Monday Night Raw – July 5, 1999: History Begins

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 5, 1999
Location: Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Attendance: 8,227
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

So Austin is the champion again and that means it’s…well it’s probably exactly the same thing that we’ve been having for months now but with a different champion at the top. Honestly you can never guess what’s coming on these insane shows but I have a feeling Vince McMahon is going to be up to some shenanigans. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s title change. You can hear the ratings climbing again. Undertaker wants a First Blood rematch. I’m guessing he requested that on Heat?

Opening sequence.

Here’s Austin to open things up. He may have been bleeding last week but he got the job done. Vince McMahon may have spent four months trying to take the WWF Title away from Austin but last week he crumpled those plans up and put them….uh….well you get the idea. The First Blood match is on for Fully Loaded and he hasn’t forgotten Undertaker busting him open last year against Kane.

Cue Vince to say that’s not happening. Austin cuts him off by saying his hair isn’t so good and Vince has 15,000 people calling him an a******. One of them has to go and go for good and Vince is willing to bet on the Undertaker to get rid of Austin. He’ll even let Austin’s attorneys draw up the contract. The only rules are that if Austin wins, Vince is done with him but if Austin loses, he never gets another title shot ever.

The thought of Austin as the champion makes Vince want to vomit and something has to be done about him. Either way, this is going to be the end of an era and if Austin wins, Vince is gone for good. Austin says deal, just so he can get rid of Vince. This was kind of long (standard around here) and there has to be something up on Vince’s part, which is the whole point of the thing.

Rock is cool with the idea of being locked in a cage with HHH because HHH is nothing to be scared of. Before he goes any further though, Michael Cole’s face needs to be covered by Rock’s new shirt. I mean, he’s got a point. Anyway HHH doesn’t know what he’s in for tonight because Rock emits electricity. As for Billy Gunn (To Cole: “Keep your head still jabroni.”), he’s still nothing so Rock is here to electrify as only he can. The energy is there but he doesn’t have his classic cadence just yet.

Tag Team Titles: Acolytes vs. Hardy Boyz

The Hardys are challenging and have Michael Hayes in their corner. Bradshaw is coming in with a bad neck after taking a Tombstone onto the steps last night. It’s a brawl to start with the Hardys’ dives before the bell not working so well. Jeff gets sent into the steps but Matt grabs a neckbreaker to put Faarooq down. The top rope splash/legdrop combination gets two but Faarooq plants Matt with a spinebuster.

Bradshaw comes in and hammers away, including catching Matt’s high crossbody. Jeff is right there with a dropkick to Matt’s back to knock both of them down so Faarooq comes in to beat Jeff down as well. A DDT gets two of Faarooq though and Jeff kicks Bradshaw in the face. That just earns Matt a Clothesline for two as the champs just can’t get rid of these guys. Everything breaks down and Hayes throws Jeff his cane to crack Bradshaw in the head. Matt’s tornado DDT is good for the pin and the titles in a huge upset.

Rating: D. The match was all kinds of sloppy but this was one of the biggest upsets in Raw history. I know the Hardys would move on to become one of the most successful teams of all time but at this point they were two nothing guys who were mostly interchangeable with each other. You have to start them somewhere though and maybe the Hardys can go somewhere. Way down the line. If ever.

Post break the Hardys and Hayes can’t believe they won but the feed breaks up, sending us over to GTV where Droz and Prince Albert are in drag with Droz saying it feels sexy. Well that was stupid.

Gangrel vs. Godfather

Gangrel isn’t happy with Godfather, who seemed to let Edge have some of the ladies for helping him out recently. Speaking of the ladies, Godfather has two of them here and one of them is none other than Lita. Actually hang on as Godfather wants Val to come out here, followed by Albert and Droz. Thankfully JR is there to explain that they’re dressed like women due to losing a match to Godfather and Venis. That doesn’t make it better, but at least it’s there. Droz is way too happy to be in the clothes and you can hear Russo laughing from here.

Gangrel jumps Godfather and there’s a clip with Godfather suddenly facing the other way. I wonder how bad that could have been. A spinwheel kick puts Godfather down but Gangrel misses a charge. Godfather misses a legdrop, avoids an elbow, and drops the leg for the pin. What an odd little match.

Post match Albert and Droz jump Godfather and Venis with Gangrel joining in. Edge and Christian come out to ask Gangrel what he’s doing but don’t bother to help Val.

Stephanie tells Test to be careful.

Test vs. Joey Abs

Joey jumps him before the match but gets kicked in the face for his efforts. The gutwrench powerbomb takes Joey down again but here’s Shane dragging Stephanie to the ring as the rest of the Mean Street Posse comes in to beat Test down.

Stephanie has to watch the beatdown. Shane glares at her as he leaves.

Chyna is furious that someone has vandalized her “beloved” car, thinking it was DX. The DX painted on the car would suggest she’s right. She tells the cops that either they can deal with it or she will.

Hardcore Title: Al Snow vs. D’Lo Brown

Brown is challenging and spends a lot of time talking trash, allowing Snow to come in and hit him in the head with a cookie sheet. They head to the floor and into the crowd with Snow breaking a broom over his back. Brown punches him up an escalator with some kid trying to run up the other side and screaming about the fight. Snow falls back down (at least on the proper side) and Brown chokes him with a pay phone. JR: “Somebody better call 1-800-Collect!” Brown: “Next time, call 1-800-Collect!”

They go through another door (thankfully with the camera running up to them instead of being ready for them) where Brown hits him with a shovel. It’s off to catering with Brown hitting the Low Down onto Snow onto a table, which of course doesn’t move because it’s a real table. Brown whips him through a standing table but Mideon pops up for no apparent reason to hit D’Lo and give Snow a breather. Snow puts Brown on a table and uses a forklift to get in the air for a splash to retain.

Rating: D. These matches are still entertaining, even if they’re this stupid. The best parts of the matches is to have them go through the back and see what toys they can find so the phone part was the highlight of the whole shindig. Snow was the most entertaining of the hardcore guys so this was as good as it was going to get. The Mideon thing isn’t likely to go anywhere but that has to happen at least three times a show.

Mideon walks by and looks at Brown.

The cops are looking for X-Pac and Road Dogg and Fink tells them where to go.

Road Dogg vs. Val Venis

So the cops around here suck. Val is banged up from earlier and doesn’t even do his catchphrase. A missed charge lets Val stomp away in the corner and he hits his running knees against the ropes. Val hits the Russian legsweep and hits the hip swivel, setting up a butterfly suplex for two. Dogg is right back with the shaky jabs but here are the cops with X-Pac in handcuffs. They arrest Dogg as well for one of the weirdest no contests you’ll ever see.

Chyna and Billy Gunn are very pleased with these results.

DX is put in the squad car.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Chaz

Chaz is challenging in case you’re rather slow. The fans want puppies but settle for an exchange of wristlocks instead. Chaz gets in a shot in the corner and powerslams Jeff for two. Debra offers the puppies so Chaz’s girlfriend Marianna goes over to yell, allowing Jeff to hit the Stroke to retain in a hurry.

Post match Jarrett goes for the guitar but Thrasher runs in for the save. What a moment.

Edge vs. Big Boss Man

Boss Man powers him into the corner to start but gets drop toeholded down as the pace picks up. A missile dropkick gives Edge two but Boss Man hits a splash for three two’s. Edge is right back with a spear (not a good one either) for the fast pin.

Post match Boss Man hits him with the nightstick and cuffs him to the ropes for a beating. Christian runs in for the save but gets the same treatment as Edge. There is no Gangrel in sight and the post match angle was longer than the match.

Chyna is going to press charges. HHH is ready to beat up Rock but wants to know where it’s going to get him.

Billy Gunn vs. Meat

Chyna and PMS are here too. Gunn jumps him before the bell but Meat hits a layout F5 for two. Not that it matters as a Jackhammer sets up the Fameasser (with Gunn getting a heck of a jump) for the pin.

Post match Jacqueline yells at Gunn and gets dropped by Chyna. Gunn spray paints Ryan Shamrock (JR: “This spray painting idea is really original.”) and Chyna helps him do the same to Jacqueline and Meat, with JR thinking Chyna might have painted her own car while making more NWO references. This is another story that feels like it has a bunch of twists and turns, including starting and paying off a twist in the span of forty minutes.

Kane vs. Big Show/Hardcore Holly

Holly tells Show to start for the team so Kane dropkicks Show in the chest, only to be powerslammed for his efforts. Now Holly is willing to come in to pound away in the corner and dropkick the knee. Cue Undertaker and Paul Bearer for a staredown with Show, leaving Kane to chokeslam Holly for the fast pin.

Post match Kan and Undertaker beat Show down. Kane leaves and Undertaker chairs Show in the head as Kane isn’t sure what to do.

HHH vs. The Rock

Inside a cage with escape only. They slug it out to start with Rock getting the better of it until a kick to the ribs cuts him off. Some right hands in the corner keep Rock down but he gets in a kick of his own. Stomping ensues but the jumping knee to the face takes Rock down. HHH goes for the door but would rather get some handcuffs from Chyna to hit Rock in the head. A low blow prevents Rock from being attached to the cage but HHH is right back with a swinging neckbreaker.

It’s still too early for HHH to get out though and it’s something like an armdrag off the top of the cage. Rock goes for the door but of course Chyna shoves the referee down, slams the door on Rock’s head, gets called a Jezebel by JR, and gets inside to help HHH out. Rock follows him though and things keep going because there’s no referee. HHH gets catapulted into the cage and they head back inside as the match pretty much restarts.

A few rams into the cage and a DDT have HHH in trouble, followed by a top rope ax handle of all things. HHH is back up and hits a hard clothesline but takes too long getting up. They both wind up on top for the slugout until Chyna hands HHH a chair for a hard shot to the head. For no logical reason, HHH comes back inside and crotches himself on the ropes, leaving Rock to climb down for the win.

Rating: C-. This was a pretty messy match and felt more like a big time house show match than a TV main event. That being said, Rock vs. HHH is always worth at least a look and that was the case again here. Rock winning is fine as a way to send the fans home happy and HHH technically won so he has a bragging point for later.

Post match here’s Gunn for a Fameasser to Rock on the floor and a double beatdown ends the show.

Overall Rating: D. As usual, there’s no much going on here that it’s almost impossible to keep track of everything going on. They set up the title match for the pay per view but other than that, it’s a bunch of stuff that feels like it’s being thrown at the wall instead of trying to have anything coherent going on. In other words, it’s very Russo. The title change would wind up being historic but there was no knowing what it would mean at this point. Overall there are worse shows from the era, but the DX angle isn’t working and the wrestling was barely there, as always.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – May 17, 2004: What Smackdown Can’t Do

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 17, 2004
Location: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California
Attendance: 5,600
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re less than a month away from Bad Blood and we need a card. That can get started tonight with the naming of a new #1 contender, who will be crowned in a battle royal. The winner gets a shot at Chris Benoit and while HHH seems very interested in winning, Shawn Michaels is likely to be lurking around. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Trish Stratus vs. Lita

Fallout from Trish being horrible to Lita last week and pretending Kane was coming. Trish feigns an apology and gets punched in the face several times. A missed charge lets Trish take her down by the hair but is back with right hands and a headscissors. Trish hot shots her down and chokes a bit, though does stop to sneer at the referee. The announcers debate Trish’s levels of wholesomeness as the Chick Kick is blocked into a rollup for two.

Lita fights out of a chinlock but gets spinebustered back down into the same hold. That earns Trish some suplexes (Lita isn’t a chinlock fan) and a reverse Twist of Fate but here’s Kane on the screen. A few mentions of her name are enough for Trish to grab a rollup for the pin.

Rating: D+. The always stupid ending didn’t help things but they were trying for the most part. These two work well together and feel like the biggest match in the division, but they haven’t hit the level you would be expecting from two legends like them. That being said, compare it to Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie from the previous night and you get some more of the praise.

Post match Kane says he wants Lita’s yes or no tonight.

Here’s Randy Orton for a chat. He beat Mick Foley twice and then last week he beat Edge. Tonight, he’s going to beat Benoit and Edge to become a double champion. However, tonight is all about Evolution and HHH, because HHH is winning the battle royal with Orton’s help. Orton says there is no stopping Evolution and HHH but here’s Shelton Benjamin to disagree (With his music saying there’s actually no stopping him rather than Evolution. I guess he thought Orton was confused.).

How can HHH be the best when Benjamin has beaten him twice? Orton says it was luck and one day, luck would run out. Shelton is no match for either himself or HHH but Shelton doesn’t see it that way. The challenge is thrown out but Orton says no, because he’s not soiling the title by defending it against the likes of him. Shelton beats him up for a few seconds until Ric Flair comes down and gets Orton out.

William Regal is congratulating Eugene on his win last week when Eugene steals his nose. Regal: “Very good now can I have it back?” Eugene wants another match when Eric Bischoff comes up to talk to Regal. As Eugene plays with whatever he can find in a bucket (including two bowling pins and a fire extinguisher), Regal apologizes for not having Eugene lose last week. Bischoff has an idea for Eugene tonight and all Regal has to do is make sure he’s at ringside for an interview alone. Regal seems interested, though also concerned

We look back at Shawn Michaels attacking HHH last week and getting suspended. I’m sure that’s going to stick.

Kane vs. Val Venis

Val slugs away to start but can’t get a Russian legsweep. Kane misses an elbow but hits a big boot into a chokeslam for the pin in a hurry.

Post match Matt Hardy runs in and goes off on Kane but gets kicked in the face when trying a chair shot. That means another chokeslam and Kane ties him in the Tree of Woe for some choking with a cord. Kane wraps the chair around Matt’s throat and stands on it instead of stomping but Lita runs out for the save. She says yes, even though we don’t know the question yet. Kane puts his arms around her and whispers something in her ear before leaving with a smile.

There was a voter registration drive earlier today.

Tag Team Titles: Edge/Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton/Batista

Orton and Batista are challenging and have Flair with him. Edge’s headlock doesn’t get him very far on Orton so he tries it again. Some forearms work a bit better and Orton is taken into the corner so Benoit can slug away as well. Orton does the same thing to Benoit though and it’s off to Batista so the big man can take over. Some forearms and chops get Benoit out of trouble and Edge comes back in for the chinlock. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the champs clear the ring as we take a break.

Back with Orton cranking on an armbar and Batista coming in to take his place. A hard clothesline gives Batista two, followed by Orton slapping on another armbar. Edge fights up and forearms away with the good arm (smart man), followed by the Edge-O-Matic for two. It’s finally off to Benoit to pick up the pace a good bit, including a snap suplex to Orton. A backbreaker gets two but Benoit turns his back on Orton to slug it out with Batista.

Everything breaks down as Benoit tries to get the Sharpshooter and Orton is sent into Batista. The referee gets bumped and Batista gets sent outside, leaving Orton to take the rolling German suplexes. Flair sends in the Intercontinental Title to block the Swan Dive for a close two and Orton gets in a great shocked look. Edge is back up and spears Orton into Flair off the apron, setting up the Crossface to make Orton tap to retain the titles.

Rating: B. We’re almost getting to a Smackdown Six (or whatever number it is) kind of situation around here with one very good tag match after around. It’s so refreshing to have a 15-20 minute match almost guaranteed to be very entertaining on a weekly basis. Good wrestling can solve a lot of your problems and that’s what’s happening here.

Regal gives Eugene some last second pointers about projecting his voice. Eugene: “Do re mi fa sol la Tito Santana!” I love this guy! Regal isn’t going out there with him and tells Eugene he has to be a man. Eugene: “Are you trying to tell me something?” Regal almost spills the beans about Bischoff but controls himself, albeit while looking disgusted with himself.

Here’s Eugene (to a very nice reaction) for the interview with Todd Grisham (Looking even more toolish than usual this week. Get a suit boy.) but Coach cuts them off. Coach is going to be handling the interview and won’t let Eugene get an answer in. He talks about people laughing at him last week and Eugene is sad. These people like making fun of him like they’re booing him right now. He even smells bad!

No one here is Eugene’s friend and he’s probably never even had a girlfriend either. Now Eugene needs to get out of the ring and go back to wherever he came from and tell his friends that he’s a failure. Oh hang on, because he doesn’t have any friends. A very sad Eugene goes to leave….and here’s the Rock.

Coach panics as Rock poses and then says Eugene isn’t going anywhere. But what if he wants a hot pretzel? After FINALLY, Rock wants to know how Coach can talk about the people. There’s only one man who knows the people and he thinks the people like Eugene. Eugene greatly approves when they chant his name so Rock has them do it again. Now, Coach will never be Eugene’s friend but Rock would love to be friends.

Coach glares at them and says Rock must be doing these things to make himself feel better. Remember Wrestlemania when Rock got beat up all over Madison Square Garden? Rock: “Is that what you think?” Coach: “Well…” Eugene: “IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!” After confirming that only Mick Foley and Eugene can steal those lines, Rock asks who is Eugene’s boy. That would be Rock. Who is the People’s Champ? Rock again. And who is Eugene’s favorite wrestler? Eugene: “HHH!”

That confuses Rock, but apparently HHH and Eugene both like to play games. Rock isn’t happy with that because HHH only likes to play Hide The Strudel. Rock: “Lilian you know about that right?” Maybe we could play a game right here and the object is for Eugene to beat Coach up.

Garrison Cade of all people runs in and gets punched all the way out of the deep water that is way over his head. The Rock Bottom sets up a People’s Elbow from Eugene to really hammer this home. Eugene even gets to do Rock’s pose, although with one foot on the bottom rope ala Foley.

That’s one of the best one night rubs you’ll ever see. Notice what Rock has done in three of his recent comebacks: let Hurricane pin him, gave Randy Orton a heck of a rub and then this with Eugene. Then HHH beat Hurricane three weeks later and Eugene and Orton later in the year, cutting the legs off of all three. But at least Rock tried and this was a great segment.

Smackdown Rebound, mostly looking at the TV show and a quick look at the PPV main event.

Battle Royal

HHH, Maven, Kane, Randy Orton, Edge, Chris Jericho, Batista, Steven Richards, Hurricane, Rosey, Rhyno, Ric Flair, Shelton Benjamin, Johnny Nitro, Val Venis, Garrison Cade, Sylvain Grenier, Rob Conway

The winner gets Benoit at Bad Blood and there are only eighteen people here instead of twenty. Everyone but Kane goes after Evolution to start but it’s Richards and Nitro out early on. Kane dumps out Rosey as well as they’re clearing the ring out pretty fast this time. Hurricane gets tossed onto Rosey but his feet never touch the floor.

Back from a break with 28 arms remaining as Conway was eliminated during the commercial. HHH eliminates Maven and Venis but needs Batista to save him from Jericho. Speaking of Jericho, he gets rid of Grenier, and Cade as we have ten left. Evolution of course works together and stomps Rhyno down before tossing him out. Hurricane is eliminated next but Jericho dropkicks HHH as we take a second break.

Back again with the same eight left and Jericho bulldogging HHH down. Flair puts Jericho in the Figure Four (Lawler: “I think he just wants to punish Jericho.”) for a few seconds as Batista saves Orton from being tossed. Jericho is back up and clotheslines Flair out but Batista throws him over the top, with his knees crashing into the steps on the way out. Egads that looked terrible and hopefully he’s not hurt.

Shelton skins the cat to stay alive and HHH’s facebuster has no effect on Kane. That earns HHH a chokeslam, followed by one each to everyone not named Batista. The big slugout is on with Batista escaping the chokeslam and hitting a spinebuster. Edge is back up with a clothesline to get rid of Batista and a bunch of spears but Orton low bridges him to the floor. So we’re down to Benjamin, HHH, Kane and Orton and it’s Orton up first.

Now it’s Shelton’s turn to clean house until a HHH knee to the face cuts him off. Benjamin gets sent to the apron but hangs on by a hand, then by a leg. For some reason, HHH pulls him back in and gets rewarded by a run up the ropes into a high crossbody that takes Orton down as well. There’s the Dragon Whip to Kane and Shelton eliminates Orton (there’s a Bad Blood title match) to get us down to three. HHH low blows Kane to break up a chokeslam attempt and gets rid of Benjamin himself. Cue Michaels to run in and beat up HHH, including a clothesline for the elimination to give Kane the win.

Rating: B. The important thing to have in a battle royal like this is some extra time with the potential winners in there and that’s what we had here. They got rid of a lot of the people with no chance and went with the major names for an extended time. The ending wasn’t the biggest secret in the world and Kane…is an acceptable choice at best but it’s better than another HHH title match.

Shawn bails into the crowd as HHH screams to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Storyline advancement, two quite good matches, storylines that make sense and a few that make you wonder where they’re going and nothing that went on longer than it needed to. It’s a well done wrestling show and you don’t get that on Tuesdays at all anymore. Why WWE can’t get at least a decent show out of both rosters but they’re still not pulling it off here. At least Raw is awesome though and this was one of the best in a long time.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Main Event – October 4, 2018: You Mean You Don’t Have Anyone Else?

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 4, 2018
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s the final show before Super Show-Down and that means we’re going to be in for a lot of talk about the battle of the old men. Other than that we’ll have the Shield stuff because we need the Shield in our lives, plus whatever Smackdown can scrape together. That gets annoying when you consider that Smackdown has had the far more interesting build. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

No Way Jose vs. Mike Kanellis

Feeling out process to start as they fight over a headlock. After Jose dances a bit too much for Mike’s liking, it’s a hiptoss/neckbreaker to drop Kanellis instead. A splash misses in the corner though and Jose gets sent shoulder first into the post. Kanellis elbows him down and we hit ye olde chinlock. Jose fights up but gets thrown down by the afro and chinlocked again. The second comeback works a bit better with a flapjack, followed by a Regal Roll for two. A DDT gets the same but the pop up right hand misses. Kanellis nails a superkick and hits Cross Rhodes for the pin at 5:19.

Rating: D+. I have no idea how many times these two can fight and I’m getting worried about possibly finding out. Kanellis winning likely doesn’t mean much, but maybe they’re going to give him a bit of a push now that Maria is coming back. I’m not sure why as Kanellis isn’t all that interesting, but if you want Maria to give him the rub then he needs something before she gets there.

From Raw.

Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title. Drew sends him into the corner to start and shoves Seth’s face. You don’t do that to Rollins, who takes Drew outside for a suicide dive. Back in and McIntyre kicks him in the ribs and cranks away at an armbar with a hand to the face. Rollins gets sent hard into the corner and we take a break.

Back with Rollins getting two of his own off the Blockbuster and hitting a spring forearm to the back of the head for the same. The reverse Alabama Slam is countered into a victory roll and the Falcon Arrow gives Rollins two more. Super White Noise is countered into the buckle bomb (which is very impressive given McIntyre’s size) but here’s Ziggler for a distraction. The Claymore finishes Rollins at 11:15.

Rating: B-. Good match, bad finish aside. They’re definitely playing up the idea that the Shield is in trouble but I’m starting to get worried about the Ziggler as the weak link. If this leads to McIntyre flattening him then so be it, but it really better not lead to Ziggler getting a face push out of the whole thing.

Post match everyone comes in and it’s a big brawl with Shield being left laying. Strowman and company hit the Shield pose.

From Raw.

Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott

Non-title. The Bellas and the Riott Squad are here as I try to figure out why the Bellas are friends with Rousey. Before the match, the Squad promises to give Ronda her first loss tonight. Rousey wastes no time in flipping Riott over, meaning it’s time for a breather on the floor. Another trip to the floor allows Riott to kick her in the ribs on the way back in and Rousey’s arm gets sent into the post for two.

Ruby fights up and pulls Rousey’s hair to bend her neck around the top rope. That’s rather unpleasant so Riott chokes away on the middle rope instead. Riott sticks with the hair theme by slamming Rousey down by the head and talking some trash. The Riott Kick is countered into a suplex and the over the shoulder powerbomb gets two. Rousey’s spinning Samoan drop sets up the armbar to make Riott tap at 6:52.

Rating: C. Much like the previous two matches, there wasn’t exactly a lot of drama about the finish as Rousey isn’t about to lose her first match here. Riott continues to look more polished in the ring than most, and that’s a good sign for her future. Also, Brie was involved in a match and didn’t seem to main anymore so things are looking up a bit.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Becky Lynch for her surprise before Saturday. Becky talks about how she’s learned you can’t be nice around here without getting stabbed in the back. We get a clip of the history of Lynch and Charlotte, which only makes the fans cheer for her all the more. Becky wants to know where her new action figure or magazine covers are while she has to watch Charlotte get a photo shoot. Becky has a new poster of Super Show-Down, featuring Becky standing over Charlotte and holding up the title. Cue a ticked off Charlotte to spear Becky and put her in the Figure Four over the apron. Becky limps off to end the show.

From Smackdown again.

Here’s Paige to open things up. She talks about how serious everything is between AJ and Joe at the moment and we see a clip of what happened last week as Joe went to AJ’s house. Paige says nothing happened as authorities were called and got there in time (you know, to the middle of nowhere where AJ probably lives). Now that brings us to tonight, where Joe has been charged with trespassing and should be fired, but AJ doesn’t think so. AJ wants to get his hands on Samoa Joe instead and he’s dropping the charges.

The match is on, and here’s a clip from AJ, who is at his house instead of at the show. He’s not in the right frame of mind to perform tonight because this is bigger than WWE. AJ is at his house tonight and is staying there until he knows Joe is on a plane to Australia. He needs to be there because his kids are waking up in the middle of the night, checking their closets for Uncle Joe. This has to end because Joe isn’t leaving the land down under. AJ is going to bury him alive. That sounds like the big blowoff to the feud, but Joe almost has to win at this point. Do you want to treat him like you did Nakamura?

Tyler Breeze vs. Mojo Rawley

Mojo shoves him down without much effort to start and hides in the corner for a not very adequately explored reason. Breeze is right back with some kicks to the ribs and one to the face, followed by a running forearm. Back up and Mojo blasts him with a clothesline and some headbutts as things slow down a lot. A corner shoulder and suplex get two on Breeze but he comes back with an enziguri.

The high crossbody is countered into a gutbuster for two more but Breeze rolls him into a half crab of all things. That’s broken up as well so Breeze hurricanranas his way out of a powerbomb attempt. The Pounce cuts Breeze in half for two but the sitout Alabama Slam is escaped, setting up the Beauty Shot for the pin on Rawley at 6:04.

Rating: C-. Better than the opener but still nothing to see. You can only watch these same matches over and over again before they stop being interesting and we passed that point about six months ago. They just need some fresh names around here as it feels like these two have fought half a dozen times now or so. That’s not good, and it doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

And from Raw to close things out.

Here’s Shawn Michaels for the big closing talk. Shawn says the people are making him feel good to come home again and now he’s thinking about how Super Show-Down’s match is going to be the last time ever. What emotion should he be feeling? It might even be joy because it is time for the final showdown. As cheap as he is, he bought a ticket to come to Australia to see it in person as an innocent bystander.

That was the case until a few weeks ago, when Undertaker made it clear that Shawn had to make a choice. Shawn has the utmost respect for Undertaker, though he’ll pick HHH every single time. For some reason that upset the Undertaker (mainly because HHH almost never beats Undertaker and Shawn should be smarter than that) so now he’s got Kane in his corner. Well if Kane tries anything, it’ll mean some Sweet Chin Music. Cue Kane to appear behind Shawn and drop him with a single right hand….so there goes the gong.

Undertaker appears next to Kane and Shawn looks up at him, only to be picked up for the Tombstone. That gives us the talked about moment of the night: Shawn Michaels’ bald head, which you had to know was coming but my goodness it’s jarring. HHH comes in for the save but gets beaten down as well. Double chokeslams leave Shawn and HHH laying, followed by a Tombstone to HHH. Undertaker and Kane pose on the stage to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The Raw and Smackdown stuff bail out the weak original stuff again and that’s not the biggest surprise. You can tell they’re trying to make Super Show-Down into something big, but the TV leading up to it hasn’t been the best in the world. They really could use a fresh batch of names around here. Is there really no one else available? Not at all? With all the names they have on this roster? Anyway, nothing to see this week, but it should get you ready for Saturday.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – October 1, 2018: The Bald And The Old

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 1, 2018
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole, Renee Young

It’s another night about the old guys as we have the go home show for Super Show-Down. Tonight, Shawn Michaels is scheduled to appear to make the final push towards Undertaker vs. Triple H on Saturday and you know full well he’s not going to be the only one here. Other than that we also have the issues between Dean Ambrose and the rest of the Shield, which could go several ways. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Dean Ambrose to open things up. Ambrose talks about being champion on his own and with the Shield, but the interesting thing is that Seth Rollins replaced him in short order. Maybe he doesn’t need to be part of the Shield anymore. Dean cuts off the questions about his loyalty and talks about how he could turn on the team anytime. We see a clip of last week with Dean looking back at Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman but then posing with the Shield.

Ambrose doesn’t want to hear about the questions anymore because the Shield is a brotherhood instead of a brand and they’ll always ride into battle together. Except for all those times they’ve fought. Cue Baron Corbin to say let’s judge Ambrose by his actions. Tonight, he has three choices: face Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Title, face Roman Reigns for the Universal Title, or face Braun Strowman. Ambrose wants to face Corbin instead so Corbin makes the choice for Dean.

Dean Ambrose vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman runs him over to start and basks in the fans’….mixed reactions. The neck crank goes on until Strowman hits a running splash in the corner, followed by another neck crank. Strowman chokes on the ropes as this is complete dominance so far. A guillotine choke slows Strowman down though and Dean goes for the knee in the same battle plan that everyone has.

Back from a break with Ambrose hammering away at the face and slipping out of a running powerslam. A running dropkick has Strowman down on one knee but he pops up and runs Dean over again. Dirty Deeds connects for a delayed two and Strowman bails to the floor where he gets sent into the steps. Back in and Strowman hits a quick powerslam but can’t cover, allowing Dean to roll out to the floor. Ambrose gets thrown back in for another powerslam but here’s Roman Reigns to Superman Punch Strowman for the DQ at 13:55, despite Strowman not exactly cheating.

Rating: C. This wasn’t a bad match but they did a good job of setting things up for later. Reigns treated Ambrose like someone who needed to be saved and that’s not the kind of thing that he’s going to take lightly. That’s the kind of development that you need in a story like this and they’re doing it well so far.

Everyone else comes out for the staredown so Corbin makes Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins for later but for now, Roman Reigns gets to face Dolph Ziggler.

Post break, Rollins consoles Ambrose but Dean says he could have been Intercontinental Champion had he made the right decision.

Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler

Reigns says let’s make it a title match and the referee holds the title up, only to have Corbin come out to say that neither this nor Rollins vs. McIntyre will be for the title. Ziggler goes right after him to start and scores with a dropkick before slapping on a chinlock. Reigns gets sent outside and the running DDT plants him on the floor for good measure. Back in and the Fameasser gets two as we take a break.

We come back with Reigns fighting out of a chinlock but getting caught in a sleeper instead. That’s broken up as well and Reigns starts back with the clotheslines. The Superman Punch is countered into a rollup for two so Ziggler goes with the Zig Zag for the same near fall. Ziggler’s superkick is blocked with a Superman Punch for two, followed by the spear for the pin at 12:55.

Rating: B-. They were hitting the bigger stuff here but the lack of the title being on the line took away some of the fun. Of course they weren’t going to be changing the title here or anything like that but some near falls for the title could be worth seeing. It really kind of is impressive how much more fun Ziggler is when he’s not facing the same guy for four months at a time.

Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott

Video on Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte.

Bobby Roode vs. Konnor

Egads get this over with already. An early Glorious DDT attempt is countered and Konnor runs him over. A jumping elbow gets two and we hit the chinlock for a bit. That’s broken up in short order and Roode hits a running clothesline. There’s the middle rope Blockbuster but a Viktor distraction lets Konnor hit the Dominator for the pin at 4:19.

Rating: D-. They have no idea what they want to do with this feud do they? This feud has actually been going on for five weeks now and I really don’t think they realize it. Am I supposed to want to see them have a third tag match out of all this? That’s the best they can do for the time they have?

It’s time for a Moment of Bliss, where she talks about Trish Stratus being her hero growing up. They’re facing each other at Evolution, but Bliss remembers the first time they met. When Bliss was a kid, she asked Trish for her autograph but Trish said it would be $50 because you can’t buy Jimmy Choo shoes for free. Trish ripped up the autograph book and left. These things are great.

B Team vs. Revival

Joined in progress with Dawson tagging himself in to work on Axel’s arm. The armbar goes on with Wilder coming in to crank on it even more. Axel finally sends him face first into the buckle and it’s off to Dallas to clean house. A spinebuster cuts Dawson off but a Rocket Launcher hits knees, allowing Dallas to roll Wilder up for the pin at 3:41.

Rating: D. So let me make sure I’ve got this straight: the Revival put everyone over for weeks so they could put over the B TEAM over them in a match that doesn’t even go four minutes? What in the world are they thinking for with this nonsense in the tag division at the moment? Another moment that gives me a headache, which is likely only to get worse.

Post match the AOP comes in to destroy the B Team. So they had to win the match….so they could mean a tiny bit more when they got beaten up after the match? Is that where we are here?

Ambrose is still banged up (it was just a pair of powerslams) when Reigns comes up to check on him. Dean isn’t happy, because he could have been Universal Champion right now if he had tried.

Corbin praises AOP and Rockstar Spud. The height difference is kind of amazing.

It’s Susan G. Komen month so here’s a video about how cancer is in fact bad.

Strowman and McIntyre are ready to get rid of the Shield and Strowman accuses McIntyre of being the weak link.

Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins

Post match everyone comes in and it’s a big brawl with Shield being left laying. Strowman and company hit the Shield pose.

Video on AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe.

Kevin Owens comes up to Elias in the bank so he can eat some of Elias’ lettuce. They don’t have the right kind of nuts though and the attendant gets doused with water instead.

Here are Elias and Owens for a song. Elias asks who wants to walk with him and Owens points at himself. Owens talks about the two of them getting along so well and their friendship makes sense. John Cena and Bobby Lashley teaming together doesn’t make much sense though, just like Seattle having a basketball team.

That’s a rather sensitive point for the fans, who go nuts on Owens as he asks about where Cena has been lately. Elias says that would be at Wrestlemania, when Cena ruined Elias’ first Wrestlemania moment. So Elias didn’t watch Greatest Royal Rumble either. The lights start to come up so Elias threatens to have the light guy fired. More Seattle insults ensue and Owens promises to win tonight.

Speaking of tonight, here’s Lio Rush to talk about where things are going tonight. Rush talks about Cena being a legend and tonight, Owens is going to get what’s coming to him. This was an excellent way of making Owens and Elias look like really annoying people and the match needed such a boost. Imagine that: letting wrestlers talk for more than a few seconds still works.

Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens

One hard shove puts Owens on the floor to start and Lashley wrestles him down for good measure. Owens’ headlock works a bit better and he starts shouting at Rush to fill in time. That just earns Owens a neckbreaker and some face first trips into a few buckles. A powerslam sets up a fireman’s carry but Owens elbows his way to freedom. Lashley goes shoulder first into the post as we take a break.

Back with Owens sending him into the steps and dropping the backsplash for two. A top wristlock keeps the arm in trouble and Lashley on the ground, which is the best choice for someone like him. Lashley fights up (well duh) and clotheslines Owens down. The running shoulders in the corner looks to set up the delayed suplex but the arm gives out again. Instead it’s a spinebuster but Elias goes after Rush, allowing Owens to grab a rollup for the pin at 10:18.

Rating: D+. I’ll give them points for trying to do something with the Cena is a bad partner bit but does anyone believe that it won’t be Cena making his latest big return and winning in the international show? It’s not the most interesting match but it’s fine for a house show. The problem is this is presented as a bit bigger than a house show, and that’s not making the match come off very well.

Post match Rush gets knocked out of the air and Lashley gets powerbombed.

Bayley vs. Alicia Fox

This is your weekly Mixed Match Challenge preview. Fox goes straight at her to start but gets punched down for her efforts. A clothesline sets up the very early chinlock on Bayley but she’s right back up with the middle rope elbow to the jaw. Fox pulls her down by the hair though and we hit the chinlock. Bayley shrugs that off as well and rolls out of a sunset flip into a basement dropkick. Jinder Mahal goes after Bayley so Finn Balor lays him out. The Bayley to Belly finishes Fox at 3:36.

Rating: D+. Now that’s how you should do something like this! It’s so annoying to have these previews for a low level show eat up ten minutes so get them in and out in the span of about five minutes. The wrestling was exactly what you would have expected from these two because they’ve done it what feels like two dozen times now.

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling was good enough here but there are two stories on this show and they’re not the most thrilling. All I saw at the end of the show was four old guys who can only do a few things to each other anymore. Other than that you have Shield vs. Strowman and company, which isn’t something I’m going to get excited about. The rest of the show ranges from not great to pretty terrible. That’s the best we can do around here at the moment and that’s not going to make me care more than a potentially good football game on Monday night.

Results

Braun Strowman b. Dean Ambrose via DQ when Roman Reigns interfered

Roman Reigns b. Dolph Ziggler – Spear

Ronda Rousey b. Ruby Riott – Armbar

Konnor b. Bobby Roode – Dominator

B Team b. Revival – Small package to Wilder

Drew McIntyre b. Seth Rollins – Claymore

Kevin Owens b. Bobby Lashley – Rollup

Bayley b. Alicia Fox – Bayley to Belly

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

Summerslam Count-Up – 2012: The Nearly Adequate Storm

IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 2012
Date: August 19, 2013
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 14,205
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

The main story here is Brock Lesnar is back, having returned the night after Wrestlemania to start a feud with John Cena. That feud lasted for a month before Lesnar started going after HHH. It wasn’t until three months later, as in tonight, that they’re having their showdown. Other than that we have Punk defending the title against Big Show and Cena and Sheamus defending against Del Rio. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Antonio Cesaro vs. Santino Marella

This is one of those ideas that was brought back after far too many years off. Santino is defending and Cesaro has his HORRID dance music here. He also has Aksana who isn’t horrid at all, other than in the ring of course. Cesaro’s word of the day in five languages: greatness. Santino does the power walk to the ring and is as goofy as ever. Cesaro takes it to the mat but Santino actually spins out for two.

A judo throw puts Cesaro down before Santino power walks out of an Irish whip. Must resist country jokes. Santino avoids a charge in the corner and loads up the Cobra but Cesaro takes his head off from behind. The Cobra goes to the floor and Aksana throws it away. Off to a reverse chinlock with Cesaro pulling on Marella’s ears to keep him away from the Cobra. IT’S A FREAKING SOCK! I know Foley used one too but it didn’t seem to have magical powers.

Santino kicks Cesaro away but still can’t get the sock. The gutwrench suplex gets no cover from the challenger, as he would rather rip the Cobra to shreds. Santino pounds away but misses the headbutt. He counters the Neutralizer and pulls out another Cobra, proving THAT IT’S JUST A FREAKING SOCK! Aksana gets on the apron and the Cobra wants her, allowing Cesaro to hit the Neutralizer for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. IT’S A FREAKING SOCK! Match was ok but the majority of the five minutes were spent on Santino trying to put a sock on his hand so he can use a neck attack taught to him by John Lovitz. I know he’s a comedy character but there’s a point where it’s stupid rather than funny. Santino half crossed that line years ago.

The opening video talks about the twenty five years of Summerslam, meaning we’ll have to hear about how this is the 25^th anniversary. The video is interrupted by talk of a storm called Brock Lesnar, which to be fair is the main draw of the show.

Jerry and Cole’s intro is cut off by Vickie’s screeching intro of Ziggler.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho

Dolph is Mr. MITB here and Jericho is freshly face after Ziggler accused him of going soft. Jericho has taped up ribs from an attack at Ziggler’s hands. The fans LOVE Chris and things start fast with the Canadian hitting the jumping back elbow to the jaw. Jericho slips out of the corner on a spinning clothesline but Ziggler escapes a suplex and kicks him in the ribs to take over. Dolph stays on the ribs for a quick two but gets backdropped out to the floor.

Chris’ springboard dive misses as Ziggler casually ducks, sending Jericho crashing to the floor. Ziggler hooks on a chinlock with a bodyscissors to stay on the ribs. A knee to the head gets two for Dolph and a neckbreaker, complete with hip swivel and ARROGANT COVER, gets two more.

Jericho gets a quick cradle for two but Ziggler takes him right back down with a clothesline. Dolph misses a Stinger Splash and Chris goes after him, only to be easily taken down by another shot to the ribs. Not that it matters as he pops up top for the ax handle but Ziggler kicks him in the ribs again. The Fameasser gets two but an enziguri puts Dolph down for two as well. Back and forth match so far here.

Dolph jumps over Chris in the corner and puts on the sleeper which looks horrid here. Jericho rams him into the corner to escape and rains down some right hands before snapping off a top rope hurricanrana. The ribs are damaged even more though, delaying the count by several seconds. A jumping DDT gets two on the Canadian and Ziggler is getting frustrated.

They slug it out with Jericho taking him down via the bulldog but the Lionsault hits knees. The Zig Zag gets two but Dolph can’t follow up. Instead he walks into the Codebreaker to send him to the floor. Jericho throws him in but gets tripped up by Vickie, allowing Ziggler to roll him up for two. Dolph misses a charge into the post and the Walls go on for the submission.

Rating: C+. The idea here was that Jericho couldn’t win the big one anymore. The problem here though is they would have a rematch tomorrow night with Jericho’s contract and Dolph’s case on the line. Why they didn’t have that match here is anyone’s guess but at least it was a good opener and the fans popped for the ending. They had some Shelton vs. HBK from 2005 in there with Jericho fighting a younger version of himself but using his maturity and experience to get the win.

Vickie freaks out over the loss.

We recap Brock breaking Shawn Michaels’ arm on Raw.

Heyman and Brock say Lesnar wins tonight.

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

It’s amazing that this team started less than a year ago. The fans are already chanting YES and Bryan says NO. It’s amazing how a chant this simple carried Bryan so far. This was set up by GM AJ as revenge against Bryan for jilting her or something. Bryan fires off kicks to start but walks into an uppercut to knock him back. Daniel moonsaults over Kane in the corner but gets kicked in the face to put him down. The low dropkick gets two for Kane but the fans are all behind Daniel.

Another big boot gets two but Bryan comes back with the kicks to the legs, only to be thrown over the top and out to the floor. Bryan slides back in and hits the FLYING GOAT to put Kane down. The missile dropkick drops Kane again and there are more kicks, only to have Kane clothesline his way out of trouble. The side slam gets two and the top rope clothesline looks to set up the chokeslam but Bryan bails to the floor.

Bryan slaps him in the face like a knucklehead, sending Kane through the roof. Bryan is tossed into the corner and stomped down by a furious Kane. The referee drags him away, allowing Bryan to try the NO Lock. Kane powers out so Bryan kicks him in the head. Why overcomplicate things? The flying headbutt is caught in the chokeslam but Kane wants the tombstone, allowing Bryan to counter into a small package for the pin.

Rating: C+. Good match here and you could see the anger management stuff coming. Kane had Bryan beat but wanted revenge and let Bryan catch him off guard. These two obviously had chemistry together and the story would be a big boost to Kane’s career. Also the original idea here was Bryan vs. Charlie Sheen somehow. Thankfully that was never mentioned again.

Kane is going nuts in the back. Josh Matthews comes up to him like the schnook he is and is LAUNCHED off camera in a funny bit.

Intercontinental Title: Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Miz is defending and Mysterio is dressed like Batman. Rey grabs a quick rollup for two and the champion bails to the floor for a bit. AJ has promised to deal with Kane for attacking Matthews tomorrow on Raw. Miz throws Mysterio through the ropes to the floor but Rey rolls through to avoid pain. The champion sends him ribs first into the barricade to take over as this isn’t doing much for me so far.

Miz pulls on Rey’s face and puts on a chinlock before hitting something resembling Abyss’ Shock Treatment (torture rack backbreaker) for two. A boot to Rey’s head gets two and it’s off to a cravate for a bit. Miz hits the corner clothesline but spends too much time laughing at the crowd, allowing Rey to crotch him on the top.

Rey’s seated senton is rolled through into a slingshot sitout powerbomb for two from Miz. Rey comes back with a tornado DDT for the same result and a top rope hurricanrana sends Miz into the 619 position. The kick to the face connects but Rey misses the top rope splash. The Skull Crushing Finale is countered into a cradle for a hot two count. A second attempt at the Finale works though to retain Miz’s title.

Rating: C-. This took a long time to get going but it had a few nice moments at the end. Both of these guys fell so far in just a year as both guys were fighting for the world title just a year ago. The match wasn’t bad but it didn’t do much for me. It was one of those matches that came and went and I won’t think about it again an hour from now.

Teddy Long and Eve, the bosses of Smackdown, leave AJ’s office and seem to approve of what she’s doing. They leave and Punk goes in to find a smiling AJ. Punk doesn’t like the idea of being in a triple threat for the title tonight and thinks it’s happening as revenge for him rejecting AJ’s proposal. AJ just stares off into space and Punk accuses her of disrespecting him but she doesn’t move an inch.

We recap Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus. These two feuded FOREVER and Del Rio never did much of anything. He complained about Sheamus not being high class so Sheamus stole Del Rio’s car. Fake cops beat up Sheamus and that’s about it. It’s as boring of a feud as it sounds.

Smackdown World Title: Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio

Feeling out process to start with both guys tumbling out to the floor. Back in and Sheamus hits a quick neckbreaker and the rolling senton for two each. Sheamus puts him on the top rope for a belly to back superplex but Alberto gets onto Sheamus’ shoulder to escape. The buckle pad is pulled off in the process. Del Rio can’t hook the armbreaker so he kicks Sheamus out to the floor instead. Sheamus is sent knee first into the steps as the crowd is DEAD.

Back in and Del Rio hits a flying shoulder block for two before hooking the chinlock. A kick to the head gets two on the champion and we hit the chinlock. That goes nowhere so Del Rio mocks Sheamus’ chest pounding before the Brogue Kick, only to have Sheamus ax handle him in the head. Sheamus goes up but a kick to the let puts him down again. A kick to the arm gets two for Alberto and the armbreaker goes on, FINALLY waking the fans up.

Sheamus of course is barely phased by it and rolls onto Del Rio to break the pressure. He picks Alberto up into a kind of powerbomb to break the hold, earning himself a chant from the crowd. White Noise gets two and Sheamus avoids a charge in the corner, setting up the forearms in the ropes. Sheamus pounds down right hands in the corner but gets dropped face first onto the exposed buckle. The enziguri in the corner is good for two so Del Rio yells at Ricardo. Rodriguez throws in a shoe but Sheamus intercepts it to knock Ricardo out cold. The Irish Curse hits for the pin, ignoring Del Rio’s foot being on the rope. REMATCH!

Rating: D+. The match was decent but it never felt like Sheamus was in any real danger. The drop onto the exposed buckle and the enziguri got a near fall, but it didn’t feel like a close near fall; It felt like it was there because this is where we’re supposed to have a dramatic kick out if that makes sense. It’s not bad but this feud didn’t need to continue at all.

We hear about Mike Tyson and Piers Morgan having a Twitter war over the main event. I’ve got nothing.

We get a clip from the pre show where HHH tells the referee that the match isn’t ending on a countout or a DQ.

Tag Titles: Prime Time Players vs. Kofi Kingston/R-Truth

I don’t remember Kofi and Truth being champions AT ALL. Truth and Young get us going as the fans chant Kobe Bryant, referencing the joke that got AW fires. Young is taken down by an armdrag and a legdrop gets two for Truth. Truth has to fight out of the corner but gets caught in the face by a big boot for two. Back up and Truth hits a great side kick to take Titus’ head off and get himself a breather. Off to Kofi to speed things up as the crowd still isn’t all that interested.

Kofi chops O’Neil down but a Young distraction lets the challengers take over. Titus clotheslines Kofi down for two before suplexing Young onto Kofi’s back for two. A snap powerslam gets the same for Darren and it’s back to Titus for an abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere so Titus loads up a spinout Rock Bottom, only to be pulled dowin into a DDT. Hot tag brings in Truth to clean house and everything breaks down. Titus is sent to the floor and caught by a Kofi dive, allowing Truth to hit Little Jimmy on Darren to retain the titles.

Rating: D+. This could have been on any given Raw. The Players are a decent team but Titus is clearly the star with Young just being there. Kofi and Truth are just transitional champions before HELL NO would take the championships a few weeks later. Nothing to see here other than a filler before we get to the main events.

Video on Summerslam Axxess.

We recap the Raw World Title match. Punk won the title at Survivor Series but got angry over Rock vs. Cena being announced as the main event of Wrestlemania 28 a year in advance. Cena cashed in the MITB case at Raw 1000 but Big Show cost Cena the match. AJ made it a three way for the sake of tormenting Punk (now a heel demanding respect) for turning down her proposal.

Punk’s complaints about how the title should be the focus and how he wasn’t getting respect are why his heel turn didn’t go well: those are logical points and heels aren’t supposed to be logical. WWE failing to get this is the source of a lot of their problems. Heels are supposed to be bullies or maniacal in their delusions, not making thought out rational points.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. Big Show

Show knocks down both smaller guys as Cole talks about Punk not main eventing a show since December despite holding the title the entire time. Good point actually. The LOUD chop hits both Cena and Punk’s chests twice each with Big Show in total control. They finally work together but Show easily suplexes them both down. Cena is crushed in the corner, knocking him out to the floor so it’s Punk vs. Show one on one.

Punk wisely takes out the knee and fires off kicks to the chest as the fans are entirely behind him. The smart moves are canceled out though as Punk tries a GTS with the obvious result. Cena tries an AA but the powers of gravity take him down to the mat, crushing Cena’s head against the mat. Show chops Punk down in the corner and knocks Cena out to the floor. Punk avoids a splash but tries a springboard cross body like a schnook, earning that powerslam he gets.

The Final Cut puts Punk down but Cena breaks up the WMD, earning himself a spear from the giant for two. Show loads up a double Vader Bomb but only hits Cena, allowing Punk to springboard onto Show for the save. Everyone heads to the floor with Big Show chokeslamming Punk against the ropes, sending him back to the floor. Show drops Cena with a side slam but stares at the crowd instead of covering. Maybe someone was holding up a Twinkie?

Cena actually hits a belly to back suplex on Show and loads up the Shuffle, only to have Punk charge in for the save. The champion drops the Macho Elbow for two on Show but gets launched away. Since covering hasn’t worked, Punk puts on a modified Koji Clutch but Show easily powers out. The crowd has DIED for some reason. Cena comes back in and shoulders Show down, bringing them right back to life.

There’s the STF on Show but the big man stands up to break the hold. Punk comes in with a springboard clothesline to take Show down again, followed by three straight knees to the head in the corner. The bulldog is easily countered (of course) but Cena hits the top rope Fameasser to put the giant down.

We get a Koji Clutch/STF combo and Show taps, but we have no clear winner. This brings out AJ (Punk: “DO THE RIGHT THING LIKE SPIKE LEE! LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE! THEY CAN TWEET ABOUT IT!”) who eventually says restart the match, allowing Show to hit a double chokeslam for two on each guy. Cena ducks the WMD and hits the AA, but Punk throws him to the floor and steals the pin to retain.

Rating: C. The match was ok with the logical story but it was nothing we hadn’t seen before. The restart was pretty dumb as well as Big Show shouldn’t have had a chance to win the title after tapping out. Cena vs. Punk would continue for months which would make for some great matches, but this wasn’t anything special. Not bad at all though.

Various B level celebrities are here. Maria Menunos in a Bob Backlund shirt works very well.

Trailer for whatever WWE’s latest movie is at the point. The Day. Ok then.

We recap the pre-show match to fill in time.

Kevin Rudolf sings the theme song.

We recap the main event. Basically Lesnar tried to hold the company hostage by renaming Raw to Monday Night Raw Starring Brock Lesnar. HHH stood up to him and got a broken arm as a result. Brock broke Shawn Michaels’ arm as well to make it a domestic issue for HHH. This was one of those feuds that people weren’t all that thrilled to see but it could have been worse. More on that later.

Brock Lesnar vs. HHH

Every time I watch a Brock Lesnar match I remember how scary of a human being he is. We get spotlights for the big match intros in a cool idea. Remember that HHH told the referee to allow a lot of fighting tonight. Lesnar powers HHH into the corner to start and goes for a standing kimura (arm lock that he used to break the arm) with a jumping body scissors. HHH though is a MAN and powers out of it before clotheslining Brock to the floor. Back in and Brock pounds away, only to be clotheslined to the floor again. You know, because Cena can be in a war with Brock at Extreme Rules but HHH can easily stop him.

Brock comes back in and takes the MMA gloves off before taking HHH down to the mat with an amateur move. They head outside with HHH shrugging off Brock’s attacks and pounding away, only to be dropped arm first onto the announce table. Lesnar eventually drags HHH back in for a hammerlock slam. Back to the standing kimura with Brock wrapping the arm around the ropes and ramming it into the corner.

A release German suplex puts HHH down again but he comes back with a neck snap across the ropes. Brock is taken down by a DDT but he goes right back to the kimura and another hammerlock slam. They head to the floor with the arm going into the steps and the rest of HHH going into the announce table. Brock jumps off the table onto the Game before taking him back inside. Of all things, Lesnar busts out a small package for a one count. A hard clothesline puts HHH down but he blocks a suplex into one of his own to get a breather.

Brock misses a charge into the corner but blocks a Pedigree and throws HHH out to the floor. HHH sends him into the announce table stomach first, which is a weak spot due to some real life past illnesses which ended his UFC career for all intents and purposes. More shots to the stomach have Brock in trouble and a knee to the ribs puts him down. Heyman is losing his mind and Brock is in trouble.

The spinebuster puts Brock down and there’s the Pedigree for two. A low blow puts HHH down and Heyman screams that this was HHH’s idea. The F5 is good for two and Brock is stunned. I have no idea why, as you know you can’t get a win off one finisher in WWE. Now the kimura goes on again with a bodyscissors but a rope break means nothing. Instead HHH pretty easily punches his way out of it and hits another Pedigree. Thankfully Brock no sells it and puts on the kimura, breaking the arm again and drawing the submission.

Rating: C+. The match is ok but it has one major flaw: it’s BORING. You don’t bring in Brock Lesnar to have him go toe to toe with HHH. You bring him in to have him destroy small cities and eat villagers. That’s the issue here. We went from Cena surviving against an insane Brock Lesnar to HHH having Brock in trouble in a dull match. Lesnar didn’t seem insane here at all and it made for a much less interesting match. Also, Cena won with a Hail Mary shot, where as HHH can slug it out with Lesnar? That just doesn’t hold up at all. Somehow this would be the high point, as this feud went on another TEN MONTHS.

Naturally HHH gets the big heroic stand up in the ring, but instead of people giving him a standing ovation they tell him that he tapped out. HHH stands there until people finally applaud him. He apologizes to the fans and slowly walks out. I guess this is supposed to be like Austin at Wrestlemania 13 but it’s just failing. The speculation is that HHH is leaving for good. If you bought that, raise your hand to show how gullible you are.

Overall Rating: C-. This is an interesting show as most of the matches are ok but nothing goes beyond that level. Most of this show would be classified as ok at best and uninteresting at worst. It’s just kind of there with nothing memorable other than HHH DEMANDING to give us his moment at the end. Nothing to see here and not worth checking out.

Ratings Comparison

Antonio Cesaro vs. Santino Marella

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

Original: C-

Redo: C+

Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Original: C

Redo: C-

Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus

Original: D

Redo: D+

R-Truth/Kofi Kingston vs. Prime Time Players

Original: C

Redo: D+

John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. Big Show

Original: C-

Redo: C

Brock Lesnar vs. HHH

Original: B

Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: D+

Redo: C-

It’s still boring.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/08/19/summerslam-2012-lesnar-is-a-wrestler-again-just-like-everyone-else/

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Main Event – June 28, 2018: This Was The Worse Option?

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: June 28, 2018
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

This show has started turning into a nice little way of reminding me of what happened earlier in the week as most of it tends to go sailing out of my head a day or two after the show is over. It’s quick, it’s to the point, and while the original wresting isn’t great, it does things as well as can be expected. In other words, this is what the show was designed to do. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Chad Gable vs. Mike Kanellis

Gable wastes no time in reversing headlock takeovers and gets two off a rollup. A very fast takedown sets up an armbar on Kanellis and a running armdrag makes it even worse. Kanellis finally sends him throat first into the middle rope for a breather and some running clotheslines in the corner (with blown kisses) get two. The chinlock is broken up in all of three seconds and Gable knocks him to the floor for a running apron cannonball. The fans are behind Gable here, even as he gets taken down with a sitout Rock Bottom. A superkick knocks Gable into the corner but Rolling Chaos Theory gives Gable the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here at all as Gable got to show off and Kanellis gets to eat this week. Kanellis could go somewhere if he had a gimmick other than being Maria’s husband, especially when Maria isn’t around. Gable still has all the potential in the world but here he is on Main Event while Jason Jordan got the big push but now is sitting on the injured list because Heaven forbid the awesome American Alpha team got to continue.

We look back at Alexa Bliss winning Money in the Bank and cashing in, earning her complete destruction at the hands of Ronda Rousey, causing Rousey to be suspended.

From Raw.

Here are Alexa and Mickie James to brag about Bliss getting the title back and laugh off the idea of Rousey being a threat. Now Bliss gets to face the big bully in Nia Jax, assuming Nia’s arm is healthy by then. Bliss talks about how the mean girl overcame the pretty and popular one because it works in Hollywood. This is the real world though and Bliss knows how to overcome obstacles. She’s overcome Jax and Rousey and is still champion so boo her all you want.

Cue Natalya to say the countdown is on because we’re 23 days away from Rousey returning to deal with Bliss. That earns Natalya a lecture about posting her whole life on social media, because that’s the appropriate response here. Natalya isn’t done though, because she gets to face Bliss right now.

Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya

Non-title and Natalya has Nia Jax in her corner. Joined in progress with Bliss holding her in a bodyscissors before the moonsault knees to the ribs get two. Some stomps to the back give Bliss two but both seconds offer failed interference. Natalya uses the distraction to hit a discus lariat, followed by the Sharpshooter for the tap at 4:07.

Rating: D. In theory this should go somewhere for Natalya, who is still sniffing around the Rousey story, which could be a good idea for Rousey down the line. I’m never a fan of the champing tapping clean like this but it’s such a common practice to have a champion lose these days that it’s not even worth getting upset about anymore.

From Raw again.

Sasha Banks/Bayley/Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad

Banks starts fast with the Meteora to Logan so it’s off to Liv vs. Moon. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Squad bails to the floor, leaving Moon to dive onto Riott and Morgan. Back form a break with Banks coming back in to clean house with clotheslines but Riott cuts her off with a kick to the face. Bayley makes a save and everything breaks down with Moon elbowing Logan in the face. Banks rolls Riott up for two but has to knock Morgan off the apron, allowing Riott to small package Sasha for the pin at 7:02.

Rating: D+. So you remember all those time where Bayley and Sasha can’t get along and it’s been going on for about four months now? This is the latest version. They really, really need to go somewhere with this already because it’s gone on for so long already and the energy from the whole thing is gone.

Post match Bayley snaps and beats the heck out of Sasha as the fans want tables. Banks gets tossed into the steps twice and the fans cheer for Bayley. The announcers treat this like a heel turn but Bayley is loudly cheered and it’s the result of Banks stabbing her in the back over and over. That doesn’t sound heel turnish to me.

From Smackdown.

Harper vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan goes with the kicks in the corner to start but gets punched in the face. They head outside with Harper getting the better of it, setting up a neck crank back inside. A missed charge sends Harper outside again and there’s the suicide dive, which is caught without much effort. Harper drops him face first onto the announcers’ table and a big boot puts Bryan over the barricade.

Back from a break with the swinging Boss Man Slam getting two on Bryan. We hit the chinlock but Bryan jawbreaks his way to freedom, setting up the corner dropkick. Bryan charges right into a Michinoku Driver for two more though and Harper takes over one more time. Harper hits a dropkick and takes Bryan up top but gets punched down. That means a tornado DDT and the YES Kicks as Harper is in trouble. The YES Lock goes on but Rowan comes in for the DQ at 13:07.

Rating: C. Bryan was fine here and that’s all this match needed to be. You can find someone to team with him later on and Bryan vs. Miz can be a big time match at Summerslam. If nothing else Bryan vs. either Brother again is fine for a TV match and you can do the same thing with whoever his partner is. The match was fine.

Post match the beatdown is on until Kane of all people comes out for the save. Kane and Bryan clean house and the fans are very pleased. The TEAM HELL NO chants start up and cue Paige to say that at Extreme Rules, HELL NO is getting the Tag Team Title shot at the Bludgeon Brothers.

Breezango/Bobby Roode vs. Ascension/Curt Hawkins

What a random tag match. Viktor and Breezango start things off with a surprising mention of the teams’ former friendship. We get a pose off for a BOO/YAY off and now it’s off to Hawkins and Fandango for a dance off. Hawkins wants Roode instead though and Roode throws him citations before an atomic drop gives us the first major offense nearly two minutes in.

It’s back to Fandango for some right hands but Konnor comes in off a blind tag as we take a break. Back with Konnor missing a charge in the corner and the hot tag bringing in Roode to clean house on Hawkins. Fandango hands Roode the cop hat so the Glorious DDT can finish Hawkins at 7:55.

Rating: D. There’s not much you can do in an eight minute match when two minutes are spent on posing/dancing and three and a half are in a commercial. Hawkins’ losing streak is still amusing enough but I’m not sure how long it’s going to last on the big shows. Roode continues to be dying for a heel turn but that GLORIOUS is so over that I get why they’re hesitant to pull the trigger. Ascension and Breezango….I’m sorry guys.

And from Raw to wrap it up.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is challenging and, after Big Match Intros, wastes no time in dropkicking Ziggler out to the floor. Some chops rock Ziggler and it’s off to an early armbar as they have about half an hour if not more. That’s broken up in a hurry and Ziggler hits his big jumping elbow for an early two. A headlock keeps Rollins in trouble and the pace slows a good bit. Rollins finally fights up and Ziggler bails to the floor, only to have McIntyre fail as a shield.

A staredown with McIntyre takes us to a break. Back with Rollins holding his knee and another chinlock keeping things slow. Rollins fights up and sends him into the corner for a breather and both guys are down. Ziggler backdrops him over the top to further the knee injury but Seth is back up for stereo crossbodies. Rollins’ knee is fine enough for a Sling Blade but McIntyre offers a distraction. That’s enough for an ejection, allowing Rollins to suicide dive onto both of them.

Back in and Ziggler crotches him on top for two and we take another break. We come back again with Rollins hitting the Ripcord Knee but Ziggler gets his foot on the rope. They fight to the apron where a DDT knocks Rollins senseless with the announcers declaring it over. Do they really think we buy lines like that anymore? Rollins knees him down again for a close two but gets caught on top.

Ziggler gets shoved down and the frog splash gets another close two and the fans are losing their minds. The Stomp and the Zig Zag both miss and Ziggler’s rollup with tights gets two. Now the Zig Zag connects for two and Ziggler is stunned. They head up top again and Rollins tries a superplex to the floor but has to settle for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for an even closer two instead with McIntyre pulling the referee out for the DQ at 27:38.

Rating: B. And so, it’s going to continue, likely in some form of gimmick match at Extreme Rules. As usual, I would rather be seeing McIntyre in Ziggler’s spot but for some reason he’s just there as muscle and not even bothering to put him in the ring more often than not. As long as this leads to McIntyre dropping Ziggler and either winning the title or moving on to bigger and better things, everything will be fine. Just get Ziggler away from the spotlight already.

As for the match, it was much better after the second break but that first half was just filling time that the match really didn’t need to have. I would always prefer a hot seventeen minute match over a twenty seven minute match where about half of it feels like a waste of time. The ending didn’t help things either, but some of those near falls were great.

Post match the beatdown is on until Roman Reigns makes the save. A Superman Punch puts McIntyre back on the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The Intercontinental Title match helped, even though they only showed about five minutes and the post match stuff. I liked that Kanellis vs. Gable match far more than I expected to and it’s always nice to have a surprise. Raw wasn’t great this week but they did a good job of cutting away the bad stuff to give us a nice show, which is where this show can be rather successful.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – January 26, 2004: It’s Wrestlemania Season

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: January 26, 2004
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the night after the Royal Rumble and things didn’t go so well for Raw. The Rumble itself was won by Smackdown’s Chris Benoit and the Raw World Title match went to a draw, meaning the World Title situation is kind of up in the air. Raw won’t be back on pay per view until Wrestlemania so their TV needs to be very good. Let’s get to it.

Here’s the Royal Rumble if you need a recap.

The opening recap looks at Mick Foley returning last night, showing that he’s not a coward by attacking Randy Orton. The terrified look on Orton’s face is great.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Chris Jericho to open things up. He’s not happy that Benoit won the Rumble instead of him, but since Benoit is on Smackdown and Jericho was the last Raw wrestler in the Rumble, he should be getting a title shot. Say, TONIGHT. Actually, let’s just make that his Survivor Series favor. He wants to defend the title in New Hampshire, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Florida, and then in New York, complete with the Howard Dean scream. I haven’t heard that referenced in a good while so it got a small chuckle.

Cue Eric Bischoff, to say the title match is on….if that’s what Jericho wants. If he takes that match though, Trish Stratus has to face Kane. See, Bischoff is embarrassed that Raw lost the Rumble again so being the last Raw wrestler means nothing. So tonight, it’s either a title shot or no Trish vs. Kane. Jericho gives Bischoff a look that means the match is off but Bischoff isn’t done. Since Jericho and Rob Van Dam were the last Raw names in the match, they’re teaming up tonight to face Evolution (sans HHH)…..NOW. Are we at least done with the Survivor Series favors now?

Chris Jericho/Rob Van Dam vs. Evolution

Jericho and Flair lock up to start and a dropkick puts Flair down. Flair pokes him in the eye to take over as JR says he hasn’t seen Flair make many mistakes over the years. Uh, yeah. Orton comes in and eats a spinwheel kick so it’s off to Van Dam for the first time. The kicks and chops have Orton in trouble and charging into Jericho’s raised boot in the corner makes things even worse.

Orton finally knees Van Dam down and drops a forearm for two as things slow down a good bit. A spinwheel kick drops Flair and a flip splash gets two with Orton coming in for the save. Everything breaks down for a few seconds and Jericho is spinebustered on the outside, leaving Van Dam on his own as we take a break. Back with Van Dam in trouble and Jericho being checked on by the trainers.

Flair starts in on the arm and it’s off to Orton, as Batista still hasn’t actually been in the match. The short armscissors stays on as Jericho is up to his knees for an improvement. Batista comes in as the fans try to get behind Jericho. Orton steps on the arm again as Jericho is now back to the apron. It says a lot when you can make walking to your corner a story within a match and actually have it work. A kick to the face finally gets Van Dam over to Jericho and it’s time to pick the pace up in a hurry.

The bulldog gets two on Batista and Orton is backdropped to the floor. There are the Walls to Batista and a Five Star to Flair but Orton runs in to….completely miss the RKO on Jericho, who doesn’t even move off of Batista because Orton (Stupid! Stupid!) wasn’t close. The second attempt works fine though (with a strategic camera angle just in case) and Batista gets the pin.

Rating: C+. That botch at the end hurt things a lot as they were doing well with Jericho being cut off for so long until the hot tag. Evolution is a good choice for a team like this as you have a little bit of everything in there to make the team work well. They had to work hard but still won and it’s not like Van Dam and Jericho are damaged by losing a handicap match.

Post break Orton is in Bischoff’s office and wants revenge on Foley. Steve Austin comes in and says Foley is going to get to talk first though.

Trish comes in to check on Jericho and thank him for getting her out of the match with Kane. She thinks they could have a good relationship….as friends. Not as friendly as he is with Christian, like going out on the town or anything and helping him pick up women. Cue Christian, who Jericho doesn’t seem happy to see. Trish leaves and Jericho wants to know where Christian was during that handicap match. Christian was in Bischoff’s office, getting the two of them a #1 contenders match for the Tag Team Titles next week. Jericho just needs to get his head in the game. I love this story.

Molly Holly/Jazz vs. Victoria/Lita

Fallout from Victoria pinning Molly on Heat last night. During Lita’s entrance, Lawler mentions rumors that Playboy is looking for a pair of Divas to pose together. I mean, they’ve already been found and announced at this point, but Lawler hasn’t been up to speed on anything in years. Lita and Molly start things up with Holly being thrown into the corner for some good old fashioned begging off. It’s off to Victoria vs. Jazz, who hit the mat with Jazz getting the better of things.

Victoria gets sent outside, setting up an argument between Stevie Richards and Teddy Long. I think I need to see those two have a match at some point. Molly comes back in for a reverse cravate and it’s back to Jazz for the same thing. The splash misses though as Lawler asks JR how he can’t comment on the wrestlers’ looks. Lita gets the hot tag and cleans house to mere indifference from the crowd. With Lita and Jazz fighting on the floor, Victoria small packages Molly for the pin. Lawler: “ARE YOU WATCHING PLAYBOY???”

Rating: D+. I know it’s not the best change of pace in the world and they still need some fresh blood, but Victoria as a face could do some good for the pretty weak division. Molly isn’t doing anything as champion though and the lack of charisma near the title is hurting things a lot. In other words, they need a shakeup but a shakeup that actually makes a long term difference.

Here’s HHH for a chat with the announcers treating his Last Man Standing match with Shawn like some kind of epic struggle. HHH says last night, two men fought for what they believed in and it came down to one second as neither was able to get up at ten. Cue Shawn Michaels so HHH asks what it takes to get Shawn to quit. Shawn says they haven’t even gotten started yet but thankfully here’s Austin to cut things off before we get a fifteen minute exchange about whatever these two decided this is about next.

Austin talks about how last night reminded him of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and thinks Shawn deserves a rematch. However, there’s one more problem and that’s the Royal Rumble. Chris Benoit won that match last night and gets a shot at whichever World Title he wants…which is a new development as nothing had been mentioned about being able to pick the title.

Cue Benoit to stare at both of them and say he went through a hard night of his own. He’s fought eighteen years to be the best and now he has the opportunity to face the best. At Wrestlemania, Benoit is coming for the World Heavyweight Championship, no matter who has it. So there’s the big Raw match in a surprise.

Kane vs. Bubba Ray Dudley

Bubba is fighting for Spike after Kane attacked him last night. Some right hands have Kane in trouble to start and a big one puts him on the floor. Kane has far better success on the floor with some uppercuts having Bubba in trouble. Back in and Kane rips at Bubba’s face, including a hard thumb in the eye. Kane grabs the steps and blasts the blind Bubba for the DQ.

Post match D-Von runs in for the save and eats a Tombstone…which triggers the gong. The Titantron goes nuts and we see one of the weird Undertaker videos, featuring the graveyard and Kane burying Undertaker at Survivor Series. Kane freaks and bails.

Paul Heyman is on the phone with Bischoff, who didn’t know what Austin was going to do. Heyman promises lawyers and hangs up with Coach coming in instead. Coach finds the whole thing funny and gets to face Goldberg in a No DQ match as a result.

Rico vs. Rob Conway

Rico takes him down to annoy Conway to start but Rene Dupree gets in a few cheap shots on the floor to take over. Back in and Conway threatens to break Rico’s neck, which is a little harsher than it needs to be. A clothesline sets up the chinlock as Jackie slaps the mat in an already loose top, sending Lawler through the roof.

We cut away for a second and come back to her holding it in place, making me wonder how that went live. Rico fights up with right hands and clotheslines but Rene pops up on the apron for a distraction. Not to be outdone, Jackie does the same, pulls her top off to really distract Conway, and allows Rico to kick Conway in the face for the pin.

Rating: D-. This is going to be about the Playboy thing isn’t it? There’s no other logical reason to give these two more than eighteen seconds on Raw so it has to be some other thing, such as pushing an angle that has already been spoiled in advance. At least it means more of Jackie, which is the only good part of the whole thing.

Post match Stacy Keibler comes out and raises Jackie’s hand to hint at Playboy. Moving on.

Wrestlemania Recall: Wrestlemania IX, with a grand total of no wrestling shown.

Mick Foley arrives.

We look at Brock Lesnar attacking Goldberg last night, setting up his elimination.

Coach comes out to face Goldberg but first he begs Bischoff to reconsider the match because no one wants to see this. Hang on though, because here are Teddy Long and Mark Henry. Teddy thinks it’s unfair for a “cracker” like Bischoff to dump his problems on the black man. That’s blatant haterizing because whitey thinks he can tell the black man to dance. Teddy gives Coach Henry for the night and we’re ready to go.

Goldberg vs. Jonathan Coachman

No DQ and Henry is in the ring for Coach. Henry shoves Goldberg around to start so Goldberg gives him a head fake into a clothesline. Coach stays in the corner as Henry gets in a splash and runs Goldberg over for a bonus. The bearhug doesn’t do much to Goldberg, who breaks out and knocks Henry to the floor, leaving Coach to take the spear and Jackhammer for the pin with a boot on the chest. Lillian: “Here is your winner: JO…GOLDBERG!”

Rating: F+. Remember those other times where Goldberg has beaten Henry up without much efforts? Well this time he did the same thing to Coach at the same time. Goldberg vs. Lesnar is all but a lock for Wrestlemania now and having Goldberg beat up Coach and Henry isn’t exactly a great way to get me fired up for it. Find some new people for Goldberg to beat up instead.

Here’s Mick Foley for his big return speech. Foley says an explanation is in order after he walked out on the company back in December. When fans talk about his career, they say a lot of nice things about his guts and courage, but they overlook his hatred. Foley was able to reach deep down into his heart and channel what he found there into some superhuman things in the ring.

That was fine when he was an active wrestler but things have changed today. Foley talks about Pete Rose working as hard as he could because he was mad at the world, which was cool with Rose was in a uniform. Seeing that same man angry at the world at 61 years old while he lies about betting on baseball is just sad. That’s not what Foley wanted to be, and it took him a long time to let go of the hatred after he retired. It was a big, big mistake to take the match with Orton in the first place because he knew he couldn’t reach down into the hatred again.

Foley calls Orton, on his own, out to the ring so here he is to respond. Orton asks what Foley wants….and it’s for Orton to spit in his face again. That’s going to be a no, so Foley shouts about all the blood he’s spilled over the years until Orton spits on him. Foley then turns the other cheek and asks Orton to do it even harder this time. You can see the confusion in Orton’s eyes as Foley says he wants this one to be extra green. Orton does it and Foley cheers for him, even asking for a closeup.

Foley is used to having things like this happen to him because he’s got four kids. That brings Foley to all the commercials that Orton’s “friends” aired because people started believing what they were saying. The spit on his face is spitting on his legacy and Foley cannot accept this, so he hits himself in the head, drawing blood. He suffered and worked too long to have Orton spit on his legacy.

Foley saw his ear thrown away in Munich, Germany and got beaten up in Nigeria and now he’s in that dark place again. There is a time and a place for hatred and that is right now in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Foley beats him down in the corner and hits the running knee but here’s Evolution for the save. A clothesline puts him on the floor but Foley comes back with a chair to clean house and end the show.

It took me some time to get into this one but Foley completely sold me by the end. He started off with the rather goofy spit stuff but then pulled Orton into the deep end, with Orton’s face perfectly selling the idea that he knew he was in WAY over his head. Foley knows how to get down into that deep, dark area and Orton isn’t even two years into his main roster career yet. This was a really weird way to get to a great place, but they better have Orton ready to come back against him because otherwise, this is going to be a really messy story.

Overall Rating: C. As tends to be the case around this time of year, the wrestling (outside of the opener) wasn’t the point here but the storytelling worked. Benoit coming over to Raw is a good idea as we’ve seen him face Lesnar already. The Foley story is very promising but is also walking a thin line. You can tell that it’s Wrestlemania season and if they stop giving Lawler so much time to yell about the Playboy thing, we could be in for a great road to New York.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

Armageddon 2003 (2018 Redo): Merry Christmas To Us

IMG Credit: WWE

Armageddon 2003
Date: December 14, 2003
Location: TD Waterhouse Centre, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 12,672
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’ll wrap up the pay per view schedule for the year here with another show that is hardly inspiring. The main event here is a triple threat match between Raw World Champion Goldberg, HHH and Kane, because why have one challenger who can’t bring out the best in Goldberg when you can have two? I’m almost scared of how lame this could be so let’s get to it.

Here’s the go home Raw if you need a recap.

The Fink opens us up. Fink: “Would you please rise TO HONOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA???” Lillian Garcia does her usual great rendition but I don’t have the urge to punch a French guy, meaning it’s kind of a failure on WWE’s part. This is the day after Saddam Hussein was caught so it’s not as random as it seems.

The opening video is your standard collection of Bible verses about Armageddon and as expected, it’s all about the triple threat.

Booker T. vs. Mark Henry

Booker goes aggressive to start with a long series of right hands and is shoved down just as fast. We even get a rare Booker T. chant until Henry clotheslines him to the floor to calm them right back down. A whip sends Booker into the steps but he’s right back up with a slingshot dive to take Henry out. Back in and the missile dropkick puts Henry down again as the fans are sticking with this one early on.

Teddy Long offers a distraction though and Henry runs Booker over to cut him off and the pace slows right back down. We hit a modified bow and arrow for a bit before a running crotch attack to Booker’s back has him in even more trouble. Back in and we hit the chinlock as Henry isn’t exactly known for his varied offense. He mixes things up (by his standards at least) with a bearhug. See now he’s squeezing a different part of Booker so it’s a completely different style.

A hard clothesline cuts off Booker’s comeback but the legdrop misses. Booker’s bicycle kick sets up an ax kick for two in what might have been his big shot. Henry grabs a spinebuster and nearly collapses when covering for two. Dude it’s eight minutes into the match. You shouldn’t be that tired. Now the legdrop is good for two and Henry hits a jackknife of all things, which looked more like Booker slipped than being intentional. Possibly out of fear of his safety, Booker hits another ax kick for the pin.

Rating: D+. Henry has been wrestling for going on eight years at this point and somehow he’s still not getting better. The power moves look good in spurts but the powerbomb looked horrible (not to mention dangerous) and you can only do so much squeezing in a nine minute match. At least Booker won though and Henry can drop back down to the midcard (at best) where he belongs.

Eric Bischoff is livid and gives Christian and Chris Jericho a pep talk for their mixed tag later tonight. Jericho looks hesitant but here’s Mick Foley in the arena to cut them off. Foley talks about how he’s here in Orlando to deliver his first pay per view as co-manager (I’m sure he’ll be yelled at for getting the title wrong.) of Raw. The Steve Austin petition has now broken one million signatures and that means it’s time for a celebration. Cue Stacy Keibler as a cheerleader for a series of cartwheels and the obvious visual appeal.

With Foley picking Stacy up, here are Randy Orton and Ric Flair to interrupt. Orton holds that Foley didn’t pull anything because he’ll need to be ready to count the pin in the Intercontinental Title match. Austin is gone because Orton got rid of him at Survivor Series so it’s time to crown a new champion. Foley says Orton wants to go so let’s have the title match right now.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam

Orton is challenging and Foley is guest referee. Rob sweeps the leg to start and Orton is already taking a breather on the floor. Back in and they hit a technical sequence with Orton not being able to do anything and leading to a standoff. Rob goes with what he does best and kicks Orton down. Another kick sets up a running flip dive to the floor as Orton can’t get much going so far.

Rob gets caught on top and shoved into the barricade though, which happens to him far too often. Then again it’s not like wrestlers are people who learn very well in the first place. Flair gets in some choking from the floor and Foley yells at him, which just lets Orton hammer away even more. We hit the chinlock (requirement fulfilled) for a good while until Rob gets two off a rollup.

Orton throws him onto his shoulder for a powerbomb but takes a step forward into a neckbreaker for a cool move. That means another chinlock until Rob fights up with a spinwheel kick. Rob (with his ponytail nearly out in a rare look) slugs away in the corner and gets two off a northern lights suplex, sending Orton bailing to the floor again.

The breather works as Orton grabs the hanging DDT back inside and yells at Foley on the two count. As you might guess, Van Dam kicks him down again and hits Rolling Thunder but has to kick Flair away. There’s the stepover kick to set up the Five Star but another Flair distraction lets Orton crotch Rob. The RKO gives Orton the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. This is the perfect role for Rob: he can keep the title warm and give you a good match to make a bigger and better name champion. Orton had to win here as it’s high time to make him look like he has more than potential. Evolution looks better here too as the team has a second champion instead of HHH and three lackeys. Good match, even with Rob being his pretty usual self. Then again, it’s not like he cranked it up to another level most of the time in WWE.

Orton’s post match celebration makes the title seem like a huge deal as he seems blown away by winning it. You don’t see that often enough.

We recap the battle of the sexes with Jericho and Christian romancing Trish Stratus and Lita to some success. It turned out to be a bet between the guys though, which crushed both women and broke their hearts. Now though, Jericho seems to be having second thoughts, even as Bischoff has set up this mixed tag.

Chris Jericho/Christian vs. Trish Stratus/Lita

Jericho tries to talk his way out of trouble with Trish but gets slapped, setting up the forearms that you would expect from Sapphire instead of a multiple time Women’s Champion. That earns Trish a spanking so she kicks him away and slaps him in the head. Some bad dropkicks have Jericho in trouble so it’s off to Lita vs. Christian. Lita slaps him as well and then runs away, followed by some equally lame forearms.

A headscissors puts Christian down but Jericho gets in a cheap shot from the apron in a good heel move. It’s off to Jericho for some trash talking and some standing on Lita’s hair. A powerbomb is countered into a loose hurricanrana for two and Lita loses her top to the delight of both Lawler and the fans. Lita finally gets smart with a low blow, allowing the tag to Trish who thankfully throws the forearms that she would throw in matches instead of like she’s a terrified schoolgirl.

The Chick Kick rocks Christian and Jericho gets crotched on top. He’s fine enough to block the Stratusphere but Christian gets sent into Jericho. That’s enough for two off a rollup but a hard clothesline takes Trish’s head off. Lita comes back in with a hurricanrana, only to have Jericho make a save. Jericho checks on Trish and seems to show some sympathy until Christian rolls Trish up for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was two different matches in one as the first half felt like something out of Memphis in 1974 and the second felt like it could have been interesting. In other words, once Trish and Lita realized they were Trish Stratus and Lita rather than fans in over their heads, it got a lot better. If that was the case throughout, this could have been a fun underdog match but for what we got, it was too little two late.

We recap Shawn Michaels vs. Batista. Shawn was trying to survive for Team Austin at Survivor Series when Batista interfered and cost him the match. Batista wasn’t done though and beat Shawn up some more, setting up the match tonight. In other words, they’re hoping Shawn can pull off a good match to make Batista look better than he is. I mean, it’s not the worst idea in the world.

Shawn Michaels vs. Batista

Shawn goes with the speed to start and snaps off some rights and lefts in the corner to annoy Batista. More punches get the same result and a slide between Batista’s legs allows Shawn to punch Ric Flair out. Things reset a bit and this time Batista goes with power in the form of some knees in the corner.

Flair goes into cheerleader mode as Batista starts in on the back with a hard whip, followed by just driving an elbow into the side of Shawn’s head. Shawn blocks a belly to back superplex though and gets two off a moonsault press (which was a foot or so off center). There’s the nip up so Batista takes it outside for a whip into the steps to put Shawn down again. They’re doing well with the power vs. heart/experience idea here.

Some backbreakers get Batista back to where he was going before with Flair losing his mind that the referee hasn’t stopped it yet. Back up and Shawn hits the forearm into the nip up before countering a chokebomb into a DDT. The top rope elbow connects but Sweet Chin Music is countered into a spinebuster. That means it’s Batista Bomb time but Shawn slips out and nails Sweet Chin Music for the pin.

Rating: C. This was a shorter version of Orton vs. Michaels from a few months back and that’s the right way to go. I can live with Evolution not winning every match and Shaw using the experience and intelligence to win over a muscle head like Batista makes enough sense. If nothing else just have Batista power through some nitwit and he’ll be fine.

Post match Batista is so out of it that he thinks he won and here’s Maven for a match added on Heat. One beatdown later and Maven is done, meaning Matt Hardy (whose fingernails grow very quickly), his opponent for tonight, can get a forfeit win. That’s the fast track version of getting Batista back to normal.

In the back, a very sweaty Flair has to calm Batista down and say that Batista is better than Shawn. Everyone trips, but the good ones get back in the game. Flair has an idea and says they’re both leaving with titles. Thanks for the spoiler Naitch.

Tag Team Titles: Tag Team Turmoil

Gauntlet match for the titles with the Dudleys defending. La Resistance vs. Rosey/The Hurricane starts things off with Conway slugging at Hurricane to start. A low bridge puts Hurricane on the floor as the USA chants begin. As usual, the fact that two Americans are currently wrestling goes completely over their heads. Dupree comes in and now that the chants are more appropriate, they starts dying down.

Hurricane gets in an X Factor and tags in Rosey to as much of a reaction as a tag to Rosey is going to draw about two minutes into a match. Rosey splashes Conway and dumps Dupree over the top before getting on the middle rope. Hurricane gets on his shoulders for a big splash to pin Dupree. Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade come in third and roll Hurricane up for the pin in about four seconds.

Lance Storm and Val Venis are in fourth with Venis and Jindrak starting things off. That goes nowhere so Garrison and Lance trade armdrags and headlocks. The BORING chants begin and you can see the empty seats from people hitting the concession stands. One heck of a left hand breaks up a springboard and Jindrak come in to crank on Storm’s arms. A missed charge allows the hot tag to Venis as everything breaks down. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Jindrak so Venis tries a suplex but falls victim to the Rick Rude/Ultimate Warrior finish for the pin.

It’s the Dudley Boyz in fifth to clean house with Cade getting caught in the Tree of Woe and Bubba abusing his chest. Jindrak comes in for one heck of a clothesline on D-Von and it’s off to the chinlock. A top rope elbow hits D-Von but “misses” and the hot tag brings in Bubba. Everything breaks down and Jindrak rolls D-Von up for two, only to have the 3D send the Dudleys on. Cade decks both Dudleys as Scott Steiner and Test are in sixth. The villains come in with little resistance and Steiner’s push-up elbow gets two.

It’s off to a Fujiwara armbar of all things before Test comes in for some stomping. A regular armbar has as much effect so Bubba throws him down for a breather. The middle rope backsplash ACTUALLY connects for two on Test and it’s back to D-Von to pick things up a bit. A rollup gets two on Test but he’s right back with the full nelson slam for two. With the wrestling not working, Test does the old throw in the belt so you can use a chair spot for two on D-Von. The Bubba Bomb hits Test though and D-Von gets the pin to retain.

Well hang on a second as here’s Bischoff that we have a seventh team. In case you’re really slow, it’s Flair and Batista as evil bosses are still evil bosses. The beatdown is on with Flair putting Ray in the Figure Four and the Batista Bomb pinning D-Von. Evolution was in there for about thirty seconds.

Rating: D. This was long and uneventful until the screwy finish. The problem was the same as usual with most gauntlet matches: there’s nothing to the matches because they have to go so fast and in this case, most of the teams are so lame that it’s not exactly something worth watching. This could have been much worse with less time but still, just a screwy way to set up the ending of the show.

Video on the Tribute to the Troops announcement.

Women’s Title: Ivory vs. Molly Holly

Molly is defending in a match that I don’t think was even mentioned coming into the show. Ivory sends her out to the floor to start as the announcers debate sexual frustration. A dropkick to the leg knocks Ivory face first into the apron so the champ can take over. It’s off to an armbar and the discussion is off to Molly drinking prune juice. There’s a handspring elbow to Ivory as you can see even more empty seats now than during the tag match. Ivory sends her face first into the buckle for two but Molly reverses into a rollup with the tights for the pin to retain.

Rating: D. There’s no story and they had four minutes. What else can you expect from a match like this? It’s not their fault here as they were put in a match to fill in time and given nothing to work with, meaning the deck was entirely stacked against them. The division needs some fresh blood and Ivory isn’t the right person to challenge for the title.

We recap the World Title match. Goldberg is defending, HHH is HHH and Kane decided to attack Goldberg so HHH could say it was a different match when he gets the title back again.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. Kane vs. Goldberg

One fall to a finish. The bell rings and they stand around staring at each other for a long time. After a minute of standing there, Goldberg walks to HHH and Kane walks to Goldberg, allowing HHH to jump the champ from behind. The double teaming is on as we’re waiting on who gets to cover Goldberg. A clothesline takes HHH down and a powerslam does the same to Kane as the fans are trying to get into this.

Kane sits up so Goldberg knocks him down again, followed by doing the same to HHH. Goldberg slams Kane off the top for a bonus and powerslams HHH for no cover. The distraction lets Kane get in a big boot and some right hands to Goldberg as I’m not expecting much of a story to break out here. A double suplex drops Goldberg and HHH covers for two, much to Kane’s annoyance.

Kane clotheslines HHH to the floor by mistake so HHH chairs him in the back, breaking up a chokeslam to Goldberg in the process. Goldberg takes the chair from HHH and wraps it around his ankle but Kane breaks up the Pillmanization. They head outside with Goldberg trying a Jackhammer through the table, only to be broken up with a chair to the ribs from HHH. You know, because why would you want Goldberg to get rid of Kane and then wear him out with the chair in your hands and a free shot?

HHH elbows Goldberg through the table but winds up in front of Kane while holding the chair that he used to put him down. Kane beats on HHH a bit as this just keeps going. They head inside with HHH getting beaten up some more, including the side slam for no cover. The chokeslam is blocked by a poke to the eye and a DDT plants Kane. That’s enough for the ring so they head up the ramp with Kane chokeslamming him there instead. Goldberg is finally back up and spearing Kane as they come back inside for two with HHH making the save.

It’s a three way slugout with Goldberg getting the better of it, including a double clothesline to take both guys down. There’s another spear to Kane and one to HHH, drawing in Evolution for a distraction. They’re quickly dispatched so Goldberg and Kane choke each other until HHH hits Goldberg low. Kane chokeslams the champ but Batista pulls him to the floor, allowing HHH to get the pin and the title. Merry Christmas to us.

Rating: D+. Much like the whole show, this was much more dull and boring than bad. There was a grand total of zero doubt that HHH would win as you have the Evolution title dominance to go with HHH not being World Champion in a few months, which is completely unacceptable. This was as good as “you hit me, I hit him, he hits you, now we switch” for twenty minutes was going to be, which should tell you everything you need to know.

Evolution celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. There are worse shows, but this was 2003 Raw in a nutshell: a lot of Evolution, a good match here and there, but the whole thing is just so slow paced that nothing is really exciting. Also, much like a lot of the shows on the year, it barely broke two and a half hours, including the National Anthem. These one brand pay per views aren’t ready yet and that’s getting more and more obvious every single time they’re out there. These things need to be closer to two hours than three, but then they couldn’t charge as much and that wouldn’t be good, much like this show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – December 8, 2003: Welcome Home, Thank Goodness

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 8, 2003
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Armageddon, which has really snuck up on me this year. The big story coming out of last week was Mick Foley being named the new co-General Manager of Raw and balancing out Eric Bischoff’s power mad rampage. I’m sure this will be a new and innovative story that has never been done before in WWE. Let’s get to it.

Here’s last week’s show if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week, which saw Foley firing a bunch of people but then revealing that he was just joking to end the show. That’s quite the use of two hours.

Opening sequence.

Here are Chris Jericho and Christian with flowers to beg Trish and Lita’s forgiveness. Cue the ladies with Trish holding up a Canadian dollar. Jericho is shocked that this is what’s wrong because it was just a stupid joke. They recap the feud with Jericho trying to sweet talk his way out of things and Jericho begs forgiveness until she slaps him in the face. Trish and Lita beat the heck out of them with the flowers and it’s time for a match. Well with Christian and Jericho’s scheduled opponents.

Tag Team Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. Chris Jericho/Christian

Jericho/Christian are challenging and we’re joined in progress with D-Von elbowing Christian in the face and nailing a powerslam. It’s off to Jericho to stomp on Bubba and the Canadians start in on the leg as Trish and Lita glare from the floor. A chinlock sets up more stomping as they’re not exactly going deep into the heel offense playbook here.

Bubba grabs a Samoan drop to set up the hot tag to D-Von…who gets double teamed almost immediately. A blind tag brings Bubba back in for a hard clothesline with D-Von hitting another to put D-Von on the floor. Believe it or not, Bubba misses his middle rope backsplash and Jericho’s Lionsault gives Christian two. The Bubba Bomb gets the same and it’s the women going up to play D-Von in a double What’s Up. The 3D to Christian retains the titles.

Rating: C-. Kind of a boring match for the most part but anything with ticked off Trish and Lita at ringside is a good thing. There’s more to this story and I’m still interested in where things are going. Bubba and D-Von are good for this role as you could have them hold the titles for a long time and it’s not a stretch to have Christian and Jericho lose to them here. Good story for a not that bad match.

Evolution recaps the plans to get the World Title back on HHH. Randy Orton is cool with that but promises to leave Armageddon as the Intercontinental Champion.

Christian and Jericho rant to Bischoff so he makes a mixed tag at Armageddon.

Batista vs. Rob Van Dam

Non-title. Rob doesn’t bother with the feeling out stuff and kicks Batista to the floor early on. Back in and the shoulders in the corner are shrugged off with Batista’s hard clothesline. Rob gets shoved outside as Lawler keeps singing Evolution’s praises. Back in and Rob is put upside down in the Tree of Woe to no avail as he’s right back with more kicks.

A dropkick puts Batista down and the stepover kick does it again. It’s too early for the Five Star though and the ref gets bumped. The Batista Bomb is countered into a fairly botched hurricanrana but Flair breaks up the split legged moonsault. Now the Batista Bomb can connect for the pin.

Rating: D+. Batista is being brought along slowly but he can hit a great looking powerbomb. Rob losing here is fine as it sets up the numbers game problem on Sunday and the loss wasn’t clean. This was all it should have been and Rob’s botches didn’t even hurt it that badly.

Garrison Cade/Mark Jindrak vs. Val Venis/Lance Storm

Before the match, Cade and Jindrak make it clear that they were NOT whining last week. Jindrak jumps Storm from behind and stomps away in the corner as Lawler is hoping that Storm and Venis’ ladies will be in one of Val’s films soon. A double suplex gets two and we hit the chinlock. Storm fights up and hits a dropkick, allowing the tag off to Venis so everything can break down. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Jindrak but Cade’s distraction sets up a rollup (with trunks) to pin Venis. They didn’t have much time here and the match was really rushed.

Kane talks about killing his dog and leaving the carcass to rot in the woods. Every day he would go to see what was left of it, which made him feel good about himself. Goldberg being World Champion annoys him too so he’ll change that on Sunday.

Here’s Foley for a chat. He’s named himself guest referee for the Intercontinental Title match on Sunday, after several hours of consulting with himself. That brings him to Steve Austin, who needs to be reinstated. There are now over 500,000 signatures that want Austin back on Raw. We need more though so let’s pass this one around too. Before that can happen, here’s La Resistance to interrupt. They’re not cool with Foley humiliating him last week on national TV because Foley is a joke, JUST LIKE AMERICA!

We talk about Iraq some more (egads here we go again) and now it’s time to humiliate Foley. That’s why he’s going to salute the French flag or violence will ensue. Foley likes French fries, French toast and French’s mustard but he doesn’t like La Resistance. He’s not saluting the flag tonight so it’s almost on…..AND HERE’S THE ROCK! That wakes the fans up for the next year or so.

Rock isn’t sure what’s going on here because he knows Foley, he knows the people, he knows JR and King and he knows Lillian Garcia (“You still like the strudel?”) but he doesn’t know the two French guys. I think you know his reaction to their names and Rock wants to know if they were going to French kiss Foley to death. He accuses them of being a little Fifi themselves and threatens to smack their lips off their faces (that one never caught on). Dupree calls him Rocky and that doesn’t sit well with Rock.

They’re not going to win the Tag Team Titles on Sunday because one, they’re French and two, they suck. The French Army sucks too (and for some reason sounds like a Japanese stereotype) and would have surrendered to anyone. A tag match is teased until Foley calls the team the Sock N Rock Connection, which doesn’t sit well with Rock. The French guys jump them as they argue over the name but Rock remembers that he’s the Rock, meaning it’s time to nip up and beat the heck out of Dupree.

Mr. Socko sets up the spinebuster and People’s Elbow. Conway gets an Elbow of his own (from Foley this time) and Foley loads up Rock’s catchphrase. That is NOT cool though so Rock shows him how the tongue is supposed to go. Posing ensues and Rock even signs the Austin petition. This was a lot of fun and exactly the kind of a surprise that we needed after the boring stuff that goes on around here most weeks. Rock and Foley are always fun together and this was a blast all over again as it’s so rare to see Rock respect someone.

Bischoff has had Rock escorted from the building and makes Goldberg vs. Kane a lumberjack match with Bischoff himself picking the lumberjacks.

Booker T./Hurricane/Rosey vs. Mark Henry/Scott Steiner/Test

No Stacy Keibler in sight. Rosey runs Test over to start and drops a splash for two. It’s off to Hurricane for a rather positive reaction but Test tilt-a-whirl slams him down for some right hands. Steiner comes in for the push-up elbow and threatens Rosey with the same. A missed elbow allows the hot tag to Booker so house can be cleaned. The Spinarooni looks to set up the ax kick on Test but Henry comes in and runs people over as we take a break. Back with Henry dropping some big elbows and grabbing the chinlock.

Booker fights up but his rights and lefts have no effect. Henry’s clothesline gets two with Hurricane making the save and Steiner comes back in to some major booing. A forearm to the back keeps Booker down and Test slaps on a bearhug. Booker gets out with a spinebuster and brings in Hurricane to clean house. Hurricane’s neckbreaker drops Test but Henry comes in and runs him over, setting up the bearhug to knock Hurricane out for the win.

Rating: D. This was longer than it needed to be at nearly fifteen minutes, which didn’t help anyone but Henry. I know they’re going for the big monster push, but coming right after he lost to Goldberg isn’t the best strategy. He’s fine for what he is, but the bearhug and the monster offense feels like it’s out of the Hogan of the 1980s playbook.

Post match Booker gets bearhugged out as well.

Sign the petition!

Bischoff makes Evolution and Henry the lumberjacks.

The announcers recap the evening and run down the pay per view card.

Molly Holly/Victoria vs. Trish Stratus/Lita

Joined in progress with Trish chopping Molly in the corner as Jericho and Christian are watching from the ramp. A dropkick gives Trish two but Victoria gets in a knee from the apron. The spinning side slam gives Victoria two as Jericho wants Trish to show him what she has. It’s already back to Molly who powerbombs Trish to break up a hurricanrana attempt. Trish avoids a charge though and the hot tag brings in Lita for a monkey flip and an STO (there’s a combination you don’t often see). Cue Matt Hardy for a distraction though, allowing Molly and Victoria to hit a side slam/belly to back combo to pin Lita.

Rating: D+. Another uninspired match, as you probably guessed given how fast it had to go. Molly and Victoria have nothing going on, to the point where I completely forgot that Molly was Women’s Champion. Trish and Lita were the story of course here, and I’m almost scared to see what’s going to happen in the mixed tag.

Kane vs. Goldberg

Non-title lumberjack match. Goldberg goes right for him with heavy right hands and a shoulder but Kane sends him over the top. The obligatory lumberjack beatdown is on with JR saying they’d be in jail if not for Bischoff making them lumberjacks. Back in and Goldberg hammers away but gets thrown out again, meaning it’s time for Evolution to beat on him some more.

Kane nearly drops him on a side slam and it’s off to a sleeper. Goldberg gets up and counters the chokeslam into an FU, allowing him to send Kane outside. JR is INCENSED that the lumberjacks don’t beat on Kane so Goldberg goes outside and throws Kane back in himself. The spear is loaded up but Orton comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D. Sloppy and not much to see here but at least they stuck with the formula that makes sense for the match. Keeping it short was the right move though as Goldberg is best used in short bursts. Sunday’s title match doesn’t do much for me but the triple threat lets HHH (who has managed to miss a good portion of the build while filming a movie) get the title back again without repeating the same match for what, the fourth time? Who cares if it’s not interesting for the fans?

The beat down is on so here are Rob Van Dam and Booker T. to get taken out as well. Shawn Michaels is in for the save with a “straight martial arts kick” (better known as Sweet Chin Music to everyone but JR) to Flair. Sweet Chin Music (JR got it that time) to Kane sets up the spear to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Rock’s segment came close to shaving this show but there’s only so much you can do on the go home show for a pay per view as lifeless as Sunday’s. This show is dying for someone with some energy near the top of the show as Goldberg is pretty obviously just holding the title for HHH and after that it’s a bunch of midcarders trying to be next in line to lose to HHH. That’s been the case for way too long now and it’s dragged the rest of the show down.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – October 9, 2000: Who Dunnit?

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 9, 2000
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Another request and this time it’s because of a pretty famous line. Steve Austin is on his -way back after almost a year off due to neck surgery but we’re still not sure who ran him over in the first place. Commissioner Mick Foley is on the case though and with Austin being back in less than two weeks, he needs to find something out soon. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of HHH blaming Stephanie McMahon for a loss, which has almost driven her into Kurt Angle’s corner. On top of that, Foley has suspended Austin for being a little too insane over finding the guy that tried to kill him.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Foley to open things up, drawing some very rare booing. Foley talks about Austin embarrassing him with some Stunners but that’s not going to keep him from doing his job. He’s brought in a fellow Texan who knows something about Austin being run down so here’s Shawn Michaels. Foley: “Welcome to Anaheim, California, my fellow broken down, washed up wrestler.” He’s not going to accuse Shawn of running Austin over, but Mick does want an alibi.

Michaels remembers the entire day, which started with waking up, brushing his teeth, having some breakfast….but there’s no memory of getting on a plane to Detroit and running over Austin. The thud on that bumper probably would have jogged his memory. What Foley is missing is a motive, which Shawn doesn’t have. Foley doesn’t quite buy that though, because here’s a clip from Wrestlemania XIV with Michaels losing the WWF World Title to Austin, who flipped him off after the match.

Mick talks about his best match ever being with Shawn, but no one remembers that. No one remembers Shawn blazing the trail for the superstars of today and that would tick Foley off enough to run Austin over. Shawn doesn’t ever want to see that clip again but again denies doing anything to Austin. Besides, if Shawn did it, don’t you think he’d be basking in the spotlight that came with it? He’ll give Mick an idea though: there’s someone who loves the spotlight more than even Shawn and he has the world wrapped around his finger, if you smell what he’s cooking. Well that’s a change of pace.

Women’s Title: Lita vs. Jacqueline

Lita is defending and this is under hardcore rules, meaning Jacqueline can bring the weapons. It’s a quick brawl on the floor to start until Lita gets hit in the head with a sign. A broom over the back has Lita in trouble but the fans are very much behind her anyway. Jacqueline hits her square in the head with a hair dryer (FREAKING OW MAN!) as Lawler accuses Foley of being the driver.

A fire extinguisher malfunction lets Lita get in a low blow (which has an effect here) and she pulls out a ladder. Jacqueline is right back with a DDT onto the cookie sheet for two but Lita pops up again. A superplex off the ladder is broken up and Jacqueline misses a crossbody off the ladder….which would have been lower than the middle rope. A fire extinguisher blast and a cookie sheet shot retains Lita’s title.

Rating: D+. You know, if you want something like this to matter, you might want to give it more than four minutes. It’s cool to see them doing something like this, but a short match isn’t going to let them do anything. Also, that crossbody off such a low level was just lame. This could have been something if they had tried but it felt like they were just having a hardcore match for the sake of having a hardcore match.

Debra wishes Chyna well on her upcoming wedding and it’s the usual “oh I’m so happy for you” giggling nonsense. They’re looking for Foley and Eddie but can’t find either of them.

Post break Debra comes in to see Foley, who is in the laundry room. He asks her how Steve is before talking about how Debra seemed to benefit from Austin’s injuries. Debra erupts and wishes she was there when Austin Stunned him.

HHH rants about having to team with Chris Jericho and Stephanie goes into some of the worst acting of her career in an attempt to be in his corner. I’d still love to hear them defend talking like this because it sounds as robotic as humanly possible.

Linda McMahon arrives.

Raven vs. Steve Blackman

Actually not hardcore so Blackman’s Hardcore Title isn’t on the line. They start with some technical stuff (I’m as shocked as you are) with Blackman easily getting the better of it. Some kicks in the corner have Raven in trouble as the announcers talk about anything else. For once, it makes enough sense.

Blackman is sent outside and Raven hits a weird looking corkscrew dive (it’s not like he’s a high flier or a former Light Heavyweight Champion or anything). Steve sends him face first into the steps but gets caught with a discus forearm for two back inside. Not that it matters as Blackman finishes with the bicycle kick. This wasn’t long enough to rate and I’m really not sure what they were going for.

Post match Raven jumps Blackman but gets pummeled with the martial arts sticks.

Linda is in Foley’s office and denies running Austin over. Foley brings up her being in a hotel room in Detroit that night and Linda gives the logical explanation: well yeah, because there was a pay per view there that night and she’s part of the company. Besides, what sense would it make to run over the company’s top stars? Mick agrees, and asks who sold the most merchandise while Austin was on the shelf. That would be the Rock.

Chris Benoit/X-Pac vs. Chris Jericho/HHH

No Stephanie here. It’s a brawl to start with HHH and Benoit heading to the floor and eventually starting inside. A suplex drops Benoit but Jericho and HHH get in a battle of tagging themselves in. They change places until HHH charges into a boot in the corner. Benoit gets dropped with a neckbreaker so Jericho tags himself in again, triggering a shoving match between the partners.

Jericho’s running bulldog gets two but he misses the middle rope dropkick. It’s off to X-Pac for the first time and EGADS the fans aren’t happy. Jericho gets sent into the corner and Benoit crotches him against the post like an evil Canadian. A backbreaker gives Benoit two but X-Pac takes WAY too long setting up the Bronco Buster.

It’s off to HHH and Benoit with the former getting the better of it and actually playing face for the moment. Everything breaks down and X-Pac kicks Jericho down. Benoit’s German suplex gets two on HHH but he gets caught in a suplex. HHH heads up, only to get crotched as Jericho and X-Pac fall to the floor. The collapse from the top is enough to give Benoit the pin.

Rating: C. The ending was pretty messy and it didn’t really make for a big finish. I’m assuming the idea is to have issues between HHH and X-Pac but there are so many issues between all four that it kind of got lost in the shuffle. Not terrible or even bad, but I’m not sure I got what they were trying to do.

Edge and Christian are in Foley’s office when HHH bursts in. HHH wants Benoit so Foley makes the match at No Mercy. That’s enough for him so HHH leaves, allowing Foley to continue interrogating the Canadians. They were getting ready for a match and abusing a trainer, which has Foley ready to pull his hair out. That’s enough from them as they have surfing lessons.

HHH goes into his locker room and Stephanie thinks the losing is because she’s not out there. The glare is almost painful.

Tag Team Titles: Hardy Boyz vs. Lo Down

Lo Down (D’Lo Brown and Chaz) is challenging because no one would ever let them be champions. It’s a brawl to start with Chaz being sent outside, leaving Brown to take a double suplex. The double legdrop keeps Brown down but Chaz gets in a cheap shot from the floor to take over. Matt gets double teamed in the corner until Brown drops a leg for two. As usual (and I was with him), JR can’t remember which Hardy is which.

Chaz misses his own legdrop and Lita crotches him for good measure, allowing the hot tag to Jeff. As I try to regain my hearing from the high pitch squealing, Poetry in Motion hits Brown. There goes Jeff’s shirt and the noise gets even louder. Jeff loads up the Swanton but cue Los Conquistadors to break it up. A Powerplex crushes Jeff but Matt makes the save with a top rope leg to give Jeff the retaining pin.

Rating: D+. I forgot how smooth the Hardys were back in their day. They really were as good in the ring as almost any team ever and even now, a ridiculous EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER, they’re still quite smooth. If nothing else the Los Conquistadors story will give us one of the best payoffs in the history of the division.

Mick is playing checkers with Al Snow, who is wearing a blond wig to look like he’s from Sweden. Foley thinks the driver could have been in a similar wig and breaks up the game with his gavel.

European Title: Al Snow vs. Test

Test is challenging and William Regal is on commentary. Snow is now from Greece, meaning the movie (which I still haven’t seen) instead of the country for a not terrible joke. Apparently Regal hasn’t seen the movie either and has no idea what’s going on. Test has Trish with her, whom Regal refers to as a buxom winch. Regal: “Europe has wonder culture. Europe has wonderful wrestlers. Why are we being represented by this buffoon?” Test slams Snow down by the head as Regal downgrades Snow to an ignoramus.

Snow goes after the knee and avoids a big boot to send Test crashing out to the floor. Back in and Test scores with the big boot for two before the gutwrench powerbomb gets the same. Test goes up top and gets superplexed right back down as Regal tries to figure out how a non-European is the European Champion. The Snow Plow gets two on Test so Trish gets on the apron, allowing Snow to hit Test with Head to retain. Regal is AGHAST (“IT’S BLOODY DISGRACEFUL!”) as only he can be.

Rating: D+. Regal was glorious here and that’s all this was supposed to be. They’re spelling out the Regal vs. Snow story in as simple terms as they can and that works very well. Test fell off the planet after Russo left because there was nothing left for him to do outside of get stuck in this generic power team designed to showcase Trish.

Eddie Guerrero and Chyna argue over Eddie not being trustworthy. Apparently she hasn’t seen him or heard from him all day and they have a match tonight. He’s ready to go to the ring on his own and if she trusts him, she can come out there too.

Road Dogg hosted and judged a dance contest at WWF New York. He sounds rather intoxicated.

Eddie Guerrero/Chyna vs. Right to Censor

Val Venis/Goodfather for the censors here. Eddie jumps Venis from behind to start and hammers away as Lawler makes Mamacita jokes. Speaking of which, we go to GTV, showing Eddie in the shower with two women earlier today. Of note: one of them is the future Victoria. Eddie: “Two mamacitas are better than one mamacita.” Chyna has a seat on the steps as Goodfather shoulders Eddie down. We hit the choking on the ropes as Goodfather shouts down at Chyna, who hasn’t even looked back at the ring. She starts looking at her engagement ring as Venis finishes Eddie with a Blue Thunder Bomb.

Rating: D. Angle instead of a match here and there’s nothing wrong with that. Eddie reverting to his normal stance makes sense as he’s just not someone who is going to be tied down to Chyna over the years. It makes perfect sense and sets up Chyna/someone else perhaps vs. Eddie, which should be fine.

Post match the RTC goes after Chyna but Billy Gunn runs in for the save.

Crash is trying to leave but Foley cuts him off. Mick seems to realize that there’s nothing going on there so he talks to Scotty 2 Hotty instead. He had nothing to do with it either but says he, Grandmaster Sexay and Rikishi were backstage that night, waiting on Rock’s match to finish so they could go party. This seems to mean something to Foley.

Eddie begs Chyna’s forgiveness but he she takes the ring off and leaves. He goes to find the ring but Billy comes in and tells him to go return the ring for $20. Billy isn’t letting Eddie near her again as long as he’s around. Eddie grabs a bottle and hits him in the face before picking up the ring and leaving.

Kurt Angle/Kane vs. Rikishi/The Rock

And hang on as Kane beats up Angle before the match starts due to a recent attack at Kurt’s hands. Kane goes after Rikishi as well, but at least that’s what he’s supposed to do this time. Rock finally comes out and walks into a big boot from Kane. Dang it’s a good night to be the Big Red Machine. The running clothesline puts Kane down and it’s off to Rikishi for the fat right hands, followed by a Samoan drop.

The fans are VERY pleased to have Rock come back in (well to be fair he’s replacing Rikishi) and there’s the spit punch to the mask. Kane casually powerslams him down though as Angle is still nowhere to be seen. An elbow gets two on Rock and we cut to Angle who is leaning against the barricade, casually watching the match.

We hit the chinlock as this has been almost all Kane so far. In a sign of the times, the hold goes on with Kane’s back to the camera. That would never fly today, even though IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. Does it really matter that much if you can’t see the faces for all of thirty seconds in a ten minute match? Oh hey look Rock is fighting up and I can see his face again. I’m so much more invested in the match all of a sudden.

Rock comes back with a spinebuster and it’s off to Rikishi, who scores with a bad looking clothesline. A chokeslam cuts him off again and NOW Angle is ready for a tag. Kane does tag him…with a hand around the throat and a chokeslam for him as well. That’s enough for Kane, who walks up the ramp. Fair enough, as he dominated this match. The Angle Slam hits Rikishi but Angle walks into a Rock Bottom. Rikishi sits on the chest for the pin.

Rating: C. I know I mentioned this a few times but Kane looked great here. He beat up Rock and Rikishi on his own without much effort and even threw Angle some punishment as well. It wasn’t a great match or anything as it merely served as a reason to have people at ringside and I’m not sure why the #1 contender needed to get pinned here (let it be a countout because Kane was legal or something) but at least Kane looked great. Naturally, he wasn’t even on the upcoming pay per view.

Post match, here’s Foley to say he knows who did it. All of the evidence points to Rock, including it being his rental car with his fingerprints, DNA and sunglasses being found in the car. It was Rock who became the biggest star in the world after Austin was gone…but Foley finds him not guilty. So who did it?

That would be Rikishi, who was backstage but hadn’t even debuted on television yet. Rikishi was close enough to the Rock to take his keys and the rental car mirrors were configured to someone his size. After a long pause, Rikishi admits that he did it. In the line that launched a thousand forum posts, Rikishi did it for the Rock. That night, he took Rock’s keys to go check into the hotel, but when he was in the car, he saw Austin. Everything flashed right through his eyes. See, over the years, the WWF has always been about the great white hope.

Rikishi talks about people like Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan (POP) and now Steve Austin, all of whom were pushed harder than the island boys. The people like Peter Maivia, Jimmy Snuka, the Headshrinkers and the Tonga Kid were allowed into the company but never allowed to become WWF Champion. Rikishi doesn’t expect anything back from Rock, who had nothing to do with this. He ran Austin over, and he’d do it again. Everyone, including Rock, is stunned to end the show.

Oh holy sweet chicken wings where do I even begin? Let’s get the big one out of the way to start: THIS WAS DUMB. Not only is this somehow about making sure that the Rock (who was a THREE TIME WWF Champion by the time Survivor Series 1999 rolled around) wasn’t held back by the white man, but it was explained by a 400lb dancing Samoan in a thong.

That last part is the bigger issue here: there was no reason for this to be Rikishi. Every single thing in this pointed to the driver being the Rock (as explained by Foley) or HHH (because he’s HHH). They would eventually change it to HHH because they realized that Rikishi couldn’t have a good match with Austin to save his life (again, because it’s Rikishi) and that THIS WAS REALLY STUPID.

Oh and Rikishi was found out because he was backstage at a show before he had debuted? So a member of Rock’s family, one of the biggest wrestling families of all time and apparently friends with Too Cool by then, was backstage at a show for a company that he was about to debut for, and THAT is the smoking gun? And Foley just happened to remember Rikishi’s debut date off the top of his head? Just dumb all around, and thankfully they had it fixed within about a month for the sake of this being so stupid.

Overall Rating: D. REALLY bad ending angle aside, this wasn’t much of a show. There was however one big that stood out: everything feels different. There’s a show long angle going on, but at the same time every match feels important. That’s how NXT feels today and it’s such a breath of fresh air. If you don’t like something that’s going on, they’ll be on something different you might like a few minutes later. That’s a very good thing to have on a show and makes it feel that much easier. This is at the down end of the best year ever, but it’s still a watchable enough show. Just turn it off after the main event for the sake of STUPID.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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