I don’t get to say this very often, but they actually got me with the surprise ending. Can you blame me when…..Roman Reigns is now a Paul Heyman Guy. Reigns refused to sign the contract for Payback but promised to win the title anyway. He said it was a spoiler, and the camera panned out to reveal Heyman. That’s the first time that WWE has gotten me in a good while and it’s a nice feeling. Now follow up on it and do it right.
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: March 24, 2006
Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We are less than ten days away from Wrestlemania and Smackdown is in a tough spot. The problem is their side of things is completely set up but we have two more shows before we get to the big show in Chicago. In other words, there is more time for Mark Henry to remind us he isn’t afraid and for Rey Mysterio to talk about Eddie Guerrero. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence, I believe with a new theme song.
Here’s Randy Orton, coming up through Rey Mysterio’s trap door, to open things up. He stands on the platform and says he doesn’t need a fancy entrance or gold medals to be a star around here. Orton talks about the Saturday Night’s Main Event handicap match where he turned on his partners but it’s just that his they would rather fight with him than win a match. They’re just jealous of all of his skills and talents, so feast your eyes on the next World Champion. Short and sweet here.
We look at Finlay cheating to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, plus Road Warrior Animal costing himself his spot.
Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Battle Royal
Johnny Nitro, Joey Mercury, Bobby Lashley, Simon Dean, Gymini #1, Gymini #2, Paul London, Scotty 2 Hotty, Funaki, Orlando Jordan, Jamie Noble, Nunzio, Sylvan, Super Crazy, Psicosis, Tatanka, Paul Burchill, Kid Kash, Road Warrior Animal
Animal rants a lot on the way to the ring, talking about how unfair this is because he’s more money than anyone here. That earns him a big beatdown and a quick toss over the top for the elimination. Everyone else starts brawling and it’s Scotty being dumped out next. There goes Kid Kash with him and Burchill gets rid of Nunzio. Lashley dumps out the posing Gymini and Dean is thrown out with them as we take a break.
Back with more brawling as Sylvan and Jordan are dumped. Kendrick and Noble save themselves from the apron but MNM dump both of them. There go London and Psicosis and Burchill gets rid of Super Crazy. Tatanka gets rid of Burchill and we’re down to Tatanka, Lashley and MNM. The war path legdrop hits Mercury, who sends Tatanka through the ropes.
The Snapshot hits Lashley but Tatanka comes back in with the double chops to the head. Mercury low bridges him out though and we’re down to three as Cole and Tazz argue over Melina screaming. The double Boston crab has Lashley in trouble but he powers up and suplexes both of them. Lashley’s spear hits post but he’s right back with a spear. Mercury gets gorilla pressed into Nitro though and they’re both out to give Lashley the win.
Rating: C. Other than the bizarre continuing Tatanka push, this was as good as it was going to be. Lashley was about the only possible option to win here and there was no need to pretend it was going to be anyone else. Having Lashley go in as the final option works well enough and we should be in for a good Money in the Bank. They didn’t go too far with this one and that’s all they needed to do.
We look at JBL’s failed cheating in the Saturday Night’s Main Event beer drinking contest, earning himself a beating from Steve Austin.
After saying Kristal Marshall needs to stand there like the woman she is, JBL says the video didn’t show him winning the contest. As for tonight, JBL isn’t cleared to face Chris Benoit, but William Regal is.
We look at Undertaker destroying Daivari at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Mark Henry is ready to take Undertaker’s Streak. Tonight though, Kurt Angle is the next victim.
Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio
Rey isn’t sure what to do to start so Finlay grabs a headlock to take him down. To mix it up a bit, Finlay pulls back on the head (think a Crossface with Mysterio face up) and then slams him down. The chinlock (and a rather aggressive one at that) goes on and a forearm to the face cuts off the comeback bid. A camel clutch goes on for a bit, followed by Finlay sending him outside for a face first drop onto the apron.
Back in and Finlay misses a charge into the corner, allowing Rey to strike away in a hurry. Rey sends him face first into the middle buckle and a split legged moonsault gets two. Finlay bails to the floor to escape a 619 attempt so Rey hits a baseball slide. The slingshot dive lands on the ring skirt though and Finlay hammers away. There’s a whip into the barricade and Finlay posts him back inside to make it worse.
Rey kicks at the leg but gets pulled into a double arm crank. That’s escaped and Finlay’s sunset flip is countered with a kick to the head. Rey hits the springboard seated senton for two but Finlay is back with a Regal Roll for the same. That earns him a kick to the head and Rey loads up the springboard as Finlay goes for the shillelagh. That’s enough of a distraction for Orton to run in for the RKO to give Finlay the pin.
Rating: B. They were rolling by the end of this and it was one of the better back and forth matches I can remember on Smackdown in a good while. You had two talented people with different enough styles that meshed well together. I was getting into and wanted to see how it would go, which wound up being in a surprise direction thanks to some well timed interference.
Raw Rebound.
Here’s Teddy Long for the Boogeyman/Booker T. contract signing. The match was supposed to take place at Saturday Night’s Main Event but claimed a knee injury. The interesting thing though was Booker’s doctors couldn’t find a thing wrong with him. That’s why if Booker doesn’t have the match at Wrestlemania, he’s fired. Booker goes on a rant about how he shouldn’t have to wrestle because he’s that good. Teddy is willing to make it a handicap match with Teddy choosing the partner. Booker signs and Teddy picks Sharmell as the partner.
Miz is currently at Spring Break but he’s coming to Smackdown.
Chris Benoit vs. William Regal
Regal gets a ride to the ring in JBL’s limo. Joined in progress with Benoit’s wristlock being reversed into an armbar until Regal takes him down. With JBL and Jillian Hall watching from the top of the limo, Regal can’t bridge out of a test of strength. They go to the mat with Benoit sending him to the floor. That earns him an exploder from Regal and a kick to the head crushes Benoit’s skull against the post. Back in and we hit the chinlock until Benoit fights up and chops away. Regal goes old school with a crossface chickenwing of all things but Benoit reverses into a dragon suplex. The Crossface makes Regal tap in a hurry.
Rating: B-. This could have been longer but it did its job. Benoit was in a physical fight and might have gotten a little banged up before Wrestlemania but still got the win in the end. These two could have a good match no matter what and they did it here again. If nothing else it was nice to see Regal getting another chance to do something in the ring, which doesn’t happen enough these days.
Wrestlemania rundown.
Mark Henry vs. Kurt Angle
Non-title. Joined in progress again with Henry grabbing the corner to block a German suplex attempt. Angle takes the leg out instead and cranks on the knee but Henry gets up and hits a quick slam. The kickout annoys Henry and the choking is on in the ropes. Henry knocks him outside and a headbutt sends Angle into the barricade. A ram sends Angle into the barricade and we hit the bearhug back inside.
Angle reverses into a German suplex but Henry is back with a running splash, crushing the referee in the corner. The ankle lock goes on but here’s Randy Orton. Rey Mysterio comes in to go after him but takes out Angle with the seated senton by mistake. Henry gets up and the World’s Strongest Slam is good for the pin on Angle.
Rating: C. Much like their Royal Rumble match, there was a little too much insanity going on around here for the match to really work. What we got instead was Orton getting to mess with his other Wrestlemania opponent after doing so earlier in the night. That’s a good idea, but it didn’t come after nearly as good of a match as Finlay vs. Mysterio.
Angle yells at Mysterio to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. This was much better and the kind of a show that made me want to watch Wrestlemania that much more. Playing up some issues other than Eddie Guerrero has been rather refreshing as Eddie has barely been mentioned in the last few weeks. The rest of the card isn’t exactly looking great, but I’ll take this over what we had last week again.
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: August 21, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
It’s finally time for Thunderdome as WWE makes its first venture outside of the Performance Center since the Coronavirus began. I’m not sure what to expect here and in a way that’s a nice feeling. WWE knows how to do something like this, but they could also screw it up very, very badly. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open in the arena with lightning on the ceiling and the pyro going off (a lot of it too). You know it’s the Thunderdome because it says so on their big signs.
And here’s Vince McMahon with the virtual fans around the ring. Vince promises that you’ll never see it coming this week….and here’s the Fiend. After a very long entrance, they do the staredown but here’s Braun Strowman to interrupt. The lights start to flicker and here’s Retribution to surround the apron. Fiend nods at Strowman and then waves. There go the lights again and Fiend is gone, leaving Strowman alone with probably twelve members of Retribution.
They all come in and jump him so here’s part of the locker room for a failed save attempt. More of them come out, including some women, and they finally clear Retribution out (including one mask being moved to the side but you can’t see the face). Retribution bails with Miz coming in after everyone is gone. Strowman is helped up…and throws down Drew Gulak and Jimmy Uso, who had helped save him.
That’s it for the opening segment and the best thing I can say is a lot of stuff happened. The problem is how little interest I had as soon as Strowman came out, because he is still one of the least interesting top stars the company has had in forever. Also, nothing really happened here other than Strowman being a jerk.
Sheamus vs. Big E.
The locker room is still around the ring. They power each other around to start until Big E. clotheslines him out to the floor. A shoulder puts Sheamus into the steps and the apron splash connects. Sheamus is fine enough to come back in with a top rope clothesline as Cole wonders why Retribution has not delivered a manifesto (yes a manifesto) to explain what they want. The Irish Curse connects and the lights start to flicker as we take a break.
Back with Big E. hitting a belly to belly into the Warrior Splash. Sheamus hits a jumping knee to the face for two but Big E. grabs a Rock Bottom out of the corner. Big E.’s charge hits the post and Sheamus grabs White Noise as Matt Riddle and King Corbin get in a fight on the floor. Sheamus gets distracted and Big E. grabs a rollup for the pin at 10:07.
Rating: C. They were having a nice power match here but Big E. needs a distraction to beat Sheamus? Big E. winning more matches is a good idea and hopefully they can continue as we keep going forward. WWE could have something there with his push, but a fluke rollup on Sheamus after a Corbin distraction causes the pin isn’t exactly a breakthrough win.
Jeff Hardy, scheduled to challenge for the Intercontinental Title tonight, has hurt his knee. Someone may have attacked him, though I’m more surprised by seeing Hardy’s leg, possibly for the first time ever.
Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura jump the Lucha House Party from behind on their way to the ring.
Tag Team Titles: Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lucha House Party
Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado are challenging for the Party. Nakamura and Metalik start things off with the former hitting a knee to the ribs. Another running knee in the corner gets two as we get an inset interview with Miz and John Morrison, who make Spanish jokes. Cesaro comes in for some shots of his own but Metalik manages a top rope hurricanrana. The tag brings in Dorado to pick up the pace, including the triple moonsaults to Nakamura. Metalik hits a big springboard dive to the floor but it’s Cesaro countering Dorado’s hurricanrana into a sunset flip for the pin to retain at 5:40.
Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but was anyone really expecting the House Party to be a serious threat to the champs? It’s not like Cesaro and Nakamura are likely to be the next great champions but they’re better than the House Party. If nothing else, this makes me hope that we could see something more from Kalisto on his own. He’s the best thing about the team and I could go for more of him.
Post match Kalisto yells at Dorado and Metalik has to break them up.
We look back at the opening sequence and see AJ Styles kicking Jeff Hardy’s knee out.
AJ says he was just trying to show some fire against Retribution, unlike Hardy. That’s the story of Jeff’s career in a nutshell though. He heads to the ring but stops to clink belts with Bayley and Sasha Banks.
Mandy Rose talks about how it has been a rough week for everyone. She knows that things are very dark right now but she needs to talk to Sonya Deville directly. Mandy turns to the camera and talks about how the Sonya she has known for years is still in there. She doesn’t know how Sonya is feeling, but Mandy wants to put this all behind them and get back to the way they were. They’re in a weird place with this story as there is no way they can just ignore everything that happened this week but it threw quite the wrench into the plans.
Here are Sasha Banks and Bayley for a chat with Corey Graves. After the mentioning of their nicknames, Graves gets straight to the point by asking if they’re splitting up. Bayley and Banks: “No.” Bayley knows Asuka isn’t winning both titles in one night and Banks doesn’t want any pot stirring.
Graves talks about how they weren’t sure who was going to go first and tensions seem to flare a bit over the idea that one of them would need some help against Asuka. Banks says no one can beat them both in one night so here’s Naomi to interrupt. They can’t decide who fights her first so Graves suggests a Beat The Clock Challenge to decide who faces Asuka first. Naomi dropkicks them both and it’s time for the first match after the break.
Naomi vs. Sasha Banks
Non-title and the clock is ticking. Naomi takes her down and slowly punches away before a headscissors puts Banks on the floor. Back in and Banks catches her on the ropes for the double knees to the ribs for two. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Naomi kicks Banks in the head. Banks rolls through a springboard crossbody for two but Naomi muscles her up to drop Banks ribs first on the ropes. A springboard kick to the head gives Naomi two more but Banks has had enough of this and grabs the Bank Statement for the tap at 3:39.
Rating: C-. Naomi can do some athletic things in the ring but it feels like they’re going from move to move instead of having some kind of flow to the match. She would do a move, they would stop, then she would do another move and they would stop again. The athleticism was good, but it didn’t exactly look great.
Naomi vs. Bayley
Non-title again and the clock is set at 3:39. Naomi is still banged up so Bayley knocks her straight back down and starts stomping away. The sliding lariat gives Bayley two and a clothesline out of the corner gets the same. Naomi is back with the Rear View for the pin out of nowhere at 1:55. That would be three losses for Bayley in the last four TV shows.
Post match here’s Asuka to say she will be the empress of every title. Banks comes charging and gets kicked in the head. Asuka goes to the ring and kicks Bayley around too, with Bayley seeming to limp a bit. She does remember to go back and grab her belts while leaving Banks laying on the ramp.
Jeff Hardy is cleared if he can get through the pain. He’s good to go.
Dana Brooke tries to offer condolences to Sonya Deville over what she went through this week. Sonya slaps her in the face.
Here’s Sonya on the stage to respond to Mandy Rose. There’s nothing Mandy can say to get out of this because they’re going to fight at Summerslam. No matter what happens, they’re having a No DQ match and the loser leaves WWE.
We look back at Alexa Bliss and the Fiend.
Nikki Cross talks to Alexa earlier this week and something was off.
Intercontinental Title: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy
Jeff is challenging and injured coming in. During AJ’s entrance, Daniel Bryan pops in to say he thinks AJ is acting like a coward for only facing Jeff when he is injured. AJ goes after him but Jeff uses the bad leg to kick out of instinct. Jeff gets some boots up in the corner but AJ knocks him off the ropes, leaving Jeff in a heap on the mat. AJ goes to whip him into the ropes and Jeff collapses again. Back up and Jeff manages to backdrop him to the floor and we take a break.
We come back with Jeff hitting his sitout gordbuster for two but he crashes while trying to go up. The Phenomenal Forearm is knocked out of the air though and they’re both down again. AJ grabs the Calf Crusher but Jeff gets straight to the rope. Back up and AJ tries the Styles Clash but Hardy gets in a shot to the head with his knee brace, setting up the Twist of Fate. The Swanton connects for the pin and the title at 11:15.
Rating: C+. This was a match built around the story and that went well enough. Hardy winning the title back is a pretty big moment and while I wasn’t wild on them hammering in the story with the addiction stuff, they paid it off in a nice way. A rematch at Summerslam wouldn’t surprise me either and that’s not a bad thing.
Post match Hardy gets a quick interview and says he hopes this helps others. He gets cut off by his own music though to kind of kill the moment.
Post break, AJ is ticked off and rants to Joseph Park and Kayla Braxton about the loss.
Talking Smack returns tomorrow with Kayla Braxton and The Miz as hosts.
It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with Bray Wyatt talking about how love can ruin all kinds of things. It can turn a field of sunflowers into a grotesque wasteland. He gets a phone call, which he takes on his hand, which tells him to talk about Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss for example. That brings us to Firefly Theater Presents, with Huskus the Pig as Braun (in a GET THESE HOOVES shirt) and Ramblin Rabbit (in a big wig) as Alexa. They know there is something between them…but Bray interrupts and asks what is going on around here. He gets rid of both of them and talks about how the Fiend can’t wait to get his hands on Braun. Cue Braun, who jumps Bray and drags him off, shouting that he isn’t finished with him.
Post break, Graves and Cole aren’t sure how Strowman got to the Fun House as no one has been able to get in there. Other than Seth Rollins last year of course.
We cut to the back where Braun and Bray are still fighting, with Braun knocking him around and then chokeslamming him off a ledge. Bray is seen laying on the concrete and a well placed ambulance pops in as Wyatt is out. Medics and referees load him into the ambulance and it pulls away, only to stop because the Fiend is inside. I wrote that before it happened but it was the only way that was going.
Overall Rating: C. So that’s the debut of Thunderdome and it was about what I was expecting: a somewhat more energetic than usual show but with a lot of the same stuff. Let’s see. We had the Braun Is Magic ending, a champ losing clean (again: third time in less than two weeks), a meaningless Tag Team Title match, Retribution doing their thing, and a Vince McMahon appearance that went nowhere. It was an energetic show, but not exactly something you need to see.
Now that being said, the Amway Center is a HUGE improvement over what we were seeing at the Performance Center. It felt big and important and those are some of the things the shows have been missing. They needed to freshen things up and that was accomplished tonight. I could go for more of this going forward and that’s going to be the case, which is a big improvement. The digital fans are a bit of a weird visual, but you forget that they’re there pretty quickly. Overall, not a great show, but a much better looking one.
Results
Big E. b. Sheamus – Rollup
Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura b. Lucha House Party – Sunset flip to Dorado
Sasha Banks b. Naomi – Bank Statement
Naomi b. Bayley – Rear View
Jeff Hardy b. AJ Styles – Swanton
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: March 17, 2006
Location: CenturyTelCenter, Bossier City, Louisiana
Commentators: Tazz, Michael Cole
It’s the go home show for Saturday Night’s Main Event, which is the last real stop on the Road to Wrestlemania. Things have been a little strange as of late as we have been building towards both shows at once, but Saturday Night is just a commercial for Wrestlemania anyway. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening recap looks at last week’s main event tag and Undertaker challenging Mark Henry for the Wrestlemania casket match to end the show.
Opening sequence.
Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley
Lumberjack match. Lashley kicks Finlay outside to start and Finlay gets to beat up the lumberjacks. Back in and Lashley pulls him away from the ropes for a crash to the mat. A clothesline into a backdrop sends Finlay outside again and it’s time for the big staredown between everyone involved. Some cheap shots from the lumberjacks put Lashley down so Finlay throws him outside again to keep up the beating. The chinlock goes on back inside, followed by some forearms to the back.
Those just annoy Lashley, so Finlay sends him outside for more lumberjack fun. Finlay misses a charge into the post though and Lashley pops off a belly to belly. A clothesline gives Lashley two and there’s the one armed delayed vertical suplex. Lashley throws Finlay onto the lumberjacks and then goes outside to beat on him some more. I’m not sure if he understands the idea of a lumberjack match. Back in and Sylvan grabs a chair, but Lashley takes him down. The distraction works though as Finlay gets in the shillelagh shot for the pin.
Rating: C. This was a weird one as they were beating the heck out of each other but they kept going with the lumberjacks to make things a little off. What we had was a good brawl though and I liked all of the physicality. Sometimes you need to just throw people in there and have them beat each other up, which worked out well enough with two power guys like them.
Wrestlemania Big Time Moment: the Gimmick Battle Royal. Works for me.
MNM is gawking over Vince McMahon’s Muscle and Fitness cover and admiring his glutes. Melina comes up to take it away, revealing that they are looking at Candice Michelle’s Playboy. She keeps it for her own personal use. Nitro: “What are you going to do with it?” Melina: “Use your imagination.” Melina walks over to Kristal Marshall and says that she’s beautiful in the Divas Magazine, but Kristal needs to learn her place around here. Paul Burchill comes up so Melina call MNM over. Burchill whips out the sword and the villains run off.
William Regal/Jillian Hall vs. Kristal Marshall/Paul Burchill
Regal keeps stealing glances at Jillian in her gear. The women fight over a lockup to start with Jillian sending her into the corner. That allows commentary to discuss their gear, as commentary tends to do around here. Regal tries to break things up and gets slapped in the face so Burchill comes in for a running crossbody. A shove out of the corner puts Burchill down though and Regal kicks him in the head (simple things can work just fine). We hit the chinlock but Burchill fights up and it’s back to the women for the catfighting. Since that can’t last long, Burchill comes back in for the C4 to finish Regal in a hurry.
Rating: D+. It really is amazing to see the differences between people with Wrestlemania stories and people who are destined for the pre-show battle royal. They’re fighting over a magazine and Burchill’s choice to be a pirate, which doesn’t exactly make me think much of them going into the biggest show of the year. Then again I’m a sucker for most pirate shenanigans so this was entertaining in a few ways.
Sharmell and Booker are in the back with Sharmell screaming about how scared she is of the Boogeyman. Booker has a box for her though and knows everything will be ok.
Verne Gagne Hall of Fame video.
Booker T. vs. Jeremy Young
Sharmell is in a beekeeper’s suit. Booker runs Young over as Sharmell continues to panic on the floor. Some more shots to the face let Booker stomp him down in the corner and there’s a spinebuster to cut off the comeback. The ax kick finishes Young.
Rating: D. Yeah I don’t think there’s any secret to what they were going for here. I’m hoping they wrap up the Boogeyman stuff sooner rather than later as it is the kind of story that was fun once or twice (and that’s a stretch) and now it’s just silly. Well sillier that is. Let him be a special attraction if he has to be on the show, but having him with big names like this is a little too much.
Post match Boogeyman’s music plays so Booker and Sharmell hide underneath the ring. Guess who they find under there.
We look at last week’s main event again.
We get a sitdown interview with Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle. Orton cuts Cole off to ask Angle how healthy he is after last week’s attacks. Angle thinks it’s funny and loads up the broken freaking neck line but Orton cuts him off as well because we’ve heard it before. As for Mysterio, Orton is going to embarrass him at Wrestlemania because he doesn’t belong in the main event. Angle calls out Orton for not respecting Mysterio, who beat Orton to win the Royal Rumble.
Orton says Angle is a paper champion who won the title in a battle royal that Orton wasn’t even in. That sends Angle into a rant about Orton being a one time champion who held it for a month. Mysterio says he’ll win the title at Wrestlemania because dreams come true. Rey says he will have Angle’s back tonight and tomorrow, but that won’t be the case at Wrestlemania. Angle doesn’t want it any other way and Orton promises to dominate in all three matches. This didn’t add much but it worked well enough and reinforced what was already set up.
The Miz is coming.
Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Road Warrior Animal vs. Matt Hardy
Matt slugs away to start and gets shoved down. That’s fine with Matt as he takes Animal down and hammers away again. Animal goes after Matt’s banged up knee, which only draws up some louder HARDY chants. The leg cranking is on but Matt uses the good leg to kick him away. A reverse DDT into the Side Effect gets two and there’s another Side Effect to send Animal into the corner. Matt unloads in the corner but almost hits the referee, allowing Animal to get in a brass knuckles shot for the pin.
Rating: D. I’m not exactly expecting this to stand as even 2006 Smackdown isn’t insane enough to put Animal in a big match at Summerslam. The match was nothing of course because it’s Animal, but what else were you expecting? Was there really a rub to get from beating an old member of half of the Legion of Doom?
Post match the referee sees the knuckles and reverses the decision to send Matt to Wrestlemania. Dang Matt really can’t catch a break. Yeah he’s going to Wrestlemania, but he has to keep heat on Animal?
Orlando Jordan vs. Chris Benoit
Non-title and JBL is on commentary with a cooler of beer to hype up the beer drinking contest with Steve Austin. Benoit goes straight to the suplex to set up the corner chops. Jordan is sent outside for more chops, allowing Benoit to glare at JBL. Back in and Jordan takes him down by the arm as JBL goes into one of his rather intense rants about Austin meaning nothing in Texas. Benoit fights out of an armbar and snaps off the German suplexes. JBL: “I GOT FIRED IN GERMANY ONE TIME AND I REALLY DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT!” The Sharpshooter finishes Jordan.
Rating: D+. These two had to set some kind of a record for facing each other in matches that weren’t all that good. It isn’t like Jordan is making anyone look good as he’s someone out there to get beaten up with no doubt about who is winning. Can we see what Benoit can do against a stuff giraffe named Irving instead?
Post match JBL hits Benoit with the cooler (good shot too).
We look back at Mark Henry costing Kurt Angle the World Title two weeks ago.
Mark Henry isn’t scared of the casket or the Streak. Tomorrow, Undertaker can come face him on Saturday Night’s Main Event.
MNM/Mark Henry vs. Kurt Angle/Randy Orton/Rey Mysterio
Melina and Daivari are here with the villains and Angle has bad ribs from last week. Orton slaps Nitro before the bell and it’s Angle top wristlocking Nitro to start. Mercury comes in and gets a knee to Angle’s ribs to take over in the corner. Angle’s ribs are fine enough to snap off a belly to belly and it’s off to Rey. The springboard moonsault gets two on Mercury and a spinning bulldog to Nitro gets the same.
Mysterio gets sent into the corner though and Henry comes in to step on Rey’s chest. The splash misses though and Rey hammers away in the corner, only to have Orton distract the referee so Daivari can get in a cheap shot. That of course means an EDDIE chant, because that’s all Rey means these days. We take a break and come back with Melina slapping Mysterio.
A headscissors choke on the apron (with the camera cutting to the other side of the ring because the skirt is a little short) keeps Rey down and Nitro drops an elbow on Rey’s back. Henry comes back in for the gorilla press drop but another splash misses. An enziguri allows the diving tag to Angle, as Orton stops to fix his boot. Angle starts cleaning house as everything breaks down, including the Angle Slam to Henry. There’s the 619 to Nitro but Orton tags himself in and throws Mysterio outside to steal the pin on Nitro.
Rating: C. And yes, the Tag Team Champions lose again. It was to a bigger name, but can we go a few weeks without them losing? Just for a change of pace? Anyway, this was another way of enforcing things that we already know, because there isn’t much else that can be done to set up the triple threat. That’s not good with two weeks to go before Wrestlemania, but it isn’t the deepest story in the world.
Overall Rating: C-. This was another show that bounced back and forth between building to Saturday Night’s Main Event and Wrestlemania but it didn’t work as well as Raw. The triple threat match is as set as it is going to be, though it was nice to have the three of them not bring up Eddie every few seconds. The wrestling wasn’t great, but that is rarely the point this time of year. Not a bad show, but the build for Wrestlemania is just tightening up everything that is already set, plus some MITB qualifying. That could make for some fairly week shows on the way to Chicago, but this could have been worse.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: August 14, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
We have less than two weeks to go before Summerslam and it’s time to try and juice the interest a bit. Last week saw Retribution show up on Smackdown and this week it’s a bunch of guest stars in a tri-brand battle royal for the shot at Bayley’s Smackdown Women’s Title. That could go a lot of different ways so let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening recap looks at Retribution’s attacks and antics over the last few weeks.
Cole says that Retribution is “hiding behind current events.”
Big E. vs. John Morrison
Before the match, Big E. reminds us of his singles success and calls those who forget it false prophets. There’s no Miz here, but there are some flickering lights….and here’s Retribution. They chase off commentary and storm the ring, including taking out Big E.’s knee. A spear puts Big E. down and the team runs away, with Miz running out to check on Morrison. There were eight or nine of them this time but only about half of them got physical. No match of course.
Post break Big E. and Morrison are in the back with various wrestlers around them. Miz blames Big E. for sending out a tweet about Retribution, but here’s King Corbin to say Smackdown needs leadership. Corbin can lead them to safety so Big E. talks about how this is Smackdown. Cue Sheamus to say we need someone serious and he can smell the fear in Big E. because he’s lonely. Big E. says he’s not lonely and most of the wrestlers leave with him.
Here are Bayley and Sasha Banks for a chat. They can’t be held down by Stephanie McMahon and they’ll defend their Tag Team Titles at Payback. As for tonight, they don’t like commentary so they’ll handle the ring introductions for the battle royal.
Battle Royal
Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Tegan Nox, Shotzi Blackheart, Lacey Evans, Naomi, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Dana Brooke, Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Tamina, Asuka
The winner gets a shot at Bayley’s Smackdown Women’s Title at Summerslam. Before the match, Sasha runs her mouth about Asuka a bit too much and here’s Asuka to chase her off. We come back for the opening bell and Riott is kicked out in a hurry. Morgan pulls Kay out and Royce follows her, but they pull Morgan out as well. The four get in a brawl on the outside and Cross is thrown outside, but not eliminated. Belair is thrown over but hands on by one hand for an impressive save.
As Cole confirms that they are leaving the Performance Center next week, Tamina superkicks Cross out and has the staredown with Belair. That doesn’t last long as Tamina is thrown out, meaning it’s time for Naomi to clean house for a bit. Lacey throws her to the apron, where Naomi kicks Shayna in the head but gets Woman’s Righted out. Shotzi gets rid of Lacey but Shayna grabs the Kirifuda Clutch on Shotzi and Lacey pulls Blackheart out.
Nox can’t whip Belair in but she can roll her throat first into the middle rope. Belair misses a charge and gets low bridged out. We’re down to Nox, Asuka, Baszler and Brooke (on the floor) with Nox hitting the reverse Cannonballs on the Raw women. Baszler blocks Nox’s chokeslam and picks her up (barely) for the elimination. Brooke gets back in and is tossed by Brooke, meaning it’s off to Asuka vs. Baszler.
With Bayley looking worried, Baszler kicks Asuka over the top and out to the apron, but Asuka kicks her down as well. Bayley and Banks interfere and get knocked down so Baszler knocks Asuka onto the apron….and she lands on the champs, meaning no elimination. Asuka pulls Baszler out for the win at 8:05, meaning she’s facing both Banks and Bayley for both singles titles.
Rating: C. This was fine and Asuka getting both shots is certainly a different way to go. It’s not like there is anyone else who could be a viable option to challenge Bayley at the moment. I can get the idea of going with the safe pick, but at some point they need to actually elevate someone else. That’s going to mean more than just putting someone out there as the challenger of the month too, and WWE hasn’t seemed interested in doing that on Smackdown for a long time.
Post break Asuka jumps Bayley from behind and has to be held back.
We look at Sonya Deville jumping Mandy Rose two weeks ago.
Mandy doesn’t think much of Sonya saying she’s just a pretty face because she has heard it all before. She has been called a Barbie who has everything handed to her her whole life, but she worked three jobs to put herself through college while winning a Miss Bikini World Title. Is that being handed everything? If Sonya hates her that much, put her money where her mouth is and let’s have a hair vs. hair match at Summerslam. Then we’ll see how ugly it gets. This was better than any other Mandy promo, but that isn’t much of a bar to clear.
Sheamus tells security to enjoy themselves because no one is attacking him tonight.
Nikki Cross sees Alexa Bliss (who she should have seen as both of them seem to have been standing in the same place for a little while) and hugs her but Bliss needs to be alone to deal with this Fiend stuff.
Sheamus vs. Shorty G.
Sheamus powers him into the corner to start but Shorty takes him down by the leg. A chinlock is broken up in a hurry and Sheamus ax handles him in the face. Shorty gets in a rolling kick to the face and a missile dropkick gives him two of his own. Sheamus has had it though and hits White Noise into the Brogue Kick for the pin at 3:35.
Rating: D+. And there’s another loss for Gable, because we were dumb enough to believe that they might actually do something good with him for once. As long as he has that name, nothing is going to matter whatsoever with him though and when you add in the losses, it isn’t exactly looking great for his future. Not a good match either, but being on TV is better than being on the sidelines.
AJ Styles yells at an agent over something on a computer. That agent would be better known as Abyss, albeit in his Joseph Park attire.
Here’s AJ Styles, with the yet to be named Park and a board covered with a black sheet, to rant about how he has beaten a bunch of people and needs a new opponent. After plugging his Twitch channel, AJ talks about how fans have been telling him that he needs to face certain opponents because statistically, they are his best opponents. AJ has been watching baseball and football and realizes that he is a stud of a stats nerd himself. That brings him to Park, who is his Phenomenal Intercontinental Statistic System. AJ: “IT’S A WORK IN PROGRESS!”
Based on the statistics, let’s see who is #1 one on the board. That would be AJ Styles, and, after consulting with Joseph Park (who AJ mentions by name), we see that no one is #2-5, because no one has earned a shot at the champ. Cue Jeff Hardy to interrupt to say he never got a fair shot at the title because of Sheamus.
That title is important to him because it was his first singles title in WWE. Now he’s back on his feet and the idea of Hardy vs. Styles sounds mega cool. AJ says he respects Jeff but of course he can’t have a title shot. Jeff jumps AJ, hits Park, and nails the Twist of Fate on Styles. Hardy writes his name on the board in a nice touch.
Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are in the back but Lucha House Party steals their titles. The chase is on.
AJ promises to erase Jeff Hardy, but the marker is permanent. The match seems to be on though.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Gran Metalik
Cesaro and Lince Doradn are here too, with Cesaro taking the titles back early on. Feeling out process to start with Nakamura taking him into the corner, only to have Metalik stop a charge with a shot to the face. Metalik hits a springboard elbow to the face for two and loads up the rope walk, but Cesaro offers a distraction.
Nakamura kicks him out of the air for a cocky near fall and grabs the reverse exploder. Kinshasa is loaded up but here’s the returning Kalisto (I believe in his first appearance this year) to take out Cesaro. The distraction lets Metalik kick Nakamura in the head and hit the rope walk elbow for the upset at 4:10.
Rating: C-. The action was good enough but the point of this was the return of Kalisto, which at least makes the House Party a little more credible. Dorado and Metalik are good but they haven’t actually won anything. Kalisto has won a bunch of titles and while it has been a good while ago, it’s better than what his partners have done.
Matt Riddle, after assuring that it’s ok to refer to Kayla Braxton as bro, isn’t worried about the King’s Ransom on his head. He’s tried to fight King Corbin but it’s clear that Corbin is just a royal pain. Cue Shorty G. to say he’s sorry and he was just looking out for his family. Injuring someone isn’t his thing and everything seems to be cool. Riddle is down for a fight anytime, but here’s Corbin to jump Riddle from behind. Corbin thanks Shorty, and even calls him Chad. Gable doesn’t seem sure of what just happened.
We get a sitdown interview with Alexa Bliss, who talks about her relationship with Braun Strowman. This includes a highlight package of their time together, including their rather adorable Mixed Match Challenge vignettes. She isn’t sure if anything would ever happen romantically between the two of them, but they have to talk about the Fiend. Bliss knows what it means to be in his presence and it really is like a moth being drawn to a flame. We see Strowman’s comments from last week where he said he didn’t care about her. Bliss is too emotional to speak to wrap it up.
Next week: AJ Styles defends against Jeff Hardy.
Sonya Deville accepts Mandy Rose’s challenge and can’t wait to see her bald.
Big E. vs. John Morrison
Miz is on commentary and praises Morrison’s mastery of all the martial arts. Miz: “He’s even a great painter!” Big E. has a taped up knee so Morrison goes straight for the target. Morrison heads up top but gets shoved down in a hurry. That’s enough to set up the apron splash but Big E. goes after Miz, allowing Morrison to get in a chop block. Miz has to get a fresh headset as Morrison grabs a chinlock. Cue Otis with the Money in the Bank briefcase but the lights start flickering. Cole calls for security and we take a break.
Back with the lights flickering again and the locker room at ringside for security. We cut to the back where Retribution is wrecking things, including beating up some referees and a lone wrestler. They lock someone in the bathroom and throw a bunch of chairs, but since no this isn’t on the screen for no adequately explained reason (They can play entrance videos but not show a backstage feed?), the wrestlers at ringside don’t know anything about it.
Cue Jessika Carr to deliver the message so the locker room runs to the back. Retribution is gone and the wrestlers aren’t happy with the crossed out WWE logo spray painted on the wall. Big E. shoves Morrison off the ropes and hits the Rock Bottom out of the corner for two. Morrison escapes the Big Ending and kicks at the knee as Miz explains that he cares about Morrison too much to go backstage. Big E. grabs the Stretch Muffler for the quick tap at 11:49.
Rating: C-. It was hard to focus on the match here as there was so much going on at the same time. This felt more like an Attitude Era style angle with a bunch of other stuff going on and the match as a backdrop, which is fine enough as it’s not exactly something important. At least Big E. got the win as well, as they haven’t managed to derail the singles push. Yet.
Post match here’s Sheamus to brogue Kick Big E. but here’s Braun Strowman (now bald) to scare everyone else off.
Post break Strowman says Fiend knows what he’s getting at Summerslam so get out here and face your fears. Strowman is going to eviscerate him and consume his entrails…but here’s Alexa Bliss instead. She says they need to talk but Strowman says she used him. He’s like a pawn that she used to get him to sing songs in her stupid car. Bliss wants to know what is going on, so Strowman explains that the Fiend changes everyone, including her. So get out of here, because he wants the Fiend.
Bliss tells him to be careful what he wishes for and offers to slap some sense into him. She demands he look at her and hits a heck of a slap before doing it over and over. Strowman picks her up in a gorilla press…and there go the lights. Strowman shouts for the Fiend and slams Bliss down as the lights go completely out. They come back in red with Fiend having replaced Strowman. Strowman appears on the screen and laughs, with Fiend doing the same, to end the show.
The Bliss stuff is a little more interesting but when you have Strowman reading what sounds like the results you get from looking up your promo in a thesaurus, you can only take it so seriously. Strowman still can’t talk and since his entire character is built around being really strong, he doesn’t have the emotional depth to make something like this work out. Also it has been about three months now and they need to wrap it up already.
Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling wasn’t the point here, but the big positive is the same thing that was the case on Raw: it feels like they have a focus and an idea that they’re going for on this show. I’ll take a slightly weaker show with a point than a bunch of meaningless stuff week after week. They set up stuff for next week and for Summerslam and that’s a heck of a lot better than Raw and Smackdown tends to do. Not a great show, but it’s a lot better than what they had been doing in recent months.
Results
Asuka won a battle royal last eliminating Shayna Baszler
Sheamus b. Shorty G. – Brogue Kick
Gran Metalik b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Top rope elbow
Big E. b. John Morrison – Stretch Muffler
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: March 10, 2006
Location: Mobile Civic Center, Mobile, Alabama
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re running out of time before Wrestlemania and this time around that means we need to start setting up some Money in the Bank participants. Other than that we are all but guaranteed to get some fallout from last week when Mark Henry attacked the Undertaker to cost him the World Title. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap
We open with a recap of Undertaker vs. Angle, set to Deadly Game, at least on the Network. Then Henry crushed Undertaker to make it even worse.
Here are Mark Henry and Daivari to get things going. Fans have been calling it a classic, but how can you have a classic without Henry? He is the only man who deserves to be champion because he took out Batista and Undertaker and Angle is scared of him. Now he wants his title shot, so he is calling Kurt Angle out. So Kurt has options: he can hand it over, or get it took.
Cue Angle to say he’s ready right now and the fight is on. This brings out Randy Orton to jump Angle, which brings out Rey Mysterio for the failed save attempt. Henry crushes Rey but Angle makes the save with a chair. Teddy Long comes out to make the main event in obvious fashion.
Money in the Banks Qualifying Match: Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley
Or not as they start brawling in the aisle before the bell. The referee tries to break it up and gets shoved down, drawing out more referees to break it up. Lashley shrugs off a shillelagh shot to the head and gets in a spear until they brawl to the back. No match.
They fight into the parking lot and wind up on top of a car with Lashley ramming him head first into the roof over and over. With Finlay still on top of the car, Lashley (and some editing tricks) turn the car over, possibly onto Finlay.
Someone is coming, and his name is the Miz.
Here is JBL, fresh off hand surgery, for a chat. He has been blessed by the outpouring of support from the fans and he loves them too. However, since his injury, he has been cheapshotted and blindsided by none other than Steve Austin. Last week, Austin was interviewed by WWE.com and mentioned the greatest Texas wrestlers and JBL was not mentioned!
JBL lists his resume, which includes holding the WWE Title longer than Austin. His last Wrestlemania was bigger than anything Austin ever did and JBL is better than Austin on Austin’s best day. All Austin has left is his ability to drink beer, so JBL wants to prove that he is better than that too. That’s why he wants Austin in a beer drinking contest at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Then he’ll go to Wrestlemania and take care of Chris Benoit. We see a clip of Benoit injuring JBL’s hand, and JBL says he better go on last at Wrestlemania, because no one is following him. As usual, JBL is great at talking and possibly even better at taking a beating for what he said.
Gregory Helms, who broke his nose in Australia, comes in to see Teddy Long. Teddy doesn’t think it’s fair that Helms has to defend the Cruiserweight Title every week. Helms agrees, but gets to face Chris Benoit in a non-title match.
Video on the Australia/New Zealand tour.
William Regal vs. Paul Burchill
Burchill is making his pirate debut and Regal is shaking his head about having to do this. Before the match, Regal declares this a joke because Burchill is going to make a bloody fool out of himself. Burchill swings in on a rope and Regal finds it oh so funny. Then Burchill whips out a sword and Regal’s face is great. They fight over wrist control to start with Burchill taking him down into an armbar. Regal throws him away and hits a knee to the face, followed by even more knees to keep Burchill down.
We get an inverted full nelson (that’s a…well rare one at least) for a bit, followed by an exploder suplex for two on Burchill. An elbow gets Burchill out of trouble and it’s a jumping clothesline to take Regal down. A very badly hidden camera edit (Regal went from down on the mat to on his feet in a split second) takes us to Burchill getting two off an enziguri and grabbing a standing Spanish Fly for the pin.
Rating: C-. I’m a sucker for pirate movies but this isn’t going to be anything more than a short term gimmick and I think everyone knows it. The change is understandable as Regal and Burchill were only going to go so far as the evil British tag team, but the pirate gimmick going off of the success of Pirates of the Caribbean feels like something that belongs in Memphis, not WWE. At least Burchill is a talented guy though, as this could be a lot worse.
Here are a nervous Booker T. and Sharmell for a chat. Sharmell, with a bag wrapped around her shoulder, says they are tired of the treatment Booker has been receiving. This has been due to Teddy Long and the Boogeyman and they have LETTERS to prove it. First up is a letter from the head of the NAACP, who says Boogeyman is a bad role model for minority children and is rolling back all of the gains in the Civil Rights Movement.
Then someone from PETA says that Boogeyman is cruel to worms, who have feelings too. A third letter, from the editor of Worm Digest, says that Boogeyman should be stopped. Fourth up is a letter from the President’s Council on Health and Fitness, which says eating worms is unhealthy!
So Long needs to get out here right now and address the Boogeyman problem. Long pops up on screen instead and makes Boogeyman vs. Booker for Saturday Night’s Main Event. Booker isn’t happy and throws out the letters….but finds worms instead. Boogeyman appears in the aisle and chases Booker and Sharmell off. The letters thing was kind of funny actually.
Raw Rebound.
Sherri Martel Hall of Fame video.
Kristal Marshall vs. Jillian Hall
Bra and panties match, which is exactly how you follow up a video honoring a woman in wrestling. Jillian throws her down by the hair to start but Kristal is back with a crossbody. The catfight is on with Kristal losing her shirt but coming back with a sunset flip to get rid of Jillian’s skirt. Jillian can’t hit a slam and Kristal takes the shirt to win.
And yes Kristal follows tradition by stripping as well.
Batista was at the Arnold Classic and met Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Chris Benoit vs. Gregory Helms
Non-title. Helms hides in the ropes to start before going with the lockup. Benoit grabs the bad nose and chops away, followed by the snap suplex. The Sharpshooter is blocked and Helms gets in a drop toehold, setting up a legdrop to the back of the neck. We hit the chinlock for a bit until Benoit sweeps the leg but still can’t get the Sharpshooter.
The chinlock goes on for the second time but this time Benoit is up with the release German suplex. Benoit finally gets smart enough to go after the bad nose and NOW the Sharpshooter worse. Helms makes the rope and tries to leave but the rest of the cruiserweights are there to throw him inside. Another German suplex sets up the Swan Dive into the Crossface for the tap.
Rating: C. Benoit winning was expected, but Cole saying that Helms winning would be a huge upset doesn’t exactly do much for the title. It would be an upset, but a champion beating another champion shouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world. It shows you just how worthless the Cruiserweight Title is, even if that has been obvious for a long time now.
Video on Candice Michelle’s Playboy shoot.
We look back at Animal turning on Matt Hardy last week.
Animal talks about his years with Hawk as part of the Legion of Doom. They were the biggest tag team ever and then last week, Matt told him to go up for the Doomsday Device. Well now the tag team days are over and it’s time for Animal to look out for #1.
We look back at the Lashley vs. Finlay fight. Next week, they’re having a lumberjack match.
Mark Henry/Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio/Kurt Angle
Daivari is here with the villains. Angle and Orton start things off with Orton not seeming thrilled to go after him. Kurt drives him into the corner for a clean break before wrestling Orton down to the mat with ease. It’s off to Rey in a hurry and the EDDIE chants begin just as fast. It’s too early for a 619 though as Henry pulls Orton out of the way and we take a break.
Back with Mysterio hammering away at Orton and going up top, where Daivari distracts him for a second. Orton dropkicks him out of the air so Henry can come in to throw Mysterio around. It’s back to Orton for the forearms to the chest as Angle is getting anxious on the apron. The fast tags continue with Orton getting in a few shots before handing it back to Henry. Rey’s kicks to the face have no effect as Henry gorilla press drops him but misses the splash.
The diving tag brings in Angle to clean house and, after avoiding the RKO, he grabs the ankle lock. Henry makes the save so it’s Rey springboarding back in and hitting the 619 on Orton. Angle and Orton fight on the floor as Henry stands on Mysterio. The referee gets splashed on purpose and Daivari sends in a table. Henry loads Mysterio onto it and goes to the middle rope with Angle making the save. The RKO drops Angle and Orton puts him on the table instead. Henry’s splash crushes Angle so here are more referees to check on him as the match was thrown out somewhere in there.
Rating: C. Pretty run of the mill main event style tag match here and it worked well enough in that regard. The whole point was to keep Henry looking like a monster and having him destroy the World Champion is a good way to get there. In addition you have Angle banged up for Wrestlemania, but just get to the Undertaker stuff already.
Henry and Daivari are left alone in the ring and there go the lights. Undertaker’s voice comes up to challenge Henry for a Wrestlemania casket match. Henry rubs his face and nods to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This is a show that was about setting up things for Wrestlemania, with most of the matches already set or fairly obvious. That worked out well enough too, as the stuff that needed to get a focus got some attention, with a big match being made. Much like last week though, it is very obvious who has something going for Wrestlemania and who doesn’t, as the interest goes up and down throughout the night.
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: August 7, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
We are less than two and a half weeks away from Summerslam and that means…well not much actually, but tonight we might find out some more about the Fiend attacking Alexa Bliss last week. That is the kind of thing that could be interesting, but given that it is modern WWE, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a recap of the Swamp Fight, including Alexa Bliss appearing to tempt Braun Strowman, plus the whole murdering thing. Then Bray Wyatt said Fiend wanted the Universal Title, so Fiend attacked Bliss using the “follow the flying fingers” technique to set up the Mandible Claw.
It’s time for the Firefly Fun House, with Bray saying everyone has been sliding into his DM’s over what happened last week, but it was all Braun’s fault. See, Braun has something that HE wants and HE will be here tonight, with someone Braun cares about. Braun should just give HIM what HE wants, or we’ll see what HE is capable of.
Matt Riddle vs. Sheamus
Riddle goes for the grappling to start and Sheamus has to go to the ropes to get out of a choke. Sheamus muscles him down with a headlock takeover but Riddle is back up with the striking. A knee to the ribs takes Riddle down though and we hit the armbar. That’s reversed into a Fujiwara armbar with Riddle cranking on the fingers for a bonus. That’s broken up as well and Riddle sends him to the apron, with Sheamus snapping the back of Riddle’s neck over the rope. There are the ten forearms to the chest but Riddle knocks him off the top and we take a break.
Back with Riddle fighting out of the chinlock but walking into a trio of Irish Curses. The chinlock goes on again but Riddle comes up with a kick to the head and the running forearms in the corner. The suplex out of the corner sets up the Broton for two but Riddle has to bail out of the moonsault. White Noise gives Sheamus two The Brogue Kick is countered into a rollup for two and Sheamus misses a charge into the post. Riddle kicks at the chest on the floor but gets sent hard into the barricade. Cue Shorty G. to jump Riddle from behind for the DQ at 12:20.
Rating: C. It was nice to have a hard hitting match but as soon as you remember that this is a stepping stone towards a King Corbin match, the interest falls away. Riddle getting to work with some bigger names helps a lot and as long as he beats Corbin at Summerslam (egads), he’ll be fine. Sheamus is a good choice as the heel gatekeeper and it worked here.
Post match Riddle fights back and sends G. into the announcers’ table. A whip into the step sets up a big kick to the chest and G. is left laying as Sheamus is annoyed. Riddle leaves so Sheamus Brogue Kicks G. twice for costing him a match. This seems like the “HAHA YOU THOUGHT GABLE WAS GOING TO BE SOMETHING!” moment.
Post break, Corbin is talking to a woman named Sarah when Sheamus comes up to complain about Corbin’s goon costing him a match. Corbin doesn’t like the threat and offers to cave in his skull later.
It’s time for the Dirt Sheet, with John Morrison saying he is more underground than anyone else around here. We see a clip of Sonya Deville attacking Mandy Rose last week and cutting her hair. Back in the arena, Miz and Morrison’s mics start going out, with Morrison saying Retribution isn’t booked tonight. Anyway, they have a special guest tonight, as Mandy Rose’s hair joins us via satellite. And yes, it is a wig with googly eyes.
Miz and Morrison handle the voices, talking about how the hair never left Mandy’s head before, but lately it has had to deal with Otis’ ham fingers. Miz and Morrison: “Can we get a HAIR YEAH? HAIR YEAH!” The hair has an agent now and that’s it for her. Cue Sonya Deville as the in-person guest, and she gets to rant about doing what she promised to do by making Mandy as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside. Sonya yells at Mandy to come out here and prove her wrong and isn’t surprised when no one comes out.
Now, it’s true that Mandy has talent, because she won a Bumpy Award for making out with Otis. Yes, she won an award for making out with a dude. Sonya agrees that they are starting to look like a couple, with Morrison saying it’s a couple of ogres. Cue Heavy Machinery to clear the ring in a hurry. The Sonya stuff was good as she continues to be very solid on the mic, but that hair thing is the latest entry in the “HOW MUCH DID FOX PAY FOR THIS?????” sweepstakes.
Lince Dorado vs. Cesaro
Cesaro wastes no time in throwing him around and hitting a hard clothesline. Dorado snaps off a headscissors though and Cesaro heads to the floor as the lights flicker. Graves thinks it’s Retribution, but maybe it’s that you’re in the same building that had power issues four days ago? A running flip dive is pulled out of the air by Cesaro and it’s a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to keep Dorado in trouble.
The jawbreaker gets Dorado out of a chinlock and the Golden Rewind (which Cole didn’t know) sets up the Super Crazy trio of moonsaults. The third is broken up but Dorado settles for a hurricanrana into a near fall. Cesaro has had it though and hits the Neutralizer for the pin at 4:17.
Rating: C-. Not the worst power vs. speed match but I’m not sure if this is the best way to get us towards the House Party vs. Cesaro/Nakamura for the Tag Team Titles. That being said, I didn’t need to see Cesaro lose to Dorado to get there, so at least they are letting the champ look strong for a change.
Otis shakes some things in the back but has to stop to answer a question about his match with Miz and Morrison tonight. He likes jokes, but Miz and Morrison’s have crossed the line. Tucker says Miz and Morrison can’t let it go, but disrespecting Mandy is too far.
And now, the Fiend. After his entrance and a break, we see Alexa Bliss sitting in front of him and looking scared. Fiend goes to the corner and crawls over to her, with Bliss rubbing his face. Strowman’s voice comes up to pull the Fiend away and he pops up on the screen. Strowman says this wasn’t going to work because all he cares about is destroying the Fiend. He tried to fight it but gave into the evil within and is fulfilling his destiny. Strowman is the thing that nightmares are made of and he is the monster. Fiend can have whatever he wants because at Summerslam, he is facing the monster. Strowman says let him in.
As usual, Strowman cannot talk to save his life and might as well be reading off the cue cards. I’m not sure if this was the end of the Bliss aspect of the story, but if that is the case, it feels like another case of setting something up and then changing their mind AGAIN, possibly because it could have been interesting and that cannot happen.
Jeff Hardy vs. King Corbin
Hardy forearms him in the head to start and hits the basement dropkick into the splash for two. The Twisting Stunner is countered and Corbin hits a hard clothesline for his own near fall. Corbin starts mocking the fans before taking his time sending Hardy outside. Hardy gets beaten over the announcers’ table for two and the chinlock goes on. Back up and Corbin does the slide under the corner but Hardy cuts him off and sends him into the Plexiglas. That just earns Hardy the Deep Six for two and a hard knee puts Hardy back on the floor. Cue Sheamus to kick Hardy for the DQ at 5:27.
Rating: C-. The match was fine enough but it goes to show you how Corbin continues to not be able to do anything above just ok most of the time. That was the case the whole time here, as Hardy is the kind of person who can draw some good stuff out of anyone, but give him someone to work with here. It wasn’t the worst, but it was just there and forgettable.
Yelling ensues post match.
King Corbin vs. Sheamus
Yes it’s the rare MORE CORBIN show as we get two Corbin matches in a row! Joined in progress with Sheamus knocking him down and hitting a knee to the ribs. The ten forearms to the chest connect and Sheamus knocks him to the floor. Sheamus sends him into the announcers’ table a few times as Corbin is rocked around the ring.
Back in and Corbin grabs a side slam for two and it’s time for the right hands to the head. Corbin knocks him into the corner and the chinlock goes on again. Sheamus muscles him up but can’t hit White Noise. Instead it’s a clothesline but here’s Matt Riddle for a distraction, setting up the Brogue Kick to finish Corbin at 5:20.
Rating: C. I liked it better than the previous match, though I’m not sure where this is going. Unless it’s a four way to get the next Intercontinental Title shot, or if Corbin finds another goon, it kind of leaves things in a weird place with three people who don’t like Sheamus and Riddle and Hardy. That being said, I can go with a bunch of people wanting to beat up Corbin, as long as Corbin isn’t around that long.
Bayley and Sasha Banks aren’t sure about Asuka, but Banks calls Bayley her role model. That has to be put on hold though as they are summoned to the ring for a video confidence with Stephanie McMahon.
Big E. talks about all of the wacky things that he has done and now it is time to see what could have been. He will give this all he has and gets Kayla Braxton to say NEW DAY ROCKS.
Bayley and Sasha are in the ring and Stephanie joins them via video conference. Stephanie congratulates them for winning all of the gold, minus NXT. They’re thrilled with this and just wanted to be role models for little girls, like Stephanie’s daughters. Stephanie doesn’t like some of the things they have done, but the two of them have gotten attention, including hers.
Stephanie wants to see them be challenged though, and that’s why Sasha will be defending the Raw Women’s Title at Summerslam. But against who? Well it could be Asuka, but we’ll see about that later. As for Bayley, she gets to defend against the winner of next week’s Triple Brand Battle Royal, with women from all three brands fighting for the title shot. That’s what’s best for business, much like hearing Stephanie’s theme song as her video ends.
Miz and Morrison aren’t sorry for what they said because sometimes, good comedy offends. It’s called gamesmanship and facing Otis is like playing chess against a pot bellied pig. What’s he going to do? Eat them?
Miz/John Morrison vs. Heavy Machinery
Sonya Deville is here with Miz and Morrison. Tucker takes Morrison down to start and rides him without much effort. A big clothesline takes Morrison down again and the lights flicker some more. Otis comes in for the Ode to the Bushwhackers and Tucker adds the Cannonball off the apron as we take a break. Back with Miz kicking Tucker in the face and handing it off to Morrison for some forearms to the head. Otis offers a distraction but Tucker gets DDTed by Miz anyway.
Morrison gets in another shot to the face as Sonya has walked all the way over to Otis’ corner before realizing she needs to go back a bit. Tucker gets in a quick sit onto Miz though and the hot tag brings in Otis to clean house. Morrison gets tossed around and there’s the Caterpillar for two with Miz breaking things up. A missed charge sends Tucker into the Plexiglas but here’s Mandy, now with shoulder length hair, which somehow confuses Cole, to brawl with Sonya. That’s enough for a no contest at 8:45.
Rating: D+. Otis continues to feel so out of place with the briefcase and if the Fiend winds up as champion, I can’t even imagine how weird that is going to be. The match was your run of the mill Smackdown tag match with a lame ending, but at least the people not in the match got in the ring to call for the ending this time. Sonya continues to be more of a star than anyone else, and the hair vs. hair match, or whatever they have, could be a good use of Summerslam time.
Post match the brawl stays on with Sonya spearing Mandy down and continuing to look like a far bigger star.
Post break, the women are being held back but the lights go out again. In the arena, here’s Retribution with a bunch of weapons and they all stand in the ring. Commentary gets chased off and one of the masked men gets in the cameraman’s face, shouting that it’s their house now. The camera crew all runs off and Retribution goes beyond the Plexiglas and beats up some NXT wrestlers, including grabbing a woman by the leg and surrounding her.
A kick to the ribs (from a Retribution member who appears to be a woman with long red hair) takes the woman down and they head back inside, still shouting that this is theirs. They turn over the announcers’ table and bust out the spray paint, which they put all over the Plexiglas. The Smackdown log on the ring skirt is covered up and they all celebrate in the ring. The fifth member whips out a chainsaw and they cut the ring ropes up to end the show. It was quite the moment, but they didn’t have any ties or matching colored shirts so it could only be so chaotic and violent.
Overall Rating: C-. The Retribution deal at the end was certainly something to catch your attention, but it came on the same show as Strowman ranting off cue cards and the wig with the eyes. I do like the four way feud (or whatever it is) though as it gives some people something to do. Tie in the Intercontinental Title somehow and you have something.
What matters here is that while they had a few things to try and shake things up, it felt more natural than Raw. It is a little better to have some wrestling matches and a little different kind of feud than a random underground fighting club. Then again Smackdown has a tendency to be more of a wrestling show than a storyline one, but having more than half of the matches end in a DQ or no contest isn’t the best idea. Not the worst show, but the two big bad parts really hurt things.
Results
Matt Riddle b. Sheamus via DQ when Shorty G. interfered
Cesaro b. Lince Dorado – Neutralizer
Jeff Hardy b. King Corbin via DQ when Sheamus interfered
Sheamus b. King Corbin – Brogue Kick
Miz/John Morrison vs. Heavy Machinery went to a no contest when Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose brawled
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: March 3, 2006
Location: Verizon Center, Washington DC
Attendance: 11,700
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
It’s a big one tonight as we have the No Way Out rematch between Undertaker and Kurt Angle for the Smackdown World Title. That alone should be enough to carry this show as it feels like one of those main events where they are going to give it some extra attention. Certainly works for me. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a video about Angle vs. Undertaker. If you insist.
Opening sequence.
Booker T. vs. Tatanka
What a clash of generations. Sharmell is on commentary. Tatanka works on the arm to start and Booker bails to the rope as Sharmell is already done listening to Cole. Booker loses a chop off so he goes to the eye and elbows him in the face. The hooking kick to the head misses though and Tatanka chops away even more. There’s a suplex but Booker pops up and strikes away in the corner.
A hot shot puts Tatanka down again and it’s a superkick for two. The chinlock goes on and naturally fuels the comeback, allowing Tatanka to chop him down again. Tatanka’s belly to back suplex sets up the top rope chop but Booker kicks him out of the air. The ax kick gives Booker….nothing as here’s the Boogeyman behind Sharmell. That’s enough for Tatanka to grab a rollup for the big upset.
Rating: D+. So to recap, you have all of the people available to WWE (from developmental alone) and you pick Tatanka? He isn’t the worst in the world or anything, but who looks back at Tatanka and thinks that’s the big idea? The match was nothing but a way to set up the angle at the end, as we continue towards Booker vs. Boogeyman because reasons.
Post match Boogeyman, with the worms, chases Booker off.
We recap Rey Mysterio being all depressed over losing his Wrestlemania title shot. Don’t worry though because Teddy Long made a tag match between Rey Mysterio and feeling happy by making a triple threat match at Wrestlemania.
Randy Orton vs. Super Crazy
Orton now has This Fire Burns by Killswitch Engage for theme music. Crazy gets stomped down in the corner to start and we’re in the chinlock in a hurry. Some forearms to the chest give Orton two and the chinlock goes on again. Crazy crawls over to the ropes and gets his feet to safety but Orton pulls him back for more chinlocking anyway.
Back up and Crazy throws him over for the break and hits a triangle dropkick to put Orton outside. The dive off the top hits Orton and they head back inside for two. A tornado DDT sends Orton throat first across the top but the moonsault only hits mat. Orton tries to go up but gets kicked in the head, only to shove Crazy back down. The RKO is good for the fast pin.
Rating: C-. This is the kind of match that can almost always work: take a talented guy who doesn’t get to do much against bigger names and let him have a five minute match. Orton was never in danger but they got to do a little something out there and it isn’t like Crazy loses anything in defeat. Do more stuff like this and save some of the bigger matches for important spots.
Video on Chris Benoit. I’m surprised that made the Network.
We look back at JBL’s hand being crushed last week, forcing him to undergo hand surgery this week.
At Wrestlemania: Benoit vs. JBL for the US Title.
MNM vs. Matt Hardy/Animal
Non-title. Matt rolls Mercury up for two to start and is quickly forearmed in the face for his efforts. Mercury misses a dropkick and gets rolled up for two, meaning it’s off to Animal for a hard whip into the corner. They head outside with Mercury being sent into the apron, allowing Melina to dive off the apron for a distraction. This one actually works as Nitro scores with a superkick to take over. Back in and a double legdrop gets two on Animal. The referees try to break things up so Melina adds a headscissor choke over the rope, with the fans not exactly complaining.
Animal fights up without much trouble and brings in Matt for the house cleaning. The middle rope elbow to the back of Mercury’s neck looks to set up the Twist of Fate but Matt has to go with a double DDT instead. Now the Twist of Fate gets two on Mercury with Nitro making the save. Everything breaks down and Animal goes up for the Doomsday Device, only to have Nitro chop block Hardy. Animal crashes, leaving Matt to take the Snapshot for the pin.
Rating: D+. Pretty formula based stuff but I don’t really need to see Animal again. It worked with Hawk but that isn’t going to happen again. The act was pretty tired in 1999 and we are a long way off from that. MNM needs a good team to face and I don’t know if I can imagine that happening anytime soon.
Post match Animal snaps on Hardy and rams Hardy’s injured knee in the post.
Big Time Wrestlemania Moment: Undertaker b. Sid at Wrestlemania XIII. You have that whole show and you pick that match? In a year where Bret Hart is going into the Hall of Fame?
Gene Okerlund Hall of Fame video.
Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay
Fallout from last week’s tag match. Lashley powers him up against the ropes to start and hits an atomic drop. Finlay gets run over with straight power but comes back with a clothesline and a knee to the back of the head. A suplex gives Lashley two and they head outside where Finlay throws in a bunch of chairs. The chair duel is good for the quick DQ.
Post match the brawl stays on with referees having to come down and break it up. This worked pretty well and I could go for another one.
We see Kristal attempting to disrobe last week when Jillian Hall interrupted. Clothes were removed and they fight next week. Can they please not?
William Regal comes up to Paul Burchill again and says Paul is embarrassing him again. Just come be a tag team again. Burchill says no because he has his first match next week and can’t wait to dress like this. Regal: “ARE YOU BLOODY MAD???”
Video on Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker.
Smackdown World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker
Angle is defending in a rematch from No Way Out. Angle slugs away in the corner to start and has to dodge Undertaker’s big shots. Undertaker gets taken down into a Fujiwara armbar but reverses into one of his own. A flying armbar has Angle in more trouble and Undertaker cranks on the arm in the corner. Old School is broken up though and Angle stomps him down some more. That just earns him another armbar but Angle breaks up Old School again.
The ten right hands in the corner are countered into a Last Ride but Undertaker has to drop him onto the ropes instead. A boot puts Angle on the floor and we take a break. Back with Angle sending him face first into the steps but Undertaker pops back up with a heck of a clothesline. Undertaker hits the apron legdrop to the back of the bad neck as he has another target.
Back in and Undertaker bends the neck around the rope but Angle snaps off a belly to belly for a delayed two. Now it’s Angle pounding him down for two and we hit the bodyscissors. That’s broken up as well but Undertaker’s running big boot misses in the corner. For some reason Undertaker goes up top, earning himself a top rope superplex for two.
We take another break and come back again with Angle holding a chinlock with a knee in the back. A clothesline puts Undertaker on the floor and Angle whips him knees first into the steps. Back in and Undertaker wins a slugout but misses another big boot. The release German suplex sends Undertaker flying but NOW the big boot connects for two. The chokeslam is countered into the ankle lock until Undertaker kicks him off. Neither can hit a Tombstone so Angle grabs the Angle Slam for two more.
Another ankle lock is countered into the chokeslam but the cover takes too long, allowing Angle to pull him into the ankle lock. That’s countered into the triangle choke, which is good for two arm drops. Angle grabs the rope for the break and counters a legdrop into the ankle lock. This time Undertaker reverses and hits a DDT for two but it’s Angle up first. The moonsault misses and there’s the sit up. Undertaker hits the Tombstone but here’s Mark Henry for the DQ.
Rating: A-. Yeah that worked and I don’t know why you would have expected anything else. This was a pair of great wrestlers going back and forth while trying to have a classic and they pretty much did. I’m not wild on the ending but we have already seen a clean finish between the two so it isn’t that big of a problem. There was no way this wasn’t going to work and it worked very well, as you had to expect.
Post match Henry beats Undertaker up even more, setting up a splash through the announcers’ table to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. This was like the In Your House of Smackdowns as the main event carried the show as far as it needed to go but the rest left you wondering why this was taking place. There are a lot of people who pretty clearly are just going through the motions with little to nothing to do for Wrestlemania and that can make for some rough time. Then you have Undertaker vs. Angle for about half an hour though and those problems don’t mean as much.
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: July 31, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole
Summerslam is getting closer and closer but at the same time we have a lot to do on the way there. That includes a pair of title matches this week as AJ Styles defends the Intercontinental Title against Gran Metalik and Nikki Cross gets another shot at Bayley’s Smackdown Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Bayley is ready to beat Nikki Cross again and Sasha Banks laughs a lot.
Nikki says her confidence was in the gutter after Extreme Rules but last week she beat Alexa Bliss, who is better than Bayley and Banks.
Big E. says Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston are in his heart and mind. Tonight, Miz feels the power.
Miz isn’t worried about Big E. having a singles career. John Morrison thinks it sounds like a bad spinoff.
Lacey Evans is ready for the nasty Naomi.
Naomi promises to make Lacey feel the glow.
Gran Metalik wants the Intercontinental Title (in Spanish).
AJ Styles is ready to teach Metalik a lesson.
We go to the Firefly Fun House where Bray Wyatt has a snorkel because he was looking for Braun Strowman. Though maybe the alligators have already eaten Braun. All Bray ever wanted to do was save Braun but now HE is awake and HE wants something Braun has. Until HE gets it, none of you are safe. Let him in.
Intercontinental Title: AJ Styles vs. Gran Metalik
Metalik is challenging and has Lince Dorado with him. AJ drives him into the corner to start and we’re at an early standoff. Some kicks to the ribs take Metalik down and Styles sends him face first into the buckle. There’s a suplex for two and AJ whips him hard into the corner but misses an elbow.
Metalik sends him outside and cuts AJ off at the legs. A running hurricanrana off the apron takes AJ down and we take a break. Back with Metalik hitting a high crossbody but a monkey flip is blocked. AJ starts in on the leg by cranking away on the mat, including a half crab to send Metalik to the rope.
Metalik slips out of the fireman’s carry neckbreaker and snaps off a tornado DDT for a hotter than expected near fall. There’s the rope walk dropkick for two more but AJ is right back with the Phenomenal Blitz. The Phenomenal Forearm misses though and Metalik hits an enziguri for the double breather. Metalik walks the ropes again but AJ knocks him out of the air. The Calf Crusher makes Metalik tap at 14:24.
Rating: B-. This is the kind of thing I can go for: have AJ Styles working with some random wrestler and getting a good match out of him. Metalik can do some good stuff on his own, but Styles is the kind of guy who can do whatever he wants with anyone and make it look easy. Nice stuff here and a perfectly fine match to open the show.
Post match Dorado checks on Metalik and gets taken out with the Styles Clash.
King Corbin comes up to Shorty G. and talks about how overlooked Gable has been. All of the short jokes were there to motivate him, and he can do that against Matt Riddle tonight. Gable seems to think about things. As usual, it’s amazing how much all of the energy that opener put together goes away as soon as Corbin shows up.
We look back at the bar fight last week.
Here’s Hardy for a chat. Jeff has not felt this good in a long time and knows that, as a fan shouts, Sheamus sucks. Last week was a reminder that he is on the right path. It’s true that he is an alcoholic but he is also a loving husband and a WWE star. That is what makes him never want to let anyone down again and he is fighting the struggle every day. Cue King Corbin to say enough about the sobriety stuff.
What is going on around here? Hardy is standing in the ring talking about how tough things is so suck it up and deal with it. Corbin has to deal with that idiotic Matt Riddle who can’t keep his shows and tonight he has to face Drew Gulak. Hardy says maybe Corbin is the real problem but Corbin thinks Hardy is more concerned about sitting in a circle, talking about the twelve steps and collecting coins. Gulak jumps him from behind and we’re off. Well after a break that is. So yeah, Corbin is now in two stories at once, assuming we’re not counting Gulak as a third.
Drew Gulak vs. King Corbin
Joined in progress with Gulak working on the arm and throwing Corbin down. A stomp to the arm sets up the hammerlock as Corbin is sent into the corner. Corbin right hands him out of the corner though and Gulak is rocked in a hurry. It’s off to a half crab on Gulak, with Corbin turning it into the middle of the ring.
That’s reverses into a YES Lock but Corbin gets out and reaches the rope. Some running dropkicks have Corbin in trouble and Gulak adds a top rope clothesline for two. Corbin is back with Deep Six but here’s Matt Riddle for a distraction, setting up a small package for two. Not that it matters as the End of Days finishes Gulak at 5:12.
Rating: C. And yes of course we keep Corbin going because he must be on the show no matter what happens. Corbin continues to do his thing and if we have to see him, I would rather have him in the ring than on the microphone, though it is the lesser of two evils at best. Gulak continues to be a great hand in the ring and that isn’t a bad spot to have.
Post match Riddle runs in and goes after Corbin but Shorty G. runs in with a suplex to Riddle and a smile to Corbin.
Big E. vs. The Miz
John Morrison is here with Miz while Big E. is alone, as commentary makes very clear. Miz gets driven into the corner so Big E. can hit the hip swiveling. Then it’s a fireman’s carry into more swiveling, setting up the spanking abdominal stretch. Miz gets out and slaps him in the face for some reason, which doesn’t go well. They head outside with Miz being sent into various things but Morrison hits a flipping kick off the steps.
Miz gets in a kick to the face and it’s a top rope ax handle back inside. Big E. powers out of a chinlock and sends him to the apron for a clothesline. The apron splash misses though and we take a break. Back with Big E. fighting out of another chinlock but getting kick in the face for two. Big E. is back up again with some belly to belly suplexes into the Warrior Splash. The Big Ending and Skull Crushing Finale are blocked so Miz hits the DDT for two more. There are the YES Kicks but Big E reverses one into a failed powerbomb attempt.
Miz kicks the knee out and kicks away at it in the corner. Some running knees are countered into a not great Rock Bottom out of the corner but the spear through the ropes is countered with another knee. Morrison gets on the apron for a kick to the head though and the Skull Crushing Final gets two. Miz grabs the Figure Four but Big E. gets over to the rope. Morrison teases another kick but gets caught this time for an ejection. Miz panics for a good while and gets rolled up for two, followed by a Stretch Muffler of all things to make Miz tap at 14:00.
Rating: C-. They needed to cut some of the time out of this as Big E. didn’t quite look like a breakout star. The idea of him being out there on his own makes sense, assuming you ignore his Intercontinental Title, NXT Title, and long successful run as part of the New Day. They’re treating him like some rookie who has never done this before and that doesn’t exactly fit anything about him. I liked the ending, but this needed to be about five minutes shorter.
Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are celebrating when Lucha House Party comes in. They seem interested in a title shot but Cesaro makes fun of Metalik for choking.
Sheamus talks about making the mistake of fighting Jeff Hardy in a bar. No matter how many bottles Sheamus broke over his head, he knew Hardy was fueled by alcohol. Hardy is no longer his problem and that’s bad news for Smackdown. Now, he is the locker room’s problem.
Lacey Evans vs. Naomi
Before the match, Lacey promises to make everyone feel sorry for Naomi when she beats her again. Lacey takes her into the corner to start and goes to tie Naomi’s hair around the rope. That’s broken up as Naomi tries a hurricanrana, earning herself a powerbomb. Naomi’s back is bent around the post with Lacey pulling on the hair, followed by a hard posting.
Lacey traps the hair in the steps but Naomi beats the count and knocks her outside again. Naomi tries a sliding….I want to say sunset bomb or Canadian Destroyer but she loses Lacey on the flip and sends her flying instead, with Cole even asking what the heck that was. Back in and Lacey ties the hair into the ropes again but this time Naomi comes out with a backslide for the pin at 3:18.
Rating: D. I’d love to know who the producer was for this because they probably need to be demoted. It felt like they had about five ideas but none of them were developed and it turned into a mess. Lacey trying to tie the hair up over and over was as close as they got to a point, but the big spot was so horribly botched and I’m still not sure why I should care about Lacey being mad over a karaoke contest. Naomi and Lacey could both be developed into something, though it isn’t happening like this.
Otis and Mandy Rose are here and have plans for a date, with Mandy making some suggestive statements involving food. They’ll be ready in a few minutes but Sonya Deville looks on.
Post break Sonya jumps Mandy and covers her face with makeup. She cuts off a bunch of Mandy’s hair too while screaming about wanting to ruin Mandy’s life. Sonya grabs some electric clippers but referees come in for the save.
After a quick chat from commentary on what we just saw, Heavy Machinery comes in to check on Mandy. Miz and Morrison come int o ask where the adults are because Mandy now looks like a soccer mom. Miz: “Rest asheered, we will take care of this.” Morrison: “Don’t cut it short.” Otis glares them off.
We recap Bayley vs. Nikki Cross, which included Bayley beating her at Extreme Rules and injuring her ribs.
Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
Bayley is defending and Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss are the seconds. Cross starts fast by knocking Bayley around and hitting a monkey flip. The Purge is broken up so Nikki slams her head first into the mat over and over. Bayley is back with a shot in the ropes but Nikki sends her outside in a crash as we take a break. We come back with Bayley running Nikki over and sending her into the buckle. A belly to back suplex drops Nikki on her head for two but a shot to the throat gets her out of trouble.
There’s a tornado DDT for two on Bayley and a reverse DDT onto the apron has her in more trouble. Back in and Nikki gets two off a Regal Cutter but Bayley snaps her throat first across the rope. Bayley goes over to the announcers’ table to mock Nikki’s dance for reasons of general cockiness, allowing Nikki to take her down by the leg. A dropkick through the ropes takes Sasha down and they fight over some rollups for two each. Bayley pops back up and hits the bulldog driver to retain at 10:30.
Rating: C+. They were just starting to cook and then Bayley finished her in a hurry to retain. It didn’t last long but they had me believing they might pull the surprise for a bit. That’s hard to do given how dominant Bayley has been but they need to have someone give her a real challenge because you can only do these same things over and over so many times.
Post match Bayley and Banks leave and the copyright comes up but we stay with Bliss trying to help Nikki up. Nikki says no and shoves her down before leaving on her own. Cue the Fiend of all people to kneel next to Bliss and hold out his hand, which she looks at while shaking her head. Fiend Mandible Claws Bliss to end the show. If we have to do this one more time, that’s a different enough way to go to make it more interesting.
Overall Rating: C. This was a show where they were trying hard and coming close to making it work but then something cut it off. Whether it was Corbin or the Naomi vs. Evans match or reminding us that Hardy is an alcoholic every few segments, this show had a lot of speed bumps and couldn’t overcome all of them. The good stuff was good though, with some solid matches and the potential of Big E. getting his singles push (just don’t have him beat Morrison next week and burn off more of his solo time) being highlights. I liked the show, but I could have liked it a lot more without the issues.
Results
AJ Styles b. Gran Metalik – Calf Crusher
King Corbin b. Drew Gulak – End of Days
Big E. b. The Miz – Stretch Muffler
Naomi b. Lacey Evans – Backslide
Bayley b. Nikki Cross – Bulldog driver
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: February 24, 2006
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re finally done with No Way Out, which wound up being a heck of a show. Now that we’re past the last stop, Wrestlemania is the last stop and that means things should start picking up in a hurry. The big stories are Kurt Angle surviving against Undertaker and Rey Mysterio losing his World Title shot to Randy Orton. Let’s get to it.
Here is No Way Out if you need a recap.
Here’s Randy Orton to open things up. With the big smile, Orton says that he isn’t the kind of guy to say he told you so, but he told you so. He’s competing for the World Title at Wrestlemania and Rey Mysterio is not. It’s time to claim his destiny and that means beating Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania.
Orton’s grandfather was the greatest wrestler of his generation, his father was the greatest wrestler of his generation and he is going to prove that he is the greatest wrestler of his generation. That puts him ahead of Undertaker, Kurt Angle and even Eddie Guerrero. Cue Chavo Guerrero to beat Orton down, including Three Amigos and a frog splash. Security carries a screaming Chavo out.
Tag Team Titles: Matt Hardy/Tatanka vs. MNM
MNM is defending, because Matt Hardy and Tatanka aren’t going to be Tag Team Champions on any show that matters. Matt and Mercury start things off with Matt getting two off a running forearm. Nitro comes in and Matt beats up both champs without much effort. It’s off to Tatanka to crotch Nitro on top and a right hand puts Mercury down on the floor. Melina offers a distraction though and Tatanka gets low bridged outside. Back in and Tatanka can’t fight out of the corner and it’s a double back elbow for two.
Tatanka fails at fighting out of the corner again but Mercury’s distraction means the referee misses a small package on Nitro. A double clothesline gets Tatanka out of trouble and there’s the hot tag to Hardy. House is cleaned in a hurry as Melina isn’t handling this well. Nitro gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Mercury grabs a northern lights suplex for two. Tatanka breaks up the Snapshot as everything breaks down. Melina grabs Hardy’s leg to block the Twist of Fate and Nitro rolls up Hardy with tights for the pin to retain.
Rating: D+. It was a pretty standard formula tag match but come on with Hardy and Tatanka being believable challengers. That would have been a stretch at a small house show and we’re supposed to believe it on a TV show on the way to Wrestlemania? I like MNM but man alive are they alone out there as far as good tag teams go.
An annoyed William Regal comes in to see Paul Burchill and has a letter. A fan in England begs Regal to stop Burchill from embarrassing the country like this….so Burchill hands him a BOMB (as in the black ball with a long wick kind) and lights it on fire. Burchill is nice enough to cut it off, though Regal’s panicking is funny as always.
Eddie Guerrero Hall of Fame video.
Dicks vs. Boogeyman
Booker T. and Sharmell are on commentary and aren’t happy when this is turned from a tag match into a handicap match. Booker: “WHO SIGNED THIS GUY???” The forearms to the back don’t work and the ones to the face don’t do much better. James is sent to the floor and then onto the announcers’ table, leaving Chad to get chokebombed for the fast pin.
Post match, Chad gets wormed and Boogeyman goes after Booker and Sharmell. The two of them run so Boogeyman covers the announcers’ table with worms as well.
Raw Rebound.
Wrestlemania Big Time Moment: Jeff Hardy’s huge Swanton through the table to Bubba Ray Dudley in 2000.
Cole and Tazz are freaked out over the worms.
Here’s Rey Mysterio to address his loss at No Way Out. Rey wastes no time in talking about Eddie Guerrero, who was smiling down on him at the Royal Rumble. But then Randy Orton got in his head and Rey lost, which let everyone down. Rey is sorry to everyone from his family to the Guerreros to everyone here to Eddie himself. Before he can leave, cue Teddy Long to say everyone feels their pain.
We see a clip of Orton grabbing the rope to pin Mysterio. Now the referee’s decision is final and Orton is going to Wrestlemania, but Long can add to the match. Mysterio is back in as it is now a triple threat. There was no way they were letting that stand after all of the Guerrero hype and that’s fine, assuming you can handle all of the Guerrero worship.
Here’s Kristal to promote the annual Divas magazine. Before she can disrobe for a preview, here’s Jillian Hall to interrupt. These fans want to see JBL in the main event but Kristal rips off Jillian’s jacket instead, sending her running to the back. Kristal takes off her robe.
We look at Batista’s surprise appearance at No Way Out.
Cruiserweight Title: Gregory Helms vs. Psicosis
Psicosis is challenging and takes him down with ease to start. Some right hands in the corner have Psicosis in trouble but he comes out with an anklescissors. Helms sends him hard out to the floor though and Psicosis may have hurt his back. Before he can get back in, Helms catches him on the apron with forearms to the chest and we hit the chinlock. Psicosis fights up with a hurricanrana but Helms clotheslines him back down.
The chinlock with a knee in the back has Psicosis in more trouble but he gets to his feet again. A spinwheel kick gets two so Helms grabs the TKO onto the knee. Psicosis gets in a shot to the face and heads up top but gets crotches down. Helms grabs a rollup with feet on the ropes for the pin to retain.
Rating: D+. This was another lifeless cruiserweight match, which tends to be the case for them every single time. There isn’t anything that you need to see in these matches and while Helms makes sense in the role, it is a little hard to care about another guy in trunks when he used to be something as charismatic as Hurricane.
Highlights of Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker on Sunday.
Teddy Long comes out to announce Angle vs. Undertaker II for next week.
Chris Benoit/Bobby Lashley/Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay/John Bradshaw Layfield/Randy Orton
Before the match, Orton complains to Long about the triple threat match. Long’s advice: get to stepping. Orton hammers Mysterio down to start but has to bail from the threat of a 619. Finlay comes in and gets to face Lashley so they forearm it out. Lashley nails a spear on Finlay and everything breaks down. Back from a break with Benoit Sharpshootering JBL, who is right next to the rope.
Lashley’s overhead belly to belly sends JBL flying and the spear connects again. Finlay makes a save and Orton comes back in, meaning Rey is right in there as well. Orton gets Rey into the corner though and it’s Finlay grabbing the chinlock. JBL follows it up with a kick to the face but Rey snaps off a headscissors. That doesn’t work for Finlay, who ties Rey in the ring skirt and hammers away some more. JBL slaps on a bearhug to stay on the back and then cuts him off with a hard shoulder for two.
Finlay comes in without a tag and gets sent out, so JBL tags in Orton instead. Naturally that means another chinlock but Rey headscissors him shoulder first into the post. The hot tag brings in Benoit to clean house and it’s a series of release German suplexes. The Clothesline From JBL is countered into a Crossface attempt with Finlay making the save. JBL is sent outside and his hand is crushed between the steps and post. Rey throws JBL back inside for a 619 and a springboard splash for the pin.
Rating: C. Pretty basic main event tag here and that’s not the best thing to see a lot of the time. They didn’t exactly do anything out of the ordinary and then Rey won because we need to bring up Eddie again. It wasn’t a bad match by any stretch, but it also isn’t something that did very much other than give Rey a win back, which he didn’t need as much after being put back in the Wrestlemania title match.
Rey gets a far too big celebration to end the show.
Overall Rating: D. Well that wasn’t great. This show was basically hitting the rewind button on Orton’s victory over Mysterio, as Rey is right back where he was before No Way Out. So yes, we will be hearing more about Eddie every chance they can find to squeeze it in. The wrestling wasn’t nothing memorable and other than announcing Undertaker vs. Angle II and Rey being put back in the title match, this was a completely skippable show.
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