Wrestlemania XXI
Date: April 3, 2005
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 20,193
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re at the launch of a new era in WWE as Batista and Cena are ready to take over the company as the next generation of top stars. They’re challenging HHH and JBL tonight in the respective title matches in what really are company altering matches. On top of that we’ve got Angle vs. HBK and the first MITB match, making this a PACKED show. The theme tonight is Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood which means we get some outstanding parody film trailers. Let’s get to it.

Lillian Garcia (looking GREAT in a baby blue outfit which shows off her flat stomach) sings America the Beautiful.

The Wrestlemania 21 logo is revealed.

We get a montage of the trailers (HHH as Braveheart, John Cena/JBL from A Few Good Men, Undertaker as Dirty Harry, Eugene as Forrest Gump and many more. Look these up) set to Behind Those Eyes by 3 Doors Down.

We get the final trailer which is Gladiator with Steve Austin as Russell Crowe.

Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero

They’re tag team champions but fighting to see who is better here as Eddie is getting frustrated by Rey unintentionally showing him up. Rey is in a Mexican/American double flag themed outfit here instead of his usual superhero stuff. Rey immediately starts adjusting his mask which will be a recurring theme tonight. Eddie takes him to the mat with a headlock and Rey is already messing with his mask.

An armdrag puts Mysterio down and Eddie grabs a test of strength grip. Back up and Rey tries a sunset flip, only to be catapulted out to the floor. Eddie slides out but Rey slides back in, only to miss a 619 to the floor. Back in and they grab another strength grip before Eddie flips Rey over. The referee counts and they bridge up at the exact same time in a cool visual.

Rey is backdropped but lands on his feet, only to have to adjust the mask again. Eddie is backdropped now and tweaks his knee in the process. Rey is knocked to the floor though and there’s a plancha by Guerrero to take him out. Back in and Eddie cranks on the arms a bit before suplexing a mask fixing Mysterio down for two. Guerrero hooks a surfboard submission but has to leg it go because his own shoulders were down.

Off to an STF on Rey which shifts into an armbar. Eddie tries a powerbomb but gets armdragged out to the floor instead. A BIG corkscrew dive to the floor keeps Eddie down as does a seated senton back inside. Back up and Eddie tries Three Amigos but gets rolled up for two instead. There’s a backbreaker for two on Rey followed by Three Amigos but Guerrero tries a fourth and is sent into 619 position.

Eddie pops up and hits another backbreaker for two, causing his frustrations to start coming out. Three more Amigos set up the Frog Splash but Rey gets out at the last second. Naturally, Rey adjusts his mask. La Majistral gets two for Mysterio and there’s the 619 to send Eddie sprawling across the ring. The West Coast Pop is countered into a powerbomb for two and Eddie isn’t sure what to do. Instead of following up though, Eddie gets caught in a standing rana for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: C+. This was a disappointment. At the end of the day, these two didn’t live up to the expectations they had set, especially given their masterpieces back in WCW. They never got out of first or even second gear and that really brought things down. The match felt like they were trying to have a masterpiece and they collapsed under the weight. It was ok, but it could and should have been SO much more.

Eddie doesn’t turn on Rey after the match. That would come later.

JBL and Orlando Jordan bump into HHH and Flair. JBL says that he’s never lost the world title like HHH has and HHH is going to add another loss to his total tonight. A showdown is teased but everyone backs down.

Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider are here.

Edge vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian vs. Kane

This is the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match and thankfully there are only six people instead of the eight that we usually get today. In a cool visual, Kane’s fire engulfs a bunch of ladders on the stage before everyone else attacks him to start things off. Kane goes for the ladder but everyone jumps him to stop him from getting any weapons. Benjamin and Benoit hit a double suplex on the Big Bald and there’s the opening bell.

Jericho hits Christian in the face with the first ladder and it’s Jericho vs. Benjamin in the ring. The bulldog takes Shelton down but Jericho has to dropkick Edge and Benoit to the floor. A slingshot plancha takes Edge down again Christian dives on all three other Canadians before Shelton dives onto all four of them. Kane goes up top and takes out a bunch of guys as well before pulling out the first ladder.

Before Kane can climb though he has to knock down everyone else, only to have Jericho dropkick him down. Jericho gets the ladder and crushes various people with it before dropping the ladder onto Edge. Benoit grabs Jericho for a German suplex though to send him flying before Benoit tries to climb up. Kane makes a save but gets caught in the Crossface instead. Now there’s a Crossface to Edge but Kane breaks it up with a ladder shot to Benoit’s chest.

Kane follows that up by crushing Benoit’s arm with the ladder, only to be speared by Edge. Edge and Christian stare at each other before crushing Kane between some ladders. Shelton takes both former partners down with a springboard clothesline before trying the Dragon Whip on Edge but kicking the ladder into Christian instead. Edge whips Shelton into the ladder but the spear hits the ladder instead of Benjamin. A Stinger Splash against the ladder crushes Edge and it’s time for a climb.

It’s Jericho and Benjamin up on the ladder but here are Christian and Benoit on their own ladder. Edge climbs a third ladder before Christian hits a DDT onto Benoit’s arm to pull him down to the mat. Jericho is knocked down as well and Shelton hits the T-Bone Exploder off the ladder to crush Edge yet again.

Now we have two ladders set up, one of which set up like a ramp to reach the standing ladder. Jericho climbs up but Benjamin runs up the ladder ramp and clotheslines Jericho off the top and out to the floor. Shelton climbs up but Christian hits him in the ribs with a ladder to put him down again. Christian’s problem solver Tomko comes in now and sets up a ladder for his employer to send Christian to the top. Kane comes back in and fights both guys off before shoving Christian off the ladder off the ladder and out onto Tomko on the floor.

Jericho and Kane both go up and both crash down almost as fast. With one good arm, Benoit comes back in and tries to load up a ladder, but being the psycho that he is, he hits the Swan Dive on Kane instead of going for the case. Now Benoit goes up and rams his head into Kane to send him down (much scarier now than it used to be) but Edge hits Benoit in the bad arm with a chair and climbs up to become the first Mr. Money in the Bank.

Rating: B+. This was the spiritual successor to TLC and having it be every man for himself made it all the better. It worked very well with six men instead of the eight that it would become, making this one arguably the best overall. Very fun match and the spots were still crisp and fresh. Good stuff here.

Here’s Eugene who is still almost kind of popular at this point. Eugene talks about the midget match from Wrestlemania 3 when the midgets attacked King Kong Bundy because he’s so excited to be here. This brings out Muhammad Hassan and Daivari who don’t like being mistreated by Americans because they’re Arab Americans. Hassan makes fun of Eugene and goes on a rant about being left off of Wrestlemania.

He complains about Hollywood being phony before Daivari yells at Eugene too Hassan decks a still injured Eugene and putting him in a camel clutch. We need a savior here and it’s HULK HOGAN walking down that aisle! The arena, in a word, loses it. Daivari and Hassan jump him but it’s a double noggin knocker for those meanies. Hogan punches Hassan down and chops away before booting him down. Hassan is sent flying and Daivari hits Hogan in the back with a chair. That has absolutely no effect and there’s the big boot for Daivari’s troubles. Hogan stands tall and it’s time to pose. As in for nearly five minutes.

We recap Orton vs. Undertaker. Orton was on fire last year and won the world title before losing to HHH because Orton was on fire on the same show HHH was on. After moving on from the Game, Orton decided to go after the Streak because he’s the Legend Killer. Orton made it clear that he was evil now by acquiring a girlfriend in Stacy Keibler so he could RKO her. That’s about it but do you need more?

Randy Orton vs. Undertaker

It’s Wrestlemania so we get druids, chanting and torches for Undertaker’s entrance. This is never not cool. We also get the Burn in My Light theme for Orton from back when Orton looked like a 24 year old and not like he was made out of orange shoe leather. Undertaker is just 12-0 at this point. Feeling out process to start until Orton scores a quick dropkick for two. A single right hand puts Orton down but a quick rollup out of the corner gets two for Randy.

Undertaker throws him into the corner and drops the leg on Orton on the apron for good measure. Old School drops Orton again but Undertaker misses a running boot in the corner, allowing Orton to dropkick him out to the floor. Back in and a clothesline puts Taker down again for two but a running DDT drops Orton for two for the tall guy. Undertaker follows up with some clotheslines in the corner before loading up the snake eyes/big boot combo. Orton blocks the coming boot with an uppercut but he stops to pose, allowing Undertaker to sit up.

They slug it out until Undertaker simply runs Orton over for two. Off to a dragon sleeper by Taker which clearly makes Orton tap but it doesn’t count this early I guess. Orton twists around into a nice DDT for two before we hit the chinlock. Taker fights up so it’s a sleeper instead, only for Taker to counter again with a belly to back suplex. Back up and Orton powerslams Undertaker down for two but he makes the eternal mistake of punching Undertaker in the corner and gets caught in the Last Ride.

Orton escapes though and tries the RKO, only to be shoved off. He grazes the referee on the way to the ropes which apparently passes for a ref bump. The Last Ride is countered again and here’s Randy’s dad Bob with the cast (that’s a VERY slow healing injury as it’s at about 23 years now) to give Orton a VERY close two. In one of my favorite counters ever, Taker loads up the chokeslam but Orton counters in mid air into the RKO for two. Like any good lunkhead, Orton loads up the Tombstone but gets countered into the real thing to make Taker 13-0.

Rating: C+. While not great, Orton was trying out there. The problem was that Orton had been crushed so badly by HHH that there was no reason to buy him as a threat here. I won’t say didn’t even have to break a sweat here but other than that RKO counter and MAYBE the cast shot, Undertaker was never in any danger or even extended trouble.

We recap Trish vs. Christy Hemme. Christy looked amazing in Playboy and Trish got jealous because she was Women’s Champion but couldn’t get any respect. Hemme, who wasn’t a wrestler, challenged Trish to a title match. Lita was coaching Hemme to try to make this interesting but it never worked at all.

Women’s Title: Christy Hemme vs. Trish Stratus

Trish immediately takes it to the floor and sends Christy knees first into the steps. Did I mention this is Christy’s singles debut? Christy comes back with some kicks that look amateur at best. Stratus comes back with some chops in the corner but gets caught in a sunset flip for two. Trish hits a hard kick to Christy’s ribs and shoves the injured Lita into the barricade. Christy fires off more kicks and hits a reverse Twist of Fate for two. Trish has enough of this and Chick Kicks Hemme down to retain.

Rating: F. This is where you can tell that the Playboy push was a terrible idea. At the end of the day, Hemme was a model, not a wrestler. If they want to hire models, then either teach them for a long time or don’t have them wrestle, because this kind of stuff is embarrassing. I’m not saying Hemme wasn’t trying or anything like that, but she simply didn’t have the talent to be here. Trish would hold the title until next Wrestlemania.

We recap Shawn s. Angle which I think is going to be better. They put each other out of the Rumble but Angle snapped because when he won a gold medal, everyone kept talking about how awesome Shawn Michaels was and now fifteen years later, Angle wants to get Shawn back for it. Shawn says Angle is great, but this is Wrestlemania and therefore Shawn’s world.

Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle

This was when Angle was the wrestling machine so this should be awesome. Kurt takes in the YOU SUCK chants because that’s how awesome he is. I should mention the set as it has the Hollywood sign on one side and a movie marquee on the other side which says Now Playing and then the match, making it feel all the more special. They stare it down to start until Shawn slaps him in the face.

Angle takes it to the mat and rides Shawn to frustrate him. Shawn gets to a rope and gives Kurt a look like “o………..k then time for a new plan.” Michaels grabs a headlock takeover to slow things down but the fans are behind Kurt. Kurt fights up but can’t escape the hold without using the ropes. Nice storytelling there with Shawn gladly going to the ropes but Angle going to them out of frustration.

Off to a short arm scissors by Shawn for a bit but Angle uses raw power to lift Shawn up into the air. However, since Shawn had that move used on him back in 1992 by British Bulldog, he knows how to roll through into a sunset flip for two. See, THAT is how you play to older fans with some awesome psychology. Back to the headlock as Angle is getting frustrated by Michaels dominating the mat.

Angle takes it into the corner to brawl with Shawn but Shawn ties him up instead. This is also a callback to Wrestlemania XII where Shawn used the exact same strategy on Bret. Angle grabs a quick ankle lock but Shawn rolls through and a Cactus Clothesline puts them both on the floor. Angle loads up the announce table but opts to pick up Shawn in the Angle Slam and ram Shawn back first into the post to take over again.

Back in and Angle gets two off a suplex before putting on a body vice with a chinlock. The fans are split here but Shawn fights up with some chops to take over. Kurt will have none of that though and suplexes Shawn down to stop the comeback bid. Another belly to belly gets two and it’s off to a chinlock with a knee in Shawn’s back. Michaels gets up again and they slug it out with Angle taking Shawn down with a hard clothesline.

Shawn blocks a superplex attempt but Kurt rolls away from the top rope elbow. There go Angle’s straps but Shawn counters the Angle Slam and backdrops Kurt to the floor. Shawn goes up and half dives/half falls onto Angle with a cross body. As they get back in, Angle tries his German suplex off the apron but Shawn kicks him low like a good former villain. With Angle on the announce table, Shawn hits a gorgeous springboard spinning cross body to send Angle onto the floor as the table doesn’t break.

Both guys make it in on different sides of the ring at nine. Angle is bleeding from the mouth. They slug it out again with Shawn taking over. There’s the forearm and nip-up as Shawn’s back is perfectly fine all of a sudden. Now the big elbow hits but the superkick is countered into the ankle lock but Shawn FINALLY makes the rope. The Angle Slam is rolled through but Angle counters into the ankle lock but Shawn counters into a rollup for two. Another superkick is caught and there’s the Angle Slam for two.

To show how angry Kurt is, he puts his straps up just so he can take them down all over again. In a scary spot, Angle tries the moonsault but Shawn doesn’t roll away far enough, sending Angle’s face into Shawn’s side. Shawn goes up again but Angle runs up the corner for the belly to belly off the top. Somehow that only gets two and Angle yells at Shawn, talking about how Michaels’ days are done. Shawn shoves him back and superkicks Angle down but he can’t follow up.

The cover eventually gets two and Shawn isn’t sure what to do now. He slowly stands up but Angle grabs the ankle lock again. Shawn tries to kick Angle off but Kurt won’t let go. They’re in the middle of the ring with Shawn writhing in pain. Angle puts on the grapevine and Shawn is all but dead. He hangs on for as long as he can before FINALLY tapping out to give Angle the win.

Rating: A+. Angle and Shawn at Wrestlemania having a masterpiece. Who would have ever seen that coming? The match was excellent all around and the match never stopped being great. They would have another masterpiece at Summerslam which again shouldn’t surprise anyone. Great match here and definitely worth seeing if you haven’t before.

Shawn gets the big ovation post match.

We get the Basic Instinct trailer which is Stacy Keibler flashing Jericho, Benoit and Christian while implying she and Trish are lesbians.

Moolah and Mae Young are here.

It’s time for Piper’s Pit with newly inducted Hall of Famer Roddy Piper. Apparently his guest is Steve Austin but it takes Piper forever to get to the entrance. Piper is pretty much rambling here as is his custom most of the time. Oh wait Piper says that he’s the toughest guy around here rather than Austin. Here’s the Rattlesnake for his annual cameo. They slap each other as this is supposed to be some epic encounter I think. Piper gets annoyed at the WHAT chants but gets into the concept pretty quickly.

This goes on WAY too long as Piper says that he’s the real rebel instead of Austin. Austin makes fun of the way Piper looks and asks if he’s supposed to be scared or intimidated. Piper says they’re failing to communicate and here’s Carlito of all people. Piper thinks Carlito looks like Alfalfa and insults are traded. Carlito has his own apple spat in his face by Roddy so Piper is beaten down. Austin beats up Carlito, beer is consumed and Austin Stuns both guys. This went on WAY too long and was more awkward than anything else.

We get the Taxi Driver trailer which is most of the roster trying to do “You talking to me?” with very mixed results. Batista does a Who’s On First bit as he asks for his line and the script guy keeps saying “You talking to me?” constantly frustrating Big Dave. Good stuff.

Akebono vs. Big Show

Time for our “celebrity” match of the year. Akebono, a grand sumo champion, is going to face Big Show in a sumo match. There’s a circle in the ring (that’s kind of overkill) and you have to knock the other guy out of it or off his feet to win. Show of course is in the sumo thong because what else would you expect from him?

The big idea here is that Akebono is outweighed for the first time ever. They spend way too long setting this up before the whole match lasts like a minute with Akebono throwing Show out of the circle. Seriously, that’s it. Total waste of time here. Yes, a legit sumo grand champion beat a guy with no idea what he was doing.

We recap Cena vs. JBL which is a culture clash. The idea is simple: Cena is the new young guy who is popular with the fans while JBL is old, rich and reserved. JBL has held the title forever and someone has to stop him eventually. Cena has been at war with JBL and his Cabinet as well so it’s basically 4-1 tonight. JBL has spent months insulting Cena’s life and family because Cena can’t touch him without losing his title shot. JBL couldn’t touch him either or he would lose the title, so Cena spraypainted a lot of JBL’s stuff.

Smackdown World Title: John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

JBL gets a police escort for his limo as JBL dollars fall from the sky. Surprisingly enough the champ sends Orlando Jordan and the Bashams to the back before the match. This is one of the rare instances where “My Time Is Now” is very appropriate. It’s a feeling out process to start but Cena runs into a boot in the corner. The champion starts pounding away in the corner and there’s the fallaway slam for good measure.

JBL chokes away on the ropes as this is in very slow mode to start. They slug it out for a bit but Cena charges into a spinebuster to put him down again. A neckbreaker gets two for the champion and a big clothesline gets two on Cena. JBL puts on a sleeper but Cena counters into a belly to back suplex to put both guys down. A double clothesline puts both guys down and we head to the floor for a neckbreaker by the champion.

Back in and JBL puts Cena down with a superplex for a delayed two as the crowd is mostly dead. Layfield goes up but dives into a powerslam for no cover. Cena comes back with his usual stuff including the Shuffle. Cena pumps up his shoes and after ducking the Clothesline, the FU (now called the AA) gives Cena his first of many world titles.

Rating: D. This was a REALLY dull match as JBL was freaking terrible in the ring at this point. He was so slow and lethargic and the match never worked at all. The ending sucked too as JBL didn’t even hit his finisher before taking the FU for the pin. Their rematch at Judgment Day was WAY better as it was a total brawl which suited JBL to perfection.

We do the Hall of Fame stuff. The class is introduced and Orndorff is far more impressed with Miss Jackie than anything else. The class this year is Volkoff, Iron Sheik, Orndorff, Bob Orton, Jimmy Hart, Piper and Hogan. Guess who gets the biggest reaction by far.

Wrestlemania 22 is in Chicago.

We recap the main event. HHH was world champion for the better part of ever in Evolution but Batista was becoming the big star. In January Batista won the Royal Rumble and got to pick HHH or JBL to challenge at Wrestlemania. Batista overheard HHH and Flair calling Batista stupid and HHH’s days were numbered.

Raw World Title: Batista vs. HHH

Since this is HHH, he gets the big entrance with Motorhead before Batista comes out, meaning Batista gets a much weaker entrance. Little things like that are why people can’t stand the guy. The singer for Motorhead BUTCHERS the song, but then again it isn’t likely one he sings that often. Oh and HHH rises through the stage with the band and gets to pose with them before Batista just walks out. For a big old school fan like HHH, it’s pretty interesting that he comes out first like that, no? Batista also doesn’t have pyro yet so he looks like he’s having a seizure on the stage. No I Walk Alone yet either.

They lock up to start with HHH shoving him against the ropes. The locking up continues with Batista not being able to shove HHH down like a power guy should be doing. A shoulder block puts HHH down but HHH gets to run Batista over this time. You know, so it’s clear that HHH is every bit as strong. A Pedigree is countered and Batista powerslams the champion down. Big Dave hits some shots to the face in the corner followed by a backdrop. Dang they’re really cranking this up now.

HHH hits the jumping knee to the face to send Batista back to the floor. Yet again, Batista can’t get anything going at all. Batista gets distracted by Flair and is sent into the steps by the champ. Back in and HHH drops an elbow on Batista’s back to keep control as this has been mostly one sided so far. Flair gets in some choking and HHH drops more elbows on the back. A suplex puts Batista down for two as this is already going slowly. Flair chokes away even more before HHH guillotines Batista out to the floor.

We get the “deliberate pace” line from JR which means “dear freaking goodness DO SOMETHING ALREADY!”. Batista hits some right hands to wake the crowd up a bit but there’s the HHH spinebuster to make sure HHH doesn’t look bad at all. The Pedigree is countered with a backdrop but there’s the facebuster to stop Batista again. We’re eleven minutes into this match and it’s ALL HHH so far. The Game goes up but jumps into a clothesline followed by a side slam for two.

The fans don’t get fired up of course though and they have no reason to. Batista’s offense has been stopped cold every time and there it is again as he charges into a boot in the corner. Batista throws him to the floor but YET AGAIN HHH stops him by sending him into the steps. The Pedigree on the steps is countered into a catapult into the post to bust the champion open. Back in and Batista pounds on the cut before clotheslining him in the corner.

The pace is still REALLY slow again because Heaven forbid we get an exciting main event. They head to the floor again where Batista lays out Flair as the referee disarms HHH with a chair. The referee goes down so here’s Flair for interference. HHH gets in a belt shot for two and the fans FINALLY wake up a bit. The spinebuster puts HHH down but the momentum is broken up AGAIN with a low blow. The Pedigree is blocked though and it’s something that we would call White Noise and Batista Bomb to give Batista the title.

Rating: C-. Oh dear. This wasn’t about Batista winning the title but rather about HHH losing it. Instead of looking dominant, Batista looked like a guy who survived against HHH, which is one of the last things you want to do to make a new star. Just WAY too much HHH on offense here and it brought the match way down, especially for a match that was supposed to be Batista’s coming out party.

Batista celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There’s some really lame stuff here but the historical significance of the main events more than make up for their lackluster in ring material. The MITB match and Angle vs. Shawn are more than worth seeing and Orton vs. Undertaker isn’t bad. Most of the matches here fall under not bad and the show is a letdown as a result. Still though, it’s good stuff, but it could have been legendary.

Ratings Comparison

Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Edge vs. Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian vs. Kane

Original: A

Redo: B+

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Trish Stratus vs. Christy Hemme

Original: F+

Redo: F

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels

Original: A+

Redo: A+

Akebono vs. Big Show

Original: F

Redo: N/A

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. John Cena

Original: D

Redo: D

HHH vs. Batista

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: C+

Redo: B-

Just about everything was a step lower this time.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/03/29/history-of-wrestlemania-wrestlemania-21-best-ad-campaign-ever/

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

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

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

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

Wrestlemania 21
Date: April 3, 2005
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 20,193
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Tazz
America The Beautiful: Lillian Garcia

This show is probably considered to be the birth of the modern era of Wrestlemanias. We have Cena and Batista going after their first world titles, the debut of MITB and Randy Orton in a big match. There are some solid matches in here including some that boarder on classics, such as Shawn vs. Angle and Rey vs. Eddie.

This was the first show in a long time without Austin or Rock wrestling and it was up to the new guys to carry the company with the help of the veterans. You don’t hear much at all about this Mania, but that’s not what’s important. All that matters is how good the show is. How good is it? Let’s get to it.

Lillian is her usual stunning self singing America the Beautiful.

Before the first match there’s a montage of the Mania trailers. Since the show is in Hollywood this year that was the obvious theme: Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood. This resulted in an awesome set of fake trailers/movie scenes recreated by WWE guys. For instance there was Eugene as Forrest Gump, Undertaker as Dirty Harry, Cena and JBL as Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson from A Few God Men and a montage of people trying to do “You Talking to Me?” from Taxi Driver. This is set to Behind Those Eyes by 3 Doors Down, my favorite band, so this is great.

This leads to the debut of the final trailer which is debuting tonight: Steve Austin as Gladiator. These are really well done and definitely worth checking out. They’re like a minute or two long so they’re not too long to sit through or anything. Check them out.

The announcers welcome us to the show complete with Lawler in a tuxedo.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

They’re the reigning Smackdown tag champions at this point, but they’ve been having some issues. This would be before the split and the ladder match for the custody of Rey’s son Dominic. Yeah it was stupid back then too. The idea here is that Eddie is doubting his skill and Rey keeps beating him in friendly matches. Eddie’s pop absolutely dwarfs Rey’s.

The set looks great here as it looks like they’re coming out from behind a curtain like an old TV show. They also cost each other victories on Smackdown so there are some recent issues also. Crowd is VERY hot. Eddie grabs an armbar and takes over early on. They hit the precision stuff until Eddie launches Rey over the top and out to the floor. Rey slides in and misses a 619 and we’re at a standoff.

Back in and they try a test of strength but Rey monkey flips Eddie over while holding the grip still. Both bridge out at the same time in a cool visual. Rey lands on his feet of something like a backdrop and another monkey flip lands Eddie in the ropes. Rey gets sent to the floor and Eddie adds a plancha to take over. Big Eddie chant starts up.

Suplex gets two for Eddie. Surfboard goes on and I still wonder how they do that. In something I’ve never seen other than in this match, Eddie almost gets pinned as his shoulders are on the mat while using the hold. STF by Eddie and Rey slaps the mat once. Shouldn’t that be a tap out? They get up and Rey gets an armdrag to counter what might have been a powerbomb.

Eddie hits the floor so Rey busts out a tope con giro to half kill both guys. Seated senton gets no cover but Rey runs into an elbow and it’s right back to Eddie’s control. One Amigo hits but the second is countered into a rollup for two. Another powerbomb attempt is countered into a headscissors but Rey can’t hit 619. Backbreaker by Eddie gets two.

There are the Three Amigos as Rey’s back is being destroyed. Frog Splash misses though and we’re back to even. Rey keeps adjusting his mask. Magistrol (and yes I know that’s likely the wrong spelling) gets two for Mysterio. They speed things up for a bit and there’s the 619. Rey tries West Coast Pop but Eddie FINALLY gets that powerbomb for two. And then Rey gets a rana and grabs the leg for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: B-. Fine opener here but they never hit that gear that I think they were shooting for. Good match but out of these two you would expect more. Rey and the mask adjustments took a bit of steam out of this as he was doing it every 8 seconds. Eddie’s pops were very impressive so of course they turned him heel soon after this.

JBL and his Cabinet runs into HHH and Flair. Good thing that never went anywhere. Both say how great they are and HHH burns JBL by saying eventually someone will believe JBL if he keeps saying how great he is. Orlando Jordan gets a WOO for his troubles.

Adam Sandler and that waste of skin known as Rob Schnider are in the front row.

Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian vs. Edge vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane

 

This is the debut of Money in the Bank, meaning this is the one that sets the standard. Jericho looks like a lumberjack with that beard. Benoit is Benoit. Christian is Pre-TNA so he has no chance here. Shelton is more or less at the peak of his awesomeness here and IC Champion. Edge is on the brink of greatness and Kane is Kane. If nothing else now I have the Waterproof Blonde version of Just Close Your Eyes in my head now. Oh and Christian has Tomko with him.
Edge is more or less freshly heel here but hasn’t established himself as a main event guy. He’s kind of going back and forth. In Kane’s entrance the ladders on the stage are lit on fire in a sweet visual. Everyone goes after Kane in the aisle which completely fails. Jericho blasts Christian with a ladder and it’s Shelton vs. Jericho in the ring at the moment.

The other two Canadians not named Christian get dropkicked off the apron by Jericho who adds a plancha to Edge. Christian dives onto all three of them and then Shelton dives on all five of them. Kane is like boy please and takes out everyone including Tomko with a big dive. Kane, the only one alive, goes for a ladder. Edge is in the ring and goes down as does Christian.

Jericho is able to dropkick the ladder into Kane and everyone is down for the most part. He destroys various people with said ladder and stands tall at least for a few seconds. Benoit grabs him while Jericho has the ladder and fires him with a German, sending the ladder flying through the air. He goes up but Kane tries a chokeslam. He gets caught in a Crossface for his troubles as does Edge. Kane breaks that one up with a ladder shot for no apparent reason.

Using the ladder, Kane kind of Pillmanizes Benoit’s arm. Edge takes Kane down as this is far too much at once to keep track of. Edge and Christian work together to take Kane down as Shelton is back in. Ladder in the corner with Edge slamming into it as he misses a spear. Stinger Splash onto it and him in a rare Sting reference.

Everyone goes up onto three different ladders and everyone comes crashing down. The T-Bone Exploder from Shelton to Edge was AWESOME looking. Jericho somehow gets up and turns some ladders over. He has to fight off Christian though and another ladder is set up as a ramp to the main one in the ring. Shelton debuts his signature spot to run up the ladder and take Jericho down with a clothesline.

Christian stops Shelton and then Kane starts going on. They botch a chokeslam over the top as Shelton gets his foot caught in the ropes. Tomko comes in to try and help Christian, even getting him all the way to the top. Kane is like screw that and shoves him off onto Tomko on the floor. Jericho slips trying to stop Kane and they both fall onto the top rope to put everyone down again.

Benoit sets a ladder up in a corner to launch himself off in a swan dive to half kill Kane. Ok poor choice of words there. Great visual on the wide shot though. He might have hurt his arm on that. Kane gets back up and they fight on the top of the ladder with Kane going flying off again. He’s taken a ton of bumps in this. Edge pops up out of nowhere with a chair to drill Benoit in the bad arm and pulls down the briefcase to win it.

Rating: A. Some of the spots in this are just insane, such as Shelton running the ladder. A BIG plus of this match having 6 people is we don’t have to have a bunch of bad injury selling on the ladder while waiting on people to be stopped. That’s the flaw with most ladder matches: you see people climbing a ladder at the rate of a snail.

In this case, that’s not a threat as there’s a total of 7 people counting Tomko. This is a huge mess, but a fun one. It launched Edge into the main event as he cashed in the contact for the title in January in a stunning event. Great showing, not a great wrestling match, but still fun.

Eugene is in the ring and saying how excited he is to be here. He talks about his favorite Mania moment, which is the midget army fighting Bundy at Mania 3. Muhammad Hassan, the best heel in forever in the company’s music hits. He’s mad about being left off the card and he beats up Eugene. That’s Sheik Abdul Bashir if you’re a TNA fan.

And then, in one of the biggest MARK OUT moments I’ve ever had, Real American hits. The place, in a word, explodes. Hogan slides in and the fans beat him down but Hogan is like people please and it’s a very old school double noggin knocker. He beats the tar out of Hassan and tosses him out. Daivari the manager tries a chair shot and gets a finger in his face. There goes Daivari and the fans couldn’t eat this up any more if their lives depended on it. Let the posing begin! Hogan simply belongs at Wrestlemania. This led to Hogan/Shawn vs. those two.

We recap Taker vs. Orton. Not much to say here. Orton got thrown out of Evolution and HHH cut his legs out from under him so they threw him against Taker to give him something to do and play into the Legend Killer thing. Oh and Orton’s dad is in there somewhere too.

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

This marks the modern incarnation of the Streak beginning as Orton challenges Taker for no reason other than to break the Streak. To me, that’s not good. It takes away some of the story as there’s nothing personal going on at first other than honor.

To some people it’s great and it leads to solid matches most of the time, but I just can’t get into them. Orton was a face but challenged Taker so he RKOed Stacy, who was I guess his girlfriend at the time to show how evil he was. His Dad showed up and started helping him and no one cared. As the Legend Killer, this fit Orton like a glove.

Taker gets his usual sweet entrance with druids and torches. Do you think they chant like that in the back at catering? HUGE pop for Taker. Taker floats to the ring with a ton of smoke in the aisle. I mean he’s coming down the aisle and his feet aren’t moving. Is there any reason he came out before Orton though? This is the pre-orange Orton that still had hair and not a ton of tattoos. Always liked this version a lot better. No papa with him for the entrance.

Orton tries to use speed to start and then slaps Taker. That seems like a bad idea to me. We hit a headlock by Taker but a dropkick takes him down for one. Feeling out period to start here. Taker drills him with a right hand and Orton’s nose might be messed up. Orton rolls him up out of the corner for two. RKO is blocked and Orton is shoved to the floor.

Apron legdrop to Orton has him in big trouble. Old School keeps him in said trouble. The running boot in the corner misses and Taker is sent to the floor. They slug it out and Orton takes him down with a clothesline for two. DDT by Taker gets two as we haven’t really had one guy dominating for a long time yet. Side slam for two. Taker hits the Snake Eyes but the running boot is blocked by a back elbow for two as well.

They slug it out again as the fans are all over Randy. Randy tries a clothesline but Taker rams into him so hard that Randy goes down for two. Dragon suplex goes on and Orton taps but since that’s not the finish so we keep going. Somehow he manages to roll through into a DDT for two. And we hit the chinlock which is called a rear naked choke by Cole in an attempt to try to sound smart.

Sleeper by Orton lasts about two seconds as Taker gets a suplex. Powerslam out of nowhere gets two for Randy. Then like A REALLY STUPID PERSON he goes to the corner for punches and stops for posing. The Last Ride doesn’t work but neither does the RKO. Taker tries another Last Ride but Taker drops him or something.

Bob Orton runs in with the cast and drills Taker but the referee is down due to the RKO counter. The very slow count gets two and a big reaction from the crowd. Taker sits up and isn’t happy. Big boots takes down Bob and here’s a chokeslam. In one of my favorite counters ever, Orton shifts in mid air and grabs a good looking RKO for two. Orton wants a tombstone and if you don’t know what’s coming at this point you just fail. The pin is academic.

Rating: B-. Good match for the most part but there were times where they looked a bit confused. Orton had that one great counter and other than that he didn’t get much out there. This is a match that needed about two minutes cut out of it to really make it a lot better. Still not that bad at all though.

We recap Trish vs. Christy Hemme. In short, Trish is champion and Christy is this year’s Playboy chick. She can’t wrestle to save her life but she has Lita training her. There’s nothing else to it beyond that.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Christy Hemme

Well they’re all hot if nothing else. Lita is with Christy here as mentioned. Trish’s music sounds sped up a bit. The set is awesome here as it’s set up like an old school movie theater marquee with the name of the current match on the sign. Trish of course doesn’t take this seriously and it’s sloppy from the bell. The Playboy thing was really annoying as you had girls that couldn’t do a thing challenging for the title. Mickie next year would prove how stupid this was.

The fans chant for Matt who was out of the company at this point. Trish misses a kick and Christy gets one of her own for two in a sexy cover. Christy does the splits out of the corner and gets two on a sunset flip. To the floor and Trish is barely breaking a sweat. She shoves Lita who has a bad knee and Christy gets a rollup for two.

Christy kicks away badly and adds in a reverse Twist of Fate which is the whole selling point of the match. Naturally it only gets two. Christy rolls her up and we botch that too as Trish doesn’t kick out in time so the referee stops counting despite Trish’s shoulders being down. Chick Kick ends this like a second later. Trish would hold the title until the next Mania.

Rating: F+. They looked good and that’s all this had going for it. This is one of those matches that doesn’t need much more of an explanation at all.

We recap Shawn vs. Angle. Angle was obsessed with winning the Rumble but Shawn eliminated him. This led to Angle talking about winning the medal in 96 but people talking about Shawn coming down from the rafters at Mania and being the best wrestler in the world. Basically it turned into a game of I’m better than you and they had the match at Mania. That’s about it.

Some celebrities are here.

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels

 

Something tells me this will be a big better than the previous match. They have about 28 minutes to work with here, so do you really think it’s not going to be great? They stare each other down before the match starts and here we go. This in interpromotional and the referee is from Smackdown for no apparent reason. Shawn slaps him in the face and here we go.

Angle takes him to the mat and rides him with ease. The fans apparently think Shawn violated Bret. Odd choice of words indeed. I say odd a lot in these reviews. Shawn takes Kurt to the mat with a headlock and the fans chant for Angle. Angle suplexes out of it but Shawn holds on somehow. Dueling chants start up as that headlock has been on for awhile now. They have the time though so it’s perfectly fine.

The hold is broken for a bit and we go right back to it again. Angle gets a back elbow to escape but Shawn locks on a short arm scissors. Angle rolls backwards a few times to get two. See how important that is? He keeps working the whole time and it keeps the fans into things rather than just sitting around. We get the Davey Boy Smith counter to it but Shawn rolls through for two. Backslide for two and it’s back to the headlock by Shawn.

They slug it out in the corner with neither guy being able to get the advantage. Angle pulls the hair and grabs an ankle lock out of nowhere. It doesn’t last long as Shawn rolls through and a clothesline puts us both on the floor. They set up the announce table and fight for the move into it. Angle gets the Slam but instead of the table he rams Shawn’s back into the post out of the Slam position. That looked good.

Angle hammers away on the floor for a bit and we’re back into the ring. Suplex gets two and Angle locks on a body scissors. Shawn flips upside down in the corner and a sweet pair of belly to bellies gets two. Kurt locks on a modified camel clutch with a knee in the back to work it over even more. Shawn fights back and they slug it out until Shawn slaps Kurt. A big clothesline takes Shawn down for two. That looked great.

Angle can’t get a belly to belly off the top but the elbow misses too and Kurt never really loses control. There go the straps but the Angle Slam is reversed. Kurt is sent to the floor as Shawn takes over for a bit. Big crossbody to the floor and both guys are down. Shawn wants an Asai Moonsault but Angle jumps up for the attempted German off the apron which never hits. A low blow gets Shawn out of it and he gets his Asai crossbody which winds up being a splash onto the table which doesn’t break. Cool looking move and apparently the tables are reinforced.

They slug it out a bit more and Shawn gets the forearm. I think you know what follows that. Angle is bleeding from the mouth. Slam sets up the elbow and it’s time to tune up the band. What band is it anyway? The Electric Light Orchestra? Shawn finds out why it’s stupid to throw a kick at a guy whose finisher is the ankle lock and can’t roll through it. The rope is finally grabbed and Shawn is in big trouble.

Angle is all ticked off now but the Slam is reversed into a sunset flip which is reversed into another ankle lock which is reversed into a victory roll for two. Another attempt at Chin Music is reversed into the Slam for two. Angle puts the straps back on only to take them right back down. Ok then. Moonsault misses but it looked like Angle’s head slammed into Shawn’s back. Angle is clutching his wrist after the move and it might be hurt.

Shawn pulls himself to the top but can barely move so Angle runs up the corner and hits an Angle Slam from the top rope. Angle immediately covers and somehow only gets two! I’d have bet on that being the ending when I was watching this live. Angle grabs Shawn by the head and screams at him to tap out. Shawn uses all he’s got left for a huge Sweet Chin Music and down goes Angle again. THAT gets two and the fans are way into this.

With Shawn trying to get up as slowly as he’s moving, Angle grabs the ankle again and holds on throughout every roll Shawn tries. He almost gets the rope but Angle pulls him back to the middle again. There’s the grapevine and after Shawn probably setting the record for the longest time ever in the move, Shawn taps to add another classic to his Mania record.

Rating: A+. Oh come on were you expecting anything else? It’s Angle vs. Michaels at Wrestlemania with half an hour to work with. Total show stealing match with two of the best ever out there working very hard out there to have the best match they could. There would be a pair of rematches with Shawn winning at Vengeance and them tying in an iron man match on Raw. Great match and absolutely worth seeing.

We see another of the movie trailers, this one with Benoit, Jericho and Christian interrogating Stacy Keibler ala Basic Instinct. There’s implied HLA with Trish and lingerie pillow fights are mentioned. Way funnier than it sounds. Oh and Mae Young flashes her vagina to end it.

It’s RODDY PIPER! We have a Piper’s Pit here at Mania with special guest Stone Cold Steve Austin. Well this works….kind of. It sounds like it’s great on paper but at the same time, what in the world would they talk about? Piper thanks the fans for the Hall of Fame and talks about Mania a bit. Here’s Austin and the problem is obvious: there’s no reason Austin is here other than he’s Austin and it’s Wrestlemania. Therefore, they have nothing to talk about.

Austin is a rebel apparently. Yeah not for about 5 years Roddy. Piper slaps him and the fans aren’t sure what to do here. Austin of course slaps him right back and Piper likes him. The WHAT chants start up and Piper isn’t sure how to take them. I hate those things anyway. Piper was here when Mania didn’t have a number apparently and that’s still the same argument he’s been using for years. Austin has nothing on Piper as far as being a rebel.

Steve replies and this is just dragging. Piper stopped meaning anything about 12 years before this and only Piper seemed to not get that through his head. Of all people, Carlito comes out and both guys say it wasn’t their idea. This was supposed to be the way to put Carlito over and give him a huge push but it completely failed due to Carlito absolutely sucking. Piper isn’t cool with this and spits the apple at Carlito. Naturally there are Stunners all around and Austin stands tall. This was awful to say the least. Total and complete waste of 15 minutes.

We see the Taxi Driver trailer which was voted the best overall. Basically it’s the majority of the roster trying to do the “Are you talking to me” line which is rather funny indeed. Batista doesn’t get what he’s supposed to say and Big Show keeps ripping his jacket. Michael Cole as Travis Bickle has completely scarred me for life but overall it’s funny.
Ready for the biggest waste of time in company history? Here is it right here.

Big Show vs. Akebono

Who in the world is Akebono? No one knew and no one cared. Show at the time was doing a weird thing where he was looking for a challenger so they found someone even bigger than Show to face him in a sumo match. They’re wearing the full sumo uniforms here and it’s really bad. No one could care less for this.

They stall forever as Cole and Tazz try desperately to make this work but it’s dead on arrival. The fans boo them crazily as they set to start and then pull up at least 3 times. It’s the two of them slapping each other’s chests. Show loses but of course his music plays as they leave. This lasted a minute or so bell to bell and almost ten minutes overall.

Rating: F. This was a total waste of time.

We recap the Smackdown World Title feud between Cena vs. JBL. JBL has held the title since the previous summer and people are sick of him. The idea of this is old school vs. new and the respect for tradition vs. change. Cena had made a spinner belt for the US Title which JBL wasn’t happy with. Cena is the rapper here still and here’s all street tough etc. He got the match by beating Angle at No Way Out. Cena couldn’t touch JBL but JBL managed to get some shots in to Cena on the last Smackdown.
Smackdown World Title: John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

 

JBL gets a police escort here to give him his big Mania entrance. JBL dollars rain from the ceiling in a cool bit. The Cabinet, JBL’s team, isn’t here. No special entrance for Cena here. A couple of guys with brooms have to clean the dollars out of the ring. Feeling out process to start with Cena taking JBL down with a shoulder. JBL does the same and takes over with power.

After more strikes from JBL a bad neckbreaker takes Cena down for no cover. The second one gets two as I don’t think they’ll end a match in two minutes. Well at least in theory they won’t. JBL hits a slingshot to put Cena’s throat in the bottom rope. They slug it out a bit with Cena getting some momentum together. Spinebuster takes care of that though and it’s back to JBL in control.

A third neckbeaker gets two. Short arm clothesline gets two. This is kind of dragging here. JBL hits a forearm to the back of Cena as it’s total dominance and has been the whole time. We got a moderate boring chant as we hit a sleeper. Cena gets a suplex to escape and it’s a double clothesline. Never mind though as JBL sends him to the floor and adds neckbreaker #4 to take Cena down again. This is on the verge of a squash.

Superplex back in the ring puts Cena down again and of course it’s for two. Cena gets a powerslam to fight back for the first time. Some clotheslines buy Cena time as does a shoulder block. Crowd is DEAD. Protoplex sets up the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the FU just like that gives Cena the title. In an approximately eleven and a half minute match, Cena was on offense for maybe 90 seconds.

Rating: D. Really? This was like a TV match that would main event Smackdown and it’s good for Cena’s first world title here? This needed to be rebooked and given about five more minutes plus about 8 more two counts. I have no idea what they were going for here but this was a major failure on almost all levels. No wonder Cena was panned for his first title reign.

 

We recap the Hall of Fame induction ceremony from last night which definitely centered around Hulk Hogan. Oh and Piper and some other people went in too. And then that ring would go to Abyss. I give up. Gene brings out the class to be presented to the crowd, eating up some more time that could have gone to Cena and JBL. If nothing else it’s fun to see the Divas all dressed up.

Michelle with her hair back and in a long black dress is something I could get used to. Taz calls Sheik the original Human Suplex Machine. Miss Jackie (Gayda that is) was so hot it’s scary. Maria as a blonde looked great. She’s more interesting than Bob Orton for sure. Jimmy Hart is still awesome. Stacy dancing to Hulk’s music and being on his arm is weird to see. That being said her trying to look beautiful in another long black dress works very well indeed. That’s about it. Most international class ever?

 

Mania 22 is going to be in Chicago.

We recap Batista vs. HHH. The idea here is a simple one. They were both in Evolution and then Batista got very hot and won the Rumble. This led to HHH saying he would get Batista to fight JBL to avoid having to face Big Dave because he had Batista around his finger. Batista heard this and turned face (which he more or less already was) leading to this.

Raw World Title: Batista vs. HHH

Ross and Lawler talk forever to let Motorhead get ready to play HHH to the ring. The singer more or less has no idea what the words are. HHH rises out of the floor like Angle does now. This is all happening before Batista’s entrance, making his look totally weak in comparison. Nice job Game. Batista still has his old school Evolution knockoff music here and no pyro so his machinegun thing looks idiotic.

Flair is with HHH here. We get the weapons check and the title being held up which is always cool. They fight over a tie up to start with neither guy being able to get much of an advantage. Almost two minutes in HHH grabs a headlock for the first offense of the match. He runs into a shoulder though and we chill for a bit. HHH runs him over but can’t get the Pedigree. Gorilla Press puts HHH down and Batista poses a bit.

Batista looks nervous here which makes sense. They’re going very slowly here but I guess they have the time. Backdrop to HHH but the Game gets a running knee to put him on the floor. Flair distracts Big Dave long enough to send Batista into the steps to take over again. HHH and Flair both choke away as we’re bordering on going through the motions here.

HHH works on the back and adds a suplex for two. More choking by Flair as this has been total dominance ala Cena vs. JBL. HHH hammers him down in the corner but Batista gets some punches to take back over a bit. And never mind as HHH uses a spinebuster. You know, that move that NO ONE ELSE IN THIS MATCH USES RIGHT??? Why in the world would HHH, the guy with like 9000 moves in his arsenal, use a freaking spinebuster that is going to make Batista’s look stupid by comparison? Freaking moron.

Pedigree is blocked and the facebuster gets two. For no apparent reason HHH goes up top and tries a punch from up there but gets caught by a clothesline. Who is his mentor again? Did he sleep through that day in heel school? Batista gets a spinebuster for two but HHH gets a boot up in the corner to take him right back down.

Batista fires him over the top rope with pure power and we might finally have a shift in momentum. He follows the Game to the floor and is sent into the steps to once again give HHH momentum. Pedigree onto the steps is blocked into a slingshot into the post. Maybe NOW Batista can get some serious offense in. HHH is busted now. Batista hammers at the cut and momentum has completely shifted here.

All Animal here with Batista managing to hit a clothesline in the corner that puts HHH on his back which isn’t something you often see. Powerslam gets two. Out to the floor again as HHH is just trying to cover up. Down goes Flair but HHH grabs a chair due to the distraction. Since it’s a main event though, down goes the referee as he tries to steal it from the Game.

Back in the ring it’s a spinebuster for Flair who brings the belt in. Title to the face which draws huge heat. If that had gotten the pin they may have needed police to get him out of there. Naturally it only gets two and more or less that’s it. Spinebuster doesn’t hit as HHH gets a low blow. Pedigree can’t hit and Batista gets something resembling an Emerald Flosion to set up the Thumbs Down and the Batista Bomb ends this finally.

Rating: C-. HHH ruined this for me. Number one, Batista should come out first, get his massive pop, and THEN you have the big entrance for HHH as something like that is going to get a big pop no matter what. Next, Batista was built up as a monster coming into this match for nearly 5 months, and HHH beats the tar out of him for over half the match.

That makes me think that Batista hasn’t beaten anyone at all and once he faces someone solid he can’t do anything against them. Let Batista come in and beat up HHH, have HHH, the smarter wrestler, learn from what happened the first time around and counter Batista and THEN he beats him up and leads to the finish.

By doing this, it shows two things: it makes Batista seem legit as even HHH can’t stop his offense and then it makes HHH look smart as he was able to adapt his style to stop Batista, and everyone wins. Third, WHY WOULD HHH USE A SPINEBUSTER HERE???

He has like 40 moves in his arsenal and he uses the one that Batista is most known for. The ending was solid but that’s about it. Not the way to start a title reign for a guy that wrestles as a power guy at all. If this were Benoit or someone of that size and style, this would have been perfect.

Overall Rating: C+. This Mania suffers from the same symptom that every show since the brand split has suffered from: WAY too much filler that should have been on Raw or Smackdown. It’s a good show but at the same time the main events were just weak overall with neither new champion looking great at all. The right guys went over which helps a lot, but getting there didn’t work that well. Still a good show though.

Oh and see those trailers as they’re totally awesome.

 

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: October 21, 2020
Location: Lawlor Events Center, Reno, Nevada
Attendance: 1,800
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

The Eddie Guerrero situation is getting interesting as he seems to have turned full on good guy but you never can tell with him. That makes things rather fun to watch but he can be rather crafty in his ways. Other than that, Smackdown is having some issues with Raw and things could crank up tonight as Edge has sworn vengeance for JBL costing him a match on Raw. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the setup for tonight’s US Title match with Chris Benoit defending against Booker T. after Sharmell cheated to help Booker win the title shot.

Opening sequence.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Booker T.

Benoit is defending and Sharmell is here with Booker. They fight over a lockup to start and it’s a clean break in the corner. Booker actually wrestles him down but Benoit slips out and catches him with a hiptoss. Back up and Benoit’s hammerlock doesn’t get him far as they go into the corner for some chops. Booker misses the side kick though and crashes out to the floor, only to avoid Benoit’s dive to send him into the announcers’ table.

Back from a break with Booker holding a chinlock and whipping him hard into the corner for two. The chinlock goes on again so Benoit fights up again and hits a running forearm for two of his own. It’s time to roll the German suplexes to freak Sharmell out again. The Swan Dive gives Benoit two but Booker is back up with a kick to the face. That lets him head up top but Benoit superplexes him down, albeit with a slip on the way. The referee checks on Booker, allowing Sharmell to hit him low. Booker nails the ax kick for the pin and the title.

Rating: B. It’s the expected good match between these two, though the Sharmell stuff was as annoying as ever. She’s a heel, but she’s the kind of heel where she’s more pesky than evil. Benoit feels like a transitional champion as he spent most of his reign beating up Orlando Jordan in thirty seconds so the loss doesn’t mean much. At least Sharmell will have something else to complain about now.

Post break Benoit is furious but Booker tells him to lay off the wife.

Bob Orton Jr. has a bad back and can’t wrestle tonight. Teddy Long comes in to tell Randy Orton to find a new partner or the main event tonight is a handicap match.

JBL says he didn’t play his music on Raw and isn’t worried about Edge showing up tonight.

Matt Hardy vs. Simon Dean

This is Matt’s Smackdown debut. The bell rings but hang on as Dean needs to tell Matt that if he were in better shape, Lita might not have left him. Matt punches him out to the floor and hits the big slingshot dive, sending Dean over to his bag. That’s taken away but Dean uses the distraction to get in a cast shot to the ribs. A standing curb stomp gets two on Matt and the chinlock goes on. Matt is up in a hurry and hits the middle rope legdrop, followed by the Side Effect. The Twist of Fate puts Dean away in a hurry.

Rating: D+. Just a quick debut for Matt here and that’s fine. He desperately needed to get away from Edge and Lita after that long feud so this is the only thing he could really do. The match was nothing noteworthy of course but the fans reacted to Matt so they had something going here.

Raw Rebound.

Rey Mysterio vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

Rubber match and Jillian Hall is here with JBL. Rey dodges to start and kicks at the leg a bit to little avail. JBL isn’t having that and slugs him into the corner but Rey gets to the apron for a neck snap. Jillian offers a distraction though and JBL knocks him into the barricade in a big crash.

Back in and the fall away slam sends Rey flying (that looked good), setting up the logical torture rack. Rey slips out and hits a springboard bulldog for the double knockdown, meaning the fans can get behind him again. The referee is nearly bumped but is back up in time to see Rey drop toehold JBL into the middle buckle. A split legged moonsault gets two and there’s the 619….plus Edge to spear Mysterio for the DQ.

Rating: C. I’m starting to get interested in this Raw vs. Smackdown story as they’re taking a little time to set it up. The match was just a way to get to the interference but at least we had the cool visual of Mysterio flying through the air. At least they didn’t wait a long time before getting to the ending either, which is always appreciated.

Post match JBL chases Edge into the crowd but here’s Chris Masters to Masterlock Mysterio. A bunch of goons fail to make the save until Hardcore Holly gets rid of Masters.

Post break, Mysterio demands a match with Edge tonight, telling Teddy to work his magic. That line would be a bit funnier in a few years.

Bobby Lashley vs. Vito

Lashley starts fast and knocks Vito outside, where he has to beat up Nunzio. The beating continues inside so Vito gets in a few forearms to the back. Those work as well as you might expect so Lashley is back with suplexes and the Dominator for the fast pin.

Wrestlemania tickets are on sale.

Palmer Cannon hypes up the New Talent Initiative, which is bringing in wrestlers to Smackdown. This includes the Minis Division, as six minis come in to the office. One of them enjoys pork. The Boogeyman comes in to scare them and Teddy grabs his chest.

Sylvan’s posing in front of a mirror is broken up but here’s Hardcore Holly to say his hardcore match with Sylvan starts….now.

Hardcore Holly vs. Sylvan

They start fighting in the back and nearly raid the women’s locker room. Holly sends him into an elevator and we take a break. Back with the fight in the concession stand and they head into the arena with Holly knocking him off a short balcony for two. They make it to ringside where Sylvain gets two off a clothesline, only to get kicked in the face. That means it’s weapons time with Holly finding some wooden sticks. A trashcan lid to the head gets two inside but Sylvan spinebusters him through a trashcan for the same. Sylvan loads up a table but Holly hits the Alabama Slam through said table for the fast win.

Rating: D+. This is the kind of match that you should have expected from these two and I’m not sure if that is a compliment. Holly is getting a nice push at the moment and he’s doing well enough with it, though I don’t think he’s a candidate for moving much higher up the card no matter what happens.

Batista comes in to see Eddie Guerrero, who is upset over what he became last year. He’s so thankful to Batista for giving him a chance, though Batista does catch him lying about having tears in his eyes that night. They’re cool though.

RIP Undertaker video.

Randy Orton/??? vs. Batista/Eddie Guerrero

Randy does have a mystery partner and it’s…..Mr. Kennedy. Good for him for getting some spots like this. Nick Patrick interrupts the mic drop though (egads, that’s Kennedy’s whole gimmick) so Eddie pounds away to start, including shoving Kennedy off the top. Back from a break with Batista running Orton over, setting up the corner shoulders. A suplex gets two and it’s back to Eddie for an elbow to the jaw. Kennedy comes back in for an Amigo but Eddie stops to point at Orton, allowing Kennedy to slip out.

A neckbreaker over the middle rope drops Eddie and it’s Kennedy taking over back inside. We hit the chinlock from Kennedy, followed by a chinlock from Orton to keep things even. Eddie fights up and they bang heads in the corner, allowing the hot tag off to Batista so house can be cleaned. Everything breaks down so here’s Cowboy Bob for a distraction. Kennedy grabs a chair but hits Eddie, who dove in the way to protect Batista, which is enough for the DQ.

Rating: C. Completely standard main event level tag match here though it’s good to see Kennedy getting a chance to move up a bit. You’re only going to get so far doing the same things over and over again so switching him around is a good idea. Orton seems ready to be added to the main event mix again and with Undertaker gone, it’s not like there’s anything else for him to do at the moment. Granted that’s something they need to work on in general: building up some more upper midcard faces.

Post match the beatdown is on with Randy hitting an RKO on Batista. Cue Teddy Long to make a six man tag for next week: the Ortons/Kennedy vs. Batista/Eddie Guerrero/Roddy Piper.

Overall Rating: C+. This show moved some things forward and that’s one of the best things you can see happening. I’m liking the Raw vs. Smackdown story which seems like it is going to be important in the coming weeks. Throw in the next steps with Eddie vs. Batista and a title change and the show kept things moving well enough to hold my interest. Now just keep doing that and we’ll be in a better place.

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

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

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 16, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler

The new era begins for Monday Night Raw as the show will be at the Performance Center for the time being. That is going to be the case for almost anything, including Wrestlemania as officially announced this evening. I’m not sure what to expect, but Steve Austin, Edge and Undertaker are going to be in the building (without many more people). Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The announcers are in the ring to welcome us to the show and hype up everything happening tonight. After a clip of AJ Styles talking about Undertaker and Michelle McCool last week, here’s Edge to interrupt. He shows us a package of everything that has happened with Randy Orton over the last few months, which is quite the emotional ordeal. Back in the arena, Edge talks about the long road between the two of them over the last twenty one years.

Edge knew that their careers would intertwine and that’s what they did, as they fought over the Intercontinental Title and then forming Rated RKO. They both owe Mick Foley for pushing them to this new level but Edge took a lesson from Foley that Orton never did: grit. After all the surgeries and time off, Edge fought back and got here again. He didn’t have his dad pushing him this far because he was raised by a single mother who broke her back to help get him here.

Then Beth Phoenix came out to give a medical update on him, but Orton took her out with an RKO. What Orton didn’t know was that Beth was here to announce Edge’s retirement. The beatings and injuries were too much, but Orton dragged Beth out of the hole. At Wrestlemania, if Orton has the guts, the match is on in a Last Man Standing match.

Earlier today, Becky Lynch arrived in an 18 wheeler.

From Royal Rumble 2020 (this is the recap of the full version of the match with no breaks or clipping):

Men’s Royal Rumble

90 second intervals, Brock Lesnar is in at #1 and Elias is in at #2 (more bad luck as he was #1 last year). Elias talks about the gorilla in the ring and asks the fans to clap along for his new song, Sacrificial Lamb. Lesnar gets annoyed at the song and chases Elias (tripping a bit on the way out of the ring), meaning the match can start with Brock taking him down.

The first German suplex connects and Lesnar breaks the guitar over Elias’ back. That’s the first elimination so Brock gets a breather until Erick Rowan, with crate, is in at #3. Rowan blocks the German suplex and gets clotheslined out in about eight seconds. Robert Roode is in at #4, slugs away, gets clotheslined, F5, Brock stands alone. Brock poses with the title until John Morrison is in at #5 and it’s a belly to belly over the top in nine seconds.

Kofi Kingston is in at #6 and starts slugging away until Lesnar drives him into the corner. The first German suplex drops Kofi on his head and Brock starts smiling. The clock speeds WAY up so Rey Mysterio can come in at #7. Rey tries to run the ropes but gets sent into Kofi in the corner.

A German suplex each has Kofi and Rey in more trouble and it’s Big E. in at #8. The distraction lets Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise and Big E. adds the Big Ending, setting up the 619. Rey charges at Brock and gets tossed, followed by Big E. going out as well. An F5 gets rid of Kofi as well and it’s Brock alone to face Cesaro, who is in at #9. Suplex, clothesline, Cesaro is out. Shelton Benjamin is in at #10 to give us…well Lesnar and Benjamin.

Heyman tries to get Shelton to reunite with Lesnar and Shelton seems to…until Lesnar suplexes and clotheslines him out. Shinsuke Nakamura is in at #11 in a match that would be more interesting in Japan. Some strikes connect and Lesnar gets rid of him in about fifteen seconds. MVP of all people is in at #12 and gets the same treatment, though I did miss his music. Keith Lee is in at #13 and Brock looks interested.

They stare each other down and Lee shrugs off some knees, setting up a clothesline to put Brock down. Lee gets in a few shots in the corner and a collision puts them both down. Braun Strowman is in at #14 and knocks Lee out through the ropes. Brock is back up with a pair of German suplexes each and they’re all down. It’s Lee vs. Strowman for the monster slugout…and Brock throws them both out.

Ricochet is in at #15 and gets caught with a quick backbreaker. There’s a German suplex as Cole says he doesn’t want to hear about Lesnar not defending his title. In a non-title match. Drew McIntyre is in at #16 and gets in a staredown with Lesnar. Ricochet gets in a low blow from behind and McIntyre eliminates Lesnar to a nice reaction. McIntyre gets rid of Ricochet as well and Miz is in at #17.

Drew knocks Miz down and glares down at Lesnar, setting up the Claymore to get rid of Miz and stand alone. Lesnar and Heyman are still standing behind the barricade as AJ Styles is in at #18. Some early shots take AJ down but he pulls McIntyre down into the Calf Crusher. That’s broken up as well and Dolph Ziggler is in at #19.

Ziggler and AJ double team McIntyre until Ziggler punches AJ in the face. That means a suplex from McIntyre as Karl Anderson is in at #20, giving us McIntyre, Styles, Ziggler and Anderson. Everything settles down and it’s EDGE (THAT FREAKING LIAR!) at #21. Spears abound and we get an Edge vs. Styles showdown, capped off by another spear. King Corbin is in at #22 (YOU SHALL NOT BE ENTERTAINED!!!) and cleans house with Ziggler until Edge dumps AJ (who may have been favoring his wrist).

Matt Riddle is in at #23 and yes he gets in the shoe flip. Riddle knees Edge down…and is eliminated by Corbin. Luke Gallows is in at #24 and McIntyre throws Corbin out (I knew I liked him for a reason). Randy Orton is in at #25 for a few RKOs before the staredown with Edge. Stereo Rated RKO clotheslines get rid of the OC and it’s Roman Reigns in at #26. A spear hits Ziggler and Reigns dumps him, making me like him a little bit more.

Reigns no sells McIntyre’s chops and it’s Kevin Owens at lucky #27. Cannonballs abound and there’s a Stunner to Reigns. Another one hits Orton and it’s Aleister Black in at #28. A jumping knee hits Owens and a running one drops Edge, followed by Black Mass to McIntyre. Samoa Joe is in at #29 and Black is waiting on him with the strikes.

Joe kicks him down, smiles at Owens, and starts the slugout again. Seth Rollins is in st #30 (sweet, no Velasquez), giving us Orton, Reigns, Owens, Black, McIntyre, Edge, Rollins and Joe. Rollins comes out with Buddy Murphy (who was scheduled to be in this) and the AOP so Joe and Owens roll outside to start the fight. Rollins and Murphy pull Edge outside before throwing Orton over the announcers’ table (not eliminated).

The Stomp hits Reigns and Rollins eliminates Black and Owens. The Koquina Clutch has Rollins in trouble but Murphy makes the save so Rollins can eliminate Joe as well. Owens, Black and Joe brawl to the back with Murphy/AOP, leaving us with Reigns, Rollins, Edge, Orton and McIntyre. Everyone surrounds Rollins so he tries to reunite with Reigns. That just earns him a Superman punch into an Orton powerslam into the Claymore so McIntyre can get the elimination.

The RKO hits McIntyre and Edge adds a spear, followed by a double RKO from Orton and Edge. Orton teases the RKO to Edge but begs off…and gets eliminated by Edge. We’re down to Reigns, Edge and McIntyre with Reigns and Edge slugging it out. The Superman punch hits Edge but the spear misses, allowing Edge to hit his own.

Reigns hangs onto the bottom rope to stay alive and he pulls Edge to the apron with him. Edge gets knocked off and Reigns gets back in for the fight with McIntyre, who nails the Claymore. McIntyre tosses Reigns to win at 1:00:09 (Sally, I know you’re smiling. Don’t worry if you don’t get this reference.).

Rating: B+. The ending is what matters most here, as McIntyre has been ready to move up to the next level for the better part of ever now. They FINALLY pulled the trigger on him and while it is another step to win the World Title at Wrestlemania, this is a heck of a good sign for him and his future.

Then there’s the first half of the Rumble and your mileage is probably going to vary. I wasn’t wild on it, but it didn’t ruin the match for me. I didn’t need Lesnar to run through that many people, but at least the right person won in the end and we should be in for a big Wrestlemania showdown. It could have been a lot worse, and McIntyre winning warms the cockles of my heart (whatever cockles are).

Back at the Performance Center, the announcers talk about Wrestlemania being moved to the Performance Center. McIntyre vs. Lesnar will still be taking place.

We go back to two weeks ago, with McIntyre coming out and kicking Lesnar in the face three times in a row.

Lawler brings out Undertaker for the contract signing and Undertaker power walks to the ring, where he turns the table over in anger.

Post break, we see AJ’s promo from last week.

Undertaker is still in the ring and waits on AJ, whose music plays a few times but he doesn’t show up. AJ and the OC show up on screen with the contract, which was never in the ring. He’s the one who challenged Undertaker last week because Undertaker is the one who won’t just go away. You don’t see Michael Jordan or Brett Favre showing up and taking up a spot, but you know Undertaker will be at Wrestlemania.

It’s old Money Michelle’s fault because she makes his dust off the hat and coat so she can have things. Undertaker needs to let it go and stop sticking his nose in OC business. AJ is willing to pay for Undertaker’s assisted living after Wrestlemania because Undertaker will be resting in peace. Styles signs the contract and sends Gallows and Anderson to take the contract to him.

That’s a big negative but AJ finally talks them into it. They come into the arena and lay the contract down, but the gong hits and the lights go off. Back up and he’s behind them, meaning the beatdown is on. With Anderson and Gallows down, Undertaker signs the contract and stuffs it in Anderson’s mouth as a disgusted AJ looks on from the screen.

Andrade vs. Rey Mysterio

Non-title, Zelina Vega is in Andrade’s corner and Asuka is on commentary. Andrade starts fast and knocks Mysterio around only to have Rey get to the apron. Vega grabs the leg though, allowing Andrade to dropkick him out of the air. Back from a break with Mysterio picking up the pace and trying to load up the 619. Andrade pops up and hits a spinning elbow for two as Asuka continues to rant in Japanese with one or two English words sprinkled in. Three Amigos are countered into the 619 and the top rope splash finishes Andrade at 6:52.

Rating: D+. They barely aired enough here and it was hardly worth watching. I’m assuming it’s going to be a four way for the title at Wrestlemania but they’ve managed to take away almost any interest that I could have in it. This story just keeps going as they trade wins and that’s not exactly thrilling stuff.

Video on the women’s Elimination Chamber match.

We look at Becky Lynch arriving again.

Here’s Becky for a chat. She dedicates this one to Shayna Baszler because she knows Shayna is watching. Shayna has been trained to destroy people but then she saw this ginger champ as the best of all time. Becky needs to explain this to an animal scumbag like Shayna: Becky is the prey that killed its prey and Shayna can cut through everyone else like she has. Then there’s Becky though and she’s different. She wants Shayna to think about what it’s going to mean when she loses. At Wrestlemania, she’s proving that Shayna’s life is a lie.

We look back at Charlotte and Rhea Ripley last week.

Kevin Owens accepts Seth Rollins’ challenge to a match and it makes sense to have it at the Performance Center. That gives Owens a home field advantage because Rollins never spent time here. This is where Owens went through the hardest experience of his career with his WWE tryout. He wasn’t supposed to be in WWE because he wasn’t their kind of guy. Rollins himself said that before and after Owens was signed but Owens became a guy around here. Then Owens is going to add one more memory to that list when he beats Rollins at Wrestlemania.

Here’s Steve Austin (announced as the greatest of all time, which is now applied to both himself and John Cena) for a chat, complete with cans of his IPA. Austin says if you want to know what 3:16 Day is all about, give him a h*** yeah. We cut to a shot of the empty seats and Austin asks for it again. Byron Saxton gives him a VERY enthusiastic H*** YEAH and Austin reads some jokes off a card, saying like 3:16 Day means flipping people off and…..a bunch of gibberish because Austin has the card upside down. As he reads these, Byron holds up big cards with a rating for each joke.

Austin gets a 5 for his last joke before saying Byron has been so helpful during this entire time. Therefore, he can come down to ringside and celebrate 3:16 Day with Austin. Byron comes down and drinks before the Stunner means beer can be consumed. Cue Becky Lynch with a cooler but Austin brings up her Stunning her the last time they were in a ring together. They drink a lot (with one more Stunner to Saxton) to end the show. This was uh….rather stupid, though Austin asking for the fan response and cutting to the empty seats made me chuckle.

Overall Rating: D. These three hour shows are going to become a lot to take, though it was kind of nice to be able to turn the show off for nearly an hour and a half thanks to the Rumble. Edge’s promo was good and they announced two more matches for Wrestlemania. I can’t get overly mad at the show given the circumstances though and it was nice to have a much easier show to watch, but they might need to change a lot after Wrestlemania, as doing this every week is going to be a rather rough sit in a hurry.

Results

Rey Mysterio b. Andrade – Top rope splash

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: October 14, 2005
Location: SBC Arena, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re done with No Mercy and now it’s time to get ready for Survivor Series. Granted before we get there, we have the whole lull with no brand exclusive pay per view for the next month, which could lead in a variety of places. I’m not sure what we’re going to be seeing on the way there but it could be interesting. Maybe. Let’s get to it.

Here’s No Mercy if you need a recap

Opening sequence.

Here are the Ortons to get things going. Randy is VERY proud of himself for destroying the Undertaker forever and no matter how much the fans want to see him, Undertaker is DEAD. With Undertaker out of the way, it’s time for Randy to become World Heavyweight Champion again, but here’s Eddie Guerrero to interrupt.

Eddie gets a very warm reception (remember we’re in Texas) but Randy says to give him advice on how to beat Batista so he can ignore it. Randy laughs at him for earning a friend instead of a championship and offers an RKO. Eddie wants a fight but Randy says he’s facing Batista next. Cue Batista to say the two of them can fight tonight so Teddy can make the match.

Post match, Teddy has made the match. I guess Batista has some pull.

United States Title: Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

Jordan is challenging but if he loses to the Crossface again, his career is over. Benoit goes straight for the Crossface to start so Jordan bails to the floor. That earns Benoit a whip into the steps and Jordan is in control for a change. A knee to the ribs sets up an abdominal stretch so Benoit gets over to the apron in a hurry. The German suplexes rock Jordan and the Sharpshooter makes him tap, meaning Jordan keeps his career.

Rating: D+. That has to be it right? What is this, five times now? They did keep it short here and that’s what matters most, because we don’t need to see this again anytime soon. Benoit has wasted so much time on Jordan now and his title reign suffered as a result. Get him on to a serious match and get Jordan on the unemployment line.

Sharmell comes in to yell at Teddy Long about Jordan getting a title shot (fair) but Teddy doesn’t want to hear it. Instead, Booker T. can be in a four way #1 contenders match.

Paul Burchill/William Regal/MNM vs. Animal/Heidenreich/Mexicools

Juvy is the odd Mexicool out while Melina and Christy Hemme are here as well for this rather odd pairing. Psychosis and Mercury start things off so the women get on the apron for stereo distractions. With that out of the way, Regal comes in to hammer away on Psychosis and the villains take turns stomping away in the corner. Burchill drives him into the corner as well and hammers away at the jaw. Mercury misses a middle rope elbow though and it’s Animal coming in to clean house. The Doomsday Device is broken up so Super Crazy has to moonsault Mercury for the pin instead.

Rating: D+. This mainly served as a way to showcase the women and that isn’t exactly the most difficult thing to do. There wasn’t enough time for this to go anywhere and the match was just kind of there as a result. At least they kept it short and have something resembling a tag division growing for a change.

Post match two rather muscular guys come in and beat down Psychosis, including a Veg O Matic.

It’s time for the Peep Show with Stacy Keibler getting to talk about a possible feud with Jennifer Aniston over Anistaon’s new boyfriend. Stacy says she isn’t dating him…and here’s Jillian Hall to interrupt. She thinks there could be a lot of career advancement in a feud like this and thinks Aniston is hot. Stacy asks about the growth on her face and slaps Jillian down.

Christian vs. John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Booker T. vs. Rey Mysterio

One fall to a finish, the winner gets a US Title shot and Sharmell is at ringside. It’s a brawl to start with Booker backdropping JBL and hammering away in the corner as the other two are outside. The two pairs switch places so Rey can knock Christian down, only to get tossed by JBL. The fall away slam sends Christian flying but Booker is right off the top with the missile dropkick. Christian sends Booker over the top and onto JBL though, leaving Rey to get beaten up for two.

Rey’s victory roll gets two and we take a quick break. Back with all four down for a breather until JBL gets up and starts cleaning house. Booker gets kicked outside, leaving JBL to drop elbows on Christian for two. The Clothesline From JBL is broken up though and JBL is sent outside for a ram into the steps. Rey gets back in to speed things up with some rollups but JBL kicks him down. JBL is sent outside again though and Sharmell grabs Rey’s leg so Booker can hit the ax kick for the pin. It still is not clear if Booker saw the interference.

Rating: C. Another match that you’ve seen several times and that is hardly something worth getting excited about. That’s true of Sharmell too, as her already annoying act is getting even worse. Booker vs. Benoit could be good and in theory this should lead towards Booker’s heel turn, which would make Sharmell a bit more bearable.

Post break Booker and Sharmell celebrate when Benoit comes in. He’s happy with the match but hopes Sharmell doesn’t get involved again. Booker gets in his face and glaring ensues.

Mr. Kennedy comes out for a match but doesn’t have an opponent so he introduces himself and leaves.

Raw Rebound.

Bobby Lashley vs. Nunzio

Lashley glares Vito off the apron and suplexes Nunzio without much effort. Nunzio gets gorilla pressed to the floor (with no catch) and this time Vito’s interference earns him a shot to the face. Back in and Nunzio’s shot to the head just earns himself a backbreaker, followed by the Dominator for the fast pin.

Palmer Cannon tells Teddy that the Boogeyman is here, so he shakes the clock. Said clock is then busted over his head, causing Teddy to say Boogeyman has some potential.

Randy Orton vs. Eddie Guerrero

For the next shot at Batista. They stare at each other to start until Orton goes to the eye and grabs a belly to back suplex for two. The headlock has Eddie in trouble on the mat and his attempt at fighting back earns himself a dropkick. Back from a break with Orton hitting the backbreaker for two and grabbing the chinlock again.

Eddie fights up again but gets drop toeholded throat first into the middle rope. They head outside a second time with Eddie ramming him into the announcers’ table a few times, only to get sent into the post for two. Randy switches up the chinlocks by grabbing a sleeper to put Eddie down….for another chinlock. This time Eddie dances his way up and hits Three Amigos, only to have Cowboy Bob break up the frog splash for the DQ.

Rating: C-. This was a rough one as Orton kept going to the chinlock and slowing things down. That’s all well and good, but you might want to do something else before you get there. Not a very good match, but it’s cool to see face Eddie for a change here, as he was a villain for so long. He’s so charismatic though and it’s hard to not like him at least a little bit.

Post match the double team is on but Batista runs out for the save. Long comes out and makes Batista/Eddie vs. the Ortons for next week.

Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one very much, but what made it work was they were building things towards next week, if not beyond. It’s nice to see Eddie getting a fresh change of pace here too and that’s one of the better things you can say about a show. Some of the midcard might even be coming together a bit so maybe things can pick up. It certainly would be a step in the right direction for a change.

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

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

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 9, 2020
Location: Capital One Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler

We are FINALLY on the Road to Wrestlemania with nothing in the way. Elimination Chamber has come and gone and in the shock of shocks, Shayna Baszler became the new #1 contender to the Raw Women’s Title. Other than that, we have a grand total of very little on the way to Tampa. Let’s get to it.

Here is Elimination Chamber if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Becky Lynch for a chat. She’s glad to know her Wrestlemania challenger and we see a package on Shayna Baszler running through the Chamber last night. Shayna says she’s coming for the title and there’s nothing Becky can do about it. Back in the arena, Becky praises Shayna’s accomplishments but calls her a black hole of charisma. Becky saw her as the constipated robot of NXT but she remembers Shayna as the one who wouldn’t shake her hand last year at Wrestlemania. People like Becky don’t beat trained killers like Shayna, but that’s what she does. Shayna is underestimating her so Becky is going to smash her face in.

Rey Mysterio vs. Angel Garza

Zelina is Garza’s corner and it’s non-title because it’s Garza, not Andrade. Garza gets sent into the corner to start but he’s fine enough to block a hurricanrana and score with a superkick in the corner. That means Garza can TAKE OFF HIS PANTS and we take a break. Back with Rey having to break up Garza’s 619 attempt and send him outside for the sliding splash.

Garza catches the springboard crossbody and hits a slingshot reverse suplex for two. Rey misses another 619 and gets caught with a heck of a superkick for…no cover actually. Instead Rey fights back up and hits another 619, setting up the springboard splash for the pin at 8:43.

Rating: C. I’m not sure who is supposed to benefit from these revolving door matches between luchadors but they’re not exactly blowing the doors off the place. They’re just trading wins and losses and while it could lead to a four way for the United States Title at Wrestlemania, that doesn’t make it very interesting. This came and went, just like all of the other matches involving these two, Humberto Carrillo and Andrade.

Earlier today, Kevin Owens arrived and got beaten up pretty badly by Murphy, the AOP and Seth Rollins (who did at least offer Owens some popcorn).

We see a video of Rhea Ripley in Raymond James Stadium, talking about how she can’t believe she’s going to be wrestling here. Ever since she got to NXT, it has been about being herself while being a star. She looked like Charlotte when she got here and now it’s time to face Charlotte herself.

Here’s Charlotte for a chat. She liked the Ripley video too but is confused by Ripley wanting to be the best, as in like Charlotte, but not wanting to be like Charlotte. It’s one thing to stand in an empty stadium, but it’s another to stand in a full stadium and be humbled by the queen. Cue Ripley but Charlotte says this is her kingdom and Rhea is excused. That earns Charlotte a right hand, allowing Rhea to smile as she leaves.

Bobby Lashley vs. Zack Ryder

Shoulder, running shoulder in the corner, spinning Dominator for the pin at 1:24.

We look back at Drew McIntyre taking out Brock Lesnar last week.

Aleister Black is in his room when someone knocks. It’s Seth Rollins and Murphy, who understand that Black has been having some issues with the numbers game, so maybe he should join up. That won’t be happening, but Black does accept the challenge for a fight tonight.

Erick Rowan vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre steps over the cage, with commentary again not sure what’s in there. So we’re already forgetting last week? McIntyre gets a boot up in the corner to start and clotheslines him to the floor. That means a posting and an overhead belly to belly for the power display. McIntyre uses the steps to crush the cage (fake animal hater) and it’s the Futureshock into the Claymore pin on Rowan at 2:20. Now PLEASE tell me we’re not doing the cage thing anymore.

We look back at Randy Orton’s explanation last week, setting up the RKO to Beth Phoenix. You know, the Hall of Famer who was a dominant force in the Royal Rumble less than two months ago but who gets hit with a single move and we need to act like she’s dead.

Kabuki Warriors vs. Liv Morgan/Natalya

Non-title because title matches don’t exist for these belts. Before the match, the Warriors yell in Japanese about Asuka’s wrist injury and the Elimination Chamber. They do call out Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross but here’s Natalya to cut them off. Sane and Morgan start things off with Liv taking them down. It’s quickly off to Natalya as Ruby Riott comes out and we take a break.

Back with Morgan fighting out of an armbar and handing it off to Natalya, who gets her bad arm pulled onto the top rope. Lawler: “What about the injured wrist of Aksana?” A middle rope ax handle to the arm keeps Natalya in trouble and Sane kicks at it a bit more. Sane adds a running dropkick to the ribs so Asuka can get two, followed by the armbreaker.

Asuka switches to a near guillotine and here’s Sarah Logan to stand next to Riott. Natalya slams her way out of trouble as Logan and Riott start fighting. Morgan dives onto the two of them so Natalya clotheslines Sane for two. The Sharpshooter goes on but Asuka kicks Natalya in the head for the pin at 10:57.

Rating: D+. This is the kind of match where I can hear Tony Schiavone shouting “What in the world is going on? And who is on who’s side?” That’s the case here as it had a bunch of stories going on at once and the main thing I could think of was this was four women who have been destroyed by Shayna Baszler in the last week. The titles (the most useless in WWE) weren’t even on the line, so what are the stakes here? A fight between a loser trio who are now individual losers?

Here’s the OC, with AJ Styles complaining about Undertaker interfering in his business twice. We look at Undertaker helping Aleister Black beat AJ last night so the fans chant for Undertaker. Back in the arena, AJ talks about Undertaker losing to Roman Reigns three years ago at Wrestlemania, fold his clothes nicely, and then ride off into the sunset. He probably should have done that when Brock Lesnar broke the Streak but that’s beside the point.

But then Undertaker ruined that powerful moment by coming back to the WWE. That’s going to cost him because AJ wants Undertaker at Wrestlemania. AJ doesn’t see a monster anymore, but a broken down, old man named Mark Callaway. He knows what keeps Undertaker coming back: his wife, Michelle McCool. She plays him like a fiddle, because anything she wants, she gets.

Undertaker does whatever she wants, because he gets hurt every time he gets in the ring. They have a beautiful family but she’s the most conniving person he’s ever met. AJ tells Undertaker that Michelle is going to run his life into the ground and AJ is going to help. At Wrestlemania, Undertaker dies in the ring, so accept the challenge and put the final nail in your own coffin.

Randy Orton has not thoughts on Edge returning tonight.

24/7 Title: Riddick Moss vs. Cedric Alexander

Moss is defending and runs Alexander over to start. Cedric gets sent outside and we hit the chinlock back inside. That’s broken up and Cedric hits the springboard swinging Downward Spiral for two but a springboard is cut off. Moss’ neckbreaker retains the title at 2:04.

Here’s MVP to insult Washington DC and talk about how he’s transitioning into a management role. He needs a centerpiece to his stable though, and that would be Edge. As great as Edge is, he has a problem focusing so MVP can help guide him back to prominence.

We see Edge arriving at the arena and MVP is thrilled to see him. Edge storms the ring and demands Orton get out here right now but MVP asks him about his wife. That earns him a spear but here’s Orton to go after Edge…who hits an RKO on Orton. Edge grabs some chairs but Orton bails, leaving him to choke MVP out and hit an RKO onto the chair. Edge shouts that this is Randy and gives MVP the one man Conchairto. After a long staredown, Edge charges after Orton and we take an abrupt break. As usual, Edge’s facial expressions are second to none and tell you how intense Wrestlemania is going to be.

Next week: AJ and the Undertaker sign the contract.

We see HHH receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Arnold Classic over the weekend.

Paul Heyman talks about Brock Lesnar’s career of dominance and how no one has ever been so dominant for so long. We go to Drew McIntyre, who says everything Heyman just said is true, but then Lesnar ran into him. This includes McIntyre Claymoring Lesnar half to death last week, with Drew promising to become the new reigning, defending, undisputed WWE Champion at Wrestlemania.

Edge is still looking for Orton, who has left the arena.

Seth Rollins vs. Aleister Black

Rollins has his popcorn and Murphy with him. Feeling out process to start with Black armdragging his way out of a wristlock but getting kicked in the ribs. Both finishers miss early and Black sends him to the floor, only to moonsault into the middle of the ring as we take a break.

Back with Black being sent throat first into the ropes and a Sling Blade giving Rollins two. The Downward Spiral into the middle rope sets up a running knee to the head to rock Black. Back in and Rollins misses the springboard knee, allowing Black to strike away. The middle rope standing moonsault drops Rollins and the German suplex gets two with Murphy coming in for the DQ at 7:37.

Rating: C+. You might as well line up the tag match right now as I don’t believe there is anything else scheduled for the rest of the show. The match was getting somewhere until the ending, though I can get them wanting to protect Rollins after back to back losses. That doesn’t make it much better, but at least it’s something.

Post match the beatdown is on but here are the Viking Raiders and Street Profits for the save. The eight man is on, as is my eye rolling because I’m sick of this trope.

Seth Rollins/Murphy/AOP vs. Street Profits/Viking Raiders

Ford starts fast against Murphy and it’s already off to Dawkins for two off a dropkick. Ivar and Akam come in for the slugout before it’s quickly off to Erik for his own shot to the face. Rollins comes back in and misses a splash in the corner so it’s Murphy getting slammed down and having Ivar slammed down on him for a bonus. The fast tags continue with Ford coming in to dropkick Rezar into the corner as we see the full Owens beatdown from earlier.

A crossbody is countered into a fall away slam and Murphy comes back in for the chinlock. Ford fights up and brings in Erik, whose suicide dive is cut off by Rezar. Murphy Meteoras Erik off the apron though and we take a break. Back with Erick in trouble in the corner and then being sent into the barricade. Erik whips him over the barricade but Murphy and the AOP break up the hot tag attempt.

A knee to the chest gives Rezar two and we hit the chinlock. Rollins chokes in the corner and Murphy gets in a cheap shot as the CM PUNK chants begin. Back up and Erik scores with a knee to Rollins’ face and the hot tag brings in Ford to clean house. A DDT plants Murphy and we take another abrupt break. Back with Rollins clotheslining Ford down and grabbing the neck crank.

Murphy replaces Rollins with a chinlock but Ford superkicks his way to freedom. The hot tag brings in Erik and everything breaks down with a parade of secondary finishers. Ford Frog Splashes Rollins for two with Murphy making the save, leaving the Raiders to dive onto the AOP. That’s followed by a big dive from Ford but he comes back in and leaves his head down so Rollins can hit the Stomp for the pin at 23:38.

Rating: C. This is a great example of why Raw’s structure needs a big shakeup. As soon as they went to that first break, you could tell this was closing the show. In other words, yes it was going to be a 23 minute match, but there was no reason to believe that it might end beforehand. With nothing else announced for the show, this is what you were getting for the rest of the night. If you watch WWE regularly, you can tell what they’re going to do most of the time and that was the case here, which wasn’t a good thing. The match was fine, but when there is no drama or interest, it’s a bit hard to invest in it.

Post match here’s Owens again to go after Rollins but he has to Stun Murphy. That means a trio of Stomps knocks Owens out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It was an up and down night and the main event matches totaling about 40 minutes of TV time didn’t help things. The story has stalled a good bit and I’m not sure if there is enough juice for it to get that much time in a given week. The main point of this show was to start the real push towards Wrestlemania. While the top of the card is looking solid, there is so much other stuff that you have to use to fill in a three hour Raw and a lot of that isn’t making Wrestlemania (or isn’t going to mean anything if it makes it). I liked a lot of the show, but that third hour continues to grind them down, as it always does.

Results

Rey Mysterio b. Angel Garza – Springboard splash

Bobby Lashley b. Zack Ryder – Spinning Dominator

Drew McIntyre b. Erick Rowan – Claymore

Kabuki Warriors b. Liv Morgan/Natalya – Kick to Natalya’s head

Riddick Moss b. Cedric Alexander – Neckbreaker

Aleister Black b. Seth Rollins via DQ when Murphy interfered

Seth Rollins/Murphy/AOP b. Viking Raiders/Street Profits – Stomp to Ford

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: October 7, 2005
Location: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the go home show for No Mercy and that means the show needs one more push towards the pay per view. Last week Eddie Guerrero may or may not have hit Batista in the back with a chair on purpose. That’s the kind of thing that could go either way for Eddie and that is making the story more interesting. We also need to deal with the fallout from Monday, when Smackdown and Raw got in a big brawl at Homecoming. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Raw vs. Smackdown brawl.

Opening sequence.

Here are Teddy Long and Palmer Cannon in the ring. Teddy announces that tonight, it’s the six man tag that Eric Bischoff wouldn’t let you see last night: JBL/Christian/Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio/Chris Benoit/Batista. Cannon grabs the mic to say Smackdown can fight Raw again anytime with the network’s full report. Teddy knows Bischoff is going to want some revenge so the Raw wrestlers can come to No Mercy and start something that Smackdown will finish.

Cue the Ortons with Randy asking Long and Cannon to leave. Teddy has something to say but Cannon says they’ll leave the ring for the future of Smackdown. Randy is hoping Undertaker is watching, because tonight another legend is being destroyed. The Ortons are going to destroy the legend of Roddy Piper in a handicap match. Bob talks about his time with Piper and they were friends, but this is family. Why did Piper get all the glory when Bob did all the work? Cue Roddy Piper, with a pipe, to take both of them out without much trouble.

Booker T. vs. Orlando Jordan

Sharmell introduces Booker. They lock up to start and the fans go straight to the YOU TAPPED OUT chants for Jordan. Some cheap shots in the corner put Booker down as I’m just waiting for Jordan to screw something up. A running elbow gives Jordan a delayed one and Booker strikes away without much trouble. Jordan is right back with a knee to the ribs and the chinlock goes on.

Back up and Jordan elbows him in the face before turning Booker inside out with a clothesline for two. They head outside and Booker kicks a chair out of Jordan’s hands and it’s time to go back inside. Jordan tries to suplex him back in from the apron but Sharmell trips him up (Booker couldn’t see it) so Booker can land on top for the pin.

Rating: D+. That might be the best one on one match I’ve ever seen Jordan have and I’m not sure how much of that is due to Booker being able to make anyone look at least passable. At the same time though, Sharmell continues to be annoying and drags Booker down more and more every time. What does it say when you need help to beat Orlando Jordan?

Post match Booker sees what happened on the Titantron and isn’t happy with Sharmell.

Hardcore Holly vs. Sylvan

Mr. Kennedy, in a suit, comes out to introduce himself as a guest commentator. Sylvan starts fast and hammers away in the corner as Kennedy makes Sparkplug references. Holly is back with chops and the dropkick, followed by a clothesline to the floor. Back in and Holly hits his kick to the rather low abdomen but as the referee checks on Sylvan, allowing Kennedy to hit Holly with a microphone. Sylvan is up with a vertical suplex into a DDT for the pin.

Post match, Kennedy announces Holly as the loser. In a match involving Sylvain, he’s always the loser.

Piper talks about his history with Bob Orton. See, Bob isn’t quite the sharpest guy in the world and complained about the light being in his eyes so Piper bought him his hat. Then he complained about being called Jr. so Piper called him ace instead. Then Orton broke his hand, but who really had the handicap? This was one of those Piper promos where he goes in one direction and then says something where you’re kind of left scratching your head. In other words, it was more coherent than almost anything he has said in fifteen fifteen years.

Animal/Heidenreich vs. Paul Burchill/William Regal

Non-title and Animal and Heidenreich have Christy Hemme in their corner. Burchill gets thrown around to start so it’s off to Regal, who sends Animal shoulder first into the buckle. The arm gets posted twice in a row but Animal uses the good arm for a backdrop. Heidenreich comes in and everything breaks down. Christy gets on the apron to call for the Doomsday Device but Melina comes out to pull her down as MNM comes in to jump the champs for the DQ.

Post match Animal and Heidenreich are sent outside, leaving Christy to take the Snapshot. That might make the six person tag a little unfair. I mean to MNM and Melina, as Christy being out can only help Animal and Smackdown.

Eddie Guerrero, in a Batista shirt, says he showed he had Batista’s back last week because they’re close.

Here’s Eddie for a chat. He’s the #1 contender and that means he has the privilege of facing someone he admires in Batista. Eddie shows us some footage from after Raw went off the air of….the Smackdown wrestlers slowly backing up the ramp. This proves that Eddie had his back so on Sunday, the two of them will still be friends after the match. With that faulty logic out of the way, here’s Batista, in the same shirt, with Eddie playing cheerleader.

Batista shows us a clip of the chair shot from last week and he’d like an explanation. He’d also like a chair from ringside, which has Eddie a bit nervous. Batista hands it to Eddie and turns around, saying we should bring it out into the open. Eddie throws the chair down and says he was wrong about Batista. He thought Batista was just like him, but if the roles were reversed last week, it couldn’t have been Batista hitting him?

Eddie goes to leave but Batista says he wants to believe he has changed. Batista has eyes in the back of his head and if Eddie tries to screw him, it’s going to mean pain. That’s what Eddie wants, because the Batista he knows could hurt someone. Eddie promises to prove himself on Sunday and he’ll show it tonight too. I’m getting into this more and more every week as the mind games have been pretty awesome.

Raw Rebound.

Randy Orton/Bob Orton vs. Roddy Piper

Piper bites Randy to start and pokes him in the eye so it’s off to Bob for the old man slugout. It’s back to Randy for a dropkick and some right hands but Bob begs his son to let him get the pin. Bob loads up an elbow and there’s the gong strike. No one comes out so Bob hits the elbow anyway….and the gong goes off again, this time with the lights flickering. The distraction lets Piper small package Bob for the pin.

Rating: D. This had a bit of history to it but mainly felt like Piper was brought in because he was around for Homecoming. They were very smart to keep this short as you don’t want these guys trying to have a long match. There’s nothing wrong with Piper pinning Bob so while the match was bad, it was all you could have asked for in this situation.

Post match the druids are here to bring out a casket built for two. Undertaker pops up on screen to dare the Ortons to look inside. The lid pops up and Orton mannequins are inside to freak out Bob and Randy. Then the lights go out again and Undertaker is in the ring to scare them off.

Bobby Lashley vs. Eddie Craven

Hold on though as here’s Simon Dean, with his hand in a cast, to interrupt. Lashley broke his hand last week because he needed to take away the strength advantage. On Sunday, Simon is going to win because of advanced cardiovascular conditioning. Therefore, he’s going to do squats during the match. Lashley sends Craven into the corner to start and puts Craven in a fireman’s carry for some more impressive squats. A clothesline sets up an overhead suplex but Simon grabs Lashley’s leg. That goes nowhere so Lashley finishes with the Dominator in a hurry.

Eddie Guerrero/Christian/John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Rey Mysterio/Chris Benoit/Batista

The match that would have been on Monday and Jillian Hall is here with the villains. Joined in progress with Benoit and Christian fighting over a lockup in the corner to no avail. Benoit gets serious and tries a Crossface but Christian goes straight to the ropes in a smart move. It’s off to Eddie for another version of a match that never gets old.

Neither can get anywhere with the technical stuff so they go to a test of strength with Eddie headbutting and kicking away. Eventually he flips forward into a hurricanrana for a rather unique way out. It’s off to Batista and Eddie isn’t sure what to do. A quick takedown attempt doesn’t get Eddie very far as Batista kicks him away and hits a gorilla press. JBL comes in and gets his knee dropkicked out by Rey, only to come back with a hard shoulder.

Rey goes to the apron but an Eddie distraction lets JBL knock him to the floor. Back from a break with Christian putting Rey in an abdominal stretch to keep him in trouble. Rey slips out and misses a springboard crossbody, allowing JBL to come in with a swinging neckbreaker. Eddie charges into an elbow in the corner though and Rey hits the sitout bulldog. The hot tag brings in Batista and it’s house cleaning time in a hurry. Eddie low bridges JBL to save Batista, allowing the spinebuster to finish Christian.

Rating: C+. Pretty standard main event six man tag but the talent involved is more than enough to carry it. Eddie vs. Batista has some potential on Sunday but a good build doesn’t necessarily mean a good match. The other matches were barely touched on but they have been set up well enough already. I can always go for mixing up a bunch of feuds into one match so this was as good of a main event as you could have had.

Post match Eddie hugs Batista but JBL and company jump both of them. Eddie and Batista clear the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. No Mercy isn’t looking great and this show didn’t do much to make me think otherwise. I like Eddie vs. Batista but the rest of the card is really showcasing just how weak the Smackdown roster is at the moment. The top talent is doing what they can but when you have Orlando Jordan, Hardcore Holly, Sylvan and Heidenreich getting pay per view matches, it might be time to rethink things a bit.

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: September 30, 2005
Location: Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re almost ready for No Mercy and most of the card is either set or all but set. That makes for a show that is all about getting fans to want to buy the pay per view, which is often the hardest part. Maybe it works out well here though, even if the show might not seem like the biggest deal. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Cole gives us a quick rundown of Laredo and its location near the border. I don’t think I need a geography lesson to open the show.

Here’s JBL, with an inner tube, a sombrero and a donkey as I think you know where this is going. After a bit of Spanish, JBL tells the fans to find someone with a green card, if they can. The fans chant at him so JBL threatens a big call to immigration before talking about going to meet Rey’s relatives. This includes inner tubing at night and jump starting “peek up” trucks. JBL says the back of the donkey reminds of everyone he sees here, which is why he had to be careful in selecting a partner.

Mr. Kennedy/John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Rey Mysterio/Hardcore Holly

Kennedy compares Tony Chimmel to the donkey on the way in. Rey does the Mexican hat dance around the sombrero before dropkicking Kennedy down for an early two. An inner tube shot to the back lets Kennedy take over and it’s JBL coming in. That earns him a DDT and a tag to Holly means more of a beating in the corner.

It’s already back to Mysterio vs. Kennedy with JBL breaking up a quick 619 attempt. The fall away slam sets up the bearhug until Rey bites his way out. After dispatching Kennedy, it’s off to Holly to pick the pace way up. A full nelson slam plants Kennedy and it’s the dropkick to JBL. The questionably low kick to the ribs drops JBL again but Kennedy grabs Holly, allowing the Clothesline From JBL to connect for the pin.

Rating: C-. Just a quick tag match to advance a pair of feuds and there is nothing wrong with that. JBL doing the anti-Mexico stuff is as JBL as you can get so I wouldn’t have expected anything else. Kennedy is growing on me in a hurry and I’m starting to see why he was as popular as he was for the time being.

We look at last week’s Eddie Is Sick deal with Dr. Barnett…uh…yeah.

Eddie is eating some Mexican food when Batista comes up and takes it away. Just looking out for his partner you see. Batista eats it anyway, making me want some Mexican food in the process.

Melina is in the parking lot when Christy Hemme rides up on a motorcycle (I’m not sure that’s the safest riding attire). They get in an argument and Melina breaks a nail, meaning a match is imminent.

Melina vs. Christy Hemme

MNM are at ringside. Christy sends her into the corner and tells Melina to watch her nail. That earns her a dropkick for two as Tazz rambles about Christy looking great on the motorcycle. An armbar has Christy in trouble until she makes it to the rope, only to have Melina drape the arm across said rope. Christy’s sunset flip out of the corner into a kick to the head lets Christy roll her up for two (with a rather suggestive form on the rollup). Mercury distracts the referee though, allowing Nitro to trip Christy for the pin.

Rating: D. If you’re getting pinned just because you call on your face, it might be time to stay out of the ring. This was every lackluster women’s match you would get around this time, but at least there wasn’t a ton of catfighting. They don’t seem to be trying to make this a bunch of serious women’s matches and given the current crop of talent, that’s best for everyone.

Post match Melina yells so Christy hits her in the face. MNM goes after her but Heidenreich and Animal make the save.

We look back at Undertaker popping out of the casket last week in a fairly effective segment.

Bob Orton vs. Undertaker

Before the match, Bob insists Randy won’t be around tonight so Bob can show no mercy. Never trust a cowboy. Bob snaps off a left hand to start and the glare sends him bailing to the floor. Back in and Undertaker doesn’t honor a timeout request and hammers away but the ref gets bumped early. That means the low blow so here’s Randy to jump Undertaker, because you can’t trust a cowboy.

The big beatdown is on, with Randy hammering away and sending Undertaker over the announcers’ table. They toss Undertaker over the top and back inside so Bob can get two, meaning it’s time for the pain. The ref gets bumped again so Randy can try the RKO….which is shoved away. The Tombstone finishes Bob before Randy can cheat again.

Rating: D. Bob was only 55 years old here so it’s not ridiculous to have him in a match where he actually has to work. The wrestling wasn’t the point here of course as it’s all a way to show that Undertaker might be in trouble when Randy and Bob are allowed to wrestle at the same time. I’m not sure how good the casket match will be, but at least it should be a bit better than this.

Post break, here’s what you saw pre break.

We take a quick look at Bobby Lashley debuting and destroying Simon Dean last week.

Bobby Lashley vs. Russell Simpson

Simpson can’t wrestle him down or whip him in so Lashley drives the not so bright jobber into the corner. Some kicks to the leg slow Lashley down until it’s a backbreaker to drop Simpson. The Dominator gives Lashley the fast pin.

Post match here’s Simon Dean to offer Lashley a shake before their match at No Mercy. This goes as you would expect, with the shake being squashed and Dean being pressed out to the floor.

It’s time for the Peep Show. Before we get to our guest, Christian wants to know why there is no United States Title match at No Mercy. Chris Benoit has been on a roll as of late until he ran into Christian. That’s why he should get the title shot, but here are Booker T. and Sharmell to interfere. Sharmell says Christian asked Booker what he had done lately so Booker talks about pinning Christian last week.

This brings out Orlando Jordan to say he deserves a shot because it’s time for him to get his revenge on Benoit. Booker: “It took you longer to say that than it took Benoit to make you tap out.” Teddy Long comes out and says Benoit gets to choose the opponent but first of all, let’s have a triple threat match so everyone can showcase themselves.

Orlando Jordan vs. Christian vs. Booker T.

Joined in progress with Booker getting double teamed but he sends Christian to the floor and beats Jordan up. Everyone heads to the floor with Jordan being sent into the steps but Christian takes Booker down into a neck crank. Christian heads up top so Booker follows him, only to have Jordan come back in for the Tower of Doom. Booker is up first and beats on Christian, including loading up a catapult. Jordan rolls him up though, sending Christian over the top and grabbing the trunks to finish Booker.

Rating: D+. This Jordan stuff needs to stop in a hurry. The joke ran its course but he’s still here despite having no apparent reason to be there. Other than being there for the sake of filling in a spot, what other justification is there? Nothing match of course but that’s probably best for something with Jordan involved.

Post match Benoit comes out and says he’ll fight them off. Makes a lot more sense than another Jordan match.

Vince McMahon comes in to see Teddy and Palmer Cannon. After Palmer sucks up to him, Vince wants to know the Smackdown match for Homecoming. Teddy knows who will be involved, but not who is in it yet. Teddy had four days and couldn’t come up with a match involving three good guys and three bad guys?

Tag Team Titles; Batista/Eddie Guerrero vs. Animal/Heidenreich

Animal/Heidenreich are defending and Eddie’s stomach seems fine this week. The bell rings and we take a break about two seconds in for an Undertaker vs. Ortons ad. Back with Heidenreich throwing Eddie around and firing off rights and lefts in the corner. Eddie makes the mistake of punching Animal so it’s off to Batista for the big power showdown.

Animal kicks him down but misses an elbow and it’s already back to Eddie and Heidenreich. Eddie feigns stomach pain and gets in a low blow. That doesn’t last long though as Heidenreich knocks him down and puts on the chinlock. Animal’s powerslam gets two but Eddie hurricanranas his way out of a Doomsday Device. It’s off to Batista so house can be cleaned, including the Batista Bomb to Heidenreich. Animal makes the save but here’s MNM for the DQ.

Rating: C-. This was all about setting up the ending and thank goodness they didn’t change the titles. Eddie vs. Batista is interesting and having them go for the titles like this was fine, as long as they don’t actually win them. That’s a trope that needs to go far, far away and it’s quite the relief that they didn’t go that way this time around. Animal and Heidenreich do need to drop the belts, but not here.

MNM unloads on Batista and Eddie with chairs but Eddie takes one away, only to hit Batista by mistake (allegedly). Batista gets up and clears the ring, seemingly not knowing that Eddie hit him.

Overall Rating: D+. They’re in an interesting stretch here as Eddie vs. Batista is a feud where you have to wait and see what is really going on. That’s not normal for WWE and it’s nice to have a bit of a change. Other than that, Undertaker vs. the Ortons feels like it’s going to be going on beyond No Mercy and JBL vs. Mysterio only has so much potential. This show wasn’t great for the most part, but they do have a direction. I’m just not sure how good of a direction that is.

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: September 16, 2005
Location: Alltel Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

With Raw’s Unforgiven coming up on two days after this show, it’s time to start setting up the next Smackdown pay per view. Last week seemed to be an ending point for some big stories and that means we are coming up on some new stuff. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store but you never know what that might be. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Chris Benoit vs. Christian

Non-title. Hold on though as here’s Orlando Jordan who says he wants another shot. Christian and Jordan beat Benoit down but Jordan gets caught in the Crossface. Christian breaks that up so here’s Booker T. to make it a tag match. The REFEREE makes it a tag match though as he must have sights on Teddy’s job.

Christian/Orlando Jordan vs. Booker T./Chris Benoit

Sharmell comes out to watch as Booker hiptosses Christian to start. The spinebuster gives Booker two but Jordan gets in a cheap shot from the apron. Christian knocks him to the floor and gets two off a neckbreaker back inside. The chinlock doesn’t last long but Christian keeps Booker down and brings Jordan in. Now why would you do something stupid like that?

Jordan grabs his own chinlock and, of course, Booker fights up and hits the Book End because Jordan is really, really bad at wrestling. Benoit comes in and suplexes Christian but Jordan breaks up the Crossface. Jordan and Booker head outside with the former grabbing a chair so Booker shoves him away, right into Sharmell. That’s not cool with Booker but in the melee, Christian hits the Unprettier to finish Benoit.

Rating: C-. It’s almost amazing how bad Jordan is and yet WWE keeps him at this level for whatever reason. He can’t do anything above the most basic stuff and can’t even do that right. That’s what makes it such a relief to have Christian being moved into Jordan’s slot against Benoit. It’s an instant (mega) upgrade and a huge relief.

Video on Randy Orton being the Legend Killer and Undertaker being the Undertaker.

Batista flirts with Christy Hemme and Stacy Keibler, has a sip of a Simon System milkshake, and heads to the ring.

Palmer Cannon and Teddy Long bring out Batista for a chat. Batista says he needs a new #1 contender, so Teddy, “Network guy”, who’s it going to be? Long is ready to announce someone who sounds a lot like Rey Mysterio as #1 contender but Cannon takes the mic away and picks Eddie Guerrero. Eddie talks about his addictions with the biggest being his addiction to manipulation. Last week, he finally beat Rey and now he has a new addiction: respect.

Now he is all about honor and love and Batista is greatness. There won’t be any hate at No Mercy and they can have the greatest match of all time. Batista says they can be friends and Eddie is very pleased. Everyone knows what kind of man Eddie is and imagine what kind of champion he can be. Eddie offers a handshake and wants to be friends but Batista wants a hug. This was a bit weird, but the mind games are going to be a lot of fun to watch, mainly because Batista is smart.

Tag Team Titles: Heidenreich/Animal vs. MNM

MNM is challenging because these teams are the tag division these days. Heidenreich runs Mercury over to start so it’s already time for a conference. Mercury gets in a few cheap shots before running to the floor, where Animal nails him with a clothesline. Animal comes in and gets choked on the ropes, setting up a double Russian legsweep for two. A neckbreaker gets the same and we hit the quickly broken sleeper. Animal kicks that away and brings Heidenreich back in to clean house. Melina’s interference fails as everything breaks down, including Mercury hitting Heidenreich with the belt for the DQ.

Rating: D. So yes the feud can continue so WWE can sell more DVDs. They would be a lot better off by having Heidenreich and Animal destroying jobbers because these matches are just showing how nothing Animal and Heidenreich have in matches that last more than a minute. The nostalgia run is fine, but don’t treat it like it’s anything more than nostalgia/cashing in on the original team’s legacy.

Long and Cannon argue over Eddie being named #1 contender but the network has its wishes.

The Ortons have a surprise for Undertaker in the back of a U-Haul truck.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Rey Mysterio

Rey kicks at the leg to start so JBL punches him in the face to cut that off in a hurry. An armdrag looks to set up the 619 so JBL hits a hard shoulder to drop him again. A hard whip sends Rey into the corner and it’s off to the bearhug. Rey slips out and grabs a DDT to put them both down for a double breather. A basement dropkick gives Rey…well nothing actually as JBL is under the rope. Rey dropkicks the knee into the 619 but the springboard seated senton is blocked. That’s fine with Rey who hits a springboard moonsault press for the quick pin.

Rating: C-. This would seem to set up a rematch at No Mercy as JBL isn’t going to be happy with a loss to someone like Mysterio. The good thing about Rey is something like this could be considered a fluke win and allows for a variety of rematches, even though seeing JBL over and over doesn’t exactly bode well. He’s still one of the top heels on Smackdown though and putting the two of them together is a fine way to go.

Nunzio and Vito are in Teddy’s office with the former wanting to know why he’s isn’t wrestling even though he’s Cruiserweight Champion. Eddie, who is still here, suggests a match with Batista and Cannon makes the match.

JBL won’t answer questions and walks away so here’s Mr. Kennedy to ask why he isn’t getting some attention. Oh and Josh Matthews smells so bad he smells like Arkansas. Kennedy introduces himself and as luck would have it, he’s up next.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Jacus Plisken

Right hands and the super Regal Roll finish Jock in about a minute.

Batista vs. Nunzio

Non-title, Vito is here with Nunzio and Eddie is watching from the stage. The announcers make it clear that Nunzio has been stuck on Velocity in recent weeks, further killing anything the title could still offer. Batista pulls both of them inside and throws Nunzio at Vito. Vito’s distraction lets Nunzio get in a dropkick and that’s enough to set off the destruction. The Batista Bomb finishes in a hurry. I’d love an explanation for why they do this to the Cruiserweight Title. It’s been the case for a long time now and there has to be a reason.

Randy Orton tells Cowboy Bob to wait for the right moment.

JBL has a secret meeting with Jillian Hall because he needs her assistance.

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

Joined in progress with Undertaker shoving him away and grabbing a rather harsh headlock. A big boot gives Undertaker two and it’s off to a keylock. Orton fights up but gets pulled into a Fujiwara armbar as it’s weird to see scientific Undertaker. Old School is broken up with a crotching and Orton headbutts him so hard that he staggers himself. The superplex plants Undertaker and Orton calls for his dad to bring the truck.

Since we’re about five minutes into the match, Undertaker sits up, only to get DDTed back down. The truck comes in and is opened to reveal….a casket. Back from a break with Undertaker fighting out of a chinlock and elbowing away in the corner. That just earns him a dropkick and we hit the chinlock again. Orton goes up top but dives into a raised boot to leave them both staggered. The over the back backbreaker drops Undertaker, but he slugs Orton down from his knees.

The jumping clothesline connects and Undertaker scores with the big boot into Snake Eyes. Orton kicks him in the face and Undertaker glares him down before heading outside. Undertaker teases sending him into the casket but there’s an Undertaker mannequin inside, allowing Orton to send him into the steps. Back in and Orton has to slip out of a Last Ride attempt, only to have the referee get bumped. The RKO gets two from a second referee and a chokeslam connects for the same, with Bob pulling the referee out. Another RKO is countered and the Tombstone finishes Orton.

Rating: C. The match was a good bit overbooked but that’s the kind of thing that you have to expect from a main event level match like this. I’m sure we’ll get a casket match eventually and while that might not be thrilling, it does make sense given the story. Hopefully the wrestling is a bit better, but there is a special feeling when Undertaker is in the ring.

Overall Rating: C. The wrestling wasn’t great here but what matters is that we are seeing some new stuff. Eddie vs. Batista, JBL vs. Mysterio and Christian vs. Benoit, plus the continued rise of Kennedy all give me some hope for the next month. Smackdown had some good stuff over the summer but they have been long overdue for some fresh blood. Hopefully we can get something good in the coming weeks and this show made me think that’s a possibility.

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: September 9, 2005
Location: Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s a big night as Smackdown moves over to Fridays, where it would stay for a very long time to come. This is a stacked card with Batista defending the World Title against JBL in a bullrope match, Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio in a cage match and Heidenreich/Animal defending the Tag Team Titles against MNM. Let’s get to it.

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

A small note about this show: the first hour was aired on WWE.com due to a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Heidenreich/Animal vs. MNM

MNM is challenging with Melina at ringside. Heidenreich rushes both of them to start and the fight is on in a hurry, with Nitro’s flip over him only resulting in a crash. Animal drives Nitro into the barricade and punches Mercury in the face as the dominance is strong early on. Mercury’s arm is wrapped around the post but Melina offers a distraction so he can snap Heidenreich’s throat across the top.

A running knee in the corner lets Nitro hammer away and it’s back to Mercury for a front facelock. With Heidenreich down, Mercury goes up but takes his time, earning himself a slam right back down. The hot tag brings in Animal to clean house but the referee gets bumped. Melina brings in a title but gets caught, allowing Animal to belt Mercury in the head to retain.

Rating: D+. I was kind of surprised by how not horrible this was. Animal and Heidenreich have been champions for about a month now and while they really don’t need to be around much longer, they could have been worse. At least the ending wasn’t clean so there is a reason for a rematch in the near future.

Video on Randy Orton vs. Undertaker with Orton promising to retire the Undertaker.

Here’s Ken Kennedy for his match, but first he needs to tell Tony Chimmel that there are two things he sucks at: announcing and announcing. Kennedy handles his own introduction again and you really can feel the charisma dripping off of him.

Ken Kennedy vs. Paul London

Kennedy elbows him down to start and stomps away, setting up a middle rope elbow. A bearhug (what an odd visual) goes on but London is out in a hurry with a spinning kick to the head. London takes him up but gets caught with the middle rope Regal Roll for the pin, meaning Kennedy can handle the victory announcement.

Rating: D+. Not much to this one but Kennedy continues to roll. It’s easy to see what they see in Kennedy and I could go for more of him. The It Factor is strong with him, though it’s a little weird to have him go from beating Booker T. one week to beating Paul London the next. At least he looked dominant though and that’s the right idea early on.

Theodore Long and Palmer Cannon are shown watching. Yes, the bosses are in fact here.

Paul Burchill vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Fallout from an attack on Velocity and William Regal is on commentary to make our lives better. Burchill declares himself the most dangerous import since Regal, which makes his eyebrows go up. Scotty slugs away to start but Burchill takes him down by the arm and hammers away. The armbar with a chinlock goes on early on but Scotty fights up. That earns him three straight whips into the post, setting up a shoulder breaker. The Fujiwara armbar makes Scotty tap.

Rating: C-. Burchill is someone else who gets your attention and has the aggression that can take him a long way. That and being out there with Regal will always help him, as the evil British guys is a trope that has worked for years. I liked what I saw here and they’re doing some interesting stuff with the new talent, so well done there.

Kennedy comes up to Sharmell in the back and introduces himself, while bragging about beating Booker T. last week. Sharmell leaves but Kennedy brings up the lack of title shots that Booker T. has received. Like say, against Chris Benoit. Friends shouldn’t let friends drive drunk but they should give friends title shots.

Here’s the Undertaker to deal with the Ortons. Undertaker says that he and death wait for no man so Randy and Bob can get out here right now. Cue the Ortons on the stage and Randy brings out the check for $1,416 towards Undertaker’s retirement fund. If Undertaker wants it, come get it. Instead, Undertaker sends a bolt of lightning to light it on fire. The idea of Undertaker and money is just wrong.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

In a cage and Eddie has new music. Eddie walks right over to him before the bell and hammers away in the corner before sending him into the cage three times in a row. Rey is back up with a spinning armdrag and a monkey flip but the cage prevents a 619. It’s too early to climb though and Eddie powerbombs him down for a double knockdown. Eddie pulls him down again, this time wrenching Rey’s knee (yes, a Mysterio knee injury) and we take a break.

Back with Rey trying to pull Eddie down and getting kicked away. Instead, he jumps up onto the ropes for a super Russian legsweep, because going Russian usually works. Rey goes up again and this time they both wind up sitting on top of the cage for the slugout. It’s Rey getting his legs over the side first but Eddie pulls him back in and they wind up on the top rope instead. In a pretty unique spot, Rey dropkicks him into the cage and they both crash down.

Eddie is back up with a DDT but Rey grabs the leg for the save. Back from another break with Rey hurricanranaing him off the top but tweaking the knee again. Rey goes up again but makes the rather dumb mistake of trying a high crossbody, earning the crash and burn landing. Eddie has the chance to leave but goes up top instead and hits the frog splash to FINALLY beat Rey.

Rating: B. This felt like a weird afterthought with Summerslam already done but at least Eddie FINALLY got a win over Rey. It’s the only way the story could end from Eddie’s side and that’s the right call if they’re going that way. Both guys are ready for something new and that’s long overdue at this point.

Linda McMahon asks you to donate to Hurricane Katrina relief.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan

Benoit is defending and we see both full title matches during his entrance. Jordan misses a right hand and gets Crossfaced for the tap at 22.5 seconds. Yeah it’s still funny.

Video on Batista.

Long and Cannon announce Undertaker vs. Randy Orton for next week.

Smackdown World Title: John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Batista

Batista is defending in the four corners variety bullrope match. JBL slugs away to start but Batista uses the rope to cut him off in about half a second. The rope gets wrapped around JBL’s neck for a few buckle slaps (complete with the lights so you know who has scored) but JBL breaks it up. That earns him some stomping in the corner so JBL has to hit a big clothesline to cut Batista off again.

A poke to the eye and a kick to the head have Batista down in the corner and a cowbell to the head knocks him silly. That’s good for three turnbuckles but Batista pulls him back again, despite laying on the ropes at the time. Maybe JBL needs to hit the gym a bit harder. JBL hits him low with the rope and we take a break.

Back with Batista carrying him on his shoulders for two buckles but it’s broken up again and reset. The Clothesline From JBL is blocked with a forearm and the whipping begins. The Batista Bomb connects and JBL is busted open. Batista doesn’t mind as we get the slow walk around the ring with both of them hitting three buckles. A spinebuster lets Batista get to the fourth buckle for the win.

Rating: D+. What were you expecting from this one? These matches are only going to be so good with the gimmick limiting what they can do. This was almost every version of this that you’ve ever seen with both of them going cutting the other off and then the near tie to end the show. That’s almost all you see here and the lack of drama really hurt things. Not the worst, but really lame for a main event.

An Undertaker vs. Orton video ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The cage match was good and felt like a big moment, but this show came off as underwhelming. They had a lot of matches that felt important but almost none of them lived up to the hype. For a show on a new night, they didn’t exactly treat it like some major change, but at least we had that one good match. It’s not a bad show, but I was expecting a lot more.

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

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

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

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