IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

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

Buy In: Joey Janela vs. Serpentico

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

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

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

Buy In: Dark Order vs. Private Party

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

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

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

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

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

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

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

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

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

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

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

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

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

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

The announcers preview the Casino Battle Royal.

Casino Battle Royal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

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

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

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

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

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

Full Gear is on November 7.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

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

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley s. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

Big Swole b. Britt Baker via knockout

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

Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Eddie Kingston

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

Hikaru Shida b. Thunder Rosa – Running knee

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

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

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

Jon Moxley b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Paradigm Shift

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

We haven’t done one of these in awhile. AEW does not run very many pay per view events but they will be having one this weekend. That means the expectations are high, as AEW’s pay per views have been rather successful so far. There is always a first time for everything, but AEW has given me a lot of reason to believe that they can make this work again. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Private Party vs. Dark Order

This was a change made on Friday with a new match being added and the original Buy In match being added to the main card. Private Party has been in a weird place since they debuted as they seemed to be the chosen ones but then fell WAY back and haven’t come close to their original status since. They have at least been on television more as of late so maybe things are turning around.

The thing that is going to help them turn around the most is a win here, which they will get. The Dark Order has been getting a push but I can’t imagine they actually beat a team like Private Party. This is a good choice for an opening match as Private Party can bring some energy to the show and give the fans a nice reaction when they beat the cult. It won’t be a great match or anything, but it will help the show get going in the right direction.

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

I can always go with a ragtag bunch of people against the monster cult (you hear about it all the time). This is fallout from Brodie Lee mauling Cody to take the TNT Title and I think I like this more than a regular title defense. We’ve already seen what Lee can do on his own so it’s ok to go with something designed to follow up on that rather than going in the more traditional route.

I’ll take the Dark Order here as there is no reason to have Lee lose in his first match after winning the title. Even if he didn’t take the fall, you don’t want to slow the momentum of the main core of the Dark Order. QT Marshall can take a fall as well as anyone here and if it happens to be after Lee blasts him with a clothesline, so be it. This is the Order’s to win, as it should be.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

Here we have a match that is just kind of happening for the sake of happening, which is rarely a good sign. These four won a match on Dynamite to earn their spot in this one and that’s about it. In other words, they had to come up with something for the Bucks to do on the show and this was as good as anything else they could come up with. At least Marko Stunt is injured and can’t interfere so we have at least one positive.

Of course the Bucks win here because it’s their company and you have to give the people what they want (or something). Much like Private Party, Jurassic Express has fallen a long way (I assure you that the addition of Stunt had NOTHING to do with it though) and they are just kind of the designated victims for the Bucks. The match will have some good spots, but the Bucks win in the end, as they should.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

This is a Broken Rules match, meaning Last Man Standing. These two have had a big feud going in recent weeks (Guevara has even had signs) and then they had a tables match which was completely ripped off by having its time hacked off. I’m hoping they can do something great here, or at least really good, which might be about as good as you can expect from them here.

Given the “Hardy leaves AEW if he loses”, I think I’ll go with Guevara, mainly because that seems like a way to have Hardy get out of the company and come back as another character. Guevara also needs the win a lot more, but I’m almost scared to see what we are going to be seeing from Hardy in the near future, because he might go for epic again and that….egads it does not work a lot of the time.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Thunder Rosa

This is actually the only singles match on the show with no special rules or stipulation. Rosa debuted on Dynamite and made me care about Serena Deeb well enough, though I don’t know if that was the point. They have built this up fairly well for Rosa through her promos, but at the same time, Shida has barely been around in the last few weeks. She still feels like the ace of the division though and that’s all you need in something like this.

I’ll go with Shida retaining here, as I’m not sure I can imagine Rosa just showing up and winning the title. Now that being said, if they want to put a rocket to someone in the short term, Rosa would make a ton of sense. Rosa could be a heck of a star as she has seemed like one every time and hopefully they give her a chance later on, because she could be a big star in a hurry around…anywhere really.

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

Man alive this could have been something more interesting at another time but it is still entertaining enough here. The main crux of the story here is the continuing deterioration of the Elite, with Page now having been tossed out, despite Omega not having any say of it. We could be seeing something great in the ring here, but the real interesting parts are going to be around the drama, which tends to be the case in most big matches.

This absolutely has to be the title change, as Omega and Page being the champs mean that the story can’t really move forward in any significant way. FTR can be a great team and upgrade anyone they face, so hopefully they are given the chance to do that here. Omega and Page need to drop the titles already and there is no reason not to do that here. It will be very good to great match, and the title change should be on the same level. FTR wins, as they have to.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is the cinematic match and that means we are going to be seeing something interesting. The match is going to be taking place in Baker’s dental office, which should be a heck of an idea. AEW seems like it should be able to have the right kind of humor to make something work in the first place. These two have been wanting to fight for a few months now and if they go with the right path, we should be fine.

I’ll with with Baker here, as there is little reason to have her lose. Baker’s greatest strength is when she gets to talk and there is little reason for her to keep talking if she gets beaten here. Swole is good enough at what she does, but Baker could be the best talker in the entire division and should not lose for a good while. It’s Baker all day here and that should be the case for a long time.

Casino Battle Royal

One day someone is going to have to explain to me why they keep going with the gambling theme, especially when they aren’t in Las Vegas. Anyway, this is the big #1 contenders battle royal with the groups of wrestlers coming in at timed intervals and then one guy coming in last as the Joker. I’m not sure what to expect here as the field has not been completely announced, but this should be hard to screw up.

Based on the field that we have at the moment, I’ll be taking Darby Allin to win, if nothing else for the sake of hearing Taz freak out about it on commentary. I don’t know if that is the kind of title shot that can be defended, but some matches against Team Taz could work out rather well. You can almost guarantee that another former WWE star will debut here, but Allin winning makes the most sense out of everyone announced so far.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

If you have been watching Dynamite and Dark, you very well could believe that this is the main event (and I’m not 100% convinced it won’t be). This is the Mimosa Mayhem match, because AEW loves it some uniquely named gimmick matches. It’s basically a casket match, but with a vat of orange juice and champagne instead of a casket. Plus you can win via pinfall or submission to really mix it up.

There is no real reason for Jericho to win here (aside from it’s Jericho vs. Cassidy on pay per view) and I can’t imagine Cassidy actually losing so I’ll go with what makes sense. Cassidy has already proven that he can pin Jericho so throwing him into the mimosas would make the most sense. Actually it would have made the most sense to have Cassidy beat him in this in the second match and then win via pinfall later in the big moment, but the way they did it works well enough.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

And then there’s this, which is going to be one of the more interesting matches on the show. I’m not sure which way this is going to go and that’s what makes it more fun. Friedman has been pretty clearly the next breakout star for a long time as he can talk as well as anyone in the world right now, but it’s almost hard to picture them taking the title off of Moxley. The Paradigm Shift is banned here, but that has taken a backseat to the lawyer stuff which just did not end. So that leaves us with the match and I’m not entirely sure.

I’ll go with Friedman winning though, as I really can’t imagine who else can take the title from Moxley at the moment. They have something with Moxley beating all of the giants in a row and then having trouble with the smaller guy so hopefully they pull the trigger. I’m not sure how good the match is going to be, but Friedman’s celebration could be outstanding and my hope for seeing it carries me through.

Overall Thoughts

I’m excited for this one and it’s nice to be able to say that about a pay per view for once. They have done something different with the shows and given how infrequently we see them, that could make for a rather nice show indeed. This is kind of the anniversary show, or at least the anniversary of the show before the show, so they are going to be going harder than usual. All out you might even say.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 2, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s the go home show for All out and the show is mostly set. That being said, AEW knows how to add some matches to the card at the last minute. I’m not going to argue with how they build their pay per views in a hurry as they certainly know what they’re doing so far. Hopefully that is the case again this time around. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends

The Best Friends jump them during the entrances with the fight being on outside. Chuck avoids a double suplex on the floor and Trent hits a big dive off the platform. Santana has to save Ortiz from a suplex onto the steps so the Best Friends send him over the barricade. Trent spears Ortiz down as Chuck sets up a big pile of chairs near the platform. That takes too long though and Santana is back up to send him through the whole thing.

Now the bell rings and it’s Trent hitting running double knees to Santana but a double suplex takes Trent down for two. A tornado DDT gets Trent out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Chuck to clean house. The big running flip dive lets Chuck mug for the camera and it’s Soul Food for Santana back inside. A Falcon Arrow gets two with Ortiz making the save.

Santana charges into a knee to the face in the corner and the hot tag brings in Trent. That just earns him a trip to the floor and a powerbomb onto the steps. Back in and Trent slips out of the Street Sweeper and grabs the belly to back piledriver on Ortiz. Santana puts Ortiz’s hand on the ropes just after three and then throws Chuck over the barricade. The metal baton to the back sets up the Street Sweeper to finish Trent at 6:54.

Rating: C+. Well at least they didn’t stop to hug. The match itself wasn’t all that long but there was an extra five minutes of brawling before the bell to make up for it a little bit. If you cut out a lot of the goofy stuff that the Best Friends do and have Trent be the focal point of the team, it’s a lot easier to put up with them. That and having Santana and Ortiz get the win.

MJF’s lawyer has locked himself in his locker room so Wardlow kicks the door in and drags him out. MJF gets in the lawyer’s face and says he has done everything he can to become a World Champion. It is all he has ever wanted and he isn’t having someone lose his chance for him. So either go out there, or be sent into a f****** woodchipper. Which monster do you want to face?

SCU/Private Party vs. Young Bucks/Jurassic Express

The winning team has a regular tag match at All Out. Kazarian and Jungle Boy go with the technical exchange to start before it’s off to Marq Quen to take Matt down. Isaiah Kassidy hits a springboard hurricanrana to put Matt on the floor, where a fan is holding a “HANGMAN DRINK MY BEER” sign. Matt doesn’t care for that and pours the beer out, though he might want to be more concerned about the fan next to him reading a book.

Back in and the Bucks take over on Daniels until he sends them into each other. A belly to back suplex allows the double tag to Kazarian and Boy as everything breaks down. Daniels moonsaults onto the Bucks on the floor as Boy takes Kazarian into the corner. Back in and Daniels comes in to send Boy face first into Kazarian’s raised boot as we take a break. Back with Boy hitting an Angle Slam neckbreaker to Kassidy and bringing in Luchasaurus to clean house.

Private Party dropkick him down so Luchasaurus does the Undertaker situp and kicks them in the face. The moonsault takes SCU down on the floor but Matt tags himself in. We get a double frog splash/standing moonsaults onto Private Party but SCU comes back in for their powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for two on Boy. Matt superkicks Boy by mistake and the BME hits Boy, followed by Quen’s shooting star press. Luchasaurus makes his own save and tosses Quen into a spinebuster from Boy. Matt tags himself back in and the BTE Trigger finishes at 14:13.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be and was your usual insane spot fest, which can start to run together when they do them week after week. That has been the case with most Bucks matches and it didn’t help that you knew the Bucks weren’t being left off of a pay per view. It was entertaining, but it makes the FTR vs. Private Party match from a few weeks ago stand out even more because it was different, unlike this one.

Jake Hager comes in to see Orange Cassidy because Chris Jericho wants Cassidy at ringside for his match tonight. Violence is implied.

Tully Blanchard tells FTR that they accomplished half of their goals and now it is time to go complete everything by winning the Tag Team Titles. They can be sore on Sunday and on Saturday they are fearing the revelation.

Here’s Kenny Omega for a chat, sans Hangman Page. Tony Schiavone recaps Page being thrown out of the Elite, which Omega describes as a mistake that Page has made. Omega says FTR fooled Page but Omega and Page will defend FTR again because they will be bringing their A game. Cue Tully Blanchard and FTR with the cooler with the team saying they’re looking forward to having a great tag team match.

They offer a toast and even have a chocolate milk for Omega. That’s fine with Omega, but he isn’t going to drink with a double of censoreds like them. If they want to do it right now, Omega is fine with 3-1 because he can get in a few good shots. Just do him a favor first: keep the old man away from him because he can smell him from here. Cue Hangman Page with FTR talking about how Page got inside his own head.

They didn’t do a thing because Page wanted to do this all along. Page has to be held back with Omega telling him that they’re just trying to get in his head. FTR grab the titles and then drop them in front of Page. That’s enough for FTR so Page holds out the title to Omega, who is already on the floor and staring back in. This worked well enough, and it’s nice to see them doing something with the story after a good while. Now they need to change the titles though.

Chris Jericho asks Alex Marvez when he last experienced something for the first time. Like kissing a woman for example. That’s how fans are feeling about the Mimosa Mayhem match because he is happy to have turned Orange Cassidy into a main event star. On Saturday, there is going to be a little bit of the bubbly and a lot of Le Champion.

Chris Jericho vs. Joey Janela

Jake Hager is here with Jericho and Orange Cassidy comes to the ring, carrying a backpack. Jericho, in a white Orange Cassidy shirt (get the liquids ready), jumps Janela, with his hand in pigtails, to start and then hits a running clothesline in the corner. More shots to the face put Janela down again and Jericho stands on his hair. Janela gets in a few shots for his comeback but springboards into a Codebreaker. The Walls finishes Janela at 3:14.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here to show that Jericho is serious going into the match with Cassidy on Saturday. That’s a nice idea, but you can only get so far when you have a match built up around throwing someone into a big vat of orange juice. Granted there is something to be said about watching Janela being beaten up so it could have been worse.

Post match Jericho takes off a turnbuckle pad and sends Janela face first into the steel to bust him open. The blood goes on the Cassidy shirt and Cassidy finally comes in for the brawl. Hager comes in for the save but Sonny Kiss runs in for the save. Cassidy pulls out A Little Bit Of The Bubbly from the backpack and pours it out (second time tonight they’ve done the pour out a drink deal, not counting the time where FTR’s cooler was thrown down).

Video on Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy.

Back from a break with Matt near the top of the building shouting down at Sammy Guevara as they engage in a battle of signs.

Here is Team Taz for a chat. Taz promises that either Ricky Starks or Cage will win, whether Darby Allin, Jake Roberts or Lance Archer like it or not. Cue Roberts and Archer, with the former promising that no one is busting a nut around here. Jake sees a great pair of blue jeans in the ring but here are Eddie Kingston and company to talk about how none of them are winning. Jake: “You’ve been drinking. You must have been drinking.”

Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard come out to watch as well and the fight is on, with the Gunn Club and Darby Allin running in as well. Some wrestlers jump the barricade and are cleaned out in a hurry. Cue the Inner Circle and the Best Friends to get in on this as well. The brawling takes us to a break and we come back with the big brawl continuing…and now it’s a vignette on the Dark Order.

Video on the Dark Order’s success as of late, including Brodie Lee squashing Cody to win the TNT Title. They will meet Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona/Dustin Rhodes/QT Marshall at All Out.

Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa’s NWA Women’s Title isn’t on the line. Deeb takes her to the mat to start but a shot to the face just makes Rosa mad. Rosa comes back with her own shot to the face and a dropkick but Deep grabs a neckbreaker. With Rosa’s arm trapped, Deeb slams the knee into the mat and grabs a half crab. That doesn’t last long and we take a break.

Back with Rosa grabbing a waistlock and then putting on a cross arm choke. Deeb reverses into a Backstabber and they’re both down. A quick rollup gives Deeb two but Rosa hits some running knees in the corner. The running dropkick against the ropes gets two and a Death Valley Driver is good for the same. Rosa hits a running knee to the face for two and then the Thunder Driver is good for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C+. Well they certainly had some time. I’m not sure who in the world thought someone they are treating as a big deal needed to go about ten minutes before heading into her title match was a good idea, but at least Rosa won. Granted it was after some near falls and after Deeb kicked out of some big stuff, but at least Rosa won.

Jon Moxley is ready to hurt MJF on Saturday.

Big Swole talks about being ready to beat some revenge into Britt Baker during Saturday’s Buy In. Cue a woman with a pizza for Swole, but she isn’t quite buying it (or paying for it). Swole jumps her but here is Baker from behind to hit her with a pole. Baker shoves the pizza in Swole’s face and puts on the Lockjaw.

Here’s what’s coming up this weekend, including a Friday Dark and the All Out card.

Mark Sterling vs. Jon Moxley

Non-title and Wardlow is here with the lawyer as JR promises it is going to be bowling shoe ugly. Sterling’s name graphic says he is MJF’s inattentive lawyer, but he was attentive to his color scheme as he is covered in red white and blue and has an MJF campaign sign on his back. Moxley offers Sterling a free shot and has to show him how to make a fist. The punch misses and Moxley knocks him down with a slap. A breath sends Sterling outside, where he shows some great bumping abilities for someone who found out he was debuting a week ago.

Back in and Sterling’s next free shot misses and he goes sailing outside again. Sterling pokes him in the eye back inside (Excalibur: “Maybe Mark is a smart mark after all.”) but Moxley clotheslines him back to the floor. Sterling is covered by barricades and chairs before Moxley steals his shoe to beat him up even more. Back in again and Moxley has a seat in a chair before getting up and offering a handshake. That doesn’t work so it’s the Paradigm Shift for the pin at 5:03.

Rating: D+. What is there to say here? The point was to have Moxley beat up the lawyer and he did that for a good while. I’m really not sure if this was the right way to go for the go home angle before a pay per view title match, but at least they got through this point. The match has been well built, but it felt a little weird to go here for the big final push.

Post match Wardlow comes in to beat on Moxley and here’s MJF on his walker. The neck brace comes off and MJF beats him down. MJF loads up the diamond ring and knocks Moxley cold, including busting him open. A bite of the cut makes it even worse and MJF holds up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a bit of a weird show as the main stuff on the card was set up and there wasn’t a lot on here that enhanced Saturday’s matches. It was a fine enough show, but they didn’t do the best job of getting in a final push towards All Out. What we got here was good enough but it’s an AEW pay per view: they have built up more than enough of a good reputation to make me give them the benefit of the doubt.

Results

Santana and Ortiz b. Best Friends – Street Sweeper to Trent

Young Bucks/Jurassic Express b. Private Party/SCU – BTE Trigger to Quen

Chris Jericho b. Joey Janela – Walls of Jericho

Thunder Rosa b. Serena Deeb – Thunder Driver

Jon Moxley b. Mark Sterling – Paradigm Shift

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Hard Times
Date: January 24, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Joe Galli, Stu Bennett

This is another show that I’ve been trying to get to over and over but since things are a little wacky at the moment, it’s as good of a time as any It’s another NWA pay per view and this time around we’re focusing on the TV Title, with a tournament to crown a new champion. Let’s get to it.

Opening video, as sung by Billy Corgan, because it helps to have a famous musician as your owner.

We run down the card.

All tournament matches outside of the final have a 6:05 time limit.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Trevor Murdoch vs. Question Mark

It’s still strange seeing entrances with music in this promotion. Murdoch grabs an armdrag into a dropkick to start, only to have Mark get up for a middle rope kick to the chest. They fight to the floor where Murdoch clotheslines the post by mistake, meaning it’s a ram into the corner to stay on the arm. A backdrop sets up a suplex for two but Murdoch gets a boot up in the corner. The top rope bulldog hits Question Mark, but he’s up before Murdoch can even cover. Another top rope bulldog gives Murdoch the pin at 3:11.

Rating: C-. These matches are going to be on a bit of an adjusted scale as you can only do so much in such a short amount of time. The result surprised me here as I would have bet on Mark making a pretty deep run in this thing. That being said, he’s so popular with the fans that maybe they didn’t want to risk him taking away from someone else later on. Fine enough match, but the time limit is going to hurt things all night.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Zicky Dice vs. Dan Maff

Maff is a big guy from ROH making his NWA debut. Dice on the other hand is, uh, 80s. Like, way 80s. After licking the title belt, Dice gets shouldered hard into the corner. A running chop in the corner misses though and Dice grabs a running bulldog for two. Snake Rattle and Roll is broken up and Maff nails a half and half suplex to send Dice sprawling. Dice gets speared out of the air and it’s a Cannonball into a backsplash for the pin at 3:05.

Rating: D+. This was another short and to the point match as Dice did his shtick but got crushed by the monster Maff. What we got here was decent enough but you don’t want someone like Maff out there burning through his energy if he is going to be doing a few matches. Nothing terrible here and Dice is growing on me a bit, which kind of scares me.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Ricky Starks vs. Matt Cross

Cross is another high flier from Ring of Honor. The much bigger Starks (Cross is probably a good five to six inches shorter) runs him over with a shoulder so Cross backflips into Ricochet’s pose to avoid another. A kick to the face puts Starks on the floor so Cross knocks him down again, only to get caught in a reverse helicopter bomb for two. Starks hits a running dropkick to the back for two more but the Buster Keaton is broken up. Cross hits a quick double stomp to the chest but the shooting star misses. The Stroke (Angel’s Wings) sends Starks to the next round at 3:50.

Rating: B-. Easily the best thing on the show so far (as far as you can be twenty four minutes in that is) with Starks being someone they want to push (fair enough) and Cross being a heck of a high flier. These guys started fast and didn’t really stop for the four minutes so well done on offering a change of pace.

Here’s Tim Storm, scheduled for another first round match, for a chat. This is his NWA family and he’s upset that Mr. Anderson isn’t here for some reason. That’s fine with Storm though, because now he needs two wins instead of three.

Here are the updated brackets:

Tim Storm

Ricky Starks

Dan Maff

Trevor Murdoch

Commentary tells us that Anderson is not medically cleared to compete. Better than no explanation.

Bennett has some breaking news (Bennett: “I think that could become a catchphrase.”): the next pay per view, airing at some point in April, will be in a bigger venue than the GPB Studios and will feature the Crockett Cup.

Tag Team Titles: Rock N Roll Express vs. Wild Cards vs. Eli Drake/James Storm

The Express is defending after taking the titles from the Wild Cards (with May Valentine and Kamille) and Drake and Storm are a new team. Drake, Morton and Latimer start things off with Ricky being knocked against the ropes, leaving Drake to neckbreaker Latimer. A double elbow drops Latimer so Ricky and Drake can slug it out as everything breaks down early on.

We settle down to Latimer knocking Storm into Gibson and stomping Storm down in the corner. Kamille gets in some choking from the floor to keep Gibson down as Latimer gets two off a powerslam. The chinlock goes on but Storm powers up, sending him over for the tag to Drake. Not that the referee sees it though, meaning the beating continues. A double clothesline puts Storm and Latimer down so it’s off to Isaacs, who gets slammed onto his partner.

Gibson is back in as Drake gets the hot tag so the pace can pick up. The other hot tag brings in Morton as well as everything breaks down. Morton’s Canadian Destroyer hits Latimer and Gibson cuts off an interfering Kamille. Isaacs breaks up another Destroyer to Drake, allowing him to hit the Gravy Train to pin Morton for the titles at 8:09.

Rating: C. The match was a little messy but that is what you have to expect in something like this. At least they had some good action and got the titles onto the better long term options as champions. The Express was great in their day and they’re still good here, but you also want to get on to something new at some point. The Wild Cards are as generic of a heel team as you can get so this is as good of a move as you can get.

Post match the new champs are glad about winning and think about team names. All you need to calm them right now is champs.

We recap the Women’s Title match, with Allysin Kay defending against Thunder Rosa. Kay wants to face Melina but has to get through Rosa to get there. She already had to beat Marti Belle to get to the match to get to Melina, in case we didn’t have enough hoops yet.

Women’s Title: Allysin Kay vs. Thunder Rosa

Kay is defending. They slug it out right at the bell and Kay grabs a northern lights suplex for an early two. Kay slugs her down in the corner to set up the chinlock, followed by a hard clothesline for two more. That’s enough for Rosa to need a breather on the floor but she comes back in with a running dropkick for two. Rosa unloads in the corner and chokes with the boot a bit, setting up a snap suplex for two more.

This time it’s Kay needing a breather so Rosa baseball slides her down. Rosa starts cranking the arm around the rope and it’s a legdrop to the arm into a Crossface. Kay rolls out into a guillotine but Rosa goes right back to the arm to put her down again. Something close to the Disarm-Her makes Kay’s arm even worse but she fights up and swings with the good arm.

A snap German suplex out of the corner gives Rosa two so Kay bails again. This time Rosa tries a Cannonball but Kay catches her in the air (geez) and hits an apron bomb for her own two. The fans are split here and they get even more into it as Rosa counters a powerbomb into a sunset flip. Code Red gives Rosa two more as Kay looks like she’s trying to hold on here. Rosa grabs something like a Black Widow but Kay spins out into a Tombstone for two with the desperation kicking in.

A quick missile dropkick plants Kay again but she muscles Rosa up into the AK 47 for two more. They slug it out until Rosa pulls her into a guillotine choke. Kay powers out in a hurry and takes her up top, earning herself a sunset bomb back down. Back up and Kay hits a high kick but misses a charge into the post. A double armbar has Kay in even more trouble but she powers out again, only to get caught in the Thunder Driver to give Rosa the pin and the title at 18:06.

Rating: A-. DANG this was awesome and came totally out of left field, which is why I love watching this stuff so much. I don’t remember the last time I saw two people go out there and leave it all in the ring like this but they beat the heck out of each other for almost twenty minutes. They even had a great story of Kay wanting to fight Melina and looking past Rosa, who gave it everything she had and beat the fire out of Kay, who was trying to hold on for most of the match. I loved this and it’s worth checking out if you have the time.

Post match Melina and Marti come in for the celebration.

We look at Nick Aldis invading a Ring of Honor event in Atlanta to set up tonight’s match with Flip Gordon.

Here’s Marty Scurll for a chat. Scurll gets straight to the point: he wants a World Title shot against Nick Aldis. He finds it interesting that Aldis vs. Gordon is non-title when Aldis talks about being strictly business. Isn’t a title match box office and more business? Cue Aldis to say he can’t believe this audacity but he’ll put the title on the line tonight, with one condition. If Aldis retains tonight, he gets to call all the shots with Aldis and Scurll’s business, and Scurll is out of the building for the title match. Scurll agrees and security comes to escort him out. Kind of an unnecessary segment but it was short.

TV Title Tournament Semifinals: Dan Maff vs. Trevor Murdoch

They chop it out to start until Maff spears him in half. Scratching and biting keep Murdoch in trouble and it’s a knee to the back for two. Maff misses a charge into the corner though and Murdoch hits the top rope bulldog for the fluke pin at 3:28.

Rating: D+. That was a little weird with the fast pin and almost nothing from Murdoch until the ending. I can get why you might want to go with someone from your own roster rather than the outsider though and it’s not like it matters if neither of them is winning. Not a terrible match as the time helped them, but it wasn’t all that great.

TV Title Tournament Semifinals: Ricky Starks vs. Tim Storm

Storm powers him into the corner to start but Starks flips out of a hiptoss attempt. A spinebuster gives Storm two but a running dropkick puts him down. Storm sends him back first into a knee and the Perfect Storm connects. The momentum lets Starks roll away though and he’s right back with a Pancake (Neutralizer without the arm between the legs) for his own two. Starks can’t grab a tornado DDT but he can grab a crucifix for the fast pin at 4:53.

Rating: C. Not too bad here with Starks overcoming the odds of not only beating a former World Champion but also having to wrestle twice instead of once. Starks is the kind of guy who was going to be a big deal from the second you saw him around here and him winning the title in the end wouldn’t shock me. Storm is a made man as a former World Champion so it’s not like a quick loss here hurts him.

Video on Aron Stevens’ ka-rah-tay training and issues with Ricky Starks.

National Title: Aron Stevens vs. Scott Steiner

Stevens is defending and has Question Mark with him. After the martial arts display befuddles Steiner a bit, Steiner works on the arm to make Stevens scream. Right hands in the corner have Stevens in trouble and a toss has him out on the floor. Back in and Steiner elbows him in the face a few times, followed by an overhead suplex.

They head outside with Steiner sending him into various things, including the TV Title. Back in and the overhead belly to belly almost drops Stevens on his head. The spinning belly to belly works a bit better but Steiner charges into raised boots in the corner to give Stevens two (the feet on the ropes helped). Steiner knocks him down again and grabs the Recliner, drawing in Mark for the DQ at 5:53.

Rating: D+. That would be your “they’re doing this match?” of the night as Stevens vs. Steiner is more of a curiosity than anything else. Steiner is brought in as a draw for the sake of his insanity and there is nothing wrong with that for him. He’s the biggest name on the show and might draw in some attention so throw him into something like this and have a little fun. Not a good match mind you, but fun.

Post match Stevens bails while Steiner beats on Mark.

NWA World Title: Nick Aldis vs. Flip Gordon

Aldis is defending. The circling doesn’t last long as Gordon takes him into the corner for some forearms. It works so well that Gordon does it again and even knocks the champ to the floor. They’re on the floor in a hurry where they can’t put the other through a table. Instead they head back inside for a hammerlock to keep Aldis in trouble on the mat. A headlock has Aldis in more trouble but he knocks a springboard out of the air.

It’s time for a breather on the floor but Gordon is right there with a running flip dive to take the champ out again. Back in and Gordon slaps on a cross armbreaker until Aldis powers his way out with a powerbomb. A fall away slam stays on Gordon’s back and a super fall away slam does the same, but a super version. We hit the chinlock for a bit, followed by Aldis muscling him up for a suplex. The required Figure Four goes on (makes sense against a high flier) but Gordon is fine enough to escape in a hurry.

A nip up into a spinning kick to the head sets up a middle rope moonsault for two more. Aldis crotches him on top though and a Tombstone sets up a top rope elbow for another near fall. Gordon is back up with a Crossface though, sending Aldis over to the rope. The King’s Lynn Cloverleaf is blocked and the Star Spangled Stunner gets a close two. Back up and Gordon tries a spinning victory roll but Aldis drops down into a rollup and grabs the tights to retain at 15:10.

Rating: B. It was a rather good match with Gordon being a case where you could believe he could have pulled off the big upset. Aldis was his usual entertaining self here and the cheating to retain when Gordon was taking it to too high of a level. Solid match here with both guys looking at a top level.

TV Title: Trevor Murdoch vs. Ricky Starks

For the vacant title and Murdoch has bad ribs coming in. They stare each other down to start as Galli lists off some of the famous champions. Murdoch kicks him down and hits the forearms to the back, only to get hit with a hard jumping shoulder. A test of strength goes to Murdoch and he snaps off a Russian legsweep. They head outside with Starks hitting a 619 on the apron and striking away where he can.

Murdoch gets in a whip to the steps though for nine so it’s time to slap Starks down in the corner. That wakes Starks up but he gets backdropped over the top for another big crash. Another count is beaten so Murdoch BLASTS him with a clothesline for two. We hit the chinlock but Murdoch lets go and hammers away in the corner. A powerbomb out of the corner gives Starks two but he’s back up with the Stroke for the pin and the title at 9:23.

Rating: C. This was fine but you can only do so much with people who are on their third match each. The extra time helped a little bit and Starks fighting from behind again was a good enough story. Murdoch was fine here but his time has come and gone. Go with Starks here, as that’s what makes the most sense in the long run.

Starks gets the title and we’re out in a hurry.

Overall Rating: C+. The tournament was hit and miss for the most part but at least they got the right winner. Then there’s the awesome Women’s Title match to give the show something special and overall, you have a pretty nice show. These pay per views still aren’t required viewing, but for a relatively cheap price and less than three hours, there are far worse things you could be watching.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Powerrr
Date: February 25, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli

We’re rapidly approaching the Crockett Cup and that means things are starting to get interesting again. The big story is of course the World Title match between champion Nick Aldis and Marty Scurll, but other than that there are the usual shenanigans taking place around here. Let’s get to it.

We open with a quick look back at Melina granting herself a Women’s Title match.

Sean Mooney gives us the quick recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Tim Storm for a chat. He isn’t planning to retire because Mama Storm didn’t raise any quitters. Mama Storm is his hot button issue and as long as people stay out of that, it’s fine. Cue Thom Latimer to say that Strictly Business has moved on from Storm, who is expecting the fake Mama Storm to come out again. Instead it’s Danny Deals, who played Mama Storm. All Storm wants to do is get his hands on Deals, who thinks Storm wants nothing to do with him.

Storm is ready to grab him by the throat right now, but Deals has an offer. There is a guy behind a curtain and if Storm beats him, Storm gets to face Deals. Otherwise though, Storm has to get the guy a contract with the NWA. The guy is former NWA World Champion (and the man Storm beat to win the title), Jax Dane. Good angle here as Storm has a relatable reason to fight and is ready to do so. I’ve seen it said elsewhere and it’s absolutely right: if Mama Storm ever shows up here, the studio’s roof is going into orbit.

Nikita Koloff and Lex Luger want you to come to Man Camp, a Christian retreat.

Matt Cross says that he feels like he has the same things that make the NWA great: history, heart and spirit. He can live forever in that ring because wrestling is forever, and so is Matt Cross.

Ricky Starks vs. Zicky Dice vs. Matt Cross

Non-title. Dice insists that NO ONE touches his fanny pack, so the fans respond with a hearty WE DON’T WANT IT chant. Starks scares Dice to the floor to start so Dice pulls him outside as well. That leaves Cross alone inside so he dives onto both of them, as you may have expected. Back in and Starks and Cross clothesline each other so Dice comes back in, now that the heat is off. The double noggin knocker is broken up and Cross hits his springboard cutter on Starks. The shooting star press connects but Dice steals the pin on Starks at 3:19.

Rating: D+. Words cannot express how sick I am of that finishing sequence. It feels like that is the kind of thing that you have to use in every other triple threat match. Dice winning should set him up for a title shot in the near future but at the same time, I really do wish they could have come up with a better way to get us there.

May Valentine gives us her version of Royce Isaacs winning the six man tag a few weeks back. That night, he said I love you for the first time. May thinks Kamille isn’t a monster because she’s really nice. She has to go now because it’s time for promotional work so bye guys. These could be worse.

Here’s Aron Stevens for a chat. Seriously, how good is he? That’s not flying here as he gets called out for running away from title defenses and leaving Question Mark hanging out to dry. Stevens denies everything and points out his third degree black belt. Trevor Murdoch and Scott Steiner failed to win this title, so why is Murdoch fighting Question Mark?

Trevor Murdoch vs. Question Mark

Clotheslines, a missed Mongrovian Spike and the top rope bulldog finishes Mark at 37 seconds. Well that happened.

Post match Stevens runs in and beats Murdoch down with Mark’s help.

Here’s Nick Aldis for a chat. Before we get to Villain Enterprises, let’s admire how spiffy he is tonight. He’s been on fire lately and they just beat the Rock N Roll Express. From now on, it’s Nick-el down Economics and that includes Marty Scurll, who comes out to interrupt. Scurll is ready to go right now and gets in the ring but Aldis brings out Strictly Business. Cue Brody King to clean house but referees break it up.

Here’s Eddie Kingston for a chat, while he’s taping his hands. He’s ready to beat someone up and that would be Pope. The Dawsons and the Bouncers can take care of each other so it’s all about Pope vs. Kingston. Pope can come out here right now so here he is, with his own taped up hands. He doesn’t like hearing about Kingston calling him out because Pope gets what he wants. If he wants to, Pope can wine and dine anywhere, with the alcohol reference bringing out the Bouncers. Pope can afford a beer if he wants to, meaning the Bouncers jump Kingston and lay him out in the ring. Good segment as the story continues.

Video on Melina vs. Thunder Rosa.

Update with Sean Mooney! This week’s is about the Crockett Cup, with the Rock N Roll Express being the first entrants. Next week: the Bouncers get a Tag Team Title shot and Ricky Starks defends the TV Title against Zicky Dice.

Women’s Title: Melina vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa is defending and the fans are WAY behind her. They talk trash to start and Rosa shoves her away….so Melina drops to the floor for the countout at 1:45. There was no significant contact whatsoever.

Post match Allysin Kay appears in the crowd behind Melina. Kay stalks her to the ring but here’s Kamille to spear Melina down. Rosa stares at Kamille to end the show.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: D+. I’m not sure if they were at the end of a taping cycle or what but this felt like they were out of steam. There have been far worse shows but this was the kind of show you should have recapped instead of watching in full. The main event angle made my eyebrows go up a bit but the “match” took away some of the interest the angle could have had. The Crockett Cup is all that matters though, even if it’s still a good way off.

Results

Zicky Dice b. Ricky Starks and Matt Cross – Shooting star press to Starks

Trevor Murdoch b. Question Mark – Top rope bulldog

Thunder Rosa b. Melina via DQ

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Powerrr
Date: February 4, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Joe Galli, Stu Bennett

This show continues to be tricky to call as it tends to focus on the talking, which is a weird way to go in modern wrestling. That’s what makes it work more than anything else and I could go for more of it. The show is a lot of fun more often than not and we are coming up on the Crockett Cup, which needs to finalize its main event. Let’s get to it.

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

James Storm and Eli Drake think we should watch Powerrr.

New opening sequence, now with a Pantera song (I’m Broken) instead of Into The Fire. That’s a downgrade, but they have updated the name graphics so it’s not all negative.

Here’s Tim Storm for a chat. The fans shout that they love him and he calls them his family. He’s ready for Thom Latimer next week because he wants to prove himself against the best. There have been rumors about Storm retiring from wrestling and there is nothing to them because he wants to be here with his family. He can handle Strictly Business and will never raise his hand against Kamille because Mama Storm taught him better.

Cue Latimer and Kamille with Latimer not thinking much of Storm. Hold on though as we have a surprise: MAMA STORM IS HERE! AND SHE NEEDS A SHAVE SO I DON’T THINK THAT’S HER! Tim isn’t impressed as “Mama” rambles about taking Tim to see Frank Gotch. Storm doesn’t know if he’s angry or laughing but “Mama” says he should go back to school so he can learn to win a match.

If the NWA accomplishes nothing else, they have turned Tim Storm from “the old guy who is NWA Champion because the NWA is a joke” into a grizzled veteran that you can sympathize with in a great way. That’s remarkable and worthy of a lot of praise because I don’t know who else could pull it off.

We look back at Thunder Rosa winning the Women’s Title at Hard Times. The rematch is tonight.

Matt Cross vs. Caleb Konley

Ricky Starks is on commentary. They go straight to the mat to start and that’s good for a standoff. Cross headscissors him into the corner and hits a running forearm as the fans go with the LET’S GO CROSS chants. Konley pulls him off the ropes and hits a running kick to the face for two, setting up the bow and arrow hold. That’s broken up in a hurry and Cross hits some running clotheslines for two of his own so Konley small packages him for the same. Konley’s low superkick sets up a tornado DDT for the same but Cross bounces off the rope for a cutter. The shooting star finishes Konley at 5:52.

Rating: C. This felt like any indy match you could imagine and that’s a fine way to go. They did some good stuff with Cross getting to show off a bit but I’m going to forget that I saw this in about thirty seconds. Neither made that much of an impression but you can always use people who can have a completely competent match, which is what you had here.

Post match, respect is shown.

We look at Nick Aldis setting the terms for Marty Scurll to get another shot at the NWA World Title.

Aldis is wondering why he hasn’t gotten a response yet. Maybe the wolf on the hill is hungrier because the food is right in front of him. His patience is wearing thin so respond, maybe even with a counteroffer. He wants a response by Free Enterprise on Sunday.

Video on Eddie Kingston, the Pope and the Dawsons.

Here are Pope and the Dawsons for a chat. Pope doesn’t need to offer an explanation but this doesn’t speak badly on Kingston. It speaks badly on Homicide, but don’t speak badly on the cashier who is bringing change to the NWA. Cue Kingston, who had to be told not to bring a wrench or screwdriver out here to deal with Pope. Homicide is the reason he didn’t kill himself and that’s real. He got a phone call from some young high fliers who needed a chance to prove themselves, so here are the Bouncers from ROH (Beer City Bruiser/Brawler Milonas, the smaller of whom is about 350lbs). A match is teased but nothing happens.

We look back at Trevor Murdoch yelling at Aron Stevens and announcing their National Title match this week.

Mae Valentine gives us a vlog about how everyone is loving her around here and how hard everything is for her. But her outfits have been awesome! She isn’t wild on Royce Isaacs being so jealous but he won a match while she made a new friend so everything is ok. The airheaded voice was kind of funny.

National Title: Trevor Murdoch vs. Aron Stevens

Stevens is defending and has the Question Mark with him. The fans are behind Murdoch in a bit of a surprise. They go with back to back headlock takeovers into headscissor counters until Stevens bails into the corner. Murdoch slams him down a few times but a showdown with the Question Mark….means it’s an ejection. Stevens uses the distraction to send Murdoch into the apron a few times and Stevens wants to know how much time is left in the ten minute time limit.

Back in and Stevens drops a knee before hitting a running hip attack to the back of the next. A hard clothesline gets two more and Stevens throws him outside again. Stevens demands a count but only gets about a six before Murdoch is back in. Commentary is right there to point out that Stevens is letting Murdoch recover and it isn’t as smart as he thinks. That’s some good insight and you don’t get enough of that these days. The chinlock works a bit better and a thumb to the eye lets Stevens put Murdoch on the floor again.

Back in and a suplex puts Murdoch down again so some knee drops can get two. With less than two minutes to go, Stevens throws him outside again but this time Murdoch lands on his feet and comes back inside to hammer away. A full nelson slam gets two on Stevens with less than a minute to go but Stevens pokes him in the eye with thirty seconds left. Stevens jawbreaks his way out of a sleeper as time expires at 10:00.

Rating: C+. The storytelling was strong with this one and that’s not something you can ever get enough of in wrestling. Stevens is a great cowardly champion as he’s going with a twist on a classic trope. Murdoch is someone who is getting a lot of mileage out of a simple gimmick and that’s always nice to see.

Post match Murdoch hits a top rope bulldog and counts his own pin.

Zicky Dice challenges us to subscribe to the NWA YouTube channel. If they get another 100,000 subscribers, he’ll do whatever the fans want.

Sean Mooney is thankful for the warm welcome he has received and recaps the Aldis/Scurll summit from last week.

Mooney also recaps the Lucky 7 Rule, which now has a graphic showing how many title defenses Ricky Starks has completed.

Ricky Starks is ready to keep the title for a long time.

One more thing: Melina wants to be #1 contender after tonight’s rematch. I can go for a quick control center deal like this.

James Storm/Eli Drake vs. Jocephus/Mims

Non-title. The fans are glad to have Jocephus back, even as Storm works on his arm. Drake comes in to stay on his arm but an elbow knocks him down. Mims comes in and is quickly run over with a clothesline so it’s back to Storm. That goes badly for Mims as well with Storm chopping him down and Drake hitting a powerslam. Drake fireman’s carries Mims into a Backstabber from Storm for the pin at 3:13.

Rating: D+. Perfectly nice little squash here and there is nothing wrong with that for the new champs. Let them go in there and beat people up so the fans know that they’re good at what they do. The action wasn’t the point here, but rather Storm and Drake looking dominant, which is exactly what we got.

Clips of Thunder Rosa vs. Allysin Kay for the Women’s Title at Hard Times, which looks like a heck of a fight.

Women’s Title: Allysin Kay vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa is defending and Melina is sitting at commentary without putting a headset on. They trade waistlocks to start before fighting over front facelocks instead. Rosa gets the better of it with a quickly broken Crossface and that means an early standoff. Kay snapmares her down and hits a kick to the back but Rosa snaps the arm over the ropes to take over. The arm is wrapped around the middle rope for a bonus (now we just need the bottom for the complete set) but Rosa switches gears by slugging away in the corner.

The Fujiwara armbar stays on the arm until Kay gets a foot on the rope for the nearly desperate save. Back up and they trade running forearms, followed by the wild slugout in the middle. An exchange of big boots gives us a double knockdown. It’s Rosa up first for a running corner dropkick but cue Marti Belle for a distraction.

Tasha Steelz and Ashley Vox come out to stare her away and Rosa grabs a rollup for two. Kay is back with a swinging neckbreaker and a Jackhammer for two but the arm is still hurt. The AK47 doesn’t work and Rosa gets in a Stunner for her own two. A Gory Bomb gives Rosa two more and a Death Valley Driver is good for the same as Kay can’t believe she kicked out. Rosa is right back up with a bridging rollup for the pin to retain at 9:25.

Rating: C+. The brawling sequence in the middle was rather good and these two have chemistry. The best thing about it though is that the NWA is understanding that Rosa needs to be turned face because she is the most popular woman in the division at the moment. There’s no need to keep her heel for a story that isn’t that big in the first place and capitalizing on something they have is a good idea, plus an encouraging sign.

Post match Rosa leaves as Bell and Melina look at her.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a different kind of show and that’s a good thing in this case. It’s not that the other kind of show is bad but much more about the fact that this show worked in a different way. What we got here was entertaining and advanced the stories, which is a unique way to go for them. It worked in a way you don’t see from this show and I liked that for a change.

Results

Matt Cross b. Caleb Konley – Shooting star press

Trevor Murdoch vs. Aron Stevens went to a time limit draw

James Storm/Eli Drake b. Mims/Jocephus – Fireman’s carry into a Backstabber to Mims

Thunder Rosa b. Allysin Kay – Rollup

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: Fite.TV

Somehow the NWA is back with another pay per view and it looks pretty good. I only say somehow because I still can’t fathom that this company is alive in 2020, with the fact that they have been entertaining going another step beyond. This time it’s about the TV Title, with a tournament to crown a new champion. There’s some other stuff too of course so let’s get to it.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Tim Storm vs. Ken Anderson

This is going to be a tricky show to preview because there are a lot of matches where we won’t find out the participants until later in the show. We’ll start here though and it’s an interesting one to pick first, as it really could go either way. Anderson barely qualified for the tournament, only getting in via a gauntlet match. Storm has been treated as a major focal point over the last few weeks though, meaning this could go either way.

I’ll go with Anderson winning here though, likely due to Strictly Business interfering to cost Storm the match. That’s the story that makes sense, though it wouldn’t shock me to see it happen later in the tournament. Or not at all as Storm winning the title would be a nice feel good story as Storm has been turned into quite the fan favorite. It’s nice to start off with a match which could go either way and hopefully that continues.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Zicky Dice vs. Dan Maff

This is another one where it depends on how you see the other first round match going. Maff is one of the people over from Ring of Honor and quite the monster, which Dice is someone they seem interested in push. It helps that Maff is also a huge guy and rather tough, which would seem to be a near guaranteed win over Dice.

That’s why I’m taking Dice, who is someone with a good attitude and character that makes you want to see more of him. The NWA seems interested in pushing him and it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to have him lose here. Ring of Honor will be back later on in the night, but for nice it should be Dice moving forward.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Ricky Starks vs. Matt Cross

Now we might have the first easy choice. Cross is the outsider getting his chance in the tournament and Starks is the one who seems to have been pushed rather well throughout the show’s entire run so far. I’m not sure what to expect from the match from a quality standpoint but it isn’t hard to guess where this is going.

Starks wins here, as it might be his entire tournament to win. Cross has shown the abilities to have a good match against anyone so hopefully he can give Starks a nice rub. Starks has shown himself to be rather talented so far and hopefully that continues as he could go quite far in this thing. I mean, there are only three matches for the winner so it isn’t hard to go far but you know what I’m getting at.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Question Mark vs. Trevor Murdoch

Every now and then a wrestler catches on to something that is so goofy that you can’t help but get behind it. That’s the case with Question Mark, who has turned into a cult favorite in the NWA despite being quite the goofy heel. Murdoch on the other hand is as classic of a gimmick as you can get with the grizzled cowboy trying to show he can still fight.

Ignoring the gimmicks though, this is pretty clearly Mark’s to lose. Murdoch has been little more than a jobber to the stars so having Mark lose makes no sense. If nothing else, having Mark around with more of the karate stuff would make all the sense in the world. He’s just great with that whole gimmick and I’m curious to see how far it can go. For now though, it goes on to the second round.

Women’s Title: Allysin Kay(c) vs. Thunder Rosa

This is a weird situation as Kay is the long running champion but she isn’t the most popular star in the division or even the biggest name. That being said, she’s incredibly talented and feels like a big star, though I’m not sure how long she is going to hold the title. Melina and Thunder Rosa come off as the most important people in the entire division and that isn’t a good sign for Kay’s future.

I think I’ll play it safe here and go with Rosa as the next champ. This is a case where it would be fine to go either way, but Rosa has been turned into the most popular member of the division. I know Melina is still lurking, but they could make something out of Rosa and that would start with a title win here. I’m not convinced in the slightest, but I’ll take Rosa to win the title.

Tag Team Titles: Rock N Roll Express(c) vs. Wild Cards vs. James Storm/Eli Drake

The Express got their big moment a few months ago on Powerrr and I’m not sure how much longer they can hold the things. It’s hard to believe that a pair of guys who could be the fathers of a lot of the wrestlers are the best tag team in the world, but that presents the other problem: who else is there to take the titles from them? It’s not like the division, if there is one, is all that deep.

I’ll take the Wild Cards to get the titles back though, which is about all you can go with here. They’re in a big story at the moment with Strictly Business and it would be a good idea to give the team some more gold. I could see Storm and Drake winning as well, but at some point you need to get the titles off of the Express and this seems to be a perfect place to do just that.

TV Title Tournament Semifinals: Ken Anderson vs. Ricky Starks

This is more of the right kind of match for Starks. Cross is a name, but Anderson is a former World Champion and someone who can give Starks a real rub. At the same time, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Anderson could move on and win the whole thing, which makes for a more interesting match here. You really could go either way and that’s a nice feeling.

That being said, Starks makes more sense here as the NWA needs stars and reheating the same Anderson that we’ve seen for years now doesn’t seem like the best solution. Just let Starks go forward and make the finals as Anderson is someone who can lose and not really be hurt by it. Starks moves on and Anderson goes to talk about something else.

TV Title Tournament Semifinals: Zicky Dice vs. Question Mark

It’s always weird to have a heel vs. heel match but it’s also weird to have a heel get some of the biggest reactions on the show. Dice is someone who could go somewhere but he hasn’t shown me much more than potential yet. On the other hand, Mark is someone who is riding an awesome wave of popularity so I’m not sure how long it is going to last. Both of those have positives but one makes more sense.

I’ll take Mark here, as Starks vs. Dice isn’t that thrilling of a final. Mark has been one of the most entertaining things about Powerrr so far and giving him the spot in the finals will get a much bigger reaction. Dice is going to be fine and can find something else to do, but for now it’s Mark moving forward, just to hear more about hie ka-ra-te skills from Stevens.

National Title: Aron Stevens(c) vs. Scott Steiner

Speaking of Stevens, here’s what might be the most amazing match of the Powerrr era as it could be anywhere from entertaining to one of the biggest disasters in recent memory. Hopefully it’s more towards the former and given how Stevens has been going as of late, I’d lean in that direction.

I’m going with Stevens to retain here, likely by DQ when Steiner goes nuts. They’ve done a nice job of keep Stevens as the cowardly champion who talks a big game, which is something that is always going to work. Just let Steiner be insane for a little while and have Stevens be entertaining and everything should be fine. Or it could be great. Or a nightmare. Either way, we could be in for something special here.

TV Title: Ricky Starks vs. Question Mark

So now we get down to what matters and I really could see it going either way. Like I’ve said before, it’s interesting to see where this goes because there are different realistic options. Mark is someone who is already over but I don’t know how far his run can go from here. A lot of that energy is likely to be gone with a single loss, but the same thing would be true of Starks at this point.

Give me Starks to win the title though, as Mark is over enough without it while Starks is someone without much of a gimmick or any credibility. The TV Title would help that a lot and he can defend it for a few weeks to come. Mark and Stevens are going to be fine doing their shtick while Starks needs something a bit more traditional. They’ll both be fine, but Starks wins here.

Nick Aldis vs. Flip Gordon

I doubt this goes on last but I can’t help putting the World Champion in the final spot. This is part of the NWA vs. Ring of Honor story and that could go well for both sides. The NWA is still finding its footing and Ring of Honor is trying to find a way to stop things from somehow getting worse. Maybe this partnership can help, but it has to start somewhere.

I’m actually going with Gordon on this one, probably in the form of Marty Scurll interfering to cost Aldis the match. Aldis vs. Scurll is where it’s at in the near future and they need something to help advance that. I could go for Scurll winning the title, but if Gordon wins here, he’ll be getting the shot. Aldis winning doesn’t leave as many doors open though, so go with Gordon winning.

Overall Thoughts

I’m not usually big on a one night tournament but the NWA is still brand new at this being around thing and need to do something to get some attention. There are enough names in the field to make it interesting and there is a good chance I’ve gotten most of these predictions wrong. There are a lot of good choices though and that’s a nice situation to have, much like having this show around in general.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Powerrr
Date: January 21, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli

It’s the season finale, meaning the last show before Saturday’s Hard Times event. I’m not sure what that is going to mean, but apparently this week’s show is going to be an extended hour and a half edition. Hopefully they use the extra time in a good way, and around here I think they actually will. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap sets up Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Morton for the World Title tonight.

Into The Fire.

Here’s Robert Gibson for a chat. He’s so happy to have helped his friend and partner get a World Title shot. Now go get it.

Tasha Steelz vs. Thunder Rosa

Steelz grabs a headlock to start but gets snapmared down and kicked in the back of the head. Rosa kicks her in the corner and chokes a bit with the boot, setting up a quick dragon sleeper. A hangman’s neckbreaker keeps Steelz in trouble but she gets a boot up in the corner. Steelz gets dropkicked out of the air though and a sitout Emerald Flosion finishes for Rosa at 2:52. This was just a step above a squash.

Post match Rosa says if you want to know what Melina’s problem is with her, ask Melina.

Nick Aldis is coming to see Marty Scurll in Baltimore and wants the NWA to come out in force. The tickets are free too.

Here are Royce Isaacs and Mae Valentine for a chat. Royce talks about Strictly Business being on fire but it’s pointed out that he is on a personal losing streak. That doesn’t sit well with Royce, who says his stock is going up. Galli lists off all of Royce’s losses and points out that the losses started when Valentine debuted. That’s not cool with Valentine and we’re done.

Let Austin Idol teach you how to get heat!

TV Title Tournament Qualifier: Thom Latimer vs. Trevor Murdoch

Latimer stomps away to start in a hurry to put Murdoch on the floor early on. Murdoch gets sent face first into the apron and a rake to the back makes it even worse. Back in and Latimer hits a powerbomb for two but a missed charge in the corner lets Murdoch grab a rollup (with trunks) for the pin at 2:31. That was his only offense for the match.

We recap Melina vs. Allysin Kay. Melina is a star but Kay is the defending Women’s Champion so it’s classic vs. modern.

Melina and Kay are at the interview desk with Melina wanting to make amends. Kay isn’t convinced and tells her to spit it out so Melina tells her to f****** listen. Melina has an idea for a match and Kay is ready to go. Hold on though as it isn’t against Melina, because Kay has to face Thunder Rosa at the pay per view. For now though, it’s a No DQ match with Kay facing….someone.

Allysin Kay vs. Marti Belle

Non-title and No DQ. It’s a brawl to start with Marti hammering away in the corner but getting knocked outside in a hurry. They slug it out on the floor until Marti flapjacks her onto the steps. Kay can’t get a chair as Belle kicks her away and puts on something like a camel clutch with Kay’s neck through the chair. That’s broken up and Belle’s knee hits the chair so Kay can slug away and take the fight into the crowd. Back in and Kay hits the AK47 onto the chair for the pin at 4:48.

Rating: C-. It was short but intense with Kay getting to showcase herself a bit more than usual. It’s almost weird that the Women’s Champion gets so little exposure but a showdown with Melina is the best thing for everyone involved. Odds are Melina wins the title, as they could have someone take it from her for a big rub. Either way, not a bad match here, with Belle getting to shine a bit.

Video on Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Morton. It’s so weird to say that in 2020. Or ever for that matter.

Buy the VHS guide to spiritual….something.

Here are the Pope and Eddie Kingston for a chat. Pope isn’t to blame for last week’s loss because he’ll help you if he can. People have been asking what his endgame is but he is still looking for his Super Powers and his Horsemen, and then you’ll see where this is going. Kingston says last week’s match shouldn’t have happened but Pope pushed them a bit too hard. They needed their victory last week but they learn instead of lose.

Kyle Davis replaces Galli on commentary. Was this taped out of order or something?

Here’s Aron Stevens for a ka-ra-tae demonstration, brought to you by the Mongrobian Ka-Ra-Tae Association. He brings out the Question Mark, but insists that he is NOT a mark! First, we face Mongrobia and bow, followed by Mark demonstrating a few chops. Now it’s some strikes to a masked man, followed by an explanation of how to disarm a man with a gun (or a finger gun).

But what if someone is carrying, say, a spatula? As I long for a squeegee joke, Mark demonstrates how to steal mace and use it on your attacker. Now we see two attackers taken out at once, which is why Mongrobia doesn’t need a nuclear program. Mark is ready to break some Mongrobian oak, but Stevens wants to do it himself so he can earn his fourth degree black belt.

Stevens needs to breathe a bit….but one of the masked men hits him with the board and unmasks as…..Ricky Starks for a good payoff. Speaking of payoffs, if you want to know Mongrobian secrets like these, it’s just 99.99 a month to learn why Mongrobia has been a free nation for thousands of years. This was rather entertaining as these two continue to be some of the most entertaining people in the NWA.

Buy Tony Falk’s tire irons! And have a waffle while you’re at it!

Gauntlet Match

The winner is the final entrant in the TV Title tournament. This is basically an eight man Royal Rumble and you can be eliminated by pinfall, submission or being thrown over the top. CW Anderson is in at #1 and Caleb Konley is in at #2. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get anywhere until Konley takes him down by the arm. That’s broken up and we’re at another standoff.

Jocephus is in at #3 and is eliminated in about six seconds. Anderson clotheslines Konley for two but gets caught in a sitout ProtoBomb into a half crab. Colt Cabana is in at #4 as the intervals are all over the place. Cabana beats both of them up in a hurry, including a reverse Rings of Saturn to Konley. Anderson breaks that up and stomps on Cabana as Dave Dawson is in at #5. Splashes abound and it’s turning into more of a regular battle royal. Everyone is knocked down and it’s Aron Stevens at #6.

Stevens gets in, looks around, goes to the floor and crawls underneath the ring, Cue Zicky Dice to say he’s undefeated everyone around here and won’t be wrestling here because he’s already qualified. With that out of the way, Sal Rinauro is in at #7 to clean some house until Dawson dropkicks him for two. Everyone gangs up on Dawson though and Konley’s moonsault gets rid of him to clear the ring a bit. Ken Anderson is in at #8, giving us a final field of CW Anderson, Konley, Cabana, Stevens (under the ring), Rinauro and Ken Anderson.

Ken gets to clean house, including the Mic Check to eliminate Rinauro. Cabana and Ken get together to take over, which means it’s another Mic Check to get rid of Konley. CW hits Ken with a spinebuster but it’s the Superman Pin to finish CW off. Cabana and Ken are ready to go at it but cue the Question Mark as Stevens gets back in. Mark Mongrobian Spikes Stevens by mistake though and Stevens is paralyzed, allowing Cabana and Ken to throw him out. A handshake lets Ken roll Cabana up for the win at 12:35.

Rating: C. This worked well enough, mainly due to the battle royal setup instead of just a regular gauntlet. Ken getting the win is a good way to go as he’s one of the bigger stars around here. I could go for he and Cabana having a feud as neither exactly has anything better to do. If nothing else, you can probably bet on Cabana costing Ken his tournament match and that’s fine.

Post match Ken shakes Cabana’s hand….but hits him low and grabs another Mic Check. That’s not it though as Cabana gets posted for the knockout.

Hard Times video.

Eli Drake and James Storm are here to see Ricky Morton win the World Title. Storm is a tag team wrestler because of Morton and tonight Morton is like Dale Earnhardt. We even get a prayer for Morton to win the World Title tonight. Drake is fired up too and this helped things a bit.

It’s time for the Hard Times Control Center.

The final two spots in the TV Title tournament will be Matt Cross and Ring of Honor’s Dan Maff.

Maff wanted to be on the list of great NWA TV Champions.

Flip Gordon is ready for Nick Aldis at Hard Times because Marty Scurll has made him a new man.

New stipulation on the main event: if Morton wins, he is defending at Hard Times. If Aldis wins, the Rock N Roll Express have to defend in a triple threat match against the Wild Cards and Eli Drake/James Storm.

One more thing: Aron Stevens defends the National Title against Scott Steiner. I think I need to see that one.

NWA World Title: Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Morton

Aldis is defending and Billy Corgan is on commentary to make it special. Robert Gibson and Strictly Business are all at ringside for a bonus. Hold on though as Corgan tells Bennett something. Bennett says everyone has to leave ringside so it can be one on one. Aldis bails to the floor to start and it’s over a minute before they lock up for the first time. That goes nowhere so they circle each other a bit and lock up again, giving us another standoff.

Morton works on a headlock and manages to get Aldis on the mat for a change. Back up and a chop sends Aldis into the corner so it’s time for Aldis to start hammering away. Aldis goes for the arm so Morton elbows him in the face as they’re keeping it in first (or maybe second) gear so far. Some right hands in the corner send Aldis to the floor again but he rakes the eyes to get a breather.

Morton gets posted and a hard whip sends him into the corner for a bonus. A headbutt puts Morton down but he punches Aldis out of the air. That just earns him another rake to the eyes but Morton slams him off the top (he did face Flair before). A hurricanrana sets up a Figure Four on Aldis but a rope is grabbed. Morton tries a small package so Aldis reverses into one of his own and grabs the tights for the pin at 11:00.

Rating: C+. I didn’t come into this exactly thrilled with the concept but by the end, I wanted to see Morton win the title. Maybe it would be just a nostalgia act, but that can be a lot of fun at times. Of course it wasn’t going to happen and wouldn’t have been a great idea, but they got me on board and that’s more than I would have expected.

We get a graphic from Villain Enterprises saying Hard Times are coming for Aldis.

We look at the Hard Times lineup one more time to end the show.

Roll Credits.

Overall Rating: C+. The point of this show was to make me want to see Hard Times more than I did coming in and that’s what they did. The show is looking pretty nice on paper and that’s more than I would have bet on coming in. Somehow the NWA is having an intriguing run as of late and I’m curious to see where it wins up. Just have a good Hard Times and we should be fine.

Results

Thunder Rosa b. Tasha Steelz – Sitout Emerald Flosion

Trevor Murdoch b. Thom Latimer – Rollup with trunks

Allysin Kay b. Marti Belle – AK47 onto a chair

Ken Anderson won a gauntlet match last eliminating Colt Cabana

Nick Aldis b. Ricky Morton – Small package with tights

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Powerrr
Date: January 7, 2020
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli

We’re back to the regular scheduled after the holidays messed things up a few times. This week is again about the title situation, with Tim Storm setting his sights on Nick Aldis, who doesn’t seem interested in fighting. This has done wonders for Storm and I want to see where he goes from here. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at everyone coming at Aldis, who seems more interested in finding every way he can to avoid them all.

Into The Fire. I wish they would update the credits as it was better when you had the people on the show rather than just the big names.

Here’s Tim Storm to open things up. Storm explains the tournament (there will be six members of the Powerrr roster and two open invitational spots, which could come from anywhere) but he isn’t happy with Aldis running from him. Cue Kamille to hold up a mic but she doesn’t say anything. Storm calls Aldis a coward and gets slapped in the face.

Trevor Murdoch is ready to fight anyone and we get another draw for two TV Title Tournament qualifying matches: Dave Dawson vs. Zane Dawson and Trevor Murdoch vs. Tom Latimer.

TV Title Tournament First Round: Zicky Dice vs. Caleb Konley

I’m pretty sure this is the first round and there is no mention of a qualifying match. Konley grabs a few rollups for two and armdrags Dice into the corner for a bonus. Dice avoids a dropkick, only to get knocked outside for a breather. Konley gets sent to the apron so he comes back in with an anklescissors. A backsplash gets two on Dice but he’s right back with a bridging northern lights suplex for two. The slugout goes to Konley but he misses a double jump moonsault. Dice’s Snake Rattle and Roll is good for the pin at 4:28.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure how much there is in Dice but Konley is fine for a match like this. They need to build someone up to be a factor in the tournament and Dice is becoming just that so far. I could still go for a bracket or a list of who all is involved, but I’m not completely sure the NWA knows just yet.

Highspots.com ad.

Earlier today Aron Stevens and the Question Mark promised to win more titles with Stevens owing his success to Mark (in a Stevens robe for a funny visual).

ODB vs. Thunder Rosa

Allysin Kay is on commentary. Rosa grabs a front facelock to start but ODB is back with some knees to the ribs. The slugout goes to ODB but Rosa starts with the kicks to the legs. A legsweep sets up the running crotch attack to the back in the ropes and it turns into a brawl on the mat. The chinlock goes on but ODB is up in a hurry and hitting her in the face again. A middle rope ax handle misses though and ODB bangs up her knee again. The top rope double stomp to the back finishes ODB at 5:49.

Rating: D+. Rosa getting the win is the right move as she has a lot of potential and beating a name like ODB can help her a lot. I’m still not convinced that the women’s division needs to exist but that isn’t going to change anytime soon. Not a terrible match, but I could go for something a lot stronger in the story department around the whole division.

The Rock N Roll Express have a love hot line.

Here’s Nick Aldis for a chat and there is literally a stack of questions for him. Believe it or not, the first question is about Kamille and Aldis knew that was coming. It’s true that Kamille isn’t the insurance policy anymore but that’s because she is now a full fledged member of Strictly Business. Then there’s Ricky Morton, who is a great tag team wrestler but needs to stay away from the World Title.

It’s like Eli Drake and James Storm trying to jump the line and get to the main event without earning anything. The Wildcards are going to be taking the Tag Team Titles so Storm and Drake can mind their business. As for tonight, he’s ready to beat Ricky Starks in less than six minutes because the only place he isn’t done in less than six minutes is in the bedroom because he can go all night.

Nick Aldis vs. Ricky Starks

Non-title with a 6:05 time limit. Aldis shoulders him down and busts out a cartwheel, meaning it’s time to lay across the top rope. Starks does the same but adds in a dropkick to set up a rollup for a new fall. A spinning suplex gets Aldis out of trouble and a clothesline is good for two.

The chinlock goes on and we have three minutes left. Starks is up in a hurry and Aldis charges into a boot in the corner for a breather. The middle rope missile dropkick gives Starks two more and the suicide dive to the floor makes it even worse. Back in and Starks misses a moonsault to tweak his knee. That means the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf with a minute left and Starks holds on for the time limit draw at 6:05.

Rating: C. This is the kind of thing that the champ can do to put someone over. It’s true that Starks was in trouble and would have lost after another minute or so but officially it’s a tie and Aldis couldn’t beat him. That’s how this should have gone and it wound up being an entertaining little match with Aldis giving Starks a lot.

Post match here’s Ricky Morton to demand five more minutes. That’s not happening, so Morton asks for five minutes of his own. Again, no.

Eli Drake/James Storm vs. Wildcards vs. Colt Cabana/Mr. Anderson

Hang on as there are no Wildcards to start so we’ll go two on two early on. Cabana headlocks Drake to the mat to start so Drake slips out, only to get caught in a second headlock. A quick flip gives Cabana two and it’s off to Anderson to hammer away. Drake’s jumping clothesline allows the tag off to Storm, who skins the cat and snaps off a headscissors.

Rating: C+. This had some nice energy and some of that was due to not having the other team included. That’s the kind of thing that can drag a match down so it was a good case of addition by subtraction. If nothing else, a triple threat match doesn’t seem to fit in the NWA and it was nice to see this get a little more time than the usual matches around here.

Post match Cabana yells at Anderson for costing them the match until they head to the back.

Cue Aldis and Kamille, plus the Wildcards, for one more chat. Aldis pulled the Wildcards from that match because it wasn’t in the best interest of Strictly Business. He invites the Rock N Roll Express out here and has an idea: a six man tag with Team Aldis vs. Team Morton. If Team Morton wins, he gets a show at Sweet Charlotte. Morton goes on a rant about the good old days before accepting the challenge. Hang on though as Aldis and Morton won’t be in the match because Aldis wants no excuses. Team Aldis will be the Wildcards and…..SCOTT STEINER, because we need to get that required square checked off.

Overall Rating: C+. This is starting to feel like a more complete wrestling show and that is the best thing that it could do. You can see the stories (ok so having some different people in them might help) being set up and where they are likely going, but what matters most is they’re making me care about what happens to these people. This place is starting to get some life and that’s a very good sign. There’s more to it than that, but for now they’re doing pretty well. Nice show here, with the wrestling not being the focus, as usual.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: National Wrestling Alliance

Powerrr
Date: December 23, 2019
Location: GPB Studios, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Stu Bennett, Joe Galli

We’re on Monday here because it would be a little insane to have a show on Christmas Eve. Therefore, it’s time for the second show of the season a week early and thankfully we get some followup to some of the good stuff we saw last week. Things moved towards a more traditional direction and that’s the best thing they could do, albeit with their own unique twist. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the end of Nick Aldis retaining the NWA World Title at the end of Into The Fire, setting up Marty Scurll’s return. Then last week, Aldis and Scurll didn’t seem to be on the same page about Scurll getting a World Title shot. As a result, Aldis formed a team to give us a heel stable.

Into The Fire.

Quick rundown from the announcers.

Trevor Murdoch is rather happy because he has gotten a contract. Zicky Dice interrupts him though because he’s going to win the TV Title. Cue the debuting Pope D’Angelo Dinero to talk about some famous NWA names. He’s here to find his Super Powers or Horsemen, so Dice offers his services. Pope just walks over to commentary without saying anything to a funny reaction.

TV Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Ricky Starks vs. Eddie Kingston

They lock up to start as commentary brings up the 6:05 time limit. Kingston shoulders him down into a headlock but Starks fights up for a middle rope shoulder. A high crossbody gets two but Kingston runs him over and hammers away. Starks knocks him down again though and grabs a tornado DDT for two. Buster Keaton (lifting sitout Pedigree) finishes Kingston at 4:10.

Rating: C. This was a good enough match where they packed in a lot of stuff. Starks is someone they want to push and giving him a run towards the TV Title would work rather well. Pope being involved could make for something interesting, but him putting Starks over in some way would be best.

Post match Pope nods at Kingston.

We look back at the formation of Magnus’ team last week and their beatdown of Tim Storm.

Here are Royce Isaacs and a rather tattooed woman named Mae Valentine. They’re asked about holiday plans and Isaacs whispers something in the interviewer’s ear, which doesn’t set well with him. Isaacs is going to show what he can do on his hand but here’s James Storm to say he wants Isaacs to prove himself.

Highspots.com ad.

James Storm vs. Royce Isaacs

Here’s Eli Drake, with a bottle of champagne, for a chat. We get a lot of YEAH YEAH YEAH’s before Eli talks about the interviewer warming up the crowd with a comedy routine before the taping starts. Drake talks about having some New Year’s resolutions and they are all about gold. He has the shoes of a champion and the jacket of a champion but he calls it shoes as well because he’s a little too fired up.

Jocephus (as Santa) and an unidentified Mrs. Claus sing some Christmas carols and Drake gets in a few more YEAH’s as backup. Cue Aldis and company to interrupt though and Aldis has some matching shirts for all of them. Everything you’ve seen over the last few weeks has been a part of the plan, including taking out James Storm. As for Ricky Morton, he can come out here and say something to Aldis’ face. Morton doesn’t think much of Aldis training under Harley Race and then disrespecting his legacy like this. Aldis threatens Morton to wrap it up.

We look at the women’s tag match from Into The Fire, including ODB debuting.

Melina/Thunder Rosa/Marti Belle vs. Allysin Kay/ODB/Ashley Vox

Whoever gets the fall gets to pick an opponent of their choosing. Rosa works a hammerlock on ODB but ODB slips out of a suplex and brings in Kay. Belle comes in to drop Kay with a running knee but it’s off to Vox in a hurry. She’s beaten down as well and we get into the more standard structure, with Vox getting beaten up in the corner. Melina gets two off a DDT but it’s right back to ODB vs. Rosa with the former taking over. Everything breaks down and Rosa has to bite the finger to escape an armbar. Something like a sitout White Noise shoulderbreaker finishes Vox at 5:48.

Rating: D+. I’ve never been an ODB fan so having her around here didn’t make things that much better. What did help was having a bunch of fresh talent in the match at the same time. The women’s division doesn’t really need to exist around here, but if they’re going to do something with it, they’re going to need a lot of names to keep things moving.

Post match Rosa is about to pick her opponent but Melina chooses for her: ODB.

We get a drawing for the TV Title tournament: Tim Storm vs. Nick Aldis. Storm talks about Mama Storm turning 95 this week and asked how long Tim can wrestle. She retired at 78 and he got his work ethic from her. We get an homage to the Hard Time promo, with Storm saying he’s old and broken down but he’s bad and they know he’s bad.

TV Title Tournament Qualifying Match: Question Mark vs. Colt Cabana

Colt armdrags him down a few times but loses a chop off to the ka-ra-te master. A rollup gives Colt two and an elbow to the jaw puts Mark down again. The running hip attack connects in the corner and the middle rope splash gives Cabana two. Cabana goes up but dives into a shot to the throat to give Mark the pin at 3:07.

Rating: C. This didn’t have time to do much but around here it’s one of the longer matches. That’s such a weird dynamic for the company but it’s working well enough. Mark is one of the best cult favorites I’ve seen in a long time and that’s the kind of thing that can work wonders around here.

Aron Stevens and Question Mark want all the gold.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: C+. You can tell they’ve changed things up a lot around here as they are now packing in every single thing that they can. It’s made things more interesting, though I’m still not clear on how the tournament is working. Are they going to have qualifying matches and then the pay per view is built around the tournament? Anyway, at least they’re doing some interesting stuff and the place is going to be rather pleased when they get to Storm vs. Aldis for the title again. Nice show here, and the new style is an improvement.

Results

Ricky Starks b. Eddie Kingston – Buster Keaton

James Storm b. Royce Isaacs via countout

Melina/Thunder Rosa/Marti Belle b. Allysin Kay/ODB/Ashley Vox – Sitout shoulderbreaker to Vox

Question Mark b. Colt Cabana – Chop to the throat

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

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

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

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