IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: June 2, 2006
Location: Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

Things are certainly happening around here but I don’t know if I would call them interesting. We are a long way off from the Great American Bash, meaning we have all kinds of time for Rey Mysterio to lose but still hold up the title. The show is also in need of a replacement for JBL so maybe we can start that tonight. Or we could just go hard with King Booker. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with the new Smackdown host: the Miz. After a HOO RAH, Miz runs down the card, including Great Khali in Piper’s Pit (oh dear). For now though, we can start with this. Who could have imagined what this would lead to over the years?

Opening sequence.

Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

Non-title, likely so Rey can lose again as Angle is on his way to ECW. Speaking of ECW, Paul Heyman joins commentary. Cole puts over the history here as Angle double legs Rey down without much effort. Angle cranks on the arm a bit and Rey looks shaken in a hurry. They do it again as Angle is running over him to start. It’s too early for the ankle lock as Mysterio gets to the ropes and then the floor, where the frustration is already setting in.

Back in and a headscissors takes Kurt down, which has him looking shocked. Angle takes him down by the leg again with almost no effort as Heyman promises a new vision for ECW. Rey manages to send him shoulder first into the post but Angle runs him over. The Angle Slam is countered with an armdrag to the floor though and it’s time to go toe to toe, plus to a break. Back with Angle dropping him with an uppercut as Heyman announces Mysterio defending the World Title against Sabu at One Night Stand.

Angle gets two off a suplex and a release German suplex gets the same. The bodyscissors goes on to work on the ribs but Rey gets to his feet and hits a dropkick. A DDT plants Angle and there’s a spinning headscissors to put him down again. Rey dropkicks him to the floor and a sliding headscissors has Angle down on the floor. The springboard seated senton gets two back inside but Angle snaps off a release German suplex to flip Rey upside down.

Rey grabs a rollup for two but Angle runs him over with a clothesline. The Angle Slam connects for two with Rey having to use the ropes for the break. Rey is right back with the 619 but Angle runs the ropes to break up the frog splash. A sunset flip is countered into the ankle lock, which is reversed with a rollup. Angle counters the 619 though and there’s an overhead belly to belly out to the floor for the countout.

Rating: B. They were getting going in the end and then Rey loses because that’s what he does to everyone but JBL. It wouldn’t be right to have Rey look like he can beat someone like Angle because the World Title means nothing while it’s on Rey. It’s annoying, but it’s what we’re stuck with for the time being. But hey, at least that unproven kid Kurt Angle looks good on his way to the new show.

Batista is back in five weeks.

Bobby Lashley is proud of his US Title and can’t wait to earn respect in all of his title defenses. Tonight, he’s starting with Booker T.

Nunzio needs Vito in his corner tonight.

Nunzio vs. Matt Hardy

Hardy works on the arm to start and takes him down to the mat for a headlock. A slam sets up an elbow for two but Nunzio is right back to the arm. Back up and Matt makes his comeback with clotheslines and the middle rope elbow to the back of the neck. The Twist of Fate is good for the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a quick match here, likely to set up something between Nunzio and Vito. Nunzio is just there at this point and Matt….well he’s just there too but he has a better history. I’m not sure what else there is here, but the Vito in a dress thing is not likely to go well in the slightest.

Post match, indeed here is Vito in a dress to help Nunzio up, sending Nunzio running off in anger/disgust.

We look back at Mark Henry injuring Chris Benoit last week.

Miz introduces Roddy Piper for Piper’s Pit. He knows WWE calls him when something weird goes down and now he wants to see Great Khali in person. Cue Khali with Daivari so Piper asks how much English Khali speaks. Daivari says none so Piper tells Daivari to leave. Piper looks Khali over, including from behind, and makes a Brokeback Mountain reference. First question: what does Khali eat? Daivari: “People the size of you!”

Piper wants to know where Khali is from and then makes elephant noises upon hearing the jungles of India. Piper talks about how tough Undertaker is but Daivari says Khali is the new superstar of “the World Wrestling Entertainment.” Hold on though as Piper wants to speak eye to eye with Khali so he gets on the middle rope. Khali grabs him by the throat but Daivari calls him off. Piper slaps Daivari so Khali hits the big chop to knock Piper out.

Jillian Hall vs. Kristal

Ashley Massaro, now on Smackdown, is on commentary to talk about the Diva Search. They lock up to start with Jillian grabbing a headlock takeover but Kristal reverses into one of her own. Jillian’s dropkick gets two and a snapmare is good for the same. Back up and Jillian rubs her face first into her cleavage before countering a victory roll for the pin. This was there for the looks and that works out fine enough. Jillian was trying and it could have been worse.

Post match here’s Michelle McCool (Cole: “Wow.”) to say she’s new around here too and promises to teach them how to be a real lady. Maybe she can teach the guys something about the birds and the bees. The glasses come off as she promises to make things a lot hotter. It felt like a bit of a Stacy Keibler knockoff but not as memorable (and more teacherish).

Mark Henry vs. Paul Burchill

Before the match, we take a closer look at Henry destroying Benoit, putting him on an indefinite hiatus. A big boot and two World’s Strongest Slams finish Burchill in a hurry.

Post match the destruction is on, with Burchill bleeding from the mouth to send him back to OVW.

Mr. Kennedy is back next week.

Finlay vs. Caden Matthews

Finlay hits him in the face to start and then nails a hard clothesline. The forearms to the ace in the ropes keep Matthews down and Finlay throws him outside. Something pulls Matthews under the ring so Finlay pulls him back out, setting up the Celtic Cross for the easy pin.

Post match the leprechaun comes out to beat on Matthews some more. Finlay throws him back underneath the ring.

Video on Sabu. It’s so weird to see this in WWE.

Tazz gets very serious and rants about Jerry Lawler insulting him. If Lawler is a man, come meet him at One Night Stand. Tazz has one more left in him so beat him if you can and survive if he lets you. It’s just an announcers feud but these two are both great talkers so we should be in for some nice promos.

King Booker vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title and Booker has Sharmell and William Regal, doing his ALL HAIL KING BOOKER, with him. Before the match, Booker introduces Queen Sharmell and sits on the throne like a king should (I guess?). They go face to face to start with Booker talking more trash and Lashley saying bring it on. Lashley powers him into the corner but Booker is back with some right hands.

That’s fine with Booker, who knocks him down and then grabs a suplex for two. Some chops against the ropes just annoy Lashley but a hot shot works a bit better for Booker. A snap suplex puts Booker down though and Lashley is back up with some more shots to the face. Lashley hits a belly to belly but charges into a knee. Not that it matters as Lashley grabs a running powerslam for the pin.

Rating: C-. They didn’t have time to do anything here but what we got was good enough. Lashley gets a win to even things up after the pay per view and doesn’t lose in his first match after becoming champion. At the same time, Booker can just point to the crown to keep his heat so it is hardly some devastating loss.

Post match Regal jumps Lashley and Finlay comes in to help with the beatdown. Booker adds the Book End and it’s time to bring the throne back in. With Booker sitting down, Regal and Finlay keep up the beatdown and force Lashley to bow. Booker isn’t done though and makes Lashley kiss his foot, meaning it’s time for Sharmell to shout ALL HAIL KING BOOKER (she’s no Regal) to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. One of the most interesting things about going back and rewatching these shows has been seeing the arrival of these people, with people like Khali, Miz and the future Hornswoggle, plus the returning Kennedy, being on the list. They have been adding in some different people lately and it is making things feel different. That being said, other than Angle vs. Mysterio, this was a pretty skippable show, which is likely to be the case at the moment as we are a good length away from the next Smackdown pay per view.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: May 19, 2006
Location: Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Attendance: 5,757
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the go home show for Judgment Day and my goodness it’s a pretty sad world around here. World Champion Rey Mysterio is on a losing streak to various monsters and tonight he gets to face a mystery monster. Given that it’s MAY 19 and we’ve spent months on Kane talking about MAY 19 and his new movie comes out on MAY 19, I’m thinking the Great and Powerful Oz. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at JBL tormenting Mysterio and making it work, because Rey being World Champion is a pesky annoyance.

Opening sequence.

Here’s JBL in his limo to open things up. After declaring himself an American hero, he wants to acknowledge the heart of Rey Mysterio. See, Rey’s people have that machismo, which is Spanish for having more guts than brains. That’s what JBL had when he defeated Eddie Guerrero. Latinos have passion but passion doesn’t pay the bills. The fans chant for Rey, which JBL says they should do now because JBL is taking the title on Sunday. JUST LIKE HE DID FROM EDDIE GUERRERO! I’ve seen herds of cows that weren’t milked as much as Eddie.

MNM/Melina vs. Jillian Hall/Paul London/Brian Kendrick

The Fink is on commentary here and describes MNM/Melina as “the threesome that contains the WWE Tag Team Champions, MNM!” The brawl is on before the bell and we’re joined in progress after a break with Kendrick headlocking Nitro. A headlock takeover out of the corner puts Nitro down and it’s off to London to work on the arm. Mercury comes in to send London into the buckle so Kendrick comes back in to clean house.

Everything breaks down and Kendrick gets chop blocked to put him in trouble. Nitro comes in to tie up the leg and it’s back to Mercury to cannonball down on the leg. The leg twisting continues and it’s Mercury (who is incredibly sweaty) dropping an elbow on the leg to keep him in down. The breakdancing legdrop gives Nitro two (and allows Melina to scream), followed by a headscissors from Melina on the apron.

Kendrick kicks Mercury into the corner for the break though and the hot tag brings in Nitro to pick up the pace. Melina tags herself in for the catfight (and a BIG pop) until Mercury makes a save. Jillian comes in with a high crossbody (which the camera mostly misses, possibly intentionally) for the pin.

Rating: C-. I can always go for the idea of putting two feuds into a big tag match so this worked fine. They almost have to change the titles on Sunday after all of these losses, but I’ve also liked Melina vs. Jillian. No it isn’t setting the world on fire, but they’re both being intense and it comes off like they really don’t like each other. I’ll give points for trying and they’re giving it what they can so well done.

Clip of the Judgment Day press conference. The pay per view’s theme song is This Fire Burns so I keep expecting a CM Punk cameo.

Cole: “Who will be Rey Mysterio’s mystery opponent tonight?” This is followed by a See No Evil package. They never have been good with subtlety.

Video on Mark Henry injuring Kurt Angle.

Angle talks about meeting Mark Henry at the 1996 Olympics. That’s when Angle won the gold medal but Henry won…nothing. Henry has been angry ever since and tried to hurt Angle, but Kurt isn’t Batista and he’s still standing. On Sunday, Henry is learning that Angle is the best wrestler in the world.

Bobby Lashley vs. Jared Steel

Lashley knocks him into the ropes to start and hits a belly to belly suplex as the beating is on in a hurry. Some shoulders set up the gorilla press and there’s the delayed vertical suplex. The spear is good for the pin in a hurry.

Post match Lashley goes to sit on the King of the Ring throne but here are Booker T./Sharmell to interrupt. They walk by Lashley to go to the ring, which means Lashley can’t sit down for some reason.

Raw Rebound.

Gunner Scott/Chris Benoit vs. Booker T./Finlay

During the entrances, Finlay vs. Benoit is announced for Sunday. Scott and Booker lock up against the ropes to start with Booker not being thrilled at being driven into the corner. Some chops and a back elbow give Scott two but Booker thumbs him in the eye. Finlay comes in and Gunner manages to wrap his leg around the rope for a kick to said rope. You don’t do that to Finlay, who knocks him down and grabs a quickly broken chinlock.

It’s back to Booker, who hits his own chops in the corner. Scott gets two off a suplex but Booker kicks him back down for the same. The chinlock goes on and Scott seems to be bleeding from the nose or mouth. Scott manages to fight up and gets over for the hot tag to Benoit so house can be cleaned. Booker breaks up the Sharpshooter attempt so Benoit chops him as well and gets two off the German suplex. Everything breaks down and Scott gets knocked from the top to the floor in a big crash as we take a break.

Back with Scott still in trouble as Booker unloads on him against the ropes. A Russian legsweep gives Scott a breather though and the hot tag brings in Benoit to clean house. Finlay pulls Benoit to the floor for a ram into the steps though and it’s a Shillelagh shot to the ribs to make it worse.

Booker is smart enough to grab an abdominal stretch but Benoit is out in a hurry for the German suplex. It’s back to Scott for a middle rope dropkick with Finlay having to make a save. Everything breaks down again with Benoit and Finlay falling to the floor but here’s Lashley to sit on the throne. That’s enough of a distraction for Scott to grab a crucifix for the surprise pin.

Rating: B-. This was an intense match with everyone working hard. It might not have happened yet, but it’s nice to see them trying something with Scott. You can always go with trying someone new in a spot and maybe it will work out for him. The match was good too, with some back and forth action and Benoit and Finlay beating the heck out of each other. Having them do it again on their own on Sunday should be just fine.

Tatanka is now part of the Lakota Tribe and will debut next week. I can’t wait either.

Here’s Daivari to explain why Undertaker is scared of Great Khali. We see a video of Undertaker’s dominance over the years, only to have Khali destroy him with such ease. Back in the arena, Khali comes out to say “rest in peace.” At least that’s what commentary claims he said.

Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy

This show loves its monsters. Hardy knocks him to the floor and drops an ax handle from the apron. A posting lets Hardy hit the middle rope legdrop for one, meaning it’s time for the destruction to begin. Henry forearms him in the back and grabs the bearhug but Hardy is out in a hurry. The Twist of Fate attempt is countered into a World’s Strongest Slam for the pin.

Post match Henry tells Angle to watch this and hits some splashes.

Another See No Evil video.

Vito and Guido are ready to go out again but here is Paul Burchill to say he saw Vito in a dress too. Guido doesn’t believe it.

Judgment Day rundown.

Rey Mysterio vs. ???

Non-title but before we find out who the opponent is, here’s JBL for commentary and a pre-match chat. After saying we’re in Albuquerque, North Mexico, JBL asks Rey if he knows what the date is. Rey: “May 19.” JBL:” YOU SAID IT NOT ME!” Cue Kane and we’re ready to go. Kane punches him down to start and the beating is on as Cole is losing his mind on commentary. Rey kicks at the legs but gets knocked out of the air as Cole goes on about JBL being sick.

A two arm chokeslam drops Rey again and Kane drops him face first onto the steps. JBL again talks about how the fans are chanting for Eddie instead of Rey, which really doesn’t do much good for Rey but that might be the least of his problems. Rey gets knocked down again but the lights go red.

Kane’s voice comes onto the loudspeaker to talk about how it’s May 19^th and it’s happening again. A 619 hits Kane but he’s right back with a chokeslam as the lights come back on. Kane goes to leave but JBL says Rey is the one who said May 19, earning himself a chokeslam to end the show. No finish to the match so things are looking up for Mysterio.

Rating: D. This was barely a match and wasn’t quite a shocking surprise. I’m sure it’s supposed to be all better when Rey retains over JBL, but JBL has been right on almost every point so far. The racist stuff is the only heel part about him (granted that’s a big part) though and otherwise, it’s really hard to cheer for Rey at this point, when he’s being presented as a face version of the heel who loses all the time but keeps pointing to the title like it makes everything ok.

Overall Rating: C-. That tag match in the middle helped but man alive that main event stuff is killing everything else on the show. The worst part is we’re probably going to see even more of it after Sunday as Rey beating JBL is the kind of thing that would make WWE think everything is equal. Not their worst show, but one match is all that’s keeping it afloat this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: April 21, 2006
Location: Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 16,108
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

The King of the Ring is still rolling after last week’s opener, meaning we could be in for some good stuff going forward. Smackdown seems to be throwing out a bunch of more gimmicky stuff at the moment and I’m curious to see what else they have. There is something fun about seeing these characters that you might remember from years gone by making their debuts and we should be in for some bigger names and moments. Let’s get to it.

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

Booker T. and Sharmell are ready to win the tournament and Matt Hardy is up first.

Matt Hardy talks about everything he has gone through this year and will not die.

King of the Ring First Round: Booker T. vs. Matt Hardy

Sharmell is here with Booker. Feeling out process to start with Booker elbowing his way out of a hammerlock. Hardy is back with a running clothesline for two and we hit the headlock on the mat. That’s broken up with a belly to back suplex and some knees to the ribs have Matt in trouble as they seem to have a long time to use here. Matt is back with a swinging neckbreaker but the moonsault press misses.

We hit the chinlock but Matt is out in a hurry with the middle rope elbow to the back of the head. The comeback is cut off by Sharmell low bridging Hardy to the floor as we take a break. Back with Booker snapping off some suplexes for two but he takes too long going up and gets superplexed back down.

Matt still can’t get anything going as Booker kicks him down and grabs the chinlock again. Another comeback includes elbows and clotheslines for two but Booker kicks him in the face for two more. The Book End lets Booker hit the Spinarooni but the ax kick misses. Matt grabs the Side Effect for two but Sharmell offers a distraction so Booker can hit a low blow. Now the ax kick can finish Matt.

Rating: B-. This was better than I would have expected as they were hitting some big stuff and the fans were into what they were doing. It says a lot when I was a little surprised at some kickouts when I already knew who was winning here. Good match and one of Matt’s best in a long time now.

Post match Booker puts on the crown and does a Karate Kid pose.

In honor of JBL’s Championship Celebration tonight, here’s a look at JBL beating Eddie Guerrero for the World Title.

William Regal is in drag again and Paul Burchill thinks it’s hilarious. Tonight, they’re in a tag match but Regal doesn’t know about this because his chest is a bit too big. Burchill has a teddy bear costume for him but that’s too much for Regal. The shenanigans continue.

Joey Mercury vs. Paul London

Johnny Nitro, Melina and Brian Kendrick are here too. London hurricanranas him down to start and hammers away but a Nitro distraction lets Mercury shove him off the top. Back in and we hit the choking on the ropes. The waistlock goes on, followed by a northern lights suplex for two on London. Kendrick and Melina get up on the apron with Kendrick being knocked down, allowing Nitro to get in a slingshot elbow/backbreaker combination.

Rating: C. This wasn’t the most exciting thing in the world as it was fairly obvious where they were going the second last week’s match was announced. It’s an idea that WWE has used for years and while it works well enough, it isn’t exactly something that is going to draw in my interest.

Regal is now a bear, with Burchill adding a head, including lipstick. And yes it has a tail.

Last week, Kurt Angle snapped Randy Orton’s ankle. That’s how you write Orton off for a suspension due to “unprofessional conduct”.

Chris Benoit/Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay/Orlando Jordan

Lashley and Jordan start things off with Lashley driving him into the corner without much effort. Benoit comes in and tries the Crossface, sending Jordan scampering away. A Finlay distraction lets Jordan take him down by the arm. It’s off to Finlay to crank on said arm, plus drive some elbows down for a bonus.

Benoit’s arm goes into the post and it’s back to Jordan to pound on the arm some more. Benoit finally suplexes his way to freedom and the hot tag brings in Lashley to start cleaning house. The delayed vertical suplex gets two on Jordan and Benoit dives onto Finlay. There’s the spear to Jordan and the Dominator is good for the pin.

Rating: C-. This could have been a lot worse but there is one important detail here: it is the last time Orlando Jordan is going to be wrestling on Smackdown. I have no idea how in the world WWE thought he was going to be some star and thank goodness I’m glad that he is gone for good. He just isn’t that talented as a wrestler so maybe he can be….a guy who makes canned peaches.

Another Great JBL Moment: he throws immigrants across the border.

This Week In WWF History: Steve Austin crushed The Rock’s Lincoln. This was on Raw too.

Teddy Long makes Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio for the World Title next week.

Now Regal is in a chicken costume, with Burchill telling him not to get cocky. There is no tail on this one, but the hole is revealing….uh, yeah.

Funaki isn’t worried about Great Khali, who comes in to shout.

Funaki vs. Great Khali

Chop to the head, big boot and double arm chokeslam in less than a minute.

Now Regal is a gorilla, but Burchill has one more idea and we’ll see it in their match.

William Regal/Paul Burchill vs. Gymini

Simon Dean is here with the Gymini and Regal is….kind of rather British, but has feathers in his hat (which is over a curly black wig). Burchill and Jesse start things off with Burchill hammering away. Jesse gets in a shot of his own though and it’s off to Regal, who gets suplexed out of his wig. The chinlock goes on but Regal fights up and goes for the tag, only to have Burchill walk away. The Cross Trainer (double Regal Cutter) finishes Regal.

Another Great JBL Moment: beating Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania.

Miz tries to get in for the celebration but Palmer Cannon isn’t having that.

Raw Rebound.

We look back at Jillian Hall almost costing JBL the US Title last week.

It’s time for JBL’s Championship Celebration, hosted by Jillian Hall (who walks past the big inflated eagle). She leads out a marching band and here’s JBL in a (horned) Hummer limo as the balloons drop. JBL isn’t pleased though and yells that he is worthy of the New York Philharmonic and Jillian brought him a bunch of refugees from a Big Brother program. JBL: “Never trust a woman to think!” He makes fun of her over inflated balloons and fires her, telling Jillian to go lap dance her heart away.

JBL lists off some great Americans and declares himself an American hero. After all, he’s the real champion over Rey Mysterio. Now he wants the winner of Mysterio vs. Angle next week, so here’s Angle to interrupt. Angle lists off his own American Hero credentials but JBL doesn’t think so. Angle: “Well compared to me, you suck.”

JBL was never as good of a champion as Rey, who finally comes out to interrupt. The fans chant for Eddie and because JBL is a good heel, he points out that Rey can’t even get his own chant. JBL has already taken titles from Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, so Rey can be the third amigo. One short/Spanish joke too many earns JBL a beating and Rey and Angle stare each other down to end the show. JBL is still a heck of a heel, but he’s right in pointing out how little fans seem to care about Rey himself. It doesn’t help that Rey feels like he’s in way over his head as champion too.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a weird one as the ending was a big celebration which only set up a title match between two people who have nothing to do with JBL at the moment. The rest of the show was your usual fare and they did a nice job of making Angle vs. Mysterio feel like an important match. It’s not exactly must see stuff, though they still have a few weeks to set things up before we get to the next pay per view.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 9, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re done with All Out and about two months away from Full Gear, which means there is some time before we need to really get started on the build to the show. Tonight is likely to be about fallout, which could make for a rather fun night. There are a lot of ways this show could go so let’s get to it.

Here is All Out if you need a recap.

Chris Jericho talks to Maxwell Jacob Friedman about the loss to loss to Jon Moxley on Saturday. They respect each other and know that the other will be World Champion one day. After an elbow bump they go their separate ways, where they call each other a loser.

Opening sequence.

Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express

Jungle Boy and Fenix start things off with an exchange of armdrags. Penta comes in but can’t hit the Fear Factor. Instead it’s Luchasaurus coming in to throw Boy at him for a swinging Downward Spiral. The Bros are sent outside but Penta is right back in for an exchange of chops with Luchasaurus. When that doesn’t go well, it’s a shot to the knee to bring in Boy, who takes Fenix to the floor for a suicide dive. Back in and Penta shoves Boy off the ropes and into a kick from Fenix to take over.

The beating is on until a double clothesline misses, allowing Boy to roll over for the tag to Luchasaurus. Fenix gets chokeslammed off the top (which looked more like a slam off the top) but Penta takes Luchasaurus down. The Gory Bomb into the legdrop combination gets two on Luchasaurus and it’s the spike Fear Factor to Boy. Fenix dives onto Luchasaurus as Penta gets two for a shocked reaction. Back in and Boy sends them into each other, setting up a rollup to give Boy the pin at 9:21.

Rating: B-. Total action match here and it’s amazing how much more interesting and entertaining Jurassic Express has been since Marko Stunt went onto the shelf. You might even think that he’s a completely unnecessary part of the team and little more than a mascot. It’s nice to see Jurassic Express win here though, even if it came at the Lucha Bros’ expense, though they have lost so many big matches that it doesn’t mean much anymore.

Post match the Bros are about to fight but Eddie Kingston and Butcher and Blade break it up. Eddie talks about how they are brothers and need to get along, eventually getting them to hug.

Clips of Jon Moxley retaining the World Title over MJF at All Out.

Here’s what’s coming on the rest of the show.

While standing in the rain, Jake Roberts talks about how he and Lance Archer were confident going into All Out because that’s what they do. They’re here to trash cars instead of driving them because it’s like getting wet. Archer is ready to take the World Title.

Here’s Matt Hardy for a chat. He can’t believe all of the outpouring of love and concern over the last few days and he is very happy to stand here in front of the people. After a bunch of tests, Hardy is expected to make a full recovery because he is very lucky. He has a wife and family who are here tonight and he is sorry for putting them through that on Saturday. The only thing he is sorry about is the Broken Rules match not going as he wanted. It is time for him to get healthy though, meaning he can start winning matches and going after his first title. Matt praises Private Party and thanks the fans because they are the best.

Orange Cassidy vs. Angelico

Angelico starts with a top wristlock into a wristlock, leaning to them spinning around a lot for the break. With that not working, Angelico traps the leg and pulls on the neck, followed by something like an STF from the side instead of on Cassidy’s back. That’s broken up with a grab of the rope and Angelico misses a running boot in the corner. Cassidy hits a suicide dive into a high crossbody inside, setting up a tornado DDT. The Orange Punch finishes Angelico at 3:11.

Rating: C. That’s a good way to use Cassidy here after the big win on Saturday. If they want to make him a big deal going forward, this is something you need to do. Cassidy wasn’t doing his shtick here either and that is going to need to happen more often if he is going to have some longevity.

Post match Santana and Ortiz run in to jump Cassidy but the Best Friends run in for the save. Chuck, in a shirt featuring Trent’s mom’s van, calls them ding dongs and yells about Santana and Ortiz destroying his best friend’s mom’s van. The challenge is on for a parking lot fight and Trent says they are coming to hurt them instead of making mama proud. The levity of the mom’s van stuff and the intensity of wanting a parking lot brawl isn’t quite working here.

The Young Bucks knock down the interviewer for trying to ask them questions.

Here are Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford for an in-ring chat. Sabian throws Tony Schiavone out because all anyone wants to know is who is the best man for his wedding. Cue a rather large man in a loud shirt to say he’s here to be the best man. Sabian doesn’t think so, because the guy is a subscriber to Sabian’s Twitch channel and was told he was “the best, man”.

Next up is Brian Pillman Jr. for the same issue. Sabian sends Pillman away and says he hopes his birthday was awful. Now it’s time for the real best man: Miro, formerly known as Rusev. Miro talks about spending ten years chasing the brass ring and tells you where you can stick it. He’s shown he’s the best gamer on Twitch and now he’s all elite.

Tony Schiavone had a sitdown interview with Hangman Page earlier today. Page is banged up after All Out but Tony wants the real answer about how he’s feeling. Page talks about how there were a few hundred fans at All Out but they were pretty far away. He couldn’t hear a sound for thirty minutes because it was like everyone was waiting for he and Kenny Omega to fall apart and lose the Tag Team Titles.

It wasn’t inevitable though and it was Page’s fault that FTR became #1 contenders in the first place. It was his fault that he cost the Young Bucks the gauntlet match because they are the best tag team in the world. From head to toe, he is full of poison. Tony talks about Omega walking away from him on Saturday and Page talks about the issues the two of them have had despite their successes. Now it’s time to get back to the top for another title shot and they’ll get through this too. Page continues to be the best talker in the Elite (past or present) by about ten miles.

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Anything goes. Jericho hammers away at Janela in the corner but Janela knocks him down for his own right hands. Kiss comes in for a double hot shot to Jericho and a double dropkick puts him down again. Stereo missile dropkicks connect to send Hager and Jericho to the floor and Janela hits a suicide dive on Jericho. Back in and Janela hits Jericho with a chair a few times but gets suplexed onto said chair for his troubles.

We take a break and come back with Janela throwing Jericho head first into a chair in the corner and making the hot tag to Kiss. Jericho’s trashcan shot is broken up and Hager runs Kiss over from behind. The Vader Bomb onto the trashcan onto Kiss is blocked as Janela and Jericho brawl to the stage. Jericho catapults Janela into a toss off the stage and through a table to leave Janela laying. Kiss dives onto the two of them at once and Cactus Clotheslines Hager from the ramp to the ring. Back in and Jericho sprays Kiss with a fire extinguisher to send him into Hager’s head and arm choke for the win at 9:45.

Rating: C. I didn’t really need to see this getting any kind of time or Janela getting in that much offense (or Janela in general but that’s a different story) but the result worked well enough. Jericho gets back on track and Hager gets to look like a monster again so it accomplished its goals. Now just stop having Janela as a face and things should be better.

Post match Jericho talks about how bad All Out was for the Inner Circle, but the team has a new plan: he and Hager are coming for the Tag Team Titles. I’ve heard worse ideas.

MJF is in his campaign office and freaks out over Jon Moxley cheating to retain the title at All Out. They’re all fired, including Nina, who is FINALLY smiling. After throwing her out, MJF doesn’t like Wardlow calling him sir and yells about Wardlow screwing up. Remember that MJF signs off on Wardlow’s checks instead of Tony Khan, so either get it together or be thrown out on the street. Wardlow is annoyed but agrees that they don’t have a problem. It’s time to plan to get back to the top.

Jon Moxley knows that Lance Archer is coming because this never gets any easier. Would you want to bet against him though?

Here are Tully Blanchard and FTR, with the ring surrounded by the tag division to celebrate their newly won Tag Team Titles….complete with cake. Tully seems to dub the team Fear the Revelation before talking about FTR winning the titles in an 117 degree ring. They came out with the gold to go on top of the deepest tag team division in the world. FTR grew up watching SCU and wished they were still in their prime. Then there’s Private Party. Dax: “Yeah there’s Private Party.”

Billy is one of the most successful tag team wrestlers of all time but being in a second bit Hall of Fame doesn’t get them to the top. Next week they have the Jurassic Express but a cosplay dinosaur isn’t getting a to run the tag team division. The Express comes in and FTR keeps insulting them before bailing from the threat of a double chokeslam. The division surrounds them and the Express pours the cooler of ice onto them. With the champs gone, everyone else has cake.

We look at the Casino Battle Royal.

Taz joins commentary and here is Ricky Starks dressed as Darby Allin instead. Starks, as Allin, talks about finally getting injured and not being able to go skateboarding with his friends. Now as himself, Starks calls out Allin for being reckless and no one wants to be around him. That leaves Allin hurt and alone and the next time he sees Allin, it will be even worse.

Nyla Rose vs. Tay Conti

Vickie Guerrero is in Rose’s corner. Rose drives her into the corner to start and tosses Conti down without much effort. Conti comes back with some kicks to the head but Rose knocks her to the floor for a shot from Vickie. We take a break and come back with Conti pulling her into a reverse cross armbreaker but gets reversed into the Beast Bomb for the fast pin at 5:26. Not enough shown due to the commercial, though I’m not sure why you would have Conti lose like this in her first match under contract.

Post match Vickie says that they are here to make a statement but here’s Hikaru Shida with the kendo stick for the staredown.

The Bucks are being fined $5000 for knocking the interviewer down.

JR had a sitdown interview with Kenny Omega earlier today. Omega’s big takeaway is that he was a champion and now he isn’t, which is part of the game. He and Page had chemistry together so they were a great team, which changed Omega’s perception in the company. Maybe he was supposed to be the breakout star around here but maybe he can be more than a singles guy. JR asks what’s next for him but Omega isn’t sure if they are going to be able to be a team again. He spent a year on the team and now it seems to be time to go back to his singles career.

Moxley vs. Archer for the World Title is taking place on October 14 for the Anniversary Show.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes

Lee is defending and some of the Dark Order is here. Dustin jumps him to start and the brawl is on outside before they head back in for the opening bell. Lee chops away in the corner but Dustin does the same. They slug it out until Lee knees him in the ribs and catapults him throat first into the middle rope. We take a break and come back with Dustin hitting a bulldog and snaps off the powerslam but the Canadian Destroyer is broken up. A hurricanrana out of the corner sets up the Code Red for two and they’re both down.

Back up and Cross Rhodes gives Dustin two but Lee is back with a superkick. Lee powerbombs him for two but misses a running boot in the corner. Dustin hits the running flip dive off the apron so John Silver tries to interfere. That lets Dustin hit the Unnatural Kick to Lee and a snap powerslam to Silver. Dustin piledrives Lee for two and a big clothesline gets the same. Back up and Lee hits the discus lariat for the pin at 10:23.

Rating: B. Coming out of All Out, one of the things that I kept hearing praised was Dustin’s fired up promo and how well he has been doing as of late. I hadn’t really gotten it so I paid extra attention to this and yeah, it worked very well. While I don’t particularly care about Dustin avenging the Rhodes Family name, I can get into the idea of the old cowboy with one shot left at glory and putting in a fired up attempt to get the title. This worked very well and they kept my attention after getting it early on.

Post match here’s the rest of the Dark Order with the unconscious QT Marshall but Lee throws Colt Cabana out. Evil Uno tries to calm Cabana down as Lee returns the low blow to Dustin.

We get some Breaking News from Cody. He has gone to Marietta, Georgia to shoot the Go Big Show, which is a new competition series with all kinds of unique acts. Cody will be a judge on the show, which is the only connection the show has to wrestling.

Overall Rating: B-. The opening match and main event helped this one out but it was kind of a cool down show after last time. They have a lot to build towards in the future and it’s ok to burn off a show like this coming off a rare pay per view. That being said, it was far from bad and they did enough to keep me interested. It wasn’t a great show, but it was good enough and that’s all it needs to be.

Results

Jurassic Express b. Lucha Bros – Rollup to Fenix

Orange Cassidy b. Angelico – Orange Punch

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Head and arm choke to Kiss

Nyla Rose b. Tay Conti – Beast Bomb

Brodie Lee b. Dustin Rhodes – Discus lariat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

All Out 2020
Date: September 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

They’re back on pay per view and for once that’s a rather nice thing to see. AEW has a great history with the big shows and hopefully we continue the streak here. The main events are Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy where you can win by throwing the other one in a vat of mimosa and Jon Moxley defending the World Title against MJF. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Joey Janela vs. Serpentico

This was announced earlier today and Sonny Kiss and Luther are here. Joey jumps him before the bell and they fight to the floor where Janela glares at Luther. Back in and Serpentico charges into a boot to the face but he sends Joey hard into the corner. Serpentico’s running thigh slap disguised as a shot to the face gets two and Joey is sent outside for some abuse from Luther.

Back in and a snap suplex gives Serpentico two but a Swanton hits raised knees. Janela’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but he misses a moonsault. Janela is back up with a super fisherman’s buster for two. Luther grabs the foot so Janela dropkicks him through the ropes. The top rope elbow gives Joey the pin at 7:55.

Rating: D+. So that happened and it could have been on any given edition of Dark. Janela still does nothing for me though I do kind of like Serpentico. For what feels like a really basic gimmick, he does well enough with what he has and that’s all you can ask for from something like this.

Buy In: Dark Order vs. Private Party

John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order. Silver starts with Isaiah Kassidy and they fight over wrist control. With that going nowhere, Marq Quen comes in for an atomic drop to send Silver into a clothesline. A top rope ax handle to Reynolds’ arm gets a delayed two but Silver comes in to powerbomb Kassidy onto Reynolds’ knees. There’s a backbreaker for two more and it’s time to kick at Kassidy’s chest for the same. The chinlock with a knee in the back goes on but Kassidy fights out.

A roll over into the corner brings in Quen to clean house, including a top rope moonsault press for two. Silly String is broken up and a heck of a torture rack spinning slam gets two more on Quen. Everything breaks down and Private Party knocks them off the top. A 450 and Swanton miss and it’s a Stunner into a German suplex for two. Private Party is back up and sends Reynolds to the floor, setting up Gin and Juice to finish Silver at 10:14.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be as Private Party isn’t ready to do a match this long on their own and the Dark Order isn’t going to be able to walk them through it. They certainly didn’t have a disaster out there and the match could have been a lot worse, but it came and went with one spot after another. They were good spots, but they were just spots.

Jim Ross gets his full entrance and really doesn’t seem thrilled to be here.

The announcers run down the card. Thank goodness they’re thinking of those people who buy pay per views and forget what they ordered.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is Tooth vs. Nail and is taking place in Baker’s dental office. Reba checks Swole in and shouts to Baker that she is here, earning herself a clipboard to the head. Swole goes hunting for Baker but finds a bunch of blood on a chair instead. Baker, in a face mask, stalks Swole, who finds a cabinet full of chattering teeth. Baker gets behind her and eventually breaks a framed diploma over her head. The doctor isn’t sure if they can save Swole’s teeth so it’s time to extract them but Swole fights out.

They go outside and into Baker’s motorized wheelchair with Reba helping Baker to little avail. Baker gets in a crutch shot to take Swole down though and they fight back inside. Swole manages to throw a chair at her and Baker is in trouble. They go into an exam room where Baker his a superkick and loads up a syringe full of Novocaine. Swole manages to knock into Baker’s leg to send Reba into hysterics and knocking Baker out for the stoppage at 6:29.

Rating: D+. This was quite the disappointment as they could have done a lot more than what we got here. There is only so much that you can get out of a match that has less than seven minutes and a good chunk of that was spent walking around. I’m not wild on Baker losing, but at least it wasn’t via pinfall so it could have been a lot worse.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

No story here as they won an eight man tag on Wednesday and get to fight as a result. Nick and Jungle Boy start things off for some flipping before it’s quickly off to Matt, who goes outside to yell at Marko Stunt. Back in and Jungle Boy Tail Whips Nick into a Flatliner but Nick slips over for the tag to Matt. A dropkick staggers Luchasaurus but he sends the Bucks into each other and brings Boy back in.

Nick is sent over the top and hard onto the ramp but Matt is back with Locomotion. He suplexes Boy to the floor and hits some more Locomotion, plus another suplex over the barricade to drop Boy. Back in and Matt grabs a front facelock and Nick comes in for a running knee to the face. Boy sends him to the ropes though and Stunt gets in a cheap shot, allowing the hot tag to Luchasaurus. House is cleaned in a hurry, including the standing moonsault for two.

Everything breaks down but Boy’s hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb on the apron. A Canadian Destroyer hits Luchasaurus and there’s a superkick to Boy. Back in and the Swanton gets two more on Boy but he avoids the BTE Trigger. Luchasaurus breaks up the Meltzer Driver and chokeslams Nick. The Extinction Level Event hits Matt for two but the Bucks send Luchasaurus outside. The Superkick Party gets two on Boy and now the BTE Trigger is enough for the pin on Boy at 14:53.

Rating: B-. Good action here, even if there wasn’t a ton of drama over who was going to win. There was no reason to believe that the Bucks were going to lose when they have been teasing a heel turn in recent weeks. This worked well enough as a way to get the Bucks on the show, but it wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before.

The announcers preview the Casino Battle Royal.

Casino Battle Royal

There are four groups of five wrestlers each and a group comes in every three minutes. One wrestler comes in as the Joker at the end and it’s a regular battle royal, with the winner getting a World Title shot in the future. Taz joins commentary for a bonus. First up we have the Spades, meaning Trent, Christopher Daniels, Jake Hager, the Blade and Rey Fenix to start things off. It’s a brawl to start with Daniels having to fight out of Hager and Blade’s double teaming. Fenix armdrags Trent down but walks into a tornado DDT.

Hager suplexes Daniels and everyone keeps fighting until it’s the Diamonds, consisting of Frankie Kazarian, Will Hobbs, Chuck Taylor, and Santana and Ortiz. The last two hit Chuck from behind with the baton before he can get in the ring and stay on him outside. Hobbs pulls Blade in the way of a charge and Blade is out, followed by Hager getting rid of Daniels. Everyone gets in and it’s time for the Hearts, including Billy, Penta El Zero M, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage and Darby Allin.

Cage gets rid of Billy in a hurry so here’s Allin with the skateboard to wreck people. Allin tosses Fenix and the Best Friends get to clean a little house, setting up the Big Hug. Santana and Ortiz get rid of Chuck because they’re not stupid enough to stop for a hug in a match like this. Now it’s time for the Clubs, with Shawn Spears (who goes over to commentary instead of getting in), Eddie Kingston, the Butcher, Sonny Kiss and Lance Archer.

Spears takes his time heading to the ring as Archer gets to clean house in a hurry. Kiss eliminates Hager but Cage gets rid of him as well. Tully Blanchard hands Spears the piece of metal for the glove as Hager decks Kiss on the floor. Trent gets rid of Santana but can only send Ortiz to the apron. Archer tosses Trent and then eliminates Ortiz as the Joker is….Matt Sydal. Well that’s a disappointment. He comes in and goes to the top to try the shooting star press….and slips off, crashing hard onto his back so Hobbs immediately goes to check on him.

Penta is out and Kazarian follows him and we hear a bunch of noise, which Taz blames on catering. Cage gets up to clean house and hits Starks by mistake, allowing Allin to throw Starks out. Starks is annoyed and pulls out a body bag, which Cage fills with thumbtacks. Cage puts Allin in the bag and zips it up as JR is DONE with this. A powerbomb over the top rope gets rid of the bag and Allin for the scary bump. Sydal kicks Spears to the apron but Spears pulls him out as well.

With Spears tied in the ropes, Spears adds a middle rope double stomp for the elimination. Back in and Hobbs hits a big spinebuster on Sydal but gets Pounced by Archer. Cage and Archer give us the big showdown and they strike it out until Cage hits a jumping knee. Hobbs cuts Cage off and pulls him to the apron though and Archer knocks both of them out.

That leaves us with Archer, Kingston, Sydal and Blade, with Archer not wanting to hear from Kingston. Archer dumps Butcher and throws Sydal through the air and right into a DDT onto Kingston. There’s the Blackout to Sydal but he lands on the apron. Kingston gets rid of Sydal and winds up on the apron with Archer. Jake Roberts busts out the snake bag but here is Blade to go after Archer. Kingston bites Archer’s ear but another snake distraction lets Archer throw Kingston out for the win at 21:50. JR: “Lance Hoyt wins it!”

Rating: C-. These things are always hard to rate and Sydal wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise. The botch didn’t make things any better but I did get to laugh as soon as he got up. Archer winning makes good sense as he needs a big win to get him back to the top level after the loss to Cody. It was fine enough for a battle royal, which means it has a pretty hard ceiling above everything.

We recap Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy. Guevara busted him open with a chair by throwing it rather hard at Hardy’s head so Hardy busted him open in a tables match. Tonight it’s Broken Rules, meaning Last Man Standing, but if Matt loses, he leaves AEW.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Broken Rules so Last Man Standing. They start near the football field, with Sammy showing up behind him in the golf cart. Since Matt is a wrestler, he runs straight ahead instead of going over a barricade or something. Sammy crashes and the fight is on, with Matt heading over to a scissor lift. They go into the air and Matt tries the Side Effect. That winds up with a huge crash instead and Matt’s head hits the concrete, meaning we get the X sign. Hokey smoke that was terrifying and Matt is DONE. As in not moving and looks completely stiff.

Sammy goes after Matt again and gets a nine but here’s the doctor to say the match is over at 3:47. Sammy staggers towards the ring so Matt gets up and jumps him again. The bell rings and the match continues as they head towards ringside. They climb the set structure and Sammy gets knocked off for a huge crash through the stage. That’s enough for a ten count at 8:07, counting the break between the breaks.

Rating: D+. I’m really not sure what to say here as I can’t imagine this was the plan for the whole thing. It feels like Matt got hurt but they had to keep going until the finish because of the Matt Leaves stipulation, though that’s just a guess. It didn’t have the time to do much, which seems to be a continuing problem with this feud. They don’t need to do this again, and hopefully Matt isn’t too banged up.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Hikaru Shida for Shida’s AEW World Title. We hear a bunch of great things about Rosa, the NWA Women’s Champion, including comments from NWA owner Billy Corgan. Everyone knew Rosa was going to be a top star from the moment they saw her and she challenged Shida for a champion vs. champion match. Shida was certainly down.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa

Only Shida’s title is on the line. They go nose to nose to start before heading to the mat. With no one being able to get the advantage, it’s Shida hitting a running hurricanrana and it’s time to go nose to nose again. Rosa hits a hard elbow to the face and snapmares Shida down as Excalibur mentions that Rosa is also a champion in Tokyo Joshi Pro. JR: “BUT ONLY YOU KNOW THAT!” Shida gets in a shot of her own and hits a running knee to Rosa as she hangs over the apron. Rosa is back up to hit Shida in the face and bend her back around the post.

Back in and the Thunder Driver is escaped and Shida pulls her into a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors. Rosa slips out of that and grabs a rocking horse to drive Shida’s head into the bottom buckle over and over. Back up and Shida counters a kick to the head into the Stretch Muffler but that’s reversed into a headscissors. Shida hits a jumping knee to the head but her back is banged up from earlier. Rosa hits some running knees in the corner and they head to the ramp.

A Death Valley Driver is escaped so Rosa goes to the top, only to get shoved to the apron. That’s fine with Rosa, who hits the Death Valley Driver on the apron instead. An armbar goes on but Shida gets her foot on the rope for the fast save. Shida sends her to the ramp and hits the Meteora to drop Rosa hard on the back of her head. Back in and Shida gets one off the Falcon Arrow but can’t get the Full Metal Muffler. A rollup doesn’t work either so it’s a hard backbreaker for two on Rosa. The running knee finishes Rosa at 16:43.

Rating: B. Match of the night so far and I’m not at all surprised. You had two very talented wrestlers getting to showcase themselves in a long match. They weren’t going to have Shida lose to someone not signed to the promotion so the winner wasn’t in doubt, but they had a heck of a match on the way there. Good, hard hitting match match here which lived up to my expectations.

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford announce that they are getting married on Dynamite, but first, Sabian needs a handsome best man. This week, we’ll find out who his best man is.

We recap the Dark Order vs. the Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona. Brodie Lee destroyed Cody to win the TNT Title and now it’s time for friends and family to fight for revenge.

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona

It’s Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana/Evil Uno/Stu Grayson for the Order and the Nightmare Sisters are at ringside too. It’s a brawl to start before the bell until Lee knocks Dustin down to officially get things going. Uno comes in and gets taken into the corner by Dustin. It’s Uno getting caught in the corner for the big beatdown, including Cardona hitting a neckbreaker for two. Uno gets Marshall to chase him on the floor and the stomping is on back inside. Lee backdrops Marshall but Dustin comes in to stop Uno from using the wrist tape.

That just lets Uno choke anyway but Marshall manages a Lethal Combination. Marshall ducks a clothesline and that’s enough to bring in Cardona for the house cleaning. The middle rope dropkick hits Cabana and there’s a faceplant. Grayson and Uno low bridge Cardona to the floor as Cabana might have a broken nose. Now it’s Lee beating on Cardona in the corner, which again draws Dustin in for a failed save.

Lee chokes in the corner and shouts WHERE’S CODY over and over. Chasing the Dragon drops Cardona, allowing commentary to talk about Batman and Robin. Cardona slips out of the suplex and grabs the neckbreaker, allowing the hot tag to Dustin to clean house. There’s a Canadian Destroyer to Cabana and Sky comes in for the showdown with Lee. Cue Anna Jay to go after Sky but Brandi kicks her in the face.

As JR wishes Anna had a wardrobe malfunction (seriously), Sky hits a TKO for two on Uno. Radio Silence (the Rough Ryder) hits Grayson and Cardona nails a flip dive to the floor. Cardona charges into a powerbomb from Lee so Marshall hits his own flip dive. Back in and Grayson throws Marshall into a sitout powerbomb and Cabana adds a splash for two. The hot tag brings in Dustin though and it’s time for the slugout with Lee. That means a quick discus lariat to Dustin but Lee tags in Cabana for the pin. Cabana would rather go up top to miss a moonsault though, allowing Dustin to grab a rollup for the pin at 15:03.

Rating: C. This was long and that’s not the best thing for this kind of a match. I’m really not sure why we need the Order to lose here, unless they’re setting up Dustin as Lee’s first challenge. I know Dustin is old and related to Cody, but I’m not exactly interested in seeing Dustin vs. Lee in a big showdown. This felt more like something you would see on Dynamite and while it was fine enough, I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

Post match Lee freaks out and yells at Cabana before leaving in a huff. Uno shakes Cabana’s hand.

Dustin Rhodes is very excited over the win because he’s still doing this after five decades. As a bonus, he gets the TNT Title shot against Lee on Dynamite and is rather fired up as a result.

We recap FTR vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page. FTR doesn’t like a thrown together team having the Tag Team Titles and Page seems more serious about drinking than wrestling. The Young Bucks have thrown him out of the Elite and say he’s going to get what he deserves.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Hangman Page/Kenny Omega

Omega/Page are defending and Tully Blanchard is here with FTR. Omega and Wheeler start but Page (whose graphic says “I don’t care what the graphic says anymore”) wants in instead. Page slugs away to start but nearly hits Omega. The champs hit stereo big boots and Wheeler gets caught between some chops. Omega is finally willing to high five Page and it’s a snap suplex to drop Wheeler. It’s back to Omega for a springboard ax handle to the back and the Kitaro Crusher takes Wheeler down again.

Page hits a running shooting star to the back and it’s off to Harwood. That means a missed elbow but Page misses a boot in the corner. Harwood starts working on the leg as we hear that Matt Hardy is going to be ok. We hit the abdominal stretch until Omega is sent outside. Back in and Page gets to Omega for the tag so house can be cleaned. A jumping knee hits Harwood but Wheeler blocks the Snapdragon. Wheeler is dropkicked out of the air and Omega hits the big running flip dive to the floor.

Back in and Harwood powerbombs Omega into a German suplex from Wheeler for two more. Omega strikes both of them down though and everything breaks down again. A shot to the face takes Wheeler down for two and Omega goes up, where he gets to shove Wheeler down again. Harwood crotches him on top though the PowerPlex gets two. The Goodnight Express is broken up so Harwood brainbusters Omega instead. Omega is right back up with the poisonrana to Harwood and the Tiger Driver 98 gets two on Wheeler.

The V Trigger hits Wheeler but Harwood breaks up the One Winged Angel. Back to back dragon screw legwhips take Omega down and it’s off to the reverse Figure Four. The hold is broken up and Harwood stays on the leg with a Cannonball. Page finally comes over to try and break things up but is sent back to the corner as Omega’s leg is wrapped around the post. Omega manages to get up and hits back to back snapdragons but kicks Harwood into Page for the double knockdown.

Page gets back up for the hot tag a few seconds later though and house is cleaned. Wheeler is knocked down and Page dives onto Harwood at ringside. The big flip dive from the top takes FTR down again for a breather at ringside. Back in and Page is sent into Harwood’s knee for two and it’s the double Swan Dive for two, with Omega making the save. Page is sent to the apron again and gets caught with a reverse powerbomb/running bulldog combination for the big knockdown.

Back in and Omega breaks up a double team something, with Harwood falling off the top and landing hard on the apron. The super fall away slam hits Wheeler for two but the Buckshot Lariat misses. Omega V Triggers Page by mistake and Harwood takes out Omega’s knee. The Mindbreaker gives Harwood a cocky two so they do it again for the pin and the titles at 28:38.

Rating: B+. This was quite the match and they did the big mistake spot between Omega and Page to keep the issues going. FTR had to win here as there was no reason to keep them away from the titles at this point. The big deal is going to be the Omega/Page issues though as the Elite story continues. Heck of a match, but this started to feel long at the end.

Post match FTR leaves and Omega grabs one of the ringside tables. He throws it down though and Page collapses. Omega looks disgusted but walks away anyway. We follow Omega to the back where he finds the Young Bucks but storms off anyway. Omega says he’s done and let’s go so they head to the parking lot. Matt can’t talk him out of it as Omega says we need a good cleaning around here. Omega tells them to get in the car now or never but they stay out and Omega leaves.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy. They have split the first two matches and now it is time for Mimosa Mayhem, where you can win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into a big vat of mimosa.

Chris Jericho talks about how he has been dealing with Cassidy for fourteen weeks and has finally made Cassidy into a real main event draw. They have been through a lot and now it is time to beat him for good, by making him tap out and throwing him into the vat of champagne and orange juice.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

You win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into one of the vats of mimosa (on platforms of equal height to the ring). There are also no rope breaks. During the entrances, we hear more about Hardy, with Tony making it clear that Matt was cleared to continue by the doctor and everything was safe. Cassidy charges straight into the Codebreaker for two to start and Jericho sends him hard into the corner. They go over to one of the platforms with the vat and Jericho hits him in the head with a table.

Jericho gets knocked off to the floor though and Cassidy adds the big dive. They get back on the platform and tease knocking each other in before getting back to safer ground. Cassidy tries a hurricanrana but gets powerbombed onto the platform and then through the table. A kick to the face rocks Jericho and a champagne bucket to the head puts him back inside.

The triangle dropkick almost puts Cassidy in but he’s back with a sunset flip for two. Cassidy grabs a Michinoku Driver for two more and a Stundog Millionaire gets the same. Jericho is back with a counter into the Walls so it’s time to crawl towards the vat. Cassidy uses a pitcher to throw some mimosa into Jericho’s eyes for the break and the Orange Punch connects.

Jericho is thrown over the top and his foot goes in the vat (doesn’t count) so Cassidy hits a running penalty kick (Excalibur: “THE RUNNING PK!” Tony: “THE RUNNING PK!” JR: “THE RUNNING PK!”) and the tornado DDT for two. Cassidy gets planted again for two more but Jericho can’t lawn dart him into the vat. Splash Mountain into the vat is blocked so Cassidy Superman Punches him into the vat for the win at 15:01.

Rating: C+. It was as good of a match as you were going to get based around the idea of throwing someone into a pool of champagne and orange juice. Cassidy already got the big rub off of pinning Jericho on Dynamite so this was more the goofy win than anything else. If this helps turn Cassidy into a main event star then so be it, but I’m not sure how much more of an impact this is going to have. It wasn’t bad, but it felt more silly rather than some big, serious match.

Full Gear is on November 7.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF is the whiny kid who gets whatever he wants but now he has to find a way to beat Moxley to become the World Champion. This has seen a big campaign by MJF to get the title shot, which was pretty quickly dropped to set up MJF being injured by the Paradigm Shift. Then a lawyer got involved and now the Paradigm Shift is banned. Moxley wants to shut MJF up for good and MJF wants the title.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley s. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Friedman is challenging and has Wardlow in his corner plus a big red robe to complete the look. The Paradigm Shift is banned as well and if Moxley uses it, he loses the title. Friedman headlocks him down to start but Moxley is up with a right hand. Moxley sends him outside and gives chase but MJF gets back inside. They do it again and this time Moxley tries a dive, only to have to land on his feet as MJF slides back in.

Moxley sends him to the floor again and this time fakes the dive to get in a stomp. There’s a suicide dive but Moxley has to stop and glare at Wardlow. MJF is sent through the barricade and now it’s time to bend the fingers back, sending MJF into a scream for the ref. Back in and Moxley grabs a sleeper but MJF flips back onto him for two. There’s a ribs first drop onto the top rope but Moxley gets thrown over the top so he can crash down onto his arm.

Wardlow throws him back in and MJF starts in on said arm, as he should. MJF whips him by the arm into the corner for two but Moxley sends him into the post, drawing a big old gash on MJF’s head. MJF is staggered so Moxley teases the Paradigm Shift before realizing that won’t work. The Gotch Style piledriver doesn’t work either because the arm gives out, meaning it’s a swinging Boss Man Slam on the floor instead. Back in and the Gotch Styles piledriver gets two as Moxley’s arm means he can’t hook the leg.

Moxley bites him in the corner as a receipt from Dynamite but MJF gets in a top rope stomp to the arm. They slug it out with Moxley’s arm giving out so he hits a big running clothesline for two instead. Moxley yells at him so MJF spits in Moxley’s face. That almost makes Moxley use the Paradigm Shift so he puts on the brakes, only to get pulled into the Salt of the Earth (Fujiwara armbar). That’s broken up as well so MJF grabs the Heatseeker for two.

Moxley is back with the Air Raid Crash for his own two and they slug it out from their knees. MJF goes to the eye and tries a backslide for two so Moxley is back with the sleeper. The referee gets pulled in so MJF kicks him low for two more. MJF is bleeding even more as he grabs Cross Rhodes for another near fall. Wardlow has had it and gets on the apron to throw in the ring, but Moxley sees MJF pick it up. As the ref is with Wardlow, it’s the Paradigm Shift to give Moxley the pin and the title at 23:45.

Rating: C+. It was good enough and the blood helped but this was a long main event at the end of a show that felt very long and it hurt things a lot. The ending wasn’t exactly the most creative either, but they did find a way to keep the title on Moxley and give MJF something else to complain about. I liked it well enough, but I would have liked MJF winning the title more.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s their weakest pay per view to date and, just like Dynamite, that makes it one of the more entertaining shows I can remember in a good while. There was nothing close to really bad on here and the big matches delivered. That being said, I was done with this with about an hour to go and it just kept going.

They needed to trim some time off of some stuff here (5-10 minutes off the Tag Team Title match and the Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in its entirety would be good places to start) as it took away some of the impact that the bigger matches could have had. It was by no means bad or close to it, but it was a case where less would have equaled more.

Now as for the good stuff, the Tag Team Title match and Women’s Title match were both very good to great and the main event was good enough. The Hardy vs. Guevara match was more scary than anything else and I can’t imagine how much they had to cut out of that to make things work out. Cassidy got another rub here so they seem to have a plan in mind for him. There were a lot of positives here and more of them than negatives, but there was a bit too much of the whole show and it became an issue by the end. Still though, another good AEW pay per view as they remain perfect in that regard.

Results

Big Swole b. Britt Baker via knockout

Young Bucks b. Jurassic Express – BTE Trigger to Jungle Boy

Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Eddie Kingston

Matt Hardy b. Sammy Guevara when Guevara could not answer the ten count

Hikaru Shida b. Thunder Rosa – Running knee

Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rollup to Cabana

FTR b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page – Mindbreaker to Page

Orange Cassidy b. Chris Jericho – Orange Punch into the mimosa

Jon Moxley b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: March 31, 2006
Location: Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the go home show for Wrestlemania and that’s probably the best thing that can happen to Smackdown at the moment. The blue matches are already set and have been for a good while. That has left us with some rather weak shows on the way to Chicago but tonight is the last stop. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Randy Orton causing issues before Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle.

Here is Mysterio to open things up. He wastes no time this week and calls out Orton right now but here’s Angle instead. Angle wants Orton tonight so he can beat him here and then do it again at Wrestlemania. No one beats him, including Rey on Sunday. Cue Orton to call both of them ladies, sending Rey and Angle into an argument over who gets to face Orton tonight. Orton suggests a handicap match and then changes his mind because he isn’t wrestling tonight. He’ll see you in Chicago but here’s Teddy Long to interrupt.

Teddy likes the idea of a handicap match but Orton says Teddy is giving Rey another favor like he did when he put Rey in the main event of Wrestlemania. Angle seems to agree so Rey thinks Angle doesn’t respect him. Orton cuts them off and suggests Rey vs. Angle tonight so Rey can prove himself. They’re both down and Teddy makes the match. As for now, security is going to escort Orton out.

A ranting Orton left during the break.

Chris Benoit vs. Road Warrior Animal

Non-title. Before the match, Animal rants about how he is a legend but doesn’t have a spot at Wrestlemania. Benoit gets shoved around to start but Benoit takes him to the floor without much trouble. Back in and Benoit rolls the German suplexes so Animal tries the brass knuckles. Benoit doesn’t mind and snaps on the Crossface for the easy tap.

Benoit goes to the back where an applauding JBL and Jillian Hall are waiting for him. JBL talks about taking the World Title from another technical wrestler in Eddie Guerrero so he knows he can do it to Benoit as well. Benoit is glad JBL’s hand is healed because he’ll need it to tap out.

This Week In Wrestling History: Wrestlemania II with the battle royal, where William Perry and Big John Studd eliminated each other.

Perry is going into the Hall of Fame this year.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Daniel Cross

JBL has Daniel Cross with him and Cross is having his fifth career match. His fifth career loss comes after less than a minute and a pair of Clotheslines From JBL.

Hall of Fame rundown.

Miz is still coming, but first he needs to invade Titan Towers.

Booker T. vs. Paul Burchill

Sharmell is here too and they both look scared of the Boogeyman. Booker knocks him around to start but Burchill hits a quick crossbody….and it’s Boogeyman time. Sharmell freaks out and tries to leave but they’re scared of Boogeyman’s smoke. There is no Boogeyman so Booker checks underneath the ring, with Boogeyman coming out the other side and kidnapping Sharmell. Booker gets counted out somewhere in there as the angle disguised as a match wraps up.

Post break, Booker can’t find Sharmell. Just follow the screaming.

Bobby Lashley/Tatanka/Matt Hardy vs. MNM/Finlay

Hardy and Mercury start things off and it’s quickly off to Lashley to beat up MNM (again). A Finlay distraction cuts Lashley off but he shrugs them off all over again. Tatanka comes in for a dropkick to Nitro and a legdrop gets two. Finlay comes in and hammers on Tatanka so it’s off to Mercury, who gets punched in the face. Good grief MNM are presented as such helpless losers. Tatanka suplexes both champs down and hands it off to Matt to clean house. Everything breaks down and Lashley gets to clean house, leaving Matt to hit the Twist of Fate to finish Mercury.

Rating: D+. Sweet goodness MNM can’t buy some good luck at this point. Was anyone looking for a rehash of Hardy/Tatanka vs. MNM? Matt getting a win is fine, but was there no one else for him to beat? Nothing to see here, but at least Lashley got to clean some house. Just stop making it the champs’ house.

Here’s Mark Henry in a suit for a funeral for Undertaker. With a choir singing over the speakers, Henry goes over the victims of the Streak, giving us a rather rare Giant Gonzalez reference. The future is in Henry though brothers and sisters, amen. He is the man who took out Batista and he will end the Streak. This didn’t need the funeral theme but lining up the names was a nice idea.

Mexicools vs. Jamie Noble/Kid Kash

Jamie goes nuclear by messing with the lawnmower on the way to the ring, meaning the fight is on in a hurry. Kash takes Psicosis into the corner to start and Noble comes in to run him down with an elbow to the face. Super Crazy gets knocked off the apron so Noble can choke away behind the referee’s back. The camel clutch goes on with Noble pulling at the face before Psicosis dropkicks him out of the air. The hot tag brings in Crazy and house is cleaned with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Kash. Noble hits a neckbreaker and Kash goes up top but Crazy super Spanish Flys him down for the pin.

Rating: C. This was one of those matches you usually only see right before a major pay per view, with the cruiserweights getting to go in there and getting to do their stuff for a few minutes. The good thing is that these people are talented enough to make it work because they can do this kind of stuff in their sleep. Perfectly fine match and a completely acceptable use of TV time.

Booker looks for Sharmell by following a trail of worms.

Post break, Booker follows Sharmell’s screams (and the worms) and finds….Sharmell on a box and screaming a lot because she’s scared of the worms. Boogeyman is far down the hall and laughs a lot. Please get to the end of this already.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

Non-title. Angle drives him into the corner to start and then takes him down by the arm. The headlock on the mat keeps Rey in trouble but he gets in a drop toehold into the ropes. Angle gets away from the 619 attempt though and things reset. A headscissors into the corner and another one to the floor have Angle in trouble and we take a break.

Back with Angle sending him hard into the corner to band up the ribs and we hit the waistlock. The bodyscissors goes on but Rey fights up, only to get snapped over in an overhead belly to belly for two. The reverse chinlock with a knee in Rey’s back goes on but Rey fights up again and hits a sitout bulldog. A basement dropkick gets two and a springboard seated senton gets the same. Rey misses a charge into the corner though and it’s a release German suplex to send him flying. There go the straps but the ankle lock is countered into a 619, which is countered into an ankle lock for the tap.

Rating: B. You have to give the fans some kind of an important match on the show and putting two of the best ever out there is a good way to go. They had a fair amount of rest holds and stuff where they could lay around here and that’s not a bad thing. The good side here is the fact that Angle and Mysterio are still very great, even when they’re not at full gear. Nice main event and easily the best thing on the show.

Post match here’s Orton for the RKO to Rey as Angle looks on. Orton says Angle is getting the same thing on Sunday so Angle charges back in. The RKO is countered into an Angle Slam and the ankle lock to make Orton tap to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This show is always a weird one as you can only get so much out of a Smackdown where they are trying to get to Wrestlemania safely. The main event is good as you would expect, but the rest is a bunch of quick appearances from people who are going to be at Wrestlemania. It isn’t much to see, but that is hardly a surprise this time around.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: August 27, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Chris Jericho, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re on another special schedule this week and this time around it’s another stacked show. We have a tag team gauntlet match for the #1 contendership to the Tag Team Titles for All Out, plus all of the other tag matches that this show really likes presenting. Throw in a Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara tables match (though a chairs match would make more sense) and we should be good to go. Let’s get to it.

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

There are fans back too and it already helps a lot.

Tag Team Gauntlet Match

The winners get the title shot against Kenny Omega/Hangman Page at All Out. The Young Bucks and the Natural Nightmares start things off with Nick hiptossing Marshall early on. Dustin comes in to trade armdrags with Matt and Dustin needs a little breather. The powerslams plant the Bucks and a double Russian legsweep gets two on Matt. It’s back to Dustin who teases the Goldust deep breath but just works on the arm instead.

Matt gets away from Dustin though and the Bucks get in a double dropkick to send Marshall outside. Dustin is right back with a Canadian Destroyer to Matt though and it’s back to Marshall. The QT Special is broken up and a double superkick drops Marshall. The BTE Trigger finishers Marshall at 6:23.

It’s the Best Friends in third and they shoulder Nick down to start. Trent is sent to the floor but he avoids the moonsault and hits a spear on Nick. Back in and Nick is sent hard into the corner as Jericho rants about how much he hates Being The Elite. A superkick and a German suplex on the apron allow Nick to get over for the hot tag though and house is cleaned. Something like Diamond Dust sets up the rolling northern lights suplexes but Trent grabs the tornado DDT out of the corner to put both of them down.

It’s back to Nick for more kicks until Chuck spinebusters him down, although he is favoring his knee a bit. Soul Food into the half and half suplex takes Nick down again and there’s the Big Hug. Strong Zero is reversed into a rollup for two on Trent and he’s pulled down to the floor for a Swanton from the apron. Back in and the hanging 450 gets two on Trent. The Meltzer Driver is reversed into a rollup on Matt and here’s Hangman Page to hold Nick back to give Chuck the pin at 16:31.

FTR is in last and has Tully Blanchard in their corner. Back from a break with Chuck in trouble but countering a Figure Four attempt with a quick small package. Wheeler breaks up the hot tag attempt and even pulls Trent to the floor for a suplex to break it up again. That lets Harwood grab a reverse Figure Four…and Chuck taps at 26:20. It’s so sudden that commentary acknowledges that they almost missed it.

Rating: C+. You could pretty much figure out the order of eliminations and the winners here without much effort and that’s not a bad thing. I’m also glad that they didn’t pad the match out with a bunch of teams who didn’t need to be there. Throw in the fact that they had normal tag matches instead of some big eight man insanity and it was downright not bad.

Darby Allin, in a Ricky Starks mask, walks across a really high bridge and says he isn’t afraid of Starks. Then he dives off the bridge.

Lance Archer vs. Sean Maluta

Archer has Jake Roberts with him and runs Maluta over at the bell. Another shot puts him on the floor but Archer lets him come back in for a slugout. That just annoys Archer, who throws him into the corner with a suplex. The chokeslam gets two with Archer pulling him up, much to Jake’s delight. The Blackout into the EBD Claw finishes Maluta at 2:55.

Post break Jake says there will be twenty one men in the Casino Battle Royal and Archer better win it. Archer thinks he can throw out all twenty men, which makes Jake happy because he loves to abuse people. Cue Team Taz (Jake: “IT’S THE FLINTSTONES!”) with Taz saying that one of the members is winning the battle royal. Jake says they should put on some chicken suits because they’re going to get plucked. Violence is teased but here’s Darby Allin, on the skateboard, to go after Starks. The two of them fight to the back so Archer and Cage are ready to go.

MJF manages to get down the hall way and doesn’t like someone sounding like they’re laughing.

Video on Thunder Rosa, including clips from the NWA and comments from Billy Corgan.

We get a quick signing between Thunder Rosa and Hikaru Shida.

It’s time for the contract signing between Jon Moxley and MJF. Jericho rants about Moxley being #1 in the PWI 500 and Tony makes it worse by saying Jericho is #3. Jericho: “WHO IS NUMBER TWO??? MARKO STUNT???” The contract involves banning the Paradigm Shift from their match and MJF signs in a hurry but Moxley hesitates. MJF talks about how contract signings end in violence ten times out of ten but they need to practice social distancing. MJF: “Kind of like your hairline Jon.”

Moxley laughs it off and says MJF will get there one day. MJF says Moxley is as sharp as a marble and that’s not surprising. He knows Moxley is crazy because even Mike Tyson said he wouldn’t want to be in a dark alley with Moxley. On September 5, they’re going to be in a ring though and MJF is a wrestling prodigy. He is going to pick Moxley apart and use every piece of the ring to take him apart like a brain surgeon.

Moxley is going to try to take him outside for the brawling because that’s all he knows. He grew up watching and idolizing people like Sandman, New Jack and Onita. MJF grew up watching Buddy Rogers, Ernie Ladd (those are two rather different influences) and Tully Blanchard and they made him a wrestling machine. When they leave the ring on September 5, he’s wearing platinum because he’s the best in the world.

If Moxley is so sure that he’s a better wrestler though, why does he need the Paradigm Shift? If Moxley isn’t so sure, maybe MJF should call Moxley’s hot little wife and tell him he’s single. Moxley is ready to fight so the lawyer threatens a lawsuit. Sure he wants to use the Paradigm Shift and drop MJF on his head to cause him permanent neck damage. But he doesn’t want to get sued because the only lawyer he knows is his old public defender and he’s in jail. None of this matters anyway because on September 5, MJF is a dead man.

Moxley signs and MJF celebrates, though Moxley says he loved what is on page 17. MJF: “THERE ARE ONLY SIXTEEN PAGES!” Moxley slipped in a deal, saying that he gets to face the lawyer next week and the Paradigm Shift is legal. If the lawyer doesn’t show up, MJF doesn’t get a title shot. Moxley: “I should be a lawyer.”

Santana and Ortiz recap their issues with the Best Friends and sure they’ll apologize. They’re just sorry that Trent’s mom wasn’t in the van when they wrecked it.

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss/Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison

Eddie laughs off the idea that he and his friends are a faction. They’re just about titles and nothing more. It’s a brawl to start with the Bros hitting big flip dives out to the floor to take down all four of them. Back in and a running dropkick into a gutwrench suplex drops Garrison as JR and Jericho talk about guitars. Kiss comes in and Matrixes away from Blade’s right hand. It’s off to Janela to forearm Blade in the corner.

Back from a break with Janela punching Fenix down but getting sent to the ramp by Butcher. That earns Butcher a Stunner over the ropes and Janela runs over for the tag off to Kiss. House is cleaned but Janela gets caught on the apron with a package piledriver. Pillman comes in and gets to chop away but walks into the spike Fear Factor for the pin at 9:02.

Rating: D+. This could have been on any given episode of Dark and that’s not the best place to be. What mattered here was getting the new team together for a win and that’s perfectly fine. Just let Kingston talk a lot and the team will be fine. I’m not sure what they’re going to do next, but they had a passable debut as a team here.

Post match Kingston says the five of them are in the Casino Battle Royal and guarantees a winner.

We recap Brodie Lee destroying Cody last week and making it even worse post match.

Here’s the Dark Order, minus Lee, carrying a casket (Jericho: ‘IS CODY IN THERE???”). Evil Uno talks about the team purchasing six lawn mowers for this kind of a celebration. This is a farewell to the man known as Cody and they open the casket, with Ten inside. He even has a Nightmare Family jacket and a fake Cody tattoo. They throw the jacket inside and put the Cody flag onto the casket. Now it’s Brodie coming out and Uno demands that all of them show respect.

The team gets in the ring for an interview with Tony, with Lee saying the Dark Order was laughed at about a year ago because of people like Tony. See, Lee was sitting in prison back then and now they’re here with the gold in his hands. Lee tells the team to shut up for chanting for him and introduces Ann Jay as the Queen Slayer. Cody is never getting the title back and the Open Challenge is over.

One of the members tries to cheer for him so Lee punches him in the face. Cue the Natural Nightmares to go after the Order but the numbers take him down. Scorpio Sky comes in to clear out everyone but Lee, only to have Anna come in from behind for a slap. That lets Lee get in a cheap shot so here’s Matt Cardona to chase everyone else off.

The Young Bucks find Hangman Page at the bar and yell at him for costing them the match. They know he doesn’t want to be part of this because he’s a drunk. He’s also out of the Elite.

Penelope Ford/Reba/Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

Baker is still in her wheelchair but has an offer for Swole: if Swole wins, she can have any match with Baker that she wants. It’s a brawl before the bell and Swole can’t fight off the numbers game. Swole catches Reba on the top though and a super hurricanrana barely works. Kip Sabian distracts the referee so Swole gives him Dirty Dancing. Ford throws Swole back in so Reba can hit a middle rope moonsault for two. Reba tries to bring in the crutch but the referee stops it. The crutch is picked up anyway but Swole ducks and Ford is knocked out to give Swole the pin at 2:48. A little messy but it did what it was supposed to.

Here’s the Dark Order again with a JOIN US folder for Taya Conti. A big hug seems to say yes. JR: “Let’s all go tot he mall.”

All Out rundown.

We look at the Inner Circle destroying Orange Cassidy last week.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Tables match. Matt wastes no time in sending it outside for a whip over the barricade. The beating stays on near the crowd but Sammy gets in a knee to the face as we take a fast break. Back again with Matt hitting a Side Effect on the apron and loading a bloody Sammy onto the table. The apron elbow misses though and the table is destroyed.

Sammy grabs a chair but Matt gives him a Twist of Fate through it instead. It’s time for a table with DELETED painted on top (Jericho: “OH NO!”) and Matt even knows how to get it untangled from the ropes. Matt puts it on top of an open chair and goes up but his balance gives out. That lets Sammy superplex Matt through the table for the win at 6:28.

Rating: D+. The lack of time destroyed this as they didn’t have a lot of time and then that was cut out because of the commercial. There isn’t much anyone can do under those circumstances, especially with a gimmick match. I’m hoping they get another change at this and with some more time because this was criminal given what they had set up.

Post match Orange Cassidy sprints across the stage (nicely done too as the camera was on Sammy so you just saw a white shirt streaking through the background) to jump Jericho and the big fight is on with Sammy trying to help Jericho to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I wasn’t feeling this one as much as some of the matches felt like they belonged on Dark instead of the big show and the big segments were only ok. I don’t need to see the Dark Order as the featured team, especially against Dustin Rhodes and Matt Cardona. The contract signing worked because MJF can say anything, but Moxley beating up a lawyer isn’t exactly interesting. It’s a good enough show and they moved things along, but not one of their best efforts.

Results

FTR won a gauntlet match last eliminating Best Friends

Lance Archer b. Sean Maluta – EBD Claw

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros b. Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison/Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Spike Fear Factor to Pillman

Big Swole b. Penelope Ford/Britt Baker/Reba – Crutch shot to Ford

Sammy Guevara b. Matt Hardy – Superplex through a table

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: March 17, 2006
Location: CenturyTelCenter, Bossier City, Louisiana
Commentators: Tazz, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for Saturday Night’s Main Event, which is the last real stop on the Road to Wrestlemania. Things have been a little strange as of late as we have been building towards both shows at once, but Saturday Night is just a commercial for Wrestlemania anyway. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at last week’s main event tag and Undertaker challenging Mark Henry for the Wrestlemania casket match to end the show.

Opening sequence.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley

Lumberjack match. Lashley kicks Finlay outside to start and Finlay gets to beat up the lumberjacks. Back in and Lashley pulls him away from the ropes for a crash to the mat. A clothesline into a backdrop sends Finlay outside again and it’s time for the big staredown between everyone involved. Some cheap shots from the lumberjacks put Lashley down so Finlay throws him outside again to keep up the beating. The chinlock goes on back inside, followed by some forearms to the back.

Those just annoy Lashley, so Finlay sends him outside for more lumberjack fun. Finlay misses a charge into the post though and Lashley pops off a belly to belly. A clothesline gives Lashley two and there’s the one armed delayed vertical suplex. Lashley throws Finlay onto the lumberjacks and then goes outside to beat on him some more. I’m not sure if he understands the idea of a lumberjack match. Back in and Sylvan grabs a chair, but Lashley takes him down. The distraction works though as Finlay gets in the shillelagh shot for the pin.

Rating: C. This was a weird one as they were beating the heck out of each other but they kept going with the lumberjacks to make things a little off. What we had was a good brawl though and I liked all of the physicality. Sometimes you need to just throw people in there and have them beat each other up, which worked out well enough with two power guys like them.

Wrestlemania Big Time Moment: the Gimmick Battle Royal. Works for me.

MNM is gawking over Vince McMahon’s Muscle and Fitness cover and admiring his glutes. Melina comes up to take it away, revealing that they are looking at Candice Michelle’s Playboy. She keeps it for her own personal use. Nitro: “What are you going to do with it?” Melina: “Use your imagination.” Melina walks over to Kristal Marshall and says that she’s beautiful in the Divas Magazine, but Kristal needs to learn her place around here. Paul Burchill comes up so Melina call MNM over. Burchill whips out the sword and the villains run off.

William Regal/Jillian Hall vs. Kristal Marshall/Paul Burchill

Regal keeps stealing glances at Jillian in her gear. The women fight over a lockup to start with Jillian sending her into the corner. That allows commentary to discuss their gear, as commentary tends to do around here. Regal tries to break things up and gets slapped in the face so Burchill comes in for a running crossbody. A shove out of the corner puts Burchill down though and Regal kicks him in the head (simple things can work just fine). We hit the chinlock but Burchill fights up and it’s back to the women for the catfighting. Since that can’t last long, Burchill comes back in for the C4 to finish Regal in a hurry.

Rating: D+. It really is amazing to see the differences between people with Wrestlemania stories and people who are destined for the pre-show battle royal. They’re fighting over a magazine and Burchill’s choice to be a pirate, which doesn’t exactly make me think much of them going into the biggest show of the year. Then again I’m a sucker for most pirate shenanigans so this was entertaining in a few ways.

Sharmell and Booker are in the back with Sharmell screaming about how scared she is of the Boogeyman. Booker has a box for her though and knows everything will be ok.

Verne Gagne Hall of Fame video.

Booker T. vs. Jeremy Young

Sharmell is in a beekeeper’s suit. Booker runs Young over as Sharmell continues to panic on the floor. Some more shots to the face let Booker stomp him down in the corner and there’s a spinebuster to cut off the comeback. The ax kick finishes Young.

Rating: D. Yeah I don’t think there’s any secret to what they were going for here. I’m hoping they wrap up the Boogeyman stuff sooner rather than later as it is the kind of story that was fun once or twice (and that’s a stretch) and now it’s just silly. Well sillier that is. Let him be a special attraction if he has to be on the show, but having him with big names like this is a little too much.

Post match Boogeyman’s music plays so Booker and Sharmell hide underneath the ring. Guess who they find under there.

We look at last week’s main event again.

We get a sitdown interview with Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle. Orton cuts Cole off to ask Angle how healthy he is after last week’s attacks. Angle thinks it’s funny and loads up the broken freaking neck line but Orton cuts him off as well because we’ve heard it before. As for Mysterio, Orton is going to embarrass him at Wrestlemania because he doesn’t belong in the main event. Angle calls out Orton for not respecting Mysterio, who beat Orton to win the Royal Rumble.

Orton says Angle is a paper champion who won the title in a battle royal that Orton wasn’t even in. That sends Angle into a rant about Orton being a one time champion who held it for a month. Mysterio says he’ll win the title at Wrestlemania because dreams come true. Rey says he will have Angle’s back tonight and tomorrow, but that won’t be the case at Wrestlemania. Angle doesn’t want it any other way and Orton promises to dominate in all three matches. This didn’t add much but it worked well enough and reinforced what was already set up.

The Miz is coming.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Road Warrior Animal vs. Matt Hardy

Matt slugs away to start and gets shoved down. That’s fine with Matt as he takes Animal down and hammers away again. Animal goes after Matt’s banged up knee, which only draws up some louder HARDY chants. The leg cranking is on but Matt uses the good leg to kick him away. A reverse DDT into the Side Effect gets two and there’s another Side Effect to send Animal into the corner. Matt unloads in the corner but almost hits the referee, allowing Animal to get in a brass knuckles shot for the pin.

Rating: D. I’m not exactly expecting this to stand as even 2006 Smackdown isn’t insane enough to put Animal in a big match at Summerslam. The match was nothing of course because it’s Animal, but what else were you expecting? Was there really a rub to get from beating an old member of half of the Legion of Doom?

Post match the referee sees the knuckles and reverses the decision to send Matt to Wrestlemania. Dang Matt really can’t catch a break. Yeah he’s going to Wrestlemania, but he has to keep heat on Animal?

Orlando Jordan vs. Chris Benoit

Non-title and JBL is on commentary with a cooler of beer to hype up the beer drinking contest with Steve Austin. Benoit goes straight to the suplex to set up the corner chops. Jordan is sent outside for more chops, allowing Benoit to glare at JBL. Back in and Jordan takes him down by the arm as JBL goes into one of his rather intense rants about Austin meaning nothing in Texas. Benoit fights out of an armbar and snaps off the German suplexes. JBL: “I GOT FIRED IN GERMANY ONE TIME AND I REALLY DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT!” The Sharpshooter finishes Jordan.

Rating: D+. These two had to set some kind of a record for facing each other in matches that weren’t all that good. It isn’t like Jordan is making anyone look good as he’s someone out there to get beaten up with no doubt about who is winning. Can we see what Benoit can do against a stuff giraffe named Irving instead?

Post match JBL hits Benoit with the cooler (good shot too).

We look back at Mark Henry costing Kurt Angle the World Title two weeks ago.

Mark Henry isn’t scared of the casket or the Streak. Tomorrow, Undertaker can come face him on Saturday Night’s Main Event.

MNM/Mark Henry vs. Kurt Angle/Randy Orton/Rey Mysterio

Melina and Daivari are here with the villains and Angle has bad ribs from last week. Orton slaps Nitro before the bell and it’s Angle top wristlocking Nitro to start. Mercury comes in and gets a knee to Angle’s ribs to take over in the corner. Angle’s ribs are fine enough to snap off a belly to belly and it’s off to Rey. The springboard moonsault gets two on Mercury and a spinning bulldog to Nitro gets the same.

Mysterio gets sent into the corner though and Henry comes in to step on Rey’s chest. The splash misses though and Rey hammers away in the corner, only to have Orton distract the referee so Daivari can get in a cheap shot. That of course means an EDDIE chant, because that’s all Rey means these days. We take a break and come back with Melina slapping Mysterio.

A headscissors choke on the apron (with the camera cutting to the other side of the ring because the skirt is a little short) keeps Rey down and Nitro drops an elbow on Rey’s back. Henry comes back in for the gorilla press drop but another splash misses. An enziguri allows the diving tag to Angle, as Orton stops to fix his boot. Angle starts cleaning house as everything breaks down, including the Angle Slam to Henry. There’s the 619 to Nitro but Orton tags himself in and throws Mysterio outside to steal the pin on Nitro.

Rating: C. And yes, the Tag Team Champions lose again. It was to a bigger name, but can we go a few weeks without them losing? Just for a change of pace? Anyway, this was another way of enforcing things that we already know, because there isn’t much else that can be done to set up the triple threat. That’s not good with two weeks to go before Wrestlemania, but it isn’t the deepest story in the world.

Overall Rating: C-. This was another show that bounced back and forth between building to Saturday Night’s Main Event and Wrestlemania but it didn’t work as well as Raw. The triple threat match is as set as it is going to be, though it was nice to have the three of them not bring up Eddie every few seconds. The wrestling wasn’t great, but that is rarely the point this time of year. Not a bad show, but the build for Wrestlemania is just tightening up everything that is already set, plus some MITB qualifying. That could make for some fairly week shows on the way to Chicago, but this could have been worse.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 2005
Date: August 21, 2005
Location: MCI Center, Washington DC.
Attendance: 18,156
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman

It’s a big show here with a card that doesn’t quite live up to the hype. We have a huge main event between Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels, but after that it’s kind of a downgrade with Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero with a kid (symbolically) above the ring. The World Title matches see John Cena defending against Chris Jericho and JBL challenging Batista in a No Holds Barred match. Maybe they can make it work though so let’s get to it.

Lilian Garcia sings the Star Spangled Banner.

The opening video looks at the big matches, which works a bit better. Granted that might be because it’s set to Remedy by Seether and I always liked that song. Shawn vs. Hogan gets its own section of the video, because nothing on this show comes close to it (fair enough).

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

Jordan is defending and it’s a German suplex into the Crossface to make Benoit champion in 25 seconds. Now THAT is how you wake a crowd up while giving Jordan exactly what he deserved in Honky Tonk Man style.

Vickie Guerrero comes in to see Eddie and asks him to calm down. This isn’t about Dominic because it’s all about Eddie not being able to beat Rey. Eddie wants someone to carry on the Guerrero legacy and Vickie talks about him having a heart of gold. But there’s also an evil inside of him that won’t leave Rey alone. Eddie: “So now you don’t think I can beat Rey?” Eddie throws her out and reassures himself that he’ll win.

We recap Matt Hardy vs. Edge. Lita left Matt for Edge while Matt was hurt and then he was released. Matt invaded Raw a few times to get at Edge but then he was rehired and it was just Matt Hardy again. Tonight is the big fight.

Matt Hardy vs. Edge

Hardy runs to the ring and starts the fight on the floor as it feels like Matt wants to kill him. They get inside with Matt hammering away and a loud HARDY chant. Matt grabs a rear naked choke but Edge gets to the ropes and then back outside. Back in and Edge hits a headbutt to put Matt on the ropes as the fans are all over Lita.

A spear through the ropes puts them back on the floor but Matt hammers away with right hands to the head. More right hands in the corner have Edge in trouble so he drops Matt face first onto the post to knock him silly. Even Lita looks concerned as Matt is busted open. Matt can barely stand so Edge kicks him in the head….and the referee stops it.

Rating: D+. So yeah Matt comes back, gets in a few shots, and then gets busted open for a referee stoppage in five minutes. The first minute or so felt like a war but then it was little more than a hard hitting match with one big spot. This is the kind of thing that needed to go about eighteen minutes with both of them bleeding, but that would suggest that Matt was something important, rather than just a way to get Edge over. I can go with that as Matt is Matt and Edge has been a near main eventer for a long time now, but this was a major disappointment after the setup.

We recap Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio. Eddie can’t beat Rey and has been driven completely crazy over jealousy and his failures. Therefore, Eddie is going to try something else so he brought up that Rey’s son Dominic was really Eddie’s biological son. Eddie wanted Dominic, but a social worker said they had to settle this, so a ladder match was made instead.

Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero

Tony Chimel: “The following contest is a ladder match for the custody of Dominic!” And that’s your most ridiculous ring introduction of all time. Dominic and the social worker are in the front row so Eddie goes over to them for a rather evil smile. Rey comes out and hugs Dominic so Eddie goes over and shakes the social worker’s hand. We’re ready to go and Eddie talks a lot of trash as they stare each other down to start.

Eddie gets in a cheap shot to knock Rey into the corner but Rey monkey flips him out to the floor. A whip sends Rey into the ladder though and he has to springboard in with a dropkick to knock Eddie off. Eddie goes to get another ladder so Rey dropkicks that one into his face, followed by a springboard seated senton to the floor. Back in and Eddie saves Rey’s climb with a sunset bomb but he can’t hold on, making it look rather messy. Eh to be fair that’s a pretty tricky spot.

Eddie hits him in the ribs and face with the ladder before sandwiching Rey between some ladders. The fans know what’s coming and are rather pleased with the slingshot hilo onto a ladder onto Rey onto another ladder. Rey gets up and uses a ladder to bridge his way up top to cut Eddie off, including a backdrop onto the bridged ladder. The crash bangs up Rey’s knee so he climbs rather slowly, allowing Eddie to dropkick the ladder out and hurt the knee even more.

Eddie reverse powerbombs him ribs first into the ladder on the top rope and there’s that evil smile again. That’s enough for another climb but Dominic comes in to shake the ladder. That just annoys Eddie so he yells at Dominic and demands a hug. Eddie: “I’m your new daddy now!” Eddie goes to hit him but Rey makes the save as Dominic is back with the social worker who let him jump the barricade and interfere in a violent match.

Rey sends him into a ladder and then 619s said ladder into Eddie’s face, only to hurt the knee again. The knee is ok enough to Drop The Dime onto a ladder onto Eddie and then load up the ladder again. Eddie climbs up the same side for an electric chair but Rey shows him how to do the sunset bomb for the huge crash. Rey goes up again and grabs the case but Eddie kicks the ladder out and pulls Rey down into a big spinebuster.

With Rey pinned under the ladder, Eddie goes up but stops to talk a lot of trash. He can’t unhook the thing anyway, allowing Rey to wiggle free and kick the ladder over. Apparently Vickie was supposed to run in there and missed the cue, explaining why Eddie couldn’t understand how a hook worked. Eddie is back up with Three Amigos, including the third onto the ladder. That means another climb but this time Vickie comes out for the save as she shoves the ladder over. Vickie pulls Eddie back so Rey can climb p and win.

Rating: B. It’s rather good with some big crashes, but the Vickie/Dominic stuff was too much and brought the match down. Rey vs. Eddie is something you can watch all day, especially if Eddie is all evil, but they could have come up with something better than a ladder match for custody papers. It was too far and became dumb rather than dramatic, which defeats a lot of the purpose.

Post match Vickie is relieved and Rey hits Eddie with a briefcase for a bonus.

Chris Jericho doesn’t like John Cena’s theme music and promises to make him as forgettable as the New Kids On The Block. He beat the Rock and Steve Austin on the same night and Cena isn’t on their level.

Eugene vs. Kurt Angle

For Eugene’s (Or Angle’s?) Gold Medal with no time limit and Christy Hemme is here with Eugene. Angle goes off on him to start and stomps Eugene down into the corner. Eugene comes back with a Faarooq spinebuster but Angle breaks up the People’s Elbow attempt with a hard clothesline. The fans are very pleased with this as they don’t seem all that into Eugene here.

Angle rolls the German suplexes for two and the fans are happy again. Eugene gets sent into the buckle a few times so the comeback is on, including a Rock Bottom for two. The Stunner gets the same and Eugene takes down the non-existent straps. Angle reverses the ankle lock by rolling him into the corner though and it’s the Angle Slam into the ankle lock for the win.

Rating: D. This could have been on Raw as Eugene was completely overwhelmed. The charm is long past gone now and it’s just Eugene doing Austin and Rock moves with almost nothing in between. It was just a squash anyway as Eugene is treated like the glorified jobber that he is. Angle needs to move on to something else and Eugene needs to become something else entirely.

Post match Angle stands on a chair so he can be awarded the medal again.

The Divas, in swimsuits, wash a limo with the Presidential seal on the door. The window goes down to reveal Vince McMahon. Vince: “Hey, why not?” There’s a McMahon For President bumper sticker on the limo for a bonus.

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

Rematch from Wrestlemania because Orton isn’t happy with his loss. It’s weird to see Undertaker come out first. Orton bails to the floor to start so Undertaker takes a second before shoving him down. A slap gets in Orton’s head a bit but he’s back up to dodge some right hands. Undertaker grabs a headlock (that’s a rare one) but Orton is right back with a hiptoss into a clothesline. That just earns him a big boot to the face and Orton is stunned in a hurry.

Undertaker goes technical with a keylock into Old School but Orton somehow understands what it means when Undertaker stands on the top while holding an arm. Old School is broken up with an armdrag back down but Undertaker LAUNCHES him into the corner to hammer away. The big boot and jumping clothesline give Undertaker two but the big boot in the corner only hits….well corner really and Orton grabs a DDT for his own two with Undertaker putting a foot across the rope.

Flashing back to his Evolution days, Orton cannonballs down onto the leg and then wraps it around the post. The leglock goes on so Undertaker punches his way to freedom, only to earn a knee drop to the ribs. Undertaker limps into the powerslam for two and it’s time to go to Texas with a spinning toehold.

That’s broken up as well and Undertaker starts kicking at Orton’s knee, earning a one off BORING chant. That doesn’t last long either as Orton is right back to the knee as the slow pace continues. Undertaker kicks him out to the floor for a ram into the steps and the apron legdrop as this isn’t exactly hitting a high gear. Old School connects back inside and it’s the Downward Spiral to Orton, who is right back with a dropkick for the double knockdown.

The RKO is blocked so they fight over a Tombstone until Orton gets two off the backbreaker. Orton goes up but Undertaker rolls through the high crossbody and grabs him by the throat. The chokeslam connects but a “fan” comes in. The distraction lets Orton hit the RKO for the fast pin.

Rating: C+. It was a struggle to get this high as there was no sense of urgency or any time until the end where either of them seemed close to going to a finish. At least the Wrestlemania match had an awesome near fall of the RKO but this was a bunch of leg work until they got to the finish. It could have worked if they had gone to a better ending but this never got into a higher gear.

And it’s Cowboy Bob Orton. You can book the rubber match already.

Some members of the Republican National Committee are here.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. John Cena. They’ve been having issues since Cena made his Raw debut on the Highlight Reel. Then they got in an argument over who was the bigger rock star, which turned into Cena’s Steve Austin vs. Eric Bischoff’s Vince McMahon with Jericho and Carlito as the chief lackeys. The former story was better but why do that when you can do the same thing you’ve done so many times before?

Bischoff wishes Jericho’s luck.

Raw World Title: John Cena vs. Chris Jericho

Cena is defending. They go nose to nose to start and a lockup doesn’t go anywhere. Jericho’s headlock is just as ineffective but he grabs a suplex to take over. There’s the spinwheel kick to drop Cena again but the springboard crossbody only lands on the floor. Back in and Cena hammers away, only to charge into a dropkick in the corner. A suplex gives Jericho two and a basement dropkick to the headsets up the chinlock.

They go outside with Jericho choking away with a cord but Cena is back with right hands. This isn’t exactly blowing the roof off the place so far. The big flying shoulder misses though and Jericho hits the running bulldog. Jericho has to bail out of the Lionsault so he tries the Walls, which is kicked out to the floor in a hurry. Cena drops the middle rope Fameasser over the ropes for two on the way back in but the FU is countered into a DDT for two. It’s time to start in on the back with a backbreaker and some elbows as the fans are loudly split.

The running crotch attack to the back only hits ropes though and they’re both down again. Cena is back up with that hard clothesline into the ProtoBomb. The Shuffle is countered into the Walls in the middle though, sending Cena on the long crawl to the ropes. Jericho pulls him back in but Cena makes the rope on the second attempt to a rather loud reaction. Cena’s back is good enough to try a super AA but Jericho slips out and grabs another suplex for another two. An argument with the referee lets Cena grab the FU to retain.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but they drew the crowd into it and it turned into a heck of a match by the end. Cena is showing some signs of brilliance in these big matches and Jericho has more than shown that he can hang with anyone so this was a benefit to both of them. Good match here as Cena is becoming a bigger and bigger star every single week.

We recap JBL vs. Batista (hometown boy) for the Smackdown World Title. JBL beat him by DQ last month so now it’s No Holds Barred. Not much more to it than that as JBL isn’t quite the believable challenger.

Smackdown World Title: Batista vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

Batista is defending and it’s No Holds Barred. We get the JBL dollars raining from the ceiling during JBL’s entrance. The fight starts at the entrance with Batista ramming him into various things. A fire extinguisher into the face drops Batista though and JBL punches him around the barricade, only to have Batista spear him through said barricade.

They get inside for the first time with JBL kicking him in the head, followed by some whipping with a belt. Back up and Batista charges into a boot in the corner, setting up the Clothesline From JBL for two. JBL slides in the steps and this isn’t going to end well. The powerbomb off the steps is countered into a backdrop off of them and Batista hits the spinebuster. There’s the Batista Bomb but Batista doesn’t cover. Another Batista Bomb onto the steps retains the title.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t much but it was way better than their previous match as it didn’t go on forever, though the stipulation wasn’t exactly used. They went with the definitive ending here as Batista completely beat him, which is all it should have been. JBL was never a threat to Batista and now they can both move on to something else, with both of them going in the proper direction.

We recap Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan. They teamed a handful of times and then Shawn superkicked him on the Fourth of July. Shawn said he had to know and the match was made. Everything went spiraling out of control after that though, with Shawn turning it into a weird near shoot on Hogan’s career while Hogan just referenced Bret Hart and screwjobs a few times. Shawn has carried this feud on his back and it’s going to be interesting to see how they get to the big boot and legdrop.

Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels

Hogan has the big flag out for the entrance. It’s a long staredown to start before Hogan shoves him away and shows off the biceps. Hogan shoves him down a few more times and Shawn is already frustrated. A headlock works a bit better for Shawn until a shoulder sends him into a backflip through the ropes as the overselling is already strong. Back in and Shawn knees him in the ribs but gets put on top so Hogan can kick him in the ribs.

Shawn bounces as high into the air as he can for a crotching, before a ram into the buckle gives us a bump that Mr. Perfect would think is too much. A clothesline puts Shawn on the floor where he rolls backwards again, gets up and falls back down. Shawn manages a kick to the face though and starts chopping away in the corner. The slap to the face does not go well so Shawn does it again before chopping even more. A third slap earns Shawn a right hand out to the floor but they both get posted with Hogan staggering around a lot.

Shawn posts him again but still can’t put Hogan down so it’s time for some left hands to the head. Some right hands in the corner get Shawn shoved down again (make it twice), only to have him finally punch Hogan down (you don’t see that too often). Hogan is finally busted open and Shawn grabs the sleeper to follow the Randy Savage formula from Wrestlemania V. Shawn’s arm is covered in blood as Hogan suplexes his way to freedom.

The forearm into the nipup lets Shawn drop the elbow (OH YEAH indeed) but this one misses (leave it to Savage kid). Hogan slugs away but Shawn tries another forearm, which takes out the referee. The fans want Bret (fair enough after the promos building this up) but Shawn is up first and heads to the top, only to come back down for a terrible Sharpshooter (even Rock’s is better than that).

Another referee comes in and Hogan very slowly makes it to the rope. Hogan kicks him into the second referee and everyone is down again. A low blow drops Hogan and a chair to the head finally lets Shawn hit the elbow. Sweet Chin Music connects for two but Hogan kicks out, Hulks Up, punches away and finishes with the big boot and legdrop. So that’s how they got there.

Rating: B-. The match was a weird one (YOU THINK?) as Shawn was doing his over the top selling and turning it into a joke at first but then it settled into a match with a pretty simple formula that hit the high points but didn’t exactly break the mold. Hogan was the definitive winner here and Shawn hit everything he could without being able to finish Hogan off. I liked it well enough and it’s certainly a dream match, but it’s two matches in one and that’s a little distracting.

Post match Hogan poses but Shawn stops him to make everything nice. Shawn says he had to know and, as usual, wrestlers are rather forgiving about the whole situation. It’s more posing to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was all over the place with some good wrestling and action but a lot of things that felt like they should have been so much more. It’s an enjoyable show and something I’d watch again down the line, but it felt like they were going for a stacked show and as it is, it’s just pretty good. Fix some of the bigger holes and it’s a great one, but I’ll take what I can get after a build that wasn’t their best work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 2005
Date: August 21, 2005
Location: MCI Center, Washington D.C.
Attendance: 18,156
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman

The Navy color guard presents the flag and Lillian Garcia sings the National Anthem. She may stumble over a lot of announcements but she can sing the heck out of that song.

Never mind as the main song that will be played in the arena is some stupid hip hop song.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

Edge vs. Matt Hardy

Rating: C+. This was fun while it lasted but the length and ending crippled it. Matt was on fire coming in but he would be made to look like the jobbiest jobber of all time during the feud with Edge. Eventually Edge would send him to Raw and keep Lita, ultimately winning the world title in a few months. This was more or less it for Matt as far as being a big deal.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Eddie slides in the ladder and goes up but a springboard dropkick takes Guerrero down. Another ladder is brought in but Rey dropkicks it into Eddie, sending both the ladder and Guerrero to the floor. A great looking springboard seated senton takes Eddie down but Rey is too banged up to immediately climb. They slug it out on the ladder with Eddie taking over but they botch the first big spot of the match: Eddie tries a sunset bomb but Rey falls off a second late, meaning he falls on Eddie instead of with him.

Back up and the ladder crushes Rey in the corner before Eddie brings in a second ladder. Rey is sandwiched between the ladders so Eddie can hit a slingshot hilo in a painful looking spot. Guerrero goes up but Rey sets the other ladder up like a ramp to get to the top. Eddie is backdropped onto the ladder ramp, sending both ladders and both wrestlers crashing down to the mat. Rey goes up one more time but has the ladder dropkicked out from under him in the second crash in 90 seconds.

Rey hits Guerrero with the briefcase post match.

Eugene vs. Kurt Angle

Kurt sends him into the buckle but Eugene Hulks Up and does his goofy punching and a Rock Bottom for two. A Stunner gets the same and Eugene is pulls invisible straps down to set up an ankle lock on Angle. Kurt easily gets up and hits the Angle Slam followed by the ankle lock for the submission.

Rating: D. They booked a five minute squash at Summerslam for KURT ANGLE??? Seriously? This was a horribly dull match and Eugene had no business being in there. He barely even acts like himself anymore and is really just Hacksaw Jim Duggan minus the patriotism. Thankfully Kurt would move on to face Cena for three months straight after this.

Angle stands on a chair and has the medal placed around his neck.

The Divas are in bikinis and washing a limo. It has the Presidential logo on the door and Vince comes out. “Hey, why not?” THANKFULLY this went nowhere.

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

Some big shot Republicans are here.

Chris Jericho vs. John Cena

The fans are split here as Jericho chokes away on the ropes. Cena is in trouble but he comes back with a HARD clothesline to put both guys down again. They slug it out with Cena taking over and hitting his usual finishing sequence, including the spinning powerbomb but as he loads up the Five Knuckle Shuffle, Jericho counters into the Walls. After a long crawl, Cena finally makes it to the rope to escape. A belly to back superplex gets two for Jericho but as they get back up, he charges right into the FU to retain the title for Cena.

Chicago gets Wrestlemania 22.

Smackdown World Title: Batista vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

JBL dollars rain from the sky before we get going. The fight starts in the aisle and a belt shot to the head has JBL in trouble. They head over to some of the equipment with JBL being sent into various metal objects. Batista is whipped into a steel case and they brawl through the crowd to ringside where the champion spears JBL through the barricade. A dazed Batista is sent into the post and we finally get inside the ring.

Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan

Michaels cools his heels on the floor before the bell as the fans are way into this. Hogan easily wins the first lockup and shoves Shawn down a few more times. The fans tell Shawn that he screwed Bret as he hooks a headlock to take over for a few moments. A hard shoulder block puts Shawn on the floor and Michaels stalls again. Back in and Shawn chops away before being whipped onto the top rope for some punts to the ribs. Shawn is crotched on the top and punched in the face for his efforts.

Hogan drops him on the announce table and pounds away with those “ham-like” right hands. Shawn is posted but Hogan breaks the count at nine. Hogan tries to ram him in again but Shawn slips off and posts Hulk instead. The bald one is cut open and Shawn pounds away at the cut. They fall to the mat with Shawn staying on the assault and the cut being in such a goofy straight line that you almost have to chuckle.

Shawn and Hogan make up and massive posing ends the show.

Ratings Comparison

Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Matt Hardy vs. Edge

Original: B+

Redo: C+

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: B

Redo: B-

Kurt Angle vs. Eugene

Original: A+

Redo: D

Randy Orton vs. Undertaker

Original: B-

Redo: C+

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho

Original: C

Redo: C

Batista vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

Original: D

Redo: D+

Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels

Original: B-

Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: D+

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/08/history-of-summerslam-count-up-2005-shawn-vs-hogan-and-cena-vs-batista/

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