We’re past Unforgiven and the biggest detail is that we have a new WWF Champion in the form of Kurt Angle, who beat Austin in a pretty good match. We’re four weeks away from No Mercy and it’ll be the first show where things look even the slightest bit different in the main event picture. And then that’ll all mean nothing as it’ll be time for the Survivor Series and the end of the Alliance. Let’s get to it.

We open with Angle being announced as the new world champion and his family coming in to celebrate with him.

We’re waiting on Austin to arrive so in the meantime we’ll play a theme song.

Kane/Undertaker/Bradshaw vs. Dudley Boyz/Test

Kronik has been fired due to last night’s debacle so we have a new Alliance team for Undertaker and Kane to beat up. The Dudleys are WWF tag champions and Kane/Taker are the WCW counterparts. Bradshaw jumps Test to start and escapes the full nelson slam. Test absorbs some right hands and clotheslines Bradshaw down. Off to D-Von who gets slammed down and there’s a tag to Kane.

Sidewalk slam puts D-Von down and the top rope clothesline puts him down even further. Big boot from Test changes momentum and gets two for D-Von. Kane gets beaten up on the floor a bit as Undertaker tries to help, thereby allowing more cheating. Bubba drops some ax handles for two. Test comes in and pounds on Kane but the Spaniard slugs back and tags in Undertaker. Everything breaks down and Taker avoids the 3D. Bubba gets taken down by the Clothesline and a Last Ride pins D-Von.

Rating: D+. Total meh match here with nothing going on at all. Undertaker looks strong which doesn’t really help anything. I guess this sets up Dudleys vs. Brothers but it doesn’t really make the big tough team look all that vulnerable. Also as usual, the match doesn’t mean anything past the latest win/loss for either side.

Stacy comes in to see Torrie and wants to know what she sees in Tajiri. Stacy thinks he’s short and not much of a man. Torrie says at least she has a man (does Stasiak ring a bell?) so Stacy says she can get one anytime she wants (Stasiak? His dad was world champion?) so a challenge is set up for later.

Christian arrives and Heyman thinks it’s Austin. Christian warns the security guard to be ready for the mob of people that will be here soon. Oh and go get his bags later. He talks to two people ignoring him and says that he’ll sign all their autographs post show.

Shane fires up the Alliance by saying Austin will be here later. He says Austin is still champion because his arm was under the rope. Booker and Shane got screwed by Hebner too, so tonight is about revenge. Stephanie pops in and thinks they’re all here for her birthday. You know, because they wouldn’t show up for work otherwise. Stephanie (looking GREAT again this week) says that tonight is about leadership and following the example of….RVD. Booker comes out of his pose to complain so it’s Booker vs. Angle for the WWF Title and Rock vs. RVD for the WCW version.

Tajiri vs. Tazz

Tajiri kicks him down but walks into a Tazplex to take over. Tajiri comes back with the kicks and the Tarantula. Buzzsaw kick connects but Stacy kisses Tajiri which lets Taz hook the Tazmission for the tap out.

Shane talks to Booker about how it’s time to move up to the WWF Title.

US Title: Rhyno vs. Jeff Hardy

Rhyno won the title last night off Tajiri. Jeff speeds things up to start and sends it to the floor. Slingshot dropkick sets up a rana off the apron to take over. Back in the champion hits a spinebuster but misses a top rope splash. Jeff hits a flipping legdrop for two but walks into a belly to belly. Whisper in the Wind puts Rhyno down but the Swanton misses. The first Gore attempt misses but Jeff goes to the corner and when he lands, Rhyno kills him dead with the Gore to retain.

Rating: C. Rhyno was on a roll at this point and couldn’t have a bad match if he tried. He was great at the power matches and using that Gore to split people in half. He didn’t really have a character but he didn’t need one with his finisher. On top of that he added in some psychology with the constant rib work which makes perfect sense. Good stuff.

Hurricane tells Citizen Ivory and Citizen Storm that he’s glad they’re studying for the match. He also thinks Ivory is in danger and tells her to wait at the entrance. She leaves and Hurricane confides to Storm that he’s ready to take Holly on as his full time sidekick. He makes Storm do Wonder Twin Powers Activate in a funny bit.

Kanyon comes in to see RVD because he’s worried about Austin freaking out on him. Van Dam says just chill.

Ivory/Lance Storm/Hurricane vs. Big Show/Spike Dudley/Molly Holly

Spike is in a Show costume for no apparent reason. Show and Hurricane start things off and the masked man wants a test of strength. That goes nowhere so he slaps Big Show, which gets him thrown across the ring. Off to Ivory and Molly with the latter hitting a northern lights suplex for two. Storm and Spike come in and things speed up a bit. Spike chases Hurricane around and gets kicked down by Lance coming back in. Hurricane and the cape come in with a cross body for two. Show comes in and cleans house but Ivory hits him low. Molly gets on Show’s shoulders for the Molly Go Round for the pin on Storm.

Rating: D+. Just turn Molly into a sidekick already and get it over with. It was clear that’s where they were going so just get it over with already. On top of that, Show needs something to do. He’s been doing nothing for months now and it’s getting a little tiring to sit here and watch him do nothing at all.

Earl Hebner comes in to see Shane, who yells at him about an apparent screwjob last night. We see a clip of Austin tapping out but being under the ropes. Hebner admits his mistake but says the decision stands. Shane is barred from ringside for Angle vs. Booker for some reason.

WWF Title: Kurt Angle vs. Booker T

BIG USA chant goes up. You know Booker is an American too. Angle hits a quick overhead belly to belly for two. Booker grabs a headlock but Kurt grabs the ankle lock which is quickly broken. Angle goes for the ankle again but Booker hits an enziguri to take over. Booker drops a knee to what I think is a bad neck and stands around a lot. Off to a chinlock to take some time out of the match.

Kurt fights up and hits some elbows to the ribs but walks into a spinning forearm for two. Booker hits the ropes but walks into a belly to belly suplex and a belly to back gets two. Booker shoves off the referee to avoid the Slam and kicks Angle down. Belt shot puts Angle down for two. Bookend is countered into a northern lights suplex for two. Ax kick misses and Kurt rolls through a suplex into the ankle lock to retain.

Rating: C+. Not a bad match here but it wasn’t anything great. Booker jobbing again shouldn’t surprise anyone and I don’t think it did. He’s the biggest WCW star there was so of course he lost. That was another of the big issues with the Invasion: the Alliance guys were always second and third fiddles to the WWF guys.

Kanyon hits on Lita which is a lot more awkward in retrospect. She makes fun of his speech impediment.

Intercontinental Title: Christian vs. Chris Jericho

Christian won the title last night. He makes fun of the former champion Edge pre-match and we get a solo Five Second Pose….or we would have if Jericho hadn’t interrupted. Jericho takes him down to start and chops away. Christian comes back with punches and knocks Jericho into the corner. Backbreaker gets two. Jericho hits the forearm and avoids a dropkick. Christian avoids the Lionsault and rolls to the floor. A bell shot draws the LAME DQ to end this. Nothing match.

Christian loads up the Conchairto but Jericho avoids it and hooks the Walls.

X-Pac is sitting in Regal’s chair when the Commissioner comes in. Pac complains about his lack of TV time despite having two titles. Regal rips into him and says that it’s Pac vs. Regal tonight.

We get America the Beautiful from last night which is by one of those women singers that basically screech the words but it’s called great for some reason.

Raven asks RVD for advice about how depressed he’s been lately. RVD suggests being more positive about being negative. Raven thanks him and leaves when Stephanie comes in. She says win and you’re the leader of the Alliance. Some mild sexual tension is teased.

Matt Hardy vs. Kanyon

Matt punches him down to start and hits a moonsault press for two. Kanyon takes him down and heads to hit on Lita, who slaps the taste out of his mouth. Back in Kanyon drives Matt’s head into the mat for two. Kanyon talks to Lita more and gets rolled up for two. A bad Russian legsweep by Matt puts both guys down. They go to the corner with Kanyon getting shoved down and the middle rope legdrop sends Kanyon to the outside. Lita hits her hurricanrana off the steps. Twist of Fate is countered and Matt is shoved into Lita. Flatliner gets the pin.

Rating: D+. Nothing match here and as usual it doesn’t mean anything. These one night made feuds and their resolutions were fine for filling in TV time but it didn’t help anything long term. This was just ok as Matt was nowhere near what he would become yet (take that for what you will) and Kanyon still didn’t mean much.

EXTREME CLOSEUP of DDP who is very positive now. He’s into the motivational speaker gimmick now.

We go to WWF New York with the Tough Enough finalists. The five finalists are Nidia, Taylor (cute but never did anything), Chris Harvard, Maven and Josh Matthews, who looks like more of a tool than he does now.

Rock brags about retaining the title last night and now he has RVD. As for Stephanie, if she cheats she’s going to get a birthday spanking. She’s 25 tonight. He singe a version of Happy Birthday to her as well: “Happy Birthday to Steph, you’re a ho with big breasts, so take the night off from hooking, if ya smell what the Rock is cooking.” Ok that was awesome.

William Regal vs. X-Pac

Regal knocks him down but gets caught in a suplex for two. Bronco Buster hits and Regal comes back with the Regal Cutter for the pin. What in the freaking world was the point of this?

WCW World Title: Rob Van Dam vs. The Rock

Since Shane is barred from ringside for some reason, Stephanie comes out to watch the match. Rob counters a headlock and the fans aren’t sure who to cheer for. Rock Bottom is countered as well and they head to the floor. A clothesline puts Van Dam down but Rob comes back with the spinning kick to Rock who is draped over the barricade. Back in the top rope kick gets two.

Rock grabs a belly to belly for two. Back to the floor and Rob loads up the announce table, only to get punched in the face for his troubles. Rock throws him onto the table but Van Dam bounces off of it. Back inside a spinebuster gets two. RVD kicks him down and tries the split legged moonsault but Rock moves. Stephanie slaps Rock into a rollup for two. Rock hits a DDT and the Sharpshooter goes on but Stephanie comes in again. He chases her up the aisle and throws her back in as Van Dam slams him down. He gets ready for the Five Star but Stephanie shoves the referee into the ropes. Rock Bottom gives Rock the win.

Rating: C-. We’ll continue the running theme tonight by talking about how this is another problem the Invasion had: this match wasn’t about RVD, it wasn’t about the WCW Title and it wasn’t about the Invasion. This match was about Stephanie and how The Rock wants to ruin her birthday. That’s a fun single night thing and the more I get to see mid-20s Stephanie the happier I am, but this doesn’t do a thing long term. It doesn’t set up a PPV match, it doesn’t give Rock a new challenge, it doesn’t do anything. That’s fine once in awhile, but this is like the fourth week in a row. That’s not good.

Austin never arrived.

Overall Rating: D+. This didn’t work at all for me. It’s a total throwaway show with nothing happening and the whole thing being about Stephanie and her birthday with the usual world title matches that meant nothing at all. No Austin, so that went nowhere (nice bait and switch guys) and Angle and/or Rock have no opponents yet, so what was the point of this? Oh yeah, Stephanie is 25 now. Pointless show.

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It’s after Breakdown and we don’t have a world champion. Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin at the same time and Vince took the belt with him. This would set up the next PPV, Judgment Day, and the events that came after it. Also we don’t really have a #1 contender as the main event last week was thrown out. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video about Vince and his master plan which payed off last night.

The show opens with Austin’s music but Vince and his stooges come out with the title. Vince talks about how we’re doing this the hard way which is Austin’s fault. You better believe him when he guarantees something. There’s no rematch either. Cops are waiting in the back to welcome Austin to the show. Tonight there’s going to be a new WWF Champion who will get the REAL WWF Title belt. The Smoking Skull title is going to go over Vince’s mantle. First though, Vince has Slaughter put the Skull title around his waist so he can pose a bit.

Tag Titles: Southern Justice vs. New Age Outlaws

The Outlaws are just ridiculously over. Jerry says that he’s not going to talk about an alleged incident with Jim Carrey on the set of Man on the Moon which of course is kayfabe. Canterburry vs. Gunn to start things off and a flapjack gets two on Billy. Knight comes in to double team but it doesn’t last long. Now he comes in legally but walks into a neckbreaker for two. Off to Roadie for the shaky knee but Canterburry hits a knee to the back and a clothesline to take over. Back to Billy who cleans house and hits the Fameasser but Jarrett comes in with the guitar. Roadie steals it and hits Knight with it for the short DQ.

Billy yells at Roadie post match and tension is teased. X-Pac comes in and Billy shoves him down before leaving. HHH comes out but Billy walks past him.

Oh and that would be Southern Justice’s last match on Raw.

Dan Severn vs. Owen Hart

This is a submission match. Severn comes out with the NWA and UFC Titles. Cole is outside DX’s locker room and hears a lot of yelling. Severn throws his towel at Owen and catches an easy charge. It turns into a fight on the mat and you know Severn is more than comfortable with that. Severn suplexes him down and adds a powerslam. Owen hits a spinwheel kick to take Dan down and adds a powerslam of his own. There’s the dragon sleeper but Owen reverses into the Austin killing piledriver and Severn is unconscious so the match is stopped.

We get a stretcher job for Severn as Owen appears concerned. This would basically be it for Severn in WWF other than a quick return in January. This was storyline from what I can tell.

Vader vs. Al Snow

Vader has Sgt. Slaughter with him for no apparent reason. The fans want Head. Vader takes him down pretty quickly and drops some elbows on the leg. Belly to belly suplex gets two. Snow comes back with some clotheslines but can’t hit the Snow Plow. Vader takes him down but Vader hits an enziguri for two as Sarge makes the save. The distractions lets Snow get a Head shot for the fast pin. Vader would be gone soon.

Billy Gunn is walking out.

Edge vs. Gangrel vs. D’Lo Brown vs. Darren Drozdov vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Marc Mero

You have two in the ring and one on each corner, it’s elimination rules and the winner gets a European Title match next week on Raw. Edge and Gangrel start things off with Edge in control. He misses a cross body and gets caught in a dragon screw legwhip. La Magistral pins Gangrel and Brown comes in to beat down Edge. A DDT gives Edge control and he tags out to Droz. Droz looks to be mostly bald now and cleans house.

Brown tags Jarrett who hits the Stroke to take over. Dropkick puts Droz down but there’s still no cover. Droz hooks a quickly broken sleeper and they head to the floor for a double countout. So it’s Edge, Mero and Brown left. Mero and Edge go at it and Mero hits a Samoan Drop. He loads up the Wild Thing but Brown shakes the rope to crotch him. Edge ranas him and avoids a Low Down which hits Mero. A dropkick puts Brown on the floor and Edge gets the easy pin. Edge dives on Brown but Gangrel and “that kid we saw last night” distract Edge so that Brown hits the Sky High for the pin.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing of note but the idea behind it was pretty solid. I’d like to see this kind of thing again but I don’t ever really recall that many of them. Obviously Edge would have some more business soon with Gangrel and Brown would go on to win the title back next week before losing it back to X-Pac in another few weeks.

Oh and “that kid we saw last night” would soon get a name: Christian.

Gangrel and Christian run into the crowd and Edge goes after them.

Here are Vince and company for the presentation of the new champion. It’s the old winged eagle title which is under a glass case. He announces the new champion as The Undertaker. Oh wait he’s just bringing Taker out. The second candidate is of course Kane. Vince is about to make the announcement but here’s Austin on a Zamboni machine. He dives over the top rope and takes out Vince before getting arrested.

Post break Vince is back in the ring with everyone and Vince is all upset. He’s not going to live up to his word. Undertaker and Kane are going to have to fight for the title at Judgment Day. Oh and Austin is going to be referee and Vince is going to be there. Tonight it’s Undertaker/Kane vs. Shamrock/Rock/Mankind. Vince says the giants are handicapped: one is physical and the other is mental. Undertaker says the next time Vince crosses them, Vince will be the one that’s handicapped. Vince laughs and the beating is on. They go after Vince’s knee and Taker puts a hold on it before crushing it in the steps, breaking it.

Vince gets treatment post break.

Mark Henry vs. Farrooq

Chyna is guest referee. Henry attacked HHH last night to set this up. What Farrooq has to do with it I’m not sure but I guess he fills in a spot. Henry runs over Farrooq to start and knocks him to the floor. World’s Strongest Slam gets no count. Henry loads up a gorilla press but Chyna hits him low so Farrooq falls on him. A fast count gets the pin.

Post match someone serves Chyna with papers which she tears up. Henry picks up the pieces.

Vince is being taken out and Mankind is trying to cheer them up.

Shamrock doesn’t like Detroit but he likes getting his partners back for last night.

Oddities vs. Headbangers

The ICP, Detroit natives, play the Oddities to the ring. It’s Golga/Kurrgan here. The Headbangers jump Golga to start and it’s Mosh officially starting for the Bangers. Golga gets beaten up for awhile but shrugs it off and makes the tag to Kurrgan. The ICP trips up Thrasher and Kurrgan splashes him for the pin. This was nothing.

Rock talks about winning the cage match last night and becoming #1 contender. Being the WWF Champion means nothing compared to being the People’s Champ. You can feel the famous Rock coming out in this.

Terri is apparently looking for her earrings while on her knees in front of Val.

European Title: Val Venis vs. X-Pac

Pac has an eye injury because of a guitar shot from last night. Val slams him down a few times but misses a headbutt. BIG spinwheel kick takes Val’s head off but Val’s big boot takes him down in turn. There goes the eye patch. Val pounds on him a bit more but a kick takes Val down. Pac nips up and loads up the Bronco Buster but Terri trips him up. Fisherman’s Suplex gets two and here’s Chyna. She shoves Terri down so Val gets in her face and drilled for a DQ. These short matches are getting annoying.

Val and Terri get in the ring and kiss but get cut off by Goldust’s music. The place gets really excited for Goldie actually, who says that he told Val that “he was coming back.”

Mankind talks about how nothing is standing in his way tonight and admits that the elbow he dropped last night was awful.

Mankind/The Rock/Ken Shamrock vs. Undertaker/Kane

There’s a ton of time left for this. Mankind and Shamrock come out first and get in a fight. Here’s Rock who Shamrock stares down the whole way. Now they go at it before Undertaker and Kane are even here yet. Mankind gets back in and it’s a three way fight until Taker and Kane get here. Why would they even come out until the other three are all beaten down?

Even with the giants in the ring, the three of them keep fighting each other. Mankind and Shamrock fight on the floor while Rock is on his own. Rock vs. Taker officially gets us going and the dead man is totally in control. Old School puts Rock down and it’s off to Kane. Rock gets in a clothesline and makes the tag off to Mankind who doesn’t do that well.

Back to Undertaker with Mankind in trouble in the corner. Shamrock comes in and knocks Mankind to the floor so Rock beats him up. It’s Taker vs. Shamrock now but Kane comes in quickly. Shamrock dropkicks him and a standing rana puts Kane down. Off to Mankind again and they head to the floor with Foley hitting that always awesome flip dive off the apron.

Kane takes over back inside, hitting the top rope clothesline for two and a tag. Mankind makes a brief comeback but falls to the floor. Both monsters follow and Kane hits a SICK chair shot to cave in Foley’s already dented skull. That only gets two inside for Taker because there hasn’t been a full on murder yet. JR gets in a jab at Hogan, saying you don’t see any bald 45 year olds playing the air guitar here.

Mankind gets a kick to Kane’s face but can’t make the tag. Things look to break down again but Undertaker stops the tag and drags Foley back to their corner. Double arm DDT puts Kane down as the referee says three minutes left. Double tag brings in Rock vs. Undertaker and a DDT puts Taker down for two. People’s Elbow gets the same and everything breaks down. Shamrock and Taker get in there eventually and a big boot puts Ken down but he grabs the ankle lock.

Kane saves and goes to the floor with Shamrock. Undertaker sends Rock into the ropes and they botch something BAD. I think Rock was supposed to run at Taker and grab the Rock Bottom with Taker trying a clothesline and Rock countering. The problem is that Rock sold the clothesline, which was a good foot over his head and their shoulders collided. They try it again and Rock hits the Rock Bottom and gets the pin, which is the biggest of his career at that point.

Rating: D+. The match was a mess and I’m sure you can figure out why. What I want you to notice here is that this is how you put someone over. Undertaker, a big star, was beaten by a young up and comer. It wasn’t someone else doing the work and Rock got a pin on Undertaker. The Rock countered the Undertaker, hit the Rock Bottom and got a pin. Also Undertaker was more than a big enough star to not be hurt by this at all. That’s a huge upgrade from the usual “rubs” you see people get.

Overall Rating: C+. DANG a lot of stuff happened on this show. The wrestling, as usual, was pretty weak but at the same time a ton of stuff happened here which is where things get fun on a week to week basis. We had a famous moment, an arrest, a return, a HUGE win and a main event being announced. It’s not exactly a good show, but it was certainly entertaining which might as well be the battle cry of the Attitude Era.

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It’s the go home show for Breakdown which will see Undertaker/Kane vs. Austin in what amounts to a handicap match. Other than that there isn’t much to talk about, but we have a freshly face Rock and a rapidly turning face Mankind so things have to be pretty entertaining around here this week. Let’s get to it.

Whoa where are Jim and Jerry? I can live with this new team though. Kevin Kelly is there too.

We open with Rock coming to the ring to meet Vince, Mankind and Shamrock. Undertaker and Kane are standing on the ramp to prevent Austin from attacking Vince. Tonight it’s Austin/whoever wants to join him vs. Undertaker/Kane. As for the other three in the ring, he’s here to ensure that none of them are going to be Austin’s partner tonight. Why should any of them settle to be a partner when they could be the same as Undertaker or Kane? By that, Vince means any of them could be world champion. If they don’t help Austin, they can be in a triple threat match tonight and the winner gets a title match next week.

Billy Gunn vs. Jeff Jarrett

Roadie has a throat issue so Billy has to do the entrance, complete with a cue card for his own name. All of the outside people are sent out and Billy jumps Jeff to start things off. Jeff escapes the gorilla press and a dropkick gets two for Billy. There’s a six man tag on Sunday between DX and Jeff/Southern Justice. Jeff comes back with a pair of dropkicks There’s the gorilla press from Gunn but Jeff pops up and hits a top rope cross body for two. DDT gets the same. Jim and Jerry are filming Man on the Moon apparently.

Billy misses a cross body as Shane is more fired up than anyone Raw has had on commentary in years. Out to the floor with Jarrett in control, only to be sent into the post by Billy. That does nothing at all as it’s back to Jeff stomping on him. Jeff goes up and hits Billy in the back as we hear about a Women’s Title match tonight, which would be the first time the title had been active in almost three years.

Russian legsweep gets two for Jarrett. Piledriver by Billy is broken up with a backdrop and both guys are down. Fameasser (not yet named) puts Jarrett down but a Stinger Splash misses and Billy runs into the referee. The guitar is taken away though and Billy hits a neckbreaker for the pin.

Rating: C-. Nothing great here but it furthered the feud between the two groups and helped to set up the match on Sunday which is about all you can ask for in a match like this. Billy was decent in the ring but I don’t think anyone wanted to see him as a singles guy ever. Jarrett got better in a hurry too.

We go to the back and Vince says he has no idea who will team up with Austin but the match is happening no matter what.

Here’s Austin for a chat. Things are starting to look bad for him because Undertaker and Kane are back there making deals with Vince. Undertaker says this is just business Coming after the title though is automatically personal because it means you’re coming after him. As for Vince, Austin isn’t going to moan about those stipulations because he’ll fight Undertaker and Kane on his own if he has to, just like he’ll do on Sunday.

Earlier today Undertaker and Kane arrived. I figured that would be confirmed when we saw them here earlier but you can’t be too sure I guess.

Headbangers vs. Oddities

Silva and Golga in this case. The Headbangers spray something in the giants’ eyes and choke Golga out before ripping up the Cartman doll. Kurrgan gets beaten up as well. No match.

Undertaker tells Austin to cool off with his threats. Due to his and Kane’s deal with Vince, they’re getting the title match.

Women’s Title: Sable vs. Jacqueline

Mero stays on the apron and distracts Sable so that Jackie can get in a shot to her back to take over. Jackie fires off some kicks into the ribs and a DDT gets two. She misses a crotch attack on the ropes though and Sable goes into catfight mode with a take down. Sable throws Jackie to the floor and knocks Mero off the apron as well. She suplexes Jackie back in but Mero holds the foot for the pin and the title for Jackie. I don’t think there’s a belt. Too short to rate but as usual Sable was bad in the ring.

Undertaker/Kane vs. Steve Austin/???

Before Austin gets in the ring, Billy Gunn comes out to be his partner. Ok then. Brawl to start with Kane hammering Billy to the floor. Austin and Taker start things off with Austin hitting the middle finger elbow. Off to Billy who has to stick and move. Taker misses a big boot and gets caught by a Fameasser for two. Back to Austin who sends Taker into the corner but gets clotheslined down.

Off to Kane but Austin fights back and tags in Billy. Chokeslam is broken up but Undertaker’s distraction allows Kane to knock him over the top. Billy is sent into the steps and we head back in. Taker comes in and beats on Billy but lowers his head so Billy can get in a boot. Taker looks at him and takes Billy’s head off again. Back to Kane who hits a big boot for two.

A regular clothesline sets up the top rope clothesline for two. Austin makes the save and flips off Kane. Well at least he’s multitasking. Billy and Kane hit a double clothesline and Gunn makes the tag to Austin. Stunner doesn’t work but the second attempt gets two on Kane due to a Taker save. Everything breaks down and the referee goes down. Chokeslam to Billy by Undertaker is good for the pin despite them both being legal.

Rating: C-. Standard main event style tag match here but I’m really not sure why they picked Billy Gunn of all people to be his partner. I know they lost all of the other main event players but still, Billy Gunn? Not HHH? Anyway, the match was fine but I really don’t know what it does for Sunday.

Austin clocks both guys with a chair post match.

Southern Justice vs. Disciples of Apocalypse

8-Ball and Mark start things off with 8-Ball getting two off a legdrop. Off to Knight and Skull with Skull taking his head off with a clothesline. Sidewalk slam gets two. They head to the floor and here’s Jarrett with a guitar shot to Ellering. The match just kind of stops.

Vince says Undertaker and Shane are going to take care of Billy Gunn later.

A REAL MAN’S MAN is coming.

Al Snow vs. Sgt. Slaughter

This is a boot camp match, which basically means a street fight. Before the match Snow does the questions about Head. If Snow wins he’s reinstated but if he loses he’s gone. Sarge jumps him and rips off Snow’s shirt as Cornette says that Snow is as crazy as a rainbow trout in a carwash. Snow comes back with a superkick and a slingshot into the post. Snow has Slaughter’s belt and whips the Sarge’s back and they go to the floor.

He gets a chair but his swing hits the post. A chair to the back of Snow gets two on the floor. Snow shrugs that off and hits something like Poetry in Motion up against the railing. A moonsault off the barricade only gets two. Cornette is just great on commentary, snapping off all kinds of analysis and insane things but staying entertaining the entire time. Snow goes up top with the chair but as he moonsaults with it, Sarge moves and Al hits canvas. Cobra Clutch goes on but Snow escapes. He breaks it up again with a low blow and Sarge takes off his boot. That goes nowhere and a shot with Head gets the pin for Al.

Rating: D. This was nothing but a way to finally give Al a reason to be around every week, even though he has been for like four months. Sarge is only so interesting and it was pretty clear that he wasn’t going to win here. I like Snow but this did nothing for me for the most part.

Patterson and Brisco run in post match for a beatdown on Snow but Scorpio makes the save.

Rock says he’ll be champion soon, that Mankind is a piece of trash and that Shamrock is proof that anyone can act tough.

Val Venis vs. Owen Hart

Dustin is on commentary. Val talks about cigars before the match. This was in the Lewinsky scandal so I think you know where this is going. Owen takes over to start as Shane taunts Dustin about his wife being in two adult films with Val. Owen pounds on Val some more and Dustin comes in for the DQ.

Val knocks him back and ties him up in the ropes. There’s a third video with her from Val which has Terri saying she was considering a reconciliation but has changed her mind.

European Title: X-Pac vs. D’Lo Brown

Brown is in the unusual position of having to use power here so he slams Pac down to take over. The legdrop hits but Brown poses too much. Brown misses a charge in the corner and Pac hits a spin kick, but the Bronco Buster misses and D’Lo takes over again. A middle rope moonsault misses Pac and he comes back with spinning kicks. There’s the Bronco Buster but Pac charges into the Sky High for a delayed two. Brown dives off the top but jumps right into the X-Factor to give Pac the title.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here and for a midcard title like the European Title, it’s fine to make DX look even stronger. Also I’m glad they didn’t mention the Nation vs. DX feud as it’s been done for awhile now. Fun little match here and it worked pretty well. Pac would lose the title back pretty quickly though.

Mankind says he feels like the little engine that could. On his best early to mid-afternoon, he could beat Rock on his worst late evening. As for Shamrock, he knows a lot of holds and Mankind doesn’t know how to get out of any of them. It takes a very tough man to beat Mankind, but it certainly doesn’t take very long. I love this guy.

The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Mankind

The winner gets a title shot next week. Rock and Mankind double team Shamrock to start but Mankind is the first to turn on his partner. They head to the floor but Shamrock hits a baseball slide to take out Foley. Foley comes back in the ring with the running knee to Shamrock’s head. Rock is down on the floor. Shamrock suplexes Mankind down so Rock comes in to pick their bones.

There’s the People’s Elbow but instead of covering, Rock throws Shamrock to the floor. He turns around and walks into a double arm DDT for two. Ken pulls Rock to the floor and sends him into the barricade. Back in, Mankind tries the Claw but Shamrock pounds away on his face. Shamrock has busted open Mankind’s left cheek. Rock comes in and it’s double/triple sleeper time. Foley comes back with the double jawbreaker and here come Vince, Kane and Undertaker.

Shamrock hits the belly to belly on Mankind and puts the ankle lock on him but Rock makes the save. Rock Bottom takes out Shamrock but this time Mankind makes the save. Shane hasn’t chilled out for the entire show which is both annoying and good at the same time. Undertaker pulls Mankind to the floor and the monsters beat him down. Rock hits his spinning DDT on Shamrock for two. Ken comes back with a standing rana and a powerslam for two. Shamrock gets sent to the floor and the monsters beat on him too. They get in the ring and beat down Rock so the match is thrown out somewhere in there.

Rating: C. I think it was pretty clear we weren’t getting a clean ending here and that’s ok. This was playing into the theme of drama all night long and that makes for a pretty interesting show most of the time. These three would have a cage match eventually with the winner getting a title shot, so at least we would get a winner there.

Post match Undertaker and Kane beat up Foley some more, which allows Austin to sneak up on Vince and beat him up to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This is one where your taste will vary greatly. We’ve reached the point of soap opera Raws, as each show turns out to be a small piece of a huge story that won’t be revealed for months. That being said, it’s very interesting to see where these turns take us and it’s easy to see how this show was so successful. It would get better soon too.

Here’s Breakdown if you’re interested:

Another week, another Raw. The focus this week is likely going to be on Lesnar for his attack last week on HHH, but I’d be surprised if Brock is actually here. Also we get more build towards Cena vs. Ace, which I’ve mellowed on since last week. Other than that it’s hard to say what’s coming as most of the midcard hasn’t been set for the PPV yet. Let’s get to it.

Ace opens things up and says that since he’s the boss of the company, he has to be respected. Cena called him an idiot, so Ace went into a rage. Lesnar hurt Cena’s arm but Ace hurt his pride. At Over the Limit, he’ll finish what “Brock Cena” started. He’s won’t be reprimanded by the board and he’s requested that Cena not be here tonight so he can heal up. Cena however will be here for a satellite interview.

Also anyone that makes fun of his voice will suffer severe consequences. It wasn’t always like that, as he was injured by Steve Williams. That didn’t stop him from becoming, and I quote, the biggest star in Japan. We get a set of stills of him in Japan and Ace calls himself the Hogan, Austin and Rock of Japan. He’ll wrestle one time at Over the Limit. May God bless everyone and have mercy on Cena.

Cue Punk who says that despite Ace saying he’s behind People Power, Ace has no idea what the people want to hear or see. Punk is here to help tonight though, but he’s not going to tell Ace what the people want to see. What he will do though is say what the people don’t want to see, and that is Johnny Ace. They also don’t want to hear about Ace’s time in Japan and his “success”. This is all about Ace putting his chips on Lesnar and then Cena beating Brock.

That turned Ace red and the only reason Ace was a success in Japan is because no one in America would pay a dime to see him which is why he can’t get booked anywhere. Ace asks if Punk is done. Punk says that Ace is ugly, stupid, has no friends and is a gigantic tool box. Ace says if he wasn’t in training he’d pummel Punk, but tonight it’s going to be Punk vs. Tensai. Punk says cool.

Ace runs into Big Show (literally) and yells at him. Show makes fun of Ace after he leaves and Eve glares at him.

Intercontinental Title: Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes

Show takes him into the corner and chops him down, then he throws him out of another corner. Cody gets up some boots in the corner and hits the Disaster Kick which puts Show on his knees. Cody runs from the WMD and says give him his belt. Show meets him as he’s leaving but Cody gets out and sprints to the back. Countout at 1:51.

Show asks for a mic and tells Cody to come back but Cody walks off. Cue Eve who tells Show to apologize to Ace for making fun of his voice. Show lacklusterly apologizes but that’s not good enough for Eve. She says outside of this business, there isn’t much room for a 7’0 400lb freak. Show apologizes again but is a little more testy this time. He leaves and Eve glares at him.

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler

This should be awesome. AW and company are watching in the back. Kofi misses a charge in the corner and Dolph gets two. Mason Ryan is now watching in the back with AW, Primo, Epico and Rosa. Dolph takes Kofi onto the mat for a second but he misses a charge as well, allowing Kofi to speed things up. Boom Drop looks to set up the Trouble in Paradise but Swagger distracts. Zig Zag is countered and the SOS gets two. Vickie gets up on the apron and the distraction lets the Zig Zag get the pin at 2:20. Dang they actually waited a week to have a tag champion lose.

Cena joins us via satellite and says that he has to get his elbow drained twice a day. His doctors say not to compete for a few months but he’s going to do it anyway. He’s not surprised that the board didn’t act because he requested that they didn’t, at least not until after Over the Limit. Cole says he’s impressed by what Ace has accomplished in the ring over his career and thinks maybe Cena is scared of Ace. Cena says he is scared of Ace to the point that Ace will hurt himself. In 13 days, Ace gets beaten up.

Kelly Kelly/Layla vs. Natalya/Maxine

Beth is on commentary and wants her title back. She gets her title match at the PPV. Layla and Maxine get us going and Kelly takes out Natalya for no apparent reason. Layout beats Maxine at 1:05. Moving on.

Randy Orton/Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio/Chris Jericho

Orton and Del Rio start us off. Jericho doesn’t really have a feud in this that I can tell. Del Rio jumps over Orton out of the corner but gets clotheslined down for two. Off to Jericho who has about as much luck as Del Rio did. Sheamus gets the tag and keeps beating on the Canadian. He hits the ten forearms to the chest in the ropes but Jericho sends Sheamus’ bad shoulder into the post as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus breaking out of an arm hold and sending Jericho into the corner. Double tag brings in Del Rio to get beaten up by Orton. Elevated DDT looks to set up the RKO but he stops to powerslam Jericho instead. An enziguri from Del Rio puts Orton down for two. Orton dropkicks Del Rio down but it’s Jericho’s powerslam that takes Orton down. Orton gets a rollup for two but another enziguri puts Orton down.

Back to Del Rio who works on the arm and hits it with the Codebreaker. With a shout of DESTINY he tries the cross armbreaker but Orton counters into the backbreaker. Back to Sheamus who cleans house and sets up the Cross on Jericho but the arm gives out. A Walls attempt is countered and the Irish Curse gets two. Del Rio dropkicks the arm but Orton hits him with the RKO. Jericho ducks the Brogue Kick and it hits Orton. Codebreaker to Sheamus gets the pin at 13:02.

Rating: C+. Pretty decent match here and it might signal that they’re setting up a threeway, which would be a very good idea. Del Rio vs. Sheamus one on one just sounds boring beyond all belief but throwing in the Canadian would help things a lot. Not a great match here but it accomplished its goal and that’s all that matters.

Sheamus tries to help Orton up but Orton RKOs him.

Ace sends Eve to talk to Big Show. Jericho comes in and demands a title match. Del Rio says it’s his shot. Orton demands one as well when Sheamus comes in and jumps Jericho. Sheamus and Orton clean house and get in an argument with Sheamus saying anytime Orton wants some, come get him. Ace makes it a fatal fourway. Thank goodness.

Brodus Clay vs. The Miz

Before the match, Brodus says to make sure to call your mama this Sunday. Miz doesn’t like having to face Brodus tonight because if he wanted to see King Hippo dance, he’d play Mike Tyson’s Punch Out. Miz pounds away on him but Brodus runs him over and knocks him to the floor. Coming back in Miz gets the upper hand, hitting the boot to the face.

There’s another boot and it gets two. The corner clothesline hits and Miz comes off the top with the ax handle for two. Brodus shrugs off the chinlock but Miz takes the knee out for the low DDT, getting two. Brodus shrugs him off again and uses his head to take Miz down. Miz jumps into the suplex and the splash ends this at 4:14.

Rating: C-. The match was pretty boring but having Brodus beat a bigger name is a big step for him. He’s beaten jobbers for so long and has only beaten Dolph/Swagger by countout/DQ other than I think once. Not a terrible match or anything but it was a good thing to see as Brodus is looking to have an actual feud instead of just people he doesn’t like.

Don’t be a bully!

We recap the HHH/Lesnar attack from last week. HHH will have to have surgery and rehab. He’ll be on Raw next week and here’s Lesnar. Scratch that it’s his legal team. I like that they’re coming up with some ways to keep him off the shows. HOKEY SMOKE IT’S PAUL HEYMAN. Cole of course undersells it like he does with everything else. He talks about how different things are today than they were ten years ago when he originally represented Lesnar.

It was ace who sent Brock an offer because Brock is a machine. He lists off Brock’s accomplishments and says that the demands Lesnar made were fair because Brock is an honest man. Heyman reads a statement from Brock about corporate politics and about how Lesnar gave what HHH and Cena deserves. The Cell match vs. Undertaker was now “nearly an hour” according to Brock (it was under 31 minutes). Brock is never coming back because he quits.

CM Punk vs. Lord Tensai

During Punk’s entrance, Ace adds Daniel Bryan to the match….and we take a break at 10:56.

Show is talking to two guys from some USA show and they think he doesn’t need to apologize to anyone. Show says things are different now and it’s not a good place here. The actors say they’re detectives and think they should investigate some pictures that are out there apparently. They make fun of his voice and Show laughs but here’s Eve. Show stops laughing.

CM Punk vs. Lord Tensai/Daniel Bryan

No entrances for the heels to save some time. Tensai starts off and uses the power to put Punk down. Off to Bryan who gets a reaction from the crowd. He fires off the kicks to the chest and shouts YES on each one. Punk escapes a suplex and rolls him up for two. They cross body each other and both guys are down. Tensai comes in for more power and they head to the floor with Punk’s back going into the post.

Back in now and it’s time for a Japanese nerve hold. Backsplash gets two and it’s off to Bryan but the Swan Dive misses. Bryan reaches for a tag but gets caught in a slingshot. Punk makes what I guess you can call a comeback with a neckbreaker. The knee and bulldog combination actually works and it’s GTS time. Bryan escapes and tags in Tensai who clotheslines Punk’s head off very slowly. GTS to Tensai is countered but Punk manages the high kick. Tensai’s dude gets up for a distraction and Bryan crotches Punk. The chokebomb is totally messed up and the Mist Claw with the legsweep gets the pin at 6:54.

Rating: C. Tensai is boring and that’s all there is to it. The guy just isn’t an interesting wrestler and no matter how Japanese they make him it’s not going to happen. He’s big and slow with a bad finisher in the claw. Use the chokebomb (if you can do it right) and be a monster like you look like. Punk vs. Bryan is going to be good.

Bryan stomps on Punk post match and puts him in the YES Lock.

Overall Rating: C. This was a hit and miss show. The Heyman return was a big shock and THANKFULLY we got the Sheamus vs. Del Rio match adjusted as it desperately needed to be. Other than that, the wrestling was ok at best. They built up Over the Limit pretty well, but having no Cena for the majority of the show really brought it down. This show needs more Eve as well, especially with those glasses.

Results
Big Show b. Cody Rhodes via countout
Dolph Ziggler b. Kofi Kingston – Zig Zag
Kelly Kelly/Layla b. Natalya/Maxine – Layout to Maxine
Alberto Del Rio/Chris Jericho b. Sheamus/Randy Orton – Codebreaker to Sheamus
Brodus Clay b. The Miz – Splash
Lord Tensai/Daniel Bryan b. CM Punk – Claw Hold

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This is another request and since it’s taking forever to download some TNA shows, I figured I might as well knock some of these off in the meantime. This is the King of the Ring tournament so it’s a three hour special. Almost everything you have here is a tournament match, plus an eight man tag and a REALLY stupid other match. Let’s get to it.

Theme song gets us going. It’s still Papa Roach.

We open with Lillian telling us that the tournament is back tonight.

King of the Ring First Round: Chris Jericho vs. MVP

Jericho is IC Champion and MVP is US Champion. There’s no bracket yet and even JR and Lawler haven’t seen them. I don’t mind a champion losing so much here as one of them gets to look stronger. This is also the go home show for Backlash, which is a show I haven’t done yet. MVP takes him to the mat to start but Jericho comes back with some knees to the head and a kick to the same area.

MVP punches him in the corner as this is off to a hot start. Jericho drapes him over the top rope and mostly misses a baseball slide to the floor. MVP catches him coming back in with a knee lift and a kind of clothesline for two. He hooks kind of a modified abdominal stretch on the mat but Jericho gets up pretty quickly. Overhead belly to belly puts Jericho down for two. They do the Flair bridge up into a backslide spot which gets a good reaction in Horsemen country. Big boot gets two for MVP. Jericho comes back with a clothesline but the Lionsault misses. Play of the Day is countered into the Walls and Jericho advances.

Rating: C. Very basic match here but with a one night tournament you have to keep things that way. Again I don’t mind MVP losing clean here because it was to another champion and on top of that he would drop the title on Sunday anyway. Not much to see here but it was fine all things considered.

Jericho sits on the throne post match.

King of the Ring First Round: CM Punk vs. Matt Hardy

Punk has the MITB case. Feeling out process to start but it turns into a strike off, won by Punk. He takes Matt down for two and hooks a quick chinlock. Matt comes back with some headbutts and drives an elbow into Punk’s back off the middle rope. Matt’s bulldog is countered into the clothesline and bulldog out of the corner for two. Punk’s springboard clothesline is caught in the Side Effect for two. Twist of Fate is countered into a GTS which is countered into a sunset flip which is countered by Punk sitting on Hardy for the pin. Nice ending.

Rating: C+. Another short match here but this one was a little more fun than the previous one. The ending was pretty quick and that’s a good thing as it was certainly entertaining for a four minute match. Punk was on a roll at this point and he would win the world title in about two months. Matt would get the US Title on Sunday.

All we have as far as a bracket is Jericho vs. Punk in the semi-finals.

Tonight it’s Barack Obama vs. Hilary Clinton. That’s the really stupid match I warned you about. We see it in Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 for a preview.

We get a clip from Raw last week of HHH vs. JBL when Orton ran in and HHH got double teamed. The fatal fourway on Sunday (those three plus Cena) is now an elimination match.

JBL says this Sunday he’ll take his place on top of the WWE. He was in the New York Times today.

King of the Ring First Round: Finlay vs. Great Khali

Khali is having issues with Big Show around this time. Horny is at ringside of course. Finlay charges at Khali but gets shoved down almost immediately. Khali shoves him down but misses a legdrop. Finlay pounds away but Khali shrugs him off and sends him to the corner. Horny comes in with the club but Finlay saves him. The chop puts Finlay down and Khali wraps Finlay’s leg around the post…..for a DQ? Apparently so. Too short to rate but this was nothing of note.

Big Show comes out but Khali won’t go for him until Sunday.

Finlay is helped out because of the knee attack.

King of the Ring First Round: William Regal vs. Hornswoggle

Twenty seconds, Regal Stretch. Finlay comes in to help but Regal beats him down and attacks the knee. Regal is GM at this point so shenanigans seem to be up.

The brackets are set for the semi-finals:

Jericho
Punk

Finlay
Regal

Video on the annual post Wrestlemania European tour.

Here’s Shawn for a little chat. Apparently Batista isn’t happy about Shawn retiring Flair at Wrestlemania so Shawn wants to talk about it right now. They have a match on Sunday with Jericho as referee for no apparent reason, although it would set up a six month feud between Shawn and Jericho. Here’s Batista and Shawn if Batista wanted to face Flair at Mania, which is what Jericho suggested on Smackdown.

Batista asks if that would make Shawn feel better. This isn’t about Flair anymore, but rather about Big Dave and Shawn. He respects where Shawn is, but not how he got there. He’ll finish this with Shawn at Backlash. Shawn appreciates the honesty but he’s everything Batista says he is. Whether Dave likes it or not, Shawn is Mr. Wrestlemania and there definitely is blood on his hands. Batista is going to need luck on Sunday. Shawn goes to leave but Batista spins him back around. Shawn gets into superkick position but Batista just walks past him and leaves.

Hilary Clinton gives the kind of promo/speech that a famous person gives when they talk to a wrestling audience that they don’t understand. This one isn’t terrible though as she mainly talks about how she’ll fight for America and lists some of her issues. It’s very corny, but I’ll give them points for at least talking like this. Obama and McCain will talk later.

Hardcore Holly vs. Carlito

Just….why? Oh this is something to do with the tag titles. Holly and Rhodes are champions coming into this. Carlito has his partner Santino with him. Feeling out process to start with Holly mainly in control. Carlito comes back with a backbreaker for two. Off to a chinlock which doesn’t last long. Carlito works on the back some more but misses a charge. Holly makes his comeback with clotheslines and the dropkick but his back gives out. He loads up the Alabama Slam but his back gives out again. Backstabber gets the pin.

Rating: D. This wasn’t much. This would presumably set up the match on Sunday but it didn’t happen for some reason. Then again, no one cared at all about the tag titles so it’s not like anyone cared. This was really just a breather to allow everyone to transition from the first half of the show to the second.

HHH says he’ll win.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk

Both guys are tentative to start but both get quick twos. The first big move is Jericho draping him over the top rope out of a suplex. Punk tries a springboard but Jericho kicks his legs out and Punk is in trouble. Jericho tries a hammerlock but Punk takes his head off with a clothesline for two. They trade rollups like at the end of Punk’s other match but no one gets a pin. Walls are countered into a rollup for two.

Jericho hits an enziguri for two and this is getting good. Punk snaps off a powerslam for two. GTS is countered into the bulldog and Jericho loads up the Lionsault. It looks strange as Jericho tried to land on all fours because Punk had his knees up. Either way he stopped himself and hooks the Walls but Punk makes a rope. Jericho goes up but Punk high kicks him down. He puts Jericho on his shoulders and the GTS sends Punk to the finals clean.

Rating: B-. These two always work well together and this was no exception. Punk got a win here which made him look a lot stronger, which is what someone like Jericho is great at. Even four years later Jericho is still putting people over but it still means something, which is a great sign for a veteran like him.

Senator Obama gives a very corny speech, concluding with “do you smell what the Barack is cooking.” Just….no.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: William Regal vs. Finlay

Finlay has the bad knee coming in. Regal circles him to start but gets monkey flipped to the floor. Regal sends him into the steps and he hits knee first. Back in the ring and it’s time for a slugout. Regal goes shoulder first into the post for two. Finlay tries a fireman’s carry but the knee gives out. Back to the forearms and a rollup gets two. Regal hits him in the head with a knee and puts on the Regal Stretch. Finlay passes out to send Regal to the finals.

Rating: C. These two always have good matches as they’re always physical. The more I see of Finlay the more I appreciate him as he was really good at stuff like this. There was nothing for him to lose out there and he was going to be adequate at worst no matter who you put him out there with. Good stuff but short.

McCain uses a lot of wrestling lines and says go vote.

We run down the card for Backlash.

Cena says that you’ve heard everyone talk tonight and he has as good a chance as anyone else, but the advantage he has is he doesn’t have to go through himself.

Let’s get this over with.

Hilary Clinton vs. Barack Obama

There’s a Bill impersonator with Hilary, who comes out to Real American. No one reacts AT ALL. Obama comes out to Rock’s theme and I guess is the face in this. They’re impersonators in case you didn’t get that. It’s so weird seeing and hearing people not care at all about Hogan’s music. I mean there’s NOTHING. This is one of those times I feel ashamed about being a wrestling fan. They both cut promos on each other and Hilary’s is far better, as she’s played by a chick from SHIMMER. The fans still don’t care.

Is this supposed to be funny? Are we supposed to be this stupid to find this entertaining? Rock’s theme gets ZERO reaction either and Obama has huge ears. King gets the only funny line of this by saying that if Obama were facing Mike Tyson in this it would be a buffet. They have a “match” which isn’t completely terrible as both are played by wrestlers. Obama hits a Rock Bottom but Bill breaks up the People’s Elbow. Cue Umaga for a Spike to Obama and a Samoan Drop to Hilary. Bill runs away. This got TEN MINUTES.

Here are a bunch of face Divas to introduce the new Women’s Champion Mickie James. She beat Beth who was considered unbeatable so it was a big upset. It still amazes me how much more interesting the Divas were just a few years ago. Mickie thanks the other girls but gets cut off by Beth and some other evil girls. Remember when there were twelve Divas that could be in one segment and could all have at least a passable match? Beth says it’s not if she’ll win the title back, but when she’ll win it back. Michelle slaps Beth and the brawl is on.

Mr. Kennedy is coming back.

King of the Ring Finals: William Regal vs. CM Punk

Punk comes in with bad ribs because of the matches earlier. Regal is basically in his second match after the Horny match and beating an injured Finlay. Punk starts off fast with some kicks in the corner. He tries the bulldog but gets suplexed down and it’s off to a bow and arrow hold. Punk fights up from that and hits a spinning kick to the knee.

Regal grabs the arms and forces him right back down to the mat as is his custom. The idea is that it’s strikes vs. grapples which is about as natural as you’re going to get with these two. Punk fights up again and hits a BIG kick to the head to stagger Regal. Spinning backfist sets up the high kick for two. That sounded great. Punk loads up the GTS but Regal grabs the rope. He escapes and hits the knee trembler, followed by the Stretch. Punk hangs on for almost thirty seconds but finally has to tap to give Regal the tournament.

Rating: C-. This was too short to mean much but it gave Regal some more psychosis to work with which was a really entertaining time. Then it just stopped cold because it was getting too good and that’s how WWE works. Punk giving up because of the rib injury is ok because Regal didn’t win fairly (coming in at a big advantage), which is fine.

Regal’s psycho look while he sits on the throne is still great.

Here’s Orton for the main event but first he brags about how awesome he is and how his title reign will continue after Sunday.

Randy Orton/Edge/Chavo Guerrero/John Bradshaw Layfield vs. John Cena/HHH/Kane/The Undertaker

Orton is Raw champion, Edge is challenging Taker on Sunday, Chavo is challenging Kane, JBL is challenging Orton, Cena is challenging Orton, HHH is challenging Orton, Kane is ECW Champion, Undertaker is Smackdown champion. Now that’s a packed main event. How out of place does Chavo look here though? After the entrances take forever to get through we’re ready to go. Seriously, there were ten minutes spent on entrances PLUS a commercial. That’s ridiculous.

Taker and Orton look to start but Edge jumps Taker in a surprise. This goes badly for the Canadian as a big clothesline puts him down. Old School hits (hasn’t that been called old longer than it wasn’t called old?) and we take a break after 40 seconds. Back with Chavo tagging Edge in to work over a downed HHH. The spear is countered into a spinebuster and there’s the tag to Cena.

He starts his finishing sequence very quickly on Edge but Chavo low bridges him on the Shuffle attempt. JBL throws him back in clean which shocks Jerry. Off to Orton who does nothing so it’s JBL again. Russian legsweep gets two as does a clothesline. Edge comes in and the Cena chants begin. Edge gets a big boot and it’s off to Orton for a chinlock. Cena stands up but it’s a double clothesline and both guys are down.

The tags are made to Chavo and Kane with the Big Bald cleaning house. All of the evil team goes down and a side slam puts Chavo down. The top rope clothesline mostly gets shoulder and everything breaks down. Chavo counters a slam attempt into a DDT but as he goes for the Frog Splash Kane chokeslams him down. Out of nowhere though Edge spears Kane for the pin.

Rating: C. It’s a main event tag match and that’s about it. They covered almost everything and they had the most secure winner at the PPV (Kane) take the fall which is a good thing. Not a bad match but it’s just a way to throw everyone into the main event at once, which is fine for building up the PPV main events.

Edge takes an FU post match, HHH takes the Clothesline, RKO to HHH and a double chokeslam to JBL and Orton. Undertaker stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a really entertaining show that went by fast. I’d have liked to see some better wrestling in there but the matches had to be fast due to the tournament. I’m glad they didn’t go to any double eliminations as in an eight man tournament that’s kind of excessive. Good show though and I want to watch Backlash now so that’s a great sign. Good stuff.

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In other words, the TV reviews are going to come a little more slowly for the next month or two. After that I’ll be adding more of them to my schedule, such as some earlier Raws. Sorry if you’re not a fan of this but I’ve been doing the PPV reviews for over three years and I want to get them done.

KB

Extreme Rules was last night and it’s time for the road to Over the Limit to begin. Cena talked about taking some time off last night at the end of the show which is something he’s certainly earned. It’s been three and a half years since his last break and giving him some time to heal up and recharge his batteries is definitely a good idea. We’re coming off a great show last night so let’s get to it.

We open with clips from Lesnar vs. Cena and the post match promo from Cena saying he was taking a break.

Here’s the theme song and the new intro says it’s starring Brock Lesnar.

Here’s Ace to open things up. He brags about how great last night was and how awesome Lesnar was in his dominance last night. Cena was proven to be a mortal last night apparently and Lesnar got rid of him. Here’s Brock who says last night the world saw Brock bring the pain. Cue HHH who looks mad. He says that if Lesnar wants all these perks, a lot of them are on his own dime. Oh and the show has always and will always be Monday Night Raw (except for when it was Raw Is War).

The contract stuff he made Ace agree to last week weren’t run by HHH so they don’t count. Ace pulls out the contract and HHH rips it up. HHH says that Ace knew that he didn’t have that authority. The WWE wants Brock here as do the fans, and they want Lesnar vs. Cena II. They want to see him against Sheamus, Orton and Punk. If Brock is going to do that, it’s going to be under the terms of the contract Brock signed. From what I understand, Lesnar isn’t under contract right now. HHH says Lesnar can re-sign under the original terms or go home with his loss to Cena.

Ace keeps talking while HHH is trying to do business and HHH keeps telling him to shut up. Finally HHH turns to him and Lesnar jumps HHH. He beats him down and HHH can only get in a little offense at best. Lesnar throws on the armbar and HHH’s arm turns. Some guys run in for the save and HHH says his arm is broken. That’s probably Over The Limit. He walks up the ramp slowly to take us to a break.

HHH gets his arm looked at.

Eve, with some sexy glasses on, comes out and tells us that tonight it’s a five man Beat The Clock Challenge for the #1 contender spot at the PPV. That means the first person in the challenge sets the time to beat and the fastest of the five times gets the show.

Beat The Clock Challenge: The Miz vs. Santino Marella

I guess either guy can set the time. Sweet I don’t have to time these matches. Santino takes him down and tries some very fast covers. Brock has been escorted out of the building. They both keep trying quick pins including a rollup after Miz misses a charge. Santino walks into something like a Side Effect for two.

Corner clothesline hits for Miz and he goes up. Double ax hits for two. Chinlock goes on but it’s quickly broken. Hot shot puts Miz down and Santino hits his usual stuff. Here comes the Cobra but Santino walks into an O’Connor Roll for two. Miz totally misses a big boot in the corner but hits the Finale for the surprise pin at 4:17. This just had to be the US Champion too right?

Rating: C-. Nothing special here but it was pretty quick which means some of the matches later on won’t be as long. I wonder if the rest of the matches will end if they pass the established time. Either way, not a bad match here and Santino can bounce back from a loss about as quickly as anyone on the roster.

Divas Title: Nikki Bella vs. Layla

The Bellas argue over who is fighting so Layla dropkicks one into the other and rolls up Nikki for the pin at 10 seconds.

Beat The Clock Challenge: Chris Jericho vs. Big Show

Dang two matches in one segment. Oh of course not as we have a break before the match starts. Big Show charges right at him and the clock is counting down from 4:17. Show runs him over a few times but gets his knee kicked out. You know what would be nice? A reference to these two being former tag champions. It’s not going to make the match or anything but a little history is nice at times. Jericho goes up but jumps into a chop. Vader Bomb misses and Jericho hits a Lionsault for two.

Show busts out a small package of all things and gets two. Chokeslam is countered into a low DDT for two. Spear gets two for Show and the clock is at 1:05 remaining. WMD misses and the Codebreaker is countered as well. Jericho pulls Show to the floor which doesn’t mean anything. We’ve got 30 seconds to go and Jericho gets pulled to the floor. Show misses a charge and goes into the timekeeper’s area. Jericho gets back in but the clock runs out just before the ten count, but they say Jericho won with a second left. Bull freaking crap and the fans know it. Anyway the time was 4:17 obviously.

Rating: C-. This was exactly what you would expect from Big Show vs. Chris Jericho. It wasn’t bad but MAN did they screw up the ending? How hard is it to have someone in a headset saying COUNT FASTER??? Apparently too complicated for WWE as this looked so stupid. The buzzer went off and then he said ten. It wasn’t close but I’m sure we’ll be told that we were all wrong or whatever.

Post break they change it up again and say that Miz’s time was actually 4:18 so neither guy made it. OH COME ON. Just freaking say that the countout didn’t work and the referee was wrong. How hard is that??? Seriously???

Brodus Clay vs. JTG

Back to the old school Brodus I guess. JTG apparently has a surprise for Brodus. The surprise is a kick to the ribs but Brodus headbutts him down. Slam and elbow put JTG down and the headbutt to the chest does as well. Avalanche and t-bone suplex set up the splash for the pin at 1:39.

Brodus brings in some kids for a dance, JYD style.

We get the opening video again as well as the Lesnar attack for the third time tonight.

Eve gives Ace a pep talk in the back and Ace says that Cena isn’t going to like his next opponent.

Beat The Clock Challenge: Randy Orton vs. Jack Swagger

Remember the time is now officially 4:18. Orton keeps trying rollups but gets kicked down and the Vader Bomb gets two. Orton hits his backbreaker for two as we’re under 3:00 to go. Swagger hits a shoulder for two and then works on the arm. Lawler points out the stupidity of this and we have 90 seconds to go. Orton comes back with his powerslam and the elevated DDT with 40 seconds left. RKO is countered into the ankle lock but Orton rolls out and the RKO gets the pin at 4:16, giving him the new time to beat.

Rating: C-. The problem with these fast matches is that there’s no time to get anything going. I remember these two having a title match at whatever PPV it was and that was nothing to see either. Not a terrible match but again with only about four minutes to work with, there’s only so much they can do.

Cena’s match is later tonight apparently.

We get a clip of Santino and Ryder pinning the tag champions last week. This naturally leads to the following.

Tag Titles: Primo/Epico vs. R-Truth/Kofi Kingston

Before the match we’re told that the Bellas have been fired. Epico kicks Little Jimmy so Truth goes off on him. Truth cleans out the ring as we take a break. Back and it’s official that HHH’s arm is broken. The champs are in control and it’s time to ignore the match. Truth takes them both down and makes the hot tag to Kofi. Everything breaks down and after some Rosa interference, Trouble in Paradise pins Epico and we have new champions.

Rating: D. The match probably wasn’t that bad but this was the definition of paint by numbers. How many times have you seen the exact same match that I just described? On top of that, Kofi is still spinning his wheels with a title that means nothing at all. What in the world is the point of this?

The former champions talk to Washington in the back.

Beat The Clock Challenge: Great Khali vs. Kane

It’s your standard battle of the big men: Khali hits Kane, Kane hits Khali, Kane puts him down and hits the top rope clothesline for two. The time was set at 4:16 and we have less than two minutes left. Low dropkick gets two. Under a minute to go as Khali comes back with some big man offense. The chop hits Kane and he rolls to the floor. They brawl to the floor and back inside they both try a chokeslam the clock runs out for a no contest at 4:16.

Rating: D. This was your standard battle of the big men, which is to say that it wasn’t that good. With about a minute to go it was clear that neither guy was going to win, which is the right idea. Would you want either of these guys headlining a PPV? Anyway nothing to see here and there’s one more match to go in the challenge.

Apparently Cena will be here to find out who his opponent at Over the Limit is.

Beat The Clock Challenge: Jerry Lawler vs. Daniel Bryan

4:16 is the time to beat. Bryan goes right at Lawler and beats him down in the corner. Running dropkick gets two. Lawler gets a boot up and drops the middle rope fist for two but the piledriver is countered. A kick to the head sets up the YES Lock and Jerry taps at 2:29 to get the title shot. Let the internet explode.

Punk comes out and applauds Bryan.

We see Lesnar attacking HHH for a fourth time.

Here’s Cena with his arm in a sling for the showdown with Ace. Cena says he’s here and there’s no breaks in his arm and no muscle tear. Everything is strained, but he’s here. He says that if you’re hurt, you get to keep coming out here and doing what you do best so he’s here. Cue Ace and Cena instantly makes fun of him, as well as confirming the DVD release of No Holds Barred. I’d LOVE a commentary from Hogan on that but it’s not going to happen.

Ace says that he brought Brock in to motivate Cena which Cena doesn’t buy at all. Ace calls it a success but Cena still doesn’t believe him. Cena responds to the WHAT chants and makes fun of Ace some more. Ace says he can make Cena’s life difficult or easy. Cena: “YOU ARE AN IDIOT!” Here’s Tensai, which shouldn’t shock anyone. Cena, with one good arm, stays in the ring but Ace hits him with the mic and…..the opponent is actually going to be Ace. Tensai’s manager kicks Ace in the arm and Tensai helps in the attack. They all attack the arm with Tensai holding it over the steps and Ace crushes it with a chair to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was only an ok show. The opening segment was great, then by the fourth time it was just good. The Beat the Clock stuff was ok but again the matches get really boring after awhile because they’re so short. Bryan vs. Punk should be awesome though so I can’t complain there. The ending was about what I expected, which doesn’t help anything.

Results
The Miz b. Santino Marella – Skull Crushing Finale
Layla b. Nikki Bella – Rollup
Chris Jericho vs. Big Show went to a time limit draw
Brodus Clay b. JTG – Splash
Randy Orton b. Jack Swagger – RKO
Kofi Kingston/R-Truth b. Epico/Primo – Trouble In Paradise to Epico
Great Khali vs. Kane went to a no contest
Daniel Bryan b. Jerry Lawler – Yes Lock

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This obviously is setting up a match either at Over the Limit or MITB which I think is the next PPV. It was supposed to be at Wrestlemania 21 but Lesnar bailed. The match would be interesting and HHH can go down without losing face.

Thoughts on this?

This is a three hour special called the Three For All which has three world title matches and guys from all three brands on the show. It’s a request and based on the card it doesn’t look that bad for the most part. I don’t remember this show at all but it’s Raw from 2009 so that really shouldn’t surprise anyone. Let’s get to it.

Cole and Lawler tell us that there’s going to be a new GM tonight. I really hope this is something different than I remember.

We get a video from last week where Orton interrupted Batista and had Legacy jump in for the three on one attack. They attacked Batista’s arm which was probably a storyline way of getting him off TV. Batista was world champion at the time so Orton won the title by forfeit. Instead HHH came back and beat up Legacy to stand tall.

Apparently there’s a fatal fourway for the title because saying “If Batista doesn’t come out Orton is champion” and then Batista doesn’t come out means Orton isn’t champion.

Intercontinental Title: Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio

Jericho is defending, having won the title at Extreme Rules eight days earlier. Jericho says that everything has fallen apart on Raw since he left for Smackdown. There’s no GM, there’s no champion and there’s nothing at all. Some day everyone will know his value to this show and some day Rey will realize that Jericho is right: his mask is holding Rey back. Here’s Rey and we’re ready to go.

Rey takes him down immediately and is all fired up here. A clothesline puts Jericho on the floor and he drops the leg off the top for two on the way back in. There’s a clock ticking down until the Raw Title match. Jericho avoids a charge and heads to the floor where Rey tries the seated senton, only for Jericho to drop him backwards and ram Rey’s face into the table.

We take a break and come back to Rey hitting an enziguri to put him in 619 position. Chris comes back with a clothesline for two. He goes for the mask which he pulled off at the PPV. Rey rolls through a sunset flip and hits the seated dropkick for two. The bulldog is countered and Rey dropkicks Jericho to the floor. A nice suicide dive takes Jericho down again but Chris stops Rey coming back in.

Superplex is countered into a powerbomb for two. Walls are broken up but the 619 misses. Jericho tries a 619 but Rey pops up with a moonsault press for two. Rey ranas him into the 619 and tries the West Coast Pop but Jericho catches him and pulls at the mask. Rey drops down and walks into the Codebreaker for Jericho to retain.

Rating: B. Jericho and Mysterio have a good match. Is there anyone in the world that is surprised by this? These two had a GREAT series of matches on PPV for the title around this point and this was another in that series, minus the PPV part. Solid match here with the ending Codebreaker looking great.

Orton says he’ll win when Cena pops up to make fun of him. Orton is a grand wizard of the baby oil boys’ club and Cena reminds him there are four people in the title match tonight.

We recap Vickie resigning her GM position last week.

Vince is shown sitting in an office and says that tonight there’s going to be a GM. Scratch that he won’t be making the announcement, because he’s sold the Raw brand to someone else. Oh it’s THIS show. The new owner will be announced after the fatal fourway.

Jerry and Cole talk about how Vince has owned Raw for 17 years. So I guess Flair as co-owner is non-cannon now.

ECW Title: Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer

Tommy is defending. Christian lost the title in a triple threat at Extreme Rules so this is his rematch. Tommy starts off with his usual basic stuff until he walks into an elbow off the middle rope for two. Christian throws him to the floor and hits the springboard cross body over the top to the outside. Tornado DDT is countered and Christian slams him into the mat via a modified flapjack. Dreamer runs into a boot and the middle rope sunset flip gets two. DDT and Killswitch are countered and Dreamer grabs a small package for the fast pin. Too short to rate but this was just like any other TV match.

The Bellas and Kelly are talking about the new owner of Raw. They think it’s Oprah or Paris Hilton.

We recap the Batista attack last week that set up the vacant title. There are also some stills of Batista’s arm surgery.

Raw World Title: Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. John Cena vs. Big Show

One fall to a finish. This is HHH’s first match back since Backlash, which is why him popping out of the ambulance last week was such a big deal. After some big match intros we’re ready to go. HHH goes right for Orton as Show jumps Cena. The latter pairing had a match at the PPV so there’s recent history there. Show tosses Cena out and turns around to face HHH as we take a break.

Back with Orton stomping HHH down in the corner. Randy misses a knee drop and it’s HHH and Cena teaming up on Big Show. A shoulder manages to put him on the floor and it’s Cena vs. HHH. Cena takes him down but as he loads up the Shuffle, HHH grabs a spinebuster. Pedigree is countered into an AA attempt but Big Show is back in with a double clothesline.

The original pairings pair off again with Cena/Show in the ring. Show falls on Cena during a slam attempt. Orton makes the save but then he runs from Show. HHH and Cena hit a double suplex on Show and Orton comes back in and takes everyone down. The Punt is blocked by Show and he knocks everyone down with ease. Show hits a Vader Bomb on Cena but Orton saves the pin.

Orton gets thrown to the floor and Show spears HHH down for two. Vader Bomb to HHH misses as does an RKO attempt on Show. HHH hits the Pedigree on the bald one but he walks into an AA but the cover on Show only gets two. AA to Big Show but Orton makes the save. RKO to Big Show gives Orton the title.

Rating: B-. This was a fun match but it flew by pretty fast. Orton winning was completely obvious and I don’t think it was ever really about would he win but rather how would he win. The ending sequence was good as Big Show took a beating and it was about who could get the pin. Not a masterpiece or anything but it was just about perfect with the stuff they had to work with.

Here’s Vince for the big announcement. He says this was a good business decision and we go to the new owner of Raw via satellite: Donald Trump. The fans aren’t that happy with this. I’ll give Trump this: he’s been in WWE like four or five times now. Trump talks about needing to reward the fans and says that next week, Raw will be presented commercial free. The deal doesn’t go through for a week so tonight we’ll have a battle royal for the #1 contender spot at the Bash. Trump and Vince will both be here next week. Trump owning Raw would last all of a week I think.

Mickie James vs. Rosa Mendes

This is Rosa’s in ring debut. Maryse, the Divas Champion who cost Mickie a #1 contender match last week, comes out to watch. Mickie knocks her down a few times and goes up but Rosa heads to the floor. A not horrible neckbreaker gets two. Rosa gets in some forearms and a chinlock but misses a charge. Mickie comes back and blocks another neckbreaker so that the jumping DDT can end this. Too short to rate but it was clear Rosa was very green and that Mickie was doing most of the work, which is ok.

Back from a break and it’s Goldust/Hornswoggle in the ring shooting t-shirts into the crowd. Here’s Miz to say hang on this is stupid. This is during the Miz beats Cena stuff. Miz says he’s awesome and the best and the future and all other appropriate accolades. He’ll eliminate Cena tonight and get the title match at The Bash. Then he wants the endorsements and the magazine covers and the movies and all that. Actually the day this was written he landed the lead in The Marine 3 so there you go.

Goldust says Miz’s mind games haven’t worked with Cena. He gave Ahmed Johnson mouth to mouth resuscitation and all Miz’s mouth does is run. Miz is a loser, complete with the speech impediment. Goldust is a joke trying to recapture the magic of better days and Miz would beat him down, but no one would care. And never mind as there goes Goldust and Horny gets thrown around too. Miz gets the t-shirt gun and shoots Horny in the stomach with it. Or was it between the legs? Eh who cares? HORNY IS IN PAIN!!! LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Punk, whose tape says Misawa who died two days earlier, says that since he cashed in on Jeff Hardy it’s not as popular. This would be the start of his heel turn. Matt Hardy comes in who says he would have done the same thing. Punk basically blows him off.

We get a clip of Edge dumping Vickie last week because she can’t help him become world champion anymore.

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk

Big match intros are go and we’re ready. Jeff knocks both guys down almost immediately and controls early on. Edge gets sent to the floor and Punk hits a big suicide dive to take the Canadian out. Jeff tops that by taking both guys out and surprisingly we don’t go to commercial. Back in Jeff works on Punk, who is champion if that wasn’t clear, but CM takes him down with a slam kind of thing for two. Quick drop elbow gets two for Punk.

Off to a chinlock as Edge is still on the floor. Jeff breaks the hold and Edge comes in to kick Punk’s head off. Edge loads up a superplex but Hardy makes the save and loads up the move himself. Edge pulls Jeff away and it’s almost a Doomsday Device but Jeff gets a victory roll for two and Punk, playing Hawk, crashes to the mat.

Back from a break and Punk takes Edge down as Jeff is getting back in the ring. Punk hits his clothesline/bulldog but throws in a clothesline to Hardy as he’s bulldogging Edge. Punk loads up the GTS on Hardy but Edge takes out the knee instead of letting Hardy get taken out. Sharpshooter to Punk but Hardy hooks a sleeper on Punk (not a headlock Todd) at the same time. Punk takes Edge down but Hardy takes Punk down and gets two on the champ.

Edge goes to the apron but Hardy slides to the floor to send Edge into the apron. He also guillotines Punk and loads up the Swanton. Edge crotches Hardy and loads up the spear on the champ. Punk counters into a powerslam for two. GTS attempt on Hardy but Jeff escapes. Edge tries to spear Punk but gets Hardy instead and everyone is down. Why Punk is down I’m not sure but whatever.

Edge covers Hardy for two but Punk makes the save. Punk charges at the Canadian in the corner but Edge moves, sending Punk up and over the corner and onto the steps where he injures his knee. In the ring Edge and Hardy cross body each other to buy some time. Hardy covers Edge but Punk makes the save on one leg. Small package gets two for Edge but he walks into the Twist of Fate. Here comes the Swanton which connects but Punk pulls Hardy out again and sends him into the steps, slides in and steals the pin on Edge to retain.

Rating: B-. Another fun match here which was good because the people in it were talented. That’s the main idea with most of these shows so it’s really not all that surprising. Punk would wind up holding the title over most of the summer until he lost it to Hardy I think at Night of Champions before getting it back and knocking Hardy out of the WWE. Fun stuff here.

Here’s Teddy post match who says that Punk will defend at The Bash against Jeff Hardy.

Legacy, the #1 contenders, are on commentary for the next match.

Primo/Carlito vs. Hart Dynasty

The Colons are the unified tag champions here. Cody calls the upcoming PPV the Great American Bash which I’m sure will be a fine or something. Primo and Hart-Smith start things off and it’s a totally screwed up rana from Primo. I think the fault is more on Hart-Smith but you get the idea. Off to Carlito and things break down. Backstabber takes down Hart-Smith and Legacy runs in for the DQ. Short and pretty bad.

Video on the European tour.

For the third time tonight, here’s Trump being revealed as the new owner and the announcement of no commercials next week.

Santino is in Vince’s office and tells him that he and Santina are different people. That would end next week I believe. Vince’s phone rings (and it has No Chance for a ringtone) and it’s Trump. There’s going to be an announcement after the battle royal. The call ends and Vince complains about egotistic billionaires. Santino points out the irony and puts his foot in his mouth a few times.

Battle Royal

HHH, John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, MVP, William Regal, Kofi Kingston, Big Show, The Miz, Matt Hardy

Winner gets Orton at The Bash. MVP takes a few extra seconds to come out for some reason. Kofi is US Champion here. After a quick break during the entrances we get a confusing graphic for Smackdown. The picture is of Edge but JR keeps saying Jericho. Anyway on to the match. Matt chills in the corner while the rest of the heels beat on the good guys.

Show goes for Miz but Cena wants to fight the big bald. Orton is watching on the stage. No one is really close to being eliminated at the moment so there isn’t much to say so far. Miz goes over to the apron but not out. Legacy is double teaming HHH in the corner. Show saves Cena for some reason instead of throwing him out. HHH fights Legacy off but Big Show starts going off on everyone. Matt is knocked to the apron so Show picks him up, pulls him back in and throws him right over for an elimination.

MVP jumps Show but is easily tossed as well. Chokeslam to Miz but he stays in the ring. Everyone on their feet goes after Big Show and manages to get him out ala Andre back in the day. We take a break and come back with six remaining. I think it was Miz that was eliminated. Kofi speeds things up but runs into the jumping knee from HHH. Legacy goes after HHH and gets him upside down but Cena makes the save. Again, why?

Rhodes saves DiBiase from elimination but walks into a HHH spinebuster. HHH and Cena slug it out to not much of a reaction at all. Both guys go for eliminations but they wind up clotheslining each other down. Kofi tries to fight off both Legacy members but gets clotheslined to the floor to get us down to Legacy, HHH, Regal and Cena. There goes Regal and it’s down to four.

It turns into two one on one matches which Legacy actually wins. Cena comes back and puts out DiBiase and HHH takes out Rhodes. Pedigree to Cena but Legacy comes in and beats HHH down. Miz pops up because he was never eliminated (nice touch actually) but he charges over the top rope without landing a single shot. Nice touch again. HHH throws Cena over and wins it.

Rating: C. Well you knew it would be HHH or Cena here so that outcome wasn’t all that surprising. The Miz bit was kind of cute and it’s good that he didn’t win. Not a horrible match here but it really wasn’t all that interesting. Either way it sets up HHH vs. Orton at the PPV….or maybe not.

Trump pops up and says that the match is next week and it’s Last Man Standing. This would be I believe their second of three last man standing matches.

Overall Rating: C-. There are some good matches here but overall this didn’t do much for me. At the end of the day it’s Orton vs. HHH again which isn’t interesting or new or anything like that. Nothing really happened here match wise and the Trump thing, while surprising at the time, was clearly not going to last long term which I remember being the general consensus back then. Not a horrible show and it’s certainly watchable, but there’s nothing worth seeing here.

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This is back in England and it’s being reviewed for one reason: this is the Cena vs. Michaels hour long match which is more or less the match where Cena proved that he was in fact not human. Other than iron man matches, I think this would be the longest match in modern company history unless I’m overlooking it and it’s nearly 5am so I probably am. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Shane to open things up. He says that he’s here for a fight but not with Lashley due to what happened last week. We get a video of the Milan Miracle, where a “fan” named Santino Marella came in for an IC Title match with Umaga and won the title with a little help from Lashley. This is fallout from Mania where Lashley beat Umaga and caused Vince to lose his hair.

Shane talks about how a fan is going to get a chance to face a dragon, just like St. George since it’s St. George’s Day. It’ll be a No DQ match. The manager of Chelsea Football Club is here but it won’t be him. Shane brings out Robbie Brookside who was a pretty big deal, teaming with Regal for years and competing in Japan as well. He had a cup of coffee on Nitro as well I think. Regal has said that without Brookside there wouldn’t be a William Regal, a Finlay, a Wade Barrett or a Sheamus so take that for what it’s worth.

Robbie Brookside vs. Shane McMahon

This is No DQ. Shane takes him down with a headlock and works on the back with elbows. Total squash so far as Shane knocks Brookside down in the corner. Shane sets up the Coast to Coast and drives the garbage can into Robbie’s head. Robbie is out cold so Shane says this is a handicap match and brings out Umaga to be his partner. Umaga hits the running hip attack and a top rope splash but Shane brings out Vince to make it 3-1. Apparently this is the go home show for Backlash which is a show I haven’t done yet. Vince is in a suit and hat but he gets the pin.

Rating: D. The idea makes sense but there’s no entertainment value to it for the most part. Shane is always cool to see and further emphasizes how bad Garrett Bischoff is but there wasn’t any interest here. Brookside took a beating which was expected but the fans didn’t really seem to care about him.

We get a clip from Wrestlemania where Cena beat Shawn. That means it’s time for a rematch on Raw three weeks later right? Tonight’s match is non-title.

Matt Hardy vs. Trevor Murdoch

The Hardys are Raw tag champions. Todd Grisham is doing ring announcing for no apparent reason. Murdoch takes him into the corner easily and throws on a headlock. Matt comes back with a fist drop for two. He goes up but gets pulled off the middle rope as Murdoch takes over again. Off to a sleeper but Matt breaks it up and hits a forearm. Side Effect gets two. A middle rope Fameasser gets two and Cade pops up on the apron for a distraction. Murdoch hits what was supposed to be a Canadian Destroyer for the pin.

Rating: D. This didn’t click at all. Jeff was at ringside but didn’t do a thing at all. There wasn’t much to see here as it was a short match on top of being bad. Murdoch was pretty good at times but at other times he was your old Texas cowboy kind of guy which isn’t interesting a lot of the time. Bad match.

Video on the Condemned.

Melina vs. Maria

Both girls are looking GOOD here. Melina is Women’s Champion but it’s not on the line. Grisham talks very slowly. Melina beats her up and after the quick comeback from Maria, a facejam ends this. It’s amazing how much better looking these girls are than the current crop of Divas.

Carlito is getting ready in the back and Flair says let’s go. This was a mentor/mentee thing.

Carlito vs. Great Khali

Carlito comes out alone, minute Flair or girlfriend Torrie. He tries to speed things up but gets run over by a Khali shoulder block. Carlito tries the legs and then the eyes. He goes up top but his missile dropkick misses. Chop, Plunge, pin.

Flair comes out post match and Carlito yells at him in Spanish. Naitch leaves in a huff.

Mick Foley talks about a Make-A-Wish kid that made the main event for Backlash which was a fatal fourway. One of the four is Edge who pops up and says he’ll win on Sunday.

Another video on the Condemned.

Shawn runs into Cena and nothing of note is said.

Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena

There’s almost an hour to go in the show so you know this is going to be something good. Shawn works on the shoulder to start but Cena counters with a headscissors into a stalemate. They do the exact same sequence and then try it again, but Cena goes for a drop toehold which Shawn escapes. Another STFU attempt sends Shawn running to the ropes. Cena is very pleased that he got that close.

Cena tries to grab the leg this time but Shawn makes the rope. They get in each others’ faces and it’s a slugout. Back from a break and the fans are getting way into this. Cena takes him down with a headlock instead which lasts for a good while. A big clothesline takes Shawn down and it’s chinlock time. Shawn pops back up and is immediately clotheslined back down.

Sweet Chin Music is avoided and the FU is countered by Shawn heading to the floor. We take another break and come back to Shawn getting in a shot in the corner. He’s mostly the heel in this but it’s not full fledged. They speed things up and Cena hits a World’s Strongest Slam for two. Release fisherman’s suplex gets two. Throwback gets two. They slug it out and Shawn counters a suplex into a neckbreaker for two.

Another slugout results in the flying forearm by Shawn. He nips up and hammers Cena down and goes to the corner for the elbow. It hits but instead of covering Shawn stomps the mat for the Chin Music. Cena ducks and Shawn grabs a quick backslide for two. The shoulder block misses and Cena may have hurt his shoulder on the crash to the floor. Shawn dives over the floor but Cena catches him in mid-air and slams him into the steps.

Back from break #3 and they’re both in the ring again. It should be noted that we’re probably half an hour into this and Cena looks FINE. He doesn’t look tired, he doesn’t look winded, he doesn’t even look sweaty. That’s almost scary. Cena charges into the post and Shawn has a target. He hooks a combination hammerlock/abdominal stretch on the mat before driving in some knees on the arm.

Cena shrugs off most of it and starts his finishing sequence, taking Shawn’s head off with a clothesline. The Shuffle hits but the FU is countered into Chin Music attempt into the FU for a VERY close two. We take another break and come back with Cena throwing Shawn to the floor. Cena rams his back into the post and we head back inside. Delayed vertical suplex gets two.

Bearhug time which is proof we’re in a big match as you almost never see a face use one of those. Shawn fights out of it but gets thrown over the corner and out to the floor. Back in Cena hits the top rope Fameasser which seems to be a new move for him. They go to the corner for a superplex but Cena instead tries an FU off the top, which Shawn counters into a powerbomb off the top to put both guys down.

Out to the apron and Shawn knocks him face first into the announce table. The look on his face says THAT REALLY HURT! Out to the floor and Shawn loads up a piledriver on the steps but Cena backdrops him onto the floor as we take I think break number five. Back with them on the announce table and Cena is all fired up. Back inside Cena hooks the STFU but it’s not cranked on perfectly.

Shawn makes the rope and we cut to some cheering girl in the crowd. Shawn looks a bit dead but Cena is waiting for the FU. Shawn pops up with the Chin Music but Cena tries the FU again. That gets reversed and Chin Music hits for a very delayed two. They slowly get up and Cena tries the FU again but Shawn slips down the back and hits the second Sweet Chin Music for the pin at 55:49. Unless there’s some house show match that I don’t know of, that’s the longest regular one on one match in the WWE/F since 1981.

Rating: A-. It’s certainly not a masterpiece or even anything close to one, but considering they just went an hour, you have to give them bonus points. Cena looked fresh as a daisy 40 minutes into this which is more proof that he isn’t human. This is also a loss that doesn’t hurt Cena because it wasn’t like he got beat but rather that he got caught. Very good match and the time aspect of it is remarkable. This match is on the Heartbreak and Triumph DVD.

Shawn puts the title on Cena’s chest post match and crotch chops him to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. To say that this is a one match show is an understatement but when it’s a great match like this on free TV, you can’t complain at all. Good stuff here and while it didn’t really build up Backlash that well, it’s still great with one match that is the first of its kind in over twenty five years.

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