It’s time to go see the in-laws again so I’ll be down for a bit. The time situation won’t let me do any live shows while I’m gone but I’ll be doing them ASAP as I’ll have some down time over there. I already have all the columns and 2004 shows written in advance so they’ll be up as usual. I’ll try to throw out some old school stuff to fill in some of the gaps.
KB
You have to grow up sometime. Back in 2002, WWE had the greatest influx of talent the company has ever seen. New stars of the future debuted and were mixed together with some of the already established talents, meaning it was time for things to start picking up. You can’t go from rookie to main eventer overnight though, meaning there had to be a time when the new stars grew up. That’s what happened in 2003 and it was a very exciting time.
In this book, I’ll be looking at all fifty two episodes of Smackdown from 2003 as I try to find out what worked and didn’t over the course of the entire year. Each one will be broken down match by match and segment by segment. Included will be analysis and ratings for the shows to see why the year is remembered so poorly.
The book runs about 320 pages and is available on Amazon both in a physical paperback for $9.99 or an e-book format for $2.99. In case you don’t have a Kindle, there are plenty of FREE apps you can get from Amazon for pretty much any electronic device, all of which are available at this link.
You can pick up the book from Amazon here in paperback and here as an e-book.
Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search “KB Smackdown 2003” and it should be the first thing to come up.
Also you can still get any of my previous books on the Intercontinental Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003 and the first half of 2014, Monday Nitro from 1995-1999, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views, Royal Rumble, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the WWF and WCW pay per views from 1998, Wrestlemania, WWE Grab Bag and Clash of the Champions, NXT Volumes I, II and III at my author’s page here.
I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.
KB
Oh it’s a dark time. WWE loves to talk about the history of Monday Night Raw. With over 1,300 episodes, it’s hard not to brag about it just a bit. There are some times you don’t hear about though, and that includes 2003. It’s considered one of the lowest points ever of the show’s history so of course I felt the need to watch every single episode. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
In this book, I’ll be looking at all fifty two episodes of Monday Night Raw from 2003 as I try to find out what worked and didn’t over the course of the entire year. Each one will be broken down match by match and segment by segment. Included will be analysis and ratings for the shows to see why the year is remembered so poorly.
The book runs about 340 pages and is available on Amazon both in a physical paperback for $9.99 or an e-book format for $2.99. In case you don’t have a Kindle, there are plenty of FREE apps you can get from Amazon for pretty much any electronic device, all of which are available at this link.
here as an e-book.
Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search “KB Raw 2003” and it should be the first thing to come up.
Also you can still get any of my previous books on the Intercontinental Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1997, 1998, 2001 and the first half of 2014, Monday Nitro from 1995-1999, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views, Royal Rumble, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the WWF and WCW pay per views from 1998, Wrestlemania, WWE Grab Bag and Clash of the Champions, NXT Volumes I, II and III at my author’s page here.
I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.
KB
On Friday, a rather nasty storm knocked out power to about a fourth of the city and at the moment, a rather large tree is laying over the power lines at the end of my street. I’ve had to go to a hotel just to get out of the pitch black so things are going to be a bit slow until the power is back up. Odds are there won’t be a Slammiversary review up, or much else other than what I can scrape together. Sorry for the delays everyone.
KB
It’s that time of year again. Starting on July 20, I’ll be posting a new Summerslam review every day until the 2018 edition on August 19. As I do every year, I’ll be redoing both last year’s show and one more that you all get to pick. Use the comments to vote on which one you want me to do. It can be any in the show’s history, save for 2002, 2003, 2013 and 2016, which I’ve done recently enough. Vote away.
KB
So starting this Saturday, I’m going to be doing a weekly Ask KB column over at Wrestlingrumors.net. I’ll be taking a variety of questions and writing out some longer form answers with more historical context etc. Therefore, I need some stuff to answer and as luck would have it, I have an awesome audience who knows what kinds of things to ask. Therefore, I’m looking for some combination of the following:
Trivia
How I would book things/where I see things going
General questions about wrestling
Anything else you guys would like me to answer about wrestling
As usual, any era or company is fair game. I’ll post a link to the column once it’s completed and posted this coming Saturday. Ask your questions in the comments.
KB
What more is there to say about NXT? The promotion, which started off as nothing more than a developmental territory to build up some of WWE’s stars, has taken on a life of its own. There have been more classic matches, more stars made and more great moments there than anywhere else in recent wrestling memory.
The book runs about 450 pages and is available on Amazon both in a physical paperback for $11.99 or an e-book format for $2.99. In case you don’t have a Kindle, there are plenty of FREE apps you can get from Amazon for pretty much any electronic device, all of which are available at this link.
You can pick up the book from Amazon here in paperback and here as an e-book.
Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search “KB NXT III” and it should be the first thing to come up.
Also you can still get any of my previous books on the Intercontinental Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1997, 1998, 2001 and the first half of 2014, Monday Nitro from 1995-1999, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views, Royal Rumble, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the WWF and WCW pay per views from 1998, Wrestlemania, WWE Grab Bag and Clash of the Champions at my author’s page here.
I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.
KB
It was a very good trip (despite falling and possibly breaking my thumb on the concrete as I left Smackdown) and I had a blast. Some of the people I got to meet blew my mind and I can’t believe it actually happened. I’ll be back at full speed tomorrow and catching up on the long list of shows I’ve missed, starting with Takeover.
Thanks for your patience.
KB
You know the drill by now I’m sure. I’ll have live thoughts when I get back to the hotel.
One more indy show, just in case I haven’t had enough of them quite yet. Last year in Orlando I took a shot at the Revolution Pro Wrestling show despite not having known much about the promotion. The lineup looked good though and the show wound up being a lot of fun. It was enough to get me to go again this year and again, it wound up being a good afternoon of wrestling.
Ring announcer and owner Andy Quildan started things off and, just like last year, challenged us to be louder than the London crowd. It’s a simple idea and yet it’s also a great way to start off a show.
1. David Star b. Martin Stone – Rollup with feet on the ropes, 11:40, C.
Stone is also known as Danny Burch in NXT, a line which got him a lot of flack from Starr. It’s taken some time but I’ve started to come around on Starr, who has about fifteen nicknames, which he insists be read every time he comes to the ring. Starr also claimed a conspiracy against him, which he would overcome just because he’s that good at professional wrestling. The match was fine for an opener with a loud exchange of chops, one of which had Stone, the face, asking for a second to recover. Nothing great but it did all it needed to do.
2. Adam Brooks b. Brian Cage – Low blow into a rollup, 11:06, B-.
This was more of a standard formula with the monster Cage (a face here) dealing with Brooks’ rampant cheating. Brooks looked very good here, showing that he knew how to deal with someone like Cage. As usual, Cage is one of the scariest athletes you’ll ever see, flying around like someone a third of his size and still showing off the crazy power game. It’s a fun match with both guys looking good, though I’m assuming Brooks is more of a full timer so it makes sense to give him the win.
3. Rocky Romero/Will Ospreay/Chuckie T. b. Shane Strickland/Flip Gordon/Kota Ibushi – Oscutter to Gordon, 22:17, B+.
This was all about Ibushi vs. Ospreay and there was no hiding the fact, or really an attempt to hide it. They took their time setting up the match and both teams got to showcase their talents. As mentioned though, this was ALL setting up the showdown between Ospreay and Isbushi, which completely delivered. They beat the heck out of each other to leave all six laying in an exchange that has to be seen to be properly appreciated. I’m looking forward to seeing this match again and if Ibushi doesn’t get another chance to challenge Osprey for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in the near future, I’ll be stunned.
During intermission, I was able to snag this.
4. Minoru Suzuki b. Jeff Cobb – Sleeper, 9:43, C+.
I would have liked this match a lot more if I hadn’t seen Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii in an even better match. Much like the Ishii match, this was all about beating the heck out of each other with Cobb managing to suplex Suzuki, only to push his luck by hitting Suzuki in the face a few too many times. Suzuki got all fired up and destroyed Cobb, giving him a heck of a beating. Cobb got in one more suplex but ultimately fell to the sleeper, oddly tapping out instead of passing out.
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Juice Robinson b. Aussie Open – High Fly Flow, 16:10, B.
Aussie Open is Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, a team I’ve never heard of but showed off a lot and looked rather awesome. Robinson was a big star in his own right but this was ALL about Tanahashi, as you might have expected. The fans were begging to see him come in and do all of his signature stuff, which is exactly what he did. As cool as that was, Aussie Open needs some attention as well as they got to showcase some very real talent. I could see them getting a spot in a bigger promotion down the line, especially since Fletcher is only 18. Think about that: you’re 18 years old and you’re in the ring with Tanahashi. That’s not bad.
6. British Heavyweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii b. Zack Sabre Jr.(c) – Brainbuster, 20:07, A.
There’s no other way to put this: these two had an outstanding match and they sucked me completely into everything they were doing. This is all about Ishii’s never say die attitude vs. Sabre’s absolutely incredible technical skills and ability to destroy one arm after another. Sabre got to work on the arm and put on a long series of too complicated to describe holds. Ishii made the ropes over and over again with one great save after another. He finally fought up and got in a suplex, followed by the brainbuster for the pin and the title to end the show.
This was an EXCELLENT main event as the fans were buying into every single thing the two were doing. It told a great story and made you want to see them keep going until Ishii managed to hang on and end Sabre’s year long title reign. It was incredible stuff and another match I can’t wait to see again.
Overall, Rev Pro did exactly what they did last year: deliver a solid show (six matches felt short though) with great action and some nice guest stars that made you feel like you were getting to see something special. I had a blast at this show and everything went very well. Check out the main event if you can find it and go take a look at more Rev Pro, which puts on rather good shows.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at: