Dupree started in his father’s Grand Prix Wrestling promotion in Montreal back in 1997. We’ll look at this match from some point in 1998, meaning Renee is about 14 years old.
Rene Dupree vs. Gary Williams
Williams is billed as the Wildman. The footage is REALLY bad here and looks like fan cam footage at best. Dupree seems to be the face here which makes sense given that it’s his dad’s promotion. Williams complains of a hair pull to start and they fight over a top wristlock with no one getting anywhere. After killing off a few seconds with that, Rene slams Gary’s head onto the mat, sending him out to the floor for a breather.
Back in and Williams runs him over a few times, only to eat a nice dropkick, knocking Gary back to the floor. A suplex brings Gary back in and sends him rolling outside again as the stalling continues. Inside again with Williams taking over and hitting the running crotch attack to the back. We hit the chinlock on Dupree for a few moments before Williams hammers away in the corner.
Dupree finally blocks a ram into a buckle but walks into a clothesline. A legdrop gets two for Gary and we’re back to the chinlock. Back up and another clothesline gets two on Rene before Williams throws him out to the floor. Gary gets two off a suplex and it’s off to another chinlock. Rene fights up and it’s a double clothesline to put both guys down. It’s Dupree up first and hammering away in the corner but getting shoved down for two.
Gary throws him outside for about the third time and for once follows him out for some brawling. Williams sends Rene into the barricade before nailing a swinging neckbreaker back inside. Rene comes back with a powerslam for two and a Russian legsweep gets the same. A side slam plants Rene for the pin but he gets his foot on the ropes. The referee catches it just late enough that Williams thinks he’s won, allowing Rene to grab a rollup for the pin.
Rating: D+. I’m giving this a break as both guys were rookies at this point. However, this really needed to be a lot shorter as it felt like it just kept going. The match ran about fifteen minutes and could have had five minutes cut out of it. Neither guy stood out and the match felt like they were filling in a lot of time, which they probably were given their level of experience.
We’ll jump ahead a few years to Rene signing with WWE and becoming part of La Resistance with Sylvan Grenier. Here they are challenging for the Raw Tag Team Titles at Bad Blood 2003.
Raw Tag Titles: La Resistance vs. RVD/Kane
You can more or less see the ending from here. The heels are Sylvan Grenier and Rene Dupree in case you didn’t know. To my complete lack of shock and dismay, this is nothing that couldn’t be on Raw. I mean there is nothing to note here at all. This could be at any house show or Raw but on PPV? Really? The heels are both on the floor and Van Dam dives, naturally hitting all three of them. A double flapjack ends this. It couldn’t have come faster.
Rating: D+. Again, WHY IS THIS ON PPV? That’s the problem with the whole first hour here. I could see an argument for the two title matches, but seriously, none of this has been PPV quality. The matches are ok, but that’s the problem: they’re just ok. Nothing at all here is making me want to watch this show at all and it’s never something I’m going to watch again. I just want to get to the end of this show and forget about it.
Here’s a defense at Summerslam 2003.
Raw Tag Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. La Resistance
The Dudleyz are challenging and the EVIL foreigners are Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier. Bubba of course comes out with an American flag to hammer in the face status. The whole patriotism thing was a big deal in this feud as the third member of La Resistance, an American named Rob Conway, pretended to be a soldier to sneak up on the Dudleyz. It’s a brawl to start in the aisle with the challengers in full control.
D-Von chokes Dupree with the robe to start before armbarring Grenier down. A slam and a legdrop gets two on Sylvain and it’s off to Bubba for the power brawling. He puts Grenier in the Tree of Woe and stands on his crotch to make the French guy scream. The Dudleys clear the ring but Grenier gets in a cheap shot to give the champions control on Bubba. A double shoulder puts Bubba down for two as the USA chant starts up.
Back to Dupree for a bearhug, which isn’t often a move you see on a fat man like Bubba. Some headbutts break up hold but Bubba walks into a spinebuster for two. Bubba punches his way over to the hot tag (four minutes into the match) and D-Von cleans house. A rollup gets two on Grenier as everything breaks down. D-Von walks into a double spinebuster for two but it’s What’s Up to Dupree. The 3D lays out Dupree but Grenier makes save. Now a cameraman lays out D-Von with a camera to the head to retain the titles. It’s Rob Conway of course.
Rating: D+. That’s a pretty lame choice for an opener. Not only did the fans not get what they wanted but the match sucked as well. This was a dark time for the tag team division and there was no reason at all for there to be two sets of titles at this point. At the end of the day there wasn’t nearly enough depth and it made for lame matches like this. The Dudleys would get the belts next month.
With the tag division such a mess, the idea was to just throw four teams into one match at Wrestlemania XX.
Raw Tag Titles: La Resistance vs. Dudley Boyz vs. Garrison Cade/Mark Jindrak vs. Booker T/Rob Van Dam
Booker and RVD are defending and this is one fall to a finish. Booker has an AWFUL remix of his song here so hopefully they drop the belts so we don’t have to hear it again. Van Dam and Dupree get us going with Rob monkey flipping him down. Booker comes in with a side kick for two and a hip toss for an interfering Conway. Rene is knocked into the Dudley corner for a tag off to Bubba with the Dudley getting two off a neckbreaker. Booker comes back with a side kick but D-Von tags himself in before the cover. RVD jumps in with a kick to the face of D-Von but there was no tag so it’s Jindrak vs. Booker instead.
Cade and Jindrak take over on Booker in the corner but Rene steals a tag to take over. This match needs to end already. We’re four minutes in and I’m already bored. Conway hooks a bow and arrow hold which goes on WAY longer than needed. Booker fights out with a spinebuster for no cover but it’s not hot tag to RVD. Everything breaks down but D-Von breaks up the Five Star. It’s Booker vs. D-Von but Cade breaks up 3D. The scissors kick and Five Star are enough to pin Conway and retain the titles.
Rating: D. Sacre bleu what a waste of my time. No one card about this match because the tag division was so dead at this point that almost every team was just thrown together. Since this is Wrestlemania though, there’s ANOTHER four way tag match later tonight. Nothing to see here and the match sucked on all levels. Let’s get on to ANYTHING else.
Dupree would get a singles run and feuded with John Cena over the US Title over the summer of 2004. Here they are at Judgment Day 2004.
US Title: John Cena vs. Rene Dupree
Surprisingly enough Cena comes out first here. It’s amazing to hear Cena almost universally cheered. Cena rhymes a bit before the match starts and makes fun of the Spurs who had lost to the Lakers in the playoffs recently. To be fair to Dupree, he’s 20 here and was a champion at 19 which is a WWE record. Cena hammers him down but a boot in the corner stops him for what must have been a good four seconds.
We hit the floor for a bit where Cena hits the post. Again Cena misses a charge and hits the floor which has become a running theme in this match. He can’t get anything going here and Dupree keeps up the offense. Bear hug goes on by Dupree just to reaffirm that he’s evil. I know they’ve happened but how often does a face not named Sammartino use a bear hug?
This eats up awhile until Cena gets a jawbreaker to escape. Cena cranks it up a bit and a sidewalk slam puts Dupree down. Five Knuckle Shuffle misses as Dupree casually rolls out of the way. That makes me chuckle for some reason. Spinebuster sets up the French Tickler (don’t ask) and after a brief comeback Cena walks into a DDT for still no cover. FU is countered into a neckbreaker for two. A few pinning combinations by Cena get two each but the FU out of nowhere ends this.
Rating: C. This was just ok. I don’t think anyone ever bought Dupree as a threat here which hurts things a bit but not horribly. Cena needed a win like this on PPV as he only won the title a month or so earlier. Not a horrible match but really just one of those where it came and went with not many people buying into the hype of it.
Another title shot at Great American Bash 2004.
US Title: John Cena vs. Rene Dupree vs. Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam
This is elimination rules and Cena is champion coming in. Cena fires up the crowd a bit and that’s a LOUD chant for him. He makes gay jokes about Angle in his pre-match rap. Also RVD likes marijuana, Booker used to be GI Bro and Rene Dupree wants to be Cena. This is also a Navy town so Rene is gay right? Booker and RVD go at it as do John and Rene to start us off. This is under tornado rules.
Rob and Booker fight to the floor. I think Rene is the only heel here but I’m not sure on Booker. Off to Rene vs. RVD. Booker is chilling on the floor to avoid getting beaten up which is really smart strategy. Yeah Booker is officially a heel in this. He turned on RVD a few weeks back. See? Cole can be useful at times. Rene hooks a chinlock on RVD to waste some time. Rob fights back and hits a split legged moonsault for two.
Rolling Thunder gets the same. Cena does something for the first time in about four minutes, picking up Rene on the floor, only to get flipped onto by RVD. Cena vs. Rob in the ring now and they exchange near falls. RVD slides to the floor and tells Booker to get in. They get in an argument so RVD throws Booker in for a beating. Cena slides to the floor and throws Rene in to replace him. Cena and RVD are just kind of chilling on the floor.
Dupree hits a powerslam and does the French Tickler (don’t ask) but walks into a Booker spinebuster. Five Star hits Rene but there’s no cover. Cena goes up and gets kicked off by RVD. Five Star hits Booker this time but Cena rolls in and cradles Van Dam for the first elimination. Booker and Dupree team up on Cena with Booker hitting the side kick for two. Rene got the cover and Booker isn’t thrilled with that.
Cena takes advantage of their argument to beat them both up. The fans aren’t exactly thrilled by this match either. Throwback to Booker and Cena pumps it up. FU (noticeably different than the modern version) puts down Dupree. Booker hits an axe kick on Cena and eliminates Rene. So it’s down to one on one now. Side slam gets two and what appeared to be a fast count. Off to a chinlock to kill some time.
The announcers talk about a mini feud Cena has had with Taker. Today, that’s a Wrestlemania dream match. Here, it’s a two week filler feud. Booker chops away in the corner and gets the Jack Brisco spinning sunset flip out of the corner for two. Axe kick misses though and the FU keeps the title on Cena.
Rating: C-. Not bad here, but the problem was in the match structure. With it being elimination rules, it actually made things easier on Cena. Like you saw with Booker and Dupree, you can pretty much just chill on the floor for two eliminations and then get it down to a one on one match. Then again, Cena pinned RVD first anyway so he would have won either way, which again begs the question of why it wasn’t just one fall. That would be because they needed to fill an extra seven minutes.
Here’s a very unique match on Smackdown, August 12, 2004.
Team Cena vs. Team Booker T.
John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Charlie Haas
Booker T., Rene Dupree, Luther Reigns
This is a very interesting idea. It’s called a Summer Relay match. The match is one fall to a finish and it’s going to be Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T. to start. They’ll wrestle for five minutes (assuming there’s no fall) and then Booker’s team can send in a replacement (due to winning a coin toss) for another five minute period. After those five minutes (ten minutes total), Cena’s team can send in a replacement. After five more minutes (fifteen total), Booker’s team gets to send in a replacement. These five minute periods alternate until someone gets a fall. To my knowledge, this is the only time this gimmick was ever used.
Cena has a rap about his team before the match and hits on Jackie Gayda a bit. It’s Rob Van Dam vs. Booker to get things going and the clock begins. Booker takes over in the corner to start and chops away before hitting a bad looking hot shot. A hook kick to the face gets two on Rob and we hit the arm hold. Some chops in the corner have Rob in even more trouble but he comes back with a hard kick to the face. Rob nails some more kicks for two before kicking Booker in the jaw again. He heads up top and connects with the Five Star but stays down too long, allowing the clock to run out.
Luther Reigns comes in next as another five minute period begins. He hammers on the downed Van Dam and we take a break. Back with a minute left in the period and Rob coming back with some right hands. A springboard kick to the jaw sets up Rolling Thunder but the delayed cover only gets two. Reigns nails a spinebuster but misses a knee drop as the period ends and Charlie Haas comes in.
Charlie goes after the leg and puts on a kind of Indian Deathlock to take over. He cranks on the knee even more but Luther fights up and hits a release butterfly suplex. A big belly to back suplex gets two for Luther and we take a break. Back with Dupree getting two on Haas before chopping away in the corner. Rene goes up but gets armdragged down to put both guys on the mat. A good looking series of Rolling Germans get some two counts for Charlie as frustration is setting in.
Booker gets in a cheap shot from the floor and Dupree puts on an STF (Cena hadn’t started using it yet) until the period ends. It’s Cena coming in but he checks on Charlie before going after Dupree. Cena hammers away but gets caught by a neckbreaker for two. Off to a camel clutch on John for a minute or so before Cena comes back with a kind of cutter to escape. A big clothesline puts Dupree down but he plants Cena with a spinebuster. It’s time for the French Tickler (a stupid dance) but Cena avoids the punch and grabs a flapjack. There’s the Shuffle but Rene grabs the ropes to counter the FU.
Booker comes in for the showdown with Cena as they’re about to start a best of five series for Booker’s US Title. It’s Booker in early control and he does You Can’t See Me before dropping a knee for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Cena avoids a side kick, sending Booker out to the floor. Van Dam gets in a few shots (Tazz: “That’s not kosher!”) before Booker is sent back inside for a rollup and the pin by Cena.
Rating: C. Well that was…..something. It was basically a series of hot tag sequences which makes for an odd match. I can see why they didn’t go back to the idea as it’s pretty easy to understand but doesn’t work for a match concept. This wasn’t a disaster but it’s pretty clear why we never saw it again.
Rene would be paired with Kenzo Suzuki and win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles in late 2004. Here they are defending at No Mercy 2004.
Smackdown Tag Titles: Kenzo Suzuki/Rene Dupree vs. Rob Van Dam/Rey Mysterio
I vaguely remember Suzuki and Dupree as champions. My guess is that there’s a reason I don’t remember more. I know I remember thinking Kenzo bored me to death. Kenzo tries to sing Born in the USA pre match. Rob and Rene start us off. A quick powerbomb attempt is countered into a pin attempt by Rob and we get a standoff. Rey tags himself in and the challengers speed things up, resulting in a dropkick by Rey for two.
Suzuki comes in. Cole refers to him by his nickname of the bronze warrior, causing Tazz to say “Do you think he aspires to be a golden warrior?” Well at least it wasn’t about pigeons. The champs are both sent to the floor and the challengers hit stereo dives. Cole: “Only on Smackdown!” Except when it’s on PPV right Cole? Rob vs. Kenzo in the ring now but Rob is quickly send to the floor as Rene pushed him off the top.
We hear about Kenzo winning the Young Lions Cup and it’s back to Rene for a neck crank. A knee drop by Kenzo gets two. There’s the hot tag to Rey (minus the hot part) who cleans house and destroys Kenzo. Seated senton gets two. Rene breaks up the 619 but Rob breaks up a powerbomb. Rolling Thunder takes out Dupree and now the 619 connects. Dupree breaks up the West Coast Pop though, only to get taken out by Van Dam. Kenzo cradles Mysterio and grabs the rope for the pin.
Rating: C-. It wasn’t horrible but you could really see that the tag titles were in shambles at this point. To be fair they had been for years so that’s hardly breaking news, but you get the idea. Not much of a match but it didn’t suck, which is really all you can ask for from these thrown together matches.
We’ll jump ahead a few months to Sunday Night Heat, August 14, 2005.
Rene Dupree vs. Matt Striker
Striker doesn’t mean anything yet and Rene is an EVIL Frenchman with the mustache to prove it. Matt gets shoved down to start but grabs a quick rollup for two before doing Rene’s French Tickler dance. A big clothesline drops Rene and he stomps Matt on the mat to take over. We hit the chinlock for a bit before a falling headbutt gets two for Dupree. He throws Matt out to the floor before taking it back inside for another chinlock. Striker fights up and nails a slam followed by a high cross body for two. Dupree punches him out of the air though and nails a cobra clutch slam for the pin.
Rating: D+. Just a somewhat lengthy squash here without much to it. Dupree just didn’t do it for me at this point and I think WWE was starting to give up on him as well. On the other hand you have Striker, who never quite worked as a wrestler either. He doesn’t have the look for it and it’s hard to get behind someone that small without anything interesting about him.
Dupree would go to the new ECW and appeare on the September 12, 2006 show.
Rene Dupree vs. Balls Mahoney
Dupree jumps him to start but Balls comes back with the signature punches in the corner. A charge hits the post for Mahoney though and a bottom rope splash gets two for Rene. Taz: “That’s extreme?” A middle rope elbow gets the same and I can’t believe I’m watching this on ECW.
I get the idea that they’re going with to have Dupree as a heel in ECW, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve had guys like Shannon Moore, Mike Knox and Rene Dupree on this show. Mahoney snaps off the Nutcracker Sweet (sitout spinebuster) for two and they head to the floor. Balls gets a chair but Thorn kicks him into the steps, giving Dupree the pin.
Rating: D. Like I said, at the end of the day you can only get so into a match about Rene Dupree. Mahoney is one of the holdovers from the original ECW who at least looks like he belongs on a show about Extreme wrestling. This wasn’t good by almost any standard but it set up Thorn vs. Mahoney which is less dull than this was.
Dupree would head to Japan soon after this and appeared for the Hustle promotion on September 22, 2007.
Wataru Sakata vs. Rene Dupree
They chop it out to start until Rene nails a running clothesline to take over. A discus punch sends Sakata into the corner and Rene hammers away. Wataru kicks him off the top rope and nails another kick to send Rene HARD into the barricade, busting him open. Dupree can barely stand up but comes back with a right hand to stagger Sakata. He can’t nail a powerbomb though and Wataru nails a piledriver for two.
We hit the chinlock on Rene followed by some kicks to the back. Sakata takes off a turnbuckle pad and sends Rene face first into the post. A release overhead belly to belly sends Rene flying but he’s able to pop up and crotch Sakata with a dropkick. Wataru is still able to break up a superplex and gets two off a top rope double stomp. A quick BK Bomb gets two for Rene but he gets kicked in the ribs and caught in an abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere so Sakata chokes him out for the win.
Rating: B-. I was totally buying into the story near the end here with Rene busted open and injured and having to survive everything Sakata threw at him. I had no idea what was going on with the story or who the characters were but they were able to tell a story with their actions. That’s really impressive stuff and what people mean by wrestling being an art form.
We’ll jump ahead a few years with Rene wrestling for the Wrestle-1 promotion on September 22, 2013.
Rene Dupree vs. Tajiri
They take each other into the corner to start and it’s actually a clean break. Rene gets him on the mat but Tajiri spins out and cranks on the arm. Back up and we get a test of strength until Tajiri takes him down in a top wristlock. We get some nice mat work with a nice series of counters with both guys trying to control the arm. Rene gets two off a shoulder block and we hit the headlock on Tajiri. Some armdrags send Dupree out to the floor and things slow way down.
Back in and Rene offers a handshake while crossing his heart that he won’t cheat. Naturally he dropkicks Tajiri before hitting a cartwheel elbow in the corner. Rene takes him down with an abdominal stretch on the mat before going to a regular chinlock. Dupree goes up top but gets kicked in the head. We get to the series of Tajiri kicks with a big superkick getting two. A quick brainbuster gets two for Dupree but he makes the mistake of charging into the Tarantula. The Buzzsaw Kick is enough to give Tajiri the pin.
Rating: C+. Not bad here with both guys having a different style and making it work. The technical stuff was a nice thing to see at the beginning before they got into the faster paced back and forth stuff. Tajiri’s kicks were crisp as always and that Buzzsaw Kicks looked lethal. I’ve always liked Tajiri and he still looked good here.
We’ll wrap it up with Rene appearing at One Night Only: Global Impact Japan for TNA.
Keiji Mutoh/Rob Terry/Taiyo Kea vs. Masayuki Kono/Rene Dupree/Samoa Joe
Joe’s team gets the jobber treatment and Mutoh might retire if he loses. Joe and Kea get things going with Joe hammering away in the corner, only to have Kea no sell most of the shots. A big boot has little effect on Joe and an elbow to Kea’s jaw has the same result. Off to Terry vs. Dupree for a posedown before Renee dropkicks Terry’s knee out. Kono comes in to try a double suplex but Terry suplexes both of them at the same time.
Mutoh gets the tag for the power drive elbow before putting Kono in an STF. Back to Kea for chops followed by Terry for some cranking on the arm. Mutoh puts on a sleeper but Dupree gets in a cheap shot. Joe glares at his partner for the cheap shot and does the same thing to Kono, even going so far as to save Mutoh. Apparently he’s fine with backsplashing Mutoh for two and putting on the Koquina Clutch but everything breaks down.
Things settle down and Mutoh mostly misses a dropkick to Joe and the tag brings in Kea. A Russian legsweep gets two on Joe but he comes back with a powerslam. Off to Kono who gets caught in something resmbling a running DDT. Terry gets the tag and gets the crowd to clap a lot before hitting a slow motion Jackhammer. Kea rolls away and tags in Dupree who is quickly backdropped down.
Muta comes in and takes out everyone with dragon screw legwhips before putting Renee in a Figure Four. Kono makes a save so Muta hits Dupree with a Shining Wizard but everything breaks down. Members of the Desperadoes stable comes in to attack Mutoh but Joe won’t help them. He takes a chair from Dupree and headbutts him before walking out, allowing Mutoh to hit the Shining Wizard for the pin on Dupree.
Rating: D+. Well you knew Mutoh wasn’t jobbing here. This match was a big mess though with Joe wanting to do the right thing or whatever it was while all of the people interfered (and Tenay just expected us to know who they were because EVERYONE follows a year old Japanese promotion). This felt like “let’s all love Mutoh” and while he deserves respect, I don’t care for matches that turn into stuff like this. It wasn’t terrible or anything and the story made good sense, but it was messy.
Rene Dupree is a guy who had a great look and was decent in the ring but his appeal never made sense. He’s not bad or anything and he’s impressive given how young he was when he started, but he never did anything for me. His WWE stuff wasn’t great but he seems to have become a much bigger deal in Japan. Dupree is talented, but he doesn’t stand out all that well.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
WWE has been nailing most of their pay per views this year but they had their work cut out for them with Night of Champions. It was a one match show and that match was a rematch. The fact that Roman Reigns is out of action for a few months due to hernia surgery makes things even shakier. Let’s get to it.
The pre-show feature was the Peep Show with Christian having Chris Jericho as his guest. This was about as pointless as I can remember as it was just the two of them making jokes about stuff from ten years ago and a brief exchange with Orton. To be fair though it’s better than a boring match that doesn’t get anywhere….I think.
The show itself opened with the Dusts taking the Tag Team Titles from the Usos. The match was fine but nothing all that memorable. These two teams have been looking very polished lately and this was another good match between them. Stardust pinned Jimmy after blocking the Superfly Splash for the titles, which is a fine ending for the seven month title reign.
Dolph and R-Ziggler did a spot for Mountain Dew.
Sheamus defending the US Title against Cesaro in a pretty awesome power brawl. There’s something cool about two monsters beating on each other for about thirteen minutes. Sheamus is at his best when he gets all fired up and starts hurting people. The same is true for Cesaro and it’s great to see two guys who can hit each other just as hard. I also liked the ending as it wasn’t a change of pace into a rollup or something but rather Sheamus hitting Cesaro with his big power move for the pin. You don’t get that enough anymore.
Big Show fired up Mark Henry before his match. That’s the end of Big Show’s involvement tonight.
Now we get to the bad part of the night: country band Florida Georgia Line jumped in on commentary for the Intercontinental Title match with Miz and Ziggler. The match itself wasn’t bad but I really do not need a band that has nothing to do with WWE other than appearing at Tribute to the Troops this year. They got involved by shoving Mizdow and that’s about it, other than the camera looking at them every few seconds. Miz won the title with a rollup and a handful of trunks but the wrestling took a long backseat to the low level celebrity nonsense.
We got a video on Reigns’ injury with some words from his doctor. Reigns will be out for several months, which might be the shakeup WWE has been needing.
Seth Rollins came out to brag about beating Reigns by forfeit before issuing an open challenge. Apparently Dean Ambrose was watching the show in a cab (which just happened to be sitting in the back) as he got out of said cab and charged to the ring to attack Rollins. This was the usual awesome brawl between these two until security got Ambrose down and handcuffed him. They’re doing a great job of only giving us a little bit of Ambrose vs. Rollins before they finally (and hopefully) lock them inside a Cell and let them just destroy each other.
Rusev basically squashed Mark Henry to make Jim Duggan cry somewhere. Henry was never really in control and wound up tapping out to the Accolade. Have Henry pass out or something but don’t have him tap out inside of five seconds.
Arguably the match of the night was Jericho vs. Orton which was a very nice surprise as I had no reason to care about this match coming in but they had me interested at the end. That’s a very hard thing to pull off but they managed to make it work. Orton caught Jericho coming off the top with an RKO for the pin. Odds are that sends Jericho back to the rock scene and there’s nothing wrong with that. These three month runs are as good as he’s going to get anymore and this worked fine. Jericho’s best match in this comeback too.
Brie Bella said she hopes Nikki doesn’t win because it will make her sister even worse. This would wind up being a plot point on Raw because this feud just has to keep going.
AJ won the title back, thankfully by making Nikki tap out. Paige vs. AJ is an interesting feud but they need to do something other than skip around and kiss the belt. Nikki continues to look great in her outfits and when she’s shaking her hips, but the Divas Title needs to either be the wrestling title or the stupid drama title. As long as they keep it off the Bellas and their stupid feud though, I’m good.
Cena beat Lesnar via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered and tried to cash in his briefcase. This sets up some future stuff with Rollins being placed into the main event scene and hopefully giving us a break from Cena vs. Lesnar. Their stuff has been good (including this match) but they’re reaching the point of overkill with it.
As for the match itself, Cena was far more competitive here and managed to avoid most of the suplexes. Lesnar managed to hit seven or eight but Cena got in enough offense to keep things competitive. He had Lesnar mostly beat when Rollins came in which is a solid idea and gives Cena a reason for a rematch later on. Something interesting about Lesnar: he’s viewed as this unstoppable monster but since his comeback in 2012, he’s only 6-4. That’s a great nod to his intimidation and Heyman’s promos.
Night of Champions was a good but definitely not great show. The main event was good enough and they did a solid job with some of the other matches. There’s some interesting stuff in the coming months and that’s something good for WWE after the months of repetitive stuff.
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Monday Night Raw – September 22, 2014: Night of Night Of Champions Rematches
Monday Night Raw Date: September 22, 2014
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield
We’re past Night of Champions and heading towards Hell in a Cell in about five weeks. The main story is Seth Rollins breaking up Cena’s very close near fall on Brock Lesnar to end the show. The key is it makes Cena believe he can beat Lesnar, likely setting up another match inside the Cell. If they let them go nuts, that could be a classic. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the main event and Lesnar laying out Cena to end the show.
Here’s the returning Dean Ambrose to start things off. “I’M NOT DEAD!” Dean says he’s had to replay the incident over and over again and he can appreciate being attacked two on one. We look at Kane and Rollins giving him a curb stomp onto some cinder blocks. The Authority going to such lengths to get rid of him makes him feel special. Tonight he’s the authority and he isn’t leaving until he gets his hands on Seth Rollins because he never gets tired of hitting Seth Rollins in the face.
Dean gets a chair and sits in the middle of the ring but here’s Cena to interrupt. Ambrose says he doesn’t like Cena standing in the ring with him right now and Cena doesn’t want Ambrose having a reason to not like him. Cena says he has a reason to be angry because Seth Rollins stopped him from beating Brock Lesnar last night. He wants Rollins tonight and says no one is going to stop him, implying he’ll fight Ambrose to get to Seth. Dean says not to get in his way but Cena gets ready to fight. Ambrose takes his jacket off but here’s the full Authority to interrupt.
HHH says Rollins won’t be fighting tonight but Cena and Ambrose will. Cena and Ambrose aren’t interested in listening and charge at the Authority. Rollins bails with Ambrose and Cena giving chase. We cut to the back with Rollins running away from Ambrose and Cena before stealing a car to escape. Dean and John look at each other but nothing happens.
After a break, the Authority has a meeting and makes Kane vs. Ambrose and Cena vs. Orton. Kane isn’t pleased but agrees to the chance for revenge. Orton doesn’t like having to put out Rollins’ fires. WWE announced Orton vs. Ambrose before the show so I guess they already changed it.
Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler
Miz is defending after winning the title last night and Mizdow has a small replica title in a nice touch. No R-Ziggler in Dolph’s corner either. We actually get big match intros. Feeling out process to start with Dolph grabbing a headlock but getting Miz scores with a shoulder. A knee to the ribs puts Ziggler down and we hit the chinlock. The Figure Four is countered, sending Miz shoulder first into the post. Not that it matters much though as Ziggler gets caught with a neckbreaker onto the apron and we take a break.
Back with Miz hitting the corner clothesline but he gets dropkicked out of the air when trying the top rope ax handle. The Fameasser is countered but Dolph hits the running DDT to put both guys down. Back up and Miz blocks the superkick before slapping on the Figure Four. Ziggler eventually gets to the ropes and rolls to the floor where he clotheslines Miz and Mizdow.
Back in and Miz hits a quick Skull Crushing Finale for a very close two. Ziggler gets the same off the Fameasser but Miz blocks the Zig Zag. A superkick knocks Mizdow off the apron but Miz rolls Dolph up and grabs the trunks. Dolph rolls through though and grabs a rollup (and trunks) of his own to get the title back at 12:56.
Rating: C+. The near falls were good here and Ziggler feels like he earned the belt, but what in the world is the point in trading the title back and forth in two days? Both guys get an extra title reign and now we’re right back where we were twenty four hours ago. I like that they’re having some action, but how about letting something last more than a day?
We recap Reigns being taken off the card and Ambrose coming in to fight Rollins.
Jack Swagger vs. Bo Dallas
Swagger takes him into the corner to start but Dallas takes him across the ring for a knee to the ribs. A clothesline drops Jack and some knee drops to the head get two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Jack runs him over and hits a Vader Bomb. Dallas goes back to the ribs and gets two off a neckbreaker. Not that it matters as a quick Patriot Lock makes Bo tap at 3:18.
Rating: D. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but is there a point to having them alternate wins on three straight shows? That’s the second match in a row where the guys are just trading victories and I’m not sure who is gaining anything out of it. Swagger winning is a good thing at least.
Zeb makes fun of Bo’s catchphrase post match.
We get a quick tribute to Howard Stern Show personality Eric the Actor who died over the weekend.
Summer Rae vs. Natalya
This is your Total Divas match of the week with Summer calling Natalya jealous to start. We get a clip from the three month old issue that started this problem where Natalya pulled Summer out of a car. Rae takes her down for a figure four full nelson followed by a front chancery. Natalya comes back by slamming Summer’s face into the mat and one of the worst looking discus lariats I’ve ever seen. Summer was falling down before any contact and it looked awful. Rosa Mendes and Layla get in a fight on the floor as the Sharpshooter makes Summer tap at 2:20.
Dean Ambrose vs. Kane
Ambrose hammers away in the corner to start and takes Kane down with right hands. A middle rope elbow to the jaw gets one but Dean has to fight out of a chokeslam attempt. Dean sends him out to the floor and nails a suicide dive but Kane takes him down with a big boot and sends Ambrose into the steps. Back in and Kane works on an armbar before uppercutting Dean out of the air for two.
It’s back to the armbar which Kane is barely cranking on. They get up with Dean nailing a DDT followed by the Rebound Clothesline. A missile dropkick gets two on Kane but he pops back up and grabs Dean by the throat for the chokeslam. Ambrose quickly counters into Dirty Deeds but Rollins runs out for the DQ at 5:30.
Rating: C. Better match than expected here but it’s still nothing great. I don’t see why you couldn’t have Kane get pinned here but at least Ambrose had him beaten at the end. Dean is on fire after everything that has happened to him and with no Reigns around, there’s a big door open for him if he they use him right.
Dean fights off Rollins but Kane plants him with a chokeslam. Rollins goes back to get some more but Dean has a chair and tells him to come on. Seth backs down of course.
After a break, Ambrose is locked in a room by security and the Authority. Stephanie: “Have we ever thrown someone out that didn’t come back?” I love logical lines like that.
We get the video on Reigns’ surgery and the repeated announcement that he’ll be out for months.
Sheamus/Usos vs. Goldust/Stardust/Cesaro
Jey and Goldust start things off with a quick feeling out before it’s off to Jimmy for a big backdrop. Off to Stardust who sends Jimmy into the corner but has to duck a superkick. The Dusts bail to the floor for a breather and it’s off to Sheamus to hammer on Cesaro. They trade heavy forearms before tagging in Goldust and Jey with the Uso getting two off a splash. Back to Stardust for some forearms to Jey’s back before they trade armbars. Goldust comes back in as Stardust trips him up as we take a break.
Back with Jey fighting out of Stardust’s dragon sleeper before getting up a boot in the corner. The hot tag brings in Sheamus to clean house with the rolling fireman’s carry and ten forearms to the chest. Stardust escapes a powerslam but tags in Cesaro who pulls Sheamus out to the floor in a big crash. Back in and a middle rope ax handle gets two on Sheamus and Cesaro puts on something like a reverse Crippler Crossface. Goldust comes in again for a chinlock and knee drop before tagging back to his brother.
Sheamus fights out of a front facelock before blocking a top rope cross body with an ax handle to put both guys down. The double tag brings in Jey and Goldust with the Uso cleaning house. Jimmy makes a quick tag and hits a Whisper in the Wind to both champions. Everything breaks down and the Superfly Splash hits Goldust’s knees. The Final Cut looks to finish Jimmy but Sheamus makes a last second save. Cesaro and Sheamus go outside and Jey hits the Superfly Splash on Goldust for the pin at 15:42.
Rating: C. The match was ok but it felt much more long than good. The Usos should get a rematch after being champions for seven months and this is a decent enough way of setting it up. At least it’s better than just saying “oh they have a rematch clause.” Sheamus vs. Cesaro again would be entertaining but there are other challengers to go after the title.
Rollins comes up to Orton and doesn’t like the putting out fires line from earlier. Seth agrees to be in his corner later tonight.
Here’s the Next Generation thing they’ve been talking about. As is almost always the case, it’s for the new video game. This is set to Bawitaba by Kid Rock of all sings.
Mark Henry comes out to address the fans after his loss to Rusev last night. He says he’s heartbroken and can’t believe he let everyone down. This brings out Rusev and Lana for some Russian gloating. Lana tells everyone to shut up and makes fun of the Memphis crowd. She offers Henry another match with Rusev tonight and Henry says bring it on.
Rusev vs. Mark Henry
This is joined in progress with Rusev hammering away and taking Henry down for a side choke. We look at Henry getting his back injured last night as the hold keeps going. Mark fights up so Rusev dropkicks him down and puts the hold on again. Henry finally stays up and slams Rusev down but hurts his back again. They head outside with Rusev being sent into the steps after trying to drive Henry in again. Back in and Henry tries a very slow Vader Bomb but gets pulled down, sending him ribs first into the mat. The Accolade makes Henry pass out at 7:30.
Rating: D+. This was long and dull but it was a much better ending than last night. Not that it matters after Henry looked like such a loser after last night but at least they’re getting the right idea. I could have done without another rematch this soon though as this is the second from last night and third from the last week.
Adam Rose/The Bunny vs. Heath Slater/Titus O’Neil
It had to happen eventually. Titus runs over Rose to start and hits an over the shoulder backbreaker. Off to Slater for a side kick and a chinlock as the Bunny plays cheerleader on the apron. Rose kicks Slater away but Titus breaks up the hot tag attempt. The Bunny ducks a right hand from O’Neil and Adam finally makes the hot tag. The Bunny comes in with a bunch of kicks and a few tail wags before low bridging Titus to the floor. A big spinning kick to the face drops Slater and a seated senton off the apron takes out Titus. The Party Foul is enough for the pin on Slater at 3:10.
Rating: C+. Yeah I liked it. I don’t think there’s much else to be said here.
Here’s Nikki Bella to address Brie’s interview last night where Brie said she didn’t want Nikki to become Divas Champion. She immediately calls out Brie for a chat and trash is already being talked. Nikki says Brie should be called Nikki’s Trashy Sister and wants to be the only Bella. Brie won’t do it so Nikki brings up the obvious question: why hasn’t Brie taken her husband’s name? Nikki calls Bryan a troll so Brie tries a YES Lock, sending Nikki running to the floor.
AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
Paige is on commentary. AJ cranks on the arm to start before taking the non-champion down with a headscissors. A pair of neckbreakers get two on Nikki and they head out to the floor. Nikki sends AJ into Paige and the Brit is ticked off. Back in and Nikki gets two before putting on a swinging sleeper. There’s a cross armbreaker on AJ but she powers out, only to get caught in an Alabama Slam for two. Back up and Nikki misses a charge into the corner, allowing AJ to put on the Black Widow for the submission at 5:10.
Rating: D+. The longer the Bellas aren’t around a championship the better things are. Nikki wanting to fight over the Bella name is about as stupid of a way as they could go but that’s what this entire feud has been since the beginning. Thankfully AJ has dominated them every time to keep the evil from coming even more to the forefront.
A large black box is brought to ringside.
Randy Orton vs. John Cena
Randy takes him down with a headlock to starts but Cena quickly shakes him off, only to get pounded down in the corner. Now it’s John firing off right hands, followed by a bulldog for two. We take a break and come back with Cena being sent to the floor and into the announcers’ table. The Elevated DDT is countered with a backdrop over the top and Cena has a breather. Back in and they collide but it’s Orton up first and taking Cena into the corner.
Orton puts on a sleeper for a bit until Cena escapes with the ProtoBomb. Randy escapes an STF attempt and takes Cena’s head off with a clothesline. He loads up a superplex but opts for a top rope Elevated DDT for a very close two instead. Cena pops back to his feet and grabs the STF, drawing in Kane and Rollins for the DQ at 15:15.
Rating: C. How in the world was this a fifteen minute match? This really didn’t work too well as it felt like they were just waiting to get to the obvious Ambrose surprise at the end. Rollins has now run in on three matches in two days which is a bit much to put it mildly. The match wasn’t bad but it ran longer than it needed to.
Post match the Authority loads up the Curb Stomp on the blocks under the box, but it’s Ambrose because….well what else was it going to be? Dean destroys everything in sight and Rollins runs off, leaving Ambrose and Cena to clean house to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. This show wasn’t bad but it was mainly a long recap of last night. I really liked the opening sequence with Ambrose and Cena looking like the new Super Best Friends trying to take down the Authority. The ending helped that story but there wasn’t much between the opening and closing. It was mainly recaps and rematches which weren’t very good in the first place. That being said, it was nice to go completely away from the Lesnar stuff, at least for a week. It’s not the worst show in a long time but it didn’t blow my skirt up.
Results
Dolph Ziggler b. Miz – Rollup with a handful of trunks
Jack Swagger b. Bo Dallas – Patriot Lock
Natalya b. Summer Rae – Sharpshooter
Dean Ambrose b. Kane via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered
Sheamus/Usos b. Cesaro/Goldust/Stardust – Superfly Splash to Goldust
Rusev b. Mark Henry via referee stoppage
AJ Lee b. Nikki Bella – Black Widow
John Cena b. Randy Orton via DQ when Seth Rollins and Kane interfered
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Today’s Wrestler of the Day is genocidal and homicidal yet keeps getting jobs somehow. It’s Sabu.
Sabu got his start in the mid 1980s after training with his uncle the Sheik. We’ll pick things up in Minnesota in 1991.
Chris Candido vs. Sabu
Candido is about 19 here and Sabu has the Original Sheik with him. There’s no commentary here so if there’s a story I’m unaware of it. Feeling out process to start with Candido being sent into the corner. Sabu grabs a chair and Chris wisely runs. Sheik takes the chair away and Candido nails a pair of suplexes. Sabu sends him to the floor a few times before catching Chris with a suicide dive. Back in and Sabu hits a quick springboard moonsault for the pin.
Rating: D. This was pretty horrible but that’s understandable as neither guy was anything more than a glorified rookie. Sabu would get, I guess you could say better, in a few years while Candido would actually improve. There’s nothing to the match but guys need ring time at this stage of their careers.
Off to Japan for a match in Michinoku Pro from December 10, 1993.
Sabu vs. Jerry Lynn
Sabu dives at Lynn’s legs to take him down fast but Jerry cranks on a leg lock to take over. Back up and a clothesline gets two for Sabu before he puts on a leg lock of his own. Jerry climbs the corner for an armdrag but Sabu takes him right back down to the mat to crank on the leg some more. A hurricanrana gets two on Jerry but Sabu misses a moonsault press. Jerry’s connects for two and a German suplex gets the same. Sabu nails a leg lariat and goes up top, only to get dropkicked down to the floor.
A big flip dive takes him down again and they head back inside. Lynn gets knocked to the floor with a spin kick and Sabu nails a big dive of his own. They bust out the table with Sabu nailing a flip dive onto Lynn on the table but the wood doesn’t break. Jerry pops up and nails him in the head with the table before planting Sabu with a tiger drive onto the table. It STILL doesn’t break so Lynn throws him back in, only to miss a top rope splash. The Arabian Press gives Sabu the pin.
Rating: C-. Even as a rookie Lynn was looking polished in the ring. The table stuff was freaking sick looking as I guess Japan made thicker tables. It wasn’t a great match or anything but it’s weird to see guys with names this big being curtain jerkers. At least the match wasn’t half bad and Sabu’s stuff was far more impressive back then.
It’s off to ECW now with one of the company’s most famous matches at the Night the Line Was Crossed.
Shane Douglas vs. Sabu
This is a #1 contenders match and the title match will take place immediately afterwards. Heyman runs out with a phone and blasts Shane’s manager, Sherri, to take her out. With over an hour to go, this is the main event, and yes it’s that long. Joey has audio trouble so while he’s shouting you can’t understand a word of it. You can hear the crowd so clearly my audio is working.
Ah there he is. If there’s no winner here then it’s a three way for the title. The time limit here is only 15 minutes so I’m not expecting much. 911 is on the floor with Heyman as it’s all Shane at this point. Sabu hits a spinning kick which is really just an elbow as the foot never gets close. That’s par for the course with him though so there we are. Five minutes in and this is one sided. The king of Bombay, Michigan works the right arm of all things and the fans want Funk.
Dang he really is cranking on that thing and it looks great. The arm work goes on for a very long time. Shane gets out with an FU of all things. Man Cena if you’re going to use the same moves at least don’t copy them. DAng dude. Ten minutes in and it’s not bad so far. Shane with a big boot? What the heck??? He’s not even tall enough for that but whatever.
We hit the floor with three minutes left. It’s pretty clear that Funk is going to be involved here. It’s not like that was a real secret or anything. Sabu gets a chair on the floor and it results in Shane being on a table. Good thing Sabu misses it completely and lands in the crowd. Sabu is more or less dead with 30 seconds left. For no apparent reason Shane doesn’t cover him and here’s Terry.
ECW Title: Shane Douglas vs. Terry Funk vs. Sabu
Ok so is this 60 minutes or are Shane and Sabu going 75? Sabu leaves, I guess with an injury and it’s Shane vs. Terry. Given that we have less than an hour in the tape and there are post match interviews, the whole thing is an hour but Funk only has to go 45. Ok then. Funk hits a piledriver on the floor but we can’t see all of it since it’s not on the camera side. To be fair the same thing happened at the end of the 94 Rumble so that’s a thing of the times and not ECW.
Funk hits a pair of DDTs in the ring (one like a football being spiked and one being like a basketball being bounced according to Joey). Terry wants a chair so about 6 people throw them in. They get piled up and Shane takes ANOTHER DDT on them. Seriously that’s all we’ve had from Funk so far: DDTs and a piledriver. Shane manages to beat Funk to his feet after that DDT which is odd.
Shane beats on Funk who now has a bad back it seems. This is moving REALLY slowly and nothing of note is happening. We had a long stretch of brawling in the audience and nothing of note happened. Douglas mixes things up with a DDT of his own. How innovative! All Shane here as Funk is busted open. The referee goes down at some point and this is literally putting me to sleep.
They slug it out for a bit and then head into the crowd. We’re 30 minutes in here and are in the crowd. This has been far from great like it’s built up to be. For some reason the arena looks like it’s full of smoke. So yeah the whole one hour three way dance thing is pretty much nonsense. Ah here’s Sabu FINALLY after being gone about fifteen minutes. Funk comes up towards the announce table and steals a mic, Joey’s in this case, thinking he’s yelling at the crowd and therefore the guys in the ring. The problem is that he’s yelling into Joey’s mic so only the people watching the tape can hear him. Brilliant.
We’re thirty five minutes in and Sabu is in a spinning toehold. 911 comes in and lets Heyman hit Funk with the phone (it’s Paul E. Dangerously but you get the idea). Terry gets a neckbreaker on the guy whose neck would be broken by Benoit later on but Heyman saves again. The triple sleeper spot hits which is either creative or idiotic. I’m not sure why it would be idiotic but it has that feeling to it. Again, no idea why.
Now it’s basically who can get the longest leg lock on Sabu. Shane puts on a Figure Four, but remember that Ric Flair is a horrible man. We hit 40 minutes and Heyman saves Sabu again. Sabu botches the heck out of a springboard moonsault. Sherri is in the ring for no apparent reason. Axl and Ian Rotten come out to help Funk as Shane gets two on Sabu. Sabu botches a rana and Terry leaves. Yeah…..this whole triple threat has been a triple threat for about 3 minutes out of almost 45.
A springboard legdrop hits Shane in a clip from Rise and Fall of ECW. And here are the Rottens to beat up both guys again. This is making my head hurt. We’re 45 minutes in so I only have 15 minutes left. Joey says 15 minutes left in what match? So somehow we’ve gone from Terry Funk vs. Shane vs. Sabu to Shane/Sabu vs. the Rotten Brothers. Sabu fights the Rottens to the back and Shane is alone in the ring. He just stands there and here comes Sabu….oh never mind he has to fight one of the Rottens again first.
Funk comes back, as do Paul, 911 and Ian Rotten. And now there’s no one in the ring. Hat Guy is back by the concession areas and Funk vs. Shane spills outside. This must have been RIVETING for the live crowd with no video screens. And Funk beats up the referee. Joey tries not to laugh while asking why. With ten minutes left Shane and Terry are beating each other up and we now get the clock going again on how long can all three guys be in the ring for. So far out of 50 minutes I’d guess it’s about 9 minutes.
Sabu hits a top rope moonsault and Funk’s knee is hurt. Joey says the match was over 15-20 minutes ago. To quote him, what match? Shane vs. Terry? Shane vs. Sabu? Sabu/Shane vs. the Rottens? Terry vs. one of them? Sherri vs. the laws of time and gravity? The referee stays dead for the better part of ever. He must have been watching the match.
Five more minutes and the fans suddenly get that this is going to a draw. Another new match breaks out with Terry beating up Sherri. Four minutes left and nothing at all is happening. The bald Heyman is knocked out by Shane. Let’s see: Rottens, Sherri, 911, Heyman….yeah I think that’s all. We’ve only had five run-ins so far. Three minutes and we’re out of here (the clock is ticking and we’re in the clear).
Sherri’s boot gets used a lot as Joey makes me angry by saying this is like Piper vs. Valentine from 1983. The camera goes black for a minute and we have two minutes left. Funk beats up Heyman for no good reason. Less than a minute to go and the referee has now been out over ten minutes from a single headbutt. Can we get this guy some medical attention? Two near falls within the last five seconds and that’s it. The fans give them a standing ovation for absolutely no deserved reason. This was bad…..like very bad.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t horrible and there have been far worse matches, but for this to be considered a classic or even a very good match is a joke. This “hour long triple threat” is more like a 15 minute triple threat, two fifteen minute singles matches, a 4 minute tag match and a bunch of standing around.
Sabu was SPENT about half an hour into this and he just laid on the mat for most of the time. I was bored to death watching this because the longest stretch where they’re all in the arena is about 8 minutes long. I have no idea what the standing ovation was for as this was just way too long and while it’s not horrible, it’s definitely not anywhere close to as good as it’s made out to be.
Sabu would jump to WCW in late 1995 in a kind of strange hire. Here’s his biggest match with the company from Halloween Havoc 1995.
Mr. JL vs. Sabu
JL is short for Jerry Lynn in case you didn’t know that. And yes, it’s the same Sabu. The reason he’s here is he’s the Sheik’s nephew and Sheik was the king of Detroit back in the day. Lynn is in a mask here. WOW it’s weird hearing Sabu being talked about by Tony. Also that sounds like La Parka’s future music but I’m not sure. Both guys are in purple which is odd to see. They do all kinds of flying around ringside with Sabu doing all kinds of crazy dives etc.
We even get a Bobo Brazil reference to make this even more off the wall. This is pretty good for today’s standards despite being sloppy, but for 1995 this was INSANE. I mean remember, WWF was running stuff like Mabel vs. Taker at this time so having Lynn vs. Sabu on a major PPV was ridiculous. Sabu wins it with a moonsault and Sheik throws a fireball at Lynn and hits him in the mask. Ok then. Heenan freaks over this and wants to know how to do that. Don’t ask Hogan. He tried it once and it didn’t work at all.
Rating: B+. Somewhat above average match, but considering the timeframe, this was insanity. Rey was nearly a year away from changing the whole idea of what cruiserweight wrestling was, but everyone knew this kind of stuff rocked. Sabu can be passable when he’s not trying to do a garbage match, and this is an example of that.
Back to ECW at November to Remember 1995.
Hack Meyers vs. Sabu
Meyers is more or less just a biker. You know this might have been a better surprise if he hadn’t come out earlier. Sabu works on the knee of all things to start and messes up a snapmare (Meyers landed on him). Time for a chinlock. FEEL THE EXTREME! It’s chair time and a slingshot dive in with the chair gets two. We go to an armbar and the fans are calling it boring.
Springboard leg lariat gets two and we hit the chinlock again. Meyers makes a comeback and hits a powerslam for two. A weird facebuster off the top which is Hack’s finisher gets two. They go to the floor quickly but Sabu drops a leg for two. Meyers wins a slugout but Sabu goes onto Meyers’ shoulders and gets a DDT to take him down. Spinning leg lariat puts Meyers outside and Sabu hits a diving rana to the floor.
After a bit more brawling on the floor we go back in but Sabu dives into a powerbomb. Release suplex put Sabu down but Meyers goes up and gets caught in a victory roll off the top for two. This is going WAY too long for a big return over a glorified jobber. Meyers goes up but gets dropped on a chair. Sabu hits a rana to put them on the floor AGAIN. Sabu sets up a table and dives over the top through it, half killing Meyers. That only gets two in the ring so Sabu slams him and the Atomic Arabian Facebuster (flipping double legdrop with a chair in between) ends this FINALLY.
Rating: D. See, when a superstar like Sabu returns, it should be total dominance. This mostly was, but the fact that it took so long made Sabu look kind of weak. Not his worst stuff, but at the same time it just went way too long at about 13:00. Heyman would manage Sabu for awhile until we got to his match with Taz.
Another random match from House Party 1996.
Sabu vs. Stevie Richards
Richards slips getting into the ring and falls on his face. He also has a bad arm coming into this. Richards runs to start and throws in a chair. Yeah, throw a chair to Sabu. Joey agrees with me, saying that it’s like handing a chainsaw to Leatherface. Sabu has enough of the standing around so he hits a suicide dive to take over. Back inside and Sabu hooks a chinlock but Stevie powerbombs him out of the corner to take over.
Sabu will have none of that and comes back with a slingshot flipping legdrop. Off to an armbar of all things but it only lasts a few seconds. Richards is placed on the top rope and with the help of a chair, Sabu “hits” Air Sabu to knock him to the floor. Sabu slams him to the floor and both guys are down. Richards gets sent into the railing and Sabu sets up a table. Blue Meanie saves Stevie and we head back inside.
Sabu gets caught in an electric chair position but he rolls Richards over the top and out to the floor. This show needs to hurry up and end because it’s REALLY dragging badly now. Richards head fakes Sabu and the crazy one goes through the table. That would be the crazy one Sabu in case you were confused. Meanie gets in a kick on Sabu and they head inside again. Stevie drops a top rope punch for two as we see that he’s not the best on offense.
A Frankensteiner gets two for Sabu and both guys are spent. Richards is sent to the floor and Sabu finally dives over the top with a slingshot rana onto Meanie. Richards gets a horribly botched one of his own from Sabu and the guy in the bright yellow pants takes over again. Richards is placed on a table but Meanie makes the save.
Paul E of all people comes out to beat up Meanie and Sabu hits a dive through Richards through the table. Back inside and that only gets two as this match just keeps going. Richards rolls him up for two and hits the Stevie Kick for another two. A Sabu DDT gets the same and it’s chair time again. Sabu goes up and hits the Atomic Arabian Facebuster (flip leg drop with the chair) to get a pretty anti-climactic pin.
Rating: C-. This just kept going and going and it was only decent to begin with. Sabu would be pushed much harder over the next few months as he would feud with Taz while Richards would somehow get into the world title #1 contenders match at Barely Legal. This wasn’t awful but it dragged a lot which really hurt it.
It’s time for probably Sabu’s biggest match ever. The match over a year in the making, from Barely Legal.
Taz vs. Sabu
This is billed as the Grudge Match of the Century and has been built up over going on two years. Sabu charges to the ring without an entrance but stops long enough for the big match intros. Taz is the hated villain at this point which will become important later. They slap each other to start before Taz nails a hard clothesline to send Sabu staggering to the floor. Back in and Sabu fights out of the Tazmission (Taz’s choke) and they hit the mat for some amateur stuff.
It’s Taz in control with an ankle lock but he lets Sabu up and offers him a free chance at his leg. That goes very badly for Sabu as Taz takes him down and fires off some hard crossface shots to break Sabu’s nose. The blood sends Sabu into another level and he pulls Taz out to the floor so he can throw him into the crowd. Sabu runs back inside for a HUGE double jump dive to send Taz sprawling down on the concrete.
They fight into the crowd as things pick up a lot. Sabu gets the better of it for a good while, only to be sent face first into a wall. Back to the ring now and Taz puts on a chinlock while cranking on the leg as well. They slug it out from their knees with Sabu getting the better of it until Taz takes it back down to the mat. Sabu kicks him in the face and nails a quick slingshot legdrop.
A chair is brought in for Air Sabu in the corner but Taz drops him face first on the chair to take over again. Back up and a very hard clothesline gets a near fall on Sabu as things slow way down. Taz is sent outside again but casually steps to the side so Sabu’s dive hits barricade. A suplex sends Sabu back into the crowd and Taz orders his lackeys (Team Taz) to bridge a table between the barricade and the ring. Sabu puts Taz on the table but Taz counters a tornado DDT and sends Sabu through the wood instead.
Back in again and Taz is favoring his shoulder. Instead he stomps away at Sabu but falls down to the mat in pain. Sabu nails a top rope hurricanrana for two followed by a top rope legdrop but Taz rolls outside, seemingly in the better shape of the two. Taz slaps on a head and arms Tazplex to drop Sabu on his head and soften up the neck. Sabu comes back with a t-bone suplex of his own but Taz just stands up and poses at him. After a failed attempt at a Tazmission from Sabu, Taz nails some more hard suplexes and puts on the real Tazmission for the win.
Rating: B-. Here’s the one thing that has always given me issues with both this match and the show in general: yes this was a huge grudge match and built up for over a year, but they never say WHY these two hate each other. It’s simply established that they do and while the match is really physical, it would have been nice to have a ten second explanation of the backstory (Sabu had walked out on ECW and Taz had yelled about it on TV as a result. Sabu later came back and the feud started as a result of Taz’s comments) would have been nice. I only know that explanation through outside research.
The match itself was a very physical back and forth match, but it never felt like the blood feud that it was supposed to be. There are parts of that in here, but the wrestling sequence early in the match felt like it belonged in another feud entirely. It’s entertaining and goes by very fast though, making a breath of fresh air after the TV Title match.
Sabu would get back into the World Title picture at Born To Be Wired.
ECW World Title: Terry Funk vs. Sabu
Sabu is challenging and this is a barbed wire match, which means the ropes have been replaced by barbed wire. Terry heads to the corner to start but Sabu dropkicks the knee out and we head to the mat. Funk tries to throw him into the wire but Sabu puts the brakes on. Sabu does the same as Terry but Terry rolls to the floor to escape. Back in and Sabu puts on a quick camel clutch which goes nowhere.
Funk hits a neckbreaker and a scary looking piledriver for two. They both try to ram the other into the wire and it’s Sabu getting the advantage, but Terry gets his hands up and avoids the pain. Sabu hurricanranas Terry down for two but Funk kicks him off and into the wire for the first gasp from the crowd. Terry rakes Sabu’s eyes into the barbed wire which is pretty sick stuff.
An Irish whip sends the challenger into the wire again and Funk crotches him on it for good measure. Sabu’s tights are ripped up and man are his legs skinny. After some more pain for the guy from Bombay, he sends Terry into the corner and the wire as a result, followed by a chair shot. Funk’s face gets sent into the barbed wire and Sabu finds a spike from somewhere to pound into Funk’s head. This is getting violent in a hurry.
With Funk up against the wire, Sabu hits Air Sabu to drive him further into said wire for two. Air Sabu (it’s a running diving leg attack using a chair as a springboard) misses on its second attempt and Sabu is hung up in the wire. In a famous spot, Sabu’s bicep is sliced open and things slow WAY down. The solution to the cut? Fonzie brings in a roll of tape and tapes the GAPING WOUND closed to keep the match going.
A neckbreaker puts Sabu down but Terry can’t follow up. Sabu goes NUTS and starts pounding on Funk but Terry just punches him in the face to take over again. They both head to the floor and slug it out but are quickly back inside so Funk can put on the spinning toe hold. Fonzie (Sabu’s manager in case you’re not familiar with ECW, which makes me wonder why you’re reading this) tries to interfere but gets pulled across the wire as well.
Funk slices open Fonzie’s shirt and cuts his back with it. The champ gets some wire cutters from somewhere and clips some wire off, which he whips Sabu with to slow him down even more. Fonzie gets beaten up some more and it’s back inside for more brawling. Sabu cuts more of the wire down and here’s RVD to pound on Funk. He takes Terry to the floor and wraps him in barbed wire so Sabu can drive Terry through a table.
Now Dreamer comes out to take out Van Dam (literally) and the guys in the match head back inside. Sabu pulls off a big section of wire and wraps himself in it before diving through Funk through a table. To complete this mess, they’re stuck together because Funk was wrapped in wire as well so they get back in the ring in a big ball and Sabu gets two. They’re still stuck together and since there’s nothing else they can do, Sabu shoves Terry’s shoulder back down and gets the pin and the title.
Rating: D-. To the shock of no one who is paying attention, this was a major mess. It was a total freakshow and the ending made it even worse as they couldn’t even do the right ending because they got stuck. Also this would wind up meaning NOTHING as Douglas got the title a week later because in ECW, Shane Douglas MUST be world champion. Just a mess here and it had almost absolutely nothing to do with wrestling.
Here’s a hardcore dream match from Terry Funk’s Wrestlefest. Yeah it happened before but it still sounds cool.
Van Dam is defending and Jeff Jones is refereeing, making things even crazier. Feeling out process to start with Sabu diving for Rob’s leg but only hitting the mat. Van Dam misses a spin kick and flips Sabu over into a standoff. Rob grabs a mic and says he isn’t going to fight his partner and friend. Jones says the match has to happen and Sabu goes after the champion with a springboard kick to the face. A slingshot legdrop gets two and Rob heads outside, only to be taken down by a dive from Sabu.
Back in and Sabu puts on a camel clutch but Van Dam is quickly in the ropes. Both guys flip over the others’ back and then dropkick each others’ knee. Rob takes over and puts on a quickly broken surfboard before putting the boots to Sabu. The hold has hurt Sabu’s leg so Rob puts on a half crab. A superkick puts Sabu down and it’s time for a table. Rob bridges it between the ring and apron but Sabu dives through the ropes to take out the champion.
Sabu puts him on the table but Van Dam bails into the crowd. That’s fine with Sabu as he dives off the table and onto Rob in a big crash. They slug it out on the floor until Rob puts him on the barricade for a Van Daminator. Alfonso wouldn’t hold the chair so Rob kicks the chair into Sabu’s face himself. Sabu comes back by blocking a suplex and crotching Rob on the barricade as well before taking him down with an Asai moonsault.
That’s only good for two back inside so Sabu throws a chair at the downed Van Dam. The Triple Jump Moonsault misses and Alfonso pats Van Dam on the back. A slingshot kick to the face puts Sabu outside again and Rob hits a big flip dive to take him out. Back in and Sabu blocks a suplex from the ring through a table at ringside before suplexing him back inside.
The table is bridged between the ring and barricade but Van Dam quickly stands up after being put on the table. Sabu tries a springboard DDT through the table but the table doesn’t break and they fall off to the side. It doesn’t look like the most painful move so Van Dam being back on his feet is acceptable. The partially broken table is set up inside the ring and Sabu hurricanranas Van Dam through the wood. Since this is ECW, Rob is right back up and in control less than a minute later.
Rob puts the chair on Sabu’s face and drops a top rope leg onto him but falls to the floor in pain as a result. Sabu puts Van Dam on the barricade and hurricanranas him down to the floor. Back in and Rob snaps off a Van Daminator. The frog splash gets two more and Sabu is literally throwing a chair at Van Dam’s head eight seconds later. A triple jump legdrop crushes Van Dam for two but Rob pops up and monkey flips Sabu onto the chair.
An Arabian Facebuster to the back of Rob’s head gets no cover and Sabu brings in a table. It breaks before he can set it up so Rob kicks Sabu onto the broken table, drawing booing from the fans. Van Dam brings in a fresh table and kicks Sabu onto it for a HUGE frog splash….for two. Naturally Sabu is right back up with a flip legdrop and a German suplex for two but Rob comes back with the split legged moosault. It’s another near fall though so Sabu pops up with a springboard moonsault for two of his own. Time runs out and it’s a draw.
Rating: D+. This is the kind of stuff that makes pure wrestling fans hate ECW. It’s not about the tables and the chairs and the violence. It’s about the complete lack of selling of ANY of these moves. Both guys were hitting big moves to each other but they would pop up a few seconds after taking one and act like it was a mild annoyance. No one stayed down in this entire thing, no one ever had a lengthy advantage and no one ever had any psychology at all. I guess you could say the story is they’re equally matched, but when you’re equal at being really bad at something it doesn’t look good.
The match was exciting to a degree because of all the high spots, but there was stuff in here that neither guy should have been able to kick out of. I wasn’t skipping stuff between the spots either. They were just popping up that quickly. It eventually desensitizes the fans because the big moves don’t mean anything, so why should they care when either guy hits another big spot? The problem is this was a staple of ECW and would become a bigger and bigger problem over the years. Jeff Jones wasn’t a factor in the match at all.
Now they’re partners again at Heat Wave 1998.
Tag Team Titles: Jinsei Shinzaki/Hayabusa vs. Rob Van Dam/Sabu
Van Dam and Sabu are defending. Shinzaki is better known as Hakushi in the WWF. Jinsei is known for having Japanese symbols drawn all over his torso, back and face. Neither team can agree on who is going to start. It’s finally down to Van Dam vs. Hayabusa. They circle each other for a minute to start until Rob leg trips him. That goes nowhere so Alfonso gets up on the apron and blows his whistle a lot. Van Dam takes Hayabusa down with a Japanese armdrag and poses.
Back up and Hayabusa kicks Rob in the leg, draws in Sabu and tags in Jinsei for a Vader Bomb and two. Van Dam comes back with a kick to the face but walks into an enziguri to the back of the head. Jinsei walks across the top rope (think Undertaker’s Old School though he walks around a corner and keeps going) and chops Rob in the head but misses a knee drop.
Sabu comes in with a slingshot legdrop for two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Hayabusa comes in off a tag but gets dropkicked in the knee. A slingshot splash gets two for Sabu but he walks into a nice dropkick, sending him running to the floor. He comes back in and takes out Hayabusa’s knee again before putting on something like an ankle lock. Hayabusa gets to the ropes so Sabu puts on a camel clutch.
Van Dam comes in and dropkicks Hayabusa while he’s still in the clutch, so Shinzaki hits a springboard missile dropkick to take Van Dam down. Sabu is sent to the floor as well so Hayabusa nails a big springboard moonsault to take them out. Van Dam and the challengers fight into the crowd so Sabu hits a big dive to take all three out. Hayabusa is draped over the barricade for a spinning kick to the back.
In the ring, Sabu dropkicks Jinsei’s knee, setting up a surfboard from Van Dam. Sabu adds a top rope chair shot to the ribs for two. Hayabusa comes back in for a double bulldog on Van Dam followed by a springboard swanton bomb from Hayabusa and a springboard knee drop from Shinzaki. Sabu makes a save and Van Dam kicks Hayabusa’s head off for two. Everything breaks down and Sabu is superkicked into a German suplex for two. Rob’s top rope spinning splash gets another near fall on Jinsei as the guys are getting tired.
Jinsei powerbombs Van Dam down and Hayabusa nails a 450 but Sabu dives in for a save. A rolling splash/legdrop combination gets two on Hayabusa and a Boston crab/legdrop combination gets the same on Shinzaki. Sabu brings in a table but gets taken down by a top rope shoulder, giving Jinsei two. Van Dam’s knee gets twisted but is still able to go up top for a Van Daminator to a crotched Hayabusa.
Jinsei twists Van Dam’s knee again but the table collapses under Van Dam’s weight. Hayabusa’s top rope splash gets two and two more tables are sent in. Sabu hits an Arabian facebuster on Hayabusa and Jinsei takes a Van Daminator. The challengers are put on a table and a top rope splash from Van Dam/a top rope legdrop from Sabu at the same time give Sabu the pin on Shinzaki.
Rating: B-. The tables at the end drag this down. They’re just not needed to make the match work as everything was clicking without them. The chairs weren’t too bad but the rest of it didn’t work. I liked the wrestling stuff a lot better than the brawling but that’s the general rule of thumb for ECW. The problem was after the tagging ends, it’s your standard ECW brawl. This show has been very good so far though and the match was definitely good.
Taz would break Sabu’s neck but intentionally give him the FTW Title. This set up a title vs. title match at Living Dangerously 1999.
ECW World Title/FTW Title: Taz vs. Sabu
Winner take all. Sabu has a broken jaw coming in and is the FTW Champion. Taz’s jaws are fine, though he has a biceps injury as he comes in as ECW Champion. Taz says we should make this falls count anywhere to give the fans something special. Sabu is fine with that and takes Taz down by the leg to start. Taz can’t hook a German suplex as Sabu grabs a rope and tries an armbar. That’s fine with Taz as he puts on a headscissors but they roll into the ropes.
Now we get violent as Taz hammers on the broken jaw and hits a Brooklyn Boot (just a running boot) to the jaw. It doesn’t have much effect as Sabu hits a springboard leg lariat and a slingshot flipping legdrop for two. We get our first chair for Air Sabu and Taz bails to the floor. Sabu baseball slides him into the crowd and tries the big springboard dive, only to have Taz get a chair up just in time.
They fight into the crowd and as usual it’s a lot of walking around without a lot of brawling. Sabu nails Taz with a chair but Taz doesn’t seem to notice. They get back to the barricade and turn over a lot of chairs before Sabu goes to the ramp for another dive back into the audience for two. Both guys get back onto the ramp but Taz throws Sabu back into the crowd. That doesn’t go anywhere so it’s back to the ring.
Sabu takes out Taz’s knee and bridges a table between the ring and barricade. They slug it out in the ring until Taz grabs a belly to belly overhead Tazplex to send Sabu through the table, taking out a camera in the process. Sabu gets dropped face first onto the barrcade and the jaw comes back into play. Taz yells about Flair and Hogan as he hammers on Sabu. That earns him a chair upside his head but Alfonso wants to throw in a towel and end the match.
Taz won’t let that happen though and sends Alfonso backing up the ramp. He throws Sabu off the ramp again so Alfonso throws a chair at Taz. It buys Sabu a breather and he comes back with a Fameasser in the ring for two. We hit the camel clutch as Sabu is bleeding from the mouth. He lets go of the hold less than five seconds after putting it on and gets another table. Taz puts him on the table but Sabu turns it over and hits a middle rope hurricanrana for two. Another hurricanrana is countered into a sitout powerbomb to put both guys down.
Back to the floor again with Sabu putting Taz on yet another table. He goes to bridge a table over the barricade but Taz is back up and takes it back inside. Sabu tries a slingshot powerbomb to the floor but hits his feet on the barricade so they stop suddenly and Taz has no impact coming down. He sells it anyway and is laid on the table over the barricade so Sabu can hit a big splash off the top. That’s only good for two as well so Sabu takes it back inside for an Arabian Facebuster and another near fall as Taz puts his foot on the ropes. That shouldn’t count in a falls count anywhere match and the fans let the referee know.
Taz comes back with a pumphandle Tazplex for two of his own but Sabu is up first with a chair to the face. The Triple Jump Moonsault gets two more and a springboard legdrop gets the same. A head and arms Tazplex gets two and Sabu tries to set up another table. It’s laid in the corner for a dragon Tazplex, the same move that broke Sabu’s neck. Naturally, it’s only good for two here. Alfonso throws in the towel but it doesn’t count for some reason. Instead Taz puts on the Tazmission and Sabu passes out to make Taz undisputed champion.
Rating: D. More than anything else, this felt really long. It’s basically the same match they’ve had every time and all the chairs and tables get really old after awhile. I’ve seen Sabu keep things toned down and have entertaining matches but that’s not what we’ve gotten from him in ECW so far. This would be the end of the FTW Title and more or less the end of Taz vs. Sabu.
Here’s a one off match from November to Remember 1999.
Sabu vs. Chris Candido
There’s no story mentioned here if one exists. Tammy is back with Candido who just recently returned from injury. Sabu dives at Candido to start but only hits mat. They slug it out with Chris being knocked out to the floor, only to come back in and get punched some more. Sabu’s springboard kick to the face is caught in a belly to back suplex for two but a HUGE backdrop sends Candido back to the floor.
Sabu nails a big dive over the top to take Candido down again but they’re quickly back inside with Candido hitting a delayed vertical suplex. A middle rope legdrop gets two for Chris but he misses a swan dive. Sabu gets a chair for the Triple Jump Legdrop and two more. Now a table is bridged between the apron and barricade but Candido dives on Sabu as he’s setting it up. Back in and Sabu nails a top rope hurricanrana for two and Sabu before he goes after the Candido’s spine.
We hit the camel clutch but Candido breaks it up in just a few seconds. Sabu is laid on a table but Candido misses a top rope legdrop and drives himself through the wood. Some kicks to the leg have Candido in even more trouble and it’s back to the camel clutch. Again the hold doesn’t last long before Air Sabu connects in the corner and Candido falls face first onto the chair. Chris gets kicked out to the floor again, setting up a HUGE springboard dive from Sabu into the crowd.
They brawl further into the audience but are quickly back to ringside with Sabu in control. Another chair is thrown in and Sabu nails a top rope splash for two. Back to the camel clutch but Sabu lets go of it again after about five seconds. He takes too long setting up a table which falls over almost immediately. Sabu lays Candido on the half set table for a top rope legdrop and two.
The Triple Jump Moonsault misses and Candido gets two each off a powerbomb and piledriver. A superplex gets another near fall on Sabu and Candido sets up a chair for no apparent reason. Sabu comes out of the corner and uses the chair as a springboard for a clothesline. Tammy crotches Sabu on the top and Candido nails a great looking to rope hurricanrana.
A second swan dive and piledriver both connect but Candido gets a table instead of covering. Sabu is right back up and puts Candido on the table as Tammy interferes again. Candido gets up but Alfonso puts Tammy on the table. Chris dives on Tammy as Sabu jumps through the table, followed by a top rope Arabian Facebuster and the camel clutch to give Sabu the submission.
Rating: D+. This was WAY too long at nearly eighteen minutes. Candido was doing everything he could but Sabu was all table and chairs with some dives in between. The camel clutch being broken only a few seconds after it was applied got annoying fast. There was an attempt at some psychology but the match completely broke down at about the halfway point. This was one of Candido’s last appearances as he would wrestle a few times on ECW on TNN before heading to WCW early in the new year.
After ECW went under, Sabu was one of many wrestlers to go to the WWA promotion. Here he is at the Reckoning.
Sabu vs. Joe E. Legend
Shane jumps in on commentary to further annoy me. Legend quickly takes it to the mat into a headscissors before we get to the insane stuff. Joe wins a quick slugout and chokes in the corner but gets caught in a springboard tornado DDT for two. We head to the floor for a flip dive by Sabu before Legend stomps away back inside. They head back outside for a big springboard dive from Sabu as Shane blames Sabu for killing ECW.
We get our first table brought in but Legend runs him over with a clothesline before it could be set up. Sabu is busted open as Legend spears him into the barricade. Some right hands have no effect on Joe so he gets two off a big boot to the face back inside. We hit the chinlock until Legend kicks a chair into Sabu’s back for no cover. Sabu pelts the chair into Joe’s face and an Arabian facebuster with the chair gets two.
There’s the camel clutch on Legend but Joe gets to the ropes pretty quickly. Legend comes back with a northern lights suplex as the fans want the table. Joe is sent to the apron and knocked over the table so we can brawl on the floor a bit. That goes nowhere so Joe takes him back inside and gets two off a powerbomb. Sabu crotches him on the top and hooks a top rope rana for two. Joe avoids a top rope splash and kicks Sabu in the head for two. A chokeslam powerbomb gets two on Sabu but the fans still want the table.
Legend’s Vader Bomb only hits chair and an Arabian Press gets two. Air Sabu is caught in a fireman’s carry drop sending Sabu face first onto the chair. Sabu finally puts him on the table and the triple jump legdrop sends Legend through it to pop the crowd. Back in and the chair is pelted into Legend’s face again before going up top. After breaking up a superplex attempt, the top rope Arabian Facebuster is good for the pin.
Rating: D. This wasn’t terrible but it was LONG, running nearly 18 minutes, or a lot longer than any Sabu match should last. Legend was decent enough but he isn’t the most exciting guy in the world. All the fans wanted to see was Sabu put someone through a table so the match could have ended after that point. Not bad, but WAY too long.
Off to TNA, starting as Weekly PPV #6.
NWA World Title: Sabu vs. Ken Shamrock
This a ladder/submission match, which is exactly what it sounds like. After a LONG recap of last week’s ladder match with Sabu vs. Malice, we’re ready to go. The fans seem to be completely behind Sabu here. Shamrock controls to start and goes for a leg hold but Sabu makes the rope. Sabu gets a quick rollup for two so the rules are basically thrown out the window so far. Apparently security has walked out of the building. Not like it makes a difference or anything.
Shamrock grabs an armbar but Sabu gets out before it can go on full. Sabu actually tries a leg lock but Shamrock is like boy please and counters into a leg bar. The springboard leg lariat takes Shamrock down and the slingshot legdrop looks to set up an armbar. I don’t think the pins count anymore. Apparently Ricky Steamboat is in charge next week.
Sabu gets knocked to the floor and we get the first ladder brought in with like four minutes left. The ladder gets kicked into Sabu’s face before it gets into the ring. Sabu and Shamrock brawl up the ramp with Sabu being through into one of the mini cages near the stage. Sabu is busted open but he manages to send Shamrock into the barricade.
It’s table time but the springboard flip dive by Sabu misses Shamrock, sending Sabu through the table on the ramp. Cool looking dive though. FINALLY a ladder is brought in but as Shamrock goes up, Malice runs in and chokeslams him down. Malice gets the belt itself and leaves to end the show.
Rating: D. Other than a few spots from Sabu, this was really boring. They had a no contest in a ladder match. That’s hard to do but they managed to do it here. Shamrock is a really boring champion but thankfully he’ll only have the title for a few more weeks. This is the last match Sabu would have with the company for almost a year and it’s a shame he couldn’t go out on the one he had last week which was way better.
And again at Weekly PPV #89.
Sabu vs. Monty Brown
From April 14, 2004 and this is under hardcore rules. For you old guys, Brown is basically an intelligent Ahmed Johnson but about 10 years older. Sabu tries to jump Brown but gets sent into the corner with ease and pummeled like he stole something. Brown sends him into the ropes but gets caught in a springboard tornado DDT for two. A quick arm tie neckbreaker gives Brown control again but Sabu comes right back with a springboard middle rope huricanrana for another near fall.
It’s already chair time with Sabu pelting it at Brown’s head and staying there in a great visual. A stiff right hand sets up an overhead double underhook suplex from Monty but he takes too long going to the middle rope. Brown comes back again with hard right hands to the face and ribs. He wasn’t all that well rounded at this point if you didn’t notice. The Pounce (basically a hard shoulder block/spear) sends Sabu flying through the ropes and out to the floor.
That’s fine with him as he’s able to pull out a table, only to have Brown punch him in the face yet again. Sabu rams him face first into the table and hits a springboard dive to take Monty down. Another chair is pelted at Brown’s head for two (remember falls count anywhere) but he easily whips Sabu into the crowd. Brown hits a series of backbreakers across his knee before throwing Sabu into a pile of chairs.
A third chair is pelted at Monty’s head and Sabu drags a table out from behind the stands. They head into the locker room but Sabu comes flying back out. Abyss walks through the door before powerbombing Sabu through the table. Brown comes out of the locker room and squares off with Abyss but some dark haired chick comes out to calm Abyss down and take him away. A quick Pounce ends Sabu.
Rating: D+. This was just there to get a hardcore match on the set. Brown was a guy that seemed to have a ton of potential and would have been great as an over the top Scott Steiner style character. He never got pushed to the top though and I can see why that never happened. Sabu was his usual self here.
Sabu would head to the WWE for the ECW reunion show One Night Stand 2005.
Sabu vs. Rhyno
Yep it’s chair time early and Rhyno gets popped with it. I usually hate these things, but even I’m not stupid enough to think they meant nothing at all. Sabu is dominating this for the most part and it’s not as bad as I expected it to be actually. There’s not much to say about this.
The referee takes a gore and here’s Van Dam again. He gets the Chair Surf which is a move I’ve always liked. Yep it’s table time as it’s a Sabu match so there we are. Something that was supposed to be an Arabian SkullCrusher doesn’t work as I think the chair gets away from Sabu but it could have been worse I guess.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t much. Like I said though it could have been far worse though as they had Sabu keep the weapons toned down here so that’s all fine and good. Far from great but these three had to be on the show somewhere. Sabu wouldn’t stick around or anything but there wasn’t anything for him to do at this point.
It’s back to TNA, starting with Unbreakable.
Sabu vs. Abyss
James Mitchell wants to make it No DQ and of course it is. Sabu fires away with right hands but they have next to no effect. Abyss throws him around but Sabu keeps coming, likely due to his history of head trauma. A big boot puts Sabu down but he keeps coming back with chops. The fans want tables less than two minutes into the match. Does foreplay mean nothing to these people?
Instead Sabu gets a chair and pounds away with it, including hitting an Arabian Facebuster with it for two. A clothesline puts both of them on the floor and there’s the table. That one is broken though (as in it broke while he was setting it up) so Abyss sets up one of his own. Sabu uses the distraction to hit a flip dive over the top rope and out onto Abyss. They head back in and Sabu charges straight into a backdrop through the two tables at ringside. That’s a bad stretch of luck for him there.
Abyss sets up a table in the ring but takes FOREVER to do it, allowing Sabu to come back with chair shots to the head. Now the fans want thumbtacks. These people are never satisfied. Sabu goes up top with the chair and drives Abyss through the table for three, but Mitchell puts Abyss’ foot on the rope. You know, because in a match based on pure carnage, a foot on the rope is good enough to break it up.
Abyss goes under the ring and gets the tacks which are spread on the mat. They take turns teasing going into the tacks for a bit until Sabu whacks Abyss with a chair. That gets nowhere so Sabu springboards into a Black Hole Slam onto the tacks for the pin with no feet on the ropes this time.
Rating: C+. It’s Abyss vs. Sabu in a hardcore match. What else were you expecting here? They beat on each other with weapons for awhile, Sabu got thrown around a lot, Abyss got hit in the head with a lot of stuff, and someone got thrown into the tacks. What else were you expecting here? The match was just ok but eventually they would have a solid hardcore match with barbed wire everywhere which was a lot better.
Time for some violence at Turning Point 2005.
Abyss vs. Sabu
This is barbed wire massacre, which means the ropes are replaced by barbed wire, which Abyss is terrified of. Abyss stomps on the chair that Sabu tries to bring in with him, so Sabu gets a barbed wire ball bat to scare Abyss away. Sabu tries to drive him into the wire but settles for a chair shot instead. Another doesn’t put Abyss down so he launches himself off the chair into a powerbomb position.
That gets Abyss down but he launches Sabu into the wire which draws a big gasp from the crowd. Sabu comes back with some punches but his cross body is caught and Abyss drops him throat first onto the wire. Sabu has a spike of some sort which he jabs into the shoulder of the monster, drawing blood. He tries another move off the chair but launches himself into the wire AGAIN. Dude, IT ISN’T WORKING FOR YOU!
With Sabu still tied up in the wire, Abyss charges but gets caught in a drop toehold into the wire. A chair shot gets two for Sabu. Abyss shrugs that off and chokeslams him onto a chair for two. Mitchell throws in a barbed wire covered chair and for SOME REASON, he tries an Earthquake onto it. The wire goes into Abyss’ crotch and I cringe a bit. That chair goes onto Abyss’ head twice and down he goes.
Abyss rolls to the floor so Sabu hits a huge flip dive over the wire to take Abyss out. Sabu throws a barbed wire board into the ring but gets draped over the wire stomach first. Back inside now and Abyss sets for a chokeslam onto the board, but Sabu bites the fingers to escape. Sabu winds up being launched into the air and landing stomach first on the wire. Abyss brings in another wire covered board and puts it in the corner. Due to the laws of wrestling, his charge misses and he gets all stuck in the wire. Sabu kicks Abyss down onto the other board into a sandwich, then drops a leg onto the top board for the pin.
Rating: C-. I’m not sure what to call this. For the violence and shock value it was fine, but as far as wrestling goes there was nothing here. Thankfully this was the ending to this feud which went on for months on end. The ending spot was pretty awesome but most of this was just a total freak show. They had to do this first too because of the ropes, which is annoying but there was no way around that.
With another ECW reunion show coming, Sabu would head back to WWE for a few shows, starting with One Night Stand 2006.
Smackdown World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Sabu
Rey is booed out of the freaking building. Naturally he’s only the World Champion here instead of the World Heavyweight Champion because that’s how they roll here. This is under extreme rules, like every other match here should be but of course isn’t because that’s not the WWE way. Rey has a chair during the big match intros. Sabu grabs one before the bell and the fans are totally behind Sabu. Joey: “Mixed reaction here for Rey.” Taz: “Nah they’re booing him.”
After some basic wrestling stuff they duel with the chairs and guess who wins that. Air Sabu in the corner but Rey gets a drop toehold to break up the Triple Jump Moonsault. 619 misses and you would think Rey had just banned rainbows. BIG chair shot sends Rey to the floor and the brawl is on. It’s table time with the table set up as a bridge between the ring and the railing.
Rey is placed on it but moves as Sabu starts setting up. Sabu gets sent into the steps and a moonsault press gets two for Rey. Camel clutch by Sabu which draws a Sheik chant. Naturally he lets it go to grab a table. Arabian Facebuster has Rey in trouble as he left the table on the floor. Table is set up in front of the aisle but Rey knocks him onto it and hits a seated senton through it to put both guys down in the aisle.
Sabu’s arm is messed up and Rey tries something like Air Sabu in the corner but Sabu gets out of the way and hits a springboard leg lariat to take Rey down. Triple Jump Moonsault gets a close two. It was more like a knee drop to the face but close enough. Sabu gets all ticked off and pelts the chair at the head of Rey to take him down. Onto the bridged table from earlier and a big front flip dive over the top through the table takes both guys out. And here are some suits to say that they can’t continue and we’re done. I’ll spare you a very long rant about how stupid this is.
Rating: C+. This would have been higher if this had a finish. Rey wasn’t used to being hated like this so they went against it for the sake of having a decent match. That being said, taking the superhero out of the match in case it got too extreme is incredibly stupid. Oh screw it. Here’s that rant I mentioned.
This is the first shot to killing ECW. Let’s take a look at some of Sabu’s more famous stuff. He’s ripped open a bicep and glued it back together to continue a match. He’s had to be cut out of barbed wire after winning a match. He’s been set on fire. He’s been put through more tables than you can count. He’s been beaten up, stomped on, kicked, smacked around, choked out and everything else you can think of, but here he can’t continue because of going through a single table.
Just think about that for a minute. How weak does that make him look? The old grizzled hero of the people now can’t take a single shot through a table by doctors’ orders. How many times do you remember a doctor being around in ECW? The very idea of a DQ in ECW was blasphemy. You can see right here how it’s a WWE show and not an ECW show at all.
This would be a sign of things to come for the company as I’ sure you remember the Zombie being on the first show on Sci-Fi. Yes, as in a dead guy that craves human flesh. It’s as stupid as it sounds. Anyway, ECW was dead and the proof should have started right here. Stupid moment as even Rey winning on a fluke pin would have made more sense here. Just terribly stupid and a way to make ECW look weak from the get go.
Anyway take a guess as to how the fans take this one. The replay shows that it was more or less a jumping DDT to Rey so he should be hurt a good deal worse.
Time for what was called a dream match from Vengeance 2006.
John Cena vs. Sabu
This is an EXTREME LUMBERJACK MATCH which sounds like something off a bad video game. The lumberjacks are Viscera, Trevor Murdoch, Lance Cade, Rob Conway, Snitsky, Matt Striker, Charlie Haas, Val Venis, Tommy Dreamer, Balls Mahoney, Stevie Richards, Little Guido Maritato, Roadkill, Danny Doring, Justin Credible, Al Snow, and The Sandman. Let’s get this over with. Matt Striker pretending to be a wrestler is so cute.
This whole show needs to end like NOW. Cena gets a very mixed reaction to put it mildly. Of course the lumberjacks get in a big showdown and Cena has a black eye from Sabu from Monday. The lumberjacks do their usual thing as I wonder what the point of a lumberjack match is. Were there ever lumberjacks used for one? This turns into a contest of who can throw the other person to the floor the most.
Cena takes a cane shot from Sandman and Sabu hits the Triple Jump as he becomes an Olympian apparently. He hooks that horrible looking one armed camel clutch of his as Cena makes his comeback. And a low blow stops that. Lawler HATES ECW. That’s an understatement if there ever was one. The big fight finally breaks out so Cena goes to the floor and hits an FU on Richards to put him in the crowd. Sabu throws a chair at Cena and it wraps around his head in a cool visual.
Cena pelts it at Sabu and hits an FU over the top through a table. When I say through I mean Sabu hits the edge of the table and looks like he broke his back. He taps to the STFU to just further bury ECW as this wasn’t even 7 minutes.
Rating: D. What a mess this was. I have no idea what the point of this was other than to just get Cena on the card somehow. This wasn’t any good at all and I can’t really blame Sabu for it as this was going to be bad no matter who was in it. I’m still trying to get the point of this and I think it’s in vain.
Sabu would be one of the early big stars on the new ECW. Here’s one of his big matches at Summerslam 2006.
ECW Title: Big Show vs. Sabu
Big Show is defending after Sabu beat Van Dam in a ladder match this past week. It’s extreme rules, which is a rarity for these title matches anymore. Sabu starts fast by swinging a chair and gets a quick one count off the Arabian Facebuster. The chair is set up in the middle of the ring but Big Show drops Sabu face first onto the steel. Big Show crushes the chair with his boot and chops Sabu down with ease.
We hit an early bearhug but Sabu pokes the eyes to escape. A springboard is caught in a fallaway slam from Big Show to send Sabu to the outside. The small one grabs a chair to blast Show in the face before dropkicking it into Show’s face. Sabu it too banged up to immediately cover so it’s only a one count. With nothing else working, Sabu loads up a table in the corner and hits a tornado DDT for no cover.
Sabu finally knocks him through the table off a springboard from the chair but Show pops up and electric chairs Sabu down. A Vader Bomb crushes Sabu and Show brings in two sets of steps. He bridges a table across them but his chokeslam is countered into a DDT through the table. Sabu sets up another table but charges into a chokeslam through it for the pin.
Rating: D. I don’t care. Seriously that’s the first thing that came to my head. This was less than nine minutes and the ending was never in double at all. At least a third of the match was spent setting up the next spot, especially near the end. The early days of WWECW with the old ECW guys were just torture to get through as it was clearly trying to recreate magic and it wasn’t anything of note. Dull match here and it would be several months before ECW picked up.
Sabu would join the ECW Originals in their war with the New Breed at Wrestlemania XXIII.
New Breed vs. ECW Originals
It’s Elijah Burke/Matt Striker/Kevin Thron/Marcus Cor Van vs. Rob Van Dam/Tommy Dreamer/Sabu and for no reason whatsoever this is a regular eight man tag instead of the Extreme Rules match we would get on ECW a few days later. Striker starts with Sabu and Matt is in early trouble. It’s quickly off to Sandman vs. Burke but before Sandy does much he brings in Dreamer. Cor Von hits Dreamer in the back and comes in to pound away a bit.
It’s quickly back to Burke (the New Breed’s leader and more famous as D’Angelo Dinero) for the running knees to the back for two. Thorn comes in to crush Dreamer into the corner and put on a chinlock. Back up and a sitout powerbomb gets two for Thorn and here’s Cor Von again. Burke comes in as well but Dreamer takes them down with a simultaneous neckbreaker/reverse DDT combo. The hot tag brings in Van Dam and there’s the top rope kick to Thorn. Rolling Thunder lands on Striker as everything breaks down. With everyone else on the floor, Van Dam Five Stars Striker for the pin.
Rating: D+. Seriously, why wasn’t this the Extreme Rules match? The whole point of ECW is to be extreme but we got a seven minute tag match which went nowhere at all. The theory was to finally let these guys get on Wrestlemania, but Van Dam had been on it before and won a title here. Nothing to see here at all.
After a few years on the indies, Sabu would head to TNA for Hardcore Justice 2010 and a rematch with his old rival and partner.
Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam
It’s 10:15 so hopefully we’re out before half past the hour. Other than that this is going to go WAY too long. Fonzie is in a yellow jacket and RVD comes out first. The fans say this is classic. Sabu is bald. They start out with a feeling out process because they know each other so well. Sabu does his point to the sky and RVD does his pointing. It would be nice if they actually did something.
In an interesting thing Fonzie sends a chair in but does it right down the middle. We hit the crowd for a bit as the chanting is just idiotic. Sabu botches….something and then the camel clutch is on. The bald guy doesn’t look half bad all things considered. With both guys down, Fonzie throws both of them a bottle of water. Both get tables as a result. Oh this isn’t going to end well.
Van Dam hits some slingshot legdrops and Fonzie tries to revive Sabu. Sabu hits a rana to send RVD into a chair in the middle of the ring. It looked totally fake but not bad at the same time. Clutch is on again for like 2 seconds. Triple Jump Moonsault is blocked by Van Dam and Sabu is bleeding from somewhere. Van Assassin hits (the one footed dropkick into the chair while the guy is crotched) and Sabu to the floor. Ok so that lasts like a second and we’re back now. Morrison, watch an RVD match to see how you do the split legged moonsault, I beg of you. Rolling Thunder to the chair hits for two. Five Star ends it.
Rating: D+. While a mess, this is what it was supposed to be: a war. They beat each other up and it really isn’t as bad as anyone is saying it is. It’s bad, but this is what the match was supposed to be. There was no way it was going to be a classic, but this really wasn’t horrible. It held my attention for the most part and had some decent spots. For the ending to this show, this was bearable.
We’ll wrap it up with Sabu getting a title shot at No Surrender 2010.
X Division Title: Sabu vs. Douglas Williams
They say that this is the only singles title match tonight, which means the TV Title still isn’t on the line, which is a good thing. These X Factor things are again annoying. We get all these things already but we need a Powerpoint presentation to tell us them again? The Bombay, Michigan thing always makes me chuckle. Williams out moves Sabu to start as Sabu isn’t sure what to do here.
He’s one of those guys that can be decent in the ring but when he gets bad he gets really bad. It depends on how insane he goes I guess. We start on the mat a lot which is a nice change of pace. Slingshot legdrop is kind of a slingshot double boot as it sets up the one arm camel clutch. That name always makes me chuckle.
A table is set up at ringside but we get into the ring before it can be used. The fans of course aren’t happy about us sticking to actual wrestling. Taz talks about his rivalry with Sabu, which is a good thing. I’ve long since thought Lawler needs to remind fans that he used to be a wrestler and even a world champion. Most young fans probably don’t know that and it probably would give him credibility.
Sabu brings in a chair but does nothing with it again. Triple jump moonsault is just barely ok as it gets two. Loud Sabu chant which will be validation to keep him around according to Dixie. We hit the mat again and Williams uses some insane spinning chinlock. This hasn’t been great but it’s no trainwreck at all. Sabu goes No Mercy with a springboard back elbow. Williams kicks the chair into Sabu’s balls and gets a gutwrench suplex for two.
Sabu goes for a big assisted dive but can’t quite get it so he just jumps, and I use that word loosely, over the top. Williams is put on the table but Sabu goes through it instead. Was there a point to that being in the match at all? I mean what did that add at all? Hebner tries to get rid of the chair, allowing a belt shot to the head of Sabu to make Williams retain. Well at least he kept the belt.
Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad really. It’s no classic or anything, but this was much better than I was expecting. Sabu didn’t go completely insane and as usual, it was far better that way. Williams definitely should have won and thankfully he did. This was definitely a passable match and a nice surprise in a way.
Sabu is a guy who was very different when he got started and influenced a lot of wrestlers over the years. The problem is that he’s very much like Vince Russo: when you can keep him on a leash and keep him under control, he can be very entertaining. When he goes nuts, everything falls apart and the guy is a disaster. He’s screwed up some things in wrestling, but there are far worse people to watch.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Night of Champions 2014: They’re Making My Eyebrows Go Up
Night of Champions 2014 Date: September 21, 2014
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler
This is the textbook definition of a one match show and now the second or third biggest match isn’t happening. Yesterday Roman Reigns was sent to the hospital with a hernia, putting him out of action for several weeks if not months. The main event is of course Cena vs. Lesnar II (III if you count the match from two and a half years ago) with Lesnar defending his title. Let’s get to it.
Instead of a pre-show match, this month we have the return of the Peep Show. Christian is a good guy this time and says it’s all about the titles. There’s one match that has peaked his interest, even though it isn’t for a title. It features his guest tonight though: Chris Jericho. There’s no jacket yet but Chris sucks up to the fans a bit before they get in a friendly argument over who came up with the name Vitamin C and who was the captain of the team.
Christian gets on Jericho for not wearing pants on his show before showing us a clip from Raw where Orton attacked Jericho to set up their match tonight. Christian calls Orton HHH’s lapdog, hamster, lackey and various other things. Randy pops up on screen and says it’s the modern Terrance and Phillip. He says Orton beat Christian up so bad that he can’t wrestle anymore and after tonight, Jericho will only be able to appear on Total Divas. Jericho says that’s a perfect set up for Orton’s show: Total Jackass. Chris lists off some snake killer names and that’s about it.
The opening video has the theme of a belt being made and of course focuses on Cena vs. Lesnar. That’s a cool concept and it worked well.
As they’re introducing the matches tonight, we see pictures of people who have held the titles before.
Tag Team Titles: Goldust/Stardust vs. Usos
The Usos are defending and Jey is just getting over a knee injury in a match against the challengers which set up this match. Goldust and Jey get things going with the champ sending the veteran down. Off to Jimmy for a running forearm in the corner, sending Goldust off to tag his brother. Stardust gets slammed down as well and a hard whip sends him into the corner.
Back to Jey for the armbar but Stardust takes him into the corner for the heels to take over. Stardust starts in on the bad leg as Lawler emphasizes titles only changing hands on a pinfall or submission. Jey rolls over and tags in his brother for a big uppercut, sending Goldust rolling out to the floor. Jimmy dives onto Stardust but Goldust gets in a powerslam to take over. Back in and Goldust puts on a chinlock on Jimmy. It doesn’t last long but a spinebuster puts Jimmy down for two.
Stardust gets the same off a neckbreaker and the Dusts stay in control. Jimmy busts up a chinlock with a jawbreaker to Stardust before sending him shoulder first into the post. A spinning kick to the head drops Goldust and the hot tag brings in Jey. Everything breaks down and Jey hits some nice dives onto the Dusts before the running Umaga attack crushes Stardust in the corner.
Young Dust pops back up and nails Dark Matter for two before tying Jey in the ropes. Stardust takes off his glove and slaps Jey for some reason, earning him a huge dive over the top to the floor. All four guys are down on the floor before Jimmy sends Stardust back inside for the Superfly Splash, only to hit knees to give Stardust the pin and the titles at 12:50.
Rating: C+. This wasn’t bad and it’s a solid choice for an opener but I’m not sure where the champions go from here. They’re so completely away from what they were that got them over in the first place that they don’t really have anywhere to go. Granted it’s not that it matters given that the Ascension are on the horizon.
Dolph Ziggler and R-Ziggler say Dolph is ready for his title defense tonight and Miz will never work in this town again.
US Title: Cesaro vs. Sheamus
Sheamus is defending and Cesaro won a #1 contenders match here. Feeling out process to start with Sheamus taking him to the mat and then ramming him face first into the buckle. The rollnig fireman’s carry gets two but Cesaro comes back with an ax handle to the head. Sheamus gets tired of this wrestling stuff and double legs Cesaro to hammer away. They head outside with Sheamus getting the better of it before getting two off the battering ram.
Sheamus goes up top but gets uppercutted out to the floor in a big crash. Back in and we hit the sleeper on Sheamus but the champion quickly fights out, only to get nailed with a hard clothesline for two. The champ comes back with a pair of Irish Curses for two of his own. Cesaro makes the mistake of rolling to the apron and gets caught with about five forearms to the chest. He quickly escapes and nails a forearm and big boot to the head, only to go up top and get slammed down for two.
The Brogue Kick misses and the big uppercut gets two for Cesaro. Sheamus comes back with a powerslam and the champion is all fired up. The Brogue Kick misses and a rollup gets two for Cesaro. The Neutralizer is countered but Cesaro lands on his feet. Sheamus loads up another Brogue but Cesaro gets underneath him for something resembling a backwards Angle Slam for a VERY close two.
Sheamus is down on his knees where Cesaro slaps him in the face. The champ is all BRING IT ON so Cesaro hits a running boot to the face and hammers away with rights and lefts in the corner. The referee pulls him away like he should, setting up the Brogue Kick for the pin to retain at 13:21.
Rating: B-. Take two big power brawlers and let them beat the tar out of each other for awhile. We’ve seen this match a few times before but at least it’s something good every single time. Neither guy really has anything going for him right now so pushing Sheamus makes as much sense as taking the title off him. That’s not a good thing.
Big Show gives Mark Henry a pep talk and says there are 308 million people in his corner. He gives Henry some American themed gear and tells him to tear Rusev’s head off.
Country band Florida Georgia Line comes out for commentary and says they’ll be at Tribute to the Troops.
Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler
Miz is challenging and these two have traded the title for the last month or so. They fight over a top wristlock to start as the regular announcers suck up to the band. Ziggler tries a Thesz Press but Miz rolls away to avoid being hit in the face. The ten elbow drops have Miz in trouble but he pops up and nails a big boot for two. A boot to a seated Dolph gets two and we hit the chinlock.
Miz walks around and stomps Ziggler a few times as the announcers keep focusing on the band. This is WCW level stuff. Ziggler blocks the running corner clothesline with a clothesline of his own and both guys are down. A Stinger Splash sets up a neckbreaker for two on Miz and a sunset flip gets the same. They fall out to the floor where Mizdow sends Dolph into the apron before beating up R-Ziggler as well.
Mizdow laughs at Florida Georgia Line so they shove him down. The stunt doubles run to the back and Ziggler gets two off a superkick back inside. The Fameasser is countered into the Figure Four but Dolph finally crawls over to the rope. He pops back up with the Fameasser for two and both guys are down. Back up and Ziggler tries a rollup but Miz rolls through and grabs the trunks for the pin and the title at 9:25.
Rating: C. You know, if you ignored all the stupid band stuff on commentary and the stunt doubles and cameras staying on commentary, you might have seen part of a pretty good match. Miz winning the title makes me smile as I’ve really been digging this Hollywood character lately. The Florida Georgia Line stuff was just stupid and WWE shouting “PAY ATTENTION TO US TMZ!”
Video on Reigns’ injury that aired on the Network yesterday. Reigns is shown in his bed and talking about his hernia. We also hear from the doctor who talks about how severe it was.
Here’s Seth Rollins for some gloating. One day you’re on top of the world and the next you’re Roman Reigns. Reigns is in a hospital but emergency surgery is no reason to not show up here tonight. However, in the interest of justice, Reigns has a ten count to make it to the ring. The referee rings the bell and counts as the fans chant for Ambrose.
We get to ten and Rollins is named winner by forfeit. Rollins insists that his hand be raised and says that he knows the people wanted to see him compete tonight. He’s disappointed that Reigns isn’t the man Rollins thought he was, but he’s also willing to give someone a chance. Rollins issues an open challenge for a match right now. You should know what’s coming from a mile away.
Dean Ambrose arrives in a cab (and the camera misses him getting out) and immediately takes Rollins into the crowd. There was no bell so this is just a brawl instead of a match for now. Dean hammers him through the crowd and backdrops his way out of a piledriver attempt. HHH sends out security to break it up but Ambrose dives off part of the set to take him down.
They head into another part of the crowd with Dean hammering away before clotheslining Seth back to ringside. Rollins tries to run but Dean picks up a chair. Security saves Rollins again and Dean has his hands tied. They carry him out with Dean swearing vengeance. The Authority leaves together. This was about all they could have done with Reigns being gone.
The expert panel (Renee, Booker T., Big Show and Alex Riley) recap the evening and make some basic predictions.
Rusev vs. Mark Henry
Lillian Garcia sings the National Anthem before the match and Henry starts crying. Henry wins the early slugout and Rusev bails to the floor. They do the same sequence again but Henry follows him out the third time. Rusev drives him into the steps to take over before hitting a running splash back inside. He puts on a side choke and things slow down a bit.
Back up and Henry hits a quick splash in the corner but can’t lift him for the World’s Strongest Slam. Rusev nails a spinwheel kick and starts in on the bad back. Henry fights out of an Accolade attempt and nails the World’s Strongest Slam out of nowhere but his back gives out. Rusev wisely rolls outside but comes back in with the running superkick. Now the Accolade goes on and Henry quickly taps at 8:35.
Rating: D. That was pretty much exactly what was expected and it really wasn’t anything interesting. No one gave Henry much of a chance here and can you really blame them? At the end of the day the Hall of Pain period was such an outlier in his career as the rest of his career has been such a mess.
We look at Lesnar’s sitdown interview from earlier this week where he says he’s here to fight.
Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho
This is the result of Orton attacking Jericho a few weeks back. They start fast with Jericho nailing a dropkick and clotheslining Orton out to the floor. Back in and Orton charges into some boots in the corner but manages to crotch Jericho on top. A superplex drops Jericho and we hit the chinlock. They head outside again with Jericho being dropped back first onto the barricade.
Jericho gets thrown over the announcers’ table for two and we’re back to the chinlock. Back up and Jericho nails a shoulder for two but walks into a powerslam for the same. The RKO is countered into a bulldog and the Lionsault gets two. Orton escapes a Walls attempt and sends Jericho shoulder first into the post.
The Punt misses and Jericho gets two off a rollup before putting on the Walls. Orton gets pulled back to the middle of the ring but he slips through the legs and kicks Jericho back to the floor. The Elevated DDT plants Chris but he counters the RKO into a Codebreaker for two. Jericho takes forever to get up top and dives into the RKO for the pin at 16:19.
Rating: B+. This was a really solid match which surprised me by the end. I don’t think the ending was really in doubt but at least they gave us an awesome match to make up for it. Odds are Jericho leaves for awhile after this and I can’t say I’m complaining. He’s getting up there in years and you can only put over so many people before it loses some of its appeal.
Paige narrates the recap video about the triple threat. Nothing much to say here: AJ and Paige have been feuding since April and Nikki is here to promote Total Divas.
Brie says Nikki shouldn’t become champion because she’ll become even more obnoxious.
Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella vs. Paige
Paige is defending. Nikki (with something resembling cornrows in part of her hair) bumps chests with the champion to start but AJ speeds things up to take over. Nikki sends AJ out to the floor and grabs a cross armbreaker on Paige. The champion fights up but AJ pulls her to the floor. AJ gets two on Paige off a spinwheel kick but Nikki comes back in to pull some hair. Paige kicks her to the floor and hugs AJ to her feet, only to nail her in the face.
Some headbutts get two on AJ until Nikki comes back in and beats up AJ a bit more. She catches AJ’s cross body but gets countered into the Black Widow. Paige makes the save and loads up a superplex until Nikki makes it a Tower of Doom. Why Nikki is down as well isn’t clear. AJ it sent to the floor but comes back in to break up a pin after Nikki’s Rack. Nikki yells at her until AJ tosses her back outside. The less annoying ones go inside again where AJ grabs the Black Widow to make AJ submit at 8:45.
Rating: C-. We’ll call this a pleasant surprise as Nikki isn’t champion and that means this is a good day. Hopefully this winds up being like last year where they tease one of the Total Divas winning forever but never actually pull the trigger. Nikki is watchable in the ring but the story with her sister just kills anything they do.
We get a by the numbers look at Lesnar vs. Cena from Summerslam.
Expert panel on the main event.
We recap the World Title match. Lesnar destroyed Cena at Summerslam so Cena has gotten all aggressive to have a chance at getting the title back tonight. Heyman has been trying to get him to embrace the hate and it went about as well as you would expect.
WWE World Heavyweight Title: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
They have over half an hour for this. Cena charges again and is immediately taken into the corner for shoulders to the ribs. Brock tries a German but Cena grabs the ropes and drops Lesnar with a clothesline. The AA gets one after forty seconds but Brock grabs the Kimura. Cena is in the ropes so Brock fires in some hard knees to the ribs. There’s the first German suplex but Cena comes back with right hands, only to get caught in another Kimura. John is right next to the ropes though and the hold is quickly broken.
Another knee to the ribs puts Cena down and a third Kimura sends Cena running to the ropes. The second suplex gets two and Brock busts out Three Amigos but Cena’s shoulders aren’t down. Brock drives some shoulders into the ribs but Cena scores with some rights and lefts. Not that they matter as Lesnar takes his head off with a clothesline. Back to the Kimura with the same result as Cena grabs the arm.
An overhead belly to belly gets two for the champion and he shrugs off more punches. Cena comes back again with rights hands and a great looking elbow to the jaw to stun Brock for a bit. The AA is countered into yet another German though and Lesnar has a bloody nose. Cena has a big bruise on his left kidney. Brock takes the gloves off and drives Cena into the buckle for even more shoulders to the ribs. Another AA connects out of nowhere for two and Lesnar is actually in trouble.
The F5 is countered and Cena grabs the STF but Lesnar easily separates the arms and puts on another Kimura. Cena powers to his feet and rams Lesnar into the buckle a few times to escape. The third AA sets up another STF and Cena drags it back to the middle of the ring. He does it again and Heyman is starting to freak out. Cena picks him up for a fourth AA but Rollins runs in with the briefcase for the DQ at 14:02.
Rating: B+. This was a much better match but the ending really drags it down. However this gives us a reason for a third match in the Cell because Cena knows he can beat him. It’s good storytelling but I don’t like this as a way to end a pay per view. They did a good job of making Lesnar seem closer to human though and that makes for great drama.
A briefcase to Cena’s head sends him to the floor and Lesnar is out. Rollins takes forever to turn around but he plants Lesnar with a Curb Stomp. He cashes in but Cena picks Rollins off before we get a bell. So there’s no cash in. Lesnar lays out Cena with an F5 and holds up the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. I’d call this show a pleasant surprise. As usual there’s hope for the future but I’m not sure how much they’re actually going to follow up on this. Cena vs. Rollins for a month before we put these two inside the Cell is fine, but I’d like to see ANYONE else get in there instead of Cena for awhile. Not that Cena vs. Lesnar is a bad match, but spread the wealth a bit. It’s a good show but the interest level is still really low.
Results
Goldust/Stardust b. Usos – Stardust pinned Jimmy after a missed Superfly Splash
Sheamus b. Cesaro – Brogue Kick
Miz b. Dolph Ziggler – Rollup with a handful of trunks
Rusev b. Mark Henry – Accolade
Randy Orton b. Chris Jericho – RKO
AJ Lee b. Paige and Nikki Bella – Black Widow to Paige
John Cena b. Brock Lesnar via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered
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I have a feeling this is going to be a shorter one as most of the matches are fairly obvious, meaning there isn’t much to say about them. That’s a bad sign too as most of the matches haven’t had a ton of effort put into them and it really isn’t all that hard to guess most of them. WWE has done a very bad job of setting up this show other than the main event and it’s going to catch up to them. Let’s get to it.
There hasn’t been a pre-show match but the rumor is the Bunny/Rose vs. Slater/O’Neil. I can live with this, but they better nail the unmasking. The rumor of Darren Young would be about as big of a letdown as you could ask for.
The main event is the only match that matters here and WWE has done a good job of making me believe Cena could pull it off. At the end of the day though, I’m hoping Lesnar holds onto the title. If not, it’s a pretty big waste of Brock’s huge push, especially when Cena doesn’t really have anyone other than Rusev to fight with. I’ll go with a double DQ though to set up the showdown in the Cell.
Since Reigns is out with the surgery, I’m hoping they go with the obvious idea of Rollins giving an open challenge and Ambrose returning for the big showdown. I’m not sure if Reigns’ condition is legit or not, but man alive it’s convenient that they did Rollins vs. Reigns on Monday, right before Ambrose is due back.
Cesaro takes the US Title, though I have no idea what he does with it.
I’d like to see Miz take the title as he’s doing very well with the character. That being said, he isn’t going any higher with it. I wouldn’t mind seeing Breeze debuting with the entourage soon though.
Unfortunately, odds are Nikki walks out with the title because for some reason the Bellas are the second biggest act on the card right now, despite the interest just not being there. Oh wait it’s to get 14 people to watch Total Divas or vice versa. I’m so glad we get to deal with this stuff. Did I mention I REALLY hate this story?
Rusev beats Henry. Duh.
I’ll take the brothers to walk out with the Tag Team Titles. I mean the brothers who paint their faces. Gah this is annoying. The Dusts win the titles and maybe we finally find out what the Cosmic Key is.
Orton beats Jericho. Does ANYONE care about this match?
Night of Champions is one of the least interesting cards I’ve seen in a very long time. This company just has no energy anymore and hasn’t since Summerslam was over. WWE has put in almost no effort to the show and it’s clear that they’re not interested in trying hard for this one. This is the really bad fall lull and we’ve got a few more months of it to go before things start getting better. Maybe some of the NXT guys can breathe life into the company but I wouldn’t bet on it right now. Lesnar vs. Cena should be good though.
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Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: September 15, 2014
This week’s episode of Raw was the final push to the Night of Champions PPV, meaning the whole show was really about one thing because that’s all this pay per view is going to be about. The interesting thing about this show was the structure which we’ll focus on as a whole later on. Let’s get to it.
We opened with the big story of the week as Heyman came to the ring but Cena showed up, ready to fight Brock Lesnar. This led to Cena promising to back up his threat from last week, giving Heyman “until halftime” to produce Lesnar. Later in the show, Cena would lock Heyman in a room with Great Khali standing guard.
This was the interesting structure that I was talking about: when Cena said halftime, he meant halftime of the Monday Night Football game. Eventually, right around halftime of the game, Cena brought Heyman out and threatened to beat the tar out of him unless Lesnar showed up. Heyman bought time by saying that he had wanted Cena to be violent and aggressive, which could make him a Paul Heyman Guy. He begged Cena to embrace the hate one time and finally got Cena to shove him by talking about Cena’s mom.
Lesnar came out immediately and circled the ring before actually getting in and suplexing Cena out to the floor. John got back in and had a fight with Lesnar, actually getting the better of him on the floor. This was intense, violent and exactly what the match on Sunday needed. It made me believe that Cena could win the match, even though I don’t think there’s a real chance of him getting the belt back, at least not yet.
Putting this on during halftime of the football game was the right idea, as WWE could have Hulk Hoga vs. Undertaker vs. Cena vs. Austin vs. Rock in a first blood Hell in a Cell Iron Man match and not beat Monday Night Football. Why would WWE try to win a fight where they have no chance? Instead they made sure to get the biggest audience possible which was a good idea in theory, even though it doesn’t seem to have played out that well in the numbers. That being said, I like that they’re actually trying something different instead of doing the same stupid stuff over and over again.
We’ll jump back to the stuff in between the opening and the showdown. The first match saw Jericho beat Kane in a nothing match after sending him face first into an exposed turnbuckle. Kane is worthless at this point and I have no interest in seeing him do anything on TV anymore. MAYBE have him talk but leave the wrestling to people that can still move. Jericho wasn’t much better either and thankfully he’s wrapping up his run this Sunday.
Roman Reigns promises to end Rollins tonight.
Jack Swagger made Bo Dallas tap out. Nothing to see here but you would think this might have been the pre-show match on Sunday.
Paige and Nikki Bella beat Brie Bella and AJ with Nikki destroying Brie for most of the match. This was just a way for the sisters to argue post match and Paige and AJ to do their “mind games”, whatever they’re supposed to be.
Bray did his stuff about Big Show before Show beat him by DQ. Wyatt got to show off a bit but Harper ran in for the save. This was another waste of Bray but at least it wasn’t a clean pin. I have a bad feeling we’re setting up yet another Big Show push that no one wants to see and a match that he has no chance of winning. I mean, Lesnar beat him in just over two minutes at the Royal Rumble. How can WWE believe that’s something worth headlining another show?
Sheamus and the Usos beat Cesaro and the Dusts in your standard “take two feuds and call me in the morning” match. There isn’t much to talk about with this one but it wasn’t bad.
Orton promises to give Jerichot he beating of his life on Sunday. That would be the third or fourth time he’s done so.
Naomi beat Cameron after Cameron tried to cover Naomi when her face was on the mat. I really hope it’s character schtick but I have a bad feeling it isn’t. Just let Naomi be the athletic freak of the division like she should be instead of making her do this Total Divas nonsense.
Dolph Ziggler and R-Truth beat the Miz and Damien Sandow in the same match they had on Smackdown, minus most of the comedy and with Miz taking the fall instead of Sandow.
Rollins pretended to be a neanderthal like Reigns.
Reigns then beat Rollins in a good match that is going to happen again on Sunday. Why that’s the case is beyond me but WWE hasn’t made a ton of sense in a few weeks now.
The big closing segment was Mark Henry rallying America before his match with Rusev on Sunday. Again I’m assuming this is their way of giving up the night to the NFL, but they could have had Reigns vs. Rollins close the show instead of this. The viewership plummeted for this segment and I can’t imagine anyone was surprised.
Raw this week had the same problems it’s had for a long time now: there’s clearly no effort other than with Cena vs. Lesnar. Not that that wrestlers aren’t trying, but they’re being given nothing to work with. Everything feels meaningless coming into Sunday outside of the main event and that’s not good. This is the annual fall lull and it really doesn’t make me care about the product. There’s a house show this weekend five minutes from my house and a main event of Cena vs. Kane isn’t enough to make me go. The show was watchable but nothing I’m going to remember by Friday.
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Monday Night Raw – September 15, 2014: The New Battle Plan
Monday Night Raw Date: September 15, 2014
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler
It’s the go home show for Night of Champions and the World Champion is in the building. Last week a fired up John Cena called out Lesnar to appear here tonight, threatening Paul Heyman with violence if Brock didn’t show up. It should be interesting to see Cena get his hands on Lesnar to put a seed of doubt in Brock for Sunday. Let’s get to it.
We open with Heyman in the ring for his weekly address. He talks about Cena coming to the ring (complete with singing Cena’s music) and waving to the fans before Brock comes out to kill. Cena cuts Paul off before he can get much further and has the black shorts on so you know he’s serious. John asks where Brock is and Heyman starts panicking. If Brock isn’t here then Heyman is taking Lesnar’s beating.
Heyman gets some cheap pops from the crowd and talks a lot, seemingly stalling for time. He points to the entrance and Cena is ready but Heyman starts laughing. Brock flies on a private plane because he doesn’t like anyone and the plane is delayed. He’ll be here tonight but not until later. Heyman thinks Cena knew Brock was late though because he knows what’s coming when Lesnar arrives.
Paul applauds Cena for being a hero and tries to leave but John grabs him by the neck. Cena doesn’t buy what Heyman said and give Heyman until the show is half done to produce Lesnar. Heyman goes to leave but Cena cuts him off because he doesn’t trust Paul. He’s guaranteed these people a fight and grabs Heyman in a headlock to drag him to the back.
We look back at the Authority beating down Reigns to end last week’s show.
After a break we see Cena taking Heyman into his dressing room and having Great Khali guard the door.
Kane vs. Chris Jericho
Jericho quickly low bridges Kane to the floor and nails a big dive. Kane pops up and uppercuts Jericho down before sending him into the steps. Back in and Jericho gets two off an enziguri and slaps on a cravate. That’s fine with Kane who sends him out to the floor and we take a break. Back with Jericho hitting a middle rope missile dropkick but not being able to follow up. Kane knocks him right back down and puts on another chinlock. The sideslam gets two on Jericho but he dropkicks Kane out of midair on the clothesline attempt.
There’s a top rope ax handle to put the big man in trouble. Jericho hammers away in the corner and gets two off a high cross body. A turnbuckle pad was pulled off somewhere in there. The Walls are easily countered but Jericho bulldogs him down. Kane blocks the Lionsault with a chokeslam attempt but Jericho sends him face first into the exposed buckle for the pin at 13:20.
Rating: D+. Kane is just slow at this point and it’s getting to be a major problem. He isn’t terrible yet but that seems to be the way its trending. There’s only so much you can do when age catches up with you and unfortunately Kane’s in ring abilities aren’t going to be enough to make up for the change.
Heyman tries to call Lesnar.
We look back at Rusev attacking Henry on Smackdown. Some Olympians wish Henry luck in rallying America tonight.
Roman Reigns looks at Rollins turning on him a few months back and says this ends tonight.
Jack Swagger vs. Bo Dallas
Jack drives him into the corner to start but Bo fights back with right hands. Dallas takes him down and puts on a chinlock as the fans aren’t sure what they want to chant. Jack fights up and is put right back in the chinlock. Another attempt at a comeback with a belly to back suplex works but Bo gets two more off a neckbreaker. Dallas misses a middle rope knee drop and Jack makes his real comeback with shoulders in the corner. The Vader Bomb doesn’t get to launch as Dallas rolls to the apron and snaps Jack’s neck across the top rope. Jack rolls through a sunset flip and puts on the Patriot Lock for the submission at 6:00.
Rating: C-. This was an interesting match and I’m surprised Swagger won clean. Bo tapping out is a questionable choice but his gimmick should be fine as he just has to ignore what happened and keep coming back with the same stuff over and over again. It looks like his major push is over though.
The announcers hype up the Network’s schedule for the week.
We look back at the Springer segment from last week.
Nikki Bella/Paige vs. Brie Bella/AJ Lee
Brie’s new music starts off with the words Brie Mode. So she’s going to be drunk and dance a lot? Nikki starts with her sister but tags out before there’s any contact like a heel should. Paige drives knees into Brie’s ribs to take over and mocks AJ for not being able to make a tag. Brie gets in a quick rollup for two so Paige headbutts her down. A jawbreaker almost allows the hot tag but Nikki takes AJ down. The Rampaige pins Brie at 2:58.
Post match Nikki lays her sister out while the other girls have a skip off.
We look at Big Show stopping Bray Wyatt from making it to the ring on Smackdown.
Bray talks about David slaying Goliath but the giant still lives today in the form of misery and sorrow. Bray has been left with the burden of having to fix everything. He’ll fix the Big Show. Follow the Buzzards.
Heyman tries to leave because he can’t get cell reception. Khali takes the phone and breaks it before throwing Heyman back inside. He picks up the phone and tries to call someone to no avail. This was a waste of time.
Bray Wyatt vs. Big Show
Wyatt hammers away to start but Show shoves him into the corner. The chop is loaded up but Bray shoves him off, only to make Show chop him even harder. Bray hits some corner splashes and stops himself before charging into Show’s boot. A kind of jawbreaker to the ankle and a clothesline have Big Show in trouble. Bray DDTs him for two and we hit the chinlock to slow things down. Show suplexes him way out and nails some clotheslines but Bray hits his cross body for two. Rowan gets on the apron but Bray is whipped into his minion. Big Show nails the Final Cut on Bray but Harper runs in for the DQ at 4:49.
Rating: D+. That could have been far worse. Bray losing by DQ is far better than him losing via pinfall for the sake of the annual “build up Big Show for a match he has no chance of winning” title shot and there was a legitimate chance he could have kicked out anyway. In theory this could be a match on Sunday as I don’t think either guy has anything to do at the moment.
Show chokeslams Harper and Rowan post match, making Bray laugh.
Cesaro/Goldust/Stardust vs. Usos/Sheamus
That’s quite the odd heel partnership. Sheamus and Goldust get things going with the threat of a Brogue Kick sending Goldust out to the floor. Stardust goes to check on him and meows for…..luck I guess? Back in and Jey comes off the top to go after the arm but Goldust drives him into the corner for a tag to Stardust. Cesaro grabs Jey from the apron for ten forearms to the chest.
Jey shrugs it off and tags in Jimmy to clean house with a Samoan drop to Goldust. Off to Stardust with a shot to the head for two before throwing Jimmy to the floor. Back from a break with Cesaro dancing a jig and getting two off a double stomp to Jimmy. A gutwrench suplex puts Jimmy down and it’s off to Stardust for some shots in the corner. Back to Cesaro who poses a lot and puts on a front facelock.
Jimmy powers out and makes the hot tag to Sheamus who immediately cleans house. Cesaro gets caught in a series of forearms to the chest but Stardust makes the save with a rollup. Sheamus knocks both of them to the floor and hits the battering ram off the top. Back in and Sheamus Brogue Kicks Stardust but walks into the Neutralizer. Jimmy makes a last second save and superkicks Cesaro down, setting up the Superfly Splash from Jey for the pin at 13:10.
Rating: C. Nice six man here and there’s nothing wrong with putting two feuds together into a single match. I’m not wild on Cesaro taking a fall but they back themselves into a corner with the booking here. There wasn’t a good way to end the match with a pin but at least the action before the pin was good.
We look at Ambrose being put out of action last month.
Orton says he had to attack Jericho last week because Jericho said Orton has been handed everything in WWE. This Sunday, Jericho gets the beating of his life.
Cena thanks Khali and drags Heyman to the ring. He says produce the beast or be ready to lose your teeth. Heyman starts talking and says this is the beast that he’s been trying to drag out of Cena but he knows Cena won’t be ready on Sunday. Paul has been trying to get Cena to become the beast that can stop the beast of Brock but Cena just can’t do it because of his inner code. Heyman says Cena can’t be a bully because Cena can’t even punch him in the face when Heyman deserves it. That means Cena will never be champion again because he can’t beat Brock Lesnar.
John takes the mic from him and says if there was a human being that deserves to have his face rearranged, it’s Heyman. Paul says do it and become a Paul Heyman Guy but Cena still won’t do it. Cena is about to leave but Paul plays his ace and says Cena’s mother raised a son with some testicular fortitude. That’s enough for Cena as he shoves Heyman to the floor…..and here’s Brock.
Cena is all fired up and wants a piece but Lesnar calmly walks around the ring. He takes the belt off but just puts it over his shoulder. They start walking off but Brock hands the title to Heyman. Cena says let’s go and Brock walks to the ring and gets on the apron. He actually gets in and the fight is on. Brock puts Cena down with a release German suplex and kicks him to the floor with ease. John gets up and knocks Brock to the floor. Brock is sent into the apron and barricade before they fight on the ground. Lesnar covers up until security drags them apart. The champion leaves and might have a busted up nose.
Cameron vs. Naomi
This is based on something that happened on Total Divas last night, which still happened at least two months ago as Daniel Bryan’s neck surgery was announced on the same episode. Naomi gets tired of waiting on Cameron to look in her mirror and goes after her, only to be sent to the floor when trying her stupid hip shake headscissors. Cameron gets two (after trying to cover Naomi with her face down) off a snap suplex before cranking on Naomi’s arms. Back up and Naomi grabs a sunset flip before putting on a freaky looking leg choke for the submission at 4:32.
Rating: D. The bad is almost all on Naomi here as she can’t eve cover someone right. Do you have any idea how hard it is to not be able to cover someone the right way? Kamala used to do that with the gimmick of being a savage that didn’t know what he was doing. The problem is Cameron is supposed to be a competent wrestler and looks that dumb in the process.
Yeah it might be character, but when her development is on Total Divas and consists of dancing, looking at a camera and talking about “chingle chingle” (the scene where Bryan tries to have a conversation with her is hysterical), it’s hard to buy it as being put on. Naomi was trying here and has something with that choke though.
Dolph Ziggler/R-Ziggler vs. Miz/Damien Mizdow
They did this on Smackdown already as R-Truth is playing Dolph’s stunt double, down to the same gear and moveset. The joke though is no one can tell them apart (JBL: “Like the Beverly Brothers!” Old school fans will get why that’s funny) and the announcers play it seriously. Ziggler works on Sandow to start before it’s off to Truth for stereo elbows.
Truth gets taken down by Miz and it’s off to Mizdow as the announcers can’t tell them apart either. Truth finally escapes Miz and makes the diving tag to Ziggler. Miz gets two off a quick rollup but gets caught in the Fameasser for two. Everything breaks down and Miz hits his partner, allowing Dolph to hit the Zig Zag for the pin at 5:08. Oddly enough Lawler was cheering for Miz and Mizdow.
Rating: D. This is another reason why I regret watching Smackdown. Not only did they do this EXACT SAME JOKE over there, but the idea was fresher and better because it was the first time. It also helped that Sandow took the pin instead of Miz, meaning it didn’t affect the title match on Sunday. I’m hoping Miz wins the title as I’m liking this Hollywood star character.
Rollins won’t take anything away from Reigns but Roman is nothing without him. He calls Reigns a neanderthal and imitates Roman walking on his knuckles like a gorilla. Reigns is part gorilla, part Samoan and part rhinoceros. A rhinoceros is one of the most powerful animals in the world but they’re not that smart. Tonight Rollins is going to show Reigns why he led the Shield.
Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
Don’t these two already have a match at Night of Champions? Seth speeds things up to start and snaps Roman’s throat across the top rope. A hard clothesline sends Rollins running to the floor but Roman catches him trying to come back in and sends him face first onto the concrete. Back in and another shot puts Rollins on the floor as Reigns is dominating. Rollins is thrown over the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Reigns missing the Apron Kick and getting caught by a suicide dive into the barricade.
Reigns quickly fights back and nails him in the face before hitting the Apron Kick. The Superman Punch looks to set up the spear but Seth leapfrogs him and nails a low superkick for two. Back up and Seth tries what looks like a Pedigree off the top but gets countered into a slow motion backdrop, only to have Rollins catch him in an impressive running buckle bomb across the ring for two more. Reigns gets back up, ducks a charge and hits the spear for the pin at 11:23.
Rating: B-. The match was good but why in the world do you have this match in full with a clean ending before they have the same match six days later? That’s some very odd booking and a sign that they don’t have enough people to fill in a three hour show every week. This is even worse when you consider how many people they have on the roster but how few they put any effort into.
We recap Cena vs. Lesnar as 11pm passes.
It’s time for Henry to rally America before his match on Sunday. He talks about having a second chance to represent the United States after he was injured at the Olympics. For all the fans waving the American flag, he can’t let you down. Henry says Lana couldn’t make all her statements without living in America, so here are Lana and Rusev to cut him off. Lana says American intelligence is dropping faster than President Obama’s approval ratings.
She brings up Henry competing in the 1992 Olympic Games but Russia actually won that year. We get a picture of that year’s winner and Lana goes on about how Henry fakes his injury in 1996 to avoid being defeated again. Henry tries the Pledge of Allegiance but Rusev comes in for the brawl. Rusev kicks him down but Henry powers out of the Accolade and chokebombs the Russian. Old Glory is waved to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. Very strange choices in the last twenty minutes aside, this was an interesting episode. It seemed like they were trying to book around Monday Night Football as Cena kept using the word halftime when talking about Heyman. I wasn’t looking at the clock, but I would bet that the segment took place during halftime of the football game. If that’s true, it’s one of the smartest things WWE has done in a long time.
WWE cannot contend with the NFL, so don’t try to. Don’t put some big moment at the beginning of the show, because fans are going to pick the football every time due to lesser interest, the ton of recaps and the bunch of other shows you can see the segment on again during the week. By putting it on when there’s no choice to be made, you ensure the far bigger audience is available. That’s actually thinking for a change instead of just ramming your head into a wall and being surprised when the wall doesn’t move.
The ending segment was a very odd choice, but I’d assume it’s the same mentality: why try to fight the NFL with a big segment when it’s going to be wasted? As I’m writing this, the game is a tie in the fourth quarter so it looks like WWE is playing it smart. The show was good overall and I’m liking some of the stuff I’m seeing anymore. I’m still leaning towards Lesnar on Sunday, but there’s actual doubt there now and that was the goal of this show. Good stuff tonight with a lot of the dumb being cut out and replaced with entertainment.
Results
Chris Jericho b. Kane – Rollup
Jack Swagger b. Bo Dallas – Patriot Lock
Nikki Bella/Paige b. Brie Bella/AJ Lee – Rampaige to Brie
Big Show b. Bray Wyatt via DQ when Luke Harper interfered
Sheamus/Usos b. Stardust/Goldust/Cesaro – Superfly Splash to Cesaro
Naomi b. Cameron – Leg choke
Roman Reigns b. Seth Rollins – Spear
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Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: September 8, 2014
This was a special episode billed as the season premiere. For those of you new to wrestling, that would be WWE code for “AHHH!!! MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL IS BACK AND OUR SHOW SUCKS!!!” WWE had a few weapons to fight the NFL, including Jericho vs. Wyatt in a cage, Orton vs. Reigns II and Jerry Springer, because Vince continues to be out of touch with reality. Let’s get to it.
We opened with a very good cage match between Wyatt and Jericho with Jericho hitting a huge dive off the top of the cage (and possibly breaking his toe in the process) for the big spot. He also tweaked his knee in the process though, allowing Bray to pound on it enough to escape. This was a better match than I was expecting and seems to completely write off the feud. Bray got to look evil and won almost entirely clean, save for the Family blocking Jericho from climbing down at one point. Bray needs to move up a notch with his next feud and a midcard title might be just the ticket.
Orton asked for and received permission to do something evil tonight. This would wind up being attacking Jericho in the trainer’s room, likely setting up a placeholder match for both guys at Night of Champions.
Time for the WWE’s favorite comic idea: fake pictures of a wrestler. This is their jab at the massive celebrity photo leak ordeal from a few weeks ago, because nothing makes me want to cheer someone more than mocking crime. The idea was Ziggler had photos of Miz, including Miz in a facial mask and getting his chest shaved. After Miz and Sandow came out for a brawl, Ziggler showed us the last one: Sandow spray tanning a less than clothed Miz. The segment probably made Vince laugh but I just don’t get it. They’re not offensively bad or anything but the joke doesn’t get more than the occasional chuckle from me.
Paige and AJ Lee beat Natalya/Rosa Mendes in the first Total Divas commercial of the week. The idea here is neither team could get along, but at the end of the day Rosa just isn’t very good and it caught up with her team. Apparently Natalya has taken Rosa under her wing, even though this story should have taken place about four months ago under the Total Divas timeline and we’re just now hearing about it. AJ and Paige both kissed the title belt post match.
Next up was the big segment of the week with Cena talking about how awesome he was before Heyman interrupted and tried to turn John to the dark side, saying it was the only way Cena could beat Lesnar. Paul explained that if Cena finally told the fans to shut up when they were booing him and saying CENA SUCKS that he would be able to take Lesnar out and get his title back. Cena teased it for a bit before going off on Heyman, talking about how he would never give up on what he believed in. He capped it off by telling Heyman to have Lesnar come here next week for a fight, or Cena will beat on Heyman instead.
This was a fifteen or twenty minute back for forth segment between two guys that are born to talk on a mic. The whole thing worked perfectly and Cena finally going toe to toe with Lesnar again next week is going to rock. They’ve done a good job of making me want to see Cena try his luck against Lesnar again, but the interesting part is going to be Cena dealing with better than his best not being good enough to stop Lesnar. They were getting close to this with Bray at Wrestlemania but it didn’t really go anywhere. This has potential though as Cena tries to define his legacy before he finally rides off.
Cesaro cost Sheamus a match against Rollins. There isn’t much to see here and the match wasn’t all that good. Cesaro beat Sheamus up post match to cap things off. It’s nothing new but this is one of the better builds they’ve had to a midcard title match in a long time. Unfortunately they’ve run this match so many times before that I don’t have much of an interest in this showdown. It’s the danger of running the same matches over and over again on TV.
Lana and Rusev did their thing. Nothing to see here, save for Lana of course.
Now we got to one of my favorite parts of the show: an NXT showcase match with Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn beating Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd. The interesting thing here was the commentary, as the announcers spent the entire five minute match hyping up the Takeover special and treating this like the only thing that mattered in the world. I know they can’t do that all the time but it was very nice for a change. Neville blew the crowd up with the Red Arrow for the pin on Breeze.
The stupid segment of the night was the Jerry Springer summit with the Bellas. This was basically a way to show clips from Total Divas and have the Bellas’ parents and brother talk about how horrible this fight was. The girls fought and Springer got taken down in the brawl. Here’s the good part though: this was the ONLY Bellas segment of the night and it made all the difference in the world. If they have to do this stupid story then so be it, but don’t make me sit through five segments a week. I can live with something like this where they’re out there like ten minutes total.
The Dusts beat Los Matadores in a nothing match but the Usos took them out post match.
Adam Rose beat Titus O’Neil. The story here was the Bunny, who superkicked Slater and hit a Superfly Splash after the match. I could go for an unmasking story.
Orton and Reigns had a good twenty minute match until Kane and Rollins came in for the DQ. There isn’t much to say about the match as a lot of it was the same as Summerslam, meaning it was good stuff. I like the booking though as there’s no need to have Orton lose clean twice in a row and Reigns already has the big win over Randy so there’s no need to do it again.
Post match Rollins and Kane had the cage lowered (with Rollins nearly getting stabbed by one of the poles in a genuinely scary moment) and Reigns, after fighting back for a bit, taking the Curb Stomp on a chair to end the show. This is the kind of adversity Reigns needs to face on his rise. It’s ok to have him get beaten down as long as he comes back and wins the big match in the end.
Raw this week was WAY easier to sit through as they kept the Bellas stuff contained to a single segment. That’s been the biggest complaint in the last few weeks and the show was much better once that was solved. The show wasn’t the best in the world, but after things have been this boring for so long, I’ll gladly take an ok show.
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