacqueline to the floor but Mero is waiting on Sable.

That’s fine with her as she loads up a powerbomb, only to have Jacqueline jump her to take over again. That earns Jacqueline a half decent TKO but it’s Mero making a save this time. Back up and Jacqueline hits Mero by mistake, giving Sable the opening to fix her hair. Edge comes in and dives on Mero to fire the crowd up again. Jacqueline gets a spanking to keep them rolling, followed by a high cross body for two on Marc.

More heel miscommunication puts Jacqueline on the floor and Mero gets crotched on top. Sable busts out a top rope hurricanrana for two, followed by the worst “accidental falling headbutt into a low blow” from Jacqueline to Mero. Edge plants Mero with the Downward Spiral (actually called that) and picks Sable up for a splash to give her the pin.

Rating: D. Yeah I still don’t care for this one. Sable was a very popular character and it made sense to put her on this show, but it’s still not a good match. Edge getting a big spot like this is a nice touch, but it’s still not an interesting match or story. Thankfully the Sable vs. Mero stuff would wrap up soon after this and Edge would go on to be part of the Brood.

Mankind is told that Kane can’t be his partner tonight so maybe he should just forfeit the titles. If the fans want their money’s worth though, maybe Michael Cole can be his partner. Or better yet, maybe Mankind can go play in the traffic. Vince comes in and brings up Mankind hitchhiking to Madison Square Garden as a teenager. The boss thinks Mankind can defend the titles against the Outlaws on his own, even though he doesn’t have a sledgehammer.

Vince hands him what looks like a candelabra and a cookie sheet. That’s enough to inspire Mankind and he has thirteen words for the Outlaws: “How much would would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” Well no one ever accused Foley of making the most sense. I have no idea why but I always loved this segment as Mankind was so perfect for this character and Vince manipulating him was always entertaining.

We recap Owen Hart vs. Ken Shamrock, which is more about Dan Severn and his manly mustache against Shamrock in a UFC feud. Severn was Owen’s trainer and taught him how to fight with submissions, setting up the Lion’s Den match here.

Owen Hart vs. Ken Shamrock

This is in a small theater adjacent to MSG. The match is held in a small, circular cage which is about as blatant of a ripoff of a UFC cage as you can get. You win by submission or knockout. Hart is a member of the Nation but Severn is the only person here with him. Shamrock easily takes him down to start until Owen counters into a leglock. Ken gets dropped with a spinebuster but floats over and unloads with right hands.

A low blow is shrugged off as well and Shamrock takes Owen’s head off with a clothesline. The cage starts coming into play with Shamrock climbing the cage into another clothesline, only to miss a charge into the steel. The fans are entirely behind Shamrock as he gets thrown face first against the cage. Lawler isn’t sure what to call the structure. JR: “How about the Lion’s Den?” Lawler: “Uh, ok.” Owen can’t piledrive him and his hurricanrana is countered into a nice powerbomb.

Both guys are bleeding from the face and Owen scores with a powerslam and a nice belly to belly. The Sharpshooter is on but Ken crawls over and climbs the cage to escape in a nice counter. Something like a tornado DDT out of the corner drops Owen but he grabs the dragon sleeper, only to have Shamrock climb the cage and roll over into the ankle lock for the submission.

Rating: C+. Again, they tried something different here, even though it was just a glorified cage match. Both guys were trying hard out there, which really is a theme for the show so far. Shamrock looked like a gladiator, but it really doesn’t need to set up a feud with Severn. At the end of the day, neither guy can talk and one of them is Dan Severn, so how far can this really go?

Austin will do whatever it takes to retain the title tonight.

Tag Team Titles: New Age Outlaws vs. Mankind

Mankind is defending on his own and comes out with a big metal dumpster because this is a hardcore match. The Outlaws are in South Park shirts, which still look weird at this point. Mankind and Billy duel with chairs until Road Dogg sneaks in from behind to take over. They start cracking Mankind in the head with whatever metal objects they can find but a swinging neckbreaker on the floor gets two on Gunn.

That earns Mankind more double teaming and a ram into the side of the dumpster. It’s table time back inside, but it’s one of those old tables that looks a bit more realistic that the common ones. Billy is sent through it as well though and Mankind has a breather. Lawler is freaking out because Vince might have been right but a reverse 3D drops the champ again. A double powerbomb through two open chairs only gets two and Dogg stops to jaw with the referee. Instead it’s a spike piledriver onto the belt to give the Outlaws the titles back.

Rating: D+. There isn’t much to talk about here as this was a glorified squash for obvious reasons. Mankind is a tough guy but having him beat a top level team like the Outlaws on his own would have been way too much. This also sets up more stuff with Kane for Mankind so what else can you really ask for?

The Outlaws put Mankind in the dumpster but Kane is inside, sledgehammer in hand. With Mankind out of camera range, Kane slams the hammer down into the dumpster and everyone goes silent.

We recap HHH vs. Rock, which was disguised as DX vs. the Nation. Rock won almost every major match leading to this final blowoff, including costing HHH the European Title. Tonight it’s a ladder match for Rock’s Intercontinental Title, which he’s held for a remarkable nine months. The only solution was to hold the title above the ring and channel Shawn vs. Razor at Wrestlemania X.

Intercontinental Title: The Rock vs. HHH

Rock is defending and of course this is a ladder match. Chris Warren and the DX Band sings HHH to the ring because 1998 was a time when people actually knew who Chris War was. HHH destroys the band’s equipment for reasons that aren’t exactly clear but here’s the Rock to turn things serious. The seconds here are Chyna and Mark Henry, which aren’t exactly fair. I mean, at this point Chyna was kind of awesome and Henry was…..well he was Mark Henry. The title isn’t hung above the ring yet so we have to wait a few seconds for it to go up.

Rock drops a few F Bombs before it’s time to slug it out. A big clothesline puts Rock down and HHH hammers away, followed by the facebuster. Neither finisher can hit and HHH is backdropped over the top to give HHH a reason to limp on his legitimately bad knee. They slug it out in the aisle with HHH getting the better of it but limping back inside so Rock can hammer away again.

It’s already time to go for the ladder but instead of just picking it up, Rock whips HHH face first into the ladder instead. Why bother with anything but violence if you don’t have to? Rock starts a climb but HHH dives off the top to break it up, only to have the ladder fall onto his back. There isn’t much effect though (HHH is allowed to no sell at least once in every big match) and HHH climbs up, only to get nailed in the knee to bring him back down.

Rock goes in after the knee with elbows before realizing he has a ladder at his disposal. The leg gets crushed between the ladder but now it’s time for a chair to crush it even worse. He wraps the leg around the post as well before driving the knee into the ladder for good measure. Ever the cocky one, Rock climbs up as slowly as he can, allowing HHH to knock the ladder over for the save.

You don’t cut the Rock off on the second rung though so he takes HHH and the ladder to the floor for a catapult into the steel. I’m sure it happened at some point before but someone should catapult the ladder into a person instead. Rock keeps it going by backdropping HHH onto the ladder and this is getting ugly.

Henry thinks (yes seriously) the ladder is too busted up so he throws in another so Rock can climb faster. Chyna forearms Henry in the face, allowing HHH to dive in for the save. A baseball slide puts the ladder into Rock’s face and HHH has his first control in a long time. The bloody Rock is able to pull the ladder down again before setting the second ladder on the top rope. I don’t see this ending well, but that could be because I’ve seen this many times.

HHH is smart enough to break up whatever Rock had in mind though and plants him with a DDT. They climb the ladder again and Rock shoves him down and into the ladder in the corner, only to have HHH bounce into the standing ladder to knock Rock throat first into the top rope. Rock is up first and grabs a ladder, only to have HHH blast it with a chair over and over to get a breather.

Back up and Rock wins a slugout before slamming HHH onto the ladder for the People’s Elbow. Neither guy can follow up though and it’s HHH climbing first, only to dive into a Rock Bottom for no logically explained reason. HHH is able to get up again and pulls Rock (and his trunks) down, followed by the big Pedigree to give himself the best chance he’s had all match. As he’s getting up though, Henry throws powder in his face. The blind HHH climbs, only to get punched in the face by Rock. This brings in Chyna for a low blow on Rock, allowing HHH to finally pull down the belt to win.

Rating: A. This is one of my favorite matches of all time and it still more than holds up. It’s a match that launched both guys up the ladder to the next level with HHH becoming an upper midcarder and Rock becoming a main eventer who would pick up the World Title in November. The key thing here though is they focused on the wrestlers and the drama instead of the ladder and the spots, which almost always make for the best matches. Check this one out if you want a great brawl with some awesome back and forth action which meant a great deal going forward.

We get some exclusive home video footage of Rock stumbling to the back and swearing revenge that wouldn’t come for years. He’s still the People’s Champ.

Quick recap of Undertaker vs. Austin, minus the awesome video package, which is built around where Undertaker’s loyalties lie. He may or may not be in league with both Kane and Vince, but there’s no actual proof either way. It feels like a conspiracy against Austin, which really isn’t all that shocking when you consider who he had gone to war with all summer.

WWF World Title: Steve Austin vs. Undertaker

Austin is defending. They get in each other’s faces to start before trading wristlocks. A rollup with tights gets two for the champ and he puts on a Fujiwara armbar of all things. It’s off to a regular armbar as Austin could never look right with a technical hold like a Fujiwara armbar. Then disaster strikes as Undertaker ducks his head and gets kicked in the face, only to have Undertaker snap his head up and nail Austin in the jaw, knocking him silly for the rest of the match.

Once Austin can stand again, a quick Thesz press attempt is countered into a hot shot for two as you can see Austin is WAY off. Undertaker slowly punches and stomps away but Austin is coherent enough to go after the leg and wrap it around the post. It’s not enough though as Undertaker comes back with the running clothesline and some good old fashioned choking. Old School is easily broken up and it’s back to the knee as there’s only so much they can do here aside from striking.

Cue Kane as a 3:16 chant starts up. The distraction lets the referee make sure Austin knows what planet he’s on but Undertaker tells Kane to head back because he wants to do this himself. Austin goes after Undertaker on the floor again but takes too much time, setting up a nearly falling chokeslam from the apron back inside. Undertaker can’t cover though, allowing Austin to clothesline him out to the floor and right onto that bad knee.

They brawl up the aisle and into the crowd, which is probably best for Austin as it’s a lot less complicated for a scrambled brain to deal with. Undertaker backdrops him onto the concrete as the knee seems fine. Austin goes spine first into the post, heads back inside, and is promptly thrown right back to the floor in an awkward landing. It’s time for the big spot as Undertaker lays Austin onto the announcers’ table and heads up top for a HUGE legdrop, crushing Austin but not the table for maybe the biggest spot Undertaker has ever done.

Somehow it only gets two, which is only right as Undertaker’s foot was under the bottom rope. You would expect a better enforcement of the rules from Earl Hebner. This time it’s Undertaker missing a charge into the corner and running into a double clothesline to put both guys down. It’s time for the hero comeback with Austin winning a slugout and hitting the Thesz press. Something like the Stunner is mostly botched as Undertaker falls backwards with Austin landing on top of him for two.

Undertaker comes back with the chokeslam but Austin escapes the tombstone. They have an awkward exchange in the corner with Austin getting crotched on the top rope, followed by a Russian legsweep from Undertaker to put both guys down. Old School is loaded up again but Undertaker dives into a low blow, setting up the Stunner to retain Austin’s title.

Rating: B-. This is a really hard one to grade after the injury to Austin. It’s much more a collection of spots loosely tied together instead of a match, but the big spots worked well enough and Austin won as clean as he was going to win in a main event match in 1998. It’s also really nice to not have all the interference for a change because that was the norm for so long at this point. Good match, but it’s definitely a few steps beneath Austin’s usual greatness.

Undertaker hands the belt to Austin and Kane comes out to stand by his brother’s side to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Oh yeah it still holds up. This is a great show with some awesome matches that capped off stories while also setting up some stuff for the future. Above all else though it felt like a major show, which isn’t really the case at any other show all year. It’s still one of the best Summerslams and a show you kind of have to see at least once.

Ratings Comparison

Val Venis vs. D’Lo Brown

Original: B

Redo: C+

2015 Redo: B

Oddities vs. Kai En Tai

Original: C-

Redo: C-

2015 Redo: C+

Jeff Jarrett vs. X-Pac

Original: B

Redo: C

2015 Redo: C+

Marc Mero/Jacqueline vs. Sable/Edge

Original: F

Redo: C-

2015 Redo: D

Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart

Original: B-

Redo: B

2015 Redo: C+

Mankind vs. New Age Outlaws

Original: D+

Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D+

HHH vs. The Rock

Original: A+

Redo: A+

2015 Redo: A

Steve Austin vs. Undertaker

Original: B-

Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: A-

2015 Redo: B

This is a good example of why I don’t do a third take of shows very often. Most of the ratings are either the same or really close to the same with the World Title and Tag Team Title matches having the same rating every time. I think we’ve found my definitive take on those matches and I really don’t have anything else to say about most of them. I’ll do a different Summerslam next year and a fresh review of each of the big four every year though, as it’s a fun thing to look back at, especially a good show like this one.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/01/history-of-summerslam-count-up-1998-the-biggest-summerslam-ever/

And the original redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/08/03/summerslam-count-up-1998-rock-and-hhh-ascend/

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

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

AND

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

Summerslam 1994
Date: August 29, 1994
Location: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 23,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler

This is the old review of the year and that’s an interesting choice. The show has a double main event of WWF World Champion Bret Hart defending against his brother Owen to continue their awesome feud, plus the wholly unawesome Undertaker vs. Fake Undertaker match. It’s the best of both worlds you see. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Randy Savage to welcome us to the show, held in the brand new United Center. Somehow, this is the only pay per view the company has ever run from the arena.

Jerry Lawler has some breaking news: Shawn Michaels and Diesel have become the new Tag Team Champions after defeating the Headshrinkers last night. What an odd time to do a title change, but 1994 was an odd time.

IRS/Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Headshrinkers

IRS and Bigelow have Ted DiBiase in their corner and this was originally going to be a title match. The Headshrinkers (Samu/Fatu) have Afa and Lou Albano with them, just to crank up the bizarre state of the show so far. Bigelow runs Fatu (not Samu Vince, though to be fair it’s a pretty easy mistake to make) over with a shoulder but eats the superkick for two. Fatu avoids a very early top rope headbutt and a double superkick puts Bigelow down again. Samu comes in, so Vince says Samu is now in, after saying Samu started.

Vince really wasn’t great at this whole thing. Samu starts cleaning house and ducks an IRS charge to send him outside. Back in and Bigelow low bridges Fatu to the floor but it’s a double clothesline for a double knockdown. The hot(ish) tag brings Samu back in for a BAAAACK body drop and a headbutt to Bigelow, which works because Samoans have hard heads. The middle rope headbutt gets two on IRS with Bigelow making a save. With Bigelow being knocked to the floor, the double Stroke sets up the Superfly Splash but Bigelow goes after Albano. That’s enough to draw Afa in for the DQ at 7:18.

Rating: D+. Pretty lame opener here with the lack of the titles taking away the little interest this match had. The Headshrinkers are good in their roles but Bigelow and IRS are a pretty generic team who don’t have much to do here. I’m still not sure what the point is in having the titles change early. Why not just do it the next night on Raw?

They brawl to the back.

And now, for your comedy of the show. The detectives from the Naked Gun movies are trying to find the Undertaker, complete with a bunch of puns and sight gags. Such gems include “we’re both on the case” as they stand on a briefcase.

Women’s Title: Bull Nakano vs. Alundra Blayze

Blayze is defending and Nakano has Luna Vachon in her corner. For those of you of a younger age, Nakano is a rather terrifying Japanese monster and Blayze’s archnemesis. We get the ceremonial flower presentation but Vachon throws hers at Blayze to really be a jerk. Nakano kicks her in the ribs instead of shaking hands but it’s too early for a powerbomb. A knee to the ribs cuts the champ off and Nakano throws her down by the hair.

We hit the chinlock (with Nakano’s back to the camera because she doesn’t know how to work) until Blayze makes the rope, which isn’t an escape you see that often. The yet to be named hurricanrana gives Blayze two but Nakano pulls her down into a Boston crab with both legs under one arm. With that broken up, Nakano puts on what would become Paige’s Scorpion Crosslock.

Since Blayze hasn’t been tortured enough yet, Nakano switches to a cross armbreaker. Back up and three straight running sleeper drops have Nakano in trouble but she powers out of a piledriver attempt. A powerbomb gets two on the champ as the pace has picked WAY up out of nowhere. Blayze avoids the guillotine legdrop though, kicks Vachon down and grabs the German suplex to retain at 8:17.

Rating: B. For 1994, this was some insane stuff in America, especially for a women’s match. Blayze really was good but Nakano was one of the best of the era. She was big, strong, could wrestle on the mat and had the submission skills to be that dominant. Unfortunately these two pretty much the entire division for a long time so it could only go so far.

Shawn Michaels and Diesel brag about winning the titles because the Heartbreak Hotel needed some more gold. Diesel says Razor Ramon isn’t taking one of his two titles tonight. Razor has had a bunch of chances and tonight isn’t going to change anything.

Intercontinental Title: Razor Ramon vs. Diesel

Razor is challenging and has NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton in his corner to balance out Shawn. The white boots are a weird look for Razor. Shawn talks trash to Payton to start and Razor fires off the right hands, which look very good against someone Diesel’s size. Back in after a quick trip to the floor and Diesel gets in his own punches to take over. A sleeper slows Razor down even more and Diesel throws him outside.

Shawn goes for the turnbuckle pad but Payton chases him off, allowing Shawn to forearm Razor behind the referee’s back. I could watch Shawn outsmart people for days. Back in again and the referee stands in front of the exposed buckle but Shawn’s second distraction allows Razor to be whipped in. Diesel hits Snake Eyes onto an unexposed buckle as Lawler thinks the pad fell off the other one. A chinlock with a knee to the back keeps Razor in trouble and a big boot knocks his head off.

We hit the abdominal stretch, which at least looks more painful than a chinlock with a knee in the back. Diesel grabs the rope, making me wish we had Bobby Heenan there to explain why it’s more to avoid a hiptoss counter than to add more leverage. Razor gets out and sends Diesel ribs first into the exposed buckle, sending Lawler into hysterics as it should.

The middle rope bulldog (the Hall Buster) gets two and there’s a right hand to knock Shawn off the apron for a great over the top sell. A flying shoulder gives Diesel a breather so Shawn goes after the belt. Payton goes after him again and of course the referee yells, allowing Shawn to superkick Diesel by mistake. Shawn gets pulled outside and Razor finally crawls over for the pin to get the title back at 15:01.

Rating: B-. I’ve always had a mixed reaction to this one as the match itself is pretty good but Payton being out there was just a celebrity cameo that could have been anyone. Razor getting the title back was the right call as Shawn and Diesel are already having issues. They could have cut a few minutes out here, but what we got was still good enough and didn’t get sunk by the extra time.

Diesel yells at Shawn all the way to the back.

Savage talks about what we just saw.

Lex Luger and Tatanka are in the back. A fan poll has 54% saying that Luger sold out to Ted DiBiase and Tatanka is tired of hearing Luger deny it. We see a montage of DiBiase and Luger getting very close, but Luger still swears there’s nothing going on because DiBiase is lying. Tatanka is going to prove his story in the ring tonight.

Lex Luger vs. Tatanka

There’s no DiBiase to start. Feeling out process to start with Luger running him over but not following up. Tatanka’s armbar has no effect so Luger puts him down again, only to miss the jumping elbow (as always). That means we get more of Tatanka’s lame offense, including the top rope chop to the head. The second attempt gets punched out of the air and Luger starts in with the clotheslines. Cue DiBiase with a gym bag as Luger hits a powerslam. DiBiase pulls money out of the bag as Luger yells at him, allowing Tatanka to grab a rollup for the pin at 6:02.

Rating: D. This was all about the storyline instead of the wrestling and that’s not surprising. Neither Luger nor Tatanka were going to have a good match at this point so the story was the only way this was going to work. Tatanka was a fine midcard hand but if he had even a slightly better offense, he could have been a much bigger deal. There comes a point where you need the wrestling to back up the character and that just wasn’t the case for him.

Post match Luger kicks the money out of DiBiase’s hands so Tatanka jumps him from behind, revealing that he sold out. I’ve always liked that story, as bad as the match was. What I don’t like is how long this goes on, as Tatanka beats him up three different times, capped off by the Million Dollar Dream. We get the money in Luger’s mouth for a little old school touch.

Gorilla Monsoon is aghast at what we just saw. Agreed. That money must be filthy.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mabel

This is going to be a disaster. During the entrances, Vince and Jerry debate the detectives’ skills and if Lawler has any rhythm. Mabel tosses away a wristlock attempt (Jarrett’s sell is quite good) and drops the big elbow when Jarrett tries a drop down. A clothesline puts Jarrett on the floor so he shoves the rapping Oscar. That’s not going to get him booed as Oscar isn’t very good. Back in and Jeff scores with some middle rope ax handles but Mabel crushes him in the corner.

The spinwheel kick (the one good thing that Mabel could do) gets two as Abe Knuckleball Schwartz (the Brooklyn Brawler as a baseball player) is on strike in the crowd. This adds nothing and isn’t funny or interesting, but it’s a thing that happens. Sounds like 1994 as a whole. They head outside with Oscar getting in a slap and Mabel splashing Jeff against the post. Back in and the middle rope splash misses, followed by a missed sitdown splash to give Jeff the pin at 5:57.

Rating: F. Oh what were you expecting here? Mabel was fat and useless while Jarrett wasn’t exactly someone who was going to carry anyone at this point, especially someone that big. This should have been on Raw at best and comes off as terrible filler here. Mainly because that’s what it was.

Vince introduces the detectives in the aisle, blowing their cover. Undertaker’s silhouette appears in the entrance but they don’t see him. Because they’re bad at their jobs you see.

We recap Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart. This started way back in 1993 when Owen was the only Hart eliminated at the Survivor Series, which he blamed on Bret. Owen and Bret then teamed up to try and win the Tag Team Titles, but Bret wouldn’t tag out when injured, leading to a referee stoppage.

They went on to have a classic at Wrestlemania X with Owen pinning Bret clean. Bret won the WWF World Title later in the night and the feud was on for the rest of the summer. Owen even won the King of the Ring (just like his brother the previous year) to earn another title shot. Tonight is the big blowoff inside a cage. This really was a great feud as you could see Owen’s point all along and it built up perfectly over time.

Earlier today, Owen and crony Jim Neidhart (Bret’s former partner) were in the cage and promised to destroy Bret once and for all tonight.

Bret is going to forget they’re family tonight because Owen will be crying a river of tears, just like he did when he was a baby.

The Hart Family, including Davey Boy Smith, is at ringside and Helen can’t believe this is happening. Stu hopes the best wrestler wins and sounds as only he can. Lawler accuses both of them of causing all of this and thinks Smith will turn on Bret again. Lawler: “Wouldn’t you love to be in there with Bret again tonight?” Smith: “Uh, not really.” Neidhart is behind Smith and says we’ll see Owen prove that he’s the better man once and for all. Bruce Hart spins around and says stay out of this.

Bret, recovering from strep throat, says his condition won’t change anything tonight. What we’re going to see tonight is barbaric and nothing like what they did when they were kids. Everyone wants things to end tonight and Bret is going to finish it to heal his family.

WWF World Title: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart

Bret is defending in a cage with escape only to win. Owen goes right at him to start and hammers away during the entrances, followed by some hard right hands to the head. You can see Helen panicking over the whole thing and a DDT by Bret makes things even worse. It’s too early to escape though and Owen scores with some headbutts, followed by an enziguri to really rock Bret. He’s fine enough to suplex Owen off the cage and it’s a double knockdown.

Owen goes for the door so Bret bends him around the ropes for a save and drags him right back in. They’re setting up a good feel here with both of them going for the escape and being pulled back for more punishment. That ties in the idea of wanting to hurt each other but wanting to be the better man even more, which is really what this is all about. They both wind up on the top rope and slug it out with Owen knocking him down.

Instead of getting the easy climb out though, Owen comes back with a missile dropkick into a nipup. Both make some fast climbs up the cage but get pulled down for a crash each. A collision gives us another double knockdown as they’re taking their time building the drama, mainly because they’ve got the time to do so. It’s still too early for Owen to get out the door as Bret pulls him out, only to get pulled back down from the top for a hard crotching.

Bret is up fast enough for the headbutt between the legs but Owen pulls him down again. Owen gets closer to getting out than any other attempt yet, even getting his feet and legs out of the cage. Bret pulls him back in and sends Owen face first into the cage for a big knockdown. This time the climb is cut off by a belly to back superplex as the crashes and falls are getting bigger and bigger. A good piledriver plants Bret but he’s fine enough to catch a tired Owen again.

They both fall off the ropes this time for a breather until Bret catapults him face first into the cage. Owen has to literally dive over for a save and sends Bret into the cage, with the champ coming up holding his knee. The knee is fine enough to climb up and kick Owen away but he gets pulled back down by the arm.

Owen gets out again and you can feel the fans quiet down as he gets close. He’s pulled back in yet again and Bret kicks him down to the mat but it’s Owen’s turn for a last second save. Bret catches him in the corner and pulls Owen back down with a huge superplex (Bret always had a great one) and they’re both down again. Owen is up first with a Sharpshooter but Bret reverses into one of his own.

A little cranking has Owen down but, say it with me, he lunges over for the save by pulling Bret down hair first. They both climb and this time make it over the top, leaving them hanging on the side. Bret hits him in the ribs, causing Owen to slip and get tied up in the cage wall. That’s enough for Bret to drop down and retain at 32:18.

Rating: A+. I’ve had to say this about several Bret matches before but the wrestling isn’t the point here. This was all about telling a great story and that’s what we got. The thing to remember here is that they don’t hate each other but rather Owen wants to prove he’s better and Bret wants to shut Owen up. It explains why they weren’t trying to kill each other in what is usually a violent match. Instead, they were trying to win, which should be the case in most matches and especially one like this. Notice how the match ends: not with a big spot, but with Bret being one step better than Owen, which is the point of the feud.

It is slower paced and it does feel like they’re doing the same things over and over, but it’s a case of WHY they’re doing the same things over and over. They’re not trying to destroy each other and it really is about being the better man. Owen has gone off the deep end with trying to beat Bret, but it never felt like he wanted to hurt him. That might not make for the most exciting match, but it’s how things should have gone when you think about it.

Post match Neidhart jumps the barricade and clotheslines Davey, knocking him into his wife. Neidhart locks himself inside the cage and the double beatdown is on as Owen has completely snapped. The Hart Brothers storm the cage (always cool) but Owen keeps knocking them off. Davey finally punches Owen down (for a great bump) and gets in, sending Owen and Neidhart running as the rest of the brothers get inside as well.

In the back, Owen and Neidhart yell about how Owen should be the winner and Davey isn’t family. Owen: “Let’s go celebrate my victory!”

Survivor Series ad, making fun of football. Considering how meh that show was, I wouldn’t go that way.

We recap the Undertaker vs. Undertaker. Back in January, Undertaker was destroyed by about a dozen guys and put in a casket. Not to worry as he ascended out of the casket in one of the most ridiculous things you’ll ever see in wrestling. After being gone for several months (aside from some sightings, including by a young child in school), Ted DiBiase said he had seen Undertaker. Paul Bearer said no way but DiBiase brought him back, only to reveal that it was a fake Undertaker (played by Brian Adams, better known as Chainz). The lack of about three inches was a, ahem, dead giveaway.

With Undertaker succumbing to the power of money, Bearer went to the graveyard and said he had the real Undertaker again. After the lights went out one night on the King’s Court (Todd Pettengill: “Look at that brain surgeon Jerry Lawler.”), the real Undertaker said he was back and not with DiBiase. He would be around this coming Monday (at Summerslam) against whatever DiBiase had with him. This video gets well over five minutes as we need to get rid of the cage.

Undertaker vs. Undertaker

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll identify them by the colors of their gloves: gray for the fake one and purple for the real. DiBiase brings his man to the ring but Bearer comes out with just a casket. There’s nothing inside though and the casket is wheeled to the back. Instead Bearer opens the Urn to reveal a light….and here’s the real Undertaker. That certainly seems to be worth the wait for the fans.

Purple shrugs off some forearms to the back and leapfrogs (!) gray, who falls to the floor. Gray stalks Bearer and gets suplexed back inside for his troubles, only to be sent right back to the floor. A Stunner over the top staggers Purple but Old School just isn’t happening. The real Old School connects and now Lawler believes Bearer has the real thing.

Purple misses a charge and falls to the floor as Vince defends the silent crowd. More right hands from gray don’t have much effect but a good looking chokeslam gets….no cover. Gray goes with a Tombstone for no cover again as he spends too long pointing at DiBiase. Purple hits a Tombstone of his own, followed by a second for good measure. A third finally gives purple the pin at 9:10.

Rating: F. Well what was that supposed to be? The biggest problem here is the match was really, really bad with the Tombstone being the only thing worthwhile from the fake Undertaker. That leaves you with about eight minutes of lumbering forearms and right hands as the fans had no idea what to make of anything because there was nothing to get excited about. This would have been much easier to sit through if it didn’t come after twenty minutes of build and a great cage match. For the life of me I’m not sure how they thought this was going to work, but it failed miserably.

Gray gets put in the casket and purple poses before the Urn’s flashlight.

Savage wraps the show up but throws it to the detectives, who find a briefcase. “The case is closed.” That ends the show. Summerslam mind you, ends on a sight gag. I remember watching this live and my dad tried to explain the joke to me because at six years old, this went flying over my head. What a great way to end a show.

Overall Rating: D+. It’s certainly not the worst show as there’s enough good stuff to carry it past horrible, but my goodness they didn’t do themselves any favors here. There’s a reason that 1994 was one of the worst years in company history and this show was a good example. With the fake main event being such a mess, they’re lucky to have an instant classic in the real main event to bail it out. It’s watchable, but be ready to fast forward a lot.

Ratings Comparison

IRS/Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Headshrinkers

Original: C+
2013 Redo: D+

2018 Redo: D+

Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano

Original: D+

2013 Redo: C

2018 Redo: B

Razor Ramon vs. Diesel

Original: B-

2013 Redo: C+

2018 Redo: B-

Lex Luger vs. Tatanka

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D

2018 Redo: D

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mabel

Original: D-

2013 Redo: D-

2018 Redo: F

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart

Original: A

2013 Redo: A+

2018 Redo: A+

Undertaker vs. Undertaker

Original: B

2013 Redo: F

2018 Redo: F

Overall Rating

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D+

2018 Redo: D+

I still don’t know how I got a B out of the main event before and I really liked the women’s match more this time around. Other than that, it’s about the same all around.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/07/28/history-of-summerslam-count-up-summerslam-1994-from-great-matches-to-leslie-nielsen/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/07/30/summerslam-count-up-1994-the-last-great-cage-match/

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

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

AND

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

NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #28
Date: January 15, 2003
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

So last week was rather rough, with Vince Russo being the big focal point of the show and basically setting up his big NWO style us vs. them story. Naturally Russo is the big unstoppable star of the whole thing, with Jeff Jarrett leading the other side. Worry not though because Dusty Rhodes is here to even things out. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at Jeff Jarrett vs. Vince Russo.

Mike Tenay sits down with Russo (of course) and asks him what he does as a wrestling TV writer (here we go). Russo says it’s all about the ratings and getting attention no matter what you have to do. He insults Tenay’s lack of creative abilities and says that wrestling has to evolve. Tenay brings up what really matters, asking if Russo takes any responsibility for killing WCW. He goes into a bunch of things that WCW did and complains about Russo’s ideas. Tenay even brings up specific audience and ratings numbers, which Russo doesn’t believe.

We finally move back to this promotion and Jeff Jarrett winning the World Title, with Russo ruining the moment. This sends Russo into a rant about how wrestling needs to be saved or Vince McMahon will own everything. And with that, Russo walks off. This was all of the inside baseball stuff that only Russo cares about as we rehash stuff from other companies that have nothing to do with what we’re seeing here. In other words, it’s very Russo as the fans wonder why they’re not watching wrestling instead.

Opening sequence.

Here is SEX to get things going, with the camera panning up and down Desire in a way that would have Jerry Lawler thinking it was a bit too obvious. Russo actually stands on a soap box and says this whole thing is about himself and Jeff Jarrett. They’re not the NWO so either step up or join them (sounds rather NWOish to me). Instead here is Percy Pringle to interrupt, saying he has known Russo longer than anyone. He remembers Russo begging him for an interview back in the day and now Russo has snuck his way inside.

Pringle says he has been around for a long time…and Russo might be right. He wants on the team but Russo yells at him for “cutting promos about me behind my back”. SEX beats Pringle down, even breaking the soap box over his head. Jorge Estrada tries to make a save and gets put through a table. Jeff Jarrett runs in with a chair for the real save. So yes, Russo and Jarrett are the big stars all over again.

Commentary runs down the card.

Tag Team Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Divine Storm

For the sake of simplicity, James Storm is “James” and Quiet Storm is “Quiet”. Divine Storm, with Trinity, is challenging and jump the champs from behind to start fast. That doesn’t go well as AMW (with a belt still on) clears the ring and Storm is backdropped onto the challengers at ringside. We settle down to James being sent outside, where Trinity snaps off a hurricanrana from the apron.

Back in and Divine’s tornado DDT gets two but he misses a top rope backsplash. Harris gets the tag to run both of them over without much trouble but Divine hits a big dive to take out both champs on the floor. Trinity moonsaults onto the pile and a super cutter gets two on Harris back inside. Divine is sent outside though and the Death Sentence finishes Quiet to retain the titles at 7:07.

Rating: C+. Divine Storm is the definition of a midcard team and while they weren’t the biggest threat to win the titles, it was better than throwing together a pair of random guys. This was a relatively easy win for AMW, even with Trinity out there as TNA’s answer to Lita. It’s working well enough, as Trinity certainly looks like a star.

Video on AJ Styles, showcasing his talents and pointing out that he turned down Vince Russo last week.

Here is Styles for a chat. He’s not with anyone and he wants the World Title. Cue Ron Killings, who says he’s next in line for the title and Styles doesn’t get a shot until he goes through Killings. Ring the bell.

Ron Killings vs. AJ Styles

Killings strikes away to start and grabs some armdrags to put him on the floor. Back in and a sunset flip gives Killings two but Styles hits what might have been a low blow. Styles nips up for a hurricanrana but Killings snaps off a Downward Spiral. That’s shrugged off though and Styles kicks him in the head, setting up a chinlock. A rather delayed suplex gives Styles two and he hits some shots in the corner.

Styles misses a dropkick and gets rolled up for a fast two, only to come back with a Muta Lock. Killings gets out and drops a headbutt to the ribs to start the comeback. They both go up top with Styles loading up a top rope superplex, which is reversed into…some kind of a crash to leave them both down. Cue Mortimer Plumtree for a distraction though, allowing David Flair to run in and hit Killings with his mystery bag to give Styles the pin at 8:49.

Rating: B-. I am absolutely for Styles moving up to the main event scene as you can absolutely see the talent in him. The World Title picture absolutely needs some younger blood and Styles is the right man for that spot. Beating a former World Champion is a good way to go and hopefully we’re on the way to Styles getting into the title picture soon.

Jeff Jarrett, with the Road Warriors, tells AJ Styles to get in line. Jarrett: “Now, let’s talk about Vince Russo.” He wants the Warriors with him in a six man tag tonight against Triple X (Christopher Daniels/Elix Skipper/Low Ki, as I don’t think they had officially debuted the name before). Naturally the Warriors are in.

Back in the arena, AJ Styles demands that Mike Tenay get him a World Title shot. Then he sits in the ring until he gets said shot, apparently thinking Tenay is that speedy. Instead he gets Larry Zbyszko of all people (the fans certainly like having him here) and calls Styles a fool. Zbyszko can’t stand Vince Russo and doesn’t want Styles to sell his soul to Russo. Styles tries to insist that he’s not with Russo but gets cut off over and over. Styles is ready to fight Zbyszko but it’s broken up in a hurry.

We look at Desire attacking Goldilocks and getting in a fight with Athena as a result.

Desire vs. April Hunter

Hunter jumps her to start and gets sent outside without much trouble. A side slam puts Desire down but she hits…I think a bulldog? Desire hits a dropkick but Hunter elbows her in the face. Sonny Siaki crotches Hunter on top though and Desire, eventually, jumps up for a hurricanrana and the pin at 2:49.

Post match Athena runs in for the brawl with Desire, who beats Athena down without much trouble.

A masked man, who is apparently Mr. Wrestling IV, arrives.

We look back at Mike Sanders’ debut last week. Yes we’re bragging about this one.

Here is Sanders for a chat. Apparently he’s SEX’s talent scout but he wants to talk about Vince Russo’s issues. Russo’s problems aren’t with wrestling, but rather with legends. It’s a difference of philosophy, which brings out Jerry Lynn. The challenge is on and we’re ready to go.

Jerry Lynn vs. Mike Sanders

Lynn starts fast and grabs a quick middle rope bulldog, followed by a baseball slide to send Sanders into the barricade. Back in and Lynn hammers away but here is Ron Harris for a distraction. Sanders gets in a cheap shot to take over and we hit the chinlock. Lynn avoids a Lionsault though and Lynn makes the rather quick comeback.

A high crossbody gets two but Harris pulls the referee out. Sanders’ swinging neckbreaker gets two from another referee but Lynn is back with a sunset bomb. Harris pulls the referee again but here is Dusty Rhodes to take Harris out (because the Harris Twins were invincible for months but Rhodes is different). A TKO finishes Sanders at 7:45.

Rating: C+. Ok there is at least a bit of sanity around here, as there was a grand total of no reason to have Sanders beat a star like Lynn. Sanders is not someone who is known for what he can do in the ring and Lynn is one of the more consistent stars around here. The good guys have to win something around here and this was a good choice.

Post match Rhodes says he’s glad that a man like Vince Russo is mad at him. Rhodes says we can’t lose tradition and talks about knowing wrestling was real when he was sitting in a cheap hotel room and seeing the NWA World Title sticking out of his bag. You do need change, but you need to respect the past as well. Do you want things like Ricky Steamboat wrestling for an hour seven nights a week or a midget doing things in a trashcan? Everyone has a choice so make your decision: professional wrestling or a midget with a trashcan.

Cue Russo, who says Rhodes never thanked him for inventing Goldust and making his son a star. Russo brags about getting to shave Ric Flair’s head bald and now he wants to slap the birthmark off of Rhodes’ gut. Rhodes invites him in to do it but Russo puts the two of them in tonight’s six man, making it an eight man instead. Oh but you know that’s not enough though, as Russo says that if his team wins, all of the titles are on the line next week. This was another case of “Russo writes himself to be on the level of legends”.

Jason Cross vs. David Young

They go to the mat to start and Cross grabs a hurricanrana as commentary ignores the match to talk about the main event (how WCW of them). They go outside with Young backdropping him against the ropes for two, which has commentary ignoring the match even further. Cross’ reverse DDT gets two and a flipping legdrop connects for the same. Young gets in a clothesline for two of his own but misses a charge in the corner. Cross gets crotched on top and here is Bob Armstrong to say the eight man tag is on. Crossfire misses though and a spinebuster gives Young the pin at 5:22.

Rating: C. Oh yeah this was straight out of Nitro’s NWO days, with almost no paying attention to the wrestling whatsoever. This was nothing more than a way to have something going on in the ring while commentary talked about what really mattered. It’s not a bad match, but it meant absolutely nothing and that was beyond obvious.

Post Bob Armstrong argues with his son Scott as Konnan gets in the ring to beat down both guys (further emphasizing how unimportant they were here). The NWA President (who was shown in the crowd during the match) orders him out and of course Konnan obeys. If nothing else, the President had a snazzy hat.

X-Division Title: Sonny Siaki vs. Kid Kash

Siaki, with Desire, is defending and Kash has Trinity with him. Kash clears him out to start and snaps off some armdrags back inside. Back up and Siaki knocks him to the floor, with Kash getting the better of a chop off. They head inside again with Kash getting suplexed into the corner for two. A sitout piledriver plants Kash for two but he runs the corner for a tornado DDT. Desire makes the save so Siaki is back up with the swinging neckbreaker to retain at 4:51.

Rating: C+. Well, at least commentary paid attention to them. It’s better than nothing but at the same time they only had so long to really do much. Siaki continues to work well as the villain you want to see get hit in the face, with Kash an acceptable enough challenger. At the same time, Trinity continues to look like a star, which hopefully goes anywhere.

Post match Trinity beats up Desire without much trouble.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Triple X/Vince Russo vs. Road Warriors/Jeff Jarrett/Dusty Rhodes

If Triple X and Russo win, SEX get title shots next week. Russo stays on the floor (He’s going to get the pin isn’t he?) as Jarrett clotheslines and backdrops Daniels to start. Animal comes in to shove Ki around without much trouble and counters Ki’s springboard into a sitout powerbomb. Skipper gets in a cheap shot but Animal suplexes Skipper and Ki at the same time. It’s back to Hawk for a dropkick to Skipper but Jarrett gets tripped down. Jarrett fights up again but gets taken to the floor for a lot of choking.

Back in and more choking ensues in the corner, followed by a front facelock from Ki. Animal gets the unseen tag so it’s off to Skipper for his own front facelock. Russo adds a slap from the apron and everything breaks down, meaning Jarrett’s small package doesn’t even get a count. Back up and a springboard kick Hart Attack sets up Daniels’ Boston crab on Jarrett. That’s broken up and they clothesline each other, allowing the tags to Rhodes and Skipper. Everything breaks down and Rhodes wants Russo (and his helmet). Cue Mr. Wrestling IV to hit Rhodes in the back with a chain though and Skipper gets the pin at 11:32.

Rating: C-. Well, Russo didn’t get the pin and I’m sure that’s good enough for everything. Russo barely did anything here so we’ll call that a plus, as it was basically a six man tag with Rhodes not doing much until the end. At least you had the other wrestlers doing ok, but dang Russo sucks the life out of everything he does.

And it’s…freaking Nikita Koloff of all people. Russo celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. As usual, the wrestling isn’t awful but it’s also pretty much not the point whatsoever. SEX is as NWO as you can get without being in black and white and Russo is getting to do everything he wants. He’s the entire focal point of the show with everyone either talking about him or joining him. It wasn’t the worst show, but that might be about as good as it gets. Oh and Koloff is here now because….well I’m guessing he was available.

Results
America’s Most Wanted b. Divine Storm – Death Sentence to Storm
AJ Styles b. Ron Killings – Bag to the head
Desire b. April Hunter – Hurricanrana
Jerry Lynn b. Mike Sanders – TKO
David Young b. Jason Cross – Spinebuster
Sonny Siaki b. Kid Kash – Swinging neckbreaker
Vince Russo/Triple X b. Dusty Rhodes/Road Warriors/Jeff Jarrett – Chain shot to Rhodes

 

 

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

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NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #27
Date: January 8, 2003
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

They actually made it to another year. That’s hard to fathom after some of the insanity that has taken place around here, including last….well year now. In that case, that was because the Road Warriors of all people debuted, but that wasn’t how things wrapped up. No no, we’re also getting a David Flair Era around here, because of course we are. Let’s get to it.

Naturally the opening video is about Vince Russo, who most people hate, but he has his own set of followers. And yes, we have a stable war people. And and, to the shock of no one, the main star on the other side is Jeff Jarrett. There’s something about the Road Warriors and David Flair too, but the real story is that Russo got to use an ax to destroy the set. Because that’s what a real man would do.

Opening sequence.

Mike Tenay is in the ring to start, along with Jerry Lynn, Ron Killings and America’s Most Wanted. Apparently the NWA takes Vince Russo’s actions very seriously so we have the past, present and future here. The past includes longtime promoter Eddie Marlin (and Jeff Jarrett’s grandfather) Sara Lee and Corsica Joe. The future is in the form of Chris Santel and Chris Vaughn, who have worked their way up from the independents to being “staff” here (shockingly, neither ever did anything in wrestling).

Finally you have the present in the ring, including…well Tenay actually. Tenay talks about how Russo was around Tenay and Bobby Heenan, saying he could make anyone a wrestler. He wants the fans to write in and help win the war against Russo. Unless I’m forgetting it, have we ever gotten a reason WHY Russo is here? Or is he just showing up? Couldn’t like, the company do something to stop him?

Anyway here are Russo and company through the crowd, with Russo saying he has friends in high places, which is why he gets to come around every week. Russo insults Tenay and says he’s here to save this business because it is at an all time low (always a great thing to say about the promotion you’re in). He blames people like Tenay for screwing things up and says the ratings were at an all time high when he was on top.

Russo yells at the four wrestlers in the ring, including saying that “African American rappers are a dime a dozen pal and half of them suck anyway” and making what sounds like a gay joke about Chris Harris. He complains about the new people and legends at ringside but Lee gets in the ring to flip him off. The brawl is on, with Jeff Jarrett and the Road Warriors running in for the save. Sports Entertainment Xtreme retreats to their dressing room, which is absolutely a thing and there is absolutely a reason the TNA guys don’t go in there. I’m not sure what that reason is but oh well.

David Young/Tony Mamaluke vs. EZ Money/Kid Kash

Young and Mamaluke jump them from behind to start and that gets them absolutely nowhere. Kash gives Young the always good looking slingshot hurricanrana and it’s a double backdrop to Mamaluke. The old Rockers’ double leg flip doesn’t quite work so it’s a double gutbuster to put Mamaluke down again instead. A spinwheel kick gives Money two and a running Blockbuster gets the same.

It’s back to Kash for an assisted tornado DDT but Young comes back in for a nice spear. A Whisper In The Wind gives Kash a quick two but Mamaluke drops him with a clothesline. That means a bearhug from Young, who absolutely does not look like your traditional bearhugger. Mamaluke comes in for one of his own and that’s just sad looking. Kash easily powers over to Money for the tag and house is cleaned, leaving Kash and Mamaluke to…both miss missile dropkicks at the same time.

Money superkicks Young and hits a frog splash for two as Mamaluke makes the save. Mamaluke sends Money outside, only for Money to try a slingshot lariat. That’s countered into…well I think it was a spinebuster but it’s more like an awkward slam. Young picks him up and hits a regular spinebuster for the pin at 7:43.

Rating: C+. There wasn’t much to this but it felt like a way to have a bunch of people doing stuff to warm up the crowd. Well reheat the crowd after they had everything going on at the beginning to grind them down. Unfortunately this felt like it was just filler, as tends to be the case with the opening matches in recent weeks. Not bad at all, but just kind of there.

Post match Christopher Daniels, Low Ki and Elix Skipper run in for the big beatdown. Skipper praises the three of them as the best part of SEX but here is Jeff Jarrett to run in and clear the ring. Jarrett wants to face all of them one on one and tells them to get Vince Russo out here.

Bob Armstrong wants the locker room to stand up for the war against Russo. Jerry Lynn and Ron Killings are both in. Armstrong gets a phone call and tells someone that he needs them here now.

X-Division Title: Sonny Siaki vs. Jason Cross

Siaki, with Desire, is defending. They go with the grappling to start and trade some early rollups. The near falls lead us to a standoff and Cross offers a handshake, earning him a right hand into the corner. Cross leg lariats him out to the apron and then out to the floor, where a corkscrew dive connects. Desire offers a distraction though and gets kicked down, allowing Siaki to drop him throat first on the top rope.

An overhead belly to belly sends Cross crashing into the corner but he comes back with a spinning kick to the face. That’s enough for Siaki to crash outside again, where a big dive connects. Siaki is right back up with a swing into the steps and they head back inside. Cross swings into a DDT to put Siaki down but he’s right back up with a pumphandle sitout piledriver for two, as Cross grabs the rope. The referee gets bumped (of course) and Cross is back up with Crossfire. Desire crotches him against the post though and Siaki gets a small package to retain at 8:13.

Rating: C+. This was similar to the opener, in that they were doing some entertaining stuff and the Crossfire looked good, but of course they had to do something screwy. Cross is a pretty generic high flier so he’s fine as a choice to build up as a one off title challenger. Siaki was quite a good heel when he was getting all cocky and obsessed with himself, but why do that when you can have him be obsessed with being on Russo’s team?

Post match Bob Armstrong comes out to say not so fast but Vince Russo comes in to say the people are here to see SEX. Cross is in no condition to restart the match, as the SEX beats him down. Russo mocks Bob by pointing out that his son Brian works would rather be with Russo than his father (because we’re redoing the Ric/David Flair thing) but here are Ron Killings and Jerry Lynn. Ring the bell.

Ron Killings/Jerry Lynn vs. BG James/Don Harris

Killings hits a big dive onto Harris to start, leaving the other two to crash out to the floor. A chair shot leaves both of them down as Harris and Killings go into the crowd. Harris’ chair doesn’t do much to Killings as Lynn comes back with a spinning crossbody to James. The slightly busted open James is taken down again with a middle rope Stratusfaction.

Harris is back to pull Lynn down from the apron and we’re back into a regular match. It’s off to Harris with a big boot and a double back elbow puts Lynn down again. Lynn manages to reverse a double suplex into a double DDT, allowing the tag off to Killings. House is quickly cleaned, with Killings trying a 450, but landing knees first on James’ ribs. Cue….freaking Mike Sanders of all people to jump Killings for the DQ at 6:30.

Rating: C. A good chunk of this match was spent in the brawl before we got into things, because why wrestle when you can not wrestle? Especially in a thrown together tag match like this one. The ending is hardly a surprise, as Sanders might have been only about two years removed from being in WCW…but it’s MIKE SANDERS. He wasn’t that interesting in the first place but here he is as we get anyone who was around in any fashion before.

Post match the big beatdown is on as Vince Russo looks on approvingly from the crowd.

Mike Tenay sat down with Percy Pringle, who talked about his history in wrestling and how he worked through the territories and managed a bunch of talented stars. Tenay asks if Pringle prefers professional wrestling or sports entertainment and he won’t really give an answer. As for managing someone here…yeah he’s not answering that either.

Tag Team Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Disciples Of The New Church

The Disciples, with James Mitchell and Belladonna, are defending. AMW jumps them to start fast and, naturally, the brawl heads outside. They’re all sent into various things, with the ring mat being peeled back and Harris being suplexed onto the concrete. Slash chokes him with a camera cable and hammers away before actually bothering to get back inside. A spinning Razor’s Edge toss gets two on Storm and it’s off to Lee for a big boot.

Harris’ throat is snapped across the top rope and a comeback bid is cut off with a DDT. A double clothesline gets two on Storm and we hit the chinlock. Storm fights up and hits an enziguri, which sends Lee into the referee. There’s no one to see the tag so the beating continues, with Storm managing to double DDT his way out of a double suplex (he must have been watching the previous match).

Harris gets the tag and cleans house, even with Slash accidentally throwing powder into Lee’s face. A spear gives Harris two and he grabs a Sharpshooter, with Mitchell coming in with a cheap shot to break it up. Storm cleans house but gets spinebustered for a quick two. Harris reverses Lee’s Tombstone into one of his own so Slash wedges a chair in the corner. Storm is catapulted into said chair for two but Harris is back up for the Death Sentence onto the chair to get the titles back at 14:17.

Rating: C+. Another wild match here, which kind of takes away the impact that this one had. AMW getting the titles back is a fine way to go as they’re clearly the top team in the promotion. The Disciples were fine as monsters to build up and then beat right back, as having them do this in a wild brawl is a good way to go. Just stop having all of the matches be like this or it doesn’t quite work as well.

Bob Armstrong is too busy to talk.

Curt Hennig vs. David Flair

This is an ax handle on a pole match, because of course it is. Hennig mocks Flair before the match and says he knows Flair doesn’t have what it takes. Flair charges at him and gets beaten up but manages to catch Hennig going for the handle. A Hennig necksnap drops Hennig and Flair stomps away. Flair’s attempt to get the handle is countered with an electric chair and Hennig shoves down one of the staff members and gets the handle to win at 2:38.

Post match Hennig beats up Flair, who comes back with something in a sack to knock Hennig silly. Hennig gets up and chases Flair off.

Goldilocks tries to interview Flair, who walks right past her. Desire comes out of the locker room and takes issue with Goldilocks talking to her boys. There’s a new woman in town (notice the camera panning to Desire’s chest) and she jumps Goldilocks to start the brawl. Cue Athena (I think) to brawl with Desire, which is broken up.

Commentary does their big preview of next week but Mike Sanders runs in to scream at Tenay about his disrespect of Vince Russo.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Christopher Daniels

Non-title and the first of three matches for Jarrett. Daniels is catapulted to the floor to start but comes back in with a leg lariat. Jarrett gets choked in the corner but tries a quick Figure Four, which is reversed in record time. That’s broken up with a rope break so Daniels goes with an enziguri for two instead. Some rams into the buckle wake Jarrett up and he slugs away before getting a boot up in the corner. The Stroke finishes Daniels at 4:38.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time here and that made for kind of a rushed match. At the same time, it’s nice to have Daniels getting some ring time against a bigger name. Daniels hasn’t gotten much of a chance to showcase himself thus far and it’s a good sign to see him facing the World Champion, even in a losing effort.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Elix Skipper

Still non-title and Skipper jumps him from behind to start fast. Skipper takes it outside for a toss over the barricade, where Jarrett hits him in the head with a chair. Back in and Skipper grabs a sleeper for a good while until Jarrett fights up. The comeback is on but Daniels gets up on the apron, only to clothesline Skipper by mistake. Jarrett clears Daniels out and pins Skipper at 6:10 (10:59 total).

Rating: C. They had a bit more time but a good chunk of the match was spent brawling in the crowd and on a sleeper. Skipper was someone who could do some insanely athletic things in the ring but he wasn’t really getting the chance to showcase that here. At least he lost to an error though, so it certainly could have been worse.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Low Ki

Last match and last non-title. Ki screams into Jarrett’s face to start and gives him some facewashes. A triangle choke gives Ki two and he grabs the chinlock. Jarrett fights out and sends him outside for a toss over the announcers’ table. Ki fights back and slingshots into a dragon sleeper back inside to put Jarrett in trouble again.

Jarrett gets in the ropes for the break but Ki kicks the leg to to block the Figure Four. Daniels and Skipper come back out and get knocked to the floor so Ki fires off even more kicks. For some reason Daniels gets on the apron again, allowing Jarrett to hit Ki low and hit the Stroke but Skipper comes in for the DQ at 7:51 (18:58 total).

Rating: C+. Is it just me or did Daniels look like the biggest loser in this whole thing? He got pinned clean in the first match, he caused Skipper to get pinned and his mistake almost had Low Ki lose as well. That’s not the greatest presentation of one person and hopefully he gets to redeem himself. Ki looked like a killer here, but that only matters so much when Jarrett keeps popping up like a monster. You know, as usual.

Post match the big beatdown is on until the Road Warriors make the save. AJ Styles runs in to beat up the Warriors and SEX joins in for the beating. Styles leaves on his own though and seems to be more anti-Jarrett than pro-Russo. Jarrett is put on a table but Dusty Rhodes runs in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The wrestling was ok for the most part with nothing that really stood out. What did stand out was how Russo is instantly the most important person on the show, along with Jarrett as a distant second. You have Russo as this big tough guy and everyone hates him but no one can touch him because he’s so awesome and manly. The show isn’t fun, mainly because everything is flying around for no particular reason other than making Russo look good. There’s an idea of getting heat, but you also run into the chances of ruining the show, which is pretty much what they’ve done with Russo.

Results
David Young/Tony Mamaluke b. EZ Money/Kid Kash – Spinebuster to Money
Sonny Siaki b. Jason Cross – Small package
Ron Killings/Jerry Lynn b. BG James/Don Harris via DQ when Mike Sanders interfered
America’s Most Wanted b. Disciples Of The New Church – Death Sentence to Slash
Curt Hennig b. David Flair – Hennig pulled down the ax handle
Jeff Jarrett b. Christopher Daniels – Stroke
Jeff Jarrett b. Elix Skipper – Flying clothesline
Jeff Jarrett b. Low Ki via DQ when Elix Skipper interfered

 

 

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

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Wrestlemania XIV
Date: March 29, 1998
Location: Fleetcenter, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 19,028
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross
America the Beautiful: Chris Warren

This is the first of the annual redos and it’s a show that is incredibly historic but doesn’t get the most attention. As you might remember, the main event is Steve Austin getting his shot against Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title, along with Kane vs. Undertaker for the first time ever. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the history of Wrestlemania and how tradition has been taken hostage by a new generation. These people are here to be the top stars and fight for the same title held by Andre, Hogan and Bruno. This year is destined to become a part of the history and somewhere, the father of Wrestlemania will revel in it as well.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Faarooq/Kama Mustafa, Savio Vega/Miguel Perez Jr., Jose Estrada Jr./Jesus Castillo, Truth Commission, Bradshaw/Chainz, New Midnight Express, Mark Henry/D’Lo Brown, Quebecers, LOD 2000, Rock N Roll Express, Headbangers, Too Much, Disciples Of Apocalypse, Steve Blackman/Flash Funk, Godwinns

For a future Tag Team Title shot and LOD 2000, with Sunny, are surprise entrants. If one member is eliminated, the entire team is gone. It’s a huge brawl to start (as it has to be) as JR tries to keep track of everyone involved. Vega is out, with Perez having to be helped to the back. Jim Cornette and Sunny argue on the floor as Kurrgan comes out to help eliminate the Truth Commission.

Cue Barry Windham (not in the match) to toss Chainz out and sure we’ll count that. Brown is eliminated and the Quebecers follow as the ring is clearing out a good bit. The Rock N Roll Express are out and Estrada/Castillo follow. The Headbangers are tossed as well, with JR wondering why Mark Henry is still in there despite his partner being tossed. Henry gets the message and leaves as Animal gets rid of Too Much.

We’re down to the Midnights, the LOD, the Disciples and the Godwinns as they didn’t waste time here. Things slow down a bit with Hawk shoulders Henry but Phineas is back up to get rid of the Disciples. Hold on though as the Disciples come back in to throw the Godwinns out, leaving us with two. Then the Godwinns get back in again and hit the LOD with their buckets. Animal is sent outside through the ropes but comes back in to make the save. Hawk hits a clothesline to get rid of Holly for the win at 8:21.

Rating: C-. This was nothing but a way for the LOD to come in with their new look and Sunny then run through some people for a win. There was almost no drama to this one and the stuff with the Godwinns seemed to be setting up something for the LOD going forward. Having the LOD come out for the return pop worked but a thirty man battle royal which took awhile to get through didn’t help.

We look at various media events to promote the show, including the DX public workout which almost went very badly due to Shawn Michaels being in quite the bad place.

Light Heavyweight Title: Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila

Michinoku is defending and Aguila would go on to be better known as Essa Rios. Aguila snaps off a headscissors and a spinwheel kick to send Taka outside. That means a baseball slide into a top rope moonsault (which JR calls an Asai moonsault) to take Taka out again. Back in and Taka dropkicks him to the floor for a change, setting up the always great looking top rope dive to the floor.

Back in again and Aguila sends him outside again, only to have Taka go up top. That’s fine with Aguila, who runs the corner and hits a top rope armdrag. A springboard armdrag and a very spinning wristdrag have Taka on the floor again, setting up the big corkscrew dive. JR is trying to keep up with this while Lawler has more or less given up.

Taka misses a moonsault back inside and gets planted for two before being sat up top. Aguila gets knocked down but Taka’s splash hits knees, allowing Aguila to hit a middle rope hurricanrana. A missile dropkick gets Taka out of trouble though and the sit out powerbomb plants Aguila again. Taka misses a middle rope moonsault, only to dropkick him out of the air. The Michinoku Driver retains the title at 5:59.

Rating: B-. It was a total popcorn match as they were all over the place with the high spots and as a result, it was rather entertaining. That being said, this felt like someone saw the cruiserweights in WCW and decided to do their own lower level version. That’s more or less exactly what this was, which is one of the reasons the division didn’t stick. Fun match, but it could have been on any given edition on Raw.

Gennifer Flowers interviewed the Rock earlier today, and asked how he would handle the homeless situation if he was leader. Rock prefers ruler, but the reality is that if those people stay off his lawn and in their boxes, he’s happy. As for the judicial system, as long as you realize he’s the judge and jury, everything is fine. Just remember that he would be a hung jury. Finally, he’s fine with running the White House as long as the interns underneath him do their, ahem, jobs. This was basically a celebrity serving Rock up some batting practice.

European Title: HHH vs. Owen Hart

HHH, with Chyna, is defending in one of the last bits of fallout from Montreal. Hart has a bad ankle coming in and Chyna is handcuffed to Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Hart slugs away to start and snaps off a hurricanrana for two, only to get elbowed in the jaw for his efforts. With Hart out on the floor, Chyna tries a right hand but gets pulled back by Slaughter, meaning HHH’s cheap shot doesn’t work either.

It’s way too early for a Sharpshooter back inside and HHH grabs the facebuster to take over. The jumping knee gets two and Lawler is literally screaming at HHH to go after the ankle. A DDT gets two before it’s FINALLY time to go after the ankle. HHH goes old school (yes even back then) with the spinning toehold, followed by an elbow onto the leg. More cranking on the leg in the corner has Owen in trouble but he’s able to come back with a belly to belly.

A spinwheel kick gives Hart two and he hits the enziguri, only to hurt the bad ankle again. The hurricanrana is countered with a hard powerbomb to give HHH two more as things slow down a bit. HHH puts him up top but gets shoved away, setting up a high crossbody for two. Owen falls head first into a low blow ala Sting (always works), sending Lawler into hysterics over the referee not calling a DQ. The Sharpshooter goes on but HHH makes the ropes. With the referee distracted, Chyna throws powder in Slaughter’s eyes and hits Hart low. That and the Pedigree are enough to retain the title at 11:28.

Rating: C+. This was good enough, though it’s far from the HHH that he would later become. The ending didn’t exactly keep Owen looking strong and that was pretty much the point of the match. Slaughter was barely a factor here, but that is the summation of his time as Commissioner: a grand total of nothing and it was nice to see him go away.

Post match Chyna beats up Slaughter.

We recap Sable/Marc Mero vs. Luna Vachon/The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust. In short, Sable is a star, Mero doesn’t like it, Luna and Goldust tried to do something about it and Mero came to her defense. Or the more realistic version: Sable, Sable, Sable, Sable, Sable, Sable and Sable. Er wait, putting “and” in front of her might suggest that Sable isn’t important and we can’t have that.

Marc Mero/Sable vs. Luna Vachon/The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust

Goldust takes Mero into the corner to start but gets caught with a running headscissors. The women come in but Luna immediately tags back out, leaving Sable to superkick (ok not so super) Goldust. Mero comes back in and is quickly clotheslined down as Lawler wants to know why Luna won’t fight Sable.

The villains take over on Mero, who manages a boot in the corner to put Goldust down. Luna gets the tag and so does Sable, which seems rather unnecessary due to the rules. Sable cleans house in the traditional catfighting style but does throw in some kicks in the corner. A clothesline puts Luna on the floor and it’s back to Goldust, who gets sent into the steps. Back in and the TKO is countered into a DDT to give Goldust two as things slow down again.

Mero knee lifts his way to freedom and a springboard moonsault press (which BARELY rotates enough) gives him two. This time it’s Goldust going up top but getting crotched right back down. A super hurricanrana sets up the TKO for two, with Luna making the save. Sable tags herself in and covers Goldust (as the rules are all over the place here) but has to avoid Luna’s top rope splash. Sable powerbombs Luna for two before avoiding a charge against the ropes. The TKO gives Sable the pin at 9:08.

Rating: C-. I know it’s been said to death, but simply put, Sable just wasn’t very good. She was there because of how she looked in gear and she knew how to sell a shirt, but those are the high points of her talent. The other three were trying, but this was all about Sable and everyone could tell from the second the match was announced.

Tennessee Lee (better known as Robert Fuller/Colonel Robert Parker) brings out Jeff Jarrett with Gennifer Flowers, the latter of whom is guest ring announcer for the next match.

Intercontinental Title: The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

The Rock, with the Nation of Domination, is defending. Shamrock has been wanting the title and Rock gave him one heck of a scary chair shot to the face. Rock also accidentally hit Nation leader Faarooq, which seems to bode badly for him. They start fast as JR says this is for the European Title. Shamrock kicks him in the chest to start and they go to the floor, with Rock staggering near the technical equipment.

Back in and Shamrock strikes him down again before bouncing Rock’s head against the mat. They go back outside with Rock managing a whip into the steps for a much needed breather. That sets up the not quite People’s Elbow for two but Shamrock sends him outside again. The chair is loaded up but the referee grabs it, earning him a shove from Shamrock. Rock grabs said chair for a shot to the head for a near fall as the referee is back up. Shamrock unloads on Rock and belly to belly suplexes him into the ankle lock for the tap/the title at 4:49.

Rating: C. They kept this one moving as it wasn’t even five minutes long, with Rock only getting in a few shots here and there. Shamrock ore or less mauled him, with that chair shot barely doing any damage. This almost felt like a TV match instead of some big pay per view (let alone Wrestlemania) title match, but it also made Shamrock look like a monster by running through the champ that fast.

Post match Shamrock stays on the Rock so here are the Nation and some referees. That doesn’t work at all as Shamrock beats everyone up, which is enough for the referee to reverse the decision, meaning Rock retains. Shamrock blows off some more steam by beating up Rock on the stretcher. This really doesn’t feel like a Wrestlemania title match, but it was a rather different time. Again though: Shamrock looked like a killer and that worked well.

We get the still awesome “we are real athletes” promo, with wrestlers talking about their backgrounds and the injuries they had to deal with over their careers.

We recap the New Age Outlaws defending the Tag Team Titles against Chainsaw Charlie/Cactus Jack. The Outlaws don’t like old guys and put the two of them in a dumpster for a ride off the stage. Now it’s time for the appropriate choice of a dumpster match.

Tag Team Titles: Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie vs. New Age Outlaws

The Outlaws are defending in a dumpster match (same rules as a casket match). It’s a brawl to start with Cactus trying to put Dogg in the dumpster early. That’s broken up and a metal sheet to the head slows Cactus down. Cactus’ flip dive off the apron only hits dumpster (you knew that was coming) and Gunn backdrops Charlie (or Funk as JR calls him) into the dumpster.

The Outlaws slam the dumpster lids onto Cactus and Charlie’s heads as JR thinks the old guys like this a bit. Cactus blocks the slamming of the lid though and it’s time to bring out some more weapons to crank up the violence. An elbow off the apron with a cookie sheet hits Gunn and of course it’s time for the ladder. Cactus and Gunn go up, only to be sent crashing into the dumpster for the big spot.

With Cactus getting out, Charlie gets powerbombed into the dumpster, leaving the Outlaws to take Cactus up to the entrance, which doesn’t feel overly logical. They go to the back so we look at some highlights, which would feel so bizarre these days. Cactus is sent into various catering things, including big Surge and Powerade displays. Gunn gets double armed DDT’ed onto a forklift and here is Charlie to pick both Outlaws up and drop them into a dumpster. Cactus closes the lid for the win and the titles at 10:17.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t exactly your traditional match but what mattered the most was Cactus and Charlie getting their revenge after taking a huge beating. The fans wanted to see them win the titles and that is what they got. Granted it was on the Titantron, but that is better than not getting the belts at all. It makes sense to not put the Outlaws in a more traditional match as that was never really their thing, so thankfully this was a case of playing to their strengths.

We recap Kane vs. Undertaker and…yeah this is a deep one. So Paul Bearer turned on Undertaker, who wanted revenge. Eventually Bearer revealed that Undertaker had a brother named Kane, who was believed to be killed in a fire as a child. In reality, Kane was still alive and had apparently been kept hidden by Bearer for years. Then Kane appeared and wanted revenge on Undertaker, attacking every wrestler he could until Undertaker agreed to fight.

Undertaker never would, so eventually Kane put Undertaker in a casket and burned him alive (after teasing joining Undertaker in a pretty cool moment). That violates one of the most important rules in wrestling, which says “don’t tick off a giant monster who may or may not have evil powers”. This included Undertaker appearing on top of the Titantron and lighting a casket on fire, revealing a burning Kane inside for one of the most amazing things I had ever seen at 10 years old. Now it’s time for their first fight and this is huge.

Here is Pete Rose as a special guest and he is all over the Boston Red Sox fans, instantly getting every single thing about being a heel in wrestling. Rose halfway introduces Kane, who makes his full entrance….and promptly annihilates Rose with a Tombstone. This makes Kane the most popular man in Boston for at least a good thirty seconds.

Undertaker vs. Kane

Kane has Paul Bearer with him but Undertaker comes out with the tunnel made of torch carrying druids for one of the all time awesome entrances. They go nose to nose for an awesome visual before Undertaker starts striking away (I believe the first time he has ever attacked Kane). That’s enough to knock Kane into the corner, where he launches Undertaker in instead. Kane strikes away and puts him in the Tree of Woe to continue said striking.

Undertaker is sent outside for a second before the beating continues back inside. For some reason Undertaker tries to jump onto Kane’s shoulders, earning him a quick crash back down. Kane hits him with the steps and even Bearer gets in some cheap shots from behind. Back in and Undertaker starts running the ropes rather hard (that always looks cool), only to charge into a chokeslam, with Kane pulling him up at two.

We hit the chinlock, which is where the match grinds to a halt. Kane is a monster who has basically become a horror movie villain, but he knows how to grab a chinlock and lay on the mat for a bit? There is something that completely misses there and it kills the match dead. That’s broken up and Kane drops an elbow before grabbing another chinlock. Undertaker finally powers his way out and sends Kane outside, where the Taker Dive is sent crashing through the announcers’ table in a great visual.

Back in and the top rope clothesline gives Kane two but Undertaker is back with a Tombstone…which is reversed into one from Kane for two. That wakes the fans way back up and Undertaker starts striking away as Kane is starting to stagger. A running clothesline puts Kane down and there’s the chokeslam into a Tombstone for two on Kane. Another Tombstone gets another two, with Kane kind of twitching his shoulder for the kickout. The top rope clothesline into a third Tombstone (with a regular cover instead of the hands over the chest) finish Kane off at 16:59, though Kane kicks at about 3.1.

Rating: B-. This is a match that started and ended well, but there is a long stretch in the middle and it really hurt things. That chinlock segment and a bunch of the basic wrestling they did felt like it was out of a completely different match, which dragged things way down. This really needed to have about five minutes cut out, because the opening staredown and brawl worked, along with the last portion. Instead, it’s a rather long match that didn’t work as well as it should have.

At the same time, Undertaker winning didn’t exactly feel right, as Kane had been built up as this monster who should have been a different kind of opponent. In this situation, it would have made sense for him to win and beat Undertaker to set up some big, and much more violent, rematch. What we got was ok, but it should have been that much better.

Post match Bearer comes in to stomp on Undertaker, who fights up and hits Bearer in the face. Kane is back up and wrecks Undertaker with the chair, setting up a Tombstone onto it to leave Undertaker laying. Kane and Bearer leave, with Undertaker getting up and kind of falling out to the floor.

We get a vignette featuring various legends, who talk about how they had their day but can never do this kind of thing today. Now, they cheer for these new people. This is an all timer from the company and shows how everything has changed. Awesome indeed.

We recap Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title. Austin is on an all time roll and is ready to claim his destiny, but he has to deal with not only Shawn, but the rest of DX, including Mike Tyson, who has joined the team and is a special referee. To call this huge would be an understatement as even Eric Bischoff said “oooh, that’s pretty good.”

WWF Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin

Michaels, with HHH and Chyna, is defending and Mike Tyson is guest enforcer referee. We get the long tracking shots from the back, which are still some of the best things WWF ever did and make things feel that much bigger. The DX Band plays Shawn to the ring for something that should be cool but they don’t quite have that epic feeling.

Austin flips him off to start and gets punched in the face, which does not sit well. The chase is on outside, followed by Austin hitting him in the head on the way back in. Shawn’s attempt to escape results in his tights being pulled down before Austin backdrops him onto HHH. That doesn’t work for HHH, who whips Austin into the barricade. HHH and Chyna are ejected and things are a lot more even.

Never one to lose a chance to beat someone up, Austin sends HHH into the DX Band set, earning himself a cymbal to the head from Shawn. Back in and Austin hammers away before flipping Shawn over in the corner. An atomic drop of all things gets two and the Stun Gun gets the same. Austin knocks him off the apron and into the announcers’ table, followed by the chinlock back inside.

Shawn fights up but gets sent hard into the post. The fight heads back to the floor, where Austin is sent over the barricade and Shawn clocks him with the ring bell. Back in and Shawn slowly hammers away until Austin fights up with right hands. Shawn is sent over the top for the crash but he’s fine enough to wrap Austin’s knee around the post. They get back inside again with Shawn slowly starting in on the leg but Austin fights back up.

That’s enough for Tyson to offer a distraction though, with Shawn getting in a chop block. The Figure Four has Austin in more trouble be fore finally breaks it up. Austin fights up again and makes another comeback, with the referee getting bumped, leaving Shawn to hit a not so great forearm. There’s the nip up into into the top rope elbow and Shawn loads up the superkick. That doesn’t work as Austin ducks and grabs the Stunner, with Tyson coming in to count the pin for the title at 20:06.

Rating: B. This is one of those matches that has so many details that make things all the more interesting. While it is Austin’s big crowning moment and the start of a new era, there was only so much that could have been done because of Michaels’ injuries. It would have been interesting to see what they could have done at full strength, but the match did the one thing that it needed: Austin hitting the Stunner to win the WWF Title for the first time.

Post match the celebration is on, with JR getting in the all time line of “the Austin Era has begun.” Austin throws Tyson an Austin shirt but Shawn gets up and isn’t happy. He takes the shirt away and tries a right hand, with Tyson easily blocking it and dropping Shawn with a right hand of his own. Tyson and Austin celebrate, confetti falls and the highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B. This show is rather weird in a lot of ways, as it might not be the best show in the way of quality, but it was one of the most important shows the company has ever had. First of course there is Austin, whose win took the company into an entirely new era. It’s the definition of a Wrestlemania Moment and it is still played in highlight reels decades later for a reason.

At the same time you have the focus on a much more in your face style, with stuff like the dumpster match and Kane vs. Undertaker being a weird sci-fi soap opera. The last three matches (and the Intercontinental Title to a lesser extent) felt big and that is what they were supposed to do. The first half of the show is only so good, but once this show kicks in, it kicks in hard and the company was off to the races soon after.

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal

Original: D-
2013 Redo: D
2015 Redo: D+
2024 Redo: C-

Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila

Original: D+
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: B-
2024 Redo: B-

HHH vs. Owen Hart

Original: B-
2013 Redo: D+
2015 Redo: B
2024 Redo: C+

Marc Mero/Sable vs. The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust/Luna Vachon

Original: C
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C
2024 Redo: C-

The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

Original: C+
2013 Redo: C-
2015 Redo: D+
2024 Redo: C

New Age Outlaws vs. Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie

Original: C+
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: B
2024 Redo: C+

Kane vs. Undertaker

Original: D+
2013 Redo: C-
2015 Redo: D+
2024 Redo: B-

Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B+
2015 Redo: A-
2024 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: B
2024 Redo: B

The match ratings are all over the place compared to the previous editions and the overall rating is the same. Yep that’s one of my reviews.

 

 

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

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

Souled Out 1997
Date: January 25, 1997
Location: Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Attendance: 5,120
Commentators: Eric Bischoff, Ted DiBiase

Here we have something different, as it’s an NWO pay per view. This was one of the bigger ideas that they had from WCW at this point and to say it go well would be a huge understatement. The main event is Hollywood Hogan defending the World Title against the Giant, which should be a layup of a match if there ever was one. Let’s get to it.

Also of note: this show was on a Saturday to make it feel different.

Finally of note: there are all kinds of segments throughout the show featuring the Miss NWO pageant. These, and pretty much everything else between the matches, are missing from the broadcast on the WCW YouTube channel, likely out of good taste. That cuts off nearly half an hour or so from the show.

We see a bunch of trucks, both equipment and garbage, driving to the show (with a Taco Bell sign in the background). For some reasons Syxx is running behind one of the trucks until the NWO eventually arrives at the arena. They promise to change the industry, as they’ve done multiple times.

The real opening video is the NWO bragging about how awesome they are and promising to take over.

Eric Bischoff is at a podium on the stage, sitting over a steep set of steps towards the ring, and we have a house band. At least it’s kind of different. Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash pop up on the screen to welcome us to the show.

Commentary sits down and we’re finally ready to go.

Chris Jericho (WCW) vs. Masahiro Chono (NWO)

The ring announcer does a bunch of funny anecdotes for the entrances, with Jericho (no music, ala the rest of the WCW wrestlers tonight) being described as “from somewhere north of the border), while Chono (with music) gets praise and a full entrance. Jericho gets shoved away off a lockup and is accused of a hair pull. Chono knocks him to the floor as some WCW wrestlers (mainly tag teams and Arn Anderson) show up to watch from the crowd).

Back in and Jericho suplexes his way out of a test of strength but gets caught in a cobra clutch legsweep. Chono’s top rope shoulder drops Jericho again and they go outside so Chono can keep up the beating. They get back inside where Chono takes out the leg but Jericho manages an enziguri. Naturally Bischoff is there to explain what kind of a kick it is, because he absolutely cares.

Chono is right back on the leg but Jericho manages a jumping elbow to the face. A bridging German suplex gets a rather slow two but Chono atomic drops him down. It’s time for a table (rather thin one at that), which of course takes way too long, allowing Jericho to hit a dropkick. Chono puts a foot on the rope for the save so Jericho goes up top, where Chono kicks him off and through the table (with a good crunch sound). Back in and the Mafia Kick finishes for Chono at 11:10.

Rating: C+. Chono was a nice addition to the NWO to make it fee like a bigger deal internationally, though he only did so much in WCW. Jericho was starting to turn into a more reliable star at this point, which would get a heck of a lot better when he turned heel. For now though, he was a good hand and that’s a better role than the nothing he was doing earlier.

There are women here for the Miss NWO pageant. This means women sitting on motorcycles and we see various women who sent in resumes and photos.

We go to Jeff Katz, who asks the women various questions, which are of course rather suggestive. After two of them, it’s off to the next match.

Hugh Morrus (WCW) vs. Big Bubba Rogers (NWO)

This is a Mexican Death Match and Morrus has Jimmy Hart with him. Apparently DiBiase is the reason the WCW stars don’t have music, which does make sense. Bubba shoves him into the corner as we have no actual explanation of the rules. Morrus knocks him back down and gets yelled at by Nick Patrick (who is refereeing every match tonight), allowing Bubba to get in a low blow.

Bischoff calls it boxing skills but doesn’t seem thrilled when Morrus clotheslines Bubba over the top. Even Hart gets in a few kicks (Bischoff: “The human cartoon character.”) but Morrus’ charge is cut off by a chain to the face. Back up and Bubba whips him with a the chain (ow) so Morrus takes it away and knocks Bubba silly. The middle rope moonsault connects and Patrick starts to count, as apparently this is Last Man Standing.

The ten count takes forever of course so Morrus yells at Patrick, allowing Bubba to get back up. Morrus knocks Bubba down again for another slow count and Bubba is up to slug him down. This lets Bischoff talk about the card, which is cut off as Morrus gets up and hits a low blow of his own. Morrus takes him up the ramp but misses the moonsault off the steps (which would have been totally off anyway). Rather than do anything to him, Bubba gets on a motorcycle and runs Morrus over for the ten count at 9:05.

Rating: D+. This was slow and not that interesting, but what were you expecting from these two? Morrus was better as a brawler, but there was only so much you could do with such a punny name. Bubba was the same guy he had been for years, meaning he was completely fine but firmly stuck in the lower midcard. In addition, save for the ending, there was pretty much no need for this to be a death match.

Katz asks more suggestive questions and the women have pretty much nothing to say.

We look at the NWO website, which is as 1997 as you can get.

Jeff Jarrett (WCW) vs. Mr. Wallstreet (NWO)

It’s like Razor Ramon’s least interesting Intercontinental Title challengers fighting each other. Wallstreet bails to the ropes to start so Jarrett takes him into the corner, where Patrick breaks up a right hand. A hiptoss puts Wallstreet down and Jarrett’ high crossbody gets a slow two. Wallstreet gets faceplanted down and choked on the ropes…which sets up the running crotch attack, only for Patrick to shove Wallstreet out of the way.

Jarrett gets dropped throat first onto the barricade as we see Debra McMichael in the crowd and looking worried. A whip sends Jarrett over the barricade and since it’s a Wallstreet match, he just throws Jarrett back inside. The sleeper doesn’t last long as Debra is trying to get Steve McMichael to come help Jarrett. Another sleeper, this time from Jarrett, is broken up by Patrick and Wallstreet kicks him down to take over again.

We hit the chinlock for a bit until Jarrett fights up for a suplex. Jarrett starts in on the leg and grabs the Figure Four, with Patrick dragging him over to the ropes for the break. Jarrett’s abdominal stretch with a grab of the ropes is broken up by Patrick so Wallstreet grabs the same thing. That’s enough for Steve to come in and BLAST Wallstreet with the briefcase. A threat to Patrick makes him count the pin for Jarrett at 9:25.

Rating: D+. It’s a bad sign when the most interesting thing is a briefcase shot to the back, but that’s what you had here. This is a good (or I guess bad) example of two people who are technically sound but JUST SO FREAKING BORING. They’re both talented wrestlers but good grief they were just having a dry match with the one concept (the cheating referee) being used over and over. In other words, this belonged on a Nitro when they needed to fill time, not this pay per view.

More women, this time the senior division, who can’t hear the questions.

The band plays a song about the NWO.

Buff Bagwell (NWO) vs. Scotty Riggs (WCW)

The American Males…oh these two could never explode so we’ll say run into each other for not much of a reaction. Riggs jumps him before the bell, with Bischoff swearing fines will be levied. Bagwell gets knocked outside and Patrick has to calm Riggs down as we’re already in the stalling. Back in and Bagwell’s headlock doesn’t last long as Riggs is back with a dropkick, followed by the right hands on the mat. A belly to belly drops Bagwell, who comes up with a slap to the face’s face.

The first gear continues with an exchange of hiptoss attempts and Bagwell crashing out to the floor. Riggs adds a dive of his own but Bagwell fights back again because Riggs isn’t very good. As the PA announcer calls Riggs a loser, Bagwell brings him back inside to stomp away. A clothesline gets some twos, with Bagwell complaining about the speed of the count for a change.

Bagwell makes Riggs do the clap, followed by a powerbomb (not something you often see Bagwell do) for a rather delayed two. Bagwell’s tights come down to warrant some censoring and we hit the reverse chinlock, with Bagwell’s legs over Riggs’ arms for some reason. We pause for hip swiveling as Bagwell continues to prove that he’s no Rick Rude. The reverse chinlock goes on as this show somehow gets even duller. Even commentary points out that the fans are getting bored and Riggs reversing a suplex into a small package doesn’t help.

An enziguri puts Bagwell down but they hit stereo crossbodies, because a double down is EXACTLY what this needed. Bagwell’s neckbreaker is countered into a backslide for two and Riggs powerbombs him for the same. Commentary seems worried that Bagwell is having trouble beating Riggs, because, you know, IT’S SCOTTY RIGGS. Bagwell is taken up top but knocks him down, setting up “that new move”, which would become known as the Blockbuster. That and a grab of the tights is enough to end Riggs at 13:53.

Rating: D-. The Blockbuster alone is pretty much the only thing keeping this from being a failure, because WOW they could not have had a worse match if they tried. The thing is, the match isn’t even terrible, but good grief who is supposed to care about these two fighting? The American Males were a lower midcard team who had a fluke Tag Team Title reign. It’s proof that just throwing an NWO shirt on someone doesn’t make them more interesting and having someone feud with the NWO doesn’t make them a star. Terribly uninteresting stuff here on a show that is dying for a hot match.

Bagwell actually gets pyro after the match and dances with the contestants.

Katz does the same thing he’s done all night.

The NWO has a hotline. No Gene Okerlund though.

Diamond Dallas Page (WCW) vs. Scott Norton (NWO)

This is just after Page turned down the NWO, launching him into the biggest run of his career. Norton powers him down to start (as you might expect), with the PA guy calling Page a loser. A running shoulder doesn’t work for Page either so he takes a breather on the floor. Back in and Page grabs a headlock takeover for some needed grinding.

Back up and Page shrugs off some chops, allowing him to hit the Pancake (basically a Neutralizer), only to get blasted with a clothesline. We pause though as Sting pops up in the crowd but Norton ignores him to hit the shoulderbreaker, with Page rolling outside. Norton stays on the arm so Patrick asks Page if he wants to give up. Page say no, so Patrick says “it’s your shoulder”.

One heck of a crash on the floor has Page’s arm banged up even worse but he avoids a sitdown splash back inside. Page slugs away and hits a nice looking top rope clothesline for two, followed by the running tornado DDT. Cue the NWO lackeys, who want Page to join the team (again). Page puts on the shirt, pulls Norton into the Diamond Cutter, commentary freaks out, and Page runs for the countout at 9:49.

Rating: C-. The match itself wasn’t great, but what mattered here was Page looking like someone willing to stand up to the NWO. He looked clever and outsmarted the villains, which made Page stand out after months of WCW looking like idiots. That’s one of the reasons he became a star, along with his matches getting better. This wasn’t a classic, but after some of the other stuff on this show, it was glorious.

Katz interviews the women again, with one of them FINALLY getting the hint and getting suggestive herself. And that’s it.

Tag Team Titles: Steiner Brothers (WCW) vs. Outsiders (NWO)

The Steiners are challenging and this should pick things up a bit. Also, for the sake of simplicity, Scott Steiner is “Scott” and Scott Hall is “Hall”. The Outsiders are also the first NWO members to get the signature song rather than the B team song, which does fit. Scott and Hall start things off, with Scott backing him into the corner, earning the Hall spooky fingers (one of his greatest contributions to wrestling).

Hall is back with the driving shoulders so Scott fireman’s carries him down with ease. A pumphandle slam plants Hall and he gets tossed with an overhead belly to belly. Rick comes in to drop Nash and the Steiners hit their pose. Back in and Hall hammers away in the corner but gets slammed back out, with Bischoff actually going to regular commentary for a bit.

Rick’s crossbody is pulled out of the air with a fall away slam (ok that was nice) for two and we hit the armbar. That’s broken up so Scott comes in, with Hall immediately chokeslamming him. It’s off to Nash for the first time and you know that means things are going to slow down. Rick fights out and gets in his powerslam for a slow two as commentary ignores the match to talk about Hogan. As usual.

A running big boot knocks Rick outside, where Hall hits the clothesline to drop him again. Back in and we hit a variety of choking until Hall clotheslines him from the apron. Nash misses an elbow but Hall is right back in to hammer away. Rick gets dropped face first onto the apron as this is just so slow. Both Outsiders hit side slams, with Nash’s getting two. The running crotch attack hits the back of Rick’s neck but Scott goes over to deck an interfering Hall.

Back in and Nash spits at Scott, which distracts Patrick enough so that Rick can get in a low blow. Scott comes in to clean house, including a Saito suplex to Nash (even Bischoff is impressed). The super DDT is loaded up but Nash makes the save, allowing Hall to Outsider’s Edge Scott. The ref is bumped though and Rick hits the top rope bulldog. There’s no Patrick, so WCW referee Randy Anderson jumps the barricade and counts the pin on Hall at 14:41.

Rating: D+. The ending picked things up a bit, but this was a lot of Rick getting beaten up and there was pretty much nothing else to see here. On the good end, it was nice to see something that actually felt important. Having a title match on the show did help, even if the screwy ending has all the signs of something not counting.

Commentary complains about the title change. And no, of course it didn’t count and the Outsiders got the titles back on Nitro.

US Title: Eddie Guerrero (WCW) vs. Syxx (NWO)

Guerrero is defending in a ladder match after Syxx stole the physical belt. Guerrero jumps him while the belt is being raised, which makes the annoyed commentators even angrier. Syxx kicks him in the face and strikes away in the ropes but gets knocked outside. The big dive connects for Guerrero, which has DiBiase worried (which has me wondering how a DiBiase vs. Guerrero match could have gone).

Back in and Syxx cuts off a charge in the corner, allowing a middle rope spinwheel kick to drop Guerrero. Syxx knocks him into the corner for the Bronco Buster as Bischoff says Syxx is a REAL karate guy, unlike those Hollywood actors. Back up and Guerrero flips over him for a dropkick as Bischoff keeps talking about martial arts. Syxx suplexes him to the floor in a nasty crash, thankfully getting Bischoff’s attention for a bit.

A running flip dive to the floor takes Guerrero down again and it’s time for the first ladder. Syxx hits him with the ladder and goes up, only for Guerrero to teeter totter the ladder into his face. That sets up a slingshot…uh, stomp to the ribs, but it keeps Syxx down. Guerrero gets whipped hard into the ladder in the corner and Syxx drops him with a suplex, meaning it’s time to climb. The ladder being in the corner makes it a bit of a waste of time but Syxx knocks him off and goes up again.

That takes too long as well, allowing Guerrero to dropkick him onto the top for a crotching. Guerrero goes up but Syxx climbs up and jumps up for a dropkick (Bischoff: “Inverted jump side kick!” Yeah it might have been a one legged kick but it looked enough like a dropkick.) for the big crash back down. Guerrero gets knocked off the top again, only to crash into the ladder and send Syxx down as well. They both go up this time and the belt is pulled down, with Guerrero hitting him in the head to get the win (Patrick’s over the top freaking out helps) at 13:51.

Rating: B. Easily the match of the night here, which helps when you have two incredibly talented stars getting to go out there and showcase themselves. It started slowly but then turned into the two of them doing the big spots that make these matches work. If nothing else, it was nice to see WCW getting a win that actually lasted, as the NWO dominated so much of the show in the early going. Good match here, with Guerrero getting to prove how great he can be. Again.

Guerrero goes through the crowd to celebrate, with Bischoff saying he’s going to get the Tag Team Titles back, plus have a new belt made for Syxx.

We actually meet the finalists of the Miss NWO pageant, with each getting to walk around a bit, plus a bio graphic. This goes on for a good while, because we had some energy going with a good match and that has to be stopped cold. Bischoff gets to pick the winner and is happy with the idea that the women all paid for their own travel and they all have their own motorcycles. He thinks it’s a tie, so he asks them a question with the best answer winning. Granted we don’t actually hear the question or the answer, but a woman who kisses him gets the win. And yes she’s the oldest to complete the gag.

WCW World Title: The Giant (WCW) vs. Hollywood Hogan (NWO)

The Giant is challenging after winning World War III and getting mad at Hogan for saying he wouldn’t get the title shot, meaning he was off the team. The main thing I remember about this build is a promo of Giant holding a match and saying that like Hogan, it gave people some light and warmth for a bit, but just like Hogan, it was getting blown out. Anyway Hogan comes out with some Dallas Cowboys, because he’s a huge star, but they wanted to save a bunch of money on the Miss NWO pageant, because it’s a bit of a confusing story.

Hogan punches him, the PA voice says “the biggest icon in wrestling”, and they circle each other a bit. The chops put Hogan on the floor and the chase is on, but Hogan catches him coming in to hammer away (he’s being more aggressive than usual here). Back up and they hit a double clothesline to put both of them down and Giant is up first. Giant kicks away in the corner before doing the same thing on the floor. Hogan slugs away back inside and tries….a running small package? I think it was supposed to be a crossbody but Hogan couldn’t get up so it just looked bad instead.

Hogan gets knocked outside and fires off some powder, with Patrick not really caring, to take over again. Some choking with a belt has Giant in more trouble but he’s able to come back with a backbreaker. For some reason the Giant goes up top but misses an elbow to give Hogan two. We hit the chinlock for a bit, followed by the slam and legdrop. Rather than covering though, Hogan poses and Giant pops up, leaving commentary freaking out.

There’s the chokeslam so Patrick says he’s up at two, despite Hogan not moving. They then do the same thing two more times in a row so Giant chokeslams Patrick. Bischoff runs to the ring with a guitar (sure) as Giant chokeslams the NWO goons. Hogan is back up with the guitar to Giant’s back and the Outsiders are here too. The fans want Sting but get the big beatdown and spray painting as we’ll say it’s thrown out at 11:00.

Rating: D-. Hogan was actually a bit energetic to start but the running small package (not something I thought I’d say, especially for this match) and everything else was rather terrible. That’s including the ending, which was basically “oh well, here’s the NWO to end the NWO show with the NWO referee and the NWO ring and EVERYTHING NWO.” Hogan and Giant could have a passable match and they came close at times here, but never mind as it was the standard ending, as always.

The NWO celebrates. A lot. For a long time. Too long really. The show ends.

Overall Rating: F. And that’s where the NWO stopped being cool. The problem here should be pretty clear: the NWO worked, but you need ANYTHING else. This was over two and a half hours of “the NWO cheats, the matches are terrible, the NWO stands tall”. You had Guerrero retaining but not getting a pin, the Steiners getting the most obvious Dusty Finish title change and Hogan doing the same thing in another main event.

The NWO standing tall and dominating everything often came at the end of Nitro, but that came at the end of a show featuring a bunch of different matches and things going on. Instead, we had it going on all night with the NWO making fun of everyone and one dull match after another. The wrestling here made you realize how useless the non-top members of the team really are. Bagwell, Wallstreet and Rogers were having one uninteresting, unimportant match after another and it made me wonder when something good was going to happen.

The problem is that something never came, as it was all about the NWO. It’s the biggest story in WCW, but there had to be something else to carry the show. Otherwise, you realize that it’s just a bunch of people filling in time until Hogan, the Outsiders and Syxx can get out there and do something that actually matters. Instead we had Riggs vs. Bagwell for thirteen minutes to kill some of our brain cells. This was horrible, but even worse it was just boring, and that’s not even counting the unfunny pageant stuff. All time disaster of a show here and the NWO would be around for a LONG time to come.

 

 

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NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #26
Date: December 18, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

Believe it or not, the big story is about Jeff Jarrett and Vince Russo, who may or may not be on the same page. That’s in addition to Russo having his Sports Entertainment Xtreme stable, which may or may not have AJ Styles on his side. That could make for an interesting story but, you know, Jarrett and Russo. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

We look at Jeff Jarrett going to Europe and Japan to defend the NWA World Title. Believe it or not, this makes him look like a hero.

Here is a ticked off Curt Hennig storming in from the parking lot and coming into the arena. He is here to deal with Vince Russo and since he isn’t Roddy Piper, he’ll be tying Russo in knots or punching him in the face. Cue Russo (with Don Harris) and the chase is on, only for Low Ki, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper to run in and jump Hennig. Apparently they’re part of Sports Entertainment Xtreme, so here is BG James to brag on commentary, followed by Russo yelling at Tenay.

Bob Armstrong stops AJ Styles in the back and asks why Styles is with Russo. Styles says he’s proven his greatness in the ring, including last week (when he lost clean) and now it’s time to be the heavyweight champion.

Gauntlet Match

Ten entrants with ninety second intervals and pin/submission for eliminations. Jason Cross is in at #1 and Amazing Red is in at #2…and we cut to the back where Jeff Jarrett jumps AJ Styles. They trade leapfrogs to start and go to a standoff, with Cross missing a running flipping legdrop. Red sends him outside for a jumping kick off the apron as Tony Mamaluke is in at #3. The same seated Brock Lock that made Cross give up last week doesn’t work this week so Mamaluke switches to a jawbreaker.

Jimmy Rave is in at #4 and goes after Mamaluke as the other two brawl on the floor. Mamaluke and Rave go up top and it’s Shark Boy in at #5 to powerbomb the two of them down. Everyone pairs off and thankfully we go split screen as Kid Kash is in at #6. Red charges into a boot to the face as AJ Styles and Boy slingshot dives onto Kash on the floor. Ace Steel is in at #7 and hits a springboard dropkick to Rave. Almost everyone is back inside as Rave rolls up Mamaluke for the first elimination at 8:40.

Rave’s spinning crossface to Boy is broken up so Boy grabs the Dead Sea Drop (Diamond Dust) to pin Rave at 9:21. Kash gets a quick pin on Shark Boy for another elimination at 9:35 for back to back…uh wrestler ejections. Jose Maximo is in at #8 and dives onto Kash, who cuts him off with a powerbomb. Joel Maximo is in at #9 and goes to the floor, where Steel gives him a suplex. Steel and Cross go inside as David Young is in at #10 to complete the field.

Young grabs a sitout powerbomb, followed by a double belly to back suplex tot he Maximos. Steel is sent into the corner, followed by a big flip dive from Young to take out a pile. Steel, Cross, Red and Kash all hit dives of their own, followed by Kash grabbing a rope walk hurricanrana to Young. The running tornado DDT plants Young again for two, leaving almost everyone else to brawl on the floor. A Doomsday DDT plants Young and Red’s Infrared is good for the elimination at 17:36.

Steel catches Jose up top with a super tornado DDT and the pin at 18:13. Joel Rolls Steel up for the elimination 18:36. A hurricanrana gets rid of Joel and we’re down to Kash, Cross and Red. Cross gets double teamed down, leaving Red to kick Kash in the head for two. Kash catches Red on top for a super gorilla press but Cross cuts Kash off. Red goes up for a diving cutter to pin Kash at 21:39. Cross brainbusters Red and hits the shooting star legdrop for the final pin at 22:11.

Rating: C+. It was fun and there were some good spots, but they were flying through the eliminations at the end and that wasn’t the best way to go. No one really had a chance to stand out, with the one on one portion barely breaking thirty seconds. I had a nice enough time, but they just needed a better structure.

Commentary runs down the card.

Here is Sports Entertainment Xtreme for a chat. Vince Russo talks about how people laugh at these fans for being so stupid looking. He introduces the fans to the three newest members of the team. Low Ki wasn’t being booked because he wouldn’t agree to a 52 week schedule. Christopher Daniels wasn’t here because a plane ticket from California was too much. And Elix Skipper wanted more money, which Russo promises him, along with various physical accompaniment. As for BG James, he needs to stop worrying about his dad and take care of him.

Russo is tired of Jeff Jarrett and wants an answer right now. Cue Jarrett to say it is time for Russo to shut up and listen. Russo is still a magazine writer who has no respect for anyone in this business. Jarrett was the first wrestler that Vince McMahon told him to interview. He has protected Russo time after time from people like Shawn Michaels and Bill Goldberg in the WWF and WCW. They have been successful together under the name of sports entertainment (oh good grief). And yes, Russo came up with the idea for the Good Housekeeping match with Chyna.

Then a few weeks ago, Russo crossed the line by spitting in Jerry Jarrett’s face. If not for wrestling, Russo would be selling TVs in New York. Russo says Jarrett has lost his respect and the boys laugh at him, so whose side is he on. Jarrett makes it clear that he has never been with Russo and never will be (….that’s not what he said just a few minutes ago but whatever). The brawl is on and Jarrett grabs a chair but the numbers game gets to him. Security breaks it up and Russo leaves through the crowd.

Disciples Of The New Church vs. America’s Most Wanted vs. Harris Twins

Non-title and for the sake of simplicity, I’ll refer to all three of the Harris’s by their first names. Storm Whispers In The Wind onto Slash to start, followed by a Russian legsweep for two. Chris comes in and gets booted down by Lee for one before a snap suplex gets two. A crossbody gets Chris out of trouble and Storm’s high version gets two.

Everything breaks down, as you probably knew was coming, and the brawl heads outside, as you probably also expected. Lee gets sent into the barricade and it’s AMW and the Twins brawling back inside. The H Bomb drops Chris but here is I believe Belladonna with a low blow…and never mind as the ROAD WARRIORS of all people run in to lay out the Twins. Hawk’s top rope splash lets Storm get the pin on Ron at 7:36.

Rating: C. Well, if the Twins are going to sell for anyone, you might as well make it the most dominant tag team ever. It was certainly a big reaction to have them show up, and if it gets the Twins away from the title picture, I’d certainly call it an upgrade. This was another “we’re not really wrestling for the most part” match and that’s happening too often around here lately. But, you know, Russo.

The Road Warriors say they still have it.

Bob Armstrong gives the X-Division a pep talk about going after Sports Entertainment Xtreme.

Video on the triple threat match for the X-Division Title, with champion Sonny Siaki ready to prove his greatness again.

X-Division Title: Sonny Siaki vs. Jerry Lynn vs. EZ Money

Siaki is defending and Lynn is in because he did well last week. The champ gets punched down to start and Money’s neckbreaker gets two. Siaki superkicks Money into a sunset flip to give Lynn two but Money fights up and takes over on both of them. Lynn uses Siaki as a launchpad for a tornado DDT to Money, followed by a flip dive to both of them on the floor. Back in and Money gives Siaki a Buckshot Lariat and a 3D drops him for two. Cue the woman from last week to open her jacket to Lynn, followed by a slap (she’s sending mixed messages). Lynn gets sent outside and Siaki’s swinging neckbreaker retains the title at 7:46.

Rating: C+. This was a good way to help get Siaki over as the champion, as he is still brand new in the title picture. Having the still unnamed woman with him should help as it’s a classic formula that works every time. Lynn being in there made this feel more important, but Siaki is going to have to beat him again at some point or his reign is only going to go so far.

Post match the woman hugs Vince Russo, who says he has had his eye on Siaki since the beginning. The woman (still no name) is a gift to him for every desire he has (because that’s all women are for in Russo’s world). Lynn comes back in to jump Siaki but the woman kicks him low and the villains leave.

BG James vs. Ron Killings

Street fight, which might be an improvement. James jumps the rapping Killings from behind to start fast and they brawl up to the stage. Killings’ ax kick gets two, as apparently this is falls count anywhere. They go over near the cage dancers (who are still a thing for some reason), with James getting in a trashcan shot. A powerbomb puts Killings through a table for two and James hits him with whatever he can find. Naturally Killings comes back with a shovel to the head but here are Christopher Daniels, Low Ki and Elix Skipper to take Killings out for the pin at 4:37.

Rating: D+. It was just a messy brawl which was barely a match, with the interference making it worse. That being said, it’s better to have James doing a brawl than a match, even with all of the screwiness. Then again I’m not sure I’m supposed to know the story in the first place, because the promotion probably didn’t either.

Post match here is Bob Armstrong, who has three men to face Russo’s three men.

Low Ki/Christopher Daniels/Elix Skipper vs. SATs/Amazing Red

Sure, send three people out there for their second match tonight. That’s the ticket. The villains clear the ring to start until Ki is left alone with Joel. Ki misses a charge and gets knocked out to the floor, leaving Daniels to come in. Red chases him out and it’s Ki coming back in to get caught in the corner for the running clotheslines. A doomsday dropkick sets up something like a wheelbarrow cutter for…nothing, as there’s too much time for that to be the pin.

It’s back to Daniels, who gets knocked down for two and Red kicks him in the face for two more. A backdrop sends Daniels outside and apparently we’re in Mexico as Skipper immediately comes in. The SATs tie up Skipper and Ki in a camel clutch/Boston crab combination, with Red adding in a running dropkick. Daniels comes back in for a clothesline to take over, with Skipper sending Red into the corner.

Another clothesline and a standing moonsault drop Red for two and Skipper grabs the chinlock. Red manages to counter the Ki Krusher into the corner and the Code Red puts Ki down again. Both Maximos come in (of course) off the tag and everything breaks down again. Skipper’s brainbuster gets two and he sends Jose outside for a slingshot dive. Red comes back in but misses the Code Red, only to avoid Ki’s phoenix splash but then miss Infrared.

Don West gets onto the announcers’ table to cheer for Red, whose hurricanrana gets two on Daniels. Ki comes in but kicks Daniels down by mistake, leaving Red to grab a springboard spinning Downward Spiral for two. Skipper’s gutwrench powerbomb gives Ki two on Red and everyone goes into the same corner. That results in everyone crashing down, leaving Ki to hit the super Ki Crusher to pin Red at 21:07.

Rating: B+. As usual, the X-Division guys do what they can to save the show with an awesome match. They beat each other up for over twenty minutes with pretty much nonstop action (hey that’s catchy) throughout. The villains winning is of course the correct call as they have to build some momentum now that they’re on the new team. Really good match here and it brought the show up a lot.

Post match Russo and company get in the ring to answer the greatest question in wrestling: why are there tables under the ring? BG James says it’s because he put them there, so some tables are set up. Curt Hennig tries to make the save but David Flair of all people comes in to take him out. Jeff Jarrett makes the save with a chair but AJ Styles saves Flair from the Figure Four. Skipper and Ki put Jarrett through a table and Russo destroys the set with an ax (because he’s manly like that) to end the show. And yes, while I know there were reasons, the show ended with David Flair as the big surprise rather than the ROAD WARRIORS.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling is good, but my goodness the huge overarching story is dragging everything else down. The Russo stuff is just people talking about old stuff and loyalty and bringing in random people for shock value. You have the awesome main event and a few other decent things, but having the Harris Twins and BG James in the ring so often is bringing it right back down. That’s in addition to Jeff Jarrett being one of the least interesting top stars you can find, yet here he is in the big featured spot. Oh but Russo got to use an ax so it’s cool. Not as bad as the previous show, but that’s not much of an improvement.

 

 

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

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NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #25
Date: December 11, 2002
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

So last week saw things get really Russo-y in a hurry, with the debut of the Sports Entertainment Xtreme (SEX) stable and a woman being treated horribly. Then Paul Bearer debuted to end the show, because that’s the kind of huge signing this place needs. I have no idea what I’m getting myself into here but let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap, which is described as from “LAST WEEKY”, because this company can’t spell a four letter word with two letters being the same. Anyway we look at the beginnings of Sports Entertainment Xtreme, because this place was needing an NWO knockoff.

Opening sequence.

Jason Cross vs. Tony Mamaluke

Mamaluke takes him down by the arm to start but gets sent into the buckle. That means a crash to the floor, with Cross hitting a big flip dive. Cross ties him in the Tree Of Woe for a baseball slide, followed by a brainbuster for two. Back up and Mamaluke starts in on the leg but gets kicked in the face for his efforts.

Mamaluke’s charge misses in the corner though and Cross hits something like a sideways Blockbuster. Cross goes up for a flipping Unprettier (cool) into a shooting star legdrop. This bangs up the knee (which was fine enough to do two big flips in a row) and Mamaluke grabs a seated Brock Lock (the Sicilian Crab) for the tap at 6:31.

Rating: C+. Oh dang that ending screwed up a lot of the good they had going here. Cross hits two awesome finishers in a row and doesn’t even get a cover before giving up. Not only does it waste the finishers, but the leg was fine enough to go up a few times in a row but the landing hurts it that badly? That’s just overbooking, as Cross’ finishers look weak and he loses on top of it. Get this stuff straight.

Post match BG James comes out and puts a guitar on the announcers’ table. They are responsible for keeping track of the guitar, which Jeff Jarrett will need to retain the World Title. It’s an official order from Vince Russo, so you know it’s serious. Oh and the Harris Brothers come in and wreck Mamaluke and Cross, making it clear that they mean absolutely nothing.

James says that Russo isn’t here because he’s recruiting new talent for SEX (oh good grief). He promises that the army will grow and says D-Generation X was a cross between Russo’s ideas and the members’ talent so this is all for the good of the business. Cue Bob Armstrong who can’t believe that James is joining with Russo. James says his daddy (ah so it’s confirmed) never did anything for him, which has Armstrong bringing out Ron Killings with a chair and a chain.

Tonight, it’s a chair and chain match (a chain match with a chair in the middle of the chain) between James and Killings, with the Twins facing the Disciples Of The New Church. The villains tease a brawl but the Church and some other wrestlers come out for the big pull apart as the villains run off.

So in case it wasn’t clear, the match at the beginning of the show means absolutely nothing because this is all about the NWA vs. Russo’s IN YOUR FACE stable, making it WCW vs. the NWO. Again. Oh and remember that D-Generation X was a thing, because…well why else would James have a job?

Commentary runs down the show, with Mike Tenay talking about what Jeff Jarrett has been doing lately.

Jorge Estrada is crushed that Priscilla left him and maybe he needs a new direction. From now on, he’s playing things by ear.

Kid Kash vs. Jorge Estrada

They fight over arm control to start with neither of them really being able to get very far. An exchange in armdrags leads to Kash grabbing an armbar but getting sent outside. Estrada’s springboard corkscrew moonsault drops Kash again but he’s right back with something like a Whisper In The Wind. Estrada trips him down for a springboard legdrop to the back of the head but Kash is back up with a running DDT. A brainbuster gives Kash the fast win at 5:17.

Rating: C. The action was fine, but it felt like two people just doing moves to each other until Kash won. It didn’t really build towards anything and while Kash’s stuff was good, there is only so much you can get with the second short X-Division match in a row. Estrada’s downward spiral continues, and I can’t see it getting much better for him anytime soon.

Bob Armstrong is on the phone and can’t talk.

Divine Storm vs. America’s Most Wanted

Trinity is here with Divine Storm. Harris works on Quiet Storm’s arm to start and slaps a dropkick away without much trouble. Some shoulders don’t work well for Quiet either so it’s off to Divine. James Storm comes in to kick him in the head (a good job if you can get it) and Divine is sent outside. James hits a big dive onto both opponents, followed by Harris hitting a dive onto all three of them (which isn’t that bright but this show’s logic went out the window a long time ago).

Naturally Trinity wants in on this by moonsaulting onto Harris, who is right back in with something like a dropkick Hart Attack to Quiet. Divine comes in to take over on Harris though and cuts him off with a boot in the corner. The spear gets Harris out of trouble though and it’s back to James for the real comeback (after being in trouble for about thirty seconds). Quiet gets superkicked out of the air and everything breaks down, with Trinity breaking up the Death Sentence, allowing Divine to steal the pin on Harris at 6:56.

Rating: C+. Well, points for having a new team get somewhere. AMW is by far and away the best team in the company and it’s nice to see someone else getting a chance. I’m not sure if Divine Storm is going to be the next big thing but it’s better than having AMW run through one team after another.

Referee Scott Armstrong talks to BG James (his brother, who is smoking) and tries to get him back on the right side with their dad. James says he paved his own roads. Except for the ones with Russo right?

We look at AJ Styles taking out Amazing Red last week.

AJ Styles vs. Amazing Red

Mortimer Plumtree is here with Styles and Red runs in to start fast. Styles keeps shoving him away and gets hit in the face for his efforts. A 619 rocks Styles and sends him outside, but he catches Red’s dive for a powerbomb backbreaker. Back in and Red strikes away until a discus clothesline brings him right back down.

A middle rope sunset flip doesn’t work for Red, who backflips up and over Styles (that looked great) into a failed Styles Clash attempt. Red’s tornado DDT is countered into a northern lights suplex and he’s in trouble again. Plumtree even gets in a few shots, earning himself an anklescissors. Styles isn’t having that and drops him face first onto the steps but Red is able to snap off a hurricanrana.

A reverse DDT gives Styles two and he grabs a Muta Lock, even turning over onto his stomach while continuing the cranking. With that not working, Styles hits a hard sitout powerbomb and they go up top. The super Styles Clash is blocked though and a super hurricanrana gives Red the big upset at 12:09.

Rating: B. These two beat each other up, which isn’t a surprise given who was in there. It’s a similar story to the AMW match, as you have the established ace and need to bring up someone new, which is where a fall like this comes in. Red even won clean to make it better and it makes sense as he’s a good guy. Solid stuff here, which tends to be the case with anything Styles does.

Tag Team Titles: Disciples Of The New Church vs. Harris Twins

The Disciples, with Belladonna and James Mitchell, are defending and WHY? The whole point of the match was to punish the Twins….so they get a title shot??? Good grief the logic really is gone here. The Twins come in through the crowd and the brawl starts fast. AJ Styles even joins commentary, which isn’t something you would see around this time.

They fight in the ring for a bit until Slash hits a big dive to the floor, meaning it’s time to fight into the crowd. They head back into the ring with the Disciples fighting out of trouble until BG James comes in with a chair to Slash’s head. Ron gets the pin and the titles at 4:17…but here is Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer) to tell the referee about the interference, which is enough for the DQ.

Rating: C-. Not much to this one, which shouldn’t be a big surprise. At the end of the day, there is pretty much nothing to the Harris Twins in the ring and having them in a title match here makes less than no sense. Throw in the fact that they wound up getting the pin until Percy Pringle of all people makes the save. Because the champs need to lose to the really awesome team you see.

Post match Mitchell says the teams don’t have problem with each other and suggests beating up Pringle. Cue AMW with chairs to go after the Disciples as we again have WAY too much going on at once. That’s ignoring AMW being put into a bigger story right after losing, because the wrestling just doesn’t matter.

Video on Sonny Siaki challenging Jerry Lynn for the X-Division Title.

Siaki wants the old guys gone and new guys, like him, getting a chance.

X-Division Title: Sonny Siaki vs. Jerry Lynn

Lynn is defending and we get the Big Match Intros. Lynn drives him into the corner to start and grabs a headlock takeover. A crucifix gives Lynn two and it’s an armdrag into an armbar. Back up and a triangle dropkick sends Siaki outside but he’s able to send into the apron. Lynn sweeps the leg and hits a slingshot legdrop to the back of the head, only to get caught in a hot shot. The referee gets distracted and Lynn gets kicked low, allowing Siaki to send him outside again.

They trade rams into the barricade, with Siaki getting the better of things by swinging him into the steel. Siaki hammers away back inside but walks into a sitout powerbomb for two. The referee gets bumped in the corner though and naturally Lynn grabs his cradle piledriver immediately thereafter. The very delayed count gets two but cue a mystery woman to crotch Lynn on top. A hanging swinging neckbreaker gives Siaki the pin and the title at 12:59.

Rating: C+. I appreciate the idea of getting someone new in the title picture as you can only have Lynn and AJ Styles fight so many times. Siaki was treated as something important for a little bit before dropping back down the card. It’s nice to see him doing something else, as there are far worse options out there.

Ron Killings vs. BG James

Chairs and Chains match (ignore that there is only one of each), which is a chain match with a chair in the middle. Naturally it’s just dangling there, making it look like a scene from a screwball wrestling sitcom (which I would love to see). James wraps the chain around his fist and punches away to start, allowing him to grab the chair.

That takes long enough that Killings can go up for a dropkick to send the chair into his face. A moonsault only hits chair though and James chairs him in the ribs. The chair is wedged in the corner, with Killings pulling him into the chair for the big crash. Then the chain just falls off so Killings gives him a sitout gordbuster onto the chair for the pin at 4:04.

Rating: F. This is the definition of a hat on a hat, as just having a chain match is one thing, but then they needed to add in a chair because reasons. It also didn’t work due to the chair just kind of dangling there, because they had to go with the dumbest idea possible. Terrible match, which had Russo’s style all over it.

Post match Killings puts the chair on him and goes up but Bob Armstrong makes the save. James gets up and chairs both of them in the head, leaving the referee to check on Bob. For like five seconds.

We run down next week’s card.

We recap Curt Hennig challenging Jeff Jarrett for the World Title. Basically Hennig wants to win the title to prove his greatness and that’s about it.

Earlier today, Jarrett had a sitdown interview and talked about the importance of the NWA World Title. He doesn’t like Vince Russo but isn’t happy with some of the things Roddy Piper said either. As for his allegiance with Russo…he’ll address it to Russo’s face later.

NWA World Title: Curt Hennig vs. Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett is defending. They go with the wrestling to start and neither get very far. A headscissors doesn’t work for Hennig so he goes with the chops in the corner. They’re already on the floor with Jarrett hitting him in the back with a chair, earning a look from the referee. Back in and Hennig grabs a quick Robinsdale Crunch, allowing him to wrap the knee around the post. Hennig ties the leg up inside and Jarrett even has to raise his shoulder to avoid a pin. No it wasn’t going to happen, but points for doing something instead of just laying there.

Jarrett is back up with an enziguri and sends Hennig into the corner, where a turnbuckle pad is taken off. Hennig is sent into the exposed buckle and of course the referee gets bumped (again). Jarrett teases getting the guitar from earlier in the night but opts not to, instead loading up the Stroke. That earns him a low blow, but here is Vince Russo (of course) to guitar Hennig in the head (and it doesn’t break). Jarrett retains his title at 8:12.

Rating: C. Jarrett and Hennig could have a passable match in their sleep due to talent and experience alone, but they had too much going on here, including the Russo ending. They only had a few minutes to actually wrestle here until they got to the screwy stuff. It could have been good but instead they went with the sports entertainment nonsense, as is always the case with Russo.

Post match Russo hands Jarrett the title and they go head to head. Cue AJ Styles to run in to jump Jarrett to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. There were good parts in here, but the Russo dominance is destroying those positives. Everything important revolves around Russo vs. Bob Armstrong of all people, which makes for such a mess. The X-Division stuff at the beginning was nice, but it only gets you so far when, like the cruiserweights in WCW, it doesn’t feel important in the slightest. Watch the AJ Styles stuff as usual, and skip the rest.

 

 

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